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
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
