the little kitchen

Garlic and Olive Oil Sauteed Green Beans

posts — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:11:39 +0000

I love cooking, it’s obvious right? I know that I love eating just as much as I love cooking. So recently when I was asked by Le Creuset if I wanted to participate in their Pairings photo contest, I jumped at the chance. Not just because I love Le Creuset products but because I love to cook. I’m very fortunate to get to work with such an amazing brand, not only do I love the products, I also love working with the people who represent the brand.

The task was to photograph their new Marseille blue round French oven along with two of their stainless steel cookware pans (2 qt. Stainless Steel Saucepan with Lid and 9.5” Stainless Steel Fry Pan). I was so thrilled they asked me when the pieces arrived, I was stumped! I first shot the products with nothing in them but that didn’t seem right.

I then thought about what the perfect pairings are when it comes to food and meat and potatoes came to mind. I then rounded it out with green beans. I wanted to give the feeling that dinner’s ready and to really allow the products to shine. After I finished shooting the shots, Curtis and I sat down to eat dinner.

The shot above is what I submitted for the contest. The other food bloggers submitted some wonderful entries and it’s pretty stiff competition. I would really appreciate your vote – it’s really easy, all you have to do is like this photo on pinterest. If I win, I will get to give away this same set above to one of The Little Kitchen readers!

I’m in love with the new Marseille blue color and I noticed that they redesigned their French ovens! The handles are a little bit bigger and are easier to grip, the lid handle is a little bigger too. As always, Le Creuset French ovens are always easy to clean.

About the recipes in the Le Creuset cookware – I made Cristina Ferrare’s Classic Roast Beef and her wonderful smashed potatoes. This is absolutely my most favorite roast beef recipe and the potatoes are always a favorite. I always make extras so I have leftovers!

I’m in love with these tri-ply stainless steel pieces too, the handles hardly got warm while I was cooking so no worry about getting burned.

And these green beans – a favorite and staple at holiday dinners in my family. This green bean recipe is the way to go, first you par-boil them (boil them for just 4-5 minutes) and then put them into an ice bath and sautee them when you’re ready to eat dinner.

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Avocado Smoothie

posts — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:19:55 +0000

Friends celebrate you for who you are, cheer you on, ground you and best of all love you for who you are. Cherish your friends and nuture the relationship. That’s been my motto for a while now. Every so often, something happens and it shakes my confidence, my friends are there for me. I’m very fortunate to have made some great blogging friends. Hold on tight to your friends, because they are the ones who help you make it through the tough times. Celebrate each other and don’t take each other for granted.

This past weekend, I was very fortunate to attend Todd & Diane‘s food photography workshop in their beautiful Orange County, California studio. I learned so much!! We ate a ton and soaked up a ton of knowledge. Todd & Diane are amazingly talented photographers and are so generous with their time and talents. If you’re looking for a food photography workshop…look no further than their 2-day workshop. I heard they may be setting dates for two more this summer, it’s a can’t miss.

This was a serious workshop, they put us to work on the first day. We had full access to their prop room (picture below) and got to work styling and photographing ingredients. I had a lot of fun with these farm fresh eggs from Kim of Rustic Garden Bistro.

We started the first day off with Todd & Diane sharing with us the importance of telling a story through photographs. Forget the perfect shot, the perfectly placed food, share your unique story and be authentic.

Food is about community and celebration. I love that Diane said that her favorite food blogs to visit are ones that don’t have perfect photos. She said there’s value in an imperfect photo.

They pushed us to move out of our comfort zone. If you like to shoot horizontal shots, shoot more vertical this weekend. If you like to shoot a certain light, switch it up. I’m proud to say that I shot a majority of vertical shots this past weekend and am way more comfortable shooting them now. I also tend to shoot with the light coming from the 6 o’clock angle and found that backlight or 12 o’clock has been become a favorite to shoot now. I’m going to constantly change it up.

One of the other things that Todd & Diane encouraged us was to find our own style – the aesthetic that we enjoy. For me, I like the minimal, less styled shots but as for mood and color, I’m still trying to find my way. They constantly inspire me and made to look at my photographs in a different way.

The prop room at their studio is amazing. I instagramed a similar photo asking if they would notice me if I moved in with a cot? Sigh…

Diane and Todd taught us to appreciate the little things about each plate, bread board or prop and to appreciate the little details from the rim of a bowl to the notches on a bread board. And to appreciate textures. Layering textures when using props and not just adding a prop to having a bunch of props. For them and me, it’s always been about the food…but still, I can’t wait to hit the local antique shops!

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Chocolate Cupcakes with Biscoff Buttercream Icing

JulieD — Tue, 01 May 2012 05:30:30 +0000

This past weekend we held our 2nd Central Florida Food Blogger Bake Sale (in conjunction with the National Food Blogger Bake Sale organized by Gaby and Bloggers without Borders) and I’m so excited to announce that our local bake sale raised over $1400!! The food bloggers who baked and came out to make the bake sale possible, the wonderful raffle prize donors and the generous customers made it all possible. So thank you, Central Florida, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I had a blast and the event was so full of energy and generosity, it was completely inspiring and energized me.

All of the pictures of the bake sale were taken with my iPhone. I brought my camera but my Canon dSLR camera battery died!

Look at some of the awesome goodies that we had for sale. Thanks to Chris for being our promoter! Katie, you’re an awesome, co-organizer, thank you! Big thanks to our raffle prize donors including: KitchenAid (they donated a 5-speed hand blender!), Chicago Metallic, Driscoll’s and many of the local restaurants and vendors that donated awesome items!

The last but not least thank you goes out to John Rife and the Winter Park Harvest Festival. He allowed us to use the space outside of his building in Winter Park, it proved to be an awesome spot and we’re so happy he’s willing to let us come back next year! Thank you, John!

Here’s the lovely group of bloggers who baked their hearts out for Share Our Strength. Back row: Julius from Droolius, Angie from Eclectic Recipes, Wanda from My Sweet Zepol, Robin from Simply Southern Baking, Katie from Katie’s Cucina, me!, Chris from Eat Local Orlando, Ricky from Tasty Chomps. Front row: Jillian from Stay Calm Have a Cupcake, Marilyn from Forkful, Pearleen from Mega Yummo and Jacqueline from BeyondNFinity.

Now onto one of the cupcakes I made for the bake sale. Can we talk about biscoff spread? Oh how I love it!! If you have not tried it before, you are missing out. At my grocery store and at World Market, I have seen it next to the peanut butter.

Another name for it is cookie butter. Doesn’t that sound heavenly? It’s like the biscoff cookies you get on Delta flights but way better. I think biscoff spread is way better than biscoff cookies even though I LOVE them! It’s great on a really good toasted English muffin too, give it a try.

I made this buttercream icing recipe a while ago and tested it on my now former co-workers and they enjoyed it. Not sure why I never blogged it but when I was making these peanut butter cup cupcakes in the middle of the night this past weekend, I thought I need to make another cupcake so it’s not the same exact thing I made last year!

I used the same basic chocolate cupcake recipe from Jamie using Devil’s Food cake mix and topped it with this wonderful rich biscoff icing. It’s not too sweet and that’s one of the things I love about it. The combination of salted and unsalted butter is what does it!

If you don’t like cake mixes and have more time, feel free to use your favorite chocolate cupcake recipe including this one.

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Oven-Fried Herb Chicken Nuggets & Giveaway

JulieD — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 07:00:26 +0000

I know two things: we’re always working within a budget when it comes to household expenses and we’re always looking for different ways to cook chicken! In comes Hellmann’s and their Chicken Change Up campaign. When asked to join in, I couldn’t refuse!

I had a little get together with friends and had them try my adaptation of their Oven-Fried Herb Chicken – I made them into nuggets! Inspired by a recipe that landed from my inbox from Everyday Food, I decided to use panko breadcrumbs.

When we throw a party, we try to use what we have and plan the food that way. I don’t always use plastic or paperware, it’s okay to use mismatched plates, it adds color to your party. And by all means, always, always have plenty of food! There’s nothing like running out of food.

Do you want to win $5000 in groceries? Don’t you think that would help out the monthly food budget a ton? Be sure to check out the budget friendly giveaway below!

From now until April 30, 2012, parents across the country can participate in the Hellmann’s® Chicken Change-up by trying one of the featured Hellmann’s® chicken recipes, sharing their recipe reviews and providing their own advice for managing dinnertime obstacles. After participating, consumers can enter into a sweepstakes for the chance to win a $5000 grocery store gift card and other daily prizes.[1]

[1] NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Void where prohibited. Hellmann’s Chicken Change-Up is sponsored by Conopco, Inc., d/b/a Unilever. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. & D.C., 18 or older. Begins 12:00 PM ET on 03/01/12 & ends 11:59 AM ET on 04/30/12. For official rules, visit the ‘Chicken Change-Up’ tab on the Hellmann’s Facebook page.

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2012 Central Florida Food Blogger Bake Sale

JulieD — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 19:22:01 +0000

I’m once again organizing the Central Florida Bake Sale and this year with Katie from Katie’s Cucina…and I’m really excited about what my fellow (local) food bloggers are baking. It’s going to be very tasty! The local bake sale we have is held in conjunction with the National Food Blogger Bake Sale (organized the amazing Gaby Dalkin from What’s Gaby Cooking) – food bloggers all over the country hold a bake sale in their town on the same day! It’s a pretty amazing thing…food bloggers are amazingly generous and I’m happy to be a part of this great community.

This year’s bake sale is this Saturday, April 28th from 10am-1pm outside of the Winter Park Harvest Festival offices at 427 S. New York Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789. (A huge shout out to the Winter Park Harvest Festival and John for letting us use this space!)

We will have a bunch of awesome baked goods for sale including cupcakes, doughnuts, cake pops & more! We even have some awesome raffle items including ones donated by KitchenAid and Chicago Metallic. You don’t want to miss out on these.

Last year, we raised over $1300. I made these lovely cupcakes…this year, we’re upping our goal to $2000. How are we going to do that? Some of us are taking pre-orders. Check out Katie and Pearleen for what they are making. (Here are the other food bloggers participating in the bake sale.)

If you’re not nearby or can’t attend the bake sale in person or whatever your reason, if you donate at least $100, I’ll ship a dozen of these peanut butter cup cupcakes (that’s right…there’s a peanut butter cup inside! Jamie is a genius – this is her recipe!)…

OR one dozen of these fine chocolate chip cookies. Take your pick! I would love to raise at least $500 this way. Remember, donate at least $100 today via my Share Our Strength fundraiser page and when you donate, be sure to leave a note with which baked goods you would like and your shipping address and I’ll contact you & coordinate a shipping date. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

I know for some $100 is too steep, remember no donation is too small! Whether it’s $1, $5 or $10. Every amount helps Share Our Strength‘s mission to end childhood hunger.

Thank you for your support and if you’re a Central Florida resident, I hope to see you out at the bake sale in Winter Park this Saturday! If you’re not in Central Florida, visit the National Food Blogger Bake Sale to see if there’s a bake sale near you.

Picnic for the Planet Giveaway (Closed)

JulieD — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 21:41:01 +0000

Earth Day is coming up this weekend and I think it’s a great time to think about what kind of an impact we’re making on our planet. Small changes or adjustments can make a huge difference. For example, those plastic bags we get when we go shopping. When I started buying those reusable bags for groceries, I couldn’t believe how many less bags it took to bag my groceries and then I began to think how many bags I used per grocery trip, and I thought of all of the plastic bags I have used over the years. That’s a lot of bags!

I don’t think it’s cliche or uncool or even a political gesture when talking about or thinking about who much of an impact you and your family is making on our environment. I also do know that not all solutions, tips, advice or small steps will work for everyone but I think if each of us makes a few changes, it can amount to a whole lot.

Here are some Earth Day tips that I try to use in my every day:

turn off the lights in rooms no one is in, that includes those ceiling fans
unplug electronics or chargers not in use
making my errand trips efficient by planning out routes
when buying new appliances or electronics, trying to get energy efficient ones
in the kitchen, I’m always trying to use kitchen towels more than I use paper towels
when possible and affordable, I try to buy locally or regionally grown produce

Like I said, these may not work for everyone but it’s worth taking a few minutes to think about how you can make some small changes to exact real big change.

The Nature Conservancy is trying to get the word about Picnic for the Planet – they are trying to have the hold the title for the world’s largest picnic celebration. To find out more, visit Nature.org. To host a picnic or find one near you to join, visit Picnic for the Planet.

And now for a giveaway…to get your picnic started off right. I love these collapsible baskets, don’t you?

Picnic for the Planet Giveaway (Value $75)

Coleman Collapsible canvas basket lined with gingham fabric
Official Picnic for the Planet merchandise (water bottle, tee, blanket, temporary tattoo)
Reusable bamboo utensil set by To-Go Ware
Popchips
Peeled Snacks organic dried fruit
Green and Black chocolate bar
Back to Nature crackers and cookies
Burt’s Bees chapstick

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McCormick Spring Baking Giveaway (Closed)

JulieD — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 21:18:40 +0000

Even though Easter has passed, it’s still spring and there’s still plenty of baking you can do! Mother’s Day is next month…another chance to make something special for the ones you love.

I have partnered with McCormick® to bring you this really fun spring baking giveaway!

Filled with some of their great products and other fun things to add to your baking fun! This prize pack is the same one McCormick is giving away for their Pin-spiration contest. Details below and hurry, it ends on April 22nd!

McCormick Spring Baking Prize Pack (Value $95)

McCormick Assorted Colors Food Color & Egg Dye
McCormick Pure Lemon Extract
McCormick Ground Ginger
McCormick Ground Cinnamon
Anthropologie Apron
Wilton Cupcake Pan
3 Qt. Corningware Bakeware
Spring Cupcake Liners
Spring Cookie Cutters

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Quick Tofu Ramen Noodle Soup

posts — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 06:55:02 +0000

I love soup, especially noodle soups. I can have soups year round actually.

We went to World Market last weekend and I loaded up on ingredients…from udon noodles to my favorite salsa. I spend way too much at that store. By the way, I mentioned this on twitter recently and have before…they have the best idea for shopping baskets…on wheels!

And then I saw this (above). Organic ramen and organic soba noodles too. I had to get it and I knew I wanted to make soup…with tofu! I adore tofu, y’all. I grew up on it. My Mom cooked it all the time.

Before you think I’m getting all healthy on you or even vegetarian…I’m not. I’m a meat eater who loves tofu. I don’t have to meat at every meal to feel satisfied and I most certainly feel that this is comfort food.

It’s quick and easy to make and as I note below in the recipe, you can sub out different vegetables and even add cooked chicken if you don’t like tofu. I made this for lunch yesterday really quickly and I know it’s going to become a regular for me while working from home. Now if I can just get my husband to try tofu…

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Some Changes going on in The Little Kitchen

posts — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:09:10 +0000

Ch-ch-ch-changes…is that how the song goes?

I’m saying good bye to the old and saying hello to the new!!

Seriously! She (above) was delivered on Friday and I’m so excited to be cooking again. Am I strange for calling it a she? I haven’t given her a name but you can imagine my giddiness when it arrived! And yes, I have to admit, I haven’t been cooking much. A new job and new puppy…

Her name is Angel and we adopted her from Save a Life Pet Rescue

leads to not cooking that much. Anyways, I’m happy to be back to cooking and sharing with you my thoughts, loves and opinions on my new appliances.

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Ravioli with Garlic Brown Butter Sauce & Giveaway!

JulieD — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:16:34 +0000

It’s been a long day at work, and there’s so much still to do. You’re getting home from work, and the last thing to get done or even think about is dinner. Does this sound familiar?

I’m a food blogger who loves to cook who is also not afraid to admit there are times when I’m too tired to cook. I am a little ashamed to admit that sometimes dinner doesn’t get on the table before 9:00 or even 10:00.

When I’m not able to devote the time to cook a meal, we sometimes rely on foods and meals that are quick to prepare. But they must taste good, otherwise what’s the point?

I recently had the opportunity to the try Monterey Gourmet Foods and was really impressed!

Their pastas and sauces are all natural which translates to mean: you can pronounce all the ingredients on the label. They are quick and easy to prepare, and they taste good!

Have I ever said I love ravioli? Thin pockets of pasta filled with cheese and vegetables and maybe even chicken or beef. Ravioli has got to be†my most favorite pasta. The better the ingredients that go into the ravioli, the better it tastes.

I love the variety of ravioli Monterey Gourmet Foods has to offer. From Chicken and Mozzarella Cheese Ravioli (pictured below) to Butternut Squash with Orange Sage Dough Ravioli, Monterey Gourmet Foods has a nice selection to choose from!

I prepared Monterey Gourmet Foods Roasted Chicken and Mozzarella Ravioli with a garlic-herb brown butter sauce. I used Elise from Simply Recipes’ instructions on how to brown butter. Instead of a regular butter, I used a store bought garlic-herb butter. It only took minutes to make and it was so good!

Making the brown butter sauce was quite simple, and the nutty flavor along with the garlic was a nice compliment to the Roast Chicken and Mozzarella.

The nutty flavor of brown butter is just so perfect! I can’t wait to play around more with it! My next plan is to make a creamy brown butter sage sauce for the Butternut Squash Ravioli!

One lucky reader will win a $100 Visa gift card and a VIP coupon for a free Monterey Gourmet Foods product! To be entered for a chance to win, please tell me what you would make using a Monterey Gourmet Foods pasta or sauce product. If you’d also like to share a recipe, feel free to post it on your blog/website and include a link to it in your comment.

Continue reading...Ravioli with Garlic Brown Butter Sauce & Giveaway!