Sublime Swingline

If you've seen the movie "Office Space"

then

you should recognize this awesome stapler

If you haven't seen the movie, go here

A guy I work with bought this at Costco

I coveted admired it

so

it

is

now

m

i

n

e

"I pity the fool that touches my red stapler"

Honey Baked Brie with Praline Pecans

This is super easy & fabulous-0!

Take a wedge of your favorite brie

Drizzle with your favorite honey

Top with Austinuts Praline Pecans

Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 7 minutes or until melted through

Serve with crusty french bread

Chorizo Stuffed Pasta Shells

Here is the recipe as promised from last week's Mother's Day Celebration

Chorizo Stuffed Pasta Shells

Ingredients

1 box large pasta shells
1 32 ounce jar pasta sauce
1 lb ground chorizo
1 8 ounce block cream cheese, softened
4 cups mozzarella cheese (grated)
2 cups parmigiano reggiano
1 cup italian bread crumbs

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook pasta per directions on the package. Drain & set aside.
Cook chorizo in skillet until cook through.  Drain & set aside.
In a bowl, combine cream cheese, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, 1 cup parm reg, & 1/2 cup bread crumbs
Add the chorizo to the cream cheese mixture
Pour some pasta sauce on the bottom of a 9X13 baking dish - just enough to cover the bottom
Spoon chorizo & cream cheese filling into cooked pasta shells, then place seam down in the baking dish
Cover with the remaining pasta sauce
Top with remaining bread crumbs,  mozzarella and parm reg cheeses.
Bake until cheese is bubbly, about 25-30 minutes.

Note: This is a very versatile dish.  My family doesn't care for ricotta, so I replaced it with cream cheese.  Italian sausage, ground beef or ground turkey can be replaced for the chorizo.
Also, for a vegetarian version, you can replace the meat with more cheese, some fresh basil, and more breadcrumbs.

This dish also freezes very well.

Pink Champagne Cupcakes - Part Deux

Remember when I made these

for my  Girls Gotta GetAway weekend?

They are so fab-u-lous

that I made them again today

for my friend, Misty's French birthday dinner

I will be making fish en papillote

I am using this recipe as my inspiration

On the cupcake recipe (click on Girls Gotta GetAway), I did modify the frosting

I only used 2 cups powdered and 1/4 stick butter with about 1/4 cup of champagne

I did not use vanilla

It makes just enough to cover all the cupcakes

Little Miss Muffet...

...sat on these tuffits

Check these out!

They are concrete stepping stones for your garden!

Aren't they adorable?

One for the Money - Movie Casting

Jason O'Mara to star in 'Money'

Posted using ShareThis

I love Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series...

so much that it inspired me to start a book club with my friends...

Not sure how I feel about Katherine Heigl playing Stephanie Plum...

Jason O'Mara - I can kind of see as Joe Morelli

but

Daniel Sunjata isn't rugged enough for Ranger

Sex in the City

Sex in the City 2

Who's in?

I do not know about you, but I feel like it just appeared out of nowhere.

I remember hearing about a 2nd one when the 1st one came out

but...

forgot about it...

(sorry Carrie)

When I saw the first preview for Sex in the City 2

 coming out on May 27th

At first I'm like, do I care?

and...

I'm like...

of course I do...

Then...

to add to the intrigue even more...

I'm at Costco and see this book...

"The Carrie Diaries"

You Go

 Candance Bushnell

Way to jump on the young adult bandwagon

of course we all want to know about Carrie

before

Sex in the City

I haven't read the book yet, but I will

There are some great young adult series out there that I've read

but that's for another day, another post

Jimmy's Food Store

I took this picture on my last visit to Jimmy's.

Jimmy's is awesome

It is a family owned italian meat market

located

off Fitzhugh & Bryan Street

They have the best italian sausage

I use it in all my italian dishes

(spaghetti, lasagna, baked penne pasta, baked manicotti, etc)

They also have the best pepperoni

I get it thinly sliced

Perfect for my Pepperoni Lasagna

 that I served on Mother's Day

They also carry italian wine and serve great sandwiches

I recommend the caprese panino or the cuban sandwich!

Flower Power

These are the roses I got on Saturday

@ the White Rock Local Market

So are these tulips...

...and these lovely red roses

are from my precious son

Stuffed Mushrooms

These were also served on Mother's Day!

Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients

1 pkg whole white button mushrooms

1/4 stick butter, melted

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 container boursin cheese

1 cup parmigiano reggiano

3/4 cup italian bread crumbs

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

4-6 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray or line with foil

Clean mushrooms & remove stems

In a small bowl, mix melted butter and garlic powder together

Brush the mushrooms with the butter mixture

In another small bowl, mix the boursin cheese, 1/2 cup parm-reggiano cheese and bread crumbs together

With a small spoon, stuff the mushrooms with the cheese mixture

Mix the panko bread crumbs, remaining parm-reggiano with olive oil - just enough to coat

Place on top of mushrooms

Bake until the mushrooms are tender, the filling is heated through, and the mushrooms are golden on top - 30-35 minutes

Note: I buy boursin cheese at Costco.  You get 3 boxes for approximately $7.99 versus regular supermarkets carry it for about $5.99 - $7.99 per box.

Also, Lulu Powers  has a recipe for boursin cheese

 in her new book, "Lulu Powers - Food to Flowers"  

that I plan to make and blog about soon

Mother's Day Celebration

 Who knew that this table

could grow into this table???

I thought it was going to be all complicated

 but..

all I had to do is pull out each end of the table

and waaa-laaa

10 +1 place settings

for all my special mom's

and their spouses

A family gathering isn't a gathering without a kid's table

Breads and Cheeses

(my favorites)

This is the dessert and drink table

Wine...

more wine...

water and soft drinks

more water...

this is so simple and has such a wow factor

just throw blueberries and lemons or limes in a pitcher of water

Dessert
Mini angel foods cakes from Costco
with toppings-
whipped cream, sliced strawberries, blueberries, bananas,
Dread Head Chef's Strawberry Mango Salsa and Pineapple Banana Macadamia Nut Salsa

and of course, something chocolate

(and folks, it looks like bundt is just a part of our lives)

this is a bundt cake that my friend, Wendy brought

O

M

G

delicious

Click here for the cake recipe

&

here for the glaze recipe

Oh yeah...

the main course..

Pepperoni Lasagna

&

Stuffed Pasta Shells

I will post the Stuffed Shells Recipe this week

A gift for all the mom's

Lavender or Peppermint Salt Scrubs

(Recipe to be posted later this week)

Thanks to Wendy for taking pictures for me so I could play hostess.

She did a fantastic job

I especially LOVE the staging of the HOT trivet behind the lasagna!

Just curious...

why this picture ?