Cranky

Last Friday I was Cranky....

yes, with a capital C

I had to do this all weekend.....



And I had an eye infection and it HURT!!!

And what hurt more was the $180+/- it cost to get rid of it!

CRANKY!!!!!!

SO....

I poured myself a very large glass of this....



I made some Escarole & Bean (which was awesome btw!) and served it with a extra large portion of carbs....



And I bought myself not one, not two, BUT THREE bouquets of flowers to ease the pain....
the pain the wine and carbs alone couldn't ease.....







(They have looked great for 2 weeks, so no guilt here!)

Happy Thanksgiving

Love Her!

So there are tons of photos I need to get up on here, but I figured until I have the time, I might entertain you with one of my favorite ladies. The Target 2 Day Sale Lady! haha I love her! And she is only on a few shorts days of the year. I am glad she is back!

This one is my favorite:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KlvvDnkjKg

Halloween Around My House

So I know these pictures aren't really any different than the ones I put up last year, but I still wanted to share my house decorated for Halloween. The only new thing is my black glitter crow! I love Halloween!

A Dahlia Blooms in the Fall

While I get some more posts together, please enjoy these pictures of a white dahlia blooming underneath the changing leaves of fall. : )

Fruit Crostata at my Fall BBQ

My friend's mom gave me a Barefoot Contessa cook book a while ago, but I had not made anything out of it until a few weeks ago. I make her Italian Wedding Soup and now I have made her Crostata. I think I might need to try a few more! We had this at my fall BBQ!





Summer Fruit Crostata
from 'Barefoot Contessa at Home'
I used Summer and Fall fruits since it was apple season! : )

For the Pastry (makes 2 crostatas)
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated or superfine sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) ice water
For the Filling (makes 1 crostata)
1 pound firm, ripe peaches, peeled
1/2 pound firm, ripe black plums, unpeeled
1/2 pint fresh blueberries(I used Blueberries, White Nectarines and Apples)
(I also used some lemon juice to keep the fruit from getting brown once cut)
(I also added cinnamon, since who wants a fruit dessert without cinnamon????)
1 tablespoon, plus 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon, plus 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon grated orange zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter


These are all her words, not mine! haha So you can trust them!:

For the pastry, place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and toss quickly (and carefully) with your fingers to coat each cube of butter with the flour.

Pulse 12 to 15 times, or until the butter is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the icewater all at once through the feed tube.

Keep hitting the pulse button to combine, but stop the machine just before dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a well floured board, roll it into a ball, cut in half, and form into 2 flat discs. Wrap the disks in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour. If you only need one dough, freeze the second disk.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Roll the pastry into an 11 inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Transfer it to the sheet pan.

For the Filling, cut the peaches and plum (or nectarines and apples) in wedges and place them in a bowl with the blueberries. Toss them with 1 tablespoon of the flour, 1 tablespoon of the sugar, the orange zest and the orange juice (and the cinnamon if you wanted to add that). Place the mixed fruit on the dough circle leaving a 1 & 1/2" border.

Combine the 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup sugar and the salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Pour into a bowl and rub with your fingers until it starts to hold together. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit. Gently fold the border of the pasty over the fruit, pleating it to make an edge.

When I first made them, Juliet noticed I didn't leave enough dough to create an edge, so she re-did it for me. And she put the topping on too! I am not much of a baker, I would have let all the fruit yumminess spill out!




Bake the crostata for 20-25 minutes, until the crust is golden and the fruit is tender. Let the crostata cool for 5 minutes, then use 2 large spatulas to transfer it to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temp.





It came out great and I loved it! Hopefully everyone else did too! I put the second one in the freezer, hopefully it still tastes good whenever I have an occasion to defrost it.

** Nicole made these Cream Cheese Brownie bars which I know some of you asked for the recipe for. You can find that here.

** Erin also made a yummy dessert that everyone loved. Let me know if you want the recipe for that, and we can make Erin share! : )

Farmers Market

Here are some pictures from a trip to the Farmers Market from the end of the summer. : )

: )

Two of my favorite things: Garden Finials and Gourds!

Artichoke Dip

My mom has a good recipe for Artichoke Dip that she got at her friends cooking school. I made it twice last weekend and everyone loved it so I figured I would share. : )



1 egg lightly beaten
garlic salt to taste ( I just used some real garlic)
1/2 small onion, diced
1 14oz. can artichoke hearts (in water)
1 cup mayonnaise (I used light)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded (I used low-fat)
8 oz. mozerella cheese, shredded (I used part skim)
1 cup Pepperidge Farm stuffing crumbs
2 tbsp melted butter




1) Combine egg and garlic salt in medium sized bowl and wisk
2) Chop artichoke and add to bowl along with onion, mayo and cheeses
3) Place mixture in quiche/pie baking dish sprayed with Pam
4) Combine stuffing with melted butter - then sprinkle mixture on top of artichokes
5) Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until bubbly
6) Serve with crackers