Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Happy Fall! Trader Joe's Bliss Offerings




Fall isn't my favorite season. I'm a Spring chick.  Love me some Spring!  But, Trader Joe's is easing my transition into Fall with two new offerings, one of which I was recently wishing could be found in their frozen vegetable section: Roasted Corn! 

I usually dislike corn that is not fresh.  Last week I was adding corn to a salad and wishing I had had time to roast it first.  It would have been so much better.  Well, this is a phenomenal substitute for fresh grilled corn.  It has the smoky flavor, and the just perfectly cooked (i.e., not overcooked, mushy, or soggy) kernels.



And, then this vegetarian delight:  Spinach & Kale Balls.  They taste shockingly like my homemade spinach gnocchi.  They are light and delicious. 




Throw that all together with some lettuce, yellow tomato, avocado, fresh lemon, herbs and salt and you have a "Welcome to Fall, Bridget" Salad.



Yum.

Buon Fall Appetito!

Tuesday, September 02, 2014

60's Labor Day!



The theme was 60's and I knew I had to use the peaches that were at their absolute peak of ripeness.  I thought grilling them and serving with ice cream would be most amazing for a Labor Day barbeque.   But what's 60's about that?  Maybe add Cool Whip?  Not groovy enough.

The peaches were actually in this vintage large glass perfect-for-trifle vessel that I had recently purchased.   So, a trifle it was.  I merged a couple recipes I found and did this!

Trifle-a-Go-Go

Ingredients

6 peaches sliced
1.5 pints raspberries
1.5 pints strawberries sliced
2 packages of instant vanilla bean pudding
2 tubs of Cool Whip
Sponge Cake and/or Angel Food Cake (I used both but one or the other is great)
Raspberry Jam
Frangelico

Optional (and not photographed here)
Grilled half peaches
Grated chocolate


Prepare the pudding.  I added Frangelico (several tablespoons for me, but to taste for you) to cut the sweetness and add another layer of flavor. 

Set aside some of the most beautiful specimens of fruit to decorate the top of the trifle.

Spread sponge cake with a layer of raspberry jam (not necessary but one of the guests at the party had made homemade raspberry jam so I thought it would be great to add).  Lay it down as first layer.  Add layer of fruits, being careful to lay some up against the side of the glass to make it pretty (you can see I forgot to do this with the first layer of fruit -- oops!).  Then add layer of pudding.  Then Cool Whip.  Then I did a layer of angel food cake, fruit, pudding, Cool Whip.  Then repeat it all over again...until you reach the top!

Refrigerate for a few to several hours to let it all seep together.

I did add half a grilled peach to the top of everyone's serving -- again to cut the sweetness of all these ingredients. It put it over the top for me.  Then a little shaved bittersweet chocolate just to make it look a tad more adorable...and then....

Put on the Beatles and chow down!

Buon Groovissima Appetito!