... i've moved! ...

I've moved my blog! Click on the new blog link to find out why! :)

http://lasalzyn.blogspot.com/

... it's official! ...

It is official! I have an iPad. I decided life is too short not to take chances and risks. Hopefully this new tech device is well worth it. So! I am kicking off my new usage of my iPad by writing this blog. I will be able to blog more now that I have an iPad, not just blog about the prescreening I have seen, but also blog from other places and not just from home, even though I am sitting in my bed blogging right now. But it has been a bit of a crazy weekend and I am still trying to wind down from it all! More details and more blogs to come!

... eggplant parmesan so easy and so yummy ...

I love Olive Garden's Eggplant Parmesan! After much thought, "how hard could it be to make eggplant parmesan?!" So I found a recipe online. I managed to find this recipe that does not involve frying the eggplant. I figured pre-baking the eggplant is probably healthier than frying the eggplant. I found this recipe from www.allrecipes.com. It turned out well overall. It especially made the house smell of yummy Italian food. One piece of advice I would recommend for this recipe is to be sure to pick a ripe eggplant. The raw eggplant should have a nice looking skin and be somewhat soft, but not too soft. I think my eggplant was not ripe enough and it added a bit of a woody taste. But it was not terrible. I also read on many other website that it is recommended to slice the eggplant, sprinkle it with sea salt, let set for 1 hour, rinse and dry thoroughly. I believe this is to decrease the "woody" taste of the eggplant. I think I will try this method next time. Enjoy this easy Eggplant Parmesan Recipe! It is yummy. Pair it with some spaghetti and garlic bread. No veggie needed since you already have eggplant, but a green veggie may be nice for looks and to add extra veggies. ENJOY!

Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant, peeled and thinly sliced
2 eggs, beaten
4 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
6 cups spaghetti sauce, divided
1 (16 ounce) package mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 teaspoon dried basil


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Dip eggplant slices in egg, then in bread crumbs. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated oven for 5 minutes on each side.

In a 9x13 inch baking dish spread spaghetti sauce to cover bottom. Place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Repeat with remaining ingredients, ending with the cheeses. Spring basil on top.

Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until golden brown.

... Clash of the Titans ...

Movie Review

Movie: Clash of the Titans [in 3D]
Rating: 3 stars out of 5 stars
[4 stars out of 5 stars for all of you action sci-fi/mythology movie lovers]

Honestly, when I received a pre-screening ticket for this movie, I was not overly thrilled. It definitely did not rank high on my "must see" movie list. But I figured, free movie, I mind as well go. I was very happy to find out that the pre-screening was in 3D. For those of you that have seen 3D movies and paid for them, they can be quite pricey. I think this movie would have been dull if it was not seen in 3D. So definitely see it in 3D. It is amazing to see how far 3D technology has become! It definitely ranked high on my action movie scale. However, after seeing other 3D movies, I didn't feel like the effects of the 3D were all that great. Lets put it this way, it could have been better with the present technology. For those of you like myself that know nothing or minimum about Greek mythology, this movie is very informative and a reminder of Greek mythology from high school. Very easy plot, especially if you remember Greek mythology. If you like action movies this is a definite must see. I would not recommend this movie as a date movie, unless you both are into this kind of sci-fi. Definitely a friend or guy movie. I would say this is a movie worth going to see now in theaters in 3D versus waiting for it to come out on DVD, unless you plan on purchasing one of those new 3D TVs. Craziness. What's next floating cars?!

... The Last Song ...

Movie Review

Movie: The Last Song
Rating: 3 stars out of 5 stars
[4 stars out of 5 stars for sappiest chick flick love story]

Lets see, where to start with this one. This movie is your typical Nicholas Sparks' book turned movie. Boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love and of course someone has to die. I don't want to give away too much of this predictable love story, therefore I'm going to keep this blog short. On a side note, I managed to get one of my good guy friends to go with me to this obvious chick flick. He didn't think it was too bad, but I had to laugh out loud literally in the movie theater when the teeny boppers that surrounded us were crying like their dog died. One thing teeny boppers this day in age need to learn is love does not happen the way it is written in books and movies. Hollywood has done a ridiculous good job at portraying the way love DOES NOT happen in this day in age. I guess it could happen like this in a perfect world, but wait ... The world isn't perfect. Maybe this is why you see people getting married older and having kids later in their life. All the girls/ladies in this world are waiting for a love story such as "The Last Song" to happen to them. Clearly, I'm not waiting for that. Life is too short to be waiting for prince charming to sweep me off my feet. One thing I liked about this movie was it was not very long and blah blah blah. I thought it had a nice flow and I was not checking my watch and wondering if this movie would hurry up and end. For all you hopelessly romantics out there, this movie would be a good one for you. But for those of you that are like myself, that are not so keen on the typical love story mirage that is built for us by Hollywood, I would wait for this movie to come out on DVD. Rent it when you are having a girl's night and even then be sure to rent a second movie, just in case this movie is a flop in your girl's night out event.

... Repomen ...

Movie Review

Movie: Repomen
Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars

First off, let me say if you have a weak stomach as far as seeing blood and guts, this movie is NOT for you. Warning you just in case you didn't figure that out from the previews. In all honesty, I don't have a weak stomach, but I'm not all for the blood and guts, but I will say that this movie was totally awesome. Jude Law always gets a reputation for playing in these sappy love movies of being the lover madly in love with some gorgeous female. Well, he still manages to squeak that into this movie, but I really liked how he plays the bad ass in the beginning of the movie. Who knew that Jude Law could play such a cruel character in a movie. Definite kudos to him for that! Of course though, I will tell you there is a female involved that he is in love with and is trying to save. Does he save her? Is she real or a fiction of his imagination? Well, I guess you will have to go see the movie for yourself to find out! The ending is definitely interesting. Who would have guessed?

This is definitely a movie I would qualify as being worth paying to go see. At first I didn't think the trailer did the movie much justice as I lost interest in seeing the movie, but I really like how it doesn't give a lot of the movie away. That's the way trailers should be! I think that all our minds have gone numb at times and so trailers have been set to tell you what the movie is going to be all about point blank. But then again a movie ticket on Friday and Saturday costs $10, so I can understand wanting to know what you are buying into first. I remember when movies were $6 in high school. But hey! I'm all for the $5 movies during the week or on Sunday at AMC. Want to go?! Call me!

Next pre-screening is The Last Song. I can already tell you it's based off of a Nicholas Sparks book, which in turn I bet that the male lover of the movie will die at the end of the movie. Nicholas Sparks you are WAY too predictable. Write something with a different ending! Stay tuned!

... I want to WIN! ...

I want to win an Apple iPad! I am a graphic designer and I am in love with Apple products. Apple thinks smarter, not harder.

Ok! So here it goes! Print 24 is having a contest to win an Apple iPad. All I have to do is write a short article explaining: "How I would use my Apple iPad" and publish it to my blog. You must be 18+ years of age. Each participant is allowed to participate only once. In addition, the page should exist at least one month and should not be created for this specific competition. Well, as most of you know I have been kind of slacking on my blog, but this is definitely one reason to update my blog as well as a reason for an iPad! So here it goes!

The environment is what sparks everyone's mind and imagination. To me an Apple iPad = expanding creativity and minds and imagination. 20 years ago, when I was age 6, who would have imagined a computer so small that it could be carried with you everywhere you went? Apple iPad has proved that the imaginative is possible. My hopes if I win an Apple iPad is to prove my imaginative thoughts and ideas are possible.

In all my excitement and hopes of winning the Apple iPad from print 24's contest, if I had an iPad how would I use it ... to explore the world [home and away] ... to update friends and family of my life via my blog more often ... to hopefully inspire other bloggers by my thoughts and comments ... to share my hobbies such as music and photography in hopes of learning more about others in the process ... all of this without being tied to a desk and on the go exploring ... imagining ... making the impossible, possible.

Welp! I think that wraps it up for me here! Best of luck to all the other Apple iPad contestants!

... She's Out of My League ...

Movie Review

Movie: She's Out of My League
Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars

She's Out of My League is the next American Pie replacement. This movie had me laughing to no ends. But not nearly has funny as The Hang Over. I definitely think that some of the scenes from this movie are going to be scenes that are never forgotten, just like the many scenes from the American Pie film series. On a more serious note, this also is a reminder "don't judge a book by it's cover". I think this makes you realize that you have to accept yourself and believe in yourself to be a '10'.

On a side note to ALL guys out there, No girl is out of your league, unless you believe she is. Did you know majority of us females are just waiting for you to talk to us or ask us out? Some of us still do believe that chivalry exists. So! My best advice is to take a chance and talk/ask her out! What's the worse that could happen? I'll tell you, she will say "no". Oh well! Her loss, not yours and move on to the next. Any female that actually says she's "out of your league" probably means she is a stuck up bitch anyways. You don't need her. Move on to find a more genuine girl.

There are some hilarious scenes in this movie and I would definitely recommend going to see this movie. I don't want to give away any of the great scenes. I'm still laughing thinking back. So at that I am signing off.

... Green Zone ...

Movie Review

Movie: Green Zone
Rating: 3 stars out of 5 stars

Oh Matt Damon, you're so cute and dreamy. Ok, I got that out of my system! I went to see Green Zone not knowing much about the movie in general. I did watch the trailer before seeing the pre-screening, but the trailer portrayed the movie to be another Bourne like movie. The movie was similar to the Bourne films, but did not where resemble that series. In all honesty, war movies do not interest me in the slightest bit. Not because war does not interest. But because the plot ends up having so much going on that if the director has not kept the plot somehow together, it's easy to get lost and quickly loose interest in the film. I did find myself at times getting lost in this movie as far as the plot. But! Have you ever heard of movies and TV shows are made/produced to prepare the USA for what is to come in the future. For example, the show 24, in one season [I'm not sure exactly what season] they had an African American President. Today, we have a multiracial President in office. I also believe there was once a TV show out that portrayed a female President within the show. And look at today, Hilliary Clinton wanted to run for President, and John McCain had Sarah Palin running with him. I don't know about you, but I'm starting to put 2 and 2 together here. TV/Movies = preparation of what could come in the future. With that said, the Green Zone definitely makes you wonder if the plot truly happens in today's society. Could one man, beside the President, one of his advisers, be the reason for a war, without the President knowing 100% the truth? Can one person that knows a dirty secret of the government save an entire country from going to war? With that said, go see the movie if war movies and politics is your cup of tea. This movie was not one of my most favorite movies, but I definitely will say that this movie got my mind churning as to what REALLY happens today in the REAL WORLD.

... Hot Tub Time Machine ...

Movie Review

Movie: Hot Tub Time Machine
Rating: 2 stars out of 5 stars

This movie was funny, but not hilarious enough to get 3 stars or to beat out the American Pie series or Van Wilder. I was laughing, but not one of the best comedies I've seen. The movie has a very basic and the plot is very predictable. But definitely a good laugh. I don't want to talk too much about this movie, being that there is not much substance to the movie. The previews practically give away majority of the movie. It's definitely one of those movies that the trailer gives away all the REALLY funny scenes from the movie. It's a good, no brainer movie, but a good laugh. If you have not seen a pre-screening of this movie yet, go to the movie's webpage and looking up your location. I swear there were 10 pre-screenings for this movie in Charlotte, NC. I am wondering if that's a sign that it is not worth paying to go see? haha ... Hopefully you get a good laugh if you go see it. As far as this movie goes in my book, it's not worth paying to go see, but definitely worth renting when it hits the shelves.

... Shutter Island ...

Movie Review

Movie: Shutter Island
Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars

I think the trailer for this movie does it no justice. The trailer makes you think it is a horror movie. I would by no means categorize this movie as a horror flick. There were a few jumpy parts, but nothing too sever and not too much blood and gore. I would definitely say suspense drama. I think this is the second movie I have seen as Leonardo DiCarpio as the main character since Titanic and Catch Me If You Can. As for his role in this movie, overall, I think he did a good job. I'm not a huge fan of Leonardo DiCarpio and by no means think he is hot. But to each their own ... I felt that the plot was a little predictable. I mean what did you expect to visit a mental institution on an island and then not come back? ::yawn:: boring movie right there ... No! There had to be something suspenseful about it ... Without giving away much more of the movie ... I definitely left the movie clueless that night. However, the next day when I was discussing it with a fellow co-worker that also went to the pre-screening, I realized, DUH! The whole point at the end of the movie was to feel and question was he really crazy? Or did he become crazy? Or are you crazy for wondering whether he is or is not crazy. After having this epiphany - which seemed so dumb, I had a good laugh and realized then that the movie was not too bad. Definitely go check this one out if you like suspense and being on the edge of your seat.

Next on the pre-screening line up is Hot Tub Time Machine ... this coming Wednesday ... Stay tuned!

... Cooper River Bridge 10K Walk/Run ...

This past October (2009), I walked my first 5k, The Komen Race for the Cure 5K Walk/Run. I never thought I could do a 5K, but I did it, even though it was walking. One of my goals for 2010 is to run The Komen 5K Race this year. As many of you know, my step-dad's mom is currently battling breast cancer. So the Komen Foundation means a lot to me. To accomplish this goal, I plan on joining the running group in March/April (depending when it begins) in the Ballantyne Corporate Park, in addition to going to the gym and running the green way at least once a week.

I also would like to walk The Cooper River Bridge 10K. I know you are probably thinking, "Is this girl crazy?! She is going from a 5K to a 10K?!" Well, my thoughts are ... I have only been to Charleston once and I absolutely fell in love with it for the short time I was there. I figured the 10K Cooper River Bridge Walk/Run will be a great way for me to see Charleston as well as get in some great exercise. Plus! This year the Cooper River Bridge Race is in March, which puts Charleston around 60ish in temperature (at least that is what I was told by a Charleston expert) which makes it perfect for walking and running. Not to mention, I have a few friends that live in Charleston that I would love to see. I am hoping to get a group of friends together to go. I am thinking/hoping it will be a great experience. If you're interested in joining me and/or my friends for the Cooper River Bridge Walk/Run shoot me an e-mail. The more the merrier!

LET THE TRAINING BEGIN!

... cooking TIME OUT! ...

Alright, so I know my original inspiration for starting this blog was the movie Julie & Julia. But I have to tell you the honest truth, I'M TAKING A COOKING TIME OUT! Don't get me wrong some of my recipes I have found and tried have turned out very well, but some have been a flop. Now that I don't have a room mate, I have tons of food floating around in my refrigerator. Many lunches and many dinners during the week consists of left overs. Don't get me wrong I love left overs, easy and quick, the best. But it's getting to the point that I seriously just miss a good ol' evening of mac 'n' cheese or even a lean cuisine. So! I think for now I am going to stick to maybe trying a new recipe once a week or once every other week. Not to mention buying some of the ingredients for some of these recipes gets a bit pricey! Hmmm ... Maybe I should have a dinner party night, instead of doing all this cooking and eating it myself. I'm going to get fat at this rate! I thought that majority of people's New Year's Resolutions were to loose weight, not gain it! Back to hitting the gym! And hitting it hard!

... Valentine's Day ...

Movie Review

Movie: Valentine's Day
Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars

I absolutely fell in love with this movie. Before seeing the movie, I thought it was going to be one of those movies about the extreme side of being in a love relationship to the extreme side of being bitterly single. Amazingly, there was a little bit of that, but not too much. I enjoyed how this movie showed the love relationship, wonderful parts of love and hardships of love, between newly dating couples, cheating men, married couples, being single, love between a mother and her son and love between strangers. It is interesting how the story consists of different small plots, but manage to cross over in the end somehow. It's very easy to follow, unlike some movies out there that have numerous plots going on and leave you saying, "Wait! What just happened? [Or] How does this relate to the other plot?" I also enjoyed the popular/familiar actors in this movie. Here are a few: Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Ann Hathaway, Carter Jenkins, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, Taylor Swift, Julia Roberts. This movie was definitely a chick flick, but nothing too bad, such as a Nicholas Sparks' book turned movie flick. I definitely think any guy could sit through this movie and get a good laugh and maybe even relate to some of the situations! This movie is definitely on my list to purchase once it hits shelves for DVD. Well, I don't want to ruin the movie for you, so definitely be sure to go and check this movie out! Definitely worth the $10 (weekend price) or $5 (matinee price) ticket.

"All you need is love, all you need is love, all you need is love, love, love is all you need" - The Beatles

... slacker ...

Hello fellow bloggers! Sorry, I've totally slacked off on my blogging ... Life has been a bit crazy! Just wanted to wish all you fellow single bloggers a Happy B-lated Valentine's Day. Hopefully, someone is out there reading me ... anyone ... ???

Stay tuned for my review of the movie Valentine's Day and more to come!

.. snow day, sweet tooth, kraft so easy ... oh my! ...

To be honest with you, I was not overly thrilled to wake up to see snow. I knew it meant a day stuck in the house. (Yes, I am your typical southern girl of staying in when it snows.) Well, I shouldn't say snow. It was freezing rain that had fallen on the ground and eventually formed a large ice pad in my back yard. But! I remembered this is the first time Lola (my pup) has ever seen snow! And to add to this mile marker for Lola, today she is exactly 5 months old! Lola wasn't thrilled about the snow/freezing rain either. I'm sure she remembers the freezing rain we encountered earlier this year. She hated it, as did I. But Lola gave it a chance and explored a little today and tried to figure out why there was no grass to go to the bathroom on. Of course, upon finishing her business outside, she came running back into the warm house. She is such a miss priss and spoiled rotten! The rest of my day, I spent cleaning up the house, being my room mate moved out this past week. Being stuck inside, this was a good time to do some reorganizing around my house.

On the verge of cabin fever syndrome and having nothing to do other than sit around the house after cleaning, I decided I would cook. I recently have had this very big sweet tooth that I can't seem to satisfy. Without having to leave the house, due to the bad weather conditions, I found I had all the ingredients for Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, minus the raisins and substituting chocolate chips instead. It's really simple and they are yummy!

Quaker Oats Vanishing Chocolatechip Oatmeal Cookies
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 8-11 minutes

Ingredients:
1/2 cups (1 stick) plus 6 tbs butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups Quaker Oats, uncooked
1 cup chocolate chips (or raisins if you like them instead)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Ad oats and chocolate chips; mix well. Drop dough by round tablespoonfulls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. (I don't let my cookies cool all the way before putting them in a container, being if there is a little bit of steam from the cookies in the container it seems to keep the cookies a little softer and moister. Oatmeal Cookies can sometimes be a bit hard and rough on the mouth.) Store tightly covered.

For dinner ... I have been postponing this recipe, more or less because it has been such a busy week that it was nice to get take out for the past few days. But it's back to cooking! Tonight's challange ... Kraft Pesto-Chicken Italiano. I found this on the back of the the Kraft Italian Five Cheese Blend bag. It's basically Chicken Pesto with a fancy name. Yipee! It actually was quite yummy, quick and easy. Always a plus when cooking. Being it is now just Lola (my pup) and I, I have leftovers for tomorrow for lunch. Dinner tomorrow at the rents, pending weather.

Kraft Pesto-Chicken Italiano
Prep: 10 minutes
Total: 25 minutes
Serves: 4 (1-1/2 cups each)

Ingredients:
1 tbs oil
1lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large red pepper, cut into thin strips
1/4 cup pesto
1 lemon, cut in half, divided
1 cup KRAFT shredded Italian Five Cheese Blend
2 cups hot cooked angel hair pasta

Directions:
1. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add chicken and garlic; cook and stir in 4 to 5 minutes or until chicken is evenly browned. Stir in peppers; cook 3 to 4 minutes or until chicken is done, stirring frequently.
2. Stir in pesto and juice from 1 lemon half, top with cheese. Cover; cook on low heat 2 to 3 minutes or until cheese is melted. Spoon over pasta.
3. Serve with remaing lemon half, cut into wedges.

Note: Since I don't want to risk the roads to run out and get a RedBox movie, I am sitting here in my living room watching Julie & Julia, my main inspirational movie! Love it!

... go go apple ipad ...

Wednesday, January 27, 2010, Apple announced their newest gadget, the iPad! To be honest with you, I am VERY excited about the iPad. Why you may ask? Well, those of you that know me: 1. I am a designer - so of course I am on a mac base platform; 2. I am in a love relationship with apple products. I love apple! (Think about it: 1. They don't tell me what to do, 2. They're easy and accommodate me, 3. Always loyal, 4. Never give me a difficult time. What is there not to love? haha ...); 3. Apple makes products and programs simple by using common sense. Think smarter, not harder; 4. I have been wanting a small laptop that I can use to carry ALL my music (being my large old school iPod finally decided to fry its hard drive; RIP), videos, play games, check e-mail, blog! (of course) and surf the web ANYWHERE. Just think! If I had an iPad right now, I could do a heck of a lot more blogs! More blogs = more thoughts, more inspirations, more interests and of course more fun. Ultimately, iPad = no more wasting time and more brain functioning. Yes, the iPad looks like a glorified iPhone, minus the phone part, but hey! who cares?! Plus! I love my iPhone and would not trade it in for any other phone. (Well, maybe trade it in for an upgraded 3GS! It is still an iPhone though!) iPads are going to be above and beyond the netbooks out there, yes, I know that is what Apple has marketed, but! knowing Apple, they will release the iPad and it can only go up from there. Plus, I've never heard of a promise that Apple has made to their customers and have not kept their promise. They are all about expanding the product their customers already have. I heard through the grape vine, the iPad is to be released sometime in March or April (possibly?). I can hardly wait! I'm definitely going to be one of those crazies that have to hit up the Apple Store as soon as they are released to try it out. Look out South Park Mall, here I come! I hope there will be an Apple representative booth at the HOW Design Conference I am going to in June! Only time will tell! If I do decide to get an iPad, goal would be to let it stay out on the market for a while to let them work out the main kinks. Maybe December 2010 Christmas gift to myself? We will see ... Plus, not like I have a spare $500 right now for a new gadet. (Don't forget I am a homeowner and now a dog owner too!) The only let down of the iPad visually is no webcam. So Apple, slap a webcam on there and you have yourself a buyer! Guess I better start saving now for an iPad!

Click here to watch videos on the iPad, including the Keynote Presentation of the Apple iPad.

... Quick & Easy Does the Trick! ...

Food Network during lunch time does it again! Once again, I was watching Food Network on my lunch break. The show: Rachel Ray. (Did you know she never went to cooking school and learned all her cooking from her Grandmother, AND she has a beautiful gorgeous diamond wedding ring! Jealous!) This is a really simple, easy and cheap recipe! I managed to make this after my 1.5 hour homeowners meeting, including stopping at the grocery store to pick up some last minute items. All done before 9pm!

Orzo with Feta & Tomatoes
Rachel Ray

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Level: Easy
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1/2 lb orzo
salt
2 tbs butter
1 cup fetta cheese crumbles
1 handful of parsley leaves, chopped
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Directions:
Heat water in large sacuse pot to boil and add pasta, cook to al dente.

Melt butter in the pot while still hot and combine with fetta. Add cooked pasta to feta butter and toss with parsley and tomatoes, season with a little pepper.

To add to this dish, I pan seared a chicken breast, cut in half, marinade in herb and garlic marinade. It was like marinaded grilled chicken fingers. YUM! I was too lazy to fire up the grill.

Side Note: I have been uber busy this week and have totally missed out on posting some items I would like to blog about ... so guess what I'm doing this weekend ... catch up! Keep an eye out for my review on the pre-screening of Mel Gibson Edge of Darkness movie, as well as my excitement over the news release on the newest apple product, the ipad!

... Recipe of the Week ...

Last week, while eating my lunch in the studio in front of the TV, I switched over to the Food Network channel. (Day time television stinks. I give mad kudos to those people that stay home all day and actually try to watch TV.) Barefoot Contessa was the show.

My first impression of Barefoot Contessa is all her recipes are overly rich and fattening (something I do not need). But surprisingly after watching her make this easy baked shrimp scampi, I was inspired to try it. I immediately looked up the recipe online and printed it off to try. However! Her recipe was made to serve 6 people. That is 4 more servings than I needed. (I let my room mate be my guinea pig when it comes to trying these recipes.) So! I halfed the recipe, which ended up being perfect for serving 3. So guess what is for lunch?! Left overs!

Here is the recipe halfed for all of you non-6 member families:

Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics
Baked Shrimp Scampi

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Level: Easy
Cook Time: Approximately 15-20 minutes
Serves: 3

Ingredients:
1 lbs (12-15 per lbs) shrimp in shell
(For all of you like myself, who are totally clueless to this, I just grabbed a bag of frozen medium shrimp, that looked like the bag was well full.)
1.5 tbs olive oil
1 tbs dry white wine (you probably could get away without this)
6 tbs unsalted butter
2 tsp minced garlic (the recipe suggested fresh, but i already had minced garlic in a jar i bought at the local market)
1/8 cup minced shallots (approximately 1/2 a shallot)
1.5 tbs minced fresh parsley
1/2 tsp minced fresh rosemary
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest (be sure to do this before juicing the lemon)
1 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 large egg yolk
1/3 cup panko (Japanese Dried Bread Flakes)
(You can find these in the international isle at the market)

Dish:
Baking dish approximately 6" - you will need enough room to spread your shrimp around to make 1 layer (I used a round pyrex dish that is oven safe - thanks mom for the pyrex set!)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Peel, devein (if you want - doesn't change the taste, just the look) and butterfly the shrimp (You can sometimes find the shrimp already butterflied if you buy them frozen. I used frozen shrimp.) Leaving tails on. (I took the tails off, who wants to eat shrimp scampi and have to worry about picking around the tails?!)

Place the shrimp in a mixing bowl and toss gently with the olive oil, wine (I didn't have the dry white wine, but had some tropical Arbor Mist in my refrigerator that I used instead. It still turned out terrific), 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper. Allow to sit at room temperature while you make the butter and garlic mixture.

In a small bowl, mash the softened butter (if it is still cold, put it in the microwave for 1 minute on 3 power - works like a charm) with the garlic, shallots, parsley, rosemary, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, lemon juice, egg yolk, panko, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp of pepper until combined.

Starting from the outer edge, place shrimp in a single layer. (I laid them out so that they leaned up against each other like a bunch of dominos had just fallen) Pour the remaining marinade over the shrimp. Spread the butter mixture evenly over the shrimp. (Easier said than done, it was more or less little globs of the butter mixture. It works best, if you use a fork to break up the mixture and use it to fork out small globs of the butter mixture on top.)

Bake 15-20 minutes. It will depend upon the size of your shrimp. I would start with 15 minutes and then check it and keep adding 3-5 minutes on until the shrimp are completely cooked.

Recommended to serve with lemon wedges.
(TASTE IT FIRST! I tasted it and did not feel that it needed any more lemon seasoning.)

Serve with rice or pasta.

I served mine up with rice I made in the rice cooker (thanks dad! I never thought it would become such a handy appliance!) and served peas as a veggie to go with.