A Favorite Recipe

I thought I would take a minute to share a favorite, EASY recipe that Hollyanne and I love, which was also a big hit at Thanksgiving last year! Katie Ryan-Anderson, even YOU can make this (Yes, I'm calling you out). Last night we were in a hurry for dinner after being gone most of the day volunteering at the El Pueblo Farmer's Market (9-1 Saturdays at 6th and Irvington, come see us!), and then needing to head out again for the evening. We bought several sweet potatoes from the Farmer's Market, and had some Ziploc Steam Bags (Full disclosure: they don't pay us, we just love the bags) on hand. Knowing we needed to eat quick and get out the door, we made the recipe below, served on a bed of brown rice. Trust me, it was delicious. This recipe is straight from Ziploc's website. Anyone can make this!

Sweet Potatoes with Apples and Cranberries

2 medium to large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in to large pieces

2 tablespoons dried cranberries

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 medium Granny Smith apple (Gala works well, too), cored and diced in to 1 inch pieces

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

3/4 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in to Ziploc Steam bag and seal the bag. Shake the bag up, mixing everything together. Pat all of the ingredients into a single layer and place the bag in the microwave. Heat on high for 9 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are tender. Let stand for one minute, then open the bag and serve. This makes a great side dish at Thanksgiving, or you can add some pasta (as we did) for a great vegetarian meal!

Fiance Friday #3 (Sunday Edition)

Hello blog-o-sphere!

I hope all is well where you are currently! I just wanted to start this by apologizing for the lateness of this post. Many of you readers have let me know that you were, indeed, disappointed that I was unable to post on Friday. With limited internet connectivity all weekend being away in Omaha, I was unable to post until now. As promised in last week's post,below is a full report on the catering tasting!

First, I thought I would start with a little lesson we all learned. With the tasting being at 1pm, and being unaware of how much food each of us would be sampling, we decided to eat lunch ahead of time at one of Holl and I's FAVORITE places, Panera Bread. For those of you reading this from Tucson, it compares with Beyond Bread, except it is 500x's better. :) Anyways, the lesson we learned from this was NOT to eat lunch before tasting the catering! There was A LOT of food once we got to Bob's (the caterer) restaurant in downtown Omaha. A side note, if you are looking for a good place for breakfast or lunch in downtown Omaha, check out Bob's Grill & Cafe.

As far as the tasting goes, we sampled several different things. First, there was both a garden and a caesar salad - both of which were very tasty! Then, there was both penne and fehttuchini, with a choice of alfredo or marinara sauce. From my viewpoint, the pasta itself is just pasta. It's really all about the sauce that can really make or break it. I was definitely not disappointed! Both sauces were outstanding!! We then had a chicken penne pasta bake, with melted cheese on top, with a mix of both sauces for the sauce. It was also DELICIOUS! The last thing we sampled was chicken parmesan, which, of course, was delicious once again! I can't say enough good things about all of this food! Those of you who know me, know that I don't lead people astray when it comes to matters of food. :)

You may be wondering now, what we chose to go with. Well, after a very insightful conversation with Bob, we have decided on going with the salads, the penne and fehttuchini, and the chicken parmesan, with breadsticks. :) Trust me, it will be amazing! :)

One last note before I end this week, this is for those of you currently/in the future planning a wedding. When you select a caterer, make sure to ask if they include a tasting! If they do, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT!! You may already know what food you would like, just by looking at the menu, but take advantage of it anyways! Remember, there is never a reason to pass up something delicious and free! :) To end, the picture this week is of the spread of food!

Until next week,

Kevin