My cake and an Update

Ok yeah it is totally not fair that I have not blogged in forever.  Even though I am cooking, I cook the same stuff over and over again. So there is really nothing new to blog about. Besides, now that I am just a little over a month away from my due date, cooking is not my  #1 priority. Partly because of backaches... I can't even chop an onion without feeling the strain :( I must say that I did make an amazing Lasagna last night, but we devoured it without any pictures. The urge to cook is always there. The urge to bake however is not... I wish it were because all I am craving is something sweet this entire pregnancy.

My best friend got together and threw me a Brunch where all my beautiful girlfriends showed up. There was laughter, love, joy and a lot of togetherness.  It was really something special.  To top it off, I had a cake! Which was from Whole Foods, a Chocolate Ganache Cake with a ganache filling. It was ABSOLUTELY TO DIE FOR!!!!!

So what I am going to do here, is post some pictures, and drool a little remembering this cake.. and make you drool a little while you view it too. Below is a picture of the delicious French Toast that I ordered.

I will be back with bigger and better recipes.. but unfortunately it will probably be in a few months. I do however intend to update from time to time with pictures of the random sweet things that I eat to keep you all entertained. :)

Heather's Roast Beef: Dinner Party Favorite!

There is nothing better than going over to your best friends house for a dinner party. Heather loves to cook, and she is damm good at it. So when she invited me and the hubs over for some games, gab and food- We were in !!! Besides, what pregnant lady would refuse delicious food?? For once, I got to eat it all without having to clean it all! She also has a fabulous blog (nope, not a cooking blog) Well Take A LooK at That, that is entertaining with lots of random internet goodies.

Ok so here is Heather's Dinner Party AMAZING Roast Beef. Go on, make it at your next dinner party, I guarantee it will be a success as it was at hers!

"Well hello there, my fellow Addicted readers! I’m so honored Resh has asked me to put together a post for my roast beef dinner! I recently moved into a new apartment and as it turns out, my roommate and I both love cooking. We thought it would be great to have a nice little dinner party and of course, Resh was at the top of the guest list.

So, to start, we had a baked brie covered in garlic and honey, it was perfection. Next up was a salad of mixed greens, mandarin oranges, crunchy snap peas and glazed walnuts. For our main course I prepared a roast beef. It was my first go at a roast and I had to call my grandmother for advice so much of the credit is due to her. This was also my first trip to the butcher! This is important because the recipe itself is simple as can be, it’s really the meat that matters. So without further ado…

Roast Beef

3.5 to 4lb top sirloin roast beef

3 cloves of garlic

Salt/pepper

Thyme

You’ll want to brown the meat on the stove top, on all side for about 6-8 minutes total, you can do it in the same pan you intend to roast in (which works best to retain all the juices and flavor), and then let it sit for a bit. I cut up the cloves into wedges and then made small slits all around the meat, sticking the garlic in. Throw some salt, pepper and thyme on there, set your oven to 450 and pop that puppy in. It’s done in about an hour. That’s it! Bam!

For sides; I roasted whole baby red potatoes with olive oil and lots of Parmesan cheese in the oven with the beef for about 40 minutes. And asparagus using the method Resh has posted previously.

And finally for dessert, fondue! We had chocolate fondue served with strawberries, bananas (super important tip- freeze the bananas first and cut into large chunks, otherwise they’ll just fall into the gloop, like ours did.) and marshmallows with graham crackers.

Hope you all enjoy, and thanks Resh for the special spot!"

You are welcome Heather! :)

Oh and did I tell you guys that I won the Wii bowling? I did! And I didn't even want to play! hah!

Yogurt

Happy New Year fellow bloggers and readers! I am sincerely looking forward to 2010... this year is going to be the start of the biggest adventure of my life. I don't mean just because of a baby, but I am also looking into expanding my culinary abilities.. I will tell you all about this when it comes to fruition.

I will try my hardest not to link this to anything Pregnancy related, but really its going to be quite difficult. My entire food schedule is a balance on what is healthy for me, what I crave the most and how fast I can whip something up. So where does Yogurt fall into this category? Well, since breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I crave nothing more than a simple bowl of yogurt mixed with nuts, raspberries and honey. Yes, EVERY MORNING, same routine. So, I realized that I spend way too much money on buying those Yogurt containers, and every day my mother tells me "Resh, just make your own Yogurt like I do, I promise it is so easy!" After a few months of coaxing, I realized that she might be onto something.

Mind you, I am still perfecting this yogurt, though it comes out just tasty and sweet, it sometimes has a tendency to be on the runnier end of things. My next step would be to strain it using a cheesecloth to make it thicker, but for now it works!

I promise you, it is easy.

Yogurt

1/2 gallon organic whole milk

Ceramic pot

1 tablespoon yogurt

Heat the whole milk till it comes to a boil. Pour out about a 1/4 of a cup of that milk in a small bowl and let that bowl cool COMPLETELY. The milk remaining in the pot, let that cool till you dip your finger in it and its warm, and its not scorching your finger. The bowl that has the "cool milk" add the tablespoon of yogurt and whisk till all is integrated. After you have done the finger test, add the cool yogurt mix to the pot. Mix all together. Pour into the ceramic pot. Wrap the ceramic pot in a towel so no heat escapes. Place the ceramic pot in a very "hot" area (my mother puts it in the laundry room, on top of the dryer) I put it on top of my radiator. Leave enclosed for about 6-8 hours.

Remember:

1. make sure the yogurt and the cool milk is intergrated completely and its not chunky, otherwise your yogurt will not come out smooth.

2. make sure you cover it well with a towel, so absolutely no heat escapes and do not open the towel to check on the yogurt. Trust me it will work

3. make sure that its in a relatively hot area. When its summer time you shouldnt have a a problem. You can leave it out in your front porch if need be.