Up in Smoke

Tuesday night I tried making this zucchini & squash fritter recipe.

It ended up looking like this...

I really have no idea how that happened.  They were just not cooking.  Just burning.

There are a few fritters leftover that I haven't destroyed, 

so I'll try them in the oven next time.  The look so good!

Since the stench of "burn" was so strong, I needed to light a candle...

By this time it was 8:30, so I just had a glass of wine, a spoonful of peanut butter, 

watched a documentary on PBS about the Royal Windsors and went to bed.  Blah.

Just to clarify, even though I watch PBS, I am 34 and not 74 :)  I do have to say the documentary was very good.  It was about Princess (now Queen) Elizabeth's wedding.

Yesterday I read this blog and saw she replaced the red sauce 

on her homemade pizza with ricotta and pesto... um, yum

So last night's dinner was far more successful than Tuesday night's!

Since I didn't have any Naan hanging around, 

I used an Arnold's sandwich thin for two mini pizzas - love these.

Also wasn't sure if the ricotta would be too dry so I warmed up a side of sauce.

No need for the sauce, the ricotta and pesto together were creamy deliciousness!

My current favorite pizza toppings are broccoli, mushrooms, avocados & grape tomatoes.

Do you ever try recipes you see on other people's blogs?

How do they turn out?

What are your favorite pizza toppings?

Any good documentaries to recommend? 

Pineapple and Shrimp Skewers

Here is a delicious recipe I got from the free wine magazine, GRAPE, that you can pick up at Publix supermarkets.  The recipe actually calls for scallops, not shrimp, but I have made it both ways and it is tasty.  I usually have shrimp on hand so here we go with shrimp…

Ingredients

2 teaspoons finely shredded lime peel

¼ cup lime juice

¼ cup sniped cilantro

2 small green or red jalapeno chile peppers, seeded and finely chopped (I actually just use a few shakes of red pepper flakes and that brings enough heat for me)

2 teaspoons sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

¼ cup canola oil

Medium shrimp, peeled* - original recipe calls for 16 Sea Scallops (about 1½ pounds)

Pineapple chunks*
*The amount you use of these two ingredients just depends on how many people you are feeding.

1 avocado, pitted, peeled and cut into chunks

If I am eating by myself I usually make two skewers and use half of the ingredients above… except for the avocado, I will use a whole:)

In a small bowl combine lime peel, lime juice, cilantro, jalapenos, sugar, salt and black pepper.

Slowly whisk in oil until combined; set aside.

In a large bowl combine shrimp and pineapple.  Toss with 2 tablespoons of the lime juice mixture.  Let stand for 15 minutes.

Add the avocado chunks to the rest of the lime juice mixture

Thread the skewers with the shrimp and pineapple.  The recipe suggests you cook these on the grill, but since I live in an apartment, and am a girl, I do not own a grill.  However, a good alternative for me has been the Le Creuset cast iron grill pan (awesome! love it!).  So throw those skewers on there until they are nice and hot!

You can serve the skewers with the avocados on the side or perhaps serve over rice.

This time, I just took the cooked shrimp and pineapple and half of the avocado and mixed it together in one bowl, delicious!

I’ll took the other skewer and combined it with the rest of the avocado and put it in the freezer for another time.

Enjoy!

I'm Shipping Up to Boston!

This is my cousin Amanda

She’s running the Boston Marathon on Monday

as part of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team

and has raised over $7,700 for cancer research – awesome!

There are several members of my family meeting up in Boston for the 

weekend to cheer her on.  We are having a fun dinner in the 

North End Saturday night with lots of this

before 7 of us run the B.A.A. 5k on Sunday morning.

Along the Marathon course on Monday we will have this most awesome sign

 *Note:  This is my friend Derek.  I had the sign shipped to his place in Boston so I wouldn't have to take it on the plane - thanks Romanos!  However, he thinks that by appearing on my blog his photo will go viral and he will become the most popular guy on the web.  I've known this kid since I was 14, he is not kidding...

and of course, no cheer section would be complete without

After Mandy’s 26.2 mile adventure from Hopkinton to Boylston Street 

we will all meet up on Newbury to toast her journey with these…

GOOD LUCK to all you Boston Marathoners out there!  We'll be cheering for you!!

Wordless Wednesday, Dinner Edition

Sometimes it’s all about the…

Homemade pizza with pesto, avocado and
sauteed mushrooms, broccoli & grape tomatoes

and the…

Yummy glass of Cab!

 I feel ready to go on my 10 mile run tomorrow morning, cheers!