Foodie Friends Friday - Build A Bear

Welcome to Foodie Friends Friday!

Please take a moment to read through the rules before getting started, Thank You!

*By linking up you agree that you read these rules and all photos/recipes are original and belong to you. You agree to allow Foodie Friends Friday and any of it's affiliated websites or publications (Social Girls Media, LLC) to use photos, links, and recipes for reprint and/or republishing and distribution without monetary compensation to you. If photos & recipes are used, proper link backs to you will be included.

Adding Links back to Foodie Friends Friday and our Button is our only form of advertising to bring in more people to see YOUR recipes.

Please remember to do this. It benefits you! To thank you, we will continue to feature those with links throughout the year on various outlets.

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Meet our Co-Hosts at Foodie Friends Friday:

Now Let's meet our sponsor this week!

Build-A-Bear-Workshop is our sponsor this week. They are giving away a master chef stuffed animal that is dressed in a Chef Outfit and Black Dress Shoes. It will make the perfect gift for your favorite cook. You can also visit Build-A-Bear on FACEBOOK.

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*Giveaway Disclaimer: Facebook is in no way associated with this website or giveaway and holds no liability for this giveaway. "Liking" facebook pages is optional, not mandatory for entry. Sponsors will be responsible for shipping- if there is a delay or problem with prize, you must communicate directly with sponsor.

Thank you to everyone for making last week's Foodie Friends Friday party a huge success.



My Host Favorite recipe last week was Mini Mango Salsa Shrimp Tacos from Sugar 'n Spice Gals. You can see all the Host Favorite Recipes that Caught OUR Attention from last week's party on the Daily Dish.









Last week's MOST CLICKED recipes:                              Last week's VOTED TOP 3:

IT'S PARTY TIME!

Ham, Cheese & Pear Wrap

Ham, cheese and pear with fresh spinach on a whole wheat wrap is an easy sandwich addition for the Super Bowl Sunday buffet table.

This sandwich wrap is a nice balance for the spicy ribs, wings, and chili that are usually served. You can make this sandwich early in the day and keep it in the fridge until you are ready.

I bought a lot of pears for the GYCO challenge so I had to find ways to use them. Pears and ham go well together along with the brie so I made sandwiches for our lunch.

Then I had an AH!Ha! moment. Make wraps for the super bowl party. They can be sliced too be served as individual bites for those who don't want to overindulge -- well you never know, someone may be watching their diet :).   You can make the entire package of wraps and leave some full size and the others you can slice up for small bites.  This will make a nice platter for the buffet table.

Ham, Cheese & Pear Wrap
Ingredients

• 1 package whole wheat wraps (or your favorite variety)
• 1 lb. deli ham sliced thin
• 1 bag of baby spinach leaves
• 1 pkg. of brie cheese (or your favorite)
• 3 large pears sliced thin

Directions

1. Place 2 ham slices on each wrap
2. Add pear slices in 3 rows in the center of the wrap
3. Sprinkle the cheese over the pears and ham
4. Layer the spinach over the ham
5. Tightly roll up the wrap and slice

Serve honey mustard dipping sauce on the side.

You can eliminate the pears and just make good old fashioned ham and cheese wraps with fresh spinach for a little extra 'good eats' for the Big Game.

Go Team!!!!

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Foodie Friends Friday Host Favorites

Thank you all for joining Foodie Friends Friday party. Congratulations to the winners of our sponsors giveaway.

Did you see all the recipes last week that caught OUR attention?  Check out the Host Favorites on the Daily Dish to see the list of host favorites from Friday's party.   The Daily Dish post will be live today at 9:00 AM PST/12 Noon EST.

If your recipe is listed you can grab a 'host favorite' badge while you are there to add to your recipe post.



My host favorite is mango salsa shrimp tacos from Robin at Sugar 'n Spice Gals. Please stop by to congratulate Robin and tell her I said hello.


We look forward to seeing you again this Friday for another fun party!

Inaugural Wine and LI Sustainability

I know this is old news but I was pleased to hear that Long Island wine was served at President Obama's Inaugural luncheon last week.

It was a 2009 Merlot from Bedell Cellars that was priced at $30. After the announcement that the wine would be served at the Inaugural luncheon it sold out almost immediately.

If you are a Merlot fan Bedell Cellars has available their 2010 Merlot which is a 30th anniversary vintage. If I remember correctly 2010 was a very good year :).

I'm fortunate to live a reasonable distance from Long Island Wine Country and enjoy the local wines and fresh produce from many of the organic farms.  

Another major draw to Long Island wines is that many wineries are committing to sustainable farming.

For hundreds of years Long Island was mainly farmland before developers started moving east from the city to build housing.

When the first vineyards were planted in 1973 there was a pride and commitment to produce quality wines.

As more vines were planted the new winemakers knew they needed to make a change in the landscape to ensure growing the highest quality grapes.

The basic concept of sustainability is to protect the land, workers, and the economy. This is the path that leads to improving the environment, the safety of employees and economic stability.   It brings awareness of the consequences of our actions on the farm, in the workplace and the community.

Today some 40 years since the first vines were planted winemakers are working hard on their commitment to strive to protect the environment for the good of all farmers on Long Island.

I spent my childhood summers on Long Island on a 15 acre farm which is now a developed community of homes each on less than 1/4 acre. Every time I drive past there my eyes glaze over and I can see my sister, my cousins and I helping our great uncle feed the chickens and picking fresh vegetables before we would go fishing.

I'm hopeful sustainable farming practices will hold steady and continue to preserve and protect the land for the future generations to enjoy the natural gifts bestowed upon us.

Foodie Friends Friday January 25

Welcome to this week's Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party. Thank you to all who joined last week for making it such a huge success.


Our two sponsors this week are Camille from Growing Up Gabel and Jennifer from Shared Joy.

Camille will be giving away 2 hand made dish towels and Jennifer will giving away a pair of button earrings and a headband from her Etsy shop.

You find Camille on Facebook and Pinterest.

Jennifer shares homemade fabric button accessories and more to brighten up your day and brighten the hearts of others! Experience the love that goes into these pieces, a love that comes from a caring new mother who has her own bundle of joy! Visit Jennifer's shop Shared Joy and on Facebook.

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Get Ready to Party and link up this week's favorite recipe.

We try to keep things fair. Please limit your recipes to only 3 per week. We also ask that you be sure to add a link back to Foodie Friends Friday and the host website you linked up on so that we can promote your recipe.





Here are this week's co-hosts.  When you link up to one blog it will show on ALL of the hosts blogs!!  Please do stop by each of the host's blogs to say "hi" and let them know you joined the party!

Foodie Friends Friday at Foodie Friends Friday

Tracy at busyvegetarianmom

Robyn at Robyn's View

Marly at This and That

Lois at  Walking on Sunshine

Michelle at From Calculus to Cupcakes  

Cynthia at Feeding Big

Jodie at Binomial Baker  

Dawn at Spatulas on Parade

Angie at A lil Country Sugar  

Jutta at HungryLittleGirl

Kelly at Adorned Well  

Cindy at Cindy's Recipes and Writings  

Joanne at Winelady Cooks

Marlene at Nosh My Way  

Ericka at Chef Picky Kid

Beth at Honey Locust Hills

If you link up your recipe here please leave me a comment below.  I will be featuring a host pick every week so please let me know you have joined the party.  It's the only way I can personally thank you for coming.

Don't forget to stop by Monday to check out this week's Host Favorites on the Daily Dish. The Daily Dish has recipes, tips, crafts and much more.

Here are the winners from our last Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party

Get Your Chef On - Pears [Tart]

I'm excited to be joining in this month's GYCO challenge hosted by Julie at White Lights on Wednesday and Jen at Four Marrs and One Venus. This month's ingredient is pear and it was a challenge looking for a recipe that we would actually like.

With a little research I found a couple of recipes and also learned that pear season is just about over this month.  

I bought more pears than I needed for the pear tart recipe I found so I think I'll make a couple of desserts with the rest of the sweet pears I bought at the farmer's market.

If you follow me you know that I'm all about finding and making easy recipes, especially when it comes to dessert.   This pear tart is no exception.

This is a recipe I adapted from marthastewart.com and it was easier than I could have imagined. There are a couple of steps but nothing too time consuming or complicated.  In fact, this recipe took about 15 minutes for prep and I cleaned up while the tart baked.  EASY!!! and FAST!!!

If you need a sweet dessert for your super bowl party this recipe will be a nice addition to your table.  You can make it the day before leaving you more time for all your preparations.

Pear Tart
(adapted from www.marthastewart.com)
Ingredients

• 1 red bartlet pear
• 2 TBLS. fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2 TBLS. vanilla extract
• 2 oz. cream cheese
• 4 TBLS. unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup AP flour, plus a little for dusting
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1-2 TBLS. turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw, or use brown sugar)
• Chopped walnuts or slivered almonds (optional)

Directions

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

1. Halve the pear lengthwise and leave the skin on;  remove the core and slice the pear in 1/4 inch slices.
2. Add the pear slices to a medium size bowl and add the lemon juice, vanilla and mix well with your hands until pear slices are well coated with the mixture.   Next add the pears into a strainer and place over the bowl allowing any liquid to drain off.  
3. In a food processor or with a hand mixer combine cream cheese and butter until blended.  Add the flour, 1/4 cup sugar and salt and mix just until combined.  Dough will be sticky.
4. Rub a little flour on your hands and turn out the dough on to the prepared baking sheet.   Gently pat dough out into a circle (dip fingers in flour if dough is too sticky) about 8 inches. The dough will be very thin.
5. See Photos Above -- Arrange the pear slices around the dough overlapping the slices until the dough is covered.
6. Sprinkle the turbinado or brown sugar over the pear slices and sprinkle with cinnamon.  Bake 25-35 minutes, just until golden brown.

This is optional, but you can sprinkle chopped nuts on top of each slice when serving. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a dollop of whipped cream, or plain Greek yogurt. Of course I made sure I tried each of these toppings for you just to be sure it tasted good. No worries, every topping was perfectly matched to the pear tart.

I really enjoyed a slice of tart as a late afternoon snack one day when I didn't have lunch.   I topped it with Greek yogurt and chopped nuts.

Turned out to be a nice late lunch rather than a snack!

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All Bloggy Friends

Foodie Friends Friday Host Favorites January 18

Thank you all for linking up to Foodie Friends Friday. Congratulations to the winners of the Origami Owl giveaway.

My host favorite this week is from Jess at Simple Clean and Homemade. Jess' ice cream dessert is not only delicious but it is easy to make.

Stop by the Daily Dish to see more favorites and other recipes and helpful tips and you can pick up the Host Favorite BADGE here to add to your recipe page.

We look forward to seeing you again on Foodie Friends Friday.

Foodie Friends Friday January 18

Welcome to this week's Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party. Thank you to all who joined last week for making it such a huge success.

Starting with this week's Foodie Friends Friday the Host Favorites will be posted on Monday on the Daily Dish. Stop by the Daily Dish when you have a chance for recipes, tips, crafts and much more.


This week our giveaway is from Stacy Davis at Origami Owl. You can visit Stacy at Facebook, Google+ and also on Pinterest.

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Get Ready to Party and link up this week's favorite recipe.

We try to keep things fair. Please limit your recipes to only 3 per week. We also ask that you be sure to add a link back to Foodie Friends Friday and the host website you linked up on so that we can promote your recipe.





Here are this week's co-hosts.  When you link up to one blog it will show on ALL of the hosts blogs!!  Please do stop by each of the host's blogs to say "hi" and let them know you joined the party!

Foodie Friends Friday at Foodie Friends Friday

Tracy at busyvegetarianmom

Robyn at Robyn's View

Marly at This and That

Lois at  Walking on Sunshine

Michelle at From Calculus to Cupcakes  

Cynthia at Feeding Big

Jodie at Binomial Baker  

Dawn at Spatulas on Parade

Angie at A lil Country Sugar  

Jutta at HungryLittleGirl

Kelly at Adorned Well  

Cindy at Cindy's Recipes and Writings  

Joanne at Winelady Cooks

Marlene at Nosh My Way  

Ericka at Chef Picky Kid

If you link up your recipe here please leave me a comment below.  I will be featuring a host pick every week so please let me know you have joined the party.  It's the only way I can personally thank you for coming.

Here are the winners from our last Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party

Chicken & Roasted Vegetable Pot Pie

Chicken and roasted vegetable pot pie just might a popular dish this winter for this picky family.

I'm running out of ideas for dinner. The family's limited palates have me backed into a corner. One way out would be to try to revive a classic and make it new again.

I adapted the roasted vegetable and chicken pot pie recipe below from a basic pot pie recipe I saw on foodnetwork.com. I used the recipe as a guide since I only made a pot pie once many years ago.

I wanted to add more flavors to the vegetables since I was eliminating the potatoes so I made a few changes and the outcome was delicious.

This recipe looks long but it is actually very easy to put together. #1. Roast the vegetables, and #2. saute the onions and celery then the chicken while the veggies roast; #3. add the stock, frozen peas, chicken and herbs and heat together; #4. then prepare the pie pan with the crust.  Add all veggies to pie plate, top with second crust and then bake.  Done!!!!

Chicken & Roasted Vegetable Pot Pie
Ingredients

• 1 lb. carrots, peeled cut in 1" pieces
• 1 pkg. mushrooms cut in chunks (baby bella's or 2 portobello's)
• 2-3 leeks, cleaned & cut chunks
• 3-4 shallots, peeled and cut in chunks
• 3-4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1-2 TBLS. oil (olive, grapeseed, canola)

• 1 medium onion chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 TBLS. oil
• 2 cups frozen peas
• 1/2 lb. chicken cut in cubes
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 TBLS. cornstarch mixed with 4 TBLS. liquid(you can use either water or the stock)
• 3 TBLS. chopped parsley
• 1/2 tsp. thyme (dried or fresh)
• 1/2 tsp. rosemary (dried or fresh)
• salt and pepper
• 2 pastry crusts
• egg wash

Directions:

1. Lay out the first 6 ingredients -- chopped carrots, leeks, shallots, and garlic cloves on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Toss vegetables with 1-2 tablespoons of oil, salt and pepper, and roast for about 20 minutes, stirring once or twice. Add the mushrooms and stir together with the vegetables and continue to cook another 10 minutes.
2. In large saute pan heat 1 tablespoon of oil and the chopped celery and onion and cook for about 2 minutes. Remove from pan to a small dish.
3. In same saucepan add the chicken and cook just until it is opaque and a little underdone. The chicken will continue to cook in the oven.
4. Add all the cooked vegetables to the large pan and add the stock. Cook on medium heat for about 3-5 minutes. Add the frozen peas and stir into the vegetables cook another minute and then add the chicken and add the parsley, rosemary and thyme.
5. Mix the cornstarch with liquid and stir into the pan with vegetables. Cook another 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.
6. Line a pie plate with the bottom crust and bake for 10 minutes. Add the vegetables and chicken and place the second pie crust on the top.
7. Make several small slits or prick holes with a fork in the top crust. Brush crust with egg wash.
8. Bake 30 to 45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

The recipe makes one 10 inch pie and two additional 6 inch corning ware  ramekins.  It is worth making to have enough leftovers for another dinner and lunch.   If you have room in your freezer you can freeze the small ramekins.








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Not Your Ordinary Recipes

Healthy? Cocktails in Place of Cup o' Joe

A healthy cocktail sounds like an oxymoron. Although when you look at the ingredients in these cocktails you might say they are good for you except for the shot of alcohol that is added.

If you don't drink alcoholic beverages you could eliminate the spirit and increase the amount of juices and waters.  Then just sit back and enjoy a healthy mocktail instead of the usual cup of coffee.

I adapted these two drinks from a list of cocktails on Shape.com. I chose them for the ease in transforming them into a healthy morning drink without alcohol. 

Morning Squeeze:

1 ounce fresh squeezed grapefruit juice

1/2 ounce Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur

3 to 4 ounces Prosecco or other sparkling wine 

Grapefruit wedge to garnish

Directions: 

Pour grapefruit juice and the ginger liqueur into a fluted champagne glass. Slowly pour the Prosecco over the juice until the glass is almost full. Garnish with a grapefruit wedge.

Makeover Morning Squeeze

Ingredients

4 ounces grapefruit juice

4 ounces club soda or sparkling water

slice of fresh ginger

Fresh grapefruit wedges

Directions:

Pour grapefruit juice into a tall 10 ounce glass.  Slowly pour in the club soda.  Add a slice of fresh ginger and garnish with a grapefruit wedge.

Tropical Juice


Ingredients

2 ounces CÎROC (it's a vodka made from grapes only)

1 ounce coconut water

3/4 ounce pomegranate juice

1 1/2 ounce Champagne

Directions

Add the vodka, coconut water, and pomegranate juice in a tall glass. Stir and then add the Champagne. Garnish with an orange twist and pomegranate seeds.

Makeover Tropical Juice

Ingredients

2 ounces coconut water

4 ounces pomegranate juice

2-3 ounces sparkling water

Directions:

In a tall 10 ounce glass add coconut water and pomegranate juice.  Stir well and then add sparkling water.  Garnish with orange wedge and fresh pomegranate seeds.

Looking at these recipes it goes without saying that you can add any varying amounts of ingredients based on your personal tastes OR whatever you have available.

Stay healthy with a fresh juice drink and enjoy the day!

Foodie Friends Friday

Welcome to Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party.

This week our sponsor is Elizabeth Mindemann from Broken Treasures.  Two lucky winners will each receive a stamp set from Close to My Heart.

You can see some of Elizabeth's work HERE, and follow her on FACEBOOK and TWITTER.

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Get Ready to Party and link up this week's favorite recipe.

Here are this week's co-hosts.  When you link up to one blog it will show on ALL of the hosts blogs!!  Please do stop by each of the host's blogs to say "hi" and let them know you joined the party!

Foodie Friends Friday at Foodie Friends Friday

Tracy at busyvegetarianmom

Robyn at Robyn's View

Marly at This and That

Lois at  Walking on Sunshine

Michelle at From Calculus to Cupcakes  

Cynthia at Feeding Big

Jodie at Binomial Baker  

Dawn at Spatulas on Parade

Angie at A lil Country Sugar  

Jutta at HungryLittleGirl

Kelly at Adorned Well  

Cindy at Cindy's Recipes and Writings  

Joanne at Winelady Cooks

Marlene at Nosh My Way  

Ericka at Chef Picky Kid

If you link up your recipe with my blog please leave me a comment below.  I will be featuring a host pick every week so please let me know you have joined the party.  It's the only way I can personally thank you for coming.

Last Week' Host Pick is Owl Bread from Winnie at www.winnish.net.

Thank you Winnie for sharing this delicious bread on Foodie Friends Friday.

Here are the winners from our last Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party

Thank you all for linking up and sharing your recipes. This party would not be a success without YOU! We look forward to seeing you soon.