On the menu tonight crusty garlic bread, three ingredient pasta sauce and a fresh salad (all ingredients from Green City Market!). I have to say I’m just as much looking forward to the menu as I am the episode. Ashley sent this along earlier this afternoon, I think we look great!

We absolutely love our Saturday routine of Green City then lunch. I’m glad we are getting back into a regular schedule as newlyweds!

Last night Ron came in for a surprise visit! Such a treat to see him twice in three weeks, if only this became a regular thing. We dined at The Gage and had fantastic mussels, caught up on his take of the wedding and started to plan trips for next year. Such a great night even though we missed our other halves.

Cheddar Olives

Adapted from Bob’s Cheese Olives

1 1/2 cups AP flour

1 stick of butter, melted

14 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded

1 tsp salt (I used a touch less because of the salted butter and cheese)

1/2 tsp paprika

1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp Tabasco (I used a little more)

1 large jar pimento-stuffed spanish olives (I’d love to try with blue cheese)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine all ingredients, minus olives in a large bowl and mix well. Kneed until it’s a uniform consistency, mine was very crumbly at first but came together with some elbow grease.  Drain olives and lay over paper towels  to dry out.

Pinch off a small amount of dough, maybe 1 1/2 tsp. Form into a small round, place an olive in the center then pinch sides together to cover the olive. Roll around in hands to form a nice ball.

Continue to roll until you are out of dough and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet 1 inch apart (they expand in the oven). Bake until golden 17-22 mins.

Serve warm or room temperature.

My thoughts and prayers are with you Heather, Mike and Binky.

Feel like I’m finally getting back on track. The past two and a half months have been absolutely nuts. So I’m not ignoring you little blog, just need to get back in the swing of things.

Found those letters today and love them – can’t wait until they get to Z!

After 16 months of waiting and planning B and I off to New Jersey to witness the wedding of two of our favorite loves, Jen and Ron. I’m thrilled to be standing next to one of my best friends on her very special day.

And, since my life revolves around food, in between all the wedding fun, I’ll be filling up on these (I’m a Pat’s fan)

And these…drenched in butter

And soaking up the New Jersey sunshine with my favorite’s from college

An early congratulations to the happy couple, love you guys!

One of my best dishes (Bryan said it was the best thing I’ve ever made him) are stuffed Portobello mushroom caps with homemade marinara sauce, Last Night Dinner’s sausage and fresh mozzarella. I roast the caps,  fill them with Italian sausage, top then with cheese and they come out so tasty and oozing with red sauce and tangy mozzarella.

Stuffed Portobello Mushroom Caps

1 lbs. Italian sausage removed from it’s casing (I use a mix of hot and sweet)

1 egg

1 cup of bread crumbs

1 cup of ricotta cheese

Marinara Sauce (I whipped my own up but the jar is fine too)

Fresh mozzarella cheese

4 Portobello mushroom caps, cleaned

Olive oil, salt, pepper – to taste

Pre-heat oven to broil. Start by combining de-cased Italian sausage, egg, bread crumbs and ricotta in a bowl, mix well (also see Last Night’s Dinner post). Break up mixture and fry in a non-stick pan until just cooked through.

In the meantime clean mushroom caps and place on a baking sheet with olive oil, salt and pepper. I throw mine in the oven for a quick five minutes to start the cooking process. Be careful not to over cook because they will go back in later.

Take cooked sausage and fill caps (I pile it in!). Spoon marinara sauce over them and for the finishing touch place a slice of fresh mozzarella on top. Broil in oven until the cheese is hot and melty. Enjoy!

I tweeted about it a few weeks ago and couldn’t believe how many people remembered it! Everyone use to watch it with their mom, cry and were puzzled as to why all the girls had boy names,  Frankie, Alex, Teddy and Georgie.

The Spohn girls don’t cause as much drama as the four of them but we definitely keep Dave and Kath on their toes! Al and Dre just started their junior year at Northwood and after a great summer together (minus Dre finding lizards in her FL apt) I miss them.