Lil bugs

January brought the birth of baby Elana Lilly Quevedo. Amanda and I threw a baby shower for Mayra and were lucky to have it early since baby Elana came a few days in advance! She's such the sweetest little thing and we're so happy to have her in our lives. Such a bundle of joy and she's so funny with her facial expressions and personality. I can't wait until we have one of our own!

Happy New Year

Cheers to 2010! I hope this year will be a better year. 2009 was good as far as good goes: I mean, we got married, went to the beautiful islands of the Bahamas, snowboarded in Park City and celebrated our first Christmas as husband and wife.
This year hopefully we will be blessed with financial stability and more! What I can say is that I've accomplished many great dishes over the last few months. For Christmas Day dinner I made lobster tail, veggies and mashed potatoes. I thought the lobster tails were going to be so easy; I tried to remove them from their bag and to my surprise I became a bit squeamish! They weren't the beautiful red color as you always see in restaurants and their legs were loose and out there. Looked like a radioactive roach lol. I sucked it up and laid them in about 3/4 cup of boiling water and let them steam for 7-8 minutes. I didn't have metal skewers but I recommend them- that way for asthetic reasons (they curl up a bit if not used).





Anyway, the other new thing I learned was the clarified butter. You know, that yummy liquid butter mixture at the restaurant were you can dip anything into it and it just be delightful? Yeah that. The clarified butter was pretty easy to make; I used 3 sticks of butter (cut into slices) and some lemons, zested. I used my Paula Deen small, heavy saucepan (what other way to melt butter than to give homage to Ms. Deen?!) and let that set under med-low heat. After melted, let it stand and then using a spoon remove the foam on top. Pour butter over lemon zest in a small bowl and discard the milk solids. So what exactly is clarified butter? In simple terms it's the separation of milk solids and water from the butterfat. Which equals YUM.




So on to other lovely things I have made! :D Breakfast is big in the Bryant house, so what better way to kick off a good day with french toast? Well I like to kick things up a notch and found a delightful receipe for Bananas Foster French Toast.
Here's the link...thanks again Ms. Deen Bananas Foster French Toast For Thanksgiving (lol I know these aren't in order) I used the turkey leftovers and made an amazing Turkey Pot Pie. Seriously, Marie Callendar's needs to eat her heart out. Delicious. Craving it right now. Really easy to make, too!



Ingredients


1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
2 cups cubed cooked turkey
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line bottom of pie pan with crust. In a skillet saute the chopped onion until slightly soft and set aside.
2. Mix together the turkey or chicken, mixed vegetables, onion, soup and milk. Pour into pie crust, cover with top crust and crimp edges.
3. Poke holes in top crust and bake for 40 to 50 minutes.

The other night I was craving kabobs; since we don't have a grill really thanks to our porch and the balcony right over it, I found a cool receipe that allowed kabobs to be used in the oven broiler. FYI make sure if you use wooden skewers like I did to soak them under water for at least 30 minutes, otherwise you can find metal skewers at a Bed, Bath and Beyond. Again, I wanted to challenge myself and put a twist to the normal kabob and add a Hoisin glaze (asian in me) with pineapple salsa. Yum! P.S. I used flank steak instead of pork and added some steamed rice!

Ingredients

1 lb pork tenderloin, cut into 1-inch cubes when slightly frozen
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon chile, minced
2 tablespoons sliced green onions
1 teaspoon fresh ginger
pepper, to taste
1 small firm fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into 1-inch cubes


Directions
1 Combine hoisin sauce, ketchup, chili,green onion, and ginger; set aside.
2 Season pork cubes with pepper. Thread pork and pineapple onto skewers; grill over direct heat for about 4 minutes, turn and glaze with hoisin mixture. Continue cooking on grill until pork browns, about 8-10 minutes total cooking time.

These are a few of my favorite things...

I cannot believe how fast time flies! It's the Christmas season. What a joyous occasion to celebrate the Savior's birth with family and friends. I sit here tonight typing while I have our littlest cat, Meiko in my lap. It's times like these that make me happy I'm such a cat person, they really are wonderful creatures.

I haven't posted my latest receipes lately and it's such a bummer! I'll definately have to upload the pics in the next post, quite busy tonight, we are going tree hunting with my parents and then celebrating Rick's 26th birthday. Going to be a fun night...even with the chilly weather!

What I can post are some pictures from the Phi Sigma Sigma Alum Ornament Exchange. It was my first year going (have been an alumna since 2007) and I was very happy I went. Everyone was to bring an ornament of their choice (I bought mine at Pier 1, naturally) and a dish that would be entered in the best food contest. Our exchange was quite fun and entertaining, much stealing ornaments, "oooohs" and "ahhhhs".

I stole my ornament from Kara and felt so bad...but I really wanted them and so glad I took them lol. As for the best food contest, I entered a pampered chef chicken wreath that I have made in the past and it was a sure-fire winner (had to compete with Ashley since she made nutella crepes with strawberries...yum-o!).

All in all it was a fun event and I'm glad I saw some old faces...there was an announcement of a recent engagement and pregnancy (different sisters :D). So much fun!

Remember, Remember, the 5th of November...err 8th :)

So I'm so happy it's November! My favorite time of the year: fall. Have been cooking/baking up a storm and preparing for Thanksgiving! I've been taking some classes at our local Williams Sonoma store and they're been very fun and helpful. I think I will do brining for the turkey this year; found a lovely apple cider one. Super excited!

I hung out with the girls on Thursday night at Amanda's new house and we ended up visiting a new place, Cafe Crepes. Ordered this delicious nutella w/ bananas crepe and I just had to re-create it. I made it the next morning for Eric. It's a surefire win! Changed the receipe with adding a whipped cream glaze...for added effect.


I have also been working on our second bedroom, the den, or as Eric likes to call it "The Man Cave". Trying my hardest to make sure it doesn't look that way. Things have been coming together nicely, however apprehensive to set everything up since we plan to move wherever/whenever I land a job. Hate moving lol. Trying my hardest not to think about it. Nothing is set in stone, but I have been applying not out of town. Hopefully our prayers will be answered shortly!

October so far...

I was meaning to write a blog earlier this weekend but life happened :) Saturday morning I made Eric his favorite, Baked Apple Pancakes. I found the receipe in my Bon Appetit cookbook and fell in love. It's so yummy and so fun to make!

We had a very busy Sunday; went to Church, had grandma and grandpa Bryant over for pie and Kim and Daniel for dinner. For dinner I made margherita pizza and it was delicious! Next time though I'm going to transfer the dough directly onto the oven rack rather my pampered chef pizza stone. It was crispy...but not crispy enough ;) We enjoyed such a wonderful day but it ended up being so late for Eric to start on his homework.

Thursday of that same week, Eric started his internship at Kern Medical Center as a Research Assistant. I was really proud that he went for the position and there was a high volume of applicants. He was of select few. His job consists of doing respiratory research on patients, elbow constraints and SIDS research. He works in the ER and seems to be enjoying it all...even with doctors to my surprise. Friday he worked until midnight and I had to take a picture of him; his silly labcoat was the hardest to find in town considering many guys has his size. Who would have thought? I was a bit upset that the labcoat I bought for him last Christmas was too long from the hospital's standards, oh well he uses it for lab at school anyway.

I've been researching more about the CBEST and substitute teaching; while I've had preschool experience it's nothing like I would be doing for BCSD. I received an impression today while visiting the temple that I should try to do that for now. It's been rough on us, especially since this is our first year of marriage me not working. While I love the duties of being a housewife/homemaker, I want it to be on my terms. I miss work! Can you believe it? I miss being productive and being socially active in the workplace. Luckily I've been keeping myself busy with my church calling, volunteering any chance I can get and hanging out with good friends. The Lord has greatly blessed us and he keeps our heads held high during these rough times. I keep on telling Eric we should start a family with all my time off :) hahah that won't be discussed until next year. Oh well!

Oh, I almost forgot! We were BOO-ED last night while spending FHE at the West's (AND celebrating J's 19th!). It was super fun and we played the most outrageous game, "Bite the Bag". Instaneously laughter. We enjoyed our phantom goodies as well and thank you to whoever you are!

All I Want For Christmas

I know it's a bit premature, however I tend to forget these things and when mom asks, "What do you want for Christmas?" I can now refer to this!

This summer I went to go see Julie & Julia with my mom; I really want to read the book now and I think I may just pick that up today since today is such a wonderful day to curl up next to a good book. I've always been a fan of Julia Child; my mom used to watch her on the tele *yes I am going to use that word!* and I foundly remember this stalky, tall woman bumbling around the kitchen and drinking lots of wine. lol. Wonderful childhood, right? I remember those memories of tv, shopping and cooking. What else is life about? :)

Anyway, the movie was quite spendid and I never understood why I didn't have Julia's cookbook. So that is all I want for Christmas, Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking Box Set if possible. Thanks, Santa.

P.S. Tonight for dinner: Artichoke Chicken and Rice

1 to 1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts halves
1/4 cup flour
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups converted rice
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper or pimiento
4 green onions, chopped
4 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 cups chicken broth (use bouillon, canned, or base)
1 can cream of celery soup, low fat
1 can artichokes, quartered and drained

Preparation:
In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Combine flour, cheese, salt, pepper, and paprika. Dredge chicken in the flour mixture then brown in the hot oil. Transfer chicken to the slow cooker. In the hot skillet, saute bell pepper, green onions, and mushrooms for about 2 minutes; add chicken broth and soup, stirring to combine thoroughly; pour over chicken. Stir in rice and artichokes; cover and cook for 5 to 6 hours on low. Serves 6.

The Married Life

We are married!!! It's been awhile since I have blogged, and oh have I missed it! I hardly doubt anyone reads my thoughts, but it's nice for me to have this posted and it gives me something to do while taking a break from searching for a job. Alas, I am still unemployed. It's been a blessing in disguise however, I have been quite the Suzy Homemaker if I do say so myself :) I have been making meals ever since we got back from our Honeymoon and I can brag that I have not duplicated one yet!

Last night we had shrimp with fetticine alfredo....with pumpkin whoopie cookies and pumpkin pie. Yes, lots to eat for breaking our fast lol. I think I'll post as much as I can with what is for dinner. I have been on my facebook, but this is nice, too. Possibly an electronic cookbook. hah.