A Damn Fine Cupcake.

Strawberry Ooze., originally uploaded by razzieswirl.

I made these for Kelli and Nick, we also bought them a gorgeous bottle of Rose champagne and a few treats from lovers package. They're getting married in 39 days and they came up on Sunday for a visit and dinner. We had a lovely time, and thankfully they brought some much needed sun with them so we were able to spend our day outside.
These sweet little gems were the perfect ending to our day.
Deelish!

Pretty in Pink

Blow., originally uploaded by razzieswirl.

I invited Ashley over to enjoy a bottle of champagne and some delicious dinner a week or so after her actual birthday since we were unable to be together on her birthday.

It was a gorgeous (at least) 72 degree sunny day, it felt like summer. She brought an amazingly delicious bottle of blackberry wine, these wonderful large almost flat bread like rosemary crackers I adore, and some feta cheese. We enjoyed the entire bottle along with the cheese and crackers and some fruit on the back porch basking in the sun.

After the bottle was gone we headed inside and I made a very simple shrimp/garlic/basil pasta dish for dinner. Recipe to follow. Sorry no picture, we were too happily buzzed by wine, and hungry to take any pictures. My roommate and his girlfriend joined us out on the porch for more good conversation and sun and of course food.

We finished our evening off with a pot of Amelie tea (see the adorable pink tea cup below ashley, it even has little feet!) and a slice of strawbery mousse cake, and oh yes, frank sinatra singing miss ashley "happy birthday". A wonderful way to spend a Thursday evening.

Recipe: M's Shrimp Pasta

Ingredients:

1/5 pound sweet pink flordia shrimp deveined and peeled
1 box rotini
zest of half lemon
3 oz. crumbled feta
2 TBL butter
6 garlic cloves minced
6 large basil leaves, ribboned

Prepare:

1. Add Rotini to a large pot of salted boiling water. Cook according to directions or for about 8-10 minutes. Rinse with cold water keep in pot with lid to contain the heat.
2. In a skillet melt butter and add 3 gloves of garlic and shrimp. Cook just about 5 minutes until thouroughly pink and done.
3. Put pasta and shrimp into a large ceramic bowl. Add lemon zest, feta, basil, and remaining garlic (you can add extra butter if you like) and season with sea salt and a little pepper.

And that's it. Super simple, yet elegant, tasty and therefore still impressive. Perfect for a laid back backyard dinner for a friends birthday.

xoxo
m.

What's a girl to do?

Barbequed Salmon Cesar with Homemade Croutons, originally uploaded by razzieswirl.

It's a Tuesday night and Thomas is working late. I've been really sick the last five days and I finally made it back to the gym this afternoon. So I'm really hungry. What's a girl to do?

Why pick up some wild sockeye at the store and fix a cesar salad of course! Thomas generally hates when I make salad, it's not because I don't make good salad, but I generally get on a salad kick and make a lot of them, or just a lot of cesar salads (I'm really good at it).

Every morning Avenue Bread puts a bag of free bread ends on their counter, they cut off a large portion of each end of about 5 different kinds of their homemade bread (made fresh daily) and let whomever gets there first take the large paper bag full home. We've been snacking on it for a day or two now and I decided to make croutons with the leftovers. They're mighty delicious.

A fresh green salad, with a spicy creamy dressing, cruncy cheesey herbed croutons, all topped with a garlic-y sweet slowly barbequed wild sockeye. It doesn't get much better than that on a warm almost summer day.

Recipe to follow.
I've got to go retrieve the bf from work, again.

xoxo
m.

Avenue Bread

Rainy Sundays and Good Sandwiches, originally uploaded by razzieswirl.

I have a bad obsession with Avenue Bread here in Bellingham. It's bad because they have the most amazing baked goods, treats, sandwiches, bread, and coffee and they are just a few blocks down the street. Eating a copious amount of baked goods is never a good idea for the mid-section, but nearly irrisitable because they're so close.

You try resisting the urge of a good homemade cinnamon roll, or eggenue ( think egg mcmuffin on a homemade english muffin in plain, rosemary and eight grain with different options like the italian topped with ham, roasted red peppers, red onion, basil, and slathered in pesto) and a large cup of coffee or tea all on a Saturday morning when you wake up happy and hungry. All this less than 30 seconds away. You see? It's hard to resist.

Sunday afternoon we headed down and picked up some goodies and came home and nestled into our little nest, it was grey and pouring outside so sandwiches and baked goods with green tea and Amelie was the perfect way to widdle away a gloomy Sunday afternoon.

xoxo
m.

The finished product.

Fin., originally uploaded by razzieswirl.

Yum. These are delicious. And they whip up quickly.
I love noodles and cheese too, who doesn't?
I kind of just pulled it together, so the recipe may be a tad choppy.

Recipe: M's Lasagna Rolls

First: Boil how every many noodles you need unitl al dente (about 8 minutes) in well salted water. I made about 10. Drain and rinse with cold water (so they don't stick together).

Filling:

1 box ground turkey
1 TBL olive oil
4 TBL balsamic vinegar
1/2 shallot
2 garlic cloves

Directions:

Put olive oil in large pan over medium heat. Add remaining ingredients and grill unti cooked through (about 10 minutes).
Set aside

Ricotta Mixture:

1 8oz container skim ricotta cheese
1 TBL garlic powder
1 TBL fresh rosemary
1 TBL italian herb mix
2 tsp. ground white pepper
2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shredded parmesan
1/2 cup very sharp gouda (I get mine fresh from the farm, and they age it for us, about 6 months)

Mix all ingerdients in a large bowl, then add the turkey mixture to the cheese mixture.

What else you'll need:

I jar of spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese
balsamic vinegar
large baking dish

Assembly:

1. Lay one noodle out onto a cutting board, or other clean surface.
2. Spread 3/4 of your sauce on the bottom of your baking dish, and sprinkle with balsamic vinegar.
3. Spread a nice layer of meat mixture (maybe 1/4 cup, I'm not sure) over the noodle surface, leaving 2 inches at the end of the noodle (so you can seal it when rolled up).
3. Roll up and press to seal. (The starch should seal it just fine, if not use a little water, or egg white, I didn't need to use anything).
4. Place atop sauce in baking dish.
5. Continue until you're out of noodles and sauce.
6. Once all the noodles are in your baking dish top with a spoonful of sauce and a sprinkle of parm.
7. Bake for 25 minutes in a 375 degree oven, or until the cheese bubbles and the noodles are hot.


Yum!

m.

Naked.

Naked., originally uploaded by razzieswirl.

Naked noodles waiting for their final step, to be "dressed" with more tomato sauce and of course, parmesan cheese!

These are killer good. I just kind of pulled it together, I know there are other recipes floating around, but I tend not to use one. Especially when it's something as simple as noodles, cheese, and spices. How could you fail?

Recipe to follow. I have to pick up the bf from work now.

And the best part of our day. . .

Ha., originally uploaded by razzieswirl.

Was sitting in the car sharing a ginormous ice cream cone and giggling for at least 5 minutes straight. I'm so happy I'll have these moments to remember forever, because I find that it's generally the small moments in life that are the greatest.

Quite Possibly. . .

Green and White, originally uploaded by razzieswirl.

the greatest color combo ever.
Isn't this stunning?
Nature is truly amazingly beautiful, and sometimes I forget that.

The Secret Garden

The Secret Garden, originally uploaded by razzieswirl.

And more pictures from where the antique fair was held. Quite possibly the most amazing garden in the northwest. Seriously, gorgeous. Even with the bee's, this place amazes me.

More pictures from a wonderful Friday. . .

Spikey, originally uploaded by razzieswirl.

I have no idea what this is, it was growing out the top of a tree. A gorgeous garden.

Thai Goodness

Delicious Thai, originally uploaded by razzieswirl.

So we went to this great little antique fair (more like a really large, really good estate sale) and they have a thai food, really really good thai food, for a great deal. I was literally jumping up and down in excitment and in anticipation (the line was a bit long) for this food. Today was a very, very good day. I'm looking forward to this entire weekend actually. Yay for sunshine.

And finally ladies and gents. . . the recipe!

Paquito, originally uploaded by razzieswirl.

Last year for cinco de mayo we had a fairly large party. Complete with lime jello - tequila shots (may I advise against them, they tasted like what public bathroom cleaner smells like *yuck*). It was very successful and we had a ton of great food. Yum. Yum. This year was very low key, a bowl of Sangria, I made one blood orange margarita and we had these mini tostadas. They were delicious. Sooo, good. And all my roommate (Ashers) idea. What a great idea it was! I always go for the standard nacho, but these were fun and packed with stuff; beans, mexican rice, lettuce, 2 different kinds of shredded cheese, chicken, grilled onion, peppers, and to top it off avocado and a slice of fresh tomato. Mmmm. Here's a kind of rough recipe, because it's up to you what you top the suckers with.


Recipe: Mini Tostados

For the mini corn tortilla:

1 package of corn tortillas
Veggie oil
a round cookie cutter

Directions:
1. Cut out small rounds from each flour tortilla (about 3 mini's per tortilla)
2. Pour enough oil to cover bottom of pan and heat.
3. Fry tortillas on either side until golden brown and set on paper towels to catch some of the oil.

What we made for toppings:

- 1 box of mexican rice, follow directions on box.
- some chicken breast, yellow pepper, and sweet onion grilled with a fajita rub
- refried beans with some leftover onion and yellow pepper mixed in
- iceberg lettuce (for that extra crunch) mixed with green onion
- thinly sliced avocado
- shredded (extra small, to melt easier) sharp cheddar and monterey jack cheese
- thinly sliced fresh tomato

And this is how we layered them:

- tortilla then,
- beans then,
- cheese then,
- rice then,
-chicken mixture (not pictured) then,
- the lettuce mixture then,
- slice of avocado and finally,
- a slice of tomato


I should note what's pictured is the "vegetarian" option. we didn't make it that way on purpose, it just happened. after we made a plate of vegetarian we went for it full on with the chicken mixture.
It was delicious either way. But I love mexican food, in fact I ate a burrito Friday, these on Saturday and then made enchiladas on Sunday.

I'm really making myself hungry writing about these so I'm going to go cook dinner. On the menu tonight: Thai BBQ Chicken with a cold Thai Cucumber salad. Perfect after a gorgeous sunny day here in the Ham. It's so nice blogging outside in the sun after a good game of badmitton. I hope you are all enjoying nice weather as well!

Off to the BBQ!!

m.

Another Tostada Picture

Tostada, originally uploaded by razzieswirl.

mmmm. . . .

Fiske Pudding.

Fiske Pudding., originally uploaded by razzieswirl.

I posted on flickr that I would be posting about Fiske Pudding, so before I delve into Cinco De Mayo I figured I would post this first.

Fiske Pudding is one of those things I've been eating since, well, probably since I was in the womb *ick* but true. Generally I find that if you're not a fan of Fiske Pudding (if you're lucky enough for me to offer you some) I'm not a fan of you. Now this isn't always the case. Fiske pudding isn't the make or break in my relationships with people, that'd be silly. But I might like you just a tad more if you're willing to try it, and like it! If you don't like fish to begin with (shame on you, but ok) you get a little more slack, because hey, you don't like fish to begin with.

Fiske Pudding is just that, Fish Pudding. It is Norwegian (as am I) and probably one of my most favorite of Norwegian dinners, I think I equally adore Fiske Boller (not the kind in the white sauce, that falls in 3rd or 4th on my list), which is basically just Fiske pudding formed into patties, boiled and fried, but served the same way. In Norway we ate this both the way I grew up eating it pictured above with tatoes, peas and generally to my dismay boiled carrots, grilled onions and plenty of tartar sauce, (which is not norwegian, by the way. Or, fried on a slice of sweet dark bread (with my own tartar sauce, which I had to make with what was in the fridge since in Norway they didn't know what the hell I was talking about when I asked "for the tartar sauce, please").

I do not make this myself currently, though I should. I pick it up at the Scandanavian Deli near Ballard. My grandmother always, always, always made all of her fiske dishes from scratch. And only when the fish was just right. Both my grandmother and grandfather (and most of my Norwegian family even to this day) worked on a fishing boat in Alaska. She knew good fish. Although my grandmother spent her time in Alaska cooking on the boats for the fishermen, she and my grandfather both had extensive knowledge about quality fish.

Norwegians are big fish eaters, which only makes sense, if it weren't for Sweden Norway would be completely surrounded by water. And because of it's shape, most places are either on or very near water. I grew up with a general love for everything seafood. I think some people dislike seafood only because they've never actually had quality seafood. I simply adore it, in whatever form, as long as it's wild and fresh I'm there.

Okay, so I veered a bit from my original topic haven't I? I spent a lot of time with my grandmother growing up, after school and in the summers. I was raised in a very norwegian household, my heritage was something that was exteremely important to me at a very young age. And Fiske Pudding, or Fiske Boller were on the menu generally at least once a week. I love the stuff, I wish I could eat it more often, but even at the deli it's about $16 for a loaf pan of it. You buy that and a few Solo's and you're looking at a $60 bill. But once the purchase or making of the fiske pudding is out of the way it's fairly simple. You just grill some onions (which I hated as a child, but love as an adult), whip up some mashed potatoes, steam some peas and voila! Dinner is served! Oh, and don't forget the tartar sauce. I suggest you seek out a recipe or a Deli and try some.

Or, check out some Norwegian recipes. Explore, have fun, trust me, you might not think Norway = amazing food, but you'd be wrong. You're really missing out.
And while you're at it, pick up some Brunost!

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Paquito Tostadas, originally uploaded by razzieswirl.

Get ready. I'll be posting these bad babies on here in just a little while. They were killer. Thanks Asher!

Blood Orange Margarita

Blood Orange Margarita, originally uploaded by razzieswirl.

Delicious! Beware though, this sucker is tart. You might want to add a little simple syrup. I think it would detract from the Patron though. If you don't use Patron (even if you do I guess) go ahead and throw some in. Depends on preference. We also made Sangria, so I just added a little of that because it was sweeter.


Recipe: Blood Orange Margarita

2 oz. Patron Silver
1 ripe blood orange squeezed
1 lime squeezed
1/2 oz. (or less) Grand Marnier
Plenty of ice

1. Put all of the ingredients into a shaker and shake very well, until frosty.
2. Put into a fun glass and enjoy.

xoxo
m.