SF Dinner

OMG YUM. Like - the best.

Last night, SFs, Pryor, MJB, and I decided to have a night where we stayed in, prepared a home-cooked meal, relaxed, and watched some Girls (awkward writing that). We each contributed to the meal: Adam was in charge of the soup (Curry Dahl - died for it), Brandner took over the greens (brussel sprouts - lived for them), and I took care of the chicken. With so much living and dying, I'll just say it was good. Also, Matt's roommate, Russell, joined us and he contributed several bottles of the wine. We had such a good time listening to music, two stepping (still have no idea why), and just enjoying good company. Such a good night.

Chicken:
- Seasoned with garlic powder, salt, pepper, fresh chopped rosemary, Mrs. Dash seasoning

Brussel Sprouts:
- Baked with: ample rosemary, EVOO, salt, pepper
- Roasted (to perfection) for 40 minutes

Curry Dahl:
- Red lentils, stewed tomatoes, garlic, chopped onions and celery, salt, chicken broth
- garnished with greek yogurt and cilantro

FISHS EDDY

 

 

So the other day when I was at the Flatiron Building, I realized I wasn't too far from Fishs Eddy. I hadn't really had a reason to go considering I don't have my own place (and therefore no need for house/kitchenware), but since I was so close I figured why not.

This place is the mecca of controlled chaos and at times looked like a Pier 1 (but better) on crack. There was something in every single nook and cranny and so many options it was nearly unbearable. I loved it. It's almost like a museum where you have to go around and look at everything AND THEN you can go and make your final purchase selections. My aunt had brought it to my attention originally which is how I knew to blog about it the first time, but it's such a different experience being able to write a quick post after actually going. If you're ever in NYC, I suggest you check it out!

I'll Bring the Mint (Re-post)

I've taken out a lot of content from this post because it's not relevant as it was the first time I posted about this. Soo...let's start here:

Do you love the glasses we used for the mint juleps? Last year for Christmas, MawMaw (Jeri's mom), gave them to me and I LOVE them. They're the Mignon Faget's Creole Cottages double Old Fashioned glasses. I used them for every cocktail I make: Ramos Gin Fizzes, Mojitos,...and Mint Juleps!

Mint Julep (tweaked JUST a little):

- Crush 2 sprigs of mint in 1 oz of simple syrup in glass
- Fill glass with crushed ice
- Pour 2 oz of your finest bourbon
- Stir and sip

I think I'll be having one or so this weekend. It's a great summer drink, perfect for grilling, and pool side lounging.

Bailey's and a Ding Dong

Have you ever seen Legally Blonde? Okay - silly question. Do you remember the scene in the end where Brooke is in jail and has to admit (by whispering) to Elle that she's had liposuction. "I mean, it's not like normal women can have this ass!" Well - assume I'm whispering this to you right now.

Hey - don't judge. I don't know where it came from, but I have an intense sweet tooth, and sometimes anything will do. In this case...a Ding Dong (in whisper). This was after a delicious meal at MawMaw's (Jeri's mom) house - I don't exactly, but homemade spinach ravioli comes to mind. Either way, after I NEEDED something sweet and all she had was a box of Ding Dongs - for the younger cousins.

Whatever - no shame. I enjoyed the crap out of it with 2 glasses of Bailey's. Gotta love it!

Rehearsal Dinner - Elizabeth and Miles Wedding

How beautiful? These are the pictures from Elizabeth and Miles' Rehearsal Dinner. It was held at the elegant Calcasieu Room, located at 930 Tchoupitoulas St. in New Orleans. From the second we walked in, we were greeted by the smiling faces of Elizabeth's and Miles' families...and cocktails (exactly what I needed after a 1.5 hour drive into New Orleans). You can see the menu directly above, so I need not mention how delicious the food was. Best part - we were at the "cool table"!...at least I think so. We got to sit with a few of the bridesmaids who are also friends of ours, as well as a few friends Beau know from Lake Charles. We laughed and told embarassing/funny stories. #sometimesitalktoomuch

Food, cocktails, and good company. I couldn't have asked for anything more. I want this to be about the wedding and not the Calcasieu (cal-cuh-shew) Room, but I do have to take a second to give them props. The room, service, and food were all first class. Well done!

Camembert Cheese Log Crescent Rolls (Recipe)

Wanna bite?
Beau and I are working on a friend of our's wedding invites, RSVP cards, and programs, and the other night we had her over to go over paper samples (and drink wine). By no means were we expecting this, but Katie, the bride, was thoughtful enough to bring with her a DELICIOUS homemade appetizer:...wait for it...baked brie! (served on a cute platter and with a beautiful cheese knife - both a present for us) BTW - want to impress someone? That's one way to do it. Kudos, Katie!

OMG it was so good. I'm embarrassed to say that (mostly thanks to me) the majority of it was gone by the end of the meeting. So how to make it? Read below...

Camembert Cheese Log Crescent Rolls:
1. Spread butter around a 9" round pan.
2. Lay out crescent rolls (flat) and add cheese (Brie in this case) in the middle. Tip: try breaking apart the cheese.
3. Roll up the sides of the crescent rolls around the cheese
4. In a separate bowl, whisk one egg and 1 tsp of water, spread over cheese
5. Bake for 15 minutes @ 350
6. Melt one stick of butter (oh hey, Paula) and mix in a 1/2 cup brown sugar, and pecans. Spread over dish

Easy enough, right? and it's SO, SO good!
Thanks, Katie!

Rosemary Red Potatoes

Easy? Check. Delicious? Check. Healthy?...undetermined.

This has to be one of the easiest recipes ever with barely no prep time and low maintenance cooking. Start by cutting baby new potatoes into quarters then toss in a bowl. Drizzle olive oil until potatoes are covers (no drenched). Add Tony's seasoning and a generous amount of rosemary - I generally add at least 3 sprigs (depending on the amount of potatoes) but I LOVE rosemary.

Then, there are 2 ways to cook:

1) A little bit more of a steaming method where the potatoes come out soft and more crumbly. Place in pot and cook on medium with the cover on the top of the pot. Cook until soft.

2) To get more of a fried consistency, place potatoes in a wide/shallow pot and cook on a higher temperature. Do not cover. Note: you may want to add a little more olive oil.

Low-cal Rosemary/Bean Soup

Well. We've been running and working out and we're FINALLY starting to see some progress. There's no secret to losing weight. Diet and exercise. The trick is that you have to actually diet and you actually exercise. Exercise doesn't mean going on a one mile walk twice a week. Sweat a little! Dieting is actually the easy part. Just don't starve yourself. It's the worth thing you could possibly do because all that's going to happen is you're going to binge at the end of the day. There's nothing wrong with staying full and content...as long as it's the right foods.

Here's an excellent example of a super healthy dinner that's low-cal but still tastes great and (best of all) it will fill you up!

1. Baked chicken: Throw some seasoning on there! Who wants bland, boring chicken?

2. Salad: Go nuts. Eat as much as you want BUT watch your dressing. Look at the back of bottles and be smart. A creamy dressing PROBABLY isn't too great for you. What I recommend: 1 part olive oil to 2 parts balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and pepper

3. Soup: Read below for this great recipe I made up. Notice this isn't a cream based soup!

- one can Great Northern Beans
- ~3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
- one can diced fire roasted tomatoes
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- dash of Tony's seasoning
- dash of cumin
- dash of red curry powder
- 2 pressed garlic cloves

Cook on stove (medium heat) for about 20 minutes

Are We Out of Raffia?

This holiday season, I feel like we're going through more raffia than ever! That sentence seems a little strange, I'm sure so please let me explain. I've mentioned this in former posts, but I wanted to dedicate a whole day to it: bringing a (small and inexpensive) present when you're invited to a party is such a great gesture. Jeri's Corner time: whenever my parents go somewhere, my mom brings a tiny little vase with a few fresh flowers from her garden. The flowers are free and the vase was probably $2.99, but it's the thought that counts.

My go-to gifts are a bottle of wine or a little food something-or-other. Just add a little raffia and a serving spoon or cheese knife for example, and you're good to go! I wouldn't bring these to the same party - just two different examples of how you can incorporate raffia to finish off your gifts! Beware - it goes faster than you thing and one day you'll be out when you need it most and you'll be devastated!! Exaggeration?

Pasta, Frank Sinatra

Thanks to Jeri, my mom, this is another of my favorite recipes just as it was Frank Sinatra's, and for good reason: it's delicious! This pasta dish is perfect for when you have another couple over on a chilly fall/winter evening paired with a bottle or two of Pinot or Cab, a warm fire, and the Sarah Bareilles Pandora station. It's a fairly easy dish to prepare (depending on who you're asking), and there's a lot of "sip" time. What I mean by that is after the sausage and peppers/onions are cooked down and placed in the baking dish, you have a good hour or so, while it's baking, to sit and sip on wine with your guests!

1. Brown sweet Italian sausage (not cooked all the way)
2. Sauté 3 bell peppers and 3/4 white onion with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper
3. Place sausage, peppers, onions in a baking dish and add ~ 1/2 bottle of red wine
4. Bake @350 for ~1 hour
5. Serve over wheat angel hair pasta with a little freshly grated parmesan cheese

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Roasted garlic, goat cheese, and rosemary - these are most definitely a few of my favorite things. Now, when put together on top of a toasted baguette...well, I can't think of a better appetizer! This is something SO cheap and easy - everything together costs less than $10! Plus, I promise your guests will LOVE it; this appetizer is a crowd-pleaser and always goes quickly.

GARLIC
Peel the outer layers of the garlic bulb and cut off about 1/4 inch of the top exposing the individual cloves.
Drizzle with a little olive oil and wrap in foil.
Bake at 400 degrees for ~30 minutes.
*make sure oven is pre-heated to 400 degrees

While that's cooking, fresh goat cheese over toasted baguette. Once it's is cooked, simply add the mashed garlic over baguette and goat cheese. Finally, add a little rosemary for both aesthetic and obvious taste reasons. Bon appetite!

The Wine Store

Just a few years ago, Beau's aunt and uncle, Martha and Mike opened the first and only wine boutique in Lake Charles, LA appropriately named, The Wine Store. Like most wine stores, the shop offers an assortment of wines from around the world, select beers and spirits, and miscellaneous wine accessories. However, what I really love about the store is the custom gift baskets! Created by Martha, herself, she carefully takes into consideration the occasion, preferences, and budget when assembling them making each one unique and special. However, the one common denominator is the beauty of the baskets. What a perfect Christmas present...hint hint!

Another great service The Wine Store offers is wine tasting. There are weekly tastings that are open to the public, but Martha and Mike also offer private tastings which you can do at the store or in the privacy of your own home. They'll even work with your caterer to assure the wines match the hor d'oeuvres and main dishes - perfect for the dinner party professional who needs to one up the other non-working ladies in the neighborhood!

I have to say, I love the barter system. In exchange for some design services, Martha and Mike generously gave us a case of assorted wines - 12 bottles in total. I haven't found one that I don't love, so the only problem is that they're being enjoyed a little too quickly. I'm praying that they need Beau's design services soon. I mean, really - how appropriate is it that I would have family in the wine business?

Just a Little Something

Last night, Beau and I had one of out oldest and best friends, Ryan over for some
homemade pizzas to thank him for watching dogs this past weekend while we were at the wedding in Lake Charles. Poor Ryan - that weekend couldn't have gone more wrong (to NO fault of his own). Sunday morning when he came to let the dogs out, he realized that their barks weren't coming from their room, but from the front door. When he opened the door, his assumptions were realized...and then some. One of the dogs (I'm blaming Cooper) peed all over the floor twice at some point in the night! As you can imagine, it got everywhere since (I'm sure) both dogs ran through it and then walked all over the house. I literally laugh when I think about Ryan's face when we walked in to all of this. Poor thing. Of course, we wouldn't have know the difference if he hadn't told us. I think the floors were actually cleaner after he got done than they were when we left.



Of course, everything has been cleaned again and disinfected since, so it's really easy to laugh about it now. Regardless of how destructive the danes can be, we were going to have Ryan over to thank him for watching them while we were gone (like I said earlier). When he got here, he had with him a little bunch of flowers as a thank you and a sorry for the dogs...which was completely unnecessary. I've mentioned in previous posts that bringing a bottle of wine is an easy, good idea when someone invites you over (which he also did). However, I think flowers send an equally nice message. For me at least, just the though that someone went out of there way for something so considerate means a lot. I think this is a great idea - especially when someone has you over for the very first time. Even if it is "just a little something".

Talk to You in January

Well it's here, and I couldn't be happier. The middle of October marks the beginning of dinner parties, holiday gatherings, and wedding season, and this year it seems we're busier than ever. Obviously, this is no complaint - although sometimes I feel Beau could go without all this, I live for it! I love having my upcoming weekends planned out: this weekend is our half-marathon then family gathering at my parents, next is Beau's cousin, Katherine's wedding, then it's already Halloween! Next month it's countless Thanksgiving parties, followed by a month of Christmas parties. Then it's already time to start planning for New Year's Eve! As I'm typing I'm getting more and more excited!

Don't worry (because I know you totally were) - Beau and I will walk you through every step making sure to include anything unique, interesting, yet relevant to this blog. I'm anticipating some elaborate dinner parties and some major eats! Let the festivities begin!

With all of this in mind, we hope that you consider The Mended Nest during this season. We offer services ranging from the following:

Custom invites
Save the Dates
Wedding Packets
Custom Birthday Cards
Graduation Announcements
Business Cards
Logos

Happy Friday and have a GREAT weekend! (Also note: None of the above pictures were creations of The Mended Nest, although they're all beautiful!)

Baked Salmon and Mashed...Cauliflower?

On a date night a few days ago, Beau and I decided to go all out and cook a yummy (yet healthy) dinner instead of going out to a restaurant. One catch: we couldn't use chicken. After looking back at some of the old recipes, it gives the impression that we eat nothing but chicken and hummus. So to switch it up, Beau bought two gorgeous salmon fillets from Whole Foods along with the necessities for this dish...cauliflower, dill weed, lemons,... and wine. What we made was baked salmon with a lemon and dill sauce paired with rosemary and garlic mashed cauliflower (healthier than based potatoes). If you haven't tried this yet you must. It's so, so good!
Salmon:

- 1 pound salmon fillets

Sauce:
- 1/4 cup Brummel and Brown yogurt butter, melted
- 5 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon dried dill weed
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- sea salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Place salmon in greased baking dish, drizzle sauce. Cook for ~25 minutes

Mashed Cauliflower (mashed potato substitute)
- 1 head of cauliflower (steamed until soft) - add to food processor
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 3 sprigs of rosemary
- salt/pepper
- dash of white truffle oil

This salmon was pretty easy, and it really came out great! Unfortunately (yet typically), I added WAY too much garlic to the point to where it almost spicy. Oh well - they were definitely edible, but i strongly recommend sticking to the 2 cloves! Note: the total prep and cook time was only about 35 minutes so this it totally something you could make on the fly! Hope you enjoy!

Salmon Recipe courtesy of AllRecipes.com

Rosemary Chicken Salad

Please be aware that this is my FAVORITE recipe of all time. I could probably eat this every single day of my life and not get bored with it. This is not an exaggeration.

Sorry - I got a little bit crazy for a second there, but seriously this is SO good. Chicken salad is great for so many occasions - anytime finger foods are appropriate, really. Birthday parties, wedding showers, graduation parties, teacher appreciation, holiday parties, etc. Just have pre-made mini sandwiches and you're ready to go! It's an easy recipe that is pretty difficult to mess up. Check this out!

- Rotisserie Chicken (from local supermarket)

- 4 sprigs of Rosemary
- 1/2 a container of crumbled blue cheese
- 1 pack of chopped walnuts or almonds (toasted)
- 1/4 chopped red onion
- Salt and pepper
- Drizzle olive oil - enough to hold ingredients together
- Add a touch of mayo



Part of what gives this recipe such a good taste is the flavor of the rotisserie chicken. They have so much more flavor than some plain chicken that would go into an other chicken salad recipe. Also, it makes it that much easier because there's no actual cooking involved! Just remember to serve on a whole wheat ciabatta bun or multi grain cracker. Oh. My. God. You REALLY have to try this. I've never been more confident that you'll like a dish than this!!

Monogram It

As most mothers know, monogramming can be both artistic AND essential. You don't want your kid to bring home the wrong backpack...or shirt...or socks...or bow...I could go on and on (let's be honest - it can get ridiculous!). Okay - being honest, stores like Pottery Barn, Crate&Barrel, and Restoration Hardware have helped make monogramming just as cool and necessary as bedazzled clothing in the early 90's (you know you did it). Only this time, it's chic and mature.

Everything from towels (bath and hand) to bottle openers to serving ware and plates can be monogrammed now a days, but I now have a now monogramming must: barware! The glasses above are Pottery Barn's Classic Barware monogrammed with a "C" for Caragliano. I love these glasses, and I think you would to. Only problem - Beau and I have different last names (Caragliano and Moss). Solution moving forward - "M" for Matthew and Moss?...we'll see about that!

Gift Ideas: Olive Bowls

Sunday afternoon, Beau and I attended a "couples shower" for one of my oldest and closest friends, Amanda and her fiance, Luke. Our families have known each other for years (in fact, her mom taught me in pre-k), and when we all get together we have so much fun! It was held at Pinetta's in Baton Rouge - my FAVORITE Italian/European restaurant in the area - because her aunt, Dianne is the owner. Since it was a serve-yourself kind of party (in terms of food), there wasn't much food that the restaurant normally serves, but it was delicious none-the-less!

However, what I want to focus on for this post is not the food (shocking, I know), but rather gift ideas for the next shower or house warming party you'll be attending. The idea behind this shower was to bring gifts related to making them the perfect hosts, and everyone was supposed to also write down a recipe to go along with the gift. Although my recipe for a Rosemary Chicken Salad doesn't coordinate with ceramic bowls for olives and the pits, I COULDN'T pass them up...for a second time.

A few weeks ago, I was shopping in Pottery Barn for an engagement party gift and I ran across these little ceramic bowls and I fell in love! I think they're so cute and completely my style. So, when I got the invitation for Amanda's party, I rushed out and bought the same exact thing. I'm kind of obsessed, and so mad at myself because I got the last set from the store for Amanda! Online shopping...here I come! They're PERFECT for entertaining - how much better does this look than eating olives out of a jar and having to look at the pits on a plate?! Yuck.