Basket full of goodies!

Baking, baking, baking is all I've been doing for the past 24 hours! (and hand-dipping goodies in chocolate too).  Tomorrow night at 6 pm is the Grande Finale of Man/Woman of the Year for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  I was asked by a friend that is involved with the event to make a basket of desserts and yummy goodies to be part of the raffle for the night.  She thought that given the intent of my blog and my goals (to help raise money for leukemia research), it would be a great opportunity for me to give back to a cause that is so dear to my heart as well as get the world about my blog, and hopefully new charity - in the future, out there to a greater public group.  This is the final product!  I think that it came out beautifully.  Its hard to see everything that is inside due to the glare on the wrapping, but here is a list of everything! 

Six hand-dipped chocolate covered Oreos

Ten hand-dipped chocolate covered graham crackers

Tin full of hand-dipped chocolate covered pretzels

Box full of brownies

Box full of chocolate chip cookies

Two bags of chocolate cookies with Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips

Bag and tin full of Reese’s Peanut Butter Blossoms – peanut butter cookies with Reese’s baked on top

Bag of “funfetti cookies” – sugar cookies with sprinkles

Four individually wrapped chocolate chip cookies filled with Oreo inside

Bag of white chocolate filled peanut butter blossoms

Bag of assorted cookies

Should anyone want to purchase a basket like this, please contact me.  All proceeds will be donated to leukemia research! 

  

David Loves Dessert!

Last night I arrived home at nearly 9 o'clock after working all day taking photos at Smithtown Hunt Horse Show.  Although I was not very hungry, the rest of my family has waiting to have dinner with me when I got home.  We were out the door and headed to dinner basically the second that I got home.  We went to our neighborhood italian restaurant, Due.  I have basically grown up going there since before I could walk or talk and since David has gotten sick, it has become even more of a frequent venue for family dinners and outings.  David ordered penne with pesto sauce, one of his favorite pasta sauces at Due.  Despite not being hungry enough to finish his pasta, he ordered dessert...tiramisu!  It is one of their best desserts and is homemade in the restaurant.  Here is a photo so you can see how delicious it looks!

I think that I am going to try to recreate this delicious dessert of lady finger cookies, whipped cream, coffee, chocolate sauce, and cocoa.  We'll see if David thinks it tastes as good!

A Home Cooked Meal - Summer Style: Grilled Shrimp Skewers over Salad

Yesterday was my mom's birthday and we had a very heavy dinner at Babbo (which was incredible and totally worth eating every last bite of).  I figured that as a late birthday gift, I would make dinner for the family rather than let her cook for us.  Because we ate so much last night, including 3 different pasta dishes, prosciutto, grilled bread with olive oil and chickpeas - all followed by our individual main courses, I wanted to make sure that dinner tonight was on the lighter side.  In order to suit this desire, I decided to make shrimp skewers and salad.  I think the dish turned out to be delicious.  Everyone seemed to enjoy!

Here's the recipe for the shrimp skewers:

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons bottled hot sauce (this does not make them very spicy at all...if you want a kick, I recommend adding some chili flakes)
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 30 raw shrimp, peeled and deveined 

Directions:

1. If you are using wooden skewers, make sure to soak them for at least 20 - 30 minutes so that they do not burn.  Place them in a shallow container and make sure they are completely covered in water.  Let them sit until you are ready to cook the shrimp.
2. Whisk together all components of the marinade.
3. Pat dry the shrimp with a paper towel.
4. Pour the marinade into a ziplock bag and place all of the shrimp in the bag as well.  Massage the bag making sure that each shrimp is covered with marinade.  Place the bag in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes. 
5. Take the shrimp out of the fridge and begin threading them onto the skewers that have been soaking for a while now.  
6. Place the skewers onto an already pre-heated grill and cook for 1.5 - 2 minutes on each side.   

And the salad dressing:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup canola oil

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients into a blender except the oils and mix until everything is combined.
2.  With the blender on, slowly add in each of the oils.  Blend until well mixed. 

Here is the finished product!

And we can't forget David's favorite part of any meal...the dessert!  The perfect dessert after such a light and delicious meal is some fruit and a good old fashioned Tate's Chocolate Chip Cookie!