scrabble never tasted so good.

the past few days have been a whirlwind of chaos, food obsessions, kindred spirits, & loud talkers (with a few low talkers thrown in the mix! time to go watch that seinfeld episode again)...alas with the current snowstorm/blizzard/day off from steaming milk&feeding the public's caffeine addiction, I am excited to post the adventures I have embarked on...
Even though we threw a fabulous belated birthay dinner extravaganza party just a few short weeks ago, I wanted more! I had an urge to cook again, but this time only invited a handful of people, down from 33 to maybe 12, attempting to pass it off as a quiet scrabble gathering, but alas that was not to be the case...I don't think it ever will be...so in preparation, because I am a firm believer in having too much food rather than not enough, as soon as I arrived home from work Friday night, I started my fast & furious turn to th dark side...goat cheese brownies were to be my first devious task....I had seen a glimpse of them on an episode of Bobby Flay's throwdown...he lost to this seemingly scary confection, & I just had to know how good they really could be...I have a deep rooted affinity for goat cheese& chocolate is always a dealmaker, so it seemed to me to be the perfect fit/match....I followed the recipe, which I procured from www.fattoadfarm.com...i set to work, double boiling the chocolate, & mixing the dry ingredients...but the super awesome exciting part came when I rocked out with the goat cheese...usually when i do baked goods, I don't always use electric mixer, I oftentimes mix by hand, but with the texture of the goat cheese I broke out my electric mixer..the goat cheese blended perfectly with the sugar&vanilla, & I just knew the finished product would be ridiculous...which means crazy good by the way...i layered the chocolate & goat cheese delicately in the pan, & made sure to put my finishing touches of swirls on the top...as they went into the heated abyss, I moved onto my empanada filling....again, empanadas are the perfect foodie item to have at all casual get togethers, they are filling, easy to make & satisfying to feverishly consume...
this time I changed up the filling...I still made 40 (for some reason the magic number of empanadas to prepare)...I buy 2 different doughs, yellow & white, so I can color coordinate the fillings, one for meat filling, the other for the very lovely vegetarians in my life...for the meat, besides the requisite garlic, onions, spanish olives, ground beef, & myriad of yummy spices, I added diced red potatoes...and for the meatless ones, instead of just cheese, I added garlic,onions, olives & yet agin potatoes...the potatoes added a nice texture to both & i was very pleased with the results...the next night when i served them i was satisfied & sooo happy when i was told these were the best empanadas I had ever made...
as for the goat cheese brownies, when I presented them to my fabulous guests, there was a great deal of skepticism as to how they would actually taste...i was ready to win them over, I knew that once they had their first taste, they would immediately cross over to my side & never go back...& then it happened...then skeptics marvelled at how the smooth & sweetly tart goat cheese complemented the chocolate, reminicent of cheesecake...one bit was not enough, & soon crumb covered hands were reaching out for seconds & thirds, some of my friends were scooping up fallen morsels of goat cheese from the plate to consume...I would say mission accomplished.
as for scrabble, that never came to fruition...we did play lunch money, which was an experience in it of itself...the scrabble board was laid out at some point, where we spelled out messages best not repeated on my cooking blog. just another fantastic night of good people & good eats...there really is no better way to spend life.

...cooking is love...

...oftentimes...with the busyness of work full-time&school full-time, I come home a bit wearied and just wanting to shake the dust of the day off my body& most importantly off of my heart...the last thing I want to do is stop at the supermarket or come home and cook...to be completely honest, I hate cooking for myself...lets put that on the list of things I just am not into, and cannot get excited about...i absolutely love cooking for other people...if i didn't have other people to cook for, I would not enjoy it nearly as much...cooking is an emotional thing for me I guess...I grew up in a (LOUD) Italian family, where cooking was and is love...are you sad? here let me make you some pasta fagioli...you're sick? heres some pastina with butter & parmesan...yes when I was sick for my entire vacation a few weeks ago, I managed to make it to jersey for a couple of days...my Grandma Julia came up the stairs with a steaming hot pot of pastina to fix my ailments, and my heart...it worked..at least for that day...
so I guess my point is cooking is love, for me...if I love you, or at least like you a little bit, I will cook...& bake& cook some more...
cupcakes, empanadas, penne vodka, chicken parmesan, pizza, omelettes, tostones, a 5 layer cake...you name it, I'll make it for you...or at least we can both hope that I will...I procure just as much enjoyment out of the act of preparing the meal as I hope the person consuming it is...so here I am..just walked in the door from a very lonnngggg day...I am hungry...but alas do not want to cook for myself...I think I'll ask my roommate Jenny if shes hungry...

so i awoke this morning completely famished....I am attempting to cook & eat more healthy for the mere fact that I would like to live a very long&full life , even on the very, bad, not so good days!!!
My breakfast of choice lately has been omelettes...you can really do anything with omelettes...& I mean anything...I would compare it to the most awesome salad...add anything you like and you really cannot go wrong...
I remember when I lived in Blauvelt, NY...We would occasionaly have weekly dinners where a few friends and co-workers would stop by...it was usually quick, because I was in a bowling league (um, I was sooo bad @ bowling, that guys from other teams would come over and attempt to show me how to properly bowl..good times!)...
...one of the nights, we had breakfast for dinner, which is always amazing&awesome...my responsibility for this dinner was omelettes.I filled separate bowls with mushrooms, onions, various cheeses, spinach, the list goes on for infinity....
I let guests fill an empty bowl with whatever they wanted and then I went on to create customized tasty goodness...
this morning I felt inspired & sauteed fresh organic spinach with a teeny bit of crushed garlic in a great big dash of olive oil...once the bright green of the spinach became a dark and glorious rich green, I added marinated artichoke hearts....them came the 2 beaten eggs....I (generously) sprinkled on some cracked peppercorn, salt, and parmesan cheese...the aromatics were intense...way better than any scented candle could provide! I let the omelette brown on one side and then gracefully (right!) folded it in half...
this would be perfect to share with a loved one, or someone you could at least stand...mulitgrain toast with preserves and a french press of freshly ground coffee from a local shop (SLAVE TO THE GRIND!) would be the marriage....omg i absolutely <3 breakfast....
I have rachel ray on tv in the background...she is making penne vodka...I have to say I don't like her version..I have made penne vodka three times in the past couple of months successfully..I have not made it before these times & I have to say I was thoroughly impressed..I used my grandfather's recipe(his penne vodka is legendary) and made a couple Jessica alterations to it and was very happy with the results...I threw a dinner party amost 2 weeks ago & served it there...it went quick, and many wanted second helpings...i will post the recipe and pics soon of this rich & satisfying dish!

gravy!!!

...something real quick i have to get off my jersey italian chest...its called GRAVY not sauce...

first time!

so this is my first foray into an official blogging experience...yes I have done livejournal, myspace & facebook posts in the past, but I wanted to do something food-specific (besides eating!)....so we shall see how far I may take this...so you could say this is my first time! wish me luck, and I hope I won't be disappointed! <3