Mrs. Regueiro's Plate: September 2008

Friday, September 26, 2008

Tomorrow is the big day



We are moving in our house!!!! It's getting down to the wire. I was up until 2am pulling the tape & prepping the carpet for the carpet cleaners. The bedrooms, bathrooms & hallway are ready to be cleaned. Home improvement is alot of hard work...but I feel very accomplished, and tired.
I drank my venti Pumpkin Spice Latte for that extra pick-me up this morning. I only slept 3 hours, I'm working on payroll, and I'm counting down the hours till 330pm. I need some sleep very bad, and some home-cooking!!!! Here's our master bedroom painted. Soooo pretty!!

I forget the color name, I'll look it up at home. It's from Lowes, they have a great paint selection there.


Friday, September 12, 2008

It's official!!!!!!!!


Yesterday was our first official day as homeowners. Eric carried me over the threshold for goodluck, I felt like a bride all over again!! We walked around our house in awe of our new place. It was a great feeling, like we couldn't stop ""oohhing and ahhhing" over every little thing we were going to do.
The best part of last night, we slow danced in our living room to our wedding song. "Obesion" by Spanish Harlem Orchestra. I had brought along my little Ipod stereo, and picked that song on purpose. I really wanted to remember the first day of being a homeowner.
We tested the paint samples we had gotten from Lowes, and realized they were a little dark. We found the lighter shades of the colors we wanted...they were a perfect pick!
This is the best week ever, Angels clinch the AL West, we got the keys to our house, and today is our 5 month anniversary!!!!! Let's paint!!!!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Window Treatments Ideas

I'm looking for ideas for window treatments, I will need it for the master bedroom, kitchen & living room area. I love this two-tone color for the master bedroom, it be a nice contrast to my chocolate queen comforter set. Thank goodness I've been saving all my BBB coupons, because each curtain is sold separately!!!!!! Luckily, there are some decent ones on clearance, too!! Granada Window Panels in Taupe
Amanda Blackout Room Darkening Window Panels by Eclipse

Verona Window Panels by B. Smith @ BBB

Rydell Window Panels @ BBB

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Backsplash Ideas








































Strawberry Empanadas


For our bbq, I had made these sweet little treats. They are from Martha Stewart Living, but she calls them Handpies or turnovers, but I recognize from their spanish dwelling, empanadas. I love strawberry season, and since its coming to and end. I really wanted a chance to make these before I would regret it. Little did I know would these be a PITA to make them!!!! I would overfill them at times, and couldn't close the seams...I had a couple that busted out. They still tasted good, and everyone enjoyed them. But I don't think I'll make them again because the process was long. It was also a PITA because I packed up my rolling pin, and I didn't know what box it was in. So I was rolling the dough out with a glass, some looked pretty decent, and the broken ugly ones...well I taste-tested those ones. hehe **I will give credit to Katie from WC, http://goodthingscatered.blogspot.com/, she made these look beautiful.**
Ingredients:
1 recipe sweet butter pie dough (see below if needed)
3 cups fresh strawberries, hulled & quartered
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Powdered sugar for dusting
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Turbinado sugar for sprinkling
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment. In medium bowl, combine strawberries, granulated sugar and lemon juice and set aside. Turn dough out unto a powdered sugar-dusted work surface and cut pie dough in half (re wrap other half and place back in fridge to stay cold).
Roll one half of pie dough out about 1/8 in thickness. Using round pastry cutter (or trace knife around small plate), cut out about 5-6 inch rounds. Place round onto baking sheet and place about 2-3 tablespoon strawberry mixture into center. Using pastry brush dipped in a small amount of egg, brush the edge of half of the round. Fold dry edge onto egg brushed half, forming semicircle shape, and press edges together to seal with the tines of a fork.
Brush the top of the pie with egg mixture and sprinkle with sugar. Use a small knife to make a 1 inch slit in the top of the pie for steam to escape. Repeat with pastry dough. Place in oven and bake until tops are beginning to turn golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 7-10 minutes, and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Makes 10-12
Sweet Butter Pie Dough
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 sticks (1 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 in pieces
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
6 ounces of cold buttermilk
Powdered sugar for dusting
Preparation:
In a small bowl, combine vanilla & buttermilk, stir to combine and set aside. In a large bowl, add flour, sugar, salt & lemon zest and whisk to combine. Use pastry cutter or two knives to cut butter into flour mixture until resembles coarse meal or until all pieces are less than pea-sized. Add buttermilk mixture and stir in until dough comes together. Transfer dough to powdered sugar-dusted work surface and shape into flat disk. Wrap disk tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour.

Chile-Cheddar Corn Muffins


We had a bbq last night, and I made a couple of things. We cooked up some bbq tri-tip, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, and I made some good cornbread. This is from Ina Garten's Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread from http://www.foodnetwork.com/ but I don't like Jalapenos' so I substituted in some green chiles. These were pretty tasty!!
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups milk, **I substituted buttermilk instead**
3 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus extra to grease the pan
16 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated, divided
1/3 cup chopped green onions, white and green parts, plus extra for garnish *3 green onions*
1 small can of green diced chiles
Preparation:
Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, eggs & butter. With a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry until most of the lumps are dissolved. Don't overmix! Mix in 2 cups of the grated Cheddar, the green onions, and chiles, and allows the mixture to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking pan.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and sprinkle with the remaining grated Cheddar Cheese & extra chopped green onions. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and cut into large squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Chile-Lime-Garlic-Tequila Compound Butter


Eric & I decided to stay home this past Labor Day weekend, we did go out for dinner on Friday night. We had some decent Mexican food, but we really wanted a good steak for dinner on Saturday. We decided to pick up some ribeye steaks and use up the rest of my "special butter" for the marinade. Dinner was perfect, and I had plenty of leftovers for the next day.



Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

2 teaspoons minced jalapeno or serrano chiles (seeds & membranes removed)

4 cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon lime juice, freshly squeezed **I think I used 2 or 3 - I like alot for flavor**

1 tablespoon lime zest

2 teaspoons tequila **I used Don Julio & Calzadores....both are good..but PATRON would be awesome as well!!!

2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon kosher salt


Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in a food processor, make sure butter is at room temperature. It will be hard to mix at first. Once everything has mixed, place compound butter on a sheet of plastic wrap. Shape into a log, and twist the ends to seal. Place the butter in the fridge to harden.**Serve slices of butter on top of your choice of meat. Yum!!!!!!!!***
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