Fudgy Brownies

These are amazing! Absolutely foolproof. Made a bid batch for two people but I'm hoping to have people over to stop some of the temptation before I succumb. :)

Cod Baked in Foil with Fennel, Carrots, and Oranges

Cod Baked in Foil with Fennel, Carrtos, and Oranges

This one also was a sneaky one. It did not look all that attractive (probably my fault) but it let out an amazing aroma with the shallots and orange, such a treat and a lot better than Halibut Baked In Foil With Zucchini And Tomatoes, who would've thought? I love tomato more.

Cheesy omelets with mushrooms

Cheesy omelets with mushrooms

This one was a great breakfast, I love mushrooms but don't seem to buy them much or cook them, for that matter. Should make note to self to include them more, they are also high in detox, soyou have your healthy and you have your delicious.

Potato and Kale Soup

Potato and Kale Soup

I'm sad to say that my jeans have cornered me to diet again.... after that week of pastry after pastry, who can blame them? I'll be cooking a little lighter now but will still be making some desserts for Arturo (lucky bastard). So I started the week with this healthy light soup, which made me happy because I got to use my new Dutch oven! I included it in the picture because I'm a show off.

I love that it has chorizo on it.

Strawaberry and Blueberry Pie

Strawberry and Blueberry pie before attack

Strawberry and blueberry pie raided

This one turned out to be a mix because blueberris are very expensive here so I added 2 cups of blueberries and the other 4 of strawberries. Delicious! Ejoyed it with friends at home watching Modern Family episodes.

Rich and Sweet Berry Scones

Rich and Sweet Berry Scones

Just wonderful, I made these again on my Mother's Day for my mom, she loved them, although I didn't escape my dad's "just add more sugar" comment.

Pizza Margherita

Pizza Margherita

Wow.

Simple Drop Biscuits

Simple Drop Biscuits

These are SO good, best simple biscuits I've tried yet! I loved that it was fast to make them.

Skillet Shephard's Pie

Skillet Shephard's Pie

SkillThis one was funny, it takes so many ingredients but it doesn't take so long to make. We ate with the Couscous with tomato, scallions and lemmons and it was not the best mix, but we enjoyed it (watching reruns of Two and a half men).

Couscous with tomato, scallions and lemmons

Couscous with tomato, scallions and lemmons

So this one was a sidedish, I burnt it a little but I was so happy to finally try this. I've heard about it and thought of it as something exotic, which is not so. It's a good rounder for another meal and so fast to make. I enjoyed cooking this one.

Breakfast Strata

Breakfast strata

This was a great breakfast, although it took a long time because as always, I never read the recipes beforehand and it had to be refrigerated for a whole hour and then the baking! It was really good, Arturo loved this one but I still love the Open Faced Poached Egg Sandwich better.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

So we tried this one for dinner and it was de-li-cious! Also super healthy, I know a lot of people hate broccoli but it's one of my favorite vegetable. I always took pride when my mother scolded my siblings on not eating it as I was asking for a second helping. =)

Shopping for the week

Shopping for this week

Today I did some shopping for this week's dishes, I'm really excited about the desserts!

Books for the cooking chick lit

Books purchased this weekend

Well, as I said, I went on a minibreak and came back loaded with books... again! Since I've been enjoying so much "My life in France" by Julia Child, I thought I'd try other books with writers that are in love with food but also have a sense of storytelling. I found one called "The Recipe Club" by Andrea Israel and Nancy Garfinkel which is narrated through letters and recipes. It reminded me of "The Guernesy Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Anne Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Also added to this new library is "Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with recipes" by Elizabeth Band.... need I say more? Reviews will follow.

Halibut Baked In Foil With Zucchini And Tomatoes

Halibut baked in foil with zucchini and tomatoes

What can I tell you about this dish? It was a great promise, it has wonderful aroma and the fast cooking was a nice surprise, but the taste was so unsatisfactory that it was a sad disappointment after getting off on such a good start of the week.

I''ll be leaving tomorrow for a long weekend away at the beach and won't be posting for a few days.

Quick Apple Strudel



Quick apple strudel



This one has been a favorite for so long and a chosen dish for the wedding, when I found out I had this on my recipe books, guess what's the first dessert I decided to mak for this blog! It not only tastes like magic pastry... it really is quick to make if you can find phyllo dough in your supermarket. promise you'll try this one if you own or are thinking of getting this book. This one is from America's Test Kitchen: Family Baking Book. You will absolutely not regret it and you'll love me for saying so.

Sautéed Chicken Breasts With Orange & Feta



 

Sautéed chicken breasts with orange & feta

This one was not so attractive to look at, but it's a glorious meal, also healthy so it gets extra points! A Arturo said it's a train of flavors. In tis northern region og Mexico we're not used to mixing salty and sweet as they do further south. That does not mean I don't like, but rather is a great and rare treat to eat!



Open faced poached egg sandwich

This was a great start of the day. It has a great goat cheese spread between the muffin and the tomato and we used that to munch later in the day. Yum!

I had never poached and egg so bare with me the icky pictures, I'm sure I will try this again and will get better.

Stir Fried Shrimp and Snow Peas with Coconut Curry Sauce



Stir fried shrimp and snow peas with coconut curry sauce



Did this wonderful recipe from America's Test Kitchen: Healthy Family Cookbook. It has so much taste and was really delicious. I put it in all my recipe books: Recipe journal, recipe Bok and big recipe book for eternity (the one I say will have all great recipes discovered!)

This idea I got from Arturo's aunt who has this very old recipe journal/notebook that's more than 30 years old, I took pictures of every page to later copy them but alas! I lost all these pictures and will have to take the pictures on our next visit to Tlaxcala.



Coca with Arturo's brother over Christmas dinner table



Apizaco is a small town in the state of Tlaxcala in the center region of Mexico. We go once a year, although I wish we could go a lot more, we eat wonderfully and the aunts and Arturo's grandmother are so warm and lovely. Coca (my new grandmother) will never give you a praise for a recipe she'll say "It's regular", but with good humor. Nobody can say anything on such comments as she is the master cook. She was even asked to do banquets a few decades back. She is now over 80 years old and has back problems and fragile bones, but she still managed to come to our wedding in Monterrey 2 years ago, broken arm and all. Such a wonderful lady.

New books for the library

Arturo and I traveled to the US border today to get some things, mostly books, my other weakness.

I got both these books that will surely be helpful for this blog and I'm hoping I can pass along some French wisdom from Julia Child herself and Mireille Guiliano.

I began reading "My life in France" on the road and I had to stop myself to get out of the car and into the house to put away our shopping spree. I'm very tired and the real workand contribution will begin tomorrow, I already have more than enough material to fill this blog for years and I keep buying new stuff!

Also, I couldn't help myself in getting this wonderful cupcakes book which led me to my "Wednesday Cupcakes" idea. On Wednesdays I'll be posting new cupcake merits here.

You can see the scale doesn' even mark  the zeroes, 

it goes straight to 400 grams!

Found a very cheap scale made in China which supposedly has a small dish in  which to place the food for measuringand only back here I noticed the box was opened and no dish!! Was a little mad, but it will still work for basic first intents. Will try to get a better one next chance I get... and check the box. Also, now have proper egg beater for pastry mixing. (am trying hard tocontain myself with the excitement and appear professional and serious).

Well, gotta go back to Julia's wonderful experiences in Paris... Adieu!

Grocery shooping

Well, not much to say, just wantedto update this here blog with a picture of the grocery shopping I just did with all new ingredients for next week's cooking. Later we'll be going to a friend's house to have a few drinks to start off the weekend, tomorrow's my grandfather's birthday party, he's turning 80!! God love him, he still laughs out loud on just about anything.

New beginning!

Excited to start. I have already planned the meals for the next two weeks and set the grocery list for the first week which shall be purchased tomorrow. I will have to go to a grocery store that has more gourmet ingredients, but what the hell, I will be stocking up on new flavors for my tiny kitchen.