Liz's Livelihood

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Langostino Chowder

With the recent weather in Indiana being in the below zero temperatures, it is perfect soup weather. I have been wanting to make a chowder for quite some time. After a trip to Trader Joe's and a purchase of their frozen Langostino tails, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them. This was a perfect cure to help us defrost.

Salmon Casserole

I bought some canned salmon thinking it would be easy to make something with it and yet I never found anything other than salmon cakes until now. I have always enjoyed mac'n'cheese with tuna and so this recipe is basically a fancier version of that. It was quite delicious and easy to make. I enjoyed the flavors involved and it could work as a really good meal for a quick and hearty meal something other than chicken or beef.

Shepherd's Pie

One of Nick's favorite new dishes is shepherd's pie, apparently he has always liked it but it wasn't something that I grew up with nor was it something I had ever had or thought to make. Our favorite restaurant in town is called Nine Irish Brothers and they serve a delicious shepherd's pie and so I decided to make it for him and I have fallen in love with this recipe. I have learned to love the element of tomato paste and the flavor that it adds to recipes and it works really great for this one in particular.

African Curried Rice (Vegan - Gluten Free)

I decided to make this meal for a friend who is currently vegan and gluten free. This is a very flavorful vegan and gluten free dish that does not require the additional shrimp, I only made those because my hubby prefers meat, plus it makes the meal more filling. But truly this is a delicious meal that makes me think I could be vegan and gluten free, but then I remember that I love cookies and hamburgers way too much ;)

Beef Wellington

Nick and I love watching Chef Gordon Ramsay cook on TV, we always make effort to watch his cooking and competition shows when they are on the air. Over the years we have noticed his love for serving Beef Wellington and so when we had the opportunity to eat at his restaurant in Las Vegas, that is exactly what I ordered; especially once I found out it is made with Duxelles (a mushroom blend) rather than liver for the inside. It was so very delicious and so when my parents booked a trip to come visit us in Indiana for Christmas, I knew exactly what I wanted to make them for our special Christmas dinner. This was absolutely delicious and fun to make.

Kolacky (Slovak Nut Roll)

Kolacky (co-lach-key) is a Slovak nut roll. My Czechoslovakian grandmother, Babbi, used to make Kolacky all by herself once a year for all her girls and their families. As she got older, my mother started to give her a hand, and it quickly became a tradition for my mother and Babbi to make Kolacky together. Eventually, I was also included. One year my mother showed up at Babbi's to help make Kolacky, and Babbi had already been working for hours just grinding the nuts...by hand! My mother saw that after an hour Babbi only had about 1/2 cup done. She recommended they continue cooking at my mother's house where she pulled out the food processor and ground all the walnuts in a matter of 15 minutes (obviously my Babbi was amazed). After that, making Kolacky was always done at my mother's house.

Babbi passed away 3 years ago and in those years no one in our family has attempted to make these, until now. Sadly my grandfather, Papa, Babbi's husband, passed on December 5th, and I felt the desire to make these Kolacky in honor of both Papa and Babbi since everyone in our family love these rolls, especially Papa. I was fortunate to get to watch Babbi make Kolacky a couple times (Babbi liked to do it mostly by herself). Those special experiences and handwritten notes from Babbi herself on how to make them allowed me to complete this traditional dish. I thought it would be a taste of memories and it would pay homage to my lovely grandparents. I miss them both very much and traditions like these are how I feel I am able to continue to pass on their love.

Babbi with her Kolacky in PA

Dancing at my wedding

Papa was my biggest fan :) Here he is testing my Cake Balls

I Love Fall In Indiana

I was born and raised in sunny California; therefore, I never experienced a true colorful fall before moving to Indiana. Because of this, I am a little obsessed with capturing all the pretty trees and different colors I encounter on a daily basis. Here is a photo journal of the beautiful scenes I have witnessed in the past month around our home.

Molten Lava Cake

One of the most common, expensive and delicious desserts that is readily available at most high class restaurants is the molten lava cake. I used to love ordering one when we would go out for a special occasion, but not any more, not since I learned just how easy and cheap these really are to make. I made these the other night and remembered just how absolutely amazing they are, although it is probably bad that I know that these are easy to make because I will start making them more frequently. YOU MUST GIVE IT A TRY!

Savory Cheddar Bacon Waffle

Nick and I both love waffles and nothing is better than a nice savory waffle sandwich. I found this recipe to make savory waffles and they were so incredibly tasty that they were perfect for a BLT style sandwich or even as a savory breakfast pastry. By using the oil from the bacon instead of melted butter, there is an incredibly strong bacon flavor that is exerted from these delicious waffles, that is why the waffles work well just by themselves without anything poured over or added to them.

Quinoa Pizza Crust (Gluten Free)

Another recipe for my gluten-free vegan friend, vegan pizza. We used a kale basil pesto as our sauce (with olive oil, garlic, and sunflower seeds) with no cheese and this quinoa crust paired with soy Mozarella cheese to create this absolutely vegan pizza. It was quite tasty and the crust was very good, it is definitely a do-able option for any of my vegan friends out there.

Cinnamon Rolls

I am currently addicted to cinnamon rolls. I made these as Nick's welcome back breakfast when he returned from Japan, since then I have been obsessed. This is a great recipe my great friend Megan shared with me, the baking queen. You should check out her blog MeganInMoshi, about her experiences living and teaching in Tanzania.

Fall Favorites

I love fall, it is my favorite season of them all. Every year I use fall as an excuse to overload on our squash/gourd intake. I tend to overdue it, which Nick doesn't appreciate very much but I just can't help it. If you are at all like me then the following recipes are for you. I know we are only a week or two into fall but I have already made all of the listed recipes. So, happy fall! May you enjoy it as much as I do :)

Butternut Squash Risotto

Pumpkin Zucchini Bread

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Butternut Squash Mac'n'Cheese

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

I love pumpkin and this is the season for pumpkin. I decided to make something a little different than the normal pumpkin bread by adding the topping and filling of coffee cake but with pumpkin spice. This worked out great! This was delicious and lovely. I expect you all to give it a try.

Vegan Creamy Tomato Basil Sauce/Soup

One of my friends recently decided to become vegan and so I have been learning all kinds of new vegan recipes. There was one in particular that she and I made together, where we made a creamy pesto soup by using cauliflower as the cream. The base of that recipe worked out very well, so much so that I decided to recreate that recipe but to make a tomato basil sauce instead. The sauce I created was so good that I would make it again and eat it all by itself as a soup. This is a great way for those who are lactose intolerant or vegan to enjoy a creamy sauce and/or soup without any regret.

Quinoa Patties

Remember food, you know food, the real reason I started this blog. Well I have been cooking a lot and yet have not been posting, oops. So I thought I would start with this one. I have grown a love for quinoa and while Nick was off in Japan I decided to make these quinoa patties. They proved to be quite delicious, which is good because I made over a dozen of them. I happily ate them for what seemed like every lunch and dinner for an entire week.

World Heritage Sites in Japan

While traveling and visiting Japan, Nick and I quickly learned that Japan has many many UNESCO World Heritage sites, in fact according to the UNESCO website, Japan has 17 World Heritage sites in total, which compares to the much larger country of America that has 21 sites. According to UNESCO, "The World Heritage List includes 981 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value...and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria."

Here are some of the amazing World Heritage sites we were blessed with the opportunity to visit while in Japan.

Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara: