Z-Z-Z-Zeppoles!

I picked up a new cookbook this week.  It's entirely dedicated to Donuts.  I was practically drooling while browsing through it in the store.  Can we say "YUM"?

I could barely contain my excitement and needed to try out a recipe asap.  I studied all the mouth-watering recipes and chose Ricotta Zeppoles.  I loooooooove Zeppoles!  There is a little Italian restaurant/pizzeria down the street from us that serve wonderful Zeppoles.  I haven't had any in quite awhile.  I knew it was time to rectify that.

Here they are fresh from the hot oil and dusted with powdered sugar.  They are delightful!  The recipe called for orange zest which added a very nice & subtle flavor.  I will definitely be making these again.

Now I better go hide a few for later before Hubby eats them all!

Where Does Time Go?

I feel as if I'm living in some sort of time warp right now.  I honestly don't know how all my time keeps escaping me.  I'll tell myself that I'm going to post on here and then somehow it doesn't happen.

Must get better about updating!  I'm able to keep up with my other blog, 365 Day of Thanks. I use blogger for both. So, why do I keep forgetting about this one?  It's not like I don't think about food on a regular basis.  Honestly, I think about food too much if that's possible.

In honor of my birthday 2 weekends ago, I told the Hubby that I wanted to try another Diners Drive-In's & Dives restaurant here in the Phoenix area. Giuseppe's On 28th is an absolute gem!  Guy Fieri was not lying when he raved about the food.  It was fantastic.

This was my dinner.  Are you drooling?  You should be.  It was the yummiest Pork Osso Bucco served with fresh pasta.  So Good!  I had remembered seeing it prepared on the episode of DD&D.  I knew I had to try it.

Giuseppe's may now be my favorite DD&D restaurant that we've visited.  It's a close tie between a couple of others, but I quickly fell in love with this restaurant.  You wouldn't expect such phenomenal food from a restaurant in a strip mall.  Yet, I can't wait to go back.

If you've never seen the episode, I'll share it with you.  Try not to salivate all over your keyboard!

PF Chang Frozen Meals

I have seen a few commercials for PF Chang's new frozen meals.  I was rather surprised that they chose to go into the frozen food business, but then again it is becoming more common.  They were right next to TGIFriday's frozen meals.

I decided to try out their Orange Chicken.  My Hubby usually craves some type of Chinese for dinner on a weekly basis.  I knew that he'd be more then willing to give it a go.

This is how it looked when I first poured it out of the bag.  It's easy enough to cook.  You simply cover the skillet and let cook over medium-high heat for 10-12 minutes.  The mix contains breaded chicken, carrots, water chestnuts, edamame and sauce.

This is how it looks after the sauce has melted from it's solid form.  It smelled good.  It didn't even dawn on me when I bought the bag that it didn't include rice.  Thankfully, I had some rice in the pantry.  If I buy this again, I'll have to remind myself of this fact.  I hate having to make emergency runs to the market.

I opted to toss the rice in after it was done simmering.  There was a lot of sauce in the pan.  Why have it go to waste?  Personally, I prefer to have it all mixed together.

Overall, it was good.  Hubby enjoyed it.  It had a little bit of spice to it.  I noticed some small chili pepper flakes in the sauce.  The one thing I liked best about it was that it had enough chicken for the both of us.  A lot of frozen meals seem to be lacking in that department.  We've tried some in the past that claim to be enough for 2 people, but only contained a few bits of meat.  That always annoys me.  PF Changs gets a thumbs up from me for that!

Flag Cake

I think everyone has their own little variation on the Flag Cake.  I've seen it created in a variety of ways including using cupcakes.


Personally, I love Ina Garten's aka Barefoot Contessa version.  It looks lovely and how can you go wrong with one of her recipes?

Ingredients

• 18 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3 cups sugar
• 6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 1 cup sour cream at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

For the icing:

• 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 1/2 pounds cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

To assemble:

• 2 half-pints blueberries
• 3 half-pints raspberries

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter and flour an 18 by 13 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed, until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and stir until smooth.

Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Pour into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.

For the icing, combine the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mixing just until smooth.

Spread three-fourths of the icing on the top of the cooled sheet cake. Outline the flag on the top of the cake with a toothpick. Fill the upper left corner with blueberries. Place 2 rows of raspberries across the top of the cake like a red stripe. Put the remaining icing in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe two rows of white stripes below the raspberries. Alternate rows of raspberries and icing until the flag is completed. Pipe stars on top of the blueberries.

I serve this cake right in the pan. If you want to turn it out onto a board before frosting, use parchment paper when you grease and flour the pan.

If you have a 4th of July party/barbecue to attend this weekend, you can't go wrong with bringing this dessert.  Heck, even if you don't have plans, make it for yourself and enjoy not having to share!

Lost In The World of Butter & Cheese

Have you ever had one of those days/weeks/year that just suck you in and don't let go?

I will admit that for the past week or more I have been in quite a funk.  Life has threw one curve-ball after another at me and I find myself behind in the count.  Two strikes against me.  I don't want to see another strike come across the plate.

That's why I haven't updated.  I would tell myself that I need to blog.  However, I let the funk consume me.

In food news, I am looking forward to a new episode of Man v Food tonight.  Does anyone else love this show as much as I do?  Adam Richman makes me smile.  I just want to hug him!  He has one of the coolest jobs ever.  I'd love to see him and Guy Fieri at a restaurant together.  How awesome would a DD&D/Man v Food episode be?  I'd be in television food heaven.

Adam faces a 5 pound grilled cheese sandwich tonight in Cleveland.  I can feel my arteries clogging with gooey goodness just imagining it.  Mmmmm.  Cheese Glorious Cheese!!!  And, of course, you can't do a proper grilled cheese sandwich without some BUTTER.

Here's a teaser for tonight's episode...

Dazzo's Dog House

Ok, I seriously should have taken a picture of my lunch.  I completely forgot that the restaurant doesn't have a website from which to snag a photo.  I need to make a mental note of grabbing the camera when going to restaurants worth blogging.

The Husband was in the mood for Dazzo's Dog House.  It's a small, local, cash-only restaurant that serves up Chicago style favorites.  And no, we don't live anywhere near Chicago.  I don't know if it's because Arizona is the spring-training home for both the Cubs and White Sox or maybe a lot of residents previously lived in Chicago, but there are a lot of Chicago style eateries in this area.

I'm happy no matter the reason.  I love Chicago food especially the dogs and the Italian beef.  Dazzo's does a great Chicago dog.  They use the Vienna style all-beef hotdog.  They have the celery salt.  No ketchup on the dog.  However, they don't add tomatoes or the pickle.  I'm not a fan of tomatoes, but I would enjoy the pickle.  No idea why they don't, but I'm not going to complain.

What do I love most about Dazzo's?  The fresh cut french fries are fantastic.  LOVE 'em!  They are so good I don't even feel the need to dip them in anything.  That doesn't happen very often.  I'm a dipping kind of girl after all!

If you ever find yourself in Glendale, Arizona, do yourself a favor and stop by Dazzo's.  You won't be disappointed.  Just be sure to bring cash, they don't do credit cards/debit/checks.

DD&D - Chino Bandido

I am a huge fan of Diners Drive-Ins & Dives.  Guy Fieri is definitely a Foodie Crush of mine.  I adore him.

When the Hubby and I moved to Arizona, I was excited because I knew Guy had visited a few places in the Phoenix area.  Heck, we have 3 places he's visited just here in Glendale alone.  One of the places that was high on my list for visiting was Chino Bandido.



When I watched this episode (while we were still living in Rhode Island), I thought "What a cool idea!"  I was tickled pink when it dawned on me that it was in Phoenix.  The Hubby & I had a craving for it this weekend.  When we arrived, it looked as a lot of other people had that same craving.  It's always busy.  Thankfully, it's never that long of a wait.

I enjoyed their Chinese BBQ Pork in a Quesadilla and Teriyaki  Chicken in a Burrito.  Add Refried Beans & Pork Fried Rice and it was perfection.  They even toss in a Snickerdoodle Cookie.  YUM!

I plan on taking a camera with me next time.  I want to be able to share some photos on here.  And I'm sure it won't be long before I have another craving.