The Nifty Foodie

Am I the only person who is shocked that Christmas just passed? I can’t believe it. Neighbors are taking down lights, and our tree looks SO empty without gifts under it. My favorite holiday is over, and crazy enough, it’s time for a new year. 2012.

Time to take the shrink wrap off of the new planner and get used to writing “2012″ on papers/emails/etc. This is just crazy.

Also crazy…sometime in 2012, my 4 year blogiversary is happening and my 3 year wedding anniversary is happening too. WHAT?

It’s a lot to look forward to, but before everyone rings in the new year, I just wanted to share with y’all the top 10 posts of 2011.

10. Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream – This was my first time making SMBC, and I swear, if you haven’t tried SMBC before, just do it. Please?

9. Pecan Pie Macarons – Gotta love macarons. These were really a huge favorite for Thanksgiving, and the star shape (which was a happy accident) made them super cute and festive!

8. Restaurant Style Queso Blanco – This is it. The ultimate queso blanco. If you’re as addicted to queso as me, you’d understand how wonderful it is to FINALLY have a recipe for this!

7. Strawberry Cream Cake – I’m actually glad I compiled this top 10, because I sort of forgot about this cake. Since it’s currently strawberry season in Louisiana, I think I MUST make this cake again. Yum!

6. Peppermint Bark Cheesecake Truffles – This is the recipe that made my year, basically. I still can’t believe I won that recipe contest, and I’ve been told by a few friends who made this that these little truffles were a hit at their holiday parties! So happy to hear that!

5. Banana Nutella “Ice Cream” – Two ingredient “ice cream”. It’s basically awesome and couldn’t be any easier. Your food processor does all the work!

4. Grilled Corn Grits – I can’t be from the South, and not have a post about grits. I promise you if you make this, your hips may never be the same again, but your taste buds will tell you it’s completely worth it!

3. Easy Pasta Salad – My first (and so far, only) vlog. I might get the courage to make one again, since you guys seemed to like it so much!

2. Cooking For Kids – The infamous post. Yup, who’da thought that a soda cupcake would get so much response from you guys (both good and bad)…yikes!

1. S’mores for a Shower – Nutella S’mores. I can see why you guys loved this one so much. I’m sort of craving s’mores right now, actually.

I hope you have a wonderful New Year with your family and friends, and thank you so much for reading The Nifty Foodie! See y’all in 2012!

I love grits. Usually in the winter, grits are a big part of my breakfast, because they just seem to warm the soul. I know that sounds cheesy, but really, there is NOTHING like a good, warm bowl of grits.

I remember the first time we went to a restaurant called Zea Rotisserie in Metairie (right outside of New Orleans). They have amazing food, such as this pesto trout that makes your taste buds sing, but the real goodness is in their side items. Taking up a small part of the menu, there it is…the corn grits. Really, I think Zea’s needs to fix their menus and put a huge arrow next to the corn grits with a caption saying “MUST TRY THESE NOW!”, because it’s just so plainly listed on the menu and these grits, to me, are the epitome of grits awesomeness.

I never really thought of making them myself, because in my head, there was no way Zea’s would share this awesome recipe with the world. Why should they? But, oh…yes, somehow they did. On Food Network’s website of all places. The whole world can make these corn grits, and I absolutely believe they should.

Now, these grits are not for the health conscious. What do you think makes them so dang AMAZING? 2 sticks of butter and a pint of heavy cream. Yup…Paula Deen, eat your heart out!

Grilled Corn Grits
Source: Zea Rotisserie (via Food Network)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups water
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup yellow grits
• 1/2 pound butter
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 ear grilled corn, kernels removed

Directions:

1. Bring the water and heavy cream to a boil in a large pot.
2. Stir in the grits and keep stirring until the grits are well incorporated.
3. Cut the butter into tbsp sized pieces and add them to the grits, as well as the salt. Stir well.
4. Once everything is stirred in, add your corn at the end and enjoy!

When I was a little kid, I had such trouble spelling “Mississippi”. Was it too many “s”s or the double “p” that threw me for a loop? I just couldn’t get it. My house was less than a tenth of a mile away from the river, and I just couldn’t spell it. That bothered me. My parents taught us a little fun way to spell it eventually, and now I can’t ever spell Mississippi wrong. When in doubt, I tell myself “M-i-s-s… I-s-s…i.P.P.i”. There was an emphasis on the cap letters, so it became a bit of a rhythm to say it in my head that way before spelling it out.

Since I grew up living so close to the Mississippi, I’ve seen the river have its ups and downs. Literally. When the river gets high in the Spring, boats appear like they are floating on the levee. And of course, when it gets low, you’ll barely see the tops of the boats. It’s crazy how much it varies, and this year was no exception. For the first time in almost 40 years, the river was so high that the Corps of Engineers had to open a spillway north of Baton Rouge in order to save New Orleans and Baton Rouge from catastrophic flooding. Sadly, this spillway isn’t just land. People actually built their homes and farms in the spillway, so they had to evacuate. While I’m glad that nothing catastrophic happened to our big cities, it still hurts to know that some people suffered from this.

While I was watching a news segment about the river one night, I couldn’t help but think about the massive journey that the water takes. All the way north from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. There are so many different cities that the river just flows by, and my husband had the greatest idea. A culinary journey down the river–from Minneapolis all the way to New Orleans. Our party idea featured foods that are notorious in the major cities along the river: Minneapolis, St. Louis, Memphis and New Orleans. I was so stoked when Foodbuzz let me know that our party proposal had been accepted for this month’s 24×24, so I called up our families and had them over for this awesome party!

For Minneapolis, we grilled up the famous Juicy Lucy burger! You can’t go wrong with a cheese stuffed burger, and this burger was one of the favorites of the meal!

For St. Louis, we baked a gooey butter cake. We served it with ice cream and various summer fruit sorbets. The cake is a yeast based batter on the bottom and of course, a gooey butter base layer on top. Many of us (myself included) have never had a gooey butter cake, but it was a great hit! I think next time, this would go perfectly with some fresh fruit.

For Memphis, we made some fabulous BBQ Baby Back ribs. This was my first time ever working with ribs, and it really wasn’t that bad. These were very flavorful ribs and super tender, since they were in an oven for a good part of the morning before finishing off on the grill!

And of course, for New Orleans, we made some grilled corn grits. Grits are a favorite around here, and in one of our favorite restaurants, this is how they make the grits. It’s fabulously rich and flavorful! You probably don’t want to know how much heavy cream and butter are in these grits, but I’ll tell you anyway later when I post the recipe!

Oh, and since we’re all from Louisiana, we had to add in a little lagniappe for NOLA: Hurricanes. I mean, how could you NOT? For a hot, summer day, these are always a hit!

*all recipes will be shared on the blog at a later date*

It was so wonderful to spend time with our families, and I’m so glad everyone enjoyed the food. You know it was a good party when people ask for the leftovers and recipes as they’re leaving!

Thanks so much to Foodbuzz for making this party happen! We really enjoyed the different foods from cities along the river, and also had a blast spending time together!

You may not know this, but in real life, I’m a fairly shy person. I love blogging because my voice comes across in my writing, however, the subject of vlogging has always made me nervous.

I will say, though, I really do love watching vlogs from bloggers I’ve followed for a while. I always have an idea in my head about how people’s voices sound, and usually I’m wrong. It’s always a fun surprise to actually hear a blogger for the first time, you know?

Well, I definitely had to bite the bullet when Foodbuzz informed me that a recipe idea I submitted for their Tastemaker’s Program was accepted! The criteria was to make a vlog featuring my simple (30 minute or less) recipe that uses Newman’s Own products. I couldn’t believe it when I saw the package at my door!! It included quite a few salad dressings, pasta sauces, and ::gasp:: a FLIP CAMERA!! So, thank you so much Foodbuzz and Newman’s Own for this amazing opportunity. You helped me take the giant leap into vlogging.

Hope y’all don’t laugh at me too much. I stumbled on my words a few times, but I think I actually want to do this again!

FTC disclosure: I was supplied Newman’s Own products and a Flip camera for free, but my opinions of this recipe are completely my own.

I love cute food. Anything mini always seems to catch my eye.  In this case, it was fingerling potatoes. I mean, how can you say no to a cute bag of itty bitty potatoes? I know I can’t!

Of course, I didn’t want to make these itty bitty potatoes into mashed potatoes. Where’s the cuteness in that? Mashed potatoes are never cute. Then, I saw this recipe on The Novice Chef. Roasted fingerlings. Those would be cute, right? The recipe is so simple (just rosemary and garlic…that’s simple AND cheap), and the verdict? These are delicious! No joke.

Seriously, if your store has fingerlings, make these. You’ll be happy you did.

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
Source: The Novice Chef, original recipe from Jamie Oliver

Ingredients:

• 1 lb fingerling potatoes, halved (or quarter for the larger ones)
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
• water (for boiling)

Directions:

1. In a large stock pot, bring water and a dash of salt (enough to cover the potatoes) to a boil. Once boiling, add potatoes and boil for 8 minutes.
2. Then drain potatoes in a colander and allow to dry (about 5 minutes). While the potatoes are still in the colander, toss them around a bit to ensure you got all the water out and to as Jamie says “fluff them up a bit”.
3. Then combine potatoes, garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper, and olive oil in a roasting pan. Make sure the potatoes are well mixed in the seasonings and that the potatoes are spread out in a single layer.
4. Cook at 400 degrees for about 35-45 minutes. Check them mid way through and stir them up a bit. You will know they are done once the edges are perfectly browned and crisp! Serve immediately!