Happy Christmas!!!

Happy Christmas, everyone!!! I had a fun, exciting but very busy Christmas holiday!! I hosted Christmas Eve for the Fillback clan at my house, which went quite smoothly. Entertaining has never been my strong suit, but it seems to get better each time I do it. Now I just need to do it a little bit more. Ha!! I was even comfortable enough to try out a couple of new recipes, which I was a bit nervous about. The Fillback clan can be a tough crowd! I made a new tortellini pesto appetizer and a new bourbon ham glaze. Both turned out well and were a big hit. (I'll post the recipes soon!)

I received some great gifts that evening...a Hanley's gift certificate, wine, a running shirt & a nice Craftsman 16 gallon Wet/Dry vac with a detachable blower. Oh my! I never thought I'd be excited about such a manly toy!! I actually had to try it out that evening due to the crazy rain we received for the prior 48 hours! Thanks, Dad!

Christmas Day I headed to my mom's for fun, food, drink and loads of Hand-and-Foot (a card game that is popular with this side of the fam.) We had an yummy dinner which included chicken spedini and some great red wine shipped in from Napa (courtesy of John's sister, Laurie) that was left over from Turkey Day! I received another round of wonderful gifts...a subscription to SELF magazine, Saw V, and two of my favorites...Super Mario Bros Wii and wait for it...wait for it...my own Guide to Homebrewing. I also received some cash to purchase some of my homebrewing supplies. Yes, folks! You got it! I'll be homebrewing before you know it! John used to homebrew with his friends and is going to teach me how! I'm stoked! Now if I could only find the time to read the book.

This coming weekend we are exchanging gifts with John's daugther, Calyn...her husband, Ben and Lehni-girl! They couldn't make it on Christmas day because Ben's sister and her family were in from Paris, France. So were celebrating a bit late...but who cares!

Hope you all had some happy holidays! I'll post recipes and pics soon!

Another yummy recipe...

Well, I took a small hiatus from cooking, but I'm baaaaaack! Sunday night Chad and I celebrated our Xmas together (since he goes home to NY for the holiday.) I thought it would be nice if I threw something together instead of going out to eat. Here's what I came up with. Pretty yummy...and not too bad for my first attempt at risotto!!!! Enjoy!





Drunken Risotto with Sausage and Spinach
Courtesy of Rachel Ray

Ingredients:

• 3 cups dry red wine
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 Tbsp. EVOO
• 3/4 lb. bulk Italian sweet or hot sausage
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1.5 cups arborio rice
• 1/3 lb. spinach leaves, stemmed & chopped
• 1/8 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup grated pecorino-romano cheese
• Salt & pepper
  

Directions:

• In a large saucepan, combine the wine & chicken stock. Keep warm over a low flame.
• In a large, heavy pot, heat the EVOO over medium-high head. Add the sausage and cook, crumbling the meat, until browned (about 2 min.)
• Add the onion & garlic. Cook until softened (about 2 min.) Stir in the rice and season with salt & pepper.
• Add the warm wine-stock mixture a couple of ladlefuls at a time...stirring vigorously after each addition and letting the liquid evaporate before adding more...cooking the risotto for 18 min.
• In the last 5 min of cooking, stir in the spinach, a handful at a time, to wilt. Stir in the nutmeg.
• In the last minute of cooking, stir in the butter and then the cheese.
  

Busy, busy weekend

Phew! This weekend was a blur but very fun...and a good release! Something I really needed after the last couple of weeks!!!

Friday night Judy and I hit up Jefferson's for some grub before heading over to Nick's Pub for a grade school friend's bday party. I'd never been to Nick's before Friday. It looks like a complete dive, but I'd have to say it's substantial. It has a great selection of beers on tap...especially for a smaller place. The drinks are well mixed. The food looked good too...even though I just snacked off of everyone else's plates. Ha! Bad habit of mine. There was even a little one-man band kind of thing with fairly good music.
Check 'em out. http://stlouis.citysearch.com/profile/5739206/st_louis_mo/nick_s_pub.html

Birthday girl...Jennifer!

Another good friend...Cari

Saturday night was Vicki's Ugly Sweater Xmas Party. This was another first of mine. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a lot of fun...good childish-adult fun! : )

It was a chore finding an ugly sweater though. I searched all over Fairview and Belleville...retail stores, Goodwill, etc. I ended up with a Kmart/Gordman's combo. I think Vicki bought up all the snazzy attire at Goodwill!! : )
Chad's attire was another story! I couldn't find anything good holiday clothing for men. Check out the pics below to see what he ended up with.

I had to drag Chad kicking and screaming to dinner in his studly attire! Just kidding...but I did have to coax him a bit. I think it was the promise of yummy Mexican food that got him to agree finally. For those of you that don't know Chad well...he hates Halloween and loves Xmas. So this was quite a confusing party for him...like a Halloween Xmas. Ha!

Check out this hot couple! Hilarious!
Chad's tie was musical and quite sensitive. It kept playing all night.

Chad was first to pick his White Elephant gift? However, once he chose it, he couldn't open it! Ha!

How many men does it take to open a White Elephant gift? Two?

Three?

Phew! Finally! It's a Schlitz beer lava lamp! Kick ass!

Can you believe the lava lamp was stolen from him??? I think Judy ended up with it.
This is what Chad ended up with!? A Miller Lite t-shirt & hat.

I had my hands on a nice bottle of Captain Morgan run at one point during the gift exchange...but that didn't last long. I ended up with 3 pairs of men's socks. Ha! No point in taking pics of that!

Leftover Turkey

I get soooo tired of eating leftover turkey sandwiches, so I decided to try something new this year...something more refreshing & appetizing. Here's what I made...and it ROCKED!!!


Turkey Posole
A Rachel Ray recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp. vegetable oil

• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded & chopped
• 1 Tbsp. ground cumin
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme leaves
• Coarse salt & pepper
• 1 cup beer
• 16 tomatillos, peeled & coarsely chopped
• 15 oz. can hominy
• 1 quart chicken stock
• Any left over gravy (optional)
  
• 1.5-2 lbs. light & dark cooked turkey meat, chopped
• 1 lime, juiced
• Cilantro leaves, finely chopped
• Corn chips of choice

Directions:

• Heat a medium soup pot over medium-high heat. Add vegetable oil. Then add onions, garlic, jalapenos, cumin, thyme and salt & pepper to taste. Cook 5-6 min to soften onions. Then add beer and cook it off for about 1 min.
• Stir in tomatillos and cook 5 min more. Then stir in hominy, chicken stock, any leftover gravy (up to 2 cups) and the turkey.
• Heat through, adjust salt & pepper and simmer posole 10-15 min over low heat. Stir in lime juice and remove from heat.
• Garnish soup with cilantro and serve with corn chips to dip.

Just a quick note...I used 4 jalapeno to make it a bit spicier and canned tomatillos (which were sooo much easier since they're already peeled.) Very good!

Food, drink & cards...

Thanksgiving weekend is always a blast at Mom's house. We eat tons, drink lots and play Hand and Foot all weekend. Ever heard of it? We get loud and rowdy...talk a lot of smack...and don't forget the ongoing "table talk". Here's a couple pics of us...

You gotta love the Evan Williams "spiked" eggnog!!!

We also held a 3rd birthday party for my niece. What a cutie! There was limbo, a tea party, a tiara and a huge Hello Kitty cookie. Take a look...