Drying washed lettuce

It’s official, we are residents of Texas!  We are all unpacked and settled in and I have a very good excuse for not blogging as of late.  While I was a bit nervous to see our duplex, sight unseen, it turned out to be fabulous!  It’s brand new construction so we are the first to live in it, which is a super plus for a germ-freak like moi.  The down side of our brand new development is there are no Internet service providers here yet.  Who knew there were even areas this still happened?  I may be in a small town, but we are definitely not living in the country, so this was quite a surprise to me.   After hours on the phone with many different providers I have come to accept I am now going to be a regular at Starbucks to use the Wi-Fi.  I always have a long list of other things to get done while I use the Internet that blogging has taken a back seat.  I finally got smart and realized I can type my blog in Word (duh!) and then just take a few minutes to post it while I have Internet access so hopefully I will be better from now on.   

My friend Kelly Jo over at The Dr. and the Mrs. gave me an awesome tutorial of ways to improve my blog before I moved from Wichita and I haven’t been able to do any of it!  I am hoping Internet access becomes available in the next few months so I can get to work on making those changes. 

My post today is a quick tip that makes a huge difference in salad preparation. I mentioned in my last post before I left Wichita I attended a great cooking class.  One of the things I picked up on was a new way to dry my lettuce.  Andrea used a dish drying mat to dry her kale.  GENIUS!  Why didn’t I ever think of that?  I sometimes do buy bagged lettuce, but whenever I can I buy it fresh and wash and prepare it myself.  However, the amount of paper towels I use to dry it thoroughly was always frustrating, not to mention it always got the counter all wet as well.  Andrea to the rescue!  A $5 drying mat from Bed, Bath, and Beyond is the perfect solution.  It is machine washable so you can toss it in the wash after a couple uses and it’s ready to go again.  Best $5 I’ve spent lately. (Actually, best $4 I've spent.  Gotta love those 20% off coupons.)

 

 

Just rinse your lettuce, kale, etc. and toss it on the drying mat, and fold over the sides a few times to squeeze off the excess water.  Did I mention, genius?!

Since we are talking about kale and salads, I woke up yesterday and my twitter feed was bombarded with Bethenny Frankel tweets about kale.  Apparently, she just learned about massaging kale as I did a few months ago.  Enjoy her tweets…

 

Social Cooking Classes

I move to Texas in TEN days so I want to get one last post in about Wichita.  (Ten days...I should be packing, I know, I know.  A girl needs a break every now and then, though!)  I've told you some of my favorite places to eat here including: The Flying Stove, Newport Grill, One Night Chef, and Copper Oven.  This post is a bit different in that it isn't a restaurant, but rather, cooking lessons!

I met Andrea and heard about her business, Social, through the yoga studio we both go to and it's been on my list of things to try out for months.  She plans several menu items and then demonstrates them in her home while you watch and eat the food when it's finished.  She also sends you home with all the recipes.  With my move quickly approaching, I knew I needed to get this on the calendar or I would miss out.  I am so fortunate to have several friends in Wichita who are vegetarians so when I saw a lineup of Andrea's that was sans meat I knew I would have some friends who would join me! 

We signed up for the "Party on the Patio" class because it had no meat, but the point of the evening was that you would be equipped to throw a wonderful outdoor gathering, and by making these food items you wouldn't be stuck in the kitchen away from your guests.  Clever title, right? And, who isn't always looking for recipes that are easy to make while entertaining?

We started with Watermelon Margaritas...yum!

 

 

Our first course was Tomato Scallion Biscuits with Whipped Goat Cheese.  I said vegetarian evening, not healthy evening! :)  Totally worth it! 

Our biscuit was followed by Kale Salad with Dried Cherries & Pecans.  I failed to get a picture of the salad...probably because I was too busy talking. (Good thing my blog is owned by me, because if I had a boss I'd be fired for that failure.) Anyway, I made this recipe for my family over the 4th of July and they enjoyed it a lot!  I will definitely be making it many more times.

Next up was my favorite dish of the night, Roasted Eggplant with Yogurt Tahini Sauce.  How fancy does that look?  And, so easy!  I made this for lunch a couple weeks ago and it will definitely be a regular on my meal rotation.

 

For dessert, we had Snickerdoodle Squares.  I will admit, they were great, but like most desserts very, very unhealthy.  So, I won't be making those much, but it is a wonderful make ahead recipe guests would eat up!  (Yes, I failed to get a picture of that also.)

 

Here's Andrea plating our Eggplant.

My dear running/yoga/veggie loving friends.  (Well, a couple prefer meat, but they survived!)

 

 

We had such an enjoyable, relaxing evening at Andrea's, learned about food and left with some amazing recipes.  If you're in Wichita I highly recommend checking out her website, getting some friends together and settle in for a great evening of food, friends and fun! 

 

Prices vary depending on the class.  Ours was $45/person. 

 

Check out her website at: http://findyourwingsocial.com/ for a list of upcoming classes.  You won't regret it!