Home of the Free Because of the Brave

arlington national cemetery




I hope at some point this Memorial Day weekend you will take a moment to remember those who have lost their lives in support of our country.



Today I remember Holly Charette , she was my best friend in high school. She enlisted in the USMC after 9/11 and she was killed in Iraq by a suicide bomber June 23, 2005

Mothers Day

First of all , I would like to wish all the Mama's out there a Happy Mothers Day!!

and secondly I am SO aggravated. I just ruined the best cheesecake and had to throw it out... What a way to start the day :(

Programming Change

There is going to be a slight programming change. It appears Tuesdays With Dorie has dropped me from their participants so I won't be baking much from that cookbook anymore. Originally that was the reason I created this blog however I really love blogging about the food I create for the people that I love.

So look for something new and exciting . I'm not sure what that is yet. but its gotta be wicked good!

Its About That Time...

Grilling is one of my most favorite things to do . When I was growing up my dad always did the grilling , never allowing me to help , which was just plain annoying. So when I got married and moved away I knew that I would develop my grilling skills. One thing I learned was the difference between cooking on the grill , and grilling. You can cook things on the grill all day long , but grilling is different. Some people have it and some don't. My husband doesn't . Haha , Love you honey!

So when Matt from Daregal Gourmet emailed me and asked if I wanted to try some frozen herbs the company sells. I jumped on it!! When I got them in the mail and saw they had a grilling blend I knew this would be the first thing I'd try.

I got the grill ready , and seasoned the steaks with the grilling herbs which is a mix of Thyme, Rosemary, Savory and Italian Parsley , i just oiled the steaks and added a little salt and pepper and let them hang out with the herbs while they came to room temp (you never want to grill with cold steaks , it will make the meat more tough). Just 3 minutes on each side , and then let it rest a bit so all the juices don't run out when you cut them and poof! dinner is d.o.n.e.

I also made some roasted potatoes with leeks , man oh man was that yummy!! I used the original blend of herbs with the potatoes , and roasted them for 45 mins at 350. they were PERFECT.


After dinner , I made a really easy strawberry shortcake , with fresh whipped cream.

It ended up being a really great summery meal. Despite the rainy weather outside!!

Rough Times

There have been some rough times in the wicked good foods world.... I am currently out of work, which came as kind of a surprise. There is good news though , I can now explore the world of the culinary arts. I'm looking into culinary schools in the area and hope to take advantage of the opportunities there.

I did skip this week's TWD, and even though I didn't blog about it I did make the banana cream pie the other week.

So now that I have had time to digest these new things going on in my life , I will be back to blogging cause really I have all the time in the world!! Next up is the chocolate cream tart which sounds simply amazing.

Also look for reviews of a few new products I have recieved.

Thanks for sticking with me everyone!

Lemon Curd Cheesecake

Two Saturday's per month my husband is in EMT class. At least one of those days they have a potluck where I'm sure all of the student's wives/ girlfriends contribute something yummy. This week I contributed cheese cake. At first I was going to make caramel apple cheesecake , but it was getting late so I opted to use the lemon curd I had saved. I did a quick google and found this recipe.

1 1/2 cups finely crushed vanilla wafer cookies (40 cookies) i used graham crackers

2 teaspoons grated lemon peel i didnt have any lemons .. oops!

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup lemon curd

3 eggs

Frozen raspberries, if desired these were not desired :)

1.Heat oven to 325ºF. Mix cookie crumbs, 1 teaspoon of the lemon peel and the butter. Press evenly in bottom and up side of springform pan, 9x3 inches.
2.Beat cream cheese in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Gradually beat in sugar, lemon curd and remaining 1 teaspoon lemon peel until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Pour over crust.
3.Bake 55 to 65 minutes or until center is set; cool 30 minutes. Run metal spatula along side of cheesecake to loosen. Refrigerate at least 2 hours but no longer than 48 hours.
4.Remove side of pan. Garnish with raspberries

the finished product. courtesy of the iphone...

p.s sorry for the AWFUL picture , but I assure you this was YUMMY!
p.p.s from what i hear the guys loved it too!

Diane's Market Kitchen

One of the things Sara and I were able to do while I was visiting in Seattle was to attend a cooking class. So Friday morning (March 20) we boarded the ferry and made our way over to Diane's Market Kitchen. We ended up being the only people in the class so that made it even more fun. The class we had signed up for was appetizers. When I say that everything we had was SO good , that's an understatement. Diane only uses fresh ingredients most from local farmers and small businesses . We learned every Sunday Diane takes her class for the morning down to the Pike Place Market to pick out the freshest things to cook with for the day!

Sara hard at work

While all of the recipes were AMAZING my favorite was the Pear and Cheve crostini. The recipe can be found here.

For anyone who is in the Seattle area , I would definitely check out Diane's.