Old Recipe, New House

Tonight, we played it safe with our meal because we were celebrating SB's new house! We stuck to foods and recipes we were familiar with and concentrated on getting used to a new kitchen.

We began the evening with a simple, yet elegan
t salad. The salad incorporated fresh greens from SH's garden, home-canned picked beets, sunflower seeds and goat cheese. We ate outside on the deck (with our guest SJ) while enjoying a bit of sunshine in an otherwise rainy, rainy week.

Our main dish was a spicy tomato sauce served with pasta also known as penne arrabiata. This simple and tasty dish was made even better with tomatoes canned with love by our mother (Thanks, Mom!). We served the pasta with rosemary bread and garlic butter and it was simply perfect.

Our dessert tonight was our celebration course - we bought truffles from our local chocolate shop, The Chocolate Spike. We indulged with Pineapple Honey, Mango Lime and Fire and Ice truffles. The truffles were even tastier than they were beautiful.

A truly enjoyable evening with an easy, simple meal worthy of any special occasion.
Congrats, SB on your new home!

MayIndian in Pembroke

Tonight we changed locations and moved to SH's house in Pembroke for an Indian- inspired feast. We had a 3 course meal that was delightful.
Our appetizer this week was inspired by 101 cookbooks. The Pea Puffs were Indian flavored egg rolls that warmed our appetite for our next course.
A spicy curry followed, this was a potato, lentil and spinach dish infused with Indian spices. We served the curry with brown basmati rice and yogurt. This proved to be a great infusion of spice and flavor in a thick and rich curry.
The final course was a tangy lemon pie topped with mint leaves and mango. This creamy treat was tart and sweet providing a perfect cap to the evening.

Fiesta!

Cinco De Mayo was our inspiration this week. We incorporated fresh, Mexican-inspired ingredients into our dishes this week, including our first taste of the Mexican vegetable jicama. We had a great time with this meal and we can't wait to share it with you.
Our appetizer was Avocado Tomatillo Dip served with blue corn chips. This was a creamy, spicy treat delivering spice and flavor without being too intense.

The main dish tonight was Tofu Ranchero with Jicama Slaw. The tofu ranchero was packed with veggies and served rolled into burritos. The burritos were tasty and filling - a great and healthy dish. Our side item was inspired by the "Mexican Potato" jicama. Jicama has been described as tasting like sweet pea pods, pears, turnips, apples and potato. We decided the best comparison of taste was to sweet pea pods and the best comparison of texture was to an apple. In the slaw, jicama added a wonderful crunch and sweetness that combined deliciously with the cabbage and carrot. The lime-based dressing on the slaw was soaked up by the jicama to provide a light and delicate side dish.

Dessert was a light lime sorbet served on pound cake with flambeed berries. Easy and delicious!