Did anyone else love the Super Bowl game last night? I sure did. Despite the slow start for the Saints, they pulled it off really nicely; it was a very fun game to watch. And some really funny commercials too. All in all, it was a fantabulous game to watch. The scene of Drew Brees holding his baby and crying brought tears to my eyes. It was a good night.

Bill had to work during the day yesterday, so we just planned a Super Bowl party for two on our new couch (Yeah, it finally arrived two months after we ordered it!). I made roasted cheese with salsa and served it with some yellow corn tortilla chips. The combination of the melting cheese with the hot salsa makes this dip delicious. I originally got the recipe from The Mexican Cookbook, but I adapted it a bit.

Roasted Cheese with Salsa

8 oz. Mexican queso Oaxaca or mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup of your favorite salsa
1/2 onion, very finely chopped or green onions finely chopped (I use a combination).

Preheat your oven to 400F.
Cut the cheese into chunks or slabs and place in a shallow ovenproof dish. Spoon the salsa over the cheese to over and then place the dish in the preheated oven. Cook until the cheese melts and is bubbly, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with chopped onion and serve immediately while hot. (Before the cheese gets stringy when it cools).

The theme for this week's photohunt is average. What a tough theme!

We took this photo from the top of Rome's famous Spanish Steps on a beautiful summer day in June of 2008. I'd like to think that the crowds do not represent the average number of Rome's daily visitors, but they probably do.

Happy Weekend all!

Stir fries are my go-to dishes when I need to make a quick healthy meal or have some veggies that are due to be used. I generally just slice the veggies I am using, cut the chicken (if I am using it) into thin strips and stir fry with the sauce and spices of my choice for the night. I've been hooked on oyster sauce lately. I typically make some white rice to serve with the stir-fry.

Browsing Ellen's Wright cookbook Around The Table, I came across a stir-fry recipe that she serves over a baked potato, and I thought what a novel idea! I prefer potatoes to rice, and they definitely make the balanced meal. So I gave her recipe a try and we really enjoyed it.

Baked Potatoes with Stir-Fried Chicken and Veggies
Adapted from Around The Table by Ellen Wright

For the Potatoes:
2 to 4 medium-size Idaho potatoes
2 Tbsp. olive oli
Salt to taste

Wash and dry the potatoes and pierce them with a sharp knife or fork in three or four places. Rub the potatoes with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and bake for 40 to 50 minutes until skins are crispy and the flesh is tender. OR do as I do and stick the pierced potato along with a cup of water in the microwave for ten minutes. I use the microwave if I am only baking a couple of potatoes and I am not using the oven for anything else.

It was Jerry's turn this week to pick a dish for our Sunday Slow Suppers, and I'd say he made a fine choice with Risotto al Granchio e Gamberi. I love crab, shrimp and risottos, so the combination was brilliant for my taste buds. Jerry got the recipe from Williams Sonoma cookbook 'Savoring Italy' by Miclehe Scicolone.

Risotto al Granchio e Gamberi

Ingredients:
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
6 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 lb. shrimp, peeled, deveined and each cut into 4 or 5 pieces
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
6 cups chicken or fish broth or water
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cups medium-grain rice such as arborio, vialone nano or carnaroli
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 lb. fresh-cooked crabmeat, picked over to remove any shell fragments

In a saucepan over medium heat, sauté the garlic and 2 Tbs. of the parsley in 2 Tbs. of the olive oil, stirring once or twice, until the garlic is fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the shrimp, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, just until the shrimp are pink, about 2 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the shrimp to a plate and set aside. Add the broth to the saucepan and bring just barely to a simmer.

In a large saucepan or risotto pan over medium heat, warm 3 Tbs. of the oil. Add the onion and sauté until tender and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring, until the kernels are hot and coated with oil, about 2 minutes. Add the wine and continue to cook, stirring often, until the liquid is absorbed.

Add the broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and making sure the liquid has been absorbed before adding more. When the rice is about half cooked, stir in the tomatoes, salt and pepper. The risotto is done when the rice grains are creamy on the outside and firm yet tender to the bite, 20 to 25 minutes total. Rice varies, so you may not need all of the broth or you may need more. If more liquid is required, use hot water.

Stir in the shrimp and crabmeat and cook, stirring, just until heated through, about 2 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Remove the risotto from the heat. Stir in the remaining 1 Tbs. each oil and parsley. Spoon the risotto into warmed soup bowls and serve immediately.
Serves 6 to 8

Blogging friend Kathy of Trekcapri blog welcomes her new adorable cat Elizabeth to her home today. Annie invited me to Elizabeth's virtual shower and I am so honored to join! I know you will be a great mommy for Elizabeth and I can't wait to see more photos of her.

The theme for this week's photohunt is spotted.

I had hard time with this theme. Browsing my photo collection, I realized that I do indeed have some photos that fit the theme, mainly spotted animals photos.

And although I won't think of a peacock as spotted, it does have spots on its plumes.

Happy weekend all!

Going back to blogging about Arches National Park, I realized that I didn't write about Bill's favorite landmark in the park: Double Arch. It is an awe-inspiring twin-arch structure with the larger opening having the highest height in the park at 112 feet, and the third longest span at 144 feet. It is truly a magical structure and we were able to hike to it, walk around, climb it and walk underneath it. I must say I was praying that the colossal wonder would not come to its demise as I was under it. Other names Double Arch was called in the past include: Double Windows, Twinbow Bridges (I like this one) and the Jug Handles (I can see this one too).
As I said, Bill absolutely loved this arch(arches I should say) and took many photos; here are some.

I had some shredded coconut leftover from a dessert I made over the holidays, so I was searching for a quick and easy recipe to use it. I came across a very simple coconut cream pie dessert in Pil's Incredibly Easy Desserts book. All you need is three ingredients (well, four if you count the milk you use to make the pie filling). You start by toasting the coconut, then prepare the vanilla pudding and pour the pudding coconut mixture in graham cracker pie crust. Refrigerate until the pudding is set, and you are left with a delicious coconut pie dessert.

Coconut Cream Pie

11/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
2 packages (4-serving size each) vanilla pudding and pie filling mix, plus the ingredients to prepare the mix
1 graham cracker pie crust

Preheat oven to 350F. Spread coconut on a baking sheet and toast for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Cool and reserve about two tablespoons.

Prepare pudding according to package instructions. Stir in remaining coconut.

Pour pudding mixture in the pie crust and sprinkle reserves coconut in top. Refrigerate for one to two hours until pudding is set.

Continuing with week two of Sunday Slow Suppers, Shannon shared her go-to stew recipe. She said: "It makes me feel healthy just eating it, and it is delicious too." I agree, a very healthy vegetarian stew; loaded with vitamins and flavors. Here is Shannon's recipe:

Squash, Pepper, Chard, and Corn Stew

1 medium onion, diced
3 – 5 garlic cloves, chopped
¾ pound banana squash, peeled and cut into pieces about ½ inch wide
2 – 3 T olive oil
1 t. Greek oregano
1 green pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 T. flour
2 T. chile powder
½ t. cumin
1 c. dry white wine
2 c. broth of choice
3 – 4 c. tomatoes, diced
½ bunch chard, blanched and cut into ribbons with the tougher stems cut away
1 ½ c. frozen corn
¾ c. sour cream or yogurt to taste
Chopped cilantro and green onions for garnish

Very lightly sauté the onion, garlic and squash in oil in a dutch oven or heavy-bottomed soup pot, then add oregano, red and green peppers, flour, chile powder and cumin. Stir together and cook for a minute or two longer.

Add wine, broth, and tomatoes, then cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Add chard and corn, then cook for a further 15-20 minutes.

Taste for seasoning. If stew is too liquid, pour off liquid into a small saucepan and boil down until reduced and richly flavored.

Just before serving, stir in sour cream or yogurt. Serve sprinkled with cilantro and green onions.

The theme for this week's photohunt is balanced.

I immediately thought of Arches National Park in Utah. The Park is a mecca for arches and rock formations, many of which seem to be magically balanced.

Interestingly, one of the famous rock formations in the Park is called Balanced Rock for reasons obvious in the photo below.

Another cluster of rock formations in Arches National Park and a favorite of mine is called the The Three Gossips (also for reasons obvious in the photo below) and these too feature some balanced rocks.

Happy Weekend All!

I tried another Bobby Flay recipe last week: Sweet Potato Biscuits, and we loved them. These biscuits are very delicious, pretty and easy to make. The pale orange color and slightly sweet flavor make them great on their own or accompanying other dishes. We enjoyed them both hot and cold. Bobby Flay declared them his favorite biscuits, and I can see why.

Sweet Potato Biscuits
Adapted from Bobby Flay Cooks American

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. plus 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
5 Tbsp. very cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces OR solid vegetable shortening
7/8 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
1 Tbsp. honey
1 eff beaten with 1 Tbsp. water

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Sift the first four dry ingredients together into a large bowl. Cut in the butter or shortening until the mixture resembles rolled oats (I found the easiest to do that with my hands). Make a well in the center of the mixture, and add the buttermilk, mashed sweet potatoes and honey. Stir vigorously until the dough forms ball, Knead lightly for about 30 seconds just until the ball begins to look smooth. Roll out the dough on a floured surface into a 3/4-inch thickness. Cut into two-inch rounds, rerolling the scraps and cutting more biscuits until your are out of dough. Transfer the biscuits to a non-stick baking sheet, brush tops with the egg wash and bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned. The recipe makes about a dozen biscuits.

The talented cooks from Slow Talk have embarked on a new cooking journey with sharing main dish recipes this time. Every week, the assigned cook chooses a cooking category and shares a supper recipe (Don't you just love the logo!). Amy from Destination Anywhere blog started out the challenge with the smoked paprika roasted chicken recipe posted below:

Smoked Paprika Roasted Chicken

2 Tbsp smoked paprika (Plus a bit more for inside the chicken)
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp softened butter
2 teaspoons garlic salt (or 1 teaspoon salt plus 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 whole 4-5 pound roasting chicken
1 onion, quartered

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Rinse the chicken off. Pat dry thoroughly with paper towels (otherwise the paste won't stick).

2. Mix together the paprika, honey, lemon juice, butter, garlic salt, and pepper. Spread it over the entire surface of the chicken, then place chicken on a shallow baking pan. Sprinkle a bit of paprika into the cavity, and place the cut onion in the cavity.

3. Bake at 325°F for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes or more. You may need to adjust the time depending on how big your chicken is. The chicken is done when the juices run clear (not pink) when a knife tip is inserted into both the chicken breast and thigh, about 165-170°F for the breast and 180-185°F for the thigh. I like to cover the breast with foil for part of the time so it doesn't dry out.

4. Let chicken rest for 5 minutes, then carve and serve.

The theme for this week's photohunt is jiggly. If I hadn't used the elephant photos for bulky last week, I'd have used them for jiggly today; everything in the elephant jiggles:) But here I am this week, left with no jiggly photos that I can think of, except to take a twist on another photo from Thailand, specifically Wat Thoton in Northern Thailand.

If anyone had the belly this statue of the happy Buddha shows, I'd imagine it'd be jiggly.

Happy weekend all!

I've never baked a pie or tart from scratch until last week when I made a squash tart and wondered why I haven't tried making a tart shell from scratch before and always opted for the ready-made refrigerated ones. Of course, it's because buying a dough is much easier than making one. Or so I thought since I always struggled with dough; it's either sticky, runny, fragile or something else, but never good. I think I mentioned the Love Food Baking book I got at T.J. Max for three dollars before; it has many wonderful looking recipes, one of which is for a yellow zucchini tart. I had some squashes that I wanted to use, along with some fresh cilantro, so I adapted the yellow zucchini with chives tart recipe into a Yellow Squash with Cilantro Tart recipe. Not only was it a healthy and delicious tart, I made the tart shell from scratch and it totally worked; without any struggles.

The recipe calls for making cheese pie dough. rolling it into about three inches longer than the tart pan, lifting it into the pan and trimming the edges. Then you fit a piece of parchment paper into the tart shell, fill it with dry beans and let it chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. (I am not sure that this is a vital step, I've never heard of it before, but I complied and it worked; I think the beans serve to provide weight so that tart is pressed firmly into the pan?). Meanwhile, you prepare your filling by shredding the squash,draining it well, slicing green onions and chopping cilantro. You saute the onions and squash until all liquid evaporates, fill the tart and bake. It does take a little time, but the results are well worth it.

Squash Tart

For the tart:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
One stick of cold butter cut into pieces
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
cold water

Have you heard of Zumba?
Zumba is a Latin-inspired dance fitness program that has been around for a while. According to the Zumba website, the now-celebrity fitness trainer Beto Perez had stumbled upon the concept by accident one day in his hometown in Columbia in the mid 90s and Zumba became the most popular fitness class at his facility. In 1999, Beto brought Zumba to the United States and by 2001, he was approached by a couple of entrepreneurs, who all three of them trademarked the word "Zumba" to spread this fitness philosophy all over the world. The response to Zumba was great that that it created a big demand for Zumba instructors. By 2006, there were thousands of Zumba instructors worldwide, and it is still going strong, that the company launched its third DVD collection in 2008.

I am not exactly sure when I first heard of Zumba, sometime in 2006 or 2007 perhaps, but I never tried it until last week, and I must say I am hooked! The website defines Zumba as a "fusion of hypnotic Latin rhythms and easy-to-follow moves to create a one-of-a-kind fitness program that will blow you away", it further goes on to say: "Our goal is simple: We want you to want to work out, to love working out, to get hooked." Well, they succeeded with me, and from the size and the attitude of the class I joined, I'd say they were successful with others too.

I was a bit hesitant to join ( I always am), but I do enjoy dancing, love Latin music and need the workout. And lets face it, if I am sweating the same dancing and having fun as cycling and grunting, I'll go for dancing any time. I am actually looking forward to Friday class. Can you believe it? Looking forward to working out? It is true, I have finally caught the Zumba bug and I love it. If you like dancing, need a cardio and toning workout, and there is a Zumba class near you, join! You won't regret it.