Recipe Swap

I've recently been trying to cook more. Anyone who knows me already feels sorry for Mark, but I think my skills are improving. It seems like every week I make the same thing. Some sort of chicken, spaghetti, or I give up and get take-out. I mean, the people at Geisha (sushi restaurant) know our order by heart. So, in an attempt to "spice" things up, once or twice a week I'll pick a random recipe from a cook book and try it out. This was what was on the menu tonight:

GARDEN RICE
1 tbs. of butter or olive oil (I used olive oil)
2 green onions, sliced
1 or 2 small zucchini, chopped or diced
1/2 or 1 whole red pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup long-grain rice, uncooked
1 tbs. dried parsley
1-2 tsp. chicken bouillon granules
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup water
-Melt butter or olive oil in dutch oven; add green onions, zucchini, and sweet red pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until crisp tender. Add rice and remaining ingredients; bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat, and cook 15 min or until water is absorbed and rice is tender. Yields 2 servings ( I doubled this recipe)



FESTIVE PORK TENDERLOIN
1 1/2 cups dry red wine (use the good stuff!)
2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbs. soy sauce
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 pork tenderloins
4 teaspoons cornstarch
-Combine first 10 ingredients in a large zip-top freezer bag (or bowl) and add pork tenerloins. Seal, and chill or 8 hours (or 4 because that's all the time I had) turning occasionally.
-Remove pork from marinade, reserving 2 1/2 cups of marinade. Bring reserved marinade to a boil in saucepan; whisk in cornstarch stirring constantly for about 2 min or until thickened. Cool
-Take pork tenderloin to the grill and grill 6-8 minutes on each side.
Enjoy




TOFFEE PIE:
1 package of cream cheese (I used low fat)
2 tbs. of sugar
1/2 cup of whipping cream
1 carton of cool whip
1 package of English toffee bits
1 graham cracker crust
-In large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in cream and fold in cool whip and 1 or 1 1/2 cup of toffee.
-Spoon mixture into crust and sprinkle with remaining toffee bits. Cover and freeze for 8 hours (or 4)
Enjoy!




So, anybody have any "go to" recipes they'd like to share?

Maybe I'll try this again...

In an attempt to redeem myself for falling off the blog wagon, I'm posting a picture of the new love of my life...GROVER!! Considering we've had him now for 10 months, I think it's safe to say we're keeping him. I NEVER thought I would ever own a dog, much less have one living INSIDE my home. He's just precious and I'm totally smitten.

Perspective

Ok, so I have a confession, Mark and I are LOST fanatics. There, I admit it. They say that's the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. However, this has not always been the case. Last year, Christmas of 2007 to be exact, was when this obsession, for me, began. Mark had always been a fan of the show from day one. Not I. When we first began dating, I made so much fun of him for watching what I called, " an upscale Gilligan's Island." He begged me for almost two years to watch the show, but I refused. FINALLY, since I had two weeks of vacation, I sat down to watch the first episode of Season 1, thinking the whole time that I would certainly not care for it. Well, needless to say, by the end of the very first episode, I was hooked. I mean I was like someone on crack, I just couldn't get enough. One Saturday, Mark and I got into a HUGE fight because he refused to watch anymore. ( In his defense, we had watched about six episodes in row) I just couldn't believe that he refused to watch anymore since he was the one who had gotten me hooked in the first place. I realize now that I was being ridiculous, but at the time, I was truly mad at him....until he sat me down and made me watch the video below. If you are a true fan of LOST, you will most certainly find the humor in the video, if not, well, it's still funny.


*You'll have to mute the music at the bottom of this page to hear the video!

Holiday Recap

The holidays went by way too fast this year. Below is a slideshow of pictures from our family trip to NYC and my annual girls trip. Each year my friends from college and I get together to shop, eat, and celebrate Christmas. This year (well, technically last year) we chose to meet in Charlotte. Our friend Isabelle lives there, and she was so sweet to let us all crash (and trash) at her home. As you can see, we had a blast. Mark and I spent Christmas in Corinth, but were able to celebrate with his parents after Christmas. We had a wonderful holiday and hope that our blog friends did as well. Happy New Year...20 days late! :)

4 MONTHS!!!!

I decided to finally sit down and update this blog since it's been 4 MONTHS!! I realized last night than an entire season has passed since my last post. I think that might be a record. Mark and I have been busy working and just hanging out with friends and family. I won't bore you (if there's anyone who still checks this thing) with a recap of the last four months. I will say that Mark and I, along with my mom and dad, are leaving for NYC this Friday to visit my sister. I will definitely be posting pictures from our trip. This will be sort of like a two year "engagement" anniversary trip for Mark and me. We were engaged almost two years ago in NYC. We're jamming a lot of stuff into one weekend, lots of dining out, sight seeing, shopping, and broadway. I have been counting down the days. We're going to celebrate my sister's graduation. She just graduated with honors from the French Culinary Institute as a pastry chef. I'm so proud of her! Mark is already talking about how much weight we're both gonna gain once she moves back to Corinth! I've missed her so much. In honor of her, I'll post a picture of a cake she made while she was home for Thanksgiving. She made this thing like it was nothing! I was amazed, and I promise you, it tasted just as heavenly as it looks! More posts to come!

Oh, and I had to add a random picture of Mark with Oscar on Thanksgiving. Oscar had too much turkey, and this is how he was the rest of the night! He was just like a little noodle! Love him!