Say Yes to the Dress..Not the Mess - couple's cooking class part 1

The wedding adventures continue...



My dear friends from Florida, Amanda, Becky and Joanie were in Los Angeles last weekend. We had a grand ole' time galavanting about the city (and outside of it). We did something very important together, something I have never done before (even though I have already been in several weddings): tried on dresses. Let me clarify; Amanda tried on dresses.



No, that was not "the one." If you know Amanda, you can imagine that she was ultra low maintenance during this process. She basically found her wedding dress in about 4 hours. It was the last one she tried on for the day, and we all saw that it was going to be a winner before she even took it off the hanger. I cannot reveal too much, but it is just gorgeous on her. In case you are picturing a moment straight out of "Say Yes to the Dress" where the girl and her mother are crying and she is saying over and over again "I feel like a princess. I feel like a princess," I will tell you right now it was not like that....thank God. It was exciting, no doubt, and we had so much fun watching her try on all those dresses. At the end of the day, it is the incredibly strong 10-year relationship she has had with her fiance that is the most exciting part of it all. Well, there is also the idea of her having a hyphenated last name of "Johnson-Thompson" that makes me really happy as well.

I would like to raise a toast to the bride and groom to be...



May your marriage be as delightful and breezy as finding a beautiful wedding dress.

Speaking of romantic partnerships...my romantic partner (aka Zach) treated me to the best birthday present I have ever received a few weeks ago. Now, my birthday was back in May, but we were just recently able to go to the COUPLES COOKING CLASS he booked for me as a wonderful gift. I am going to be posting some of the wonderful recipes from Chef Eric (the great instructor) that night on my blog so I will talk more about the class itself later. I have been a terrible food blogger recently because I have had a cooking dry spell. Tweaking my salad order at California Chicken Cafe has been the extent of my use of any culinary skills I may still be holding on to. I will be hitting the ground running again in the next couple weeks. However, until then, I will continue sharing the recipes that we made in the classroom (under strict guidance!).



Grilled Polenta (Couples Cooking Class Part 1)

(recipe by Chef Eric at the Culinary Classroom)

4 cups chicken stock
2 oz (1/2 stick) butter
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 C polenta (cornmeal)
3/4 C parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 325 deg F
Combine chicken stock, butter and salt in a pot and bring just to a boil.
Add the polenta in a steady stream, stirring constantly to avoiding lumps.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Cover the pot and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
While baking, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease he paper.
When finished baking, remove the pot from the oven, and mix in the parmesan cheese.
Spread the polenta onto the baking sheet and smooth with spatula. Let cool, then refrigerate until firm (about 20 minutes)
Cut polenta into desired shapes.
Lightly dust the shapes with flour (shaking off the excess)
Saute in a small amount of butter or oil until golden and warmed throughout.

Note: Chef Eric suggested skipping the grilling steps if you are counting calories (due to the extra oil and flour). If you want to skip this step, you can serve the polenta right from the pot before cooling, making a bed of it beneath whatever you are serving it in top of (e.g. chicken breast, steak, etc).