Chocolate, Peanut Butter Cake

As I have confessed before ~ I am not much of a baker but sometimes you just need chocolate. So I made a Chocolate Cake with peanut butter in the middle. Then to top it off with a little more chocolate I covered the cake in chocolate ganache.
I will have to send this entry to my friend C who is the true baker and see what she thinks.










Chocolate Cake ~ YUM!

Great Food at the B&B on Tiffany Hill

I surprised my husband with a trip to Asheville, NC 4th of July weekend.
A friend of ours recently opened a Bed and Breakfast in Asheville.
Her name is Selena and her amazing place is called the
Bed and Breakfast on Tiffany Hill.




Selena describes her B&B as "Casual Elegance filled with Southern Hospitality" and it is that and so much more. The B&B is gorgeous. There are five guest rooms that are decorated to make your stay comfortable and relaxing. Selena is a gracious and extremely helpful Inn Keeper. She will assist you in planning your day with local activities or encourage you to relax on the property walking around the 7 gardens or taking a nap in the hammock. Each night we found a special treat in our room like chocolate chip cookies or pecan nugget bars. My husband loved that each day upon return from our adventures there was a new German Chocolate Truffle sitting beside the bed to replace the one he ate earlier that day.

Each morning we were served and extraodinary three course breakfast.

Day 1
Fresh fruit with honey, citrus sauce:



Artichoke Egg Strata with asparagus and seasoned potatoes:


Pineapple Upside Down Cobbler:



Day 2
Fresh Fruit with a Vanilla Cream Sauce


Banana & Pecan Stuffed French Toast


Frozen Vanilla Yogurt with Raspberry Sauce:





Day 3
Peaches in Simple Sauce with Infused Mint



Ham, Mushroom and Egg Cups



Banana, Pineapple Cream Pie



The food was another wonderful aspect of this bed and breakfast. All three days we we were there the breakfast was truely delicious.


Of course after eating a big breakfast each morning we needed to get a little exercise. So lucky for us the Dupont National Forest was only a few minutes away.
The are around Dupont Forest is known as Land of the Waterfalls. The waterfalls were breathtaking.







Thanks again Selena!

Indian Food and Friends

Last night my husband and I had a some friends over for dinner.

The menu:

Samosas with Cucumber & Cilantro Dip
Tagine Style Chicken
Peach Cobbler with Maple Cream Sauce
(Recipe from Pioneer Women )

We started preparations early as the Samosas have several steps in the recipe. The recipe we used for the Samosas came from a class we took at the Vicking School of Cooking. There are several Samosas recipes oniline. We filled our Samosas with a mixture made up of potato, peas, serano pepper, onion, and spices like Garam Masala and corriander.



The table was set.



The Samosas:








The Tagine Chicken:



The recipe for the chicken can be found at
http://birdfood-sharona.blogspot.com/search/?q=Tagine+Chicken


Peach Cobbler with Maple Cream Sauce:





All the food turned out excellent!! We enjoyed a great evening sitting around the table with good food, telling stories and laughing.

Creamed Corn

Ahh the sweet taste of summer corn.





Creamed Corn

6-8 fresh ears of corn (slice kernels off)
1/3 - 1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp sugar
1 -2 green onions, diced
kosher salt to taste
pepper to taste

Start by slicing the kernels off the corn cobs. Place the kernels in a casserole dish. Add the heavy cream, butter, paprika, sugar and salt and pepper. Mix well. Add in the green onions. Bake at 350 for about 30 - 40 minutes. You don't want to overcook. You want the dish to be creamy and the corn to be crunchy.

Summer Time Pasta

This is a wonderful, light pasta dish for the summer.
It is packed full of healthy vegetables which provide
a variety of flavors to the dish. A perfect side dish
to bring to a cookout or a nice, light, summer dinner.



Herbed Vegetable Pasta

1/2 lb penne pasta
6 tbs. oil
1 can of artichoke hearts quartered
2 cups (6 oz) green beans, cut into 3-inch pieces
1/2 yellow pepper , diced
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 cup kalamata or black olives, crushed or quartered
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp chopped oregano
1 tsp chopped thyme
1/4 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
10 oz orange, yellow and variegated tomatoes, cut into wedges
Directions
1. Cook pasta in lightly salted water and drain. Heat 1-�� tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add artichoke hearts and cook, stirring occasionally until golden, about 4 min.

2. Transfer artichokes to a large bowl, then cook green beans in skillet for 2 min; add beans to artichokes and remove skillet from heat. To make vinaigrette, stir together vinegar, honey, salt and pepper in skillet, gathering browned bits from bottom of pan. Whisk in remaining olive oil.

3. Add pasta, olives, onion, oregano, thyme and parsley to bowl with artichokes and beans and toss. Coat with vinaigrette, then gently stir in tomatoes. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Chicken,Tomato, Goat Cheese and Artichoke Pizza

I have to thank my friend Cheri for this delicious recipe.
She made this pizza few weeks ago and once I tried it
I knew that it would be a favorite at our house!






Chicken, Goat Cheese, Tomato and Artichoke Pizza

Take one chicken breast and saute it in a little oil. Sprinkle
the chicken with a little salt, pepper oregano and basil.
After the chicken is cooked cut it into long, thin pieces.

On the pizza crust of choice - pour and spread a little olive oil.

Add 3-5 oz. of crumbled goat cheese to the crust.

Chop a jar or can of artichoke hearts and add those on
top of the goat cheese.

Add the diced chicken next.

Sprinkle the pizza with Italian seasoning: basil, oregano, parsley.

On the top add sliced tomatoes.

Place in oven and bake at 400 for about 15- 20 minutes.



YUMMY!

Egg Flowers

Sounds a little strange "Egg Flowers" but check out the photo.
Pretty neat.. right?



What a great way to serve eggs.
Take a slice of ham and place it inside a muffin tin.
Then scramble some eggs and add anything you want.
We added diced red onion, cheese and basil.
Pour the egg mixture into the ham shell.
Add a topping or even a little more cheese.
Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes or until the egg
is the texture like.

There are so many options for this dish which
is why I really like it and of course....it
tastes great and looks good too!!