Welcome to Foodie Friday's 2nd Anniversary.The door prize will be a KitchenAid mixer! To enter, just caption the picture (below): The winner will be revealed next Friday.
To add Foodie Friday's button to your blog or a Foodie Friday post, simply grab the button on the sidebar. This will help everyone navigate to all of the recipes and wonderful blogs who participate each week. If you are new to Foodie Friday and need more info, here's an in-depth TUTORIAL. If you're participating in this week's recipe exchange, please add your recipe and permalink:
Welcome to the February 18th Foodie Friday. Next week will be our second anniversary for this event and everyone is cordially invited. There will be a drawing for something fabulous! Also, if you haven't entered the copper cookware giveaway, there's still plenty of time. If you'd like a chance to win a copy of Gone With a Handsomer Man, there's a contest going on at Starpulse. Now for today's foodie offering... When I need a dessert but I'm in a rush, I'm fond of gilding store-bought cookies. What You Need:
Store bought cookies (or homemade, of course!)
Microwave dipping chocolate
peanut butter chips
squeeze bottle (a clean mustard bottle will work--or a fork, if you have a steady hand).
waxed paper
Melt the chocolate according to directions on the container. Melt the peanut butter chips in the microwave (I add a bit of milk after microwaving until the mixture reaches a "spreadable" consistency.
Dip each cookie, just the edge. Alternate chocolate and peanut butter. Place remaining chocolate into a squeeze bottle. Set on waxed paper and drizzle.
Once again, I will be Tweeting about about random blogs this week and I hope you will, too. Thanks to everyone who Tweeted last week. To add Foodie Friday's button to your blog or a Foodie Friday post, simply grab the button on the sidebar. This will help everyone navigate to all of the recipes and wonderful blogs who participate each week. If you are new to Foodie Friday and need more info, here's an in-depth TUTORIAL. If you're participating in this week's recipe exchange, please add your recipe and permalink:
It's almost Valentine's Day, and I've been thinking about how matters of the heart and mind are bound together--much like combining flour and oil to make a roux.
My mother says that a kitchen is much more than appliances and counter space--it's a laboratory for life. Food is one of man's basic needs. A cook is a philosopher and a scientist--with a nurturing soul. Mother says when we assemble ingredients, be sure to add a positive attitude (and kick your internal critic to the curb). What lessons have you learned in the kitchen? How do you cope when the cookie crumbles? Will you please leave a note and share your favorite life's lessons?
Here are a few things I've learned: 14Steps to Happier Cooking
If you have a Twitter account, I thought it would be fun to give a shout-out to two or more bloggers who've posted Foodie Friday recipes this week (post the permalink to their blog). To add Foodie Friday's logo to a post, simply grab the button on the sidebar. This will help everyone navigate to all of the recipes and wonderful blogs who participate each week. If you are new to Foodie Friday and need more info, here's an in-depth TUTORIAL. If you're participating in this week's recipe exchange, please add your recipe and permalink:
Valentine's Day summons visions of truffles, roses, layer cakes, and steak dinners for two. There are a few ways to celebrate the day with your beloved:
Dine out
Cook a romantic meal (from scratch)
Choose the Simple Way Store-bought cupcakes can be dressed up with Bella Cupcake Couture wrappers and sweetheart roses (I found boxed cupcakes and sweethearts roses at Publix).
Chocolate-dipped strawberries aren't complicated to make, but you do need spare time. If you're in a rush, many groceries sell them.
I love gilding cupcakes. For the entree, I pan-grilled steak, sliced it, and arranged it over romaine. Then I added toasted walnuts, green onions, and tomatoes .
Grilled Steak Salad
Grease a heavy grill pan (or spray with Pam). While the pan heats, season the steaks with olive oil, sea salt, pepper, and chopped herbs. Sear steaks on both sides, flipping them in the opposite direction to create those lovely "grill" marks.
Let the meat rest, then slice. Toast walnuts in a pan. Chop green onions and tomatoes and toss into the salad. Add walnuts (chop). Serve with your favorite dressing and French bread.
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I made a heart topiary for the centerpiece (a wire heart with moss plus silk ivy --that's right, silk--from Kmart). I made an epic mess, but everyone loved it. And I can't kill the ivy.
Last week, I Tweeted about several Foodie Friday recipes w/ links to individual blogs and plan to do this again this week. As always, you are invited to add your FF recipes with a link to your blog at The Foodie Friday Gallery .
If you missed Teeny Templeton's 2nd guest post, she made a Valentine's Day video with quick dessert ideas and tablescapes; she also announced the winner of the Williams-Sonoma gift card, along with other contests.
I'm Teeny Templeton, your intrepid guest blogger at Designs by Gollum. I've put together a little Valentine's Day idea video where the winner of the Williams-Sonoma gift card will be revealed. I loved making it and hope you enjoy it too!
For more Valentine's Day ideas, a Free 51-page Ebook is available at Lulu.com. Love, Teeny Templeton
To add Foodie Friday's logo to a post. Click on the (above) photo, copy, and upload the picture to your post via Blogger's "add a photo" button, then add the host blog's address, http://www.designsbygollum.blogspot.com, to your post. This will help everyone navigate to all of the recipes and wonderful blogs who participate each week. If you are new to Foodie Friday and need more info, here's an in-depth TUTORIAL. If you're participating in this week's recipe exchange, please add your recipe and permalink:
