Basil Gnocchi with "Summer Sauce" ...

Sunday night's dinner was Epic...EPIC, I tell you!!!  If you haven't guessed from the subtle title:  We had homemade basil gnocchi with a 'sauce' made out of summers FINEST! :)

I found the recipe for the gnocchi in Food Network magazine...which called for the shortcut in the form of THIS...

Now..NORMALLY I would NEVER take such a short cut...mainly because I'm afraid a wooden spoon would come flying across my kitchen via my Grandmother watching out for such culinary nonsense;)   BUT since it WAS a 90-degree August day and standing over a pot of boiling potatoes didn't sound UBER appealing AND we had this box of flakes from GOD KNOWS WHEN (seriously....I don't remember the last time we had boxed mashed potatoes:), I thought I'd give this recipe a whirl:)

ANDDD...I must say, using the flakes made my the gnocchi go from "COOKING EVENT" to just plain 'makin dinner';)  (and thankfully, all spoons remained in their respective holders;)  I mixed up the flakes with ground basil, an egg, grated cheese and salt & pepper until it formed a HUGE bowl of potato-y pesto;)  (not SUPER attractive, I know;)

Next, I added the flour to create a dough consistency and then  rolled them out and cut them into little dumplings.  The trick for gnocchi, for me, is working in small sections at a time...so EACH 'strip' is the perfect consistency of sticky & doughy (which helps create light little babies, rather than the 'weigh you down' variety;)

Another trick:  I actually ran out of flour and used whole wheat pastry flour for half of the batch.  To be honest, the white flour gnocchi WERE a lot SMOOTHER...BUT, the whole wheat ones were just fine!! (and did NOT melt in the pot...which was what I was REALLY afraid of;)  So for an extra fiber boost...you got my (basil) green light to try out a healthier flour:)

I made a double batch and froze them in single layers...  (you can bag them up once they've frozen solid)

And now, onto the sauce!  I was totally obsessed with the idea of adding some SMOKE to the basil-y pasta, so I cooked 3 strips of my Trader Joe's bacon in a pan.  Once it was cooked, I removed it from the pan and crumbled it on a plate for later.  Into the pan went a minced shallot, 3-4 minced garlic cloves and a chopped red onion...

Once the onions and garlic were smelling oh-so-lovely, I added in a pint of cherry tomatoes, 3 diced zucchinis, corn from 1 cob and a little white wine and let that cook down for 8 minutes or so...

Meanwhile, I boiled the gnocchi in a pot of boiling water for 7 minutes.  I know your only suppose to let them 'come to the top' of the water...but I have NEVER gone wrong cooking ANY pasta for 7 minutes and these gnocchi are no exception:) 

I ladled out my gnocchi on the bottom of the dish...

And topped them with my GORGEOUS summer "sauce" and a sprinkle of the crumbled bacon....

I can't even TELL you how good this was!  It was 10,000 flavors rolled into one dish:)  Creamy basil gnocchi, salty/smoky bacon, sweet corn, tart tomatoes...just to die for!  I thought all of these flavors melded together really well, but throw together whatever you have on hand!  (besides, I think my SHOE cooked in bacon would be delectable;)  hahahahahahahahhaa.....

And in other 'wrap up' news of the weekend:  For Sunday Morning breakfast we made a Lemon Rosemary Crumb Cake...

We overcooked it...the crumbs 'melted'....and it stuck to the pan, but ya know what:  it was STILL good:)  It was just a subtle lemony sweet flavor with just a KISS of rosemary that was NOT overwhelming!  Yum:)

And my one LAST tidbit of the day: We went to Halo Farms in Trenton on Sunday morning after a stop at the Trenton Farmers Market.  My heart will forever belong to the 'Farms because it reminds me of when my Grandmom & Aunt would take me there because they used to have a small petting zoo outside the store, which was AWESOME when you're 5:) 

Now why I love this store at 31 is because we got all of this:

FOR THIS:

Does it get any better than THAT??????  Seriously!  Considering milk is normally $3+ at the grocery store, we basically got a free 1/2 gallon + the eggs + the half & half + all the yogurts!  LOVE!

Not to mention, Halo Farms seriously has the GREATEST chocolate milk you will ever have in your ENTIRE life!!!  NO JOKE!  (It's by NO MEANS 'Less' in ANY capacity...but it's a yummy yummy treat:)

Heard enough from me today??????? 

OK...I'm done:)  Have a good Tuesday!

"I'm going to the Jersey Shore!"

Snooki said it best, don't ya think?? :)

So Saturday night (albeit, the LAST Saturday before Labor day;), we decided to continue our 'summer tradition' of having a picnic dinner on the beach:)  I had planned a beach picnic for Scott as his birthday 'dinner' the year we got together...and he liked it so much, he ended up proposing to me on the same beach a little over 2 years later. (Make a note, ladies! :) hahahahhahahha.....

On the way down to Point Pleasant, we made a stop at Jersey Mike's for some beach eats....

And then headed down to the far end of the beach, a waysss down from the crowded boardwalk and set up shop in a very quiet little spot to watch the waves:)

Well...and to chow!  I think we barely got the blanket down before we were breaking into our bag;)  (hey!  It WAS an hour-long drive after all!;) 

And settled in to enjoy our very favorite sandwiches:  tuna for me! :)

And classic Italian for Scott...

We both agreed that Jersey Mike's gets 2 thumbs up from us!  They were yummy...and the staff was REALLY nice too!  (bonus, Jersey Mike's!:)

We hung out until the sky turned various shades of beautiful pink...

And stayed until we saw the RED MOON RISE UP "OUT" OF THE OCEAN!!!  I have NEVER seen that happen, EVER!  It was crazy and spooky at the same time!

And of course after all that excitement, we knew just the place we were headed to to complete the night:

(Sorry...blurry picture:)  A friend had told me about Hoffman's back in FEBRUARY...but OF COURSE, we chose to head over the SAME WEEK that it was featured on "Man vs. Food"! 

So I don't know if it's normal or not, that there were THIS many people waiting in line:

(and that was only half of the room!)

We got our ticket (yes, TICKET) and waited to be called:

For the record...they were on number EIGHTY, yes 8-0, when we went in;) hahahahaha...Scott said it was the longest he's ever waited for ice cream:)

And after MUCH deliberation (what ELSE are you going to do for a half hour or so while your waiting???), we made our picks out of the 34 flavors...

I went with my first instinct (despite the heavy deliberation:) and got one scoop of Peanut Butter Nugget...and OF COURSE, a scoop of the NON-negotiable COCONUT JOY! :)

The peanut butter was good...nothing outstanding aside from the SUPER CREAMY vanilla base (although the vanilla ice cream in Scott's Chocolate Chip ice cream was OFF THE CHARTS!...seriously, we still can't believe it was THAT good!)....but the Coconut Joy, Oh-my-Lord, was worth every. single. second we spent standing in that line!  It was just pure creamy, coconut-y perfection...all mixed with delicate little chocolate chips that did NOT overpower the ice cream.  Considering the line...I doubt I'm announcing anything new when I say that Hoffman's is the shiz!  Just awesome:)

Anddd, that was our summer-spent Saturday:)  And since I have SO much to show you from Sunday AND the fact that we have yet another 'salad repeat' in store for tonight...I'm spreading my weekend wrap up for one more day:) hahahahahhahahahaha....at least it will keep things interesting:)

Happy Monday....

Oh those Summer Nights that Feel Like Fall...

Are the best nights of all:)  (I think John & Olivia missed those lyrics;) 

Well...what was planned to be the quintessential 'summer' night capped off by lovely fireworks...

...was FURTHER enhanced by the fact that it was in the high 70's and felt down right COOL out!!  Perfect weather for dining al fresca;)  And the perfect place for it LAST night was in New Hope, PA at the Blue Tortilla:)

We snagged a SWEET table right in the corner overlooking the street and settled down to pick our eats (OK, am I on a sing-song kick today, or what???:)  The Blue Tortilla uses 'no lard and uses only non-hydrogenated soy oils'...AWESOME!  Made me feel a lot better about those refried beans!

And they were QUICK to make almost all of their dishes vegetarian!  Always a good tip to know:)

Soooo....I started my night....no, not with a margarita, but with a glass of Horchata:)  I fell in <3 with Horchata in Costa Rica and I was glad to be reunited for a brief spell;)

And our stomachs were growlin for guacamole before we even left the house to head over:)  Blue Tortilla's guacamole is "made fresh as you order it. This is an old family recipe: cilantro, tomato, jalapeño pepper, a little bit of white onion, Chipilo Cream and Cotija Cheese"  YUM!!  I was soooo looking forward to THIS:)

For my dinner, I chose the "Cochinita Pibil:  From Yucatan. Chunks of lean pork marinated in Achiote, orange juice, onion, garlic and a little cinnamon. Baked until falling-apart tender. Served with pickled red onions, re-fried black beans, rice and hand-made tortillas."  Yum....the pork just MELTED in your mouth, it was soooo tender!  And the sauce just had the perfect amount of subtle kick!

Those pickled onions were some trouble though!  They were tangy and HOT! :)  But everything else was Delish! 

After dinner, we wandered around the cute little town and of course headed for the first ice cream place in sight! ;)  hahahahhahaha....We headed into "Gerenser's" and were met with QUITE a list of options...

And even though they had MANY unique flavors (don't worry Pumpkin, I'll be enjoying you next week!)...

I went with my favorite of the summer....Vanilla Peanut Butter, and made the most excellent decision of having it in a pretzel cone so I got a nice bite of SALT to go along with my SWEET:)  Perfection:)

Ok, ok, ok...confession:  We also had some MORE salty and sweet, in the form of a strip of Chocolate Covered Bacon that we got at the chocolate shop.  But I mean, really?  How are we NOT suppose to try it??? :)  (and it was goooooood...oh yes, it was:)

And now after THAT, it was time to head to the bridge to watch the sky light up OVER the river, which was just oh-so-pretty!! :)  Perfect way to begin winding down the summer:)

Butttt....don't think that the upcoming seasons were ever far from our minds;)  Fa la la la la... ;)

And since I woke up to a chilly morning, I thought a TRUE fall breakfast was in order:)  Oatmeal and Autum Harvest Blend Coffee to be exact!

I'm glad I 'embraced' it, since it's suppose to go up to the 90's for the next few days:(  OH PLEASE, PLEAAASSSSSEEEE LET THIS BE "THE END!!!"  For now, we have another "Farewell to Summer" activity planned for tonight...and it's SORTA going to involve a popular TV show;)  hahahhahaha....

Have a great Saturday! :)

...onto France...or Texas...and Ohio;)

So after deciding to raid the pantry and have pancakes for dinner last night, I decided to flip the switch and was craving ANOTHER breakfast favorite instead:)  So I headed to TJ's to pick up a good French Toast Bread and decided on:

The Texas Toast made for some SUPER thick slices...and made the French Toast NOT SOGGY!!  A victory unto itself...

Actually, it was either the Texas Toast OR that we followed Food Network Magazine's suggestion for "Perfect French Toast" and popped them in the toaster oven for 10 minutes after they finished up on the griddle... (good call, A!:)

...which resulted in some CRISPY on the outside, Custard-y on the inside Toast Francaise!;)  I never had actually CRUNCHY French Toast before, which just made it FAB-U-LOUS! :)

Ok, ok, ok....I know French Toast isn't SUPER exciting...but WHAT IS super exciting was what we received in the mail on Wednesday! ;)

You know it's going to be a good day when you have ice cream waiting on your porch;)  And I'll admit, while "Mother's Day" and "Father's Day" were a guise for ordering last time....this time, we have absolutely no other excuse for ordering aside from wanting to try the quintessential 'summer flavors' before the season is over (T-MINUS: ONE WEEK FOLKS;)

So without further ado, I'll give you a run down from least favorite to the most awesome;)  And when I say "least favorite" I mean: Just not quite as awesome as the others, since they were ALL superb;)  First up we had Backyard Mint:  "Pure, intense peppermint restrained and mellowed with sweet cream. Like a cool breeze on a hot day"...

This one was strong...SUPER STRONG! Very good, but I liked the mint mellowness of the Savannah Buttermint a little better...

Next up...and tell me this doesn't SCREAM "SUMMER":  Sweet Corn and Black Raspberries:  "Buttery, milky sweet corn gives way flawlessly to sweet-tart black raspberry jam. Breath of honey on the finish."  

The corn 'side' (and yes, it does taste like actual CORN) is supppper mellow, while the raspberries add a tangy KICK.  And isn't it just oh-so-pretty?? :)

Next was the reason I placed the order to begin with, as I was DYING to try: Mackenzie Creamery Goat Cheese with Roasted Red Cherries: " Sweet-tart roasted Michigan cherries are balanced by the tang of pure goat cheese. Like a cherry cheesecake, but even better!"

This has been the summer of arugula and goat cheese, as I used to be a passive fan and am now drop dead in love with both:)  And this ice cream was the true culmination of the season;)  Lots of tang and lots of sweet all rolled into one;)

Tell me this one would be hard to be bad:  Brown Butter Almond Brittle: "Based on the traditional Norwegian dessert krokan. Browned butter gives depth to salty, sweet almond brittle."

The ice cream is smooth and sweet...but your treasure is digging out those little gems of krokan= Heaven:)

So OK...I know this wasn't the oddest flavor in the bunch, but having it come in 2nd place out of all of those interesting flavors, just speaks for how good it really is:  Pistachio & Honey: "Pure and true pistachio flavor;  very lightly sweetened for a savory finish."

YOW!  This is NOT vanilla ice cream with pistachios swirled in...no, no, no...this is actually PISTACHIO ICE CREAM.  As in every. single. bite has the salty taste of pistachios!  Mixed with the honey...this one is sorta unreal;)

Ok...and now we've come to the crown jewel, and I know I may lose a few people on this one, but just trust me:  Bangkok Peanut  "Complex blend of hot, salty, savory and sweet melt for a satisfying treat. Peanut butter and toasted coconut give way to lingering spicy finish. "

No joke...this may seriously be one of the best ice creams I've ever tasted in my whole life.  If not BEST, it is certainly the most surprising and unique.  Your first bite tastes like peanuts and GLORIOUS toasted coconut...and then you get HIT with the heat from the chili's.  I couldn't take more than 3 bites at any given time (although, I'm a wimp...as we've learned...in the spice department;)  This is spicy AND sweet AND cool AND hot all rolled into one!  How does this even HAPPEN??  HOW?!  It's OUTSTANDING...there is no other word for it!! :)  Just off the charts good;)

So there you have it, our FINAL summer-y food purchase of the season (well...maybe;)  And if you haven't guessed, Jeni's is AWESOME!  Even having it delivered all the way from Ohio to NJ is totally worth it;) hahahahahhaa...

We have a few 'savoring the summer' activities planned for this weekend....See, I wait till the LAST WEEK to 'embrace it';)  But never fear...my pumpkin decorations are already starting to peek out at me, just WAITING to be displayed;) hahahahhahaha...

Happy Friday and have a great weekend! ;)

From Thailand to Spain...

We're really spannin the globe this week, huh???  Last night we decided to try our hand at Spanish Stuffed Peppers.  And since the recipe clocked in at a "SHOCKING" (for RR) 60 MINUTES...I decided to speed up the process a bit by having Delores cook the chicken so it was ready when I got home:)  Instead of Ground Chicken, I used regular chicken breast and my little trick of the day was that I used the water (not oil) from this jar of Roasted Piquillo Peppers & about a half a cup of tomato sauce, salt, pepper and paprika and let it cook on low for 5 hours...

When I got home, the chicken broke apart with a fork and the added flavors made it taste even BETTER!  Scott had one bite and said he would have eaten the chicken just like that! :)  SUCCESS:)

The rest of the dish came together pretty easy....onions, garlic, tomato sauce, parsley, those chopped piquillo peppers, parsley and toasted walnuts (I know...but they gave a nice kick;)

All mixed with the rice made for a pretty hearty filling!

Another essential ingredient was this cheese I picked up from TJ's...

Yum!!  The Cotija has a milllllllllld flavor to it and then you get a huge salt KICK!!!!  And as a lover of salt (sorry, blood pressure association), this cheese was a winner:)

I filled up the hollowed red peppers part way and added a layer of Cotija...

And then MOUNDED the rest of the peppers with the rest of the chicken/rice mix and cheese...to the point that they peppers were nowhere to be seen;)

And a half hour in the toaster oven and these babies were ready to roll!  Not the prettiest little buggers...but they were pretty darn delicious!

And can you deny the fabulousness of ANYTHING with a hidden CHEESE layer???   I think not!

And after analyzing the dish, I realized that aside from the salty cheese....I had added barely ANY salt to the rest of the dish (aside from the shake or two in the chicken)...so that just speaks for how flavorful all of these ingredients were on their own!  (I think I just won back the Blood Pressure folks;)  We really enjoyed these...maybe a bit of work for a weeknight, but with the help of your own 'Delores', you can probably knock off an extra 15 minutes or so....any bit helps;)

And since I had so much to show you today (and since I'm still unsure of WHAT we're having for dinner tonight...but I have a feeling it's going to involve more freezer/pantry scavenging:)...I figured I'd save my most wonderful food 'news' of the week till tomorrow!  But here's a preview:

Stay Tuned;)