Cheesy Seafood Gratin

So the other day, I went to Publix so I can make a chili chicken lasagna.  I had my list and my coupons.  When I walked in, I walked past the "Apron's Simple Meal" section and something caught my eye.  It was a cheesy looking pasta with shrimp and lobster.  I threw my list in the trash and started asking the cook to help me gather all the ingredients for THIS meal.  This would be a great Valentine's Day dinner or weekday/weekend meal.  Happy cooking and eating everyone!

Recipe: Cheesy Seafood Gratin (Courtesy of Apron's Simple Meals at Publix)

Ingredients:
2 tbsp of unsalted butter
1/4 cup of fresh chives (finely chopped)
2 small lobster tails (3-4 oz each) OPTIONAL
8 oz rotini pasta
1/2 cup of white wine or dry sherry
8 oz. peeled deveined shrimp
2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 can of condensed cream of shrimp soup
1 container of lobster bisque
1/2 cup of Panko bread crumbs
2 tsp of Bakery Parmesan bread dip seasoning

Directions:
1. Cook and drain pasta following package instructions.
2. Preheat large saute pan on medium 2-3 minutes.  Place, wine, lobster, and shrimp in pan; bring to a simmer (I only used shrimp in my dish)
3. Combine in a large bowl: chives, cheese, soup, bisque, pasta, and shrimp mixture until blended.  Transfer to a 2qt. baking dish.

4. Blend bread crumbs and seasoning into butter.  Using fingertips, until crumbly, top seafood mixture with crumbs.  Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden and bubbly.  Serve!!!

Dessert: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake (Courtesy of kraftrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

1 pkg (2 layer size) of devil's food cake mix

1 pkg (8oz) Philadelphia Cream Cheese

3/4 cups of powdered sugar

1/2 cup of Planters Creamy Peanut Butter

1 tub Cool Whip Whipped Topping

6 squares of Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Directions:

1. Prepare cake batter and bake in 13x9-inch pan as directed on package; cool completely.

2. Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with mixer until blended. Add peanut butter; mix well. Blend in 1 cup COOL WHIP; spread onto cake.

3. Melt chocolate as directed on package. Mix with remaining COOL WHIP; spread over cake. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Black History Month: Langston Hughes

One of my all time favorite poets is Langston Hughes.  Here is a little about his life. According to poets.com, "Hughes is particularly known for his insightful, colorful portrayals of black life in America from the twenties through the sixties. He wrote novels, short stories and plays, as well as poetry, and is also known for his engagement with the world of jazz and the influence it had on his writing, as in "Montage of a Dream Deferred." His life and work were enormously important in shaping the artistic contributions of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Unlike other notable black poets of the period—Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, and Countee Cullen—Hughes refused to differentiate between his personal experience and the common experience of black America. He wanted to tell the stories of his people in ways that reflected their actual culture, including both their suffering and their love of music, laughter, and language itself."

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/83

One of my favorite Langston Hughes poem: Dreams

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.