real simple harvest dinner

this might not be a 'real simple' dinner, but it was easy enough, and tasted so good!  we had two people cooking which made it go by fast and was more fun.  this summer, the real simple magazine was a great gift from a special friend for being a part of her wedding.  recently, we decided that a great night to hang out is wednesdays when her husband is out at the bowling league.  so what a great excuse to experiment with some recipes, sharing tasteful meals with great friends, and using a unique gift!  oh...and as any normal cooking club has, it comes complete with leftovers to take home.  

the magazine this month featured so many great recipes for fall, and we tried to choose one's that might have complimentary flavors.  for this meal, we cooked up chicken with acorn squash as an entree, and two sides, butternut squash bread pudding and bourbon-cranberry compote.

note to new-to-the-recipe: the acorn squash was very hard to cut up, and the bread pudding took a while to prep and cook, but it was awesome!  we also shared the oven so we manipulated the time a little.  if we had made four more pieces of chicken, the dinner would easily serve 6.

chicken with acorn squash and tomatoes

hands on time 20 min total time 30 min serves 4

1 small acorn squash (about 1 1/2 lb) halved seeded and sliced 1/4 in...

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

4 cloves garlic, sliced

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 6-oz boneless skinless chicken breast

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano

salt + pepper

+heat oven to 425.  on a large rimmed baking sheet, toss squash tomatoes garlic with oil salt pepper. roast until squash is tender, 20-25 min

+heat oil in large skilled on med heat. season chicken with coriander salt pepper.  cook until golden brown and cooked. serve with squash and tomatoes and sprinkle oregano

bourbon-cranberry compote

hands on time 5 min total time 1 hour incl cooking serves 8

1 12 oz bag cranberries

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup apple juice

1/4 cup bourbon

+in sauce pan combine cranberries sugar apple juice and bourbon

+simmer, stirring occasionally until the cranberries begin to burst and the sauce thickens, 20-25 min

butternut squash bread pudding

relishes

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let's hope the gracious gourmet is at tomorrow's ct wine fest again!  what a great find last year-the relishes did not last long.  now they are really up and running with a great site, complete with recipes!

they are even on twitter @graciousgourmet with their latest posting which I had to repeat for our lady in NOLA:  In New Orleans? You can now find The Gracious Gourmet products at the St. James Cheese Company. Fantastic cheese... http://fb.me/ATiF8Bb0

we also met mariah from http://mariahsrelish.com/  who was starting her business out of her house...her relish didn't last long either.  


looking forward to seeing who else is there, with new ideas, local, and home-grown products.

herbal sun teas & simple syrups

this would be a great recipe book for someone who loves herbs...and grows them, and designs herb gardens??  so refreshing and simple.   

i plan on making one soon and post the recipe i use!

liqurious discoveries

so this is awesome.  from explorations on twitter, i found apart of the notcot empire (which i do follow) called liqurious.  i thought this was so much fun and clicked on a few of the postings including i want one of those wine screw keychains.  how perfect for picnics, right?!

apparently anyone can post drink recipes and thought the cucumber gimlet was worth clicking on and discovered the crumpets and cakes blog.  i thought this was just another smart blog sharing recipes!

   

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes

My birthday is one week away and I am visiting with my parents this weekend to celebrate my 29th birthday as well as Father's Day. Last week, my mom asked me what kind of cake or cupcakes I would like for my birthday, and, without hesitation, I requested Peanut Butter and Jelly cupcakes. She made them for me last year after seeing Tyler Florence of the Food Network bake them. They were so scrumptious I didn't want to wait more than 365 days to have them again!

Here's the recipe, with my modifications at the end:

Ingredients:

• 11/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 cup grape jelly (Recommended: Welch's Grape Jelly)
• Candy bars (Recommended: Reese's Pieces, Butterfinger, Nutterbutter, Heath Bar, smashed up with a rolling pin, for decorating)
• Peanut butter frosting, recipe follows
  

wine shop at home

this is like a jewelry party for wine!  i'm not surprised it exists (since 2002), and actually feel my discovery is a little late.  i found this while i was looking at 'group updates' on linked in.  sabrina lamberson also in the texas a&m alumni group called for a 'wine consultant opportunity conference call!'  after a little search, i'm pretty sure it hasn't reached the 13 colonies yet. 

wine shop at home

barefoot summer

this summer at the Newport Chowderfest, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly from CA had a booth with three different drinks that they made using their wines.  the recipes were so easy and made for a great non-traditional party drink.  
it was such a great booth with the most friendly marketing staff that must have gave me and my two friends seven samples each..and educating us on their different types of wine.  did you know the grapes used to make moscato wine are also used for Dom Pérignon champagne?  i am a huge fan, and though they compare it to Yellowtail, i think it is much better.
recently, i went on their website to see if they had anymore recipes...and they have a great site where fans can post their own!  here's the recipe for one of my favorites that i've made several times for summer parties already.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
Lemon-Lime Moscato
1/2 Moscato
1/2 Lemon-Lime Soda
2 tsp Pinapple Juice
Lime

Barefoot Mojito 
Barefoot moscato, mint leaves, lime, suga
click here for Barefoot's Recipes & Wine Pairings