Peanut Butter Pretzel Balls

Jonathan and I are really loving it here in Iowa.  We've made some sweet friends already, and one couple likes to have us over for game night, so this is one of the treats I made for snack-time between games :)  I saw the recipe online and it looked simple, and boy, was I glad I made them!  For some crazy reason, the combination of peanut butter, pretzels, and chocolate resulted in a sweet and salty treat that tastes so similar to a Butterfinger.  My friends loved them, too!  Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, plus 1 Tbsp. (divided)
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp. confectioner's sugar
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup crushed pretzels
5 ounces melted chocolate

Stir together 1/2 cup peanut butter, powdered sugar, butter, and pretzels.  Form into 1" balls and set on plate or cookie sheet.  Put in freezer to firm up (about 30 minutes).  Melt chocolate over low heat or in microwave (monitor closely in microwave to prevent scorching).  When chocolate is almost melted, add 1 Tbsp. peanut butter and stir into chocolate.  Continue melting until smooth.  Dip balls into chocolate, coating evenly.  Refrigerate or freeze until set.

Erin's tip:  To dip balls into chocolate, place into chocolate, roll ball around in the chocolate with a fork to coat, then pick up the ball onto the fork and tap the fork on the side of the bowl.  This helps remove excess chocolate so you don't have a puddle of chocolate form at the base of the ball.  It also helps you not have a crazy mess on your hands (literally!).

Finger-licking good!

Adapted from:  Blog is the New Black

Moe's Tomatillo Salsa

I confess...I have a thing for salsa.  I crave it, and it's something I really enjoy making.  My favorite salsa to make can be found on this link, but my favorite salsa from a restaurant is Moe's tomatillo salsa.  It's a salsa verde made with tomatillos, jalapeños, and cilantro.  I've looked for the recipe online for years, and now that there's no Moe's near us, I became super-determined to find the recipe.  Luckily, I found a recipe for it, but I couldn't find canned tomatillos anywhere up here (the recipe insists that canned tomatillos give a more similar taste than fresh).  I found a Mexican grocery the other day, and they had canned tomatillos.  I went home and made the recipe, and it was amazingly similar!  It definitely hit the spot, and I'm going to make it anytime I have the craving for tomatillo salsa.  If you like crisp salsa with citrus/cilantro flavors, try this!

1 (28 oz.) can tomatillos, juice drained
1/2 small yellow onion
2/3 cup cilantro
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1/4 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 fresh jalapeño (remove half the seeds for medium; leave all seeds for hot)
1/2 tsp. salt

Chop onion, tomatillos, cilantro, and jalapeños.  Add to food processor with lime juice, sugar, and salt.  Pulse to your desired consistency (I like this salsa relatively thin).  Place in bowl, cover with cling wrap or a lid, and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving to let flavors combine.  Serve with tortilla chips.

Source:  The Dabble

First Day of Orthodontics!

Today was my first day of orthodontic residency, and I was both so excited and so nervous about starting.  On one hand, I was excited because I've been wanting this for a while now, and I'm on the road to fulfilling my dream.  On the other hand, I was nervous about this new chapter in my life and fears associated with the unknown, since ortho is totally different than general dentistry.  BUT...I had a great day!!  I'm exhausted (a girl gets used to sleeping in after a month off, lol), but I've already learned so much and can't wait to get back there tomorrow.

Bye for now, and happy early 4th of July!

Tomato Basil Soup

Shortly before leaving Alabama, Jonathan and I took the recommendation of a friend and went to eat at Joe's Italian in Birmingham.  The quaint restaurant is owned by Italian immigrants, Joe and "Mamma," who use their authentic recipes to create delicious meals made with locally grown food.  We sat down and noticed everyone in the restaurant was having a cup of the tomato basil soup, so we knew that they must all know something we didn't.  We ordered the soup, and it was to-die-for.  I normally am not crazy about tomato soup (my brain goes to the icky condensed stuff in a can), but this was so good, I knew I had to find a recipe to recreate it myself.  Well, I was in luck, because The Birmingham News had done a special on Joe's Italian, and they had given away their secret recipe in the article.  I made it recently (I know, soup in summer?  It's not very hot here yet, I was just craving it!), and we loved it.

2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. minced fresh garlic
4 cups ground tomatoes (use the San-Marzano style canned crushed tomatoes)
1 cup chicken broth
1 tsp. crushed oregano
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream (I used fat-free half-and-half)
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil (use fresh!)

Melt the butter with the oil over medium heat in a heavy-bottom pot.  Add onions and wilt approximately 8 minutes; then add garlic and wilt 2 minutes more, stirring constantly.  Add the tomatoes and the broth, bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 60 minutes.  Season with oregano, salt,  and pepper.  Add basil.  Stir in cream or half-and-half.  Simmer on medium-low another 30 minutes.  Garnish with fresh basil before serving.

Note:  In the summer, you can blanch fresh tomatoes for 8 minutes, then crush in food processor.  In the winter, use San-Marzano style tomatoes (if you can't find crushed San Marzanos, drain half the liquid and process in food processor.

Source:  The Birmingham News

Graduation

This post is a little out of order, but I finally uploaded all the images from my camera.  Graduation was June 2nd, and believe me, it was a long time coming!  I am so happy to be free from dental school!  My family came up, and then we had a graduation/going-away party afterwards at a restaurant.  It was an incredibly bittersweet day.  First, I had to say goodbye to all of my classmates, then I had to say goodbye to all my family and friends.  Emotional rollercoaster, to say the least.

The exact moment I became a Dr. Erin.  Receiving my doctoral hood.

We did it!  I couldn't have made it through the last 4 years without Jonathan's support.

My sister, my mom, and me at my graduation party

All of the Auburn graduates in my dental class

Moving Day

What a blur our lives have been the last week or so!  My family came in town for graduation, I graduated (hooray!), had a graduation party, said goodbye to all my loved ones, had movers come literally 2 days later, then moved the next day.  Everything was such a blur, but I tried to treasure moments here and there, because I knew we were making memories that would last a lifetime.  Jonathan and I stopped in St. Louis for a few nights, then drove the rest of the way.  Now we're settling into our new home.  We really like it here so far!  Everyone is super (and genuinely!) friendly, there's great restaurants, our new home is close to shopping, and we're making new friends.  Unfortunately, we didn't have such a great experience with our moving company...our stuff got delayed by several days, so we spent three nights sleeping on the floor and leaning against the walls as "chairs."  Here's some pictures I managed to snag during the move:

The ReloCubes outside our old apartment...believe it or not, it took all 3 to move us!

The beautiful and picturesque St. Louis Arch...it is so much bigger than it looks!  Massive!

A quick pit-stop at the zoo

Our stuff FINALLY arriving in Iowa

We were so happy they finally arrived, we opened them right away!

The mess we're currently unpacking/organizing

So there's a short summary of what we've been up to.  I promise there will be recipes to come soon!

Hello from St. Louis!

En route to Iowa, we've stopped for a couple of nights in St. Louis. Here's the view from the top of the arch!