This Week is Brought to You By...

...OPI No Spain No Gain. I love it when I can coordinate my nail polish with my life.

This polish is actually the most delicious wine shade and will be one of my go-to colors for fall.

IOTW: 8-Ball Squash

I saw these cute 8-Ball Squash at Whole Foods last weekend and couldn't resist. They were locally grown and really inexpensive. The 8-Ball Squash taste like zucchini , but are maybe a little sweeter. I sliced and sauteed them with oregano, thyme and parsley as a side for dinner this week. They would also be great stuffed with rice and other veggies.

A-MAZE-D

I made a quick trip to NYC on Monday to do a site visit for an upcoming event and had the opportunity to try Gordon Ramsay's Maze. The reviews on Yelp were mixed so I wasn't sure what to expect.

The portions were definitely small so my coworker and I decided to do the three course prix fixe option. Everything was delicious except for the sea salt ice cream - that was something I could live without. The service was wonderful albeit a little slow. Overall, a great meal.

Pan fried Tasmanian ocean trout with butternut squash gnocchi
with brown butter vinaigrette

Roasted chicken breast with spring morels
pickled ramps, new potatoes, fiddlehead ferns and thyme jus

Chocolate fondant
green cardamom caramel, sea salt and almond ice cream

Something New - Ingredient Of The Week (IOTW)

One of my recent goals is to make more time in my life to cook and explore new recipes. To help encourage my creativity in the kitchen, I am going to be featuring a new ingredient of the week (IOTW). Hopefully, this will help encourage others to try something new to spice up their kitchen routine.

The IOTW for this week is ..... Fromage Blanc!
I'm sure that you are probably wondering what is fromage blanc. Well, I was wondering the exact same thing when I found it in one of the recipes in my Williams Sonoma Essentials of Healthful Cooking book.

After a bit of research, I learned that fromage blanc is a soft, creamy cheese that has fewer calories and less cholesterol than cream cheese. Thus, the "healthy" part. I was able to find fromage blanc at Whole Foods in the cooler section next to the creme fraiche.

Fromage blanc is a really tasty substitute for sour cream and would be a yummy spread on crackers or on top of a baked potato. The recipe in the Williams Sonoma cookbook creates creates a delicious topping for red potatoes mixing fresh chives, basil and parsley with fromage blanc.

Cookbook Love

I have always loved cookbooks, but sometimes I feel overwhelmed trying to find one that I will actually use on a regular basis. This summer I got lucky and found two absolute must-haves - Williams Sonoma Farmers' Market and Essentials of Healthful Cooking.

I find that I often get carried away eating out or just not eating well and that I forget about things like vegetables. These cookbooks have lots of great veggie options and just plain delicious food.
What I love about the Farmers Market Cookbook is the dedicated page for each fruit or veggie, instructions for how to pick them and ingredient specific recipes. Wondering how to pick asparagus or what to do with the 12 zucchini you just picked from your garden? This cookbook is for you.

What I love about the Essentials of Healthful Cooking book is the variety of recipes, nutritional information and calories for each dish, and lots of tips and techniques.

Fourth of July + Cupcakes

I am a firm believer that nothing screams holiday like cupcakes! For July 4 I made Hershey's perfectly chocolate cakes with homemade butter-cream frosting. YUM!

Sunday Brunch

I decided to do something special for Easter and make eggs benedict from scratch. I have never attempted to poach eggs, let alone make my own hollandaise sauce. I looked at several difference recipes and decided to use a Tyler Florence version I found on Food Network. I used whole wheat English muffins from Whole Foods and smoked salmon instead of Canadian bacon.

This recipe was a total success. I managed to get everything ready at the same time and not ruin the sauce. It was great! Even Van, who typically doesn't like egg dishes, thought it was good.