Well this is the married life. While the hubs is away the wine comes out to play!
When all else fails and there is no one around to bug. I did exactly what a good housewife would do. Turn on The Style network and flip flop back and forth from E to Style. Then go searching in my growing collection for the perfect bottle of wine.
Here was my wine-o adventure before I found the perfect spot on the couch with the remote in hand! take that hubs!! All the glorious fashion and trash TV I can handle and a delish glass or bottle of Gascon Malbec from Argentina voted #1 in The Wall Street Journal.
Bottoms UP!!!
Cheers!
xoxo
the tasti life
Hello out there my fellow food loving readers and bloggers. I apologize for not blogging in awhile. But don’t you worry while I was absent in the blogging world I didn’t go hungry in the real world. just because I wasn’t blogging doesn’t mean I wasn’t eating
This post is from a dinner I made a couple weeks ago and I was inspired by looking through a take out menu.
Take out is always fun and relaxing. But recently I have been feeling more a bit domesticated and decided to do my own take on Asian. Yes, I cooked and pigs didn’t go flying around like the hubs said they would.
I would have to say Asian and Asian fusion type restaurants are the hubs favorite so when I told him we were having Chinese for dinner he was very excited until he saw me take out the pots and pans.
I would like to say that cooking a take out inspired dinner was a delectable decision.
Until next time,
XOXO
the tasti life
Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone! It has ALWAYS been a tradition in my family to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with corned beef & cabbage, potatoes, carrots, Irish soda bread, mashed potatoes, green beer, family, and music. It all started with my Irish grandparents, wearing green, sporting Irish sweaters and hats, and listening to traditional Irish music! The BEST part about St. Patrick’s Day is EVERYONE is IRISH and can partake in all the festivities! So my hubs and I decided to take on and carry out the tradition of having St. Patrick’s Day at our house! Let me tell you, it’s a lot of work, but definitely worth it!
I started cooking bright and early… 8:00 am!!! This meal takes ALL day to cook and the prep for it is also a process, but once its in the pot it simmers on low all day for a whopping 7 hours!
Recipe: One Pot meal- Corned Beef, cabbage, potatoes and carrots:
- Corned Beef Brisket (I bought 2)
- Red skin potatoes
- Carrots
- Cabbage
- One large onion
- Guinness (2 bottles)
Directions:
- Using a big pot on the stove top
- Take out corned beef-place in bottom of the pot
- **make sure you use spice packet that comes with it.
- Add spice packet
- Add 2 bottles of Guinness or any other dark colored stout you might prefer
- Add water until corned beef is submerged.
- Bring to a boil
- Once boiling- cover and bring to a simmer- (about 50min per lb of corned beef)
- While corned beef is simmering- prep veggies.
- Wash and half potatoes (keep skin on)
- Wash and peel carrots and cut in thirds
- Wash cabbage and cut (however you prefer)
- The last 30min add potatoes and carrots.
- The last 15min add in cabbage.
Then ENJOY!!!!
Here are some pictures of the process… the hubs and the pups helped decorate and prep the house for company. We had such a great time spending the day with family and friends. We had some delicious homemade deserts brought over to enjoy like homemade Chocolate Guinness cupcakes… AMAZING! And homemade fudge… SO GOOD!!! My contribution to the desert table was funfetti cupcakes… LOL… FYI… I am NOT a BAKER! I decided to garnish mine with green dyed frosting and a green bunny peep (to make it look more homemade).
I wish I would have taken more pictures of all the yummy food and drinks, but I was too busy enjoying the moment! 🙂
I hope you all had a great weekend and joined in on the St. Paddy’s fun…(even if you aren’t Irish).
Tonight there was no ordering off a menu or having to tip. I am feeling very domesticated weird! Not really, I just think I should get a super wife award for cooking a kick ass dinner.
I planned our meal in advance- which makes cooking dinner so much easier after a loooong hectic day in the classroom.
So, what was on the menu tonight? I know your dying to know
Garlic herb pork tenderloin with tomatoes, carrots, onions, and peppers. With a side of delicious and protein packed quinoa blend with brown rice!!! So good!
I would give you a step by step recipe… But that wouldn’t be me because I never follow them. I like to cook by taste and smell and sight. A total sensory experience…
Recipes actually make me anxious. Did I use the tablespoon or the teaspoon?!? Did I give a pinch of salt…?!? You get the gist of it.
Anyway I searched the fridge and freezer and this was created for dinner:
xoxo
the tasti life
Last weekend the hubs and I ran around with our capes because we were SUPER AUNT and SUPER UNCLE. We drove hours and were the cheering section for my nieces Cheer Nationals Competition and my nephews District Swim meet!!! Those kiddos seriously ROCK! We decided to make it a whole weekend for us. So we spent Friday night in downtown Harrisburg and stayed at the Hilton, and on Saturday night we stayed with some friends in their BEAUTIFUL new home!!!
Friday afternoon we drove to Harrisburg early so we could make it out for happy hour and bar hop around our State’s Capitol… no pictures in front of monuments or the Capitol building for us… It was all about the FOOD and BEER photo-opts!
First we got a couple drinks at the Bar in the Hilton and pre-gamed with some delicious homemade fried bacon and mac and cheese balls. (sorry no pics. the hubs inhaled them). Next we decided to check out a new bar called The Susquehanna Ale House. A bar that is all about the beer and offers 70 craft beers!!! I had a Rouge Ale from Newport , OR called Hazelnut Brown Nectar Ale with 6.2% alcohol… which was an amazing dark beer with a hazelnut aroma and a smooth nutty flavor! LOVED IT!!! My next brew I decided to go with another dark beer that I never had before from Troegs Brewing Co, PA called Javahead Stout with 7.5% alcohol. This was amazing! I mean how can you go wrong with COFFEE and BEER!?! The Javahead Stout has a lush flavor of cocoa and coffee flavors. A MUST TRY!!! Also at the Ale House we made friends with a couple from Texas who had their dog Mara in the Bar… and no Dad, he wasn’t the BARKTENDER!!
After trying some delicious beers I wanted to fill my belly with some good ol’ bar food. We then headed to AROOGA’s. The hubs and I decided to try some other beers we never had before… Arooga’s offers a “Kick the Keg” special and has $2.00 beers until the keg is empty. So we had to go with that bargain. The “kick the keg” special was a Nugget Nectar that was very hoppy, definitely woke up my tatse buds! But my FAVORITE find was a beer from DUCLAW called Sweet Baby Jesus which is a chocolate peanut butter stout! It was a dark rich beer that had a strong peanut butter aroma and tasted just like peanut butter and chocolate… a match made in heaven! 🙂
On top of all this amazing beer testing… we decided to go all out with a slider sampler with loaded fries… finger lick’n goodness!!
I think I am still recovering from all the running around, driving, and eating this weekend!
Until next time,
xoxo
There is an on-going joke in my family, that when people ask me what I am making for dinner when I cook that is… that I coined the term “chicken surprise.” I often find that people make chicken constantly and on a regular basis. I feel like as carnivores and “boring” American’s… people are ALWAYS eating CHICKEN SOMETHING around the dinner table. There are so many yummy go-to and easy chicken recipes that we would be silly not to take advantage of all the options that the WONDER BIRD has to offer us…. but this post is NOT about a chicken dinner I made… I know my family will be in complete shock and amazement!!
This is a scrumptious little dinner I decided to make myself when the Sherminator was away for business. It was put together in under 15 minutes… beat that Rachel Ray!!
Recipe:
- 2-3 large sea scallops (rinse and pat dry scallops).
- gently sprinkle scallops with Old Bay Seasoning.
Directions:
- Heat pan over high heat
- Add extra virgin olive oil
- Place scallops on pan **IMPORTANT** Do not move scallops
- Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, until bottom is golden
- With spatula, turn scallop over and sear opposite side for another 2-3 minutes.
The thing about scallops is they are delicate to cook, and it is very easy to over cook them. The perfect scallop should have a mildly sweet flavor and the texture should be soft, moist and easy to chew.
xoxo
the tasti life
Last week, the Man and I met up with a friend to sit at the bar at Maritas Cantina located off of Main Street in Stroudsburg. We decided to order a few drinks and catch up with our friend over some warm crispy tortilla chips and freshly made salsas. (MY FAVORITE!!!- In our house chips and salsa is a STAPLE food supply and sometimes a meal! LOL) The drinks were cold and strong… just what I needed after a busy day at work. I ordered a Skinny Margarita that was made with agave nectar tequila (my personal fav.) If you are a tequila drinker like myself try this stuff… Milagro Tequila… its delish! It was also made with fresh lime juice, fresh orange juice, a lime wedge, and of course a salted rim! SOO GOOD and less calories/bitter taste then those pre-made mixes. YUCK! After devouring 2 baskets of chips we decided to order our dinner. We sat at the bar and ate which I enjoyed. I ordered the pinto bean burrito… it was so good, but after eating so many chips I only ate half. (don’t worry I enjoyed my left-overs the next day for lunch-while making co-workers mouths water!)
The food at Marita’s is always good and I love how you get an endless amount of chips and salsa while you are there. (Like I said, I often can make that a meal!) I also love how reasonably priced their menu is. My burrito cost me a whopping $6.95!!! You can’t beat that price at a chain like Moe’s or Holy Guacamole… the service is usually decent, my only downer is the atmosphere isn’t reminiscent of what a Mexican restaurant should be… I actually miss the decor of what the OLD Marita’s Cantina looked like.
With that said, Marita’s is actually one of those go to restaurants that the Hubs and I frequent often… I would definitely recommend it to someone who is looking for some savory and spicy food and for a good time at the bar. *** Marita’s has $0.50 beer specials on Friday and Saturday nights from 10-2am… come on people you can’t beat that anywhere!!!!!
xoxo
the tasti life
A couple nights ago we had a savory dinning experience at Fume Asian Grill. Located in Stroudsburg off of North 9th Street. Fume’s food is always artfully prepared only using the freshest ingredients and an authentic inspired atmosphere. Your food comes out looking so beautiful that you can tell it was handcrafted just for you.
Also, if you are looking for a new Asian dinning experience, Fume offers coupons on their website so you can try some fresh and delicious food while getting a good deal! (Which I know always makes everyone happy!!!) 🙂
Fume Asian Grill was also awarded, The 2013 Greatest Around the Pocono’s award and is a Candidate For The TOP 100 Chinese Restaurants!!!
If you want a new twist on Asian food and sushi that offers fresh, clean, and natural ingredients grab some friends and check out Fume Asian Grill. With a group of 6 or more you can sit at a private table on cushions for an authentic dinning experience!
On Saturday night, the hubs and I went on a double date to a mouthwatering hibachi restaurant called Desaki. Desaki is known to offer a “deliciously dynamic” dinning experience… which it certainly does! Desaki is another great restaurant located close to many Pocono’s attractions. It is located on 611 in Swiftwater and has complimentary shuttle bus service that will travel to and from many area resorts including The Chateau Resort and Mt. Airy Casino! Talk about service and convenience!!!!!:-)
Desaki’s may seem to be a bit pricey when you first glance at the menu, but the food is extraordinary and the “show” that the hibachi chefs put on is so entertaining you almost forget that you are nestled in the Pocono Mountains.
There is so much that Desaki’s offers. I was so happy to find out that they have Bar Specials during the week!!! I will most definitely be dragging the hubs back to check out Desaki’s $0.25 Wednesday Wing specials!!! I feel like a $0.25 wing special is unheard of these days! 🙂 Another awesome feature is you can host your very own event at Desaki, from a girls night out to a sweet 16 to a charity event, all the way to a wedding. Desaki’s Garden Venue will make your dream event a reality!!!
As for my tasti dinning experience went… we were told there was a fifty minute wait… Yes, 5.0.!!!! So we put our party name down and made ourselves comfortable at the bar. 20 minutes later, our buzzer was blinking wildly! Not too bad… I’ll take 20 minutes over 50! By this time I was hungry enough to eat an elephant!!! I ordered the jumbo sea scallops hibachi dinner, which included edamame, a bowl of traditional Japanese soup, crispy and fresh cut vegetables, fried rice and of course Lo Mein noodles. Everything is prepared in front of you on a giant hibachi cook-top made to order using a unique blend of sauces and spices… like teryaki and garlic! YUMMY!!! ( I am getting so hungry writing the post!)
If you are craving a fun night out and an overall enjoyable dinning experience with flavor check out Desaki’s! There is also some fun events happening at Desaki’s. Tomorrow night, Thursday, February 28th is Ladies Night Out Jewelry Party from 6:30-8:30…which all the proceeds will go to a great cause!!! Check it out at Ladies Night Out
xoxo
the tasti life
Saturday night was spent eating delicious food at Peppe’s Bistro formally known as Peppe’s Ristorante. Peppe’s recently got a face-lift and now offers a casual, fresh and modern atmosphere right here in the Pocono’s. (although I do have to say I miss the charm of the old world Italian style fine-dinning experience.) Peppe’s casual ambiance of having a brick oven pizza bar and a swanky lounge to sip your happy hour cocktails is alluring. What I love about Peppe’s is that you can attend in a casual style of jeans or dressed to the nines and still feel comfortable in the atmosphere.
Peppe’s also has entertainment on Saturday nights from 8-11pm in the Bistro Lounge. So you can order a scrumpious classic marguerite brick oven pizza and a nice big class of wine. Last night Erin McClelland Band was playing everything from Dave Matthews to Phillip Phillips. Check him out! He will be playing at Peppe’s Bistro again on March 15th.
So what was on the menu for me last night:
A nice big glass of Pinot Grigio, followed by my all time favorite zuppa de clams appetizer made in a plum tomato broth with basil and garlic! DELISH! Next up was the arugula salad with grilled steak prepared medium rare…. The house balsamic is to die for, especially when you ask for blue cheese crumbles on top! To round out my night I had an espresso and the molten chocolate lava cake! WOW!!!! Let’s just say I left happy and satisfied! 🙂
Overall, it was an excellent night out!
thetastilife 