recipe 67: Amalfi pasta salad (and it's time to introduce Byron)

So much is happening at once. First of all, I have a migraine. Second of all, summer is ending and I still have so many summer recipes to post! Third of all, Tristany is/are heading to an interesting sequence of events in this order within the span of 72 hours: 1) Newark to pick up a delivery (more about this in a minute) 2) a wedding at The Plaza 3) Bozeman and 4) Glacier National Park! And fourth of all, I keep meaning to post this cute little simple fresh delicious summer recipe I made the other night because it's related to the Amalfi references in my last post. The Hoboken Homestead is currently filled wall-to-wall with things for the fancy wedding at The Plaza and things for the western wilderness. It is "the spectrum." I have always been a huge fan of "the spectrum" in its myriad forms so I am delighting in this array of scattered mismatched items. Well, I would be delighting in the array if I didn't have a migraine. And also, for the record, I love National Parks. Love them. I think Arches in Utah is probably my favorite. This was not a love I discovered until maybe about five years ago but it was a love that grew quickly, and my love for National Parks ranks right up there with my love for flip-flops, my love for seltzer, my love for being a bon vivant (bonne vivante?), my love for blasting "Hot 97 FM Where Hip Hop Lives" during my daily commute, and my love for wearing my hair in a big ole sloppy bun from May until September.

The Newark Delivery (a brief back story): So Tristan and I have this friend named Byron. We met him at the Montego Bay airport when he picked us up to drive us to the resort. The walls came down quickly because I had forgotten something really embarrassing and Byron had to find a place where we could buy this on his lovely island. Byron announced, pretty much right away, that he was the mayor of Montego Bay and kept reminding us of this status. Indeed he was! He took us to the best places and he knew the coolest people. And then the darndest thing happened. We went to Pork Pit http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147311-d1232835-Reviews-Pork_Pit-Montego_Bay_Jamaica.html for lunch on our way to the airport. We saw a dapper looking gentleman with people surrounding him. This dialogue ensued:
T/T: Byron, who's that? Is he someone famous?
Byron (inching away/smile fading to frown fading to look of fear): Nobody, mon. Nobody.
T/T: What's the matter, Byron?
Byron: Shh, mon, shh. Just order your food. We need to get to the airport.
T/T: He looks fancy! Look at all of those people surrounding him.
Byron: Order your food, mon. Let's go.
Me: Nope, I'm going to see who that is. Excuse me, sir, could I have your autograph?
Sir's bodyguard: You looking for the autograph of the Mayor of Montego Bay, mon? Stand in line please!
Me: Tristan, Tristan! HE'S the Mayor of Montego Bay!
Tristan: Byron! I thought YOU were the Mayor of Montego Bay!
Byron: Shh, mon! Both of you, shh! It's time to leave!

Anyway, this sealed the deal on Byron becoming our BFF. He sends us funny emails with funny pictures that he takes of tourists who are not nearly as cool as we are. Recently, he told us that he was sending us some presents from Jamaica and that we could pick them up from his relative in Newark. Byron always plans the neatest adventures so off we go!

Byron in Ocho Rios

Now, as a comparison, I wanted to post a link to the actual Mayor of Montego Bay, but then I googled that and was startled to see that the actual Mayor appears to have fallen upon some difficult times. Hence, I will not post any links. PS- Is it me or is this blog getting funnier? Byron- you will always be our Mayor of Montego Bay and this post is dedicated to you. We're looking forward to seeing what's in store in Newark!

The Amalfi pasta salad recipe, which is totally unrelated to Montego Bay which totally exhibits to my three readers what a cross-section of my mind looks like, comes from here with a few tweaks: http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/david-rocco/cold-pasta-salad-recipe/index.html. It is simple, fresh, and delicious!

AMALFI PASTA SALAD
Ingredients:
-half a pound of pasta
-half a pound of green beans, cut into bite-sized pieces, cooked al dente and cooled
-1/4 c olive oil
-a splash of good balsamic vinaigrette
-fresh mozzarella, cubed, to taste
-salt and pepper
-zest of one lemon and lemon juice from maybe half of the lemon (Amalfi is big on lemons and so is this blogger, that's for sure!)

Instructions:
1) make pasta according to package instructions and cool
2) mix with all other ingredients
3) chill and serve with a side of limoncello

Note: I didn't take any pictures. It was a late dinner. We were hungry.

recipe 66: Christmas in August... my mom's Thumbprint Christmas Cookies

I'm pleased to announce that I now officially take requests and answer questions. As to the request, it was fielded from an old kindred spirit who popped up to say hello and then asked for a post about my mom's Thumprint Christmas Cookies. I'm not sure if this individual plans on making the cookies anytime within the next four months, but in the spirit of honoring requests, I will post this now. Her Thumbprint Christmas Cookies are my FAVORITE Christmas cookies, and surely this recipe would have been posted at the more seasonally appropriate time but for this early request. I'm not sure where the recipe comes from but my best guess would be ancient Italy. Perhaps the Colosseum. Or perhaps from a bakery around the corner from this church, where both of my great-grandparents were baptized: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalfi_Cathedral. Why they ever left beautiful Amalfi boggles the mind! Now. Moving on to the questions. Because I'm just totally in the helping spirit these days. So, I'm able to see the searches people enter into Google that lead them to my blog. And then they get here and their questions are typically unanswered until NOW, when I'll attempt to answer them.
After much consideration, here are the top five most interesting searches:
1) where to buy cannelloni in Singapore- HA! Hmm, I don't know but I hope you (whoever you are) were able to figure it out. In the meantime, if you're still in Singapore, might I recommend the Hainanese chicken rice from a street vendor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hainanese_chicken_rice or getting your fortune told by one of the fortune-tellers with the green parrots http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mani_the_parakeet?
2) how to pronounce pannkakor- That's easy! Let me assist! "Pahn-cah-core." Emphasis on syllable the first.
3) hendl recipe paprika- Amanda and I don't know how to actually cook/bake/broil(?) hendls, but perhaps one day we will. In the meantime, might I suggest not actually making them but eating them at Oktoberfest in Munich? You'll thank me later!
4) "dragon tattoo" "open faced"- I think I actually answered that one: http://cookingmywaytothe365.blogspot.com/2012/04/recipes-18-and-19-swedish-meatballs-and.html I just linked to my own blog! WHAT? Check and mate!
5) venn diagram maker- I did not answer that one. But I'm currently accepting requests to be hired as a venn diagram maker. I think I would very much enjoy that career.

THUMBPRINT CHRISTMAS COOKIES
Ingredients:
-3/4 c sugar
-2 c flour
-1 t salt
-1/2 t almond extract (don't worry, don't worry, I'm not allergic to almond extract, only almonds themselves)
-1 1/2 sticks softened butter
 -1/2 t vanilla
-2 egg yolks, save the whites
-1 1/2 c chopped walnuts
-various jams and jellies (my mom alternates red jams and mint jelly to make these look extra Christmas-y... but I personally always avoid the mint ones like the plague because, while pretty, I feel pretty strongly that the mint jelly ones just don't taste as great as the ones with the berry jams)

Instructions:
1) preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2) combine the sugar, salt, extracts, butter and egg yolks in a large mixing bowl
3) mix the ingredients with an electric mixer for one minute at medium speed
4) add the flour and continue mixing with the mixer at low speed until well-blended
5) slightly beat the egg whites in a small bowl
6) roll the dough into small balls (maybe with a diameter about the size of a quarter)
7) dip the cookie balls into the egg whites and then roll in the walnuts
8) make an indentation with your thumb (hence the name "thumbprints") in each cookie
9) space the cookies out on a greased baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes until the cookies appear "set" (but not browned)
10) let the cookies cool and spoon jelly/jam into the indentations
11) Merry Christmas-in-August!

recipe 65: the grilled white peaches that will change the world (aka the best invention ever)!

I'm taking a brief pause from one-thing-after-another life to bring you this very important message about a recipe I invented all by myself in Loveladies last weekend. Loveladies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loveladies,_New_Jersey! This recipe is the best. No really, a LOT of stuff was grilled and the peaches won by unanimous vote. When I say a "LOT," I mean unadulterated gluttony. The peaches won! They won, they won, they won! Here is how you make them:

GRILLED WHITE PEACHES WITH HONEY-BALSAMIC SAUCE AND GOAT CHEESE
Ingredients:
-sliced ripe white peaches (but not too ripe!)
-equal ratio of balsamic vinegar and honey, enough to coat the peaches and maybe a little extra
-the teeniest squeeze of fresh lime juice (I used this mainly as a preservative because I wanted to swim while the peaches were soaking in the sauce... it can probably be eliminated)
-goat cheese to taste

Instructions:
1) slice the peaches into grilling-friendly slices (see photo below)
2) mix the honey and the balsamic and squeeze in a little lime
3) coat the peaches with the sauce and let sit at room temperature
4) go for a swim!  (I love water so much! It is shocking that my zodiac sign isn't a water sign. That has really always baffled me!)
5) swim away and forget about those peaches!
6) keep right on swimming until your desired level of swimingness is complete!
7) grill the peaches but save the sauce right in the original container
8) after the peaches are grilled, put them back in the sauce
9) sprinkle on some goat cheese and stir it all together

Also, I want to put out there right now that I'm going to power yoga tonight right after work and right before Manasquan. I'm writing this because that means it will happen. My yoga mat is in tow. There's no turning back now. I would not want to disappoint my readers.