Roll the Dice

Time to brag about Husband. And our friend. But mostly Husband... 

The Cooking Challenge:

Roll the ingredient dice and create a cohesive, delicious meal out of what comes up!!

These dice were a stocking stuffer gift for Husband. I knew he would love them. He's such a great cook and very creative. This turns cooking into a challenging game, sort of Iron-Chef-like. Out of these 14 dice is one with only protein. Most are primarily vegetables, one is only grains, a few are all herbs and one has more unique ingredients such as artichokes or beets.

Ha ha - I love how sippy cups randomly make their way into my photos

The Rules:

Saturday morning Husband & Friend began the challenge by rolling the 14 Dice. They were allowed to re-roll any dice up to 3 times. (This allows people to 'veto' ingredients such as beets in hopes that something better shows up in the next roll.)






The Results:

Ginger, Basil, Thyme, Cauliflower, Qinoa, Beef, Kohl Rabi, Tomato, Onion, Carrots, Collard Greens, Wild Mushrooms, Chilies and Green Beans

Kentucky Derby Party 2014

Finally got this post up as we look towards the Belmont and a possible Triple Crown Winner of California Chrome...

The Derby Details... 

Third time we've thrown this party. Each year it gets bigger. I use this blog to record what went well, what I'd change, and to generally reminiscence on a great time. 

With about 50-60 people in attendance our biggest planning challenge was traffic flow. We spread everything out in different stations throughout the house and outside. Then hung signs up to help direct folks to anything they might need. We also had two viewing areas set up for the race. Upstairs in front of the 82 inch tv was the sophisticated 'grandstand' seating. Then outside we placed a 50 inch tv and had our 'track side' viewing area. As it turned out to be a beautiful day, most people stayed outside.

Party goers watching the pre-race commentary outside

Party Banner

Moms can easily go overboard these days with kid birthdays. I remember my young birthdays: Mom bought a cake mix and made cupcakes iced with store bought icing and brought them to my class. Then the party was at a roller rink. No loot bags, no over the top decorated food and dessert tables. Maybe just balloons and if the party was at home, streamers. I think I turned out fabulous. I definitely don't feel less deprived or loved any less or anything.

It didn't take me long to settle on a theme for Little k's first birthday. I wanted small, intimate family celebration...       with champagne of course...

and a pink tutu

and pearls...

oh, and she had two parties...

Although I nearly gave into the pressures a week before and went all pintrest-crazy I maintained my sanity. I limited myself to one pintrest project.

The Party Banner

WARNING: This project, while simple, is deceivingly time consuming. I still haven't figured out why or how but once you begin hours will magically dissipate.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Parmesan Crisps

Only three posts in 2013? Really?!?! Guess the motherhood thing rocked my world a bit.
I vow to be better in 2014 - for my own sanity.

It's time to return to this blog and continue doing what I love doing. Talking about food, talking about travel, planing parties, and whatever home projects I can squeeze in there with a crazy 1-year old running around.

To kick it off I'm sharing another one of Husband's trademark dishes. If you come over and he fixes this, he is trying to impress.

Collard Wrap

Who knew that Collards would make excellent wrap materials???

Once again we have started receiving fresh, local produce delivered straight to our door.
(We are using Backyard Produce this time.)

We like to do this for the challenge of cooking with vegetables we normally don't gravitate to. Hence we now have a vegetable drawer full of collard greens that need to be eaten. Husband makes a great Southern Collards dish - stew maybe? - with bacon & onions. But a girl can only eat so much of that.

Off to Pinterest I went to research what to do... (expect to see more recipes forthcoming.)

This of course is the first, easiest thing I found - and it is fabulous.

Why do Collards make great wraps???

1. Size - the leaves are large

2. Durability - a heck more durable than lettuce

3. Nutrition - much more than any fortified tortilla out there or lettuce 

4. Carbs - do you watch how much you consume? well, collards have less than even the low-carb tortillas

5. Taste - Honestly (and I was worried about this one) they don't taste horrible!!

Here's how it goes.

First, trim the stalk