Bites of My Life

Last week was a mix of busy activities, parties and birthday dinners as well as cozy nights in, movie marathons and early bedtimes. Kicked off the week with my company Christmas party. I work with such a fun group of people to celebrate with, including Santa. Ate and drank at a few new restaurants (OKC's best kept secret, for the moment). Welcomed the first snow of the season, a Thunder win, and a movie marathon on the couch while bitter cold temps hung out outside. 

Countdown to Christmas can officially begin. I can't believe I'm saying that. I'm looking forward to hopefully a busy week, then a slow weekend to really enjoy the holiday!

-Because it's not a holiday party without festive cookies. My fav.
-Santa Claus is coming to town, and company Christmas parties.
-Ditch the dishes, acorn squash becomes your bowl in last week's recipe post.
-Restaurant decor on point.
-The dreamiest european style cheese shop and bistro opened up in the neighborhood this week. Our experience had ups and downs, but if you are local please go visit En Croûte. Pronounced like this. 
-Breakfast for dinner because lazy and an effort to clean out the fridge. 
-Foodie friends are the best friends!
-Cozy tomato basil soup a la roomie was perfect for Sunday's high of 20 degrees...
-Trader Joe's Seafood Paella. YUP! (but I didn't eat the mussels, freaked me out too much sitting in a frozen bag for that long).

Annie

Acorn Squash Salad Bowl

I love food out of a bowl. Back in college in the Kappa house, I would always forgo the large dinner plates and pile all of my food into 2 to 3 of our little cereal bowls. I'd be sitting in the dining room with bowls on bowls in front of me, strange but go with it. Salad in a bowl vs. a plate, so much better. Casserole, loaded sweet potato, pasta, meat and roasted veggies etc. in a bowl, it's just better.

When I was younger I hated my food to touch. But now I love getting bite of each part of the meal in one bite. And a bowl is the vessel to assist with that. 

With this recipe, acorn squash becomes your bowl. Save yourself from having to wash an extra dish. We are taking roasted acorn squash and filling it with salad full of wintery ingredients. This is great for lunch, a light dinner of could be great as a side dish with some protein. It's just pretty enough to be a side for your Christmas dinner!

Acorn Squash Salad Bowl
yields 2 servings

Ingredients:
1 medium size acorn squash
2 handfuls spring green mix
pecans, chopped
pomegranate arils
feta cheese
s&p

Balsamic Dressing:
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. dijon mustard
s&p to taste

Directions:
Cook your squash to your preference. If you are reading this ahead of time, use your crock-pot! First cut the pointy edge off each end so it has a flat surface to stand on. Then cut in half, scoop out seeds, wrap in foil and place in the crock-pot on low to cook for 6-8 hours (perfect way to cook sweet potatoes too). If you don't have that kind of time on your hand, cut edges off, cut in half, scoop out seeds, drizzle with olive oil, s&p, and roast skin side up at 425 for 20-25 minutes.

Combine your dressing ingredients in a small mason jar or bowl and shake/whisk to combine. In a mixing bowl, add two large handfuls of spring mix, chopped pecans, pomegranate arils and feta. Just eye ball your ingredients and add as more or less as you want. Sprinkle in a little extra salt and pepper. Toss everything with your dressing, starting light and add more as you please. (Sorry these measurements are haphazard, but that's the beauty of a salad).

Fill the cavity of your acorn squash with a serving of salad. Dig in by scraping up a bit of squash with each bite of salad mix.

Want more ways to use acorn squash? Take a bite here and here.

Annie

Bites of My Life

All food for this week's installment of 'Bites of My Life.' This is pretty much how this time of year goes. Lot's of cooking, baking, eating and drinking. The highlight of the week was when I got to switch out cooking as a hobby to cooking for work! The new restaurant my company is opening had a catering and needed an extra hand. I happily put on my apron to take a break from behind the computer.

Last week also consisted of a couple Christmas parties, Christmas shopping and Christmas baking. More of the same on tap for this week. 

-Can't get enough of this greek salad concoction using Trader Joe's frozen falafel. 
-White Chocolate Dipped Oatmeal Ginger Cookies, don't miss last week's recipe.
-This is what I call perfection.
-Festive avocado toast for a Christmas catering.
-A festive twist on a French 75 was the cocktail of the evening. 
-Got to step in as sous chef to help with a party my company was catering. On the menu was avocado toast, deviled eggs, mediterranean dips, and all the cheese, smoked salmon and charcuterie your heart can handle. It was way too fun.
-Sweet potato stuffed with roasted brussels, pomegranate perils and a dollop of hummus. 
-A london fog latte with homemade lavender marshmallow to keep me warm while shopping the holiday pop-ups.
-Pastrami with a side of joe at Kitchen No. 324.

Annie

White Chocolate Dipped Oatmeal Ginger Cookies

National Cookie Day was Monday and I missed it. Sighhh. I'm a sucker for food holidays. The second December hit I got a bug for baking. I wish someone would just pay me to stay home and bake cookies all day leading up to Christmas. Unfortunately that is not my reality, so I saved up some time after work to bake up these cookies and cure my baking bug.  

These cookies are kind of like a gingersnap meets an oatmeal cream pie. They aren't yelling Christmas with red and green sprinkles or peppermint candies adorning them, but the flavor is sure holiday! They have three different spices in them and molasses-my fav. If you have a cookie exchange on your holiday party agenda, you're welcome. These cookies are perfect. They are extremely easy too, so no fret.

White Chocolate Dipped Oatmeal Ginger Cookies
yields 20 cookies

Ingredients:
½ cup butter, room temperature
½ cup white sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup molasses
1½ cup flour
1 tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. baking powder
1 cup old-fashioned oats

*8-10 oz vanilla almond bark or 1½ cup white chocolate chips
cinnamon and gold sprinkles, optional

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg, vanilla extract and molasses for one more minute. Scrape the bowl, making sure to get the molasses completely incorporated.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg salt, baking soda, baking powder, and oats. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until almost combined. Remove from mixer and give the bowl a good scrape. 

Scoop about 2 tablespoons or golf ball size pieces of cookie dough onto a cookie sheet. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until just beginning to brown around the edges. Let cool completely before dipping in white chocolate.

In a microwave safe bowl melt 3/4 of the chocolate in 30 minute increments. Once completely melted stir in the remaining 1/4 of the chocolate out of the microwave. The hot melted chocolate will melt the additional as you stir it! *I use almond bark because it melts much easier than white chocolate. White chocolate tends to burn easily. Both will work just keep a close eye if using white chocolate. 

Dip the cookies halfway into the bowl of white chocolate, using a spoon or small spatula to help guide it onto the cookie. Place dipped cookies on parchment paper and sprinkle with cinnamon and festive sprinkles. Let the chocolate harden then eat, share and enjoy!

Annie

Bites of My Life

Christmas time is here! Fully feeling all the holiday vibes after a visit to our local tree farm to pick up our tree yesterday. The past week I squeezed in some Christmas movies, attended a Christmas concert, finished my shopping (humble brag), decorated our little house and now I'm planning recipes to whip up this week. Any holiday recipes you are looking for? Beware I'm on a cookie craze right now...

-Avocado oil, s&p and lots of 21 Seasoning Salute form Trader Joes. 425 degrees for 25 minutes makes for the best roasted brussels.
-I've never been an egg nog fan, but this almond milk nog from Califia Farms has been the best after dinner treat or as a chug with breakfast!
-Crushing on this greek falafel salad I whipped up for last week. Get the deats here.
-Acai in OKC! Head to Organic Squeeze asap, they are everything.
-Kat's a bride again! Kinda... a year and a half later she finally got her bridal portraits done!
-Victory in Norman, OK for OU vs. OSU. 
-Sweet celebrations for Miss Matty!
-Mom's chili and decorating the tree. Keeping traditions strong!
-All is bright!

Annie

P.S. if you are still shopping, hopefully my gift guide round up can help!