Eggplant Gratin

Last week in my Bountiful Basket I ended up with two eggplants. I'm not opposed to eggplant in any way, it's just not something that's a regular occurrence. This is the second time I've gotten it in Bountiful Baskets. One thing I love about participating in it is that I get to try new things that I normally wouldn't.

So trying to come up with a new recipe I turned to Pinterest and came across this one:

Source: farmhousetable.wordpress.com via Faith on Pinterest

OMG. Good.

I followed the recipe to a T, including following the link and making the simple tomato sauce instead of using my own (which was honestly almost out of the bottle, but I'm SO GLAD I took the time)

I also used heavy cream.

The only thing I would have changed is the amount of olive oil used in the sauce. Not that the sauce was bad at all. I'm just not a fan of too much oil.

I made buttered pasta to serve with this as a side thinking the eggplant would come out more as a lasagna. I thought the slight fry of the eggplant would help it hold up more, but it didn't. You could really just serve this up over pasta. It would probably be a great side dish as well.

The recipe is pretty simple. I had everything it called for on hand (again, thanks to Bountiful Baskets). I just love when simple ingredients can turn into something so delicious!

BlogHer12 Tips

I'm going to do a few posts about BlogHer. I want a place to keep everything together. At first I thought of using pinterest, and I'll probably do the same there, but considering it's a blogging conference I ought to keep it all in one place in the blog.

Here are a few helpful posts that I've come across so far:

A great list of things to pack from SocaMom

Tips for a BlogHer Newbie by Mr Lady via BlogHer

Top Ten Networking and Socializing Tips by Kate over at Guavalicious

A Guide to Blogger Business Cards from Melissa at Momcomm

This post from LouLou's Views on what to expect as a first timer at BlogHer. Her sarcasm made me laugh.

These tips for BlogHer Newbies from Erin at Simply Frugal Mom via Dusty at As Mom Sees It.

As I come across more helpful hints and tricks and info I'll continue to update this list.

Oyster Bake Photo Dump

Another late one. One day I'll get caught up? Right? One day?

This year I did both Oyster Bake and NIOSA. I however have no pictures of NIOSA. It's pretty much the same food on a stick, but themed to different countries. Plus it didn't have Misty there.









We saw MUCH MORE of the horse after this picture was taken!



They had a competition to see who could keep their hand in the ice longer.

As usual I had to ride a ride. No one would do it with me so I rode solo.



What's really funny is that I got stuck.

Yes. I got stuck on a ride.

Plus I was facing the back so Misty and John couldn't see me.

You know when a ride ends and you have to push down to pull up the shoulder harness? Well I did all that and it didn't work.

I tried and tried and tried and I couldn't get it off. Pretty much everyone had left the ride area and I kept waiting for the new group of people to get on. Finally a worker came over and asked if I was stuck. Yeah.

Basically BOTH people have to do it together so that was the only way to get the harness off. Doesn't happen when riding solo.

Getting stuck on rides aside, it was another fun time at Oyster Bake!

Tomatillo Sauce

I originally wrote this over on SABalance, but I'm also sharing it here.

I recently discovered cooking with tomatillos. Don't get me wrong, I love green enchiladas, or a pork verde taco, or even just tomatillo salsa. I'm not stranger to eating tomatillos, but cooking with them, I was clueless.

So I ended up with just the right amount of tomatillos to make my own salsa.



Mine were already hulled, but if yours aren't you'll need to remove the skins and clean them. From what I hear it kind be sticky and a bit messy.

I decided to create my own recipe out of a few that I saw online. It's a bit from 2 or 3 different ones. You'll need a few cloves of garlic, onion, cilantro and a poblano pepper. You can use jalapeno or an anaheim, but I had a poblano on hand.



Just do a rough chop since we'll be blending them.

You'll need to cook your tomatillos. I decided to boil mine. Just bring a large pot to boil and toss them in until soft, about 5 minutes.

When they're done, pull them out, throw them into the blender with the other ingredients and puree until smooth.

It doesn't look pretty, but it tasted good.



I decided to leave mine in the container in the fridge for a few days and then made chicken enchiladas. It only improved the taste and the enchiladas were fantastic. You can use this as a dip for chips, for enchiladas, put it on tacos or even as a marinade for chicken.

Tomatillo Sauce

Ingredients:

1lb of tomatillos, hulled and cleaned
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of onion
1/2 cup cilantro
1 poblano pepper, seeded
juice from 1 lime
1/2 tsp of cumin
salt to taste

Directions:

Bring a pot of water to boil, add tomatillos and boil until soft, about 5 minutes.

Roughly chop garlic, onion, cilantro and pepper.

Put garlic, onion, cilantro, pepper and tomatillos into a blender or food processor, add lime juice, salt and cumin and puree.

Once smooth refrigerate and use as desired.

Food Truck Fun

Food Truck Parks are really taking off in San Antonio. We're up to four now and I was SO EXCITED when I learned that there was finally one on my side of town.

Friday night John and I headed out to The Point Park to try out the trucks.

There is a small parking lot, but most of it seemed to be along the street. There was a ton of seating and they even offered an indoor seating area as well. That'll be sooooo nice come summer! There is also a big playground area and a basketball area. There were a ton of kids running around so it really is kid friendly. They have a built in bar with beer and wine. It was nice, with a lot of draft and bottle options, but you can't beat the free beer offered at other parks.

The night we went there were two different Mexican/Taco trucks, an Asisan, Crepes, a burger and a shaved ice. I'm not sure how many more trucks can fit on the property though. It's very long and narrow.

We started off ordering a burger from Blazin' Burgers, but knowing it was going to take a bit longer, we started off with a Pork Verde taco from Chela's Tacos.



Just as we finished our Blazing Burger with cheddar bacon bites was ready.



Oh my gosh. It was so good and the bites really were awesome. It was a HUGE burger, but we really wanted to try a bit of everything. Our next stop was at Texasada Mexican Street Food where we got mini tacos made with carnitas.

They were so simple and so good. Plus they were served with a cup of charro beans that had a KICK to them.



Of course we had to finish with some kind of dessert so we ordered an amazing nutella, banana and strawberry crepe from Crepe Nation.

BlogHer12

I've always heard of BlogHer conferences and have watched longingly as some of my favorite people put #BlogHer09 or 10 or 12 on the Tweets and talked about all the fun they're having and things they're learning and people they're meeting. It was always something I wanted to do, but instead of acting on it, I watched on the sidelines while all the cool kids had fun.

The other day I decided to finally check it out and was shocked at how affordable it was. Granted had I been smart and caught the Early Bird rate I'd be even better off. I'm kind of hoping to buy a ticket from someone who did and isn't able to go. Otherwise I'll be waiting until the end of the month to register. I've got a free flight with points that I've saved up. Having the free flight is really what helped push me to say Yes to going.

The only thing that is really holding me back is the hotel cost. I won't be able to do this without at least one roommate. So are you going? Are you interested in going and a roommate us also the only thing holding you back? Let me know!

I am planning on going to the sessions. Here's a link to the agenda if you want some more information. They have some amazing speakers and there was usually more than one thing that I was interested in attending. You don't have to be some big popular blogger to benefit from BlogHer. I loved that there was a focus on the little guy and the non-mommy blogger (not that I don't love all of you mommy bloggers). They have tracks for professionals, those that want to be professional, the political, the personal and some tech ones.

I also plan on going to the parties and doing some sightseeing. Having never been to NYC and can't wait to see the city. I do plan on arriving the day before and leaving the day after to allow for a bit of sightseeing. I'm more of a night owl than a morning person and absolutely love to travel.

Any favorite places in NYC or must dos in a little amount of time? I'd also love any Newbie tips if you've been before and have any advice to give. I couldn't be more excited about making this decision!

I'm on a Boat

This post is a little bit overdue, but most of my posts are these day. I bought a Groupon almost a year ago for a boat up on Lake Travis. It expired in April and the only weekend available was Easter. I decided to turn it into my final birthday celebration. I gotta go big for 30 right?





We had a ton of fun jumping off the boat



and hanging out in the water and relaxing.





Thanks everyone for helping me celebrate the big 3-0 this year!