Grillin' Out

My husband is the Grill Master.  Everything he cooks on the grill tastes better than whatever I cooked in the kitchen -- he knows how to get er done!  

Another part of the reason it tastes so wonderful might also be because it meant he was helping me cook and everything is better when we are doing it together!

This past weekend we decided to use a new contraption we had picked up at the store and try our hand at grilling corn-on-the-cob. 

You peel back the husks, remove the silk, and slather the corn with butter and seasoning. 

Pesto for the Girl           Creole for the Boy

Into the corn-holder they went and we slid them onto the grill.

Waiting....Waiting.....

It smelled so good....

And 25 minutes later. . .
the finished product was bursting with juice & flavor!

This was our first attempt at grilling vegetables
but it's definitely something we want to do more of!
Do you have any recommendations?

Game Days

Games. 

Hubby and I pretty much never plays games at home, even though we have several sitting on the shelf.  Why?  Not sure.  We love to play them with my {our!} siblings but we just don't really think about doing it when it's only the two of us.

One evening we had a couple of my little sisters over and hubby broke out Yahtzee.

I'm not sure who ended up having more fun -- him or the girls! 

While all this fun was going on at the kitchen table, I was busy making milkshakes, each one with their special-orders of Oreos or Reeses, vanilla or strawberry.  It was great fun to watch them playing, that is until I stopped paying attention to the shake I was blending and sprayed myself, the floor, counter, and packages of candy with a healthy dose of blended ice cream.  Um, yeah.   There was definitely a reason my mom always made me clean up my own messes in the kitchen after I cooked....probably because they were always twice as big as when she cooked.   Maybe even three times bigger. 

But moving on. . .

I loved watching the girls giggle and laugh, shaking the dice and counting their points.  And when one of my little sisters beat da hubby?  Yeah, that was pretty funny too.  Some kids just have a knack for games, and she certainly is one of them.  Doesn't matter what it is, she's always on a winning-streak with something.  But then she giggles and blushes when we tease her, and is utterly adorable. 

The girls played with our bunny and then we took them to see a local musical.  Such a lovely evening...I love family nights! 

Do you have games nights at home?

Longhi's

I know I've written about Longhi's a few times, our favorite restaurant in Maui.
Several months ago I purchased their cookbook off Amazon.com and recently tried my first recipe from there -- Lemon Zucchini Pasta. 

Oh me oh my. 

Creamed wine sauce.  Ohhhh yes. 

Eating this pasta takes you to a place where calories don't exist.

Are you drooling yet? 

Want to try making it yourself?  Go right ahead.  Make your tastebuds happy.  They will start singing with joy.  By the second bite, you will be in pasta-bliss. 

Lemon Zucchini Pasta

1 tablespoon salt
1 pound linguine
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
½ cup dry white wine
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons salted butter
2 small zucchini, julienned
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper


Fill a large stockpot with water and bring to a boil. Add salt, then drop the linguine into the boiling water. Cook until al dente, and drain.
 
While pasta is cooking, combine garlic, wine, and lemon juice and zest in a large sauté pan with high sides and reduce until 2 tablespoons remain, about 5 minutes. Add the cream and simmer for 1 minute.
 
In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the zucchini and sweat for 1 minute.
 
Add the cooked pasta to the cream mixture. Add the zucchini and toss. Season generously with salt and pepper.
 
***  I also included a grated carrot which I added in with the zucchini and some diced grilled chicken.  It was a complete meal all by itself and so good. ***

Happy cooking,

New Addition

Please welcome the new addition to our family:

GIZMO

Super Soft

 Hilariously Hyper

Astoundingly Adorable

Spectacularly Spastic

 Fantastically Friendly

We are so glad we decided to add

this fuzzy furball to our family!

the Cheetah

I love trying out new restaurants and feeling brave enough

 to order something that doesn't include french fries and chicken tenders.

Enter:  the Electric Cheetah

I was having dinner with a friend and since we didn't have our steak-loving men with us,

 we decided to enjoy some a little-less-meaty and a little-more-girly. 

Dinner was delicious! 

My friend had a French Dip with homemade potato chips:

and I had an Italian Admiral with Wild Mushroom soup:

Prosciutto, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, basil, black pepper, and fresh mozzarella.

Oh my.  And the soup?  Luscious.  So rich and flavorful with large chunks of fresh mushrooms.  I've been wanting more even since I finished!

The painted earthy-green walls had murals on them, and cool lights hung from the ceiling. 

This cafe uses as much locally grown food they can, a lot of natural and organic.

So good!  I'll definitely go back if I get the chance.

Have you tried anything new lately?

More Jam

You might remember when I made Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam a couple months back, and although I thought it was delicious, hubby was wishing it was just plain strawberry.  Soooo, the other night I gathered the energy (and necessary ingredients) and decided to whip up a couple batches of jam: Lemon-Blueberry and my man's favorite, Strawberry. 

Freezer jam is my favorite, as it is a breeze to make and I love seeing lots of homemade-goodness stacked up in the freezer, especially in the winter.  So I prepped my load of containers and set to work!

I decided to put half the blueberries in my food processor first to give the jam a little smoother consistency.  The rest of the berries I left whole, and they would cook down as it boiled.

I cooked the blueberries and sugar, and instead of adding regular pectin at the end, I added one package of lemon gelatin.  It added just a subtle taste of lemon and made it very refreshing.

I'm hoping to try a bit of this jam slathered on some homemade waffles or pancakes! 
The rich color would make for a beautiful presentation.

Next, I moved onto the Strawberry jam, and the sinful load of sugar that goes into it!  I even called my mom to make sure my recipe was right. 

Yep, lots of sugar.

I boiled, stirred and disolved, all to make this beautiful jellied goodness.

Ta-dah! 

Into the freezer it shall go! 

What's your favorite kind of jam / jelly?

Knights and Fair Maidens

Last weekend hubby & I went to a Renaissance Faire.

There were many interesting people there:

A Juggler & Fire-eater:

We drank soda:

Cream soda, which was absolutely delicious!

And we had a wonderful time.