Taylor Thursday & Mango Iced Tea

by kitchenrunway // June 9, 2011 // 10 Comments

Mango Iced Tea

Summer is here and it would be nice to sit back with an ice tea and enjoy the warm days laughing with friends. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find enough hours in the day and I always feel like I can’t get caught up with life in general. I wished there was more time to just relax and forget about all the stresses of life. This recipe takes me back to the more carefree days of my childhood.

I grew up in Georgia where things aren’t quite as rushed and chaotic as it is here in California. I have nothing but lovely sentiments of Georgia. It’s my home and the culture and values have helped mold me to who I am today. It’s no secret that sweet tea is a staple in the South. Practically every home had a pitcher of sweet tea in the fridge ready to serve – including our Asian household. It’s a very comforting drink that reminds me of home and a time when things were more simple. Of course I was just a kid so how much stress could I possible have? Nonetheless, I have many fond memories of hanging out at my friend Marisa’s house talking and giggling over a glass of sweet tea.

Here we are getting ready to leave for Girls State with my Keroppi pillow and a bottle of iced sweet tea in hand!

Sweet tea is also a great beverage to serve at baby and bridal showers or even spiked with a splash of rum or vodka. So here’s a recipe for sweet tea with a twist: Mango Iced (Sweet) Tea. Go ahead, brew yourself a pitcher of tea, sit down, kick up your feet and take it easy. The laundry can wait until later…

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Creamed Corn

by kitchenrunway // June 7, 2011 // 9 Comments

Creamed corn is one of our favorite ways to enjoy corn year round. This steak house style creamed corn is an easy side that is delicious and perfect with a juicy steak. We keep frozen corn on hand at all times and when I have left over heavy cream…you can count on me making this side. It’s creamy with a hint of sweetness. It’s definitely not like canned cream style corn…give it a try the next time you are in need of a quick and simple side. You won’t be disappointed. Besides, how can you go wrong with sweet corn, heavy cream and a touch of butter?

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Foodbuzz 24×24: Devouring Scottsdale, Arizona

by kitchenrunway // May 30, 2011 // 11 Comments

biancoverde with prosciutto - pizzeria bianco

Pizza from the Pizzeria Bianco...simply divine!

We are excited to participate in our first Foodbuzz 24×24 and share with you our food adventures in Scottsdale, Arizona. We loaded ourselves up into a SUV with my parents and our dog, Taylor, for a road trip to beautiful Arizona. Scottsdale has been an ideal vacation spot for long weekend excursions each year. It is filled with dog friendly hotels and welcoming restaurants along with convenient dog parks to let our “little girl” get her daily exercise. We put ourselves up at one of our favorite vacation spots: The Phoenician of the Starwood Hotels chain. If you have a dog that travels with you then you should get to know Starwood well since most of their hotels are dog friendly. We stayed in a room in their “casitas” (which are little small two story structures tucked away alongside grassy greenbelts and beautiful lagoons), which have ground floor units that open up to a patio and greenbelt that is perfect for bringing your four-legged companion with you. We love the location of the Phoenician since it is minutes from Old Town Scottsdale, the Scottsdale Fashion Mall, and of course the Chapparral Dog Park. Of course, for a guy like me, the Phoenician has 27-holes of amazing golf for me to be able to sneak away early in the morning for a round of golf while everyone else is still sleeping.

We couldn’t wait to get out of Orange County and on the road to explore the great food scene that the Phoenix/Scottsdale area has to offer. Each time we visit, we make sure to visit our landmark favorites and look forward to adding some new spots to the rotation for next time. After settling ourselves into our new home base for our trip, we mapped our restaurant plans for our day of culinary adventure on Saturday, May, 28th. We started the day with a little detour to the Chapparral Dog Park before making our way to The Orange Table at the Scottsdale Mall along with our pooch in tow. We were looking forward to a lovely breakfast outdoors with Taylor at our side. The restaurant is an unassuming and quaint spot with a neighborhood cafe feel. It is definitely what we would call a hidden gem because it is tucked away in the Scottsdale Mall away from the hustle and bustle of the busy streets of Old Town Scottsdale. The restaurant features a great coffee bar along with classic bar menu for those craving a Bloody Mary or cocktail with your brunch.

breakfast at orange table, scottsdale, arizona

Dishes clockwise: Red Flannel, Garlic Mushroom Omelet and Chimichurri Corned Beef Hash.

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Taylor Thursday & Fuji Apple Bread

by kitchenrunway // May 26, 2011 // 11 Comments

An apple a day keeps the doctor away... well not always. This picture was taken 10 days after having major surgery.

Taylor is a golden retriever mix and as a puppy she was an avid chewer. While we were away at work she got herself into all sorts of trouble. She would eventually get bored in her play pen and find interesting ways to entertain herself, such as destroying her bed and pulling all of the stuffing out of it. Just when we thought she was mature enough to get full reign of the house she would decide that a plant needed pruning and she would take it upon herself to tend to the plants. This is what happens when your dog is too smart for it’s own good.

Taylor destroys her bed and Taylor getting reprimanded by her papa.

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Coconut Mango Granola

by kitchenrunway // May 23, 2011 // 14 Comments

I’ve never been a “granola” kind of girl. Growing up in Georgia – granola wasn’t really part of my everyday diet. What I liked to eat for breakfast or brunch back then was chicken fried steak with a generous helping of country style gravy. Those high school days of high calorie meals are over. I’ve gotten older and my metabolism is just not quite the same anymore. Oh the pains of aging.

Derrick on the other hand loves granola and rarely ate “sugar” cereal growing up. So we’ll buy a box of Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch for me (or I sneak it into the house more less) and then some flax seed granola for him. Last Saturday I bought Derrick a bag of Brooke’s (Food Woolf) granola at the 2nd Annual LA Food Blogger bake sale. I knew Derrick would love it! Well, I tried some of that homemade granola goodness and I was pretty impressed. So impressed that I insisted that we go out the next day to hunt down the ingredients to make my very own batch. So I’m putting everything that I love into this granola recipe. It’s chalk full of coconut, almonds, dried cranberries, pineapples and mangoes… it’s like a tropical granola. It is then coated with a delicious sweet maple and brown sugar syrup. It’s great on yogurt, with milk, as an ice cream topping and of course straight up. It’s sweet – but in a good granola kind of way.

So maybe living in California has turned me into a granola kind of girl…or maybe I didn’t have great granola until recently. Either way – you should give it a try… who knows you might end up liking it!