gretchen newton photography

Market Fresh

There is nothing better than hitting the Farmer's Market on a Saturday morning and finding fresh veggies for weekend cooking … 

Our Superbowl Spread

For the Superbowl tonight, we had a nice little spread … first, we made a tasty, easy-to-make dip with ricotta cheese, feta cheese, chives and coarse ground salt.  We dipped with Toasted Ritz crackers! Then, we had buffalo chicken bites and blue cheese dip. The bites were so good.  I, a former vegetarian (for 9 years!), still have trouble eating meat on a bone …  It kinda grosses me out a little. So, the boneless bites were perfect! Next, we had a hearty beer cheese soup - made with Abita Beer - in sourdough bread bowls. And, lastly, we had chocolate cupcakes filled with a cream cheese filling … courtesy of my sister-in-law. Everything was so yummy! 

Ring My Bell, Honey!

Each year, my parents have a box of the most delicious fruit shipped to us just after Christmas. This type of fruit is only available once a year, for a few short weeks in January, and it's truly the world's only limited edition fruit.  It's called a Honeybell.  And, it looks like an orange, but it's not an orange at all.  A Honeybell is a unique natural hybrid of a tangerine and a grapefruit, which are both seeded.  However, a Honeybell has no seeds, and is incredibly sweet and juicy.  The shipment even comes with a bib to wear if you choose!

NYE: Tuna Steak, Swiss Cheese Fondue & Tiramisu!

Last night for New Year's Eve, we had a small little gathering (as we've had for the past 3 years) with wonderful food … and, this year we actually didn't over do it!  The menu consisted of grilled & very pink/red fresh tuna steaks with sauteed shiitake and button mushrooms, a salad, sourdough bread pieces to fondue in swiss cheese, and for dessert my sister-in-law made a fabulous layered tiramisu cake. Everything was super!

A family feast ...

For Thanksgiving this year, my husband's family came to our house.  I had a wonderful time planning the meal, and the food turned out great!  However, by the time we sat down to eat, I wasn't even hungry ... I think I was tapped out on the planning and preparing.  Check it out --

First, we had goat cheese soufflés on a bed of mixed greens and pomegranate seeds with Romano Basil dressing.  This was my favorite.

And, rolls ... of course!

Next, there were individual Cornish Game Hens for everyone, atop sweet potato risotto and port wine cranberry sauce ...

And, for sides we had Goat Cheese-Basil Mashed Potatoes and Green Bean Casserole ...

And, three hours later we had dessert ... Pumpkin Roll with pecan cream cheese filling and 2 tiny scoops of "No Sugar Added" (as if it mattered at this point!) vanilla ice cream.  

One last taste of summer …

Last night I made one of my most favorite salads ever for my husband, his sister and me! It's called Asian Noodle Salad and it really is tasty and refreshing.  It's packed full of veggies I don't use every day like napa cabbage, red cabbage, baby spinach, bean sprouts and yellow/orange/red peppers -- so colorful. (Even though there's a ton of chopping, your hard work will be worth it in the end. I promise.) Then, you add lots o' cilantro, toasted cashews and linguine noodles and drizzle some homemade sesame-soy sauce-garlic-ginger-cilantro dressing over top.  WOW.  

Peach-Blueberry Crumbelina

Yesterday, on a whim, I decided to make peach-blueberry cobbler … it was easy, tasty and low-fat! Who knew? The ingredients were pretty simple – vegetable oil, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar, flour, low-fat plain yogurt, peaches and blueberries!

The peaches and blueberries I bought were really plump … 

First, I had to wash, peel and slice all of the peaches … I used about 4 big ones!

Next, I combined the peaches, blueberries, sugar, cinnamon and a little flour in a large bowl … and, later transferred to a pie dish.

Then, time for the crumbelina! This involved sifting the flour, salt, baking powder … and folding the oil and yogurt into this dry combo. (Note: Ben is demonstrating the sifting.)

Lastly, we placed the crumbles on top of the fruit, baked it for 40 minutes and this is what came out … I admit it looks messy, but it was so tasty!

Cherry-O!

I just love it when you can buy cherries in the grocery store - delicious! Here's my bowl full … where's yours?