Turning this into that - Potato Salmon Cakes

I had my cousins over for dinner the other night and I made Roasted Sockeye Salmon with garlic and citrus (lemon, orange and lime) and topped it with sliced jalapenos.

I made buttermilk mashed potatoes on the side with  a corn and zucchini saute.

It was good.

Like, REALLY good.

But that's not why we're here.

I had plenty of leftover mashed potatoes, but not a huge amount of salmon.  

Which isn't necessarily a problem, right?

I mean let's face it,

 I could eat mashed potatoes all day long, but ... 

Hips, thighs and ass will agree that is NOT the best way to keep your girlish figure.

Anyway,... me being me I knew throwing away the extra mashed potatoes wasn't an option, and aside from serving it to my kids for the next week straight, 

I had to come up with something to transform them.

That's when I decided to combine the two ingredients, salmon and mashed potatoes, and add a few extra ingredients and turn them into something glorious.

Like saaaayyyyyyyy....

Potato Salmon Cakes.

Glorious, right?

Can you hear the harps and violins playing in the background when you look at the golden, delicious crust of these babies?

No?  You can't?

Get your ears checked then, because the heavens are playing a wonderful little ditty at the mere sight of this dish.

The kind of ditty where your hair should be blowing in the wind like you're in a rap video.

It's that good.

There's nothing like turning one dish into a completely different one.

I mean, for a weirdo like me, anyway.

I love the accomplished feeling of using up all the leftover ingredients from the night before and turning it into something that looks nothing like it did the day prior.

I also made a zucchini, mushroom and tomato orzo to go alongside it.

I simply sauteed about a pound of diced mushrooms,  2 medium zucchini, 1 large onion and about 4 minced garlic cloves in 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil.

I mixed that around until the mushrooms gave off their juices.

Don't forget to season it with salt and pepper.

Then I added about 2-3 tablespoons of tomato paste and stirred that in.

I added about 1/2 cup of the pasta water (from the orzo that I had cooked and drained on the side) to thin out the tomato paste then added 1 lb. cooked orzo to the mix.

I chopped up a couple of fresh tomatoes that I had that were kind of soft and thew them in as well.  

I (heavily) grated some fresh parmigiano reggiano and stirred that in at the end. 

Then, 

VOILA!

Topped it with some freshly grated parm and freshly chopped parsley and it was a sight to make your eyes pop out yo head.

It made a ton and the kids loved it.

It's a one stop shop for the kids, too.

Carbs and veggies in one bowl.

So try this combo the next time you have some leftover fish and potato.

You will be considered a rock star in the kitchen when whoever you're cooking this for gets a taste of this.

Now, for the Potato Salmon Cake recipe...

POTATO SALMON CAKES

2 cups leftover mashed potatoes

1 cup leftover salmon, flaked

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 scallions, chopped

zest of one lemon

1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 cup panko (Japanese) breadcrumbs

1 egg, beaten

a few dashes hot sauce

**no quoting on precise measurements!  I cook with love, not with recipes or measurements.

I'm totally a 'little bit of this, little bit of that' type of cook.  So please take these as almost perfect, but not quite measurements.  Cuz really, nobody but the Big Guy upstairs is perfect after all, right?! ;)

Mix all the ingredients together and form into patties.  

Coat the patties into a bowl of panko breadcrumbs and place in a heated skillet with enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan.

Brown the patties for about 3 minutes on medium high heat and flip with a spatula.

Sear the other side and take them out and place into a warm oven until you've finish frying up all the 'cakes'.

Squeeze some fresh lemon on top and enjoy.

Believe me, the fresh lemon is KEY to the deliciousness of this salmon cake!

Enjoy.

Yellow Submarine

My little baby, Jude, turned one.

And of course I had to throw him a big birthday bash.

I thought for so long about the theme.  I was even thinking about the theme for his first birthday party when he was just born.

I like to have lots of different elements of the same theme at a party.

It gets challenging, but I love a challenge.

And so after lots of brainstorming and changing my mind a million different times, I finally decided on a theme for his party.

And I think it was perfectly fitting for my little Jude.

Here is the invitation I made.

I started with a blank canvas and turned it into a bright and fun invite.

Here is the back of the invitation.

A little personalization goes a long way, I think.

The Beatles are obviously something that most strangers (love to) refer to when they hear his name.

"Jude? Oh, like HEY JUDE?!"

yes sir. like that.

pshhhhh.

They obviously have some pretty great music which I grew up listening to because my mom loves the Beatles as well.

So I thought I'd combine those two elements and make a unique party for him.

Here is what it looked like:

This was the mamma jamma cake that was for the enitre party.

Yellow Submarine, of course.

My mom free handed the cutting of two large sheet cakes we made the night before.

Then I decorated it.

We put blue Jell-O all around it to give the illusion that it was in water.

Pretty cool.

And here is his very own chocolate cake.

Complete with an edible picture of the Beatles.

Tres chic, no?

My amazing BFF and dietician, Crissi, set up this adorable strawberry craft for the kids.

Turn your strawberry into a lady bug with a few mini chocolate chips and some deliciously ripe strawberries.

There's C.

Hud's bug was finger lickin' good.

The kids LOVED it and it kept them busy for quite some time.

Here are the party favors we did.

My amazing cousin, Tony is a computer wizard.

No, seriously.

It's crazy and I am lucky to have him.

I told him what I wanted and he made it happen.

The kids each got a goody bag filled with Beatles inspired knick knacks.

Girls got strawberry lip gloss.

There were peace sign necklaces.

My mom really filled these and she did an incredible job.

She's pretty amazeballs.

 Each adult couple got the Beatles CD.

I had taken a picture of Jude at each month marker of his entire first year of life.

I had Tony print them onto a template that resembled the birthday invitation of all the Beatles heads in little squares.

So the first one was a picture of him on the day he was born, and the last picture was him at 11 months.

It turned out so perfectly.  I loved it.

And I feel like that is one party favor people will actually USE!

I got the inspiration from that from here.

We all wore Beatles tee shirts.

Every one year old need his own cake to destroy, don't you think?

It's definitely one of our traditions

He's obviously succeeded and is so proud of his mess.

The spread.  All homemade goodies courtesy of my mom and myself.

Chicken shawarma, falafel, hummous bar (roasted red pepper, kalamata olive, and regular),

my mom's famous (and magically delicious) spinach pies, fatoush salad, zataar and of course, pigs in a blanket.  No kid party is complete without them.

Here are the yellow submarine twinkies we made.

They were so cute and really added to the theme.

They were simply twinkies with a straw put on the top and a few skittles or gum drops on the side.

They were such a hit and everyone was talking a walk down memory lane talking about how they used to love twinkies when they were little.

Definitely a conversation starter.

And they couldn't be easier.

Here's the king for the day.

And his heart melting smile.

Happy Birthday, Jude!

I hope you enjoyed taking a peek into our  party!

Until the next one.

Which, incidentally is only a couple of days away.

My 4 year old is turning 5.

Just 12 days after Jude turned one.

Okay... here we go again...

: /

Portobello Mushroom Parmesan

Mushrooms are the perfect food for a vegetarian.

They are super flavorful, meaty and they eat like a cut of meat.

There's texture there that's hard to find in most other vegetables.

They are simply delightful.

Now take that all glorious portobello mushroom-ness, smother it in some marinara sauce and melty, gooey cheese and we've just reached a whole different universe of deliciousity.

What?

Is that not a word?

It is... like Fabulosity.

You know, delish-eee-osity.

Ya, it's a word.

for sure.

Unfortunately, these are another sad lot of pictures to share with you for this post.

The thing is, I'm normally taking pictures of my dinners AS I am plating them up for us all to eat and it's always so rush rush.

I take my steaming hot plate of food to a spot where I am searching for some damn light

and ...

well...

it doesn't always turn out like I plan it in my head.

I'm waiting for the big guys at Apple or Microsoft to come out with some device that you can smell or taste through the computer screen.
Then I won't have to feel so ashamed of my sad sally pics and just the smells and tastes alone
 will reel you in.

Tonight I made this delicious meal for the family.

  Well, I made chicken parmesan for the boys and the mushroom parmesan for myself but as I was devouring my perfectly roasted mushrooms, I couldn't help but feel the eyeballs on my plate.

Now my man loves his meat, but he was obviously jelly of my vegetarian plate.

He wanted him a taste of the deliciousity (new word of the day).

I broke him off a bit of mine and he LOVED it.

I mean LOVED.

He was mmmmm-ing all over the place.

I mean, really...

what's not to love, is all I'm saying. 

I started out by cleaning the mushrooms.

You can take the little stem off or leave it on if you like.

Take a damp paper towel and gently wipe the caps of any dirt or any schmegls on it.

Schmegls.

Another intellectual noun for you to add to your cooking vocab.

You're welcome.

 So then put the mushrooms on a baking sheet lined with foil.
Drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle them with salt and pepper.
 Put them in a 450 oven for about 10 minutes, until they are soft but firm.

Take them out and smother in marinara sauce (recipe here) and copious amounts of cheese.

I used gouda because it's sooo goood-a.

I know, that was uncalled for and I apologize.

Traditionally it is mozzarella, but I'm so insane that I like to use whatever flavor I'm feeling that day...

or more honestly,

whatever I have waiting to be used up in the fridge.
Then grate tons of parmesan reggiano on top of your choice of cheese.
This is called mushroom PARMESAN after all!

Then put it back in the oven under the broiler for about 5 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and melty and ridiculously gorgeous.
Serve alongside some spaghetti and you've got yourself one outrageous meal!
Enjoy. 

Gorgonzola and Corn Relish

Sometimes the best meals are the easiest ones.

It's true I like to make my food from scratch when I can, but I have no shame in taking some help once in a while if I need it.

Enter Costco Turkey Burgers.

Those babies are something I've been trying to cut ties with for a while but the 'easy factor' is just too..

well..

easy!

And the fam loves them!

They're easy peasy 1..2..3.

But trying to spruce them up with something other than boring old tomatoes and lettuce is a challenge I look forward to.

Well, the other night, I came up with this delicious relish to blanket the burgers in.

Pretty much only 4 ingredients.

Gorgonzola cheese.

Corn.

Cilantro.

and a squeeze of Lime.

That's it.

Well, salt, pepper and olive oil of course, but those are staples and I can't be bothered to include them.

;)

I topped each burger with this little medley of flavors and the family LOVED it.

The hubs was really digging it.
You know he's loving something when you hear him pondering over each bite.

There were noises and lip licking coming from him that was bordering inappropriate for

 the dinner table.

But you know that I loved every minute of it!
I'm crazy like that.

The flavor burst was such a nice addition to the boring flavor of the turkey... 

or so he told me.

You can add this to just about any sandwich you like.

You can also play with the ingredients a bit.

If you don't love gorgonzola, you can use feta or goat cheese.

If you're not down with cilantro, ( in which case, see you later) sub in some basil or parsley.
You can add sun dried tomatoes, or some olives.

It's all good.  Get creative with it.
It will still look and taste amazeballs!

I made myself a salmon burger (yes, from Costco) and topped it with the gorgonzola and corn relish.

It was divine!

Such a vibrant compliment of flavors.
I served it alongside some rosemary fingerling roasted potatoes and the meal was complete.
Easy AND healthy.
Man, I love when that happens!
And I basically took the family on a trip to flavor town.
Free of charge.
So it was a winner any way you look at it.
I love when something so simple can be turned into something special with just a few little ingredients.
I know I love strange things, but this is how I am.
Deal with it, people!

Try it!!!

Eat it!!!

I'm almost positive you will try and find me to give me a big smooch because I will have changed your burger/sandwich experience forever.
With just a few simple ingredients.

And I will let you.

Nom nom nom!

Gorgonzola and Corn Relish

Serves 4 burgers (I'm pretty sure)

1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

1 cup corn kernels, frozen or fresh

1/2 bunch cilantro, cleaned and chopped

salt

pepper

olive oil

1/2 lime, squeezed

In a skillet over medium high heat, saute the corn in about 2 tablespoons olive oil until charred and cooked.  Season with salt and pepper.  

Turn off the heat and stir in the cilantro.

Mix all together.

Stir in gorgonzola cheese and squeeze in 1/2 lime.

Taste for seasoning ( may need more salt and/or pepper according to your taste buds)

Put this on any burger you like and enjoy.

Cruz's Ombre Cake

My beautiful, gorgeous, amazing, precious baby sister is pregnant.

She's pregnant with her very first baby.

A little boy.

I am partial to boys. 

Obvs.

My mom (aka my hero) and I have been planning for this day forever.

I really never thought this day would come.

Why you ask?

Well, one example is that she is extremely selfish.
Not in the gross rude way you may think.
She's the most generous person you will ever meet, but when it comes to getting some sleep, then she's not giving that up for anything.... or anyone!
She can't be woken up early for a crying baby either (ahem... mine, for example).

The girl loves to take naps at any given moment of the day.
Like seriously...
any.
given.
moment.

She can be hanging out and talking one minute and then next, she's snoozing on the couch, catching up on her beauty sleep.
That girl loves her beauty sleep.

It doesn't matter where she's at or who's around, if she's tired, she's going to lay that pretty little head down and catch some zzzzz's.

That's one of the things I love so much about her.

She does her own thing and doesn't care what people think.

If she's sleepy at 1:30 in the afternoon in the middle of a conversation, 

well then she's going to take a nap, damnit!

My mom and sister in law (who I really consider my sister, so we can just take off the 'in law' part now) and myself all put together a cinco de Mayo themed baby shower with paper airplane accents.

It turned out so pretty and colorful.

I knew I had to make a spectacular cake to keep up with all the fabulosity that we had planned.

At first my mom thought we should order a cake since there were so many people invited ...

90 in all!

But I really didn't want to do that and thought that we could make one for less money and please...

anything made from scratch is always better and more meaningful, in my opinion.

I researched and researched what kind of cake I was going to make.

I thought for a while that I wanted to make a rainbow cake.

I just thought it would be fun and festive and ... well...

colorful.

But then, a lightbulb went off in my head and I thought...

Ombre!!

Ombre blue cake!

That sounds like a fun cake!

So I got to researching, and there are some beautiful ombre blue cakes out there.

I decided to go my own way, make the cake from scratch (of course, because there's something physically wrong with me to where I cannot purchase a boxed cake mix for the life of me!) and see how it turns out.

And this is what it looked like.

I was so pleased, and impressed with myself.

Let's get this straight.

I'm a cook.

Not a baker.

I like to bake cookies here and there, but I consider myself a cook and can get pretty creative with that.

But baking...

and cake decorating...

and frosting making...

that's a whole different story.

But it's always fun to try different things and challenge myself in the kitchen.

And so I was unafraid and completely intrigued with the idea of making this ombre cake with four different cake batters and four different shades of blue and four different shades of sprinkles to decorate the cake with.

AND make my own buttercream frosting (which, in my opinion turned out a tad too sweet for my taste buds, but my hubby loved it, so that's good enough for me!)

I baked the four layers individually in a 12X18 baking sheet, frosted and stacked them and gave it the 'crumb frosting' layer the night before the party.  That basically means you frost the cake with a really thin layer of frosting which will get all crumby and ugly.  But then the next morning, you take it out of the refrigerator and frost it generously with more buttercream frosting and you will be left with no crumbs!

It's a pretty essential step of cake decorating in the elimination of crumbs process.

I cut out a chevron pattern on some paper and carefully placed it onto the cake.

I sprinkled each layer with my different colors and textures of sprinkles.

I'm gonna be honest.

That part was horrifying !!

It was soooo much harder than I anticipated...
sprinkles sprinkling all over the place.
Rolling off the sides, sticking in places it wasn't supposed to be sticking in.
But in the end, it was well worth it.

No pain, no gain I always say.

Well, I never really say that but some people do and I agree with them.

I really love how this cake turned out.
I think the super trendy and fun chevron pattern that my sister is obsessed with right now was the perfect detail for her special cake.

It's so pretty and I was really proud.

Maybe a little too proud.

I was trying to get everyone's attention at the shower to make sure they saw the cake before I cut into it.

I was acting a little crazy, but you know what..

my creations are my babies.

And gosh darnit, I am a very proud Moma!

The recipe I used for the cakes is here.

The rest, you buy colored food dye, sprinkles, and a Bible.

Pray to God that it all turns out the way you want!

That's the best advice I have for you.

Now go on and get to praying and baking!