Saturday, April 17, 2010

Our Disappearing Act

Wondering where we've been? Part of the answer is that Bryan & I discovered a new food that we just can't get enough of (OK, the credit goes to my in-laws, who had it at their house first.) We sit at night on the couch and eat it, night after night. It is the nectar of the gods!



I wouldn't have really even tried it at my in-laws house except that I tried a similar home-made recipe a few weeks ago at my neighbor's Pampered Chef party. Many of you know I am no cook and I am a super-picky eater. But I never could have imagined matching fruit with tomatoes and peppers could be SO GOOD! Here is the recipe for the Quesadilla Cups from the party--so easy that this mac-n-cheese mom can't even mess it up!

Quesadilla Cups with Nectarine Salsa

Ingredients:
4 oz monterey jack cheese (in a hurry?--use already cubed cheese)
3 6-in flour tortillas
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 medium firm ripe nectarine (can't find one?--use a peach)
1/4 cup roasted red peppers, drained & patted dry
1 serrano pepper, seeded (these can be hot--use sparingly if you aren't from Texas)
2 Tbsp finely chopped red onion
2 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro
1 lime
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp honey (use to taste--original recipe does not call for this)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut cheese into cubes. Brush both sides of tortillas with oil. Cut tortillas into 8 wedges each for a total of 24 wedges. Press tortillas into the cups of a mini-muffin tin and place 1 cheese cube into each. Bake 5-7 minutes or until the edges begin to brown and the cheese is melted.

For salsa, dice nectarine and red pepper. Juice in lime and mix into nectarine, peppers, onion, cilantro and salt. Add honey to taste if desired. Divide salsa into tortilla cups evenly. Serve immediately.

I'll show you what we've really been up to in a few days, or weeks (depending on the weather)--that's enough of a hint.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Bad Day and Bad Drive Home


This is what I felt like today after a bad day at work, just trying to get home to my family in Easter-Weekend/Friday-Kicking-Off-Spring-Break rush hour traffic exacerbated by beautiful weather...all the idiots come out of hibernation to drive in the good weather.