Okra Rice

I have been wanting to make something with Okra ever since I saw it being used on Mastechef last summer and since I tasted it at a local Indian restaurant. So when I spotted a bag of Okra at my local Asian Market, Ranch 99, I knew it was about time. I searched through allrecipes.com to find this interesting looking recipe. It turned out pretty good and the Okra was tasty. It was fun to make something new with an incredibly new ingredient. 

Mocha Chocolate Cookie Crunch Ice Cream

 

I had some heavy cream leftover from my vodka sauce so I decided it was time to make some ice cream. I once had this amazing ice cream in Dana Point that was coffee flavored with chunks of cookies and chocolate, it was absolutely delicious. I have never been able to find that flavor in the store and so I thought I would make my own version. It turned out wonderful, a perfect summer treat. 

Chicken Fajitas

A lot of times I decide what to make for dinner based on what I have in my fridge. Tonight I had two kinds of bell peppers and a very ripe avocado. I knew what I had to do, make fajitas. This recipe is based off of how my brother makes fajitas, his secret ingredient is soy sauce... it helps the veggies to bring out their natural savory juicy flavors.

Quick and Easy Garlic "Hot Dog Bun" Bread

A common problem in the summer is that after a BBQ, you may have lots of random leftover food that doesn't really go along with other things, like you may have leftover hot dogs buns but no hot dogs (since the hot dog count never matches the bun count.) I have found that instead of trying to freeze the hot dog buns for the next time you have hot dogs, just reuse the buns for a whole other type of meal. Hot dog buns are basically rolls cut in half, which happen to make a great canvas to create some garlic bread. I made these to accompany a pasta dish I made the other night and I can't tell you how great of an idea it was, not only was it quicker and less messy since there was no slicing involved, but they turned out super tasty.

Giada's Penne With Vodka Sauce

 I have had vodka sauces before, jarred or from restaurants, but I have never attempted it at home. Although this Giada (TV Network: Everyday Italian) sauce I made wasn't completely homemade, it tasted great and with all the fresh added ingredients, it sure tasted homemade. I really enjoyed it and I will definitely make it again.

My Orange County Fair Experience...2011

So I entered one of my food blog posts to the Orange County Fair and guess what...I got third place! So cool. So it all started in May when I was looking through the OC Fair Competitions page because I wanted to enter a photograph of mine, I decided to look through all the culinary competitions when I found the perfect competition for me, Food Blog Posts. I entered in the Directional Blog Post division with my post, Babbi's Sauerkraut Pierogies. As part of entering the contest, you are given a free ticket to the Fair. Since I had yet to hear if I won or even placed in the competition, Nick and I had a date night to the OC Fair, where we surprisingly got to see my blog post posted in the food exhibit center. I got to see my Babbi's recipe posted on the wall with a third place marker, it was pretty cool to see that and I feel so proud and accomplished having placed at all. 

Fried Green Tomatoes

My friend gave me some nice plump green tomatoes from her garden and so I decided I just had to make some fried green tomatoes. It was the first time I had ever had any homemade fried green tomatoes and only my second time ever eating green tomatoes at all. They were pretty yummy and they worked well as a kind of side dish and/or sandwich topper. 

SausageFest 2011

SausageFest 2011- It has been a tradition that we have Nick's Ultimate Frisbee pals over every year for a feast of sausages. This one was our third annual sausagefest party and we celebrated summer and our friend Iain who was in town from Scotland. Sausagefest was a little more extraordinary this year because I included an array of toppings, we had grilled peppers, sauteed sauerkraut, potato chips, chopped red onions, jalapenos, and every condiment you can think of. SausageFest has been a great tradition and it has been a lot of fun, I can't wait to do this again next year.

Pesto & Bruschetta Mac'N'Cheese

I had a craving for mac'n'cheese and for some reason I wanted to switch it up, try something different than my usual delicious mac'n'cheese. I still had some pesto sauce leftover from last week and so I knew I had to incorporate that basil theme into my mac'n'cheese. Plus, my friend recently gave me tons of fresh tomatoes from her garden and so I had to make myself some Bruschetta, which got me to thinking how great of an idea it would be to make a mac'n'cheese topped with fresh Bruschetta, yummm!!!! And so here is my creation. It was absolutely delicious. I highly recommend it.

Bruschetta

 This is a family favorite recipe that my mother used to make all the time when I was growing up. It is so simple and so delicious. It makes for a great appetizer or even as a topper for Italian pasta dishes.