A Country Kitchen in Brewster, NY

For those of you who don't know, my aunt Chrissy is the owner of A Country Kitchen in Brewster, NY. It is a great little place serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. I have eaten there every time I go home and it is always fantastic. The portions are huge, fresh and delish!! This last visit my mom and I went for an early dinner, after the lunch crowd so Chrissy could hang with us while we ate. Since it had been a while since the last time I visited I asked my mom what she recommended....the burger was top on her list and I was all for it!. I started off with this fresh roasted veggie and mozzarella salad that had unbelievable flavor!

It was full of mozzarella balls, grilled eggplant, zucchini, squash, roasted red peppers and spinach leaves with an amazing vinaigrette. From there I moved on to the burger, and let me just say this thing was HUGE! But I scarfed it down no problem! Oink Oink!

It was loaded with sauteed mushrooms, onions and topped with Swiss...it was insane! The shoestring fries were yummy as well! So after that, you would think no way could I put another thing in my mouth, well not me, I was ready for the dessert menu! haa I mean I had to have a little of everything, I only get to visit like once a year, I need to make up for lost time. Chrissy sold me on the fresh out of the oven brownie sundae, one of my all time fav desserts!

So whatever you might be in the mood for, breakfast, lunch or dinner, you MUST stop by A Country Kitchen! Check out the link at the top of the page to see all of Chrissy's tasty creations and if you are ever in Brewster you have to stop in, you won't regret it, that is for sure:) Enjoy-

Mom's home cooked meals in NY!!

Being the foodie that I am one of my favorite things to do before I get home is talk to my mom about what food she is going to cook while I am there! This trip had loads of killer meals and I could not help but to share! Now my mom only eats once a day.... how, I have no idea, but it did not stop me from eating at least 3 times a day...even though her one meal is typically served at about 3-4pm...that just left me ready for something fabulous for dessert at about 7! They say you should not eat later than 8pm right!
One of my all time favs is my mom's homemade pizza. It is to DIE for! Simple, easy and unbelievable flavor...the key is fresh grated mozz and homemade sauce, YUM DE LUM!!!! At home I have always used a pizza stone, but my mom uses this pizza pan with holes at the bottom to get the crust just right...it is now on my list of things to buy for sure, it makes a totally difference!

OMG, just looking at the pic again makes me want to go home right now and stuff my face! Oh and speaking of stuffing your face, we did that for sure....by eating the WHOLE PIE!!! Maybe this is why she only eats once a day!

One of my other favorite dishes, which I have actually been making since I have been back about once a week, is an avocado stuffed with shrimp salad. This has to be one of the easiest meals to make and it is very tasty!

I have to say the picture does not do it justice! I do have the recipe below though and you should totally try it out!

Recipe-
1 avocado sliced in half with pit removed
I would say per avocado you need about 15 shrimp (I usually get the frozen shrimp and just boil til ready)
One the shrimp has cooled off, cut them up into small pieces, add in a little mayo, ketchup and chopped red or white onion- not sure on exact measurements of this, but really just to your preference, I really put very little ketchup to be honest..
And that is it, simple as that! Scoop it into the middle of the avocado and enjoy...which I know you will;)

Another fav of mine is my mom's salad, really it is like a side salad, but we had it as a meal with some fresh bread and yummy homemade sangria!
This salad is super easy to make as well and again, something I make all the time!

Recipe:
Spinach ( I am sure you can use what you prefer, typically I don't ever buy spinach, but it really tastes fabulous with this)
Diced up red pepper
Diced up red onion
Croutons
Grape tomatoes
Blue Cheese crumbles
Oil and Vinegar

Now, obviously being home for two weeks we ate way more than this, but these are three things I had to share. They are all super easy and really delish! So Enjoy-- and thanks mom for always making amazing meals!! xoxo

Cooking Light-- Shrimp Cobb Salad and Lemon Cream Pie!

About a year ago I told myself that after getting Cooking Light Magazine for the last several years, it was time for me to start making something from each issue...it took some time, but I am getting better and lasts night meal reminded me why I should really use these recipes more often.

Last night I made a killer Shrimp Cobb Salad that was light, yet FULL of flavor. It was loaded with fresh tomatoes, avocado, bacon, whole kernel corn and shrimp. The dressing was tangy and just right to coat the salad.








For Dessert I made a Lemon Pie, also from cooking light. I love lemon and the flavor of this pie was really yummy! I did buy a store bought crust and could have maybe rolled it out a bit better, as it baked very uneven in the dish, but the final result was really good. I decided not to add the cream to the pie, but rather add it as each piece was sliced.

For recipes see below! Enjoy!
Shrimp Cobb Salad
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/shrimp-cobb-salad-50400000111962/

Lemon Pie
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/lemon-cream-pie-50400000111981/

"Cooking Light" Supper Club! Yum de lum...

About a year ago 10 of us started a supper club. Pretty typical set up- rotate different houses once a month. They have been a lot of fun and a great way to try new dishes. The host sets the theme and provides the main dish. This month was at my place, and my theme was "cooking light", which obviously means, you must make something from Cooking Light! We are always so stuffed at the end of these each month, I thought why not make it a little lighter and selfishly, I have a trip soon where my bathing suit must be worn;)

It was a HUGE success! Now I will say, we were still stuffed, who would have thought all these light dishes could be so tasty! We all agreed that we would follow the recipes to go with the theme, but thought each of them could have had a little more "fat" in the mix or that is what we thought til we looked down and all of our plates were completely cleaned, oink oink!

Here are some pics of all the delish-ish-ness!!!! Recipe links below as well! Hope you enjoy, and if you try any of them out, let me know what you think!

Eggplant Crostini- Cooking Light

Brie with Apple and Raisin Comptote- Cooking Light

BBQ Sirlion and Blue Cheese Salad- Cooking Light

Now we did have one thing not cooking light, however it was insanely delish- made from scratch, don't have the recipe on hand at the moment- cheesy gooey scalloped potates!

And LAST but certainly not least, dessert...still can't believe this was cooking light! It is KILLER!!!

Pear Pie with Struesal topping and Caramel Sauce

So there it is, "cooking light" supper club menu! Thanks to all my friends for making such yummy food. It was a great night, with great food and great friends!