How we roll....

Last night was a pretty typical "Donna & Scott" night (aka-a truly geeky foodie festJ)....so let's break it down shall we??

#1.- All in the balance...

So after eating a particularly indulgent meal Friday night, we had planned for our Saturday night to "balance us out a bit."  So very happily, our dinner nearly went from this... 

...to this!   

I was soooo excited that our ENTIRE dinner came from the farmer's market that very morning!

I found this recipe for Golden Corn Salad with Fresh Basil from Cooking Light while we were driving down to the market and figured it would be PERFECT for the evening.  One layer of:

• potatoes
• corn
• red pepper
• roasted yellow tomatoes
• arugula
• balsamic/shallot/mustard/olive oil dressing...

...and topped with fresh, chopped basil & a sprinkle of tomato & basil cheese from Hillacre Farms...

To quote Scott (I SWEAR it was ScottJ): "We need to find more recipes like THAT!"  This dish was soooo fresh & light while still being slightly hearty from the potato bites.  Not to mention all of the bright & fresh veggies matched perfect with the tangy dressing and little decadence from the cheese.  Bellissimo! 

#2- Let your freak flag fly...

Sooooooooooooo...the big PART-A of the night was to celebrate Miss Penny's big FOURTH birthday yesterday!!!!  And like last year, there were gifts (from here beloved NonaJ) 

(My Mom's new favorite picture of the month, I'm sure...J)

...a perfectly pet friendly homemade dinnerJ.  This year, Penny got a nearly complete farmer's market fresh dinner too!!  This one mixed ground turkey, zucchini, apples, potatoes & red peppers over some white rice... 

...she barely took a BREATH as she chowed it all down in about 2 minutes! hahahahahhahaha....

And of course, a cake! 

I made the base this year with:

• 1 cup oat flour
• 1 egg
• 1/2 diced apple
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Mix everything together, pour in a loaf pan and bake for about 30 minutes at 350.  (I must say...that thing actually smelled pretty decent while it was bakingJ).  I frosted it with:

• 1 mashed banana
• 1/4 cup peanut butter

 Needless to say, Penny inhaled that one as well! 

#3- Ice Cream reigns supreme...

OK, who am I kiddin?  MOST desserts reign supreme with Scott & I, but since it was "Father's Day weekend", Penny decided to give Scott the gift that keeps on giving:  6 different varieties of Scott's favorite flavor, Coffee!....

(she's a big fan of ice cream gifts apparentlyJ)

We tried to keep our samples down to one or two bites of each flaxor, but there was no way we couldn't sample each of them! 

Here were our picks from "least favorite" to "OHMYGODTHISISSOGOOD!"

#6- BANG!!!  Caffeinated Iced Latte... 

This stuff was pretty bitter (compared to the rest of the flavors), but had this greatttt ribbon of SOLID chocolate swirled throughout... 

Although the "caffeinated ice cream" part freaked me out a bitJ  I think I had about 1/2 a spoonful!  Didn't want to mess around with that one too muchJ 

#5- Espresso Chocolate Chip from Boulder Ice Cream... 

This was another semi-bitter number swirled with chocolate chips.  It was super thick & dense! 

#4-Tiramisu gelato... 

Definitely interesting to say the least.  We were wondering what was giving it the "unique" taste and after checking the label we discovered it was the mix of marscapone cheese AND masala wine! Unique for sure!

 #3-Mocha Macchiato Ice Cream directly from the University of Wisconsin! (how cool is that????)

This was the LIGHTEST of all the flavors....the ice cream was light & airy in taste AND in weight.  This pint felt like a feather compared to the HEAVY caffeinated & Boulder ice cream!  Definitely helped it's ranking by having a lovely ribbon of caramel swirled throughout... 

#2- Silver Moon Coffee with Brownie Bits from Los Gatos, California... 

And what put this one over the top???  The fact that it was made with PURE coffee liquour!  There was even a warning label on here that you had to be 21 years old to purchase the pintJ hahahhahaha...smooooth & silky!

And #1- Simple can sometimes be the best...

I had had Ronnybrook ice cream before at the Chelsea Market in NYC and KNEW that this coffee was going to be worth the ordering.  It tasted like a pure, sweet & sinful cup of coffee and cream.  Super smooth, exceptionally creamy and darn near perfect.  In the end, simplicity ultimately won us overJ

#4- From Home to...

The rest of our night was spent talking about travel...both of where we are going next (EEEEEEEE!) and where we've been (most specifically, how much we LOVED LAKE PLACID!!!)  And we wrapped up the night by finally it's been under our coffee table for a month watching "Hereafter"... 

If you're a fan of fast paced movies, don't watch this one.  This one was a slowly revealing film (I think Matt Damon was in it all of a half hour total), but we both really like it.  Just might not be everyone's cup of tea.

So yep...that was our "typical D+S night" rolled right into our "usually sweet Sunday morning" complete with cinnamon twists from DiBartolo's bakery...

H-E-A-V-E-N!

Alright, after reliving all of those goodies, it's making me EXTRA anxious to get to boxing class this fine morning!  Hope you guys have a great day!  Enjoy your SundayJ