Friday Firsts - Butcher Block Cutting Board

Happy Friday everybody!! Sooo sorry for the missing post last week. Johnny and I were meant to leave my parents' on Monday and then that didn't happen. It kept getting pushed back a day or two, until we just ended up staying the whole week and leaving Friday morning. It was probably somewhere around nightfall on Friday evening when we were making our way through the horrendous Pennsylvania Turnpike that I realized I'd forgotten to set it up the night before!

But we're home now and I've reluctantly returned to normal life. In fact, I'm even getting around to finally showing you my amazing CSN treat I alluded to way back in June. Whoops!

This week I was able to season and use my amazing butcher block cutting board for the first time! I absolutely love it and could not be more pleased with it!

It's a massive 18" x 18" working space and 3" tall. Made of hardwood and reversible, this baby weighs twenty three pounds!

Now it's your turn to tell me about your first! To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



If you would like to display the Friday Firsts button as a badge in your post or on your side bar, you can copy and paste the following code:

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Johnny's Fiesta Party & Chili Rellenos Bake

Let's back track a bit since I'm home and struggling to get caught up on life.

Johnny's 33rd birthday was August 7th. We had a(n almost) surprise Fiesta birthday party for him. He found out a few hours before, but it was still a blast!

I didn't get too many pictures of the food since I was busy socializing, chowing down, and swimming.

The menu included tacos, serrano pepper spiked corn bread, chili spiked squash pies, beans, a cold rice salad, and a new adaptation of the baked chili rellenos.

We loved the new chili rellenos baked version so much that I've already made it again at home.

The recipe is nearly identical to the one I already featured, except instead of stuffing the peppers with the cheese, you cut the roasted peppers into chunks and grate the cheese.

Mix the batter in a medium bowl until smooth, and then add the cheese and peppers. Spray a baking dish and pour in, baking for about 30 minutes.

When I made it for the party, I made it in a huge pie tin so we cut it into slices almost like a pizza. At home I made it in a small casserole dish, so we cut squares. The leftovers are really easy to heat up the next day and taste even better!

Cheater's Key Lime Pie

This is another recipe I had bookmarked for over a year from Noble Pig - "Cheater's" Key Lime Pie. From the moment I saw it I realized it'd be perfect! Johnny loves key lime pie and this is by far the easiest version I've ever seen.

I'm a little late in posting this because we had it for Johnny's (almost) surprise Fiesta birthday party on August 6th!

I took the "cheating" another step further and used a ready-made crust, but feel free to make your own graham cracker crust from scratch if you are so inclined!

14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
6 oz. can of frozen Limeade concentrate (not thawed)
1 cup heavy cream
zest of one lime

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth and fluffy. Soft peaks will begin to form. This took me about 5 minutes. Pour into a pie crust and smooth the top. Refrigerate for at least 4-6 hours or overnight.

This was so easy and really tasted terrific. All of the guests at the birthday party could not believe it was a "cheater's" version. It really isn't missing anything an authentic key lime pie has. This would also be a great recipe to cook with kids because there is no cooking involved, just measuring and dumping - two things they love!

Sausage for Sale!

(pauses dramatically as she clears her throat and starts her best Sham Wow guy impersonation)

You've seen me mention it and use it in the following recipes:

Roasted Cabbage with Sausage
Pasta a la Philly
Skillet Sausage
Grilled Sausage
Italian Skillet

as well as in my pasta sauce and on pizza, along with breakfast.

Biz, Mara, and Michelle have all had a chance to try the sausage after our blogger potluck.

Now you can finally try it too!

My whole family - mom, dad, Michael, and I - worked together for a few days making two batches of four kinds of sausage.

Left for purchase are:

10 2 pounds of breakfast sausage. This is a loose sausage seasoned with sage sold in 1 pound increments.

19 15 pounds of cajun sausage. This is link sausage seasoned with jalepeno and garlic sold in 2 pound increments. (There are limited 1 lb. batches available.)

14 4 pounds of hot Italian sausage. This is link sausage seasoned with red pepper and sold in 2 pound increments.

39 27 pounds of "sweet" Italian sausage. This is link sausage seasoned with black pepper and sold in 2 pound increments. (There are limited 1 lb. batches available.)

All sausage is $4.50 per pound and is frozen. I am returning home within the next few days and can bring it back for anybody within the Chicagoland area. All others can let me know their zip code so we can figure out a shipping price and my parents can ship with dry ice.

If interested please e-mail me at christina at dinneratchristinas dot com. Chicagoland orders please let me know as soon as possible so I can bring it back for you!

Friday Firsts - Fruity Pebble Krispies

Happy Friday everybody! This is already my last Friday in North Carolina - can you believe it!?

The other night my brother had a great idea - to make rice krispies, but using Fruity Pebbles instead! Of course we immediately headed to the grocery store for the necessary supplies!


3 Tbsp butter
4 cups mini marshmallows
6 cups Fruity Pebbles

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from heat and in a large bowl mix with the cereal. Smooth out into a sprayed baking dish and let cool. Enjoy!


Now it's your turn to tell me about your first! To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



If you would like to display the Friday Firsts button as a badge in your post or on your side bar, you can copy and paste the following code:

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Friday Firsts - Hurricane Mo's

Happy Friday everybody! Sorry I'm still MIA in the blog world - when I get home in a few weeks I'll be back to regular posting and commenting. Thanks for hanging in there with me this summer!


Tonight we went out to dinner at Hurricane Mo's by my parents' house with some family friends. I'd never been there before, but they had some awesome seafood options.

My mom and Jimmy got fish tacos.

Johnny and Bob got fish 'n chips with fresh haddock.

Jaime got popcorn shrimp.

Sandy got a seafood trio with scallops, mahi mahi, and shrimp.

And I got mahi mahi with a pineapple salsa and coconut rice - it was sooooo good. I'm pretty sure they just added some shredded coconut so I'm going to try and recreate it at home.

Now it's your turn to tell me about your first! To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



If you would like to display the Friday Firsts button as a badge in your post or on your side bar, you can copy and paste the following code:

<a href="http://www.dinneratchristinas.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://glc.dinneratchristinas.com/i/fridayfirsts.png" alt="Friday Firsts / DinnerAtChristinas.com" style="width: 220px; height: 220px; border: none"/></a>