Dinner with friends

I went to dinner Friday night with some girl friends.  We ate at Roma Deli on Spring Mountain Road between Linville and Jones.  What a great little restaurant!  The bread was great which they served with oil and vinegar. (I never trust an Italian restaurant which serves butter with their bread.  We all had wonderful pasta dishes; I had penne pasta with broccoli and oil which was prepared perfectly.  We stayed so long eating and talking that the waiter sent us each home with a bag of left over bread.  How delightful!  The friends I ate with are all involved with the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society.  These are dedicated ladies who have been rescuing cats and dogs form the most horrible situations for years.  If you ever feel the need to donate either time or money to an animal organization this is the one.  No one receives a salary and the money is all spent for the animals.  Check out http://www.lvvhumane.org/

A tribute to my sister and best friend - Pat

Today if she were still alive my sister Pat would be 71 years young.  Pat was a very special person.  She was vibrant and full of life.  Pat loved all kinds of life evidenced by all the dogs and cats she rescued and cared for.  She loved nature and the outdoors.  Pat was an artist and a teacher.  In the 70's she taught physical education in high school and coached a girl's basketball team encouraging young women to spread their wings and shoot for the stars.  She would sit with girls in her office and help them fill out college applications that she obtained for them.  One such girl finally finished college after many starts and stops and now runs a grant program in which she takes new college graduates before they go to their real jobs and spends six or eight weeks doing community service projects.  She was an artist creating beautiful designs and encouraging others to do the same.  Pat was full of compassion, life and sunshine.  Today I celebrate Pat's birthday and remember the precious gifts she gave me and many others. 

The Flat Belly Diet Book

So maybe to look at me you think I don't need to be on a diet; but everyone needs to eat healthier.  My husband; Steve heard about a new book called "Flat Belly Diet" written by the editors of Prevention magazine.  One of my favorite cookbooks is also by Prevention magazine so I thought we should give it a try.  The basis of the book is to eat four 400 calorie meals a day, never starving yourself, drinking sassy water and adding MUFA's to every meal.  Sassy water is water with grated ginger, sliced lemon and cucumber and mint leaves added.  The taste takes a bit of getting used to but is designed to aid in digestion and helping you feel full.  This really does work - I feel less hungry when I'm drinking the water several times a day.  MUFA is an acronym for monounsaturated fatty acids.  This is the good fat found in oils, nuts and seeds, olives, avocados and dark chocolate.  A diet book that tells you to eat dark chocolate; thats for me!Our bodies require fat but too much of the fat in our diets is the wrong fat.  There is tons of information in the book explaining how you can ward off cancer, adult diabetes and even Alzheimer's disease by eating healthier.  

Provolone Terrine

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sun dried or oven roasted tomatoes, chopped small

1 1/4 pound sliced provolone

1 cup pesto

cheesecloth

8 ounces cream cheese

1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 garlic clove minced or pressed

pepper to taste

1/4 cup roasted pistachios

To make garlic cream cheese: In a food processor chop pistachios then add cream cheese, softened butter, garlic and season with pepper.  Set aside.

Cut the cheesecloth to lay in the bottom of a glass pie plate plus several inches to overlap on top.  Wet the cheesecloth with water and wring dry.  Place cheesecloth in the bottom of the glass pie plate.  Cut provolone slices in half.  Cover the bottom and sides of the pie plate with the provolone slightly overlapping the slices.  Smooth 1/2 of the pesto over the cheese.  Cover the pesto with provolone slices; slightly overlapping the slices again.  Sprinkle the cheese with 1/2 of the chopped tomatoes (either sundried of oven roasted).  Carefully spread garlic cream cheese mixture and sprinkle with the rest of the tomatoes.  Cover the tomatoes and cream cheese with another layer of provolone slices.  spread remaining pesto and cover with a final layer of provolone.  Fold the cheese cloth over the last layer of provolone, cover with saran wrap and press lightly to compact.  Chill at least 2 hours.  remove saran wrap and fold back the cheesecloth.  Invert a serving plate over the pie plate and flip everything over.  Allow cheese dish to loosen from the pie plate and remover the  cheesecloth.  Server with crustini of baguette.

Oven roasted tomatoes:  Quarter 12 roma tomatoes lengthwise and remove the seeds.  Toss tomatoes in olive oil, salt, pepper and Italian seasonings.  arrange tomatoes skin side down on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.  Roast in a 150 degree oven until dried and shriveled looking.  We will turn the oven on and off while roasting the tomatoes so not to cook them too fast.  Steve roasts tomatoes once a week and we add them to salads and other dishes.  They are so flavorful!

The Almarez Taco Martini

This is a recipe copied from a wonderful restaurant named J'Y's in France.  We named it after our friend who order it.

Martini Glasses

shredded crab meat

guacamole

diced tomatoes

shredded cabbage

cream fraise (sour cream will work)

crushed tortilla chips

Fill at least 1/2 of each Martini glass with crab meat.  Next layer with gaucamole, shredded cabbage, diced tomatoes, cream fraise and sprinkle crushed tortilla chips on top.