It Tastes as Good as it Looks

Last weekend my niece, Kelsey Nunziatta, made us this appetizer called Caprese. If you want to impress your guests, serve this. It looks like a piece of artwork! The green, white and red represent the Italian flag.

Speaking of Caprese, I had the wildest experience in Trader Joe's the other day. A young woman with a very cool accent came up to me and asked if I knew where the tomatoes were for a Caprese  She pronounced it "Caprayzay." Her name was Paulina and she was Columbian. I told her that surprisingly enough I was going to blog about that very thing that week.

Anyway, all you do is put sliced tomatoes on a serving platter. (To make it look even more like a work of art use heirloom [multi-colored] tomatoes.) You then sprinkle the tomatoes with garlic salt. Next you layer sliced fresh mozzarella on top of the tomatoes.  Then you put fresh basil leaves on top. Finally you drizzle extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt and cracked pepper.

Opt. Drizzle balsamic vinegar reduction or regular balsamic on top. (Rachel Ray makes a great balsamic reduction that's at regular grocery stores.)

TRY IT YOU'LL LOVE IT!

Cooking Tidbit: Fresh mozzarella and buffalo mozzarella are not the same. Buffalo Mozzarella is actually made from buffalo milk and is a lot gooey-er.

 

Curry Chicken Salad

Curried Chicken Salad

Who doesn't like chicken salad? Here's a yummy recipe that you can serve at any party or just at home. My family goes nuts over this one. Here's what you'll need:

3 cups of shredded white meat chicken (from a roasted chicken)

2/3 cup of mayonnaise (My family likes "Lemonnaise." I like the good stuff.)

2 teaspoons of curry powder 

1/3 cup of dries cranberries

Opt. 1/3 cup of sliced almonds

Stir together mayonnaise and curry powder. Next mix in shredded chicken. Then mince cranberries using a hand chopper. (These hand choppers work great for mincing or chopping small amounts of something.) You then mix in the cranberries.

Finally use garlic salt and pepper to taste. (Serves 4)

This delicious chicken salad is really good served on a bed of lettuce with a homemade balsamic dressing. (See blog post titled: Sweet and Blue.) Parmesan cheese crisps would be awesome with this dish. 

Fun Saying:

One of my favorite sayings is: "Naked as a Jaybird". This would only make sense if Jaybirds had no feathers. Now that's an image. While we are on the subject of naked, as a southerner I grew up saying" necked" and I'm not afraid to admit it.

All Things Beets and Butternuts

The idea for this salad came from my niece Cameron. She and her two sisters: Caroline and Courteney recently came out to California. They are some of the funniest people I know. Anyway Here's what you'll need for Cameron's salad.

A cup of beets (Trader Joe's and Ralphs/Kroger has them in a pkg. If you can't find this type you can use canned whole or sliced beets)

1 cup of butternut squash. (Again Trader Joe's and Ralphs/Kroger has them already in chunks) Don't get the frozen kind. (Soggy city) Cameron started with an actual butternut squash and roasted the seeds. Hats off to her.

2 bags of Spinach or Arugula (Cameron swears by arugula.)

1/2 a cup of crumbled goat cheese

(Opt.) Walnuts or any other kind of nuts or seeds.

Step 1. Preheat oven to 475. Take the beets and cut them into bite sized pieces, put them on a sprayed cookie sheet and stick them in the oven on the lower rack.

Step 2. Next cut the butternut squash into small chunks, put those on a sprayed cookie sheet and pop them in the upper rack for 25 min. Remove squash from oven. (You want the pieces to be soft but not mushy.) Let the beets continue to cook until they are shriveled up. 

Let the vegetables cool then toss them with lettuce, goat cheese and a simple dressing like balsamic. (There is a great balsamic dressing recipe in the blog post called "Sweet and Blue". Just go to the top of this page and push Appetizers/Salads.)

Parsnips?

Another thing you can do with Beets and Butternut Squash is roast them with other vegetables like parsnips, red onion, and carrots. Try rainbow (multi-colored) carrots they look awesome. Follow the steps above and simply add the other vegetables to the butternut squash. I recently served this to Richard and Sue Davis from Switzerland and they raved!

Cooking Tidbit: What the heck are parsnips? They look like albino carrots and they have a sweeter taste. Sue says that Americans are clueless about them, but for the British they are a staple.

Abraquadabra

I was over at Michael and Marcy Tillman's in Laguna Beach. I remarked at how beautiful their garden was. Right there and then Michael cut me some stems way down at the base and told me to just stick them in the ground at my house and watch them grow. The one that took was the Chocolate Geranium. I was amazed! It was like magic!

Recently I talked to Dale Ghere also of Laguna Beach. He said the thing that would help the process would be to plant the stems in pots, then water them daily for a while. He also said that you could do this with succulents, and once the succulents take he only waters them when he feels like it.

Fruit Pizza?

It's the time of year for the foo foo food when there are a lot of showers and parties. I learned how to make this fun dessert when I was a student at Auburn Univ. It's called Fruit Pizza, and it's super easy to make.

Here's what you'll need:

1 roll of Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough

1 carton of strawberry cream cheese (non-whipped kind)

1 carton of strawberries

1 carton of blueberries 

Opt. Any other berries, pineapple or kiwi would work as well.

Pre-heat oven to 350. Using your hands, roll out dough onto the pizza pan. (I got one from the grocery store for $8.) Bake dough for 15 minutes or until cookie is light golden brown on top. Once dough is done, let it cool. Then spread strawberry cream cheese on top. Finally, make whatever design you like with the fruit.  

Fun Saying:

"Don't get your panties in a wad" Now that's a funny expression. How do people even get their panties in a wad? You may have heard a Brit say, "Don't get your knickers in a knot". Now that's really funny--and it rhymes.

A Rose By Any Other Name....

This rose napkin fold is very charming and easy to do. (and we are all about easy.) Below are the steps plus a video for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy impressing your guests!

Step 1. Take a clean pressed napkin and face one of the points toward you so it looks like a diamond, then bring the bottom point up to meet the top point. 

Step 2.  With your  hands about a foot apart tightly role the bottom part toward the top stopping about short about 4 inches. 

Step 3. Turn the napkin over then make sure one end points towards you. Begin with the end closest to you then tightly roll it toward the other end stopping about 3 inches short.

Step 4. Tuck the little tail into the fold of the rose.

Step 5. Pull the pointed parts down in opposite directions.

Step 6. Finally flip it over and you have your rose.

Marinade and Magic

One night a few of us were down at Lisa Taylor's house, Newport Beach, and she served a steak with an unbelievable sauce called chimichurri. I had to have the recipe! I have impressed lots of people with this dish ever since. (I love impressing people and don't mind admitting it.)

Here's what you'll need for the marinade/sauce: 

2 bunches of Italian flat-leafed parsley (If you can't find this, use 1 bunch of both cilantro and regular parsley.)

1 and 1/2 cups of extra-virgin olive oil. (As if there is any other kind out there.)

1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon of lime

1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (A couple of options instead of red pepper flakes are 1 heaping Tablespoon of minced garlic and/or 1 Tablespoon of apple-cider vinegar. I personally prefer the flakes.)

2 teaspoons of garlic salt

Course ground pepper to taste

Tear of the tops of the bunch of parsley. (Get all the leaves. It's okay if you get some stem.) Puree the 4 ingredients (plus garlic salt and pepper) in a food processor or large bullet then put aside 3/4 of the mixture for a sauce in a small serving bowl to pass around later. Use the rest of it for a marinade for  the 2 1/2 lbs. of meat (The traditional meat used is carne asada or flank stake, so I use one of those.) Cut the meat into 3 portions and put it in a 1 gallon bag with the marinade. You then move the meat around in the bag till it is entirely covered. Squeeze all the air out of the bag, and marinate the meat in the bag for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight. 

Remove the meat and barbecue on high for 5 minutes then flip meat and cook for another 5 minutes or longer depending on desired temperature. Remove from the barbecue and serve. Great with salad and white rice.  (Serves 8)

Cooking Tidbit: Italian flat-leafed parsley has more flavor and has a softer texture than regular curly parsley. Curly parsley (what a fun name) is easier to find and mostly used for a garnish, but it too is packed with flavor.

 

Bring On The Bling

Years ago I was at John Noyes Jewelers on Balboa Island, and I remarked about how sparkling Sheila Noyes's ring looked. She said that every night when she brushed her teeth, she would brush her ring especially the underside. I went directly home and tried it. (With another tooth brush than my own, I might add.) It worked so well that a friend later that day remarked at how shiny it was.

Before

Before

After

The tourmaline "dinner ring" above was passed down to my sister, Virginia, in Atlanta. (Don't ask me why she got the ring and I got nada. Oh the plight of the "middle child".)  Anyway Virginia did exactly as she was told (used a toothbrush and toothpaste to scrub it with all her might) and voila, she has a ring that sparkles and and shines! Try it. You'll be amazed!

Mr. Clean

When I was talking to my good friend Lara Lanfried from Newport Beach about this little trick, she said she uses Mr. Clean. All you do is soak your jewelry in Mr. Clean for a few hours then brush it with a toothbrush before rinsing. I didn't know Mr. Clean even existed anymore, but as you can see below, it does exist and it works wonders. 

Windex? Really?

In order to use any of these tricks on rings you have to get them off first. For me that's quite a feat. Again my jeweler knows the answer: Windex. He has some behind the counter and whips it out whenever he sees me coming. Try it. This is much better than soap because soap makes your ring all dull and of course we don't want that.

Fun Saying

One of my favorite sayings is: "Playing Possum." One time I was cuddled up in bed laying super still. My husband said,  "Are you okay?" I laughed and said, "I'm playing possum". He had never heard that saying! I love all the color in the speech of a Southerner. One of the most fun things about visiting my friends and family in Alabama is hearing the expressions that naturally come tumbling out of their mouths.

South By Southwest

"Burr-rabbit" (as my Young Life leader, Louise Price used to say). It makes no sense whatsoever, but it's very cute. It's freezing  out there. (Or in our case, It's freezing inside. Our heater sounds like a plane is taking off, so we only use it when we don't need to talk each other.) Anyway as I was saying, this is when you want to stay inside, put the fire on and eat soup!  Here is a recipe for Southwest Soup that I got from my sister-in-law, Chris Steckel. I'm going to make it for Super Bowl Sunday!

Here's what you'll need:

1 large can or jar of MILD, GREEN enchilada sauce

1 medium sized can of black beans (some grocery stores have three types of beans in one can!)

1 medium sized can of roasted corn (Del Monte makes this) or 1/2 pkg. of Trader Joe's frozen roasted corn.

Roast chicken or 2 baked chicken breasts

(Optional: avocado, sour cream or Greek yogurt, cheddar cheese, and tortilla strips)

Combine the enchilada sauce, the can of beans (undrained) and roasted corn (undrained if using a can) in a sauce pan. Shred 1/2 the white meat of a roast chicken and add to the sauce pan. Heat up on the stovetop until hot and bubbly. (Serve with the toppings of your choice.) 

Serves 4+

Corny Cornbread

Of course, you can't have Southwest Soup without cornbread. That would be a major sin! Here's a recipe that I got from my Mama and from my fun friend, Debbie Hunter.  (Just thank the Lord that you weren't the one testing the different cornbread recipes. I swear I gained 100 lbs.)

Here's what you'll need:

1 pkg. of Jiffy Corn Bread Mix (or 1/2 a pkg. of any other cornbread mix)

Most of a small can of cream corn (about 3/4 cup).

Most of a small container of light sour cream (about 3/4 cup) 

Preheat the oven to 400. Mix together the ingredients, grease the muffin tin, and pour the mixture into the muffin tin. Bake the corn muffins for 30 min or 'till muffins are golden brown on top. And don't forget the most important part: serve hot with lots of butter.

The Secret About Hydrandeas

Hydrangeas are beautiful this time of year (actually any time of year.), and they would make a great centerpiece for your table. The secret about hydrangeas (Don't ask me where I learned this.) is that when they go limp you can totally bring them back to life! What you do is take your wilted hydrangeas and using sharp scissors cut off the very bottom of the stem with a diagonal cut. Then you stick them immediately in very warm water. You won't believe your eyes! (If your hydrangeas don't perk up entirely after about an hour, repeat the process until they do.) Try it. It's wild!

Also if you want to do an arrangement using oasis.  I have a blog on it called "Put a Little Drama in your Life." (The easiest way to access it is to go to Creative Ideas at the top of this page and click on it.) The post shows you how to make an arrangement using a 4 quadrant design, easy but striking . 

Fun Saying:

Here's another random saying: "Don't bite the hand that feeds you". That hurts just thinking about it! I seem to be a little too drawn to animals gone wild (see previous: "cat got your tongue," or "that dog won't hunt"). 

Wrap It Up!

One of the favorite meals around the Pickett home is Asian Lettuce Wraps. They are actually more like "lettuce boats", but wraps sounds much more sophisticated. Here's what you'll need for this super easy and super delicious dish:

1 lb. of ground chicken (1 pkg.)

3 Tablespoons of Hoisin sauce (Sinfully good and found next to soy sauce in the grocery store.)

1/3 cup of diced red onion 

1/3 cup of sliced almonds

Spray a skillet with cooking spray and put it on medium heat. Cook the ground chicken in the skillet then stir in onion, almonds, and hoisin sauce. Season with garlic salt and pepper. Serve chicken on whole romaine leaves.

* We put the Hoisin sauce on top of the wraps as well. Yum! 

Try It You'll Love It!

This dish goes great with rice. Rice can be on the side or added to the wraps. We absolutely love "black" rice.  It tastes different from other types of rice, but it's super nutritious! (We now like it better than other rice.) It can be found in many health food stores such as Whole Foods and even some grocery stores.

 

Mr. Mike's Cookies

There are lots of cookie mixes we could buy, but there is something about making them homemade that is very appealing. Back at Auburn we used to make Mr. Mikes's Cookies. (Don’t ask me who Mr. Mike is.) Anyway, I recently came across the recipe. They are so healthy that you could actually eat them for breakfast! Here's what you'll need:

2 & 1/4 cups of gluten free flour or completely grain free super fine almond flour. ( Bob's Red Mill makes both of these.)

1/3 cup of melted butter or 1/3 cup of peanut butter

1 egg

1/2 cup of honey

Opt. 1/2  cup each of  carob chips (or dark chocolate chips), chopped pecans and/or coconut flakes

Pre-heat oven to 350 and spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. (We use coconut oil cooking spray.) In a mixing bowl using a large spoon (or better yet a beater from your mixer) combine all ingredients except the flour.  Then add flour and mix. Form small medium sized balls and roll them around a few times in your hands to smooth out cracks. You then put them on the pan about 1 inch apart. Flatten the balls down with a spatula and bake for 12 to 14 minutes.

Makes about 10 medium or 16 small sized cookies

Try Them You'll Love ‘Em!

Super, Super Bowl Sunday Appetizers

When we think of Super Bowl Sunday, most of us think of consuming really good food, especially appetizers. (While the players are burning tons of calories we are consuming them.) I have gathered 4 easy and yummy appetizers from my friends that are perfect for Super Bowl Sunday. They will produce almost as many cheers and applause as the game itself. (I guess that's going a little overboard.) 

Cowboy Caviar

The first one is an appetizer using Cowboy Caviar. My friend Debbie Trammell, Newport Beach, recently brought it over to my house for a party. Here's what you'll need:

A jar of Cowboy Caviar Salsa (Trader Jo's)

A block of cream cheese

A bag of Corn Tortilla Scoops (Tostitos)

It's pretty self explanatory, but you cover a block of cream cheese with the Cowboy Caviar and use the Scoops to scoop it up. (My niece, Caroline Cox Brantley, Panama City Beach, FL. told me about another great topping for cream cheese called "Pickappa" Sauce. You can find it at World Market, Walmart and online (like everything else under the sun.) The best one for cream cheese is the original sauce.

Artichoke Green Chili Dip

The second appetizer is one I got from Debbie Hogan, Newport Beach. Debbie is totally a gourmet cook, so I wasn't surprised when I tasted this one and loved it!  Here's what you'll need:

1 (14 oz.) can of artichoke hearts

2  (8 oz.) cans of diced green chilies (drained)

1/2 cup of mayonnaise

1 cup of shredded parmesan cheese (reserve 1/4 cup to sprinkle on top before baking)

(Opt.) 1/2 a small pkg. of chopped spinach, defrosted and thoroughly drained and dried. (I personally am not a huge spinach fan, so I like the appetizer without this.)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a small casserole dish.

2. Using food scissors, (Not the kind you cut construction paper with.).cut the artichokes into small chunks and mix everything together well. Or blend all the ingredients in a food processor until mixed but still chunky.

3. Pour into baking dish. Top with 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese. Bake 20 minutes or until bubbly.

4. Serve hot with crackers, tortilla chips or fresh veggies. The Pickett's use these gluten free crackers called "Mary's". They are very "seedy" and super healthy. You can get them at Whole Foods or some grocery stores (in their gluten free section.) 

The Best "Ranch" and Veggies

The third appetizer is just ranch dip and vegetables, this is a great appetizer for those of us who are "attempting" to be on a low carb diet. The best ranch dip mix is the Hidden Valley "Dressing" mix instead of their "Dip" mix.  My sister, Courteney, in Malibu, always has this around and ready to use.

I use it all the time as a dip and a dressing. And oh, it's awesome when you mix in crumbled blue cheese! It's extra good when you put it in the freezer for a bit. (Don't forget it's in there. Oopsie) On that note, have you noticed that restaurant salads taste so much better? Their trick is chilling it all: plate, lettuce and dressing.

You Gotta Have a Sweet One

The fourth yummy appetizer is a sweet one that I also have at my sister, Courteney's. It's simply goat or Borsin cheese put on a cracker and topped with Dalmatia fig jam. You can get this jam at World Market. Super delicious! Bonne Maman also makes a fig jam. (Many grocery stores carry this.)

HAPPY SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!

*Other than these appetizers there are two totally delicious ones that I have already shared. Just go to the navigation bar at the top of this page and hit 4 ingredient recipes or scroll down to the posts called "It 's All About the Cheese" or "Better Bruschetta".

How To fold A Fitted Sheet With Elastic All Around

Very few people know how to fold a fitted sheet and most of us just roll them up and throw them in a closet. I did a demonstration video about two years ago on how to fold a fitted sheet when there is elastic in just the corners. I promised that one day I would do an an additional demo that added two steps in the beginning that are essential when working with sheets with elastic all the way around. Here goes:

What Are Your Colors? (Part 1)

An ice age ago, there was a craze about "Getting Your Colors Done" to see if you were an Autumn who looked best in warm, muted colors, a Spring (warm, clear colors), a Summer (cool muted, colors) or a Winter (cool, clear colors.) Surprise, surprise I got trained in Color Analysis.  I probably have a hundred color drapes stuffed into the back of my closet. So grasshopper, I give you all my color knowledge. 

Most people don't know "their colors" even movie stars (or their designers that is), and as a result much of the time we walk around looking far from our best. Below I have examples of the difference it makes when we wear the right colors.

Do you see how pale Cate looks in black? To top it off someone put orange lipstick on her. Only Autumns and Springs should even think about wearing orange lipstick! 

On the other hand, she couldn't look lovelier in Summer's soft mint. (BTW I want those earrings:)

Winter's hot pink is not meant for Amy.  Whenever the color stands out more than the person, you can pretty much assume that the color ain't right. This is the case with Amy. 

Here Amy looks radiant in Autumn's orange. Very few people can pull off orange, but boy can she! The orange doesn't take away from her, instead it compliments her coloring.

J. Lo. is beautiful in just about anything, but I'm sure you can see that yellow makes her look yellow.

On the other hand look how ravishing J. Lo. is in ruby red. Everyone but Winters are over-powered by a color this strong.

Gorgeous Rooney's designers didn't do her any favors by putting her in Autumn's ecru. She looks totally washed out. To top it off they put her in a dress that's more poultry than dress.

Miss Winter actually looks better in her "Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" get up. Who would have thunk?

Next week I'll be posting "What Are Your Colors?" (Part 2). We will talk about clues to determine what season you are and look at the palettes for each of the four seasons. 

 

What Are Your Colors? (part 2)

As we talked about last week, there are certain colors that go along with each season, and our type of coloring fits into one of the four seasons. We look really good when we are wearing "our colors" and washed out when we aren't. When I was in my early 20s, don't ask me why, but I wore peach all the time. Later, when a color analyst put a peach drape on me, I saw myself in a mirror and it hit me right away how sick I looked. On the other hand, when the gal put a magenta drape on me, I looked half decent.

Here are some clues as to what season you are: Your natural hair color (did I say natural color?) is a really good clue.

Dark Brown or Black Hair - Most Likely Winter

Medium Golden Brown or Medium Red Hair - Most likely Autumn

Ash Blonde or Light Ash Brown Hair - Most likely Summer

Light Golden Brown or Light Red Hair - Most likely Spring

Also the "cool" seasons (Winter and Summer) are more complemented by silver and the "warm" seasons (Autumn and Spring) are more complemented by gold. As a matter of fact the first two drapes that a color analyst would put on you would be a silver drape and a gold drape to see which one complements your coloring. Below left, you will see that Summer (that is her name) is a Summer (how convenient), so she looks smashing in silvery-gray.  On the right side, my daughter, Abbey, who is an Autumn, looks gorgeous in gold.

Finally, if you aren't sure which "season" you are, you can wear a color from one season then on the next day a color from another. First look in the mirror and see what you think, then see how others respond. A response such as "I love that color" is very different from,"YOU look beautiful today!" or "That color makes YOU look great!"

Where Do We Go From Here?

One thing is to wear the colors that are in your seasonal palette (see below.) You may be thinking I like red, but that is probably not my color. Notice that every palette has a red, a dark blue, etc. The difference is that the Winter palette has cool, clear reds, the Autumn palette has warm, muted reds, etc. One important thing to take note of is: Winter's white is stark white; Summer's white is soft white; Spring's white is soft cream; and Autumn's white is ivory. (Sorry, my palette boards look so weathered. It must have rained in my closet.)

Something else you can do is wear the jewelry that goes with your season. Winters and Summers are more enhanced by silver jewelry, and Autumns and Springs are more enhanced by gold jewelry. 

Another thing you can do is take a picture of your palette and use it when you are shopping. If you want an official palette, you can go to the "Color Me Beautiful" website. The website also has makeup for each season.

Winter: Cool, Bright Colors

Summer: Cool, Muted Colors

Spring: Warm, Clear Colors

Autumn: Warm, Muted Colors

Simple But Special

This is the easiest of all special napkin folds, but as you can see from above it still adds a lot to a table. Here's how you do it: 

Take two different color napkins and lay them down so that the bottom napkin shows as well. You then pinch both napkins in the center and lay them down. Take about 2 feet of ribbon and tie it making sure it is loose enough that it can be slid on and off. Napkin rings can be used instead of ribbon. (I don't have many napkin rings lying around, but I have ribbon coming out my ears from doing crafts with my girls.)

Fun Saying

My cousin-in-law, Betty Cox,  told me this one: Instead of saying, that won't work, you say, "That Dog Won't Hunt". The reason this saying is extra funny to me is that my Daddy and all his friends and family hunted on a regular basis. They loved hunting so much that they annually went to Mexico to duck hunt! I'm quite a good shot (I will say so myself.), and I think it's because my Daddy's blood flows through my veins. (Don't worry my California friends. I have only ever shot at targets:)

Squash It

Below is an unbelievable recipe for butternut squash! I found this recipe in the awesome "Jerusalem " cookbook and of course I tweaked it. It calls for a large butternut squash. Thankfully in my grocery store, Ralph's (which is owned by Kroger by the way.) and Trader Jos, butternut squash can be found in the produce section. Warning: Don't get the frozen kind because they turn out way tooo soggy! 

A lot of the items I suggest are hard to find, so either you should look, look and look some more or ask for help. You can always cut up a raw butternut squash, but you won't get that here. (I'm way too lazy for that.) Here's what you'll need:

Approx. 1 & 1/2 lbs. of cubed butternut squash (If some of the pieces are bigger than the others, you will want to cut them in half.)

1 very large red onion (Red onions are nice and sweet.)

3 Tablespoons of pine nuts

3 Tablespoons of tahini (A paste made with made with sesame seeds) Trader Joe's makes the best. (Simple Truth makes the worst!) A tahini called Jova is fine.

Preheat the oven to 475. Cut the onions into wedges. Toss the onions and squash in bit of olive oil,  and a dash of salt and pepper. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and spread vegetables out onto the sheet. Cook about 30 minutes until you can put a fork through them with a bit of effort. You don't want the squash to be mushy, so its better to err on the side of being undercooked. (You can always put it in the oven for longer.) In the last 5 min. put the pine nuts in a corner of the cookie sheet. (Browning pine nuts is not essential. I've started using uncooked pine nuts because I always burn them.)

In a small bowl vigorously stir the tahini with a dash of salt, and about 2 tablespoons of water. (I like to use a small whisk or better yet one beater from my hand mixer.) The paste should be the consistency of honey so add more water or tahini if necessary. 

To serve, spread the vegetables out on a serving platter and drizzle with tahini then the pine nuts. Voila you have a totally delicious side dish!

Try It You'll Love It!

Better Bruschetta

Here is an hors d'oeuvre (there's that impossible word to spell again) that is super easy and Awesome!

I recently tasted this hors d'oeuvre at our friend Stefanie White's house. (Believe it our not, the White's have had their friends from High School over for a Christmas party for the past 40 years.  Yikes, we're that old!) 

Anyway here's how you make it: Get a baguette and slice it thin, then put shredded parmesan on top and broil the slices for about 3 min. or until tops are slightly golden brown. (The parmesan seals the bread so it doesn't get soggy.) Then take the bread out and cover each slice with bruschetta (using a fork to keep the bread from getting juice-soggy). Finally sprinkle with parmesan and if possible serve right away. Totally, totally yummy. (BTW Trader Joe's has a great bruschetta!)

Try it You'll Love It! 

It's All About the Corners

 

If you ask 10 people if they know how to fold a fitted, 9 of them will have no idea. My friend, Peggy who is very fun and funny asked, "Don't you just roll them up and stick them in a closet?" Tragically, Peggy is not alone. There are millions of fitted sheets that have been rolled up and thrown in closets.

One day I was making a bed with my sister-in-law, Chris Steckel, and I noticed that she was masterfully folding a fitted sheet. I asked and she showed me how to perform this difficult feat. I will say that after all the practice I've done, my fitted sheets still don't come out perfect, but they look a heck of a lot better than they ever have! Below I have made a video for your viewing pleasure:

Step 1. Put your hands in two corners making sure that the sheet is running lengthwise. Step 2. Put your hands together and flip the left corner over the right. Step 3. Put the two corners in your left hand and with your right hand find the inside bottom corner. Then pinch the inside bottom corner so that you don't lose hold of of it. 

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4. With your right hand tuck the inside bottom corner into the the outside bottom corner. Step 5. Bring all four corners together, and again flip the left corners over the right corners. Step 6. Next lay the sheet down on a table or bed and smooth things out a bit. There should be a corner that is entirely elastic on the left that forms what looks like a big upside down smile. Then fold the top of the sheet down about 6 inches. 

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7. Fold the bottom all the way to the top. Step 8. Fold the right side to the middle then the left side to the middle. Step 9. Fold the left side over and smooth it down on the top and the bottom. You now have a folded, fitted sheet!

Step 7

Step 8

Step 9

FYI: Folding the type of fitted sheet that has elastic all the way around is a more complicated animal. We will tackle that one another day.