Just a quick update to say WE DID IT!! Matt and I got married on Saturday afternoon surrounded by our family and friends. The sun was shining, the wine was flowing, and fun was had by all. Here’s a sneak peek from our lovely wedding photographer, Melissa Hassey:
Now it’s time for our honeymoon in St. Lucia… woohoo! 
Matt and I are getting married in 2 days! All of our wedding prep is pretty much done and now we’re just relaxing and waiting for the weekend to get here. (Oh, and also checking the weather about a million times a day… Tropical Storm Andrea better hurry up and get out of here in time for our outdoor ceremony on Saturday afternoon!)
We’ve been going out to eat a lot lately but we did make one planned meal this week using a new cookbook that my mom got us as a wedding present. The book is entitled Salad for Dinner so, as you might guess, our meal was a nice and hearty entree salad! This was a fresh, summery meal that was perfect for the warm weather we had earlier this week. Doesn’t it look yummy?
Grilled Shrimp Salad with Mediterranean Lemon Dressing (from Salad for Dinner)
For the Mediterranean Lemon Dressing…
1 tablespoon Tahini (ground sesame seed paste)
2 cloves Garlic, pressed through a garlic press
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 cup freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
For the salad…
1 lb. large Shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1-2 cloves Garlic, pressed through a garlic press
8 oz. Mini Bell Peppers
8 cups Baby Spinach
1 pint Cherry Tomatoes, sliced in half
2-3 Persian Cucumbers, sliced into 1/4″ rounds
1/4 – 1/2 Red Onion, very thinly sliced
Feta Cheese, crumbled
Fresh Oregano Leaves
Lemon Wedges
Pita Bread Crisps*
Directions:
Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a jar. Close the lid and shake vigorously to combine. (You could also use a bowl and whisk the ingredients together if you don’t feel like shaking.) Refrigerate the dressing until you are ready to use it.
Mix together the shrimp, garlic and olive oil in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. After the shrimp has marinaded, remove from the fridge and stir in the mini bell peppers. Grill the shrimp and bell peppers over medium-high heat. When the shrimp turn pink (3-5 minutes), remove them from the grill and set aside. Continue cooking the bell peppers until they are soft and blackened in spots.
In a large salad bowl, combine the spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers and onion. Dress with the Mediterranean Dressing and mix well. (I used about half of what the recipe made.) Toss in the warm shrimp and bell peppers. Serve the salad in shallow bowls with pita crisps and garnish with feta, oregano, and lemon.
*To make pita bread crisps, slice pita bread into 1 – 1 1/2″ strips. Place on a cookie sheet, brush lightly with olive oil and season with salt. Bake in a preheated 425°F oven for approx. 10 minutes, turning once, until golden brown.
Hello! I’ve been pretty bad about posting lately but I have a good excuse… Matt and I are getting married in 11 days! That means that I’ve been busy making wedding things (place cards, welcome bags, menus, programs, burlap table runners…the list goes on) and doing pre-wedding activities like wine-tasting at our venue, Grace Winery, taking first-dance dance lessons (we’re doing the rumba!), writing our ceremony and going to dress fittings. Whew!
But, enough about the wedding… this post is about PIE! Easy, no-bake coconut cream pie, to be exact. This is our second foray into the world of no-bake pies (see our Peanut Butter Cream Pie for the first) and it further solidified our love of these super-simple desserts. We used store bought pie crusts, pudding mix, and cool whip and the whole recipe only took about 20 minutes of “active” time. Perfect!
Easy No-Bake Coconut Cream Pie (from Kraft.com; doubled to make 2 pies)
You will need…
4 – 3.4 oz. packages of JELL-O Vanilla Instant Pudding
4 cups Cold 1% Milk
1 – 16 oz. container Cool Whip Topping, divided
2 cups Sweetened Coconut Flakes, divided
2 store bought Graham Cracker Pie Crusts
Directions:
Beat pudding mixes and milk together in a large bowl of a stand mixer for 2 minutes. Mix in about half of the cool whip (approx. 2 cups) and 1 ½ cups of the coconut. Pour the mixture into the two pie crusts and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until the pudding is set. Store the remaining Cool Whip in the refrigerator (not the freezer) so that it will be spreadable later.
While the pudding sets, spread the remaining coconut out onto a baking sheet and toast in a preheated 350°F oven for 10-15 minutes. Check on the coconut frequently and stir it to keep from burning on the edges. The coconut is done when it turns golden brown.
Take the two pies and the Cool Whip out of the fridge and top each pie with the remaining Cool Whip. Sprinkle the toasted coconut over top and enjoy!
My mail-ordered tomatoes and pepper plants arrived from Burpee on Thursday afternoon which means that my 2013 vegetable season has officially begun! Matt and I planted everything and, barring any stray digging from Bailey, now we can just sit back and watch our garden grow.
Once again I’m using hanging galvanized steel buckets to house my upside down tomatoes. The tops of each bucket have parsley, thyme and rosemary growing in them. I was really happy with how these dual tomato-herb buckets worked out last year and I can’t wait to see how they do this year!
Between the hanging buckets, fenced-in garden, and pots on the patio, I now have Zucchini, Tomatoes, Parsley, Thyme, Rosemary, Strawberries, Garlic, Jalapeno Peppers, Poblano Peppers, Basil, Mint, Oregano and Beans growing in my garden.
We also have several flowers planted in the yard and in pots including Tulips, Zinnias, Canna Lilies, Gladiolus, Painted Daisies, Ranunculus, Dahlias, Gerber Daisies, Superbells, and Marigolds. I love all of the bright reds, oranges, yellows, and pinks of the plants that have flowered so far, don’t you?
Happy Gardening Season!!
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It’s Bailey’s 6th birthday today! I think a photo montage of my four-legged best friend is in order, don’t you?
Here are some of Bailey’s most memorable moments since her fifth birthday:
Happy Birthday, Bailey!
A few weeks ago we made delicious pork carnitas tacos during our Engagement Photo Session. To make those carnitas, we slow-cooked a bone-in 4 lb. pork butt for 8-10 hours and then shredded it and seasoned it once it was fully cooked. That recipe turned out great but we decided to try a (slightly) quicker version of these tasty pork bites just to see how they would differ. In this latest version, the pork is cut up into 1 1/2 inch cubes before cooking, then slow-cooked with an array of seasoning for just 6 hours.
The resulting pork was tender and juicy and quite different in flavor and texture than our first take on carnitas. I think that I maybe liked these a little better, but they also required more prep work so it’s really a toss up depending on how much time you have! We used our carnitas to build Mexican tostadas… towers of beans, pork, cheese, salsa, and sour cream atop crispy, fried corn tortillas. Yum!
Pork Carnitas Tostadas
Ingredients for the Pork Carnitas:
(Carnitas recipe from Williams-Sonoma’s The New Slow Cooker Cookbook)
2 lb. Boneless Pork Shoulder, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
3 cloves Garlic, minced
2 teaspoons Dried Mexican Oregano
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 tablespoon Sherry Vinegar (we substituted in 2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar & 1 tsp Sherry)
Salt and Pepper
1 Yellow Onion, quartered
3 Bay Leaves
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Chile Powder
Ingredients for the Tostadas:
1 – 15 oz. can Refried Beans
1/2 Jalapeño Pepper, finely chopped
Peanut Oil
6 Corn Tortillas
Shredded Cheese (we used a mix of Mozzarella and Mexican blend)
Salsa
Sour Cream
Chopped Cilantro, for garnish
Lime wedges, for garnish
Directions:
To make the pork carnitas, mix together the first six ingredients (pork thru salt & pepper) in a slow cooker. Add in the onion and bay leaves, then cover and cook the pork on low for 6 hours. When cooking is complete, use a slotted spoon to transfer the pork to a plate or bowl. Skim the fat off of the cooking liquid and remove and discard the onion piece and bay leaves. Pull the pork apart using two forks, then season with the cayenne pepper and chile powder (to taste) and add in several spoonfuls of the cooking liquid until the pork reaches your desired level of juiciness.
To make the tostadas, start by combining the refried beans and chopped jalapeño in a microwaveable bowl. Heat the beans in the microwave on high for 2 minutes and stir well.
Meanwhile, coat the bottom of a small frying pan with peanut oil (enough to just allow a tortilla to float on the oil but not enough to submerge it completely). Heat the oil over high heat and then, using tongs, carefully place one tortilla in the oil. The oil around the edge of the tortilla will boil rapidly. (If it doesn’t bubble, increase the heat until it does.) Allow the tortilla to fry in the oil until the bottom side turns golden brown, then use your tongs to flip the tortilla over and fry until that side is golden brown as well. Transfer the tortilla to a paper towel-lined plate, then repeat this frying process with the remaining tortillas.
To assemble your tostadas, cover one side of each tortilla with a liberal amount of the bean mixture. Top with a few spoonfuls of the pork carnitas, then sprinkle a handful of shredded cheese on top. Broil the tostadas for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Top with spoonfuls of salsa and sour cream and garnish with cilantro and lime juice. Serve with a cold beer and enjoy!
I love preparing and eating Mexican foods. Although I don’t normally need an excuse to make a batch of salsa or a tray of enchiladas, the upcoming Cinco de Mayo holiday gives us all a good reason to have some fun with Mexican flavors in the kitchen! Here are some recipes that would be perfect for the occasion:
(Scroll down for links to each recipe.)
Matt and I are going to celebrate the holiday a few days late with a “Diez de Mayo” potluck party. We’re going to provide margaritas along with rotisserie chicken and pork carnitas tacos for our friends and then they’ll bring additional dishes with them. I can’t wait!!
Do you have any special party or food plans for Cinco de Mayo? Please tell me about them in the comments section!
Recipe Links for the Cinco de Mayo Dishes shown above:
Pork Tinga Tacos • Margaritas on the Rocks • Chorizo-Bean Tortas
Rotisserie Chicken Burritos • Poblano Sausage Tacos • Frozen Strawberry Margaritas
Salsa Verde Enchiladas • Pozole Verde • Jalapeño Garlic Chicken Quesadillas
