Absense

Hey everyone! I wanted to take a quick second and say I am still alive. November and December are always hectic for anyone in retail, and I'm no exception. Anytime I have spent in the kitchen has been whipping up my favorite go-to meals. I have some exciting stuff coming up this week and I am going to do my very best to post. They will be more photo/story oriented rather than recipe based but I think you'll like it anyways.

Jon and I picked up our first real Christmas tree this weekend. So, tonight I will be decorating, listening to Nsync's Christmas album, wrapping presents, addressing my Christmas cards AND making some holiday sugar cookies! It's the most wonderful time of the year!

As if today wasn't going to be awesome enough with all the festivity and Christmas spirit, I won something today! I woke up at 3:55am Hawaii time just to go on to try for one of the Victoria's Secret Rewards Cards they were giving out on their facebook. I sat there for close to 30 minutes hitting the refresh button at least 8 trillion times until finally I got the message "get your card". So it gives you this card which could be worth $10, $50, $100 or $500. I was excited for it to be $10 since it was free anyways. After getting it I check the balance on the website. I WON THE $500 ONE! WHAT? Waiiiiit, what?! I NEVER win anything! I was so excited. I had to keep asking Jon if I was dreaming because these things never happen to me. I got some more Christmas shopping done with it, ordered a bunch of work clothes (so practical) and even got me a pair of Jessica Simpson pumps!

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season so far and I will be back soon! <3

Stuffed Green Peppers

Just looking at this picture makes me want to eat, like, seven more of these beasts. They were so delicious and made up of the most simple ingredients. These would be super easy to make ahead and throw in the oven to finish off too for a quick weeknight meal. Hope you all love them as much as we did. And yes, I said we! Jon LOVED them even though he has a tendency to act like all vegetables will cause him to grow an extra toe. I expected him to just eat the stuffing because, hi, it was primarily made of rice, cheese and ground turkey. To my surprise, he actually ate the pepper too. So proud!

4 green peppers

1/2 cup onion chopped

3-4 garlic cloves

2 tbsp butter

1 lb ground turkey breast

1 cup marinara sauce

2 cups rice, fully cooked

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded, and extra to top peppers with

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the tops off the peppers and discard the seeds and membranes. Dice the tops of the peppers. In a medium skillet, cook onion, garlic and green peppers in butter for 2-3 minutes until softened. Add in ground turkey and brown. Mix in marinara sauce and allow to cook for 3-5 minutes. In a large mixing bowl combine turkey mixture, rice, cheeses, salt and pepper. Stuff bell peppers with mixture. Place on baking sheet and tent with foil. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Uncover, add extra shredded mozzarella and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes.

Surprise!!!

So, I was up to some ninja acts that I think you'll all be proud of me for. Just a warning, this is a long post!

October is a big month for Jon and I. My birthday is October 5th, obviously the most important day in the month. We also celebrate our anniversary in October. On top of those two occasions, his mom, his sister, my grandmother and his uncle all have birthdays in October. Jon's mom lives allll the way in Massachusetts and I know it must be hard for her to be apart from Jon all the time. So, last year when he called to wish her a happy birthday I realized that this year (2011) was going to be her 50th and we should do something good. Once I pointed out the milestone to Jon, he said it was also going to be his sister's 21st, another milestone. We talked about it and decided we would save up and fly out to see her, as a surprise. We involved his Nana and asked that she plan some type of a birthday party for his mom so we had somewhere to show up at.

Over the past couple of months, I have been a nervous wreck that somehow the surprise would get out. I had told my friends here in Hawaii that I was leaving and my mom had told my family in Massachusetts I would be there. I am friends with Jon's family on Facebook and I was so nervous that someone would wish me a safe trip to Boston and then Jon's mom would see it and I'd cry. So, about a week before we left, I blocked every single one of his family members on mine and his and changed our privacy settings so you couldn't search for us on Facebook. Then, being even more paranoid, the day we left, I deactivated both our Facebooks to be 100% sure it wouldn't be revealed.

We flew in around 6pm on Friday night, the party wasn't until 5pm the next day. We got to fly in at sunset and I got this epic picture from the airplane over Boston Harbor.

We were so unbelievably anxious to see whether or not we pulled off the surprise. Luckily, my friends picked us up from the airport and kept us entertained Friday night. Then, on Saturday, we drove all the way down to New Bedford from Braintree just to get our favorite hot dogs at Gary's Best. Even after doing that and driving around aimlessly, we ended up with like two hours left and watched reruns of Bones waiting for the time to go by faster. Finally, it was a little before 5 and we could drive over to his Nana's house where the party was happening.

We came around the corner and Jon yelled out "Is someone having a birthday party?". Everyone seemed to just be in a state of shock and I couldn't even see where Jon's mom was. I finally saw that she had her back to us and she was leaning against the table with her hands covering her face, crying. It was perfect! All the fears that we didn't pull off the surprise went away.

We had an awesome trip home and the best part was getting to eat all of the food we've been missing. For me, it was mostly seafood- fried clams, stuffed quahogs, steamers, LOBSTER. For Jon, it was Chinese food from our favorite- Orchid of Hawaii. And we both enjoyed getting hot dogs from Gary's Best in New Bedford and getting to go to Dunkins EVERY morning.

We also go to go up to Salem, MA. It was my first time there and such a cool time of the year to go because it was right before Halloween.

And we spent our last day in Plymouth, MA which is where we had our first date. So that was also tons of fun. We acted all touristy and visited the Mayflower and Plymouth Rock too.

I had an awesome time visiting with family and friends but I was so happy to get back to beautiful Hawaii. I am proud of where I'm from but so happy with the choice we made to move here. I will be posting again soon with some wedding updates and hopefully some recipes! I haven't been cooking much because as I said, October is kind of a crazy month for us. I have the day off today and just stocked the fridge (finally) so I'm hoping for some yummy dishes in my future.

Chocolate Chip Waffles

You all know that for the most part, I conjure up my own recipes. However, this recipe was great as is, I just made two small changes. Make sure you pay close attention to the egg white instructions because it makes a huuuuge difference.

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 1/2 cups milk 
1 tablespoon butter, melted 
2 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 large egg yolk 
1 large egg white 
1 cup semisweet chocolate minichips

Preheat waffle iron and spray with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, mix milk, butter, vanilla extract and egg yolk. Combine with dry ingredients until smooth. Whip egg white until stiff peaks are formed. Fold into batter gently. Fold in chocolate chips. Cook on waffle iron per instructions in manual. Enjoy!

Seven Years

So, yesterday was Jon and I's SEVEN year anniversary. I remember being in highschool and when someone made it to six months everyone was in total shock. I couldn't blog about this milestone because we were on airplanes all day yesterday (that will be my next post). I don't think I ever told the story of Jon and I so this seems like a good time because it's a funny story to me.

So, Jon moved to my hometown when he was in middle school. He was a grade younger than me but we had a lot of the same friends because everyone knew everyone in East Freetown, Massachusetts. The first encounter I had with Jon was at a friend's birthday party when we were around 16. I had to work right after the party, but wanted to stop by to wish her a happy birthday. After spending a little while there, I went to leave and there was a junky old Camaro parked right behind my car. I asked around and it turns out this Camaro belonged to Jon. I walked in and asked him nicely to move his car. He was having a good old time with his friends and said he'd get to it in a minute. So, trying to be patient, I waited ten minutes or so before marching back over to remind him to move it. He was more than irritated with me and told me to hang on, he'd get to it. Finally, after another ten minutes, I cussed him out telling him I needed to get to work and to move his damn junker. He moved it and I went to work.

Over the next couple of years, I would see him hanging out with some of our mutual friends but didn't even pay attention to his existence. Fast forward to the beginning of October 2004. I was working at Subway with a bunch of people who went to high school with Jon. At this point, I had already graduated but Jon was a grade behind me. I really wanted to go to homecoming to hang out with all of them so they suggested I go ask one of the guys in the parking lot to take me. My good friend was picking me up after work to go to a theme party at UMass Dartmouth. I got changed into a cowgirl outfit with an obnoxious pink hat. I know that's super unnecessary to mention, but it's details I'll never forget. I marched out to Jon as he was the only one I even recognized from the group and told him he was taking me to his homecoming. He looked totally stunned and just said "uhh, okay" and I left. Over the next week, he stopped by Subway a few more times than usual because I think I totally confused him. He asked me super cute "So, should I, uh, take you on a date or something before we go to homecoming?". I said sure why not. Meanwhile, I'm dating like three other guys. My friends were joking with me about how I was going to choose which one would be "the one". I told them whoever took me to Isaac's in Plymouth, MA for a date would be the winner. I thought this was so funny because I figured none of these guys would ever know about a classy place like Isaac's. Want to guess where Jon took me on our first date?



At the homecoming that brought us together.

 Now, here we are seven years later and we are engaged. We've set the date as October 6, 2012. We have been through our ups and downs and we bicker like an old married couple. In the end, he is my best friend in the entire world and I can't imagine my life without him. I think we have both made each other better versions of ourselves. I hope to spend many, many more years together! Here are some of my favorite pictures with him.

2005- Before his senior prom

2007- Visiting my parents in Hawaii

2008- at my 22nd birthday party he organized

2010- Valentine's Day

2009- My 23rd birthday

2011- celebrating 7 years where he took me on our first date <3

Buffalo Chicken Burgers

First off, I know this is labeled as Buffalo Chicken Burgers and you are going to notice ground turkey in the recipe. My grocery store doesn't carry ground chicken (redics, I know!) so I had to substitute ground turkey. Use whichever your heart desires in this one guys!

Turkey Feta Burgers are one of our household favorites and I figured I would stick with what I'm good at and whip up another burger recipe. These were just as delicious in a whole different way. I usually can't handle too much spice, but these ended up having just the right amount of heat. Let me know what you think- cookingwithcait@gmail.com.

1 lb ground turkey breast (or ground chicken)
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp Lawry's season salt
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
3 tbsp hot sauce
2 tbsp panko bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten

6 oz bleu cheese

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients besides bleu cheese. Separate into 4-5 patties (depending on size preference). Form patties around bleu cheese. Cook on griddle or in skillet with olive oil 4-5 minutes per side until cooked through. Serve on buns with ranch or bleu cheese dressing if desired.

Coffee Cake

So, in the past I've listed for you guys a few things this New England girl is totally missing out here in paradise. Now, I would never ever in a million years move back to Massachusetts because Hawaii living is just too darn amazing. However, I miss 2 items in particular sooo much: Coffee Milk and Fluff.

Those reading who aren't familiar with these items, let me explain. Coffee Milk is a Rhode Island thing apparently but anywhere you go in MA, you can find it. It almost tastes like those frappuchino in the glass bottles things that Starbucks sells. Fluff is marshmallow creme. Out here they offer the Kraft brand and no offense to Kraft but they ain't got nothin' on the Fluff brand. Not to mention its three times the price I paid for Fluff back east.

My wonderful friend Casey sent me Fluff and Coffee Syrup to make coffee milk and I was beyond excited. It inspired me to get a little creative, so I chose to use some of the coffee syrup in this Coffee Cake. (If you don't have access to coffee syrup like me, I would just substitute some vanilla extract or even a little Kahlua if you're feeling sassy.) I always wondered why it was called Coffee Cake and it had no coffee flavor. Then I realized it's because you're supposed to eat it alongside coffee. Duh, Cait.


Anyways, When making this coffee cake, I realized a little too late I didn't have enough all purpose flour. So, I ended up using some whole wheat flour. I wanted to explain because I didn't want you to read the recipe like "dude, this has 2 sticks of butter in it, did this chick honestly think swapping in some whole wheat flour was going to make a difference?!" So, I'm listing the recipe exactly how I made it but you can feel free to go all purpose, all the way if you'd like!

Total fail on getting a decent picture of this one, Sorry!

2 sticks butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp coffee syrup
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Crumble:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
5 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp coffee syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 9x13 baking dish. Beat together butter and sugars. Add in egg one at a time. Mix in sour cream, vanilla extract and coffee syrup. In a separate bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Slowly add into wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, sugar, melted butter, cinnamon and coffee syrup until well combined and "crumbly".

Pour half of the wet mixture into baking dish. Cover with half the crumble. Layer remaining wet mixture and top with remaining crumble mixture. Bake for 40-45 minutes until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. Drizzle with a glaze if desired (1 cup powdered sugar whisked with 2-3 tbsp milk).