DFO: Moo Shu Chicken

Perhaps I should change the name of this site to "101 Dishes to Make with Coleslaw Mix" - seriously, it's like I'm obsessed with the stuff! 

Dinner For One: Moo Shu Chicken

Forget the takeout and break up with the delivery guy – this is a fast and easy take on a Chinese restaurant favorite. Recipe adapted from Family Circle July 2008.

1 TB sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
5 oz. shredded coleslaw mix with carrots (about 1/2 a bag)
2 baby portabella or standard mushrooms, sliced into matchsticks
2 scallions, sliced
1/4 cup hoisin sauce plus more for serving
2 TB soy sauce
4 6” flour tortillas
1-2 cups shredded, cooked chicken

Warm tortillas in a dry nonstick skillet over medium heat until light brown spots appear on both sides. Make an aluminum foil packet, place warm tortillas inside and set aside.

In same pan heat sesame oil over medium heat. Add garlic, coleslaw mix, mushrooms and scallions. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes, until vegetables are softened.

Add chicken and stir in the hoisin and soy sauces and cook 2 minutes, stirring to make sure everything gets coated.

Spread each tortilla with a little extra hoisin sauce and roll up with a large spoonful of the chicken & vegetable mixture.

NOTE: Grocery store rotisserie chicken works great for this but it’s just as easy to quickly poach a chicken breast – try adding a little soy sauce to the poaching liquid to boost the flavor.

p.s. - I've gone back to the original header... the photos were bugging me. Thoughts?

DIY: Spooky Centerpiece

I love Halloween. It might be one of my favorite holidays and, as such, I find it perfectly acceptable to start decorating on October 1st. I pulled together this centerpiece in less than an hour and it will live on the dining room table all month long. I especially love when a breeze hits it and the bats flutter a bit... 

DIY: Spooky Centerpiece

What You Need:
Small Garden Urn
Small Rocks or Gravel
3-4 Branches
Black Spray Paint
Needle and Thread
Black Construction Paper
Scissors or an Exacto Knife
Lamb’s Wool

How You Make It:

Make sure your urn is clean and dry. If it’s not already black, you may want to give it a coat of black spray paint. Plug any drainage holes with tape and fill the urn with rocks, gravel, marbles or even floral foam if you want. Go out to your yard (or someone else’s!) and gather 3 or 4 dead branches and spray paint them black. Once the paint has dried, nestle branches into the rocks.

Trace bat shapes onto the construction paper and cut them out with scissors or an exacto knife. Not feeling artistic? You can find templates at Martha Stewart’s site or download some free clip art. If you only have white paper, try a spooky ghost or a skull. Any Halloween-inspired shape will work. Using a needle and black thread, make bats into ornaments and hang from the branches.

Pull the lamb’s wool into wispy pieces and drape some in the branches. Pile the rest into the base of the urn, covering the rocks completely.

Voila!

NOTE: I actually had everything I needed for this around my house and I bet you do too... no lamb's wool? How about cotton balls? No garden urn? Try an interesting vase or bowl. No thread? Try fishing line or un-bend some paperclips to make hooks... you get the idea.

The Book: Oktoberfest

Hmm... I may have missed the boat on this one this year - is Oktoberfest still going on? Do we even really need an excuse to invite our pals over and drink beer? Nah, I didn't think so...

Celebrate the arrival of October with this easy German-inspired menu. Lederhosen optional.

Oktoberfest
Late Sept/Early Oct.

MENU:
German Beer
Riesling
Skillet Sausage & Cabbage
Potato Salad w/ Warm Mustard Vinaigrette
Apple Pancake


Skillet Sausage & Cabbage
Serves 8

What you need:
2 (16oz) package of kielbasa or smoked turkey sausage, sliced diagonally into 1in. thick pieces
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
2 green bell peppers, seeded & thinly sliced
8 cups white cabbage, thinly sliced
1.5 cups dry white wine or chicken broth
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
salt & pepper to taste

How you make it:
Sauté sausage over med heat until browned, remove from pan & drain on paper towels. Do not clean pan, add onions & peppers and sauté until softened (2-3 minutes). Add cabbage and cook, stirring often until softened (7-8 minutes). Add sausage, wine or broth and seasonings. Reduce heat and cook over low flame until cabbage is tender (10 minutes).

NOTE:
Want to make it even easier? Take it to the grill:
Grill Brats or 6” lengths of kielbasa, serve hotdog-style on buns with purchased sauerkraut.


Potato Salad w/ Warm Mustard Vinaigrette
Serves 8

What you need:
3 pounds potatoes (such as Yukon Gold), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 tablespoon kosher salt

1/3 cup champagne vinegar

1  cup extra virgin olive oil  
2 tablespoons coarse-grain mustard
1 small bunch fresh tarragon, roughly chopped
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salt

How you make it:
Place the potatoes and salt in a medium pot and add enough cold water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are fork-tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and transfer to a serving dish. Whisk together the vinegar, olive oil and mustard in a small bowl. Pour half the mixture over the hot potatoes, toss, and let stand for 1 hour. Just before serving, drizzle the remaining vinaigrette mixture over the potatoes, add the tarragon and pepper, and toss. Taste and add salt as needed.

NOTE: Drizzling the vinaigrette over the potatoes while they're hot helps them absorb the tasty liquid more readily.


German Apple Pancake
Serves 8

What you need:
4 eggs
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 pinch salt
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup white sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 large tart apple - peeled, cored and sliced

How you make it:
In a large bowl, blend eggs, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Gradually mix in milk, stirring constantly. Add vanilla, melted butter and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg. Let batter stand for 30 minutes or overnight.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Melt butter in a 10 inch oven proof skillet, brushing butter up on the sides of the pan. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg. Sprinkle mixture over the butter. Line the pan with apple slices. Sprinkle remaining sugar over apples. Place pan over medium-high heat until the mixture bubbles, and then gently pour the batter mixture over the apples.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake for 10 minutes. Flip pancake onto serving platter and cut into wedges.

Going for the Hat Trick

Another one! 

They're all gorgeous - This one belongs to the brilliant and talented Mrs. T_Ro here in the ATL. I'm so tickled you gals are cooking up a storm!

Another One!

 A delicious confection from the divine Ms. K - thanks for sharing!

It's absurd how happy this makes me. Especially considering I didn't actually get to eat any of it...

Yo' Mama

I was having drinks this weekend with another smart, gorgeous, 30-something Gal and at some point she remarked how much she was like her mom. What was really interesting was the way she said it – not in the typical “what am I going to do, the world is ending” groan, but in a really pleased, self assured tone that said “and I’m really proud of that”.

That got me thinking. In our early twenties, coming into our own fabulousity, none of my girlfriends would have been caught dead admitting she was like her mother – much less being pleased with it. But now it seemed un-escapable – we do become our mothers, it’s just absurd that we didn’t see it coming!

My own transformation is undeniable. Not only is there a strong physical resemblance, but our habits, our talents and even our downfalls are eerily familiar. Now keep in mind we’re talking about a woman who stockpiles toilet paper. Almost to an apocalyptic degree. It is a source of total amusement to my brother and I – it seems like she picks some up every time she goes to the store. Though in her defense, when asked why she bought yet more TP, her response is always “Well, you don’t want to run out, do you?” Um, no. Good point.

If I stop to think about it, the list of similarities is quite long. We wear the same lipstick shade, the same nail polish looks good on us. We both had a phase with Guerlain’s Shalimar perfume in our early twenties. We have the same crooked toes. We’ve suffered the same illnesses and share a mutual love for Ambien. We share a perfect black dress, passing it back and forth for events. We both love to be in the kitchen and tend to show our love for others by cooking for them. We both like to keep a stash of candy around the house. When my issue of House Beautiful shows up, I read it quickly and share it with her and she returns the favor with her Bon Appetit. I’ve watched my mother read for years and she absentmindedly holds her fingers up to her lips. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve caught myself doing it too. And we can both deliver a brutal tongue lashing when we’re peeved. Don’t say you weren’t warned…

And then there is the list of things my mother knew long ago about us that I’m just realizing. She made me wait to get my ears pierced until long after my friends’ had theirs done. She seemed to think it was over-hyped. And today? I rarely even wear earrings. I wasn’t allowed to perm my hair, because it would “ruin” it, to my eternal despair, and yet these days I don’t even like to blow it dry for fear of damage and my healthy, straight hair is my most complimented feature. The oddest trait I’ve embraced? When we were young and my mom would drive us around, no one was allowed to remove their seatbelt before the car was turned off. Even in the driveway. We always thought it was ridiculous – after all, it’s not like we were going to fall out of the car going 2 mph. And then last week it happened. I was driving around town with a pal and as we pulled up to the house he popped his seatbelt. And I lost my mind. “Are you crazy? Don’t take off your seatbelt until we’ve stopped!” I screeched. The expression on his face was priceless. Like looking in a mirror at my twelve year-old self.

So yeah, I’m turning into my mother & so are you. But just think – our moms hooked our dads, so it can’t be all bad, right?

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go pick up some toilet paper. You know, just in case.

p.s. - This is my 100th post! Thanks for reading. 

xo, TSG

DIY: Menu Cards

There’s a fine line between creative & crafty… you can have great ideas but not necessarily the fine motor skills (or patience) to cut & paste them together. I fall pretty firmly in the former category – while I enjoy flipping through a Martha Stewart tutorial, there’s no way in hell I could ever get mine to look like hers.

So when it comes to decorating for a party I tend to keep things pretty simple – but I still want it to feel special. Even if you have no art skills whatsoever you can do these great menu cards.

Image courtesy of the now defunct Blueprint Magazine. 

They got fancy with the little pencils - great idea if you need to keep everybody busy while you're finishing up in the kitchen. 

Include a questionnaire, brain teaser or trivia quiz...

Simply type up what you’re serving, pick a font and color you like and print them out on heavy card stock. Then just trim them down and place one at each place setting.

Don’t want to include the menu? Try a simple holiday greeting, a quote, or just the reason you’re all together. I did the ones below for a friend’s birthday dinner at a restaurant. I just showed up a few minutes early, put out the cards, some simple flowers and small boxes of treats as party favors… it was a subtle and sophisticated way to make our table special - without the cheesy party store banners or balloons.

Got more skills? Turn it up with clip art, illustrations or your own masterpiece! Photos would be super cute – add pictures of your friends and use them as place cards to let everyone know where they should sit (“Find your face & sit down”…or, you know, something like that).