Beep Beep!

I’ve always complained about driving in Miami.  It’s as if everyone on the road went to the very same “Drive Like a Dick” traffic school in order to get their licenses;  Taking red lights, no regard or respect for blinkers and violently cutting people off is the absolute norm within the city.  Don’t even let me get into what’s normal practice on the highways!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I recently moved out to Atlanta, GA.  Before coming out here a lot of people warned me about the traffic, saying it was going to be worse than Miami and bla bla bla.  Well, let me tell ya somethin’!  Those bozos were all wrong!

Yes, at “Rush Hour” times there is indeed a lot of traffic, however, for the most part, everyone here knows how to drive!  The speed lane is exactly that; where people drive if they want to go a little faster; As soon as you get a little too close to the person in front of you, they move off to the right and let you keep going.  And guess what?!  People here use and understand blinkers!  By George! I never thought I’d see the day where someone would actually slow down for me on the highway and let me get in front of them for simply putting on my blinker.  It feels like I’ve died and gone to Highway Heaven!

The only thing I have to give Miami the one up on is in the way they set up their streets; by numbers and cardinal directions.  Out in Atlanta everything is by name and there is no such thing as alphabetical order!  And they love to reuse names like Peachtree and Cobb and put them at completely different points of the city so that they can totally confuse you and make you think you know where you’re going, but you actually don’t.  Thank goodness for Google Maps!  I’d be stuck in a ditch without it!  But I’d gladly take using a GPS in a city with nice drivers over knowing where I’m going in the crap streets of Miami, any day!

::End Rant::

A New Chapter

Hello everyone! It has been almost a year since my last post, so firstly, I’d like to apologize for my silence.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I’d like to say that I am now a very happy resident of Atlanta, GA!  I will definitely miss a lot of people in Miami, but I feel like this move was the best one for me.

I also would like to say that I plan to start writing again so get ready!  The rants will definitely start rolling in soon!

Much Love!
-Emily

P.S. I’m all better from that concussion! haha

Blog on Pause!

Hey guys,

I just wanted to send a quick message out to my readers and let you know that I am going to have to take a mini blogging break.  It seems I have spread myself too thin between work (which has been more demanding than ever), taking 3 classes and all of my other responsibilities.

However, here’s some exciting news! Once I’m done with my classes I will be launching a second blog all about food! I figured it makes more sense to have food and life completely separate.

I’ve got BIG plans for the food blog though, so sit tight! I can’t wait to share it with you!

See you all again in a month or so 🙂

-Emily

Recipe: Bacon, Mushroom and Chicken Pasta Alfredo with Garlic Bread Crumbs & Italian Margaritas

Today I was eager to cook something simple yet full of flavor.  I decided to go the Italian route by choosing pasta Alfredo and garlic bread. I honestly could have made it easy on myself by tackling the Alfredo Sandra Lee-style (Semi Home Made) with a pre-made sauce, but wanted to challenge myself by making it from scratch for the first time.  I’ve also been watching a lot of Chopped and was inspired to use some left over hot dog buns I had in my fridge for the garlic bread instead of using more obvious choices.  I had to take the garlic bread idea one step further though.  I wanted to process the bread into crispy and flavorful crumbs.  And of course, as a Bartender, I wanted to marry this meal with the perfect cocktail.

Now, after having made dinner, sitting down and reflecting on it, I really wish there was hidden cameras in my kitchen.  I was running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off.  I burned my garlic bread crumbs so I had to create a new batch of garlic spread and start all over again in a mad dash.

Well, I’ll stop babbling now and get to the good stuff.  Below you will find photos of the finished products and the recipes (all modified by me to my liking).  The photo of the meal was indeed taken by me, but the Italian Margarita photo is not mine.  I was not able to rim the glass with sugar due to lack of counter space and the bread emergency and I forgot to buy an orange to garnish it, but the Margarita photo below is what it would have looked like had I done it right.

BACON & MUSHROOM ALFREDO SAUCE

1 Pint Half & Half
3 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Flour
3 Garlic Cloves, Minced
1 Shallot, Minced
1/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese, Grated
1/4 Cup Parsley Chopped
1/2 Pound Bacon, Cooked and Chopped
1/3 Cup Baby Bella Mushrooms, Chopped
2 Tablespoons olive oil (maybe a little more)
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat.  Add 2 minced garlic cloves and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes.  Stir in flour until well-blended.  Add half and half.

Stir sauce over medium-low heat.  Do not allow sauce to boil or stick to bottom of pan.  Reduce heat if necessary.  Allow sauce to thicken (about 20 minutes), stirring frequently.

In a separate saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Sautee mushrooms, shallot and remaining garlic until translucent and tender.  Do not brown.

When sauce is near desired consistency, add Parmesan cheese.  Stir to melt cheese for 2 minutes.  Toss in most of the bacon and parsley (leave some to top your dish), salt and pepper to taste and mushrooms.  Stir for another 1-2 minutes.  Remove sauce from heat.

GARLIC BREAD CRUMBS

1/2 Cup (1 stick) Unsalted Butter, Softened
2 Large Cloves of Garlic, Smashed and Minced
1 Heaping Tablespoon of Freshly Chopped Parsley
Salt and Pepper to taste
Splash of Olive Oil
Bread of Choice

Simply mix all ingredients together.  Ideally make this early on and refrigerate so that the flavors develop and really penetrate the butter.  Soften again before applying to bread.

To create the bread crumbs, use any bread of your choice, and make sure it’s sliced fairly thin.  Cover bread in garlic spread place on baking pan and broil.  All breads will vary in time so just keep your eye on it.  As soon as it looks toasted, pull out of the oven.  Chop the bread into smaller pieces and grind up in a food processor until chunks have become crumbs.

Place crumbs back on baking pan and put back into the oven.  This shouldn’t take more than 3 minutes.  Be careful not to burn.

FINISHING TOUCHES

The chicken was seasoned with salt and pepper and sauteed over medium heat in olive oil with fresh garlic and shallots.

I chose to marry the chicken, sauce and pasta together before plating.  Once plated I topped it with the bread crumbs, remaining bacon and a little bit more of chopped parsley for an extra burst of color.

ITALIAN MARGARITA

1 oz Amaretto (Almond Lequeur)
2 oz Sweet and Sour Mix
1/2 oz Tequila of choice
1/2 oz Tripel Sec
Sugar for Glass
Garnish with an Orange Slice

Top glass with ice, poor in ingredients, shake and serve. If you want to get fancy, rim the glass with sugar and garnish with an orange slice.

If you’ve never rimmed a glass before, the easiest way is to get a slice or lemon or lime and squeeze it around the rim of the glass. Then tip glass into a small plate with sugar. Pat the rim around on the side to make sure the sugar sticks all around the border..

So now that we’re all done, I just have to say that dinner came out sooooo incredibly delicious and I’m quite proud of myself.   And though I think these recipes are perfect as is, I’d like to know if any of you would do this a little differently?  Are any of you inspired to give this a shot for yourself??  Comment to let me know and come back and comment again with pictures if you do!

-Emily Sixx