Christmas Dinner for Two

Christmas Dinner for Two

December 21, 2012 by · 1 Comment

We have a tradition of cooking a special meal when we decorate our Christmas tree.  It began the first year we started dating and we’ve managed to keep the tradition going every year since.  This year I was inspired to make Christmas fettuccine by the blog theKitchn.  Have you seen the move The Holiday?  There’s a great scene in the movie that talks about Christmas fettuccine.  I was never quite sure what Christmas fettuccine was so when I read the posting on theKitchn I thought it was the perfect recipe for us this year.

This is a very decadent and delicious pasta dish.  What I liked most about this dish is it was a perfect Christmas dinner for two people, albeit a little untraditional.  The braising step could be done in advance and then kept warm in the oven until you’re ready to make the sauce.  Or you could start the recipe before you trim your tree and finish the sauce when you’re done.

- Recipe for Christmas Fettuccine -
Adapted from the theKitchn.  I made a few changes to the original recipe based on the ingredients I had access to. 

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Filed Under: Dinner Parties, Entertaining Tagged With: , , ,
Fluffy Pumpkin Christmas Cookies

Fluffy Pumpkin Christmas Cookies

December 17, 2012 by · 2 Comments

Australians know how to celebrate the holidays.  In fact, the entire country (well maybe not the entire country, but it sure seems like it) takes almost a month off  during the Christmas and New Year holidays.  No wonder Aussies are so chill.  The only tiny problem with starting the Christmas holiday in mid-December is you have to be very organized with your Christmas baking if you want to get your gifts out to people before they take off.  Time just crept up on me so I was not that organized this year.  I couldn’t go a Christmas without baking some form of Christmas cookie so I simplified a bit this year.  Instead of baking multiple recipes I resorted to making one of my new favorite cookies – fluffy pumpkin cookies.   These cookies are more like cake than they are cookie.  The pumpkin makes the cookie so fluffy and the vanilla icing adds the perfect bit of sweetness to the cookie.  This recipe is very easy to put together.  The batter will seem very thick when you’re done mixing everything together, but don’t worry your cookies will come out perfectly.  The only warning I have with these cookies is you’ll have trouble limiting yourself to just one or two. :-)

- Recipe for Fluffy Pumpkin Cookies with Vanilla Icing -
Recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com

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Parmesan and Marscarpone Risotto

Parmesan and Marscarpone Risotto

December 14, 2012 by · 1 Comment

I first introduced this amazing risotto in my Tuscan dinner party post.  I realized I never got around to including the recipe for this risotto in that post so I thought I’d blog about it here.  This risotto is completely decadent.  My husband refers to it as the Italian version of mac & cheese and he’s spot on.  What’s great about this recipe is the ingredients are rather simple.  I always have parmesan cheese on hand and a few weeks ago I picked up a container of marscarpone and it’s been sitting in my fridge waiting to be turned in to something wonderful.  Since we’re trying to eat what’s in the fridge as we’re getting ready to head out for the holidays this recipe for parmesan and marscarpone was the perfect thing to whip together.  Since the flavor is so strong I served it with carrots that I roasted in the oven with a little olive oil.  I threw the carrots in at 375 degrees when I started preparing the risotto and they were done when the risotto finished.  Depending on who you’re feeding you could also pair this risotto with a simple steak with a little salt and pepper on the grill.

If you’ve never made risotto before there is no need to be intimidated.  It’s actually quite easy if you follow a few simple steps.  I’ve listed these tips in my Mushroom and Arugula risotto post.

- Recipe for Parmesan and Marscarpone Risotto -
Adapted from Chef Mary Ann Vitale of La Taverna Restaurant

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Mini (Baked) Pumpkin Donuts with Cinnamon and Sugar

Mini (Baked) Pumpkin Donuts with Cinnamon and Sugar

December 11, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

For those of you who don’t know, I have a love affair with baking with pumpkin.  There’s something about a pumpkin treat baking in the oven that just smells amazing.  The scent of pumpkin baking is as close as I can get to making the house smell like the holidays (there are no live Christmas to decorate in the Outback).  Over the weekend I experimented with a pumpkin bundt cake and these donuts.  The bundt cake was good, but it did take awhile to throw it together so I’m going to skip blogging about that one.  I do want to introduce you to these amazing little donuts.  They’re baked, filled with pumpkin, and coated with cinnamon and sugar.  When it comes to sweet breakfast treats it doesn’t get much better than this in my book.  Oh wait, actually it does.  These little treats bake in about 8 minutes so you can almost instantly enjoy your efforts (in comparison to a bundt or banana bread that takes 45+ minutes to bake).  These are an awesome option if you’re looking for a fun baked good to serve guests this holiday season.  If you’re looking for a little variety you could also make these gingerbread donuts which are just as easy and delicious.

- Recipe for Mini (Baked) Pumpkin Donuts with Cinnamon and Sugar - 
Recipe courtesy of Blue-Eyed Bakers via Garnish with Lemon

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Filed Under: SWEET, Test Kitchen Tagged With: , , ,
Peach Crisp

Peach Crisp

December 5, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Now that we are settled in our house we’ve been having some friends over for dinner.  I’ve been trying to come up with a dessert ideas that will work well for these casual gatherings.  I’m finding by the time I put together appetizers and dinner my kitchen is full of dishes so I need a dessert that I can either make earlier in the day or quickly put together.  I decided to try making a peach crisp to see if it would fit my needs.  What I like about crisps or crumbles is that they can be made with whatever fruit is in season.  Our grocery store has beautiful peaches right now so I thought I’d start with a peach crisp.

Overall I was pleased with the taste of the crisp.  The recipe below has a very nice sauce and is full of peach flavor.  However, when I plated the crisp with ice cream it looked like a pile of orange mush with a little crumble on top.  If you’re going to serve this to guests I’d recommend making it in individual ramekins and serving it with ice cream on top.  Footed dessert bowls would work as well.  Next time I make it I might try doubling the crumble recipe.  I liked the flavor of the crumble and I felt that a bit more topping would have been nice.

- Recipe for Peach Crisp -
Adapted from Martha Stewart

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Bacon and Blue Cheese Deviled Eggs

Bacon and Blue Cheese Deviled Eggs

November 28, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Have you ever been in a situation where you need to make something to take to a party, but you don’t have the time to run to the grocery store?  That’s the situation I was in yesterday.  I needed to put together some sort of appetizer and I was determined to use ingredients that I had in my house so I didn’t waste an hour in the car going to and from the store.  After flipping through my new cookbook Tiny Food Party!: Bite-Size Recipes for Miniature Meals I was inspired to make deviled eggs.  The cookbook called for kimchi, which I didn’t have on hand.  But I did have blue cheese and bacon and in my opinion that’s a winning combination.  I did a little research online and found a few recipes that I merged together.  This is my first time making deviled eggs and I was pleased with how well it turned out.  The only negative I can share is related to peeling hard boiled eggs.  I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, but when I peel hard boiled eggs I end up taking some of the egg white with the shell.  Thankfully it doesn’t affect the taste, but it just doesn’t look pretty.

- Recipe for Bacon and Blue Cheese Deviled Eggs - 

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Ginger Carrot Soup

Ginger Carrot Soup

November 25, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

I’m surprised it’s taken me so long to blog about this soup.  It’s one of the few recipes I make again and again.  This soup tastes fresh and healthy.  It’s the perfect recipe to add to your rotation this holiday season when you feel like you’ve been indulging a bit too much.  The key to this soup is getting a stick blender. You could use a regular blender, but the stick blender makes it so much easier (and it’s one less thing to clean).

- Recipe for Ginger Carrot Soup - 
Adapted from Guy Fieri

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Thanksgiving Tablescape

Thanksgiving Tablescape

November 23, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Even though we’re in Australia we still hosted a small Thanksgiving dinner with a few of our close friends.  It’s a bit hard to get into the holiday spirit over here with the heat, humidity, and bush terrain.  Pulling out a few of my Thanksgiving decorations for a simple tablescape really helped me get into the spirit of the holiday.  To add a little sparkle to the table I pulled out two of my tall, cylinder flower vases and floated white candles.  The floating candles helped add some height to the centerpiece without overwhelming the table.  In the end it was great to take time out of our busy lives to give thanks.  We have so many things to be thankful for this year.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Alison

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Carrot Cake Cheesecake

Carrot Cake Cheesecake

November 18, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

I’ve made a few carrot cakes recently, which got me thinking about the carrot cake cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory.  I wanted to make a carrot cake for a bridal shower I was hosting so I thought a carrot cake cheesecake might be a nice change of pace.  I found a recipe on this blog and it turned out perfectly.  The only change I made was I just made it with one layer of the carrot cake and one layer of the cheesecake.  All of my friends loved this recipe and I definitely plan on making it again.

Filed Under: Baking, Test Kitchen Tagged With: , ,
Bridal Shower Luncheon

Bridal Shower Luncheon

November 15, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

One of my closest friends here in Australia is getting married.  A small group of us wanted to get together to celebrate her upcoming nuptials before she headed out of town for her wedding.  I was expecting 6-8 guests to attend so this luncheon was going to be a small affair.  I kept the menu simple and went with 4 different salads.  I like serving a variety of salads at luncheons.  Salads are great because most of the prep work can be done then day before, which means I get to enjoy myself at the party rather than spending the entire party in the kitchen.

Since it was a small group I didn’t want to go too crazy with the entertainment/games.  When I sent out the invitations (I ordered them from Etsy and they turned out adorable) I asked the guests to fill out a recipe card that I included with the invitation. When the guests arrived I had them hang the recipe cards underneath the Bride-to-Be banner I made.  While I was prepping the salads I asked all the guests to fill out these adorable “Advice for the Bride-to-Be” mad libs that I found on Etsy.  Later when we were opening presents the Bride-to-Be read each guests’ advice out loud.  There was a lot of really sweet sentiments and advice shared.  I highly recommend these mad libs for any bridal shower.  The other game we played was “Pass the Present“.  It’s another game I found on Etsy.  It’s a poem that is read aloud and has some facts about the bride and groom.  There are 10 lines in the poem and the poem acts as the guide to tell you who should read the next line.  The last line tells you who to “pass the present” too.  This game was a lot of fun and not too cheesy…my kind of bridal shower game.

We wrapped up the afternoon with a carrot cake cheesecake, fresh fruit, cheese, and dark chocolate.  All in all it was a very mellow afternoon with lots of chatting and food.

Here are a few more photos, the menu, links to the recipes I used, and my advice on the amount of food to serve.

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Filed Under: Entertaining, Lunch Tagged With: , , , ,
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