Italy, I love thee...but....

 Anyone who knows my husband and I, knows we have been seriously infected by the travel bug. I will fore go iPhone's (much to the chagrin of others who detest my "dumb" phone), shopping sprees, new cars, etc. in favor of multiple vacations per year.
 In life, everyone has different priorities. For some, it is creature comforts, the latest gadgets, name brand luxury items. For me, it is experiences, places and memories I can draw from. Often times those experiences remind me how wonderful our world is all the while humbling me by realizing just how spoiled I am right here in the good old U.S. of A.
 Last month my husband and I spent nearly 3 weeks in Italy. We LOVE Italy. Our first "big" vacation together was in Italy, we were married in Italy, we feel very connected to the culture, the cuisine and the beauty. All of that being said, we were smacked in the face with a reality that I can only surmise comes from age and admittedly, a bit of impatience. We are, after all, American.
 The last time we were in Italy was seven and a half years ago. Back then, it was our dream to someday make a life there. We knew making that a reality could be tricky but we truly felt it was the perfect destination for us. Since then, we have had another child, both kids are in school, Paul has a fabulous career and as often occurs, that dream seemed to be slipping a little further away with each passing year. Obviously, we were so excited to return to the country we felt such a strong connection to. The trip was WONDERFUL. We saw old friends, we revisited Positano where we were married and we made our way down the boot and across the Mediterranean to Sicily. It was a trip we had been talking about since we first started going to Italy. The far less charted southern Italy held a mystique that we were excited to experience. It was everything we expected and more. Breathtakingly beautiful, slower paced, crystal clear Caribbean like, turquoise water. What's not to like?
 Just sitting here and rereading my description of our trip I almost....ALMOST have to ask myself the same question. Oddly, what fell short for us was the lack of variety in cuisine. Don't misunderstand me, Italy has a vast array of choices within their own cuisine and it is amazing. The bounty of which they have to draw from is second to none, wonderful seafood, produce, a zillion different pasta's. What we missed was the variety of other cuisines.
 It is no secret, based on the origin of my blog alone, that we LOVE food, all kinds of food. This time, after a couple of weeks we found we were restless of the food and wishing for other choices and taste profiles. We missed the convenience of grabbing a "quick" coffee. We missed breakfast. Not pancakes and bacon necessarily but something closer to breakfast than prosciutto and salami with little prepackaged toasts. With that realization, came the more melancholy epiphany that as our life has marched on since our last visit, the Italy that we thought should someday be our home, no longer held the same fascination. We really missed some of the minor,  yet important things that mattered to us. With that sad eye opener came another realization that seemed to numb the blow a bit. We realized for all the things about America that my husband and I abhor, there are many things such as the amazing variety in nearly everything that we take for granted on a daily basis that we love. We are spoiled, plain and simple. Spoiled, yes, but moreover, once again, grateful to Italy for yet another wonderful life lesson.
 We know a couple of things from our most recent travels. We maintain Oregon is still not our cup of tea...at all. Sun, sand and palm trees is still very much on our radar, but those things can easily be found in many areas of the southern United States. It looks as though, when the time is right, we will remain state side but we will forever be infected by the travel bug and continue our pursuit of adventure. Can't wait to see what's up next!

Till next time,

Jenny Lou

New Menu (updated 10/25/2013)

	Jenny Lou's Sweet and Savory Kitchen Menu
	Sweet Scones
	Sweet Scones come in sums of 8 regular size or 12 minis
	Cranberry/Walnut Platter	$18.00
	Blueberry/lemon zest	$18.00
	Chocolate/Filbert	$19.25
	Buttermilk	$16.00
	Savory Scones
	Savory Scones come in sums or 12 regular size or 16 minis
	Sundried Tomato/Basil/Parmesan	$27.00
	Bacon/Cheddar/Leek	$30.00
	Thyme/Chive/Swiss	$25.20
	Jalapeno/Cheddar	$25.80
	Other Tasty Treats
	Orange/Amaretto Pound Cake (10 Slices)		$22.00
	Blueberry/Buttermilk Breakfast Cake (12 pieces)		$24.00
	Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese icing (16 bars)		$32.00
	Best EVER Chocolate Chip Cookies (Dozen)		$15.00
	Peanut Butter Cookies (Dozen)		$13.50
	Snickerdoodle Cookies (Dozen)		$13.50
	Whipped Cheesecake on Walnut shortbread with
	fruit compote		$25.00
	Sampling of Cocktail Party Specialties
	For themed event dishes and additional menu items please inquire.
	I specialize in creating menus to fit your taste and budget.
	Pulled Pork Sliders with spicy slaw on sweet cane rolls (per dozen)			$25.00
	Secret Recipe Chicken Salad Sliders (per dozen)			$31.00
	Chilled Thai Spiced marinated prawns (2 dozen)			$48.00
	Stuffed Roasted Jalapenos (per dozen)			$22.00
	Fresh Dill Chevre cheese ball with Crackers			$18.00
	Smoked Salmon cheese ball rolled in walnuts with Crackers			$25.00
	Hissy Fit Dip (You gotta try it to believe it – feeds several)			$35.00
	Contact Information:		Ordering Guidelines:
	Owner: Jenny Steenson		·         Orders must be place 48 hours in advance
	Phone Number: 541.598.4216		·         Special Requests accepted but not guaranteed
	Email Address: pandjsteenson@hotmail.com		·         Checks made payable to Jenny Steenson
	Blog: justjennyloubaking.blogspot.com

 

 



Okay, Okay, so keeping up on my Blog is NOT my strong suit

 Well happy fall! I am dumbfounded at how long I manage to go in between posts. When I first started my blog I was really good about it. What happened? LIFE is what happened!
 Back in March I stopped working. It is the first time in my life I have not had a job in corporate America. One would think that would give me oodles of time to do things like, say, keep my blog up to date. Ney, ney...I have found 92 thousand others things to occupy my time.
 At the very least, I thought I would have had one day since March when I was home to just sit around and read a book or watch mindless television. No such luck. It is the detriment of being ridiculously compulsive about staying busy and keeping every facet of my life in good working order.
 No complaints though, not working has given me all the time I need to dedicate to my little business.
 My business has gone from simply baking tasty little treats to full catering jobs. How this occurred, I cannot exactly pinpoint. I will say it pleases me tremendously and I couldn't be happier about the variety.
 Really and truly though, my goal is to be MUCH better about keeping up on my blog. If you haven't heard from me in sufficient time, please, feel free to give me a friendly, yet stern reminder to get off my arse.
 My next post will be an updated menu. Please, take a look at it and remember your referrals are GREATLY appreciated.

Cheers,
Jenny Lou

What can I say? It's been forever...AGAIN. I have a really nummy recipe for you though...

Hi all! No I am not dead...I have not fallen off the earth...I have just been busy letting my life get in the way of keeping up on my blog.

 Those of you that know me know the winters here in Oregon kill me. The cold, the gray, the short days...ugh! The one silver lining is that not wanting to go out in the dreaded cold does inspire me to cook. I love looking up new recipes, tweaking them, failing at some, succeeding at others. Tonight, Sunday dinner was a success. I thought I should share. I thought it was good, but those of you know who the real critic is in my house...yes...my adorable husband Paul. He gave it a resounding two thumbs up. YAY me!

 I got this recipe off of Pinterest. How many of you are Pinterest users? I've been a Pinterest member for quite a while but I just could not understand the attraction. One day, after hearing all the hoopla and seeing all the Facebook posts about it I decided I was going to sit down and figure out what I was missing out on. Oh good Lord...I am hooked! The things I find on here are things I likely wouldn't have imagined googling or they are things I didn't even realize I might take an interest in. If you haven't tried Pinterest, then give it a shot. There is oodles of good information all in one spot.

 The recipe I tried tonight was for White bean chicken chili. You can find the original recipe pinned on my "Yummy dinner things" board. The following is my rendition (this is done almost completely in a crock pot.)

 4 - 15 oz cans low sodium organic white beans drained and rinsed 2 bone in chicken breasts (3 to 4 lbs.)
3 cups low sodium organic chicken stalk
1 3/4 white onions finely chopped
6 cloves minced garlic
1 jalapeño
1 Serrano chile
1 1/2 tablespoon cumin
1 lime juiced
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
2 cans smoked green chilies
1 small can salsa verde
Ground sea salt
Ground black pepper
Olive oil

 Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 Lightly coat both chicken breasts with olive oil and salt and pepperto taste. Bake in a glass pan for 35 to 40 minutes depending on how hot your oven runs. Remove from the oven, transfer the chicken to a plate and let cool completely. Take the drippings from the cooked chicken and pour it into a large skillet. Once cooled, remove the skin and shred the chicken. 
• Empty 2 cans of the beans and 2 1/2 c. Of the chicken stalk into a crock pot and turn heat to high. 
• Finely chop the white onion and empty into the skillet with the chicken drippings and a 1/2 c. Of the chicken stalk.
• Chop jalapeño into thin rings (don't remove the seeds)
• Mince Serrano chili with seeds
• Add the garlic, jalapeño, and Serrano to the onions and coat all with 1/2 tbsp. of the cumin. Sauté on medium heat for a good 15 minutes stirring often.
• Dump the onion mixture into the crockpot with the beans and broth.
• Add the two cans of smoked green chilies and the chili powder
• Add the shredded chicken. Turn on low heat and cook for two hours.
• Take the last 2 cans of beans (rinsed and drained) and empty them, along with one cup of the broth from the crock pot and the salsa verde into a food processor and purée.
• Empty the contents into the slow cooker, stir and cook on low for another 2 hours.

• Optional garnishes: cubed avocado, cotijo cheese, sour cream and cilantro.

We chose cilantro and a dollop of light sour cream.

This is a healthy, savory alternative to the tomato based heavy chili con carne.

Enjoy! As always, I would love your feedback.
Until next time...be well.

Xo
Jenny Lou