Impromptu BBQ With Friends- Happy Monday!

Nice weather- check

Good friends- check

BBQ- check

Great food- check

Two knuckle head dogs- check, check

This all makes for a great impromptu get together. All we did was call our friends let them know when, where and what to bring. 

And this was the result......

Everyone brought something they had at home.

The menu:

Bread and dips

Doritos, thats right nacho cheese chips. What would a BBQ be with out them.

Mix greens with roasted beets, dried cranberries, pistachios, goat cheese and an aged balsamic vinaigrette

Oven roasted herb potatoes

Grilled ribeye 

Everyone brought a beverage which included homemade beer and mead.

The menu has a little of everything including the chips, because we brought what we had at home. 

The thought behind this blog post is that you can have a great affordable meal anytime. Just reach out to friends and family and share what you got!

Whats Cooking For Mother's Day?

Our family has a tradition of getting together and cooking for all holidays, Mother's Day is no exception. We all love to cook and it affords us an affordable gourmet meal because we can all cook! And we never ever have the same meal twice, except for Thanksgiving. We will always have the traditional turkey with all of the fixings’.


Our menu this weekend is:

Crudités and other appetizers
Green Salad
Rolls
Brown Rice
Gumbo- specifically the one that is served at the Blue Bayou in Disneyland. It is a favorite of my Mom’s and ours. It is also part of a tradition when my mom, sister and I go to Disneyland
Dessert

It is simple, but my family is always creative with what we make.
My aunt loves to find yummy recipes from Emril or Rachel Ray. My Mom will search recipes and the internet to find exactly what she is looking for. Kevin's Mom is an incredible baker. My sister and brother-in-law always create their own master piece. Myself and Kevin, we tend to combine our skills with a favorite dish. Our extended family, Youngs and Flemmings, always bring kid family fair. When Todd (Kevin's brother) and family join us, we are always in for a gourmet treat. As for Grandma, all we ask that she comes and enjoy everything we bring and to reserve the beautiful picnic ground at her housing community.

What plans do you have for Sunday? Are you making Mom’s favorite dish or maybe going to her favorite restaurant.

Sorry, its been awhile...

I cant believe its been so long since I've posted a blog. There has been sooooo much to write about; cooking with family, Pebble Beach Food & Wine, impromptu beach gathering, great recipes and good times with friends.

I am going to jump right in with an amazing mac & cheese Kevin and I made together last night. I'll admit that I am a "Mom's mac & cheese kinda girl". I don't like the fancy reincarnations of the classic comfort food. But I thought it was time to experiment.

To begin with I looooove my Mom's mac & cheese. It's simple but oh so good. All you do is butter a microwave safe dish, put in cooked elbow noodles, add a little milk, cover the top of the noodles with Velveeta, microwave until cheese is melted, mix and serve. It is the only dish my Mom will make enough of for my sister and I to take home.

Now the first time I made my Mom's mac & cheese I couldn't find the Velveeta because I did not know it was in an isle, not the cheese section. I was a little horrified at the time but got over it pretty quick. I think it is funny that now you find it in the cheese section.

As for my experiment, it was Mac & Cheese heaven......

• Cooked 12 ounces of penne noodles for 6 minutes so the noodles were still a little crunchy
• Sauteed about a table spoon of chopped garlic in 4 tbls of butter, then mixed in 1/4 cup flour
• To the flour we added two cups of half and half, sea salt and pepper to taste and nutmeg
• To that mixed in 1 pound of graded aged sharp white cheddar until melted, then stirred in the noodles.
• Placed the mixture in a buttered oven safe dish.
• Covered the top of the noodles with mixture of four pieces of toasted bread that has been pulsed in a food processor, parmesan cheese and dried rosemary.
• Bake in a 350 preheated oven for 40 minutes
• Let cool for 20 minutes.

Serve it with a drizzle of truffle oil and you have a bowl of deliciousness.......

What is your favorite Mac & Cheese?