Thursday, April 30, 2015

Recipe of the Week!

Crockpot Greek Chicken
I think we all know by now that I have a love affair with Mediterranean cuisine. I decided to try to make some shredded Greek chicken to keep us away from Katerina's to satisfy the craving. This was pretty good, at least for crockpot chicken, which I feel like never turns out the best. I think you could use the chicken in many ways. You could make pitas like I did, or you could just eat the whole chicken breast, or serve over some rice. The possibilities are limitless :) 

Ingredients:
1 lb chicken breasts
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 onion, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon lemon pepper

Directions:
Place chicken breasts inside slow cooker. Mix remaining ingredients together in a bowl and pour over chicken breasts. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Shred chicken and serve. Obviously I served mine with pita, tomatoes, cucumber, feta, and I also made some easy tzatziki (I just chopped some cucumbers and mixed with Greek yogurt, dill, and lemon juice).

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Cupcakes!


In my comeback post I mentioned that I had recently had another wedding cupcake adventure. Well, here is the proof. I like to call this cupcake wedding a celebration of my retirement from cupcake weddings as well. Baking is so hard and so tiring. I don't know how the professionals do it. It's all last minute work and there's so much standing and bending. Maybe I'm being a little dramatic.

So here's the story...my friend Julie's daughter was getting married. For some reason they asked me to make the cupcakes. I feel like that's a lot of trust to put into someone who has very limited experience in baking. It is a once in a lifetime event after all. I was honored to accept the challenge, and be a part of their day. Then I really thought about it and got a little panicked. One hundred eighty cupcakes, a friend, limited experience, I was also invited to this wedding and had to watch people eat my limited experience cupcakes. This could be a cupcake recipe for disaster!


Next, there was much deliberation about flavors (white chocolate raspberry, chocolate oreo, and funfetti!), there was a practice round, and a trip to a very interesting baking supply store in Fairfax. Then I started feeling better. I felt good until I tried to think through a timeline of events. As a planner and a serious prepper (as in I like to have things done way ahead of time), this was difficult. Getting things done ahead of time is just not conducive to cake baking, but the great news is that on baking day I was unusually calm about the whole thing. I borrowed lots of cupcake tins (because obviously I have only one since I'm a professional) from friends and even an extra mixer. One of my friends came over during part of the day for moral support and also washed dishes. I also went on strike from cooking other food this day and Matt was in charge of picking up dinner! Yay for Chipotle :) 


The next morning was icing and decorating day. Oh, and WEDDING DAY! I was seriously nervous about getting everything done, including myself, and making it to the nuptials. Thankfully everything went quite smoothly again. We even made it to the wedding on time! Now was the final part of my job. The delivery and set up. I had never been to the venue the reception was being held at. We put the place in the GPS and off we went. You can add 186 cupcakes to the list of "things that fit in the back of a Yaris." When we arrived at our destination I knew something wasn't right. After finding someone who worked at the place, and a little looking around, I realized I was at a Quinceanera. Oops!

After a drive across the street we found the right place, unloaded all the cupcakes, and got them all set up! I was so happy to have my job all done. The rest of the night was so fun! We had a wonderful time celebrating the new Mr. and Mrs. Hutton, eating a delicious meal, singing Let It Go, hanging out with our friends, and I ate two cupcakes. There was a real Oreo in one of them :) Congratulations to Bryan and Sam! Thanks for letting me be a part of your special day!



Friday, April 10, 2015

Friday Love

Yay for Friday! It's been a crazy week of work and meetings. I am thankful for what looks to be a beautiful weekend ahead, and tonight we are headed to a friend's house for dinner. What are you up to? I hope you have a great weekend!

{ONE}

Cinderella. Last week, over spring break, I went to see the remake of Cinderella. I was very worried I wouldn't like it as Cinderella was my very favorite Disney movie when I was really little, but I was pleasantly surprised. And don't worry (cause I was worried) the mice aren't weird in the real live version.

{TWO}

Flat Shoes! I'm so excited. I do not like winter shoes! In the past few weeks it's actually been possible to not wear them. I am back to my favorite flats. Thank you spring!

{THREE}

The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. I have been slowly watching Netflix's new-ish original series. It's actually pretty funny and the episodes are quick. Give it a try if you are looking for something mindless and fun to watch.

{FOUR}

Chik-Fil-A Frosted Lemonade. Have you tried this? If you just said 'NO,' change that! Really these are so delicious. It's CFA lemonade blended with CFA ice cream. It's creamsicle like. Last week they were FREE everyday. I won't tell you how many times I took advantage of that.

{FIVE}

National Sibling Day. Facebook has informed me today that it's time to celebrate having a sister. Good thing my parents decided to have a second kid so I didn't get only child syndrome :)

Flaherty sisters on a cold Thanksgiving morning...sorry it was the first picture I could find. 



Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Recipe of the Week!

Spanakopita
As you might know I LOVE Greek food. I decided to make this Spanakopita (spinach pie) for myself to see how it would go. It was pretty good, but nothing compared to the BEST Spanakopita I've ever had (made by my sister-in-law's father-in-law...that's confusing). In my opinion Spanakopita is best eaten room temperature, or even a little bit cold. Seriously, try it. You won't go back.

Of course, with my blogging break, I made this recipe SO LONG ago that I cannot remember what I did. Really, I cant. I remember I couldn't fine one recipe that looked good to me online, so I looked at a whole bunch and kinda picked things I liked and didn't like and went from there. Below is my best attempt at remembering, but really if you add enough feta cheese everything will taste great.

Ingredients: 
2 pounds fresh spinach leaves chopped, or 10 oz. frozen
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup snipped dillweed or 2 tablespoons dried dill
8 ounces feta cheese, finely crumbled
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
16 sheets phyllo pastry dough
1 stick butter, melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until soft. Add the spinach in portions as it wilts/cooks. Cook and stir until liquid is released then evaporates, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and cool. Lightly squeeze out and drain (or press out with a fork) any excess liquid. Stir in dillweed, both cheeses, and seasonings. Grease a 13 by 9 inch pan. Unroll phyllo on a dry work surface. Keep covered with a slightly damp towel to prevent drying. Line the pan with a sheet of phyllo, pressing into corners. Brush the entire sheet lightly with butter. Continue adding and buttering seven more layers. Spread the spinach filling over the top of the pastry sheets. Top the filling with another sheet of phyllo; brush with butter. Add 7 more sheets using the same method. Brush top with butter. Bake for 45 minutes or until pastry is crisp and golden brown. Cool for about five minutes to let the pastry set, then cut into squares or triangles.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

The Comeback Post

My original blog post, entitled 'Blogging?,' debuted on February 20, 2011. My last blog post, before this one, was on February 20, 2015...weird. I looked this up today when I decided I really needed to update my blog. It has been so many weeks!!! My longest blogging absence in four plus years! I feel sad that there's no record of March 2015 on the blog at all. 

So...why the extended silence on With a Little Flare? I'm not really sure to tell you the truth. I guess winter got more wintery, and thus we became a little more reclusive and boring. Then there were a few weeks that were just so busy with work and life that it was all I could do to just go to work, make dinner, and try not to be falling asleep on the couch before Matt got home from work. Thankfully, this week is Spring Break! I am getting to reorganize and check boxes, and also have some fun! The sun is shining and Spring is springing. Daylight savings is saving my sanity! 

I have quite a few things to catch you up on...some new recipes, everyday happenings, new adventures, new favorites, etc. I will also tell you soon about my second adventure in wedding cupcake making. This weekend we are traveling to Pittsburgh to visit with my family and celebrate Easter. It will be a nice end to a great week off. 

With this post, I am hoping to restore my blog and post more faithfully. I am sure that with the way spring has begun, I will have lot of exciting and interesting things to share. I'm looking forward to getting back on track!