Moving out of your comfort zone...

It is very easy to fall into a comfort zone when cooking, especially when you have a family and a job. Well friends...I am here to inspire you to flirt with the idea of trying new and creative things. Above you are looking at the star of today's post...the Kafir Lime Leaf. It boasts this amazingly sweet citrus lime scent and is found predominantly in Thai and Asian cooking. I discovered it when I decided to replicate my favorite store bought peanut chicken bake. *As a side note...do the same thing, feel free to experiment and make your own mixtures, you may find you like them better!

So after a quick trip to my local Whole Foods I found the leaves in a nice package waiting for my experimentation. After tonight I'm thinking, teas, simple syrup, marinades, simmering, hot baths, soups, fried rice, salads....and the list goes on and on. Try out this evening's application and see how you like it...this could be used with chicken, seafood, and vegetables!

Homemade Peanut Chicken Bake

1/4c shelled unsalted peanuts

1 Kafir Lime Leaf (torn, remove stem)

2tbs sugar

1tbs chili powder

1tbs garlic powder

1 zest of medium lemon

1/4tsp salt

Pulse peanuts in a food processor. Add remaining ingredients mixing thoroughly. Mixture should be crumbly and fine. Coat chicken or seafood and sprinkle on vegetables...

Tonight we used this on chicken that we used to top our Thai pizzas...what will you use it on?

So even if this doesn't appeal to you I'm hoping you will seek out a new ingredient to try and let me know how it worked out!

Fruit Pizza

It has been a ridiculously long time since I have posted and several very good friends and one husband has motivated me to finally do something about it. I struggle because I want you to be able to recreate my personal masterpieces and yet...I don't measure ingredients. I go with passion, inspiration and taste. At the end I know what I've put into things just not how much. So I payed better attention tonight so I could share this super yummy dessert.

This recipe works best if you have a pizza pan with the holes in the bottom. That pan is a blessing for SO many reasons. It cooks homemade crusts to perfection, chicken nuggets and fries without having to flip them and keeps your oven clean when you are "supposed" to put the pizza directly on the oven rack. If you don't currently own one, that is ok, just use a regular pizza pan.

1 "roll" of sugar cookie dough

1 8oz package of cream cheese (any kind) softened

1 stick of butter-softened

1 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar

1 tbls vanilla extract

1 each of: apple, peach, plum, apricot -sliced thin in wedges

1 tsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350. Spread the cookie dough evenly on the pizza pan and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and allow to cool. Using an electric mixer, cream together the cream cheese and the butter until smooth, add the vanilla extract and the sugar 1/2c. at a time. Slice the fruit making sure to toss the apples in the lemon juice to prevent browning. Once cookie "crust" is cool, spread the cream cheese mixture evenly. Arrange the fruit in a spiral pattern (refer to the picture above). And you're done! Very impressive for your friends and family :) And while we're at it...use whatever fruit you want, I'm gonna try berries next! You can also use this cream cheese mixture as a fruit dip or to frost 12 cupcakes, or just eat it with a spoon...bliss!