Happy Wednesday!  I thought I better get my act together for the big game on Sunday and give you a nice looking round up of ideas that you can make for the party excuse of the year.  Today is the day.  Whether you have family and friends over for the big game or you are hitting the pavement and going somewhere to watch the game – you can’t go empty handed.  I have some super easy recipes for you to prepare and add a few calories to the belly.

Yes folks, most of these ideas are not super healthy…. but remember everything in moderation so enjoy the game.  Do note, these recipe ideas are not restricted to the Super Bowl, you may feel the sudden urge to just make these on any random day or night and that is perfectly normal.

Panko Crusted Onion Rings

A crispy onion ring done in the oven... I love these!

Rosemary Grilled Shrimp

Simple, quick and a great 2nd Quarter snack for the game

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwich

A little bit more effort but mostly on the time front. Serve this up at half time with Kelly Clarkson singing in the background and you will be remembered forever.

Brown Bag Oven Fries

Make these.... make these! Create some fun dips for them as well. Spicy ketchup, maybe a dill cream cheese dip or even a jalapeno cheese dip.

Closet Cooking – Pizza Dip

Kevin from closet cooking delivers this pizza dip that almost makes me want to run to the kitchen and make this for breakfast. I have never seen such an amazing piece of work. Put the phone down folks - you will not need to order pizza on Sunday.

Baked Chicken Wing in Spicy Glaze

You honestly didn't think you would get through a zesty round up post of the super bowl without a chicken wing. Chicken wings are a must have and for this type of event you need lots of napkins and you have to make a big mess on your hands and face. Just saying this is a great 1st quarter snack to get the blood pumping.

Kevin’s Jalapeno Poppers

Back to Kevin's closet for a little heat. These poppers look amazing and I do agree with him saying to make a lot as they will disappear.

A little Sweet Treat(s)

I want to toot my horn a little bit with this next brownie.  Yesterday I was notified that I earned a prestigious placement award with StumbleUpon.  The chocolate brownies below were ranked in the top 10 posts of the year all over the internet.  Pretty cool for a bald guy.  All total over 1 million people have looked over these chocolate morsels.  Try them for the big game and let me know what you think.

Yes Yes - these damn brownies again but I have to tell you - they are pretty yummy!

OK…. the super bowl round up is complete.  Let me know which recipe you are going to try for Sunday.  I will talk to you on Friday.  Have a great Wednesday.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

I knew I would be writing this blog post, I just didn’t know when it would be published.  When I started blogging back in 2008, I felt my passion grow almost instantaneously and I knew this was for me.  In addition to blogging, I started offering my web design and graphics services to help fellow bloggers and to better the community, and heck I loved that too.

As of last month, I left my corporate career as Director of a successful software company to blog and provide blog consulting services full time.  Is it a big step?  You better believe it.  Am I excited?  I have honestly never been happier.  I wake up in the morning, get breakfast for the family, plan my day, and get at it.

As an entrepreneur, you have to realize you need to hunt to survive.  No one will feed you just for being cute.

My corporate career was somewhat short at 13 years but I learned valuable lessons that will benefit my future.  I have a laundry list of ideas to fulfill in 2012, both food and consulting related.  Over the past three weeks I have revamped and totally redesigned my consulting site to showcase both past work and all the new services you can now purchase.

Here is a quick snap shot of the site.

Goals for 2012

I figure if I write these goals down, you will keep me in check and monitor my progress quarterly.

1. Write a Book – People have been emailing and asking me when am I writing a book that they can buy and I can honestly say the book is in the works and it is about 60% complete.  I will keep you posted on the details, topic, and logistics once I get closer to the end. (Pretty pumped)
2. Grow my consulting company to over 300 clients by the end of 2012.  Presently, I have about 160 clients that I have worked with over the past few years and I’m really going to focus my efforts on growing that number and helping the blog community.
3. Launch a “maintenance” program – At least 3 times a week, I get an email or question from someone needing help with their blog and are unsure how to handle it.  Now you don’t have to worry.  I am launching a full three-tiered maintenance program that you can purchase and have us take care of your blog for you.  Simple, cost effective, and gives you the peace of mind that someone has got your back.
4. Write more guest posts – I am starting to write for a few blogs just to promote myself and “get around.”
5. Launch an online interactive learning center for bloggers – I spend a lot of time doing tutorials for people answering blogging questions and technical questions so I thought about formalizing it so you can now join a class, ask questions, see a video, and solve your problems.  Stay tuned later this year for launch!

I guess this concludes my top 5 goals for 2012.  Lofty?  Yes. Doable? You better believe it!  The last three weeks have been busy, getting the site ready, working on logistics, eCommerce set up, and figuring out all the services that I want to offer.

Now I know there is no food today but I felt I should let you in on where I am spending my days.  For all those people who already know – I appreciate the support.  I will be back on Friday with the normally scheduled programming – FOOD.

Have a great Wednesday and I will see you at the end of the week.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

How to Win the KitchenAid Giveaway Today

Just leave a comment on this post telling me if you had to be a vegetable, which one would you be and why.   Remember, you can still enter the contest from previous days at the bottom of this post!

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What Vegetable Would You Be?

So the vegetable question?  Took me a while to think this one through.  I had a couple of ideas run through my head and another few that were not PG.  After much debate I came up with…

ZESTY IS:

Yellow Squash – Yellow and sunny, fresh and light…goes with most anything.

So now it is your turn.  I think this will be fun.  In the comments below, tell me what vegetable you would be and why and you will be entered to win the Kitchen Aid Professional Mixer.  WHOOOO HOOOOO.  Tell your friends…. tweet this, facebook it.  Let’s see if we can get 200 vegetables by end of day!  Have fun.

How to Win the KitchenAid Giveaway Today

Just leave a comment on this post telling me if you were a vegetable which one would you be and why.   Remember, you can still enter the contest from previous days!

1. Please “like” the Zesty Cook facebook page and come back and tell me you did it. If you are already a “liker,” leave a comment telling me you are already a fan.
2. Tell me your favorite holiday tradition and leave a comment telling me.

3. Tell Zesty your favorite Holiday dish
4. Tweet about this contest and leave a comment telling me you have tweeted.
5. Tell me the first thing you would make with the mixer.
6. Tell your favorite Holiday Movie.
7. Subscribe to Zesty and Tell a Friend.
8. Name your favorite Chocolate
9. Tell me your favorite zesty dessert post

Please be sure to leave separate comments for each entry to increase your chance to win!

Alright so there you have it… Wednesday is upon us and i still have shopping to do.  4 more sleeps until Christmas! Have a great day!

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

How to Win the KitchenAid Giveaway Today

Just leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite type of chocolate or chocolate treat.   Remember, you can still enter the contest from previous days!

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Christmas is just around the corner and that means…. chocolate everywhere you go!  Or at least I find that around here.  You go to a house to visit and they have chocolate treats everywhere.  Whether it be a box of chocolates, homemade chocolate cookies or squares, maybe little chocolate candies they are EVERYWHERE.

We went down the road to our favorite Christmas tree farm last week to pick out our tree this year…. I run in the house to pay for the tree and the owner’s wife calls the whole family in for a treat.  Out come the box of chocolates at 9:15am.  Of course I had one!  Well actually two but come on… it is December!

For me, I am a huge fan of dark chocolate…. that can serve as a hint for all you crazed fans out there wanting to send me a treat.  Dark chocolate it is.  Oh wait,WOW, I just felt like Justin Bieber for a second without the hair.  Sorry for that!   No treats needed…. I guess.

What kind of chocolate do you like baking with?  Semi sweet, milk, dark?  I love it all but the variations are so different and produce much different results.

How to Win the KitchenAid Giveaway Today

Just leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite chocolate.  Remember, you can still enter the contest from previous days!

1. Please “like” the Zesty Cook facebook page and come back and tell me you did it. If you are already a “liker,” leave a comment telling me you are already a fan.
2. Tell me your favorite holiday tradition and leave a comment telling me.
3. Tell Zesty your favorite Holiday dish
4. Tweet about this contest and leave a comment telling me you have tweeted.
5. Tell me the first thing you would make with the mixer.
6. Tell your favorite Holiday Movie.
7. Subscribe to Zesty and Tell a Friend.

Please be sure to leave separate comments for each entry to increase your chance to win!

Alright so there you have it…tell me all about your favorite chocolate and treats. Have a great Friday.  Next week I will share the decorated house with you and share some more holiday treats.  Have a great weekend.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Wow, looks like you really want to win that KitchenAid mixer for the New Year!  Well, consider this some further inspiration to keep entering the contest (click here for a list of each entry opportunity) and get cookin’ in the kitchen!

Before I tell you how to enter to win the contest today, let’s take a look at some of the things you can make with the mixer if you win it!

Zesty’s Top 7 KitchenAid Recipe Favorites

1.  Simply Pure Carrot Cake

This is a classic carrot cake recipe, but the way the ingredients come together is nothing short of killer.  The first time I made this, I didn’t have a mixer, but the whole thing would be much easier to make with the help of a KitchenAid!

2.  Chocolate Cake Ice Cream Cones

I made this for Little Miss Zesty’s birthday last year (not to be confused with her party this year!), and they were a hit with the kids and the adults!  This recipe is simple and fun.

3.  Oh Yummy Cream Cheese Gumdrop Cake

This cake can be made year round but I think it’s especially nice around the holidays.  The cream cheese makes this cake moist and creamy.

4.  Ridiculously Delicious Dinner Rolls

This is a solid, traditional dinner roll recipe that also happens to be, as the name suggests, ridiculously delicious!  Since these rolls need a good amount of kneading, it would be handy to have a mixer around to help with the work!

5.  Butterscotch Blondies

I’m pretty sure these will be a universal hit in any house!  This recipe is originally from Smitten Kitchen and it doesn’t disappoint.

6.  Blueberry Zucchini Cake

Sounds like an interesting combination, right?  Cake, bread…whatever you call it, it’s delicious and nutritious!

7.  Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes

This is the ultimate mixer dessert!  Can you really beat chocolate, cream cheese and to top it all off in bite size cupcake form?  I think not.

There you have it, folks!  Now, who wants to win this baby?

How to Win the KitchenAid Giveaway Today

Just leave a comment on this post telling me the first thing you plan to make if you win the mixer!  Remember, you can still enter the contest from previous days!

1. Please “like” the Zesty Cook facebook page and come back and tell me you did it. If you are already a “liker,” leave a comment telling me you are already a fan.
2. Tell me your favorite holiday tradition and leave a comment telling me.
3. Tell Zesty your favorite Holiday dish
4. Tweet about this contest and leave a comment telling me you have tweeted.

Please be sure to leave separate comments for each entry to increase your chance to win!

So there you have it…. a sweetened way to end your week.  I hope you have a great weekend, maybe wrap up your shopping and relax.  I think we need to pick out our tree and get it in the house.  Talk to you on Monday.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Happy Monday!  As promised, let today be a birthday recap of Saturday’s food festivities.  I believe I can sum up the day with one word – Success.  The food went over really well, the presents were of course a hit and everyone seem to have an enjoyable time.  I will walk through the food and then maybe throughout the week post some of the dishes again with recipes so you can go ahead and try them.

Menu

Appetizers

• Biscuits
• Basil Hummus w/ Pita Bread
• Crackers and Cheese Assortment
• Red Pepper Jelly and Cream cheese
• Shrimp Ring w/ Cocktail Sauce

Nanny's biscuits that will make you crave!

Basil Hummus - YUM

Have you tried this... red pepper jelly

Jelly with a flax honey cracker

A few crackers to keep the crowd at bay!

Mains

• Green Salad w/ Almonds, Blackberries and Feta
• Butternut Squash & Apple Soup
• Tomato and Mushroom Tart
• Spaghetti Bread

A little salad.... to offset the carbs

BUtternut Squash.... keeps you warm!

The tomato Bean Tart prior to baking

After baking.... WOW

Spaghetti Bread in process

Wrapped up and braided... ready for the heat

The finished product.....Holy Yum

Dessert

• Birthday Cake

Alright so there you have a quick glimpse into the party that was…. a lot of fun. Ella had a great time and I think everyone else did. I am going to get to work here and I will touch base with you on Wednesday. Have a great start to the week.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Happy Friday!  Let’s take a moment to remember all the men and women who served for our Country over the years and reflect on the amazing work that they have done for us and how much we appreciate them.  Today as most of you know is Remembrance day in Canada and Veteran’s Day in the US.  I just wanted to let let everyone know to take a moment and really think of the importance of these heroes.

GOOD EATS

As I was surfing around last evening I happen to bump into a couple of recipes that I just had to feature and share today for you to admire.  First off is something from Aggie’s kitchen with a Mushroom and White Bean Tart.  When I saw the picture I literally almost drooled with excitement and knew that this is something I had to make.

For complete information on the recipe… you must go over to Aggie’s kitchen and feast your eyes.  You will be happy you dropped over.

Second tasty treat that I spotted yesterday was one of my favorite flavors embedded into a cookie.  Chewy Lemon Cookies by Jessica at HowSweetEats.  These cookies look amazing!  I cannot wait to try them.  Can you imagine sitting on the couch with a plate of these watching your favorite Tv show?

I can already picture that.  I would only eat 3 or 4 at a time and likely not exceed 12 in one day.  Great Job Jessica.

MoVember Update

Well Friday is here.  We are 11 days into Movember and I promised to give you a zesty MoVember update every Friday for the month.  Here is a link to my profile and if you are interested you by all means can donate and help raise money for Prostate Cancer.  The Donate link can be found here.  So without further waiting in anticipation, I took a few self shots of the stash this morning for you to see.  it is coming along quite well.  Hopefully it will fill in a little more in the coming weeks. I have not solidified the final shape as of yet.

Do you have any recommendations on the shape?

Alright, I better get back to some house cleaning, some writing and relaxing.  I hope you have a  great weekend.  I will touch base with you on Monday before I head west to Anaheim for a work conference.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Happy Wednesday to you! Guess where I was last night? You will never guess…. I was invited to a special “invited guests only” tasting at Liquid Gold Tasting Bar downtown. How cool is that? Well beyond the cool part, How tasty is that? The combination of atmosphere paired with amazing products and delicious food made the 2 hour tasting a true joy.

I wanted to share a little bit about Liquid Gold and then get into some of the pics and food tasting from last night.

“Olio Fresco”.  It’s Italian for fresh oil.

Pure, fresh, extra virgin olive oils are now in Charlottetown. Here to be sampled, savored, bottled and combined with spectacular balsamic vinegars in an awesome array of combinations. Smooth, buttery, zesty, earthy, rich, deep, moody and delicious.

The oils are pure, single fruits called cultivars, or are cultivars that have been deliciously flavored. In spring/summer, our oils come from the southern hemisphere where the winter crop is harvested between May and July. In the fall & winter, our oils will come from the Mediterranean.

Our balsamic vinegars are from Modena, Italy. They are either dark or white and are traditional, organic or spectacularly flavored

We also carry an assortment of gourmet oils, mustards and glazes, Italian pastas, stuffed olives, sea salts, ceramics, olive wood products, hand creams, skin moisturizers and soaps.

The place is super cool! They had chef John Pritchard serving up some amazing eats with their products. Do you remember when I teamed up with John for the potato festival last year. From truffle oil aioli, flavored hummus, tons of bread( to sample the amazing oils and vinegars to a peach balsamic martini that would knock your socks off – the tastes were amazing.

As I was walking around “chatting with folks” I had so many ideas of recipes with these products. Is there anything better than working with “real” ingredients? In thinking about food, I checked out their site on my phone as I was taste testing and realized they had some nice recipes on their site that almost made me drool.

As soon as I got home, I checked out their site and talked to Mrs. Zesty about the store…. I was impressed.  I then went to their blog and I found a nice variety of recipes that they have posted that use their ingredients…. I think you might like some of them – actually who I am trying to kid – you are going to love them.  See below for a sample.

How about White Truffle Fries w/ Parmesan? or Pomegranate Glazed Salmon?  I know…. makes me excited just to think about it.

Tuna Salad , White Truffle Fries and Pomegranate Glazed Salmon

Totally a fun tasting night…. I could do that every night for sure. great job to both the G! and Liquid Gold for putting on a fun event. I hope it will become a tradition and they invite me again. If you have any questions about Liquid Gold you can check out their site or let me know and I can pass them along. have a super bump in the road Wednesday and i will talk to you on Friday with a Movember update.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Good Friday to you! Happy Friday! How are you doing? Big today in zesty land today. Mrs Zesty is heading out of province for a few days and zesty is holding down the fort. You know that only can mean chaos! Haha just kidding, I should be able to wrangle in the youngsters for 3 days and have fun!

Have you heard of MoVember? Where men grow a mustache and help raise money for cancer. Apparently I am on a team and going to be growing a duster on top of my lip. Now all be it, I will look a little awkward I thought it would be a fun idea for me to update my progress weekly on the blog and upload a pic of the stash. Good idea? I will also throw up a donate button throughout the month if anyone wants to donate via PayPal. You can check my MoBro page and follow the progress. Just between you and me, I want to raise the most money on the team. I was even thinking of dying my mustache a slightly different color once it fills in about 3/4 of the way. Good idea?

Anyway, enough about male facial hair but I did want to update you on the November task at hand.

Saybon Candy Winners

Alright folks we have 4 winners from the Candy giveaway. I used random.org to generate the lucky numbers and I will announce the winners below and just ask for the winners to send me their email addresses and i will pop them back an email with a printable coupon for a free bag of candy.

Kerry McDougall October 29, 2011 at 6:21 am
My favorite cookbook is The Barefoot Contessa. The first cookbook she wrote is an excellent reference that I use time and again. I have all of her cookbooks, but the first one is the one I return to most often.

Judy October 28, 2011 at 1:15 pm
Naming my favourite cookbook is a challenge because I love cookbooks.
I will say the Company’s Coming series.

From Twitter

theScorpioWoman -There is a Saybon Candy giveaway @zestycook zestycook.com/a-saybon-candy…

Carolyn H October 28, 2011 at 9:53 am
My favorite cookbook is by Chef Michael Smith – The Best of Chef at Home. So many great, delicious, healthy recipes that I’ve enjoyed sharing with family time and time again. I like his simplicity, and that I’ve had most of the ingredients of his recipes on hand in my cupboard, which makes using his cookbook enjoyable. I rarely have to go out and buy a bunch of groceries before making a recipe, which is a plus!

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

I am working from home today with a sick boy and have a huge craving for bacon.  I thought I would kick start your weekend with some pork fat goodness.  You agree?

One of my top 25 foods of all time – BACON.  It came to me as I was eating the breakfast all last week at Normandy Farm.  Of course I scanned the whole buffet before I started to fill my plate, but I always gravitated towards the crispy bacon

Eating some breakfast and thinking about what to write, I thought that I would share with you 7 ways to cook with bacon that have been featured on zesty.

So here goes….

1. Bacon on Pizza

Whether it is traditional pizza using some leftovers or a kicked up portabella pizza – bacon is a great addition.

2. Chutney

I feature two chutney’s ( Apple Bacon Chutney and Pear Bacon Chutney ) so far and both were out of this world yummy.  I attribute that to the bacon and to the slow cooking.

3.  Bacon and Eggs with a Twist

One of my all time sunday morning favorites “Bacon and Eggs”.  Try these fun little twists on a classic – Bacon and Eggs in a Bowl or a 2 minute Bacon Broccoli Scrambled Egg.

4.  Bacon Wrapped Fruit

Once introduced to this lovely creation – I fell in love with Bacon wrapped Pineapple.  Such a simple yet crowd pleasing treat.

5.  Bacon in a Salad

I really do love adding bacon to many salads.  I think i like the salty flavor it adds as well as the crunch. The one listed here is not your traditional salad, but this was very tasty with both the crunch walnuts and the firmness of the asparagus.

6.  Bacon with Potatoes

Oh yeah – you cannot forget this incredible combination.  Try kicking it up a notch at your next gathering with sweet potato skins with Bacon.  These babies are amazing.

7.  Bacon Mac and Cheese

Well well well… this is a must try if you love mac and cheese.  The bacon really takes this over the roof and will make you very very happy.

So there you have it!  A fun look at bacon and all its glory.  Feel free to share this with your friends using the toolbar on the bottom.  Have yourself a great Fridayand I will see you back on October…. Can you believe that?

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty