save you

this song has been running through my head since monday, thank you shuffle option for reminding me about it!

oscar extravaganza 2010

sausage—cheese bites

3 cups original bisquick mix
1 pound bulk pork sausage
4 cups shredded cheddar Cheese (16 oz)
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup milk
½ teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
½ teaspoon parsley flakes

1. heat oven to 350* F. lightly grease bottom and sides of jelly roll pan.
2. stir together all ingredients, using hands or spoon. shape mixture into 1-inch balls. place in baking pan.
3. bake 20-25 minutes or until brown. immediately remove from pan.
* makes about 8 dozen appetizers

cheese puffs

2 large eggs
1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup cottage cheese
4 ounces feta cheese
1 (16-ounce) package frozen phyllo pastry, thawed
unsalted butter, melted

beat eggs at medium speed with an electric mixer 1 minute; beat in cheeses. unfold phyllo, and cover with a slightly damp towel to prevent pastry from drying out.

place 1 phyllo sheet on a flat surface covered with wax paper; cut lengthwise into 3 (12- x 6-inch) strips. brush 1 long side of each strip with melted butter; fold strips in half lengthwise, and brush with butter.

place 1 teaspoon cheese mixture at base of each strip; fold right bottom corner over to form a triangle. continue folding back and forth into a triangle, gently pressing corners together.

place triangles, seam side down, on ungreased baking sheets, and brush with butter. repeat procedure with remaining phyllo sheets, cheese mixture, and butter.

bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until golden.

note: you may freeze unbaked pastries on baking sheets; remove to airtight containers, and freeze up to 2 weeks. bake as directed without thawing.

yield: 5 1/4 dozen

mango-radish salsa

• 2 limes
• 2 mangoes, diced
• 4 to 5 red radishes, diced
• 1 red onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves chopped
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

prepare the mango-radish salsa. remove the peel and pith from the limes and cut between the membranes to remove the segments. put these "supremes" into a bowl and squeeze over the juice from the membranes. add the remaining ingredients and mix. season and refrigerate until ready to use. you can also place all of the ingredients into a food processor and puree for a smoother salsa.

a friend suggested this recipe to me and i got it from the food network it's from Tyler Florence. it's an easy recipe but it ended up taking a lot of time to prepare/cut. thank goodness i prepared it the night before my party. i hope i get faster the more i do it so for the love of mangos i'll make it again.

another day in sf

another day in the city that started out at the ferry building. we wondered the farmers market briefly and after a few samples and some large melons we settled on a place to eat lunch. i ordered 2 tacos and a bean burrito from a place called mijita cocina. the food was nothing special and i must say that it was over priced. the items are sold separately and they didn't have rice and beans on the menu. after lunch we made our way over to swensen's for ice cream but instead of a scoop i opted for a peppermint milkshake. after ice cream we took an out of town visitor to the golden gate bridge for a short walk and a spectacular view. sine our day was packed with a full agenda we had to hurry over to de young for the tutankhamun exhibit since our tickets were for 4:30-5. thank goodness for the audio option during the tour since we were all too exhausted to read our way through it. instead we found ourselves siting a lot and just relying on the audio to fill us in on the information. lazy i know but the day was beautiful in san francisco and it took a lot out of us. we ended the evening in fremont at china chili for chinese food. well it doesn't end here for me.. i'm off to prepare for tomorrows big oscar party.

armadillo willy's

this experience at aradillo willy's was much better than my first time a few months back. last time my sandwich had too much sauce and my milkshake was too runny. tonight i ordered the smokehouse bbq melt with pork and sauce on the side. the sandwich also has jack & cheddar cheese, bacon and onion served on texas toast. the pork was good, not amazing but i'd order it again. my friends and i also shared a basket of garlic fries and a giant chocolate chip cookie.

next time i go i'll make a point of going on a monday night for the all you can eat ribs. fingers crossed that the ribs are their specialty.