girls’ night out & garlic party

October 11, 2010 2 Comments

Busy weekend ’round here. My talk at the breast cancer walker

information session was quite easy. No one showed 😦

I was able to meet my ‘walker buddy’,  Jennifer & got some of the behind -the-scences information. She mentioned that during the winter she has info sessions with upwards of 30 people, and wanted to know if I felt comfortable coming to one of those.
She asked me if I could bring some of  my quilts that I’ve raffled

‘raffle quilt 2009’

pink breast cancer raffle quilt

which means that I need to start to think of what kind of quilt I will make for 2011…

Then Scott & I went to Plato\’s Harvest Organic Farm for our CSA

the turkeys are getting BIG!!!

shel picking herbs at the farm

Sat night there was a surprise 40th birthday party for a friend that included a Limo trip into  Boston & an award-winning broadway show Rock of Ages ..

SO. MUCH. FUN.

erika and I

my best buddy, Erika & I prior to the limo arriving.

ok.. you’d think that I’d have more pictures of this night.. and trust me, there are pictures, but none that should be shared on the internet 😉

I’ll try to see if I can scrounge some respectable pics up from someones else’s camera to add….

While the girls were in the city.. the boys were making ‘man food’

bacon cheeseburger on glazed donut

Bacon cheese burgers on…. wait for it…

grilled glazed donuts.

This would never happen if I were actually home.

Poor Ali, stuck here with the two of them….

She had Ice cream for dinner 😉

I know, I know… mom of the year, right?

Then Saturday morning we were up early *yawn* to head back to the farm to participate in the annual garlic planting party!!

and it was held in conjunction with the 350 mission

garlic

 

photo courtesy of Shasha Purpura

 

we began with separating the garlic heads  into cloves

this took us almost 2 hours…. we’re talking LOTS of garlic!!

then Farmer Dave prepped the one of the fields for planting

with a couple of cuties along for the ride…

we planted.. and planted. and planted.then we had lunch!!

quite possibly the best lunch that I’ve EVER had.  Everyone’s addition to this pot luck was over-the-top!!

Then we dug for some taters…

My contribution for the day- (food wise) was my

Cranberry-Cashew Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

cranberry-cashew quinoa salad

1 cup quinoa , rinsed

1 cup chicken stock

3 cups h2O

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup cashews, toasted

1 medium red onion, chopped

1 bunch parsley, chopped

1 bunch mint, chopped

1 small carrot, grated

1 whole lemon, zested & juiced

1/4 cup  canola oil

a few splashes of Raspberry wine vinegar

Kosher salt & pepper

what to do:

In a large saucepan, bring rinsed quinoa, stock, a dash of salt & water to a boil; Reduce to a simmer & let cook for 20 minutes.

if there is any excess liquid, drain it, but don’t rinse.

Add remaining ingredients & toss to combine. Season with salt & pepper.

This is one of those fhb dishes that is delicious hot or cold or even room temperature ( which is wonderful for a pot-luck)

I let the quinoa come to room temp before I wrapped it for the party…..

yum!

what a great weekend!!

 

photo courtesy of Sasha Purpura

 

Filed Under: 2008 Quilts, lunch, Main dish, make-ahead Tagged With: , , , , ,

a sea of pink

October 8, 2010 6 Comments

Good morning friends!

( stayed tuned, I promise some food in this post 😉 )

For the last 3 years, my sister, Jodie & I have joined thousands of other women ( and men) to walk 40 miles over the course of 2 days  participating in the Avon Walk For Breast Cancer.

It is quite the commitment to participate. Not only do you need to train for months prior to the actual walk, but EACH individual walker needs to commit to raising $1,800.

Not small change, by any means…

It is truly an amazing experience, one that really cannot be put into words.

I’ve tried to share our experience with a Video Slide show

My sister, Jodie & I had were lucky enough to have our daughters born just  1 month & a day apart from each other. My niece ( and Goddaughter), Alexis & Ali have grown up being ‘sisters’. It’s been so wonderful to watch these two grow up together

they are looking out the window on Christmas Eve for Santa 😉

The girls & Scott ( as well as my Mom & stepdad ) have spent the last 3 years showing up at cheering stations , rooting us on & pushing us (sometimes, I wish physically) and being at the finish line waiting for us at the end of this very emotional experience.

Ali & Lex have been patiently waiting until they were old enough to be able to walk with us.

This winter the  girls each turn 16, meaning that they will be old enough to participate!!

My youngest niece, Mollie, still has many years until she will be able to walk with us in the Avon walk, but we found another walk this past weekend that she was able to join us in..

Making Strides against Breast Cancer..

so early Sunday morning, the 5 of us, donned in pink, headed to Beantown to participate in a 6 mile walk around The Charles River for breast cancer awareness.

at every mile marker, Mollie got a snack..

this was mile 1

like her Aunt, she loves food!
we need to find a cure….

these two walked arm & arm for most of the walk 🙂

After the walk we stopped one of my favorite restaurants, Rustic Kitchen, on the way home so that the girls could have some hot cocoa & Jodie & I could have a glass of wine… but when I saw the menu Pumpkin beer .. I just had to have my sister try it.

this is a horrible, distorted photo of us, but I wanted to share her first Pumpkin brew with all of you!!

NOW…  since this is supposed to be a food blog…   I give you

CHILI !!!

full disclosure… this is in no way shape or form nearly as professional as my friend Cecelia‘s award winning chili, but for a yankee girl, it didn’t come out that badly

(plus 😉 I was able to assemble it at 5 am & come home at the end of the walk to dinner waiting for me)

my recipe:

2 pounds ground chuck

2 teaspoons cumin

3 assorted peppers

2 large onions

a carrot

2 garlic cloves, peeled

2 large cans of tomatoes

OR

fresh tomatoes

( all of my veggies came form Plato\’s Harvest Organic Farm )

1 can of white beans, rinsed & drained

1 can of kidney beacons, rinsed & drained

chili powder ( to taste)

a few banana peppers ( feel free to omit if you don’t like thigns a little bit spicy..)

I started by browning up the ground beef, seasoning with salt & pepper & cumin.

before the cooked ground beef makes it to the crock pot, I pour it into a fine mesh strainer to remove excess grease

)))grease(((

once strained, put it in the crock pot

Place the onion, peppers , garlic & carrot in a food processor. Pulse until the veggies are about the same size as the ground beef crumbles. add to the saute pan & saute for a minute, picking up any leftover browned bits from the beef.

((love hiding me some veggies in a family meal ;)))

Have the veggies jump on in the crock pot with the beef.

add the tomatoes & chili powder;  Stir to combine, then place the banana peppers right on in the bathtub of chili… they’re going for a nice long steamy bath !!

( a special little treat for the spicy chef)

I cooked it on low all day long… adding the beans about an hour before we wanted to eat.

I view chili like I do oatmeal & more oatmeal

the perfect base for TOPPINGS!!

it’s all about the toppings!

And look what Scott had waiting for me when I got home?

YUM!

I leave you with this picture of the girls’ arms locked together.

note the breast cancer symbol between them? Pure coincidence!!

Oh! I almost forgot.. the Avon Foundation’s Boston office asked me to give a speech at an introduction event tomorrow for future potential walkers!!

Wish me luck!! ( ahem. I’ve never actually spoken to a crowd in public before…)

Filed Under: Soup Tagged With: , , , , , ,

an a*maze*ing race

October 4, 2010 Leave a Comment

Saturday afternoon, Scott & I packed the kids in the car ( iPods in tow, c’mon, they’re  teenagers) … and set out on an almost 2 hour ride, to spend a ridiculous amount of money ….all in the effort to get lost.

On purpose.

For real.

We set out for Davis\’ Farmland Mega Maze, where we have been going annually for a few years now.

The entire corn maze is 8 acres large with over 3 miles of twisting & turning paths throughout. There are 10 bridges, ( not always easy to get to) rubbing stamps, trivia questions, gaming stations & much more hidden throughout the maze.

This is no ordinary corn maze….

The Mega Maze is  designed in England by a leading maze designer, Mr. Fisher, who holds 7 Guinness World Records in maze design.

Click here for an aerial view of the 2010 maze

Each year there is a different theme, this years’ was ‘Survivor”

Upon being let into the maze, you are given a ‘field guide’ which states the basic safety rules & the different levels that you can ‘experience’ the maze.

We chose this year to find all of the bridges & get the coordinating stamps & find the 6 ‘immunity rub-ons’ hidden on various places.

Each year we divide into teams of two ( always changing, this year it was Ali & I against the boys) then we disappear into the maze.

(Ali & I wore our RAINBOOTS, in hopes of some good mud puddles post-rain.. but the field was nice & dry )

😦

the boys trying to figure a path to takeWe found one of the bridges… STAMP!!!

Here’s  Scott right below up trying to figure the maze out. Even though he is right there he is actually about 1/4 mile away from us.. maze-wize

Each time we thought we had it figured out..

another dead end.

it’s very deceiving!!! and more FUN that you could ever imagine!!!!When we finally all met at the exit, we determined a tie, as neither team found everything that we agreed upon, but together, we got them all! ( and we were getting hungry)

Now here is where I should go into detail on  the wonderful early dinner that we enjoyed, but sadly, that’s not the way it played out.

We did stop at a restaurant that we have eaten at before and I ordered the sliders ( I had a strange craving for a cute little juicy burger)

Scott & the kids’ meals were great, but mine were two little wanna be hockey pucks that looked liked they came out of McDonald’s french fry warmer.

From last Wednesday.

I ended up sending them back ( something that I never do) but seriously, they were inedible.

Luckily, the salad that I had already eaten was enough to take the hunger pangs away, and at that point, I really didn’t want anything else from that kitchen.

So I sipped on my wine while they ate.

Then shared all of their desserts 😉

Salad +wine+dessert= a well-balanced meal.

at least in barefootgirlworld :)….

OK…

and stay tuned to the upcoming Bruin’s games.. something tells me that you just might see that exact lil’ slider that they tried to serve me for dinner slipping along the ice ;)…..

it was a VERY busy weekend, so not a whole lot of cooking going on , but I’ll make it up soon.. I promise 😉

oxoxo

Filed Under: family

aaaachctober!!!!! *bring on the boots!!*

October 1, 2010 12 Comments

YAY! It’s finally here!! My very favorite month… of the whole entire year. (December is a close second) 😉

and it’s Friday, which means pizza night at Casa Hagg.  I happened to come across some fresh figs *hops* and just knew that they were pizza-bound.

I started with my pizza dough.. sometimes I buy it already made and sometimes I make it myself.  There is no rhyme or reason as to which one I choose.

The spirit moved me to make it , so that is exactly what I did

I’ve made it both in my food processor & in my kitchenaide mixer. My food processor was in the dishwasher, so the mixer won!!

While the dough was rising, I by caramelized some onions..

I melted some butter ( the REAL thing) over low heat, then add the onions & stir to coat. Add a  sprinkling of Kosher salt & let them slowly cook ..

everyone getting ready for the party

I love these little medallions of goat cheese from Trader Joe’s … Each one is just enough for a pizza topping or a salad, with nothing extra  to have to eat.

Did I say eat? I meant wrap.. Yeah, THAT’s it.

Yeah.

**I also got a whole bag of these medallions for FREE!!  The UPC code was on the twist tie that close the bag with all of the rounds of cheese was missing. I ran back to get a new bag for the cashier & she rang it in & put both in my bag, telling me that they can’t sell it that way.. so SCORE for me:)**

♥♥♥ free cheese♥♥♥

where were we?  oh, yeah..pizza….

After rolling out the dough, I drizzled a little EVOO on the dough & topped with some mozzarella, the goat cheese,; crumbled, the figs; sliced  & the caramelized onions.

I cooked it on my pizza stone in a 500 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes

When the pizza came out of the oven, I topped with some toasted walnuts, fresh sage & a light stream of farm fresh honey

we had a side salad with all of the same toppings over arugula. Overkill? perhaps.. but Neither Scott nor I complained..

I always say that you can’t have too much of a good thing 😉

on another note

The East coast deluge finally hit us this afternoon. The girls in these house are all smiles….

why you ask??

Because we finally both got Rain boots!!

mine !!

umm… full disclosure.. I have a wicked boot obsession 😉

So. So. Cute.

and Ali’s just as cute!! VERY her 🙂

I love that she is just as dorky / nutty as me when it comes to this stuff.  When I said, “Ali, I want a picture of your boots” she said, “ok.. let’s go find a puddle to jump in!!”

her mama raised her right!!

SPLASH ACTION !

Filed Under: Dinner, family, Pizza, random Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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