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