Customer Appreciation Event......W-S

I am in love with all things Williams - Sonoma. You can read about my Staub grill pan (here)  that I can not live with out. I'm also a fan of their foodie items. My most recent love is the lime chili rub. I sampled chicken breast with this rub at the store a few weeks ago and absolutely fell in love. I purchased the last container in the store that day. I put it on EVERYTHING! Most recently, it made it's way on corn on the cob. I simply sprayed my corn with olive oil and sprinkled the rub on it. Wrapped in foil, it cooked in the oven for about 15 minutes at 400 degrees. It was so good with dinner, but guess what? It was even BETTER the next day.

Photo Credit: Williams-Sonoma

I received an invite via email to a Customer Appreciation Day at the store. They are having them all over the country. Be sure to check out the date and time of yours by clicking on the image below. They will have tastings, demonstrations, and so much more. If you are in the Indy area, you can check out the one at The Fashion Mall at Keystone at the Crossing.

You may also want to check out some of the other events they have. They are always offering some sort of fun and informative class. You can usually get a discount on items you purchase the day of the event. 

Tilapia with Red Chili Lime seasoning

Photo Credit: myrecipes.com

 One of our absolute favorite fish items is tilapia. We eat it quite a bit - usually at least once every two weeks.
On Sunday, I made some before going out college dorm shopping with my nephew. This was by far the best I've made yet. I usually season it with some sort of Lime-Pepper or Red Chili - Lime dry seasoning after spraying it with a bit of olive oil and a bit of coarse sea salt and pepper. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. I use the frozen ones from Marsh or Meijer (they seem to be meatier). I just rinse them off - do not thaw. I am sure you see by now that I am not following a recipe - just going with the flow. I seem to do that a lot with my cooking. Some how it usually always turns out pretty good. In the summer, I love serving this with freshly sliced tomatoes and grilled corn on the cob.
 The seasonings I use are from a local spice/olive oil shop - Artisano's and a chain store - Tuesday Mornings. I am sure you can find one  if you look in your area.

 I'll try to remember to take a photo the next time I make this.

 Do you follow recipes when you cook or do you season as you go?

Suzy Homemaker - That's me......

Photo Credit on all photos: Anthropologie

I have been on a huge cooking kick lately. Actually, I have always liked to cook. I'm just cooking more healthy and different items lately. Some are hits and some are misses. Thankfully more have been hits. So, now I am thinking I need a new  an apron. Not your Mamas  apron. An Anthropologie apron. Have you seen these? They have the cutest ones I have ever seen. My fave is above, but these are awfully chic as well.

Here is my little treat to myself. I collect mugs. I have been obsessed with my Crate and Barrel "coffee" mugs.  This little one at Anthropologie caught my eye when I saw it on several bloggers websites. So, of course, I had to get the "E".

Indoor Gardening - Lemon Balm

Lemon Balm in my kitchen

About a month ago, I was in one of our local grocery stores and noticed the herbs. In particular, a very pretty one called Lemon Balm. Ihave never seen or even heard of Lemon balm before. That didn't stop me from buying it - it was just too pretty and smelled oh so wonderful. The fragrance is much more powerful if you "tickle" the leaves a bit. Trust me, I did a lot of tickling when I first brought it home. I love the lemon aroma in just about everything. In fact, I may be just a bit obsessed with it right now. I cook with lemon alot. Lemon juice and zest are pretty much standard recipe additions in my kitchen. So, now I have added a new lemon - Lemon Balm. What to do with it? After some research, I've found it can be used in tea as a great tension reliever. Who knew? I'm thinking I may need a Lemon balm plant at work - LOL. It's also great for potpourri. You can use it in both savory and sweet dishes. From fish and chicken dishes to cookies and muffins. It's also pretty easy to grow. You do have to water it daily or the leaves will go limp. The great thing is that if it goes limps, it revives pretty quickly once you water it. It grows pretty bunchy.
Be sure to check with your physician before using as it does interact with some prescription drugs.
Here is a recipe for Lemon Balm tea from Suite101.com :

Lemon Balm Tea

You can make lemon balm tea from the dried herb by steeping 1 teaspoon of lemon balm per 1 cup of boiling water. Allow the lemon balm tea to steep covered to prevent the medicinal components from being carried away with the steam. After 10 minutes, strain the lemon balm from the herbal tea and enjoy. You can also make lemon balm tea from the fresh herb by steeping 1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon balm per 1 cup of boiling water. There is no benefit to using dried herb over fresh herb, but lemon balm is usually stored in the dried form for preservation.

Enjoy!

Girls Dinner Club - Italian Theme photos

Bruschetta

Apple Thyme Martini

Caprese Salad on skewers

Chicken in Lemon cream with Penne

Shrimp in Linguine with Lemon Oil

Antipasto

Tiramisu

We had our very first Girls Dinner Club (for the lack of a better name) this past Saturday.  as you know from reading the blog, the them was Italian.  The majority of the recipes came from Giada de Laurentis' books. LOVE HER!!!

Each and every dish was wonderful and  almost each lady said they were easy to make and most would try them again.  According to the cook, the tiramisu recipe could have been explained a bit better. In fact, she ended up purchasing the tiramisu from a local bakery.

The Apple Thyme martinis were DELISH. We also had plenty of wine.

We had a wonderful time chatting about different recipes, our favorite shows on The Food Network and Cooking TV.  I would say the dinner was a success as we finally ended the party at 11PM.