A Barefoot Weekend

I know what you are thinking....Barefoot?? With temps below zero the last thing you should be doing is walking around barefoot!! Trust me, I am not....I have been walking around all weekend in heavy snocks and my favorite LL Bean wool lined clogs!!

With these record low temps, I have no desire to leave the comforts of our home!! Friday night we had planned to go to a friends house for a dinner party, but the plans fell through because she got sick. Since we were no longer going out for dinner, I had to figure out what we were going to do....

After a little thought, I turned to one of my favorite gals for help.....this is where the barefoot comes in........

Any guesses???? Here's a hint....



All of you food netw@rk junkies probably knew the answer before you even looked at the picture.....The Barefoot Contessa. I have a couple of her cookbooks and I am forever printing her recipes from the internet. I was flipping through page after page when I remembered an episode that I had seen long ago, where she made Chicken Pot Pie....not only had I seen it on tv, but recently one of my favorite bloggers had tried this recipe out for herself and gave it rave reviews. I figured it would be the perfect thing to serve on a cold wintery night!!

For some reason and I am not sure why, but when the weather gets like this, I LOVE to cook......so this started my food/cooking obsession for the weekend.....

After I made her Chicken Pot Pie on Friday night....and it did not disappoint, it was fantastic!! I made some more of her recipes on Saturday......Roasted Red Pepper and Eggplant Dip, The Perfect Roast Turkey(I made this recipe on thanksgiving, but we had a frozen turkey that needed to be cooked, so I made it again) and last but not least, with a little help from my assistant, we made a Chocolate cake with Peanut Butter Icing for Nick's bday tomorrow.




This is the roasted red pepper and eggplant dip....I know some of you might not be eggplant lovers, but you can't even taste it with all the other ingredients!!

I served it with crackers and baked pita bread. I usually buy whole wheat pita, slice it and rub it with a little olive oil, sprinkle some salt, pepper, and oregano or italian seasoning....then bake it for 8 minutes on each side. They are perfect for dipping.

Another great idea is to use this as a spread on sandwiches.....I put it on a nice piece of bread(ciabatta is the best) with provolone and then put it in the panini press. Sarah loved it....she ate it for lunch today:)


Nick's bday cake!!

Thank goodness for the extra refrigerator in the basement....I had to hide the cake so no one would eat it before Monday!! The recipe was for cupcakes, but we turned it into a cake. I love to cook, but I am not a baker by any stretch of the imagination...... I tried to fancy it up a bit for Nick.....it is not perfect....let's just say that I was going for a rustic look...LOL!!

Nick is thrilled to have off from school tomorrow. I have a few appointments in the morning for work and my Mom will be here with both the kids....She and my Dad are taking them out for a special birthday lunch.

When I get back from work, I will be getting things ready for the special birthday dinner we have planned.......

When I asked Nick what he wanted for his special dinner, he asked if we could do a fondue night......so that is what we are doing. Cheese fondue with lots of fun stuff to dip and then chocolate peanut butter cake for dessert!!

Can I just say...I will be running the other way when I see a scale of any kind after this weekends food fest!

Oh and one last thing to wrap up our Barefoot themed weekend.....we invited my Mom to dinner Friday night because my Dad was away.....My Mom is one of those that can never show up empty handed, even when told...DON'T BRING ANYTHING...so what did she walk in carrying......A bottle of Barefoot brand wine.....how appropriate!!

I hope to do a Bday post for Nick tomorrow night.....and I will let you know if the cake was a winner!

Have a great week!!

A quick note: Last time I posted about food, a couple of you asked me about the recipes...I always link them in the post. Click on any of the bold highlighted words and they will link you directly to the recipe:)