When Someone Laughs at How Much Food I Can Eat

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The 2nd Annual "Camp Tierno" Cooking Class

About 5 years ago my Nanny & Pop-Pop started a new vacation tradition in our family. One week in August became designated to "Camp Tierno" a sort of staycation at their house in Princeton, NJ. All four families would get together for a week filled with trips to the museum, Six Flags, swimming in the pool, golf and tennis lessons at the Country Club and much more. 

My Nanny is a phenomenal cook and we can always expect more than enough delicious food throughout the week. Last year, being in that weird limbo between college and career, I was designated as the "event planner" for the 2011 Camp Tierno week. One suggestion, from my Aunt D, got the idea of a cooking lesson going and before we knew it my brother, sister, cousins, and I had planned 3 different themed dinners; Greek, Italian, and Spanish/Mexican. We only ended up doing two but they were so fun and delicious! 

Master Chefs!

Greek Night: Chicken Souvlaki with yogurt sauce, Greek Salad, Spanakopita triangles, and (store bought) Baklava for dessert

Spanish/Mexican: Nachos, Baja Fish Tacos, and Churros

Everyone had fun and wanted to do it again this year. And true to my personality, I had to top last year and do it bigger and better.

My brother, sister, and I are a big fans of MasterChef and Hell's Kitchen and I thought it would be fun to incorporate more of a game or challenge aspect to this year's cooking class. My idea was to do one night of appetizers and mini desserts and rather than working on one recipe at a time, create stations designated to individual recipes. 

Everyone would start at a station and on my command people would switch and would have to explain to the next person what they are doing, where they left off on the recipe, and any tips or advice from their experience. This year they would be doing all the work and I would be there to supervise and answer questions. The ONLY downside to this whole day was that it was pre-blog and therefore I don't have as many great pictures of the food as I would like, but if you click on the links below you can make them all for yourself!

N slicing potatoes

S working that mixer!

Nanny <3

N saucing the wings

R rolling the cookie dough into balls

Switch!

N preparing the egg rolls

R making homemade pesto

A slicing mozzarella for the meatballs

M & S cutting corn for the mussels

The menu consisted of:

• Southwestern Egg Rolls (Baked, not fried, and very tasty although definitely for those favoring some spicyness!)
• Baked Brown Sugar Chicken Wings with Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce (This sauce is to DIE for so delicious and we were putting it on anything and everything...or just a spoon for some!)
• Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs (Sooooo yummy...combining the beef and spicy sausage makes these so juicy and flavorful. We ended up forgetting to heat up marinara sauce to go with them but didn't notice because they were so good on their own....or in that Red Pepper Sauce)
• Pesto Portobello Pizzas (We actually ran out of time and ended up saving these for the next day to make for a snack!)
• Mussels with Corn & Chorizo (Recipe calls for clams but we preferred mussels...I've had this at Valanni in Philly and it was so amazing that I would dream about it, so this was a perfect opportunity to try and recreate it!)  
• Loaded Potato Skins (So easy and tasted just like something you would buy at a restaurant...if not better)
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pops (My friend at work made these for a baby shower we had and I couldn't stop eating them...If you like Cookie Dough ice cream (which I love) this recipe will become your new best friend!)
• Bite Sized Pies (Instead of the brie and jam we got cherry and apple pie fillings from a can which made this a super easy treat!)
• Peanut Butter Pie Shooters (AHHHmazing...we also made these the day before and they thickened up nicely in the fridge overnight)

It was such a fun time and I'm still impressed that we managed to pull it off without any huge disasters. ALL the food was delicious and we were exhausted and stuffed at the end. Everyone did such a great job and I was so proud of my mini chefs! Next year's Camp  Tierno will be in Vermont at a lake house so I better start brainstorming ways to top this year's cooking class which will not be an easy task!!

Cookie Dough Pops YUM!

Southwestern Egg Rolls

Peanut Butter Pie Shooters

Chicken Wings, Red Pepper Sauce, & Potato Skins

Lemon, Garlic, & White Wine Pasta

Every once in a while I surprise myself when it comes to cooking. Like I've said before, I don't come up with my own recipes. However, I can guesstimate pretty well. We are getting closer to Fall, which I have recently decided is my favorite season, and I'm feeling motivated. Work is getting busier and I have a lot of exciting projects this year! Anyway, this motivation caused me to impulsively purchase a LivingSocial month gym membership and I went for the first time yesterday. Working out is one of those things I hate the thought of, until I'm actually doing it. Afterwards, I was feeling productive and healthy and wanted to make myself a yummy dinner!

I found this recipe on Pinterest but was in no mood to actually follow the directions...therefore I eyeballed some of the ingredients and stopped by SuperFresh on my way home. Met up with M & we  decided to get some wine (Mark West, Pinot Noir - so yummy! M's favorite) to enjoy while watching Bachelor Pad (I'm obsessed). UNFORTUNATELY, it wasn't on due to some stupid Monday night football game. Don't get me wrong, I love watching football, but it's pre-season and I don't like it interrupting my shows.

Now I'm getting off track...I decided to BS the sauce and start throwing things together (taste, alter, taste, alter, etc.). Surprisingly, it worked. And it was DELICIOUS! I'm thinking I should bottle the stuff...

Here's what I did:

• Took some leftover Chardonnay (that was probably sitting in the fridge too long), pre-minced garlic, some butter, salt, and a dash of flour (to thicken the sauce) and let it simmer in a small frying pan
• Chopped up some cherry tomatoes and parsley & cooked some whole wheat pasta
• Once the sauce seemed to taste the way I wanted it to I put in a chicken breast to cook in the sauce and placed a lid over the pan to keep all the yummy flavors in
• Once everything was cooked and ready I tossed it together and sprinkled some parmigiano reggiano cheese on top and served with a slice of fresh whole wheat pumpkin seed bread

Are you drooling yet? Because I was....and still am just thinking about it.

Pruney Tomato Fingers

I love tomatoes. All I need is a little salt & pepper and I could eat slices of beautifully ripe tomatoes all day. That is until I spent about 5 hours this weekend peeling, cutting, and de-seeding them until my hands were ridiculously pruney and covered with tomato guts...I'm talking so pruney that if I had cut myself, I most likely wouldn't have felt it. After that, the thought of eating them wasn't so appealing. 

Oh, and did you know rotten tomatoes have a distinct smell? At least that's what my cousins and their family (who have been making homemade sauce every August for years) say. I couldn't tell the difference, even when they handed me one saying "oh, this one is so disgusting, smell it!", I just nodded my head like "OH of course that's rotten, how gross". Clearly they have all developed super sensitive tomato noses after doing this for so many years, but I just wonder how many rotten tomatoes I've ended up eating over the years...

So anyway, I have been eating this sauce my whole life since we are very close with my Aunt & Uncle and their family and my Aunt M is an excellent cook! Her dad also works at very well know butcher shop on South St. so the meats and sausages I have gotten to eat over the years are absolutely phenomenal! I have always been slightly jealous of their authentic Italian tradition of making their homemade sauce and this year they offered to have my brother, sister and I come help out for the day!

The men start the day around 4am to begin the process of the pureed tomatoes. You can see my Uncle J jarring the sauce and I think the total number of pureed jars was around 140! This is split between three families and is MORE than enough!! 

When it was time for the peeled tomatoes to be done we were ready to get to work! First they get blanched in a large pot. This helps soften the tomatoes and makes peeling them much easier.

Once they are peeled they get the tops cut off and seeds taken out, as well as any yellow parts removed...everyone kept saying that last year's batch was better but apparently they say that every year... 

Let me tell you, this process is not easy! I was in awe of how fast the seasoned sauce makers were, my Aunt and her sister would go through at least 5 tomatoes each by the time I finished one! Once the tomatoes are done they get stuffed into jars with some salt & basil and get cooked again inside the jars when they have cooled down. (There is a video of my Uncle J stuffing the jars below to see the process...with some fun country music in the background!) 

We probably finished around 2pm and in true Italian fashion the next step was to prepare a huge feast! I'm talking fresh bread, salad, steak, pasta, 3 kinds of sausage, pizzelles, and plenty of homemade wine to go around. We were all pretty famished after a long morning of tomato handling and after eating I think we were all ready for a nice long shower and nap!

Overall, it was an awesome day and while everyone kept joking that we are probably going to be "busy" next year when it is time to do this again I would do it in a heartbeat. YES it was exhausting and YES I would only do it once a year, but it was so fun to learn about the process and take part in this tradition that at the end of the day all I really wanted to do was to thank them for allowing me to participate!

Now I just can't wait to get a few jars to start enjoying the fruits of our labor!...haha get it because tomatoes are fruit ;)

Hashtag Foodie Problems

I think it's only right that my first blog post be focused around explaining my title. 

Let's get something out in the open so you can "OMG" and stare in shock at your computer screens now, rather than later. I don't like Reese's. That's right, I said it. The thought of that melted peanut butter and melted chocolate together grosses me out and the smell literally makes me gag. *sigh* I'm sure many of you are cursing my name and contemplating never reading this blog again, but just look at it this way, more Reese's out there for you!

Anyway, the point is that I believe there are two types of people out there, "salty" and "sweet". Meaning everyone has a preference of one over the other. For example, if there were a spread of cakes, brownies, cheesecakes, cookies, etc. at one table and a variety of chips and dips at another (think spinach artichoke, bean dip, queso, salsa, etc.), I would go for the dips every time. Even when I eat ice cream (unless it's a particularly salty flavor like my new favorite Haagen Dazs  Salted Caramel Truffle), I crave something salty, like potato chips, afterwards. My mom, brother, and I are all salty and my dad and sister are sweeties. Let me know what you are! And don't give me any weird answers like I'm tangy or spicy...nope sorry my blog my rules you're either salty or sweet! 

So there you have it! I am 110% a "salty" hence the title "Always Salty, Never Sweet". I think that also explains my personality a bit but you can read into that however you'd like ;)

DISCLAIMER: This blog will not have recipes made up by me. As much as I would love to have that talent of creating combinations and flavors on my own (much like my favorite people on MasterChef can do), it is not a skill I naturally possess. However, I do implement recipes well and love eating out so look forward to not only recipes & restaurants to try, but any type of foodie experiences (or problems!) I feel like sharing!