A Not-So-Bland Thanksgiving

Happy holidays, everyone! I've been looking forward to writing this post for a while, but haven't had a chance to do it! We've had company here at the Bland/Smith household since November 18th! It's been great, but it left little to no time for blogging. But, here it is!

~ Thanksgiving 2010 ~

We started the day off by putting up the Christmas tree!

And now... onto the FOOD!

(how stunning are those carrots, btw?)

Thanksgiving Menu

Fusilli Pasta with Creamy Pumpkin Pancetta Sauce

Roasted Leg of Lamb

and

Cornbread Stuffing with

olives, pinenuts, pancetta, and fresh herbs

with

Cranberry, Apple, and Mint Chutney

and

Roasted Jewel Carrots

Curried Parsnip & Apple Mash

Collard Greens

and

Roasted Baby Artichokes

Pecan Pie

&

Mini Chocolate Eclairs

Baby artichokes - soaking in lemon water

The cornbread stuffing - ready to go inside the leg!

Mmmmm....

Holy moley... that's a beautiful leg. :)

(Thanks, Jamie Oliver, for the recipe)

Are you salivating yet?

The pumpkin pancetta sauce

(Ryan and I had a similar dish in Italy - I wanted to recreate it)

Dad made his famous collard greens :)

Dad carved the lamb and we ate it. For a few days.

Cranberry, apple, and mint chutney

Mmmmm... stuffing

My plate!

( wish I had one in front of me RIGHT now...)

Hope you enjoyed checking out the pictures! It was a wonderful day of food, family, and 80 degree weather. ;) Hope everyone else has the happiest of holidays!

~ Mari

Back from the Honeymoon : Part I : Pizza

We're back! I bet you didn't even notice I was gone! Ryan and I finally went our honeymoon... and boy, was it worth the wait! We went on a two-week Mediterranean cruise and then spent four more days in Venice at the end of the cruise. Dang. It was awesome. We took a few (hundred) photos and I really want to post them all...but, don't worry. I shan't. I figured I would just stick to the food photos for right now. So, the first installment of pictures is...

PIZZA

Portofino, Italy

(left) mozzarella, pomodori, e rucola ~ mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and fresh arugula

(right) mozarella, pomodori, e prosciutto

Nice, France

Pizza Provencal ~ mozzarella, tomatoes, zucchini, olives, and anchovies

Florence, Italy
Pizza Quattro Stagione (Four Seasons): mozzarella, pomodori, funghi, carciofi, proscuitto, e olive - mozzarella, tomatoes, mushrooms, artichokes, proscuitto, and olives

Venice, Italy

Mozzarella, tomatoes, Bresaola (cured and salted horse meat), and parmasean cheese

Venice, Italy

Pizza Bianchi (White Pizza) - Artichoke cream sauce, proscuitto, and parmasean cheese

Venice, Italy

Pizza Gran Viale - tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, proscuitto, salami, sausage, eggplant, asparagus, artichokes, and tuna

Venice, Italy

Pizza Quattro Stagione - mozarella, tomatoes, mushrooms, artichockes, proscuitto, and grilled eggplant



Don't worry - I definitely plan on making some of these magnificent pizze and posting the recipe on here. But, for now, you can drool. ;) Hope you enjoyed looking at these amazing treats as much as I enjoyed eating them!

~ Mari

Greek Salad with Arugula and Artichokes

Today for lunch I was in the mood for one of my favorite salads: Greek salad. Yum. There's nothing fancy about it, but it's delicious, healthy, and (best of all) salty! Hah. Didn't expect that one, did ya? But, who doesn't love salt. For realz.

So, here's all I did to get that beautiful insalata in the photo above:

I chopped some Cucumbers:

Then I sliced some cherry tomatoes in half:

Then I chopped up some Feta cheese, kalamata olives, and marinated artichoke hearts:

Then I threw in some baby arugula and tossed it all with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. And as a last touch, I threw a dash of Italian seasoning on it!

Wahoo, right? Easy peasy. Hope you like it!

Cause I did! ;)

~ Mari