An Awesome Long Weekend!

So, the hubby and I decided to take a four-day weekend to visit his family before we move to Alaska, and it was so much fun!! I knew we'd be eating and eating and eating tons of good food while we were gone, so in preparation, I decided to make a healthier dinner of baked salmon with sauteed asparagus, zucchini & squash, with some quinoa. Super-easy, and super-yummy.
Now, my husband's best friend from high school is living with the sous chef and the head pastry chef from one of the nicest restaurants in Walla Walla, Whitehouse Crawford. I actually got to go bowling with the head pastry chef, can you believe that?! It was like a foodie celebrity sighting, lol!

On Friday night, we popped by the restaurant for dessert, and he recommended the creme brulee for me. It was DIVINE!! The sugar crust cracked puuuuuuuuurfectly when I got it, it made me giggle! I scarfed this badboy down in a most unladylike manner, but I didn't care, I was in creme brulee heaven!!

He recommended the puff pastry atop lemon meringue drizzled with blackberry sauce for my husband, and boy, it was impressive!! So many different flavors to taste. We shared with each other, of course!

So, if you're ever in the area of Walla Walla, definitely make a trip to the Whitehouse Crawford, even if it's just for drinks and dessert. They serve tons of local wines (there are over 100 wineries in Walla Walla) and they staff there is really friendly. Two thumbs WAY up!

~Mehgan~

Cooking For Friends

One of the biggest compliments about being an avid cook/baker is when a friend of yours comes to you asking you to make dessert for 10+ people. This happened to me last weekend, in fact. My friend Diana called me to let me know that we were invited to a potluck at her house on Friday night, and specifically asked that I make dessert. I was at work until 3pm and the party was at 6pm, so I had no idea what to make. I headed to the grocery store on the way home having nothing in particular in mind. All I knew was that these hungry people would need dessert (Yep, I'm in there, too):

As soon as I saw these perfectly ripe mangoes, I knew exactly what to make. Since most of the attendees are Italian, I wanted to incorporate wine into the dessert. So, here's my recipe for Grown-Up Mango Parfait:

Ingredients:

-2 ripe mangoes

-1/4 cup white wine (I actually used Riesling, since it's a dessert wine)

-1 tsp vanilla

-1 pint heavy whipping cream

-1/8 cup finely ground sugar

-10 small decorative cookies

Instructions: Peel and slice mangoes (carefully, they'll be really slippery) into bite-sized pieces. Place in saucepan with wine, cook over low-medium heat for about 45 minutes to an hour. Let cool. Whip the heavy cream with the sugar until it thickens. In a glass (I used martini and margarita glasses) place about two large spoonfuls of the mango mixture, then add a large dollup of the whipped cream. Top it with the decorative cookie (I used heart-shaped butter cookies with milk chocolate on one side and white chocolate drizzled on the other).

These parfaits were so lovely, and a nice accompaniment to the dinner. I didn't want to make something heavy that would take a lot of babysitting, since I knew I would be consuming adult beverages and didn't want to worry about burning it. They went over well, I even caught a few people licking the inside of their glasses.

~Mehgan~