New Year's Eve Munching...

Hi Everyone!  I'm wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year!  May you go into 2013 with an open heart and an open mind!

So, I'm putting together a few things for my guests and I to munch on throughout the evening...and like my favorite Chef, Ina Garten's show, "Barefoot Contessa", I'll talk about dessert first!

I made dark-chocolate-dipped strawberries, which I then dipped in confetti-colored sprinkles!  They're in the fridge right now getting nice and cold!

The tops of the strawberries were a bit white, but who cares!
The best part of them are with the chocolate and sprinkles!

I also made Pigs in a Blankie!  I used the "reduced fat" Hebrew National hot dogs and Pilsbury Crescent Dough.

Each hot dog was cut into 3 pieces.

Each pig was wrapped in blanket and ready to go into oven.

Yum!  They came out awesome!  Woof, Woof!

Next up, I threw together a simple Shrimp Scampi...

Shrimp, peeled and cleaned, fresh parsley, garlic...

Nothing better than a pan of shrimp simmering in garlic,
butter, lemon and parsley!  Yum!
Served over rice or pasta!

Ciao!  See you all in 2013!

Gina D.

My Simple Christmas Meal

Hello Everyone and Merry Christmas!  

Well this is my simple meal plan for today...Roast pork shoulder which has been marinating since last night - It's now in the oven... and for the first time, I've wrapped the roast in banana leaves!

Also, I found Baby Dutch Yellow Potatoes in my local supermarket, and in this photo, the potatoes have been rinsed, dried, and tossed with olive oil, oregano, salt, fresh-ground black pepper, and some Mrs. Dash.  They're ready to go into the oven as well.  Later on, I'll be making some Asparagus with a lemon sauce!

1:25PM...

Potatoes are done!  Nice and brown on the outside, soft and creamy inside!

Meanwhile, I'm washing and trimming the asparagus, which will be poached, then dressed with a simple Lemon/Olive-Oil emulsion!

Taking a peek at the banana-leaf-wrapped pork roast, still in the oven!

2:20PM...

Everything came together swimmingly!  The pork came out so soft, it was falling apart!  Thanks Banana Leaves! 

Merry Christmas and Happy Eating!

Love, Gina and Shadow

For the CT School Shooting Victims...

Emile Parker, 6

Madeleine Hsu, 6

Catherine Hubbard, 6

Grace McDonnell, 7

Caroline Previdi, 6

Avielle Richman, 6

Allison Wyatt, 6

Ana Marquez-Greene, 6

Josephine Gay, 7

Olivia Rose Engel, 6

Charlotte, Bacon, 6

Jessica Rekos, 6

Mary Sherlach, 56

Anne Marie Murphy, 52

Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, 47

Lauren Rousseau, 30

Rachel Davino, 29

Victoria Soto, 27

Daniel Borden, 7

Dylan Hockley, 6

Jesse Lewis, 6

Chase Kowalski, 7

James Mattioli, 6

Jack Pinto, 6

Noah Pozner, 6

Benjamin Wheeler, 6

Gone Before We Knew It

A gift for such a little while,
your loss just seems so wrong,
you should not have left before us,
it’s with loved ones you belong.

No farewell words were spoken,

No time to say goodbye, you were
gone before we knew it, and only
God knows why.

Author - Unknown -

What's For Din-Din Tonight

Colorful and Delicious Roasted Veggies!

Probably all my readers have made Roasted Vegetables before!  I love to roast veggies, as roasting them intensifies their flavors, brings out their natural sugars and turns them into sweet, healthy treats!  The broccoli florets turned out especially yummy!

In case you've never tried to roast veggies, or if they never turn out quite right, here's a great link all about roasting veggies.   It explains exactly what to do and what not to do! 

I also made some tri-color Quinoa!

QUINOA  is just so healthy!  (Pronounced KEEN-WA)

Hey, I'm so HAPPY that today wasn't the end of the world after all!  Although I heard on the news that we had a "close call" with a falling Asteroid!  Yup...it came within 4.3 million miles of earth!  LOL!

Panko-Crusted Asian Pork Cutlets with Asian Slaw

Very Crunchy!

  

Asian Slaw!

Both the cutlets and the slaw came out very delicious!

If you would like the recipe(s), please feel free to e-mail me!

HAPPY EATING!