It's the Life

Ruth's Diner

When our friends Brent and Carolina come to visit, they often have a few new places in mind they want to try.  One of those places was Ruth's Diner up Emigration Canyon

They are famous for their Biscuits & Gravy and their Deep Fried Mac & Cheese. I had Salmon Benedict, and I've been dreaming of it ever since. Poached eggs on a salmon fillet and english muffin, topped with hollandaise sauce, pico and paprika. Tonight I tried to recreate that meal at home.  It was delicious.

First I made some pico: 5-6 tomatoes, 1 small onion, 2 jalapenos, 1 bunch cilantro, juice from 1/2 lime, salt.  I like mine pretty chunky, but you could dice more if that's what you like.

Next I cooked my salmon.  I usually buy salmon with the skins still on, but these babies were on sale.  I sprinkle them with a generous amount of salt on both sides.  Pre heat your oven to 400. Heat a skillet with olive oil until its almost smoking.  I usually get some water on my fingers and flick it at the pan.  When the water makes the oil pop like crazy, your pan is ready.

Put the salmon on the pan flesh side down.  You should hear it sizzle.  Keep it on there for a couple of minutes to let it get a nice browning.  Flip them over to the skin side and put the whole pan in the 400 degree oven for 8 minutes.  Pull them out and they are ready and delicious. 

I made hollendaise sauce using a mix package.  I just added milk and butter and followed the directions. It was pretty good.  Then I poached my eggs.

How about that beauty! Toasted english muffin, salmon fillet, hollendaise sauce, poached eggs, paprika and a side of pico.  I could eat it every day. You really should try it.

Sandwich Sunday: Joe's Garden Sandwich

This week my boss, Joe, started bringing in bags of veggies from his garden.  He does it every year and we all look forward to it like children at Christmas!  I'm not sure why tomatoes from a home garden taste so much better than from the grocery store, but they really do.

This is Joe's famous Tomato and Cucumber Sandwich.  

The most important part of the sandwich is the rice vinegar.  Joe tells me the one pictured above is the best.  It trust him, he knows. Peel and slice your cucumber and then pour the rice vinegar over them. Add a little pepper and let them soak while you make the rest.  (I'm normally not a big cucumber fan, but I LOVE them with the rice vinegar, I could eat a plate full after they soak)

Slice some freshly picked tomato.  Your mouth should be watering by this point. You could add some peppers or other veg if you like.

Toast some Whole Wheat Bread. Spread some mayo on each slice.

Cucumbers on one half, tomato on the other.  Sprinkle some salt for good measure.

I think I'll have two...maybe three.  Don't judge. 

Milk & Cookies

A few nights ago, my six year old asked me if he could have some oreo's and milk.  I told him yes and listened to him head off to the kitchen.  I heard the pantry open and close (oreo's), I heard the fridge open and close (milk). I expected to hear a drawer next (his plastic cups, plates, bowls etc are in a low drawer for him), but instead I heard him sliding a stool and climbing up on the counter to reach a high shelf.  I wasn't sure what he was getting, but I decided to wait and see.  When he came back to the couch he had his package of oreo's and a wine glass full of milk!  

So classy!

 

Going, Going....

All Gone.  

He's a First Grader

How did this happen? (Sniff)

Sandwich Sunday: Spicy Burger

Spicy Hamburger with Fried Egg

2 lbs Ground Beef
4 Tbls Heavy Cream
3-4 Tbls Zaaschila Sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste

Combine well and form hamburger patties.  Use your thumb to make an impression in the middle of the patties. Place on a skillet with Med-High Temp.  Cook on one side for 4-5 minutes.  Flip the patties over, place a slice of provolone cheese on top, cover the pan and cook an additional 4-5 minutes.

While your burgers are cooking, fry your eggs.

Assemble:  Bun, Cheese Burger, Egg & Sirracha Sauce. 

Eat.

Sandwich Sunday: Oregano Egg Bagel

This is my favorite "go-to" sandwich.  I almost always have the ingredients on hand, and it's really good.  I posted this as one of my very first Sandwich Sunday Posts, but I had taken the photos with my cell phone, and they didn't really look like something you would want to eat.  I came up with this when I was pregnant with Jefferson.

Cook your egg(s) while your bagels are toasting.  I like my egg a little runny, Ryan does not.

Now you assemble:  Toasted bagel with mayo on both sides, a slice of provolone cheese, a couple slices of tomato, s&p, sprinkle of ground oregano (I put more than just a sprinkle on mine.  I really like oregano) and your egg! 

Eat. Repeat.

Game Day Chicken

Yesterday we had a couple friends over to watch the US Men's National team play Mexico.  I thought we should eat finger foods.  I've never cooked chicken legs before.  They turned out pretty good.

I used my cookie cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet to cook the chicken.  I've read you are supposed to have one of those fancy pans that let the fat drain.  I don't have one of those, so I improvised.  It worked just fine.

Baked them at 425 for 20 minutes

Then I broiled them for 3 minutes

Once they were cooked, I covered them in bbq sauce.  I used this recipe.

This was also my first time making a homemade bbq sauce.  Yum.

Looking pretty good.  I added just a bit more bbq to them with a brush, because I hear that's what real cooks do.

The outsides had lots of good flavor, but the inside meat was pretty bland. I think next time I make them I will make more sauce and marinate the chicken in half of it before I bake them.

Perfect Game Day Food

Shark Party

CAUTION!! Shark Infested Birthday!

Here are some details from the Shark Birthday party this week:

 

My local grochery store has a bulk candy section.  I went there to get Salt Water Taffy and Bubble Gum.  While I was there, I saw that they had shark gummies as well!  I bought some wooden skewers and made Shark Kebabs with the shark and star gummies.  They fit nice in the small candy bags I had and I tied them off with some red ribbon.

My cricket cutter came in very handy for this party!  It cut out lots and lots of circles. I used my sewing machine to sew some of the circles into garland. I used even more of them for the table runner.

I have a photo saved in my "party ideas" folder of a little boy running in a yard with a shark fin attached to his back.  That was the first thing I thought of when Emily said she wanted to do a shark party.  Click here for the pattern and instructions.

 

I made vanilla cupcakes and vanilla buttercream with a light blue tint.  For the fins, I used black fondant and a leaf cooke cutter.  I was hoping the cookie cutter would work so I didn't have to cut them out by hand with a knife!  The cookie cutter made the fins a really simple part of the cupcakes.

For the lifesavers, I bought (also in the bulk section) some jelly rings covered in chocolate.  They were covered in milk chocolate, so I melted down some white and re-dipped them.  Once they were cooled, I cut strips from a fruit roll up and wrapped them around the rings.

The art work for the inviations and the tags I also had saved in my "party idea" folder.  They were a free download, but I am not sure what site they were on.  If you know, let me know so I can give credit. 

Here are some pictures at the party.  Emily and Alan did a great job with all the games, bbq and other details for the party. I think it was a big hit!

The yard was full of Shark warning signs. So cute.

The birthday boy's dad made this awesome shark cut out! We had everyone who came get their picture taken in the shark mouth. I think this is a great way to remember everyone who came to his first birthday!

My child got a little more dramatic than others...

After the pictures were taken, the kids were given a shark fin to attach to their backs.

 

The sharks were then set free to play and eat!

 

Happy First Birthday Liam!

 

Sandwich Sunday: Family Style Pizza

For the most part I am a traditionalist when it comes to pizza.  I'm more of a cheese & fresh tomato or ham & pineapple kind of gal.  When I feel in the mood for pizza, I'm almost never thinking artichoke & alfredo, that's a pasta people, not a pizza. 

The other day I came across a photo of this pizza.  Sun Dried Tomato pesto for the sauce, spinach, tomato, basil...and I thought to myself, "Now that's a fancy pizza I could get into!" So, I gave it a try, and it was good.  Fancy and Tasty.

Here is how it went

I bought some pizza dough at the grochery store.  I rolled it out into a square on a cookie sheet I had sprayed with flour cooking spray.  Then I baked it at 425 for five minutes.

Knowing that my child would not be convinced to eat a pizza with spinach and whole slices of tomato, I decided to make my pizza family style!  Half of the pizza got Sun Dried Tomato Pesto spread (store bought), and the other side has regular old pizza sauce.

On the pesto side, I added some spinach leaves and slices of tomato. How pretty does that look! I really love that green color.

I coverd both sides with cheese. I didn't have enough shredded mozzarella to do the whole pizza, so I used some of my queso mix shredded cheese at the bottom and then topped with mozzarella.  I also added some fresh chunks of mozzarella on my fancy side. I threw this back in the 425 oven for about 10-12 minutes.

Hello beautiful.  I topped my part of the fancy side with basil leaves. (My husband doesn't like basil to the extent I do).  A little something for everyone. 

You could do this in quarters if you have a bigger family with more pizza desires.  1/4 cheese only, 1/4 ham & pineapple, 1/4 pepperoni and 1/4 something fancy pants. It would also be fun to give each kid a corner and let them top it how they like.  Family style pizza. Yum-o.

CAUTION:Shark!

My sister-in-law is throwing an Under the Sea: Shark! birthday party for her son this week.  She asked me to help her with the invitations.  I was pretty excited with the theme of Sharks so I volunteered and she agreed to let me take over a few aspects of the party.  Hopefully I don't disappoint!

One of the things I made for the party were shark fins.  Won't it be so cute to have all the kids running around the yard with a shark fin on their back??

I will post my pattern and instructions in a later post.

I must say, he makes a pretty cute shark.