"Around The World in Eighty Day" - Ninth Week - San Francisco

One thing we really enjoyed while visiting in San Francisco was the open air street markets loaded with fresh fruits, vegetables and fish. This is one of the salads the we made while we were staying there. 

Shrimp & Citrus Salad
(Makes 4 main course Salads)

INGREDIENTS:
2 large pink grapefruits (peeled and sectioned)
1 large Mango (peeled and cubed)
1 large can of Mandarin Oranges (well drained)
2 medium Tomatoes (washed and sliced into wedges)
6oz Spring Mix / Salad Mix
2 avocados
1/2 lb cooked peeled shrimps (about 6 to 8 per salad)
3-4 sprigs dill
1 cup candied Pecans (optional)

For the Dressing:
Juice from grapefruit and 1/2 of a lemon
1/4 sweet red onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
A pinch of salt and pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon of poppy seeds

1. To remove sections from the grapefruits: Slice off the top and base of the fruits. Following the curve of the fruit, cut away the skin, zest, and pith so only the segments and central membranes are left. Slide the knife down each side of a section to cut it free of the membranes, letting the section fall into the bowl. Continue cutting, turning the membranes back like the pages of a book until you’ve removed all of the sections. Chill them and reserve the juice.

2. Wash and dry the salad mix. Halve each avocado lengthwise, cutting down to the pit. Twist the halves and pull them from the pit. Tap the blade of a knife sharply onto the pit, twist, and pull out the pit. Peel away the skin and cut the avocado flesh into lengthwise slices. Brush some of the grapefruit or lemon juice over the slices so they do not discolor.

3. For the dressing: Whisk the reserved grapefruit juice with the lemon juice, onion, garlic, mustard, poppy seeds, salt and pepper until mixed. Gradually add the olive oil, whisking constantly so the dressing emulsifies and thickens slightly. Taste, adjust the seasoning and set aside.

4. Shortly before serving: Toss the salad mix with about a third of the dressing and taste for seasoning. Spread a bed of salad mix on 4 plates. Arrange the avocado slices and fruit and tomato sections like the spokes of a wheel on top and spoon over more dressing. Chop the dill and toss with the shrimps and remaining dressing. Taste, adjust seasoning, and spoon the shrimps into the center of the wheel. Sprinkle with candied pecans. Serve the salad as soon as you can so the greens do not wilt.

If anyone would like to join us in our Challenge "Around the World in Eighty Days" next week we will be at the New York.

Candied Pumpkin Seeds

This Make over Monday recipe is going to be a little different...

As tradition states, at our house, we normally roast our pumpkin seeds from our jack-o-lanterns two days after Halloween. This year instead of making the traditional salt soaked and roasted seeds.

Recipe Here: 

All your leftover jack-o-lantern seeds (washed & cleaned)
6 cups of warm water
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Mix salt and water together and pour over seeds, soak overnight

Next day drain seeds and toss with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce or your favorite Bar-B-Que Sauce. We use Teriyaki Sauce. Spread on a flat cookie sheet and bake on 300* for 30-40 mins. Stirring often to avoid burning. We like to much on these, add them to our trail mix or toss with our favorite fall salads.

We decided to try candied pumpkin seeds. 

Recipe Here:

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/8 teaspoon of salt

1/3 cup white sugar
3/4 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Mix the oil, salt, sugar and syrup together and heat, stirring until dissolved. Stir in ginger, and cinnamon; remove from heat and pour over pumpkin seeds. Bake at 300* until light brown or dry looking.

This is a recipe that I received from a friend at our church. This is the way a lot of people here in the South like their Pumpkin Seeds. They were a great treat and we still enjoyed them in our trail mix, in our granola and I even tossed them on my pumpkin salad the other night.

Happy Birthday to The World's Best Mother!

Happy Birthday MOM!

"Around The World in Eighty Day" - Seventh & Eighth Week - Hong Kong & Yokohama

This week for our "Around the World in Eighty Days" we took a Field Trip to a Chinese Restaurant. We had a great time and spent a good portion of two hours enjoying the plethora of the 120 items they featured on their buffet. Grand assorted items from Chinese style crab legs to Mongolian Grill.

We recommend this restaurant to everyone..... Check it out here!

CHINA BUFFETT

"Around The World in Eighty Day" - Sixth Week - Calcutta

Kona Chicken

Serves: 4

6  halves of skinned chicken breasts (cut into 1/3s)

1 egg

½ cup flour

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon chicken seasoning

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 can pineapple chunks in juice water

1 1/3 cups water

1/4 cup coconut dessert mix

1/4 cup brown sugar

2  tablespoon chicken soup base

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

4 to 6 cups cooked rice

Dip chicken breasts in beaten egg; coat with mixture of flour, curry powder and chicken seasoning. Place in shallow baking pan. Mix together melted butter and juice from pineapple chunks; drizzle over chicken. Cover with foil and bake at 350*F for 30 mins. Remove foil and continue to bake 30 mins more.

Combine pineapple chunks, water, coconut

dessert mix sugar, chicken soup mix, the

1/2 tsp curry powder and black pepper, in a saucepan. Cook over med heat until mixture comes to a boil and thickens slightly, stirring constantly; remove from heat. Serve chicken over rice, top with pineapple coconut mixture.

If anyone would like to join us in our Challenge "Around the World in Eighty Days" next week we will be at the Hong Kong.

"Around The World in Eighty Day" - Fifth Week - Bombay

Our stop-over in Bombay proved to be very interesting. Everywhere we looked the food was all curried. We finally decided to grab some very tasty looking Curried Crab Cakes as we started to move on the Calcutta.

Curried Crab Cakes 

1  teaspoons  curry powder

1/4  teaspoon  salt

1/2  teaspoon  mustard

1/8  teaspoon  black pepper

1/4  cup  minced onion

1/4 chopped red bell pepper

1  garlic clove, minced

1/4  cups  dry breadcrumbs 

1 cup shredded baked potato 

1  can lump crabmeat

1  large egg,  

2 Tablespoons  dried parsley

Preparation:
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl; mix well. Chill 30 minutes to and hour to allow the flavors to blend. Next, form into desired size patties or "cakes" and fry in small amount cooking oil heated in a large nonstick skillet until light brown. About 3-4 minutes per side. Serve with sour cream or Indian Yogurt.

If anyone would like to join us in our Challenge "Around the World in Eighty Days" next week we will be at the Calcutta.

New......... "From The Pantry" Challenge Week #39

"Falling" for Some Old Favorites

I can't believe that I have been hanging around SCS for just a little over two years now. And I have made a whole bunch of great friends along the way. Friends that I seem to always "Fall' back on inspite of how my day has went. I thought for my challenge today it would be fun to "Fall" back on some old friends, (recipe challenges from last year) that I love to make every FALL.

SO... You decide if are you a "SWEET" Friend or are You a "SAVORY" friend? Your challenge is to choose one and scrap the challenge and upload it. In your post please tell us why you chose sweet or savory. (extra bonus points if you case your own LO from Last year)

Here is the "SAVORY" Challenge,

Warm Spinach & Artichoke Dip

Challenge Recipe:

This should be a warm and savory page, much like the Dip it's self.

Please use white as cream cheese, mayo & grated cheeses.

Please use Green DP's as Artichokes

Please use dark Green Embellishments or Hardware as Spinach and of course you have to add a touch of browns for the Crackers or Chips.

Recipe INGREDIENTS:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
salt and pepper to taste
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a small baking dish.
2.In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, garlic, basil, garlic salt, salt and pepper. Gently stir in artichoke hearts and spinach.
3.Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake in the preheated oven 25 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned.



Here is the "SWEET" Challenge

Pumpkin Nut Dip

 
Challenge Recipe:

First use orange as your background. Circles, Squares and or DPS, doesn't matter... just make the background shapes bold and eye catching. Next add the spice... like journaling, brads, buttons and tags. Think about the colors of the spices and fluff... dark brown, black and white or cream. Try to make your page rich and snappy! Please include chipboard in this challenge, you always need a hard cookie for dipping.

 
INGREDIENTS:
* 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 1 cup confectioners' sugar
* 1 small jar of  marshmallow fluff                                
*1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
* 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts
* 1 teaspoon frozen orange juice concentrate

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a medium bowl, blend cream cheese, fluff and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Gradually mix in the pumpkin. Stir in the cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, nuts and orange juice until smooth and well blended. Chill until serving. (Best if served with Gingersnaps)


You can view the SCS GALLERY HERE.....

Please use the keywords SCS52WK39 & SBC09OCT when you upload.

"Around The World in Eighty Day" - Fourth Week - Seuz Canal

I came acrossed this awesome looking salad from one of my new friends on Foodbuzz. You can find the recipe here... "Vegetable Salad with Sprouts". We made it last night to go with our homemade Egyptian pizzas. It was very tasty... My guys are not fans of chillies or tomatoes, so I added dried cranberries and green peppers instead. Thanks for Sharing... Padmaja! :)

If anyone would like to join us in our Challenge "Around the World in Eighty Days" next week we will be at the Bombay/Mumbai.

mini-VSBN.... September Challenge!

Play with Team Colors!

As many of you know I love Fishing and FOOTBALL! hehehehe...Both are sports you know. SO for this challenge you can choose your favorite sport, as long and you use my favorite Team's Colors. (RED, WHITE & BLUE) and there will be a prize from the Fan Club for the first person who can guess my Team.


Here are my samples.... Baseball & Batter UP!

The Gallery can be found..... HERE

Please use the key words.... Sept09vsbn2 & sbc09sep

"Around The World in Eighty Day" - Second Week - France

We made a quick stop over in Paris France and we decided that we would try the crepes. We tried the....

CARMEL APPLE CREPES
(Recipe makes 10-12 small crepes)

For Filling:
2 Fresh Apples (peeled, cored & thinly sliced)
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup heavy cream

For Crepes:
1 1/2 cups flour (sifted)
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons butter (melted)
1/4 cup chilled water

In a blender or large mixing bowl , blend or whisk together the flour, eggs, salt and milk. Gradually add in melted butter, blend or stirring to combine. Let st ten minutes. Add water and blend or beat until smooth. Chill one at least one hour. Blend again just before using.

While crepe batter is chilling, make the apple filling. In a large saute pan, melt butter and brown sugar together, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Apples spices, vanilla and apples. Simmer on low until apples are tender. Add heavy cream, stirring until well mixed and slightly thick. Remove from heat.

Heat a crepe pan or lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.

Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side for about 30 seconds. Fill with warm Carmel Apple filling and top with whipped cream. Best if served warm. Recipe makes 10-12 crepes.

If anyone would like to join us in our Challenge "Around the World in Eighty Days" next week we will be at the Suez Canal.

Memories of my Mother-in-law...

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Today would have been her birthday and one of my favorite memories was coming to visit and she had made her famous Mint Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies. So in memory of her, I give you....

Mint-Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies

6 egg whites

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
2. Beat egg whites, salt, cream of tartar until very firm. While continuing to beat the egg whites, gradually add sugar and vanilla, beat until eggs whites will set up in stiff peaks. Gently fold in chocolate chips.
3. Drop by teaspoonfuls on pan. Bake 275 degrees for 25-30 minutes. They should only be lightly browned.

Happy Anniversary to the Chef's At the Pantry...

The Pantry Chef's Celebrated their 25th Wedding Anniversary Today....

And to Charleston we went...
It was uH.....okay - Nothing Special!



We left Myrtle Beach, stopped by Pawley's Island, (It was fantastic!!!!!!) we wish now we would have just spent the day there.




Anyway, left there.... went on down to Charleston. Battery Park was awesome for history stuff.
WE didn't go over to Fort Sumter or anywhere like that because we are taking the Scouts for an overnighter there in OCT. So we just stayed inland.








We went "Hyman's" Seafood Restaurant (rated #1), NOT IMPRESSED!!!!! only made TO (note: not through) the apps.... one taste and we were done.....very disappointed and expensive.... so we We then walked through a awesome open air market and had an excellent Chocolate Eclair at a little Bakery there. We looked around the area for another place to eat, but nothing good struck our fancy...










So we left early and came back to Capt. Benjamin's in N. Myrtle Beach for Calabash. We had a great time just simply because we love spending time together exploring new things,


but we have decided that we are due for another foreign affair... so a trip to the Swiss Alps will be our next adventure.

Remembering 9-11...

That day is still so real and raw in my heart and mind. I will never forget that day and how blessed my family and I am to be here today. There is not a day that goes by that I don't thank my Heavenly Father for that continual prompting and warnings that he made so clear to us those few months leading up to our not going to NYC on that day. I am so grateful for an willing and obedient husband that also is willing to listen to the spirit of the Lord. We have been truly blessed!!!!

"Around The World in Eighty Day" - First Week - England

For our First Cooking Challenge we choose "Yorkshire Pudding". Yorkshire Puddings are one of the major components of the National Dish of England which is Roast Beef served with two Vegetable sides and Yorkshire Puddings. The recipe is very simple and if made correctly, should be well-risen, golden brown with a crisp exterior and soft middles when served fresh from the oven.


You need:
4 large eggs
Equal quantity of milk to eggs
Equal quantity flour to eggs
Pinch of salt
6 teaspoons vegetable oil or drippings
2 tablespoons of cold ice water


Heat the oven to 425*. Pour the eggs and milk into a large mixing bowl and add the pinch of salt. Mix thoroughly with an mixer, blender or whisk. Let to stand for 10 minutes.

Gradually sieve flour into the milk and egg mixture, again using an mixer, blender or whisk to create a lump free batter resembling thick cream.

Let the batter to rest for minimum of 30 minutes, longer if possible.

Add ½tsp vegetable oil in 12-hole muffin tin and heat in the oven until the oil is smoking. Give the batter another good whisk adding 2 tbsps of cold water and fill a third of each section of the tin with batter and return quickly to the oven.

Leave to cook until golden brown approx 20 minutes. Repeat the last step again until all the batter is used up.




If anyone would like to join us in our Challenge "Around the World in Eighty Days" next week we will be in Paris, France.

New......... "From The Pantry" Challenge Week #35

Good Morning ALL!.....

Because we have been craving Chocolate pudding at our house AND I wanted to do a challenge with a little different flair this week... I decided it would be fun to do a Chocolate Pudding Challenge....Hope you all enjoy as much as we do!

Your Challenge is to create a monochromatic colored LO using only the pudding (Brown-your choice) and the whipped cream (white). You may add one spot of red, if you like cherries. Also, I challenge you to use the Dry Debossing Technique some where on your page, either as background, accents or embellishments. Keep in mind that if you don't have a brass plate you can use anything that will make an indent or pattern.

mmmmmmmm........ Chocolate Pudding!

1 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup cocoa powder
1/4 Cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
2 1/2 cups half & half
1 tsp. vanilla extract

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, combine all of the dry ingredients and stir. Over medium heat, gradually add the milk and half & half, stirring constantly. Bring to a low boil over medium heat. Continue at low boil, stirring constantly for 3-4 minutes or until thickened. Remove from stove and add the vanilla, stirring constantly to blend. Pour into serving bowls and chill uncovered. Pudding can be enjoyed warm or cold. Top with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles for an extra treat.


Please upload your layout using Keywords....... SCS52WK35

You can view the gallery...... Here

Here is My Sample..... Wilderness Pals!

Fall is in the Air....??????

Maybe......! I am not sure yet. It's hard to tell here is South Carolina. But I felt like it was time for a fun fall card anyway. The Challenge was to use FUN FOAM and texture pates to create a stamp to stamp a background with. Here is my card.....

Remembering My DaD!

Happy Birthday DAD.....

Experimenting in the Pantry Again....

I had this wild idea to take my favorite dish of Bacon Wrapped Scallops & my favorite recipe of Pasta Alfredo and combine them together for a new found friend, AND this is what I came up with...

Scallop & Bacon Alfredo

serves 2-4

1/4 cup butter
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 onion (diced)
1 clove garlic, (crushed)
1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
10-15 large Scallops
1/2 lb. of bacon (diced)
2-4 cups of Favorite Pasta (cooked)

In a medium sauce pan over medium heat add butter, Bacon and onion. Cook until bacon is done and onion is tender. Add Cream, Garlic, cheese, stir and reduce until it will coat and stick to a spoon when stirred. Add Scallops to sauce and turn slowly every two minutes until scallops are done. (about 4-6 minutes on each side depending on how large the scallops are) Drain Pasta and place in serving bowl, Pour Scallop Alfredo mixture over warm Pasta, Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve...

Challenge of the Day...

Today our "Limited Supply" challenge at SCS was to use our 1 1/2 inch scraps and create a scrapling. I had a lot of fun putting these together and it makes for a great use of my large supply of scraps.

Also I was thinking that these scraplings would make great card candy or scrapbook page accents...

Time for a new look!

Fall is here.... Well, at least it should be? But hey..... I live at the beach now!



Anyway, I have been thinking that my blog needs a new FALL look... so I will be making some changes again.



Change is good right???????????