Lamb of God

I will be performing in the symphony for Lamb of God on September 9 & 10 at Gammage in Tempe, AZ.  Both shows start at 7:30pm.  You can not afford to miss this and you should be able to get tickets for less than the cost of going to a movie.  This will be uplifting and you will get to enjoy the talents of a great choir, incredible soloists, and a professional-level symphony ... that's hard to find at the movie theater!  You will not be sorry for making the effort to be there. 

No matter your religion, please come and partake of this amazing music.

Learn more about Lamb of God and the composer Rob Gardner HERE.

Buy tickets online HERE.

Grasshopper Bars: Baked Sunday Mornings

I made my Baked recipe a couple of weeks ago, but haven't gotten around to blogging about it until now.  I have mixed feelings about this recipe.  The recipe was somewhat hard to follow and not clear about a few of the steps.  The recipe said things like, "whisking occasionally until mixture comes to a boil and has thickened...."  My thoughts after reading this were, "How thick is thickened"?  Or mix until proper consistency ... uh ... what is proper consistency??  My buttercream filling did not turn-out.  I tried hard to follow the instructions and do as I was told, but even after refrigerating my buttercream for an hour, it was still runny and then it started to kinda separate and get clumpy.

I do have to say, the flavor of everything was great and I loved the fudgy brownie bottom, but after seeing the results, I didn't feel like I could share this treat with Hubby's office as I had hoped.

I will include a close-up photo of my filling ... I'm open to suggestions!

A Preview...

This is the first real sound that we've gotten to hear from our MCO recording session in Salt Lake City ... excited to hear the whole CD!

Cheap Dinner

EVMCO Registration is Open

Photo by Steve Porter

For my friends in the East Valley who have been considering the East Valley Mormon Choral Organization ... registration is currently open and new participants are being accepted.  Kids can start as young as 4 years old and adults are welcome to audition and participate in the adult choir or orchestra.

Children, adults, and families of all faiths & backgrounds are participating and enjoying top-notch musical experiences.  I've done a lot of music stuff around town and nothing comes close in comparison to the EVMCO.  I could go on for pages with reasons of why you should participate and I'd be happy to talk with individuals who are contemplating the idea.  I think kids (4-18 yrs old) can attend a rehearsal for free and with no commitment, if they'd like.

All three of my kids will be participating this semester and they are counting down the days until the first rehearsal.  This organization is one of the very best things my kids have in their lives right now, so we hope you'll join us!

Simple Slow-Roasted Tomatoes: French Fridays with Dorie

This week I actually got my recipe done before Friday!  On Tuesday, we made pistachio & mozzarella ravioli to go with our simple slow-roasted tomatoes.  This was a super-easy recipe ... just tomatoes sprinkled with salt, pepper, olive oil, and other herbs or seasonings of choice ... I chose to just use garlic.  My tomatoes roasted in the oven for about 3 hours and they made the house smell great!!

To see what other Doristas did with their simple slow-roasted tomatoes, go HERE.

Frolicking Night Owl's Pesto

It's hot here. 

Very hot! 

Excessive heat warning kind-of-hot!!

No one wants to make lots of hot food in this kind of heat, so we have to get a little creative.  Sandwiches & paninis are a great way to beat the heat & we recently enjoyed our's with a green salad & a fresh fruit salad.

Ciabatta Rolls ... fresh mozzarella .... sliced tomatoes ... chopped olives ...  fresh pesto

I looked at a lot of recipes for homemade pesto and after I had some ideas, I made up my own recipe as I went along.  I want to record what I did for future reference and if you have any comments or something to add, I'd love to hear!

1. Preheat oven to 350* F.  Evenly spread about a 1/2 cup of nuts out on a baking sheet.  (I used walnut pieces.)  Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until nuts look and smell toasty.  I saw recipes that used pine nuts, walnuts, or almonds ... use whatever you like.

2. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to boil.  Wash a bunch of fresh basil (I used 2.3 oz to be exact).  Dunk the basil into the boiling water and use the back of a wooden spoon to submerge all the basil leaves.  Don't leave the basil in the boiling water for more than 5-10 seconds.  Quickly drain the basil leaves, rinse them with cold water (if you can find some in AZ), and then pat-dry the leaves with paper towels.

3. I then put the basil, toasted nuts, some coarse salt, a little fresh ground pepper, 2 garlic, and some freshly-grated Parmesan cheese (I just dumped some in but I would guess that I used 2-3 Tablespoons of cheese) into my handy-dandy food processor and pulsed until everything was combined, chopped, and was beginning to look like pesto.

4.  With the food processor running, add a scant 1/2 C of extra-virgin olive oil.

5. Serve immediately.  I used mine as a spread on my sandwiches.

I would guess I ended up with about a cup worth of pesto.  It was enough for sandwiches one night and then we has some with garlic bread and ravioli the next night ... and I still have a little left.

*Tip: If you want to try a sandwich similar to what I made, don't do the ciabatto roll.  It got too hard and crusty in the panini press.  I think some slices of ciabatta bread will work much better.