Strawberry Lemonade Pie

  I made Strawberry Lemonade Pie for Mother's day this year, with Lemon Creme Oreos for the crust.

Filling was a delicious blend of fresh pureed strawberries with lots of juicy lemonade flavor!  A perfect treat for this time of year. 

Steak Fajitas

I made these delicious steak Fajitas for Cinco de Mayo. I decided to use Naan bread instead, which is typically found more in Indian cuisine, but it worked well.

 I grilled both green bell peppers and poblano peppers, red onion, and garlic cloves with a little oil, salt and pepper, and just a dash of herbs de Provence. You could also use just parsley or Mexican oregano instead.

 I choose a nice Ribeye for its wonderful flavor and seasoned it well with the same oil, salt and pepper, and herbs de Provence.

 This Farmhouse Red Relish is my secret ingredient.

Serve with lime wedge and shredded Colby-Jack cheese.

Red Bean Ice Cream Pie w/ Green Tea Crust

  Have you noticed that Matcha is the latest trend in Food?

So of course I had to make a pie out of it.  I thought what goes good with Green Tea???   Red Beans!  I remember when I was younger going out for sushi with my family and for dessert we would always order Red Bean & Green Tea Ice Cream, a scoop of each, cause we could never pick which one we liked better - they went great together.

I think I'll be making this for the pie contest this year, so I can't share the recipe just yet but stay tuned for that and please let me know your thoughts on this pie!

Eggplant w/ Homemade Pesto

  This recipe was re-created from a dish that I tried in an Italian Restaurant one night at a romantic dinner that to seldomly occurs.
  I made my own version with my own homemade pesto.
I never used to like Pesto until I had it made fresh from a Farm one night & that all changed.  I love pesto now.    But I feel that it needs to sit at least overnight for all the flavors to really mesh.  If I taste my pesto just made - I don't like it.   But I let it sit a few days in the refrigerator and then use it with cooking & it's somehow transformed and unbelievable delicious.

 The eggplant recipe is so simple:

Eggplant sliced thin
Salt & Pepper the eggplant
Spread Pesto over eggplant
Top with Fresh Mozzerella
Drizzle with Olive Oil

Bake until cheese is melted & eggplant cooked through.

Lobster and Corn Fritters

These lobster and corn fritters were sooooo good!  I will definitely be making these again, especially on a nice summer night as an appetizer - they are great for company, I even think they tasted better the next day re-heated in the oven.

The recipe is from food an wine:
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/lobster-and-corn-fritters

This is a great way to make one Lobster feed a lot of people.

 Fresh Corn on the Cob is the key!

Really good & the recipe is perfect, wouldn't change anything except perhaps the basil mayo dipping sauce.

Very easy to keep, just cool completely, then store in a zip-lock baggie with 1 sheet of a papertowl - this will wick up any excess grease.  Then just re-heat in the oven.

Spring Risotto

There's something about making Risotto that is really satisfying when you come out with a wonderful creamy rice that is like no other.  It's complicated, yet simple at the same time. 
The key to making it is to keep a pot of warmed chicken stock ready at all times & constantly stirring the rice is very important, it really is that simple.

Here is the recipe that I followed from Southern Living:
http://www.myrecipes.com/m/recipe/chicken-risotto-spring-vegetables

I think next time I would add mushrooms too.

I kept the onions separate & then sprinkled them on top.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Honeysuckle Vodka Pie Crust

Today I found out that I may be featured in a publication from Hunterdon County Women about my baking and pies especially.  I was so excited about this news I just had to run home and bake a pie.

Here is my delicious Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with a new crust that I tested out using a very special Honeysuckle Vodka.  

Stay tuned for the exact recipe,  I may send this in or use it for the upcoming pie contest this year.