Iron Chef

Tonight, my friend Rachael and I had a fun competition. We did our own version of Iron Chef! (If you don't know what Iron Chef is, look it up here.) Of course, the rules were different, because we can't come up with meals and make them in 1 hour (like the real show), but we did have fun. We picked a "secret ingredient," we planned our meals and then tonight, we got together and we each made two dishes. We invited our friends to be the judges (not that the points matter) and we enjoyed a fun evening. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of all our food because Bill didn't have his camera at the beginning, but he did take some shots.

We decided we will do an Iron Chef competition again some time, it was fun. This time, Margaret picked the "secret ingredient" and it was a good one. It was fun for us to cook and it was fun for others to judge. This time the "secret ingredient" was Fresh Pasta. It seems appropriate since we're in Italy and its a readily available ingredient!

Rachael made two dishes: the first was Orecchiette pasta with Salmon and Cream Sauce. The second was Sausage, Mushrooms, and Peas with Orecchiette. It was super delicious and yummy. I enjoyed both dishes very, very much. (I only have a picture of the second dish - sorry Rachael).


I also made two dishes: the first was Zucchini Tortellini Soup. It was really good...I might have to make it again sometime. My second dish was a bit of an experiment. I decided to try a dessert pasta so I made Fettuccine with chocolate sauce and a scoop of chocolate chip ice cream. My reasoning was that the ingredients for noodles are the same for crepes and other similar foods so it should be good with chocolate. Unfortunately, it wasn't a big hit. It really didn't taste bad and some people ate it -- others did not care for it. But, I had to try, and I got points originality!

In the end, our score was very close but Rachael won by one point. Yay, Rachael!! Too bad we don't have a prize or a trophy. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to our next Iron Chef! Emma gets to pick the next "secret ingredient" - lucky her! I'll let you know when we do it again!

Holiday Bazaar

Tonight, the embassy hosted a Holiday Bazaar. Basically, a bunch of vendors come in to the embassy and display their goods and people walk around and buy stuff - supposedly Christmas presents. Santa also makes an appearance so kids can tell him what they want. Its a big event. Bill and I attended and we did a little Christmas shopping. We also had dinner, which is the same thing every time the embassy hosts an event -- hamburgers and hot dogs. I enjoy hamburgers, but I was a little dissapointed tonight because it meant I was repeating a meal AGAIN. Yes, I've already attended one embassy function this month - the Halloween Party - and I ate a hamburger. It wasn't really my fault because the party was supposed to be in October and I would've been fine - but because of the rain delay, they had Halloween in November...which means I've already included an embassy hamburger in my food foto extravaganza. To make things EVEN worse, I forgot my camera tonight. So, I have no picture of the repeat burger!!!

Instead, I decided to show you the burgers in the "before" stage. Its not a cow, or anything that drastic, but its uncooked burgers. Yes, this picture was taken at the Halloween Party, but its the same type of burger, cooked on the same grills, by the same people, so I think it counts. Enjoy! And, I promise you tomorrow will NOT be a repeat, it will be something totally exciting and original. In fact, I just might get points for taste, presentation, and originality!

10 Days Left

We're nearing the end of the month and the end of my "30 Days of Food". Next Thursday is Thanksgiving and I plan to have about 10 days worth of food in one day - I'm looking forward to it. But today, we had Chili Mac for dinner. Of course, we had salad too so we could feel mildly healthy. It was yummy and we managed to eat dinner on the couch without making a mess. We don't normally eat in the living room, but tonight was a couch night. I hope you have a good dinner and that you're looking forward to a delicious Thanksgiving!

Pasta Again

I was going to try and go the entire month without repeating a meal, but I've failed. I was so distracted by the excitement of garlic bread, that I forgot we've already had pasta this month. Oh well, it felt different this time. The garlic bread was delicious and the pasta was good too. I guess if we have to repeat one meal - pasta is a good one...especially considering we're in ITALY!!!

Pizza

Tonight we were busy - we had a lot of unpacking and other general chores to do. So, after we went to the grocery store, Bill went down the block to pick up pizza. We wanted something easy and delicious. I also made a salad in an attempt to eat healthier. I had potato pizza and margherita pizza and Bill had mushroom & tomato pizza. It was good, and easy, and fast!

Enchiladas

Tonight I made a real dinner. Not just something simple, but a real meal. I made enchiladas...and Bill helped. They were very delicious. Bill took some good pictures too. Here they are:

Half Way

I'm half way through my "30 Days of Food". So far, so good. My blog is a little late tonight because I was trying very hard to finish the Paris Trip post. It took a long time for all the video clips and photos to load so I am up late. I think I've got everything finished up now so I can show you what we had for dinner and go to bed. Tonight we had Red Beans & Rice with Mixed Vegetables on the side. It might not look that appetizing, but it tasted good!