I’ve moved! December 1, 2011

This blog has moved to a new domain! Please visit http://ellysaysopa.com!

2010 Year in Review: Favorite Recipes December 31, 2010

2010 was a fabulous year.  Obviously, the biggest standout for me was the birth of our amazing son, Zachary, who is now almost 9 months old.  I can’t believe he’s nearly a year old already! He’s really the best kid (and the cutest, obviously :)) and so far, he loves to eat pretty much everything…except broccoli.  He really is his mother’s son.  He’ll eat it if we trick him and mix it with his favorite, squash or sweet potatoes.  But that’s it! Who can blame him?

This year was also a delicious one. I’ve always enjoyed doing year-end recaps on my blog.  They give me a chance to look back at all my posts from the year and pick out the ones that stood out the most, and that will be made again and again. I love looking at the recaps on other blogs, too, and I think they are a great way to highlight recipes you think readers should try, or a way to point out some favorites to newer readers who may not have had a chance to go through your archives yet.

I decided to use the same format as last year, which is posting your favorite recipes (based primarily on hits) as well as mine.  Some of the recipes overlap, which I guess makes them doubly awesome. Many of these actually come from my 30 x 30 list, so I’m really glad I made that list to push myself to make certain things.  Feel free to also check out my favorite lists from years past.

I  hope you enjoy revisiting some of these recipes!  And, I wish you a wonderful new year!

Your Favorite Recipes

1. Stir-Fried Shrimp with Spicy Orange Sauce
2. Braised Lamb Shanks
3. Mashed Cannellini Beans
4. Slowcooker Pulled Chicken
5. Pork Chops with Mushrooms, Dill, and Sour Cream Sauce
6. Chorizo and Black Bean Breakfast Burritos
7. Greek Baklava
8. Chipotle-Honey Glazed Chicken
9. Chipotle Beef Tacos with Caramelized Onions
10. Caramelized Chipotle Chicken

My Favorite Recipes

Sablés.  Okay, so, technically, I made these in 2009, but they didn’t appear on the blog until 2010.  These are some of the easiest and best cookies I’ve had.  Buttery and delicious!

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Winner: 4 Year Blogiversary Giveaway December 13, 2010

The winner of my my 4-year blogiversay is Peggy! Congrats, Peggy! I will be emailing you with the details of your win soon. :)

4 Year Blogiversary Giveaway! November 30, 2010

I’m celebrating my 4 year blogiversary today! It’s hard to believe this little ol’ blog has been around for 4 years.  In that time I’ve accumulated 2000 subscribers (uhh, what?!) and written 470 posts.  I’ve had so much fun with elly says opa, and I hope you have, too.  I’ve really expanded my horizons with regards to food/ingredient combinations, I’ve met so many amazing people (bloggers and otherwise), and I’ve accumulated way more kitchen tools and cookbooks than any normal human being should.

I’m planning to get a blog redesign soon (though I’ve admittedly been incredibly lazy when it comes to this), so look for that in the (hopefully) near future, too.

Anyway, let’s celebrate with a giveaway! I’m giving away some of my favorite things, Oprah-style.  Well, if Oprah weren’t loaded, that is. :)

Here’s the deal:  One reader will win one of the following 4 items/packages.  The winner will pick which of the four prizes s/he wants. In addition to the selected prize, I will be also be including a $20 gift card to one of my favorite stores, The Spice House (don’t worry, you can order online, and I’ll give you some of my favorite recommendations too :)

Here are your options:

1. The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz + fancy schmancy ice cream scoop

I love ice cream and I love David Lebovitz. ‘Nuff said.

2. Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless + tortilla warmer

This is, by far, one of my favorite cookbooks (if you couldn’t tell by all the posts about it).  All the recipes are simple and delicious.

3. 12″ Cast iron skillet + handle mitts

If  you read this blog at all, you know I’m in looooooove with my cast iron skillet.  I use it for everything from searing meats to making cornbread, to fritters, to hash browns.  It’s pretty much the greatest piece of cookware.

4. Immersion blender

I use my immersion blender for everything from soups to smoothies to pureeing baby food.

(Images are all from Amazon.)

To enter, just tell me which of the 4 things you’d like, and why (and feel free to tell me what you’d like to spend your Spice House bucks on, too, if you’d like).  The giveaway will end on Sunday, December 12th so enter before then.

Welcome, Zachary! April 12, 2010

The lapse in posts on my blog hasn’t been due to my usual laziness, but to our gorgeous new son – Zachary David.  Zachary was born on April 2nd at 9:39 p.m. weighing in at 8 lbs. 1 oz and 20.5″ long – although, at his first pediatrician’s appointment they measured him at 21.5″, which I think is more accurate because this little boy is LONG!

We are totally in love with him and can’t believe how cute he is.  In this pic, I only caught the tail end of his smile, but I can assure you his smile will make anyone and everyone smile. :)

Sure, we’re still learning as new parents and have had some, “oh my god, we don’t know what we’re doing!” moments, but for the most part, we’ve been adjusting to this new little person in our life well.

I do have a few recipes I didn’t have a chance to post before Zachary’s arrival, so hopefully I’ll have a minute to post those at some point, but please bear with me as the new posts probably won’t be as frequent for a while.

Freezer Meals March 31, 2010

So, yesterday was my due date.  It came and went without too much excitement.  Much like today, I guess.  It’s obvious that this baby is not punctual like his or her mother and father.  Instead, baby has inherited the always-running-late gene prevalent in most Greeks.

I’ve mentioned a few times that I’ve been preparing a few meals here and there (well, mostly just making extras of things I’m already making for dinner) to freeze for easy access once the baby gets here.  It’s no secret that Tom is not exactly a pro in the kitchen (here’s just one example) and I don’t want to be spending a lot of money getting takeout/delivery all the time – not to mention the fact that this pretty much always equates to eating unhealthily, too.

I originally wanted to make some spiced up chicken burgers, chicken enchiladas, and a couple other things but there is just NO room in the freezer right now considering our freezer is not that big to begin with and the half that isn’t currently housing frozen meals has some meat and vegetables.   Plus, I thought I was running out of time.  Silly me.  So, there’s not as much variety as I’d originally hoped, but I’m happy to at least have about a dozen or so meals that are on hand for easy cooking/reheating.

Here are the things that actually made it into the freezer:

Slowcooker Pulled BBQ Chicken (Two quart-sized bags)

Lasagna (Three 8×8 square disposable baking pans, wrapped in foil and placed in gallon-sized bags)

Fava Bean Stew (One gallon-sized bag)

Beef Stew (Two gallon-sized bags)

Sausage and Lentil Soup (Three quart-sized bags)

Chorizo and Black Bean Breakfast Burritos (about 12 burritos, individually wrapped and then placed in two gallon-sized bags)

Since we have a freezer drawer thingy on the bottom of our refrigerator it’s kind of hard to take pictures of how easily the freezer bags made stacking.  They took up much less space than they would using any other method.

Winner of the Nigel Slater Cookbook Giveaway January 12, 2010

Congratulations to Katie! Please be sure to email me at ellysaysopa[at]gmail[dot]com with your address so I can send the book out!



2009 Year in Review: Favorite Recipes January 2, 2010

Happy new year! I wish all of you a happy, healthy, and wonderful 2010! 2009 was a pretty fabulous year for me. I think it all started when I got the lucky coin in the first vasilopita (Greek New Year’s bread/cake) I made. In 2009, my husband and I bought our first home and our first car (yes, it’s true, when you live in the city you can actually be 28 and carless), and got the wonderful news that we were expecting our first child.

Like most years, 2009 was also a pretty great year in food.  This year, I decided to leave you with a list of items deemed popular by readers (primarily based on stats, and partially based on emails and trackbacks), as well as a list of my personal favorites.  You’ll notice that a couple of the items overlap.  If you’ve only recently become a fan of this  blog, you may have missed some of my personal favorites, so hopefully you get some inspiration from the recap.  Even if  you’ve been a reader for quite a while, hopefully these lists will remind you to make some of these things soon!  And, if you need even more inspiration, feel free to check out my favorites from 2007 and 2008, too!

(You’ll have to excuse some of the formatting in this post. WordPress and I are currently in a fight, triggered by my post disappearing completely and me having to go back to older version–which thankfully did not disappear–to try and finish up this post.)

Your Favorite Recipes

1. Stuffed Poblano Peppers
2. Mongolian Beef
3. Farfalle with Chicken, Mushrooms, Spinach and Ricotta
4. Pork Chops with Balsamic-Maple Glaze
5. German Chocolate Cake
6. Red Chile Enchiladas with Chicken and Melted Cheese
7. Huli Huli Chicken
8. Chicken Gyros
9. Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
10. Chicken Parmesan Burgers

My Favorite Recipes  (in chronological order)

Nutty Granola Ever since making this granola, I haven’t gone back to store bought, and I can’t imagine I ever will. This recipe is both healthy and flavorful, a great addition to your favorite yogurt (or, just eaten by the handful, my husband’s method of choice), and the perfect snack for nut and granola lovers.

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Apple-Orange Cranberry Sauce November 24, 2009

I’ve never really been a cranberry sauce person.  It wasn’t particularly common to have at our family Thanksgivings, and canned cranberry sauce is not my thing, anyway. On top of that, I’m not really a fruit-with-my-meat kinda gal, as you know.  Still, there are plenty of people who love cranberry chutneys and sauces, and I wanted to give a homemade version a try.  And, with hosting our first Thanksgiving,  this is the perfect time. (Not to mention that, thankfully, cranberry sauces can be made ahead so I don’t  have to think about it on the day-of.)

This sauce is really delicious. Would I personally eat it on my turkey? Eh, I don’t know. I’m still not a fruit/meat person.  But I would gladly take a few spoonfuls on the side.

I love the combination of the fruits in this.  It was just a tad too sweet for my tastes, although Tom thought it was perfect.  I might cut down the sugar by a couple tablespoons next time. It does call for a little more sugar than other cranberry sauces, but it also has to compensate for a tart apple added to the mix.   The amount of cinnamon and cloves was perfect. I’d definitely recommend this for your Thanksgiving table, if you  haven’t found a sauce you like yet!

Apple-Orange Cranberry Sauce

Williams-Sonoma
Makes about 3.5 cups

1/2 orange
1 tart apple (I used granny smith), peeled, cored & diced
3 cups (one 12-oz bag) fresh cranberries
1.25 cups (scant) sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves

Squeeze the juice from the orange and set aside.  Remove and discard the membrane from inside the orange rind and cut the rind into a small dice.  Put in a saucepan with 2 cups of water and boil for 1o minutes.  Drain.

Pick through the cranberries and discard any soft ones.  Add the cranberries, apple, orange rind, sugar, cinnamon and cloves to a saucepan.  Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Cover the pan partially.  Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened, the apple is tender and the cranberries have burst, 10-15 minutes (mine took more like 15-20 before the cranberries burst and the sauce thickened).

Transfer to a heat-proof bowl and cool for an hour before serving, or cover and refrigerate, bringing to room temp before serving.

*Ahem* I have an announcement… September 28, 2009

Phew, it feels good to get it out there!

Tom and I are expecting our first baby in March, and couldn’t be happier.  I’m officially out of my first trimester, and will be 14 weeks along tomorrow. I’ve actually been feeling pretty great and, thankfully, haven’t had any major food aversions (although, I have missed my wine and have already consumed a bag of the very-much-clichéd-salt and vinegar chips).

We told our families around 10 weeks, and they were overjoyed. My family had probably given up hope, considering Greek women tend to get pregnant 5 minutes after slipping a wedding ring on their finger. :) There are already showers being planned, booties being bought and, as my fellow Greeks would imagine, shopping for a mati. For the non-Greeks, a mati (meaning eye)  is usually a pin of some sort you can keep on or near the baby to ward off the evil eye.

At any rate, I wanted to let all my readers in on this exciting news. It’s been tough keeping it from so many people until the second trimester, but letting everyone know now has been great. I definitely plan on keeping this blog food-centered and not baby-centered but if the occasional reference to “Annyong” comes up, you’ll know I’m talking about the baby (Arrested Development fans?).

I wish I could take credit for these ridiculously cute cupcakes, but they’re the work of my friend, Annie.  Annie is quite the baker, and always looking for a new project. She knows I’m not a big fan of baking, though, so she offered to make something for me to announce my news. Isn’t she sweet?  She remembered me commenting on how cute I thought these owl and bird cupcakes from Hostess with the Mostess were, and, well, she pretty much nailed them!  Annie’s going to be doing a fondant tutorial on her blog tomorrow, based on these cupcakes, so if you are interested in making cupcakes as well as Annie does, be sure to check it out!