Fervent Foodie

Pizza randomness

August 3, 2011 37 Comments

Soon after first meeting the BF, we bonded over our mutual love of cheesy niblets. After perfecting our buffalo chicken dip recipe, we moved on to make THIS our favorite Friday night feast:

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As a kid, pizza was one of my favorite dinners. When mom or dad would come home exhausted from their days, too tired to cook, with just enough energy to utter the words “let’s just order pizza for dinner” my heart would pitter patter with excitement as an uncontrollable cheshire-cat style smile spread across my face.

Pizza was cause for celebration in my family, and back in the day I was a straight up pepperoni and cheese gal.

Red heart Pepperoni and Cheese

I remember the day I got my braces. I was 13 years ripe, and I think my dad felt bad that I was in so much pain… Or perhaps he felt bad because he had just assisted in adding more metal to his poor teenage daughters head (as if my GIANT glasses were not enough).

So, in an attempt to cheer up his little girl, he decided we’d order pizza from our favorite hole in the wall pizzeria for dinner. I remember opening that steaming box and seeing the thick pepperonis all curled up into little cups of grease heaven, and that amazing pizza smell that made the pain suddenly start to melt away. I was so excited, so high from the pizza induced endorphins, that I grabbed a slice and chomped down without hesitation.

I remember the horror that immediately washed over me as I ripped my hand back from my mouth like a kid who’d just high-fived a hot stove as I burst into tears. My newly bedazzled mouth was too sore to eat the pizza. Too sore to enjoy the crunch of that buttery crust or the spice of the pepperoni. Too sore to even nibble on the oozing cheese. Through my tears, my dad and I painstakingly cut the pizza into pebble sized swallowable bites and I proceeded to toss them into my mouth followed by long swigs of Coke like a real pizza pill poppin addict.

Why was adolescence so cruel?!

Yes… that just happened.

But let us focus on what’s important here.

Pizza.

It brings people together.

It puts a sparkle of happiness in your eyes and warm and fuzzies in your belly.

Heck, it even puts hair on your face.

Hahahaha… That’s my nephew Dylan. LOVE that pic. He’s almost 13 now… and sadly, no longer a pirate.

I can count on one hand — strike that — one FINGER the number of people I’ve met in my life who did not adore pizza. (crazy man, that Tim is)

Pizza is the jam. The cat’s meow. The shiznit, if you will.

A couple years back, my sister and I were brainstorming ideas for a Father’s Day present for our dad. We decided we would take dad out to lunch to the restaurant of his choice. Mexican or seafood or a big Italian feast. Whatever his heart desired.

When we presented him with his present, he got a big smile of his face and then told us where he’d like to go.

Cici’s Pizza Buffet.

Yes.

Sometimes all a father really wants is to pig out with his children at the pizza buffet Smile

I haven’t been to CiCis Pizza Buffet since then, which is very sad given how enamored I was with their macaroni and cheese pizza… So wrong, but SO right!

When I was contacted a couple weeks back about doing a giveaway for Cici’s, I HAD to jump on it (in secret hopes that my one of my siblings will win a free pizza buffet for my pa, of course).

Here’s the scoop: CiCi’s Pizza Family Funtacular summer scratch and win contest runs through August 28. The scratch off tickets give you the opportunity to win movie tickets, family fun packs, children’s movie tickets, CiCi’s gift cards, free buffets, carry-out pizzas and beverages.

Oh man… my dad would LOVE LOOOOVE to win this….

Grand prize for two lucky families: an all-expense paid trip for four to Universal Orlando Resort Vacation…. Ok… Shut the front door!!! Now I really REALLY hope one of my siblings win!

I have SIX scratch off tickets to give away, and I’ll send them ALL to the winner. TWO ways to enter: 1.) leave a comment (or link) on this post with your favorite pizza topping or recipe AND 2.) Follow me on Twitter @Fervent_Foodie!

I’ll use a random # generator to select a winner Sunday at midnight!

What I ate

He cooks as good as he looks.

August 1, 2011 15 Comments

What could be better than a home cooked meal?

Strike that. What could be better than a home cooked nutritionally well-balanced meal?

Correction: A home cooked nutritionally balanced meal for which your only task is to sip cabernet and take candid photos?

I don’t mean to brag, but I’m really really good at sipping cabernet 😉

OK… I lied. There’s one more task: to oogle over the chef’s giant cannons.

Is it just me, or does his head look small next to that thing?!

And not to brag (AGAIN), but this is what it looks like when the BF slices the veggies for our salads:

Yes… I’m serious.

If you are feeling SUPER nice, you could set the table. But it’s your call, really.

All tagether nah:

More eye candy for your viewing pleasure:

I LOVE beans on salads.

But I REALLY REALLY love pasta:

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And spicy chicken sausage:

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Any tomato sauce with cheesy noodly goodness:

Now, how do I convince him to get to work in the kitchen EVERY night?

Ramblings

Time to toot.

July 29, 2011 6 Comments

It’s that time. Toot time. As in, time to toot my own horn

Kelly, who blogs at Foodie Fresh, nominated me to participate in a fun game (of sorts) that’s sweeping the blogosphere. It’s called “My 7 Links” and the goal is to unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.

THE RULES

1) Blogger is nominated to take part
2) Blogger publishes his/her 7 links on his/her blog – 1 link for each category.
3) Blogger nominates up to 5 more bloggers to take part.
4) These bloggers publish their 7 links and nominate another 5 more bloggers
5) And so it goes on!
6) We’ll be sharing the best posts from participating bloggers on our blog and everyday on Facebook and Twitter at #My7Links

My 7 Links

#1—> *My Beautiful Post * This IS a food blog after all

#2—> *My Most Popular Post* Overnight Oats For Dummies. So many people just do not understand the OO concept. Whenever someone asks me what I’m eating, I always preface it with “OK this is going to sound really gross but…”

#3—> *Most Controversial* I tried to recall a controversial post, and honest to god I could not think of one. This makes sense given my hatred for conflict. So, in lieu of inciting anger here’s this post that is SOMEWHAT controversial… at least my brother might think so –> Two Random Things

#4—> *Most Helpful* I love to reflect on this post when things get crazy at work, and it applies to ALL jobs, not just taxes: 10 Tips for Tax Season. Given that I’m rolling into fall busy season, this is an especially appropriate time to remember to bust our my daily happy dance. Shout out to all my old coworkers in Ohio

#5—> *Most Surprise Success* Maker’s Mark Bananas Foster Bread. Not sure why, but this get A LOT of googlage. Well that and “pizza porn,” which is now officially the third most common search that links people to my blog. Oh dear.

#6—> *Not Enough Attention* Words of wisdom from my mom. You can NEVER get enough of those. NEVER.

#7—> *Most Proud* Hello Cat, please exit the bag. The result of EVERYONE and their mother assuming I was moving to CLT for a boy. I don’t know why, but every time someone would make that insinuation I would literally go red with rage. From family, to coworkers, to a PARTNER at my old employer, it didn’t matter. RED RUM… RED RUM…………….

Lovely ladies I’ve nominated to participate: Leashie Loo from All Kinds of Hungry, Andrea from Can You Stay for Dinner, Jamie from Bibliophiled Away, Jaci from Engaged and Running, and Shanna from Shanna Like Banana!

Psssttttt by the way, the winner of the Veggies Chips Giveaway is:

~*~ Hope from With a Side of Hope ~*~

(Note that I removed Scott from the giveaway since he was the sponsor. It’s only fair he can’t win his own prize )

My Favs, Ramblings

I gave up cereal.

July 28, 2011 14 Comments

OH THE HORRRRORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My grumbling belly wants to know why the heck I’ve decided to torture myself in such a way, given my well-known love and infatuation for cereal. Why would I willingly rip such a dependable source of joy from my life? And what the heck did cereal do to deserve this unjust exile?

Lately, I’ve turned into a major snack monster. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all about snacking and eating small meals throughout the day. I’m also all about incorporating lots of delicious yet nutritious treats into my day. And apparently I’m also all about grabbing fistfuls of cereal and shoving them into my mouth every time I step foot into my kitchen. A handful of puffins after breakfast to cleanse the palet… a handful for my pre-dinner snack… you know, just to hold me over… and while we are at it, why not throw in a late night bowl o’ cereal to settle my tummy before bed?

Cereal and I, we have a LONG history.

This was, at one point, my favorite Friday night ritual after all:

My infatuation runs so deep that it’s not abnormal for my pantry to have five+ open boxes of cereal on any given day.

A while back I caught on to my cereal addiction. I think it was sometime around the day I decided, after scouring every aisle of the grocery store in search of a fabulous dinner feast, that of ALL THE THINGS the grocery store offered me, I’d most like to have THIS for dinner:

(You may have noticed I’ve now pictured wine twice in this post. Yes, I like to drink wine with my cereal. No, I’m sure as hell not giving up wine.)

It was around that time that I started using a small coffee mug to dole out my cereal portions rather than a bowl, which enabled me to still get my cereal fix without going overboard. But it’s a slippery slope, my friends. Eventually one mug of cereal turned into two… then two turned into three… and as a CPA I am confident that 3 mug-fulls of cereal is equivalent to a crapload. And god knows how many bowls four fistfuls of cereal is equal to. I mean, I do have freakishly large hands after all.

So in an effort to nip this snack monster issue in the butt, I’ve decided to give up cereal for the rest of busy season (AKA through September 15th for you non-tax folk). And on that day when busy season once again comes to a screeching hault, I will be wiser, stronger, and fully prepared to have a sweet sweet reunion with the my beloved cereal.

Product Review

Picnic in the Penthouse + #giveaway

July 25, 2011 27 Comments

Over the weekend, my mom, sister, and I made a trip to the Charlotte Farmer’s Market in search of delicious treats. It was my FIRST trip to the market since moving to Charlotte. What the heck have I been waiting for?!

I was really impressed by the wide variety of goods for sale at the market. Yes, they had your standard fruit and veggie selection, but they also had a fab selection of local meats, cheeses, jams, and even local crafts, pottery, and jewelry. And a bunch of crazy vegetables I’ve never seen before.

Here are some pretty shots:

We did a lap around the market in search of dinner inspiration.

And ended up nabbing quite a few goodies including these fresh tomatoes and basil which we combined with fresh mozzarella from Trader Joe’s to make a fantastic caprese salad:

We opted (aka I demanded) to put olive oil, salt and pepper, and balsamic vinegar on top:

We also snagged some corn on the cob and some grass-fed beef for our burgers. I haven’t had corn on the cob in quite a while, and the cobs we picked up from the farmer’s market were so tasty and sweet and the kernels were just the perfect size to fit between the gap in my front teeth.

Makes me think I need to incorporate that veggie into my life more often 😉

We sandwiched our grass-fed beef burgers between brioche buns courtesy of Trader Joes, and topped everything off with more tomato and onion from the market and lotsa ketchup and mustard, of course.

I know these look like little baby burgers, but they were actually six ouncers dwarfed by those delicious brioche buns.

The only things missing from our picnic in the penthouse were potato chips and dip. In my family, we eat chips and dip as an appetizer, and as a first course, AND as a compliment to any summer meal. We will down 2 bags with gusto, especially if there’s some Lawson’s chip dip nearby for dunking Smile

My belly was still obsessing over the thought of chips and dip when I came home from work yesterday and was greeted by a large box of York’s Harvest Garden Chips from Charlotte-based Tropical Foods!

First off, coming home to a package of goodies to sample has to be THE BEST welcome home present EVER. I immediately tore into the package to check out the Garden Chips.

The chips are made from real vegetables (awesome), and they are completely natural, completely crunchy, and completely addicting Smile

I was sent a few different varieties to try, including Okra, Green Beans, and the Mixed Vegetable chips (sweet potato, taro root, squash, carrots, and green beans). After trying each and every vegetable chip variety, I decided the carrots and the green beans are my fav Smile

Have you guys tried these veggie chips yet?

More importantly, do you want to try them *for free*?! We all know I love freebies. I have no shame 😛

You can enter this giveaway for the York’s Harvest Garden Chips up to four times by leaving a comment on this post for each of the following:

1. Leave a comment and let me know your favorite cookout food (recipe links are always welcome!)

2. Add me to your RSS feed OR sign up for email subscription to my blog

3. Follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway:

4. Like the Fervent Foodie page on Facebook:

Comments must be posted by midnight Thursday July 28, 2011. Then I’ll use a random number generator to select a winner Open-mouthed smile

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