Twin Tables

Fancy Bar Nuts

2012-02-23T10:23:00.002-08:00

Bars nuts have a bad wrap. When we think of the tasty morsels, we think of Norm and Cliff munching away on them on the far end of the bar while the chug down cheap beer. But bar nuts are classy, in disguise; just like us. When Melis first made her way to NYC, she found herself munching on bar nuts at Gramercy Tavern that blew her socks off. (And then one year later shared them with her sis...

Beignet Holes

2012-02-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

We love NOLA! We can't help it. We took our cousin for her graduation present from college and now she loves it as much a we and our sinner sisters do from our college years. Every year we reminisce about out time spent there and the epic night that ended with a stop at Cafe Du monde at 4 a.m. We love beignets and chicory coffee. What we don't love is the fat and calories associated with both. We

Creamy Shrimp Scampi fra Diavolo

2012-02-19T00:01:00.001-08:00

If there was one word to describes tonight's dinner, it would be bellissimo, or beautiful in Italian. A plate of few ingredients with surprisingly complex taste, our pasta had us muttering to ourselves in broken Italian; grazie, belle, ciao, mancha! We were wowed, and this simply doesn't happen to often. The dish was shrimp scampi meets shrimp fra diavolo with a twist. Now we are normally

Mardi Gras Fish Cakes

2012-02-17T12:02:00.000-08:00

We can't say that before this dinner we had ever tried flounder before. To us, Flounder was the fishy friend of Ariel on The Little Mermaid. Maybe it is because we are blessed with beautiful salmon, halibut and manila clams here in the Pacific Northwest. Flounder isn't something that is readily available to us. But, with a craving for a fish cake and a quick trip to the store, flounder was not

French Bread Pizza with Spinach Sauce, Goat Cheese and Tomato

2012-02-15T09:48:00.000-08:00

Spinach pizza is nothing new. It is famous in Chicago in the stuffed deep dish variety, with about 1000 calories a slice. But, have you ever thought about making the sauce for your pizza out of spinach. It is an interesting twist on a classic pizza flavor without any of the guilt. We simply wilted the spinach in a pan with some onions and garlic. Then we blitzed everything in a food processor to

Girl Scout Cookie Recipe Contest: Tagalong Mole with Chicken

2012-02-12T19:59:00.000-08:00

Girl Scout Cookies. Those three words instill as sense of excitement for some. For others it is a sense of calming, knowing all is right in the world. "Would you like to buy some Girl Scout Cookies" will soon be heard all over the state and country at every grocery store or community center. It is part magical, and part conniving, as you know the moment you make eye contact, there is no

Chickpeas and Spinach with Smoky Paprika

2012-02-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

We almost did it. We were so close. We could almost taste victory, then it came unraveled. Yes, it's true, we almost made a recipe as it was written. Per our bad habit, however, things shifted last minute, a tastebud protested just too loudly and affectively to let us proceed as written. Forgive us, dear recipe writer, we tried. Everything was set for our meal of Chickpeas and Spinach with

Buffalo Celery Sticks

2012-02-10T00:01:00.001-08:00

Twins are funny. We might be in 2 different states, doing different things at different times and still manage to crave the same meal. As Cali twin made her Buffalo Chicken Salad for her Super bowl viewing party, I somehow managed to concoct a dish at home using pretty much the same ingredients. I like to snack on Super bowl. I don't want a meal, I don't want a bowl and I don't want to have to

Buffalo Chicken Chopped Salad

2012-02-08T00:03:00.000-08:00

The Super Bowl didn't go as planned. Our team (and then our second favorite team,) failed to grace the field. Then, when we were set to host a party, half of Twin Tables got shipped off to CA for work last minute. No problem, we decided to divide and conquer. Denise would stay in WA and make snacky foods. I would stay with our brother for a little football party. Menus amended but planned

Roasted Chickpeas

2012-02-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

So the Super Bowl if officially over. We congratulate the Giants...even though someday we want Seattle to win and not have the refs lose the game for them. (Offensive pass interference really?) For our Super Bowl, we wanted healthy snacks instead of the normal deliciously glorious by heart attack causing bites. We didn't post before the game because really, we wanted to make sure they were

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

2012-02-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it is fun to think out of the box. We don't know where our ideas come from at times but sometimes, we have brilliant brainstorms. Our latest invention might be one of our greatest. We really wanted pasta. We hadn't had it in a while and well, we simply love the carbo fest on a regular basis. (Served with bread and wine on the side of course.) But we were also craving chicken. Chicken

Chicken and Waffle - A Whole New Experience - Sandwiches

2012-02-02T00:01:00.000-08:00

Chicken and Waffles have become almost passe now a days. An unlikely pair, this dish is as trendy as much as it is delicious. Usually a fried piece of chicken atop a waffle, all is doused in maple syrup and devoured. Served in dives (like Roscoe's the combination was purportedly invented) to more hip joints (like the Seattle Art Museums TASTE restaurant) chicken and waffles are a delicious

Use up the Fridge Frittata

2012-01-31T00:01:00.000-08:00

I recently wrote an article for the upcoming South Sound Magazine (hits newsstands in February) on how to eat well on a budget. I hear it time and time again that to eat cheap, one must visit the drive thru. That simply isn't true. With a little planning and a little imagination, dinner can be homemade, on the table and delicious every night. There are many tips and secrets but one is, any food

Grilled Onion, Brie, and Fig Panini

2012-01-28T20:27:00.000-08:00

Let's be honest here. We talk on this blog like we cook every night, like time is 'a plenty and life never gets in the way. Well...not so much. Many nights we are far apart, others one works late, often neither are inspired to cook. Should we be admitting this as food bloggers? Hopefully everyone reading can relate. On nights like these, we opt for food that is fast, friendly and easily

BLTC

2012-01-27T00:02:00.000-08:00

We have a confession to make. Bless us world, for we have sinned, well at least in the eyes of most Americans. We admit it, we, wait for it, don't much like bacon. Yes it is true you have seen us sporting a T-shirt that read "I LOVE BACON!" but that was just for show. We don't mind it in the background but as a front-running star, it doesn't suit our pallets. Second confession, mayo is icky. It

Open-Faced Tuna-Artichoke Melts

2012-01-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

Tuna isn't something that everybody loves. But around these here parts, we actually like the stuff. It is cheap, a good emergency staple, easy to prepare, versatile and, in our opinions, darn tasty. It isn't something we eat every day but when the craving hits, there is nothing that can take its place. Upon spying some new sourdough English muffins at our parents house, we instantly thought of a

Wagon Wheel Chili Burgers, Reimagined

2012-01-23T00:01:00.000-08:00

Do you remember your favorite tastes as a child? A special cookie from your grandmother, possibly a lasagna from your mother? Or is it a neighborhood restaurant that served cold bread pudding from a rotating case that makes your taste buds tingle? The two of us were destined to be food bloggers (or cookbook writers, or in the food world.) Why? Because if you ask us about a memory, we can

Who Needs Beans Lentil Chili

2012-01-20T21:31:00.000-08:00

We recently read an article by Marcus Samuelsson talking about Healthy Foods on a Budget. It was not on very informative, it was also inspiring. One of his tips is to use dried lentils. He advised "Dried lentils retail for about the same price of a bottle of water. For very little money, you can boil up a massive pot of soup- and salad-ready lentils. A pound-size bag has 11 grams of fiber

White Snow Day House Chocolate Chip Cookies

2012-01-19T00:02:00.000-08:00

Today was a snow day. Meaning we got more than an inch of snow in Seattle, and the city shut down. There was a lot of white going on and it inspired us. In our cookbook, we found a recipe that called to the white, house that is. The first family (which one remains a mystery) chocolate chip cookies. Usually we tend to make things a little lighter, this one came programmed that way. Using a

Caramelized Onion and Arugula Pasta

2012-01-17T00:03:00.000-08:00

There is much debate about whether an Italian restaurant can be a 4-star dining experience. Sure, there are complicated Italian dishes that take time and effort to prepare but many of the best dishes, are the simple pasta dishes. Fresh pasta is made with just a few ingredients and many pasta sauces are a conglomeration of what is on hand in the house. It isn't rocket science. But, isn't the

Southwest Sunday Eggs

2012-01-15T10:35:00.000-08:00

It's snowing...and we don't drive in snow. Snow is pretty to look at and we love it but we don't love traveling anywhere in it. We should be outside trying to get our car stuck in the half inch of snow so we can be recused by our future dates, but alas we are in our warm home in our comfy clothes. Being that we turned the heat up to 80 we decided to make a breakfast reminiscent of warmer climates

Sparkling Whiskey Sour

2012-01-13T12:43:00.000-08:00

It's Friday. Thank Goodness. It has been a long week. With jury duty for one of us and company wide meetings for the other, we have been running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Now that Friday is upon us, it is time to sit down and relax with a nice cocktail, a celebratory cocktail you could say, so that we can cheers to each other for surviving. After a little Google searching we

Melissa Marsala

2012-01-11T20:58:00.000-08:00

Do you ever have those days that everything goes right, that the stars align and it is as if you won the lottery? Well today was not one of those days. Neither one of us found the man of our dreams today, nor ended up with the job of our dreams. But something wonderful did happen today. Dad liked it. In the classic Life cereal commercial, the young boy loved the bowl of grains in front of

Cranberry Brie Pie

2012-01-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, the two of us have to sneak around each other to plan a special meal. I found a recipe that I just knew my sis would absolutely fricken LOVE, and so I did the natural thing, and hid it from her. The funny thing is, we write a food blog together. We both keep recipes stored for future making in the blog. Now how does one twin keep the other twin from looking at a recipe that is supposed

Mocha Americano

2012-01-07T00:03:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is the season of getting fit and eating well. But when there is all work and no play, no one can stick to a healthy plan. For us, the trick is finding little treats that won't bust the caloric count for the day. And sometimes it isn't a snack attack or dessert when we need our treat. Sometime, it comes first thing in the morning. To curb our morning sweet teeth, we go for a chocolate