This week,

has not been half as busy as last but in it's own right, busy enough. It has been a wonderful busy and I have a lot to be grateful for. I have had a couple Mommy playgroups, yesterday I had a lunch, and lots of cleaning and shopping. This week I found out the I am the mother of the "Mean Kid", meaning my child is the one hurting all of your kids...EEEK! I don't think there is anthing more embarassing then your son making a little girl cry. How do you say your sorry? How do you tell your 8 month old to stop beating up all his new friends?....challenge #87. I vow not to be that Mom who's child can't do any wrong because I think he is so darn cute. And I promise not to say things like, "not MY little boy", or, "Brayden??? Not possible!". Yep, he's the mean kid.

This week was so busy that I only made 2 meals and the rest were Chic-fil-A nights. Tuesday I made Buffalo Chili with Jalapeno Cornbread and Brownie Pudding in light of the rare snow day in Texas. I went to the store to get some beef and when I saw they had buffalo burgers, I just couldn't resist. Buffalo is so much leaner and when I can cut fat, I seize the oppurtunity. The Chili was super easy and I used a premade mix for the cornbread. I put half a can of corn and a jalapeno and it turned out really finger lickin' good.

What do you think?

This is Brayden enjong the snow day with his Daddy.

Now, I had a lot of help from Ina Garten for the brownie pudding. I have never made anyof her recipes because honestly they usually look so complicated. She uses a lot of ingredients and a lot of things you usually don't usually have on hand. This recipe looked simple enough and I had most of the ingredients. It was also supposed to turn out half way between pudding and a brownie so I knew I couldn't mess it up.

 Here is the recipe:

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus extra for buttering the dish

4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup good cocoa powder

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean

1 tablespoon framboise liqueur, optional

Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly butter a 2-quart (9 by 12 by 2-inch) oval baking dish. Melt the 1/2 pound of butter and set aside to cool.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for 5 to 10 minutes, until very thick and light yellow. Meanwhile, sift the cocoa powder and flour together and set aside.
When the egg and sugar mixture is ready, reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla seeds, framboise, if using, and the cocoa powder and flour mixture. Mix only until combined. With mixer still on low, slowly pour in the cooled butter and mix again just until combined.

Pour the brownie mixture into the prepared dish and place it in a larger baking pan. Add enough of the hottest tap water to the pan to come halfway up the side of the dish and bake for exactly 1 hour. A cake tester inserted 2 inches from the side will come out 3/4 clean. The center will appear very under-baked; this dessert is between a brownie and a pudding.

Allow to cool and serve with vanilla ice cream.


It was so amazing. You have to try this one out!

Then like any Food Network show, I had to throw a homemade cocktail in the mix. If you knew me before I had Brayden or even now for that matter, you know I love a good Margarita. Well, I was craving a margarita and having a child means you no longer jump up, throw on your shoes and go out for a night out on the town. So, we brought the margaritas to us! 

You probably know this but in case, this is what you need for an awesome margarita.

From left to right, orange juice, lime juice (6 juicy limes will give you about 4 drinks), Grand Marnier, a good Tequila (we like silver Tequila), and simple syrup. I used to bartend so I didn't measure but use your judgement and if it's strong, oh well! :)

Here is the result....pure goodness!

Yesterday's lunch went well. Jason had made a note that they wanted chicken and something with an Asian influence. Really? I have never made anything Asian BUT you gotta do what you gotta do. I found a really simple recipe for a wonderful peanut sauce with noodles and chicken. I added a Chinese-inspired salad with mandarin oranges, bean sprouts, and water chestnuts. I tossed it with a toasted sesame dressing and it came out really good. He said they cleaned there plates and asked where the food came from...YAY! I was really pressed for time so I didn't take any pictures, Darn.

 Now, I had said that I would document my messes and successes, right? Well, last night was a MESS! We had some good friends over and I was planning to wow them with the SIMPLE Asian dish I had just made....WRONG! You know how the say don't go to the grocery store while hungry? They should have told me to not drink and cook and try to hold on a conversation at the same time. I could have cried. It was horrible! First off, I put too much water in the sauce so I added more peanut butter to thicken it and it ended up being basically all peanut butter. The noodles were over cooked and soggy, I left a fork in the blender and turned it ON, put a hot pan on a plastic cutting board, and almost ruined my garbage disposal. The salad was good though. Oh, it was a disaster! I literally almost cried. Everyone including my sweet husband said it was good through lots of laughs but I still felt horrible. I mean this was supposed to be easy! I had just made it 8 hours earlier for goodness sake! Jason made a good point this morning, as soon as you start taking things for granted, you mess up. I thought I was big and bad and I FAILED. Big FAT FAIL! Point taken and now to redeem myself!

I have marketing bags to make for my friend Justin by Monday so I'm off to bake!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Cecilia :)

Ratatouille

I'm sitting here on this snow day, Ratatouille (the disney movie not the dish) playing in the background while envisioning fresh baked bread, bisquits, and chili coming out of my kitchen. My back yard looks like Tahoe and it's a little chilly in the house. I have Brayden all warm and bundled up and Jason is working in the office. I always feel better when I can see Jason on these bad weather days. I hear all too often of accidents and traumatic events when the weather shifts in Texas and when you have a husband who drives from office to office, it makes you feel better knowing everything that makes your life happy and better is safe and at home.

You know, I have always liked the movie Ratatouille and I have watched it about a million times. As a matter of fact, when I was pregnant and sick as a dog, Jason would put the movie on and make or bring me food. It always made me feel better. Watching this movie makes me think about what it is about and what it really means to me. For those who have never seen this Disney classic, it is about a rat who fights his way to happiness by doing what he loves, cooking. I feel like maybe I am that tiny chef fighting her way to happiness and doing what she loves through adversity and lack of experience but true love for an art. Does that make sense? I know it sounds corny but I just love this darn movie.

On another note, last night I made a little creation and it was pretty good. I sauteed some onion in olive oil until tender, then added chicken tenderloins and cooked until browned on both sides. I seasoned with s&p and a little bit of oregano. Halfway through browning the chicken, I added chopped proscuitto and garlic. Once the chicken was browned, I deglazed the pan with chicken broth and added fresh baby spinach. I am not a fan of canned or frozen spinach. Baby spinach is easy to find, inexpensive, and delicious. I forgot to mention that all the while I have cavatappi pasta cooking in boiling, salted water. After the liquid starts to reduce I add the cooked pasta and toss to coat with the sauce the chicken broth and starchy water creates. I add tiny pearl mozzarella and julienned basil and you are done! Easy peasy and your husband will thank you! You could toast some bread and top with basil butter. That would be de-vine!

 Here is a picture of what it looked like while cooking....

Plated...

 Cherry tomatoes would have been great in this and added some much needed color.

So, I think in the spirit of this snow day and one of my favorite movies, I will cook! I am just not sure what I want to make yet. All I know is I want to get lost in my kitchen.

Have a nice day,

Cecilia

Week 4

Last week was pretty busy with lunches and snacks. It was fun and I tried out a few new recipes too. The lunches went well although Jason said he didn't feel that great about them professionally. I hate hearing that. He's amazing, who wouldn't love him? That's the nature of the beast I suppose.

Here is my snack, I wish I had a better picture. I was running out of time and I stupidly left the plastic on. I made 2 platters of fresh veggies and 2 kinds of hummus, fresh fruit and a marscapone/ricotta cream, and caprese salad with toasted baguette slices.

This was a learning experience because I am not happy with the presentation at all. I would have liked better bowls, some greener lettuce, and maybe some mint for the cream. Oh well, next time. I have been learning a lot about presentation lately and it is equally as important that your food look as good as it tastes. I don't think anyone would like to eat anything that looks like poo, ya know?

Then, Saturday night my in-laws came over last minute so Jason and I could go see a movie. I made Almond-Cranberry-Ganache-Clusters for them. They were really inexpensive and VERY easy to make. Jason loved them, in fact, he told me never to make them again.

Sunday, I wanted to make something sweet for breakfast and I had lots of inspiration from Giada. I made her Berry Strata and it was really good. It tasted better then it looked on my camera. It was sweet, it was crunchy, it was creamy, it was heaven. I almost ate the whole thing myself. It was also very simple to make and I had almost all the ingredients already. I love that! I really seek out recipes that I can make with ingredients I already have. Cooking is expensive and while I would love to shop at Whole Foods everyday, I just can't. So, I use what I have and improvise. Here's the Strata....YUM!

This was before I cooked it. You can see all the berries and the custard. :)

After it was baked and tested.....

Oh so good.

I have been making my own baby food for about 4 months now and Brayden really seems to like almost everything. I haven't tackled meat yet because frankly I'm scared, but I will try it one of these days! I make him all types of things like, peas, parsnips, carrots, squash, lasagna, and peaches. Super easy and yummy and this is a face that just don't lie!

This was blueberry night and he was a fan. He has entered an new phase and that would be the food in the hair phase. Oh boy!

I look forward to this week and my new trials. I also look forward to this new FREE cooking place I found. They do free and low cost cooking classes and they are all healthy. I am super excited because cooking school is on hold till we have an extra $13,000 laying around. By looking at their schedule they have knife skill classes, bread making classes, and specifice meal classes. Can't wait!

Have a wonderful week!

Cecilia

Bunches of Lunches

Tomorrow I have my second lunch of the week and I still have one more to go! This is wonderful news.

Friday night we had friends over for a tasting party and Valentine's day. I made Orecchiette with mini chicken meatballs. I give all the credit to Giada but it was a hit. I also made basil butter and a caprese salad. Needless to say there was nothing left. I am patting myself on the back as we speak or you read. Here is the final product....

Traditionally my husband and I make dinner for each other for Valentine's Day and this one was no different. We stayed home, did our taxes, and made homemade pizzas. It was straight out of a romance novel. I had just bought whole wheat flour and there was a recipe for pizza dough on it so I had a hankerin' for some PIZZA. "I must make dough!", I said and I did. I am not very good at this dough thing so there must be some practice in my days to come. I challenged Jason to make a better dough than me and this man has never been one to turn down a good challenge. There we were in our kitchen, baby rumedging through the tupperware, and my husband and I wrist deep in flour and yeast. The smell was heavenly. I come from a long line of carbaholics and a good fresh baked bread can make me do things I regret. After, we let our dough rest we set to make the best pizza we could possibly make. I topped mine with Buffalo mozzarella, basil, garlic, and tomatoes. I drizzled olive oil over the top and it looked like perfection. Jason was very manly and topped his with every meat and cheese we had in the house.

Who do you think won by looks??

Mine, nope, not so much. His, yes, and it tasted as good as it looked. I think I need to add the cheese later to melt it and the basil after it is out of the oven. Jason won. And wait....I'm supposed to be the cook of this family! Ha ha! Oh well, with great failure comes great success.

So for lunch tomorrow, If it ain't broke don't fix it. Mini meatballs it is! Friday is snacks, roasted red pepper hummus and bruschetta. YUM!

Please follow my blog if you like it. I need all the love and support I can get.

Thank you from deep in my heart,

Cecilia

Thursday Tortellini

Ok, so yesterday I mentioned that I was going to have a go at homemade pea and ricotta tortellini. Jason was fighting traffic after being out all day so I decided to do the nice wife thing and have dinner waiting for him. Nice, huh?

With every meal I have learned that timing is everything. Timing, organization, and great ingredients. Last night I used them all but left out the organization. :) I was home cooking for my family for goodness sake. I need to save up all my organization for my clients! I don't have much after all.

Back to the tortellini, I choose to use wonton wrappers, they make life delightful and what I did was take frozen peas and thaw them out. After they are thawed, I pulse a cup of the peas, ricotta cheese, panko bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, s&p together till it creates a paste. I seperate all the wonton wrappers and fill with a tsp of filling and and use an egg wash to close the dough over diagonally. I only had about 15 wonton wrappers left from a previous dinner so that is all I used.

Add gently to a large pot of boiling, salted water and wait for them to float. If you make a lot, I suggest cooking in batches so they don't lump together, been there and it's not fun. Usually takes about 3-4 minutes to heat filling and cook dough.

 I needed a sauce for the pasta and I wanted to be creative. I really like Giada De Laurentiis and I saw she made a brown butter sauce for a ravioli so I decided to try a version. I added unsalted butter, whole-wheat flour, a dash of white wine, sage, milk, olive oil, and s&p. The sage and the wine smelled heavenly. I whsked it until smooth and let it cook on low until the tortellini was ready. I am not one for normally sticking to recipes so I can't tell you how much I used of all the ingredients but it turned out fantastic. I feel giddy just thinking about it.

This was my inspiration....

Here is the finished product. I love garnish and think it adds so much flare. I wanted to use parsley since the dish didn't have any basil in it but I was out. Next best thing, Basil.

Now, I am just a home cook who loves to create smiles. I am learning everyday and make mistakes by the minute. I feel so happy and at peace when I cook. It is where I truly belong, there and the gym. All this great food is killing my diet! :)

Thank you for reading!

Cecilia

Test Kitchen

I wish I had this gigantic test kitchen! Ha! Well, I do have a mini test kitchen and this week I have been putting out some pretty good dishes. So far, I have made some meaty melties (courtesy of Racheal Ray), Lemon Bars, Salmon fillets with spinach and a balsamic vinaigrette, and tonight I am making home-made pea and ricotta tortellini. All of this is a lot easier than it sounds. I have to say my favorite is the salmon, it was perfect. The salmon was moist, the spinach wasn't too wilted so it still had a lot of flavor and the yellow bell pepper and balsamic vinaigrette added just the right sweetness.  Here is a picture of the finished product....

I had a little trouble with the lemon bars at first but after I let them set they were so good. I also don't like my food to me to overbearing with citrus fruits so I left out the lemon zest. I felt they were lemony but not too overpowering. I need to throw them away because I can't stop eating them!

I have a lunch scheduled Monday and Friday of next week and I am trying to get a menu together. I am thinking of making a version of the meatball sandwich using chicken for the health conscience and maybe a green salad with a lemon vinaigrette. Any ideas? I also need a good party dessert, something I can make in large quantities that is easy to pass out.

Till next time,

Cecilia

Superbowl Party

Well, I'm not sure what to call yesterday. A failure, not completley. Success, not really. Hmmm?

After I finished getting ready yesterday, I walked out, fresh makeup on and smelling good. I walked in the kitchen, adrenaline pumping and ready to take on those fajitas. I felt good about it. I started to prep, setting out all my steam pans, putting all the plates and silverware together, basically trying to be as organized as humanly possible.

First to cook was the rice. I always want to start the rice in case it doesn't cook well. I want to have enough time to make another batch if I have to AND I did have to start another batch, my new rice cooker didn' make enough. Here is my half steam pan in the oven longing for it's other half.

Then I got started on my sofrito for my black beans and got the oil and butter heating for my onions, bell peppers, and zuchini/squash medley. Those all started well and I like to cook them slowly so they don't burn and they cook evenly. We were cookin' and bookin' as I like to say. My meat looked and smelled wonderful as it was marinating away. After, I had almost finished and had everything ready to go into the oven I went ahead and put the meat on the grill. The grill was hot and the sizzle sounded great. Then.....all of a sudden I went out to the grill to flip and half of my meat was on fire....ugh. I didn't know that meat with a large peice of fat would go up in flames like that!

This was after I took that chunky fat piece of fat off. I thought I was going to have to break out the fire extinguisher. Anyways, half way through cooking the chicken we ran out of propane. What timing! Jason ran to HEB and I switched to a grill pan. I really want one of those double burner grills but man they are expensive. Soon grasshopper, soon.

So, when we arrived at one of the most beautiful homes I have ever seen and did I mention we got there at 2:59? Yep, we were on time, with an 8 month old! I consider it to be an act of God to be on-time with food for 25 people and a fed, napped (is that a word), and clean hiney-ed child. I soon realized that the guests woldn't be arriving for another hour and a half. This immediatley made my palms sweaty and my heart race. Luckily, they have a food warmer but the rest of the food had to go in the oven. I was really worried that the meat was going to dry out and I had the steak at a wonderful medium temprature. Well, needless to say it was well done when it came out of the oven. Oh, and it is also not a good sign when the client bites into a piece of meat and almost pulls his teeth out. I just don't get it, why was the steak so tough? Did I not marinate it long enough? Cook it wrong? I bought skirt steak for goodness sake and it had plenty of fat on it? UGH! I do have something good to say, the meat was all gone! Only the yummy chicken was left and that chicken was g-o-o-d!

All in all it was a semi-success. I mean, it wasn't an A+ but I will give it a B+. It is also not a great idea to cater a party when you don't know most of the people there so you know they are going to be honest and you can't stop staring at them while they eat looking for any possible positive response. You just look plain weird. Yep, that was me, eavesdropping and staring at people while they ate like a hungry, mangy dog.

Any ideas are welcome by the way. I would love to know if anyone has any good ideas to make the meat not as tough and how to not have so many leftovers. I love ideas!

Well, I have much to to be thankful and I hope to hear the phone ringing. Let me know if  you have a party or an average size group you need food for. I do more than fajitas!

All my love and gratitude for my blessings,

Cecilia

Big day....

Well, today is another big day in the venture sense. I am cooking for 25 people at my husbands boss' superbowl party. This is big because not only is this his boss but there are possible clients there. There will be rep for other companies there who do lunches and will need food. Hopefully they will like the food and want to use me. We did the research last night and I don't charge half as much as any other catering company. I consider that a leg up....if they like it.

I stayed up pretty late last night doing all the prep for today and crammed every available space in my kitchen with prep, food, and supplies. Ugh....I long for a better kitchen. BUT I am happy to have any kitchen. Anyways, I was up late and cut and chopped and I have realized that I am starting to really dislike cutting onions. I also made my ganache tarts and they took up my whole fridge. I made 60!  60 tarts! It was fun though and I have a really hard time sticking to a recipe so I just winged (SP?) it. I think they turned out good because I had 2 and Jason had 1. I am going to get so fat surrounded by all this yummy food all the time.

So, I am sitting in bed waiting for my coffee to brew so I can get ready for the mayhem that will be happening in my kitchen. I pray for patience and success. Wish me luck and I will post some pictures and update you on the party.

All my love and gratitude for my blessings,

Cecilia

Welcome,

This is a start of a wonderful adventure. I am so excited and feel absolutely blessed to have this experience! My husband Jason and I decided last night that we wouldn't get too hasty and call this a business but better yet, a venture. I want to take it one day at a time and do the best that I can possibly do. I have so many wonderful ideas and ways that I think I can make people happy. After all, isn't that what life is all about?




A little bit about me, I am Cecilia and I am the ventures owner/operator! I love and have passion for food and what it does to others around me. I started to cook when I "settled" down with my husband and really felt a connection with every aspect of making a meal. I love to see people excited to eat! I became a Mom 8 months ago (May 2009) and decided that staying home full-time was right for me. As the days went on, I felt like I had more to offer to the world. I have always liked to work so I thought I should go back but after touring many daycare centers and in-home centers I felt it wasn't an option. The quality was terrible or I would just be working to cover the cost. I couldn't do it. So one day we sat at the kitchen table and talked about goals and budgets and all that fun stuff. I was on the verge of tears thinking about having to leave Brayden (my baby boy) and felt like I was so lost. Right then and there I decided there had to be something more...kind of like that Sugarland song. I liked, no LOVED to cook and host/entertain so I wanted to do something I liked. That's when the dream was born. Who knows where this will take us and what this venture will turn into but I would love for you to join my ride.



I have had 1, yes 1, successful lunch so far where I fed a bunch of hungry healthcare workers my best fajitas. I didn't sleep for a week and my skin suffered but when I was driving away from dropping off the food, I have never felt so alive. As corny as that can sound but it is the truth. I like that I got to go home and care for my son but I was able to do something that meant something to me. It was wonderful. So the lunch went so well that I am now going to cater my husband’s boss' Superbowl party! Fun! Stressful! Ha. They have requested my specialty, the only thing on the menu to date, fajitas. Should make for a good time! You know, I keep thinking, who do I think I am? I have no formal training, I am just a Mom who likes to cook for her family, what am I doing thinking I can cater? Ugh....there goes that self doubt. It's ugly, go away self doubt! I guess if I can't believe in myself who will? I can do this! Here we go!!!!



So the point of this Blog is to document my successes and failures and to also maybe learn a thing or two from you out there...if there any of you. :)



All my love and gratitude for my blessings,



Cecilia Mueller