Week's Link

These are some of my favorite links I received in my reader this week.  Check 'em out!

Cool Boardwalk Party

Homemade Treat Cones

Where the Wild Things Are Birthday Party

Halloween Movie Night

Kids Lunch Box Notes

Cool Tiki Torch

20 Indoor Activities for Kids

E is for Emily

I made this E tonight to put on top of my niece, Emily's, cupcake tower for her first birthday.  I am not a huge fan of the green, but it was all they had in the spray paint section at Home Depot.  I was looking for something a little more limey. (Is limey a word?)  Oh well, it will work.  I am going to work on more decor for the party this week; ribbon garland, ribbon chandeliers, and a banner.

Pickled Okra

We have okra coming out of our ears at this house.  We can't pick it quick enough.  I was just out there on Saturday and picked every piece.  Mike brought in 3 today that were already about 4 inches long....crazy.  Because I can't make fried okra every night for dinner, we decided to pickle some.  I have never canned anything before, but after doing it I kind of liked it.  Wonder what else I have to can???  There might be some jams in our future!  The recipe I used is from Alton Brown.  They didn't have rice wine vinegar at the store so I used half white wine vinegar and half rice vinegar.  We have 2 weeks before we can open up the jars.  I will let you know what Mike thinks (I hate anything pickled and okra)

"this is one of the best meals ever" said Mike....

I tried out a recipe from an old Cooking Light magazine I found last night.  I served it with bleu cheese parsley mashed potatoes and fresh green beans from our garden.

Balsamic Glazed Filet Mignon

4 (4oz) beef tenderloin steaks

1/4 tsp of salt

1/4 tsp of freshly ground pepper

cooking spray

2 tsp of bottled minced garlic

1/8 tsp of crushed red pepper

3 tbsp dry sherry

2 tbsp of low-sodium soy sauce

1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar 

2 tsp of honey

1) Sprinkle both sides of steak evenly with salt and pepper.  Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Coat pan with cooking spray.  Add steaks to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.

Remove steaks from pan and keep warm. (I put mine on a plate and covered it with a bowl)

2)Add garlic and red pepper to pan; saute for 30 seconds.  Add sherry to pan; bring to a boil.  Cook 30 seconds.  Add soy sauce and remaining ingredients; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Reduce heat, and cook 1 minute.  Serve with steaks.

Since I ALWAYS change the ingredients in a meal, I will tell you what I did.

1) I cooked the steaks 4 minutes on each side and they ended up medium-rare (perfect)

2) when adding the garlic and red pepper, I threw in a thinly diced shallot and a can of drained mushrooms.

3) I added 2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar instead of one since my husband is obsessed with vinegar.  I had to cook it a little longer than 1 minuted to reduce the sauce a little.

Bleu Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Once again, I do not measure so the ingredients are approximate...

1 bag of small red potatoes

1 cup of bleu cheese crumbles

a handful of finely chopped flat leaf Italian parsley

1/2 cup of butter

2 garlic cloves

3 cooked slices of Wright's bacon

salt to taste

Cut potatoes in quarters.  Cover potatoes and garlic cloves in a large pan with cold water and bring to a boil. Boil potatoes until tender.  Drain potatoes and put in a large bowl with bleu cheese, parsley, and butter.  I mash my potatoes with a potato masher as much as I can before using a mixer.  Once fairly mashed, add in crumbled bacon and salt to taste.  Mix until creamy (we like our with lumps in them though)  If the potatoes need some liquid added, I always use fat free chicken stock instead of milk.

Spicy Green Beans

2 cups of fresh green beans

1 bottle of Stubb's Chicken Marinade

Wash the green beans thoroughly and place in a bowl with Chicken Marinade.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  Place green beans and marinade in a large sauce pan and cook on med heat covered for about 20 minutes.  I stir mine every 4 minutes to stir up the marinade.

Sopapilla Cheesecake French Toast

I make a dessert called Sopapilla Cheesecake.  It's as easy as can be and so yummy.  I took the concept of it and turned it into french toast.  It has turned into my husband's favorite breakfast. I am going to try to share the recipe with you, but keep in mind that I never measure when cooking so all of these measurements are approximate.

One large baguette

One softened  package of cream cheese

3/4 cup of sugar

2 tsp of cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup of milk (I use fat free)

5 eggs

butter

Mix the softened cream cheese, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla together and place back in the refrigerator.  

Mix eggs and milk until thoroughly blended in shallow dish.

Cut the french bread into 3/4 inch slices.  You will need two slices for one piece of french toast. One one slice, spread about 1 1/2 tbsp of the cream cheese mixture.  Place the other slice of bread on top.  Lay the bread in the egg mixture for about 1 minute and turn it over to the other slice for another minute.  Cook on medium heat in a skillet with melter butter.  Usually cook each side for about 4-5 minutes.  When I am almost done I put a little butter on the top part of the toast and sprinkle a little cinnamon and sugar.  I serve it with a little bit of syrup, sprinkled with powdered sugar and Wright's bacon on the side (best bacon ever).  It will make about 8 pieces and normally my husband eats 2 pieces.  Enjoy!! (Wanted to take a picture, but my camera died...sorry)

Click here for the Sopapilla Cheesecake recipe.