Phoenix, AZ. NPH Women's Conference. That's National Planning Holdings. My broker/dealer. They actually have a conference JUST for the women. A day and a half. About a hundred women attend. Except fourteen of us who went in a day early to do some business planning. Most of us are solo practitioners or have at most a partner. Getting together to talk about how we run our businesses is absolutely invaluable.
Shortly before I left Indy, I got an email from Queen Creek Olives. It referenced the Camelback store. Hmmm. Many years ago when our friends Mary and Fred were spending the winter in Queen Creek, AZ, we went to visit. They took us to the original location and we fell in love. Often, we send a package from Queen Creek as a hostess gift. A couple of trips to Phoenix I've toyed with the idea of renting a car to be able to visit the original location again. But, it's not practical. All of the sudden I realized that there just might be a store across the street from the hotel where the conference was being held.
Now, I've got to tell you a side story here... When I called the concierge to find out about the best transportation options from the airport, I was told the ExecuCar was slightly more expensive but MUCH better. Sold. Then, I sent an email to the other women coming in a day early. Did anyone want to share my car? Connie laughed and said a guy would never do that. He was so right. Got an email back almost immediately from one of the other women saying that's what she loves about this conference. And, she said, a guy would never do that. LOL. So, my friend Phyllis from Ocean City, MD e'd me back and said she'd be coming in about half an hour after me. I was happy to wait.
Once we got to the hotel I was going to run across to Queen Creek and then head to my room and work. Phyllis really wanted to go along. And, she was SO happy she did. A boatload of Christmas presents were purchased. And, I had a fun time stocking my Queen Creek pantry. Normally, we order a case of a dozen different olives. Maytag blue, marcona almond, feta/oregano, sundried tomato... This time I bought vanilla bean olive oil. Can you imagine that on some grilled fruit???? And, a couple of jars of tapenade. One is opened. The other is in Connie's Christmas stack. The one that's opened is asiago, parmesan, basil and garlic in evoo. It's pretty amazing. Then, I got a couple of barbecue sauces. The whiskey garlic one has been opened. And, yes, the other is for Connie. There's a jar of fig balsamic glaze. I'm thinking pork for that one. And, a jar of parmesan crema. It's pretty good on just about anything. Last but not least, a set of rosemary olive oil with a cranberry balsamic vinegar. Holiday in a spoon! Thanks to Joan for taking such good care of us and putting up with a couple of ladies who wanted to try EVERYTHING! Spoiler alert - Connie, don't look at the photos!
After our shopping excursion, Phyllis and I repaired to the bar at ZinBurger so I could watch football and we could talk. From there we headed back to the hotel to freshen up and meet for dinner. Joan had recommended a place called Pizzeria Bianco. One word: AMAZING! Everything we had. From the caprese salad appetizer to the Brussels sprout salad to the pizzas to the pastas. It's on my list to go back to!!! Here's Phyllis, Jennifer, Andrea, Nadine and Di. What a wonderful group of women to spend an evening with.
And, here's the food - well the part that the photos were OK - the chandeliers and the owner. Our pizzas were the Sonny Boy with tomato sauce, salami, olives and fresh mozzarella. The Rosa with red onion, pistachios, rosemary and parmesan reggiano (my favorite.) And, the Wiseguy with house smoked mozzarella, fennel sausage and roasted onions. Along with the pizzas we had a Brussels sprout salad with apples, pasta with Sunday gravy and pasta with garlic sauce. The pizzas were amazing. Crispy, thin crust from a wood-fired oven. We were told Chris, the owner, even used to import his own water to get the right stuff...
Monday we met for a fabulous breakfast in Bistro 24 at the hotel. I had short rib hash with basted eggs and a lime crema. YUM!
Then, we hunkered down in a meeting room from about 8-3. All too soon it was time to go hear the opening speaker. Then, it was time to head to the reception. The Ritz outdid themselves with the food this time. Coconut shrimp that was amazing. Salads, soups, vegetables, potatoes, fish, beef... What a buffet. Tuesday we were in session all day. My friend Maura did one of the presentations. She's the kind of person you hope your kids turn out to be like: smart, interesting, humble, fun to be around. Wendy wore her arms out recording the presentation on her phone.
Tuesday night was dinner at Del Friscos. Ahi tuna tacos and cheesesteak eggroll appetizers. Salads. Pittsburgh style filets with asparagus and mashed potatoes. Dessert was coconut cream pie and lemon cake. I'm not a fan of cake. But, I'd give up chocolate for a year if I could replace it with that cake! We were in the coolest room.
Finally, Wednesday came and it was time to head home after our morning meetings. Packed and ready to go. One last look out the window at the mountains...
My flight was delayed in Minneapolis so home was finally in sight about midnight. Thursday, I was off to a full day in my Columbus office. Friday, it was time to dig in in the Indy office. And, wait for the package from Queen Creek to be delivered. Yes, indeed, it was. I opened most of the goodies and let Connie taste them. We'd headed to the grocery on the way home from the office so I once again had a rotisserie chicken and fresh greens and fresh mushrooms and fresh asparagus. A holiday salad sounded great. All of the above plus a handful of dried cranberries, some truffle croutons and a handful of bacon bits. With a generous dose of rosemary olive oil and an equally generous dose of cranberry balsamic. Along with a lovely glass of Pinot Noir, we were happy campers.
Friday afternoon ended with a lovely massage. After a very hectic week at the office, there's not much better way to spend some time on a Friday! Then, I had to go shopping. Now, unlike a lot of my friends I do NOT have the shopping gene. Unless, of course, it means shopping for cookbooks or my gardens... The pocket in my purse where I stash my car keys, keys to my other two offices, modem, good pen, and assorted other "sharp" objects had sprung a leak. EVERYTHING had worked its way through the hole and was now under the lining of my purse. I'd discovered it Thursday evening when I'd worked way late and just wanted to get home. Connie and I'd driven separately so I was at the office by myself. I'd locked my office door behind myself and headed for the front door of the office. No keys. ARGH! I rummaged and rooted to no avail. Finally in desperation I headed to my admin's desk and emptied my purse. I could feel them but not get them. Fine then. Scissors it was. A few snips and the whole lining of my purse was split. And, my keys were in hand. Now, I had to deal with replacing the purse. Ugh! That meant shopping. So, Friday I was off to Macy's to find a purse. Two separate pockets, both of which zip. Black. Strap I can carry over my shoulder. Not much to ask, eh? Well, there was ONE purse that met my requirements. Ok, fine then, it'd do.
On my way home I detoured to Goodwill. My friends Pete and Roby came up with a brilliant idea a few years ago. When they take her famous rum cake to a party, they use a plate they've bought at Goodwill. No messing with paper plates that bend, fold and crinkle. No Styrofoam that's so incredibly bad for the environment. Just a one of a kind plate. We're heading to three parties and I'm taking Lizzy Do's famous mounds bars. Here's my link to them: Kate's. And, here's her link: Liz. I wanted three plates. Lucky me. I found three plain, white plates that'd be perfect. And, on the way past the cookbooks, I finally bought a classic I've never owned, Marcella's Italian Kitchen. For all of $2.49 :-) Shopping trip over, time to head home and fix dinner.
It was one of those I can't find a recipe nights. So, we improvised. Our friends Tom and Barb had given us a few homegrown sweet potatoes. I'd not yet found the perfect recipe for them. We had leftover pulled pork. The two might just combine with an apple (also from Tom and Barb) and some shallot to make a wonderful sweet potato hash. Topped with a fried egg. Connie had mentioned that cranberry sauce sometime soon would be good. I'd read a recipe for spiced cranberry sauce. But, it must be in the mountain of recipes in the office ready to be scanned in. Fine then. I'd make both up.
The cranberry sauce was first. Whiskey and orange juice would be good with warm spices. Brown sugar was a must. And, maybe a hint of chipotle pepper... It worked! Then, on to the hash. Peel, dice and cook the sweet potatoes. Saute the apples and some shallot in butter. Drain and add the sweet potatoes. Something was missing. How about some Italian seasoning It's actually a mix called Renaissance rub.
What did we think? Both were a four on a scale of one to five. As Connie said, fives are reserved for something we could pretty much eat every day. Like slices of happiness. We did add a bit of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce to the hash. It was still a four. Very good but I wouldn't want it every day...
Spiced Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients:
2 lbs fresh cranberries
1/2 c brown sugar
1 heaping tablespoon orange juice concentrate
2 T whiskey
1/4 t chipotle chili powder
1 t ground allspice
1/4 t cardamom
Directions:
Mix all the ingredients in a large saucepan. Cook, stirring frequently, until the cranberries have mostly popped and the mixture has thickened.
Sweet Potato and Pulled Pork Hash
Ingredients:
4 small or 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 lb pulled pork
1 large apple, diced
1 shallot, minced
2 T butter
1 T Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
4 fried eggs
Directions:
Cook the sweet potatoes in boiling, salted water until just tender. It'll take 5-8 minutes.
While those are cooking, melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the shallot and apple. Saute just until softened.
In yet another pan, small skillet this time, fry four eggs. Drain the sweet potatoes and add those to the apple and shallot along with the pulled pork and Italian seasoning. Stir gently to mix . Serve a mound of hash topped with a fried egg.
Time for my last Secret Recipe Club post. They've changed and it's time for me to move on. Next month, I hope you'll come find me at The Bloggers C.L.U.E. Society. It's a new group that I've started with my friends Christiane from The Mom Chef and Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake. We'll kick off our group on Wednesday, November 12th with Thanksgiving recipes galore. I picked mine out a couple of days ago and am totally looking forward to making it. Ought to be a lot of fun.
So, let's talk about Nicole from Picnic.http://picnicnz.blogspot.co.nz/ She's working on her PhD and has discovered she loves cooking. Among a lot of great looking baked goods, I found a couple of pizza recipes on her blog. One used pita bread instead of pizza crust. What a great idea for lunches. We've got a toaster oven and a microwave so things that I can bake or heat up at the office are perfect.
I decided both pizza recipes would be a great idea since I was buying a bag of pita bread anyway... And, making homemade pizza sauce anyway... My tastebuds were totally set for the lamb pizza for Monday. Sunday evening during my normal cooking spree, I'd browned the lamb, made the pizza sauce and caramelized the onions. We had a big bag of non-perishable stuff on the kitchen table. Another bag of perishables had gone to the basement fridge. Both were scheduled to head to the office on Monday. I'd asked Connie to put the onions "in the bag to go to the office." He put them in the non-perishable bag... What we had there was a failure to communicate. Ok, so we'd start with the chicken pizzas instead!
What did we think? These were VERY good. I'm not a fan of plain tomato paste so I made homemade sauce from tomato paste. Most of the recipes I found called for either starting with crushed tomatoes or crushing tomatoes. Growing up, though, Daddy used to make a VERY tasty barbecue sauce starting with tomato paste. So, I was pretty certain I could come up with an equally tasty pizza sauce. When I put the pita pizzas together, I added some greens to add a bit of flavor and nutrition. We use the mongo containers of baby chard, kale and spinach from Sam's Club whenever we use greens - which is pretty much most days of the week... Here's where you can take a look at Nicole's version: chicken pizza.
What did we think? The pizza sauce was good. I think next time though I'll make it with the crushed tomatoes. The chicken pizza was very good. The lamb pizza was almost as good but we marked it just a tad bit lower. In any event, pita bread pizzas will become a regular at the office! Yes, I confess, it was busy and I didn't even think about lamb pizza recipes until I'd eaten half of mine...
For the sauce:
4 oz can tomato paste
4 oz water
1 T olive oil
1 shallot, finely minced
1 garlic clove, finely minced
2 t- 1 T Italian seasoning
Saute the shallot and garlic in the olive oil until softened. Add the tomato paste and cook for a couple of minutes. Stir in the water and Italian seasoning. Simmer for at least 15 minutes.
Chicken Pizza
Ingredients:
1 wholegrain pita bread
2 T pizza sauce
1 cooked chicken breast, sliced thinly
handful of fresh spinach or mixed greens or baby kale...
pickled jalapenos
handful grated cheese - I used gruyere
sweet chili garlic sauce
Directions:
Toast the pita bread for about two minutes. Spread one side with pizza sauce.
Top with the greens. Lay on the chicken slices. Sprinkle on the pickled jalapenos. Top with the cheese. Broil about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbling. Before serving, drizzle with sweet chili garlic sauce.
Lamb Pizza
Ingredients:
1 wholegrain pizza bread
2 T pizza sauce
1/2 lb ground lamb
1 small onion, sliced
1 beer (I used Heinken)
seasoning (I used Penzey's Bangkok but you can use pretty much whatever to get the flavor profile you want)
1/4 - 1/3 c crumbled feta
Directions:
Season the lamb with whatever seasoning you've chosen. Then, brown the lamb and remove it from the skillet with a slotted spoon. Drain. Add the onion to the lamb drippings. Saute until softened. Pour in the beer and sauté until the beer has evaporated. Drain the onions. Toast the pita bread for about two minutes. Spread one side with pizza sauce.
Top with the ground lamb, then the onions, then the feta. Broil for about 10 minutes.
