Recipe of the Week #2

Sarah's Conference Day Chili aka Beanless Turkey Chili


Sarah made me this chili when I visited back in August, and it was delicious! I love chili, but the taste testers don't like beans, so I hardly ever make it. I thought this was such a hit! It has a fair amount of heat, and lots of flavor. I accidentally used 1 lb. of turkey instead of 1/2 lb, so it was extra meaty, but it was great anyways. It was also super easy and quick. The verdict: It's a keeper!

The Recipe

2-14 oz. cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1/2 lb. lean ground turkey
1 onion chopped
1 green pepper chopped
3 stalks celery chopped
1 can corn
2 cloves garlic minced
2 Tbs. chili powder
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. cumin
2 Tbs. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 small can of vegetable or chicken stock (you may not need the entire can - just add enough to give it a good consistency)

1. Brown ground turkey with onions, garlic, and green pepper in a stock pot. Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil, then turn the burner to low and simmer for 30 minutes.

Recipe of the Week #1

I intended to post a new recipe a week, but since I've fallen a bit behind, I'll be posting several this week.

From Giada DeLaurentiis' newest book, Giada's Kitchen
Whole-Wheat Linguine with Green Beans, Ricotta, and Lemon


I was very excited to try this recipe, and on paper, it seemed bound for success. I love all the ingredients, but when I put them together, I was underwhelmed. I did not think there was enough flavor in the dish, and I didn't love the texture from the ricotta. I think I'll try it again in the summer and see if it's better. The verdict: Undecided, for now

The Recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 pound whole-wheat linguine
• 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 pound French green beans, trimmed and halved lengthwise
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• 1 lemon, zested

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. Transfer the hot pasta to a large bowl and add the ricotta cheese. Toss to combine.

Meanwhile, in a large, heavy skillet, warm the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the green beans, garlic, salt, and pepper and saute for 4 minutes. Add 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid and continue cooking until tender, about 4 more minutes. Add the pasta with ricotta to the pan with the green beans and toss to combine. Add the tomatoes and gently toss. Transfer to a serving plate and top with lemon zest. Serve.

Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars from Tyler Florence


This was such a great recipe! I love cheesecake, but have always been too intimidated to try it. I saw this recipe on Tyler's Ultimate and it seemed to good to be true. I tweaked it a tiny bit, using raspberries instead of blueberries, and they turned out great! Some of my taste testers didn't love the lemon taste, but I think it helped keep the cheesecake light. I can imagine making this using all different kinds of berries and toppings. The verdict: It's a keeper!

The Recipe:

Ingredients

For the base:

• Butter, for greasing
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 9 graham crackers
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

• 16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 2 lemons, zested and juiced
• About 1/2 cup sugar, eyeball it
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
• Powdered sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

For the base:

Grease the bottom of a 9 by 9-inch baking pan with butter. Then place parchment paper over the top, pressing down at the corners. In a food processor, process the sugar, cinnamon and graham crackers until you have the texture of bread crumbs. Add the melted butter and pulse a couple of times to fully incorporate. Pour into the lined baking pan and gently pat down with the base of a glass. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes until golden. When done set aside to cool.

For the filling:

Add cream cheese, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar to the food processor and mix until well combined. It should have a smooth consistency. Pour onto the cooled base and then cover with blueberries. They will sink slightly but should still be half exposed -- as the cake bakes they will sink a little more and break down.

Bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until the center only slightly jiggles. Remove from the oven and cool completely before refrigerating for at least 3 hours. Once set, remove from pan using the parchment lining and slice into 10 rectangular bars. Dust with powdered sugar.

Oscars 2009

What a night! I always get so excited for the Oscars, even when I haven't seen many of the movies, and haven't missed since I was 10. There's just a kind of magic about them, all those movie stars together for one night, celebrating movies. This year was great! Here are the highlights for me:

-Hugh. What a stud. He brought much needed old-school glamour to the Oscars, and man, can he sing!


-that crazy musical number. some people hated it, but I thought it was so fun. loved the blink-or-you'll-miss-it appearance of zac/vanessa, beyonce's pipes, and the costumes

-the previous winners speaking to the nominees, also very controversial, but it was one of my favorite parts and a few of them were very touching


-penelope's acceptance speech. normally i fast-forward these, but hers was heartfelt and beautiful and in spanish and made me reach for blockbuster.com and queue up all her pedro almodovar films



-jen. she was radiant! loved her braid and catching glimpses of her and john in the audience. love them.



-taraji p. henson. overall, best look of the night. amazing hair, and a dress that i alternately want to eat and twirl around in.

-beautiful, beautiful dresses! surprisingly, from Miley Cyrus, who looks lovely, Marisa Tomei, never sure what she'll wear, Marion Cotillard, Best Actress last year, and Natalie Portman, always stunning.




-slightly disappointed by Kate, thought it was a weird dress, or two dresses stitched together, and didn't love the hair. SJP, what were you thinking?! Either your dress is 3 sizes too small, or you went a little crazy with the silicone.



So wonderful this year, and I loved watching it with the girls and remembering when I was little and got to stay up late on a school night and watch tv on a Sunday!

Your Mission...

...Should you choose to accept it, is to help out one of the best shows on television and watch Friday Night Lights tonight, 9 o'clock on NBC. It has been airing the 3rd season on an exclusive DirecTV channel and has done well, so it is reairing this winter on NBC. Every single person I have told about this show has loved it, and for good reasons. It has wonderful actors who bring their characters to life, amazing writing, and the advantage of authentic sets and locations.

Here's what you need to know to tune in tonight: (if you're short on time, just scroll and look at the pretty people. They're reason enough to watch.)

FNL is the story of a small-town in Texas and the high school football team. Don't worry if you're not a huge football fan, it's more about the people behind the team.

Coach, Tami, Julie and baby Gracie Taylor:

Coach Eric Taylor coaches the Dillon Panthers football team and has recently returned after his short-lived stint coaching college football. Tami Taylor is the guidance counselor at the high school trying to balance being a coach's wife and a mother to a teenager and a young baby. Julie is a Junior in high school who dislikes football and being the coach's daughter. She recently dated the quarterback, which Coach Taylor loved. Gracie is the newest member of the Taylor family and has a face only a mother could love. (I'm sorry, it's true)

The relationship between Tami and Eric is one of the best parts of this show. They feel like an actual married couple and makes it hard to remember they're acting. The geniuses behind the show give the actors freedom to improvise lines according to their character.

The Team:

Tim Riggins (#33) plays fullback and struggles with the combination of absent parents, alcohol and winning back his true love, Lyla Garrity.

Brian "Smash" Williams (#20) is the team's star running back who recently graduated and lost his scholarship due to a fight defending his sister's honor.

Matt Saracen (#7) is the young quarterback and Coach Taylor's "project." He proved himself a great asset to the team, bringing the team to two championships. Things aren't so great off the field, however. Dad's deployed in Iraq, he takes care of his ailing grandmother, failed relationships with Julie Taylor, and Carlotta, his grandmother's live-in nurse.

Landry Clarke is the newest addition to the team and Matt's witty, loyal best friend. Head over heels for the bad girl next door, Tyra Collette, Landry finally wins her over with his genuine kindness and humor.

Jason Street is the star quarterback who is paralyzed during a game in the first season. After briefly trying out a job as assistant coach, losing his girlfriend to his best friend Tim, moving out with a friend who is also paralyzed, Jason's future is unsure.

The Girls

Lyla Garrity is a former cheerleader turned born-again Christian struggling with her feelings for bad boy Tim Riggins. Often annoying, but we tolerate her because Tim loves her.

Tyra Collette is a smart girl who makes dumb decisions. Following in the footsteps of her mother and older sister, she always falls for the wrong guy until she meets Landry. She looks up to Tami Taylor who encourages her to do the unthinkable: go to a good college. Tyra is by far the most intriguing character that you can't help rooting for.

The Others:

Buddy Garrity is Lyla's father, president of the Boosters, owner of a car dealership and an all-around cad. (He doesn't need a picture; he's not much to look at.)

Watch and we can recap/chat/vent about the show!

Awards Season Has Arrived!

Being an all-things-Hollywood junkie, awards season is like my mecca. (Did I use that word correctly? Doesn't seem quite right) In the dreariness of winter, I like nothing more than tearing up at acceptance speeches and video montages and critiquing all the outfits. The Globes were last Sunday, and I nearly missed it because I was nannying. I loved the Slumdog sweeps, especially how they played the killer score every time they won, Sally Hawkins charmingly unrehearsed speech, the beautiful Steven Spielberg presentation, Tina Fey's "suck it" speech, and Colin Farrell's surprisingly touching speech. And now to the dresses:

Amy Adams looked amazing. I love the length of the gown, the sparkles and how simply she did her hair and jewelry.


Rumer Willis, Miss Golden Globe had the best dress in my opinion. The color, texture and belted waist all worked great together.


Eva Mendes


Sandra Bullock

I love these two white dresses and how they jazzed up the simple palette with great jewelry.


Miss Maggie took a risk in this dress, but I loved it. Once again, the belted waist is a hit and the one shoulder is just the right amount of frill.

Tune in for the SAG Awards January 25th and the Oscar Nominations January 22nd!

I was wrong!

Oh LOST, I'm sorry I doubted you. I know I am late in watching Season 4, but I thought you were too weird and never explained what was going on. I misjudged you. I forgot about how invested I was in each character's story and the beautiful storytelling in every episode. I am now hurriedly watching episode after episode to prepare for Season 5 on January 21st, and absolutely loving it. Episodes like "The Constant" are why I love TV.


I had goosebumps throughout the whole thing. Des and Penny are just so tender. I can't wait for that reunion, I will probably squeal.

I know it is probably blasphemous to even think this, but I love Sawyer and Kate, or as some people call them, "SKate." I'm bored with Jack and his drama, and Sawyer with his glasses asking Kate to live together on the island was too cute.



Almost makes me wish I could be stranded on an island with a long-haired, scruffy, secretly-a-marshmallow-on-the-inside guy. Almost.

Resolutions

So sorry for taking a long leave of absence from blogland...it has been a crazy few weeks, what with being snowed in for two weeks, flooding, wind storms, losing power, etc. We Oregonians have had such an unusually hard winter and it's barely January.

I'm trying to catch up over the next couple of days, but to start, how about some New Year's Resolutions? I've never been big on these, mostly because I always have something I'm working on or towards and don't need a special day to do it. But, since I've never had a blog before, I thought it would be fun to make some. Mine tends towards being pretty specific and not very huge, but they're important to me.

Goals for 2009:

Make one new recipe a week
--starting with ones from my two new cookbooks: Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics and Giada's Kitchen: New Italian Favorites

Try one new restaurant a month
--any ideas on this one? My only requirements are that it is in the Portland area, not super expensive, and not solely seafood. Some I've been wanting to try are Kenny & Zuke's Delicatessen, Le Pigeon, Petit Provence, and Old Town Pizza

Go to three classes a week at the gym
--went to Pilates this morning, always a favorite and it just makes my day that the teacher is a SJP look-alike. I'm going to be adventurous this year and try some kickboxing and dance classes even though I'm sure I'll feel silly.

Finish quilt
--I'm determined to be more comfortable sewing because I think it's a great skill and I'm pretty embarassed that just about every woman relative of mine is a stellar sewer and I have a borderline phobia of sewing machines. Silly, you say? Well, they go really fast and heaven forbid you get a finger up in there. This one's going to be a toughie.

Organize/prettify my room
--Now that I'm back home for a while, I want to put some time and effort into my room. It's basically unchanged since high school and needs some sprucing. I also need some kind of desk/table to put my computer and printer on. I want to buy something used but I'm not sure where to go. Help?

Read as many books as I can
--How's that for a concrete goal? Now that I have absolutely no school hanging over my head, I want to read all those books I meant to but never had the time or brain cells. I'm currently making my way through The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb, a 700-pager about Columbine that has been amazing so far. When I finish that, I'm looking forward to Certain Girls, Atonement, The Scarlet Letter, Gossip Girl: The Carlyles, The Thirteenth Tale, and The Little Lady Agency in the Big Apple. What are you reading this year?

Get my money's worth from my Blockbuster membership
--I'm trying to be better about my slow turn-around for my movies in the mail, but right now I'm working through LOST season 4 so I can be ready for season 5 on January 21st. Next on my list are some Hitchcocks, Fred & Gingers, P. Newmans, ones I missed on last year, The Duchess, Eagle Eye, Tropic Thunder, Prince Caspian, Hancock, Leatherheads, Wanted and the first season of Mad Men. What are you watching this year?

Completely eliminate plastic bags from my life
--follow-up post to come about organic stuff in general, but I'm doing pretty good on this one, just have to get more bags so the fam can get it on it. Heads up locals: Haggen's and Whole Foods give you a discount for every reusable bag you bring in. Score!