Blog Surfing

From Narrating Life: Great kids birthday idea here

From Love and Homemade: Ideas for Easter here

From Cafe Johnsonia: Strawberry Pavlova Cake

From Jam Hands: Strawberry Banana Bread

From Sidewalk Shoes: Hot and Sour Chicken Noodle Soup

From Culinary in the Desert: Cornmeal Lime Cookies

From The Way the Cookie Crumbles: Strawberry Double Crisp

From Recipe Shoebox: Edible Birds' Nests

From Playing House: Chocolate Truffle Brownies

From Baking and Boys: Watermelon Salad with Tomato and Feta

From My Baking Addiction: Simple No Knead Pizza Dough

From Sidewalk Shoes: Goat Cheese, Lemon and Pea Pasta

From The Sister's Cafe: Black Bean and Sweet Corn Quinoa

From Eat At Home: How to Freeze Fresh Spinach

From Recipe Shoebox: Cute Easter Bunny Buns

From Eating, Etc.: Hashbrown Crusted Quiche

From A Recipe a Day: Easter Breakfast and Brunch Edition

From Mel's Kitchen Cafe: Easter Dinner Delights

From Sunday Baker: Mud Hen Bars

From King Arthur Flour Blog: Royal Chocolate Biscuit Cake?

I'm The One in the Cute Little Mini-Dress

Have you noticed all the cute, short mini-dresses being worn this spring? Like Jennifer Hudson on Dancing with the Stars in her pouffy, purple mini-dress with her shiny purple heels? 

It was really cute on her!

I am a big fan of clothing trends, but regarding my wardrobe for "Spring 2011," I'm sorry to say, there won't be any cute, colorful mini-dresses for me this spring or summer. Alas, that ship has been launched, sailed and is now retired! This gramma will leave that trend for the younger generation this time around.

One of my first pouffy mini-dresses

Don't feel sorry for me, I wore those cute, pouffy dresses with several pouffy slips underneath to make it even more pouffy, in my day, a few years back.
 

I even played outside in my pouffy mini-dresses

Ok, so maybe it's been more than a few years. It is hard to admit, but it has actually been over 50 years ago that I wore those cute little pouffy mini-dresses! 

My younger sister and I in our pouffy mini-dresses

You know what they say,"What's old is new again", but in this case, I don't think they are referring to 56-year-old grammas wearing pouffy mini-dresses this spring! Not this gramma, anyway! I will leave that for the 20 year-olds.

At least I have cute pictures!

P.S. I think I might need a little therapy coming to terms with that "It's been over 50 years" realization! Seriously!!

Double Chocolate Espresso Cookies

A closer look-hunks of melty bittersweet chocolate

I made these cookies recently for someone that I heard loves anything chocolate. I searched until I found a recipe that had double chocolate plus espresso powder. I love how a little coffee enhances the chocolate flavor. In place of the semisweet chocolate that the recipe called for, I used bittersweet chocolate. 

Baking them is kind of a blur because I was making 12 other things at the same time, but I'm sure they came together fairly easy. The house was filled with the deep aroma of chocolate while they baked. I can't eat any type of dark chocolate anymore, so the aroma is as close as I can get to enjoying dark chocolate. I also stay away from all caffeine. I know, how boring! It isn't that I want to, it's because they both make me physically sick! Don't worry, I still have my memories of the days long ago when I could eat dark chocolate and indulge in all things caffeine.

I never heard if the chocolate lover liked them, but my dear hubby enjoyed a couple of duds that didn't make the cut. He said they were "very, very good!"

Warm and melty, fresh from the oven

Here is the recipe:

Enjoy!

Pasta with Pesto, Chicken, Mushrooms and Cashews

"Chicken Pesto" has been one of our favorite meals for over 25 years. Actually, when the kids were young, just the smell and sight of it made them sick, so it was our dinner we enjoyed fixing for ourselves after the kids had gone to bed!

I have enjoyed adding extra things that have caught my fancy through the years, but this is our basic recipe. This is easy to make and can be on the table in less than 30 minutes. I should say, it comes together quickly, unless the phone rings, the dogs need out, someone is at the door or you realize you don't actually have any pasta in the cupboard or refrigerator!

You will need: 

1/3 lb Whole wheat linguine

1-2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped into bite size pieces

Garlic - to taste, I use at least 5-6 cloves

1/2 to 1 lb. Mushrooms, sliced

1-2 tbsp Olive oil - 1 tbsp if using 1 chicken breast, 2 tbsp if using 2 chicken breasts

1-2 tbsp Butter, same as above

Salt and pepper to taste

Pesto - see recipe below

Cashews

Parmesan Cheese, fresh grated

In a skillet, add a tablespoon of water and add the mushrooms. Saute for about 4-5 minutes, until they are about half cooked and have released their water.

Meanwhile, start bringing your pasta water to a boil in a medium-sized sauce pan.

Remove mushrooms and pour off liquid from the pan. Add the butter and olive oil and heat over medium heat. Add the garlic, chicken and mushrooms, stirring until garlic is tender and chicken is cooked through. 

Add pasta to boiling salted water and cook to al dente. Pour into a strainer, saving some of the pasta water.

Pour part of your pesto into your chicken and mushroom mixture and stir until well covered. Note: We prefer our chicken and mushrooms when they are covered with cooked garlic and pesto sauce before they are added to the pasta.

Place pasta back in sauce pan and add more pesto, to taste. Stir until linguine is covered with pesto. The pesto will stick to the pasta better when it isn't coated with oil or butter. 

Pour pasta mixture back into the medium saute pan and incorporate until everything has mixed together. At this point, if your mixture is too stiff, add a little of the pasta water and stir until it thins a little. You can also add more pesto if you want more. Do this until you have a consistency that you like. 

Note: You can keep them separate and place the pasta in a warm bowl and top with the chicken mushroom mixture if you prefer.

Using a pasta scoop or tongs, place mixture into a warm bowl. Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and sprinkle with cashews.

 

Enjoy!

I Love These Boys!

Orange-Ginger Oatmeal Scones

I enjoy mixing different flavors and spices together, especially in baked goods. On this particular day, oatmeal with orange and ginger sounded good, so I decided to make scones. If you prefer a subtle taste of ginger, I would suggest using one teaspoon of ginger instead of the two+ teaspoons that I used. I use Penzys ginger because I prefer it to the others brands in my cupboard. In my opinion, their spices have a more intense flavor, probably due to their freshness. I can't get enough of their ginger. That is why I usually add at least twice the amount called for in a recipe. I was very happy with how they turned out. 

Especially nice served warm with someone special!

Enjoy!