Houston's Rainbow Lodge

I have been meaning to blog about a dinner Evan and I had a few weeks ago, we had the most amazing meal at the Rainbow Lodge in the Heights in Houston.  Evan and I enjoyed our experience here so much, that I would, without a doubt, suggest this place to anyone!  It is a gem in the middle of the city and every bite was incredible!

If you're interested in heading to the Rainbow Lodge - check out their website here!

The Rainbow Lodge has been in Houston for over 30 years and looks like a old log cabin nestled in the heard of the city.  

 Complete with gardens on the grounds, a beautifully landscaped back porch area with various levels of patios and porches, and of course, mounted animals all around!

The menu looked amazing..... we couldn't decide what to get. So, we ordered the "Chef  Tasting Special" which included 7 plates personally prepared.... and presented by him.  I wish there were words to describe just how delicious each plate was!  I will do my best to explain each item as I remember it, and you will probably get sick of reading words like, "delicious, scrumptious, delectable, tasty, mouth-watering...." and many many more!

I wish I could remember what this was....I think it might be the Southern Fried Quail on White Cheddar Organic Grits, Bourbon Bacon Gravy.  

Pressed Watermelon Salad, Marinated Banana Peppers, 

Ricotta Salata, White Balsamic Emulsion served on a chilled piece of slate.

Happy girl!

Don't remember.... just looking at this photo makes my mouth water!  The chef was young, younger than Evan and I, and every member of the staff spoke so highly of him!  It seems he is a visionary in the food world and the entire restaurant is excited for the possibilities. 

Evan and I licked each plate clean, got to talk to the chef about each of his creations, chat with him about all things food :) and went home happy and bellies completely full!

Don't drink the water!!!!

There's definitely something in the water.... if you're looking for a major life event, start drinking the water in Texas!  We recently celebrated a wonderful couple expecting their first baby.  If you want to know more about this awesome couple, check out their blog, The Dan Wam Fam!

Danielle and Dan are expecting their first child sometime in December and my sister wanted to host a cute little shower to get the baby mania going!  My sister, Adrienne, is a party planner extraordinaire!  Super detailed and even more organized, I just show up at her house and do what she tells me.  And Voila.... beautiful party!

Variety of delicious food including fruit cups, chicken salad sandwiches (I had three), and the best pasta salad I think I've ever had! (Adrienne, please blog the recipe!!)

My sister's a genius! Spray painting ball jars gold for vases.... beautiful!

These Macaroons from Ganache were amazing!!! Now I'm crazing meringue cookies.....

Danielle and her sorority sisters :) I love how corny this photo is!

Sisters-in-law unite!  So, Katie and Ari are not technically related... not by blood anyway. But everyone kept commenting on how much they look alike.  Apparently so much so, that when I posted some of these photos on Facebook, the computer kept trying to tell me that they were the same person!

Kelly and Joan

Danielle was so funny, she brought her sonogram photos to prove to everyone that she is actually pregnant! :)

Oscar's new friend!

Katie and Joan.... adorable photo!

Here are lots of present opening photos!  Danielle was so kind to go through and really appreciate all of the amazing things people gave her.... diapers, blankets, onesies, and some really personalized gifts that make every ooh and awe :)

So, while everyone around me is jumping on the baby-making bandwagon... I'm still holding out.  Here's my box of diapers to D where I Sharpied mustaches on all of the babies' faces....

Party time!  

Danielle's grandmother makes the most extraordinary quilts.... 

Katie W. made an awesome gift for the nursery, a large frame with photos of Dan when he was a little tyke and an open space in the middle for a picture of the new Dan :)  I'm pretty sure everyone had a few tears in their eyes!

I'll leave you with the LSU gear!

Can't wait to meet little Dan!!! :)  You both are going to make amazing, loving, and spirited parents!

Nutella Pastries!

It's no surprise that I love Nutella.  Try these guys with a cup of coffee or cold glass of milk for breakfast or snack! These pastries surely won't disappoint :)

Take some puff pastry dough or croissant roll dough and spread with a layer of Nutella.

 Fill half with mini marshmallows, fold and pinch together into a pastry.

 Brush tops with egg wash (egg white + teaspoon of water) and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 min. 

 I might not have done the best job at pinching the edges together.  Some of the melted marshmallow and Nutella oozed out of my pastry.

But that didn't stop me from enjoying it!! :)

S'more please!

Most people don't know that my roommate and I decided that we weren't going to get cable when we moved in together.  Neither of us watch much TV, I don't even own a TV, so why spend the money.

Then the Olympics came and I LOVE the Olympics! I really should have considered taking a few days off of work because all I want to do, all I think about, is the Olympics!

So, during the two weeks that the games were on, I was spending a lot of time over at my friend Susan's house. Luckily, she is as crazy as I am about the games had everything recording from the beginning.

To repay her for my incessant company, I've been cooking and/or baking every time I'm over.  Baking has been winning lately and these were amazing!! 

A girl after my own heart- Susan loves S'mores just as much as I do and this recipe caught both of our attentions. 

S'mores Cookies!!

by The Girl Who Ate Everything 

who apparently found the recipe from Ice Cream Before Dinner

I think Cookie recipes are proof enough that we are living in a fact sharing, global economy :)

S'mores Cookies

Source: Ice Cream Before Dinner

Ingredients:
11 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 ½ cups flour
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows
3 regular sized Hershey’s bars, broken into pieces
1-2 packages graham crackers, broken into squares

Instructions:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon to combine. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter with white and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixer and combine on low speed.
Fold in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour to overnight (I did one batch right away and another after chilling overnight and found there was no difference.)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line baking pans with parchment paper. I used one 11x17 pan and one 9x13 pan but you can really use any sized pans you want.
Lay out graham crackers side by side on the pans as close as possible (they should be touching). I used 16 graham cracker squares on one pan and 10 squares on another. You may have to add or remove graham crackers according to how much dough you have. If you want your cookies thicker you will use more dough and less graham crackers.

Place tablespoons of dough on graham crackers about 1 – 1 ½ inches apart. I averaged about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough per graham cracker square as seen in the picture above. Press down slightly with fingertips.

Bake for 5 minutes then remove from oven to press Hershey’s bar pieces on to the top. You can place as many pieces or as little as you want depending how much chocolate flavor you want.

Bake for 5 – 7 more minutes or until dough is beginning to turn golden brown at the edges. Remove to a wire rack to cool. For clean cutting make sure cookies are completely cool and cut with a sharp knife.

Yes! They are as ooie-gooie scrumdialumptious as they look! 

If you wanted to cut out the middle man- you could certainly use store bought cookie dough and add marshmallows!!

I am Erika Barczak and I approve these cookies :)

As I was walking from the kitchen to the living room - cookie in hand to enjoy while watching the games - I couldn't help but take a pic of this sign Susan has in her kitchen.  Halfway down.... you'll see "bake cookies" and "visit a friend!"

Passino Annual Crawfish Boil 2012

For over 20 years, Evan's Houston family, the Passinos have had a summer crawfish boil. While the party has moved around from place to place, there are always the same 3 ingredients...

1. Hot, spicy, and scrumptious crawfish,

2. Wonderful people to hang out with,

3. Hot weather and plenty of cold beer!

Vincent holding one of the crawfish;
we were lucky to have such large crawfish for this
late in the summer season!

This year, I invited my good friends, Susan and Vincent to the bash. It was Vincent's first boil, the crawfish were huge, and we were all hungry!

Susan and Vincent messing around with the crawfish.

Evan has been coming to this boil for over 5 years now and has been promoted to head Passino Crawfish Boil Chef! A title he does not take lightly; he slaves over the hot pots for hours making some of the best crawfish I've ever had!

First you boil the veggies in water and boil seasoning for about 30 minutes. 

Remove the veggies and add the crawfish to the boil.
After 5 minutes, turn the heat off and let sit for about 20 minutes.

The crawfish and veggies get mixed together with some added seasoning.

This isn't the Passino's first rodeo;
they have a specially constructed table with a
convenient hole in the middle for trash. Don't worry,
someone thought to cover the hole before the food was dumped on the table!

The fresh and steaming hot food is dumped on the table and it's chow time!