Has it really been almost 2 months?!

I can't believe it has been almost two months since I last blogged - as always, I am so sorry!

Life has been really busy. But here is a sneak peak of some of the posts that are coming soon!

Macaroons 101 - sort of - I almost have them figured out!

Many trips and adventures involving food, drinks and great people (AKA Foodcations, duh)!

And, SO MUCH MORE!

Cheers to many posts to come!

How are all of my favorite blog readers? I hope you have not given up on me yet!

Food Truck Series - StiX

Why do I keep waiting months between post? I am not sure. I do not really have an excuse except for being busy, but I am pretty sure that is everyone's excuse for everything. So, just know that I am sorry, and will try my best to blog as often as possible.

This post is long overdue because this particular food truck, StiX, has come to my office many times by now and I have not passed up eating their fantastic food yet.

For about $10 you get 1 meat and 2 sides - all of which is on a stick! How fun is that, right?! The meats are juicy and delicious and EXTREMELY well seasoned/flavored. The sides are juicy and amazing as well - they have sides like tomatoe and motzerella, grilled pineapple, grilled potatoes with garlic aioli, YUM! AND for $12 you can get a surf and turf (steakORchicken and shrimp with 1 side) - yes, this is food truck, not a 5 star restaurant, so awesome, I know... This is why I am here, to enlighten you of these types of things... :o)

They serve everything in a cone type fashion, so its easy to eat on the go in DC while walking around trying all your favorite food trucks. Oh, and they have cupcake pops for dessert!! I KNOW!!

This is by far one of my favorite food trucks to date (not to mention is so unique and fun) - I recommend to anyone in the DC are that can get their hands on some Stix!

The pictures that I managed to take are all food I ate of several different peoples orders, and those that took them off the stick should be ashamed! They aren't the best pictures in the world this time around, but I painted a pretty good visual so far, so just assume I had better lightening and a better camera, then it will look as good to you as it tasted to me.

Grilled Pinneapple on a Stick!

Butter Garlic Shrimp on a Stick!

Bread comes with every order - tomato side - potato side - on a stick!

Sweet and spicy NY strip steak on a stick!

Until next time... Enjoy...

Cheerwine Glazed Wings

Cheerwine Glazed Wings

This months issue of Food Network Magazine came with a fold out featuring 50 different ways you can make wings. We were flipping through it, since we happened to have some wings on hand, and found a breading-free (we are trying to be healthy this month), baked, cola glazed wing recipe! How fun is that, right?! 

We had Diet Cheerwine on hand, a perfect match for the "cola" ingredient.

Note: You could make these wings with any kind/brand/flavor of Cola. We just LOVE Cheerwine (as you all should too) and since we are doing "carb/sugar free" so we only have sugar free stuff around.

Baked Wings Instructions:

Spread 3 pounds of raw defrosted wings (split at the joints and tips removed) on 2 oil rimmed baking sheets. Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with cooking oil. Roast at 425 degrees for 35 minutes. Pull wings out of oven, cool for about 10 minutes, coat/toss in the Cheerwine glaze. Put the wings back on the baking sheets, return to oven for another 10 minutes of cooking, allowing the sauce to bake onto the wings perfectly.

Cheerwine Glaze Instructions and Ingredients:

Boil 1 can of Diet Cheerwine (or other cola), 1 cup of ketchup (reduced sugar ketchup, if you really want it with less sugar), 1/2 cup of cider vinegar, and 2 tablespoons of pureed chipotles in abodo sauce (message me if you need more info on this ingredient). Vigorously simmer until reduced to 1 cup of glaze. It will thicken up quite a bit and be awesome for coating the wings.

Glaze simmering, instructions by my side

Wings being tossed in the glaze

Last 10 minutes of baking with glaze on the wings

Final product - Cheerwine Glazed Wings with Ranch!

#yum

Delicious!

How do you prepare your wings? Do you have a favorite way to cook them? A favorite sauce, glaze, or rub? Do you prefer blue-cheese or ranch with your wings?


Until next time... Enjoy!

Turkey Perfection!

For the last 4-5 Thanksgiving, I have cooked a turkey. My own turkey. I have learned a lot, never really failed, but definitely made some mistakes each year. But most importantly, I learned that cooking a turkey is not hard at all!!

This year we went to Mike's family's house for Thanksgiving, which meant I was going to have no opportunity to cook my own turkey. So, per usual, I created my own scenario to make a turkey. I had my team at work do a Thanksgiving potluck and I, of course, brought the turkey! 

Here is what I do with my turkey to make it as good as I possibly can:

1. Put it in the pan like I did below (see pictures of perfect turkey placement). Follow the directions that come with the turkey on this one. No funny business.

2. RUB THE TURKEY - With anything, I don't care what - salt and pepper, Italian seasoning, spicy BBQ rub, Cajun seasoning, ANYTHING. Just rub it. Ok? Just using butter will NOT cut it.

3. Get the rub in, under, and around the skin.

4. Baste the heck out of it with melted butter or oil. (do this several times while its cooking)

5. Fill the gut with aromatics - Onions, parsley, rosemary, celery, carrots, apples, anything that seems good. I always put a little chicken broth cube in there as well to add some flavor and sodium.

6. Follow the cooking directions to a T. Timing is important to not dry out the Turkey, so don't mess with what is suggests based on weight - those Butterball people know what the are talking about.

7. EAT THE TURKEY LEGS. They are the best part. 

Rub and instructions for my Turkey

Turkey all rubbed and filled

See how much I crammed in there? Apples, onions, and herbs this time!

Done! Crispy! Golden! Juicy! Amazing!

Look at the golden-ness! 

Turkey leg!!!!

PERFECTION.

What about you all? Do you have any turkey secrets that you use? Any special ingredients or hints that takes your turkey to the next level??


Cooking a turkey should not be intimidating  scary, or a huge burden. It is actually fairly easy, just follow the directions, and enjoy it! I cooked my first turkey in my 4 bedroom apartment when I was a Junior in college for 15 people and it was a huge success. If college Emilee can do it... anyone can do it...


Until next time... Enjoy :o)

Healthy. Healthy. New Year.

First order of business for 2013 (ignoring my earlier post about Christmas Eve, because technically that topic was soooooo 2012) , I am healthier. Mike and I are doing all January in a super healthy way. No grains, no alcohol, no sugars, you know... the usual diet for the new year. And it is awesome!

I have also been working out almost every day, eating fun adventurous new things that do not include bread/sugar, and loving it all. I have already lost some weight, feel stronger, healthier, and happier. I hope that I will be able to keep this lifestyle going for as long as possible, longer than just the first few weeks to the New Year...  maybe this is a start to a whole new me!

Obviously, we still have to eat fabulous meals all the time, so we have been making some awesome/creative/fun things that are carb free! 

Cheerwine spicy glazed wings (recipe to come, I promise, these tasted even better than they look!)

Baked cheesy green beans (cheese is basically carb free, and a really awesome food to eat when you are avoiding bread, look at that molten goodness)

Salads with steak, goat cheese, and avocados (or anything else veggie, meat, and cheese related on top)

Cheese and nuts. YUM! (this is 4 different kinds of amazing cheese, spiced almonds, and some sugar free Cheerwine... best snack ever)

What are you eating or not eating as a part of your New Years resolution? Have you given up on it already? Are you still going to the gym? Share how its all working for you!

Until next time... Enjoy :-)

Our New Christmas Eve Tradition

This Christmas Eve my family decided to start a new tradition. Instead of ordering Chinese food cooking a big traditional Christmas Eve meal - each person was in charge of one appetizer to make/bring for dinner that night. 

(This would have been easier if we all were not working in one kitchen all day, but hey, we made it work.)

There were 5 of us, I made 2 apps (obviously), so we ended up with 6 amazingly delicious apps for our Christmas Eve feast... which all had absolutely no common theme what-so-ever.

Here were the different apps my family chef'ed up, who made them, and a link to the recipe if I have it:

Mike's appetizer - he took this event VERY seriously and successfully made, what everyone voted, was the best app of the night. His famous shrimp tacos. They included grilled seasoned shrimp, a lime cilantro slaw, and a chipotle aioli. YUM!

I will have him do a guest blog post on the recipe for his tacos... they have been perfected over the last few years and really are the best damn shrimp tacos you will ever have.

Shrimp and Slaw

Completed Shrimp Taco

My appetizer's - A delicious cheese-ball and a fun Pinterest bruschetta recipe. The Pinterest find was was basically a bruschetta with goat cheese, strawberries, a drizzle of balsamic, and topped with basil. The cheese-ball had 3 different kinds of cheese, onions, Worcestershire sauce, and was rolled in walnuts.

Recipe for the cheese-ball:

-1 8oz pkg crumbled blue cheese

-1 C shredded sharp cheddar cheese

-2 8oz pkg cream cheese

-1 T Worcestershire sauce

-1 small onion diced

-Chopped walnuts

Instructions: Soften cheese; blend; add onion and Worcestershire Sauce; cream together; refrigerate. Form into 2 balls; roll in chopped walnuts.

Cheese Ball

Cheese Ball Presentation

Link to the blog that features the recipe I used for the bruschetta, its definitely a keeper:

http://www.annies-eats.com/2011/06/13/strawberry-bruschetta/

Strawberry Goat Cheese Bruschetta

Strawberry Goat Cheese Bruschetta

My sister's appetizer - a copy cat recipe of the queso dip that the serve at Chili's. SO AMAZING. 'Nuff said.

Credit to that recipe: http://www.littlebgcg.com/2012/01/chilis-queso-dip-copycat-recipe.html

"Chilis Queso Dip"

My mom's appetizer - Cheese fondue with steak, veggies, and bread for dipping. YUM!

Cheesy Fondue 

Fondue Dipping Treats

My dad's appetizer - Bacon wrapped grilled scallops. (He wants me to pass on this message.... the trick for the bacon is to it almost all the way in the oven before wrapping around  the scallops and grilling them. This is to prevent overcooking the scallops or under-cooking of the bacon.)

Bacon Wrapped Scallops

The Finished Product - My Christmas Eve Dinner Plate

My plate

Mikes plate - which he claimed looks better than mine. 

What is your Christmas Eve dinner tradition? Anything fun like what my family did? Are you traditional? Do you go out to eat?


Enjoy... Until next time...

Elvis Burger - Weeknight Cooking

There was a local burger and beer place in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where we went to the best University in the world school, called Jack Browns. They had a burger that they served every Wednesday called the Elvis Burger. It was the weirdest, craziest, most delicious burger combination that that we have ever had. 

Now that we had to actually grow up and get real jobs don't live around there anymore, we have to satisfy our occasional Jack Brown's craving. Because of this, we learned how to make our favorite Jack Browns Burger... The Elvis. 

Do not bash this idea, it will seem weird, odd, crazy, and totally not normal compared to what you are used to.... but I promise you, once you try it, you will be talking about it to all of your friends.

The toppings for the Elvis burger include Peanut Butter, Mayo, Bacon, and Cheddar Cheese! 

YUM! TRUST ME!

Ingredients needed.

On our "grill"

Top with Peanut Butter

Add the Mayo

Add the Bacon

Add the Cheese!

Cover to melt, and this is the result, YUM!

Put on a toasted bun 

Yum!

Yum!

Did I say, Yum?

Hopefully this will help you with some ideas for weeknight burgers and toppings. Like I said, do NOT bash it until you try it!!

 

Until next time ... Enjoy :o)

Dry Ice?

This is just a post for fun, to give you an example of stuff that goes on in our kitchen on a weekly basis!

Mike is still a kid at heart! The other night we got our monthly shipment of Omaha Steaks and he decided not to just go and throw out the dry ice that comes with the package. This is a photo documentation of our sink when I got home from work. I was not able to clean dishes for hours.