Edamame Hummus

I was inspired to make a hummus like dip out of edamame after trying one at my brother and sister-in-laws house a few months ago. Theirs used white beans, not chickpeas, and thus was incredibly light and creamy and fresh in both flavor and texture. I only had chickpeas in the house so this was more like hummus with some green flecks in it (and some added nutrional value). Not the greatest creation of my life, but oh well.

- one can chickpeas, rinsed
- juice of one lemon (I think a lime would be even better in here!)
- two cloves garlic (more or less to taste)
- dash of cayenne
- 1/2 cup frozen edamame (just the beans)
- s & p
- olive oil (around 1/4 cup, but more or less depending on your desired consistency)

***photos to come later

Preakness Party

I know nothing about horse-racing other than the fact that I love watching the Triple Crown. For 90 second intervals, three times a year, I am the biggest horse-fan around! This year I was on a bus during the Kentucky Derby, so I decided to have a Preakness party to make up for it. So, I had entirely Baltimore and Preakness themed menu!  Last year, Tim and I had a Preakness party of our own which was some what disastrous. The crab cakes were ungodly salty and the drinks were so strong we both fell asleep immediately after the race. This year was much more successful. There were lots of sundresses, a few hats, and plenty of crab to go around...

Black Eyed Susans 
The Black Eyed Susan is the official drink of the Preakness. There are many many recipes for this drink floating around online. Last year I made one that tasted dangerously like orange juice and not at all like bourbon. This year, I could not remember what that recipe was (perhaps it was for the best... didn't need another 6 pm nap time) so I found a new one. This year I picked one that used all fresh juices and no simple syrups or sour mixes. The drink was weaker than last year, but actually tasted stronger. I liked the drink, but many of my guests were very sensitive to the bourbon flavor and shied away.

• OJ
• Bourbon
• Vodka
• Pineapple
• Lime Juice

Hot Crab Dip

half-devoured deliciousness

Who doesn't love a creamy, cheesy dip? Especially when it is loaded with crab and packs a spicy punch!  I actually made two dips in one: one for my vegetarian friends, and the other for me (I mean.... for everyone else).

• 1 8 oz package cream cheese at room temp
• 1 8 oz package fat free cream cheese (so sneaky) at room temp
• 1 can jumbo crab meat-- I got this out of the canned tuna aisle. I am sure that fresh crab meat would be even tastier, but this was much friendlier on the budget (only $3 or so a can) and tasted just great.
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)
• 2 TBSP mayo (mine is kraft olive oil)
• Old Bay seasoning (I used probably 2 TBSP, but it's definitely "to taste")
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar (reserve 2 TBSP to sprinkle on top)
• tobasco sauce

nom nom nom

Basically, I combined all ingredients except crab in a mixing bowl and mixed it up until the seasonings were evenly dispersed throughout the cream cheese. Then, I scooped out half the mixture and put it in a mini pie pan (for the veggie version). Then, I dumped in the crab and re-mixed it all up and put that into another mini pie pan. I topped both dishes with cheddar cheese (and put some extra scallions on the veggie one so I knew which was which), and popped in a 375 oven for about 12 minutes.

This dip was a-MA-zing. It was great on celery, on crackers, and even straight off a spoon.... don't worry I waited for the guests to leave before I did that. I will definitely be making this again (because otherwise I think Tim would leave me), and I might try to "health it up" even more by using all fat free cream cheese, or maybe some neufachtel cheese.

Crab Cakes
My crab cakes were somewhat disastrous again. This time, the salt level was right, but they just completely crumbled on the griddle. I managed to salvage enough for people to enjoy, but I "forgot" to take a picture. Whoops. 

"Crab" Boil
Nothing seems more authentically Baltimore than a crab boil. But, half my guests were vegetarians, and I am cheap so instead I just boiled veggies in crab seasonings and doused it all with butter. I'm pretty sure nobody noticed the crab was missing.

• five ears sweet corn, cut in half (clearly this corn was not from Iowa... and it was just okay)
• 2 pounds B-sized red potateos
• 11/2 large white onions, sliced into wedges
• Garlic (I think I used fresh cloves AND garlic powder)
• a TON of Old Bay Seasoning (3 TBSP?)
• fresh thyme and sage from my garden
• butta (okay, I actually used Smart Balance and olive oil mixed together)
• S&P

Boil all ingredients. Done.
Okay, not really. First, I coated the onions and taters  in seasonings and put in the bottom of a kettle and cooked for 5 ish minutes. THEN, I covered them with water and brought to a boil (and I likely added more seasoning to the water). I boiled for 20-30 minutes and then added the corn just about 5 minutes before serving. To serve, I put in a large bowl and I poured a mixture of melted butter, oil, salt, pepper, and fresh thyme over the whole thing and garnished with thyme sprigs from my garden. Simple but YUM.


Lady Baltimore Cake

A Lady Baltimore Cake is just white cake with white frosting, and a filling of frosting mixed with dried fruits (golden raisins and cherries for me) and pecans. I cheated and used box cake mix and canned frosting. I added lemon zest to the cake mix and the filling to freshen it up a bit, and I covered the top in pecans to hide my pour frosting job. And, I can't lie, it was pretty tasty.



My friend Jillian totally outdid me with a Smith Island Cake-- it was 8 layers of chocolately, sugary, peanut buttery goodness. I wish I had a photo-- the only one I took was blurry because I was reaching forward to eat the whole thing whilst taking the picture.

In order for the guests to place bets, I made little cutouts of the jockey jerseys with horse information. After a few Black Eyed Susans, people got pretty in to it! After Shackleford upset Animal Kingdom, the winnings were split three ways between my friends Aaron, and Matt, and ME!

Party = success!

Chicken fingers, Asparagus, and Chipotle Dip

A few weeks ago, I got a new cook book. As I've said previously, I absolutely love to read cook books and use them for inspiration, but I typically do not love to use them when it comes time to cook. One recipe I found, though, changed my mind. There was something about the warning of "if you skip anything or do not follow all of these steps exactly your dish will not turn out" on a baked chicken finger recipe that caught my eye. Could these possibly be so complicated that they warrant that warning? I just had to know. So, I filled in Tim on my meal plan and he requested a dipping sauce for the chicken, and I decided to make some asparagus spears too. With a few tweaks, this meal could be absolutely great! The chicken was really tasty, but we found that dipping it in barbecue sauce was much tastier than the chipotle sauce. Next time I will either do barbecue or buffalo, but I will definitely make these chicken fingers again!

 Chicken Fingers

• 1 pound chicken breast tenders (I bought mine pre-cut, but it would be very simple to just cut up chicken breasts... or leave them whole for that matter).
• about a cup of buttermilk in a shallow dish
• about a cup of panko breadcrumbs in a shallow dish
• salt and pepper
• cooking spray 

First, preheat the oven to 425 with your baking sheet in it. While it's preheating, season the chicken tenders really well with S&P, and then dip in buttermilk. Allow excess to drip off and dip in Panko bread crumbs-- press them on so they stick and then put tenders on a wire rack to sit for a minimum of ten minutes. This is where, in the book, they had a big warning: DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP IF YOU WANT TO LIVE (okay maybe not that severe). After ten minutes, spray tenders all over with cooking spray. Take hot pan from oven and spray it with cooking spray too, and then bake tenders for 22 minutes. Yes, exactly 22. Weird, I know. Anyway, when you take it out, you will have golden brown, crunchy, amazing "fried" chicken tenders.

my go-to asparagus dish

Grilled Asparagus

• Asparagus
• Olive oil
• salt and pepper

Toss asparagus in oil and shake on seasonings. Grill or broil for 6 to 8 minutes depending on thickness of stalks. 

too-spicy chipotle dip

Chipotle Dipping Sauce

•  1 chipotle pepper from a can (I rinsed of the Adobo sauce b/c I don't love that added flavor)
• 3 TBSP mayo 
• zest from 1 orange
• 1/4 cup (? I didn't pay attention) plain yogurt (mine is local AND organic cuz I'm cool like that)
• a couple chopped chives (both in the mix and then for garnish

Put all ingredients into a food processor-- pulse til smooth. Taste and add more yogurt or pepper to achieve desired spicy level and add any other seasonings you see fit. Remember, the longer the dip sits, the spicier it will get. I forgot this little fact and thought "it hardly tastes like pepper" and stupidly added a second one. Three hours later when it was time for dinner, the sauce was so spicy I could barely stand it.