Sightseeing in Rochester

Laura and I went to Corn Hill for lunch today.  She hasn't been in that area in ages and it has changed so much I thought it would be a nice place to go and sit outside along the river.  We walked along the river for awhile and then went back and read the menus on the different restaurants and decided on Ticos, a Mediterranean restaurant that was Aladdins until about six months ago.

We started talking about the Laser Light Show at High Falls and then decided to take a look at what was still over in that area. 

 The Light Show is gone and restaurants are diffferent but s we walked across the bridge we

discovered a restaurant by the Genesee brewery, which has a nice outside deck and the menu looks good.  It opened in 2012, where have I been?

Wonder how much longer the Kodak name will be here or is it considered a landmark and live on.

It was fun doing some sightseeing at home.  I think I need to do more of it.

Cheese Souffle

I had a delicious cheese souffle  at the Springside Inn in Auburn yesterday and thought I wanted to try making one myself.  Found this one by Alton Brown http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/cheese-souffle-recipe/index.html but it needs to be made with a large saucepan not small like it says in the recipe and the cheese needs to be grated.

Ingredients

• Butter, room temperature, for greasing the souffle
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• 1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/3 cups milk, hot
• 4 large egg yolks (2 1/2 ounces by weight)
• 6 ounces sharp Cheddar, grated
• 5 egg whites plus 1 tablespoon water (5 1/2 ounces by weight plus 1/2 ounce water)
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions

• Use room temperature butter to grease an 8-inch souffle mold. Add the grated Parmesan and roll around the mold to cover the sides. Cover with plastic wrap and place into the freezer for 5 minutes.

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

• In a large saucepan, heat the butter. Allow all of the water to cook out.

• In a separate bowl combine the flour, dry mustard, garlic powder, and kosher salt. Whisk this mixture into the melted butter. Cook for 2 minutes.

• Whisk in the hot milk and turn the heat to high. Once the mixture reaches a boil, remove from the heat.

• In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks to a creamy consistency. Temper the yolks into the milk mixture, constantly whisking. Remove from the heat and add the cheese. Whisk until incorporated.

• In a separate bowl, using a hand mixer, whip the egg whites and cream of tartar until glossy and firm. Add 1/4 of the mixture to the base. Continue to add the whites by thirds, folding very gently.

• Pour the mixture into the souffle. Fill the souffle to 1/2-inch from the top. Place on an aluminum pie pan. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes.

Surprise Party

Laura and Greta and all of Greta's family came to town for a surprise 70th birthday party for their Dad.
Myles, Hunter and Tucker stayed with us for the two nights they were here and in no time they each found a computer to use. 

 Saturday while Laura and Greta were decorating

I took them to play miniature golf and to Abbotts for ice cream.

I wasn't invited to the party but since I had to drive down there to pick up all the leftovers, how could I resist crashing the party and wishing John a happy birthday

 and meeting Ann

A good picture of Laura, John and Greta

Myles didn't want to go back down to the clubhouse but it looks like Tucker, Hunter and Greta are enjoying make your own sundaes and cake.

Chicken Wrapped Eggplant

Saw this on Kelly and Michael this morning - looks real good and good as leftovers so make a big batch!

Maria Menounos' Chicken with Eggplant

INGREDIENTS:
2 big, long eggplants; sliced the long way (1/8 of an inch—or about 5-7 slices)
¼ cup olive oil, plus extra for brushing
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced, or Portobello mushrooms (sauté them first)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper or ½ teaspoon seeded and diced jalapeños
1 cup of feta cheese

Sauce Ingredients:
One 7-ounce can tomato sauce*
One 10- to 12- ounce can diced tomatoes
½ cup olive oil
½ cup diced yellow onion
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ground black pepper

Note: Instead of canned sauce, another option is to dice 6 to 8 fresh tomatoes and cook for 15 minutes.

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Spray or brush the eggplant slices with oil. Place them in a baking dish and bake until they get some color, about 10 minutes. Take them out of the oven to cool.

In a sauté pan, cook the chicken in the ¼ cup of oil until golden brown on all sides. Add the onion, spices, and peppers and cook for a few more minutes. Let cool.

Place one tablespoon of the chicken into the middle of an eggplant slice. Wrap the eggplant around the chicken and place the roll on a baking pan. Repeat until you run out of chicken.

To prepare the sauce, in a small saucepan over medium heat, cook all the ingredients together for 7 minutes.

Spoon the sauce over the top of the eggplant rolls.

Sprinkle one cup of feta cheese on top of eggplant rolls.

Bake for 30 Min.


This recipe comes from Maria Menounos' book "The EveryGirl's Guide to Life."

Crab, Avocado and Mango Chopped Salad

Audrey made this recipe last night but without the popovers and lettuce.  Added some cucumbers for crunch.  Substitued greek yougurt for creme fraiche and served it on lettuce leaves.  Should have taken a picture because it looked so pretty.  Don't know what's wrong with me forgetting to do that but I have this that I borrowed and cropped from Food Network so I can remember the basics.

 

I also made the pasta salad that we had at the Red Wine Tasting Party on Saturday.  Even though the person who made it said he put in about 15 cloves of garlic maybe he was exaggerating because I used about 6 and thought it was way too garlicky and I love garlic!  I only have the ingredients for that and they're at the bottom of page.

 

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis and Audrey

Full recipe here

Ingredients:

1 medium orange, zested
1 lime, zested
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon creme fraiche
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup safflower oil
1 pound fresh lump crabmeat, patted dry, cubed if large
1 cup chopped radicchio or 1 cup chopped red Belgian endive
4 green onions, chopped
1 large avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, diced
One 1-pound mango, peeled, seeded, diced

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the orange and lime zest, orange and lime juices, creme fraiche, salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in the oil. Add the crabmeat, radicchio, onions, avocado and mango. Toss until combined.

When the popovers are baked through, remove the popovers from the oven. Twist each out of its dish and cool on a wire rack.

Place the popovers on a platter. Using a serrated knife, remove the tops of the popovers. Using a large spoon, fill each popover with the salad, mounding in the center. Serve immediately.

Pasta Salad with Dried Apricots
pasta of your choice
olive oil
dried apricots minced
finely minced garlic to taste
maple syrup to taste
fresh rosemary and parsley

Directions:
Cook pasta, add olive oil to moisten.  Mince garlic and add to taste.
I added some basil too and probably whatever you want goes.
Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper & Onion Dip Recipe

Going to bring this to the French Wine Tasting tomorrow.  Easy and delicious.  First had it when Georganna brought it to something down at the clubhouse.  Couldn't believe this was all there was to it.

Ingredients

8 oz. Cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup Robert Rothschild Farm Roasted Red Pepper & Onion

Instructions

Mix softened cream cheese and Roasted Red Pepper & Onion Dip in a bowl.
Place mixture in a decorative bowl and serve with crackers or baguette slices.

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper & Onion Dip Recipe

Cape Cod

On Thursday I left Laura's and Larry and I drove out to the Cape to see Michael and Doris's new house in Chatham.  This is the view from the front.

Here is the back.

This is a door that got made into a wall.  We want to see how long it takes for the wood to get weathered.

Larry and I took a drive around town.

Michael and Larry enjoying a peaceful and afternoon.  Notice the family resemblance (elbow up!)

We took a walk along the beach one day.

Had beautiful sunsets each night.

The next day we took a hike that warned us that it was a deer tick habitat.   Wasn't that encouraging?

It's getting dark so the birds are rushing to get to their roosts.

And another sunset.

The next day we saw a turtle out on the back lawn.

Boston and NH

On Friday morning I drove from Greta's to Laura's. I left later than I planned and because of traffic it took me longer than I plnnned too but it was perfect because I got to Laura's at the same time she got home from the gym.  We hung out and relaxed and enjoyed seeing each other.
Laura made her spectacular turkey burger salad for dinner.

 On Saturday we went into Boston.  We parked in the Prudential Center and walked over to Newbury Street and had lunch at Stephanie's.

 We went to Boston Commons and then Boston Public Gardens

 We saw the Ducklings

 And had a ceremonial exchange of Mom-Daughter bracelets

 A memorial for the Boston Marathon bombing

We meandered back to the car, knowing that we had passed the 3 hour $12 parking with a purchase in the Prudential Center (which we didn't have yet) but when we got back there we checked the ticket for the time we parked and realized unless we purchased something, got to the car and to the exit in 10 minutes we would have to pay the full rate of $36 instead of the $20- 4 hour rate.  We found something in Barnes & Noble and made it to the exit with 1 minute to spare!!!

 Before we left for New Hampshire Laura couldn't find her Sweet 'n Low that she had recently used.  Just before we were ready to leave she was changing Sydneys food and guess what she found.

Sunday we drove to NH to see Nadine's new house.  We loved sitting on her porch and Laura had all the dogs - Murdoch, Max and Nadine's friend Kathy's dog Sam to welcome her.

 Some relaxing and chatting  time on the porch after a nice, healthy lunch that Nadine had for us.

 At night we went into Wolfeboro and checked out Lake Winnipesaukee

 and had dinner at The Restaurant

 The House

The house got it's name because Murdoch would spend a lot of time in the driveway and when Nadine and Gerry would meet new people they would ask them where they lived and when they told them, the reply was always "Oh, the house with the big white dog."

 We walked Nadine's meditation garden

 At each corner was a birdhouse with a saying on it

 When you reached the center there were chairs and an umbrella as a reward

 Monday we went back to Laura's and she made chicken quesadillas for dinner.

I stayed until Thursday, while Laura went to work.  I did some walking and shopping and managed to fill the days without any problem.  I made some more turkey burgers so we could have more turkey burger salad.  YUM!!