Saturday, March 19, 2011

my simple dinner go to's


Latkas - grated potato pancakes I grate potatoes and onions and put the potatoes in ice water so they don't turn brown. Then I really ring them out and then mix with onions, flour, salt, pepper, and an egg. I never measure for this but I'll try to next time. I serve with apple sauce and sour cream. The only difficult thing is getting the oil the right temp so that they come out crispy and golden not soggy, raw in the middle, or burnt.

Salmon Fillet - I use frozen Alaskan salmon. I thaw it in the fridge over night then put it in an aluminum foil wrap with a pat of butter some fresh dill and a squirt of lemon juice. then I bake at 450 until flaky (careful not to over cook, dry overcooked fish is horrible!).

Roasted Asparagus - simple simple :) olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Back at 4oo!

Roasted mixed veggies - I like tomatoes, onions, summer squash and zucchini, potatoes etc same as above just omit lemon juice.

Rice - I am a picky rice eater lol. The only plain brown or white rice I like is Basmati. I hate short grain mushy rice! As a standard I cook it with chicken stock rather than water for flavor omitting extra salt and sometimes adding minced garlic and/or parsley/herbs. I use a 1 - 1.5 ration rice to liquid. I like wild rice as well. For fancier days I like to make saffron rice. I haven't found the perfect recipe yet I just really love saffron.

Hot water pie crust - I love this recipe! I use butter instead of shortening and it's a bit hard to work with but it always comes out light and flaky and delish.

Buttermilk pie - for when I have nothing else this a great simple custard pie with a little tang :)



More to come :)

Monday, March 7, 2011

Date Night Dinner #2





Gabe really likes beef and I saw some strip steak for not too much and picked it up. I decided to serve it with butter dill asparagus and dinner rolls.

Soft Dinner Rolls:


  • 4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F to 115 degrees F)
  • 2 cups warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F)
  • 6 tablespoons sofened butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 7 cups all-purpose flour

  1. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, butter, eggs, sugar, salt and 3 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
  2. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes (dough will be sticky). Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
  3. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into 24 pieces. Shape each into a roll. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks.


      For the steak a simple salt/pepper rub and pan sear (I never cook steaks in the oven they get tough) also I let them get to room temp before cooking.

      Asparagus simple saute and topped with a lemon dill butter. Usually I'd make my own herbed butter but I cheated and used Wegmans pre-made.

          Next Date night dinner will be vegetarian! Let's see if my hubby will eat it! I think I'll post one every other week.

            Sunday, March 6, 2011

            Finally a makeup post!


            So I was at Sephora this week and tested a few different products. YSL faux cil mascara which was nice but worth $30 a tube?!? I don't think so ! I also decided to go with brow tint over a pencil and am very happy so far. The Brow tint seems to be much more natural looking.

            My fav purchase of the day was Makeup Forever Invisible Cover Foundation! It has good medium coverage and it looks like I'm not wearing anything but just have perfect skin :) They have a good selection of colors and is a great foundation for Spring and Summer. It is a bit expensive at $40 but I like it better than even Mac.

            Here I am with a brown smokey eye, my new foundation, and nude Lip color by Sephora called Dolce Nude. Sorry for the quality it's just a cell phone pic.