Let Them Eat Crab Cake!

To celebrate Fathers' Day we planned dinner and a movie with the Parentals.  We decided on an undoubtedly comforting comfort food menu: Paula Deen's Savannah Crab Cakes, the Mister's Fresh Corn Chowder, and a loaf of bread (I'm proud to say we baked the bread from scratch!!), and a medley of cupcakes and brownies baked by Mother.  I had such a wonderful evening enjoying delicious food and the company of the people I love.

Paula Deen's Savannah Crab Cakes 

Ingredients

1 pound crabmeat, picked free of shells

1/3 cup crushed crackers (recommended: Ritz)

3 green onions (green and white parts), finely chopped

1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 egg

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

Dash cayenne pepper

Flour, for dusting

1/2 cup peanut oil

1/2 lemon, juiced

Directions

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients, except for the flour and peanut oil. Shape into patties and dust with flour.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. 

When oil is hot, carefully place crab cakes, in batches, in pan and fry until browned, about 4 to 5 minutes. 

Carefully flip crab cakes and fry on other side until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Serve warm with preferred sauce.

first image via here

Better with Bacon: Chocolate

If you think this bacon looks a little strange, like it's covered in chocolate you're RIGHT!  Uh huh! Chocolate Covered BACON!  This crazy concoction might sound a little crazy, and might look a little suspicious, but it's downright delicious.  Salty, sweet, and savory (with a crunch)!  

To make your own Chocolate Covered Bacon: 

To get the bacon to the perfect crisp, strips of thick bacon were placed on a rack (on a cookie sheet covered in foil)  and placed in the oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.  As soon as the bacon is pulled out of the oven the excess oil (on both sides) should be absorbed with a paper towel.  Once the bacon is cooled begin to heat the chocolate.  If you usually melt chocolate over a double boiler, try using the microwave using a technique seen Real Simple magazine - it takes just a minute, really a minute.  Using a spatula, coat the bacon with a generous amount of chocolate, remove the excess, then place on a rack and then into the fridge (for 30 min.) to allow the chocolate to harden.  YUM! 

Semi-HomemadePizza Party

An outing to the Made In Hawaii Festival helped to build up a hearty appetite, and a Macadamia Nut Pesto purchased there inspired a pesto chicken pizza.  A few store bought items like ready made pizza dough, fully cooked rotisserie chicken, and fresh mozzarella made our pizza not only a quick, but also an inexpensive dinner!  This pizza creation has inspired us to create other pizza creations, and to maybe even purchase an official pizza stone!  

From Farmers' Market to Beef Bourguignon!

Ever since I saw the movie Julie and Julia I have wanted to make Beef Bourguignon (and start a blog), so with our findings from our adventure at the farmers' market we decided to make my J&J inspired dinner.  After reading recipe reviews however, I decided to make Ina Garten's (who happens to be my Julia Child for many meals) beef bourguignon; upon reading the comments we decided to cook it for 3 hours.  

Cubed beef, seasoned with salt and pepper.

Baby carrots substituted for regular carrots, a personal preference. 

 The onions from the farmers' market.

 The Hamakua Mushrooms.

 Flambe! Oooh!

Large egg noodles 

 Toasted bread with a homemade roasted garlic butter. 

The 3 hour wait was well worth it! Dinner was delish!  

Shopping at the Farmers' Market

The Mister and I were one of hundreds of people who packed into a parking lot at KCC (Kapiolani Community College) to shop and eat their way through the Saturday Farmers' Market.   We had been wanting to go to this farmers' market for a while now, and I'm happy to say, it was totally worth the wait.     Not only did it make me happy to be buying fresh produce, it was nice to know that we were supporting local growers.  

These Hamakua Mushrooms were amazing, even after being chopped and cooked, the mushrooms did not cook down; they maintained their shape and firmness, and had a very distinct (but not overpowering) taste.  

 Fresh bread is always a winner!

Fresh salad greens. 

 Sweet onions.

 I couldn't resist the beignets!

Gimme my REFUND!

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Today is Tax Day! 

Gah! It felt like such an ordeal to do my taxes (probably since I was such a procrastinator) but alas they are F I N I S H E D ! 

Thank you turbo tax!  

I'm happy to say that I have  a REFUND (Fed & State) coming my way! 

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Here is my list of what I'd like to get with my tax refund:

Yves Saint Laurent sandals YSL Tribute 105 Patent

Le Creuset Red Cookware

a personal trainer to get me wedding ready

And what I actually did with my tax refund:

I added to my Roth IRA :)

Did anyone do anything fun with their refund? 

Have a great week! 

Hiking the Stairs and Lettuce Wraps too!

Good Morning! 

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!  

Recently, the Mister and I have been busy discussing wedding plans, addressing saving the date cards, and doing other "fun" things like hiking and cooking.  Yes, I said hiking... *Warning: this post contains a lot of pictures*

I am not a hiker by any means but I agreed to hike the Koko Head Stairs because the Mister has had his eye on them for a while and because I was trying to be a supportive wife in training. -Truth be told I was also trying to cross "hiking" off of my Thirty Before 30 list. :)
There were more than 1000 stairs (I think it was 1048 to be exact) to the top of the crater.  Okay let me be clear these were not real stairs, they are the remnants of railway tram tracks by the military during WW2 to haul supplies to the bunkers at the top of the crater.

a view from the road (the trail is in the middle of the pic)

The view from the bottom was daunting but we made it to the top together and cheered each other on one step at a time.

at the beginning of our hike

at this point we were maybe half way...

catching my breath - one of MANY breaks

getting closer to the top

YEAH!  we made it to the top! 

what a beautiful view

a view of Hanauma Bay

Whew! The Mister and I made it to the top in a little under an hour;  I was very proud of us for making it to the top.  Climbing the stairs definitely wasn't the leisurely hike I had in mind, but I have to say, it was enjoyable nonetheless.  

Hiking may not be my thing but cooking and eating are 2 things I really enjoy! The Mister and I tried a recipe for Chicken Lettuce Wraps and I have to say, it was quite delish! 

Ingredients for stir-fry sauce: 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar :: Mix all together

Ingredients for chicken stir-fry: 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons sesame oil, 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, 1 8oz can water chestnuts (minced), 1/2 cup mushrooms (minced), 1/2 onion (chopped fine), 3 cloves of garlic (minced), 6 iceberg lettuce leaves

After about 15 minutes of cooking the stir-fry ingredients in the stir-fry sauce, voila! Chicken Lettuce Wraps! 

we used hoisin sauce instead of the "pouring sauce

We really enjoyed the lettuce wraps!  It was refreshing, and quick and easy to make... it even made it on our "cook again" list.  Yum yum!

Mmmmm Meatloaf

A few years ago my dad and I used to cook together each Sunday and one of our favorite Sunday Night recipes is a delicious meatloaf adapted from Emeril Lagasse's "Mighty Meaty Meatloaf." It's been a while since I have cooked meatloaf last, and so I thought tonight would the perfect night to cook, especially since my sous-chef (aka The Mister) was home a little early.
Preparation is about 20-25 minutes but cooking time is a little over an hour.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
2 tablespoon minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
2 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup ketchup
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sause
2/3 cup crushed Ritz crackers
6-8 strips of bacon

Glaze:
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion, garlic, salt basil, thyme, and black pepper.  Cook until the onions are soft and lightly golden, about 6 minutes.  Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the beef and pork.

In another medium mixing bowl, combine the eggs, heavy cream, ketchup, onion and garlic powder, Dijon mustard, and Worcestershire sauce, and whisk to combine.  Add the egg mixture to the meat mixture along with the cooled onion mix and Ritz crackers.  Mix with your hands or a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined.

Mix glaze by combining the ketchup, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl.

Transfer mix into a loaf pan (or cupcake pans; yields approximately 18 "cupcakes"), whether in a loaf or cupcake pan, smooth the top into a rounded shape.  Cut the bacon in small pieces and top the meatloaf with the pieces of bacon and spoon the glaze evenly over top.

Bake the meatloaf in the loaf pan for 1 hour and 15 minutes (in cupcake pan bake for 45 minutes) and then broil for 5-10 minutes to crisp the bacon and glaze.   Yum yum yum!

{meatloaf cups with homemade mashed red potatoes}

PS. Tonight was Day 1 of the Shred!  (I hope I survive the next 29 days!)

Berry Yummy Blueberries!

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I just went to the grocery store for just a couple of things but my grocery list got thrown out the window when I spotted a sale on blueberries!! All of a sudden my mind started to race and I thought of so many different "blueberry" recipes that I have been meaning to try:

Lime Blueberry Tiramisu

Blueberry French Toast Skewers 

Blueberry Balsamic BBQ Turkey Meatballs

Blueberry Cream Tarts

PS. Although I went home with some blueberries they were eaten (yum yum) well before I got to try any of the above creations... better luck next time :)