Spaghetti Carbonara

I have made Spaghetti Carbonara lots of times, and even have a vegetarian version posted on my blog...Vegetarian Pasta Carbonara... but none compares to this easy version with less eggs, and not spicy, so the little ones could eat it without having to worry that the chilly pepper flakes burns their tongue and mouth.
Just can't seem to put down the food Network magazine; the Bacon issue, and keep finding some interesting and delicious things to make!

I even bought some outrageously good bacon...Boar's Head brand, which is mad in Canada. The price is a little more expensive, but the way it cooks up so crispy, and super crunchy delicious. Even the smell when cooking it was so much nicer than the ordinary brand. I highly recommend it! I haven't cooked much this past week, we had company...from Ohio; my nephew, wife and two little boys. Ate out, a couple times, which was easier on both me and my daughter.

Getting off the subject...I was going to post on April 1st. about 'April's fools day'...but I realized I cannot come up with things that would not be so funny, and maybe offensive. Just heard on AOL news about a woman who called her daughter and announced about a 'school shooting' happening and the daughter called 911. Imagine all the police cars storming the high school building, and turns out to be 'false alarm' April Fool's prank! Well, she ended up in jail; no doubt scaring everyone! This is a very dangerous kind of joke...what was she thinking?

 SPAGHETTI CARBONARA
from: Food Network magazine

Ingredients

• Kosher salt
• 6 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
• 2 red jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
• 1/4 cup cognac or brandy (optional)
• 12 ounces spaghetti
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
• 1/2 cup freshly grated pecorino romano cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• Freshly ground pepper

  Directions

  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Combine the bacon, olive oil, garlic, rosemary, jalapenos and 1/4 cup water in a large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the water evaporates and the bacon crisps, about 12 minutes. Discard the garlic. Add the cognac, if desired, and cook until it evaporates. Remove from the heat and set aside 1/4 cup bacon mixture for garnish.
  Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in the boiling water as the label directs. Mix the eggs, cheeses, parsley and 1 teaspoon pepper in a bowl. Drain the pasta, reserving 1/4 cup cooking water.
  Return the skillet to medium-high heat. Add the pasta and toss until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Whisk the reserved pasta water into the egg mixture, then quickly pour over the pasta and toss to gently cook the eggs and make a creamy sauce. Garnish with the reserved bacon mixture and more parmesan.
  Per serving: Calories 888; Fat 50 g (Saturated 18 g); Cholesterol 219 mg; Sodium 1,223 mg; Carbohydrate 65 g; Fiber 3 g; Protein 35 g

 

Nutella and Banana Panini

This may seem like a strange post, but this morning I was craving something sweet, ans why not  make something 'comforting' fun, and sinfully delicious without a lot of calories. I love Nutella, just like everyone else, but hardly ever use it to make a dessert... even though I have the jar sitting in my cupboard, next to the jar of peanut butter. I also had a whole Challah bread in my freezer, I had it sitting there for over one month. Such a perfect grilled panini with Nutella, and the banana pairing!

I must warn you, this Nutella Panini is not elegant...there's no other way to present it to make it look fancy; it's 'what you see is what you get' kind of a droolworthy awesome grilled sweet sandwich, made exclusively in a Panini Grill that is only for grilled sandwiches. I only ate one small portion, and wrapped up the rest to take over to my little grandson as a great snack when he came out of kindergarten. My daughter also enjoyed it as well!
Notice the perfect grill marks?... can't get better than that!

I'm sure, there must be an actual recipe out there, by I got my inspiration from one of my other favorite sandwich, which is the peanut butter banana sandwich, which I'm sure will taste as yummy, as a grilled panini.

 Nutella and Banana Panini
 recipe by; Elisabeth

Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread
1 or 2 ripe bananas, sliced
4 (1-inch thick) slices of Challah bread
or white sandwich bread

Spread 1 tablespoon of Nutella on one side of each slice of bread. If you're using a small, or med. banana, you can fill the entire bread slice with the banana slices.Top with the remaining bread slice, spread side down.

Preheat your panini grill, on med. high. This is a 'thrift find' panini grill, which I purchased about a year ago, for $9.99...a real bargain, and it works great!

 Place the panini (sandwich) on the hot grid, close the lid down and grill for about 5 or 6 minutes.

 When you see the grill marks appear, your sandwich is done.

While it's still warm, with a serrated knife, cut into half, or thirds...just watch it disappear... Yumm













 Some pre-Christmas visit at Macy's with my grandchildren!

 Last Saturday, at Macy's at City Place, in West Palm Beach...letter to Santa Claus!

Beautiful Christmas tree, at Macy's

I just had to snap this photo...so cool, so Christmasy...this car parked in front of Publix supermarket, after we left Macy's and stopped to buy a few items, at the supermarket. Imagine, the person cramming the Christmas tree into the car...also leaving the windows down and totally leaving down, and all open.

When we came out of the supermarket after 30 minutes, the car with the Christmas tree inside was still parked...isn't this a cute car?...a brand new FIAT! (not mine, of course)...wouldn't mind to own this little beauty:)

Blueberry Scones...Part 1, and Awards!

All right class...I hope you've done your homework, because I'm going to quiz you on it! I made these amazing and yummy scones, based on a recipe by my dear friend Emma, from Australia,@ Sunflower Days.

On her recent previous post, she made these incredible rustic raspberry scones, that caught my eye, and I simply fell in love with it. I mention to her on my comment, that I would like to make the scones, but I don't have raspberries, so she encouraged me to make it, even though I have blueberries...and mind you I had tons, and tons of it. If you shop it Costco, you know exactly the sizes their product come in. Well, the blueberries came in a huge plastic container that was 908 grams=32 ounces...how do I know how many ounces? ...it was written on the package, but I did my homework, knowing I have to do some converting the Metric measurement on
Emma's recipe. Click here, for the recipe, and click back to my blog for the measurement conversion.
I did the multiplication, just to prove a point, 908g. x .0353, and it's exactly 32 ozs.

Just when you thought you've seen really nice blueberry recipes...check out my friends, Brenda's and Kathy's amazing...
 Blueberry Lemon Pound Cake ...@Brenda's Canadian Kitchen
 Blueberry Pound Cake... @ Bakeaway With Me

Here's the Conversion list again, just in case you need it!

ounces to grams: multiply ounce figure by 28.3 to get number of grams
grams to ounces: multiply gram figure by .0353 to get number of ounces
pounds to grams: multiply pound figure by 453.59 to get number of grams
pounds to kilograms: multiply pound figure by 045 to get number of kilograms
ounces to milliliters: multiply ounce figure by 30 to get number of milliliters.
cups to liters: multiply cup figure by 0.24 to get number of liters

In one day, I made three different recipes with my beloved blueberries, which is in the same group of my favorites of the berries, as strawberry, on top of the list, and blueberries close second, and of course raspberries, which are equally as good, but they are ever so expensive, just as the blackberries. I love them all, but I will stay with my first two choices to combine them in a wonderful dessert. Notice how flaky they are? I followed Emma's recipe to a "T" and wouldn't you know?...I actually added one egg, to 1 cup of the buttermilk, to have enough to brush this beautiful egg wash glaze on it!

Have you ever seen such perfect, gorgeous, huge, and juicy blueberries?...Costco has them, and then some!!!
Getting off the subject, now...the time has come once again, as in every year at this time; some of us get to go on vacations, while some of us stay here, now for the third year...boo, hoo...almost crying...well not exactly! I am so fortunate to be living in one of the most beautiful, tropical, and most desirable place in the world!!! We have sunshine every single day, have the most beautiful beaches, in-ground swimming pools, just about every one has a pool, all the best local eateries, that won't put a "hole" in your pocket...very affordable, the local fun outdoor restaurants that are right on the water, live outdoor theaters, most of them free, we have City Place, right here in West Palm Beach, where you can spend an hour, or spend the entire day...an outdoor mall, but of course better than
a mall, so leisurely, so magical, I've already posted several photos of it in my previous posts!

Fresh Strawberry Cheesecake Bars

As you can see, this is a well decorated platter with just an 8x8 inches of simple cheesecake bars...a total of 4 large pieces, with the ends trimmed off, but every thing is in the "decoration"...the "presentation"...otherwise, it would be just a simple Cheesecake Bars, if not for the above mentioned...and of course, most important, the "platter"...Originally, I was going to do the next guest post for Lora's blog, with this easy dessert, but she is home now, from her huge surgery, and is getting her strength back little by little. I was at her house making this dessert, and both Teresa, and her husband Domenico kept asking me..."che fai?" What are you doing? ...because I was trying to uplift my photography skills, by enhancing the shots, at every different angle. It certainly helps when you have a nice camera, and a pint of gorgeous fresh, and perfectly ripened strawberries.

Instead of having the glaze on top of the overturned strawberry slices, I added the jam glaze directly on the cooled cheesecake bars, and sprinkled powdered sugar over the top of the strawberries, overlapping on the cheesecake, and on the platter...within a few minutes, the strawberries get their own natural glaze, just from the sugar...the rest is "trick photography!"...my theory...you aim, shoot, and hope for the best!

Fresh Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
my own recipe

For the Crust:
2 cups of vanilla wafers ground
1/4 cup butter (1 stick) melted
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp grated orange rind

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grind the wafers in a food processor to make 2 cups. Add sugar, and grated orange, stir in the melted butter, just to moisten evenly, and press into a large non-stick tart pan, with a removable bottom.
Use a large soup spoon to press down, and not with your fingers, or hand, (so butter does not get too pressed into the crust) Also, do the same on the sides of the tart pan. Bake crust for no longer than 15 minutes, and follow the topping, and filling process.

Filling:

8 ounces of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
(at room temperature)
1 cup of sour cream (at room temperature)
7 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. all purpose flour

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Line a 8x8 inch baking pan with aluminum foil, and let it overhang about two inches. Spray the bottom with cooking spray. Mix the cookie mix with the butter and sugar, and pat down into the baking pan with about an inch around the sides. Mix the filling ingredients in a food processor, or blender for about a minute or two till blended and creamy, and pour the filling right over the crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, and lower the temperature to 325degrees and continue baking for another 25-30 minutes till it gets a little color on the top. Cool, and glaze with melted strawberry jam. Just heat about 1/4 cup of strawberry, or other seedless berry jam, adding the juice of 1 lemon. Spread on cooled bars. Let it chill, and lift out from pan for easy cutting. Garnish with fresh berries. Such an easy, and delicious cheesecake bars, with or without berry topping. It is more dense, than actual cheesecake, but the same taste, especially with the glaze, and topping. Enjoy!

I'm linking this to: Swathi-Hearth and Soul Hop #43

Egg Salad in Pita Pocket.... and a Winner!

With all the activities and preparations for my daughter Lora's upcoming surgery on Thursday, I've been in a "daze" and have not been able to concentrate on making anything that would be worthwhile to post about. Although, I did make a huge pot of simple fresh vegetable soup yesterday, and literally cleaning out my refrigerator of all the veggies I have, that included cabbage, carrots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, celery onions and garlic cloves, parsley, and I just chopped up everything and sauteed it, and added vegetable broth in the pot, seasoned it brought it to a boil and just simmered till it was a gorgeous vegetable soup. Oh, I even added a can of corn I had in my cupboard. Also added home made spaetzle to the soup. Took the entire pot, wrapped the pot up in a large towel, placed it in a small laundry basket and took it over to my daughter's.

Nothing like a nice, light, comforting soup. (No photo of it)...didn't think of it. In the meantime, while the soup was cooking, I made myself a simple egg salad. What do you do when you have extra eggs left over? Well, you can make a nice frittata, or a batch of eggs salad, which I did with 8 leftover eggs. The best part is, if you have one of those cute little plastic "egg slicer" gadgets, that slices and chops eggs perfectly. You just place the hard boiled eggs in the slicer, slice it, then turn it around making sure not to mess up the slice, and press the blades down again and it will dice your egg.

Egg Salad
my recipe

8 hard boiled eggs chopped coarsely
1 Tbsp. Hellman's mayonnaise
1 teaspoon stone ground mustard
salt and pepper to taste


Cook eggs for approximately 13 minutes for perfect hard boiled eggs. (the best way to cook is to place the eggs in water, bring it to a boil, shut the heat off, cover than pot, and leave it on the stove. Time it for 13 min. and take it off the stove, run cold water and keep running water, while you are peeling the eggs. Will not stick, comes out clean
every time.)
In a medium bowl, chop the eggs coarse, lightly mix mayo, mustard, salt and pepper. You can add chopped onions, chopped celery, and chopped pickles if you like, but simple is the best. Serve all those additions on the side.
I personally like mini dill gherkins, sliced jalapeno, tomatoes, and lettuce, and of course chopped onions, that I mix in the salad just for my own serving. Serves 4. Yumm

I'm linking this to: Full Plate Thursday, @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage

CSN Gift Certificate Winner, and some odds and ends

 Without wasting any more time, I will get right over to the matter of things.

I stayed up till 12:15 AM, since the winner outcome would be final after that.

I just want all of you great friends out there to know that I really appreciate for participating, it's so much fun, and even more fun to hear from so many bloggers. I am really honored that you did follow my blog...gained 15 more follower, and I thank you for that...(I followed you back)...I hope you don't decide to "un-follow" me now, since only one person can be a winner! I promise you, I will have other giveaways after this...well, maybe not $50. but who knows, what?

A Very Merry Christmas to all!

You might find this decoration "weird, or silly" but I think it's really chic, and festive. Since I don't have any foods to post, after the last two days of spending time with my granddaughters, and helping out my daughter with last minute shopping, this is all I have to show for my Christmas decoration, which is my "smart" thrift find, that I'm posting...after all this blog is called "food and thrift finds"...so I'm showing off my silk plant, which I bought at Goodwill, like new, and so perfect, for $3.99, the whit lights were $1.99, the pretty dark blue liqueur glasses, with the wrought iron case, $2.99, and last, but not least, the pretty cobalt blue vase, that I filled with our local sea shells, $2.99...so, just think, under $15.00 for all. Actually $12.00. Can't beat that, and it's so enjoyable!

My amazing kitty Prince,...little old, and wise guy, almost 18 yrs. old. I took this photo, in pitch dark, and turned out so nice. He is a Maine coon, with the longest legs I have ever seen on any cat. So sweet, and protective, my little alarm clock, every morning at 7:00AM!

Today, we went to City Place, in West Palm Beach...a magical city, within a city. Very popular place where everyone goes, and meets. Full of shops, and restaurants, and they actually are surrounded by condos, that people own, or rent. Oh so beautiful! These poinsettias are found at just about every corner...so Christmasy!

This was an original church from the thirties that is still surviving, and renovated into a theatre. The entire City Place is built around this lovely former church. Every hour, the church bells chime, and the water falls comes on to a wonderful tune...in this case, it's to Christmas carols.

The Christmas tree at City Place is so beautiful at night, all lit up with  lights. Plenty of parking space in the 4 story garage, and on the streets, as well!

Only in Florida, you get to witness something like this...Flip flops, on one girl, and boots on the other. The weather, about in the low seventies!

OK...Last, but not least...Yeahhh1 I just received my awesome giveaway gift, from Veronica, 
The Enchanted Cook. who had a giveaway, and I was one of the winners. Thank you so very much Veronica, and Thank you O for sending this pair of Olive oil, and vinegar combo. So amazing, I can hardly wait to try this pair...so pretty, that I'm almost afraid to open it. Wow!... this is my best Christmas present, ever!