Lunch at the Peninsula Hotel – Chicago

I had the most delightful lunch at the Peninsula Hotel! The food from the presentation to the taste was amazing. First I started with the Heirloom Tomato Salad with watermelon, fresh mozzarella, and basil

They added watermelon to the salad was GREAT!

Next for the main course was Roasted Sea Scallops with chickpeas, summer beans, cerignola olives and red pepper.

I loved the green beans!

And for dessert  Crème Fraîche Cheesecake with mixed berries and red fruit paper.

This melted in your mouth!

Make sure if you are there for a quick meal or an overnight stay to tweet @ThePeninsulaChi they just might give you a box of goodies!

Thanks Guys! This was cute!

As always Peace, Love and Tweeting – tOr
*All opinions are my own.

Yummy Cookies!

So who can say no to this!

This could be dessert!

Best Ever Buttercream Frosting (adapted from allrecipes.com and minkette.rebeccaminkoff.com)
Ingredients:
2 C unsalted butter (4 sticks)
8 C confectioners sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 C heavy whipping cream*Use clear versus dark vanilla extract for a whiter frosting.
Directions:
In bowl or stand mixer, cream butter until light and fluffy. Add confectioners sugar and blend until smooth.
Add salt, vanilla and 6 oz whipping cream. Continue to blend until well incorporated. Add additional 2 ounces of cream if frosting is too thick.
Soft and Chewy Almond Sugar Cookies (CCK Original)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C white sugar
2/3 C butter (cold)
2/3 C shortening (room temp)
2 eggs
2 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 C cake flour
1 C all purpose flour
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
sugar in the raw (I like raw sugar for this, but any coarse sugar would work)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare baking sheet.Cream sugar, butter and shortening. Stir in eggs and almond extract. Combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt and add to butter/egg mixture.Stir to combine until dough forms. (Add sprinkles to the dough for the “funfetti effect.”)
Form dough into walnut sized balls (I used a small cookie scoop) and roll in raw sugar. Place on prepared pan.
Bake for 4 minutes. Open oven and quickly press each cookie to desired thickness with back of spoon. Bake for additional 4 minutes (8 minutes total).Remove to cooling rack. Allow to cool completely.
Enjoy!

They may not be given away!

Penne Pasta with Vodka Sauce

Looks YUMMY to me! And it was!

Tonight for dinner I decided to make Penne Pasta with Vodka sauce. It was yummy! But here are a few tips. When adding the Parmesan cheese make sure there are no lumps in it … I didn’t have fresh Parmesan I had the bottle of pre grated. Overall a VERY easy meal to make and will make your family very happy!

Ingredients

1 29oz  or 1lb can of tomato sauce

1 cup vodka

1/2 cup heavy cream, at room temperature

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

3 cups penne pasta

Vodka and Tomato Sauce

Parmesan cheese, Penne pasta and Heavy whipping cream

Directions

Simmer the tomato sauce and vodka in a heavy large skillet over low heat until the mixture reduces by 1/4, stirring often, about 15 minutes. Stir the cream into the tomato and vodka sauce. Simmer over low heat until the sauce is heated through. Stir in the Parmesan cheese until melted and well blended.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Drain the pasta and transfer it to the pan with the sauce, and toss to coat.

Vodka and Tomato Sauce before the cream was added.

Pasta sauce after the cream was added

I always have to try a little before its done! ;)

 

The original recipe came from here.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Crescent Rolls

Man do these look yummy! I was doing what I do best … Looking for something to cook on Pinterest and after searching my Food board I decided to make these yummy looking things!

After visiting For the Love of Cooking, I was off to the grocery store. Or Walmart I should say … I LOVE to cook but I am not so good at it. I try and not spend to much money on something I just might be trowing away after its done.

Mmmmm Looks yummy from here!

I really wanted to snap a photo of my office – kitchen lol

I bought 3 packs of 8 since I am taking them to my monthly night of playing Catch Phrase!

Here is where the twist is … I decided to try “Mini” Chocolate chips vs. the regular size ones.

Spread on the Peanut Butter

Sprinkle on the Chocolate Chips

Roll and Bake!

Perfect!

Here is a link to the original recipe here.

Six Feet Under – Oakland Cemetery – Atlanta, Georgia

Six Feet Under – Atlanta, Georgia

A great local place to sit down and have a beer or dinner and drinks. Rumor has it Six Feet Under was originally named since the Grant Park location is located across the street from Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta. Both locations boast great views of the city and an amazing rooftop deck. I stuck with the Grilled Chicken sandwich but my Momma and Jewels had some Oysters.

I heard that they tasted good! Next up was what to drink … Bloody Mary it is! But make sure to look out for the spices on top! They have a kick to them!

After eating and drinking we decided to drive across town the the cemetery and see who we could recognize.

All over the cemetery are amazing old trees planted in a lot of the plots.

Everyone is looking for Waldo … Well I found him but a few years to late!

I also found my people … Many of you don’t know but my last name is Greene and it just so happened that I knew some people buried at Oakland. Well maybe not KNOW but I could be related to them!

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As always Peace, Love and Tweeting- tOr

Shrimp Creole

Reblogged from Budget Cooking Blog:

Click to visit the original post

I know a lot of people who are afraid of shrimp.

Maybe it is because when they are raw they look like little insects or perhaps because you have to peel and de-vein them before cooking them, but some people just opt out of shrimp altogether.

Which is a terrible shame because shrimp are one of the most affordable, delicious, healthy and versatile seafood you can find.

Read more… 570 more words

Looks like I found dinner! We shall see how it turns out!