Blogger Awards

In college, my friends and I were not big party people.  Sure, sometimes we went out and did the “typical” college stuff, but our idea of an awesome party was to make a big pot of spaghetti (usually with vodka sauce, because that was our preferred way to use vodka), and watch the Emmys, Grammy, or Oscars.  One of the most upsetting moments for us was when we missed the big Ricky Martin performance at the Grammys when he first became popular because someone pulled the fire alarm.  These days I tend to watch just the pre-show or the recap on Fashion Police because I really just want to see how amazing or awful the celebs all look.  I usually don’t have much of an interest in the actual awards because I am not a huge music person, I watch more Food Network than network comedies and dramas (other than Glee), and I am lucky if I have seen one of the Oscar-nominated movies.

But now I have received some awards from my fellow bloggers, and I am so honored.  So I want to highlight these amazing ladies, and share the love with some other folks so that I can introduce all of you to some new and not-so-new blogs that you may not have seen before, but that have some incredible food and fun to offer.  I would love to tell you more about each of these, but that will take me so long that the orchestra will start playing in order to get me off the stage.  So now, without any further adieu…

The Beautiful Soul Award was presented to me by The Fountain Avenue Kitchen and The Foodie Physician.  Thank you, Ann & Sonali!  Ann has a bright, beautiful site with lots of great recipes, including a salad that inspired my lunch on Friday.  Sonali went to both medical school and culinary school, so she has lots of great, healthy recipes, and nutrition and health information.

I am presenting this to The PaperCup Kitchen, Confessions of a Cookbook Queen, Amee’s SavoryDish, Sugar and Spikes-Badassery in Baking, Lauren Kelly, Certified Nutritionist, and Zestuous.  (I know I received two, so should probably award it to 10 people, but I have a lot more awards to go).

Knead to Cook presented me with the Kreativ Blogger Award.  Robin has lots of tasty, healthy recipes, and some awesome-looking baked goods, usually featuring a great ingredient – Chobani Greek yogurt.

The Rules for the Kreativ Blogger Award

1. List 10 random facts about yourself (see below)
2. Give the award to 6 other bloggers

I already presented this award to  Sumptuous Spoonfuls, ChinDeep, Basilmomma: a busy mom that likes to cook, Pinch of Yum, Help! Mom’s on a Health Kick, And a glass of red wine.

Sumptuous Spoonfuls presented me with the Versatile Blogger Award.  Thank you, Ann!  Ann inspires me pretty much everyday with her photos and recipes, including an awesome salad and a breakfast idea, and many other recipes I want to try.

The RULES for the Versatile Blogger Award

1. Add the award to your blog.
2. Thank the blogger who gave it to you.
3. Mention 7 random things about yourself. (see below)
4. List the rules.
5. Award to 15 bloggers.
6. Inform each of those 15 by leaving a comment on their blog.

I would like to present this award to Little Mommy, Big Appetite, The Purple Carrot, The Novice Chef Blog, Recipes for my Boys, Cooking From a SAHM, Chocolate, Chocolate, and More Chocolate, Mia’s Domain, FoodThoughtsOfAChefWannabe, Decorate With Sprinkles, LaBelle Cuisine,  My Crazy Kitchen, My Kitchen Adventures, A Well-Seasoned Life, Hun, What’s For Dinner, and  Made From Scratch Recipes.

The Liebster Award was presented to me by Sweet Morris. She has some great recipes, and interesting little tidbits at the end of each post.

Here are the rules:

1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.
2. Link back to the blogger who presented the award to you.
3. Copy and paste the blog award on your blog.
4. Present the Liebster Blog Award to 5 blogs of 200 followers or less who you feel deserves to be noticed.
5. Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment on their blog.

I would like to present this to five new(-ish) bloggers who have some awesome recipes, nutrition advice and fitness inspiration to share:  And a glass of red wine, The Half-Baked Housewife, Countertop Confections, Tastefully Julie, and BananaOats.  Go check out their blogs and show some love.

So if you have hung in there this long, I would like to thank you, and the Academy.  And now, here are the 10 + 7 random facts about myself:

1. I have a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, and worked for a major pharmaceutical company for almost 10 years.
2. I am now a stay-at-home mom.
3. I have a son named Tyler, who is almost 2, and keeps me on my toes.
4. He was actually named after Tyler Florence.  I am kind of obsessed with chefs.
5. I tweeted Michael Symon when he asked about food blogs he should check out, and he is now Following me on Twitter.  Score!!
6. I actually hate Twitter, but know that it is a good way to connect with people, so I am trying to keep up.
7. I have a wonderful husband, Bill, of almost 6 years, and he is so supportive of me, and an amazing daddy.
8. I met my husband at work, and he was actually my boss for a short time on a rotational assignment, before we started dating.
9. I have traveled to Italy multiple times for vacation and work, and I think it is my favorite place ever.  Mainly because of the food.  And the wine.  And the gelato.
10. Ice cream is pretty much my favorite food in the world.  And peanut butter.
11. I workout 3-4 days a week, plus chasing and going for walks with my toddler, all so that I can eat more ice cream and other yummy food.
12. I hate raw onions, sauerkraut, and canned tuna.  Other than that, I’ll give most things a shot.
13. I love the Yankees!
14. I love the beach, and love that my mom lives just outside of Rehoboth Beach Delaware.
15. I have lived between three adjacent towns in New Jersey for my entire life.
16. My husband and I love to watch college football together, especially our alma maters, Rutgers and Penn State.
17. Blogging about food and archiving the recipes has been an incredible creative outlet for me, and I have enjoyed interacting with lots of people as passionate about food as me.

Friday Fun! March 16, 2012

Happy Friday again everyone!  I’m back for another edition of Friday Fun.  I’ll tell you what’s not so fun is that I am starting to write this at 2:50am.  Why, you ask?  Well, for some reason I m having a bout of insomnia tonight, and just as I was starting to wind down, The Bug decided to have a bit of a crying fit.  Well, he settled down, sort of, but now I can’t wind myself back down.  I’m sure staring at the glow of the computer screen is going to do wonders for helping to get me off to dreamland, but c’est la vie.  Gotta use the time somehow, especially since I’ll probably crash when The Bug goes down for his nap tomorrow, umm, I mean later today.  I’m sure I won’t finish this before I try to go to sleep, but at least I’ll get a start.

Last weekend, The Hubby and I got a date night, which was wonderful.  I’m actually hoping to do a little post about it, because we had yet another fabulous meal at The Frog & The Peach, in New Brunswick, NJ.  Every one in a while, we like to go out to somewhere REALLY good.  A lot of the time we try new places, but when we want a good meal with good service and a good atmosphere, without the wildcard aspect of trying a new place, we go to The Frog.

This weekend I am so excited for a Girls’ Night on Saturday with two good friends, Amy and Bethie, and Amy’s future sister-in-law, Megan.  Of course this has nothing to do with St. Patrick’s Day, but we bought a Groupon for a Four-Course Chocolate Supper Club dinner at the Chocolate Lovers Club in Princeton, “celebrating cuisine from chocolate-producing countries,” and supposedly includes virgin choctails, three appetizers, four tasting-size entrees, dessert, a cooking demo, and a chocolate tasting.  We will be experiencing A Taste of Hawaii.  OMG!!!!  I also think I will be picking up a bottle of Cupcake Red Velvet to bring along, because it sounds like the perfect pairing to me.

And Sunday I’ll be heading to a birthday party for The Half-Baked Housewife‘s little guy.  She has a huge family and tons of friends, so parties at her house are always such happy chaos.

OK, I think I can go to sleep now.

So I am back, and having a salad for lunch inspired The Fountain Avenue Kitchen’s Apple Pecan Spring Greens with Maple Dijon Vinaigrette.  I only had romaine and cheddar, though I would much prefer spring greens and blue cheese.  Also, I used almonds instead of pecans, and left out the raw onion (yuck!).  Plus I fudged the dressing a little because I was only making a little for myself, and I used balsamic instead of apple cider vinegar, because I LOVE balsamic.  I also realized I forgot the dried cranberries.  Bummer!  But it was so tasty!

This week I also received several blogger awards from some of my new bloggie friends.  I am so honored, but it has been a busy week with attempting, unsuccessfully, to potty train The Bug, getting my Improv Cooking Challenge post completed, and pulling together my package for my Foodie Penpal, Jessica, that I haven’t had a chance to share the love.  So since the Oscars, Grammys, and Emmys are always on Sundays, I am thinking I will be doing a Sunday Awards Show post, so that I can highlight the lovely ladies who nominated me, and tell you all about some other awesome bloggers.

The Bug and I planted herbs this week from Growums.  Let’s see if my Black Thumb of Death rears its ugly head again.  Oh, and my random adorable Bug tidbit of the week is that when you ask him where something is, he points, and says “Right right there.”  Oh, and on the way home from pre-school the other day, he fell asleep in the car.  Usually he asks to read The Very Hungry Caterpillar when we get home, but since he was out cold, I just carried him up to his bed.  As I was laying down, he goes, “Hungry Caterpilaaaaa..zzzzzzzzzz” as he fell back to sleep.  So cute!  And one more thing – apparently at pre-school he is counting EVERYTHING.  He has no interest in letters, but he is all over the numbers.  Clearly the offspring of two engineers.

At Shop Rite I picked up a 5 lb box of Whole Wheat Matzoh.  I’m not Jewish and I have a wheat allergy, so don’t eat too many things like that.  But I thought I might be able to come up with some creative recipes.  And it was free.  And bonus, the only ingredients are whole wheat flour and water, so it’ll make a great whole grain, sugar/salt/preservative-free snack for The Bug.  Any other ideas what I can do with it?

Some things I came across this week:

• In the early stages of tonight’s insomnia, I found this article about food bloggers posting recipes using “real food” versus packaged items and junk food to create visually appealing, drool-inducing recipes that don’t do wonders for the health of the nation.  I am all about balance and moderation.  So while I do try to focus on wholesome, nutritious, “real” food, I do think there is room in life for a little fun, like these Lucky Charms Cupcakes.  That being said, though, so far I think the most popular recipe on my blog is my Spaghetti Squash with Spicy Sausage Tomato Cream Sauce.
• The Lean Green Bean put together a list of 60 Blogs You Should Be Reading.  There are a lot on there that I already read, and some that I have to add to my list.
• Every year for Christmas, I make my dad Snickerdoodles.  He even says I now make them better than my grandma used to.  And The Hubby loves molasses gingersnaps.  These Snickercrinkles are like a combo of the two – I have to try them!
• Ann at Sumptuous Spoonfuls had me hooked with this Double Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Bread.  I mean, it has Nutella, and it is chock full of healthy things like flax, whole wheat flour, yogurt and applesauce.
• Brown Sugar Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Brown Sugar Frosting and Snickers Cake – ’nuff said!
• OK, I am not all about dessert.  I am always looking for some new vegetarian ideas for Meatless Mondays and Lent Fridays.  This week I found BBQ Chickpea Burgers and Black Bean Spaghetti Stir Fry.  I am very interested to try black bean pasta after my first venture into gluten-free pasta with brown rice spaghetti last week.  And I thing this Springtime Jasmine Rice Salad sounds amazing, with two of my favorites – asparagus and mushrooms – but I think I may have to add shrimp or chicken for The Hubby to consider it a meal.
• How cute are these?!?!

I could go on, but I have towels to fold.  Ugh!

Remember, f you like what you see here, I’d love for you to subscribe to updates by email, “Like” me on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter.  And tell your friends…

And here is the weekly question:

What are your plans for the weekend?  Cooking up anything special?

Enjoy!

Friday Fun! #1

Happy Friday everyone!  I know I don’t work outside the home, but I still look forward to Friday.  I love knowing that The Hubby will be home with me and The Bug for a couple days.  I usually have at least one meal planned that is a little more special than our usual Monday to Friday fare.  And hopefully we have something fun planned.  This weekend it is a Date Night!  My dad, Grandpa Yee-Haw (since that is what The Bug says every time he sees him) is coming to babysit.  So The Hubby and I get to have a meal alone that isn’t interrupted by someone spitting out food and yelling to have his hands wiped.  Unless one of us drinks too much.  Kidding!  I love my kid, but I have practically every single meal with him, and it gets old.

So in honor of Friday, I decided to start a fun series of posts showing what I am loving this week, mainly from my reading of articles and blogs on the internet.

At this moment, I am loving lunch.  Well actually I just finished my last bite.  It was a wonderful salad inspired by this Pineapple Arugula Salad from Sumptuous Spoonfuls.  I had just cut up a bunch of pineapple the day I saw this recipe, and knew it HAD to be lunch one day this week.  I switched it up a bit using what I had in the house – feta instead of goat cheese, pine nuts instead of walnuts, pineapple juice and poppy seeds in the dressing instead of lime juice and mint, and I added a couple strawberries, just because.  Yum!

Speaking of pineapples and things I love, I love that The Bug calls them “Bye-Bye-Apples.”  I have no idea why, but it is so cute!

I am also excited about the chance to win a $50 Visa Gift Card and PEANUT BUTTER(!!!) from Averie Cooks, and to check out her blog.  I just found it, and it looks awesome!

• Cinnamon Apple Quinoa Parfait from Epicurean Mom – I have been perfecting my own version of a cinnamon raisin apple quinoa even before I saw this, and this loks like a fun way to jazz it up.
• Crockpot Barbacoa Beef from Spices Bites – this sounds tasty!
• Some recipes I want to try:I am intrigued by both of these recipes, and not sure which to try first.  I think The Bug will be a fan: Dark Chocolate Avocado Mousse from Peanut Butter Fingers or Raw Chocolate Pudding from The Nourishing Gourmet.
• Some sweet treats that look heavenly: Milk Chocolate Bailey’s Truffle Cake from How Sweet it is, and Chocolate Birthday Cupcakes with Nutella Cloud Frosting from Sweetapolita, and Girl Scout Cookie Tagalong Cake Bars from Kevin & Amanda

Clearly, even after last weekend (or maybe because of last weekend), I still have chocolate on the brain!

Well, I hope you check out some of these links, and have a great weekend.  And I’ll leave you with what will probably become my weekly questions:

What are your plans for the weekend?  Cooking up anything special?

Enjoy!

Living the Sweet (and Savory) Life this Weekend in Rehoboth Beach

a.k.a. Why I eat lots of salad and workout a lot during the week…

Throughout my whole life, my mom and I were likethis.  We did EVERYTHING together.  And yes, “likethis” and “EVERYTHING” deserve the visual emphasis.  So needless to say, even though I was thrilled about beginning married life with my wonderful new hubby, I was pretty sad that she moved over 3 hours away while I was on my honeymoon!  I actually moved back home after college, and lived with her, my stepfather (who I affectionately refer to as “My Larry”, and my sister (who The Bug affectionately refers to as “Ham-Ham”, a.k.a. Aunt Sam) until my wedding day.  I miss her (and all of them) everyday, and especially since The Bug was born.  So after a lifetime in Central New Jersey, they now live just outside of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and not too far from some other cool shore towns, like Lewes, Bethany Beach, and Dewey Beach, Delaware, and Fenwick Island and Ocean City, Maryland.

The best thing about them living there is that it is like going on vacation every time we visit.  We go to the beach and boardwalk in the summer, check out lots of live music at the clubs and bars, shop, watch fireworks and parades, go to local events like tree lightings and Polar Bear Plunges, and try out lots of great restaurants.  And The Hubby and I get to go on some dates, since we have some ready and willing babysitters available.  And we are away from home, and the projects and chores staring at us, keeping us from relaxing like we probably need to.

The worst thing about them living there is that it is like going on vacation every time we visit.  We eat lots of beach and boardwalk food like ice cream and french fries, enjoy some drinks at the local clubs and bars, eat ice cream while watching fireworks and parades, go to local events like the Chocolate Festival and Punkin’ Chunkin’, and try out lots of great restaurants.  And don’t exercise as much as at home, except for maybe a dip in the pool or a walk on the beach or boardwalk.

This is a ton of fun and good for our mental well-being, though perhaps not so good for our health and waistline.  This weekend was no exception.  The Bug and I came down for a visit, and while the Hubby went to work, did chores around the house, feasted on meat and political discussions with his best friend, and went fishing, we opted for a different kind of fun, mostly centered around food.

When we arrived on Thursday, we went out for Mexican food at La Tonalteca.  This wasn’t too bad, since The Bug ate a third of what was on my plate.  If you saw the video I posted, you saw that he loves Mexican.  Oh, and I found a great trick to keep yourself from eating too many tortilla chips – bring a toddler who you don’t want to stuff himself on chips before the “real food” comes.  My mom and I both found that our hands went into the chip basket less, because if The Bug saw us eating them, he wouldn’t have stopped.

Friday morning, after a quick stop to buy some new clothes for The Bug, he, Mom, Ham-Ham and I headed into Rehoboth Beach to buy our tickets for the Chocolate Festival.  Now we could have picked them up at the Rehoboth Beach Main Street office, one of the clothing stores, or The Boardwalk Plaza Hotel.  But we decided to go to Cake Break.  Just to get the tickets.

Right….

The owners were so nice, and the cupcakes looked so delectable that we could not pass them up.  Cake Break is also a great, family friendly place.  They have decorate-your-own cupcakes for the little ones, coffee and pastries for the moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas, and also cater to those with allergies, offering up gluten-free cupcakes and running an entirely nut-free shop.

The Bug was not too happy when we told him that he had to wait until later to eat his cupcake.

So then it was lunchtime, and we headed back out towards Rt. 1 to The Point.

Obviously the best way to placate a toddler who was denied a cupcake is to take him to a place where you are greeted by this display case,

and then make him eat this…

Special request cheddar cheese sandwich with fresh fruit.

The Point is owned and operated by the same folks as The Boardwalk Plaza Hotel and Victoria’s Restaurant (where they do an extensive and delicious Sunday brunch, I might add).  It is an awesome little cafe and pastry shop with amazing baked goods,

Sticky Buns!!

tasty, yummy sandwiches, salads made with fresh, often local and organic ingredients,

Egg salad sandwich

delicious soups, made fresh daily,

Tomato, gorgonzola, and shrimp bisque

and lots of great coffees and coffee drinks,

Caramel Frappe

and the most amazingly friendly manager, Tom, who greets regular by name (and often with their “usual”), and makes non-regulars feel like they are visiting him in his own home, so that they want to come back again and again.

Tom is greeting his customers

I imagine that this is what Starbucks was before there were 9,089,57,892,678,123,904 locations.  And I should add that their Espresso Chocolate Torte won the Grand Prize at the Chocolate Festival last year.

So I was just going to have a nice, light (and might I add, very tasty) salad for lunch.

Salad of organic greens, fresh fruit, your choice of cheese (I had blue cheese), walnuts, almonds, and raspberry vinaigrette.

But then I looked towards the pastry cake, and it was like a magnetic field drawing me in…

closer…

Umm, just a salad?!  Sure…

But I did share.

So later that evening, I made a nice, healthy dinner full of veggies, which was so good that I will definitely be posting it later this week.

And then topped it off with cupcakes…

The Bug approved!

7:58 pm

8:00 pm

8:02 pm

Unlike my son, I savored my rich, sweet, but not too sweet Rocky Road cupcake, because two insanely chocolatey desserts in one day is perfectly acceptable…

Especially the day before you are going here:

Now it was Saturday morning, and time to head to the Chocolate Festival.  So here is the fabulous thing about the Chocolate Festival.  Lots of restaurants, bakeries, professional chefs, and amateurs enter their best chocolate creations, and for a $2 entry fee (which includes on tasting), and $0.50 for each additional tasting, you can try all of these goodies.  And Mom and I did.  For a grand total of $14, we split all of our tastings, so got to try around 20 different, amazing chocolate treats.  Silly Mom gave up candy for Lent, though, so I can’t tell you about any of the candy entries, and neither of us are big cheesecake fans, so we passed on those.  But when it came to cakes and brownies and cookies, well we were all over that!

So are you tempted by this photo?!?!

Then you have to click here to see all of the chocolate awesomeness we experienced!  I am still not a WordPress expert, and can’t figure out how to put a slideshow and still photos in the same post without the still photos ending up in the slideshow. Sorry!

I also had the pleasure of meeting Dru Tevis, the pastry chef at Hobos and Cloud 9, two places I actually haven’t been yet, but will definitely be adding to my list for future visits.  He will also be having a stand at the Rehoboth Beach Farmers’ Market, which starts up Tuesday, May 1st.

As you can see from the picture, his confections had beautifully, perfectly imperfect layers of moist cake and cream and custard and ganache.  And Mom and I can attest that the banana cake and Nutella cookies were fabulous!

His entries from Cloud 9 also won a couple of ribbons in the Brownie and Cake Categories.

Many of the other local restaurants and bakeries were in on the action, too, producing some more beautiful and equally tasty treats to enter in the contest, display, and sell.

The Point entered their Palm Beach Silk Cake, a flourless chocolate cake with raspberry-Chambord compote.

Stingrays had a unique display of chocolate “sushi.”

Cake Break brought the uber-trendy and delicious cake pops and these adorable mini cupcakes.

Cake Bar had some beautiful display cakes, and had a couple of winning entries.

Sugar Bakers also displayed their cakes, and they won the Grand Prize in Cakes.

Touch of Italy also had some award winners, and I can tell you the Nutella brownies were as good as you would expect Nutella brownies to be.

Gelato Gal scooped a couple of their most chocolaty flavors of creamy gelato.

If you read my first post, you know I am all about balance.  So to balance all of the sugar and chocolate, what better than Bethany Blues BBQ in Lewes for:

Veggies - Lettuce Wedge with Bacon and Blue Cheese

Protein - Pulled Pork

Grains and Legumes - Cheesy Creamed Corn and Baked Beans

The Bug clearly approves!

And just to show you that we didn’t just stuff our faces all weekend, we did go to the park…

and played…

for about 20 minutes…

before lunch!!

If you have made it this far, either you are pictured in one of these photos, are very bored, or you love sweets just as much as I do.  I hope you enjoyed this deviation from your not-so-regularly scheduled recipe posts to read about my tasty weekend.  If you are in the area, check out some of these places or events.  In the interest in some more balance, coming up this week will be a vegetarian eggplant recipe, a spaghetti squash tutorial, and maybe a smoothie or two.  And “Muff-cakes.”  You know, BALANCE!  Now back to the gym…

Do you love chocolate?  What are some of your favorite sweet treats?  Help inspire some future blog posts, and hopefully and entry for me into next year’s competition.

Blogging-induced Insomnia

It is 6:43 am on a Saturday and I have been wide awake for an hour. I didn’t go to sleep till 1:29 am. And this has nothing to do with a toddler with poor sleeping habits. He is starting to chatter a bit now, but unless he is sick or teething, he sleeps through the night (*knocking on wood*). But ever since I started blogging, I have had a steady stream of recipe ideas running through my head at all hours. And last night I was having so much fun being inspired by other blogs that I could not shut the laptop, So here I am, laying in bed next to a sleeping husband, writing a lame blog post on my iPhone.

I am loving this new creative outlet and joining the blogging community. I just want to get some sleep. Or maybe, since I consume very little caffeine, it is due to the chocolate ice cream and chocolate chips I ate last night…

So anyway, I am going to try to post a blog roll later, so that you can see some bloggers who inspire me, either for their recipes, health information, photography, writing, or site design. In the meantime, it is time to turn some of the recipes churning in my head into breakfast.

Do you have any favorite blogs I should check out?