Office Minimalist: You asked, so here's the recipes and some store biz!

Posted by Mr Wong at 5:54 AM

Hi there......allow me to preface this by saying that this is a pretty long post. So sit down, relax, carve out an extra five minutes and grab another cup of coffee! I was flattered and overwhelmed by how many people emailed and asked for the recipes for the yummy food and beverage I featured in yesterdays post. Trust me, these are all easy and do not require some kind of special Herculean skill......that's the great news! So i am happy to share the recipes, bear in mind however I have made all of these for so long and so often, I could practically do it blindfold and I no longer follow an actual recipe, so these are all approx. amounts. Happy cooking, I promise these are all guaranteed to be a hit!

Crostinis-

Get a big loaf of french bread or a baguette. Slice in 1/2" slices, I do this ahead of time and place in a airtight ziploc. Chop up one or two packages of mushrooms, 7 cloves of garlic and put about 3 TB of olive oil in a skillet, heat up and sautee mushrooms and garlic. Set aside. Get a fresh mozzarella (fresh really works best) slice in small approx. 3" slices. Set aside. About 10 min before you want to serve......drizzle olive oil over the bottom of a baking pan, place breads on it so one side will get the olive oil. Put in heated oven at about 375 for a few minutes just until they are starting to get crisp. Remove and put cheese on and turn up oven to about 450, let cheese just start to melt (about 3 min) take out and put mushroom mixture over the cheese...serve and gobble up!

For the tomato/olive/zuchinni brushetta

Do same thing with bread. In a bowl add 3 cups chopped tomato, 1/4 cup chopped black olives , sea salt, olive oil. Mix well. Chop up two zucchinis in small pieces and drizzle olive oil and bake high at about 450 until starting to turn golden. Remove and cool then add to tomato mixture. Marinate for up to a few hours. Toast your breads like above and you can do this with or without the cheese. Add topping right before serving so as to not get soggy. I also like adding shaved Parmesan to some to give it a little kick.

Chinese chicken salad-

1 head of cabbage, 3 nice sized chicken breast, soy sauce, sugar, 2 bunches scallions, about 1/2 cup slivered almonds, 2 packs chicken Ramen noodles, one pack rice noodles, 3 tablespoons sesame seeds, rice vinegar.

Shred cabbage very thin with a good sharp knife or a mandolin, which makes it easy. Boil chicken in salted water. When cool, shred to small pieces. Chop up 2 bunches of scallions. Bake almonds until golden brown. Add cabbage, chicken, scallions and almonds and set aside covered. In small mixing bowl, add about 1/2 cup soy, 1/4 cup rice vinegar, the sesame seeds, 1/4 to 1/2 cup oil (not olive any vegetable or corn is fine),the chicken seasoning packets from ramen noodles and 2 tablespoons sugar. Mix well, toss over salad up to 30 min. before you want to serve, add rice noodles at end. The original recipe calls for the ramen noodles (crushed first) to also be added but I peronsally prefer it without. Yum yum.

Greek chopped salad-

Get the ripest yellow and red tomatoes you can find (approx. 8) Cut into wedges. Get 1/2 a green bellpepper and 1/2 a yellow bellpepper and cut into nice size chunks. Cut up 4 cloves of garlic, 1 large cucumber, 1/2 a red onion and really good fresh feta cheese. About 1/4 cup black olives. Mix all together (I normally add cheese at end) and add sea salt, fresh pepper and a nice amount of light olive oil. I add a small amount (maybe a few tablespoons) of vinegar as well. Very tasty and fresh!

Peach Sangria (are you getting hungry yet....because I am)!

Take a big pitcher, fill with one bottle of dry white wine, about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of Peach Schnapps, add 3 sliced peaches and 1 sliced orange to mix. Add about 2 tablespoons sugar and mix well. Refrigerate for at least an hour ideally for a few. Upon serving add about 1/2 liter of ginger ale and mix. Can serve with crushed ice, and I add a sprig of mint if I happen to have it. This is a sure hit!

The Summer pasta dish recipe I have featured before but here it is again......

Take 4 pints of really ripe cherry tomatoes. Cut in half, add 7-8 sliced garlic cloves, about 5-6 chopped basil leaves, sea salt and about 1/8 cup olive oil. Add black pepper set aside room temp for about 4 hours covered. Cook pasta very al dente, drain. Add fresh chopped basil and a generaous amount of parmesean and add tomato mixture to pasta. Toss and add more cheese and garnish with basil. Absolutely wonderful!

Wow I am getting hungry again! Happy cooking and thanks for liking what I made! These are all user friendly, if I could offer just one piece of advice, get the absolute freshest ingredients you can find...I do believe it really makes a difference, bon appetite!

Onto a little store biz, I have gotten lots of questions this week over various things so am addressing some of them now through this blogpost ......reminder linens were supposed to going up as of June 15th. I am going to be changing the prices on Monday simply because I don't have the time it takes to get it done this weekend. For anyone who has been considering them, its a good time to take advantage of the current selling price. Even at the price increase they are still a bargain compared to what these same linens sell for elsewhere........

Lanterns.....I have sold a lot of lanterns. A few patterns are now either sold out totally or discontinued. I am going to be adding a few new styles but if you are ordering it is a good idea to email me first at theenchantedhome@gmail.com to find out if I have the exact lanterns you are looking for in the right size.

Last from one of my favorite vendors....got some new pieces! So excited...these are truly amazing. My only regret is that most of these were either one or two of a kind, no more:( Otherwise I would have ordered many multiples. A little sneak peek! Lots of orders on the gorgeous chargers....am sorry to say they are actually oversold. Trying to get more but so far, no luck, naturally will keep everyone posted if I do get them!

OK so here's the new loot! Since there is only one of everything, and its time consuming to list this online, I will not be listing these this weekend. I have a busy day and weekend ahead, so if you see something you want please email me...theenchantedhome@gmail.com and I will let you know the price and invoice you. Its a lot of work to list just one thing, but for items not sold by next week I will start listing them online. Feel free to email with any questions as always. And a few of the pretty things up for grabs.

Love this gallery tray for a multitude of reasons

And this stunning tray for a vanity or bar and of course love that I snagged another trophy!

Love this handpainted wood tray of a French country scene

This is truly a "grande dame" I got two (one for me and one for you) Its very very large and so ornate and so fabulous!

As is this magnificent serving/display bowl. Looks very old and very important.

LOVE these oversized pheasants...how stunning!

And this fabulous French tray (I own it and use it all the time)

Another amazingly beautiful bowl, stunning details

And you know my penchant for black...these GORGEOUS black tole pieces make my heart sing.......thankfully I got two of many of them and you know I have my own little 'stash", to me EVERY room looks better with a touch of black......