In Loving Memory

 On January 14th, 2011 the world lost an amazing woman. My mother-in-law Michele, was a friendly, funny, warm and loving person. She was the kind-of mother-in-law every woman hopes for. She welcomed me right into the family and told me she would always be there for us, but would never butt in. She often told me she wanted to be the kind of mother-in-law to me that her mother-in-law had always been to her.  Michele and I had a lot in common and I will miss her dearly.
Even though I only knew Michele for 4 years, we made some really good memories together. One of my favorite memories was a night shortly after Ryan and I got engaged we went to visit his parents. I had called Michele and asked to see some baby pictures of Ryan and when we got to the house she had pulled out two huge bins of pictures and two bottles of wine. We laughed and cried and managed to get through both bins of pictures and both bottles of wine that night! 
At our wedding shower, Michele gave us a gift that I will always cherish. She spent 8 months creating a family cookbook she called "Shannon Secrets to Good Eating". She gathered her favorite recipes from family and friends, organized them, and put them all in a book for us. In memory of her, I have listed a couple recipes from the cookbook that I like the most. These recipes will always have a special place in my heart.

Gazpacho Soup
This past summer, Ryan, Michele and myself went to a Dave Matthews concert. It was the middle of summer and of course, we wanted to tailgate all afternoon. It was scorching hot outside and Michele offered to make this soup instead of us doing the usual grilling. She made this gazpacho and it was so delicious and refreshing. I love gazpacho and every time I eat it I will be reminded of the fun memories we made tailgating and going to the concert that day.
- 4 large tomatoes chopped
- 1 onion minced
- 6 pitted olives
- 1 cup low sodium tomato or V8 juice
- 1 cucumber chopped
- 1 green pepper seeded and diced
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- salt & pepper
Mix all together and season with extra salt & pepper to taste. Chill several hours and mixture will thicken. Spoon into bowls and garnish with extra olives if desired.


Sour Cream Chicken
This was one of the first meals Ryan ever made for me and one of the first meals Michele taught Ryan how to make. It's a delicious meal that is easy to prepare. I hope to pass it along to my own kids someday.
- Chicken breast (enough for everyone eating)
- White mushrooms, sliced
- 1 can cream of mushroom
- enough cooking sherry to fill up half the empty cream of mushroom can
- 1 large container sour cream
- paprika
Place chicken in shallow cooking dish. Mix all ingredients and pour over chicken. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour (or until chicken is cooked through). Ryan always served this to me with a side of angel hair and peas.

Michele's addictive, to die for dessert
 When Michele made this dessert for me she warned me that it was completely unhealthy, absolutely addictive and ridiculously good. I had no idea how difficult it would be to stop eating it! It is such an indulgent blend of salty and sweet. Her, Ryan and I finished almost a whole batch of this in one day! If you make this, be sure to pace yourself!
- sleeve or two of saltines
- 2 sticks butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- cup or so of white chocolate morsels
- toasted almond slices
Place a layer of saltines on the bottom of a cookie sheet. Melt the butter and sugar until it starts to brown. Add the white chocolate morsels and melt. Pour over the saltines and top with toasted almonds. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Refrigerate for an hour or two. Break into pieces (like peanut brittle) and try not to inhale immediately.


These are only a few of about 50 recipes in this cookbook.When I decided to write this blog, I knew it would be hard. I wanted to do it though to honor her memory and I have to say, going through these recipes and asking my husband about them has brought about some great family stories and funny memories. The hardest part was reading the letter she wrote to us at the beginning of the cookbook. I have inserted a picture of this letter below.

Our family will never be the same without Michele. We will always miss her and wish we had been given more time with her. I am grateful for the relationship I had with her and the memories we made. I am so glad to have this gift from her as it is a great reminder that her spirit is always with our family.

Taco truck Takos

This past summer, we discovered the most awesome farmer's market about a mile away from our house. Every Saturday morning, we would get up, put the dog on the leash and walk to the market. We would load up on fresh berries, veggies, homemade pastas, jams, gelato, soaps and meats. One of the greatest parts of this weekly trip was the last stop at the taco truck. The taco truck would park on the edge of the market where we would place our orders and wait impatiently in the shade for the amazing tacos we were about to eat. Now these are not your average taco bell style tacos. They offer pork, chicken, beef and tofu tacos made American, Asian or Mexican style. You can also get fish tacos, duck egg tacos, pork belly tacos among other amazing creations. With all these great choices, I found I liked the pork or chicken Mexican tacos the best. In fact we liked them so much, our good friend Trey figured out how to replicate these tacos at home. While they are not exactly the same as the tacos fresh off the truck, they are still a delicious reminder of our Saturday market breakfasts!

Taco Truck Takos  (for best results, a crock pot will be needed)
- Pork tenderloin (or chicken breasts)
- 1 corona (or other similar beer)
- small chopped onion
- 2 limes
- purple cabbage, chopped
- Hot sauce
- sour cream
- Chipotle peppers in adobe sauce (can be found at most grocery stores)
- small corn tortilla's 
Start by placing your pork or chicken in the crockpot with the onions, beer and juice from one lime. Let this cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours until it is very tender. Next, marinate your cabbage in the juice from one lime and hot sauce to taste (depending on how hot it is, a tablespoon should be good). Put a couple chipotle peppers into a small food processser with a cup of sour cream and blend (Add more peppers for a spicier, smokier flavor). Wrap the tortillas in foil and heat in the oven for about 10 minutes. To assemble your taco, top a corn tortilla with meat, sour cream chipotle sauce and cabbage. You can serve these with a side of rice and beans and corona, dos equis or budlight lime.

 Happy Eating!

Summer meals on winter nights

I have always been a summer girl. I try my hardest not to complain, but there is really nothing positive I can say about cold weather. Sure the holidays are great and snow can be fun, but I would take 85 degree days all year long if I could.
When it starts to get really cold outside (I mean so miserable-your-nose-freezes-on-your-face cold) I like to occasionally cook summer meals to remind me of my beloved warmer months. I have been trying to focus on cooking with ingredients that are currently in season, but sometimes I just need to be reminded that summer is not far away. The two recipes I have listed below are colorful, cheery and the smells of the ingredients always remind me of sunny summer days.

Island Chicken
- Chicken breasts (enough to feed everyone you will be feeding ;-)
- red bell pepper
- orange bell pepper (or green or yellow)
- jerk seasoning (any kind will work, if you don't have this seasoning, you can also use paprika)
- can of organic pineapple chunks
- avocado chopped up
- cooked rice (I think basmati goes well with this recipe, but brown rice is a healthier alternative)
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Start cooking rice in rice cooker (or stove top according to directions). Cover both sides of chicken breast with seasoning and lay in the bottom of a baking dish. Chop up the bell peppers and throw in the pan. Open the pineapple and drain about 2/3 of the pineapple juice. Pour the pineapple chunks and juice over the chicken and peppers. Put in the oven for about 20 minutes. Pull from the oven and flip the chicken over. Cook for an additional 15-20 minutes (or until chicken is cooked through). Serve chicken, vegetables and pineapple over rice. Top with avocado.
This meal is soooo good and very healthy. The chicken provides lean protein and iron, the avocado provides a good dose of healthy fats, the peppers are full of antioxidants and the rice is a good source of whole grains. Once you try this, I bet it will become a regular in your household!

Halibut taco's with mango salsa
- halibut fillets (enough to feed everyone - about 1 fillet per person)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- about a tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- salt
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 ripe mango, peeled, seeded and chopped
- 1/2 a red bell pepper, chopped
- 1/2 a jalepeno, chopped (cut this last! They can burn and get all over everything...)
- a bunch chopped cilantro
- soft corn tortillas
- shredded lettuce (or cabbage)
Start by preheating your broiler. Coat your broiling pan with cooking spray. In a bowl combine the fish with the oil, garlic, cumin, salt and 1 tablespoon lime juice. Let stand 15 minutes.
In another bowl combine the mango, bell pepper, jalapeno, cilantro and the rest of the lime juice.
Wrap tortillas in foil. Remove fish from marinade and place on broiler pan. Broil until opaque - 3 to 6 minutes. Place the tortilla's in the oven for about a minute or two. Flake the fish. Top each tortilla with lettuce, fish and salsa.

Most people who are not familiar with fish taco's think they sound strange. But I assure you they are so good and tasty! Halibut is a fatty fish with a great dose of omega-3 fatty acids. Mango has a ton of beta-carotene and the red peppers have plenty of antioxidants. It is also low calorie and high flavor!

Both of these recipes are light, very healthy and they remind me so much of summer. It may be harder to get the ingredients this time of year, but it will be more than worth it!

Happy Eating!

Elegant Vegetarian Entrees

The more experience I get in the kitchen, the more I realize that the most elegant creations have the most simple ingredients. The old cliche' "less is more" holds true here. It's all about showcasing and matching delicious, high-quality ingredients and really appreciating the flavors. I have a couple of vegetarian entrees listed below that do just this. Delicious, uncomplicated ingredients that allow you to really appreciate the elegant flavors of the meals.

Polenta with roasted Tomato, Garlic and Basil sauce
- roll of organic prepared polenta (I used this to save time, but if you have some time here is a recipe for preparing the polenta yourself. It's pretty easy and really good!)
- about a pound of cherry tomatoes
- 3 garlic cloves
- couple handfuls of fresh basil
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil for pan frying
- Gorgonzola cheese (for sprinkling)
* peel the garlic cloves and slice in half. Place them on a roasting pan with the tomatoes and roast for about 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees. Pull from the oven and allow to cool. Next, slice the polenta into rounds and heat the other tablespoon oil in a pan. Gently pan fry the polenta rounds until they are crispy on the outsides (Note: you can also grill the polenta for a slightly different texture). Put the roasted tomatoes and garlic in a food processor with the basil. Gently pulse until the mixture forms a sauce. Heat the sauce on the stove and stir in salt and pepper to taste. To serve top each polenta round with sauce and Gorgonzola cheese.

This was so delish! We ate this with a side of roasted rosemary asparagus. As far as wine goes, I would pair this with a Chianti or maybe a Pinot Noir.

Pumpkin dumplings with Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup pumpkin (I used organic canned pumpkin but you can also use fresh if you have it)
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- about a half teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup flour (use whole wheat for a healthier option)
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Whisk together the pumpkin, egg, salt, nutmeg and baking powder in a large bowl. Slowly mix in the flour to form a soft dough. Boil a large pot of water and add a bit of salt. Carefully scoop and drop a teaspoon of the dough at a time into the boiling water until all the dough is used. Allow the dumplings to boil for 10-12 minutes and then strain in a colander. In a large skillet melt the butter and sautee the dumplings for 7-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve hot. You could eat these with roasted butternut squash or steamed broccoli.
I would also recommend pairing this recipe with a light sparkling white wine. I think Prosecco would be a nice accompaniment. I do not have a picture of this meal (I really need a new camera!) but it doesn't matter what it looks like as long as it tastes good!

Both of these recipes are pretty easy and do not take much time to make. They are filling and provide healthier alternatives to eating a large meat entree. Remember, you don't need elaborate complicated ingredients and techniques to make elegant meals!

Happy Eating!