Archive for January, 2012
Flashback: Post Step 1 Celebration
Oh Syracuse. Why must you look like this?
Instead, let’s think back to a warmer time of year. A time when I just had taken the Step I exam. A time when my hair was a different shade, and I had yet to step foot on the wards. After arguably the two most stressful months of my life, I was ready to NOT study for a little while. I was in need of a major party. And what better way to celebrate than a wine tour and a week in Boston?!?!
I found a groupon with a tour company called Experience! The Finger Lakes. The specific tour I decided on was called Vinifera Varieties: Wines of the Seneca Lake Banana Belt. Two of my favorite people in the world (my mom and Michele) joined me for a day in wine country. We started off in Ithaca where we met our tour guide and boarded our tour van.
On the van, we each received a reusable Experience! The Finger Lakes water bottle. It’s always good to hydrate!
First stop: Standing Stone Vineyards. Look at that view of the lake.
We started out by taking a tour of the winery.
We even got to do a barrel tasting.
Let’s just say as cool as it was to drink from the barrel, I like my wine from the bottle.
After the tour it was time to start the tasting. We sat down at a few tables they had set up for with LOTS of bread. First lesson of the day: I LOVE gewurztraminer.
Mmm brie!
Michele taking some photos for her blog.
Some of my favorites.
Next stop: Penguin Bay Winery
Bring on the bubbly!
At this winery we not only tried a bunch of champagnes, but we also learned how to properly open a bottle. My favorite wine and cheese pairing of the day was the combination of the Swedish Hill Spumante Blush and Yancey’s Fancy Strawberry chardonnay cheese.
On to the next stop! Red Newt Cellars
Another excellent pairing but it wasn’t of the wine and cheese variety. At this winery they combined a goat cheese with herbs and honey. Holy cow this was so good I wanted to take it to Vegas and marry it!
Last stop: Damiani Wine Cellars. It was time for dessert! At this winery we paired various chocolates with wines. Yum!
The chocolates came from Hedonist Artisan Chocolates of Rochester.
After a day of fantastic wine and food, I enjoyed one last view of the lake.
All of the purchases throughout the day.
All of my purchases from the day.
After the wine tour, Michele and I headed to Boston for a week of fun times including a 4th of July celebration and lots of quality couch time. One of my favorite things we did over the course of the week was visit a little store called Kickass Cupcakes.
This place was AWESOME. The different flavors were so creative and everything looked delicious.
Michele and I couldn’t pick just one so we decided to buy a bunch and have a cupcake feast.
With our wine purchases, we also made some of Emily’s Dangerous Sangria.
And spent some quality time with Renate watching John’s 3D TV.
What better way to celebrate the boards being over than food, wine, and some of my best friends?
Recipe Resolution Week 3: Thyme after Thyme
For week 3 of my recipe resolution I had big goals. Four new recipes! Unfortunately, I just couldn’t keep up with eating all of the food I was making. Thus, there will be only 2 recipes this week.
Theme of the week was thyme. I love cooking with fresh thyme. There’s something about those little leaves that give every dish an extra punch of flavor.
Recipe #1: Chicken with Balsamic Vinegar, Sweet onion and Thyme
Adapted from a WW recipe
On a plate, I combined flour, 1⁄2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and coated 1 pound of chicken breast.
Next, I cooked the chicken in a large skillet with 2 tsp of olive oil until golden brown.
Chicken was set aside so I could make the onion sauce.
In the same pan, I sautéed a whole sweet onion.
After about 6 minutes, I added 1 cup of reduced fat/sodium chicken broth, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp fresh thyme, and 1/4 tsp salt/pepper. The whole mixture was brought to a boil.
I let it boil until the onions were tender and added 2 tsp of butter.
Final product! I served it over brown rice…
…and with a fresh green salad.
Franco definitely loved the smell of this dish. He almost fell off the coffee table trying to get a better look at it 
Recipe #2: Turkey, pumpkin and white bean chili
Originally posted by www.skinnytaste.com
My favorite new kitchen gadget: my garlic press.
God I love the crock pot. After cooking the turkey until it was white…
…I just threw the rest of the ingredients in and set it on low for 8 hours.
I only made one minor change to the original recipe by adding some fresh thyme in the crock pot and sprinkling some over the finished product. Also, instead of serving with sour cream, I had some plain yogurt in the fridge. Still not sure about the yogurt, but it did add a nice touch of cream to the chili.
Preview to next week: Hopefully I’ll be able to make those other 2 recipes. I also found some fantastic recipes using rosemary. I may have to mix those in too!
Anna and Cynthia’s Birthday Dinner
Last night Nyssa, Christopher, Andrea and I headed out to the Limestone Grille in Fayetteville to celebrate Anna and Cynthia’s birthday. I’ve seen the restaurant when I’ve ventured out to Target and was super psyched to give it a try. The lighting was a little low so most of my pictures came out pretty dark. I refuse to put my flash on because A) we were in a nice restaurant and I didn’t want my flash to be going off every 2 seconds and B) I hate the way food looks with the artificial light of a flash. Anyway, that is why my pictures are a little on the dark side: )
Anna started off the night with mini stuffed mushrooms, and she let me try one!
The bread was awesome! They brought it to us right out of the oven.
The best part about the bread was the mini sauce tray they brought to each one of us. The first was a garlic butter followed by olive oil and herbs and balsamic vinegar.
My entree came with the house salad which was easily the best house salad I’ve ever had. It was full of tomatoes, gorgonzola cheese, dried fruit and sunflower seeds. The salad dressing was a tangy puree with tomatoes, mushrooms and olive oil that went really well with the fruity cheesyness of the salad.
Now we all know how much I love my red wine, but I decided to mix it up and go with a white tonight (spoiler alert: I ordered seafood for my entree). I chose a Chardonnay from chile. I was excited to try something with “touches of marzipan.”
Unfortunately I couldn’t taste the almond but it still was a delicious white wine.
And finally, the main course. I ordered the Northern Italian Scampi. Yum!
As the menu says, “Large shrimp sautéed with garlic, vermouth, demi-glaze, fresh lemon and butter, and served over rice pilaf”
After dinner, Christopher snapped a few photos of the girls.
“Prom” style!
Overall the food was awesome and the service was fantastic. Our waiter Zach was particularly appreciated by Cynthia because of his speedy ginger ale service 
I’m definitely coming back again!
Emily’s 4th Annual Wine Dinner: Scenes from and Italian Restaurant
It’s that most wonderful time of the year again! Emily’s birthday!!! We all know what that means. BIRTHDAY WINE DINNER. A few weeks ago, my invitation arrived in the mail. Emily had created a boarding pass that included party details and info about the menu. She’s so creative!
I drove out to Webster MA, Saturday morning. For some reason I thought it wouldn’t be a problem to drive through the “storm.” Big mistake. My car could definitely handle the snow (thanks to my snow tires) but the roads were terrible. Everyone (without snow tires) tended to drive very very slow, and a ride that should have taken 3 hours (from Fonda) took over 4. When I finally arrived, Em and I made a quick trip over to her local salon so she could get her hair done. After quite the adventure, we made it back to Em’s house and she started prepping for dinner.
When I wasn’t helping out, I managed to get a few good shots of the set up before the other guests arrived. Em was going for an Italian restaurant vibe. The lights were a nice touch.
Emily crafted up place card holders out of wine corks and some ribbon. She’s so crafty!
The menu was not only delicious but beautifully designed. Emily and Katie embossed them on one of their recent Craft-ernoons.
Some of the wine.
By 6 the guests had all arrived, and it was time for the festivities to start!
The view from my seat.
Vicki and me!
Vicki and Nick. I managed to snap several other fantastic photos of Vicki and Nick, but because I value my friendship with Vicki and want to keep it intact, they will not be posted
Michele, me and our amazing hostess…after we all had enjoyed a few glasses of wine.
On to the food!
First course: Lemon chevre stuffed fig wrapped in prosciutto with balsamic glace
Course two: Red pepper and portabella mushroom pizza…
….paired with herbed provolone and Dolcetta D’Alba.
Third course: Chicken and mushroom risotto and asparagus paired with pecorino romano and pinot noir.
Fourth course: Dark chocolate biscotti paired with gruyere and zinfandel
Night in Review:
Favorite individual food: It’s a tie between the herbed provolone and the pizza.
Favorite pairing: The biscotti and gruyere. I honestly didn’t expect to like this combo, but holy awesome tasting party in my mouth! These two mixed with the zinfandel were pretty incredible.
Favorite Wine: All of them! After intermission wine, they all start tasting like the best wine I ever tried
Favorite surprise: A charlie the unicorn button from Michele!
Favorite funny moment: Tie between the Vicki/Nick photo shoot and any conversation with Emily after intermission wine (part deux)
Favorite PJ pants: No contest, Nick wins with all-season satin
Favorite overall moment: Any moment I got to spread with some of my favorite people in the world (awww sappy but true!)
No wine dinner would be complete, without Emily’s famous brunch the next day. This Emily whipped up a tasty broccoli quiche and a french toast bake. I didn’t take as many pictures the next morning because post wine dinner photos are never anyone’s favorite pic. Regardless, the weekend was awesome, and I can’t wait for next year! It’s already on my google calendar!
Recipe Resolution Week 2: The Great Curry Caper
It’s my second week back on the blogging wagon! My psych clerkship has been treating me well. I’m loving the hours. Not only was I able to actually make it to the gym, but I had the time to try two new recipes this week! Both come from the WW website.
Recipe #1: Hawaiian Curried Chicken with Pineapple Salsa
I first coarsely chopped the onions and added some of the spices.
Next I added the curry and pushed the onions to the side so I could lightly cook some chicken breast.
My favorite part, the light coconut milk. I covered and simmered for 20 minutes.
Done!
The pineapple salsa was a great touched. I served the whole mixture over some Israeli couscous. This is definitely a recipe I’ll be making again.
Recipe #2: Pork Piccata with Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Spinach
Since I usually cook with shrimp or poultry, I decided to mix it up this week and try something a little different. This was my first official time every making something with a pork tenderloin. First I cut the tenderloin into 16 slices and seasoned with a flour-salt-pepper mixture.
After pan frying the slices.
I made the sauce in the same pan so it soaked up all the leftover bits and pieces.
Mixed the capers in the sauce and the first part of the meal was done!
On to stage two, the mashed sweet potatoes.
I chopped and peeled the potatoes.
The recipe called for the garlic to be boiled right with the potatoes. It smelled delicious in my kitchen.
Final product! Overall this was pretty tasty. I’m kind of biased because chicken piccata is one of my favorite recipes. I didn’t love the spinach with the lemon and it probably would have been better with some steamed broccoli. The pork was surprisingly low in points. Only 5 for the piccata/spinach combo! The website considered the recipe quick and easy. It definitely was easy, but took more than the 20 minutes suggested. As for the second recipe, I LOVED the potatoes. I’ve never made mashed potatoes with yogurt before, and I was a little skeptical. It was actually super creamy and also pretty low in points (only 2 per serving).
Preview for next week’s recipes:
If all goes as planned, I’ll be making not 1, not 2, not even 3, but FOUR recipes. I know what you’re thinking? Who knew a med student had this much time on her hands. Just one of the joys of being on psych! I picked up the Jan/Feb issue of Cooking Light, and there’s at least 10 recipes I want to try. Next week I’ll just be trying one. I also have a recipe from a website Michele just passed along, another WW, and one I’m making up but is inspired by Katie’s recent blog post.
Off to watch the latest episode of the Vampire Diaries and pack for Emily’s.
I’m back!
After almost a year (53 weeks to be exact), I’m actually blogging again! I’m currently on my psychiatry clerkship which means I have a little bit more time on my hands. One of my new year’s resolutions was to start blogging again, so mission accomplished. Blogging every day isn’t a reality with the craziness of a third year med student’s schedule. I’m going to shoot for once a week and see how that goes. Anyway, on with the blogging.
Another one of my new year resolutions was to cook more often. It’s so easy to just rely on some type of frozen meal that I can just throw in the oven, but we all know how unhealthy that can quickly become. So my goal for 2012 is to try at least two new recipes a week. I can make them in bulk and then eat for the rest of the week!
Recipe #1: Crock-pot fiesta chicken
If I had to pick one kitchen appliance I couldn’t leave without (besides my coffee maker) it would be the crock pot. It’s so easy to just throw the ingredients into the pot and 6 hours later you have a delicious meal!
All the ingredients (sans chicken) in the pot.
Added 1.5 pounds of chicken.
The finished product. I served it over brown rice, added a little cheese and garnished with fresh cilantro. YUM.
Recipe #2: Curried coconut shrimp
After discovering my love for shrimp back in Boston, it has become a staple in my kitchen. I decided to mix it up and try a healthy version of one of my favorite dishes using lite coconut milk and one of the Wegman’s veggie blends. I also added some fresh garlic from Emily’s dad’s garden.
May not look like it, but this smelled delicious.
After adding the coconut milk and shrimp.
Scallions went in next.
Finished product over brown rice.
Another thing I was working on this week was planning a baby shower for my friend Jackie. Jackie, Cynthia and I spent 4 long weeks together during our Ob/Gyn clerkship. Jackie is due in February and Cynthia and I have been talking about planning something for way back when we were spending our nights together on the labor and delivery floor.
For favor, I decided to make little candy bottles on a stick.
This was my first time working with the melted chocolate and the molds, and it definitely took a little while before I got a rhythm down. My Aunt Judy who passed away back when I was in high school used to make these for my brother and I for almost every holiday. I remember them being one of the tastiest candies ever. Making the candies definitely brought back some great memories from my childhood.
Back to the crafting. I quickly realized a brush would make filling the molds way easier.
The melting process
Done! I wrapped them in plastic and used some cute frog and polka dot ribbon.
Throughout the week I also worked on a diaper cake for Jackie. Emily is a pro at these and she helped me with the rolling when she was up for New Years. After several trips to the Hobby Lobby this week, I finally got the cake decorate just right. Everyone who was coming to the shower chipped in a few dollars.
Another diaper cake shot.
On the day of the shower, I made my first quiche. I got this recipe off Allrecipes.com and I highly recommend it. Cooked up some onions, broccoli and mushrooms.
Add it to and egg, milk, cheese, miracle whip combo.
And placed it in a ready made pie crust. Before….
…and After. It came out great and honestly it was that bad for you.
On Sunday, the party guests started arriving. Everyone brought some type of delicious dish to share.
Anna came with her famous truffles and she made melted snowman cookies.
Definitely the cutest food item at the shower!
I borrowed this and a few other picture from my friend Lauren’s facebook page. A little blurry, but Jackie was definitely surprised.
Mommy and daddy!
Cynthia’s awesome cupcakes.
All of the tasty treats.
Caitlyn and Anna enjoying.
We had several party games planned, but the best one had to be “Guess the Do-Do” as Cynthia called it. We melted a bunch of different chocolates, stuck them in some diapers and the party guests had to guess what type of chocolate was in each diaper.
The girls hard at work.
Sarah getting an extra good smell.
Lauren, Megan and Emily comparing notes.
Cynthia announcing the anwers.
All of the party guests (minus Sarah and Suma).
I had a fantastic time! If only every weekend could be another party!
Preview to the next “Sarah’s week in review:” Emily’s 4th Annual Wine Night! Get excited!
