April 24, 2011

Celebrating Home Party

Well last night I hosted a Celebrating Home Party, and since I love to entertain people, I made 3 different recipes from the "Season's Best" cook book from The Pampered Chef. I made an appetizer, dinner, and dessert.

Here is the dinner table :)




The appetizer was a Artichoke Tapenade




Ingredients:
1 lemon

1 can (14 oz or 398 mL) artichoke hearts in water

1/4 cup (50 mL) loosely packed fresh parsley

1 garlic clove, peeled

1/2 cup (125 mL) pitted green olives

1 tbsp (15 mL) capers

5 tbsp (75 mL) olive oil

Toasted Baguette Slices (optional, see below)


Directions:
1. Zest lemon using Microplane(R) Zester to measure 1/2 tsp (2 mL). Juice lemon using Citrus Press to measure 1 tbsp (15 mL) juice. Drain artichokes using small Stainless Mesh Colander; pat dry using paper towels.

2. Combine parsley, garlic, lemon zest, juice, artichokes, olives, capers and oil in Manual Food Processor. Cover and pump handle to process to desired consistency, removing lid and scraping down sides of bowl as necessary using Mini Mix 'N Scraper(R). Serve with Toasted Baguette Slices, if desired.

Yield: 10 servings (about 2 cups/500 mL)

Nutrients per serving: (about 3 tbsp/45 mL): Calories 90, Total Fat 8 g, Saturated Fat 1 g, Cholesterol 0 mg, Carbohydrate 3 g, Protein 1 g, Sodium 280 mg, Fiber 1 g

Toasted Baguette Slices


20 slices French bread, cut 1/4 in. (6 mm) thick

2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil


1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Place bread slices on Rectangle Stone; lightly brush bread slices with oil. Bake 10–12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Dinner was Mexican Chicken Napoleons




Ingredients:
12 (6-in./15-cm) corn tortillas

2 cups (500 mL) diced cooked unsalted chicken breasts

1 can (14.5 oz or 398 mL) black beans, drained and rinsed

1 medium red onion, divided

1 cup (250 mL) loosely packed fresh cilantro, divided

1 cup (250 mL) shredded Chihuahua cheese or Monterey Jack cheese, divided

1/4 cup (50 mL) light mayonnaise

2 garlic cloves, pressed

1/4 tsp (1 mL) each salt and coarsely ground black pepper

3 kiwi, peeled

1 jalapeño pepper, stemmed and seeded

1-2 limes

2 cups (500 mL) diced fresh pineapple


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C). Trim tortillas using Pizza Cutter to make twelve 4-in. (10-cm) squares. Spray both sides of squares with nonstick cooking spray. Arrange squares on Large Bar Pan, overlapping slightly. Bake 8–10 minutes or until squares begin to brown; remove pan from oven. Turn squares over with Mini-Serving Spatula. Return to oven; bake 5–7 minutes or until golden brown and very crisp. Remove pan from oven to Stackable Cooling Rack.

2. Meanwhile, place chicken and beans in Classic Batter Bowl. Coarsely chop onion and cilantro with Food Chopper; add half of the onion and cilantro to batter bowl, reserving remaining for salsa. Add 3/4 cup (175 mL) of the cheese, mayonnaise, garlic pressed with Garlic Press, salt and black pepper; mix well with Small Mix 'N Scraper(R). Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH 2–3 minutes or until heated through, stirring once halfway through.

3. Remove six of the tortilla squares from pan; arrange remaining squares on pan in two rows. Top evenly with half of the filling. Place reserved squares over filling and top evenly with remaining filling. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup (50 mL) cheese. Bake 4–6 minutes or until cheese is melted. Remove pan from oven.

4. Meanwhile, for salsa, finely dice kiwi with Utility Knife; finely chop jalapeño with Food Chopper. Juice limes to measure 2 tbsp (30 mL). In clean batter bowl, combine pineapple, kiwi, jalapeño, lime juice, reserved onion and cilantro. Serve salsa with napoleons.

Yield: 6 servings

Nutrients per serving: (1 napoleon and 1/3 cup/75 mL salsa): Calories 330, Total Fat 12 g, Saturated Fat 4.5 g, Cholesterol 65 mg, Carbohydrate 36 g, Protein 23 g, Sodium 470 mg, Fiber 5 g

And last but not least, the dessert, Coconut-Lime Tart




Ingredients:

Crust
Nonstick cooking spray with flour

1 bag (14 oz/400 g) sweetened flaked coconut (about 5 1/3 cups/1.25 L), divided

2 eggs, beaten

2 tbsp (30 mL) granulated sugar


Filling
1 container (8 oz) thawed frozen whipped topping (3 cups/750 mL), divided

4 oz (125 g) cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup (75 mL) powdered sugar

1/2 cup (125 mL) Coconut Lime Sauce, divided

1 lime


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Spray Torte Pan with nonstick cooking spray with flour. Place an 8-in. (20-cm) circle of Parchment Paper in center of pan; set aside. For crust, set aside 1 cup (250 mL) of the coconut. Place remaining coconut in Large Micro-Cooker(R); microwave, uncovered, on HIGH 3–5 minutes, stirring every minute for the first 3 minutes, then every 30 seconds until golden brown. Combine toasted coconut, reserved coconut, eggs and sugar in Stainless (4-qt./4-L) Mixing Bowl; mix well.

2. Spoon coconut mixture over center of prepared pan. Using Small Spreader, spread crust evenly into pan. Bake 10–12 minutes or until edge is slightly crisp. Remove pan from oven. Invert crust onto Stackable Cooling Rack; remove pan and cool 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, attach open star tip to Easy Accent(R) Decorator; fill with 1 cup (250 mL) of the whipped topping and set aside. For filling, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar and 1/3 cup (75 mL) of the sauce in Classic Batter Bowl; whisk until smooth. Add remaining 2 cups (500 mL) whipped topping; mix until stiff. Place remaining sauce into resealable plastic bag; secure bag. Slice lime into six slices; cut slices in half.

4. Transfer crust to Simple Additions(R) Large Round Platter using Mega Lifter. Spread filling over crust, spreading evenly with clean spreader. Trim corner of bag containing sauce; drizzle over filling. Garnish with reserved whipped topping and lime slices.

Yield: 12 servings

Nutrients per serving: Calories 290, Total Fat 19 g, Saturated Fat 15 g, Cholesterol 50 mg, Carbohydrate 27 g, Protein 4 g, Sodium 135 mg, Fiber 2 g

Cook's Tip: For a flavor twist, lemon curd can be substituted for the Coconut Lime Sauce, if desired.


And that is it! My three recipes of the night that didn't last but maybe 20 minutes. Everybody jumped on the food and just ate it all!! It was gone faster than it took to cook it!! Which is always good! :) I hope you guys enjoy and as always any tips or comments are welcome!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:N Battlebell Rd,Highlands,United States

April 7, 2011

Lizy's Maternity pictures

Well these were done a few years back but I felt like it was about to blog about them :)

Lizy was my first maternity photo session back when I started my photo business :) she was a great model and her baby Rebecca added even more to the shots.

Here are my favorites...
















I love these pictures :) some of my favorite from my portfolio.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:N Battlebell Rd,Highlands,United States