Slow Cooked Sweet Sausage and Tomato Sauce

Cool Sunday afternoons are simply made for slow cooked meals, don't you agree?  The weather is getting a bit cooler here lately and our schedule is starting to get a little bit lighter, so now I'm hoping to have some time each weekend to spend at home making some comfort food.

 

In my last post, where I shared the Roasted Pancetta and Herbed Butter Crostini, I mentioned a cooking class I took recently.  This class focused on different braising techniques, which are perfect for the upcoming cold weather months. 

 

Both my friend and I have already made the Sweet Sausage and Tomato Sauce since taking the class - with excellent results!  I love when I take a cooking class and can come home and recreate a delicious meal that I learned about in class.

Roasted Pancetta & Herb Butter Crostini - A perfect appetizer

A couple weeks ago, I took an Italian Boot Camp cooking class with a friend.  A seriously fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon!  We were taken through the steps of roasting in different ways to prepare a full blown Italian meal.  What a meal it was!  I came away from the class with recipes to make at home and tidbits of information that I will keep in mind when cooking at home.

 

The first thing I made for my family was a crostini that was spread with a compound butter.  I hadn't made one before and now that I know how easy it is, my mind is reeling with ideas of new flavor combinations!

Giveaway Winner Announced!

Sorry for the delay!  The winner of the Sun-Bird Seasonings $50 Gift Card Giveaway is....

Secret Recipe Club: Chocolate Pudding Bars

It's time for the next group to reveal what they made for the Secret Recipe Club!  If you haven't heard about it before now... well, everyone who participates gets assigned another blog to go searching for a recipe to make and write a post about on reveal day.  You can't tell that blogger that you have their blog, so on reveal day it's always fun to see who got your blog!

 

This month, I got Let's Try These which is written by Vivian.  She has a varied selection of recipes on her blog which made it a little difficult to choose which one I wanted to make!  I really wanted to prepare the homemade soft preztels, but time was not on my side on any given day.  She has a vast array of desserts and sweets, and well... when I saw the Chocolate Pudding Bars, I couldn't resist!  Anyone who has been reading my blog for very long should know that I have a major weakness for chocolate!

 

Now after seeing that photo... tell me that you could resist this recipe!

 

 

Sun-Bird Seasoning - Mongolian Beef Rub (and a Giveaway-closed!!!)

The giveaway is now closed.  The winner was announced on THIS post.  Thanks!


Has getting back into the back-to-school routine thrown off your dinner plans?  Perhaps you are running from one activity to the next?  I know my weeks have been flying by between soccer and Fall baseball and a few other things thrown in... and, let's not forget homework and practicing trumpet or flutophone (recorder for those of us who had to learn it a long time ago).   Just thinking of all that makes me feel like throwing my hands up in the air sometimes and crying "uncle"! 

Luckily, I have a few simple dinners that I can go to for those busy nights... and often the busiest nights are leftover nights. 

As part of the Sun-Bird Seasonings blogger advocate program, I received a few packets of their Asian inspired seasonings.  Rather than do the obvious and make stir-fry, I decided to add a bit of oil to the seasoning and rub it on a London broil.

Halloween Treats - Mini Wizard Hats

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays!  The spooky and silly decorations are so much fun!  The last two years, we threw a big party for our boys and their friends.  Unfortunately, due to some work we needed to do in the basement we couldn't commit to the party this year.  From what I understand, not just our boys are disappointed... so, next year will have to be "beyond fabulously spooky"!  With that in mind, I'm testing out some treats and foods that I can put in my party file for next year.

 

The other night, it was just me and My Youngest at home and I pulled out the supermarket mini-recipe booklet that I picked up from Pillsbury - Halloween.  Seriously, with how I love the holiday I could not avoid buying this one!

 

There are a ton of fun recipes in this booklet that will please the kids and even the adults who dare to join the fun.

NYC Wine & Food Festival - Grand Tasting

As I mentioned in my last post, we had the pleasure of spending a Sunday afternoon sampling some fabulous food and wine at the NYC Wine and Food Festival.  This was courtesy of ShopRite and the Potluck blog.

Here are some photos that highlight some of the tasty offerings we enjoyed:

This line of vodka from Pinnacle is something I had not tasted before... and wow, the flavors were like nothing I would have expected.  The Gummy flavor made you want to be chewing on gummy bears.  Whipped was a bit sweet, but I have heard that it makes a fabulous dessert drink.  Cake was less sweet and was very smooth.



Salt of the Earth Bakery had a number of desserts to sample, but as soon as they mentioned a caramel brownie with salted chocolate, I was sold!  Nice and dense, with a fudgey texture.  My kind of brownie!

NYC - The Highline

This merry-go-round called life has been going a bit faster lately.  I am not going to apologize for not blogging more often and not cooking anything terribly interesting... because, well... we all have things that happen and make it hard to do the things we most want to do to unwind.

Thankfully, this past Sunday My Husband and I had the pleasure of attending 2 events at the NYC Wine and Food Festival.  I'll be sharing more on that in another post.  What I want to share with you today is the fabulous Highline in NYC.  We haven't had the pleasure of walking along this elevated park since it opened.

Every couple needs some time to take a walk together and see something new.  Often it can be something you've seen before, but may see it with new eyes because you can take the time to really let go of the everyday responsibilities - if only for a little while.