Don't get me wrong, I did love being apart of the 50 Women Game Changers group started by Mary of One Perfect Bite and would be pleased to do something similar again if given the chance. In terms of secret recipe club, however, I'm not the bubbly, cheery post-a-comment-on-everyone's-post kind of girl. I didn't like that one person pretty much copy and pasted my instructions and that another person chose to post a recipe of mine that they didn't like. If you don't like it, then try something else! Isn't that the whole point? I get that it is sometimes hard to cull from someone that has completely different taste than you. I ran into that obstacle myself when I was assigned blogs with oodles of casseroles and crock pot meals because I don't cook that way (not to knock, just not my style at this point). But I would try multiple different recipes and variations, really do my research, and try to find something that excited me. Seeing members that didn't give me the same courtesy disillusioned me to the whole outfit.
So I thought I would post today about a blog that inspires me, not in a forced sunny way that isn't me. Every day for the past five years, I've listened to the super hilarious Kane Show on Hot 99.5. Since my sister moved back in the area, we will talk about our favorite parts of the show almost every night. A couple of years ago, Kane posted a link to his wife Natasha's blog Little Pink Monster. I devoured all of the content in an afternoon, pouring over the adorable toddler clothes, inspired meals, and beautifully honest posts about what is happening in her life, the things that most of us are afraid to say. Some of my favorite posts were 10%, Transparent People, the chalk hair dye, and any and all disney princess tutorials! I love her writing and really respect what she has to say.
Last week, she posted a recipe method that I knew I had to try for myself: Cheater's Salmon Florentine. Her idea was to take a filet of salmon, creating a pocket for stuffing by butterflying the filet, and using spinach dip to "cheat" in the flavor of spinach florentine. Instead of spinach dip, I used my favorite spicy and sweet pepper jelly and cream cheese dip (the one that is always out for tasting at Harry and David's). I've made pepper jelly on here before, but tonight I "cheated" too and used a prepared jelly from my quarterly trip to the Foggy Bottom Trader Joe's. To avoid the dreaded soggy breadcrumbs Natasha warned us about, I baked my stuffed and panko-topped salmon filets at 350 F for 15 minutes and then finished under the broiler for about a minute. The salmon is perfectly cooked, the dip inside adds an easy spicy-sweet kick that pairs beautifully with the fish, and as promised the panko is perfectly crisp.
Simple method, simple execution, simply delicious. I can't wait to see what else Natasha has in store! (And I hope my fan-girling won't lead to her and her husband unfollowing me on twitter...)
