Too much soup?!

What do you think?

I think you guys know by now how much I enjoy a fall day of cooking and today was no exception. I had a 14 miler on deck (yep, back to training...California International Marathon in December!), but I ended up listening to my legs and scaled it back to a 10.5 miler. Definitely didn't do enough stretching/sticking post-Chicago.

Met Selin to cause some trouble at Sports Basement, but I only stuck to the necessary items:

(source)

Headlamp to, you know, see (Tuesday's run was not only a rough return to weekday running, but it was also a super dark one).

(source)

And arm warmers. I have a really hard time controlling my temperature when I run and I really really hate having to tie anything around my waist. These will do. Successful morning :)

The rain finally started pouring down when I got home (thank goodness) and it was perfect for the afternoon of cooking I had planned. I've wanted to make a big batch of soup for awhile now and I picked up some lentils the other day at Whole Foods.

So colorful!

Paired with a few other ingredients,

I made that soup happen.

Veggiful Lentil Soup

1 onion, chopped

1 leek, chopped

3 stalks celery, sliced

1 large carrot, sliced and halved

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 tbsp thyme

5 slices turkey bacon, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

10 c chicken broth

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tbsp hot pepper paste

1 1/2 c green lentils

1 1/2 c red lentils

parmesan rind

2 c broccoli rabe, chopped

Place lentils in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside as you prepare the rest of the soup.

Heat olive oil in a stockpot and brown bacon bits.

Add onions, leeks and celery; cook until softened. Add carrot and pepper paste and cook for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and thyme and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

Stir in lentils and pour in broth. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add parmesan rind and broccoli rabe and let simmer for another 20-30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

I thought this was a pretty good soup...not my favorite, but I'm sure it would be better with some homemade chicken stock. Maybe swap out the turkey bacon (which honestly doesn't have much flavor in my opinion) for some chunks of nice smokey keilbasa?

For dessert, I sliced into a dragon fruit for the first time

I'm obsessed with anything dragon fruit flavored and I love the way dragon fruit looks.

Plus, how can you not love a fruit that doubles as a bowl?

Sadly, I'm not really that into the taste. It definitely doesn't taste like artificial dragon fruit flavor. In fact, I think it tastes a lot like water :[

Luckily I had some red bean mochi to snack on. I don't know why but I LOVE LOVE LOVE anything made with glutinous rice. I guess it's not a texture most people enjoy, but there's just something about that chewy, sticky, gummy texture that I can't get enough of!

Nomnomnom.

As all this cooking and snacking took place, I also felt compelled to watch the Giants/Phillies game. Let it be known I usually don't watch baseball, but for some reason I've been following since I went to my first Giants game last month. What can I say? This city is glowing with orange and it's hard not to get caught up in it!

I planned on baking some blondies for book club tomorrow based on this recipe by Smitten Kitchen. It was incredibly easy and I ended up adding some 62% cacao dark chocolate chunks and 1/4 c bourbon to the mix. Also, since I don't have any brownie tins, I turned these into mini muffins.

They smelled SOOOO good as they baked and I was on the edge of my seat waiting for them to finish while watching this:

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The minute they won, I heard yelps and screams outside and lots of honking and celebrating. I love this city :)

I might even love it as much as I love snacking on these nuggets:

Yum. Not quite what I expected, but not bad. I was hoping for a slight bourbon taste, but I guess it all burned off? Maybe I should have done half without the bourbon and half with just to compare. Ah well. These puppies are all packed and ready for tomorrow!

How would you spend a rainy fall afternoon?

The accidental vegetarian meets race week...

And it should be an interesting party.

I'll get into the whole 'accidental vegetarian' bit later on. Let's start with the fun stuff, shall we?? RACE SWAG!

So this Sunday I'll be running my first race in my new city...

No, I didn't sneak one by you guys. I'm just running the half. The second half to be exact. Yep, you get to choose which half you want to run! How fun is that?? Apparently the first half sells out pretty quickly since it takes you over the Golden Gate Bridge, but I'm more than ok with passing on that.

The second half marathon starts in Golden Gate Park and winds through Haight-Ashbury, the Mission, Mission Bay, past AT&T Park and finishes at the Ferry Building. Conveniently, all the neighborhoods I haven't yet explored. Very excited!!

I scooted out of the office around 2 to pick up my bib and check out the expo goods. If I wasn't so flustered, I would have busted out the camera to take a picture of the crowd. INSANE. SO thankful for half day Fridays.

I grabbed my bag, bib and shirt (as shown in the pic above) and flew past the official race merchandise (my new thing is I will only allow myself to by 'official' merchandise if I'm doing the full) and into the expo area. O my...holy overload. I'm happy to report that I only bought a few things:

Pace tattoo (I only bought it b/c I couldn't find the free ones). Yeah, that says 2:02. I know I said I was going to take it easy on this one, but I mean if I happen to cruise in at 2:02, I won't complain ;) I also vow not to be miserable if I don't finish in 2:02.

Nuun and portable Nuun (yeah, that's an individually packaged Nuun tablet. I'm a sucker.) to replenish my stash.

Double Espresso Clif Shot Gels! Do you know how long I've been looking for these?? I forget the first time I had one of these, but I thought they were awesome. Unfortunately most stores don't stock them...maybe it's the 100 mg of caffeine! haha. I picked up 2 just in case I ever have a tough time waking up pre-Saturday run ;)

Check out some of the expo/bag surprise highlights:

Joint Juice (plus some powdered packets) - I keep seeing ads for this stuff. Will definitely report back after I try it.

Itty bitty Larabars - how cute are they? Finally snagged a PB&J one...can't wait to try it!

Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil? I found these at the very bottom of my bag. Kinda random, yeah? Maybe not so random? They did have a pho table set up at the expo. WTF??

So today was also supposed to be couch delivery day, but that didn't happen. I'll spare you the story. All that matters is I'm getting free delivery on Monday now. Score.

Since I didn't have to wait for the delivery folks, I got to work on dinner - Broccoli Rabe with Tofu. I know...you can barely contain your excitement. I was psyched to see broccoli rabe at the farmers market on Sunday, but I didn't have a chance to use it until today.

Broccoli Rabe with Tofu

1/2 bunch broccoli rabe, cut into 1.5 inch pieces

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1/2 block high protein tofu, cubed

1 tbsp mirin

1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp chili garlic sauce

1 tsp unagi sauce

Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pan. Brown tofu over medium heat and set aside. In same pan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium high heat, saute garlic for 30 seconds, add mirin and broccoli rabe. Saute for 1-2 minutes or until broccoli rabe begins to wilt. Add oyster sauce, chili garlic sauce and unagi sauce. Cook for 2 minutes before stirring in tofu. Cook for another minute and serve over rice.

I ate this over some brown rice (totally rocking the brown carbs tonight, white carbs tomorrow in the form of sushi rice!) and thought it was pretty good for being so simple. I've made this dish, in some form or another, many times before but this was one of the better versions!

Just a couple observations:

1. These were super leafy. Usually when I get broccoli rabe in the store, the leaves aren't that big and there are a few little florets poking through. Not the case here.
2. The stems were pretty thin. I've usually gotten ones with thick stems. These were closer to watercress thickness.
3. There was more crunch going on. Less of a broccoli stem crunch, more of a watercress stem crunch. Yes, I listen to how my food crunches in my mouth. I know, I'm very strange.

Ok, so onto the accidental vegetarianism. There's no denying my love of meat. I could probably give up chicken in a heartbeat, but red meat could never leave my life. I've never had random chicken cravings, but you bet I crave juicy steaks and burgers. Lamb shank? Hell freaking yes.

Unfortunately, good quality meat isn't exactly cheap and apparently chicken isn't cheap these days either? Meh. Damn good thing I appreciate soy and soy products.

Have I noticed anything different? Why yes, yes I have:

1. When I do get around to eating meat (usually when I'm out), I end up eating less of it. Not because I don't like it, but because my stomach starts to feel weird.
2. I tend to feel bloated more often (I've even tried to not eat dairy with lots of soy or ruffage, but that doesn't seem to help)
3. General weirdness when it comes to digestion. I will refrain from sharing TMI.
4. I still crave meat, I wish my wallet did too.

So I guess I've become a quasi-vegetarian (an at home vegetarian??) for financial reasons. Anyone else find themselves in the same situation? Is there a secret butcher somewhere that had good, reasonably priced meat? A secret Safeway?? :(

Back into the swing of things

Happy Saturday everyone!

The day started a bit foggy/cloudy/chilly, but is slowly turning into a gorgeous sunny day!

Things have gotten a little better since my last post. I think I just needed to load my plate a little more. I'm really bad with downtime, but I'm also really bad with stress...hm. Can't win. I also got cozy with my latest book - Under the Table: Saucy Tales from Culinary School:

What can I say, getting lost in a book makes me happy and calm. Love it so far...it's a really easy and entertaining read. Will keep you posted.

After a nutty day at work on Thursday I met up with Selin and a couple of her friends for some Thai food in North Beach. Super easy to get to via bus (have I mentioned my new love of busses??), I met everyone at King of Thai Noodle on Grant Avenue.

(photo courtesy of the Yelp page)

Selin promised a cheap and delicious meal, but I didn't expect dirt cheap!

I kicked things off with a pint of Fat Tire...for TWO DOLLARS. Awesome. That was (eventually) followed by some Chicken Pad Ke Mao (stir fried dal rice noodles with green long bean, bell pepper, thai chili and basil). No picture because I was SO hungry and devoured it before thinking to take a picture. Service was S-L-O-W and I swear our waitress forgot about us a bunch of times. Annoying, but the food was tasty. Another round of beers and then the bill came. We split things 4 ways...$10 meal. I was full for $10. AMAZING. Next time I think I'll give takeout a shot. Boo slow service.

By the time Friday rolled around, I was looking forward to a half day at work. Unfortunately I was so busy that half day Friday didn't happen. Ugh. To remedy things, I did a little retail therapy (only for things I actually needed, plus a cute shirt I didn't really need) and promptly vegged/passed out on the couch. I figured I'd take it easy since I had my first training run in the morning.

I started my Saturday around 9am when I popped out of bed realizing I overslept and had to rush out the door to make it to the run on time. Yeesh. As I mentioned the other day, I decided to check out The City 13.1 - the half marathon training program affiliated with Fleet Feet San Francisco. I figured I should test the waters a bit before committing to the program...I wanted to make sure it would be a good fit for me and my summer/fall training schedule.

The first run started at 9:30am on the Marina Green. 9:30?! That's late for me! haha. Whatever. I'll take it considering I won't have to battle heat and humidity - SCORE!

I got there at exactly 9:30 and didn't miss a thing. We got a quick rundown of what to expect with the program followed by a 4 minute yog to loosen up the sleepy muscles. Then we did something a little wacky - range of motion drills (penguin walks, walking leg lifts, swimming movements, knee lifts). As weird as it felt to do them, I definitely felt looser at the start.

The plan for the day was a 2 mile run to get an idea of our pace. God, I can't remember the last time I only ran 2 miles...it was weird. I knocked it out in 18:15, which I'm pretty sure is one of my fastest 2 mile runs to date. Hurrah! Afterward I chatted with a few runners and then headed over to the complimentary breakfast at the store. More mingling and snacking took place and I officially registered for the program! I'm really excited to get into a structured training program and meet new people :)

After breakfast, I made a trip to Sports Basement in the Presidio. I figured I'd check it out since I wanted to stock up on some Nuun. I had no idea what I was getting into. O my goodness. This place is insane - lots of stuff to choose from and pretty low prices. I snagged a North Face fleece for $26! Ok, it's a kid's fleece, but the women's small was $35 or something...um, I'm going to go with the one that's $10 cheaper. I also grabbed a bunch of fun nutritionals and I'm pretty sure I wandered around for a good 40 minutes. Eek. When I got home, I made sure to photograph all my goodies just for you guys haha

Check out the training shirt (right) we get with the program. Super cute, right? I don't even like purple! O yes, I also grabbed another pair of my Nike capris, since the training program also comes with a $25 coupon. The Feetures are for my sister since they were ridiculously cheap at $8.50 for a pack of 3. I was also psyched to see that they carried the Clif Shot Espresso Gels...I like these on occasion but they are really hard to come by. It was an exciting day :)

I closed out the morning with a visit to Citizen Chain to chat about bikes. I'm in the market for one and have been pretty intimidated by the reviews I've read about bike shops. Citizen Chain seemed to be the most down to earth option so I decided to give it a shot. I walked in, said I was in the market for a bike, but I hadn't owned a bike since I was 12 and didn't have a clue what to do. The guy immediately commented on my pullover (yes, I was a tool and wore my PRR pullover to the Fleet Feet run...whatever, it's my fave) and turns out he's from Bethesda. Yay East Coaster!

He was really helpful, knowledgeable and willing to help me look at not so fancy/expensive bikes. I chatted for awhile trying to figure out what sort of prices I'd be looking at and what other essential items I'd need. I'm excited to go back this week to test out some bikes!

Again, I've rambled on about a ton of different things. Sorry! More to come this evening!

My Arch Nemesis

O yes, I dread this machine. I hate it. With a passion. I'd even take a run on the treadmill over this!

I was in desperate need of a good sweat session so I listened to a friend's suggestion to do intervals to keep things interesting. Plan was an easy 10 minute warm up followed by 6 sets of 3 minutes hard, 2 minutes recovery and a 10 minute cool down. I ended up only doing 4 sets because I didn't feel like eating a late dinner ;p Followed it up with my toe taps (per PT's instructions to strengthen the achilles), some bended knee calf stretches and foam rolling (to loosen up my freakishly tight soleus muscle). Feeling good!!

I've had this turkey sammich craving for a couple weeks now and I finally grabbed some Boar's Head Low Sodium Turkey Breast and sammich fixins at the Gigante on Sunday. I toasted some Flax & Grain bread with some pepperjack cheese and then smeared it with Spicy Apple Mustard (obsessed!) before piling on some turkey, cucumber and avocado.
I was hoping to get some red in there, but I couldn't find any roasted red peppers in the house. Could have sworn I had a jar stashed somewhere! Grr. On the side, a mix of 'tropical fruit' and pineapple from Whole Foods.
I don't know why, but fresh (not canned - yuck) pineapple always makes me happy...it's up there with watermelon! I think this was also my first papaya experience. Usually I stay away from papaya because I don't really like mushy fruit. This was actually pretty tasty. Not too sweet and not offensively mushy. Yum.

So I'm going to work backwards to Christmas since I've been a terrible blogger :[

I checked the mail as soon as I got home on Saturday and sure enough there was Jamie's package of goodies! He said he was sending over this crazy Korean instant coffee he's been drinking but I didn't expect this:
A giant sack of 100 individual coffee packs! Jeebus!
I must say this definitely came at an appropriate time. We're in temporary office space right now and there's no coffee machine! I brought a couple packets into work today and tested it out. Nuked a mug of water, poured the contents of the packet in and stirred. Poof instant coffee. I mean, it's on the weak side (mostly creamer with a hint of sweet), but I'll take caffeine in any form in the morning. I may save the rest of the bag for Jamie's return.

Christmas brought some fun new things to my home, including this guy:
O yes, a measuring cup man. He's super bendy and has suction cup feet. Cannot wait to use this...or at least prop him up in the kitchen. Hello stress man!

Before there was Christmas, there was Christmas Eve! In my family, we do the big hurrah on Christmas Eve at my uncle's house in Long Island. Usually it's a big gathering (my dad is one of 7 and I have at least 19 first cousins, some who have sprouted a ton of children of their own) with tons of food. This year was a bit tame since a few family members were out of town. That didn't stop the food from flowing! There was a mix of Italian and Filipino food, catered and made by family members. My mom brought some roast beef, I made a fennel and mixed green salad and my sister made a ton of cookies. Unfortunately I once again forgot to bust out the camera :( I did rock the camera phone though ;)
The heaviest cake known to man. I'm still trying to figure out why it was so heavy - we're talking at least 5 pounds...and it wasn't even that big of a cake! Poor brother-in-law had to wait in a line of like 100 people to pick it up! It was yellow and chocolate cake layered with raspberry and chocolate mousse. Maybe it was the layer of chocolate mousse? It was pretty dense...hm...

Every year there's also a huge, gorgeous tree:
Perfect shape, right? Makes me a little sad my tree is dead and shedding needles :( I got a package on Tuesday night from Jamie's uncle filled with ornaments to add to the tree. I was so psyched to make it look less naked, but when I went to put one on the needles just fell to the ground :( I think it's time to take it down *sigh*

More news in the world of plants - Red is dead. Well, not totally dead. The leaves are still green, but the redness has gone brown. Even with water, plant food and sunshine (well, as much sunshine as we've gotten lately)! Eleven whole days...I think that's a bit of an accomplishment for me! Woo!

How was everyone's Christmas? Any fun New Years plans? I'm keeping it low key - something I've come to appreciate as I grow older ;p A certain someone is celebrating NYE/his birthday in Okinawa this year...hopefully we'll get a travel report? *hint, hint*

Squash, flowers and beets?

I may have devoured an entire spaghetti squash.
Whatever. Don't judge ;p

Tonight's dinner was inspired by Val's spaghetti squash post a couple days ago...I present to you spaghetti squash experiment numero dos!
I stopped at Whole Foods after work to pick up a few necessary items...squash, some grape tomatoes (um, tomates raisin?? hehe)
and some marinated fresh mozzerella.
I totally took a chance with these guys because I didn't read the label before buying. They just seemed like a good idea...and o boy were they! I ended up dumping in some of the seasoned olive oil and it added a great and subtle garlicky taste!

What else did I add to my DELICIOUS and light dinner? Check it out:
Caprese Spaghetti Squash
1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise
marinated fresh mozzerella, quartered
handful fresh basil leaves
handful grape tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
olive oil

Drizzle spaghetti squash with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 40-50 minutes at 425 degrees. While squash is roasting, combine remaining ingredients in a bowl (including oil from mozzerella). Scrape squash after removing from oven and immediately toss with vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I may regret my decision to consume that much squash tomorrow :\ Though, I will say I prefer the roasting method to boiling...I like when my squash isn't so squishy. Yuuum.

While I was at Whole Foods I also picked up this guy
Blogfriends, meet Red, my random type of daisy from Canada (at least that's what the sign said). I'm really not a flower kind of girl, but I found myself smiling every time I passed by these (yes, I go to the grocery store too often). I also can't take care of plants to save my life - I killed bamboo. BAMBOO! I'm going to try my best to take care of this one...mostly because it's so happy looking. See??
Pretty. It goes so great with the rest of the table decor:
That's my 'christmas smell factory'. It makes up for the tree's lack of pine-y smell. I'm actually impressed that I put that together. BIG step for me.

Another addition to the random holiday table/area:
God, I need to be stopped. I grabbed this mini-gingerbread reed diffuser at Pier 1 while checking out the other day - did I mention I'm a sucker for packaging and random doodads?? Eh, he's cute and smells yummy.

Enough about home decor! Hm...what else is going on...OH so my injury (remember that?) still has me sidelined for the rest of the year. My calf has been super tight lately and apparently that is contributing to my achilles pain. Who knew. So I've been foam rolling and doing all the exercises and stretches my PT has recommended in addition to my weekly visits. I've got my fingers crossed that I'm ok to run by January since the National Half training crew has grown to include running buddies Susan, Sparky and V! All first timers!! Can't let them down :)

Off to clean my mess and think about what to do with a fun package I received today! Details soon ;)

Foodie whaa?

Hello again! I've been super productive this evening and once I'm done blogging and cleaning, I'm hoping to get Jamie's mini-care package pulled together. Do you like pulling together care packages that remind people of home? I sure do :)

As promised I've got some recipes from last weekend's PTT dinner to share, supplemented with some gift ideas for that foodie in your life...you know you've got one! I love that all my favorite magazines have gift guides posted. Tonight's installment is inspired by Food & Wine Magazine's Holiday Gift Guide. They've got a ton of fun ideas and here are a few more to marinate on:

Food & Wine Magazine 2 subscriptions for $19.99
There's no denying that this is one of my favorite magazines. I've been known to dog ear almost every page because the recipes always sound fantastic! Plus, the recipes usually have wine pairing suggestions and bargain wine ideas. GREAT read for a food and/or wine lover :)

Tastebook $30 - $35
I started pulling one of these together pre-blog as a way to keep all my recipes. Basically, you build your own recipe book with your recipes and/or recipes from magazines. You can pick from different covers and there are even pre-made Tastebooks for you to choose from. Very cool personalized gift!

Kombucha Brooklyn Home Brew Kit $25
Know a kombucha lover? Why not give them the tools they need to make a batch of their own? I'm a bit freaked out at the whole kombucha thing, but even I think this would make a fun gift!

Gourmet Sea Salts vary with size and type
All salts are not created equal. I've always been curious about the different types of sea salts out there and so far Fleur de Sel and Himalayan Sea Salts have piqued my interests. Most of the websites I've visited have at least 10 varieties, including Smoked Sea Salt. You can definitely find a variety sample pack out there!

Cuisinart Mini Food Prep $30
Best. Doodad. Ever. I have an older one that I actually use more than my full size food processor. It's great for everyday use or even for big Thanksgiving feasts ;) Compact and powerful. A must have in every kitchen!

Color Coded Cutting Boards $15 for a set of 4
Safety first! These silicone boards are color (and picture!) coded so you avoid cross contamination and all that gross germy stuff!

Microplane Grater $15
I think this is a must have item. I got a mini one a few years ago and love it. In fact, I think I started using citrus zests because of it! Shh...I've also been known to use it for grating cheeses, spices and even garlic!

The Momofuku Cookbook by David Chang $26 online
Ok, unless you are currently living under a rock (or maybe not so into the foodie scene), you are probably familiar with all things Momofuku - Noodle Bar, Ssam Bar, Momofuku Ko, and Milk Bar (did I catch them all??). Last time I was in NYC for a fine dining experience, my sister and I almost made it to (I think) Noodle Bar but passed on it since they didn't take reservations. I've only heard excellent things about the food and the pictures alone make me drool at my computer. Amazon's preview of the book shows some fairly reasonable recipes if you have access to Asian condiments and sauces.

Mini Paella Kit $50
I've mentioned my love of LaTienda.com before and I've also mentioned the Mini Paella Kit (that definitely serves more than 2) - it's packaged neatly and ready to give as a gift! They've also got a ton of fun goodies and gift packages on their website so check it out! :)

What fun food/kitchen gadgets have you received lately? Any you've been eyeing??

Or perhaps you've just been eyeing Thanksgiving goodies and are waiting for some recipes ;p

I've got THREE for you tonight! Ready?

Goat Cheese and Sun-dried Tomato Tarts
1 package Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets (thanks, FoodBuzz Tastemaker Program!)
1 4-oz log goat cheese
1/4 c caramelized onions (see recipe that follows)
1 jar sun-dried tomato halves in oil
1 1/2 tbsp fresh (or dried) thyme, minced
salt
pepper
flour for dusting

Flour a flat surface and roll puff pastry out. You want to be able to cut 16 squares/rectangles from the sheet. With a knife, score a square within the square so you create about a 1/8" to 1/4" border for your filling. Set aside and preheat oven to 375.

In a small bowl combine goat cheese, thyme and salt and pepper to taste; set aside. Slice sun-dried tomatoes in half crosswise until there are enough for all the tarts.

Lightly spray cookie sheet with olive oil and begin assembling tarts. Place a small spoonful of cheese mixture in the middle of the square, top with some caramelized onion and a piece of sun-dried tomato. Bake for 10 minutes or until pastry turns golden brown.

Caramelized Onions
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp sugar
1 tbsp water
pinch salt

Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add onions and saute until translucent. Drop heat to low and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in balsamic vinegar, sugar and salt and cook for another 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally and slowly adding water if mixture looks too sticky.

Baked Flatbread with Brie, Caramelized Onions and Pears
1 package tandoori naan (I used the WF brand that has 4 in a pack)
3/4 c caramelized onions
1 wedge brie, thinly sliced
1 ripe pear, thinly sliced

Place slices of naan on a baking sheet and layer first with caramelized onions, brie and then pears. Broil for 3-5 minutes or until brie starts to melt and naan looks toasty. Slice into triangles and serve immediately.

Horseradish Shrimp with Bacon
(makes 30 pieces)
30 large shrimp, tail on
15 pieces bacon, cut in half crosswise
2 tbsp horseradish sauce
1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Tabasco sauce
1 tbsp cocktail sauce
toothpicks

Preheat oven to 375 and line a cookie sheet with foil. In a small bowl, combine horseradish, Worcestershire, Tabasco and cocktail sauces. Reserve all but 1 tablespoon of the mixture for serving.

To assemble shrimp, lay one piece of bacon on a cutting board. Smear a SMALL amount of horseradish mixture onto the bacon, place shrimp on top, wrap and secure with toothpick. One tablespoon of mixture should be more than enough for 30 pieces.

Bake for 10 minutes or until shrimp looks pink and bacon is crisp. Drain cookie sheet halfway through cooking if needed. Serve with reserved horseradish sauce.

Enjoy and keep an eye out for travel-friendly gift ideas!