Yesterday I spent about 3 hours trying to think of what dessert I was going to make for this week’s Project Runway Girls Night. It wasn’t until I was 3 minutes away from home that the idea came to me. TIRAMISU! And the best part…I had all the ingredients waiting for me in the kitchen!

I ran home and immediately started my online recipe search. I had less than an hour to pull it all together, so I went right to Martha Stewart’s EVERYDAY FOOD site and searched.

Below, you will find my version of the recipe. I decided to use mascarpone cheese instead of cream cheese to make it more authentic.

Ingredients:

• 2 3oz. packages ladyfingers
• 3/4 cup whipping cream
• 1 8oz. container mascarpone
• 3 tablespoons instant espresso
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 splash coffee flavored vodka (Kahlua would be fun too)
• 1 1/2 cup water
• a bunch of bittersweet chocolate shavings

Put the 3 tablespoons of instant espresso in a medium bowl combine with 3 tablespoons of boiling water. Stir until the espresso powder completely dissolved. Add the 1 1/2 cups of water and the splash of booze. Stir!

Meanwhile, whip the cream with the 1/2 cup of sugar. When you have made whipped cream, add the mascarpone and stir it up! Try not to take too many tastes, because you might get stressed at the assembly part and think you may not have enough! (I’m serious)

In the dish/bowl/serving container you are using put 3 heaping tablespoons of the cream on the bottom. Dunk each ladyfinger in the coffee mixture for less than a second. Layer them on top of the cream in the dish. When you are done with the first layer, add more cream on top. It’s like you are making a lasagna! Now continue with your second layer. Top that with the last of your cream. With the help of a potato peeler, and shave a hunk of bittersweet chocolate on top. If you do not have a hunk of bittersweet chocolate lying around like I do…. Dust the top with cocoa powder.

I let this sit in the fridge for about 45 minutes and then brought it over to my friends house. We ate it about 3 hours later and it was scrumptious! It took about 20 minutes to assemble (phew!).

Here’s a shot of the layering process:

Up close on the shavings-

Here’s the layered dish:

Favorite Appetizer from Trader Joe’s Items:

Goat Cheese with Sun Dried Tomatoes, Basil & Pine Nuts

The magic makers:

Take the goat cheese out of it’s packaging and put it on your party plate.

Chop up the Trader Joe’s Sun Dried Roma Tomatoes. Pour on top of the goat cheese log. A little bit of the oil from the tomatoes makes it soooo yummy & flavorful.

Top with pine nuts and sprinkles of chopped basil. Add some salt & pepper.

And then you have a wonderful appetizer. It’s just soo easy & convenient!

It works well with sliced up crostini or crackers. This went really fast last night! If by chance you have leftovers, toss it all in a food processor and you have a tasty pink goat cheese spread. It’s a great way to recycle a good thing.

Here’s your shopping list:

• 1 log of goat cheese
• 1 jar of sun-dried roma tomatoes
• 1 handful of pine nuts
• a small handful of chopped up basil

Favorite Meal from Trader Joe’s Items: The Greek Feast

Start with Trader Joe’s Garlic Sausage.

Take them out of their casings and form into meatballs. Put on skewers & grill:

Grill some flatbread while you’re at it! Make sure to rub some olive oil on top before you place them on the heat:

Buy some of their wonderfully fresh and light tzatziki dip & put it in a bowl:

Remember that delish hummus I was talking about? Grab some and put that in a bowl too! Cut up some lemons for your guests. Take some marinated artichokes out of the jar & place in another bowl…..

Put one of their bagged romaine lettuce salads in a salad bowl. Add some of their cherry tomatoes, red onion slices & crumbled feta. Take some lemon & olive oil and make yourself a healthy dressing. Roast fingerling potatoes in oven & squeeze lemon on top:

And now you can be proud to present…..

A Wonderful Greek Meal with the help of Trader Joe’s:

Here’s your grocery list:

• 1 package of Garlic sausage
• 1 bag romaine lettuce
• 1 container of crumbled feta
• 1 red onion sliced
• flatbread (the more the merrier)
• 1 jar of marinated artichokes
• lemons (make sure you have some olive oil for the dressing)
• 1 container of tzatziki dip
• 1 container of hummus
• 1 bag of fingerling potatoes
• 1 package of cherry tomatoes

Favorite Trader Joes Item #7: Sweet Italian Sausage (or any of their sausages for that matter)

Meat is usually what makes my grocery bills sooo high. This package of sausage was only $2.99 for six sausages. We got about 2 1/2 meals out of this soup between my husband and I. Not to shabby!

Here’s one of my favorite sausage soups:

This recipe below was inspired by this recipe from Everyday Food

• 1 package (12 ounces) sausage
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 16oz. bag of frozen spinach from trader joe’s (item not pictured-sorry!)
• 2 cans Trader Joe’s cannellini beans
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic smashed
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 large pinch of red pepper
• 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
• 1 32oz. container of chicken stock

Place chopped onion & mashed garlic in soup pot & sautee in olive oil. Take sausage out of its casings and break off bite sized *meatballs* Add this to onion mixture. Cook sausages on medium heat for about 4 minutes. Your goal is to make sure there’s no pink left on the outside of the meat. Now add chicken stock, beans & frozen spinach. Simmer on the stove for about 20 minutes. Make sure there’s a very low boil going on. Before you serve, add the red-wine vinegar (it will give it that extra zing!). Season with salt & pepper. Enjoy.

I’m actually eating a bowl of this soup as I write this post. It’s really good for a cold autumn afternoon. I recommend making it on a Sunday afternoon while your spouse is watching football. Not only will make your house smell wonderful, you will be sneaking a heaping portion of vegetables into someone else’s diet. I like to pair it with crusty pieces of bread and butter…mmmmmmm…….. My husband & I like to save the sausage til the end. It’s the best part!

Sometimes I use the following Trader Joe’s Sausages for this recipe:

Garlic Sausage

Wine & Cheese Sausage

Hot Italian Sausage

(All of them produce a great result)

See closeup if you don’t have any meat aversion:

Favorite Trader Joe’s Item #5: Brussels Sprouts

I never really had brussels sprouts until 4 years ago, when I ordered a chicken dish at Luna Park that had brussel sprouts & roasted butternut squash as a side. They were heavenly! It made me wonder why I had always heard such awful things about brussels sprouts. They seemed to be put on the disgusting list with things like tuna casserole (which i have yet to try). Ahh….It was love at first bite. I almost asked them for seconds! I knew had to recreate this at home! I tried some different concoctions and came up with this one.

Ingredients:

• 2 bags of TJ’s Brussels Sprouts
• 3/4 stick of butter (more if you are feeling frisky)
• 1 large yellow onion chopped (more or less depending on your love for onion)
• 3-5 tablespoons of brown sugar (this usually changes depending on how bitter the sprouts are)
• 2 cloves of garlic

Take sprouts out of their packaging. Soak in water & rinse. Cut the ends off all the sprouts & quarter the sprouts. Set aside. Place 1/2 stick of butter in a pan on medium heat. Stir in onions & garlic. Cook on medium until onions are translucent. Add sprouts & toss them in the butter/onion mixture. Let sit- stir occasionally. At this point, you are working on steaming them. When the sprouts are softened (about 10 minutes), add brown sugar & remaining butter. Turn the heat to high and brown the sprouts. The brown sugar & butter help caramelize them. Put the little beauties in a dish & serve.

This dish has the power to change someone into a Brussel Sprout Lover. You’ll see……

Closeup of Packaging:

A Perfect Dish for Thanksgiving:

Sink your fork into it:

Try them. You’ll love theses little babies:

***note: I used three small onions for the dish above- one large one will work out fine!***

One of my biggest gripes in the kitchen is garlic skin & onion skin. I hate how it gets stuck to everything. It’s soooo hard to remove!!! I know it’s worth the effort….. but gaaaaaaahhhhh! Get it off my cutting board & fingers. And why is it stuck to my knife??? Total pet peeve of mine. Fret no more!

Drum roll please….

Favorite Trader Joe’s Item #2: Premium Pealed Garlic

One of the newest additions to my Trader Joe’s cart has been their pre-wrapped garlic. This trio of garlic is tightly sealed and shares a little bag with at least 4 other trios. I wonder how they come up with three….. What if I only needed two or one? Either way, I find something else to put garlic in that day. When I made butternut squash soup the recipe called for only two cloves. I used three and it tasted great. How could one extra clove really ruin something? Maybe if you are a raw garlic eater?

So here’s a recipe a good friend shared with me. It’s called garlic-ginger spread. It will cure your cold/ailment with the fighting power of garlic and ginger. You might also have the taste of garlic in your mouth for awhile, but believe me it’s worth it.

How to make it:

• Melt 1 stick of salted butter
• Grate a large knob of ginger (at least 3 inches)
• Chop & mince 6 cloves of garlic (just 2 packages of the tjs kind!)
• Stir in some Sriracha sauce (about 2-3 heaping squirts- depending on how spicy you like your food)
• mix all together!

You can use it when the butter is melted, or when it hardens up! Works both ways.

What it Looks Like:

Many Uses:

-Spread liberally on toast- devour (this is the main way I consume it)

-Smear on top roasted chicken & let the butter melt

-Mix with eggplant & put that on top of toast!

-Toss in steamed broccoli

-Rub it inside your favorite sandwich

-Mix it in some mashed potatoes or rice

-Throw some in while you’re stir frying…..

***I made some last night because of my horrendous cough, and I’m already starting to feel better. It’s not something I feel guilty about eating because I know it will do more good than harm. ***