Tex Mex Pinwheels

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Yum!!!  This is an appetizer that I always get asked for the recipe for!  And now I can just point to this blog post like yep here's my blog and here's the recipe.  I love bite-sized food.  And food with cheese in it.  And food that is Mexican.  And come to think of it, food that is a pinwheel.  So this appy definitely fits the bill.  The recipe comes from the Best of Bridge, like approximately 95% of the food we eat in our house does.

I most recently made these pinwheels for my aunt's 65th birthday party, and they were gobbled up in no time.  You can use whatever flavour of flour tortilla that you like, and it will change the look of the pinwheels...maybe for Christmas you use sundried tomato flavoured (red), or maybe for Halloween you use cheese flavoured (orange), or maybe for Earth Day you use spinach flavoured (green)...I don't know, get crazy with it!  I used whole wheat ... boring!

Anyway, this is an easy to make, delicious appetizer.  Very bite-sized, very cheesy, very Tex Mexican, and very pinwheely...but not pinwheely in a 'boring cold ham and cheese pinwheel that comes on a sandwich platter' kind of way.  Pinwheely in a hot, tasty little morsel kind of way.  Why not try it out next time you need to bring an appetizer to a potluck...they will go fast!

Little Man Update!  He is growing up so quickly - he's now 8.5 months old and saying a few words:  Dada, Hiiiii, Baba, and...melt my heart...Mama.  He barrel rolls around the living room,  laughs hysterically if you kiss his tummy, and loves the outdoors.  He's developing more and more of a personality every day, and we are loving getting to know him.

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Plum Cake
Two Years Ago:  Easy Refried Bean Soup
Three Years Ago:  Healthy Southwest Chicken and Rice Bake
Four Years Ago:  Peas with Shallots and Pancetta


Tex Mex Pinwheels

Ingredients

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 4 oz. can green chilies, drained
• 1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 - 6 flour tortillas

Directions
Blend together cream cheese and mayonnaise.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.  Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.  Spread cream cheese mixture over each tortilla and roll up tightly, trimming the ends (and eating them!).  Refrigerate until firm.  Slice and place pinwheels flat onto the baking sheet.  Broil until lightly golden.

Recipe Source:    Best of Bridge - Best of the Best and More (Pasadena Pinwheels)

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

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This is a recipe that I have been wanting to try for so long!  And it was actually really good - unusual, but good.  The Hubby is not a huge cauliflower fan, and even he really enjoyed it.  In terms of a carb-free pizza option, it's delicious, but you have to keep an open mind.  This is not going to taste like your standard pizza crust - it's cauliflower, so it's going to taste a little bit like, well, cauliflower.  But, the crust is loaded with cheese so it also tastes quite a lot like delicious cheese.  Also, the crust isn't going to get quite as crisp as your standard pizza crust, but it does get pretty close (if you follow my instructions well).  All in all, this is a great alternative to regular pizza, but it's not the real thing.  Have I sold you on it?  No, probably not!  But all that said, it was delicious and I would definitely make it again!

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Plum Cake
Two Years Ago:  Refried Bean Soup
Three Years Ago:  Amy's Copycat Lentil Soup Recipe
Four Years Ago:  Butternut Squash Soup with Cumin

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower, leaves and hard core removed and discarded
• 1 egg
• 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F.  Cut cauliflower into florets and blitz in a food processor until very fine but not pureed.  You will likely need to do this in a few batches.  Place cauliflower into a medium bowl and microwave uncovered for 5 minutes.  Remove from microwave and transfer to cheesecloth to remove water by squeezing and draining.  This is a very important step so as to have a more crispy pizza crust.  When I drained my cauliflower I estimate that I was able to train about 2 cups of water, so when you think you have drained enough, keep squeezing out the water for a little longer.

Return the drained cauliflower to a bowl, where it will look something like this:



Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Add the egg, cheese, oregano, salt and pepper to the bowl of cauliflower and combine well, using your hands.  Separate 'dough' into two balls and place one ball on each of the two baking sheets.  Flatten the 'dough' with your hands until it is in the shape of a round pizza crust.  Pop into the oven and bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until crisp around the edges and no longer soft in the middle.  Remove from oven, add your choice of pizza toppings, then bake for an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

Recipe Source:  Ditch The Carbs - Cauliflower Pizza

Halloween 7-Layer Dip

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Happy Halloween!

I'm a mom now, which, my friend Kristy told to me, means that I officially need to start making theme food on Halloween.  We were both invited to a Halloween get-together at our friend Jenn's house for the mamas and babies in our mama/baby group.  To Pinterest we went.  Kristy decided on carving two pumpkins into red and white wine dispensers, and I went with this spoooooky seven-layer dip.  I think it's safe to say that Kristy won Halloween.

It was total cuteness overload with ten babies under ten months old in Halloween costumes.  A scuba diver, a strawberry, a skunk, an elephant, Cookie Monster, Batman, an owl, a panda, and a couple of monkeys, including the Little Man (who has had to do about two costume changes a day for the past couple of days to fit in all of the cute costumes he has!  He's turning into a panda tonight).

The cutest little monkey in town

Plus - daytime wine!

This 7-Layer Dip is basically your regular old 7-layer dip recipe, but instead of sprinkling the tomatoes, cheese, olives, and green onions on top, you kind of sprinkle them only around the edge of the dish, leaving room to draw the spider web in the middle.  It was fun to make and delicious to eat.

Happy Halloween!

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Parsnip and Carrot Puree
Two Years Ago:  Easy Refried Bean Soup
Three Years Ago:  Kendra's Italian Sausage and Cheese Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers
Four Years Ago:  Bacon Night!


Halloween 7-Layer Dip

Ingredients

• 1 can (398 mL / 13.5 oz) refried beans
• 1 3/4 cup sour cream, divided
• 1 package (35 grams / 1.25 oz) taco seasoning
• 2 - 3 medium avocados (or 4 small avocados)
• 1/4 cup salsa
• Juice from 1 lime
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese 
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 cup sliced black olives
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 2 plastic spiders!!!  
• 1 bag of tortilla chips, for serving

Directions
In a large circular serving dish, spread refried beans.  In a small bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups of sour cream and taco seasoning, then spread on top of refried beans.  In a small bowl, mash the avocados with the salsa and lime juice until consistency is that of guacamole, then spread on top of sour cream mixture.  Sprinkle cheese around the outer rim of the serving dish in a circular pattern.  Repeat with tomatoes, olives, and green onions.  Pipe remaining 1/4 cup of sour cream on top of the guacamole mixture in the design of a spider web (I did this by drawing a straight line down the middle, then crossing three more lines through in a star shape, then drawing three circles to connect the lines.  I used a plastic sandwich bag with the corner cut off to help me pipe a clean line.).  Top with plastic spiders and serve with tortilla chips.

Happy Halloween!

The Hubby's Smoked Salmon

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The Hubby's first blog recipe, and of course it's one for the BBQ.  My apologies to my Canadian readers who don't live on the west coast, but out here it's barbeque season all year long baby!

Hubs has made this to-die-for smoked salmon for New Years Eve every year for the past two years (so, twice), since his parents bought him the smokebox accessory for our Weber BBQ.  He stresses and fusses and toils over it as though it were his baby.

"It's getting too smoked!"
"I think this will be my best smoked salmon attempt yet!"
"This is going to be a total fail!"
"It's not getting enough smoke!"
"I think the smoke level is good now!"*

*he has just informed me that he has never actually said this last one.

The BBQ smoking away!

In the end it's always perfect.

This year he made a double-batch because I accidentally bought double the amount of salmon that I was supposed to.  That works just fine for me because now we will have super flavourful smoked salmon in our freezer for a quick appy.  Speaking of quick appy, this one takes over a day to prepare in its entirety, so make sure to plan ahead.  You will need some hardwood chips to smoke the salmon.  The Hubby's preference is hickory.

We choose to serve it with bagel chips, cream cheese, and capers.  This is a crowd pleaser and he always gets rave reviews!



For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Turkey Meatballs in Coconut Curry Sauce
Two Years Ago:  Curried Chicken and Rice Soup
Three Years Ago:  Caesar Salad

The Hubby's Smoked Salmon

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup Kosher salt
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large salmon fillets or sides, pin bones removed

Directions
To prepare the rub, mix together the salt, brown sugar, white sugar, and pepper in a medium bowl.  Spread a piece of extra-wide aluminum foil a little longer than the length of the salmon along the counter, then top with an equally-long layer of plastic wrap.  Sprinkle 1/3 of the rub onto the plastic.  Lay one side of the fish skin down onto the rub, then sprinkle 1/3 of the rub onto the flesh of the salmon.  Place your second piece of salmon flesh-down onto the first piece of salmon.  Use the remaining rub to cover the skin on top of the second piece.  Fold the plastic over the salmon to cover it completely, then close the edges of the foil together and seal tightly around the salmon.

Place the wrapped fish onto a rimmed baking sheet, and top with another baking sheet.  The rimmed edges are important because lots of juice (salmon juice??) leaks out during the marination process, and you need something that will collect the run-off.  Weigh down with something heavy, such as a phone book, heavy cookbook, or a brick.  Refrigerate for 12 hours.  Flip over the salmon, then refrigerate again for another 12 hours.

Unwrap the salmon and rinse well with cold water to wash off the rub.  Pat the salmon dry with paper towels, then place in a cool place (not the fridge) until the salmon is dry, about 1 - 3 hours.

Now you are ready to start smokin'!!!  Set your BBQ's smokebox attachment or a smoker to between 150 - 160 degrees F, and start smoking your fish over hardwood chips such as hickory.  Keep smoking away until the thickest part of the fish registers at 150 degrees F.  After that, you can serve right away (or chill and serve), or keep it for later in the fridge for up to 3 days.   We choose to serve with cream cheese, capers, and bagel chips.



Recipe Source:  Alton Brown's Good Eats - Where There's Smoke There's Fish!

Mini Peppers Stuffed With Goat Cheese and Asparagus

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Hurry and make this, while asparagus is still cheap in the stores!

I needed a healthy appetizer for when my sister-in-laws came over for some wine the other night.  I had a bag of mini bell peppers, a bunch of asparagus, and some goat cheese in the fridge, and this appetizer came to life.  Besides those three ingredients, the only other things you need are some olive oil, red pepper flakes, and garlic.  Although simple in terms of the number of ingredients, these healthy bites pack some delicious flavour.  And those mini peppers are just so cute.

My sister-in-laws and I gobbled down an entire platter of these mini peppers...they are so worth the asparagus pee!  But actually, in addition to eating too much food and drinking too much wine, the whole point of getting together that evening was to have an occasion to put on our wedding dresses one last time.  We pre-planned to meet at my place and throw the old gowns on for the night, because why spend so much money to just get to wear them once, right?!  I had never dry-cleaned mine after the wedding, so it still had McDonalds ketchup on it from the drive-thru on the way home from my wedding.  My sister-in-law Caitlin had mustard on hers for a similar reason, so there was no judgement.  The dresses didn't stay on too long, on account of then being extremely uncomfortable, but we had fun!

Classic Spinach Dip in Bread Bowl

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People have asked me why I don't have a spinach dip recipe on my blog.  Well, it's because I use the same spinach dip recipe that you probably already have the recipe for.  It's the one that your mom uses, or you ate at that baby shower last week, or that you bought in the deli section of the grocery store the other day.  This guy...

It's the recipe almost straight from the Knorr website, which you can link to here.  Dead easy, and always devoured quickly.  Why mess with a good thing, right!

I have a question though...how do you say 'Knorr?'  I usually say it with the 'K,' but always feel weird about doing so, and even weirder when my friend straight up laughed at how I said it the other day.  It's a German company, so I had always assumed that that K should be used.  I also seem to remember from television commercials as a kid that the K was used, but logically it seems wrong, like it would to use the K in the words Knife or Knight.  In any event, since I'm in my 30's now and set in my ways, I will probably go on pronouncing it with the K because I fear change.

Update:  No wonder everyone is I am puzzled!  This is another Canadian / American word difference thing.  In Canada, we use the 'K,' and in the United States you don't.  I live an hour from the US border, so these types of confusing word situations come up a lot.  So, 'K'-Norr it is for me for now and forever more then!

Kendra's Pickled Asparagus, Prosciutto, and Cream Cheese Appetizer

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What could be easier, but look so gourmet?

 

You may have thought that with her Italian Sausage Jalapeno Poppers she was a one-trick pony, but this is another great appetizer from my friend Kendra.

The recipe is simple too, with just three ingredients and no chopping, mixing, heating, baking, or cooking, making it the perfect last minute appetizer when you need to throw together something in a hurry.  Or, even when you have time to fuss, because basically for me, anything with cheese in it is always good.  I've used the Sunshine Farms brand of store-bought pickled asparagus for this recipe, which can be found near the pickles and olives in your supermarket.  I can't wait to try making this appy again once I have canned some homemade pickled asparagus this spring, hopefully without risk of botulism this time.  

Kendra's Italian Sausage and Cheese Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers

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It's amazing how many times you can forget not to touch your eyes after handling jalapeños.  For me, like 12 times probably.

 

Which is enough to make me wonder for a moment whether I have short term memory loss or whether maybe I am just a really slow learner.  Kendra's public service announcement is that you may want to use disposable gloves for this recipe (especially if you wear contact lenses) to protect your eyes and skin from the spicy jalapeños.  Or like me, you can just...not...

Who is Kendra, creator of Jalapeno Poppers, you ask?  Well, Kendra and I have been friends for ten years now, she was one of my bridesmaids, and she's one of my besties.

Kenji and me.

We met while working together at Milestone's Restaurant back in the early 2000's, most likely while commiserating over waiting for 'campers' (restaurant guests who linger even after the restaurant is closed, for no apparent reason, and don't take a hint to leave even after the ugly lights have come on and two waitresses are staring them down awkwardly from the other side of the restaurant) to finally go home so that we could do the same (or - let's be honest since we were 20 years old and worked in a restaurant - go to the bar).

Jill's Fresh Cut Mango Salsa

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Every year The Hubby and I go to our friend Jill's family's cabin for a weekend at the lake, and every year I request that Jill make her mango salsa while we're there.  And every year she does.  And this is it.

 

And this is her making the salsa.

Heirloom Tomato Caesar Salad with Parmesan-Bacon Crisps

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Have you noticed that Heirloom Tomatoes are starting to 'crop up' everywhere these days?

Well, not everywhere as in at the gas station or library, but almost every produce store and supermarket seems to carry these beautiful fruits at a reasonable price, whereas in the past they seemed like something you would have to seek out at Whole Foods.  They come in all colours of the stoplight rainbow - bright yellow, striped red, lime green - and look absolutely mouth-wateringly beautiful in a salad.  The coolest thing about them is that all of the various types are so different from one another in terms of acidity, texture, sweetness, crunchiness, and of course, attractiveness, which makes a salad like this one so interesting.

Watermelon Salad with Feta and Fresh Mint

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I'm back baby! (said me, not the watermelon salad)

I know, I know -  I should have called, I should have written.  But it's rare that we get a summer this outstanding where I live, and so I let myself downward spiral away from this blog and cartwheel (imaginary cartwheel because I never learned how to do a real one) towards BBQs, beer, golf, friends, family, weekend trips, backyard parties, important celebrations, one very productive closet overhaul where I offloaded four garbage bags of old clothes, and one extremely shockingly productive weekend gardening-o-rama where The Hubby, my mom, and I did all of the sprucing up to my house's back and front yard that we have been meaning to do since we moved in four years ago.  Please excuse my run-on sentence, but that was a lot of stuff.

Goat Cheese Pesto Dip

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I found this recipe on Pinterest, and it immediately caught my eye because of the words 'goat' and 'cheese' used in succession.

 

Goat cheese is one of those foods that if I see it on a restaurant menu, then I have to have it.  It doesn't matter what it is served in or on or with, I'm getting it.  I love it.  I ate goat cheese last night in fact.  So, when I saw this recipe I knew that I had to try it and its delicious, simple, fast combination of goat cheese, cream cheese, and homemade pesto sauce.  You can serve it with bread, crackers, or vegetables, or even with just the old '1, 2, straight to your mouth with a spoon' technique (not that I did that more than like 4 or 7 times).  This would also be really good spread onto a chicken sandwich, or toasted open-faced on bread and served with pasta.

White Wine Sangria Jello Jigglers

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Remember Jello Jigglers?  These are the even more fun version.

Why didn't I think of this before?  I love Jell-O Shooters.  I love Wine.  Why not make Wine Jello Shooters, or even better...White Wine Sangria Jello Jigglers?

Lemongrass and Chili Beef in Cucumber Cups

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Refreshing and delicious.

 

My brother and his girlfriend are on the caveman/paleo diet.  And at their house for dinner last Sunday night, so were we.  And, wow, was it ever an amazing dinner.  I didn't know that cavemen ate cayenne pepper infused chocolate cake (so good - I will post the recipe once I get it) or sweet potato soufflé with roast beef, or dairy-free spinach and artichoke dip made with cashew cream instead of milk.

My Granny's Sweet & Sour Meatballs

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This one reminds me of my childhood.  

 

I've been waiting to post this recipe for a long, long time.  Sorry to my brother, who has been waiting to get it from me.  But see, we got a new computer, and the pictures were on the old computer.  And so, it would have required me to plug in the old computer to get a charge going, and then upload the photos from there.  Which would have taken like five minutes or maybe even a little bit more than five minutes.  So, it's understandable.

Growing up, my grandparents lived in Victoria, but as my brother and I got a little bit older, my Granny and Grandpa moved to a home about seven minutes away from our house.  My dad was their only child, and thus my brother and I were their only grandchildren, so we were a tad spoiled by them.  Actually, no, not spoiled, just loved.  A lot.  It was a nice feeling to have my grandparents at things like my softball games or piano recitals, or at my brother's lacrosse games.  We felt like we were their entire world.    

Bacon Night!

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Friday night was intense.  Saturday I had a major bacon hangover.  Sunday I ate more bacon.

Here's the line-up from our bacon-themed Supper Club night.  And yes, even the dessert had to contain bacon:

• Bacon-infused vodka Caesars with bacon stir sticks and all of the other necessary Caesar accoutrement
• 
• Bacon and caramelized onion dip with veggies and tortilla chips
• 
• Spinach salad with bacon
• 
• Boursin and bacon stuffed chicken wrapped in prosciutto
• 
• Bacon hasselback potatoes
• 
• Brussels sprouts with bacon, garlic, and shallots
• 
• Gluten-free bacon brownies topped with chocolate sauce, walnuts, and vanilla ice cream.
• not pictured here because by this point it was wayyyy too late to care about taking pictures.    You can actually see the deterioration of the pictures as the night goes on in the series above.

Holy crap it was good.  I love Supper Club.

Caprese Salad On A Stick

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I know summer is over, but . . . this:

 

Some might say that I maybe got a little bit obsessed with Caprese Salad this year, perhaps because of this and then this.  

Those people would be right.  I've moved past the denial stage.

But how can you blame me for wanting to post about the same three ingredients again and again:  crisp tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil leaves.  This may just be the best flavour profile to have ever existed, and I ate it again and again and again this summer.  

So, I know that summer has come to an end and now it's time that I officially go into soup, casserole, and stew mode for the dreary fall and winter months (not that I'm complaining...I love those foods too!).  This year it does kind of feel like an endless summer, at least in the place where I live.  The sun keeps on shining, and the rain hasn't yet arrived.  The Hubby and I are leaving for the weekend soon to head to Kamloops, B.C., for his brother's wedding.  I am a bridesmaid and he is a groomsman, and all of his family and most of our friends will be in attendance, so it's sure to be a really fun time.  The bonus is that when I come home I will have a new sister!  

Goat Cheese Pesto Torte

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So, this is a keeper recipe.

Every time I have made this spread I get asked for the recipe at least a handful of times, and you will too.  It's very easy to throw together quickly, and it's a make-ahead dish, so you can impress your friends and still have time to paint your nails (or whatever guys do, such as watch an old episode of Mr. Bean.  Which is totally not at all what The Hubby is doing right now as I type this, in his boxers on the couch.  Not at all).


I brought this dish to a bridal shower (a bridal shower with gluten-free cupcakes!) a couple of weeks ago, but cut the recipe into two halves, one with the sundried tomatoes and one without.  The bride, my future sister-in-law, doesn't like tomatoes, sundried or otherwise.  It was a hit, so I made it again for a birthday dinner, and again for a baby shower that I threw for my best friend.  Phew!  That's a total of four times in about 10 days.  You should make this too!  It's very very good on sliced baguette or crackers (gluten-free crackers if you're me).

Easy Caprese Salad

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My mouth is watering from looking at these pictures.  Five ingredients.  Taste perfection.

Fresh juicy tomatoes, crisp fresh basil, chewy fresh mozzarella, all sliced and topped with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  Fresh, fresh, fresh.

When I was in Italy earlier this year, The Hubby and I ate Caprese Salad every day.  I loved Caprese Salad so much there that it hurt (my waistline, but what else is new).  Arriving back in Canada, I worried that when I made it at home it wouldn't be the same.  But it was.  Thanks to the two-pack containers of fresh mozzarella at Costco for less than $10, I can make amazing Caprese Salads at home that taste just like someone's mama used to make me back in Italy.

Greek Yogurt Tzatziki

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Yeeeeeesssssssssahhhh I love tzatziki.

I have made tzatziki a few times in the past, and my attempts have been so-so, but I think that I have now finally discovered the best tzatziki recipe known to man.  It's sooooo good, and really easy too!  I found this recipe on Food.com, and made it as an accompaniment to my spanakopitas for a recent Greek-themed Supper Club night.

It's seriously a must-try recipe!  Do it!