Posts Tagged ‘eating’
Eating Again, but where?
The pictures of food never stop, do they? Even Abby is getting into it. She loves taking close-up shots and she’s getting better every time. We were running errands and stopped for a snack… can you guess what this is and where it was taken?
Not that this is any help, but here’s another view. We love visiting this neighborhood place, which isn’t in our immediate suburb.
More California journals coming. They’re in the works along with more projects, too.
Tags: eating, eating out, family, restaurants, summer, vacation
Lunching in the Napa Valley
Most people go to the Napa Valley for wine tasting. We don’t drink much, to the bewilderment of some of our friends, but we do love to eat! On another note, do people call it “THE Napa Valley” or just Napa Valley? I think that I might be a little too much into my Chicago-ese, like “da Bulls”, “da Coach”, “I buy my meat at THE Jewel.” *sigh* Oh, well, we digress. DA Napa Valley was great… we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary slightly early with a lunch for two at The Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant thanks to our cousin watching our kids.
Greystone Cellars was beautiful. Built in 1888 as a co-op winery, then bought by the Christian Brothers in 1950, it’s easy to imagine monks wandering around campus and stomping on grapes to make wine. The Culinary Institute of America now inhabits the campus, and it’s their students who work in the kitchens and are wait staff.
Eastman’s mock mojito… he couldn’t get enough. Like Summer in a glass… except, for the lack of rum.
Chef’s choice appetizers were fabulous.
Eating this crepe with rose syrup (It tasted like roses) was like tasting Spring on an early morning.
We wandered into the campus bookstore after lunch to take a peek at the wares. The book section was so cozy. I just wanted to sit there and read. These were just the cookbooks, too.
We ended our “day date” with a visit to the V. Sattui winery, but opted out for the tasting. It was so chaotic, we could hardly get a server’s attention!
Tags: California, eating, eating out, living, vacation
Quick Tip: Leftover Crudites
So here’s what you do with those leftover vegetables from a crudite platter you’ve served at your party. You chop or dice up all the veggies and you make it into a quiche! Thank goodness for the extra frozen pie crust I had in the freezer.
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup milk (2%)
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp. flour
- 1/3 c. minced onion (or a couple of tsp. onion powder)
- 8 to 16 oz. shredded cheese (I had mozzarella on hand, and only 8 oz., save some for sprinkling)
- 10 oz. vegetables, diced (could be one pkg. frozen spinach, could be roasted veggies from last night’s dinner)
- salt, fresh grated peper and garlic powder to taste
- 1 9-inch pie shell
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine eggs, milk, mayo and flour and whisk well. Add onion, cheese and vegetables and stir. Finish with salt, pepper and garlic powder (I used about 1 tbsp.). Pour into pie shell. Sprinkle some cheese on top. I had some leftover grated parmesan cheese from another dinner. Bake for 45-50 min. or until center is set.
Sort of quick Chicken Enchilada recipe
Made this the other night. We love Mexican food, and the kids have only really eaten tacos and quesadillas. I thought this might be a friendly upgrade in the cuisine. In the end, the little one still liked his quesadilla, and I think the older one thought this was only “okay”. No big deal, it was delicious, and there was more for us! Serves 8.
- 1-1/2 lbs. skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- 2 tsp. cumin
- 2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. Mexican spice blend (we used an Adobo spice mix from the Spice House)
- salt and pepper (to taste; maybe less salt if there’s salt in your spice mix)
- 3 tbsp. vegetable oil
- 1 med. onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup salsa (spicy or mild, it’s to your liking)
- 1 cup corn
- 2 cups cilantro divided into 1/2 cup (chopped) and 1-1/2 cup
- 8 corn tortillas (can substitute flour)
- 1 cup shredded cheese (use any or mix all: Mexican blend, chihuahua cheese, pepper jack, monterey jack/cheddar)
- 1/2 c sour cream plus 2 tbsp. water
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Take the chicken breasts and season with cumin, garlic powder, spice blend, salt and pepper. Coat well. Put vegetable oil in skillet/deep pan, coat well, and preheat over med-high heat. When pan is hot enough, place chicken in your pan, and sear both sides. Leave the chicken alone when you place them in the pan… just let them get nice and brown for a few minutes and then flip. The sizzling will die down and that would be a signal to check or flip the chicken. Remove chicken and set aside.
In the same pan, with all the good chicken bits, lower the heat, add a little oil if you need to, and add your onion and garlic. After a minute or two, add the salsa. This will help deglaze the pan. Stir well. Add your corn and chopped cilantro after two or three minutes and mix well. Take off the heat. Ladle some of this salsa into the bottom of your 9×13 baking dish, enough to cover. Cube the chicken breasts, which should be cooled down, and add to the salsa mixture in the pan. Place spoonfuls of chicken mixture into the tortillas and roll, then place into baking dish, seam side down. Ladle any salsa sauce left over onto the enchiladas, drizzle half of the sour cream mixture on top of the sauce/enchiladas, then sprinkle the shredded cheese all over. Bake for 20 min. or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve with other half of sour cream and cilantro.
Inaugural Whole Foods excursion
Went to Whole Foods with the family for the first time and as I suspected, Eastman thoroughly enjoyed the store. There was a lot of, “Hey, look at this!” and “Look at this section.” Here we are checking out one of the food bars. I’m so excited that we found nut-free granola for me and Ollie, and not unreasonably priced, either! Granted, I wouldn’t say we would buy all our groceries there. The two closest Whole Foods locations are not quick drives.
We were visiting a newer location and we made it from one end of the store to the other, and Abby said, “Wait? Weren’t we just here?” Eastman told her we were just at the other end, and she said, “WHAT?! This place is huge!”
Tags: eating, family, grocery, shopping, whole foods
Brunch
Brunch. I love breakfast food any time of the day. Breakfast for lunch. It’s all about eggs,
and rolls,
and friends making their own yogurt parfaits,
and little ones getting bored with grown-ups talking,
and then heading outside to walk off the calories.
“Mom, can I take some pictures?” This is one of her shots. I’m so proud.
