Hubby's Bday Request

Today's my husband's bday!  We celebrated his birthday with his friends on Saturday and with his parents yesterday.  For Saturday he requested my Chicken Gyros.  Cafe Mix in Mesa, Arizona inspired me to create this Chicken.  I also learned how to make my own pitas, but for the purpose of this party and my hectic schedule, I wasn't going to make 30 pitas by hand.  Luckily, the owner of Cafe Mix graciously sold me his pitas!!!  Before I went to buy the pitas on Saturday morning, I prepped and marinated the chicken thighs in Ziploc bags. Below is a photo of my homemade marinade.

The party started at 5pm and I promised food by 6pm.  The chicken was in the oven roasting by 2pm and I took it out at 3:30pm and let it sit for 30 mins so that it would retain it's juices.

I then sliced up the chicken thighs and added it to the pan with all the juices!  I cooked the meat in a huge pan until the juices reduced to almost nothing.

Finished product....served with pickles, tomatoes, and my own greek sauce.

Random

I call this blog “Random”.  I’ve been so busy with school and work along with parties that I have not been able to post anything here that is decent! So sorry, but I hope you enjoy the photos of what has been going on.
 


Here are a couple more photos of the Spicy Green Chile burritos with fresh pan fried tortillas. Garnished with sour cream and fresh cilantro…just the way I like them!







A gift from Italy… I still need to make this and incorporate Mario’s instructions.



Need to grow these “special” bay leaves! 



 


In the mean time, I’ve cut sweet potatoes in half and started to grow them.  My grandmother used to grow these in her backyard and would harvest the leaves to eat.  She would sauté the leaves and eats them with rice.  I am growing these in memory of her.





Some photos from Italian feast 





 




Homemade Italian meatballs and sauce! Mmmm… This photo was taken after I fried the meatballs and threw them in the pot.  I ended up simmering the meatballs for hours afterward.  Looks so "rustic"!





So this filling for ravioli is sooo simple.  I just took spinach, Portobello mushrooms (sliced/diced) and sauteed with lots of fresh minced garlic in canola oil with salt & pepper (I ran out of olive oil)…remove from heat and mix in shredded Parmesan cheese.  Let the filling cool and stuff your raviolis!  I boiled these raviolis and mixed in my homemade Alfredo sauce!  I’ve made this twice and so far I’ve received raved reviews!  I plan on making a bunch and freezing them!  





Sichuan Chicken! Soo spicy!  I made this earlier last week for my uncles.  Original recipe is made with shrimp - one of my favorite dishes as a kid.  I first fell in love with this spicy shrimp dish at one of the restaurants my dad worked at.  He cooked the dish and brought it out for us to eat.  The sauce is soo good with white rice. I learned how to cook this by watching him make it at home. 




My first attempt at making caramel from sweet condensed milk! OMG sooo good! If I can only have one thing to eat forever and ever – I pick sweet condensed milk! LOL Here is a photo of the caramel popcorn I made Friday night.  I am working on my caramel popcorn skills for Fall Festivities!





Now don’t be jealous…. On Saturday we made 14 lbs of Prime Rib for the family along with garlic mashed potatoes (red potatoes, sour cream, butter, garlic, salt/pepper), shrimp scampi, Portobello baked, Caesar salad, corn, and dinner rolls! Below is the cow we roasted!





For every 5 lbs Standing Prime Rib Roast, mix the seasoning below and rub all over meat:

10 cloves minced garlic or 5 teaspoons of pre-minced garlic

2 tbs olive oil

2 tsp salt

2 tsp ground black pepper

2 tsp dried thyme

Optional…1 tsp onion powder



------------

BTW - This Sunday I am taking a Puerto Rican cooking class!  So stay tuned for photos!

Big Weekend!

It's almost 11pm and I can't sleep. I have a 7:30am meeting tomorrow morning. This weekend is going to be exciting and I am sure I will be wiped out! On Saturday my uncle is having a grand opening party for his new dental office. I plan on making a white fondant cake in a shape of a molar. Surprisingly I have not asked him what the name of the new office is. So I just sent an email out requesting for it. I am not sure how I will decorate the tooth yet. I will have to make this tomorrow night!

On Sunday my husband and I are throwing his parents a small surprise 30^th Anniversary Party at Munner’s place. Munner is Jon’s great-grandmother. I just adore her! Jon’s parents will be home late Saturday night. They took a week long cruise in Hawaii. So it might take some convincing to get them over to Munner’s place, but I am sure that will not be a problem. Here is the menu that I’ve put together for about a dozen attendees:

Cake:

Two fondant cakes. I will make my own white fondant and decorate with little white dots all over it. The base of the cake will be a rim of pearls. I’ve decided to use pearls because the 30^th year anniversary theme is pearls and diamonds! His mom’s favorite color roses are yellow. So I will top each of the cakes with lots of yellow roses! I plan on going to Michael’s after work tomorrow to pick up a tier fixture for the cakes. One cake will be chocolate and the other will be lemon cake with raspberry preserves!

I don’t plan on making any appetizers because I plan on making lots of main dishes for everyone to eat!

-Roasted vegetables (not sure what veggies yet, but we’ll see what’s fresh when I go to the market on Saturday)

-Italian meatballs in meat sauce with spaghetti pasta

-Shrimp Alfredo with linguine pasta

-Italian bread with my special garlic spread

And last but not least is my challenge of the week… homemade ravioli with chicken, spinach, and Parmesan filling in spinach Alfredo sauce!

It’s getting late and it’s time for me to go lay in bed and dream of cooking…

But don’t forget to come back here for photos and the scoop on this weekend’s events!