Tasty Delights on the Road

Brian and I traveled this weekend to New Hope, PA for his younger brother's wedding.  It was a gorgeous wedding, one of the prettiest that I have ever been to!  We made it down in time for the rehearsal dinner, which was held at an Italian place.  It was something like four courses, with bruschetta, salad, a pasta course and then family-style chicken marsala (!!!), eggplant parmesan and some sort of European fish.  I didn't have any of the fish, I was too enamored by the first two choices.  Dessert was our choice, and I had a limoncello, raspberry and white chocolate tart, Brian opted for chocolate hazelnut cake.  Everything was delicious.

The next morning, we got up early to do a little local shopping.  The wedding wasn't until 2pm, so we went and got breakfast and then found a local yarn shop.  (Naturally!)  Breakfast was across the border in New Jersey, at Perkins Restaurant.  We LOVE Perkins!  There's no Perkins at home, which is probably a good thing.  Because if there was, we'd frequent it a lot!  I don't remember what Brian had, but I had this potato pancake, with bacon, eggs and cheddar cheese filling, and you dip the whole thing in applesauce.  Amazing. 

After the wedding ceremony and with over an hour to kill, we found ourselves starving.  So we went to a local Wawa, and WOW there is another thing that we don't have at home!  It's a combination convenience store and gas station.  But it' not your typical convenice store, it also has fresh-to-order sandwiches and other things.  We ordered some chicken quesadillas to go, and picked up some Tastycakes too. There is Tastycake pastries in the grocery store here, but they're a Pennsylvania thing and they don't have as good a selection here as they do there.  We sat in our hotel room, chowing down in our dress clothes and enjoying every bite. 

There was other stuff too, but these are the things that stand out.  I love road trips.  :)

Springtime Risotto

Risotto makes for a nice Sunday lunch.  It takes a bit of time to prepare, but it's so worth it.

This week's special in our house is Lemon Zucchini Risotto, topped with a poached egg.  Courtesy of Mark Bittman's "Food Matters" cookbook.  That makes it a vegetarian dish as well!  (Not trying to become a vegetarian here...just trying new recipes.  And yes, I'm aware that it's vegetarian but not vegan)

Lots of fresh springtime flavors:  Fresh lemon juice, arborio rice, grated zucchini, onion and fresh basil, stirred by Hubby.

Plus Poaching eggs, once a challenge for our cook but now easy.

 equals Risotto in a bowl, crowned by the egg:

Yields:  Two happy adults, who cleaned their plates and briefly considered licking the bowl.  Well, I did anyway!

Beets and Beef, Oh My!

This week's new veggie is:  fresh beets.

Today was SUCH a gorgeous day.  We were supposed to have Shepherd's Pie, but it was just too nice to fire up the oven, even though it makes leftovers for the week.  So we did a quick defrost of Tuesday night's steak to turn into tips on the grill.  After a little research (and the aforementioned "I don't wanna" to the oven) I discovered a recipe to grill the beets.  The beef went into an orange juice and spice marinade.  Add leftover white rice from last night's Spring Salmon and Asparagus Pilaf and you've got dinner.

The steak...melt in your mouth.  And the beets....well, I've always liked beets.  But I think that I am ruined for canned beets ever again!  These were so sweet, and grill char really adds something.  We were both sad that Brian only brought a small bunch home.  Both of us were sopping up our beef and beets in the rice, wishing there were more.  Lots of happy noise and lip-smacking at our table tonight!

Best. Pork. Ever.

A Honey, garlic, dijon mustard, panko-crusted pork tenderloin.  There's really not much that I can say about that.  A Friday night dinner that tasted like a slow-cooked Sunday one.  With basmati rice to boot, and a little pan sauce.  Stare and drool, people!

The veggie of the week was broccoli rabe.  Not a fan....quite bitter.  But the pork?  That MORE than made up for it!

Happy Birthday, Oreos!

Nana came by today for a visit, and she brought  a little bag of Oreos.  However, they were no ordinary bag...but Centennial Oreos!  Oreos with frosting in between the cookies and sprinkle-y goodness.  And here's what they said on the side:

 

They smelled so good, I could have eaten them all myself.  But I restrained and of course shared.  The boys loved them, and Daddy did too.  I'm hoping that when Daddy gets home from the grocery store he'll have brought home some for us to share all over again!

A hundred years of Oreos....so that means the saying "An open bag is an empty bag" is also a hundred years old!  :)

My Favorite, At Home

Chicken Marsala!

I don't know why we never considered making this at home....it is incredible!!  There were plenty of leftovers so I got to enjoy some for lunch today, and perhaps even tomorrow too.  Delicious!!!  

Fire Up the Grill!!

Here's one thing I love about New England:  last week there was a snowstorm.  A week later, it's warm enough outside to have our first grilled meal of the season!

Grilled Steak, Mashed Potatoes and Multicolor Cauliflower.

The potatoes were finished with a hint of sweet cream, and they were slightly addictive.  We're still on a "Veggie of the Week" kick so tonight was roasted cauliflower.  All in all, a great meal.