Cooking with Philly's New Cooking Creams

I've been meaning to try Philadelphia's New Cooking Creams. Today I finally decided to give it a whirl. I looked up some recipes, but nothing sounded like what I was looking for. I had shrimp, mushrooms and spinach in my mind. So I decided to make up my own recipe. We were very pleased with the results, and it couldn't have been easier. I served it over rice, but it would be good over pasta, like angel hair or spaghetti. Bryan said, "Who needs to go out to eat, when we eat this good at home?!" That is a compliment in the highest regard! Thanks Dear. So without further ado, here is the recipe for my creation.

Shrimp with Mushrooms and Spinach in a Creamy Herb and White Wine Sauce

1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp
1 10 oz. container Kraft Philadelphia Italian Cheese & Herb Cooking Cream
1/2 cup chopped frozen spinach (or 1 cup fresh)


1. Melt butter and olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add mushrooms and garlic and season lightly with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Cook until mushrooms are tender, about 7 - 8 minutes.

2. Pour in white wine and add shrimp. Cook until shrimp are opaque, about 4 minutes.

3. Add cooking cream and spinach. Bring to a simmer and cook 2 - 3 minutes. Serve over rice or pasta.

Upside Down Pineapples

The most important thing to remember when making a pineapple upside down cake is to not make it in a leaky spring-form pan. What. A. Mess. It all started when I decided to try a new recipe from the Joy of Baking website. The recipe said to use a 9" round cake pan that is 3" deep. My 9" cake pan is only 1 1/2" deep. I was worried the cake would overflow, so I had the brilliant idea to use my spring-form pan, which is deep enough. Little did I know that my spring-form pan is leaky!

Later I read that most spring-form pans are leaky somewhat, but the crusts on cheesecakes prevent the cheesecake batter from leaking out before it sets up. Which is why spring-form pans are perfect for cheesecakes. NOT pineapple upside cakes. Ugh, I'm so dim sometimes!

Luckily, I caught it early, and put a cookie sheet underneath. The caramel is what leaked and it only burned a little. We have an air-exchanger in our house, so I just turned it on high. I had to do only a little scrubbing to the bottom of my oven, but it was still not how I was planning on spending my Sunday off. In spite of the mess, the cake came out delicious. I added some almond extract to the cake and served it with whipped cream.

Since I had some leftover pineapple juice from the pineapple, I made some martinis. Here's my recipe:

Pineapple Upside Down Martinis

2 oz. pineapple juice

3 oz. vanilla vodka

1 oz. amaretto liquor

2 maraschino cherries

2 splashes maraschino cherry juice

Shake the pinapple juice, vanilla vodka and amaretto with ice. Strain into 2 martini glasses. Drop a cherry in the bottom of each glass and spoon in some cherry juice. Enjoy!

I also made some deviled eggs. My favorite recipe is from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I've tried some other recipes, but I keep going back to that classic recipe.

Being an Introvert

I'm going to kick off the new design of my blog by talking about something completely different than food or photography. My whole life I have been called "shy" or "quiet." But when it comes down to it, I'm an introvert. And I'm OK with that. There are introverts and extroverts in this world and I just happen to be an introvert. People can fall anywhere on the spectrum and I just happen to be on the one far end.

My whole life I've felt that there is something wrong with me. Which is an understandable response when people are always commenting on how quiet I am and wanting me talk more. "How come you are so quiet?" was a question I got asked a lot as a kid. "How come you talk so much?" is what I always wanted to answer, but alas, being an introvert, I was unable to get those words out.

We live in an extroverted world. People who talk a lot are celebrated. I find them annoying. Why all this mindless talking? Is is really necessary? I don't like small-talk, but what I do like is meaningful one-on-one conversations with people that I know well. Those really feed my soul, unlike small talk about the weather.

I've been reading a blog called The Introvert's Corner. I was thrilled to hear that there are others out there like me and that there is nothing "wrong" with me. Reading about introversion has really helped me to finally accept who I am. I don't have to "make" myself be an extrovert just because that's what the world seems to find acceptable. Because really, pretending to be extroverted is exhausting. A lot of times I come home with what I call a "social headache" after a social gathering. Smiling, talking, and engaging makes me tense and tires me out. It's not a natural state for me, thus the headache.

What I've learned is that being an introvert has many other great qualities. I'm a great listener. I'm also a great observer. I'm very creative. I think and analyze a lot. And just because I don't talk a lot, doesn't mean I'm not a good communicator. I'm a very effective communicator. Maybe it's my engineering training that makes me so precise and accurate. I know when to ask questions and what information to convey to other people in the work place.

I really don't like to talk on the telephone. I even had to have some cognitive-behavioral therapy because of the anxiety I felt over it. A lot of introverts don't like the phone, but I had an unreasonable fear of it, it was preventing me from being comfortable at my job. I'm really glad I had the therapy because now I have no problem picking up the phone. Even at my new job, I have to answer the phone a lot more and it's not a big deal at all. But still, I prefer to talk to people in person rather than over the phone. Instead of calling a good friend of mine (who is a lot like me in regards to phone use), we will exchange emails and set up a lunch date, then have an hours-long conversation in person! It may sound silly, but it's just the way we are.

I think this quote pretty much sums up my ruminations on being an introvert:

"Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it." Robert Frost

Welcome to My New Design!

I was feeling creative and in need of a change, so here is the result! I still need to improve the blog title, but I like it so far. You can expect me to make changes like this every so often. I get tired of the same ol', same ol'.

I don't know why, but I started working on this at 10:30 at night and now it is 11:35 and I'm struggling to keep my eyes open. So goodnight, sleep tight!

Taking a Break

I knew when I made a recipe a couple of weeks ago from allrecipes and had absolutely no desire to take a photo or write a review that I was ready for a break from the "photo foodie" world. I'm not sure if I'm burnt out or tired, but most likley both. I've been working a lot more hours at work. I'm also under a lot of stress since I have my yearly check-up at the Mayo Clinic looming over my head for the next few weeks. I become a little unraveled after I make my appointment and life kind of comes to halt for us until my check-up is over. So something has to give right now.

Sometimes it is good to put the camera down for a while and just enjoy life instead of trying to capture it. I think I enjoyed the dish even more since I wasn't stressed about trying to get the perfect photo or thinking of how I would rate and review it. I just enjoyed a relaxing, delicious dinner with my husband.

This morning, as my husband and I were finishing a leisurely Saturday breakfast, we noticed a couple of mallard ducks in the water that has pooled from the melted snow in the wetland behind our house. We watched as they darted quickly through the water and came up on shore and waddled up really close to our house. I ran to get the camera, but then my husband reminded me of an article in the paper a couple of days ago. It was written by Norris Burkes, who is a chaplain. We aren't religious, but we read his articles because he sometimes has keen observations on life in general. In this article he spoke of being out on a run with his dog and spying a hawk in a tree. So anxious to capture the hawk with his camera phone, he completely missed the beautiful sight of the hawk taking flight. He ends his piece by saying, "When we decide to lay aside the controlling aspirations of the photographer, we become part of the photo and the good memories become everlasting ones."

I would have a photo of those mallards to share with you, only I decided to just enjoy them instead of capturing them. I will surely be back at taking photos soon since I do love it so, but for now, I'm living life through my eyes, not a camera lens.