Easy Blueberry Smoothie!

I'm going to be honest and tell you that I hated making smoothies in the past because it required pulling out the blender and then of course, washing the apparatus. I suppose the average cook would be guilty of being lazy, but the average cook doesn't spend an average of 6 hours in the kitchen each day!

That said, I use a miraculous kitchen tool called a HAND BLENDER to make smoothies, and now the process takes just moments!

Check out this pretty purple delight and go make one now!

VERY BLUE BERRY & BANANA SMOOTHIE

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup Blueberries, fresh or frozen

1 Banana, fresh or frozen

4-6 oz. plain Soy Yogurt

1/2 cup Soy Milk

1/2 cup Blueberry Juice

(Optional: Use all of one liquid or the other)

METHOD:

Put all ingredients in a tall container. Using a hand blender, pulse until smooth and thoroughly combined. Use more or less liquid depending on how thick you like your smoothies.

Pour into two glasses and share with a special someone!

P.S. It will take approximately 20 seconds to clean and dry the blade attachment... sweet!

Christmas Eve Seafood Fantasia!

Our dear friends Nina and Jim are Italian.

Here's a photo of them: Nina is the cute little blonde next to the debonair dude in the blue shirt. They are enjoying a moment with friends Keith and Laurinda.

Nina and Jim host a hugely fun and extremely delicious traditional Italian Christmas Eve party, featuring every kind of seafood they can get their hands on, and then some!

We're talking deep fried shrimp, calamari and scallops, lobster tails in a cioppino sauce, not to mention stuffed lobster tails, calamari salad plus crackers and cheeses (provolone, of course), delicious spreads, olives, arugula wrapped in prosciutto, salami, and more!

So much delicious and decadent food!

This year, there was so much food that their daughter Angela pitched in to do all the deep-frying with her aunt.

Jim does a great deal of the cooking, and their son Christopher helps with whatever needs to be done.

Friends and family are gathered in the kitchen, dining area, living room to enjoy the fantastic food, good company and warm holiday spirit!

Here is friend Ron opening a bottle of red, probably a Cabernet Sauvignon.

We brought a bottle of our Lucky 7: Rebel Red.

In a surprise statement, Nina said she preferred it to the expensive vintages she had been sampling!

Nina always makes cannoli, and friends and family at the party bring finger foods and wine, lots of wine.

I contributed a homemade whole wheat focaccia with caramelized onions, garlic and poppy seeds.

I served it with super-fresh and grassy olive oil, with olives grown by our friends Richard and Myrna.

Well, here we are prior to saying good-bye, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Thanks to Nina and Jim and your family for opening your home, cooking out-of-this-world delicacies, and warming all our hearts!

Kitty Name Announcement!

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Name Our New Kitty contest! As you can see in the previous post, the list was big.

Runner-up name was Smudge, with three votes.

There were also several runners-up with two votes each, including Misty, Sasha, Truffle, and Smudge.

But with the final votes by Ron and me, her official winning name is...

Nilla!

She will have many nicknames, too. Tops is Sashimoto, followed by Sushi because, well, she voraciously loves her raw salmon!

Here's Nilla with Scooter, both coveting a toy mouse.

Kitty Names

Time to vote on the name for our new kitten!

VOTE FOR YOUR TWO (2) FAVES!

I'll tally them and Ron and I will vote on the top 5%. Results to come very soon! Here are the names we received that you can vote on (and I apologize in advance if I missed an important contribution).

Nilla

Sashimoto

Sushi

Vanilli

Puff 'n' Stuff

Priss

Jaboli

Rudolph

Chewie

Carmella

Doozy Duds

Kiva

Mable

Starry

Pepper

Trilby

Sasha

Misty

Ginger

Fluffy

Cutie

Princess

Tara

Maya

Leela

Truffle

Smudge

Comment here on the blog or email me. Either way, you have until Monday, December 28th at midnight to vote. So... Decide, Vote and Execute!

Shrimp, Crab & Sausage Ettouffe

This is my new favorite main dish! Cajun cuisine is so yummy. But I always use much less salt, if any, than is called for in traditional recipes. There is already salt in the sausage, and shrimp are naturally high in sodium. So I say, don't add any salt and enjoy the richness of this fantastic food.

Sorry, my photos didn't come out so well!

SHRIMP, CRAB & SAUSAGE ETTOUFFE

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups shrimp stock

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 bay leaf

1/2 pound Andouille sausage (I used a chicken based Andouille sausage from Trader Joe’s)

1/3 cup butter, divided

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

2/3 cup diced celery

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1 lb. lump crab meat

1/2 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (about 20 shrimp)

METHOD:

Combine first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat; bring to a simmer.

Slice sausage into bite-size pieces. Cook in a separate small pan over medium heat until golden brown and cooked through. Remove sausage from pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Melt 1/4 cup butter in sausage drippings in the same saucepan over medium heat. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Add flour to pan; cook 8 minutes or until light brown, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove from heat.

Add 1 cup broth mixture to pan; stir with a whisk until smooth. Add remaining 3 cups broth mixture, stirring with a whisk until smooth; set aside.

Melt remaining 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon butter in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, and bell peppers to pan; cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender and onion is golden brown, stirring occasionally.

Stir in 3/4 cup water, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add tomato paste, Cajun seasoning, garlic, black pepper, and red pepper to onion mixture; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Add reserved broth-flour mixture and Worcestershire sauce to pan, stirring well to combine; bring to a simmer. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add green onions, 1/4 cup parsley, sausage, crab and shrimp; cook 3 minutes or until shrimp are done. Discard bay leaf. Serve over Creole boiled rice or with garlic French bread.

I merged this recipe from two sources: GumboPages.com and I can't remember the other one.

Chocolate Truffle Tart

Mmmmmm, chocolate! What better birthday dessert?! If you love chocolate like I love chocolate, you absolutely must make this delicious and decadent treat!

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE TART

INGREDIENTS
Crust:
3/4 cup Flour
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
1/4 cup Dutch-process Cocoa
Pinch of Salt
6 Tbsp Butter, chilled, chopped
1 Egg White
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Filling:

12 oz. Bittersweet Chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 cup Whipping Cream
1/4 cup Sugar

METHOD
To make the crust:
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, powdered sugar, cocoa and salt. Cut in butter with pastry blender or 2 knives, until mixture looks like coarse crumbs with a few pea-sized chunks.

In a small bowl, whisk together egg white and vanilla. Add to flour mixture and stir until dough forms. Dough may be somewhat sticky. Shape into a flat round. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day.

Press dough evenly into a 9” tart pan with removable bottom. Poke bottom with a fork every 2 inches. Freeze for 20 minutes or until ready to bake.

Pre-heat oven to 375°F and bake crust for 15-20 minutes or until dry to the touch. If pastry begins to puff, poke lightly with a fork. Cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the filling:
Place chocolate and sugar in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring cream to a boil. Pour immediately over chocolate and let stand for 3 minutes. Stir until smooth, pour onto crust.

Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Store in refrigerator.

Recipe from CookingClub.com

NAME OUR NEW KITTY!

We've come up with lots of possible names for her, and many of you are already sending in some wonderful contributions.

But we need to give her a "people world" identity, and soon!

So post a comment with your suggestions.

We'll put them together with our faves, post all names and let you vote.

Ron and I will vote on names in the top 5%. Then, we'll post her official name and author on this blog!

FYI, the "Name Our Kitty" contest will end at midnight on December 26, so get creative and post those comments! I'll get the final results up with tallies before the end of 2009.

Legal Disclaimer: The winner is entitled to nothing but the fame and fortune of being acknowledged on this, and the joy of naming a very cute, sweet, cuddly, lovable, and guileless kitten!

The contest was a great idea from my dear friend Sandra, aka SoHottStamper.