The Hills Hit Houston Part One

For Father's Day weekend, Chris' immediate family came to Houston. It was a wonderful visit!

Because there are five of them and two of us, it's usually easiest for Chris and I to drive to Baton Rouge... so it was really nice to have the chance to host them.

The weekend started off low-key. The family drove in a few hours before dinner so we had a chance to catch up, laugh and do some cheers/toasts.

Here are Justin and Jeremy with their (unplanned) matching outfits:

Tootie (Justin and Laura's dog) also visited:

I think she came because she wanted to play with Gordon, but my anti-social dog wanted none of that. Poor Tootie!

I prepared a really tasty (if I do say so myself) entree from the Williams Sonoma catalog: Rolled Flank Steak.

Although easier than it looks, it's impossible (I think) to make it look as pretty. But I tried my hardest!

Later we tried (unsuccessfully) for a group shot at dinner:

The evening turned to night which turned into late night... it's always nice to tell stories and laugh with the family. 

The next morning we went on various shopping excursions... but not before taking two cute pics.

One of the ladies:

And one of the men:

That night, Chris and I took them to a Houston tradition... which I'll tell you about tomorrow!

June Super Supper

With summer comes lazy days and crazy nights... or at least the memory of when that was true! So, the Supper Club decided to change it up a bit with our usual "Thursday's at the Hill House" routine.

Step one was having Ashley host at her Summer Home. She's house-sitting this summer in a large, eclectic house in our neighborhood. What fun!

Step two was hosting on a Friday. This ensured that everyone could arrive late and stay as late as they pleased without worrying about a 6am wake-up call the next morning.

The changes seemed to be successful! As was (most of) the meal!

Michele brought a lovely salad-- Summer Watermelon Salad with Honey Orange Vinaigrette (p. 117)

 I made the Cambert and Pecan Quesadillas with Pineapple Salsa (p. 56) 

Let me tell you-- NEVER again! 

The salsa (which goes on top) wasn't difficult:

But the Camembert cheese was a nightmare to "peel off the rind and cut into cubes". Ha!

It was like a Martha Stewart instruction. Seems so easy. But turns into disaster!

We finally figured it out (kind of) and prepped the Quesadillas for the skillet:

All in all it was a tasty dish (and delightfully different) but it was not worth the prep (the skillet part wasn't the easiest either). Maybe just maybe I'd make it for fewer people. But chances are low. 

On the other hand, Ashely's dish was tasty and not impossible!

Seared Sesame Tuna (p. 161)

Although seared, it wasn't as bright pink as you see in this photo. Sashimi grade tuna isn't cheap-- but it's delicious!

All in all a nice buffet:

And a colorful plate!

But wait! There's more! Carol made these a-maz-ing perfect for summer cookies!

Lemon Coconut Cookies (p. 227)

Delish!

All meals come from the Houston Junior League's cookbook: Peace Meals. If you don't have it, get it! And try out some of these recipes! But maybe steer clear of the Quesadillas... or... try them and tell me what I did to make it so complicated!!

Can't wait for next month for another Super Supper Club: Summer Edition!

May Super Supper Club

Well after a day of the "I'm not at Disney World blues", a day of "Laundry Mountain" and three days of converting my house back to a home (and not the "Animal House" my hubby and K-Dog enjoyed while I was gone) I'm back to "normal". Ish.

Between my Disney trips, a lot of things happened. One of which was Super Supper Club!

Michelle started us off with White Bean Dip with Lemon Sage Olive Oil (page 53 of the Peace Meals cookbook):

 Stephanie was in charge of (and masterfully prepared) the Pan-Seared Tilapia with Honey-Jalapeno Vinaigrette (p. 154):

You see her enjoying it there along with Gingered Sugar Snap Peas (p. 208) made by Carol and Stuffed Red Peppers with Cheesy Polenta and Black Beans (p. 95) made by me!

Here's a close-up of the tastiness:

And a big close-up of the Stuffed Red Peppers:

(Which started off looking like a healthy side, then with the addition of half and half and a ton 'o cheese turned unhealthy fast!)

We ended the evening with Citrus Mint Granitas (p. 251) which was perfect after the heavy meal. Although when the recipe starts with "this recipe requires advance preparation" you should probably start before your guests arrive. Oops. Also, I didn't take a photo of it. Oops again. 

Thanks for sticking with me during my Disney marathon blogging. And for not complaining too much while I took a few days off (mom)!

Quinoa Tutorial

My friend, Amy, hosts a great blog about nutrition. Of course I enjoy her friendship and her blog... but it's a little intimidating inviting a nutritionist over for dinner. Which is why, when I had Amy over for Seder Dinner, I opted to serve a side dish that she blogged about: Quinoa.  (Click on the link to learn what exactly the stuff is and why it's so good for you...)

Quinoa can appear to be confusing, so I thought I'd spell out how easy this stuff is to make! In fact, the hardest part was finding it at the store. After asking, I was directed to the rice aisle... and that's where it was! By the way, it's pronounced "Keen-wah". But when I asked the grocery store employee where to find, "keen-wah" she looked at me like I had two heads. I started to spell it for her and she gave me a very knowing look, "oh, did you mean Quin-Oh-Ah?". I decided not to whip out my iPhone and make her read Amy's blog...

Anyway, once you find the Quinoa, you'll need to gather a few more items:

There are many ways to prepare, Quinoa, but this is the recipe that I liked (I made a few changes, though).

Chop the onion, red pepper and jalapeno:

(You'll notice I did  not remove the jalapeno seeds.)

Saute them in a  saucepan until they are soft (about 5 minutes):

Stir in a cup of Quinoa, 2 teaspoons of cayenne, 1/2 teaspoon of cumin and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Add 1.5 cups of water, let bring to a boil:

once it's boiling, cover, reduce heat and let simmer for about 14 minutes.

Add a can of black beans, a can of whole kernel corn (both rinsed and drained):

and a half cup of chopped cilantro:

Bonus points if the cilantro comes from your garden.

Heat until all of the ingredients are warm (about 3 minutes).
At this point, the dish should look really nice:

Once it's heated up, dish it out! Add some cilantro on top and (if you're feeling daring) some feta cheese:

This has enough protein to be served just like this, but you can also use it as a side dish:

Or, as I realized this weekend, you can also serve it cold as a dip!
I have a feeling Quinoa is about to become an old faithful at the Hill House!

Here's the recipe in a cleaner version:

Ingredients:
1 white onion
1 red pepper
1 jalapeno
1 cup Quinoa
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1.5 cups water
1 can black beans
1 can whole kernel corn
1 bunch of cilantro
feta cheese (if you're feeling daring)
Avocado chunks? (Just thought of that... might be nice?)

Saute the chopped onions, red peppers and jalapeno until they are softened (about 4 minutes). Stir in the Quinoa, cayenne pepper, cumin and salt. Add water and bring to boil. Cover and reduce heat. Let simmer for 14 minutes. Add in the rinsed and drained black beans, whole kernel corn and 1/2 cup chopped cilantro. Once that's all heated (about 3 minutes) serve up! Sprinkle cilantro and (perhaps) feta cheese. And next time I make this, I'm adding chunks of avocado on the theory that it might be a nice addition!

Easter Peeps and Treats

Chris and I had a fun filled Easter weekend in Louisiana. It started in Plaucheville (also known as Jeremy-land)(Jeremy is Jojo's husband) and ended in Baton Rouge. I'm not one to arrive as a guest empty handed, so I made sure to whip up some treats for the weekend.

Which is why I have a (not so great) photo of these:

Peep Pops! I also made some without sprinkles and some that were pink... but for some reason I only stopped to snap a photo of these.

They were a hit!

I mean, who doesn't love sprinkles?

I had visions of making the "dirt" that's made from Oreo crumbles or the Easter "grass" that's made from green coconut flakes. But instead I just stuck them on a cookie sheet.

I also made a whole-lotta these:

Which, individually, look like this:

 They aren't as cute as the Peep Pops... but they sure are addictive!

It was a really fun, family-filled Easter weekend... keep checking back for updates this week... we might have some really fun news to share!

April Supper Club

We hosted our largest Supper Club this month and it was quite a success! Our chosen cookbook for the year, Peace Meals, inspired a tasty feast!

Michele and Robert arrived with boiled shrimp and homemade remoulade sauce. This was a bonus dish that Michele concocted... it's not in Peace Meals. 

Doesn't it look beautiful??

My appetizer was the Spicy Rosemary Cashews (p. 66):

 This was very easy and quite delish. I could see it in a cute little bowl at a Christmas party or in a jar wrapped with cute ribbon as a hostess gift. Not really great for an appetizer at a dinner party... but wonderful for a larger party, I think. 

We had plenty of time to socialize and snack on the appetizers:

(Notice the aprons... I need to make more aprons before the next large Supper Club... I only had enough for the first 4 girls who came!)

(The boys chose not to wear aprons.)

While Ashley worked on her amazing cake:

Stephanie helped... kind of... 

Carrie made Bulgar Wheat Pilaf with Currants (p. 214) which was extra impressive as I had only heard of about half the ingredients:

Ashley and Winne are working together to peel the beets for Ashley's Beet and Blood Orange Salad (p.110):

 And the outcome was beautiful:

 All all agreed, though, that for the work it required... there are other salads that are just as good and easier. Especially those beets-- they are not the easiest things to peel!

Here's our main dish with Carrie's Bulgar wheat and my Oven Roasted Bourbon Salmon (p. 165):

 I will absolutely be making the salmon dish again. It looked nice, tasted great and was so simple! (And healthy!)

After the meal Ashley brought out her finished dessert, Spiced Layer Cake with Berry Filling (p. 241):

Again, a hit! In fact, several went back for seconds... :)

The Peace Meals cookbook keeps impressing us with remarkable dishes that are (fairly) easy to create!

Seder Dinner

Last weekend I had the Stables girls over for a Messianic Passover Seder Supper. Seder dinner has been celebrated since the Old Testament and it is a remembering of the days that God's Chosen People were freed from slavery in Egypt (you know the story of Moses, Pharaoh, the plagues... "Let my people go!"). It is typically celebrated in the Jewish community. We're not Jewish... but our Savior is! As Christians, we believe that God has opened this freedom to anyone who accepts Jesus as their Savior*. So the Messianic (from the word Messiah) Passover Seder Supper remembers the waiting that our spiritual ancestors went through and celebrates the Messiah who has come to set us all free! If you're super interested in this, let me know and I'll e-mail you the ceremony script that I compiled.

So here's the ceremony set up:

You'll notice a pitcher of wine (and a carafe of grape juice for those who preferred), little glasses, and the middle plate which has everything we used for the ceremony-- horseradish, a lamb bone, parsley, charoset, matzoh (unleavened bread), an egg and salt water. Also... finger puppets! I found these at Bed, Bath & Beyond... there are ten finger puppets each representing one of the ten plagues. We found these to be quite fun:

(That's Lindsay with Locusts and Lice.)

Here Stephanie is pouring the wine for the ceremony:

I thought it would be fun to have the wine poured from an old-fashioned pitcher instead of a bottle.

The ceremony starts with lighting candles:

After "the four questions" we talk about the different items on the Seder plate:

Like the parsley which is dipped into salt water and eaten to remember the bitter suffering and tears of the Jews before they were set free.

And the Matzoh which, in the Messianic Seder, represents Jesus. I hid the matzoh in the house and during dinner the others went looking for it.

Stephanie was the winner!

After the ceremony we feasted:

(Brisket, asparagus, broccoli and black bean quinoa... delish!)

And I passed out party favors that I made from (gasp!) Martha Stewart's website!

Unlike everything else Martha says is "so simple" these actually were! They are carrots made from crepe paper. And inside were little goodies!

Like cute baby chic hair clips and stick-on mustaches!

We had fun with the mustaches:

A lot of fun:

A WHOLE lot of fun:

I miss seeing the Stables girls everyday... but I treasure the evenings we do get to share!

*If you're interested in learning more about my beliefs on the freedom Jesus grants... feel free to ask me! :)