Fallen Souffle

I am sure you are all well aware that Evan and I met in Italy, if you are not well I am sure I have mentioned it in previous posts Anywho, when we visited we went during a heat wave; a heat ave unlike anything Italy had seen in quite some time. Italy, like many European countries, is not equipped with air conditioning as we are in the US-namely in the South. So went spent most of our free time finding big bottles of ice cold water and gelato. Gelato, is the Italian form of ice cream but is in my opinion it is better than any kind of traditional ice cream you would find in the US. The flavors are bold, the texture is super creamy and it is never too sweet.

Evan and I became expert gelato tasters and we knew what to look for in a good gelateria (hint: the banana flavor should never be yellow). When we came back to the US we found nothing to quench our desire for our favorite creamy, cold dessert. We found a few places here and there when we moved to Morrisville but either they didn’t make the cut or they went out of business. Until we found Henry’s Gelato.

Henry’s is located off of Cary Parkway in the Preston Walk Shopping Center (Biaggi’s and Stonewood Grill are in the same shopping center). The store is absolutely beautiful with stonework on the walls, beautiful photographs and uber cool flat screens TV’s that project the menu and other images. The flavors are beautifully displayed in front of you and customers are encouraged to try different flavors before deciding. I prefer fruit flavors so I gravitated to the blood orange gelato, which led to a taste of grapefruit and strawberry. All three were excellent but I ended up with the blood orange. Evan prefers the richer chocolate and caramel flavors. He chose a Creme Caramel that was absolutely to die for! Henry also concocts flavors such as Chili Chocolate and Mediterranean Lemon and carries desserts such a tiramisu and profiteroles.

I can’t say enough about this place, it is totally worth the drive if you don’t live in Cary. The staff is friendly, the product is top notch and it definitely deserves a 10!

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#79- Learn to ski-COMPLETED 02/24/07

I had anticipated completing this item in about a month when Evan and I take our anniversary trip to Park City, Utah but we decided to take a day trip to Sugar Mountain which is just outside Boone, NC. We snagged a few other friends and made the 3 hours drive up and arrived around lunchtime for an afternoon session. It was 53 degrees outside but there was still some man-made snow and a ton of people! The parking lots were full of cars and SUV’s and church buses. I was starting to get nervous as I saw the throngs of people waiting for me to bust my butt. Brent and I took a ski lesson (see I’m not the only one that didn’t know how to ski!) while Brew and Evan hit the slopes.

Our instructor was Chris and I think he was from Switzerland. There were 8 of us total, including a family of 4 whose 5 year old daughter put us all to shame. The class was really basic, but I have concluded that skiing is pretty basic; slide, turn, and stop…that’s all you really need to know. Oh and how to get up when you fall, which is a chore in and of itself. I went down the bunny slope a few times and felt pretty confident, I only fell once but that’s only because I wanted to practice getting up

So we were off, 40 minutes of instruction later and Chris said we could take on any mountain, ok I will start with the easiest one. We had to wait about 10 minutes or so to get on the lift, which was a nice ride considering I had been on my feet for a couple of hours. The view was nice and I chatted with Evan about how excited I was to start skiing and I felt good about my lesson. We dismount the lift and I am staring at the trail, it doesn’t look too bad but I take my time down. Nice and smooth no problem…until I see quite a dip in front of me. Not the site I wanted to see, an icey slope below and everyone was sliding on the way down. I really don’t like falling, that’s why I didn’t like snowboard that much. I stood at the top for what seemed like an hour, Evan trying to coax me down, me shaking my head like a little kid that doesn’t want to jump in the water. Finally I do it, I ski down, lose control and fall quite ungracefully. As I am trying to pick myself up while not falling again, some chic plows into me which makes me even more pissed off. I am not liking this and am contemplating the return policy on out Utah trip. But I finally get up and am determined to make it down the rest of the hill, which I do and even stop at the bottom before hitting a bunch of people in line.

I was not happy with the first run but know I had to keep at it…so we got back in line. The second run was much better, I figured out a way down without falling and even kinda enjoyed myself. By the third time, I was pumped! Ok so I’m not ready for a Black Diamond yet but I am certainly excited about our trip now!

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I know there are a ton of them out there but here is one I like alot, Group Recipes. Not only can you peruse recipes of other users but it also has restaurants mapped out in your area. It also customizes recipes based on your tastes. You take a “taste test” which is basically rating different foods and cuisines. They also have discussion boards with different groups which is a nice way to discuss a particular food topic.

Overall, a nice new site that I am sure I will be wasting much time one
Join now and you will be entered in a drawing to receive a $6000 kitchen makeover!

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This recipe was discovered when I was going through all of my cooking magazines and saving the recipes I would actually use. I pulled out my new accordion file of recipes on Sunday and picked out a few to try this week. This one caught my eye because it looked familiar to our favorite baked pasta dish.

This was an easy dish to whip up, probably took 30 minutes total with Evan helping me make the filling and chopping the ham while I made the bechamel. (Which by the way I am becoming a pro at!). The flavors were very similar to the baked pasta but it didn’t have the crunch that we like. Nonetheless, this will certainly be a repeater. I think I may try some other filling too, maybe some chicken and broccoli. BTW- Make this vegetarian by adding spinach instead of meat.

This was originally a Rachael Ray recipe but I made a few changes, namely took out the 2 cups of cream- hello! no need for all that fat when the point of the flour in the bechamel is to thicken things. I also added the nutmeg, which I am shocked she left out seeing as her Grandpa practically invented the use of it!

Try this out on a busy weekday, it will be nice to sit down to a warm creamy dish like this.

Ham and Cheese Cannelloni
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk (I used skim and it worked fine)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
pinch of fresh nutmeg
1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 large egg
8 egg-roll wrappers (available in the refrigerated section)
1 large ham steak, chopped into small cubes
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until smooth. Slowly whisk in the milk and cook, stirring continuously, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Set the cream sauce aside; then stir in the salt.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, chopped ham, and mozzarella and the egg.

3. Spread a thin layer of the cream sauce in the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Arrange an egg-roll wrapper on a work surface. Spread 3 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture over the wrapper then roll up to form a log, jelly-roll style. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and place the cannelloni, seam side down, in a single layer in the baking dish.

4. Spoon the remaining cream sauce over the cannelloni, top with the Parmigiano-Reggiano and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbly.

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So I have decided to write about different restaurants each week that Evan and I try around the Raleigh area. I figured there are enough people in the area reading this blog so I thought others may find his useful! Evan and I eat out every Friday, it is really the only time we do eat out so we try to pick really unique places with fabulous food. Sometimes we go to sit down places, sometimes more casual cheap eats but we are always searching for good food at a good price.

This past Friday night we tried a place recommended by one of my coworkers. Jumpin’ Jonny’s is a small place tucked in the Brier Creek area near the Red Robin and Walmart. I never even knew it was there, probably because I try to avoid that area with all the crazy drivers. This place claims to have the best cheesesteaks in the area, they serve made to order cheesesteaks and subs. The menu is not extensive but they offer a good variety of options for your sandwich. I got the Steak Philly Deluxe, a cheesesteak with onions, peppers, mushrooms and provolone. Evan got the Triple Cheesesteak with swiss, american and provolone cheese. We also split an order of fries, really good fresh cut fries. The bread was really good, you have the option of white or wheat but come on if you are going to have a cheesesteak get the traditional white bread. The ingredients are fresh but I feel like the cheesesteaks were missing some seasoning. I would have also preferred a bit more cheese, maybe melt the cheese throughout the meat instead of melted on top.

Overall I would give Jumpin’ Jonny’s a 7. It is a good value (on Fridays you can get 2 combos for $14) the staff is friendly, and the product is fresh. We will probably return again when we are craving a cheesesteak but don’t have time to fly to Philly.

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I know you have all been waiting for the latest update on my list! I have been busy slowly chipping away at it. It is amazing how a list has motivated me to get things done! So if you haven’t done so already…what are you waiting for! Make your list today!

#5 -Check out books from the public library-COMPLETED 1/13/06
Who knew it would take 2 years for me to get my butt into a library, but I finally did. Got my library card and checked out a book on pie crusts that I was hoping to use to take care of #1 on my list but alas time got away from me and I had to return it. But on a side note I would love your pie crust recipes! I am going to get around to it one of these days!

#7- Start making money off of my blog-COMPLETED October 2006
I did PayPerPost for a few months which resulted in some nice money but I think it is getting too popular and I have since decided to focus my energy on other things.

#35- Give blood…just once!COMPLETED 2/8/07
No one ever thought I would do this one! I didn’t give a whole pint because my immune system kicked in and wouldn’t let me continue to give but they did get some out of me! (and a decent bruise-ouch) I will upload a pic of this later when my Blogger wants to cooperate.

#39- Paint the bedroom-COMPLETED 1/15/06
Who knew picking out a paint color would be such a chore! I painted three of our walls a nice chocolate milk color and one accent wall a darker cappuccino color…it is delicious! We have since decided to completely redo the bedroom and make it more grown up. I am on the lookout for new dressers or ones the refinish. I will post before and after pictures when the project is complete. I was also motivated to paint an accent wall in the dining room, it’s amazing what a $10 quart of paint does for a room. Really makes our table and new light fixture stand out. (Dining room pics to come as well)

#56- Visit my grandparents in Elizabeth City-COMPLETED 12/30/06
I haven’t been to my Grandparent’s house in years…I mean like since high school! But I was able to make it to a delayed Christmas dinner and it was so nice to see them and spend the holidays with them. I am going to try and make it up there again and spend the day with them.

#80- Clean out all of my magazines and only save the articles I needCOMPLETED-February 2007
I had a whole drawer of cooking magazines that my Mom gave me ages ago and I have finally gone through all of them and taken out the ones I think I may make. I even organized them in a nice accordion file folder! Look for new recipes soon!

#101- Go to a Carolina Hurricanes game-COMPLETED-1/20/07
I was lucky enough to get a free ticket to a hockey game. It was really interesting to finally see a game in person. I don’t call myself a hockey fan, and still don’t, but I can still appreciate a good game.

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Have you seen an abundance of people wearing the color red today? It’s probably because today is National Wear Red Day! No it’s not some gimmick to pull out your Valentine’s gear early, it’s to bring awareness to the fact that heart disease the the number 1 killer of women in the United States. Shocking isn’t it! Heart disease kills 1 in 3 women whereas 1 in 30 women die of breast cancer. Today is a day we remind women of the severity of this disease and to know the risk factors and do something about it! Many of the risk factors for heart disease can be controlled or prevented, so why don’t we take more proactive steps to reduce these risks!

Risk factors for heart disease are:
-Smoking
-High blood pressure
-High blood cholesterol
-Overweight/obesity
-Physical inactivity
-Diabetes
-Family history of early coronary heart disease
-Age (for women, 55 and older)

So today is the day we take control of our health and work to reduce our risk of heart disease. Here are some great recipes that we can prepare to help protect our hearts. These look so yummy, I may have to try some this weekend! So throw on a red scarf or some red lipstick to show your support of this important day!

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Since Evan has been gone most of the week I have been relying on convenience foods to get me through, I have to admit I feel like Sandra Lee without the plastic baggies. This morning was cold and led to a light snowfall which means I worked form home I had a craving for a breakfats biscuit so instead getting dressed to go out I decided to try making one at home with some frozen Pillsbury biscuits. A couple weeks ago Harris Teeter had triple coupon weekend and I just went nuts buying things, one of them being a bag of sandwich sized frozen biscuits which I probably paid 50 cents for. I love a deal! I also love how these taste!

I threw one in the oven to bake for about 17 minutes, I then scrambled some eggs and cheese, I would have loved some bacon but we were out The biscuit baked up beautifully and separated well in the middle. I stuffed it with the eggs and breakfast was ready. These are really good, not as good as my usually Bojangles biscuit but this took care of my craving. A really good buy…save money by making your own breakfast sandwiches!

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