I will have to let you know how it turned out once I actually get around to making the pie, perhaps this weekend we can whip one up.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Apple Pie Filling
I will have to let you know how it turned out once I actually get around to making the pie, perhaps this weekend we can whip one up.
Quick Three Cheese Lasagna
I got home from work tonight and had no idea what I was going to make for dinner. In fact other than the veggie and fruit delivery we just received, I wasn't really sure what we even had in the house. So the search through the cabinets and fridge began. Much to my surprise I had a new container of Ricotta that I needed to use and I also found some no boil lasagna noodles. This made my decision very easy, we were having lasagna. As I started getting out the other ingredients I did realize there were a few items I was lacking (i.e. fresh basil, shredded or fresh mozzarella) but I figured I would just improvise.
Menu
Three Cheese Lasagna
Sliced Heirloom Tomatoes and Baguette with Olive Oil
Caesar Salad
To make the Caesar Salad, I used the fresh lettuce we just received in our bushel tonight. I added some Caesar croutons, some grated parmigiano reggiano cheese, fresh cracked pepper and for the dressing I used Brianna's Asiago Caesar which is quite tasty.
My sister picked up a fresh baguette for me so I thinly sliced some pieces and plated them on one side of my platter. On the other side I placed sliced heirloom tomato also from today's delivery. Sprinkled the tomato with a little chopped fresh parsley and cracked pepper. In the middle of the platter I poured a little Las Brisas Olive Oil which I then sprinkled with a little parmigiano reggiano and cracked pepper for dipping.
Three Cheese Lasagna
In mixing bowl I added 15 oz of Ricotta cheese, 1 egg, a pinch of kosher salt and some fresh cracked pepper, a bit of chopped fresh parsley and 2 tablespoons of homemade basil pesto. The pesto was my replacement for the fact that I didn't have any fresh basil. I also chopped up in small chunks two pieces of mozzarella string cheese which was clearly my replacement for the fact I didn't have any fresh or shredded mozzarella. I also grated in some fresh parmigiano reggiano into the bowl and mixed everything together.
In a 9x9 pan, add a thin layer of pasta sauce. I used Cucina Antica Garlic Marinara. I really like this sauce because there is no sugar added and only 36 calories in a 1/2 cup. Layer your no boil noodles. I overlap 3 and then break a 4th in half and place it across the top to completely layer the bottom. Add your first layer of the ricotta mixture and spread across the noodles. Add some more pasta sauce across the ricotta layer and add another layer of noodles. Spread second layer of ricotta mixture and some more pasta sauce. Add the third and final layer of lasagna noodles. Cover with pasta sauce, sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley, mozzarella (I chopped another piece of string cheese for the top) and grate some more fresh parmigiano reggiano on the top.
Bake in a preheated oven on 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.
Menu
Sliced Heirloom Tomatoes and Baguette with Olive Oil
Caesar Salad
To make the Caesar Salad, I used the fresh lettuce we just received in our bushel tonight. I added some Caesar croutons, some grated parmigiano reggiano cheese, fresh cracked pepper and for the dressing I used Brianna's Asiago Caesar which is quite tasty.
My sister picked up a fresh baguette for me so I thinly sliced some pieces and plated them on one side of my platter. On the other side I placed sliced heirloom tomato also from today's delivery. Sprinkled the tomato with a little chopped fresh parsley and cracked pepper. In the middle of the platter I poured a little Las Brisas Olive Oil which I then sprinkled with a little parmigiano reggiano and cracked pepper for dipping.
Three Cheese Lasagna
In mixing bowl I added 15 oz of Ricotta cheese, 1 egg, a pinch of kosher salt and some fresh cracked pepper, a bit of chopped fresh parsley and 2 tablespoons of homemade basil pesto. The pesto was my replacement for the fact that I didn't have any fresh basil. I also chopped up in small chunks two pieces of mozzarella string cheese which was clearly my replacement for the fact I didn't have any fresh or shredded mozzarella. I also grated in some fresh parmigiano reggiano into the bowl and mixed everything together.
In a 9x9 pan, add a thin layer of pasta sauce. I used Cucina Antica Garlic Marinara. I really like this sauce because there is no sugar added and only 36 calories in a 1/2 cup. Layer your no boil noodles. I overlap 3 and then break a 4th in half and place it across the top to completely layer the bottom. Add your first layer of the ricotta mixture and spread across the noodles. Add some more pasta sauce across the ricotta layer and add another layer of noodles. Spread second layer of ricotta mixture and some more pasta sauce. Add the third and final layer of lasagna noodles. Cover with pasta sauce, sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley, mozzarella (I chopped another piece of string cheese for the top) and grate some more fresh parmigiano reggiano on the top.
Bake in a preheated oven on 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.
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| Just out of the oven |
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| This meal was rated 3.5 asparagus spears |
3rd Fruit Delivery and 7th Bushel of Veg
We received an obscene amount of fruit and veggies today. I guess it's a good thing I haven't made it to the store yet following our return from vacation. We won't be needing to purchase and fruit or veggies in the near future.
Our bushel included:
Pie Pumpkin
2 heads of broccoli
Sage and Parsley
An assortment of potatoes
Tomatoes including 2 heirloom
Swiss Chard
Lettuce
Onion
Latern Pepper
Red Grapes
A ton of Granny Smith and McIntosh Apples
17 Bosc Pears
1 Pineapple
4 Hass Avocados
2 Green Jumbo Limes
Pie Pumpkin
2 heads of broccoli
Sage and Parsley
An assortment of potatoes
Tomatoes including 2 heirloom
Swiss Chard
Lettuce
Onion
Latern Pepper
A ton of Granny Smith and McIntosh Apples
17 Bosc Pears
1 Pineapple
4 Hass Avocados
2 Green Jumbo Limes
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
The Birthday Extravaganza Part II
We began our day at Oakville Grocery picking up sandwiches, olives and cheese for lunch. This is my kind of store. I picked up an olive and fig tapenade which I can't wait to try when we get home.
Our first winery stop was Newton Vineyard which was wonderful. The scenery on our tour was absolutely breathtaking. You can see a wonderful view of the Napa Valley from Spring Mountain. They have beautiful gardens, great views and delicious wine!
We tried their Red Label Chardonnay, 2008 Unfiltered Chardonnay, 2008 Unfiltered Merlot and 2008 Unfiltered Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2007 Puzzle during the tasting. They had some wonderful food pairings with the unfiltered wines and the Puzzle. I think this was my favorite winery visit on our trip.
We quickly got down Spring Mountain and headed over to ZD for our next tasting.
Prior to our visit I had only had their Chardonnay which is great, however I found out yesterday they also have some wonderful reds. I don't even think I could begin to go through all of the wines we tried on this tour because we had a lot of them.
Our next stop was just down the road at the Miner Family Vineyards. We had a blast on this tour/tasting. They also had some great wines.
We continued on to the Auberge du Soleil for drinks on their terrace where we met a friend who moved back to San Francisco a few years ago.
We ended our evening at Redd for dinner. The food was spectacular. We ordered the pork belly, lobster risotto and heirloom tomato bread salad for appetizers to start. Everything was delicious. We all thoroughly enjoyed our entrees and the desserts were phenomenal. This was Chris's favorite meal of the trip, which worked out well since we went for his birthday.
I would say our trip was a great success! We had some wonderful meals and phenomenal wines. Thanks to Becky for carting us around. We ended up only joining 3.5 wine clubs so we have a lot of great wines to look forward to enjoying. I also bought the Domaine Chandon cookbook so hopefully we will also have a lot of great meals to look forward to as well.
While I had a great time I'm definitely looking forward to getting home to my baby...I miss her so much!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Our first winery stop was Newton Vineyard which was wonderful. The scenery on our tour was absolutely breathtaking. You can see a wonderful view of the Napa Valley from Spring Mountain. They have beautiful gardens, great views and delicious wine!
We tried their Red Label Chardonnay, 2008 Unfiltered Chardonnay, 2008 Unfiltered Merlot and 2008 Unfiltered Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2007 Puzzle during the tasting. They had some wonderful food pairings with the unfiltered wines and the Puzzle. I think this was my favorite winery visit on our trip.
We quickly got down Spring Mountain and headed over to ZD for our next tasting.
Prior to our visit I had only had their Chardonnay which is great, however I found out yesterday they also have some wonderful reds. I don't even think I could begin to go through all of the wines we tried on this tour because we had a lot of them.
Our next stop was just down the road at the Miner Family Vineyards. We had a blast on this tour/tasting. They also had some great wines.
We continued on to the Auberge du Soleil for drinks on their terrace where we met a friend who moved back to San Francisco a few years ago.
We ended our evening at Redd for dinner. The food was spectacular. We ordered the pork belly, lobster risotto and heirloom tomato bread salad for appetizers to start. Everything was delicious. We all thoroughly enjoyed our entrees and the desserts were phenomenal. This was Chris's favorite meal of the trip, which worked out well since we went for his birthday.
I would say our trip was a great success! We had some wonderful meals and phenomenal wines. Thanks to Becky for carting us around. We ended up only joining 3.5 wine clubs so we have a lot of great wines to look forward to enjoying. I also bought the Domaine Chandon cookbook so hopefully we will also have a lot of great meals to look forward to as well.
While I had a great time I'm definitely looking forward to getting home to my baby...I miss her so much!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
The Birthday Extravaganza
My husband and I both celebrated our birthdays on our trip, my birthday was Monday and his was yesterday. We had a busy two days with winery visits and dinner reservations. We started out Monday morning back at Domaine Chandon since we didn't have enough time to do the tasting on Sunday. We did a sparkling wine and still wine tasting; Chris and I shared. The étoile Brut and étoile Rosé are both delicious and a perfect pairing with fresh oysters. I also really enjoyed the Chandon Reserve Chardonnay Brut. They have a wonderful Carneros Chardonnay but I think my favorite still wine of the tasting was the Pinot Meunier.
Our second stop was Joseph Phelps for a Terrace tasting. The property was beautiful. The pictures below crack me up because it looks like we were super imposed in the photos. We tasted a total of 8 Wines which included the Freestone and Joseph Phelps Vineyards. We had a 2010 Sauvignon Blanc which was quite good. I'm typically not a big Sauvignon Blanc fan but I really enjoyed this. We also tried the Freestone Chardonnay which was really good. When we moved onto the reds this is where Chris got really excited. We had the 2006 and 2008 Insignia and the 2005 Backus. We ended our tasting with an ice wine which I thought for sure I was going to hate because I do not like sweet wines at all. I was completely wrong in this case, the 2009 Eisrebe was absolutely delicious!
We took a quick break for lunch at Rutherford Grill. I highly recommend the French Dip sandwich, it was quite tasty.
Winery number 3 was Elizabeth Spencer for another tasting. The tasting room is so quaint and they have a great patio area to relax and enjoy some wine. I'm a big fan of their Chardonnay but they also have some great reds.
Last stop was dinner at Bouchon Bistro in Yountville. We had another delicious meal here. I had a chilled pepper soup as my first course and their Alaskan Halibut special as my entree. Everything was so fresh and delightful! Chris and Becky both had the fresh onion soup as a starter and they both thought it was excellent. Chris moved on to the Croque Madame as his entree and Becky had the Pork Belly special which looked divine. Thierry started with some fresh oysters had the Steak Frites which both looked excellent. We ended our meal with the Profiteroles.
Overall it was a great way to celebrate my birthday!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Our second stop was Joseph Phelps for a Terrace tasting. The property was beautiful. The pictures below crack me up because it looks like we were super imposed in the photos. We tasted a total of 8 Wines which included the Freestone and Joseph Phelps Vineyards. We had a 2010 Sauvignon Blanc which was quite good. I'm typically not a big Sauvignon Blanc fan but I really enjoyed this. We also tried the Freestone Chardonnay which was really good. When we moved onto the reds this is where Chris got really excited. We had the 2006 and 2008 Insignia and the 2005 Backus. We ended our tasting with an ice wine which I thought for sure I was going to hate because I do not like sweet wines at all. I was completely wrong in this case, the 2009 Eisrebe was absolutely delicious!
We took a quick break for lunch at Rutherford Grill. I highly recommend the French Dip sandwich, it was quite tasty.
Winery number 3 was Elizabeth Spencer for another tasting. The tasting room is so quaint and they have a great patio area to relax and enjoy some wine. I'm a big fan of their Chardonnay but they also have some great reds.
Last stop was dinner at Bouchon Bistro in Yountville. We had another delicious meal here. I had a chilled pepper soup as my first course and their Alaskan Halibut special as my entree. Everything was so fresh and delightful! Chris and Becky both had the fresh onion soup as a starter and they both thought it was excellent. Chris moved on to the Croque Madame as his entree and Becky had the Pork Belly special which looked divine. Thierry started with some fresh oysters had the Steak Frites which both looked excellent. We ended our meal with the Profiteroles.
Overall it was a great way to celebrate my birthday!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Headed to Wine Country
We left San Francisco Sunday morning so we had plenty of time to stop in Santa Rosa so the boys could get their beer fix before several days of drinking wine. Along the way we stopped at Depot Garden Cafe in San Rafael for breakfast. It was a great find, the food was delicious. I had their Californian Eggs Benedict which consisted of avocado, mushroom and tomato on an English muffin with poached eggs and a delicious hollandaise sauce.
Our next stop was Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa. Thierry and Chris were in their glory, Becky on the other hand was less than enthused about her lemonade.
For dinner Sunday night we went to Etoile at Domaine Chandon, it was spectacular. We did their six course tasting menu and wine pairings; each course was better than the next. I think the Foie Gras was my favorite course.
You will have to excuse the foodography coming up, we didn't have our good camera with us at dinner. I also forgot to foodograph the California King Squab course and the canapé course at the beginning which included oysters, lobster, salmon mousse with salmon roe and pork roulette. Delightful!
Overall, it was a great night and a perfect way to start off our stay in Napa.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Our next stop was Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa. Thierry and Chris were in their glory, Becky on the other hand was less than enthused about her lemonade.
For dinner Sunday night we went to Etoile at Domaine Chandon, it was spectacular. We did their six course tasting menu and wine pairings; each course was better than the next. I think the Foie Gras was my favorite course.
You will have to excuse the foodography coming up, we didn't have our good camera with us at dinner. I also forgot to foodograph the California King Squab course and the canapé course at the beginning which included oysters, lobster, salmon mousse with salmon roe and pork roulette. Delightful!
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| Yellowfin Tuna Carpaccio |
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| Pan Seared Dayboat Scallop |
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| Seared Sonoma Foie Gras |
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| Roasted Sirloin of Masami Beef |
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| Blackberries and Goat Cheese Gratin |
Overall, it was a great night and a perfect way to start off our stay in Napa.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
San Francisco
We said goodbye to S at 8:15 a.m. Saturday morning for five days and I was much more calm than I thought I would be. This was our first vacation without her. After a couple weeks of anxiety about leaving her I finally realized that by the time she made it down the street she probably had already forgotten about me. She was going to be splitting her time with Chris's parents and my parents which means she was going to be spoiled like crazy while we are gone. I will say I was very happy when we got to the security line at Midway and headed right for the expert line as opposed to the family line. There is something to be said about traveling without a stroller, car seat, diaper bag, etc. The whole security and boarding process is so much easier.
We got to 10,000 feet so I turned on my iPad with the hope of entertaining myself for the next 4 hours. I soon realized that I should have taken Chris up on his offer to load some additional items on it. All of the apps I use regularly are web based so clearly the are not accessible while in airplane mode. I really haven't loaded too much music on it yet so there was a very limited selection to listen to, thankfully I had my iPod in my purse. The video selection consisted of Sid the Science Kid episodes or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. While I find Sid to be cute I think I deserve a break from him for the next few days, so People magazine had to suffice as my entertainment.
Once we landed in Oakland mission #1 was to get In-N-Out Burger which was a success.
Mission #2 was seeing the Sea lions at Fisherman's Wharf. I had envisioned a lot more of them but we got to see them so this was also a success.
The remainder of our San Francisco stop consisted of dinner and some drinks. It was quick stop but we had a good time. I definitely would like to go back sometime so that we can see more of the city.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
We got to 10,000 feet so I turned on my iPad with the hope of entertaining myself for the next 4 hours. I soon realized that I should have taken Chris up on his offer to load some additional items on it. All of the apps I use regularly are web based so clearly the are not accessible while in airplane mode. I really haven't loaded too much music on it yet so there was a very limited selection to listen to, thankfully I had my iPod in my purse. The video selection consisted of Sid the Science Kid episodes or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. While I find Sid to be cute I think I deserve a break from him for the next few days, so People magazine had to suffice as my entertainment.
Once we landed in Oakland mission #1 was to get In-N-Out Burger which was a success.
Mission #2 was seeing the Sea lions at Fisherman's Wharf. I had envisioned a lot more of them but we got to see them so this was also a success.
The remainder of our San Francisco stop consisted of dinner and some drinks. It was quick stop but we had a good time. I definitely would like to go back sometime so that we can see more of the city.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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