State of the Union Address Salad

Listen/Watch
Idealistically delicious…

Ingredients:

Fresh spinach leaves
Orange bell pepper
Asian pear
Avocado
Baby carrots
Goat cheese
Balsamic Vinaigrette

Directions:
Cut the orange bell pepper, asian pear, avocado, and baby carrots
into small chuncks and arrange on a bed of spinach leaves.

Crumble the goat cheese on top.

Add the Balsamic Vinaigrette to taste.

Enjoy and dream of high speed trains in the US.

Doily + powdered sugar = lovely cake decoration

I was flipping through "Real Simple" magazine in the grocery store check out line and this was the best tip I saw:
http://www.bakedecoratecelebrate.com/techniques/stencilingwithdoily.cfm

Art Bites

http://www.artbites.net/

White Beans in DC

Think cassoulet.

Ingredients:

1 lb bag of Spanish small white beans (habichuelas blancas, gracias “Goya”)
water
1 chicken or beef bullion cube
¼ large onion chopped
2-3 fresh garlic cloves diced
1 pinch of turmeric
1 dash cumin
1 dash ground white mustard powder
1 dash herbs de Provence
2 tablespoons butter
salt, pepper
Sausage, kielbasa, bacon etc. (I used some uncooked turkey breakfast sausage)
A few tablespoons half/half, whole milk, cream etc

Directions:

Prepare the beans as directed either boiling them or soaking them over night (or cheat using canned beans…)

Simmer on low heat or in a crock pot. Add more liquid as needed to make beans soft and saucy.

Add the other ingredients to taste, and slow cook.

Enjoy.