#ElleAPalooza

I miss you Elle.  It's not even that we talked all the time or were BFF's but I could always count on a nice comment, commiseration or a funny post.  I miss that.  I mean I REALLY miss that...

In the weeks since Elle's passing I feel that maybe I have taken too many online friendships for granted.  The support.  The love.  The friendship.  For this I am sorry and really am trying to fix.  :)

The recipe that I choose for #ElleAPalooza is cheating.  I am so time crunched that I went back in my archives and hunted down a muffin recipe that I made of Elle's back in January of 2009.  It was good.  Really really good.  I want them right now but alas there is not time...

Double Chocolate Banana Muffins (from Elle at Elle's New England Kitchen)

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/3 cups mashed ripe banana
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients.
2. In a small bowl, combine bananas, oil and egg.
3. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. The batter is quite thick, but keep folding it gently, making sure to get the batter on the bottom of the bowl, and it'll all come together.
4. Fold in chocolate chips.
5. Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups three fourths full.
6. Bake at 350 deg F for 20-25 minutes or until muffins test done.

***On February 24th there is going to be an online auction to help Elle's (Lee Ann) family.  There are pieces of her jewelry among other items being auctioned off.  To learn more please head over to the Friends of Elle FB page and join in...

Day 14 of a Month of Giving Thanks

Today I am thankful for old friends.  Not old as in the age of my friends but, Oh you know what I mean...

Yep.  Love this girl here...

Toronto…the finale

So I told you I had fun when I was away right?  But unless you follow me on Twitter or on Facebook (Judy Chiappini) you may not know what exactly I was up to…

It was a friend of mine’s birthday and he invited me to a party at his house…

We had some dips (roasted red pepper and egg plant)…

Some marinated and grilled shrimp…

Grilled Octopus…

Salads…

(Photo courtesy of Paula @ Dragon’s Kitchen)

(Photo courtesy of Paula @ Dragon’s Kitchen)

Grilled Pork Belly…


Homemade Chicken Gyro’s…

with homemade tzatziki, tomatoes, and onions…

And then came the cake…

You see how lucky I am???  Have you guessed who’s birthday it was yet?

Peter @ Kalofagas had a birthday!!!

and I got to meet Paula @ The Dragon’s Kitchen

And Jasmine @ Confessions of a Cardamom Addict
 
photo courtesy of Paula @ Dragon’s Kitchen

Can you believe how lucky I was to be invited to this Greek feast?  Peter single handedly prepared and served us all night long.  Paula did make the birthday cake and it is by far one of my all time faves…Lemon Meringue Cake!

We were able to meet up with Paula and Peter once again but just for a quick bite to eat after we went to the Science Center to see Harry Potter The Exhibition!  Still a little bit of time with 2 of my favorite bloggers and friends is better than no time at all…

photo courtesy of Paula @ Dragon’s Kitchen

Loved meeting Paula (xoxoxo) and Jasmine and seeing Peter again!!!  Thank you for making this a memorable trip for me and can’t wait to do it all again next year…lamb on a spit right????

What We Ate with links and recipes…

So I posted a teaser the other day of all f the food that we ate over the Memorial Day weekend but right after that my computer developed a virus and it took me until Friday of last week to get everything figured back out.  I was so lucky and ended up not losing anything but some of the files are different and I had to reinstall some things.  Anyway as promised…

Starting from the upper right hand corner and going clock wise and finishing up in the middle:

  Tzatziki sauce – this is typically used with souvlaki and gyros but we used the leftovers all weekend sometimes even as a salad dressing!!!

 Greek Salad – Really simple dressing that is fresh and quick to make.

 Marinated Shrimp Salad – So simple and the best thing is you make it the night before and allow it to marinate all night.  Then just take it with you the day of the party.

Watermelon infused with watermelon Vodka:  Simply take a whole water melon and cut a hole in the skin just large enough for a funnel to fit in.  Do this about 12 hrs before serving.  Fill the funnel with watermelon vodka and allow the watermelon to absorb it.  Keep doing this until the desired amount is in the watermelon.  Chill and slice immediately before serving.  Place a cork in the whole for transporting to the party!

 Pork Souvlaki:  This is the souvlaki recipe that I got from my friend Peter over at Kalofagas.  It is the best I have ever tasted and made by me at home!

Bread – We bought it from our favorite German bakery and brushed it with garlic infused olive oil and grilled it…

 
Michelob Ultra – Yummmmmm!

Summer Berries with berry reduction and whipped cream (recipe to follow in a day or so)

Happy Summer!!!

What we ate...

Hopefully I will be able to get a full post up soon...wish me luck!

Oh, and that watermelon? Filled with watermelon Vodka!!!

Blogging friends or simply friends...

Jenn and Roberto at the Sanibel Lighthouse!

What a wonderful thing it is when the lines becomes blurred and the people that you have called your "blogging friends" turn into your real and just normal everyday friends. People you talk to everyday and end up sharing parts of your life with without ever meeting them. Does that make them any less of a friend because the distance is too far to just drive over and see them?

I guess I have proved that this weekend and I still hold onto my belief that food bloggers are some of the best people anywhere.

We were lucky enough to have Jenn (The Leftover Queen), hubby Roberto and cute puppy Pepino to stay with us for the weekend. You would think I have a ton of pictures of all of the food we made and the eating we did but sadly, no! I think we were so busy talking and just hanging out that we forgot to take pictures.

Dinner Friday night was delicious. I had marinated some Pork in Peter's Souvlaki marinade, Jenn and I made a Greek salad, bread (Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes bread), tzatziki, roasted potatoes and Jenn made some Baba Ganouche while I went and picked up the girls!

We ended up sitting up late just talking...

Saturday night we did an impromptu invite of some of my closest friends. Funny thing is they had a friend visiting them. Turned into a really fun night featuring a 25 pound pan of sausage lasagna that T. made and some good cheap wine!!! Thanks for coming Karen it was great meeting you!!!

Jenn and I were able to at least focus and start and complete our DB Challenge for the month. Look at me...almost 20 days early too!

Sunday we went to the beach and had a wonderful time just strolling and checking out several area beaches. We have some real pretty ones here!

Really I have some food posts coming up. I "splatchcocked" a chicken so stay tuned!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Are you running out of getting together time?

I was at my children's school this morning and I was fortunate enough to run into a very smart woman that I have known for several years and talk to whenever I can but we never really seem to have as much time as I had today. I wasn't very rushed and she didn't seem to be very rushed so we were able to chat for a few minutes. While we were chatting I told her what I had been doing (building a website etc.). I told her that my website was about entertaining and how I wished that more people would do it but it seemed that most people thought of it as too much work or they were too busy to do it. She brought up a very good point and that is that we are all say to our friends "let's get together soon" but very rarely do we ever follow through with it. Is it because we are afraid that it would take too much time, too much effort etc.? We have all done this...but what if we found out that our friends were leaving and moving out of state and that we have run out of getting together time! It happens to all of us that live in Florida. People move away ALOT! I would be very sad to think that I had run out of getting together time with one of my friends.

Cooking for your friends can be very simple. I love hamburgers cooked on the grill! What I am saying is that it doesn't have to be spectacular. It can just be a very simple afternoon by the pool with some burgers and a couple of drinks. As long as you are sharing this with friends you can't go wrong!

This weekend is Labor Day and there is no better time to call up your friends and invite them over for an afternoon or evening. Most of us have 3 days off so you can't make the excuse that there isn't enough time to do all the preparations! Keep it simple! Your friends will appreciate it I'm sure!

Happy Entertaining,

Judy
http://www.nofearentertaining.com/

Maybe Labor Day?

I have been trying for days now to get my husband, Tony, to commit to having a party during the Labor Day weekend. It would be just perfect...3 days long. I have a Partylite party to go to on Friday but then the rest of the weekend is empty! I think why he is hesitating is that in just our regular invitees we are up to 22 people. Not really a big deal for us but then there are always others that we want to include at as well. I can see this being a 30 person party. My moto is the more the merrier. Lots of good food, plenty to drink and great friends to share it all with. This would be kind of the last hurrah for the summer. Our children started back at school yesterday so it wouldn't be a back to school thing but Labor Day always sort of signifies the "official" end of summer. Now, coming up with a menu will be no problem at all seeing as my website is www.nofearentertaining.com. which has a newsletter that is full of recipes, tips, and ideas. We have been having parties like these for about 15 years and each one is better than the last!
Maybe I can get him to commit to a date today...wish me luck!