Instant Coffee by Starbucks

Starbucks recently came out with instant coffee. If you're like me, when you think of instant coffee, you think Sanka and not much flavor. I'm normally not a fan! If you cant grind it- forget it!
My husband brought me home 2 samples last night. I had an opened mind, and tried it, and can tell you that it was actually good! I was surprised!! So, if you havent tried it, I would recommend it. It comes in single servings, so as a friend told me, it would be great for late afternoons when you dont want to brew an entire pot of coffee!!
I hope you enjoy your cup as much as I enjoyed mine!

Chicken with Fennel, Tomato and Tarragon Vinegar

I have been trying to get healthy. I told myself that this was the year to do it, and stick with it. So far, so good, and I have Cooking Light magazine to thank for some pretty amazing low fat dinners. I've tried a few recipes out of there before and was always pleased.
This is the dinner we had tonight and it was wonderful!! Served with some garlic green beans and a hunk of French bread, we had a fabulous meal.

Chicken with Fennel, Tomato and Tarragon Vinegar

1 tsp olive oil
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 1 lb)
1/2 tsp salt, divided
1/4 tsp pepper, divided
2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and quartered
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14 oz) can fat-free, less sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup tarragon vinegar
2 fresh tarragon sprigs
2 cups chopped seeded peeled tomato
1 T whipping cream
1/2 tsp sugar
Fresh tarragon sprigs (optional)

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper. Add chicken to pan, cook 3 minutes on each side. Remove from pan. Add fennel, cook 5 minutes, turning to brown. Remove from pan. Add garlic, saute 30 seconds. Add broth, vinegar, and 2 tarragon sprigs, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil. Add fennel, cover, reduce heat, and simmer 7 minutes. Add chicken, cover and simmer 10 minutes. Remove chicken and fennel from pan, and keep warm.

2. Add 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, tomato, cream, and sugar to pan; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 1 cup (about 10 minutes), stirring frequently. Serve over chicken and fennel. Garnish with additional tarragon sprigs, if desired.

Yield: 4 servings (2 thighs, 2 fennel quarters, and 1/4 cup sauce)

237 calories 7.5 g fat

Latte Art

Latte art is a style of pouring steamed milk into a shot of espresso that creates a pattern or design on the surface of the resulting latte.

I had read about latte art in the paper and how they have actual latte art competitions. I had wanted to see it for myself, so this last weekend, while in Milwaukee, I had my first latte, with latte art, at Alterra Coffee. What a treat!!

The New York Cookbook

I am a huge fan of New York City and when my mom gave me the New York Cookbook for a gift one year, I was so excited.
This is one of my absolute favorites, because it has a variety of everything- including ethnic food. Not only does the cookbook have fabulous recipes, but it has stories behind the recipes and food history.
Some recipes I love are: Staten Island Pasta with Chicken
Chocolate Black Out Cake
Ann Getty's Meat Loaf

Those are just a few of the great recipes in the book.
So, if you're interested in the book it's: New York Cookbook by Molly O' Neil
I will leave you with a recipe for hamburgers that is super easy and so good!

Madison Square Marinated Hamburgers

2 lbs ground beef round
8 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups dry white wine
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Form the ground beef into 6 hamburgers. Place in a flat nonreactive
bowl or baking dish. Sprinkle the garlic over the hamburgers, pour the white
wine over them, and season with salt and pepper. Cover with plastic wrap
and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, turning the hamburgers every hour.
Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking.

Preheat a grill or broiler or heat a seasoned cast-iron skillet over medium
high heat until almost smoking.

Grill, broil, or pan-fry the burgers for 3 to 4 minutes per side for rare.
Serve on kaiser rolls.

Serves 6

2 Tea's and a Book

I love finding new things- especially new foods, places to go and books. Recently, I have found a few things I just have to pass on because I enjoyed them so much.
I'm not a huge fan of tea. I really wish I was, but found 2 tea's I like a lot.
The first one, I have to give credit to my dad for finding. We were at a Japanese garden, having breakfast, and he had a tea called Sweet and Spicey Red Tea. It was wonderful! It has a wonderful, strong cinnamon flavor.
Last night, my daughter and I were running through Starbucks and they have new tea latte's out this month. I was given a sample of the London Fog tea latte. It starts out tasting like tea, but ends with the taste of cardamon filling your mouth.
So good!!!
And finally, I found a book I am enjoying so much. It's a "travel guide" to Ancient Rome. It's so fun! I love History and travel, so I find it very interesting.
Did you know you cant travel to Rome, by ship, from November 12- March 27? And never travel at the end of the month, since it's considered bad luck.
So, the three thing to check out are:

-Sweet and Spicy Red Tea (Caffeine Free) by Good Earth
Cinnamon Orange flavor

-London Fog tea latte at Starbucks
*** On Tues. Jan. 13, at your local Starbucks store, they are having a
TeaTime event with complimentary tea and food samples.
It's going to start at 2 p.m.***

-"Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day. Your guide to sleeping, shopping and sightseeing
in the City of the Caesars" by Philip Matyszak