Valentines Day 2011

Oh My - I can not believe my last post was February 8th! Oops! In all fairness I have good reasons for being so busy lately. (more on that later!) 


I've been wanting to post about Valentines Day - so first things first... 


One thing unique about Derek and I, is we were engaged 7 months after we met and married after 15 months. Because of that we are still in the process of celebrating some holidays for the 2nd time together - which I find to be very fun. I can safely say the Valentines Day traditions have been officially set, with our 2nd Valentines Day behind us now. There is something about new traditions that feels extra cozy to me!


Our official tradition is simple but sweet... we watch Love Actually and I make Derek a specific dinner menu. I do think this year's dinner turned out even better than last years! Hopefully that tradition will continue too. 


Here's the menu:


Spinach Salad with a warm dressing - yum! 

Spaghetti Carbonara - YUM! 


This is a very special pasta my Uncle Craig made once for me and I immediately fell in love so luckily he taught me how to make it too! It can be a little time consuming - but definitely worth it for a special Valentine - I promise it's worth a try!!


Recipe for Spaghetti Carbonara: 


Ingredients:

• 3/4 pound pancetta
• 6 finely chopped cloves of garlic
• 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth
• ground black pepper
• 1 box of spaghetti 
• 3/4 cup finely chopped parsley 
• parmesan cheese (I recommend fresh)
• 4 egg yolks

Begin by cutting the pancetta into small pieces and then cook it in a deep pan over a medium to medium high flame/heat. 

Once the pancetta is nice and browned, quickly add the garlic and pepper flakes. Be careful not to cook the garlic too long so it does not get bitter After a minute or so the garlic will become golden brown. Quickly add a cup or so of chicken broth and a generous amount of black pepper. Turn the heat down to medium / medium low and let the sauce reduce by about 1/2 the volume. (You can always add more broth if things take longer than you anticipate, and keep the volume down to about 1/2 cup. Drop to a simmer. 

Have the pasta ready to dump into the pot of boiling salted water when you add the broth to the above so they can finish somewhat together. In the meantime finely chop the parsley and have plenty of parmesan cheese ready. I recommend getting a fresh block of parmesan and grating it. This time I did it this way and I felt like it made a huge difference in taste! 

Beat the egg yolks together and then temper in about a ladle full of the boiling water from the pasta pot. (note: you temper by adding a minute amount of the boiling water into the yolks while whisking furiously so as not to cook the yolks and continue until the entire ladle is incorporated) 

By now the pasta should be ready. Drain it completely and put it in the pasta bowl and dump the pancetta mix in, continue mixing well as you add the yolk mixture, parsley, and the parmesan cheese. 

Enjoy!!!


Red Velvet Cake with butter cream frosting - DOUBLE YUM!!

And here is a picture of my very sweet Valentine enjoying it all! A Valentines Day success! 

In sickness and in health...

oh boy am I THANKFUL Derek took this vow seriously! I haven't blogged in a while because my new acquaintance Tracheitis came unexpectedly to stay for a week long visit. He arrived on Tuesday and tried his best to stick around forever but I bid him adieu (mostly) on Sunday.

It turns out Tracheitis comes with a very sore throat, a deep cough, a fever that did not go under 100 degrees for four days and I couldn't even stand up on Thursday and Friday enough to be in the shower - but I had to be in the shower  to let the steam in and my amazing husband helped me every step of the way with everything!

Derek could have very easily just let me take care of myself. Instead he totally stepped up to the plate, by forcing me to let him take care of me. He got my medicine for me and kept the three prescriptions straight as to when I was supposed to take what. He tried coming up with food suggestions (even though I had no appetite) and while he was at work everyday he was constantly checking up on me.

Finally by Sunday I was able to breathe...now i'm just stuck with the cough that was left behind to remind me of what was.

Sometimes when I get really sick like that - as pathetic as it is - I tend to really want my mom around. At one point I asked Derek if he would ask my mom to come down (I couldn't talk on the phone) and he said "no - it's you and me now babe - don't you think I take good enough care of you?" of COURSE I think you take great care of me! How could I be so rude to ask for somebody else!? So it really made me think that it really IS him and I now, we're a team and we're going to work through ALL of our vows together...and that is exciting! Sometimes I look at him and say can you believe you are my HUSBAND?! I still think that is crazy. (in a good way - duh!)

What goes up...must come down?

I began the week yesterday with a few rough happenings. The week after our honeymoon I was on SUCH a high, and everything seemed to be falling into place - I remember thinking this all seems too perfect, and I wonder what will be the thing to break this wonderful time. Is it bad that we naturally seem to assume something will inevitably "go wrong"? I think it goes along with that whole "What goes up - must come down theory" although I think that saying has something to do with gravity as well. Have we just had enough things always fall wayside that we have just become accustomed to planning for it? 


Apparently I have at least, I figured something would get a little out of line - and I was right. That happened yesterday and has been growing for a week or so. Luckily now though when I do have bad days I have an amazing husband and bulldog to come home to! 


Last night, after that day - I needed some cooking therapy. I've been searching for a Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe for a while. I finally picked one of the many I found yesterday and decided I could modify as I wanted. 


I'm not even going to be shy - this recipe was AMAZING!!! It literally tasted like the stuff you get at a Chinese restaurant - MINUS the deep fat fried chicken! yea!!!


Here's the recipe: (what i did anyhow!)


Sweet and Sour Chicken 


Ingredients:
3/4 cup white sugar 
(could use a sugar alternative to lighten it up!)
1/3 cup white vinegar
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce (i used reduced sodium version)
1 tbs ketchup
2 tbs cornstarch


Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil and stir continuously until the mixture has thickened. 

Chicken:


I marinated the chicken for about 20 minutes in soy sauce. Then I cut the chicken into the size squares I wanted to serve, and coated them in flour. I put this into a frying pan with some Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Leave them until you can see they are cooked about half way through (flipping them too much will dry them out). Once the chicken was finished I put in mushrooms (you could add any vegetables you wanted - i might even add some cashews next time) and let them simmer. 

Finally - pour most of the sauce over the chicken/mushrooms, stir - making sure all chicken is covered, and let simmer for at least 5 minutes. 

I actually poured all of the sauce ingredients in the saucepan and did not turn the heat on, then I got the chicken cooking and once I flipped the chicken I turned the sauce on. You have to constantly stir it to make sure it doesn't burn. 


Make some rice (we used the uncle ben's brown rice to health it up a bit) and we also added some cheater egg rolls (which were delicious!) And ta daaaaa! You have dinner...This whole process took me about 20 minutes!

p.s. this meal was cooked partially thanks to our "challenge" - I've had some people asking how it's going. So far so good - but I'm saving the final details for the end! 

Please feel free to comment if you plan to / do try this! 

It's great to hear feedback!