Our New Toy

My husband and I love coffee (see previous post about Peet's). After much debate and research, we decided to buy a single cup brewer - so that we can each have the coffee that we want, when we want it. We settled on the Keurig B60 coffee maker.

Keurig had the best selection of coffees and teas, and I read really good reviews. We bought it last night at Linens 'N Things (with a 20% off coupon!) and came home and brewed our first cups. I had hot chocolate last night and a french vanilla coffee this morning. Griff has tried about 5 different coffees so far (an 18 serving variety pack came with the maker). We're really happy with it at this point. I think the trick is going to be finding which products we like the best (they have about 150!). They make that pretty easy though, because the website offers 5 cup packs for $3, so you can try out different kinds without having to spend a lot. And of course I got a little carried away yesterday, and we currently have a huge shipment coming our way! Another bonus is that they have an accessory where you can use your own coffee and make single serving cups, so I don't have to give up my Peets!

Not Just Any Ordinary Pear

My husband did something awesome for me for Valentine's Day last year. He enrolled me in the fruit of the month club from Harry & David. I had wanted to do this for a long time, but I just couldn't bring myself to justify the cost. My friend was in it once and I had tasted one of her Royal Riviera pears and I was amazed by how good it was. So juicy and sweet but a little bit tart. That pear stayed with me for years.

The fruit of the month club has been great, every month I get a new fruit and they've mostly been really good. I have to say, my absolute favorite remains the pears though. This past month I got my box of pears. Literally the best pears I've ever eaten. I had one each day (I got 8 of them) and I ate the last one yesterday. Today I got an email offering 15% off a box of their pears. With shipping it came to $30 dollars, about $3 a pear, but I couldn't resist. I ordered another box. They said it's the best crop in 20 years. I don't know about that, but I do not that these are definitely not just any ordinary pear.

Hiatus Ended

We took a bit of a hiatus. I say 'we', but really I meant me, since I'm the only one who has been blogging here. I'm going to have to work on getting Griff to post, but in the meantime I realized it's past time to update our blog.

The month of August was almost like one big vacation. We went to Greece for 10 days in the beginning of the month with a few friends - FABULOUS time, wonderful food. I have a few pictures to post later (actually we have about 500 pictures, but I'll scale that down).

At the end of the month we went to New York City to celebrate my 30th birthday. It was an amazing trip, one that my wonderful husband managed to keep secret until the morning of my birthday. We saw Wicked on broadway (SO AWESOME), went on an NBC studio tour, explored, shopped, and decided we need to move to New York for about 2 years. We also spent the weekend eating our way through the city and had some wonderful food. I also have highlights from that trip that I'll post later.

So between the trips and some busy weeks at work and working on a surprise scrapbook for my mom's 60th birthday, we basically did not cook for over a month. I am definitely back in the mood to cook again, I started Monday night with a great chili recipe from Cooking Light that I'll share in a later post. Also we're having some friends over Saturday and we'll be cooking out and getting some appetizers together, so that will be an upcoming post as well.

Welcome back!

Spruill Green Market

I've been reading for the last year or so about CSAs, Community Supported Agriculture, where you own a 'share' in a farm and the produce they grow. Typically you get a weekly box of food from the farm for a fee, around $20-$30. I looked around last year, but it was at the end of the season and none of the CSAs were really convienent to us. I located one near Perimeter Mall, where I work, but we were unable to get involved. However, we did sign up for a newsletter and because it is currently 'peak of the season' they have extra boxes right now, so I picked up our first box from Spruill Green Market, which is located at the Spruill Gallery. For $25, we have a box full of tomatoes (cherry, beefsteak, and heirloom), squash and zuchinni, beans, and peppers. I am so excited to try our produce and I love the fact that we're supporting a local farm. They also had eggs available (chicken and duck) that I'd love to try. There were several vendors set up and they all had beautiful produce. It's such a great idea to buy locally and it seems to be getting easier to do that.

Hopefully we'll be making some great recipes in the next few days with our fresh veggies! I'll be sure to share...

Cilantro

As I mentioned yesterday, I love Mexican food. One of my favorite things is fresh cilantro. The smell, the taste, I just can't get enough of it. Cilantro seems to be one of those flavors that people either love or hate, but I'm definitely in the love camp! One interesting thing about cilantro is that the stems can be included when you're chopping it up. A lot of herbs have bitter or tough stems, and cilantro is one of the few that doesn't. It makes it a little easier to be able to just throw the stems in rather than picking all the leaves off.

Watching Food Network last weekend, I saw a chef who just kept her fresh cilantro in a glass of water out on the counter. I tried it with a bunch that I got on Sunday (I had to buy it, our cilantro plant didn't fare so well in our herb pots). I don't know that it prolonged the life any, but it sure did smell good and it looked pretty. A good alternative to just sticking it in the fridge!

Mexican Pizza

I love Mexican food. I could seriously eat it almost every day and be happy. Unfortunately, Griff doesn't share my love, although he does like it and he eats it often just because he knows how much I enjoy it. This is a recipe that's not overly Mexican. It has a sweet cornbread crust (thanks to Jiffy!) and is topped with seasoned beef and vegetables. I like to top it with sour cream and taco sauce and I decided last night that next time I will definitely add avocado.

We make ours in a casserole dish instead of a skillet and we get 6-8 servings instead of 4. The cornbread needed to cook longer, probably about 20 minutes. Last night somebody forgot to add the butter to the cornbread, but honestly we didn't miss it. I also used ground sirloin instead of beef and omitted the oil from when you brown the meat, it just didn't need it.

This is a great, easy (30 minute!) meal and it makes great leftovers.

Mexican Meat-zza: Mexican Deep-Dish Pan Pizza
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray (foodnetwork.com)

2 boxes corn muffin mix, 8 1/2 ounces each (recommended: Jiffy)

2 eggs

4 tablespoons melted butter

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup frozen corn kernels

Extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling

Topping:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin or vegetable oil

1 pound ground beef

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons cayenne sauce

Salt

2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar or jack cheese

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1 small can, 2 1/4 ounces sliced chillies or jalapenos, drained

2 scallions, chopped

2 small vine ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced

2 tablespoons drained sliced green olives (salad olives)

1 to 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves, optional garnish

Mild to medium taco sauce to pass at table, 1 cup

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix together 2 packages muffin mix with 2 eggs, 4 tablespoons melted butter (melt in microwave 30 seconds), 1 1/2 cups milk and frozen corn kernels. Wipe a nonstick skillet with a little extra or vegetable oil and pour in the muffin mix. Use a large skillet, 10 to 12 inch. Choose a pan with oven safe handle or, double-wrap handle with foil to protect it in the oven. Place pan in oven and bake 12 to 15 minutes in center of the oven until light golden in color.

Brown the meat over medium high heat in a second skillet in extra or vegetable oil, 2 turns of the pan. Add onions and spices and cook meat 5 minutes more.

Remove cornbread from oven and top with meat, cheese, and veggies. Add pan back to oven and cook 5 minutes more to melt cheese. Garnish with cilantro, optional. Cut into 8 wedges and serve the deep dish pan pizza from the skillet. Pass taco sauce at the table to sprinkle on top.

The Reason I Drink Coffee

I had seen Peets Coffee as one of 'Oprah's Favorite Things' a couple of years ago. Griff loves coffee and had recently taken to trying different brands (straying from his regular Folgers), so I decided to get him the sampler pack (6 different kinds) from Peets for Christmas last year. This turned out to be a bigger gift to me than to him, as I instantly fell in love with this coffee. I went from a very occasional coffee drinker to someone who has to have it every morning. And not just any kind, but specifically Peets. I've tried other flavors and they've all been exceptionally good, but my favorite so far has remained the Arabian Mocha Sanani, the very first one I tried. It has such a great flavor and I can't wait to have my cup each morning. I also highly recommend the Sulawesi-Kalosi, which is what we're drinking now.

Unfortunately, there's not a Peets near us, but their mail order has been great and I've managed to get free shipping every time I've ordered so far (sign up for their emails and you get special offers every month or so).