Time for a Fiesta!

Hola! I just wanted to share a photo from our Cinco de Mayo celebration. I know, I know...you're probably thinking "But that was a month ago!" It turned out to be quite the fiesta...we had friends, food, and even Mexican music playing in the background. After the party, I got to thinking that it would be fun to have some sort of themed night maybe once a month. Maybe we can host an Italian themed dinner next...who knows?

I took this picture with every intention of posting it the next day, but somehow it managed to get lost among a bevy of other food shots. So here it is!


Our menu consisted of the following:
1. Authentic Beef Enchiladas
2. Nacho Spuds
3. Fresh Pico de Gallo
4. Homemade Tortilla Chips
5. We washed everything down with margaritas and Corona =)


Recipes for the first 4 dishes are already included in this blog.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries and Peanut Clusters!

Some of our best friends recently invited us over for dinner. I offered to bring the dessert...my favorite part of any meal. ;)

So, I racked my brain and raided the pantry. I had chocolate (a pantry staple around our house), fresh strawberries, and roasted peanuts. Perfect! I ended up making chocolate covered strawberries drizzled with white chocolate. I also whipped up some peanut clusters. Easy and delish!!!

For the peanut clusters, I simply melted some chocolate over a double boiler, mixed in the peanuts, and dipped a spoonful of the mixture onto wax paper to cool.

Tuscan Pasta with Basil Cream

***I've always been a huge fan of Southern Living magazine...I was even fortunate enough to land 2 consecutive, very competitive internships in the SL Marketing Deparment. I also love their recipes...they never disappoint!

This is probably one of the easiest dinners that I've made in a while. Going by the name, you'd think it would be complicated, but that's just not the case! It's packed with flavor, too. I think it would even be good with chicken added.***

Ingredients:
1 (20 oz) package refrigerated 4-cheese ravioli
1 (16 oz) jar Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo sauce
2 Tbsp. White Wine
2 Medium Fresh Tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh Basil
1/3 cup Parmesean Cheese, shredded (I used freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese)

Directions:
Prepare pasta according to package directions.

Pour alfredo sauce into saucepan. Pour white wine into jar, cover tightly and shake well. Stir wine mixture into saucepan. Stir in chopped tomatoes and 1/2 cup chopped basil.

Cook over med-low heat for about 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Toss pasta into sauce and top with Parmesan cheese.

Source: http://www.southernliving.com/

It's Time for a Meme!

My friend Bethany over at This Little Piggy Went to Market just tagged me for a "Meme." How exciting! Be sure to check out her blog...it rocks.

Okay, so here we go...

The rules:
Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What was I doing ten years ago?
Well, let's see...10 years ago I would have been 14 and in the 8th grade. That year, I made the cheerleading squad (Go Big Red!...lol), was voted Miss CMS by the student body, and got elected as President of the National Jr. Honor Society...it was a big year for me! =)

What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today?
1. Pick up the things I need to make one of my best friends a birthday cake
2. Give my dogs a bath
3. Finish the laundry
4. Run on my treadmill
5. Water the flowers...it's HOT outside!

Five snacks I enjoy:
1. Anything chocolate
2. Nilla wafers
3. Fresh bread...I've got Banana Nut Bread in the oven as I type this! =)
4. Coffee...does that count?
5. Fruit...especially strawberries

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Buy a beach house
2. Buy a mountain house
3. Travel all over Europe
4. Open a bakery/coffee shop =)
5. Donate a good bit to charity

Places I've lived:
1. Dothan, AL
2. Mountain Brook
3. Trussville, AL
4. Panama City, FL

Jobs I've had:
1. Relocation Consultant
2. Southern Living magazine - Marketing Intern
3. Books-A-Million Corp. - Marketing Intern
4. Barista at Joe Muggs Newsstand
5. Barista at Sweet Blend Cafe - Dothan, AL
6. Gymnastics Instructor to little kids (just levels 1-2)

Here we go! TAG, you're it...
Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice
Rebekah at Easy Meals for the Working Wife
Anna Marie at Full Hearts, Full Tummies
Katie at Good Things Catered
Jaime at Burnt Toast

L'Opera Cake!

It's that time again...Daring Baker's time, that is! This month's challenge was a complicated French dessert called L'Opera Cake. I'd like to give a big "thank you!" to our 4 hosts at: Cream Puffs in Venice, La Mia Cucina, Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie, and Whiskful. You can find the recipe in its entirety HERE.

I was a little intimidated when I saw the first photos of an Opera Cake...it's such an elegant dessert, and I was unsure if I could pull it off. But, I'm always up for a challenge...especially when it's something I've never even heard of. The recipe looks long and daunting, but if you approach each section of the cake separately, it's really not that bad. I broke the process up over 2 days. I made the buttercream, joconde, and syrup on the first day...and then the glaze and mousse on the second day. Assembling the cake definitely took some patience and attention to detail, but I think it came out pretty good...at least for my first one...hah.

The cake has alternating layers of joconde (sponge cake), buttercream, and sliced strawberries. It's topped off with a luscious layer of hazelnut mousse and finally the white chocolate glaze. Traditional Opera Cakes are made with coffee and darker chocolate. However, this challenge limited us to light flavors/colors. Honestly, I was a little bummed when I found this out, because we are such big coffee fans. Any chance that I get, I love to incorporate coffee and chocolate into desserts. However, the cake was still awesome. We were allowed to play around a little bit with the flavorings. My main flavors turned out to be white chocolate, hazelnut, and strawberry. I decided to add strawberry slices in between the layers of joconde, and I'm very glad that I did.

This is what I used:

Joconde: Hazelnut meal

Syrup: Vanilla Extract
Buttercream: Vanilla Extract, Melted White Chocolate and Strawberry Slices in between layers
Ganache/Mousse: White chocolate and Frangelico Hazelnut Liquer
Glaze: White Chocolate

Here's some interesting information about the origins of L'Opera Cake from Epicurious.com:

"There are many stories about the origins of this cake, known as both Clichy cake and Opéra cake. Many believe that Louis Clichy was its creator because he premiered the gâteau, with his name written across the top, at the 1903 Exposition Culinaire in Paris. It became the signature cake of Clichy's shop on the Boulevard Beaumarchais. However, another pastry shop, Dalloyau, sold a very similar dessert, known as L'Opéra (in honor of the Paris Opera), and some claim that theirs was the original."

Without a doubt, I probably would have never made this dessert if it hadn't been for the Daring Bakers. I had a lot of fun with this challenge, and hopefully this won't be my last attempt at an Opera Cake! ;)