Fall Is In The Air........Can You Smell It?

I love fall almost as much as I love pasta! This is one of my favorite shrimp pastas I make. Quick and easy dinner your whole family will devour!

Shrimp Gemelli with Prosciutto In A Cream Sauce

1 Package of Gemelli
4  Prosciutto slices
1  pound  large shrimp, peeled and divined (fresh or frozen)
2 garlic cloves (minced)
1 Cup of  frozen petit peas

 2 Cups of Milk or Cream
2 Tbsp  all-purpose flour
1 tsp   black pepper or white
1  Cup Parmesan cheese (grated)
1/4 Cup Chives (or green onion finely chopped)
1 Tbsp EVOO




Cook pasta according to package directions, drain well; keep warm.

Add olive oil and garlic to pan; then add shrimp and saute over medium-high heat 2 minutes.

Add peas and cook 2 more minutes just until shrimp are done.

Transfer shrimp mixture to a large bowl and keep warm.

Combine milk & flour into a air tight bowl and shake well. Add milk mixture to pan; then add pepper and stir with a whisk. Cook over medium heat  until thick and bubbly, toss in prosciutto stirring constantly with a spoon. Remove pan from heat, add cheese, mix until blended. Toss back in shrimp mixture, stir until combined.  You can mix in pasta or pour over pasta either way.... plate up and manga, manga!

Ms. Foodie

Another Fast Breakfast

I am not one to eat on the run but I do like to eat a good breakfast and run out the door. I don't care what the media says about eggs I LOVE THEM! Whether the little guys are "in" or "out" I will stay true to my little versatile friend.

Egg Bagel With Bacon

1 Asiago Cheese bagel (cut in half)

1-2 Eggs

2 Bacon slices

1 Tbsp of Cream Cheese

In a medium fry pan drop your bacon, as soon as one side is done flip bacon and pop bagel in toaster. Now crack your eggs next to bacon and break the yolks. Pour some fresh coffee, scramble eggs a bit, pull bacon so it doesn't burn...spread cream cheese on your hot toasty bagel, top with your steamy scrambled eggs and layer with bacon. You can wrap in foil and take with you if you really need to but I say sit down for 10 minutes and enjoy your breakfast! 

Tips: You can add salsa to your eggs for texmex breakfast or you could leave out the bacon, no mater how you combo this together it is a winner.

;) Ms. Foodie

Did You Know...

I'm sure you know that those sports drinks are loaded with lots of color dye and sugar, but ....

Did you know that by adding a pinch of sea salt to a gallon of drinking water would also create electrolytes?

Did you also know that most people walk around tired because they are dehydrated?

Drinking 8 oz of water a day is a one size does not fit all plan, in fact it is a wives tale!

People who eat lots of fresh veggies and food with a lot of water content like soup do not need to drink as much water.

Dr Oz explains how you can tell without me going into detail on a food blog ;) Just go to Oprah.Com and look for Dr Oz talking about how much water should we drink.

The Wonderful World Of Rice

Last year when I was in garage sale mode, my mother in law brought me over things to sale from the grandmas garage. It truly is scary how much stuff one can gather through the years. I already have my favorite slow cooker so I put grandmas out to sale. My boyfriend Matt came home and I told him no one wanted this old fashion slow cooker, should we just donate it. He laughed at me and told me it was an old rice cooker, I said "wow I've always wanted one of those!" We closed up the garage sale I got back to cooking, if you like rice but don't have a rice cooker GET ONE, they are amazing!!

Coconut Rice

1 Cup of Jasmin rice

1/2 Can of coconut milk

3/4 Cup of water

2 Cardamom pods

1 tsp of Cinnamon

1 tsp of salt

1 Tbsp of lime juice

1/4 cup of toasted coconut

Toss everything in rice cooker except toasted coconut

press the button and walk away until done :)

Pick out the cardamom pods and throw away/compost

Serve as a side dish with chicken or shrimp and top with toasted coconut. Grilled pineapple goes great with this also!

Never Forget

Today is a day I remember.......to be grateful, to send out love and spent time with my family.

9/11 helped me co-create a mentoring program for a group of NY high school students that were directly affected by that day. We helped  by redirecting anger to love and bridging gaps of miscommunication.

Everyday is a day to show love and be grateful because one never knows what happens next but for me I remember how the whole United States was tightly united for a few short years.

Ms. Foodie

Herbs On Ice

As summer winds down I am feverishly collecting my herbs that I'm not going to up root and bring inside. Herbs that I use maybe once or twice a month and herbs that I'm not going to dry. What am I going to do with these herbs, you ask??
 I am going to make a puree with the herb and a little water, then I'm going to fill up little ice cube trays and freeze them. After they are frozen I am going to keep them locked air tight in a labeled zip lock for easy use. I do this when my freezer gets to stocked with frozen basil and cilantro leaves also.

Thank you for reading, now get out and cook :)

Ms. Foodie

Ms. Foodie............ The Bartender

OK I don't really go to bars anymore and sometimes that's a shame. What I miss is knowing the next "hot" drink on the list. I feel old to say "hot" drinks of my prime were the Mudd Slide and the famous "Sex In The City" Cosmo!

So here I am in the kitchen and as much as I love beer, sometimes I really do want something else. You've read about my tequila drinks now here is a vodka drink :) I called the pink lady even though if you Google pink lady you get about 15 different ways to make one.

Ms. Foodies Pink Slippers

2 oz of Vodka (skyy)

2 oz of pink lemonade

3 oz of water

pour over ice and shake or stir

Dip your 2 oz shot glass rim in water or lemon juice, then in raw sugar.

Cheers!! you can also use a martini glass makes 2-4 drinks :)

I also like the:

The Tall Pink Lady

2 oz of Vodka (skyy)

2 oz of pink lemonade

8 oz glass filled with ice

Pour over ice and top off with fizzy water aka soda water

Lets go cook,
Ms. Foodie

For The Love Of Food......What recipes are you wanting to share?

I have been working on a cookbook and I love to hear new recipes. If you have a recipe that you would love to share with the world but are not going to publish your own cookbook send it to me! I will be glad to try it out and see if it works with my cookbook.

Thank you,
Ms. Foodie

Are your Herbs ready for the cold weather?

As much as I love fall and winter cooking!!!! I miss my garden, fresh herbs and tomatoes galore! I live in an area where freeze at night happens a lot, so to safe guard my herbs, I pull them up and keep them in the garage shop until they are done. Sometimes I get to keep them all year like my rosemary and to do this I take my shovel, cut down in the ground about the size of a gallon pot. I leave the rosemary alone for about 3 weeks, so it does not go threw shock. Then I pull them out of the ground, plant them in a 1-2 gallon pot and baby them all winter, until I can replant them. Some I just leave in the pot and pull the pot in and out of the ground each season. Basil, thyme and sage come in the house with me and this year because of my 50 plus heirloom tomatoes they too are going to come with me. I will have to let you know how that turns out.

I'm getting ready for soup, stews, gumbo and chili's!

How about you, are you ready for the fall?

Ms. Foodie

Jack Danieles ~ Creme Brulee French Toast

For The Month Of ~ September ~

One month has come and gone from the last time I blogged about my creme brulee french toast. This is the french toast you make your guys, men love this! I like this one too but I have about 6 other favorites, competing...So I decided to let the guys have this one. Many of these brulee french toast are sweet but I find the ones with alcohol are even sweeter, so I have learned to cut back on the sugar. This french toast is also one crowd pleasing dessert.
This is my recipe for "Creme Brulee French Toast" during the month of September I call it:

Jack Danieles Brulee French Toast


1 Stick of unsalted butter
1 Cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoon corn syrup
8 Croissants cut in half
6 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 Cup of half & half
1/2 Cup of Jack Danieles

1 Whole scraped real Vanilla bean I like Madagascar beans for this recipe

1 cup of chopped Walnuts nuts

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Mix in brown sugar and syrup, stirring until sugar is dissolved, hot and bubbly. Next add your walnuts to this mixture and pour into a 9x13 inch greased baking dish.

In a small bowl, whisk together eggs,  milk, half & half.
Then add Vanilla bean seeds & JD. 

On top of the sugar mix, arrange tops of croissant (cut side up) in the baking dish, then pour a little less then half of your egg mixture to coat the inside of each croissant.  Place the bottoms of croissant (cut side down) on top of  that and pour rest of your egg mixture, to coat. You will be serving these right side up with walnut sugar mixture all over the top.

Cover, and chill at least 2-3 hours, I don't find I need to refrigerate all night.

 Depending on how cold your fridge is you might want to pull your baking dish out of the fridge while your preheating the oven.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Bake uncovered 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until puffed and lightly browned.

**place your scraped bean in sugar and use as vanilla sugar.

Sweet Tooth Gone Wild!!!

I do have a sweet tooth but as I'm getting older I also love the salty crunchy too. I will admit that there are those times where I am OBSESSED with sugar and nothing but sticky sweet can fix that craving.
I love playing with won ton wrappers as you know from my other blog post but egg roll wrappers are just as fun and you can really stuff them full. I will admit that most of the foods I make with these wrappers are mostly fried but you can bake them also. One of my favorite quick, easy and delicious sweet treats are my fried jet-puffs, I've never tried baking them...nor would I for this recipe.

Fried Jet-Puffs

6 egg roll wrappers

1 Cup of miniature marshmallows

6 Tbsp of Nutella

3 Cups of oil or lard to fry in

Take your wrapper and turn it like a baseball diamond (instructions should also be on the back of your wrapper package). Place a dollop of Nutella down and apx 10 marshmallows, fold corner up and sides in, roll once up and wet with water the top of the triangle that is showing. Roll all the way up and lay on a plate that is covered with paper towels. When you are finished take them over, check the oil temp with a wooden spoon* or thermometer. Drop them in and wait till they start to turn golden brown on the back side, good luck flipping them because the marshmallow will start to puff out. Fun, delicious and great with ice cream!  yummmmy!

* dip the handle of your wooden spoon in the hot oil, if the oil is ready bubbles will come out like it is deep frying.

Ms. Foodie

PS.
If you don't have marsmellows a bit size of banana is also yummy, very sweet and of course a bit healthier haha for fried food.

Asian Dim Sum or Just Egg Roll Fun?

Yummy yummy egg rolls...............mmmm good. This is one of the few dishes I do well Asian style.

Egg rolls are fun to play with because you can really almost stuff anything in them, today is one of my quick and easy pork mix for a egg roll fast fix.

Pork and Cabbage Spring Roll

8 Egg roll wrappers

1 Lb of ground pork

1 Cup of chopped cremini mushrooms

1 Cup of shredded cabbage

1/8 Cup of soy sauce

1 Clove of garlic crushed or minced

1/2 Tbsp of Mongolian fire oil (House of Tsang)

I find this mixture sticks fine without using an egg as binding.

Mix everything together from pork down and fill wrapper with 2-3 Tbsp of mixture. Roll like the pagage will show and use water to seal the wrapper. Deep fry or fry in a couple inches of oil in a fry pan.

Tips:
Make sure when filling wrappers that your surface is dry, it takes little water to hold wrapper together. If the egg roll gets to wet you will have danger of oil splatter or your soggy egg rolls will fall apart before they make it to the pan.
Do not add salt the soy will be more then enough salt.
You can use just about any mushroom you like for this dish.
You will have extra stuffing left over, either make more spring rolls and freeze them for another night, serve a larger party or use the stuffing in my pork ball miso soup.

Make Your Own Vanilla

A long time ago I was at my grandmas house and she made me custard with real Mexican vanilla. After that I never liked most vanillas except for the "real bean." One day I thought what if I took a good sipping spirit and mixed it with a vanilla bean, wow what a great idea! After all isn't that what vanilla is supposed to be, beans and alcohol? :)
Of course years later with many recipes on the web I have found that I was not the first to think of this recipe, either way I love my homemade vanilla and so do others

Never Ending Homemade Vanilla

1 750 ML Bourbon or Cognac
10 Vanilla Beans
3 Tbsp of Sugar

I love to use cognac or Bourbon for this recipe.
Take a 750 ML bottle of a Good Bourbon or Cognac
Pour off 4 shots and set aside.
Cut beans long way and scrap seeds with back of a butter knife.
Dip in bottle & give it a stir, repeat 10 times.
Add sugar and shake until dissolved.
Take your scraped bean pods cut in half drop in bottle, save two if you want and place in a sugar jar with air tight lid for some vanilla sugar too.
Give the bottle another shake and place in a cool dark place for about 1-3 months.
Now take your four shots and bottoms up, you'll want a drink after all that shaking you just did.

Shake that bottle every day for the first few weeks for faster results.
After about 3 months your vanilla will start to thicken on its own.
When your vanilla gets down to the half way mark make sure you add new bean seeds & top it off with Bourbon or Cognac which ever you started with first; to keep your never ending home made vanilla.


There are many different types of vanilla beans, so play and have fun with it. The average start up cost is about $100.

I use this in my recipes that call for vanilla and on top of my homemade vanilla ice cream, this is not meant for kids.

I'd love to hear if you have you have a different way of doing homemade vanilla,
Ms. Foodie