Happy Birthday To Me!

Well, today is my 26th birthday! Wow, I can't believe I have already surpassed the quarter of a century mark! (I think someone should buy me this cake and have it delivered to my work!)

Here are some facts about September 14th:

In 1814 Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner

1901 President McKinley died of gunshot wounds (succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt)

In 1948 the ground-breaking for the United Nations in NYC.

September 14th was the first birthday drawn for the US draft in the Vietnam War.

In 1983 I was born (and I share that date with Amy Winehouse... man couldn't I share it with someone better than that!)

In 1994 the MLB season is canceled due to strike.

Weekend with the Family

Well for Labor Day, we made the 6 hour drive up to Fayetteville to finally allow Keith to spend more than 6 hours with the nephew. Unfortunately we did not get to leave immediately after work like we planned, but we did finally get on the road by 6 and pulled into my brother's driveway shortly after midnight, exhausted and ready to go straight to bed!

Saturday of course was the first day of college football, which meant that the men in the house were going to be worthless (though I have to say, they did prepare the meals for the day, thanks to the grill). Us ladies decided to do a little bit of shopping during the early games, but made sure to make it back for the Nebraska game and OF COURSE the LSU game that night!

This was Austin's first Nebraska game, and my brother made sure that he was showing his Nebraska pride!

Here he is hanging out with his Poppi. (Yes, we finally named my dad. Though where he got Poppi from we are not sure and he wants to be called Big Poppi but we refuse)

Now this was Keith's first trip to see the little guy since he was baptized in March and can I say someone is obsessed with his Uncle Keith. I don't know what it is but little boys are just amazed by Keith. With Austin I think it is the brown hair. He is so used to being around blondes all the time that he just loves us brunettes.


You see someone just loves his Uncle Keith. He would have stayed on top of those shoulders all day if we would have let him. He just laughed and laughed.

Austin is growing so fast and it is just so much fun to watch him. It is amazing all of the things that he has learned since I last saw him about two months ago.

He now holds his bottle like a big boy. Well that is until someone else decides that they want to hold it for him and then those little hands are non-existent!
He even tried fruit for the first time while we were there. He just loved the orange! This was while we were at Mimi's, which if any of you read Kelly's Korner we all know she loves. I now understand why she loves it! Seriously it was delicious! And if you bring a child with you when you sit down they have a little plate with Cheerios and crackers and fruit! Seriously how awesome is that!

Austin is also learning how to stand up and hold on now! Yes there is a hand holding on to him there. He isn't really strong enough to do it for a long time, so we were a little worried he would fall and start screaming so we figured better safe than sorry!

It was a great weekend full of family and great food and I can't wait to go back again. Unfortunately though the next trip isn't planned until Austin's first birthday in December! I don't know if I will make it that long!

Pizza on the Grill

Ok I know it has been almost a month since my last post, but since I started working full time I never have much free time anymore! I am loving my job but it keeps me very busy and when I get home I have so many things to do around the house, that I don't get to just sit around and play on the computer anymore! Boo to that I know!

Anyway, I have been meaning to type this post up for awhile now and since Keith is busy watching football for the next 5 months I figured I would do it this morning before I start the day of cleaning!

So Keith gets Men's Health every month and he found this recipe in the July/August issue and decided he wanted to try it so we did. It was really tasty, and not hard to make, but messy! So I hope you try it!

Ingredients for Dough:
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups warm water (77 to 81 degrees F)
4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup salt

(we cut the recipe in half as it makes about 4 pizzas and though we like to eat, I didn't think we needed that much)

Directions for Dough:
1. Let the yeast dissolve in the warm water for about 5 minutes.

2. Combine the flour and salt and dump the mixture onto a flat surface.
Make a depression in the middle , pour the yeast and water into it, and combine the dry and wet ingredients by hand until the dough starts to come together. (this was the biggest mess... I know there is an easier way) Keep working the dough with the palms of your hands for 7 to 8 minutes, and then let it rest at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until it doubles in size.

(this was before it doubled) Now punch it down, squeezing out all the air bubbles. Cut the dough into four equal pieces and shape them into balls. Place them in the fridge for another 2 hours.

3. For each pizza, dust your table and the top of the dough ball with flour. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes. Use the tips of your fingers to stretch it outward to a 10-inch circle, with the edges thicker than the center. Leftover dough (if kept in ball form) will keep in the fridge for 3 days.

Here is the dough all rolled out and ready to go on the grill. The dough tasted great which I was a little surprised about since it was my first time attempting to make pizza dough!

For Sauce:

1 can (28 oz) peeled San Marzano tomatoes, like Cento

Directions for Sauce:

Wash your hands and dump the entire contents of the can into a bowl. Squeeze each tomato until the sauce is smooth but not soupy. Chunks are ok. (this was so easy for a sauce and so fresh!)

Cooking Directions for the Crust:

Transfer the crust onto the grill using a well-floured pizza board. (We didn't have one of these, but found the easiest thing was to pick the dough off the cookie sheet and basically throw it on the grill) Grill the crust uncovered for 20 seconds, or until the dough is slightly charred and rigid. Rotate it 90 degrees and cook for another 20 seconds. Now flip the crust; cook it for another 30 seconds and remove from grill.

Cooking Directions for the Toppings:

(Of course with a pizza you can top it with another you choose. We used fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, pepperoni and mushrooms! It was wonderful.)

With the cross hatched side up, top your pizza (off the grill). Place on heat and cover the grill. Cook the pie for 2 to 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted, the ingredients cook through, and the bottom is well charred.

Now just enjoy!!

Basil Pesto Cream Sauce

Here is the recipe for the sauce that I used... again sorry for no pictures!

Basil Pesto Cream Sauce
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse

1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves (packed)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts, toasted
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Splash of Heavy Cream

For the sauce, In the bowl of a food processor, combine the basil, salt, and pepper and process for a few seconds until the basil is chopped. Add the cheese, pine nuts, and garlic and, while the processor is running, add the oil in a thin, steady stream until a mostly smooth sauce is formed. Wipe out sauté pan and warm pesto just a bit. Add splash of cream and allow to heat through. (Note: Pesto may be made 1 day in advance and kept, refrigerated, in an airtight container, until ready to use. If making in advance, be sure to cover the top of the pesto with a thin layer of olive oil to prevent the pesto from darkening. Pesto may also be frozen in the same manner in small quantities for use at a later date.)

Breaded Chicken

This is the chicken recipe that I used to go with the Pesto Cream sauce I served... unfortunately I forgot to take pictures while I was making the sauce, so you only get pictures of the chicken prep, but I will share the pesto recipe at the end of this post.

Breaded Chicken
Ina Garten
Ingredients
2 split (1 whole) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 extra-large egg
1/2 tablespoon water
3/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
Good olive oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap and pound out to 1/4-inch thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Mix the flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the egg and 1/2 tablespoon of water together. Place the bread crumbs on a third plate.

Dip each chicken breast first in the flour, shake off the excess...
and then dip in the egg

and bread crumb mixtures.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium to medium-low heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 2 minutes on each side, until browned.

Place them on the sheet pan and allow them to bake for 5 to 10 minutes while you make the sauce.

This chicken came out great and stayed really tender and juicy since it is browned and then baked. You could use this chicken recipe for Chicken Parmigiana, Chicken Picatta, or just about any other recipe where you need a breaded chicken and you serve it with a sauce.

Rosemary Bread

This is one of the recipes that I had at our dinner last weekend. It is very similar to the bread that is served at Macaroni Grill (which is Keith's all time favorite restaurant bread). I had to make to batches of it as my stupid salt grinder broke on top of the other loaf... I was not excited! Please excuse my horrible picture taking...

Rosemary Bread
Recipezaar.com

Ingredients
1 tablespoon yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons rosemary
2 tablespoons butter

Directions

Place yeast, sugar and water in large bowl or food processor and allow mixture to become bubbly.

Mix in 1 T butter, salt, and 2 cups of flour. Add one tablespoon of the fresh chopped rosemary. Knead for about 10 minutes by hand or in food processor about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Add more flour if necessary. Oil a bowl, put dough in it and cover with a towel.

Let dough rise in a warm place for one hour until doubled. Punch down dough and divide in half. Let dough rest about 5 minutes. Spray baking pan or cookie sheet with cooking spray. Shape the dough into 2 small rounded oval loaves. Sprinkle remaining 1 Tablespoon of rosemary over the loaves and press lightly into the surface. Let loaves rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Carefully remove from oven, brush with remaining butter (and salt if desired.).

And here is the finished product. No I didn't cook it in the foil, that was just to keep it warm for the dinner!

I am still alive... I promise!

Sorry for the no posting, but I have been so busy since my last post, it is not even funny!

The dinner party was a success and I have a few great recipes to share and I hope to get those up this afternoon. We really enjoyed the fellowship and the great meal and I can't wait to do it again soon! It was a bit stressful trying to get everything ready so that you make sure you have all of the parts of the meal nice and hot when it is time to serve, but it all worked out!

On Monday I started my new job at the UT Health Science Center that we are so lucky to have in our area! With five days down, I am still enjoying it immensly and I can't wait to see what each day holds for me. I am working with the teaching faculty of the school and they are all so incredibly nice. I have been put in charge of Physician Recruitment (you know showing potential candidates around the school), some hiring for our ambulatory clinics (we have three very large clinics in some of the surrounding towns and we run the student clinic at UT Tyler), and I will also be acting as backup if we have someone out of one of the main offices that supports the medical staff. Everyone I have met there is fabulous and so willing to help if you have questions and I am just so glad to be back in an office setting! I even have a nice big office (with a door, if you knew what my last office was like you would understand why this is so important) and I am working on the decorating of it and I hope to post pictures sometime next week!

Yesterday we had our Re-assembly Tea for the women's group I am in. I am actually in charge of our big fundraiser in December so I spent most of my time there begging people to volunteer to help. It was a really great afternoon and I got quite a few volunteers and am really excited to finish up the planning!

Here are a few pictures from the afternoon.

Noami running the Mah Jongg sign-up table.

Barbara (President and fellow LSU grad) and Gail (Programs Chair). Both of these ladies are professors at UT Tyler.

Myself and another member. This is probably while I was begging for her to help out with the Holiday Home Tour!

Well I hope everyone is having a great end of summer. School starts here in Tyler tomorrow so the stores are packed full of last minute shoppers so I plan on spending the rest of my day just hanging out. We are grilling hand made pizza's tonight on the grill and I am very excited about it. Just waiting on the pizza dough to rise now. Hoping to share that recipe too, hopefully if I get free time soon!