Date Night...in Mexico

Okay, so it's really just here in good ol' Lindenhurst, but with a Mexican theme.

Since I had a personal request to have more date night postings (thanks...you know who you are) and since I'm feeling really up about my blog, (a friend who is not a follower told me how much she enjoys my blog. J, if you are reading this why aren't you a follower?) I thought I'd give the details of this evening's plans.

I'll even do it in order of consumption. Just for kicks, you know. I do kinda like to start with dessert, but we'll get to that at the end...like with dinner.

We'll start with Tequila gimlets. Like a Margarita but half the work. Just tequila and Roses Lime Juice.

I will be serving Quesadillas with the cocktails. My plan for these came from several recipes on Epicurious. I just want plain, cheese quesadillas but I did like the stove top method for preparing them. Basically, I'll brush the pan with a little (tsp?) oil, heat it on med-high heat, and add a tortilla covered with cheese. I'll top that with another tortilla and flip after 2 minutes. After another 2 minutes the cheese should be melty and they will be ready to cut up and serve. Since it's just the 2 of us, I'll make just one small one for us to share. I can serve it with the salsa, sour cream, and guacamole that I'll have for the fajita salad main course.

Okay, so I just told you what the main course is. Josh loves the way fajitas taste, but doesn't really like the mess of associated with assembling and eating them in tortilla. Thus, fajita salads are popular in this Saxe household. Again, this recipe came from Epicurious.

Skirt Steak Fajitas

• 2 skirt steaks (about 1 1/2 pounds each)
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice (about 4 limes)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 teaspoons minced jalapeño pepper
• 2 teaspoons finely minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preparation

1. Cut the steak crosswise into 2 to 4 pieces and place in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; pour over the steak, turning it to coat well. Marinate overnight, covered, in the refrigerator, turning once or twice. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking.

2. Preheat the broiler. Remove the steak from the marinade, scrape off any bits and place on a baking sheet. Broil 4 inches from heat source for 3 minutes per side for medium-rare meat. Let rest 10 to 15 minutes. Slice the meat thinly. (For easy eating, the steak strips should be 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick.).

So, adjustments I'll have to make: I didn't find the recipe until this morning, so the steak won't marinate for as long as the recipe calls says. And I only have 1 1.17-lb steak, so I'll adjust accordingly. I also marinate in a gallon sized zip-top bag. Less to wash.

Now, on to dessert. I'm making brownies. From a box. I know, I know. My MIL would whip me for this. But wait until you see how I'm going to serve them. First, I'm going to add some cinnamon to the mix. I looked up Mexican Brownies on, you guessed it, Epicurious, and both recipes called for cinnamon...anywhere from 1/2 tsp to 1 T. So, I'll just add "some." Then I'm going to serve it with this:

Chipotle-Cherry Whipped Cream

• 1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup chopped cherry preserves
• 1/4 teaspoon canned chipotle adobo sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
• Purchased brownies

Preparation

In a large bowl, whisk heavy whipping cream with chopped cherry preserves, chipotle adobo sauce, vanilla extract, and almond extract until peaks form. Serve with brownies.

I may (nay, I WILL) serve dessert with Mexican coffee (decaf, of course or I'll be awake till Thursday). Of course, this means I have to whip 2 kinds of whipped cream. I think I'm up to it though. After all date night only happens once a week. We can eat leftovers and frozen pizzas for the rest of the week, right?

Mexican coffee

• 3/4 cup (4 jiggers) coffee-flavored liqueur
• 4 teaspoons firmly packed dark brown sugar, or to taste
• 3 cups freshly brewed strong coffee
• Lightly sweetened whipped cream to taste
• Cinnamon for garnish

Preparation

In each of four 8-ounce mugs, combine 3 tablespoons (1 jigger) of the liqueur and 1 teaspoon of the brown sugar, divide the coffee, heated if necessary, among the mugs, and stir the drinks until the sugar is dissolved. Top each drink with a dollop of the whipped cream and sprinkle the whipped cream with the cinnamon.

This concludes the menu for this week's Mexican Date Night. Tune in next week for what may be Turkey in December. We'll see.

I'm a little sad

I spent the weekend here with my whole family. We worshiped, we ate, we shopped, we cooked together and then ate some more. All 10 of us...Saxes included too.

The boys watched football together yesterday while we girls shopped. Josh laid on the floor to watch the games, and Allen, who has taken to napping on the floor, made himself comfortable on Uncle Josh.

I didn't take photos. Of anything. Okay, I took one of Allen as he was waking up from a floor nap at our SAD. And I took one of Allen under Sonny's table with him this morning.


Josh had the Experiences at the SAD...thus the extra family visiting. He did an outstanding job! Several teenage brothers found him at the end of the day to tell him how much they liked his part. I love that he's reaching the youth in our circuit.

So my family is in the air now and I miss them horribly. But I had an incredible weekend with them.

Dad did hang lots of artwork for me and Brian and Allegra gave us this amazing, HUGE picture frame for our fifth anniversary.


Mom and Allegra used that quote on my bridal shower invitations.

These are watercolors that we bought in Venice from the artist at his booth on the piazza.


This water color we bought in San Giminagno from the artist.


And this the Monet that soothes my soul. If I was having Italian things framed, why not do this too.

I know, I have two more days of cruise to post about. And tonight is date night. But those posts will have to wait for another day.

xoxo,
K

Istanbul

Now, maybe you'll recall that our Istanbul excursion was supposed to be over 2 days. Remember "Best of Istanbul without lunch over two days." It was supposed to be 4.5 hours. We couldn't figure out whether that was 4.5 hours total or 4.5 hours each day. Nobody on ship could answer our question either. As it turns out, Day 1 we met about 2:00 in one of the lounges to board our coach. We returned about 6:30...too late for dinner in the dining room. We were instructed to be on the bus again the next morning at 7:00. On the bus! That meant a 5:30 wake up and a 6:30 room departure! And we weren't to return until 3:00! Does that sound like 4.5 hours or even 9 hours!?! We weren't about to get up at 5:30 to see more of Turkey.

Can you tell that I'm still a little miffed about this? But there were good things about our stop in Istanbul. First, we experienced the best perk of being Captain's Club members. We were invited to a private cocktail party, on the ships heli-pad, as we sailed through the Bosporus. "What is the Bosporus?", you ask. (I don't really know exactly...ask Josh next time you see him.) Istanbul sits on 2 continents...Europe and Asia. The Bosporus is the channel of water that you sail through to get to Istanbul. So from our vantage point on the heli-pad, we could see Europe and Asia. While sipping champagne. Free champagne. How frikin' cool is that?

So would you like to see pics?

I thought so.




Beautiful man.


Beautiful man with li'l ol' me.


We could see the bridge from our viewing place on the helipad.



Beautiful man.







Beautiful mosaics,





Care to guess? You got it...the Blue Mosque. Wonder where they got that name?



Beautiful tile work in the ceiling.


Worshipers in the Blue Mosque.



This last pic is just because Josh was tickled by their crosswalk sign. See, the man is wearing suit and a hat.

Corinth

We saw just a few dogs on this trip. This was one of them. He seemed totally at ease with the tourists milling about. He was asleep just a moment before he posed for this picture.




Crazy hang-glider.





Spooky! Wonder who he was and what kind of life he lived.



There were many other body parts on display here. Think about the parts you notice are missing when you see statues in museums and such. Yeah, even "those" parts were on display.







So this was our day in Corinth.

More days to come. We haven't been to Turkey or Croatia yet, not to mention Venice.

Kristen out!

Sorry for the Interruption...

Today is Date Night. If you just been reading to see the pictures from our cruise, I apologize for this interruption.

I saw Rachel Ray make this one day last week and thought it sounded (to use her language) Yum-O.

Balsamic-Orange Glazed Chicken
Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts or any combination of light and dark meat
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 2 to 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves chopped
• 1/3 cup orange marmalade
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 scallions, whites and greens, finely chopped
• 4 cups baby arugula

Directions

In a large pan, heat the extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high to high heat.

Season the chicken liberally with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. When the oil is hot and ripples, add the chicken and brown for 5 minutes, then turn and sprinkle with rosemary. Cook until the chicken is tender and cooked through, about 5 minutes more.

In a small bowl, stir together the marmalade, vinegar and stock and pour over the chicken. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and becomes a thin glaze. Add the scallions during the last minute of cooking time. Arrange on a serving platter and serve topped with arugula greens.

On a different episode of 30 Minute Meals I saw her make these:

Italian Horns
Ingredients

• 1 brick cream cheese
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup jarred green olives with pimiento drained very well
• 1 clove garlic, grated or finely chopped
• 8 slices prosciutto di Parma
• 8 slices Genoa salami
• 8 slices copicolla (hot ham)
• 8 sesame bread sticks
• 8 celery sticks, ribs halved lengthwise, leafy tops intact

Directions

Combine cream cheese, ricotta, olives with pimiento and garlic in processor bowl and process until smooth.

To make each horn, place a piece of prosciutto on work surface and spread with a layer of cheese, top that layer with a slice each of Genoa and ham layered next to each other. Spread more cheese over the salami and ham and place a bread stick and a celery stick at 1 end of the meats with ends hanging off to the side. Wrap and roll the meat forming a fancy Italian horn. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

Arrange a platter with antipasti and garnish with a pile of Italian horns.

So, I will be serving the Italian Horns as our appetizer (with cocktails, of course) and the orange balsamic chicken thing for dinner. The chicken will be accompanied by couscous and sugar snap peas.

Dessert is entirely store bought. Either Rice Pudding or apple turnovers.

Now I will return you to your regularly scheduled cruise update.