Live from my Inbox - it's Black Friday!

Happy Day after Thanksgiving! Hope you had a wonderful day with family & friends :)

Here are a few deals that showed up in my Inbox this morning...

Edible Arrangements - sales every hour

Lenox - 70%off sale until Sunday

Crate & Barrel - Wusthof Knife Sale

Godiva - free dipped strawberries with a $25purchase this weekend, in store only

Happy Shopping

xo,

Michelle

Turkey Day is Coming!

Are you busy getting ready for Thanksgiving? Nope, I'm not. We stay here in NYC & eat out. Yippie! I love picking a new place to eat at every year. I'm really looking forward to watching the parade on TV, cooking a fun breakfast and relaxing all day.

But if you are cooking for the masses I'm sure you're worrying about things like the correct tart to sweet ratio of your cranberry relish, finding a divided dish for the pickles and olives (sidenote, as a kid I loved to pig out on these), and finding enough chairs so everyone has a place to sit. One issue that you don't have to worry about is your turkey getting dry (horrors!) here's a handy tip from WeaselMomma

If your turkey is too dry, open a bottle of white wine, pour a glass. Repeat continually until you no longer care that the turkey is dry. @WeaselMomma

hahahaha

Happy week of cooking!

xo,

Michelle

Cooking in 1st grade

Apple for the teacher? Why yes...

That title is a bit of a white lie. We make food that doesn't require heating :) haha

1st grade is in the middle of amy favorite Literacy unit - How To. Besides the fun crafts that we can learn how to do there's 'cooking' projects! So far we have made pudding and fruit salad. YUM

No pics from the pudding project but here are some from making our really really good 3 ingredient fruit salad

Step #2 Cut the Fruit. Look at those motor skills!

Step # 4 - Mix the fruit!

We had so much fun :)

xo,

Michelle

Pizza Awwws

It's been a hectic life these past two weeks. Despite none of them being full 5-day work weeks and 2 field trips - which is a bit troubling. Oh well.

During times like this I'm very very grateful & so so lucky to have a husband who worries about me burning my tongue when we're sitting at home on the couch eating pizza. In pajamas. :)

"Don't eat the top slice, you'll burn your tongue"

xo,

Michelle

HEB is for me...

Even tho my sister's HEB is nicknamed 'the ghetto HEB" I still love it. I mean come on we found Cherry Limeade from Minute Maid & Sonic there this summer!

They have a great recipe on their website that I just cannot wait to try.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples
Courtesy of My H-E-B Texas Life Magazine

Ingredients:
3 pounds sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and cut into 1-inch round slices
1 pound Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1 cup chopped sweet yellow onions
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
4 tablespoons H-E-B Butter
1/4 cup H-E-B Blossom Honey
1/4 teaspoon Central Market® Organics Ground Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Central Market® Organics Cayenne Pepper salt

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 450°F. Line a roasting pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and season to taste with salt. Spread mixture in prepared roasting pan and roast for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

And um Amanda? Please get me an HEB reusable grocery bag? KTHNXBAI!

xo,

Michelle

Typical Tuesday

I just had a healthy dinner, in typical Tuesday fashion - Salmon & Couscous. YUMM I always feel soo accomplished when I cook right after the Peapod delivery comes.

No Husband at home for the next few days, he's away on a biz trip, sooo...I "made" some chocolate chip cookies afterwards. Cause why not?

And by "made" I mean I opened the huge vat of cookie dough that I keep in the fridge and then baked & ate 4 cookies :)

What's your favorite food to "make"??

xo,

Michelle

Weekend in Waco!

Where did this past weekend go? I flew out to see my little sister at Baylor this weekend for their 100th year of celebrating Homecoming. I went to a small college so it was a great experience to be on a big campus & see all the fuss over floats, a football game & such. Everything really is bigger in Texas! And of course since I was in Waco I had tons of my favorite soda - Dr. Pepper! Yummy! AND since I had a stop over in Atlanta I also got a few Diet Coke from their 'homeland' too. :)

At the game we grabbed the best snack/dessert of all time....Funnel Cake. I snapped a quick picture before I got dusted in most of the powdered sugar. New flash - black fleece & white powder = one big mess.

Funnel Cake has its roots in Pennsylvania Dutch region here in the North East. Batter is poured thru a funnel and deep fried, then sprinkled with the powdered sugar. So good. I've had it at the Shore & it is typically at State Fairs too. I skipped on the other typical State Fair food - the corn dog. Are you a fan of Corn Dogs? Got any other favorite fried foods?? Love to hear from ya!

Sic'em Bears!

xo,

Michelle

Healthy?

Sooo...great healthy dinner of grilled salmon & couscous w/ tomatoes.

Look at the leftovers all ready for my lunch tomorrow!

Healthy right??!!

Only...dessert.

Isn't that always the way? You eat a great meal and splurge on the dessert?
Say Hello to My Little Friend - Cream Cheese Dip!

But mixed with raspberries it's healthy right???

In my cooking dreams..

xo,

Michelle

Time for Chilly Fall Nights

Columbus Day already? PEOPLE!! that means October is half way over!

Where does the time go??

These chilly Fall nights call for my favorite easy dinner...soup and a sandwich. But ummm missing anything that could resemble a sandwich so the soup must be extra hearty. Enter Campbell's Select Harvest Garden Recipes Minestrone soup.

I love hearty soups like this, whatever the brand. The picture on the can shows it all - some pasta, veggies, beans and a delicious rich broth. Love it.

I think I may eat it all :)

xo,

Michelle

In this post---I try steak!

If I could eat anywhere, it'd be a steakhouse. NYC has some great ones that serve a great steak with big bigger and biggest sides. But cook a steak at home?? Woa scary!

I bravely took on steaks this week. Challenge accepted & I think I won this battle. Tho omg look at how HUGE those babies are! I will not be afraid of the beef!

In a great Lime Marinade with brown rice & salad.

My favs for steak in NYC include

Del Frisco's - despite being in midtown...go on a snowy day when the wall of windows = magical

Dylan Prime in Tribeca Valentine's Day earlier this year - great wine list & bar room

Ben Benson's all male waitstaff is so old school ya gotta love it

Bobby Van's go for the downtown Broad & Wall Sts location and ask to go see the original JP Mogran Bank Vault downstairs (these days that's a little piece of finance history!)

xo,

Michelle