International Day of Peace 2011
Wordless Wednesday: International Day of Peace 2011
Mediterranean Bruschetta {for Rachel}
In one month, my niece Rachel is getting married!
For her shower present, I put together an appetizer themed gift. Below is the recipe that goes with it…
This very simple recipe actually came together by accident. On Saturday nights, we serve Tapas. One platter that has become a favorite has hearts of palm, olives and roasted red peppers. I season them with herbs and then drizzle with olive oil and red wine vinegar (that I’ve infused with rosemary).
Last time, I decided to package up the leftovers in the same container to save time. The next day at lunch we pulled it out. The flavors had married up overnight and the flavor/texture combination was perfect.
We all decided to make this “the recipe for Rachel”.
This recipe is dedicated Rachel and her groom-to-be Rusty. Here’s to many years of joy, love and good fortune….
This quote seems apropos…
“Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction. ” -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Enjoy!
(“Aunt”) Denise
Mediterranean Bruschetta
Ingredient List
15 oz can Hearts of Palm, cuts and tips
15 oz can Green Olives, pitted and sliced
15 oz can Black Olives, pitted and sliced
4 oz jar Sliced Pimientos, packed in water
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dried Marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried Thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried Savory
1/4 cup fresh Basil Leaves
Salt & Pepper
Instructions
- Add drained olives, pimientos, hearts of palm, marjoram, thyme and savory to a large bowl.
- Chiffonade the basil and add to the large bowl.
- Add the oil and red wine vinegar to a small bowl. Whisk to combine. Pour over the olive mixture. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Stir gently to combine.
- Transfer to an airtight container. Refrigerate overnight (or to 3 days). Give a gentle shake every so often…
- Serve with your bread of choice.
Note:
This recipe is a good one for your “back pocket”. You can have all the ingredients in your pantry. It is great for a last-minute appetizer to put together to “make and take”.
You can also add to soup or salads… I served mine with Coco Pop Cakes that I bought at the local Italian Market. Each Coco Pop Cake is about the size of a small tortilla and only has 16 calories. This is a great low-calorie snack!
P.S. If you love weddings, check out the wedding post, Ali Love Cakes, that I posted last year when Rachel’s sister Alison got married.
Wordless Wednesday: Here’s What I’m Reading. What’s On Your List?
What's on your reading list?
Food for Thought Friday – Challenging Times…Choose Your Path
"The difference between a mountain and a molehill is your perspective."~Al Neuharth
Challenging times can be quite stressful…both for you and those around you.
How do you handle Challenging Times?
Do you hide and make pretend that it is not happening? This sometimes works…but only for a little while. Eventually, you are going to have to face the challenge and deal with what is happening. Denial is only a temporary band-aid.
Do you charge ahead and battle? For some personalities, this may be the initial reaction. The key word here is “reaction”. Being reactive is not usually the best path. It typically has a friend called “emotion” tagging along. Portraying emotion while being reactive clouds the message you are saying/sending….and you will have to resend your message again later (hopefully without too much damage control).
There are some ways to manage through challenging times without shying away or hiding in a cave.
You can “shift your paradigm” and find your “silver lining” and “go with the flow”. Not so easy if there are fundamental differences that you just can not accept. But, it is a choice and under the right circumstances it may be the best choice. As the saying goes, “choose your battles”.
Another approach is to take time to “Think“. Then, dissect the challenge into manageable pieces and develop a plan around what you can. You may not be able to address all of it. That is okay. Prioritize what is important to you and move forward.
Hopefully, at end of this journey, you can look back and realize that you gave it your all…that you learned something…that you didn’t let challenge overwhelm your life.
Once you remove the emotion, add objectivity and get some clarity…that challenge which seemed like a mountain at the onset may actually be a molehill.
Wordless Wednesday: “Appreciate the moment.” ~Isamu Noguchi
Coo Coo for Caribbean Cocoa Bean Muffins
A few weeks ago, I was browsing the grocery store at lunch time. A chocolate display caught my eye….in particular.. ground cocoa beans. I’ve been reading recently about the health benefits of cocoa beans.
They are very tasty…not as bitter as I expected them to be….and the flavor seemed to linger. Pure chocolate flavor at its best without added sugar….
Hmmm…Creative Cooking Opportunity…
The Versatile Vanilla series was so much fun. Chocolate is next !
Below is my recipe that is inspired by Caribbean flavors…chocolate, bananas, coconut, rum and spices.
Enjoy!
Denise
Caribbean Cocoa Bean Muffins
Yield: 12 Muffins
Ingredients
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
3/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Cardamom
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 Bananas (very ripe)
1/2 cup Sweetened Flaked Coconut
3/4 cup Sugar
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon Rum extract
1/2 teaspoon Coconut extract
1/3 cup Ground Cocoa Beans
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Line a muffin tin and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, use a whisk to combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a large bowl, add oil, eggs, bananas, coconut, sugar, rum extract and coconut extract. Use a mixer to blend ingredients.
- Add dry ingredients to banana mixture. Mix well.
- Stir in the ground cocoa beans.
- Divide batter between the 12 muffin cups.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes (until cake test comes out clean).
- Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.
Gypsy Spiced Chocolate Flan Cake (aka Torta Imposible)
Chocolate Flan Cake (Torta Imposible or “impossible cake”) is a decadent, layered dessert with Chocolate Cake on the bottom and Flan on the top.
You are probably wondering why they describe it as “impossible”….
Well, when the cake pan goes into the oven, the flan ingredients are on the top and the cake batter is on the bottom.
Then two hours later, when the dessert comes out of the oven, the cake is on the top and the flan is on the bottom.
My favorite step is to invert the cake pan onto a platter. It is definitely a “TADA” moment. The caramel runs all over both the Chocolate Cake and Flan layers. It is very hard not to slice it right there and then. But do let it refrigerate and the flavors will marry even more because as Chocolate Flan Cake refrigerates, the chocolate cake absorbs the caramel like a sponge.
I like to think that nothing is impossible and had to master this recipe after reading about it several years ago. It has since become a family favorite.
Below is the recipe…
Enjoy!
Denise
Gypsy Spiced Chocolate Flan Cake
12 Servings
Chocolate Cake Ingredients
- 1 (18 oz.) box Butter Fudge Cake Mix
- 3/4 cup Water
- 3 eggs
- 1 stick Butter, softened
- 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon Cardamom
Flan Ingredients
- 8-12 oz Caramel Sauce (depending on how gooey you like it)
- 1(14 oz.) can Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1(12 oz.) can Evaporated Milk
- 1/2 cup fresh Milk
- 8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
- 3 eggs
- 1 Vanilla Bean
- 1/2 teaspoon Cardamom
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. Spray a large bundt pan with nonstick spray. Pour caramel sauce into prepare pan. Set aside.
- Prepare cake mix according to package directions (adding cinnamon and cardamom).
- Pour cake batter into cake pan (over the caramel). Tip: I typically only fill my cake pan a little more than 1/2 way. Then make cupcakes with the rest of the batter (or leave more batter for the kids to have fun with. 🙂 )
- Pour condensed, evaporated and fresh milks into a blender. Split and scrape the vanilla bean. Add the tiny vanilla beans to the blender along with the cream cheese and the cardamom. Mix well.
Pour flan mixture very slowly (with a ladle) over the cake batter.
- Spray aluminum foil with non-stick spray. Cover bundt pan very tightly with the aluminum foil. Set the bundt pan into a large pan and set on the oven rack. Carefully pour hot water into the larger pan to a depth of 2 inches.
- Bake for 2 hours. Note: Do Not Take the Aluminum Cover Off During Baking Process.
- Cool for 15 minutes. Remove aluminum foil. Invert cake onto a large platter. Refrigerate for several hours before serving.
Source: Recipezaar
Wordless Wednesday…One of Life’s Milestones…Share Your Memory…
First Lost Tooth
Food For Thought Friday… Think!
Are you a creative thinker? Do you like to solve puzzles? I love to think.
Sounds very simple….it’s not. Life is full of distractions. So many people rush…just so they can call out “Done!” first.
Why?
There are benefits to taking time to think. Are you looking to get to the next step quickly? Or are you looking to get to the right step? It’s a choice.
Not taking time to think about a particular concept or problem usually results in an idea that is simply”just okay”. It might work out for a little while. However, most likely it will need a redo…and you will need to take time to think some more….
Try to look at things from a bird’s eye view. As the saying goes, “think outside the box”! Then you can brainstorm solutions, develop options, evaluate and pick the best solution….
I took this picture of the Pelicans on a fishing pier several years ago. They always seem to be thinking (while they wait for food). Lately, there is one Pelican that has become very friendly and now walks from fisherman to fisherman begging for food. He seems to have developed a solution that works for him…
When do you think best?
Gypsy World Spice Cafe 