Awesome Appetizer Recipes in Action

This past weekend, Cory and I took it upon ourselves to throw our very own birthday party. That’s right – our birthdays are two days apart (I’m older!!) and we wanted to celebrate with as many people as possible.

We played it off as a combined “Sunday Fun-Day” and “Belated Housewarming” get together. It was a PERFECT day. The weather was sunny, not a cloud in the sky, with temperatures pushing 80 degrees. We have an outstanding porch off of our apartment, and that was really the place to be.

For me, this day was extra fun because I finally got to cook for a large group of people and share my goodies with everyone. Reviews were GREAT and I couldn’t be happier. We don’t have a grill, so I decided to pull a small selection of my favorite appetizers that I have seen made on the Food Network and give them a whirl myself.

Here are some links to the recipes. I followed them very closely, for the most part. I will share any additions, subtractions, or tips following each link.

Giada DeLaurentiis’ Meatballs a la Pizzaiola

Holy. Yum. I watched Giada make these on her show (I love the way this lady cooks!) and I knew I had to try them. This was my second go-around with the recipe, and it was just as delicious as I remember. The idea behind these meatballs is that they have all the flavors of a pizza built right inside! I decided to nix the red pepper flakes because (a) I just don’t have them and (b) as I have said many times, spicy foods aren’t my favorites. I had at least 30 meatballs from the measurements listed in this recipe, perfect for our crowd of 20+.

Alton Brown’s Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Who DOESN’T love a good “Spin Dip?” As far as I know, this is a favorite among many. This recipe is so simple it’s ridiculous. And, really, it feels so much better than putting out a jarred dip for your guests. One thing I had to compromise on here was the artichoke hearts. For the life of me I could NOT find frozen artichoke hearts. Luckily, in that sneaky aisle of canned veggies, there on the top shelf sat canned artichoke hearts. I drained these well and still boiled them to get rid of that awkward can flavor. So much else was going on in here, I doubt anyone noticed! This list of ingredients looks daunting – cream cheese, sour cream, AND mayo all in one? Look – here’s a little secret. Use the low fat or fat free versions of any two of the aforementioned carb-filled condiments. Still delicious but secretly a little more guilt-free.

Giada DeLaurentiis' Tilapia Fish Tacos with Arugula

I would definitely have to say that these nuggets of joy were probably most well received along with the Spin Dip. I wasn't sure how many of my guests liked fish, so I decided to do one batch of tilapia taco bites and one batch of chicken taco bites (using none other than the trusty Purdue Short Cuts!) I also mixed a little too much dressing in there so I decided not to do the wasabi cream. Also, to keep the wonton wrappers as crispy as possible for as long as possible, I lined the bottoms with a small piece of romaine lettuce.

Ina Garten's Cheese Straws

These were a delicious addition to the table. I didn't want to have just regular bread to try to fill out the menu, so my curiosity peaked when I saw Ina make these for one of her fabulous get togethers on her show, "Barefoot Contessa." If you like cheese, you will love these. Made from puff pastry and your favorite blend of cheeses, it's pretty hard to mess these up. The best part about them is that after you twirl them, they become a great visual for the table spread as well!

Beyond what I made, all of our friends were generous enough to bring some snacks as well! We had a veggie platter, cheese and crackers, my friend Meghan's homemade salsa (SO FRESH AND YUMMY), cookies, candy, and a precious birthday cake from Cory's sister. Check this out:

It was lemony,  fresh, and DELICIOUS!

In case you missed it ... a close up of the food table!

I loved having everyone over, and I think everyone had a great time! ALL the food went. Have you thrown a party recently? What did your menu look like?

My Kitchen Playlist

In my opinion, cooking is one of the most fun things you can do in your home. It completely beats vacuuming, painting the walls, mowing the lawn, etc. It's meant to be FUN -- and, other than fun, it's also extremely rewarding. You get to share your treats with everyone and keep their bellies full.

If you have started to find cooking to be a drag, try playing some of your favorite good-mood tunes while you cut veggies, clean chicken, mix up your marinades, and plate your meal.

My top-ten favorite songs to play while I'm in the kitchen are:

1. Everything is Sound - Jason Mraz, Love is a Four Letter Word
2. King of Anything - Sara Bareilles, Kaleidoscope Heart
3. Bullet Proof - La Roux, La Roux
4. Fans - Kings of Leon, Because of the Times
5. Part of Me - Katy Perry, Teenage Dream
6. Crazy Beautiful Life - Ke$ha, Cannibal
7. Perfectly Lonely - John Mayer, Battle Studies
8. Somebody That I Used to Know - Gotye, Making Mirrors
9. Sharp Knife - Third Eye Blind, Ursa Major
10. Everybody Loves Me - OneRepublic, Waking Up

Honorable Mentions:

1. So What - P!nk, Funhouse
2. Strip Me - Natasha Bedingfield, Morning Glory Soundtrack
3. Cooler Than Me - Mike Posner, 31 Minutes to Take Off
4. Harder to Breathe - Maroon 5, Songs About Jane
5. Hair - Lady Gaga, Born This Way

What gets you motivated in the kitchen?!

10 things to know about this foodie

I haven't had any new cooking adventures recently, so I thought I would share ten fun, random facts about myself.

Seriously -- they are VERY random :-) Enjoy!

1)      I am a middle child.
2)      I have never hosted a dinner party, despite loving to cook.
3)      I am one of the biggest New York Mets fans this side of anywhere.
4)      I cannot resist the urge to stomp through puddles when I’m wearing rainboots.
5)      I adopted my cat in November with my boyfriend. His name is Dot.
         4 things to know about Dot:
         a.      Gray Tabby
         b.      Domestic Short Hair
         c.      13 whopping pounds
         d.      A lover, not a fighter
6)      I have never been to the Statue of Liberty.
7)      I’m not 100% positive what color my eyes are.
8)      My favorite meal is made with 4 simple ingredients. It’s my mom’s
Mac and Cheese. Tomato soup, a block of sharp cheddar cheese, whole
wheat pasta, more cheddar cheese shredded on top—that’s all you need
for heavenly goodness!
9)      My favorite cocktail is a mojito.
10)     I talk really loud and laugh even louder.

The easiest dessert - with NUTELLA!

I’m not a big baker by nature. It takes a lot of effort and things can go south REALLY quickly. They say baking is all about measuring – when you bake, you cannot bake the way Rachel Ray cooks (ie. A couple of tablespoons of spice is a handful but so is about a half a cup of parmesan cheese).

My go-to baking adventures are usually my banana bread and simply delicious peanut butter cookies. Then I stumbled upon this joyous little recipe about a month ago on Facebook and knew that I could do it. And, after you see it, you will be confident that you can as well.

Think: only 3 or 4 ingredients necessary.

Do you like Nutella? That heavenly spread of cocoa and hazelnut and angel dust? On crackers, on fruit, on croissants, on a sandwich – what CAN’T Nutella do!?

Well, it can be the flavor base for quick homemade brownies.

The nice thing about the use of Nutella in these brownies is that it makes the brownies chewy and a little more cake-y. I am fine with an overly indulgent, fudgy mess of a brownie once in a while. But—if I’m being honest—I actually prefer my brownies to have more of that cake texture. This may be why these seemed irresistible to me.

These measurements are inspired by Mariko from FitPerez, who has a recurring blog of recipes in four ingredients (who doesn’t love a simple yet tasty recipe?!).

You will need:
 ½ cup Nutella
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 egg
¼ cup of a mix-in of your liking (peanuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, oh my!)

All that you do:
 Mix all your ingredients together in a mixing bowl.

Grease a small baking dish or line a mini muffin tin and fill until 3/4 of the way full.
Pop into a pre-heated 350 degree oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven, cut into bite size pieces (if made in a baking dish), and enjoy with a cold glass of milk!

The other great thing going on here is that the measurements are so simple, doubling this recipe would be a synch. I made mine in a baking dish – but next time, I really want to invest in a mini muffin tin. I think it will maximize the deliciousness and keep a little bit more of the chewy, gooey, goodness.

On a quick trip to Maine...

Ok...quick life update.

I am an aspiring actuary. This means that every spring and fall, I will be on social lock down as I educate myself in all things risk, insurance, and math related. Then I will take an exam. It means that immediately before and after that exam, Gas Stove Girl will go on a temporary hiatus...kind of like the sitcoms inconveniently stop running new episodes during winter break.

Anyway, the good news is that during this past hiatus/exam season/social lockdown/whatever you want to call it I got a passing score on my exam! One more chip off the big actuary block. And now I'm back! I definitely want to keep this little blog thing up while I have the time to do so.

This past weekend, Cory and I took a trip up to visit his parents in Maine. We totally treated this weekend like a fun mini vacation. We went down to Portland to see lighthouses, we went to the Seadog Brewing Company for dinner, we got gelato in the Old Port, and -- the best part -- we went to Blacksmith's Winery.

Now, if you have never been to Maine or never did much wine drinking in Maine, I encourage you to return and go to Blacksmith's. The winery, located in Casco, does tastings daily and has awesome merch and wine for sale! I went a little overboard...

But they have THE MOST DELICIOUS WINE. Every time I go up to Maine, I know I have to stock up. I usually get my fix from the local Hannaford. The winery, though...it was like my adulthood Disney World.

The tastings at Blacksmiths are a little different. Each sample ranges from $1 to $1.25 and you can have as many as you want!

So, needless to say I tried a few things:
- Fatty Bampkins: This is their deliciously crisp and wildly popular hard cider. It comes in original and dry (dry = most alcohol, less sugar). I would LOVE for this stuff to start popping up in bars around Boston. It is one of the best ciders I've had (and, to be honest, I've had a lot).
- Maine Blueberry Wine: You may have noticed I came home with two bottles of this bad boy. I am absolutely obsessed with this wine! It is on the sweeter side, but it still has that good bite that you look for. The blueberry flavor is just right - not too overpowering, but there is no doubt that there are real blueberries in there.

- Vidal Blanc: I am so glad that I sampled this wine, because as it turns out I came home with a bottle of that as well. The label really says it all (SO CUTE). It was so refreshing (it's also on the sweeter side). I can't wait to break in to this.

- Sweet Elderberry: I need to be honest...this certainly ranked lowest on my wine list. The nice employee serving us the samples warned me ahead of time that with Elderberry, you either like it or you don't. I...do...not...like. It reminded me of cough syrup. I couldn't even finish the two ounces. *sigh*
- Sparkling Peach: This was a sparkling wine (go figure). It reminded me more of a sweet champagne than a wine. I really wouldn't be interested a whole bottle, but the sample was very crisp and sweet. In fact, if I were ever in Maine for New Years Eve, I think it would be very festive to pop a bottle of this at midnight!

 In my other Blacksmiths adventures, I have tried my hand at the raspberry and cranberry wine. These were both lovely as well. Basically, if you like wine (or cider!) you should definitely head out to Blacksmiths next time you are in Maine. They have something for everyone, and then some!

What's your favorite kind of wine? Do you pair wine with meals?

What I've been doing with Chickpeas

It took me a while to finally realize that I fully enjoy chickpeas (or Garbanzo beans, as the can says.) I was always a big fan of hummus, which -- in case you were not aware -- is very much made of chickpeas.

The great thing about chickpeas is that you can essentially add them to any meal in any way, or you can have them as a snack. They are very versatile, and they are chock full of PROTEIN! They are more delicate in texture, and taste-wise they are by no means overbearing.

Chickpeas are also WICKED CHEAP. 99 cents for a can at Whole Foods -- that's probably the least expensive thing there! So, as I've been on a kick with this funny little 'peas' that are actually 'beans,' I thought I'd share some simple ways that you can get chickpeas into your diet and up your daily protein intake.

As a SNACK
I stumbled upon a simple snack recipe from steamykitchen.com for Crispy Roasted Chickpeas. I had about half a can of chickpeas leftover from a previous use and I thought that this would be the perfect way to use up the rest.

It's very simple to make these. All you have to do is drain a can of chickpeas and dry completely. Remove any skins that come off. Then, lay them out on a baking sheet and toss with about 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil. Bake in a hot oven, I did 375 degrees since my little stove gets hot so quickly, for about half an hour. Once they are crispy and smelling delicious, remove from the oven and toss in your favorite seasoning. I used Lawry's seasoning salt and basic black pepper.

These were addicting and I would have eaten the whole bowl if I didn't knock half of it on the floor...

Better FOR you than chips, and much more filling. Give them a try when you need to fulfill that 2:30 snack craving!

In Rice and Quinoa
I feel like I am ALWAYS buying bags of rice and quinoa. It goes so quickly around here, but I really prefer these carbs over pasta. So when I was trying to think of ways to stretch my rice and/or quinoa, I thought -- DUH. Chickpeas. I cook my rice and such in a rice cooker. So once it's about 3/4 of the way cooked and the water level has dropped significantly, I pile a handful of Chickpeas on top of the rice/quinoa and mix it all together once it's done. This allows the chickpeas to get nice and tender, and the flavor is soft enough to blend nicely into the rice. I definitely got the BF on board with this trick -- so either this really does hide the chickpeas, or he enjoys them as much as I do!

In Salads
Chickpeas come out of the can ready to eat. This means that you are allowed to get really creative with vinaigrettes, toss the chickpeas in the dressing, and add a protein punch to your salads. They take on flavors really well and are a nice compliment to all those crispy veggies. When I am feeling extra healthy, I try to replace my croutons (weakness!) with chickpeas in a salad. Think: feeling fuller after a salad?! Chickpeas can help with that.

How do you like chickpeas?! Have you done anything creative with them recently? One of my favorite bloggers, Ashley, author of "The Vegetable Life" blog, put them into twice baked sweet potatoes. I'm making these on Sunday...my mouth is ALREADY watering!

Recent Food Adventures

I know, I know. It's been more than a week and I have left you with nothing to cook, eat, or laugh at. I'm quite sorry. Let me tell you this blogging stuff is hard work! And I am also getting into the thick of my exam season, which means most free time must be spent doing math rather than documenting my dinners. It's not about you, guys. It's totally about me.

Ok enough of this relationship break up business. Despite my lack of blog posts, I have been eating some interesting food at really good places! Here's a brief run-down of where I've been recently and the mouthwatering dinners I had there.

Good Eats in Boston:

Cafe 47 - I went here when my good friend, Lisa, and her sis came up to visit Boston. Truth be told it was the NEW YORKERS and not me, the local, who found this place. Also, as New Yorkers, we were VERY satisfied with the pizza here. The atmosphere is probably my favorite part of Cafe 47. It is quaint, dark, with rustic accents throughout. I had the Goat Cheese and Salmon Linguine (basically, all my favorite things on top of fresh pasta). It was outrageously good--sprinkled with a little bit of dill, fresh goat cheese, shredded salmon YUM! I definitely suggest giving this place a try. You can get a delicious dinner at a VERY reasonable price. Great for dates and small groups! .......Oh, I should mention, they had a selection of four desserts and we got one of each. Grilled apple bread, grilled banana bread, a Nutella PB banana grilled sandwich, and chocolate moose. Is your mouth watering yet?

Abe and Louie's - This is a fancy steakhouse located on Boylston street that is VERY good. Cor and I went here with family he had in town, and I must say the experience of going to a really GOOD steakhouse was worth it. The exquisite food was even more so. So you are probably wondering what steak I had.....well, I had the Chilean Sea Bass. Ok, look, it was a special that night and our waitor, Chris, made my mouth water just DESCRIBING the dish. I was NOT disappointed. It was beautifully grilled on top of crispy swiss chard with a jumbo shrimp right on top. I was eating like a queen. Now, don't misunderstand me -- this is a fancy little joint downtown and it will certainly be a long time before another gallivant to a place like this. But if you have a special occasion and a few dollars to spend, head to Abe and Louie's...it's just divine.

Wagamama - Wagamama...fun to say and an interesting eating experience, for sure. This restaurant has Asian inspired cuisine, with it's focus on noodle dishes. I had the Yaki Soba, which in a way reminded me of Pad Thai. The thing about Wagamama (say it aloud, go ahead) is that everything is freshly prepared to order so everything comes out haphazardly. Just ignore all manners if your food comes out first, because if everyone waited...you'd be eating cold noodles. Overall, though, the food is quite tasty. It's light and fresh, which is somewhat unexpected for such noodle dishes. Also, apparently their chocolate cake dessert is featured on the Boston chocolate tour, so you may be wise to try that out!

Have you eaten anywhere new in your city recently?