Adventures & Chicken Tequila Fettucini

As it is with most things in my life, the time I spend in my kitchen always tends to be adventurous. Whether it ends up with toasters on fire, marinara on the ceiling or just looooots of empty wine bottles, I always have fun!

Monday night was no exception. Jodi and I needed to get together to order the invites for a shower we are cohosting and I just so happened to have all the ingredients needed to make chicken tequila fettucini on-hand. Perfect!

This recipe was what made me fall in love with cooking. I was a city girl living in Lubbock, Texas (aka nowhere NEAR California Pizza Kitchen where the recipe was created) and this was one of my favorite dishes. The realization that CPK had a cookbook + some stubborn determination led me to tackle this somewhat complicated recipe as my first real culinary feat. Nine years and countless attempts later, I think I finally have this sucker down. It is pretty much as close to the original as you can get. Ironically enough, even though I am back in Dallas, I rarely venture out of my kitchen to go to CPK when I am craving it.

So Monday night I decided to bust this recipe out. I'm not sure if it was the year and a half of heavy use, the fact that I had all four burners going at once, or a faulty product, but midway through meal prep my vent hood started making these horrible noises and stinking. I mean stinking.

Jodi and I were honestly afraid it was going to blow up, but since it comes on automatically we had no way of turning it off. So we turned the gas off, took a few steps back, and pulled out the fire extinguisher (thanks mom and dad!). It wasn't getting better so Jones made the executive decision to locate the breaker. We scouted the house, found the breaker and turned the kitchen off. Only problem- the burners wouldn't relight and dinner wasn't finished. So being the intelligent, girl-scout-problem-solving-ish girls that we are... we decided to flip the breaker back on, relight the gas burners, and then flip it back off and see if we could finish dinner that way. Sure enough, it worked!

Dinner, check! House not burning down, check!

If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times... Martha WHO???

To make a long story short: we survived, the house is still in tact, and dinner was delicious. Teensy tiny Jones even had seconds! (something I've rarely witnessed even though I'm told she rarely met a Budweiser she didn't like in college).

To get the deeeelicious Chicken Tequila Fettucini recipe click here.

And just for sh*ts and giggles since blog posts without pictures are like a fat kid without cake, a picture for you of Jones and I getting into trouble as usual (this time was in NYC if my memory serves me correctly):

Cheers!

Real Estate Apple Pie

For the whole story about the title, visit my personal blog, but I will give you the shortened version... My husband and I were recently approached by a local real estate agent to do a one-time showing and in the process of preparing the house, I purchased a bunch of apples. I already had Fuji apples, but they are not good for baking, so I bought several Granny Smith and Red Delicious apples because I wanted to have a variety of color. I suppose I should have called Jodi for advice, since she is the one with the experience in that department, but it was kind of a whirlwind. Anyway, a few days passed after the showing and we had eaten a few of the apples, but I needed to do something with them, so I decided to dust off my trusty apple pie recipe and add a twist. Usually, I use Granny Smith apples in my pies, but this time, I used three Granny Smith, three Red Delicious, and one Fuji apple. It may sound funny, but trust me, it was delicious.

Ingredients:
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into thin slices
3 Red Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and cut into thin slices
1 Fuji apple, peeled, cored, and cut into thin slices
1 T lemon juice
2 T flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. Pampered Chef Cinnamon Plus Spice Blend
1 Box Pillsbury Refrigerated 9-inch Pie Crust (2 crusts enclosed) at room temp
*If they can make it better than I can, there is no point in me killing myself to make it homemade!
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel, core, and slice apples into large mixing bowl. I tend to slice my apples thinner than most, but that just means more surface area for the sugar and spice mixture!

Once apples are all in bowl, top with lemon juice, sugar, flour, and spice blend.
Mix well, until apples are coated with sugar and spice mixture. You may need to perform a taste-test at this point, because the apples are so delicious.
Unroll your first pie crust (if you forgot to take it out of the fridge/freezer, you can always pop them in the microwave for a few seconds to make them unroll easier) and place into pie dish. Smooth on bottom, against sides, and make folds in crust where necessary. Once prepared, spoon apples into pie dish, leaving the remaining juice behind (or your pie juices may overflow into your oven). Level the apples and if too full, remove slices.
Unroll second pie crust and place over apples in pie dish. Fold the edges over and knead the two crusts together to form a seal along the edges. Once all edges are closed, use a fork to poke holes in the top of the crust and I always put an "A" in the center - for Apple, of course! You can also use your fork to press down the edges of the pie for a decorative edge, but I did not on this pie.
Using a pie-crust shield or tin foil, cover the outermost edges of the pie to protect them from burning. Bake pie at 375 degrees for 40 minutes, check pie. Bake 20 minutes longer. Allow pie to cool and enjoy!

Lemon-Butter Salmon

My husband is not only an avid hunter, but fisherman as well. Living in Eastern Oregon, we have access to many salmon and steelhead fishing areas in both Oregon and Idaho and he tends to take full advantage. For this reason, we have a LOT of salmon in our freezer. We have experimented quite a bit with various recipes and this one is always a favorite.

Ingredients:

Salmon - shown below is a half-salmon cut into two large steaks

Lemon Pepper

1 cube butter (melted)

1/2 cup Lemon Juice

1/4 cup yellow Spanish Sweet onion, chopped

1 lemon, sliced

Instructions:
If salmon is frozen, be sure to thaw in the refrigerator before preparation. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In medium glass dish, place salmon steaks (skin down). Melt butter, and then pour butter and lemon juice over salmon and season (to your taste) with lemon pepper (I tend to use more than most).

Chop onions and sprinkle over salmon. Slice lemon and arrange slices atop salmon and onions. Sprinkle with additional lemon pepper and lemon juice if desired.

Bake 30-45 minutes, or until salmon is flaky. Keep an eye out for bones and enjoy!

Cheese Plate 101

One of my favorite chill-out-at-home dinners isn't something cooked at all, but a big glass of red wine with a home-made cheese plate. It is such a nice way to end a long work day. Cheese can be intimidating with all of the confusing names and types, but with anything, the best way to figure out what you like is just to buy some and try it!

I usually have a variety of cheeses in my fridge, but if I don't, I love heading to a nicer grocery store to pick up some of their "odds and ends". Many grocery stores with a good cheese selection will have a basket of sample cheeses.... basically smaller chunks of cheese that were leftover when they cut everything up. Unlike the bigger pieces, these may only be $1-4 and are the perfect size for a cheese plate. You can get a good variety for under $20 and if you don't like something, it's not as much of a waste as if you had spent $7.00 or so to buy the normal size piece. Just remember to save the wrappers so if you really like something you can make a note of it for next time. There is nothing worse than having to dig through the trash to see what something was.

A few pieces of cheese and the following, and you'll be in business:

• A great bottle of wine... or even a so-so bottle- good cheese always seems to make an average bottle taste so much better!
• A big, crusty loaf of bread
• Crackers
• Cornishens
• Olives
• Salami/Proscuitto
• A small dish of olive oil with fresh herbs, garlic, salt & pepper mixed in
• Grapes, pears, or apples
• Nuts
  
• A pretty cutting board to display everything on

Finally, some of my favorites:

• Piave Vecchio... I had this for the first time at a wine tasting in Napa and it is so good. Try it drizzled with a balsamic reduction.
• Tillamook anything... my parents got me hooked on this after they took a trip to Oregon and discovered the brand. They also make butter that I swear you can taste a distinct difference when you cook with it.
• Fresh, local cream cheese... this seems strange to put on a cheese plate, but fresh cream cheese tastes infinitely better than that overprocessed Philadelphia stuff. Try drizzling it with honey.
• Goat Cheese... any type. Mmmm, this is probably one of my favorites and tastes so good paired with this sundried tomato jam.
  

Light a few candles, throw on a good movie, fill that glass up and you've got a pret-ty good night!

Salut!

Margarita Cupcakes

I don't know if you watch HGTV as much as you might watch The Food Network, but my cousin was recently the runner-up on HGTV's Design Star. My aunt Bev and uncle Dick (Dan's parents) had family and friends over to watch the show and one weekend, Dan flew in from Portland to watch the show with the family - so we knew it must have been an exciting episode! His deconstruction of an orchard for the white-wall challenge won the judge's approval and Vern Yip complimented, "In four seasons now of Design Star, that is the single most well-executed, most well-thought-out response to the white room challenge."

During social hour, prior to the start of the show, we had Mexican-themed hors d'oeuvres including taquitos, chips and salsa, and my personal favorite, chicken enchilada dip. To complement the meal, we had Design Star Margaritas created by Dan, but made by Aunt Vickie. Found this wonderful recipe on the HWTM Blog a while ago and decided this was the perfect opportunity to share! They must have been good, because I only ended up bringing a couple home and I know I saw my nephew Peter running around with several cupcakes!

MARGARITA CUPCAKES

INGREDIENTS

Cupcakes:
1 box white cake mix
8 oz margarita mix (liquid)
2 oz tequila
1 oz Grand Marnier (or triple sec)
3 egg whites
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp grated lime zest

Lime Buttercream Icing:
8 Tbsp butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp lime juice (approx 2 fresh limes)
1 Tbsp margarita mix
1 tsp lime zest
5 cups powdered (confectioner)
sugarcane sugar & fresh limes (for garnish)

DIRECTIONS

Cupcakes:
1. Preheat oven to 350º and prepare muffin pans.
2. Combine margarita mix, tequila, and Grand Marnier in a large glass and stir well.
3. In large bowl, combine cake mix, egg whites, lime zest, vegetable oil, and margarita mixture from step one. Stir ingredients together, then beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for approximately 2-3 minutes.
4. Spoon the batter into prepared muffin pans. Fill each cup/liner about 2/3 full.
5. Bake at recommended temperature on cake mix box (usually 325º – 350º) for 20 – 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
Lime Buttercream Icing:
6. In a large bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, lime juice, margarita mix, and lime zest. Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
7. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, and continue beating until smooth. If icing is too thin, add more powdered sugar, a couple tablespoons at a time. I added a bit of green food coloring for a little more spark!
8. Spread icing generously on each cooled cupcake* or use a pastry bag to frost. Sprinkle cane sugar around the edges of the cupcake for a “salt rimmed” look and garnish with lime wheels & wedges.

*Make sure to remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely before frosting.

Tip: Leftover frosting makes a great dip for fruit - there is quite a bit more frosting than necessary for 24 cupcakes - I've been eating it with apples and strawberries - yum!

Retro Baking Accessories

I came across a super cute website today called Layer Cake Shop through Daily Candy. It is a bakers dream! They have every accessory imaginable. Everything from retro cake toppers, girly baking cups, fun labeling stickers, icing, sprinkles...the list goes on and on!

Here are some of my favorites:

Contributor: TIFFANY

I'm Tiffany, a 20-something gal from Eastern Oregon who also happens to be Jodi's step-sister. Although I love to cook, I don't always find the time and will resort to crockpot and semi-homemade meals for my dear husband (not that he's complaining). My husband and I are avid hunters, so many of my recipes may include wild game, which can easily be substituted.

I imagine I got my start in the kitchen at my mother's feet, but my first major experience was with my 4-H group, the Cookie Cutters where I baked several types of cookies and even received blue ribbons at the Oregon State Fair. Since then, I have always loved to bake - cookies, pies, brownies, you name it.

My kitchen experiences range from genius to disaster - including some of my husband's mishaps in the kitchen. I'm excited to be along for this home cooking adventure, and look forward to sharing my recipes and stories. To keep up with me on a more personal level, visit Tiffany in Real Life.

Drinks: Tanqueray & Tonic, Spicy Bloody Mary, Tequila, & Coors Light
Steaks: Medium Rare
Sweets: Chocolate