Tasty Tuesdays - Cilantro Lime Rice and Pineapple Ginger Rice

I find sometimes it's hard to think of new and inventive side dishes that are easy to make and tasty too. I receive Martha Stewart's Everday Food magazine, and it always has some great recipes that can be paired with a simple lean protein for a balanced and healthy meal. These two rice dishes are favorites in our house. I love rice, so when I saw these easy ways to jazz it up, I immediately made them a part of our dinner rotations. I serve the Cilantro Lime Rice with the Adobo Flank Steak mentioned in a previous Tasty Tuesday. The Pineapple Ginger Rice works great with a simple Soy Marinated Pork Loin. I mix together a little brown sugar, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, crushed ginger, and red pepper flakes. Marinate the pork for an hour or so and grill it until the temperature you prefer. It's a great meal!

Lime Cilantro Rice

Serves 4
1 cup long-grain white rice
Coarse salt
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove

Directions
In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil. Add rice and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cover, and reduce to a simmer. Cook until water is absorbed and rice is just tender, 16 to 18 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a blender, combine cilantro, lime juice, oil, garlic, and 2 tablespoons water; blend until smooth. Stir into cooked rice, and fluff with a fork.

Pineapple Ginger Rice
1 cup long-grain white rice
1/3 cup honey
1 can (8 ounces) pineapple chunks in juice, drained and coarsely chopped (juice reserved)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (from a peeled 1/2-inch piece)

In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil. Add rice and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cover, and reduce to a simmer. Cook until water is absorbed and rice is just tender, 16 to 18 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk honey and 2 tablespoons pineapple juice; season with salt and pepper.

To rice, add pineapple chunks, scallions, ginger, and oil. Season with salt and pepper, and fluff with a fork.

PS - I used jarred crushed ginger because it saves time when cooking. Also, I never use enough ginger to keep the ginger root fresh, so the jarred is a great way to go!

PSS - I also like using basmati or jasmine rice instead of long grain. I think it adds a great flavor to the dish. You could sub brown rice in either of these though to make it a wee bit healthier.

Enjoy!

happy new year!

I know what you're thinking, it's not January. But in my little world, September is the start of a new year for two important things to me - the Saints and the Junior Service League of Beaufort.

We were home this weekend to attend the Saints home opener. It is the best day of the year - when you're still undefeated and the hopes of a Superbowl seem oh so real. You arrive to your section and hug the guy who's sat in front of you for six years. You don't know his last name, or even what he does when is isn't spending time sitting in his seats, but you share a love for your team that runs deep. He was there to celebrate the reopening of the dome. He shed a tear with you when Deuce moved the pile to get the first down against Philly that sent us to the NFC championship. And that's the thing about the start of a new season, strangers come together and under the roof of the dome they are united in their love for their team and their city. And our boys didn't disappoint. Drew was spectacular, as was Mike Bell. The defense was much improved. Overall, a good performance, but they have a few things to clean up. Can't wait till Sunday!

We flew back to beaufort today, and I had my first junior league meeting of the new league year. It was so exciting to see all of our amazing members. We have such a great year planned and will be doing so much good here for our community. My friend Lauren and I are the co-chairs of the ways and means committee. We have a big job ahead of us, but we got such an amazing response tonight from our members. Our committee is shaping up so nicely. I have no doubt that we will be successful in continuing to make the league an organization that improves the lives of people here. Our committee will have the chance to shape the future of our league, a job which we don't take lightly. We can't wait to get started and feel so energized knowing we'll have a great group of women to help us achieve our goal of making the league the best it has ever been!

Here's to a new year!

Trendy Wednesday - The Party Dress

I am attending what should be a spectacular fundraiser for a charity (The Al Copeland Foundation) that one of my best buddies started to honor her dad. The event is called High Speed Fashion and is presented by Saks. Well, what is a girl to wear to a fancy fashion show? That is the question that kept rolling through my mind all weekend. I mean, I LOVE fashion, but am I fashionable enough for this party?? I tried on a million outfits and nothing seemed fitting for such a glamorous night. I wanted to wear the perfect little party dress! I just didn't have the right thing in my closet. I wanted something SPECIAL - something that said "this girl knows a thing or two about fashion." So, off to BCBG, which in my opinion does a magnificent job of creating the "it" dress each season. There were so many choices, but one really stuck out. It was as though Max Azria crafted it for just such a night as the one I'll be having Saturday. It is super fun and flirty, but demure and classy as well. Not an easy combination to pull off. And it's anything but the typical LBD! That's what I love about this season's cocktail dresses. Goodbye little black dress, hello winter white mini! I love the floral applique detail, and the touch of black ribbon at the waste feels so Chanel. Imagine this paired with my favorite 4 1/2 inch black satin LAMB pumps. Gorgeous. Aren't party dresses just the best!

Tasty Tuesdays - Spicy-Sweet Pretzel Mix

It is officially the start of the best time of year - football season. I know people are busy planning their game day menus already, so I thought I'd throw out this recipe in case it might fit in with your football feast. It's funny how food and sports are so intertwined. I know Saints fans who will not watch a game without a family meal from Popeye's. And even more than that, it must come from the Popeye's on Magazine. They really believe that if you get it anywhere else, you're asking for the football gods to betray you.

It's always interesting to see how football superstitions arise. For the Monday night game versus the Falcons when the Dome re-opened, Mark and I celebrated with a lunch at Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse. Mark told me that if he didn't order and complete the 32 oz. porterhouse, he was sure the Saints would lose. Being the most superstitious sports fan alive (aside from our very favorite Redskins fan JT), I agreed that Mark absolutely had to get and finish that ridiculously sized steak. I didn't want to go along with it at first, but I kept thinking that if we lost this game, it would be because I told Mark that he shouldn't eat that darn steak. I couldn't live with the thought of being the reason the Saints might lose. Well, what do you know, the Saints went on to win the greatest game ever played in the Dome. In my mind, I think I actually believed it had to do partly with Mark eating that steak. So the next season, when we were home for the Monday night home opener against Tennessee, I was convinced that if we did everything exactly as we had done it the year before the Saints would surely go on to claim a victory. And just as he did the year before, Mark ordered and finished his 32 oz. porterhouse with masterful surgical precision. So I wouldn't worry about the health risk of doing this annually, the waiter assured me that 3 oz. of the total weight of the porterhouse was related to the bone. Ahhh - much better. You can imagine my disappointment when the Saints lost that night. I think the only person more disappointed was Mark who realized that not only did the Saints lose their game, but he lost his excuse to consume 32, wait, make that 28 oz. of steak.

Although I don't see a 32 oz. porterhouse in our future, I know this season will bring us an array of fantastic eats. There is just nothing better on a cold Sunday than a grilled brat, a cold beer, and a Saints victory. Add this pretzel mix to your next tailgate party, and you'll have one more reason to celebrate. It's a crowd pleaser, I promise, so I recommend a double batch.

Here's to another year of football!

Spicy-Sweet Pretzel Mix

Serves 8
2 cups thin pretzel sticks
1 cup natural almonds
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons dark-brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, toss together pretzels and almonds.
In a small saucepan, bring butter, sugar, cayenne, and 1 tablespoon water to a boil, stirring constantly. Pour over pretzel mixture in bowl; gently toss to combine.
Spread pretzel mixture in a single layer on prepared sheet. Bake until almonds are crisp, about 20 minutes, tossing occasionally. Cool on sheet before serving. (To store, keep at room temperature, up to 5 days.)

A Thought for Thursday - Do-Over

Maybe it's because the school year is upon us, but it seems everyone is brushing up on their professional qualifications these days. I spent today sitting through 8 hours of continuing professional education on assessing audit risk and professional issues updates. Bleck. Meanwhile my sister, the pastry chef, has also been attending some continuing education. The difference between us, I learned that detection risk is very important, and Stephanie learned how to fill dark chocolate with a gooey coffee filling. What sounds better to you??

I sat through the class today thinking about a blogger I am following (Knitting Yarns) who asked the following question recently, "if you could start college all over again, would you change majors?" Interesting question, especially when you are trying your best to tune out your instructor with any thought not related to auditing. The pragmatic part of me says, "Even if you want to own a pastry shop with your sister down the line, an accounting degree will be really worthwhile in helping to run a business. Stick to accounting." The dreamer in me says, "Heck yeah I'd change majors."

I would love to do graphic design or marketing or tourism management. While we're at it, my dream job would be to host Sportscenter, so maybe I should have been a broadcast journalism major. The possibilities are endless! Or are they? I really want to be like Julia Child and start over at 40 - do what I love to do, you know. But have we outgrown a chance to do something other than what we are doing now? Can you actually go back (or maybe forward) and change things? And if you could, would you?

Trendy Wednesday - The Tube Scarf

So, I stepped outside this morning and was surprised by how beautiful the weather is. It's cool and crisp outside, and if I didn't know better, I'd say fall was here. Now, I know this is just an aberration, so I won't start pulling my winter sweaters out of the attic just yet, but I might start thinking about my favorite trend for fall. The tube scarf!

As much as I love summer summer fashion - bright colors, cool fabrics - there is something about winter wear that I find so sophisticated. I love the look of dark denim and a black turtleneck wrapped in a beautiful camel colored wool coat topped off with a Burberry signature print scarf. Add a wool cap, and you have the perfect winter outfit. I only know this because two Thanksgivings ago I wore this outfit to go birthday gift shopping on Fifth Avenue in NYC. I have to edit the outfit I just described a bit to include a black swing jacket and legwarmers over skinny dark denim, but you get the picture. I tend to go overboard when dressing for New York! To my delight, when we walked into the gorgeous Louis Vuitton store on Fifth, the lovely gentleman who assisted us told me, "Well look at you. You look fabulous - so European." I don't know if he knew, but that was the sweetest thing he could have ever said to a little Southern girl pretending to know how to put together the perfect winter look.

We're headed back to NYC for another storybook Thanksgiving, and I think I already have my outfit put together. But this year, it will hopefully include (big hint to Mark on this one) a Burberry tube scarf. They are calling them "snoods." (Apparently no reference intended to the computer game that caused my second semester GPA to plummet at Loyola). They are simple and they are perfect! Instead of clumsily winding all three feet of the wool tightly around your neck, this scarf is pulled over and piles gracefully around you. Pair it with a simple tee and throw on a jacket and you're set to go. It's an easy and sophisticated trend that will surely have the shop boys in Manhattan thinking you're fabulous. (I'm still glowing from that complement, can you tell!!).

If it looks this good on her, imagine how cute it would be on you!!

Tasty Tuesdays - Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies

There is nothing like eating a cookie right out of the oven. Well, I take that back, I really like eating the dough more than anything else. Sometimes, I've eaten so much dough that by the time I can take a bite of the piping hot goodness from the oven, I have a tummy ache, and can't enjoy it.

What is it about this time of year that makes me want to bake. It's not even the least bit cool here yet, but there's something about September that makes me feel like baking. Maybe it's that it's the start of fall, or maybe it's just that I've been back on weight watchers for three weeks and my body is throwing it's own revolt. I have baked two batches of chocolate chip cookies in two days! Of course, I take a bite of the dough (or maybe two bites) and send the cookies with Mark to the hospital. My WW leader would be so proud.

Here is a great recipe for cookie lovers of all ages! I recently brought them to a Baptism party and they were a hit. Warning - if your children are wearing their Sunday best, they'll likely be covered in chocolate before too long. So this might be the perfect cookie to make when everybody is in their pjs. With a cold glass of milk, I can't think of anything better!

Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies

Makes 36
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar, for rolling dough
36 mini peanut butter cups, chilled and unwrapped
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using an electric mixer, cream peanut butter and butter in a mixing bowl until smooth. Add brown sugar; beat until combined, scraping down bowl as needed. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat until incorporated.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. With mixer on low speed, gradually beat in flour mixture in two batches.
Scoop off dough by the tablespoon; roll into balls. Place granulated sugar on a plate; roll balls in sugar, coating completely. Place 2 inches apart on a nonstick insulated baking sheet.
Bake until cookies begin to puff up slightly, about 7 minutes. Remove from oven. Press one peanut butter cup in center of each cookie. Return to oven; continue baking until cookies are golden brown and chocolate has begun to melt, about 6 minutes more. Let cool at least 10 minutes on baking sheet before transferring cookies to rack to cool completely.

PS - What's your favorite cookie?