Fathers Day French Toast

So, with Father's Day coming up on Sunday, I though I would post a breakfast recipe since breakfast in bed is a Father's Day must.

Just because the kids are in the kitchen doesn't mean Dad should have to choke down scrambled eggs with shells mashed into them. This French Toast recipe is easy enough for the kids, and fancy enough for a special occasion.

Recipe:

2 eggs
2 oranges (zest and juice)
1 Tbs orange marmalade (optional)
1/2 cup whole milk
1 Tbs cinnamon
1 Tbs butter
5 Slices of bread (or less if you've got thick bread)

Mix the eggs, orange juice, orange zest, marmalade, milk and cinnamon together in a shallow bowl. Heat a frying pan to medium high heat and melt the butter. Soak the bread in the egg mixture on both sides until completely saturated. Then fry on 1 side for 2 minutes or until it begins to brown. Repeat on the other side until the bread is spongy. Transfer to a plate and serve with maple syrup or powdered sugar.

Mushroom Ravioli

Today I thought I would get fancy and make some mushroom ravioli.... drum roll please... from scratch!

That's right, I made the whole thing start to finish and surprisingly, it wasn't THAT hard. Although I have to admit that the process was certainly time consuming, it was well worth the delicious flavor and even more satisfying 5 euro grocery bill.

The way to the heart is through the stomach.

I've got the recipe for the pasta, filling, and a simple red sauce below, but it would work with a cream sauce as well as just being fried in butter and served with some cheese as an appetizer.

Bon Appetite!

Pasta:

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
3 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp oil

Mix all ingredients together until it forms a grainy dough. Then kneed for 5-15 min until the dough is soft and elastic. Set aside while you make the filling.


Filling:

1 1/2 cups button mushrooms (chopped)
2 cups spinach
1/2 tbs butter
1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 egg
Salt & Pepper to taste

Melt butter in a frying pan. Add mushrooms and cook on medium heat until just softened. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Wait until the mixture cools and pour into a food processor or blender. Add both cheeses, egg, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.


Process:

Divide pasta dough into four parts. Roll one part out on floured work surface. Place small, evenly spaced spoonfuls of filling on one side of the dough. Fold the dough over and using a ravioli stamp, cookie cutter or knife, cut out small raviolis. Repeat with remaining dough

Drop the ravioli into boiling water for 2-5 minutes or until it floats to the top. Serve with red, white or wine sauce.

Red Sauce (optional):

2 cans (32 oz) crushed tomatoes
2 tbs fresh basil
2 cloves garlic
1 small onion, diced
salt & pepper to taste

Fry garlic and onions in oil in a medium saucepan on medium heat until tender. Add the crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper and basil. Simmer 5-15 minutes.

Best Dressed Bottles

A bottle of wine is the go to gift for parties, birthdays and casual get togethers. In Spain, wine is cheaper than water, so I decided to up the invite ante and use some dressy bottles as my invite for a co-ed bachelor/bachelorette party I was hosting. These cute covers can be used to dress up a gift bottle, or as party favors as well.

Wine tastes so much better from a cute bottle

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday, and since I've got a 12 hour work day my husband and I are planning to celebrate this Friday with a fabulous birthday BBQ. Behind every great party, is a great bar. Whether it's fully stocked or carefully selected cocktails are a must at my birthday bash! We are going to have beer, wine and one signature drink, which the birthday girl gets to decide. Check out my options after the jump!

Bite Size Caramel Apples

Let's face it, everything is more fun when it's miniature. Mini golf, mini burgers, even miniature poodles are cuter than their full sized cousins. I decide to take the mess out out of my favorite carnival snack, and make it a bite sized delight--- perfect for parties!

How do you like them apples?

See the recipe after the jump!

DIY Wine Bottles Repurposed

With the amount of wine we drink out here in Spain reaching an all time high in summer (see my recipe for Tinto de Verrano here) it seems a shame to throw all of the gorgeous bottles into recycling. Instead, I've got a few DIY projects that can put your old wine bottles to good (and pretty) use!

Wine bottle candle holders make for a pretty table arrangement

Summer Splash: Cinco De Mayo Fiesta

Hola mi amigos! I love Cinco De Mayo almost as much as I love Mexican food! Living in Arizona there are an abundance of Cinco De Mayo fiesta celebrations happening this weekend, as well as muchas restaurant specials for this holiday...burritos, margies, guac, it doesn't get any better then that! If you are not as lucky as to live in a place the embraces Cinco De Mayo as much as Arizona, what about putting on your own mexican inspired fiesta?

Margaritas anyone?

Think outside the... cup

I love using wedding photos as inspiration for my next DIY project. My good friend Marie was recently married in South Africa and although Rhys and I couldn't go, we poured over the lovely pictures afterward and I was inspired to think outside the tea cup...

The beautiful bride and groom!

Friendly Competition

This week we had the first night of a four night dinner party/competition that my husband and I have organized with our friends. The premise follows the outline of a popular British TV program, "Come Dine With Me".

Basically, each person gets one night to throw the perfect dinner party, serving an appetizer, main dish, and dessert. The other three guests give the host a score out of 10 for the evening and in the end, the host with the highest combined score wins. In our case, the guests recorded their scores on a video camera (for added comedy) that we set up in another room. After the final dining night we will find out our scores and the winner gets a free meal at the restaurant of their choice. I love this idea for getting friends together, and you can play it any way you want... on my night I decided to focus on delivering awesome food, while our friend James has asked us all to dress up for the theme "Classic Rock".
In a stroke of bad luck, I was chosen to go first and I played hostess at a "Strawberry Summer" themed dinner party. See some snaps and get my recipes after the jump!

Boozey Touches

Nothing says theme party like the perfectly named cocktail. An ordinary cosmo can become a "pink lady" at a 50's themed Grease night or a classic campaign cocktail can become a "shooting star" at an Oscar party . I personally love a creatively named cocktail, so I was thrilled when I saw a simple and cheap way to name your drink and via uber cute DIY cocktail stirrers.