Tiramisu Tarts

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a sucker for desserts, more so if they are small and in individual serving sizes... Anything to get away from the guilt ;) When I came across this fun recipe on the Tre Stelle website, I tweaked it a little for what I had in the cupboards that day and brought it with me to a family party during the long weekend. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and it was very easy to put together that morning.

Tiramisu Tarts

Ingredients:

1 ½ pkg (255 g) frozen sweetened mini tart shells
2 cups (500 ml) Mascarpone cheese
1 ½ tbsp strong brewed coffee or coffee liqueur (Kahlùa or Tia Maria)
3 tbsp (30 mL) brown sugar
100g P.C. dark chocolate, melted
cocoa for garnish, if desired

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375

Bake unfilled tart shells in an oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden.

In a medium bowl combine Mascarpone, coffee liqueur and brown sugar; stir until combined and set aside or refrigerate until ready to use.

Spoon teaspoonfuls of melted chocolate into the bottom of each baked tart shell. Swirl around to ensure a taste of chocolate in every bite.

Place Mascarpone mixture into a Ziploc bag. Close the bag and cut a hole out of one end of the bag. Pipe out mixture into each tart shell. Place in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Sift cocoa over each just before serving.

Makes 18 tarts

Enjoy!

An overnight Crockpot Success..

I needed some chicken for my Buffalo Wing Dip and had a chicken in the fridge that was ready to be used and the herbs in my balcony garden were starting to grow so nicely. I came across this crockpot recipe for a chicken and it was perfect for my dip as the chicken was so tender and just fell off its bones. The rest of the chicken and bones, I used to make some chicken stock and store in the freezer for a later recipe.

Chicken with 40 Cloves Garlic

Ingredients:

2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh sage
2 sprigs fresh Italian parsley
40 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 whole chicken
2 stalks celery

Directions:

Place sprigs of thyme, rosemary, sage, parsley and half of the garlic in chicken cavity. Place celery in stoneware. Put chicken on top of celery. Add remaining garlic around chicken. Sprinkle salt and pepper over chicken. Cover; cook on Low 8 - 10 hours (High 4 - 6 hours). To serve, place chicken, onions, garlic and celery on serving platter.

Note: You can squeeze roasted garlic out of skins onto toasted French bread slices and spread with knife topped with some crumbled goat cheese and a little rosemary. Yummy!

Enjoy!

A Light of Success in the Valley of Darkness...

...Wow the last couple of weeks have been muddled with many recipes that wouldn't dare make it on to this blog - yes, they were that bad!!! But as always through every long bad streak, there is always some little success that ever so slowly brings you out of those cooking doldrums and for me it was this recipe. I found it on one of my discussion boards tweaked it for a party that I was going to, so here goes:

Buffalo Wing Dip

Ingredients:

1 ½ packages low-fat cream cheese, softened
1 cup P.C. Buffalo Wing sauce, mild
1 cup Ranch dressing
2 cups cooked chicken - shredded or diced
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese and hot pepper sauce until well blended. Mix in the Ranch dressing and chicken. Spread into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle cheddar cheese over it.
3. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Serve warm with tortilla chips and celery.

Note: use an already cooked rotisserie chicken from your local grocery store for a quick option to the chicken needed in this recipe.

Enjoy!

The Kickoff starts today...

The Kickoff to the theme of my 34th year on this Earth starts today: This is going to be my healthiest year EVER!!

Okay there I've said it and now actions will have to speak louder than words...

How did I come up up with the theme?
I've been subscribing to a daily inspiration email message from Neale Donald Walsh, the author of Conversations with God. The last one that I received that really drove me to a plan of action was this one:

On this day of your life, Helena, I believe God wants you to know...

...that taking better care of yourself is not merely a matter of good health, it is a measure of spiritual evolution.

Some people take better care of their car than they do of their body. Most people, in fact, pay little attention to their body until something goes wrong. Yet why create that kind of situation?

Look at what you are eating. How much and how often do you exercise? When was your last check-up? Are you treating your physical vehicle as if it is Divine? Good for you if you are. If you aren't...why not?

That is not to say that there won't be some potholes on the roadway and not all fuel going into this theme over the next year will be all no carbs, high protein, low fat, limited calories but I will aim to find a balance so that the goal of healthyness is rewarded with ultimate prize of happiness and fulfillment.

First plan of action: celebrate my birthday today with my girls and hubby. We're heading out to the closest Olive Garden. Their salad and breadsticks to die for... (never mind all of entrees on their menu). How do we plan to burn off this meal... A huge shopping spree at the Walden Galleria across the street :) It's a win, win situation for all... Second item on our to-do list: purchase a double jogging stroller so that the girls will join me on this year's new summer activity of choice: rollerblading along the waterfront...

So here I go and hope you will join me too... Enjoy!

Our Italian Themed Bridal Shower

In preparation for my brother in law's upcoming wedding, this wweekend we threw his beautiful bride-to-be a bridal shower with an Italian theme to honour her heritage. Here is a summary of what we did:

Our Italian Inspired Bridal Shower

Décor
Red and white checkered tablecloths with small potted herbs as centerpieces. Great background music includes: Il Divo

Menu
Serve up a traditional Italian feast with a variety of pastas, variety of sauces (white, red, marinara), fresh Parmesan Cheese, antipasto salad, garlic bread and tiramisu and gelato desserts, iced tea and a good Chianti.

Top off the bridal shower with a homemade cookie buffet of cannoli, pizzelles, Mostaccioli, Pignoli, tiramisu, biscotti, and amaretti cookies.

Games

Door Prize

When the guests first arrive have them fill out a piece of paper with their wedding date or, if they are single, their birthday. The person with the date closest to the bride's wedding date wins the prize.

Name the Pasta
Created 10 bags with each bag holding a different variety of pasta. Number each bag from 1-10. Whoever guesses the most correct names win.

Trivia about the bride
Guests had to complete 10 trivia questions on the bride-to-be. The person with the most correct answers wins a prize.

Guessing Game

We played this game during our lunch. We filled a large glass jar with uncooked pasta. Have each guest guess how many pieces are in each jar. The person who guesses the closest to the true number of items in each jar gets to takes the goodies home and the fabulous recipe attached to it (or an Italian cookbook).

Read his Mind
Then we tested the bride-to-be on how well she knew her fiancé by asking her the following 12 questions.
1. What is his favorite pizza topping?
2. Where did you go on your first date?
3. What is his favorite drink?
4. If he could star in any tv show, which tv show would he pick?
5. If Steve were spending an evening at home, what would he most likely be doing?
6. What is the first movie you saw together?
7. If Steve were a superhero, who would he be?
8. What animal would Steve compare you to?
9. What is his grandmother’s names?
10. What was Steve’s first job?
11. How many clocks are in Steve’s room?
12. Name one thing Steve own’s that you will throw out the first chance you get?
13. Name one activity your fiancé does with you ONLY because he loves you?

We asked all the guests to write on a piece of paper a number from 1-12 to represent how many questions the bride-to-be would get right. The bride-to-be’s answers would have to match the pre-recorded answers from her fiancé, that we played off a host laptop. Her punishment for wrong answers was based on her own personal vice… red wine. We made red wine jello shots instead of the hard liquor variety for her to spoon out every time she got a question wrong. For all our guests who didn’t guess correctly how many the bride-to-be would get correct, also had to take a jello shot

Roll the Cannelloni
You need a pair of pantyhose, an orange and a cannelloni. Put a cannelloni on the floor and an orange in one leg of the pantyhose. Tie the other leg (of the pantyhose) around your waist. The object is for you to swing your hips and hit the cannelloni (that you placed on the floor) across a designated area in the best time. You could also have 2 teams and have a relay.

Who Wears the Pants
The groom joined us before we began to open gifts and included him in our next game. Give each of the future bride and groom a roll of toilet paper. The first to completely unroll the toilet paper "Will be the One Who Wears The Pants in the Marriage". Everyone was laughing so hard and routing them on. It goes quickly once they figure out how to unravel it the fastest.

Prizes
Prizes included pasta bowls, wooden spoons, cheese shakers, gourmet olive oils, glass containers filled with pasta, red and white checkered place mats & napkins, Italian cookbooks and the Godfather movies on DVD.

Favors
Departing guests went away with delicious chocolate and white chocolate dipped biscotti cookies packaged in pretty bags tied with red and green ribbon with a tag that read “Amore Dolce: A love so sweet” Other sayings could be: “Sweet Beginnings!” or “How sweet it is that you could celebrate with us”

Guestbook
When guests arrived they participated in the door prize game and were also able to sign a Guestbook of photos of the bride-to-be and her fiancé. Alternatively, the guest book could be empty, have the guests sign it and then add pictures of the shower later on.

Kids Games and Activities

Cannelloni Bowling
Have the children colour their cannellonis and leave one white. Roll the white one into the centre of a room and take turns to see who can roll their cannelloni closest to the white one.

Cannelloni and Spoon Races
Cannelloni, a spoon and an area to run are all you need for this game. Variations could include relays and obstacle courses. To make it easy for younger kids, place the cannelloni lengthwise on their spoon or give them a smaller tubular pasta piece on their spoon. For the older kids place the cannelloni standing up on their spoon. If it tilts or falls over the kids have to start all over…

Find your Name Pasta
Write the name of each child on a cannelloni piece of pasta. The person that finds their own name wins a prize. Bigger pieces of pasta for small kids and smaller ones for the bigger kids.

Duck Walk Race
Have the kids line up at the Start Line, squat down and grasp their ankles with each hand from behind. On GO, they waddle to a designated Finish Line. They can't let go of their ankles or the are disqualified. The first child over the Finish Line wins a prize.

Dress Up Activity
The kids were asked to make with all the leftover pasta hats and necklaces for themselves and the bride-to-be. Once completed all the kids and the bride-to-be posed for photos.

Kids Prizes and Favors
Kids Prizes included: princess, Hannah Montana and Pirates of the Carribbean temporary tattoos. All kids left the day with animal-shaped collapsible tote bags filled with giant sidewalk chalk, that I found for $0.49 at a post-Easter sale.

I'll post pics soon but in the meantime enjoy!

Filipino Fish... mmm...

The original recipe that I used came out of a Learn how to cook Filipino Homestyle Dishes book that I have at home, although I did find an almost identical recipe at Pinoy Recipe. I’m not familiar with cooking fish but I couldn’t get myself to fry this fish, so I cooked it in the oven in a cup of white wine with some salt and pepper. I really don’t know what type of fish this is as I got it from our local grocery’s store's fish monger and it was very yummy! Reminder to self next time… ask what the fish is called :)

Escabeche
(Fried Fish with Sweet and Sour Sauce)

Ingredients:
1 red snapper or grouper fish, cleaned and scaled (about 2 lbs)
½ cup plain flour mixed with ½ tsp salt, for dredging
½ cup cooking oil
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into 2” chunks
1 medium green pepper, cut into ½-inch strips
1 medium red pepper, cut into ½-inch strips
1 medium cucumber, peeled and cut into ½-inch rounds
2 boiled potatoes, quartered
Fresh coriander leaves (cilantro), to garnish

Sweet and Sour Sauce
½ cup sugar
½ tsp of salt
4 tbsp tomato ketchup
½ cup vinegar
1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in ½ cup water

Directions:

Score the red snapper with slits all over and dredge in flour.

Heat oil in a wok and fry the fish and fry the fish about 10 minutes on one side and 7 to 8 minutes on the other side, until completely cooked and fish flesh is no longer glassy. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. (Alternatively, I placed the fish in a glass baking dish, with all of the vegetables, seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked it in a cup of white wine & a cup of water, for 30 minutes at 375)

To make the sauce, combine sugar, vinegar, water and tomato ketchup in a saucepan. Add carrot, cook for about 5 minutes, then add peppers and cucumber. Simmer without stirring, for a further 3 minutes or until vegetables are tender yet firm. Stir in cornstarch mixture and simmer until sauce thickens. Remove from heat.

Arrange fish on a serving platter and arrange vegetables around fish. Pour sweet and sour sauce over fish.

Garnish with fresh coriander.

A Casserole...

I know, I know. This may sound like your typical family meal but I've never made a casserole before, so when I came across this recipe and tweaked it to make it a little more healthier :) it seemed easy enough...

Since hubby and I have gone overbudget this month (we both aren't sure how or why), I decided the only ingredient that would be cost efficient in this recipe would be tuna. On a side note my mom would kill me to be serving fish with dairy... But I have to admit this dish was yummy...

My Creamy Tuna Noodle Casserole

Ingredients:

3 cups Farfalle noodles, prepared according to package directions
3 tablespoons butter
227g (8 oz) of mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup of frozen peas
1 tbsp garlic, minced
3 cans (3 oz. each) tuna, drained and flaked
1 can (10 oz. each) low-fat condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 can (6 fl. oz.) evaporated Milk
2/3 cup crushed ranch potato chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease small square baking dish.

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add musrooms, peas and onion; cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 to 2 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in noodles, tuna, soup and evaporated milk; mix well. Pour into prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle with potato chips.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until chips are golden brown.

Next time, I might try one of the following substitutions for a little twist on a good thing:

• use codfish instead of tuna (I am Portuguese afterall)
• add 1/2 cup Monterey jack cheese before adding the chips
• add 3/4 cup shredded mozz and 1/4 cup taco cheese.
• add 2 stalks of celery and ½ cup of onions instead of peas and mushrooms
• use whole wheat noodles and wheat crackers instead of chips

Enjoy!

My Baked Treat of the Week...

...a caramelized pear tart recipe I had found in last week's grocery flyers... At a cost of less than $5.00 to make as I had many of the ingredients already at home, it was going to help me stay on budget too... but was it yummy??? oh yes, it was heard over Easter dinner as I had taken the tart to my in-laws for dessert.

The original recipe can be found on the Loblaws website. I didn't find that 3 pears was sufficient for this recipe so next time I will double it and use 6 pears. I also added 2 apples and substituted a tablespoon of vanilla extract for the pear brandy, as I didn't have any handy.

Caramelized Pear Tart

Ingredients:

3 pears, peeled and quartered (next time use 6 pears)
2 apples, peeled and quartered, optional
2 tbsp unsalted butter
½ cup sugar
1 pie shell
2 eggs
2/3 cup 15% table cream
5 tbsp powdered almonds
1 tbsp vanilla extract (or pear brandy)
vanilla ice cream, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to (350°C)

2. Caramelize pear and apple sections in butter with sugar, approximately 10 minutes.

3. Arrange pears in pie shell. Mix together eggs with remaining sugar, cream, powdered almonds and vanilla extract, if using. Pour mixture over pears and apples.

4. Bake in oven for about 25 minutes. Let rest 3 minutes prior to serving with vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!

Words of hope, love and inspiration...

As many of you know, I have been truly blessed to have married into a BIG wonderful, religious, supportive and loving Filipino family. To this day I sometimes still feel challenged at trying to remember everyone's name and where they fit in our family tree. But every day I seem so in awe of them all and today was going to be no exception. Here is a little excerpt of an email that came through my inbox from one of our uncle's who wanted to provide a little message of hope to the young couples in our family regarding marriage and the challenges they may or are facing:

"We’ve been married for 31 years but our marriage is not perfect, no one’s is, nothing is
and nobody is. For that period of time, we fought/argued so many times, some serious, some silly, some petty; over finances, about our beliefs, values, about our careers, about raising our children, other people we’re jealous of, over almost everything. We said words you wouldn’t imagine we’re capable of saying, words that hurt, words that are hard to take back. But each time, we’re able to reconcile, one of us or both of us would say ‘Sorry’ (a lot of people say, saying ‘Sorry’ is a sign of weakness, a sign of surrendering something or giving the other party a blanket “you-can-do-whatever-you-want-from-now-on” authority but it’s not, it’s actually a sign of courage, of maturity and of love and respect- we believe in that) and then, there’s forgiveness…..and…… we moved on and each time, our relationship got more resilient, our bond got stronger. We became more mature and understanding to each other, more open and yes,….. more loving and forgiving… So our marriage lasted this long….. not because of me, not because of your Auntie but because of our love and respect for each other, because of our children, because of you, our family….and most of all, because of us…and God, the third party in a marriage."

Hope it provides you with a source of inspiration too. Enjoy!

Hoisin sauce...

Since I had to go out of my way to purchase a bottle of hoisin sauce for the previous recipe, I thought I would look for a side dish that also used hoisin sauce too...

Funny the things you can find online when you are doing a simple search ;) but luckily I came across this Chicken and Hoisin Fried Rice and I was so happy with the end result. The only change I made to the recipe was to eliminate the chicken and made the rice earlier in the day in the rice cooker.

Chicken and Hoisin Fried Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup long-grain rice
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
1 cup diced red bell pepper
1/3 cup chicken stock
1 cup diced snow peas
3 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp minced fresh garlic
3 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
2/3 cup chopped carrots
2 green onions, chopped

Directions:

1.Bring 1 1/4 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Stir in the rice. Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook for 12 minutes. Remove from the heat. Let stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Cool.

2.While the rice is cooking, preheat the barbecue or a non-stick grill pan to medium-high and spray with cooking oil. Cook the chicken for 6 minutes per side, or until cooked through and no longer pink in the center. Dice and set aside.

3.Whisk the stock, soy sauce and hoisin sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.

4.Cook the carrots in a pot of boiling water until tender-crisp, about 4 minutes. Drain.

5.Spray a non-stick wok or large skillet with cooking oil, add the vegetable oil and place over high heat. Add the red peppers, snow peas, garlic, ginger and carrots; cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the cooled rice and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes longer. Stir in the stock mixture and the chicken. Cook for 1 minute longer, until heated through.

6.Serve immediately, garnished with green onions.

Enjoy!