NFL football finally comes to an ends on Sunday.  Though I couldn’t care less, I will however be in attendance at a Super Bowl party. I was planning on posting a Weekend Eats highlighting some scrumptious pear recipes but I figured it could wait until next Friday. The sliders seemed more timely. I originally posted these recipes at the start of football season and have tried all but the lobster one. The Ham Delights are my personal favorite. Just don’t eat too many…

Mini Cuban Slider

Spread all bun halves with mustard. Top with pickle slices, cheese, pork and ham. Add more cheese, if desired, then top with bun. Repeat with the other 3 sandwiches.

Use a panini grill set to 350° to heat and flatten the sandwiches; or, place the assembled sandwiches in a skillet over medium-low heat, rest a baking sheet on top of the sandwiches, and weight down the sheet with bricks or another heavy skillet.

Remove from heat when cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

• Miso-Tofu Mayo Turkey Sliders
• Turkey Burgers:
• 1¼ lbs. ground turkey
• ¼ cup panko (Japanese-style bread crumbs)
• 2 tablespoons mirin rice wine
• 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons red curry paste
• ¼ teaspoon Gourmet Garden Ginger Spice Blend
• ¼ teaspoon GIA Garlic Purée
• ¼ teaspoon Gourmet Garden Lemongrass Herb Blend
• Sprouted Wheat Bread or mini-rolls of choice*
• Miso-Tofu Mayo:
• 1, 14 oz. package silken tofu, drained and cubed
• 1 tablespoon yellow miso paste
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

Whisk together mirin, soy, curry and seasonings; add turkey and mix thoroughly, then add panko to bind. Divide turkey mixture into 1-oz. portions, then shape into patties and refrigerate until just prior to cooking.

Prepare Miso-Tofu Mayo. Combine “mayo” ingredients together into a blender, puréeing until smooth. Refrigerate in tightly sealed container; store up to 1 week.

Fry turkey patties in a large non-stick skillet over medium-low heat for 5-6 minutes on each side.

Spread Miso-Tofu Mayo on top and bottom of bread or roll. Place one patty onto half the bread, top with other half.

Mini Crab Cake Sliders

• chives
• 2 Roma tomato(es)
• 6-8 King’s Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
• 1 box SeaPak Maryland Style Crab Cakes (8 oz.)

-Prepare crab cakes according to package instructions.
-Dice roma tomatoes and chives. Warm aioli sauce (which  comes in crab package) under running water.
-Wrap rolls in paper towel and heat in microwave for about  10 seconds.
-Cut each crab cake into 3 or 4 pieces. Place crab cake on  rolls, top with aioli, tomatoes and chives.
-Serve extra aioli on the side.

Lobster Sliders

Meat from a 1 1/2-pound cooked lobster (1 1/4 cups), cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 tablespoons crème fraîche

1 tablespoon minced shallot

1 tablespoon finely diced dill pickle

2 tablespoons finely diced celery

1 1/2 teaspoons minced tarragon

1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature

Eight 2-inch round soft dinner rolls, split

In a medium bowl, mix the lobster with the mayonnaise, crème fraîche, shallot, pickle, celery, tarragon and lemon zest. Season with salt and white pepper and refrigerate until ready to use.

Lightly butter the cut side of each roll. Heat a large skillet over moderate heat. Toast the rolls in the skillet, cut side down, until lightly golden, about 1 minute. Transfer the rolls to a work surface. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the lobster salad on the bottom half of each roll. Close the sliders and serve.  Recipe Source:  foodandwine

Ham Delight Sliders

24 Kings Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
24 pieces good honey ham
24 small slices Swiss cheese
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup light mayonnaise

Poppy seed sauce
1 T poppyseeds
1 1/2 T yellow mustard
1 stick butter, melted
1 T minced onion
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise and miracle whip. Spread onto both sides of the center of each roll. Place a slice of ham and a slice of Swiss inside of each roll. Close rolls and place them into a large baking dish or heavy cookie sheet. Place very close together.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the poppy seed sauce ingredients. Pour evenly over all of the sandwiches. Let sit 10 minutes or until butter sets slightly. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Uncover and cook for 2 additional minutes. Serve warm.

Cupcake Sliders (kids will love these!)

Create a sweet mini-burger illusion by using vanilla and chocolate cupcakes (for the buns and burgers), coconut (as the lettuce) and yellow and red-tinted frosting (which poses as the ketchup, cheese and mustard). Use real sesame seeds for the “bun” tops, and brush onto the vanilla cupcake using water and sugar.  Enjoy!!!

Source: SmileysSweetsandCreations.Blogspot.com.

Written by Lea Barlow • Leave a comment

I feel like a celebrity. Yesterday I received my first official swag bag with from a sweet girl named Sara who works at a marketing company. More seasoned bloggers will probably scoff at this post but I was positively giddy when I opened up a FedEx box packed with fitness themed goodies – including the new Samsung Focus Windows Phone loaded with health-related apps. You see, I have been very reluctant to upgrade to a smart phone. Mainly because I worried I would stay too plugged-in when I am supposed to be doing other things like paying attention to my children. Oh well, I’m sure they will be fine even if their childhood memories of me are with my head hunched over this fabulous new phone. Children are known for their resilience, right? I have no experience with any other smart phone but it took me all of 5 minutes to get up to speed with this one. But my absolute favorite thing about this phone is my new best friend Sara customized it specifically for H&H. Hot pink on every screen. It’s all about presentation. I LOVE it.

Buh-bye. Old phone, you will not be missed.

Hello, beautiful.

Written by Lea Barlow • Leave a comment

You may have noticed that I have been a tad obsessed with ballet lately. Between seeing Black Swan and enrolling both kiddos in class I can’t stop thinking about how beautiful the art of ballet truly is. So much so that I have actually decided to start taking an adult beginners class. Honestly, I’m a little freaked but really excited to try something new. To prep myself for class next month I am focusing on 4 key exercises from Mary Helen Bowers. Each of which she incorporated into Natalie Portman’s workout routine in preparation for her movie role. These are perfect exercises to do when the house is quiet with sleeping babies. Make it a little more fun by buying yourself a leotard at your local dance store. There is something about twirling around the house in dance clothes that makes me feel very young again. Give it a try.

Lengthening the Body

Begin the exercise by lying on your back and bringing your leg above you, pulling the ankle gently toward your head. Work toward stretching your knee all the way straight over time. Change legs.

Abdominal Work

Core strength is essential to maintain balance. For a ballerina, balance is everything. To begin this exercise, lie on your back with your knees slightly bent and the arms open wide in second position. Lift the body up, contracting the abs as you close the arms to first position—a wide yet graceful circle with the hands—just above the abdomen. Pull the stomach in, closing and opening the arms as you lift up and lower. Repeat 30 times.

Tight & Toned Tush

Begin on your hands and knees and make sure you have plenty of cushion underneath. Bring one knee into your chest and then extend the leg straight back, into arabesque. Stretch the knee all the way and be sure to pull in through your stomach. Repeat 30 times, then change legs.

Upper-body

Sitting down on the mat, extend your legs out straight and place your hands just behind your hips, with the fingers facing the outer edge of the mat. Lift your hips off the mat as you stretch the elbows, keeping your chest open and your neck long. Pull your stomach in tight and then bend the elbows slightly. Repeat this 30 times.

Written by Lea Barlow • 3 Comments

With award season upon us I felt it time to address the abundance of cleavage that never fails to steal the show on the red carpet. So many starlets get it wrong. It is a pretty simple and age-old rule to remember. To look younger – LIFT & SEPARATE. To look old – squash the puppies together to create a 6 inch cleavage line. Here are some examples of ‘Hot’ and ‘Not’…

HOT.

Eva Longoria’s cleavage is absolute perfection. Sexy without being too overwhelming.

NOT.

To be fair, Christina Hendricks does have massive breasts but this is just ridiculous. Tip – if you are going to attempt this look please at least get a spray tan. No one likes looking at blue veins.

HOT.

You want to leave something to the imagination. Lea Michele gets it right.

NOT.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Salma Hayek’s curves but her cleavage in this dress is way too distracting. Here is how to tastefully display your larger assets…

Super HOT.

Va-va-voom. Sofia Vergara scores in this dress by limiting the cleavage line and using her long locks as a little distraction from the girls.

Written by Lea Barlow • 1 Comment