Salmon & Avocado salsa recipe

I woke up this morning with clear, moisturized skin and healthy, shiny hair and couldn't figure out what was going on. Then I realized I ate 4 oz. of salmon and avocado last night - the health benefits of these two superfoods combined were crazy and I didn't expect it. All I wanted to do was eat salmon and go to bed. Here's the meal I prepared last night: mixed red and jasmine rice, garlic green bean and onion dish, seared salmon with orange avocado guacamole.

Salmon Dish:

• fresh salmon
• pressed garlic
• olive oil
• soy sauce
• sugar
• lemon
• orange zest
• avocado
• tomatoes
• onion
• cilantro
• peeled naval orange

This is sort of a mixed recipe based on ingredients I already had. In a seperate dish, combine soy sauce, squeeze lemon juice, and sugar; let the skinned salmon fillet marinate. Turn your skillet on medium to high heat, drizzle in olive oil and let the garlic and orange zest cook in the oil. Once hot enough, sear the salmon on both sides - do not add the soy sauce marinade in the pan yet. Once it's cooked to the temperature you like, set the salmon fillets to the side and make the guacamole! I like my salmon medium rare.

Orange Guacamole: combine naval oranges, smashed avocado, chopped onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper for taste. Add guacamole to cooked salmon, and voila - muy perfection!

Side dishes:

• steamed jasmine and red rice
• grilled garlic green beans and onions

Avocado contains unsaturated fat that is why it ranks among the healthiest and nutritious vegetables. Salmon contains vitamins A, B6, B12, C and D and also thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, retinol, and folic acid. It is a real treasure of minerals, namely calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc, copper, manganese and selenium. Salmon is low in fats, including healthy salmon omega-3 fatty acids. More about on Salmon Nutrition.

# 132 Baby Shower!

... but not for me! I decided to take it upon myself to host Brandy's baby shower. She's about 2 months in so I have a good 5 months to plan it. Here are my notes (hopefully she won't read them!).

COED BABY SHOWER IDEAS:

http://www.babycenter.com/0_coed-baby-showers_8243.bc

Early Nov to Early Dec. 

NOTES from Rose's Shower:

- Deck it out with Baby Bath Punch bowl: frozen blocks of ice w/flowers in the middle

- Alternating heights for food display

- Coord. colors

- Cascading balloons on string. Or the pom poms.

- lots of chairs for seating.

Brandy likes elegant, Tea-Like setting. I'll have a Sunday Tea Brunch for her.

- She loves lamb?

- tea sandwiches: cucumber, watercress, spread, bread

Planning Your Tea Party -  A Step by Step Guide

• Select a date and send out your invitations.
• Purchase your tea and related accessories.
• Review recipes for tea time sandwiches and treats.
• Plan your menu. Include both savory and sweet food. Here is a sample Tea Time Menu.
• Set a beautiful table.
• Design an easy rose centerpiece.
• Brew and serve a proper pot of tea.
• Relax and enjoy your guests while musing on the merits of tea. Try reading the leaves for amusement. Turn to Tea Quotations and Reading the Leaves for inspiration.

INVITES: find out what animal Brandy likes. 

Games fit for guys, too
***One of the cutest games I ever played at a couples shower was "Make a Baby." We each got small pieces of two different colors of Play-Doh and were told to make a baby. When the time was up, we all had to put our babies on a platter, and the expecting couple came back in the room to pick their favorite baby. Some of the babies were pretty hilarious.
— Fergus



***The game the guys loved best was the Diaper Olympics. I had two infant-sized dolls that needed a pretend diaper change. We divided the group in half and did a relay race. You had to take the baby, rush to the table, pull the diaper off, use a wipe, powder, and diaper again, and then take it to the next person in line. It was good practice for the guys — and boy, did they need it!
— Mary

These simple guidelines can help you plan a coed party:

• Make sure plenty of men will be there in addition to the expectant father.
• Make the invitations guy-friendly: Don't call it a Jack and Jill baby shower. And go easy on the pink.
• Invite the couple to register for baby gifts at their favorite store.
• If you plan to hand out party favors, realize that most men don't find the jellybeans in a baby bottle all that adorable.
• Games? If you do have them, choose ones that dads-to-be and their friends will enjoy. (For inspiration, see our readers' ideas below.)
• When it's time to open gifts, make sure the couple opens them together or takes turns.
• Bring on the food!

And here are some great ideas for co-ed showers from people who've hosted one — or had one thrown for them:

http://bklynbrideonline.com/tag/tea-party/

RECIPES:

Deviled Egg Sandwiches

3/4 cup soft butter or cream cheese
20 slices bread of your choice
4 or 5 hardboiled eggs
8 ounces canned sardines in oil, oil reserved
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
Spread 1 side of each slice of bread with butter or cream cheese. Place all the remaining ingredients except reserved oil in a food processor. Whirl until a spread is formed, adding reserved oil and/or mayonnaise to bring it to spreading consistency. Spread the mixture evenly over 10 slices of bread, top with the other 10, remove the crusts and cut into tea sandwiches. Makes 40 quarters or 30 finger sandwiches.

Seafood Tea Sandwich Recipe

Shrimp, crab, or lobster may be used in this tea sandwich recipe, or any combination thereof.
3/4 cup soft butter or cream cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped chives
20 slices bread of your choice
2 cups finely chopped crab, shrimp or lobster
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine the butter and chives and spread the mixture onto one side of each slice of bread. Mix the remaining ingredients together in a small bowl, then evenly spread the mixture over 10 of the bread slices. Top with the other 10 slices, remove the crusts, and cut. Makes 40 quarters or 30 finger sandwiches.

Smoked Salmon Sandwiches

1 cup soft cream cheese
20 slices bread, your choice
1/2 cup capers
12 ounces thin-sliced smoked salmon
Juice of 1 lemon
Black pepper
Spread the cream cheese on one side of each slice of bread. Dot with capers. Arrange the smoked salmon on 10 of the bread slices and brush with lemon juice. Pepper generously. Top with the other 10 slices, remove the crusts and cut. Makes 40 tea sandwiches or 30 fingers.

Cucumber Tea Sandwich Recipe

Cucumber sandwiches are still the quintessential tea sandwich recipe. No tea party recipe page would be complete without them.
1 large cucumber, peeled and sliced very thinly
Salt
3/4 cup soft butter
2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
20 slices bread
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
Pepper to taste
Lightly salt the cucumber slices and place them in a colander to drain for 1 to 2 hours. Then combine the butter and garlic and apply to one side of each slice of bread. In a small bowl, stir together the lemon juice, olive oil, and pepper. Add the cucumber slices, coating them well. Arrange the cucumber on 10 of the bread slices, top with the other 10 slices, remove the crusts, and quarter. Serve immediately. Makes 40 tea sandwiches.
Variation: Tomato Tea Sandwich Recipe 

Prepare as above, substituting about 2 pounds of seeded, thinly sliced tomatoes for the cucumber. You do not need to drain them as you would the cucumber slices. These can be messy, though, so it's best to arrange the tomato slices so that each slice touches a portion of the outer spread to keep the filling from slipping.

Almond Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Spread:
Combine 3/4 cup butter, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, a pinch of salt, and 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves or 2 tablespoons dried basil.
Filling:
1 cup finely chopped cooked chicken meat
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup slivered almonds
Salt and pepper to taste
20 slices bread, your choice
Combine the filling ingredients. Spread each slice of bread with a thin layer of the butter mixture. Add the filling to half the bread slices and top with the other half, buttered sides in. Remove the crusts and cut the sandwiches as desired. Makes 40 tea sandwiches.

Pepper Cheese Sandwiches

Spread:
Cream together 1 cup soft butter, 2 teaspoons brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.
Filling:
1 1/4 cups Stilton cheese, finely grated
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons brandy
1/4 cup, more or less, heavy cream
20 slices bread, your choice
Combine all filling ingredients except the cream in a small bowl. Gradually add the cream to bring the mixture to spreading consistency. Spread a thin layer of the butter mixture to the edge of one side of each piece of bread. Top half the slices with the filling. Place the remaining bread slices on top, remove the crusts and cut as desired. Makes 40 tea sandwiches.

Pineapple-Cream Cheese Sandwiches

3/4 cup soft butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon or nutmeg
20 slices bread of your choice
11/2 cups soft cream cheese
1/2 cup pineapple, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts
Salt and pepper
Combine the butter with cinnamon or nutmeg and spread the mixture over 1 side of each slice of bread. In a small bowl, cream the cream cheese, if necessary, and stir in the pineapple and nuts. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over 10 slices of bread and top with the other 10 slices. Remove the crusts and cut. Makes 40 quarter tea sandwiches.

Hummus in Pita Bread

This is not a traditional tea sandwich recipe, but it exhibits the same features. Any small-portioned, savory (not sweet) sandwich or appetizer may be served with or instead of the traditional tea sandwich.
1 cup canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans), liquid reserved
1/3 cup tahini paste*
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 or 2 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
12 mini pitas
Chopped olives and tomatoes, optional

*You can make your own tahini paste in a food processor or blender by grinding toasted sesame seeds. Toast the sesame seeds over medium heat until golden brown, about 3 minutes.

In a food processor, puree the chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, paprika, and garlic until smooth, adding a little of the reserved liquid if the mixture seems too thick. It will be slightly grainy. Season with salt and pepper. Cut the pita pockets in half and fill each with about 2 tablespoons of Hummus. Top with chopped olives and tomatoes, if desired. Makes 24 tea sandwiches.

---

For fun, serve a variety of tea sandwich recipes or a combination of sandwiches and appetizers. Figure that your guests will consume about 4 tea sandwiches apiece, or the equivalent, depending on the party menu.

# 124 V-Day, and cooking

V-day, Joe Cain, and Chinese New Year was this past Sunday, 2/14. Whew. Thomas and I decided not to go out to the Melting Pot due to the weather on Thursday(Winter Storm warning). It did snow on Friday though for about 15 minutes! It was GORGEOUS! Of course, I was "snowed-out" from the honeymoon but it was great to see it nonetheless. Wish there was more now. Dang. Anyway, we didn't get to go to the Melting Pot so I was kind of sad seeing that now I was craving their amazing cheese fondue mixed with wine. I remember the 2 best parts of that restaurant- the dessert and the cheese. Thomas hand-dipped strawberries in chocolate perfectly and stuck them upsidedown with their sticks in styrofoam so that there would be no squish parts from setting it down. Instead, they were even and beautifully presented. He also popped open a bottle of champagne and gave me a sweet little double-heart necklace made of white gold and tiny diamonds. Part of the proceeds go to helping autistic children which I adore.

On to the delish part. So I am still craving cheese/wine fondue mixture but starting tomorrow for Lent, I'm giving up restaurants. Therefore, I went nuts and made this fantastic pasta dish completely from my head.

Crystal's Woodbridge Chardonnay Portobello Pasta

- Woodbridge Chardonnay

- Extra sharp cheddar cheese

- diced mushrooms

- Italian seasoned ground turkey(more lean)

- creamed corn

- EVOO

- thin spaghetti

Setting a saucepan on medium heat, I threw in the cheddar cheese and wine, both about equal parts. You can add more wine since it'll reduce to a nice, thicker consistency by the time you're done cooking everything else. Boil your pasta and set it aside. While sauce is simmering, start cooking diced onions first, then throw in the ground turkey. Once the turkey reaches medium, push it aside to make room for the mushrooms. Add about a teaspoon and a half of EVOO and the mushrooms. You can add the creamed corn after the mushrooms are cooked halfway. Add garlic salt and pepper. I added a little bit of Kikkoman's soy sauce to the mushrooms to burn it a little. Stir the entire mixture- slowly add the cooked pasta to the pan. Once evenly heated, add the now-reduced wine/cheese sauce and toss again. Turn off the heat. You are ready to eat.

OPTIONS: Due to the lack of color, I would suggest next time cooking thin strips of red and green bell peppers to your dish when you start cooking the mushrooms.

Voila! delicioso!

# 103 Catering Trial #1

Wew brought back 4 buffet pans so I could see if they would fit in our chaffing pans and in our oven. They do. Score! Our (hot) foods menu thus far: Roast Pig, DF, C&R, Zea's corn grits, Fresh Green Bean Casserole, Vodka Cream Pasta, Roasted Red Potatoes. This whole self-catering is kind of crazy. What I am trying to aim for is to follow catering companies' model of cooking ahead of time so the day of you just reheat it and serve it.
Results:
Zea's corn grits
--- Instead of buying yellow grits, I bought the Quick Grits from wal-mart. The recipe also calls for heavy cream, and 2 cups of it too. Wow.. I certainly didn't have that when I figured that out at home. I used 1/2 water and 1/2 2% milk instead of 1/2 water and 1/2 heavy cream. I also added 2 sticks of butter, salt, and the corn. When it was finished, I poured it into the buffet pan, topped it with freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese, and fresh green onions. The grits were supposed to be yellow due to its type, NOT the butter so next time I'll have to buy the yellow kind, plus a lot of heavy cream. I specifically love Zea's grits so I'll do that in the next trial.
Fresh Green Bean Casserole
---I boiled the green beans instead of using canned(gross). The entire dish shrunk in half. How the heck do you mess up GBS?! Next time, I won't cook the beans and let the oven do the talking. But, the grilled garlic and onions that I added in the mix were delish.
Vodka Cream Pasta
---Epic Fail. Epic I say. The pasta I made the night before to see how well it stayed overnight in the fridge. The sauce- I forgot to buy crushed tomatos- instead, i relied on the tomato sauce at home which resulted in a watery mess of vodka. Also, to be adventurous, I used Absolute's Mango flavored vodka, and realized that 1 cup of Absolute was not cheap so I added Viking Ford to the end. The result? The mango flavor overpowered the vodka taste which wasn't good. Darn you Absolute, making the best flavored vodkas there is. Darn you. Anyway, whatev. Fine as a cold dish?
Roasted Red Potatoes
 ---Didn't have red potatoes and used chopped Idahos. Flavor amazing, but way undercooked even though we left it in the oven 20 min longer? Should I have wrapped it in aluminum foil? IDK...

---Trying to figure out what Meat dishes we'll have on there. I love fish and it cooks fast, plus baked is delish...Olive oil & Lemon... yummmmm.

# 101 Pretty Lists

I had a cup of coffee at 4pm at Wilson's the other day on my break. Couldn't sleep that night. Wedding planning, solution planning, ideas that were left undone were furling around in my head. I started devising lists- first it was the Helpers' outline. I posted an ad on craigslist.com and have been inundated with e-mails so I deleted my posting today because I had a good enough list of contacts. Fantastic! More lists. Last night was food prep. Wow, it was so easy once I threw it on the computer and just typing away! It probably helps a lot that I wanted a consistent and gorgeous feel to it, otherwise I hate looking and working on boring stuff. Siiiiick!

Fly away. Fly away. Once I get the recipes, I have to do some math conversions to estimate the right amount.

-You Won't Be Single For Long Vodka Cream Pasta

-Oven Roasted Red Potatoes 

-Green Bean Casserole

-Wedding Menus

Buffet Menu:

# 97 Self-Catering Links

Most stressful part of planning the wedding. Trying to self cater. I can handle presentation on a whim, but prepping it and making sure it heats up hot enough. Whew.

I need 3 people to help me with catering it.

http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Cater-A-Fabulous-Silver-Anniversary-Party
Cooking for a Crowd
About.com: Self Catering

# 55 Wedding Cheesecake Trial #2 & #3

WEDDING CHEESECAKE TRIAL #2
8.17.09
I used 1/2 of the Cheesecake Factory recipe. I think I misjudged the time it took to bake the cheesecake because it turned out brown and very custardy. The recipe asked for 5 eggs and to halve it, I just used 2. Was very mediocre. I think I put too much flour in it as well. Overall, bland, rubbery sucker with stale graham cracker crust from the 20s. It said to bake for 1.15 hours and leave it in the oven for another hour with the heat turned off. Baked for 1.15 hours and left in the oven for an extra 15-20 minutes. WAYYYYY epic. NG.(not good)

WEDDING CHEESECAKE TRIAL #3
8.27.09
I didn't want to give up on the Cheesecake Factory recipe so for Thomas' bday I tried again. Oh. My. God. I think this is the one. I used slightly more sour cream and vanilla with a NOT rotten lemon in this batch and added an egg so instead of 2 eggs I opted for 3(in the 1/2 recipe). I took it out of the oven a little earlier than 1.15 hours- maybe 1 hour. I didn't even leave it in the oven to bask in its glory. I tell you- let it refridgerate overnight and the flavors will blossom. I felt like a fatty the next day. Score.

------------TASTE TEST: DONE

---------------------SIZE TEST: not

The next trial I need to go ahead and buy my springform pans so I know how long to leave the cheesecakes in the oven. While I'm at it, I need to make the cream cheese icing so that it'll look polished. CC is so temperamental! I am getting the hang of it though!!

I found this blog called cakemonger.com which has this great post: "Cheesecake Wedding Cake."

# 37 Fattening Up

Last week after we booked an appointment for the engagement shoot, I made a plan to work out everyday from Mon to Fri so that I could rock my newly toned arms and shoulders. Ha. Only did 3 days but considering I work out 2 times an entire year, I'm good to go! Anyway, clearly my get fit plan is waning because I get to FINALLY stay at home all day and NOT clean! We are currently remodeling/restructuring the house. We're putting away all the unused decorative objects and random things in these pink and blue plastic storage boxes. 4 hours on the computer doing nothing. Fantastic. Next: PAINT

I am so American! This is as fatty as I'll allow myself to conciously make: Grilled cheese, chicken, tomato sandwich on 2 slices of buttered white Bunny bread. Oh, make that 2. Have some Pepsi to wash it down(GROSS) but only because I never drink soda or buy it.

#19 Catering

So I've just checked with a catering company.We've decided to self cater. Yes, I can not even believe we're going to try this task but for us, the hardest part is setting up the food. My parents have beautiful, high-end buffet pans, FH's dad has silver platters, and I'm good at decorating.

I've compiled a list of links that helps people like me do their own self-catering:
Growlies
Ellen's Kitchen
Cajun Families

My stomach is growling as I am thinking about Zea's delicious cort grits. oh gawd.

# 7 Wedding Cheesecake_Trial 1

Did I mention I wanted to try and take on making and decorating my own wedding cake? Not only cake, but NY styled cheesecake.

I never even CONSIDERED it until I sat down and thought about 1) the price ($800-1,000), 2) the expensive part of the cake was the labor in decorating it, and 3) I actually really wanted to decorate it. So, the hard part for me would be in baking it at the right time and temperature in the right size. The straw that broke the camel's back was when I called a baker to see if she available on my wedding day and she said no. However, I could pick up the cake the day before if I wanted to. Screw that- I'll be paying for an expensive cake that couldn't be decorated on site, aka I'll be doing it myself anyway after paying someone! Negative. Another hard part for me would be trying to find the time to decorate my cake- cheesecake can actually be frozen for weeks so when I need it, all I have to do is make the tiers, add the flower oasis in the middle, stick the flowers in the middle few days before the date, and just construct the whole pre-done piece the day of! Easy peasy! I'll probably make the cake 1-2 weeks prior, freeze it, and do the flower arrangements few days prior with my bridal party (aka bouquets, boutonnières, cake flowers). LOVE it!

LINKS:

3-Tier wedding cheesecake

how stuff works

how to make fondant

TRIAL #1: Philadelphia New York Sour Cream Topped Style Cheesecake

Why: It was a deliciously easy and very basic template for a cheesecake. I used it before and the taste was great but the execution was terrible so this time I opted to not to use such a large recipe, used a blender, and cooked it all the way this time.

Result: Tasted great! I halved the recipe just to see if I could nail it down without wasting expensive cream cheese. I know the sour cream made it taste great. The only thing I thought that could have made it perfect was getting it fluffier in texture.

Above: Without the white frosting on the cheesecake (ew), I was going to have a median filler to 1) make the take look SUPER tall and 2) that would be the easiest way to decorate the cake because I'll be so busy with other elements of the wedding day of.