Christmas Dinner

My sister and I made Christmas dinner this year. The image above is our homemade sweet potato gnocchi. We rolled the sweet potato mush into long sheets coated in flour and cut it into strips that later we would roll up into small balls. The gnocchi was paired with a creamy gouda cheese sauce. While my sister prepare the pasta, I cooked the filet mignon. It was my first time dealing with such expensive meat that I was afraid to even touch it at first. With my aunt's advice, I cooked the filet to a perfect medium rare in a cast iron skillet.

At the dinner table all of the guests raved over the food. I felt proud that I was able to contribute and help my mom out this year in the kitchen. I gushed with joy to see the smiles on my family and friend's faces as they chewed on the savory dinner that I helped prepare.

Chicken soup

I hate being sick.

The day before winter break I somehow caught the plague. Currently, I am confined to my bed, surrounded by the wonderful humidifier, a mammoth mountain of used tissues and a sea of cold medicine boxes and syrups. In a few days my sister come home for the holiday. I'm so excited to see them! It's been months since I've gotten to spend time with Mary and Jessica. I just hope I don't infect them!

Anyway, on the note of family, my kind and loving mother just made me homemade chicken soup featured in the photo above. She chopped up fresh veggies, including carrots, celery, onions and parsley, and sprinkled them in the vegetable stock. As a cardiac rehab nurse, she is constantly trying out new low sodium recipes for her patients. This soup was fantastic and healthy. Mom added an assortment of seasonings rather than salt to give it a kick. I'm going to get her recipe so you guys can try it yourselves!

The Main Course

Homemade pumpkin soup with a herbs de provence pita cracker.

DINNER pt.1

A cranberry, pear and grape mixed greens salad with brie cheese, slivered almonds, and pecans.

Oh, and a balsamic reduction glaze.

Feasting on samples

Today at subway, I munched on the sweet morsals of white chocolate macadamia nut and oatmeal raisin cookies. Delicious! I don't know how, but food always tastes so much better when it's free.

Fall in love with these cupcakes

Above are pumpkin spiced cupcakes with a maple cream cheese frosting. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving in Tally so I can introduce this delicious dessert.

Indulge and celebrate

Above, my best friends, Natalie Ruiz and Steven De Nicola, marvel at the myriad of glorious dessert options the Cheesecake Factory presents. It was Steven's birthday that night so we ordered up two gargantuan slices of rich creamy chocolaty decadence (Oreo cheesecake) to kick off the celebration.

MR. PRETZEL

I made pretzels this weekend with my Mom. After the intial difficulty, kneading, rolling and shaping the dough got to be pretty fun! While making the pretzels, I thought of Johann Tetzel (Tetzel=Pretzel. They are the same in my head.).

F.Y.I. : Johann Tetzel was a Dominican preacher who sold indulgences way back in the 1400s in order to get some "DOUGH" to pay for the construction of St. Peter's Basilica.

Just another fun fact for ya.

Holy Cannoli!

I was surprised to discover this Sicilian delight in the quaint Cuban bakery across from my house.

Blanketed in a snowy mountain of confectioner's sugar, the cannoli has always reserved a special place in my heart.

When I was in elementary school, I was the girl with a speech problem, a New York accent to be more specific. To many of my peers surprise, I never lived there. They thought I was a liar, but I vehemently proclaimed I was telling the truth. My fellow first graders thought this because of my speech problem. I had extreme difficulty pronouncing the letter "R" correctly.

After a series of school speech pathology, the kind counselor suggested to my mother to seek a private teacher to fix my accent. At the time, I thought nothing of it. I actually enjoyed my distinct drawl as it marked me as unique and strange.

All the kids questioned and snickered that I was adopted or got switched at birth.

Within a few weeks after the received suggestion, Mom began taking me to speech therapy. I hated it. I felt the speech teacher was trying take away MY one special "something".

Before driving back home, Mom would always stop by the little bakery and allow me to get one small treat for a hard day's work. My favorites included the napoleon, eclair and strawberry tart, however, nothing rivaled the glory and perfection of the flaky cannoli. With a mouthful of the creamy goodness, I questioned her if what I considered a "gift" was really a serious problem. She reassuringly said she loved my New York accent and would still love me without it. Mom told me not to care what others think, but to enjoy the person God made me to be. While I finished off my gigantic cannoli, I digested her maternal arduous words of wisdom.

Devil's food.

Have you ever wondered why they called are called "Deviled Eggs"? Well I have and decided to do a little research to uncover the mystery.

Before I post the reason, why do you think they were given this name?

Grillin'

Grilling isn't limited to cooking hot dogs or flipping patties. One of my favorite ways to eat veggies is over the open flame.

Tonight, my neighbor Jeannie and Colin came over from a little BBQ in the backyard. Even though they live right behind us, we rarely get to enjoy a night out together because we always are too busy. It is nice to take a break from the fast pace and just basque in good company this evening.

Jeannie brought some fish and Mom and I made my favorite veggie kabobs from zucchini, squash, tomatoes, and purple onion. Together, the three of us painted up the sticks with olive oil spice and herb blend we crafted from the seasoning cabinet. From there, the kabobs where transported from the kitchen to the grill rack where the tongues of fire licked the delicious fresh vegetables.

Another interesting treat that will change your perception of the outdoor cooking method is grilled peach melba. I'll post my recipe for that soon.

Muscadine grapes

FACT: Muscadine grapes are considered "superfruits". They are loaded with antioxidants that help fight and prevent damage caused by those pesky free radicals. Additonally, they have more fiber than Oat Bran and are the only type of grape to have ellagic acid. Plus, they're yummy and on-sale.

Late Night with Mr. Pizza

A common side effect with eating right for dinner is the late-night snacking sessions, or that's what I have learned.

I scoured the kitchen for a snack, anything but those damn Wasa crackers! I wanted something substantial, something warm, something with punch of flavor. I wanted pizza.

I allocated two wraps, mozzarella cheese sticks, some basil from the pot in the kitchen window, a Parmesan shake 'em can, tomato paste, an onion, and some frozen veggies. I was determined to make this work.

I slathered the tomato paste from corner to corner on the low-cal wrap, sprinkled some cheese and topped it off with some sliced onion, basil and mixed vegetables. Then in it went into a preheated oven directly on the rack at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

When the "ding" chimed, I ran and began to salivate like Pavlov's dog. It smelt great! I opened the oven and tried to take it out. Problem: toppings and cheese were too heavy for the thin wrap to hold so the make-shift pizza started to crack and slip through the rack.

With the help of my Mom, we managed to salvage the remnants of the pizza. Unfortunately, the mushy consistency of the wrap base ruined any bit of enjoyment in that fourth meal. Karma, I guess.

Conquering Tomato Soup

I was always chicken noodle type of gal. I'd occasionally enjoy a good lentil or minestrone, but tomato? No way, Jose!


In psychology, I learned about phobias and how people over come them. The method to shake the fear is known as "systematic desensitization", a process in which the individual is taught how to relax and then conquer their
fear in different magnitudes.

While I never had a fear of tomato soup, I never found it very settling- so I conducted a small psychology experiment on myself using this technique.

First, I had to get comfortable around the essential element of the soup-- tomatoes. Easy. No fear in that. Next, I decided to sample a few slices of the red fruit peppered and salted. Ambrosial! I decided it was time to take a bigger step, so I fashioned myself a little tomato juice cocktail (nonalcoholic, guys) with lots of dill on the rocks. Surprising it wasn't too bad after all. This was clearly working out, I was still alive and kicking! Nothing could stop me now. I had one final showdown with a can named Campbell's and I was ready to conquer.

I plated myself up a bowl of the bright red soup and added some cracked sea salt and pepper to taste. I sat down with my spoon in hand ready to eat up. Staring pensively at the soup, I saw my reflection in the bright red liquid taunting and jeering me on. It was in that instant that I marred and quited the abrasive reflection by swallowing a large spoonful of soup.

Victory. Sweet tasty tomato soup victory.

"Fish, Fish, I got my wish."

The origins of this household tradition are still unclear to me. Perhaps it was Mom's Catholic upbringing or maybe the fact that it only required cracking open a can and a bag of bread that marked Sunday "tuna" day.

After church, my sisters and I would groan immediately for lunch as we "didn't eat enough of an adequate breakfast" before mass, or so my parents would caustically claim. Once home they'd concoct a "quick and easy" lunch-- tuna sandwiches (however, recently hot dogs have made the cut as an alternative lunch item).

This Sunday, Mom, Dad, and I mutually decided to stray from our ordinary routine and experiment a little. The picture above displays the fruits of our creations. Freshly squeezed lemon, zest, and sacred sweet sun-dried tomatoes top tuna chunks on golden crispy whole grain crackers. Healthy and scrumptious.

Chicken (in the) Kitchen

Easy to prepare, versatile, and a standard twice a week meal in my house, chicken can be delicious but more often times than not, boring.

It's okay to admit that the blandness is comforting and a quick solution for dinner before that 8 o'clock PTSA meeting.

However, I'd like to give a special applaud to my Mom as she constantly innovates new ways to dress up and spice the boneless cutlet.

To the left, chicken sizzles in a golden butter liquid that infuses the flavors of fresh rosemary sprigs from our backyard, dried oregano, sliced mushrooms, miniced garlic, white wine and some Herbes de Provence.

These Quakers are dangerous

"Quaker True Delights Quakes Cheddar Cheese Rice Snacks" is a mouthful to say and one I regretfully utter now without a mouthful of some of these crispy cakes.

My family is on the health kick now and boy, is it is hard to resist the temptation of those ooey-gooey Betty Crocker Easy Bake brownies and the king sized bags of Doritos. I was going through withdrawal without the good junk food to pump high volumes of sugar through my veins on an hourly basis.

Besides being difficult, eating healthy is expensive, until I discovered "True Delights". And let me tell you, "Delights" is an understatement.

Hesitant at first, I thought this snack would be like the rest of the bland unsatisfying health food garbage. However, the fear of breaking my teeth on cardboard Wasa crackers for another week boosted my openness and I decided to give it a shot. I also figured " hey, it's cheap, 70 calories per serving, whole grain, and most of all cheesy! Why not?"

Shortly after opening it, I found it impossible to stop the mindless hand-to-mouth face stuffing.Within no time, I had gobbled all the airy crisps down and was licking clean the nuclear orange cheese residue stuck on my fingers.

The transgression of finishing off a bag like this before would have made me feel guilty, however, due to its low caloric value and fat content the only thing I felt after eating this was filled and happy.

Summer in the city

The word summertime heralds various rosy images of the beach, bad sunburns, and most of all, WATERMELON. Come June - July, these gargantuan delights can be found just about everywhere in Miami. Sold alongside Bird Road, on front yards in Westchester, and of course at the local Publix, it is a cool treat I look forward to getting my hands on and scarfing down on the long scorching dog days.

As my mom sliced the pulpy saccharine goodness, she orated her childhood memories associated with watermelon. Mom's mom, Grandma, cooked classic southern food. (She is infamous for fried chicken she'd make for family beach day. ) When mom was a girl, she and the rest of her 7 other brothers and sisters enjoyed one of Grandma's traditional sides-- pickled watermelon rind.

Okay, I don't know about you but, when I heard this I cringed a little. Pickled watermelon rind? Um, I might pass. Why would anyone ever taint the perfection of a good 'ol watermelon slice?

Mom described it as a " golden rind" that was steeped in a clove-like brew.

"Sweet and crunchy...it was like complement to all the other salty food around you," she said.

Honestly, anything "pickled" kinda scares me, but the way she continued to glorified it-- I think I might just have to try it. I'll let you know how it goes.

This is how I roll

Sushi, the trendiest little export from Japan , is now a staple in the American diet. These bite-sized delights have made a long journey since the original popularization of the California Roll in 1973.

Expunging it's appetizer section stigma, sushi is now considered worthy enough to be the main entree in most Miami restaurants. Diners clamor and languish over the dish as they perceive it to be the food of sophistication and cosmopolitan lifestyle. Restaurateurs are happy to satiate their customers hunger for sushi but for a high price.

The ubiquitous commercialized sushi bar and hot-spot dish up these mini-meals from cheap fillets and vegetables that were on sale at the grocers this past week. "But if the ingredients are cheap then why the high price?" I asked myself.

I surmised that greed is probably the primary answer to this question. Restaurant owners know they can hike up the prices for that "tuna sushi tartar" or "6-piece tempura roll" because their clamoring customers don't know any better. This makes me sad because I use to be the victim of these scams. Sushi is an indulgence but, it doesn't have hurt your wallet like one. With this in mind, I decided to make my own sushi and examine it's true worth.

Together, my Mom and I drew up a list of ingredients. We dashed to the grocery store spent about $12 and zipped back home to start cooking. After unsurfacing a sushi making kit and recipe book I got for Christmas, I was ready to get down to work with my momma as my sous chef.

We worked as a team. I diligently julienned the cucumber and carrots while Momma cleaned and deboned the fish. Once the prep was complete, we ventured in making the rice. Unlike normal white rice, sushi rice is quite volatile. We had to move fast to remove the pot from the stove and drizzle vinegar over the rice in order to obtain that perfect consistency of stickiness. After that mayhem, things got a lot easier and fun. Out came the sheets of glossy seaweed paper to which I smashed a layer of white sticky rice, delicately laid the slivered vegetables and the cuts of fish upon. I rolled the paper up into a little log shape and cut it. It looked pretty good for homemade. I was impressed. So far the price was right for the quantity of sushi yielded and it passed the aesthetics test, but I knew the moment of truth laid in the taste.

I grabbed one of the little suckers and popped it in my mouth. It was DELICIOUS. The sushi tasted so fresh, unlike the ones I was mushing on before.

While it took some time to make and prepare, the quality and quantity exceeds the stuff out there on most menus. An additional plus was the ability to see all the work and effort into making an edible work of art.

Enough!

Despite all 3 of my high school English teachers reprimanding me for use of one word sentences, I can’t possibly imagine a better compilation of letters to aptly express my frustration.

The name’s Beth. Editor-in-Chief of the school newspaper, highlights, Cross-Country runner, Badminton player, Key Club President, and the list goes on. This is not an attempt to gloat or flaunt “I’m-involved-in-so-many-more-activities-than-you” like some of my fellow peers, but rather to let you swim in my stream of consciousness for a second.

A few moments ago, perplexed, I questioned myself “How the heck do I describe myself?” Like word vomit, the slew of accolades and other garbage I put on my resume poured from my lips. Don’t get me wrong, I love my involvement in these activities, but sometimes I feel I’ve pushed aside something that I’ve always loved.

Food.

Have no fear my friend, I do eat. What I really mean is all things food. Dishing up new creations, exploring unknown and obscure foods, and documenting the experiences with my quill and scroll all get my blood pumping.

Food is integral for all people to live, however, for me, it maintains a whole other level of respect.

I recently traveled to Puerto Rico, land of sand, sun, and lizards. While there, I sampled all the traditional plates and desserts they offered. The foods were rich, filling, and all laced with tangy and fiery spices. No meal was forgettable. I was baffled why I had never tasted Puerto Rican cuisine at home; after all I do live in Miami. Had my busy schedule turn me into a passive foodie, letting me chew on the mediocrity and monotony for months? Because, boy was I missing out! Now home, I say enough!

This is a blog where I vividly document “all things food”. This is a blog where I post all my meets, treats, and food defeats in the kitchen. This is a blog where I serve up a little food and thought.