Back To School Potluck

The office hasn’t had a potluck for awhile. The last one was kind of sad. It wasn’t our best. I think the timing was off and our theme was possibly a bit too vague. It was for St. Patrick’s Day at a super busy time in the office and after a crazy weekend for the city. This one got us back on track! We did a back to school, but grown up, as our theme.

We had some paleo chicken nuggets.
The Three Bite Rule - Back To School Potluck

We had some school-lunch-pizza. They were on sandwich thins with veggie pepperoni.
The Three Bite Rule - Back To School Potluck

We had some pb & j on banana bread. This one was mine. I tried the whipped peanut butter and used strawberry jam. I made my own banana bread.
The Three Bite Rule - Back To School Potluck

We had come cafeteria-style ‘mush’. It was cauliflower, broccoli, and sweet potato.
The Three Bite Rule - Back To School Potluck

School lunch isn’t complete without snacks and dessert.

We had trailmix.
The Three Bite Rule - Back To School Potluck

We had ants on a log with almond butter and craisins.
The Three Bite Rule - Back To School Potluck

We had ice cream cups with little wooden spoons.
The Three Bite Rule - Back To School Potluck

We had oreos, made with protein powdered cream.
The Three Bite Rule - Back To School Potluck
I don’t think we’ve settled on our next one. We thought about ‘on a stick’ or mini vs. giant foods. Any potluck theme recommendations for us? Some of our best include: nail polish colored, or Olympics theme, or made-in-a-muffin-tin.

Breakfast Burgers

Happy Labor Day! I figured what was more Labor Day than a burger? This one has a twist!

I had some English muffins from the farmers market and thought they’d be great for a burger since they’re a bit more substantial than Thomas’. I went bfast inspired topping the burgers with cheese, a fried egg, and bacon jam. So good!

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Ingredients:

2 english muffins or bagels
2 tbs bacon jam or bacon slices
2 slices of cheese
2 fried eggs, over easy
tomato slices
2 burgers

Directions:

Timing is key for these burgers, so prep the toppings (bacon jam/bacon slices & tomato slices) and sides in advance.
While the burgers are cooking, heat a frying pan to medium.
Toast the English muffins.
Once the burgers come off the grill, in the pan, fry 2 eggs to your liking (I did sunny side up).

I liked the egg yolk becoming an instant condiment on here. The tomato slices also replaced ketchup. I served these burgers with tots for a grilled dinner giving breakfast a nod. This was oozy and delicious. I had tomato, bacon jam, and egg yolk dripping out and it was glorious.
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The timing is everything here. Eggs take only a minute to fry so I didn’t want them ready before the burgers came off the grill. I think this would take 2 people, or an octopus. I don’t think I could “man the grill” and have the English muffins toasted, the bacon/eggs/sides ready.

In the breakfast for dinner cookbook there’s a burger topped with an egg and a super-thin crispy shredded hash brown layer. Yum. These burgers could be even more breakfasty by grilling a sausage patty.
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August Recap

The summer is zooming by! I have so much to look forward to in September (mainly Paris & Prague!) but it is also my favorite time of year. I have a few west coast trips scheduled to Cali, a weekend in Maine, and a few other things happening so if you ever wanted to be a guest blogger for me, September is the time!

August was delightfully cooler. Thank you Mother Nature! I got to play in NYC with my favorite college gals and spouses and had a few lovely days on the the Cape. I hosted bookclub with a sort of tasting menu or small plates theme but was a bad blogger and didn’t take any complete sets of photos for you. I had some in-progress shots but not a single final photo! Oops.

I made one of my best pizzas to date: Pork, Caramelized Onions, and Fontina with Mustard Beer Sauce. It was everything the ingredients suggest it would be.
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I also enjoyed farmer’s market finds like burrata cheese in a Zucchini Pasta with Burrata
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and for Grilled Bruschetta Pizza and Thai Chicken Wraps.
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I made a spur of the moment cocktail with an Orange soda and whipped cream vodka. It was ahhhhmazing. I loved this light creamcicle drink. I’m on the hunt for ways to make a fudgecicle cocktail! Any tips for me?
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I promised a sangria for August so I messed around with basil which was really fun. I did a Strawberry Basil Sangia that was a hit. I need to make no-occasion sangria more often!
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Let’s see what’s up for September. Hmmm. I imagine a lot of quickie meals and some travel posts. I have a lot on my to-do list including: non-traditional pizza, a sandwich featuring a peach!, a burger, and maybe some more cocktails.

September feels like a lovely in-between of summer and fall. I feel like I need to do some last summer things and eat some more lighter/veggie focused/salad-y meals before true fall happens.

Scallop BLT Pizza

I made this scallop BLT pizza because I love just about anything on pizza. I mean, have you seen all the pizza toppings I’ve fallen in love with? This combo of scallops, bacon, and alfredo provides the luscious and decadent part while the tomatoes and arugula balance it out with freshness. We had a great scallop pizza last year in Maine for our anniversary.
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I love topping pizzas with raw greens (like this Greek one, or this BLT one, or Big Mac pizza, or this prosciutto fontina arugula one) but if that’s not your thing either spinach or arugula would be great chopped up and cooked on the pizza.

Ingredients:

pizza dough
2 slices of bacon
3-4 sea scallops
1 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
3 tbs flour/wheat flour
salt & pepper
1 cup light alfredo sauce
1 tomato, sliced into chunks
8 oz shredded mozzarella
2 cups arugula (or spinach)

Directions:

Preheat the oven (and pizza stone if using one) to 400 degrees.
Pan fry the bacon until crisp. Remove from heat to drain and chop up.
Rinse scallops and remove the connective tissue on each one, if there is any. Pat dry.
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Mix flour, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
Spread pizza dough onto the pizza stone or pan and bake for 5-10 minutes. The point is to get it pre cooking so when the pizza is topped, it doesn’t have to cook much longer.
Heat a heavy skillet to medium and add butter & oil.
Toss the scallops in the four mix and pan sear each one for about 2-3 minutes on each side, flipping once (they’ll go into the oven again too so don’t overcook).
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When the pizza dough is pre-cooked a bit, remove from the oven. Reduce temperature to 300 degrees. Top the crust with alfredo sauce, cheese, bacon, and tomato.
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Cut scallops in half horizontally, or into quarter chunks if you prefer.
Add cut scallops to the pizza, with the seared side facing up.
Return to the oven for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.
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Toss arugula with a very little drizzle of olive oil and add onto of the pizza.
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Slice & enjoy!

I added a little sprinkle of Parmesan and chives before the arugula, mostly because I had some. I liked everything that was going on for this pizza. It was reminiscent of bacon wrapped scallops.
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This is seriously a cheap way to serve scallops. I bought 3 scallops for 2 of us. I did slice them in half but there were lots of pieces to spread over the pizza! Bay scallops aren’t the same but maybe I should branch out for meals like this. I also only used 2 slices of bacon. It seems like plenty when spread around. I would always like more, but this amount is the smart choice. I pre-portion bacon and freeze it. Otherwise a pound can disappear verrrry quickly.

Raspberry Lime Smoothie

My zester has gotten quite the work-out lately. What can I say I have a zest for life. Ok, onward from the corny-ness and straight to the smoothie. Who doesn’t need some Monday morning detoxing. (excuse the blender cup, I’m being real, not fancy)

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Ingredients:

raspberry yogurt
1 cup frozen raspberries
lime juice from 1 lime
lime zest
1 cup milk/juice/lemonade (liquid of your choosing)

Directions:

Combine ingredients in a blender.
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Blend & enjoy!
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I used some crystal light raspberry lemonade. I don’t like any extra calories in my smoothie (and I usually don’t like want it milky). I liked this one for a change of pace. The lime in there wakes you up and gets you going. It’s a nice flavor without being the fruit. The contrast is great and the flavors scream summer. I have a few more fun smoothies coming along soon. Stay tuned!

This reminded me of raspberry lime rickys that were super popular at the restaurant I worked at in high school. I believe raspberry lime rickys are a New England thing. What do you folks think? Are these drinks a New England thing?