On Saturday night I taught a cooking class and served dinner at a wedding shower for Leah, the beautiful bride-to-be.  This is the darling and super creative invite that Jenny, Leah’s sister-in-law, sent out… attached to a real cutting board with a real whisk at the top ~ too cute! (and it was even cuter before I marked out the personal info…)

The guacamole I served reminds me of one of my favorite restaurants in Phoenix, Barrio Cafe, where Chef Silvana Salcido Esparaza’s guacamole is made table-side and is the first place I ever saw pomegranate arils added. Remember, they aren’t called pomegranate seeds. The correct name is arils. If you don’t remember, you can go back to THIS, my 100th post, where I tell you all about it (and even how to freeze the arils). Today marks my 834th post. We’ve come a long way baby!

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I was in Florida last week visiting our friends, Kathy and Chris Froggatt. We went out a couple nights and had the most fabulous fish at two of their favorite restaurants. Plus we cooked at home with lobster one night.  More on that in the days to come; what I want to share with you today is a delicious pomegranate martini recipe that Chris made for us… and happily, more than once.

Thank you Chris and Kathy, you are perfect hosts and I had a wonderful time, in spite of the humidity.   xoxo

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Turkey-Day is only 2 days away!!! Complete Thanksgiving Planning Guide and Timeline. Better get there now!

I’ve known this fact for about a year now, bloggers are very nice and supportive people! Look at this sweet post from fellow blogger and often, nice comment sender, Audrey Larsen, of The Audrey Files. She is my new BFF – so sorry Jen and Peggy and Anne!

Wanna know something that makes my day (in addition to having a new BFF)? Finding a cool new item at Trader Joe’s, that’s what! While standing in the dried fruit/nut aisle I was scanning for dried cranberries. Not that I really need another bag, I’m guessing that I have at least a half dozen partial bags of dried cranberries tucked behind various other partial bags of nuts and fruits and chocolates in one of my two extra freezers, but I am to busy/lazy to dig for one. That is really a whole other story and could be a post on its own! Anyhow, as I stood there scanning, I saw it, the new item – dried pomegranate seeds.

Awesome! I was so excited to try them, I had to control the urge to open the package right there and then. The very second I was in the car, I ripped into it. They are tasty, and according to the package they are a “good source of fiber” too. There you go, run out and snag a couple bags so that it becomes such a popular item, there is no way TJ’s would even consider discontinuing them. Even though I am enjoying eating them straight from the bag, I decided to create a Thanksgiving recipe using them and share it with you… hey, it’s just how I roll.

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Turkey-Day is only 7 days away!!! Complete Thanksgiving Planning Guide and Timeline.

Shhh, don’t tell my family, but I am going to make different rolls this Thanksgiving. This is a big deal!  There will be whining, complaining, moaning, crying, and even a possible revolt, but I’m still going to do it! Our traditional roll is the absolutely delicious and addictive James Beard Potato Bread Rolls that I made each year. The thing is, I also make these rolls only a short 4 weeks later for Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas day dinner, and use the same dough for my killer Cinnamon-Pecan Rolls on Christmas morning. So… these people, who I have to feed every single day, (sometimes up to 3 times a day!) can try something different on Thanksgiving this year! That something different will be cloverleaf rolls.

Cloverleaf rolls sometimes have tiny crosses marked on each of the three sections, referencing the Holy Trinity, which in Ireland is often compared to the clover. I’ll save that little embellishment for Easter. You may also dip the balls in melted butter after forming and before placing in the muffin cups, that makes for one very rich roll!  Another option is to brush the tops of the rolls (after rising in the muffin tins) with and egg wash or melted butter and then sprinkle the tops of the rolls with sesame, poppy, or mixed seeds. Do so if you wish.

The composed butter that accompanies the rolls calls for pomegranate molasses, which I’ve posted about before and you can get the recipe for by CLICKING HERE. You can make a full 1 cup recipe or reduce it by two-thirds, which will produce exactly 1/3 cup, as called for.  And finally, I’ve added a pumpkin variation for this recipe, just in case, you too, want to mix things up next week. That and the measurements for a scaled down amount of pomegranate molasses are found at the bottom of this post.

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The lovely people at Pom Wonderful sent me a case of 8-ounce bottles of their wonderful Pom Wonderful juice and I want to share them with you.  The first 3 people to comment and leave a recipe using pomegranate juice will receive 2 of those 8-ounce bottles. Mind you, it will not count if you use a recipe already posted here by me! If you use an already published recipe from a cookbook, website, or magazine – that is fine, just be sure to credit where ever you are using it from.  To get you going… here is a little recipe from me to you.

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It’s hard to beat a great homemade soup on a cold winter’s day. I love soup anytime of year, but particularly in the winter and this hearty winter soup is guaranteed to warm you inside and out. If you made turkey stock with the Thanksgiving bird, all the better, but store-bought broth will work here too. Pair it with warm crusty bread and your day will end on a high note. (In the picture, you may notice the soup is missing the grated swiss cheese on top. Don’t tell my family, but I forgot to add it… they will be sad when they find out, but it honestly was delicious anyhow!)

In addition to the kitchen ornament picture at the end of the post, here is a picture of a fresh pomegranate centerpiece I created for the season. To make; stack pomegranates and use a glue gun to hold them in place.  Put the “pomegranate pyramid” on the a pretty tray or plate and fill in spaces with fresh bay leaves, pine boughs, eucalyptus cuttings, holly, etc. Poke cinnamon sticks in to finish. This arrangement is beautiful fresh and will dry wonderfully too.
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Before we get to the second poached pear recipe – a momentous occasion – for me, at least.  This is my 100th post, never imagined I’d get here when I began my blog back in August! Oh Happy Day!  OK, enough self congratulatory for now and on to the work at hand… savory poached pears…

Pears were poached in a sweet liquid and used for dessert in yesterday’s post.  Today, these wine poached pears with be used in a savory salad. The flesh takes on a gorgeous deep red color.

Walnut oil is used for the vinaigrette, but olive oil can be substituted. Nut oils should always be stored in the refrigerator. Just like the nuts they come from, the oils goes rancid quickly at room temperature.

The “seeds” of a fresh pomegranate are called arils and they should be showing up in markets since it is pomegranate season, take advantage and purchase them now, the season is short. The good news – arils can be frozen. To freeze, spread arils in a single layer on a wax paper lined baking sheet. Place in freezer for about two hours. Transfer frozen arils to a labeled and dated zip-lock bag. You can easily remove the amount you need when desired and return the rest quickly to the freezer.  They will keep for about 6 months.

This salad is beautiful for any of the upcoming holidays and the poaching liquid can be saved for an upcoming Thanksgiving recipe for Pearl Onions and Wild Mushrooms in Red Wine Sauce, which will be posted later this week.*
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In a comment on the “Pomegranate – Another Super Food” post, Marissa requested a guacamole recipe that includes pomegranate seeds.  This amazingly delicious recipe comes from Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza, chef/owner of Bario Cafe in Phoenix, Arizona. It is simple and straight forward and oh so addictive!  Over the years, I’ve made one tiny change – and that is changing the serving size.  The original recipe was half the amount that I have here to serve four.  Believe me, it was never enough, so I have doubled the ingredients and now it really will serve four and they will be a very happy four people!  One of the best tips ever – to slice or dice an avocado, cut in half as usual and remove the pit.  Place one half of the avocado in the palm of your hand and, using a table knife, slice or dice the flesh while still in the shell/peel. Repeat with remaining half and then, using a spoon, scoop out the avocado out and into a bowl or onto a plate.  No need to peel, easy, and no mess!  Another bonus, if you have a large quantity of avocados to slice for use later in the day, slice or dice as directed, then replace the pit and put the avocado back together like puzzle pieces and wrap tightly in plastic wrap, set aside, then just scoop out when ready.  This keeps the avocado from turning brown and prevents you from having to prep it all at the last minute.
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It’s Saturday and Dave and I are at NAU in Flagstaff with our freshman, Connor, enjoying “Parents’ Weekend”.  Have a couple friends over and enjoy your Saturday with this tasty treat!

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Ah, the joy of seedless watermelons!  It may be fun to eat a slice of watermelon outside in the summer sun and spit out the seeds, even having contests to see whose seeds will “go the distance”… but cooking with watermelons with all those mature black seeds, no fun at all!  Seedless watermelons were developed some 40 to 50 years ago, but it’s only been in the last decade or so that they have become a staple in the grocery stores.  Seedless watermelons still have the white seed coats where the seed did not mature and are fine to swallow while eating.  For a more in-depth description and scientific look at seedless watermelons and to answer the question everyone asks, “how do they grow seedless watermelons without a seed?” go to this link – very interesting and informative.  While you’re reading and learning, enjoy this refreshing melon salad for lunch (or dinner). The “lunch and learn” in the title is a happy memory of when I was a room-mom in my kids’ grade school days and parents would come in at lunch time and read to the kids in small groups while we all ate out sack lunches… good times!

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