Roast Duck!

We went to the Asian Market last Sunday after church and they had non-frozen ducks available. So Hubs and I decided we’d try preparing it this week. Growing up in the Philippines, I don’t think I ever had duck, but since living here in the States and being with my foodie husband I’ve had it a couple of times in restaurants but never at home. It’s just so intimidating and looks like such a difficult thing to prepare. But with the help of youtube and blogs, I’ve realized that it’s preparation is similar to that of a chicken! I’ve prepared roast chicken countless times already so I was thinking why not try duck. If it will not turn out good,there goes my $16 and I can try it again!  We really enjoyed this and we will definitely be doing duck at least once a month!  The recipe I followed: Duck Recipe.

 

..
clean it very well
roasting time:4 hours (next time i will cut it into 3 hours,some parts of the bird were dry)
roasting time:4 hours (next time i will cut it down to 3 hours,some parts of the bird were dry)
Glaze ingredients
Glaze ingredients
just resting while I'm making the glaze
Resting….while making my glaze.
roast duck for dinner!
roast duck for dinner!
with my lovey
with my lovey
we had baked potato and roast broccoli too
we had baked potato and roast broccoli too

Spring is Here!

It’s been a nice couple of days here in the PNW, spring is finally here because the flowers are blooming and sun is out most of the time with rain showers in the afternoon. I’ve been walking Riley almost everyday and I can’t help but be so grateful that we live in such a beautiful and well maintained neighborhood (but then our home owner’s fee is really pricey!). So last Monday,I went to Homegoods because I really want to add a little spring feeling to our home, I got new placemats and found a Le creuset bowl (i don’t really need a new bowl but I can’t pass a good le creuset deal!).

:)
🙂
Tulips
Tulips
Riley Love!
Riley Love!
Homegoods shopping!
Homegoods shopping!
new placemats!
new placemats!
so cute!
so cute!
a new tray!
a new tray!
tulips=spring
tulips=spring

 

Grocery Haul!

This was my grocery haul for the last 2 weeks but due to the Holy week I didn’t want to post any of my hauls. I shopped at 3 stores Walgreens, Fred Meyer, Grocery Outlet. The deals are over now except maybe for Grocery Outlet because they don’t have a weekly ad they’re more of like “while supplies last” kind of store.  I really like shopping at Grocery Outlet because you never know what you’ll find in the store. Happy savings friends!

Fred Meyer: The Nestea drink was free (free friday deal). I stocked up on the butter too (after coupon i paid like 1.50$ each,normally its $4 each)I paid $11
Fred Meyer: The Nestea drink was free (free friday deal). I stocked up on the butter too (after coupon i paid like 1.50$ each,normally its $4 each)I paid $11
Walgreens: Paid $16 (i wanted to stock up on vegetable oil), the cereals were $1 each after sales and coupon) I will be sending some of this to the PI.
Walgreens: Paid $16 (i wanted to stock up on vegetable oil), the cereals were $1 each after sales and coupon) I will be sending some of these to the PI.
Another Fred Meyer trip: Paid $23
Another Fred Meyer trip: Paid $23
My favorite shopping this week: Grocery outlet! I paid $55, it's a little high but I'm fine with it because I got some good deals on the organic olive oil. Originally they're $17 each but with GO it's $7 so I stocked up on that.
My favorite shopping this week: Grocery outlet! I paid $55, it’s a little high but I’m fine with it because I got some good deals on the organic olive oil. Originally they’re $17 each but with GO it’s $7 so I stocked up on that.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Family and friends! He is Risen! Jesus is Alive!

He is Risen!
He is Risen!
will live!
even though they die, they will live!
He is Alive!
He is Alive!

We had a simple Easter celebration at home. We went to the first service at 8:00am (usually we attend the 10:30am service) because we invited my In laws for Easter brunch. For the previous years, we usually go out,have a brunch buffet in one of the hotels near our church but this year we decided to just have it at home. We prepared french toast, crab benedict, bacon and eggs and banana pudding cake (prepared by my SIL).Brunch was tasty and I’m still full right now and will probably skip dinner! I hope you had a great and blessed Easter weekend! Jesus is Alive!

Yum!
Yum!
French toast (Paula Denn recipe)
French toast (Paula Denn recipe)
My In laws!
My In laws!
Crab Benedict with Hollandaise sauce
Hub’s 2nd Crab Benedict with Hollandaise sauce
with the doggies
with the doggies
Banana Pudding Cake
Banana Pudding Cake

 

 

Osso Buco!

I made Osso Buco last week,and it’s my first time to cook this dish. It turned out good if I say so myself. It’s my favorite to order in restaurant whenever they have it in the menu. It reminds me of short ribs in red wine sauce. They have that similar taste and beefy flavor,so rich and decadent. I decided to use Giada’s Osso Buco recipe because I had all of the ingredients and it looked really simple to follow. I think it’s always better to have it the next day because the flavor really intensifies and gets into the meat. So Good!

Veal Shanks (it's so important to brown the sides)
Veal Shanks (it’s so important to brown the sides)
messy but oh so good!
messy but oh so good!
with gremolata(lemon zest,garlic,parsley)
with gremolata(lemon zest,garlic,parsley)
I prefer next time to not add the gremolata; I find the zest too much when the dish is already flavorful.
I prefer next time to not add the gremolata; I find the zest too much when the dish is already flavorful.

Osso Buco (Giada De Laurentii recipe; foodnetwork.com)

Ingredients:

1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 dry bay leaf
2 whole cloves
Cheesecloth
Kitchen twine, for bouquet garni and tying the veal shanks
3 whole veal shanks (about 1 pound per shank), trimmed
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
All purpose flour, for dredging
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
1 small carrot, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
1 stalk celery, diced into 1/2 inch cubes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup dry white wine
3 cups chicken stock
3 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon zest

Directions:

Place the rosemary, thyme, bay leaf and cloves into cheesecloth and secure with twine. This will be your bouquet garni.

For the veal shanks, pat dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture. Veal shanks will brown better when they are dry. Secure the meat to the bone with the kitchen twine. Season each shank with salt and freshly ground pepper. Dredge the shanks in flour, shaking off excess.

In a large Dutch oven pot, heat vegetable oil until smoking. Add tied veal shanks to the hot pan and brown all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove browned shanks and reserve.

In the same pot, add the onion, carrot and celery. Season with salt at this point to help draw out the moisture from the vegetables. Saute until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and mix well. Return browned shanks to the pan and add the white wine and reduce liquid by half, about 5 minutes. Add the bouquet garni and 2 cups of the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pan and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone. Check every 15 minutes, turning shanks and adding more chicken stock as necessary. The level of cooking liquid should always be about 3/4 the way up the shank.

Carefully remove the cooked shanks from the pot and place in decorative serving platter. Cut off the kitchen twine and discard.

Remove and discard bouquet garni from the pot.

Pour all the juices and sauce from the pot over the shanks. Garnish with chopped parsley and lemon zest.

 

Tulip Festival!

Hello Family and Friends! I hope you all had a great weekend! We had a lovely weekend here.  Spring is finally here and we’ve been enjoying our nice warm weather here in the PNW! Every April there’s the Tulip festival in the Skagit Valley,Mt. Vernon WA!The last time I visited the festival was 2 years ago (the traffic is one of the reasons why we don’t visit yearly). It’s usually 1 and 30 minutes drive from our place but with traffic we end up traveling for 4 hours. What nasty traffic! I guess everybody had the same idea on how to spent their Saturday. Anyways, the Tulips are so pretty, my favorite colors were the pinks and deep purple ones! After the festival we decided to have sushi somewhere in Everett. Enjoy the pics!

with my Lovey Riley
with my Lovey Riley
with my loves!
with my loves!
Pink Tulips
Pink Tulips
with my SIL Julia!
with my SIL Julia!
Daffodils field!
Daffodils field!
Pretties!
Pretties!
yellow tulips
yellow tulips
Riley having fun with Auntie
Riley having fun with Auntie
like a Rainbow!
like a Rainbow!
:)
🙂
Pink!
Pink!
perfect weather too!
perfect weather too!
yummy sushi for dinner after the festival!
yummy sushi for dinner after the festival!
Riley totally passed out when we got home!
Riley totally passed out when we got home!

 

Anniversary Weekend!

Yesterday (april 5th) Hubs and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary! Time flies really fast. I thank God for my marriage and for giving me such a loving and patient husband. So blessed to be married to my best friend. Hubs is super busy with work this month, so it’s really hard to take time off so we decided we’ll just have a “late” celebration next month and travel somewhere.We did go out this weekend and had dinner at John Howie’s Steakhouse Restaurant. We watched the new Captain America movie and had dinner after. What a fun weekend!

with the Pastors who married us!
with the Pastors who married us!
Pretty Flowers from Hubs!
Pretty Flowers from Hubs!
Roasted Bone Marrow!so rich and good but not the healthiest!
Roasted Bone Marrow!so rich and good but not the healthiest!
steak tartare
steak tartare
my order:filet mignon "oscar style"
my order:filet mignon “oscar style”
mac and cheese, french onion soup,hubs steak
mac and cheese, french onion soup,hubs steak
Happy Anniversary Hubs!
Happy Anniversary Hubs!
yummy cream brûlée!
yummy cream brûlée!

Last Friday night we had a Pre-anniversary dinner at our local favorite restaurant here in Issaquah (Flat Iron Grill). It was another delicious dinner with my Hubs:

Garlic Sage fries
Garlic Sage fries
Muscovy Duck! so so good..
Muscovy Duck with truffle rissoto! so so good..
I had flat iron steak with goat cheese polenta!
I had a flat iron steak with goat cheese polenta!

For Sunday dinner,we invited my In Laws to have a late celebration with us. We’ve been eating steaks since Friday night so I wanted to have seafood.  We had clams and mussels in a white wine broth.

caprese salad
caprese salad
I love sunday dinner with family!
I love Sunday dinner with family!