Girls Cooking Class with Chef Fabio

If you have followed me for any length of time, you know that our favorite place to eat in California is Cafe Firenze, home of Fabio from Top Chef.  Foremost, it is just amazing and secondly it is literally one mile down the road from our house.  Convenient.

Fabio teaches cooking classes at the restaurant one Sunday each month, and a few of us girls thought it would be fun to partake!  So, we learned how to make a Thanksgiving meal -- roasted chicken (concept applied to any bird), pumpkin gnocchi, and cranberry and priscuitto risotto.  Amazing!!  We had such a great time...now just to finish our kitchen so I can get to cooking!  Here are some pictures from our class....

T-minus....

2 days until our first anniversary!!!!

The past year has flown by, and I feel so blessed to be married to Todd!  Every day is a new, and fun adventure....and the evenings are like sleepovers!  We usually cook dinner together, chat about our day, go on walks, sometimes we pick up ice cream, and then settle in for a movie or an evening of our favorite shows for the night!  How lucky are we?  I couldn't imagine sharing this journey with anyone else!  Thank you Todd for so may wonderful memories over the past several years we have been together, and for such a great first year of marriage!

Looking forward to our celebration!!!  ...In the meantime, I'm cleaning, cooking, running errands, crossing off things on my to-do list, finishing laundry, and anxiously awaiting Sunday!  :)

The Newlywed Game

I know it has been a while since I have blogged!  It is so nice to be blogging about our fun comings and goings versus the other blogs I have been doing lately...which is why I have been so absent!  I have been doing a tailgating recipe blog for an SEC football site, and it has seemed to take up all the memory on my camera, all my time on the comp, and all of my creative juices lately!  It has been so much fun, but also a lot of work...and pressure to make sure every week is the best!  Check it out at:  http://www.fooddownsouth.com/ !

So, in honor of mindless blogging, I was sent this "Newlywed Game" blog format from a friend, and thought it would be super fun and especially appropriate since Todd and I are less than 2 months from our 1 year anniversary!  Time has flown!  I'm sure you know the Newlywed Game drill, but just in case:  Below you will see a series of questions.  Todd has responded to them with what he thinks I will answer.  He did VERY well!  A+ for Todd!  :o)  Enjoy!!

1. She's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?
Todd's answer:  Food Network
My answer:  Food Network, or else mindless trash!  It was so nice of him to leave it at Food Network :)

2. You're out to eat, what kind of dressing does she get on her salad?
Todd's answer:  Vinegarette
My answer:  Vinegarette

3. What is one food she doesn't like?
Todd's answer:  Hot dogs
My answer:  Anything that is junk filled (processed foods, not all-natural, etc) -- So, yes hot dogs are at the top of that list!

4. You go out to eat and have a drink, what does she order?
Todd's answer:  Glass of wine or Firefly/lemonade...and a salad with homemade dressing, and a steak because it's one of the few things on the menu without gluten
My answer:  Wine with a steak and yummy salad!!  --  I love Firefly with Lemonade...how could I forget that!

5. What shirt size does she wear?
Todd's answer:  XSmall
My answer:  Small or XSmall

6. What shoe size does she wear?
Todd's answer:  Four...ok a 5 (after my look of surprise)...I don't know!!
My answer:  Six -- Todd thinks I am smaller than I am!  That is a good problem to have!

7. What's her favorite type of sandwich?
Todd's answer:  None, since she is gluten free -- she would love a sandwich, so I think any would be her favorite if she could eat one
My answer:  A monte cristo -- He is right though, I wouldn't be picky!  I hear Jason's Deli has gluten free bread, I will have to head over there soon!

8. What could she eat everyday?
Todd's answer:  Creme brulee....DESSERT

Our homemade Vanilla Bean/Bourbon creme brulee last week

My answer:  Ice cream or creme brulee!!  --  See how well he knows me?  :)

9. What is her favorite cereal?
Todd's answer:  Chex -- Gluten free
My answer:  Lucky Charms!!  --  He is right though, most recently it is gluten free Corn Chex since Lucky Charms are most certainly not gluten free!

10. What would she never wear?
Todd's answer:  A moo-moo...in leopard print
My answer:  A tank top with a scarf in the middle of winter like some of the people in Florida!  Such a strange fashion trend.  However, I am learning fashion is not a priority here!  -- Todd is right though, I have never worn anything leopard print, or moo-moo-esque!  haha

11. What is her favorite sports team?
Todd's answer:  The Georgia Dawgs....but they suck right now. So, the Magic!

Capitol One bowl while we were dating -- GO Dawgs!

My answer:  UGA -- Love that Todd is pushing his love for the magic on me :)

12. What is something she does that you wish she wouldn't do?
Todd's answer:  Stay up late
My answer:  I have no idea...probably not take so many pictures, and I think he secretly hates it when I ask other people to take our picture for us!

13. You bake her a cake, what kind of cake?
Todd's answer:  Um...probably vanilla with cream cheese icing, or whatever recipe I can find online
My answer:  Considering Todd has never baked me a cake, this is difficult.  But my favorite cake is red velvet with cream cheese icing, so probably that?!?!

14. What could she spend hours doing?
Todd's answer:  Cooking
My answer:  Cooking and baking!

15. What is a unique talent that she has?
Todd's answer:  She can cook, and bakes and decorates cakes

First birthday cake I made a few years ago - one of my favorites!

My answer:  I don't know that I have a unique talent -- Todd did hit on a passion of mine with baking though :)

16. How does she like her coffee?
Todd's answer:  She likes 90% coffee, 10% cream, and agave or sugar in the raw
My answer:  Coffee with heavy cream and sugar in the raw or agave at home, but out I like a Cappuccino -- Todd is so on top of it, and I don't think he has ever made my coffee!  :)

Todd's in the Kitchen!!

As some of you may remember, Todd lost a March Madness bet to me six or so months ago!  If I won, he had to cook me dinner and dessert and choose a wine pairing!  For the last several months, he made excuses like, "It takes me a long time to plan a meal!"  He would be eating cereal every night if it took me months to plan one meal!  I was really over it, and had come to the realization he was not going to pay up, he would probably never cook a meal for me, and that I should never wager a home-cooked meal when placing bets with him in the future! 

However, he surprised me when he offered to go to the grocery store for me yesterday, and had 4 pages of printed recipes in tow! 

He came home with scallops, mixed baby greens, parmesan cheese, fresh parsley, a bottle of wine, and green onions among other things!  I was so impressed at this point, I don't even think it required him to actually cook the food he had brought home!

He started making dinner last night, and I have to admit it was very entertaining.  I sat at the bar with the camera and a glass of wine! 

I tried to stay out of it, and let him do it completely on his own.  Todd seemed a little bit perplexed as to how to time everything, and forgot about the asparagus he planned on cooking and the noodles for his sauce until I reminded him (like a good wife - ha).  So, he let the scallops sit in his simmering wine butter sauce until the aspargus was ready, and the scallops were nice and rubbery!

I was still very impressed, since he was very ambitious with his meal and the sauce, salad, and asparagus were great!  This is how it turned out (notice his plating and setting of the table):

Todd did find some yummy recipes, but has no idea what websites he got them from!  He made a dressing for the salad that was great!  I will have to use it again....2 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 2 tbsp vegetable oil, 1 tbsp honey, and 4 cloves minced garlic.  He tossed the mixed baby greens in the dressing and topped it with shredded parmesan and dried cranberries. 

Todd also found a wonderful macaroon recipe that he paired with ice cream for dessert!  The dessert was a comedy of errors including not being able to use the cookie scoop, and thinking the cookies were gluten free when the recipe called for wheat flour, but the cookies turned out amazing!  For this recipe, he was supposed to whip the egg whites in one bowl, and mix the dry and wet ingredients seperately.  I caught him in time, as he did not whip the eggs, and was ready to start dumping all the ingredients in one bowl to simply mix them together!  Unlike many things in life, he was very disappointed to find out, he actually had to read the section of the recipe that says 'directions'.   Maybe baking is not his forte!

So, now that I know Todd can cook, I am looking forward to a night or two off each month!  Even if it's not a great meal, I know I can plan on some pre-dinner entertainment! :o)