Yellow Curry Sauce with Chicken

I love spicy food. I love curry. I love Trader Joe's Thai Yellow Curry Bottled sauce. I posted a recipe with it a long time ago, when my blog was new and my photo skills were poor because I was using my trusty canon point&shoot. That post is one of my top 5 most popular posts.

I figured there must be a way to make my own curry sauce so I went about creating one. It was actually pretty easy; it only took a few attempts to perfect. I'm not sure how "authentic" it is but it sure is tasty. It's a great sauce and for vegetarians and vegans, tofu can easily be used instead of chicken, and veggie broth could be used instead of chicken stock.

Salsa

This post marks Mr. Surly’s cooking debut. Are you as excited as I am? I'm always happy when he makes food. And this time I was able to photo document it, though I don't think he was too happy to have me hovering around with a camera, even though I tried to stay out of the way.

This salsa is so good and so simple; it's his family's recipe.

It's just peppers....



...Roma tomatoes...



...cilantro...


...and hot sauce...



...stir to combine...


...then salt and pepper to taste..


...and you're done.


Enjoy.

Happy Valentine's Day

Need a quick dessert? Try these cookies. Pillsbury heart cookies that are just place and bake.

Or buy the Betty Crocker Peanut butter cookie mix where you just add an egg, some water and oil. And instead of putting a hershey kiss, press a heart-shaped chocolate into the warm cookie. Easy peasy.

Gourmet's Romantic Road Trip

About a month ago, I received an email from BlogHer asking me to participate in their Romantic Road Trip where they were featuring cities all over the US for romantic restaurants. I wrote a review about a restaurant Mr.Surly and I love Trilussa La Trattoria, submitted it, and promptly forgot all about it.

Then a few weeks ago I was contacted by Gourmet to ask permission to run my piece. I was shocked my entry was picked as one of 15 out of the thousands I'm sure BlogHer received.

I'm so excited about it. If you want to check it out click here to read it on the Gourmet Live Blog.

I'm the fourth blogger down :)

Oh, and if you are ever near Chapel Hill, you must eat here. The Chef is the sweetest guy; he visits every table to see how the food is and to make sure everything is to your liking. He's even made dishes for me when I was doing my elimination diet, and other times when my GI issues were acting up, that were not on the menu to accommodate me. And check out how adorably quaint his restaurant is. I love that the menu is in Italian (with English descriptions below).

Champagne Cocktails

Mr.Surly and I love sparkling wine from L.Mawby winery in Michigan. While on vacation in Michigan last August, we bought a case of wine (Cremant and Sandpiper).

I have always wanted champagne coupe glasses and for Christmas, much to my delight, we received some.

Football Food

I can't believe the Super Bowl is this weekend. It's time to start thinking about food that is good for snacking while watching the big game. Below is my list of man-friendly foods worthy of any Super Bowl bash.

Wicked Good Salsa

Cilantro-Jalapeno Hummus

Slowcooker BBQ Pulled Chicken

make your own pizza:

Favorite Pizza Dough

Mexican food is always easy to make....

Spicy Mexican Pulled Chicken and Vegetables

...as are these divine chicken fingers:

Crunchy Garlic Chicken Fingers

Chili and Stew are also good foods to have around:

Guinness Beef Stew

Pressure-Cooker Chili

This mac-n-cheese is the ultimate side or main meal

Baked Three Cheese Mac and Cheese with a Kick

And you can't forget dessert, starting with the BEST cookie ever made:

White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

These cupcakes might be a little bit more man-friendly:

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

And one of my favorites:

Oatmeal Date Bars

Hope everyone enjoys the big game. GO PATS!