Monday, May 9, 2011

Spicy Sautéed Vegetables...and an Amazing Weekend!

It all started Saturday, when my daughter gave me a huge bag of mixed vegetables from our favorite produce market...one of those fabulous deals that her m-in-law discovered, while she was here from Italy. $1.00 for a hug bag of vegetables, all mixed...zucchini, peppers, onions, some iceberg lettuce...a huge bag, no joking. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the veggies, except, they had a few bruises here, and there, and maybe starting to get a bit over ripe on some of the peppers that made the long green peppers turn orange. So, what to do with them?...what is not to do with them, but cook them up, and the best way, is to saute them with the onion, garlic, in some nice fruity extra virgin olive oil, and some great spices...don't forget the red pepper flakes, and freshly ground black pepper, and some nice sea salt, and you got yourself, a FEAST!...well, I prepped up all these great veggies, and took them over to a friends house with all the yummy things that I brought from Lora's to share with her, and her brother who is visiting their mom, from out of state.

I'm linking this to Tuesday Night Supper Club # 40... Christy @Fudge Ripple
Also made some pork ribs, marinated in Worcestershire sauce, paprika, cumin, black pepper, and garlic powder, and baked to perfection, in a 375 degree F. oven for about 1 1/2 hrs. till tender. (These were also the ribs my daughter gave me that were in her freezer from my son, who is the on-again, off-again vegetarian.) Lora did not want to deal with these because she said it's been in the freezer too long. Yea, right!!! ...since December?...so that makes it 5 months?...still like fresh, no freezer burns, so why not cook them up. They were so tender, fall off the bone, delicious!...So that's what you do for your friends...you share!...and you cook for them.
These sweet potatoes are my friend Dianne's creation. She cuts them in half, drizzles a little olive oil on them and sprinkles them with cinnamon, and adds bits of garlic...encloses the potatoes in aluminum foil and bakes it in the toaster oven on 350 degrees, F. till tender, which is at least 1 hr. or longer.
Saffron Risotto with Shrimp, Zucchini, and Peas....recipe, on this page

This is Lora's creation, and she makes this just about once a week. She does not post it on her blog because her blog is mostly about cakes, and desserts. She does not like leftovers, as a rule, unless it's spaghetti, and meatballs, lasagne, or pizza leftovers and I get her leftovers to share with friends...and truly this is gourmet, and yummy, even reheated. Just add a few drops of water, and heat on top of the stove. Now, on to the next fabulous things!

So, here it is...still Saturday afternoon, and I'm at home on the beach...inside, just "chilling"...and my daughter calling me and asking me what I'm doing...
I tell her, I'm waiting for 2 packages. One from Christine @Christine's Pantry, for the amazing and generous giveaway gift that I one, and also for Gina's@SPcookie queen yummy Cranberry and Chocolate Chunk Cookies that I bid on for Becky's Bake Sale @ Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves for the American Cancer Society.
Lora tells me, "why don't you go down to the pool, or the beach and just sit and relax, or go swimming, to exercize your bad ankle"...which is healing so well, by the way! So I did go down, and I'm glad I did, before deciding to go to my friends house to cook dinner for us.
This is at 4:00PM and the sky, the ocean is exactly the way it looks on the photo...and even clearer, and prettier.
I started to take a walk in the sand, and the water, up to my ankles, which really was a nice therapy for my ankle.
When you walk by yourself, you get immersed into your thoughts and as for me, I get a lot of that, thinking, and thanking God how fortunate I am to have such a beautiful family, who cares about me...friends that I can visit...now that I'm a lot better and can walk without "hobbling" around, and my true love and passion is to cook, which does not take a lot of my time, and "thrifting" to use up all the things that can be converted into fabulous meals.
As you can see the palm trees in the background, are from the same scene, I used for my blog template at sunset.
This is about 1 mile from my condo, it's a golf course, behind the trees. Now, it's about 6:00PM...time to check my mail, and head on over to my friend's house.

The packages were left downstairs in the mail room by
my mailbox, on the shelf...hoping that it wasn't there on
Friday already, because it had cookies in one of the boxes. Don't you just get so excited when your receive
a package?...Well I was right, I received two packages.










I opened the box first...
from Gina, that had the delicious mouthwatering Cranberry and Chocolate Chunk Cookies,
with a weet personalized card, and it truly touched my heart to be so blessed to have such wonderful friends.











I could not resist but took a bite of one of the cookies.
She had them wrapped so nice with layers of waxed paper, and in a Ziploc plastic containers. (2)...one I gave to Lora, and tied with a pretty black and white ribbon. So sweet, so caring!!!







Here's my second gift...from Christine.
The most exciting, and amazing little pot that does so much, The All purpose...multi and versatile pot, I've ever seen. So beautiful, sturdy, and truly a great quality of shiny stainless steel. She also included a personalized note, I really feel so blessed and so happy...I actually felt this was a perfect Mother's Day gift.











Now you see what I mean?...The Vented Multi-Pot
I own such great pots and pans, gadgets galore, but never have I owned anything so versatile as this. Christine has such a good heart to do her own giveaway.
Such a generous sweet person, I truly appreciate it!













This awesome little pot even has the measurement on the inside with the American and the Metric measurement, as well.

Thank you Gina...and thank you Christine!

Please visit their blog and check for yourself all the wonderful things you will find on their blogs. I have recently met Christine, and have followed her blog immediately, and I'm truly glad I did. As for Gina, I met her about the time I started my blog, which is almost a year ago.
Check out their blog, and say Hi...and don't forget to follow!
Will catch up on the rest of the weekend activities. Mother's Day was so wonderful....I hope all the mommies, and grandmothers had the best day...ever, and hope you enjoyed your special day...with lots of love, and laughter!

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44 comments:

Angela/Soap Mom's Kitchen/Sutherland Soap Creamery said...

Those pics have me drooling on my keyboard! Love your blog!

Christine's Pantry said...

Glad you had a great weekend. Food looks great. Yum!

Becky said...

Looks like you had a wonderful weekend with all of that wonderful food, plus walking on the beach, so jealous! Gorgeous pictures!

Lora's creation looks so good! I love risotto, but have never tries it with shrimp.

Christy said...

whoa..those ribs look incredible...well, everything looks incredible. what a fabulous meal. thank you for sharing with tuesday night supper club.

Parsley Sage said...

What a feast! And check out the new toy and yummy cookies! That's like the best weekend ever :)

Junia said...

wow great cooking! the risotto looks just like paella, without the yellow color! and i just love baked sweet potatoes!!! :D

Angela/Soap Mom's Kitchen/Sutherland Soap Creamery said...

Thanks for stopping my blog and following. I also added you on My Blog List, as well. I know I will really enjoy following your blog:)

Mari said...

I glad you had an amazing weekend, Happy Mother's Day! The sauteed vegetables look so delicious. Thanks for these great food recipes. Enjoy your gifts!

ping said...

I'm enjoying your weekend with you via this post but unfortunately not doing so good with my tummy growling at the pics and not getting to taste them :( The multi pot thingy looks interesting. Gotta check that out.

Velva said...

Wow, a $1 for a fabulous bag of veggies. Love it!!! Love the dishes you shared with us- the gifts too. Enjoy.

Velva

Priya Sreeram said...

awesome fare- the sauteed veggies keep me hooked !

Pegasuslegend said...

Love the pictures especially the veggies just beautiful!

Swathi said...

That spicy sauted veggies looks awesome. other dishes are also very good. nice clicks are always. congrats for winning. the both gifts.

Melynda said...

Those vegetables are incredible! It looks like you had a great weekend, everyone needs one of those every now and again.

Pacheco Patty said...

These dishes all look wonderful. I love veggies prepared this way;-)
We just enjoyed your chocolate biscotti, yum. lucky us;-)
Thanks for everything, I love the way you packed them and thanks for your thoughtful note. I have to say that I looked at your biscotti post while I ate my biscotti just because I could and it was the best treat I could ask for after my dinner tonight;-)

Indonesian In Turkey said...

What a great weekend you had! Must be very much refreshing ^_^
I always love saute vegetables... and your is just scumptious! ^_^

Priya said...

Those sauteed veggies looks fabulous and yummy, seems u had a great weekend..

Marelie said...

You have really good dishes...so yummy.I found your blog while browsing.I am your newest follower.hope you can also visit my blog.thanks

Annie's Dish said...

What a feast! You wanna come over to my house?

Lizzy said...

Oh, my! The delicious food, gorgeous views and fabulous gifts! You are truly blessed my friend...and I know you know it. Have a great week...you always bring a smile to my face with each and every blog post. They are written with love. xo

Angellove's Cooking said...

What a lovely weekend, Elisabeth :) and what a lovely vegies dish you have meade - and not only the vegies one is lovely of course!!

Kati said...

Nagyon guszta mind az egész.

Michael Toa said...

Elisabeth, those pork ribs look absolutely amazing. Oh, so so good. The saffron risotto as well. And I cannot believe $1 for a bag of veg. What a bargain! Have a great day.

Reeni said...

It's always nice getting packages of goodies! And you live in such a beautiful place - stunning, really. All of your food looks delicious - Lora is such a good cook - she should make a cooking blog too!

Jill Colonna said...

Love the veggies - esp since it's such a cheap & healthy meal - and the ribs done in lea&perrins! Sounds so tasty.

Lisa said...

Your sauteed veggies is exactly the kind of dish I enjoy since I love healthy eating. It looks so colorful and appetizing. Regarding your comment on the mango bread, the 5 min. at 500F is a trick I learned that makes for extra high crowns on muffins, so I use it on everything. I'm not sure if it made a difference with the mango bread, but it sure didn't hurt either. Though, if you want, you can just bake it at 350F. I'm following you back.

Tiffany said...

The perfect side dish!

Kristen said...

The more I visit you Florida bloggers, the more excited I am to move there this summer. Those scenes are breathtaking...especially after the view from my home of desert and mountains. I suppose it's a case of the grass being greener on the other side of the country! How fun for you to get those wonderful packages and the bag of veggies. What a great day!!

Christy said...

The first pic of the spicy sauteed vegetables had me there! I loved sauteed vegetables, and I am sure with the spicy taste, it tastes exotically scrumptious! What a great way to spice up the normal vegetables to crank up the appetites as well :D

Spoon and Chopsticks said...

Mouth-watering food and lovely pics! The pork ribs had me drooling and the safron risotto looks so yummy!

Muraligeetham said...

wonderful dishes !!

Gina said...

So glad you enjoyed the cookies, it was my pleasure to make them for you. Love all the photos, especially the beach, it's one of my favorite places too. I just love your score of the $1 veggies and that you made them spicy. So glad you are doing well.
-Gina-

Angie's Recipes said...

I love those mixed veggies! And the last two beach photos made me want to dive into your blog!

Tina (PinayInTexas) said...

With all those mouthwatering food, I'm sure it was truly an amazing weekend! Yum yum yum!

Arti said...

The colours in the sauted veggies are just so fabulous! Irresstible simply!

Foodafok said...

Kedves Elisabeth
Ismét minden csodás a blogodon. Nekem a változatos, gazdag és színes köreteid, nagyon tetszenek. A blogomon a hozzászólásban írtad, hogy nem ismered az angol nevét a medvehagymának. Szerintem ismered: Wild garlic! Itt található a másik, általam írt blog, ahol részletesen foglalkozom az alapanyagokkal. Érdemes elolvasni a medvehagyma jó tulajdonságait. http://usubufood.blog.hu/2011/04/04/csalan_8

Spice Sherpa said...

What a bright, cheerful looking plate of veggies. And for just a single George Washington?
What spices did you use? Looks like you went the chili pepper route--I love veggies b/c the right combination of spices can turn the dish into whatever place-based cuisine you want!

Lilla said...

Cara Elisabeth, seguo sempre le tue avventure ma il mio inglese non è molto buono, così solo dagli ultimi post ho capito che Lora è tua figlia...trovo stupendo che abbiate entrambe un blog! E le foto della spiaggia... vivi in un posto davvero bellissimo!

Bridgett ~ La Bella Cook said...

The veggies and dishes look fabulous. How lucky to get such great gifts and have a fabulous weekend. Love the pics.

Elin said...

Elisabeth....glad you had a wonderful weekend and I just love that veggies dish. Remember to invite me the next time you send out invitation to dinner at your place :p Meanwhile I just drool here :)

Btw, I am here to give you this award the Versatile Blogger Award! Please stop by http://www.elinluvdelights.com/2011/05/i-won-versatile-blogger-award.html to collect it!

Have a nice day !

Cheers,
Elin

aipi said...

The sauteed veggies look so nice n fresh! I like them a lot sometimes I just stick them in a pita pocket and enjoy a wholesome meal :)
Gorgeous beach pics ! It must be so much fun to get those goodies..
US Masala

Nami @ Just One Cookbook said...

What a delicious feast!!! Your veggies and ribs are amazing... The ocean is so blue and so beautiful... Feel very calm by looking at it. Good for my tired eyes for a moment. :-)

Magic of Spice said...

Hi there, blogger is back up :) Everything looks wonderful but I can't believe those veggies and a huge bag for a dollar, wow! Fantastic looking dish :)

KonstantKraver said...

Wow Elisabeth all that those delicious dishes ,I wouldn't know which one to try first!!!