chopped party: entree round

so if you haven't heard what a chopped party is catch up on it here
you can also read about how the appetizers turned out
don't worry, i'll wait right here while you catch up

now that you're back let's move on to the entree round
this is the round sean and i picked the ingredients for

take the following:

• penne pasta
• sweet italian sausage (we were dying when we saw the sausage in the basket in the appetizer round)
• reese's peanut butter cups
• african cucumber (or random fruit as we called it all night)

and make an entree for 6 people - that you, yourself, would eat
i love the look on their faces trying to figure out what that random fruit is
and more importantly, what to do with it

we were scouring the grocery store for our mystery basket ingredients
when we walked by this freaky looking thing and the conversation went a little like this
me: "oh, sean, let's get this"
sean: "ok"
that's about how much help he was
it really is freaky looking and it has a lot of seeds
and, of course, we all had to taste it - it tasted like a sweeter cucumber
they "juiced" it and used it in a sauce - and a cocktail

double-fisted cooking technique

this is some serious cooking - stove and 3 burners!

introducing...
open-faced sweet italian sausage sandwich with wilted greens and chocolate, african cucumber penne pasta

ok so maybe that doesn't sound so tasty
but they actually won with this dish!
oh, i failed to mention they made a martini to go with their dish
african cucumber tequila martini
that may explain how they won  HA! HA!

so, would you have eaten this dish?
if not, what would you have made with it?

next up, dessert - which is what sean and i made

chopped party: appetizer round

don't you love chopped?!?!

i do; i love the creativity of it and cooking on the fly

that's how my mom always cooked

throw some stuff together that's in the pantry and hope for the best

i guess i picked that up from my mom

sean is always saying - where did you get this from

which my answer is always - i just made it up - and then he laughs

my sister, not so much, she's an exactly by the recipe kind of cook - down to the brand the recipe calls for!

but i digress...

**********************************

so several of my friends came up with an idea of having a chopped party

in case you don't know the premise of the show...

chefs compete in 3 timed rounds where they're given mystery ingredients and a pantry to create a dish

round 1 - appetizer round is 4 chefs and the worst dish gets chopped

round 2 - entree round is 3 chefs and the worst dish gets chopped

round 3 - dessert round is 2 chefs and the best overall chef wins $10,000

**********************************

since we didn't have $10,000 to give away, our take on it was:

3 pairs of friends get together at one person's house

bring a basket with 4 mystery ingredients for one of the rounds (which was prearranged)

each pair could also bring a "ringer" ingredient, which was an ingredient only that pair had access to

draw straws to see what pair is cooking what round

create 6 plates of food (yes, you have to eat your own) in 45 minutes

rate each meal you didn't cook on taste, presentation, creativity and overall impression

first round - entree round - here's how it went down...

take the following ingredients:

• hot italian sausage
• smoked gouda
• craisins
• caramels

and turn it into an appetizer side dish - that's edible

this round included re-hydrating craisins, trying desperately to melt caramels, food processor action and, overall, making a big mess

don't forget, presentation counts - way to clean up those plates ladies!

oh, and how could i forget the use of their ringer ingredient - FUNYUNS!

oh and we also made one of the chefs present the dish

wish i could remember her description, but i don't, so i'll go with

hot italian sausage and craisin bruschetta with caramel cream with a side of micro greens topped with onion rings

doesn't that sound fancy....

what do you think - would you have tried it?

tomorrow - entree round (which we picked out the mystery ingredients for)

home grown tea

sean got me some seeds for christmas so i can try to grow my own tea

i don't think i've ever tried to grow anything from a seed before
maybe in grade school when the teacher really did all the work
but i'm going to try some down here and some when we get up to maine
there are a ton of seeds in there
i figure some will probably do better here and some better up north
and the only way to try it out is to jump in and plant a few of each and see what happens

i'll update you on the progress
we've also added more things to the garden -
onions, strawberries and cauliflower
the broccoli has so many little broccoli on it - i really need to take a picture and show you
if it's nice out tomorrow i will
that's right - no traveling this week!!!
dance party going on here.....

happy valentine's

did you feel the love?
i sure did - even at over 1,000 miles away from my honey
(see this post for the explanation)
in the spirit of our "make something" agreement for valentine's
and my new friend, pinterest
i made this for sean (including his fav candy which i bought)
and i even used my new serger for the ribbon

he surprised me with champagne, strawberries, cake and chocolate dipping sauce in my hotel room
which i packed the champagne so i could enjoy it with him
and then surprised me with flowers when i returned home last night
i'm still waiting for the "make something" part
he still has this weekend

i'm continuing the love celebration by making him his fav dinner this weekend

my life lately

Monday:

• wake up at 5:30 am and pack
• make my way to the airport
• catch a cat nap on the plane
• see what fancy rental car I get this time
• head to the office
• have sushi Monday in the cafeteria
• work way too late
• check into hotel
• order room service
• watch a little TV and go for a swim

Tuesday & Wednesday:

• work way too many hours
• order more room service
• take another swim

Thursday:

• pack up
• work until lunch
• head back to airport
• catch another cat nap
• watch my DVR'd shows

Friday:

• work way more hours yet again
• catch up with Sean & Duke's happenings for the week

Saturday & Sunday:

• try to shove in as much time with Sean, Duke, all my friends, gardening, crafting, etc that I can

Lather, Rinse, Repeat...

Now do you understand why there's been a lack of blogging?!?!
There has been some fun happening during those Saturday and Sunday's so stay tuned....I promise, I'll be back.....

painting my cutie

you may remember my new fave place
well, when i saw the paint your own pet class i knew i just had to go!
this is the picture i based it on

they had a person do the initial sketch
but i did all the painting
and...drum roll please.....

so what do you think?
i'm very happy with how it turned out!
now i need to figure out where it's going!

go pats!!!

nuf said...