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Some of you may remember my dinner party from last year.  Actually, I’m pretty sure we only had like two readers this time last year and they consisted of my mom and my other sister!  So, I figured I would post this again in case you missed it and need a great idea for Valentine’s Day. 

If you’re cooking for two or six, this is an easy dinner that tastes amazing.  Actually, even if you’re alone this year and hate Valentine’s Day you should make this dinner for yourself to celebrate how awesome you are.  It’s a meal enveloped in chocolate…need I say more??

You can find links to all of these recipes by clicking here.

We started the meal with these two lovely appetizers.  Spanish chorizo over a dark chocolate spread.

Chocolate covered grapes!

Next we moved on to a crisp salad with a chocolate vinaigrette dressing.

Now for the entree.  Short ribs, mashed potatoes, and roasted asparagus.  Everything cooked with chocolate… well, except for the veggie.  I just couldn’t find a way to work that in!

And it wouldn’t be dinner without dessert!  Molten chocolate cakes…oh my!

Make the dinner romantic by filling small vases with roses and pulling out the fancy plates.  Make sure to have plenty of wine on hand because this dinner is a cause for celebration. 

I wish you all a wonderful Valentine’s Day.  I hope it’s filled with special moments and lots of chocolate!!!

Do you have the duel voices in your head?  One voice is screaming for comfort food.  “It’s January, it’s cold, and damnnit, I need me some warm deliciousness in a bowl.”  But then there’s the other guy.  The healthy one.  He’s all, “um, didn’t we say we were going to try to eat better this year?  Summer will be here before you know it.”  Oh, the torture!!

I’ve been trying to eat soups because they take the chill off my bones and have a healthy edge (if you stay away from the cream-based soups, that is), but I can’t eat soup for every meal.  So I’ve combined my love of comfort foods with a pretty healthy recipe from Cooking Light.  Granted the mashed potatoes are probably not the healthiest, but I used fat free milk and low fat cream cheese in them, so they can’t be all that bad, right?

The house smelled amazing when I walked in after work.  I love using my crock pot and definitely have to do that more often.  Craig and I were eating dinner at 6:30!  I don’t think we’ve ever eaten that early on a work night.  Of course I busted my calorie count by having a dark lager beer with my meal, but it was so tasty with the beef.  This really is a perfect winter meal.

Beer-Braised Beef
Cooking Light

1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound boneless top round steak
1 (14.5-ounce) can Italian-style diced tomatoes (with basil, garlic, and oregano), un-drained
1/2 cup beer
2 tablespoons molasses
1/4 teaspoon salt
salt & pepper (seasoning steak)

Place onion in an electric crock pot coated with cooking spray.

Season steak with salt and pepper.  Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add steak and cook for 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Place steak over onion in crock pot.  Pour tomatoes and beer over steak. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until steak is very tender.

Shred steak with a fork in crock pot.  Stir in molasses and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Serve over mashed potatoes or rice.

I crave soup year-round, but especially in the winter months.  I have been on such a soup kick lately.  It is easy to make, full of flavor, and freezes so well.

I’ve been trying to cook ahead and freeze meals for school.  My schedule is so hectic right now and I don’t want to succumb to fast food or boring sandwiches to get me through the day (well, unless they’re peanut butter and jelly sandwiches).  Soup has been my answer.  I bought a bunch of single-serve plastic containers and have filled them with soup each week.  Now my fridge and freezer are filled with meals I crave.

Tomato soup is such a classic.  Is there anything more satisfying than tomato soup and a grilled cheese?  I think not!!

Tomato Soup
Adapted from Cooking Light

1 teaspoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 fennel bulb, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups vegetable broth
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 thyme sprig
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Heat oil in a large, heavy-bottom pot over medium-high heat.  Add onion and saute about three minutes.  Add fennel and saute another three minutes.  Add garlic and saute until vegetables are tender.

Add broth, tomatoes, and thyme to the pot, and bring to a boil.  Partially cover the pot, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 35 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.  Discard thyme sprig.  If using an immersion blender, blend until almost smooth.  If using a blender, add half of the soup to the blender and remove circle cap from the lid.  Place a paper towel over the open hole and blend until almost smooth.  Pour into a large bowl and repeat with second half of soup.  Stir in salt and pepper.  Yields 6.

Sorry for the super long hiatus!  I think I was enjoying my Christmas break a little too much.  But don’t worry.  I’m back now and have lots of great recipes and party-planning ideas in the works.  Today I’m bringing you a beautiful bread I made last month.  Hopefully you’re not sick of cranberries yet because this bread is incredibly fragrant and delicious.

I buy those boxes of clementines at the grocery store a lot.  I love those little oranges, but with just me and Craig in the house we never finish the box before they go bad.  In my search for ways to use them up I came across this recipe.  I loved the idea of using the entire clementine in the bread. I did reduce the amount of sugar from the original recipe because I felt like the fruit would be sweet enough.

When you’re stuck in the house on these blustery winter days, baking up a batch of this bread will definitely warm your soul.  I made two batches in December and they were gobbled up quick by family and co-workers.  Craig and I didn’t have any problem finishing them off either!

Cranberry Clementine Bread
Adapted from One Particular Kitchen

5 clementines
1 cup dried cranberries
2 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons fine-grain sea salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
dash of allspice
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs

Put clementines in a pot and cover them with cool water.  Bring pot to a boil and simmer for two hours, then drain and cool. Halve the clementines and puree them in a food processor until they are smooth.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×5 loaf pan.

Toss cranberries with 1 tablespoon of flour and set aside.  In a large bowl, mix remaining flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.

In a standing mixer, beat butter and sugar together until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing in between additions.  Now alternate adding the flour mixture and the pureed clementines, starting and ending with the flour.  Stir in cranberries.

Pour batter into the greased loaf pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the top is golden, about 60-70 minutes.  Allow bread to cool inside pan for about 15 minutes and then cool on a rack.

Recipe can also be made in a bundt pan.  Bake time is reduced to 45-50 minutes.

If you haven’t been following along, I’ve been showing a relatively easy holiday meal that anyone can serve this Christmas.  We started out with a colorful salad and a homemade champagne vinaigrette and then I followed that up with our main course, cranberry chicken.  Now, I give you dessert!  I tried to keep it simple…crumbs or crisps are pretty easy to make and do not require any pastry skills. 

Probably the hardest part of this dish is slicing up all of the apples.  But after you get through the first three you will be a pro and then the next few go by a lot quicker.  I calculated that I was able to prep the ingredients and get the crisp together in under an hour, and I was working at a leisurely pace.  You can make this dish any time during the day, but getting it finished in the morning hours is probably your best bet.  Just pop it back in a 300 degree oven for about 15 minutes before serving.  Plus, if you make it in the morning, your house will smell like apples and cinnamon the rest of the day! 

Speaking of apples, you can use any cooking apple in this crisp.  Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Macintosh, etc will be fine.  I used Granny Smith because the Golden’s in my grocery store looked horrible.  Just look for a nice ripe apple without any bruising.  The skin should be smooth and firm.

This cranberry apple crisp will be a crowd-pleaser.  It is sweet and tart.  Oh, and would taste really good with a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream over top.  A perfect end to bright and happy meal. 

Cranberry Apple Oat Crisp
Rustic Fruit Desserts

Topping
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Fruit Filling
8 large cooking apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
8-12 oz fresh or frozen cranberries (one bag)
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 and butter a 3-quart baking dish.

In a medium bowl, add the oats, flour, brown sugar, and salt.  Stir to combine.  Pour in melted butter and using your hands press the topping together to form small clumps.  Place bowl in the fridge while you make the fruit filling.

In a large bowl, add the apples, cranberries, sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon.  Toss until well mixed.  Pour the fruit filling into the base of the baking dish and spread it evenly.

Press the oat topping evenly over the fruit.  Place the baking dish on a sheet pan (in case the filling bubbles over the edges) and bake for 60-70 minutes.  The topping should be a golden brown and the fruit filling should be bubbling up in the corners.

Allow to cool for 20 minutes before serving.  The crisp is best eaten the day it is made, but can be kept covered at room temperature for 2-3 days.