Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Oh Yes!! Sweet Potato Fries

Trader Joe's has the MOST amazing Sweet Potato Fries. And they are soooooo soooooo simple. They come in a bag already cut and so you just put them on a foil lined baking sheet, sprinkle a little bit of salt on top with some olive oil and bake. That's it!!

OMG!! They are so good and tender. I think I may have baked this batch a little bit too short in time because they were soft instead of crispy. But, if you wanted yours crispy then just bake them longer and not use as much olive oil. Mine however, were fab-u-lous!!! You've got to try them immediately!!

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Yummmmmmm...Cheesecake Factory

A couple of weeks ago I went to the Cheesecake Factory again. I know, I know, bad for me, blah, blah, blah. C'mon it's the Cheesecake Factory!!! Need I say more??? Ha! Seriously though, I don't go every day or even every week. So, I've gone twice in two months. So what? Before that it was a year or more since I had been to the Cheesecake Factory.

I got the Bang Bang Chicken and Shrimp. It was sooooooooo good!!! OMG!! Fab-u-lous!!!! The peanut sauce is amazing!! You have got to order this dish the next time you are there because it is unbelievable!!

My friends both ordered the Fish and Chips, which looked pretty fantastic too! What is there not to like about beer battered fish and then french fries??

We all then ordered some pretty amazing and completely delicious cheesecake. Sorry about the pictures showing half-eaten slices of cheesecake. I totally couldn't wait to dig in and then remembered I had to take some photos for the blog! Ha!

I got the Key Lime Cheesecake. This is one of my favorites!!!!!

My one friend got the Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake. Another one of my favorites!!!

My other friend got the Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake. This is pretty fab-u-lous too!!

So, next time you are at the Cheesecake Factory try one of them, or better yet try all three!! :)

Saturday, April 17, 2010

This Little Italian Place with BIG Taste!!!

A couple of weeks ago when I was home in Chambersburg, PA. my mom and sister and niece and I went to this little Italian place on the town square. It's called "cafe d'italia" and it is freakin' awesome!!! OMG!!! for such a little place it has amazing BIG taste!!! It is really really that good. It was warm outside and so we decided to sit out front at one of the cafe tables. It was perfect!

I started out with this amazing Caesar salad! I LOVE Caesar salad. This was out of this world good. The dressing was perfect and it was just so darn good, I'm getting stuck on what else to say about it. Actually, I'm having a hard time typing and thinking because my mouth is watering. Ha! :)I then ordered for dinner the lobster ravioli. Fab-u-lous!! Seriously, it is the best I've ever had. I'm not a huge red sauce person and so I asked if I could get it with Alfredo sauce. No problem. OMG!!! This was the best Alfredo sauce I've ever had. It was not too thick. It had a delicious smoky flavor. And HUGE pieces of lobster!! It was the BEST!!

My mom got an Italian sub.

And my sister got a chicken Parmesan sub and those looked really good too. Everything was just amazing.

If you are ever on the town square in Chambersburg, you've got to try this place out and tell them I sent ya! let me know if you liked it too!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

No Devil in These Eggs

For most holidays and picnics my family has deviled eggs. Others tell me this is strange to have deviled eggs for holiday meals, but we've always done it. And I love deviled eggs so I have no problem with it. :) Why are they called Deviled Eggs???

They really are simple to make too. You hard boil some eggs. In case you don't know how do this, just put some eggs in to a pot of water, bring to a boil and then cover and turn off the burner and let sit for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, I usually run cold over them so they get cool enough to touch. So, under cold running water just peel the eggs. On a side note, I heard that if you buy the eggs a week or two before you are going to use them, they are easier to peel. So, make them when they are a little bit old. Strange, I know, but true. :)

Once you have the eggs peeled, cut them in half lengthwise and take out the yolks.

Once the yolks are out of all the eggs, mix the yolks with mustard and mayonnaise. I don't have exact measurements for this, I just do it by taste. I would say to start out with a smaller amount and taste it and then you can add more if need be.

Once you have that all mixed, then take a spoon and fill the egg halves with the yolk mixture. You then sprinkle with paprika. It just takes a little bit of paprika. :) I sometimes also like to put a slice of olive on top. It gives them a special extra flavor. Mmmmm...they are sooooo good!! What do you like on top of your deviled eggs?

There are a ton of pretty deviled egg dishes I've seen in various stores. This one has been in our family forever. I don't ever remember my mom using another one. It's really pretty.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Ambrosia (Huh?)

My mom has made this dish called Ambrosia for picnics since I was little. I'm not really sure where the name comes from, but it is really good! Mmmmm...I can even taste it right now as I am typing this. Yummy!!

Now this is a really simple dessert to make. Everything is 1 cup!! You first take 1 cup of marshmallows.
Then add in 1 cup of canned pineapple (I'm sure you could use fresh too, but the canned is so much easier).

Next, add in 1 cup of mandarin oranges. Who doesn't love the sweetness of mandarin oranges??? They are cute and sweet and good for you too! :)

Next, add in 1 cup of sour cream and then 1 cup of coconut.

Mix it all together well and then eat! :) Yep, it is that simple. It is pretty light and refreshing. the texture is fun. I swear if you make this for dessert, everyone will love it. Your kids will love it too!!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Oh my! Heavenly Dessert!!

I made this dessert for Easter dinner today and let me tell you, it was AWESOME!!!! OMG!!! So good! And it was so incredibly simple to make.

You first mix 1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs with 1/4 cup of sugar and 6 tbsp. of butter.

Then just press firmly in the bottom 13x9 baking dish.

Next, beat 2 packages (8oz.) of cream cheese with 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of milk until well blended. Spread this mixture over the graham cracker crumb crust. It may lift the crust a bit and so I found out that if you spray some Pam on your spreader it helps a lot.

Next mix 2 3/4 cups of milk with 2 packages of lemon pudding. Pour over the cream cheese mixture. And let that sit for 5 minutes.

After the five minutes, spread some strawberry Cool Whip over top. It can be hard to find the strawberry Cool Whip at the grocery store and so if you cannot find it, I found mixing frozen strawberries with regular Cool Whip works well. (I can usually only find the strawberry Cool Whip around Christmas time.)

That's it. It is so simple. It is really pretty with all the layers and the colors. It is the perfect springy or summer dessert! And it isn't really heavy, really light and refreshing.

Friday, April 2, 2010

What is the Word for Yummolicious in Spanish?

I am home in PA. for Easter and tonight we went to one of my favorite Mexican places, Tito's Tacos, on the town square in Chambersburg. It is truly, authentic Mexican food and it is
fab-u-lous!!! We started out with the BEST queso EVER!! The chips are homemade too and still warm when you get them.

I ordered the chorizo quesadillas. Mmmmm, love chorizo. It is a spicy meat and can be greasy sometimes, but this was really good.

I also had a chile relleno. I love chile rellenos. Mmmmm, OMG!!! so yummy!!!

My sister got the beef nachos. The beef is amazing. It really looks like steak and tastes amazing.

She got it with a side of rice and beans. The portions are humongous right?

If you like Mexican food and are ever in Chambersburg, PA. then you've got to stop by Tito's Tacos.