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Ahhhhh wine tasting :)

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Ooooooooo someone's at Sonic!


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Holiday Loves

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H-ahhhhhhh-lidays!!!!!!!!!

It's this time of year that I run around screaming "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!"


I know, I am a three year old :) I LOVE the holidays and I'm going to keep it that way!


I honestly love just about everything about the holiday season. The food and the family are my favorite parts. Some people get distracted and stressed by the gift giving, especially on a budget. I really think it's unneccessary. The Regas have been on a very tight budget for the past few years and we still manage to enjoy ourselves. It's all about budgeting and knowing your limits. I am someone who wants to give something to everyone so I figured out a way to do that.....CHRISTMAS BARK!!!!!!! Greatest way to get in the holiday spirit even if you aren't a baker, and believe me, I'm not a baker. You can get kind of creative or keep it simple, either way it gets scarfed down by your loving recipient just the same! It keeps well in the fridge though honestly it never seems to stick around long!


I'll list some of the faves below I'll even sketch out some instructions, but they'll be short and sweet, and best followed whilst licking the spoon covered in melted chocolate :)


S'mores Bark: teddy grahams, mini marshmallows, milk chocolate 
Peppermint Bark: crushed candy canes, white chocolate drizzle w. peppermint extract, milk chocolate
Oreo Bark: mini oreos, white or milk chocolate
Toasted Almond Bark: toasted slivered almonds, dark chocolate
Cranberry & White Chocolate Bark: dried cranberries, white chocolate drizzle, milk chocolate
Peanut Butter Cup Bark: mini reese's pb cups, milk chocolate


Basic Instructions
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups toppings of your choice

Place 1-1/2 cups chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high in 30-second increments until just melted. Be sure to stir well after each 30-second interval. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate chips until all chips are melted and chocolate is smooth. At this point I like to stir in some of the toppings so that they're fully incorporated. Pour chocolate mixture on baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or wax paper) and spread into a 1/2" layer. Sprinkle with remaining toppings. If you want to have an alternating color drizzle, melt the new chocolate in a different bowl, following the same procedure. Pour it into a ziploc bag and snip a tiny piece off the end. Now get creative!


Allow chocolate to cool and harden. I find it helps to stick it in the fridge. Just be sure that it's resting evenly to avoid uneven bark. Cut into pieces. I have tried breaking it but I find that it starts melting really fast! Just be sure to use a non-serrated knife so you don't leave teeth marks all over it.


Makes 40-50 bite-size pieces.


xo
H

The Beginnings.....of Fall

It's here. The chill. I am kind of enjoying it, but I'm sure it's novelty will fade pretty quickly. It usually does. I'm a summer girl to the core, but I always love the first few weeks of any season. Just the difference in smells is enough for me.

I've been pretty quiet the past couple of weeks, just trying to buckle down at work and running from one thing to the next at home. Not a lot of time for creative endeavors but I've managed to sandwich a few in there.

First was the surprise early arrival of the Hess family's little guy! We delivered the freezer meals on Saturday, and by Tuesday he had arrived! This seems to be a trend as our first freezer meal recipient also had her little peanut only days after we delivered the loot! If this trend continues maybe I'll be able guarantee a baby within one week of freezer meal delivery to help me get some new clients :)

I designed the labels, had them all ready to print, and of course the color printer decided to take a vacation. Enter Plan B. Good thing I have a duck obsession and have a duck stamp just laying around for emergencies like this! Not to shabby for a last minute fix, if I do say so myself!

I teared up a little when I found out that not only did the Hess family enjoy their homemade lasagna, but it was the dinner they chose to eat on their first night home from the hospital with their little one. I seriously smiled for like an hour :)

We got to meet the new addition the next weekend and I was smitten. He is just perfect. Seeing the new mom and dad in action was so awesome. They're total naturals.

That weekend also happened to be Halloween weekend! Time for a party! We just had a few people over, and I busted out a couple of old favorites, and a new contender as well. The old standbys are my broccoli cheese dip, and my mini meatball subs. The new guy on the block was a Warm Cheddar Beer Dip with Hot Pretzels. It was quite delicious for something I had A) never made before, and B) had no recipe for. Success.

The only thing that didn't get consumed in mass quantity were the super adorable mini cupcakes. They were one chocolate with orange frosting and about the size of a mini muffin. Adorable. Somehow the sweet stuff never moves at our parties. I will have to remember that for next time.

Cheetara, The Perpetual Hostess (of course!), & our resident Indian Princess!

Jeff & Arvin as each other

They. Are. Creeps

Zombie.

Bear tried to lick the blood.

My next culinary adventure was a Beef Stew. Now this might not sound too exhilarating, or scrumptious for that matter, but I was determined to make something classic and hearty for Sunday dinner.
 

I failed. Miserably. And I sulked. Ask Mr. Rega.

The flavors were perfect, the ingredients were fresh, but I was stingy and bought a cut of beef that was far too lean. I knew it but I hoped that I could pull it off. Me and my sore jaw have learned a very important lesson. There is a time and a place for a nice fatty piece of beef. One should not attempt to buy something else simply because it's on sale. One's jaw will suffer.

Despite that sad attempt, I really was happy with the layers of flavor I managed to pull together. I think it was rather good for someone who didn't look at a recipe and just used what made sense at the time. Lesson learned. The next one will be better.

My Mom and Brother came to visit, and stayed for the weekend. I had a recipe from a chef at work for an insanely delicious White Bean Spread that I was dying to make for them. As a teaser, it includes white beans, garlic, grape tomatoes, basil, and bocconccini mozzarella, among other things. I will post the recipe below. It's not very photogenic so I'll settle for not posting any pics at all. Wouldn't want you to judge it by the photo. Make it, trust me :)

I also need some feedback on a few things business related, if anyone's feeling particularly chatty. I definitely want to get this little venture off the ground and I'm feeling a bit lost about how exactly to accomplish that. Because it's such a personal service, and there isn't exactly anyone else doing this that I know of, I'm struggling with the first steps.

Here are my thoughts: The business cards are first. I plan to hand them out to just about everyone I know in small stacks so that they can give them to anyone they think might be interested. I'm fairly sure that word of mouth is going to be extremely important. My next step will probably be to start advertising on Craigslist.

Can you think of any other ways? I feel like this won't be enough but I am clearly working with severely limited funding so anything I do has to be almost free. Any suggestions are welcome :)

xo
H


White Bean Spread
2 cans of white beans

1oz of panko bread crumbs
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
3/4 cup evoo
1 bunch of fresh basil
1 pint of grape tomatoes cut into quarters
1/2 cup grated romano cheese
1 pint of boccoccini mozzarella
2 tbs heavy cream
salt & pepper to taste


Method: Take a 1/4 cup of the evoo and place it in a saute pan. Add the garlic and cook until the garlic is a very light brown. Take off the heat as the garlic will deepen in color, set aside. Drain one can of beans and reserve the liquid. Place in a food processor and process until smooth. Add bean liquid as required for a smooth mix. Drain the other can of beans and break up the beans by hand unitil you have a chunky mix. Add all the beans together and put the toasted garlic and a little of the olive oil into the bean mix. Finely chop the basil and add it to the mix. Add the rest of the ingredients a mix well. If the mixture looks dry add more evoo and some bean liquid to the mix. Enjoy.

RECIPE COURTESY OF LEONARD CENTONZE

Freezer Meals for New Moms & Dads

So I started making freezer meals. Freezer meals for moms and dads that will soon be consumed with little tiny things that take up a whole lotta time....BABIES!!!!

I think it's so important for food and eating to be a relaxing experience but from what I understand it falls way down on the list of priorities when the little one only sleeps in tiny snatches of time.

Only have 15 minutes to devote to making dinner? No problem when you have a homemade lasagna in the freezer. Heat up that oven, throw it in, set the timer, and I think you'll still have about 10 minutes to spare. I'm sure you'll find something to do (nap probably) with that extra 10 minutes :)

I've offered this service to a few friends of ours recently and was shocked by the surprised responses I got. I seriously thought this was something everyone did, and I even worried that they might already be inundated by offers and that mine would be declined! Happily I was taken up on both of my offers and have just started planning the Hess freezer meals that I will deliver this weekend.

On the menu are:

Beef Meatballs
Basil Pesto
Chicken Noodle Soup
Breakfast Burritos
Beef Lasagna

I even designed a little label for them :)

I know they might seem like kind of mundane meals but it's hard to beat homemade comfort food when you barely have time to shower, let alone construct a lasagna so I'm betting they will be received quite well.

Think I should add this to the list of services I can provide as The Perpetual Hostess??

xo
H

Business Card Input....

So I am serious about this little side venture. Check out the business card mock up below and let me know what you think. I'm going for a 2 sided card, hence the 2 pics below....

Summer's End

Sadly, it's over.

I didn't post once, and I think that's ok. Instead of posting I spent my time enjoying it. Enjoying, and barely managing not roasting to death. It was a really hot summer. Really. We barely ate outside at all, which made me sad but there was no way I was going to subject myself eating in 90 degree heat, with mosquitos, at 8 pm.

There were some really great times though, heat and all. I spent a leisurely July 4th weekend cooking and relaxing with family and friends. In fact, there were a few of those leisurely weekends sandwiched in there with all the craziness of weddings, baby showers, and mini trips to our home towns.

Now it's fall. And don't tell Summer, but I'm a little exited about it. I know, I know. Sacrilege. I'm supposed to hate that it's getting cold, but somehow this year it feels a little different. I'm excited for pumpkins, and cider, and apples. I'm looking forward to snow. I'm sure it will get old, but I'm going to run with the excitement while I've got it :)

I'm also toying with the idea of launching this little side venture and wanted to get some thoughts. So let me know what you think of this......

The Perpetual Hostess.... Graceful entertaining & household assistance.

Eh? Does that work? I'm going to start with the word of mouth advertising and I want to get some business cards printed. Does that give you a clear picture of what I can offer?

As an example of what I'm thinking in the way of services, here's a little list:

Menu Planning
Event Consultation
Pantry Overhaul
Culinary Assistance
Grocery & Errand Services
Event Day Coordination
Wine & Beer Pairing

I'm really open to other ideas and would love to hear suggestions from any and everyone!

xo
H

VEGAS!

Vegas Babies

The first week of May, Jeffrey and I went to Vegas. It was spectacular.

That's the short version. The longer version looks something like this:

Day .5
Drive to my sister-in-law's to be closer to the Philadelphia airport, and also to say hi :) We haven't seen her or her lovely boyfriend Mike since Christmas, when the graciously let us sleep over.

Day 1
11:30 am flight out of Philadelphia International Airport.

Let me just say a few words about this airport. Seriously fly out of here if it's an option for you. If you've ever flown out of one of the other NYC area airports, this will feel like a vacation in itself. No lines, friendly TSA screeners (I KNOW! AMAZING!), and terminals with food you actually want to eat. Serious win for everyone.

We boarded our US Airways flight on time, had a very uneventful journey, and got to Vegas ready to start our vacation!

Day 1 (continued)

We got a crazy good deal on our flight and hotel which had us staying at the MGM Grand so upon arrival we grabbed a cab and headed straight over to check in.

Contrary to the photo, we checked in at like 2pm. I just liked this one because it shows you how awesomely GREEN our hotel was!

We were offered a room in their newest West Wing tower which is non-smoking and a little further from the casino floor which was fine with us, so of course we took it!

The bathroom was really cool and had a TV in the mirror. Sooooo Vegas! Once we were slightly settled we took a walk to grab some water and stuff for the room, and by stuff I mean wine :)

Where did we find this wine so quickly you might ask? Well at ABC! I couldn't believe my eyes! ABC is a convenience/souvenir chain store from Hawaii and I never thought I would see one anywhere else, and here it was less than 2 blocks from our hotel! They had so many of my favorite things from HI that I have been craving: Chocolate Mac Nut Coffee, Pineapple Wine, Maui Onion Potato Chips! I couldn't have been more excited, I swear.

Evening 1
We had Craftsteak reservations for our first night. We were running a few minutes late and the Hostess was quite nice about holding the table for us. We sat down and were presented with menus and these little gems....

Now let me tell you how amazing they are. Brace yourselves. I honestly think this might be the single most delicious example of bread and butter I have ever eaten. Ever. They were perfectly browned, had a bit of sea salt on top and even had the knife wedged in between to keep it warm, which made it oh so easy to spread that insanely creamy butter all over them. I would consider going back just for these. True story.

Then we decided on a wine. Red has been giving Mr. Rega massive headaches so the logical choice would be a rose or white. We landed on a 2006Merlot/Sangiovese Rose from Solo Rosa in California. So refreshing yet still had enough body to keep it interesting. Perfect :)

We had a really tough time deciding what we wanted to eat. Thankfully we decided against an appetizer because after devouring those little gems there was barely room for dinner! The decisions we made were the 24 Hour Braised Short Ribs for me, a Dry Aged NY Strip for Jeffrey, Roasted Asparagus & Frites to share. Heaven.

I forced myself to finish the last of my short ribs. And I manage to find the energy to soak up the braising juices with the frites. Best dipping sauce ever created! It still amazes me how much cheaper this meal was in Vegas. If you're going there, eat here. Simple.

I've decided to break this trip up a little. Reading about this all at once might be too much to take.

Day 1 = SUCCESS

xo
h

Absentee Landlord

So I've been away for a while and I have no excuse except that its the middle of the busy season at work and I'm doing my best just to keep my head above water. Anything more than survival with my sanity intact is optional at this point. Amidst all this I did think of a new place to get some writing done though....on the bus! I spend over 2 hours on this beast a day and it hadn't yet occured to me that I could work on my blog from this very seat! That being said; I'm back. I am going to make a concerted effort to write more, and now that I found the missing battery charger, I will post more photos too!

See? I told you!

With work being a virtual hellstorm of activity and new demands/requirements daily I haven't had much desire to cook. I did have the chance to get some awesome new services under my belt though, including these little gems....

Yup. Those are Maple Bacon Doughnuts. They are phenomenal.

All my lack of desire has one right out the window with the change of the seasons. Just when I thought I couldn't stand one more rain-soaked pair of sneakers or scarf-hat-hood-gloves combo, it was suddenly 80 degrees in APRIL! It's like someone heard my cries for sunshine and figured I deserved a little boost. With the excitement of the new seasons arrival we bought a grill, and started planning to tear apart our dirt hole of a backyard to lay sod down at the first chance we got. That chance came last weekend and I have pictures to prove it. Tons of them.

In between all of this we had a little Easter BBQ with Margie and Arvin which gave me an excuse to bring out some of my favorite side dishes for grilling and also to use some of the amazing china my mom gave to me for safe keeping. We had some Grilled Skirt Steak, Toasted Israeli Cous Cous Salad with Grilled Spring Veggies & Feta, Iceberg Salad with Kirby Cucumbers, Carrot Ribbons & Citrus Vinaigrette. Since there were very little leftovers I would consider it a success :)

Arvin is a fantastic Chef and though I know he'd never judge my cooking I still find it intimidating to cook for him. More on that totally ridiculous fear later :)

Now with a new grill and a backyard we're totally proud of, I have been bitten by the entertaining bug yet again. The warmer months are my favorite time of the year, and by far my favorite time to entertain. I'm a summer baby and it really shows. I would spend every waking moment outside if I could, so entertaining outside just comes naturally to me.

We're having a few people over this Saturday to cook and hang out. We still have to stay off the grass for a little while longer so we can't get too carried away :)

Well that's it for now but I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

p.s. Just in case you thought I was kidding about the sod part, I'll leave you with this:

A Sampling.....

I realized I don't have many photos on here yet so here is a sampling of some of my more recent creations......




A green salad with fresh mozzarella, home grown cherry tomatoes and dijon balsamic vinaigrette

This is a Chick Pop. He is delicious.

Here we have many Chick Pops. They are also delicious. This is because they are filled with cake and icing mashed together and coated with white chocolate. Yep, delicious.

This delight is a seared herb chicken breast over grilled asparagus with Mimolette risotto. If you've never heard of Mimolette, you seriously need to get your hands on some as soon as you can. It is one of the best hard cheeses I have ever tasted. For serious.

At Last I Have A Goal!

So, after much deliberating and attempted plan making, Jeffrey and I have decided to stay in for the Big Game this year. Believe me when I say, we pretty much considered every possible scenario including my travelling to South Florida for the game (for work of course!). I am quite pleased with our decision actually. I made the impromptu decision today that I would do nothing but cook next weekend and this seems to play right into that plan perfectly. We will extend invitations to anyone willing to travel to our little house full of food and football, and I will be content.

I have felt a little aimless on the cooking and entertaining front the past week or so. I'm not usually without a Fest to plan, or a new recipe I'm dying to try. I'm fairly sure this is due to a yearly bout with my "Winter Should Only Last 1 Month" theory. I have just been feeling pretty unmotivated but this decision to host a little Super Bowl Fest has perked me right up!

So far I've decided to make these cute little mini nachos that use the Scoops tortilla chips from Tostitos. I found the idea here (http://www.yumsugar.com/Your-Regular-Nachos-Nacho-Bites-1557156) and I'm pretty pumped about that. I'm not really sure why I haven't used these perfect little vessels in this capacity before, but I'm fairly sure I will be doing much more of this now!

As far as I know we have 2 confirmed guests and one of their favorite dishes in my repertoire are my Meatballs, so I'll probably do a Mini Meatball Sub station too. I'm realizing now that maybe I should start measuring ingredients so I can actually post recipes! I hardly ever measure anything, hence why I leave the baking to others :)

Seeing as this will be a mini gathering at best, I don't plan to decorate or any of that good stuff, but I do plan to make up for it with FOOD! I'm sure this won't be the last post about the Super Bowl Fest but I'm off to find more recipes for next weekends Cook-In!



xo
H

The Unquenchable Urge

I found myself deep in thought on New Year's Eve this year. With a new house full of friends, some glasses of bubbly, and a huge turkey that we roasted, I couldn't help but feel profoundly grateful. I realized that I don't need much but I will always need this. I will always need to have family and good friends around, and to host them the best way I know how. And hey, a glass of bubbly never hurts either :)

As we become more settled into our new home, the more I want to entertain. I find myself sneaking invites into casual conversation now more than ever. Somehow I end up inviting friends over for impromptu Italian Feasts and relishing every minute of the time we're all together. I want to fill this house with family and friends and make it a home for me and Mr. It's an odd sensation really.

I think this feeling has really helped me solidify an idea for a business that I have been kicking around for a while. Originally it started as something I might want to do once we have kids. Something to make a little extra money and fulfill me creatively. Then I started thinking; why should I wait until we have kids to get this little fledgling off the ground? I'm pretty sure the strenuous task of caring for little ones wouldn't lend itself to a successful first business launch!

So I'm sure in the coming months you'll see more on this front. I'm pretty determined to make it as painless as possible, as this is meant to be a creative outlet for me first and foremost. Making a little money from a creative outlet sounds like perfection to me so I'll do my damnedest to make that work. Since I will still be working my regular day job this will start out small and hopefully grow enough that it could buy us some diapers when that time comes :)

For now, I will focus on filling our little house with everyone I love, and dreaming up new ways to make this business venture a success :)

xo
H