Totally Bought This One For The Label

And, it is. 

How We Have Our Fun

This seems like an appropriate Halloween post. 

It all started with this shot.

Mike and I were on vacation when I awoke in the middle of

 the night in excruciating pain. 

Turns out even the security guard at the hospital was able

to diagnose my kidney stones. 

They shot me full of really good drugs really fast and that would

be my excuse for this picture. Mike didn't get the same 

"Get Out of Jail Free" card and so had to throw himself at

 Shanna's mercy after he texted this pic to her with the only caption,

"wish you were here". 

We thought it was hilarious! Shanna, not so much.

A couple of months later Mike awoke in the middle of the 

night with either chest pains or really bad heartburn.

I decided I would rather have him in the hospital with really bad

heartburn than at home with a heart attack. 

Heartburn won (as did we) and we waited till a decent hour

to send this one off to Shanna. 

A couple months later she retaliated. 

I love that kid. 

How could you not!?

Good news, no humans were permanently damaged in 

the making of these photos. Michael's wife, Michelle, has

 been instructed that should he find himself in an 

emergency room somewhere, it will be

her duty to photo document the event. And Michael has been 

informed that this only remains funny as long as nobody gets hurt. 

Best Chicago Style Pizza at Home

An Ode to Pizza

I love pizza. 

I love good pizza. 

I love bad pizza.

I love thick crust.

I love thin crust. 

I love to eat the corner pieces on the way home. 

They're appetizers. 

 If I could only eat one food for the rest of my life, 

I believe I would choose pizza.

One time a bunch of us had a pizza pot luck.

It was so much fun to try all the different styles, 

combos and pizza joints people used. 

No two pizzas were the same. 

BTW, why are they called "joints"?

Oh, and, if you should decide to have a pizza pot luck,

tell everyone to not get any pizzas larger than a medium. 

There was a ton of leftover!

I like to make pizzas.

 I have a couple of different pizza stones

and a couple of different recipes for the dough. 

My regular stand-by recipe needs to rise twice and 

so you kind of need a couple of hours lead time. 

This pan style one only needs 30 minutes to rise so it's

a good one when you don't have a lot of time.

It originally came from America's Test Kitchen. I'll post the 

recipe over on the left there. The only thing I've changed over time

is the amount of oil you put in the pan. It calls for

3 tablespoons so you get that really crunchy outside 

of the crust, but that just seems excessive to me. Last 

night I used probably 1 1/2 tablespoons and it was just as good. 

Oh man, I'm getting hungry looking at this.

Look at those hunks of red onion.

Chunks of black olives.

And you know there's bacon hiding in there.

MMMMMmmmmm

Won't Be Kissing Mr. Wineman

Yeah, well, maybe not *that* bad, but a headache nonetheless. 

So, I guess that means that all those pesticides

and the such are not my problem. 

The experiment continues.....

*Disclaimer*

This is an OLD picture, I'm OK, Mom and Big. 

A Sommelier I'm Not

I choose my wines by the pretty labels. 

This one is my favorite (the label, not so much the wine). 

I like it so much that I have a poster of it

framed and hanging in my family room.

This one is pretty fun too. 

The wine is not half bad and the price is pretty reasonable. 

This is my current favorite and go-to gift wine.

It's a little pricey for sitting around on a Thursday evening unwinding

after having passed out candy to about 5 bazillion Trick or Treaters at

the store. I could digress, but I won't. 

So here is a wine that I would NEVER buy because of the label.

I stopped in to our local wine merchant (after aforementioned 

evening of terror) and asked Mr. Wineman to make a suggestion.

This is the man who once told me, "it's easy to find a good

expensive bottle of wine, the skill is in finding the 

good *in*expensive one."

How can you not just want to put yourself in that man's hands?

Public Announcement:

Whereas Binny's and other big box liquor stores have their place,

nothing can replace the independent guy and his love 

for his craft. 

My parameters for the night were, in the ten dollar range and that it not 

give me a headache. Some wines will do that to me and 

we just haven't had the fortitude to figure

 out which exact ones and why. 

Once my friend determined the headaches weren't caused 

from drinking the entire bottle, ahem, not that I 

*ever* have, but let's just say, that doesn't seem 

to be a factor, he decided we go from a chemical angle.

So here you have it, ORGANIC wine. 

I'm not quite sure how I feel about it.

It tastes just fine. 

The label is atrocious. 

If I don't have a headache in the morning, I may have to go 

kiss him on the lips. 

Well, not really because, 

THIS one doesn't give me a headache!

Great label, huh?

Now if I could only get it in Illinois.....

Mexican Lasagna

Here's a little something I left for Shanna 

when I was down there in September.

They are mexican lasagnas and are soooo easy. You probably have

most everything you need to make it in your fridge and pantry.

I use flour tortillas as the "pasta" but you could definitely use corn

if you prefer. I use salsa as the "sauce". Some ground beef browned

 up with a taco seasoning packet is good. I think in this one I used the 

leftover parts from a rotisserie chicken. Cheese is a must but from 

the looks of it I must have used some blend. 

And then start layering whatever you have around. 

Corn.

Black olives.

Canned chilies.

Sautéed onions and peppers.

Banana peppers.

Black Beans.

Just build it like a lasagna, little sauce on the bottom, tortilla,

meat, assorted goodies, sauce, cheese, repeat (as many times

as you like). Put it in a 350 degree oven for probably about

an hour. Everything is cooked really, you're just heating it through

and melding the flavors. 

Yum, this is making me think about my taco soup. I'll have to post that

along with the "recipe" for making herbed oyster crackers. 

I love cold weather cooking!

Fasten Your Seat Belts!

This one's going all over the place!

Has anyone ever *really* gotten a good recipe from People Magazine?

Has anyone *really* ever tried one of those?

And what *ever* possessed People to start publishing recipes?

And, btw, there is a post in the offing about the "*".

Well, kudos to their food stylist because while I really flip through 

People to look at the pictures of the pretty people,

their picture of pretty food caught my eye.

If I was half good at this whole thing I would figure out how to 

swipe their picture and use it here, well, for obvious reasons. 

But despite my photographic abilities,

It was really good!

Go figure!

This creation is courtesy of Mister Al Roker.

It used a chuck roast that you cubed and browned and then 

browned up some hot Italian sausage. I was tempted to

weenie out on the sausage and get the sweet but I manned up

and went hot. I'm so glad I did. There are not a lot

of other spices in this so the sausage really does double duty. 

I made it exactly as the recipe reads with one exception, I cooked

it in a slow cooker as opposed to the oven. 

I needed to be able to leave it unattended. 

Holy cow, yum!

I tried to post the link but it appears People hasn't posted it to 

their site yet. If you want it now, go buy the November 1st issue.

Or go to your local library.

Please support your library.

(That's for my friend Tory who is on the Library Board)

So, Mike says I should send this blog to Al Roker.

Cause I made his recipe.

He'd like to know someone actually made his recipe.

And my posts are absolutely scintillating. (love spell-check)

And since I know the man I am married to, I agree.

I just ask him to come up with an e-mail address. 

This is where it gets good.

Why would I with such confidence suggest such a thing, you ask?

Because when Rossella (Foreign Exchange Student)

was here she took Home EC and came home one day 

with a, hmm, what to call it, a bag of sorts.

That she sewed. 

She was very proud.

And, my husband being a very supportive host father 

and a fashionista to boot, suggested she 

send one to Paris Hilton and ask her to carry it 

some time. Then everybody will want to know where this amazing

bag came from, and, you get where this is going.

What you may not expect is that Mike actually tracked down Paris's

publicist to see where he could send this for her consideration. 

He got pretty far and really blew a few minds around here. 

Actually, the internet and a phone will get you far.

So, here we are. Mike feels he has found a way to get 

this to one Al Roker and I will not doubt my man's abilities. 

Let's all just see where this goes. 

So far I have hit on, a recipe, the use of the "*", People magazine, 

photography skills (or lack there of), the library, go vote!, Al Roker,

my husband, an exchange student and Paris Hilton. 

That sounds like the punch-line to a bad joke. 

And now you understand the title of this post.

Or, why it's so hard to keep a straight train of thought in my head :o)

A Rant

Or, a public service. 

I'm not sure which. 

I work retail. 

I enjoy working retail. 

I don't need to make gobs of money, just a little to set us

over the top. I am a very social being. I like passing the time

with people. Sometimes I can help people, sometimes I'm just

a pleasant face. I don't always know all the answers. 

It hurts my feelings when people talk down to me on those occasions.

 I'm more than happy to find the answers. 

I guess I could just make stuff up. 

Hmmm, I sell baby cribs, car seats and strollers. I think it's important

that I find the right answers. 

Sometimes things go wrong, an order takes longer than expected

to arrive, there's a scratch on something, I don't know, there are

a million things that *can* go wrong. I try my best to be sympathetic,

I really do understand the frustration. But, let me introduce you to a new phrase;

IMPOTENT RAGE.

There you have it, you're mad as hops, there is nobody to 

blame and chewing off any number of heads (mine included) will

not rectify the problem. 

Please, when those occasions happen, 

and they will, take a deep breath

and choose you plan of action carefully. 

Telling me it's not my fault and then proceeding to 

rip me a new one does not make things all better for me who 

has to have such anger vented at her. 

You're right, it's not my fault and generally speaking, 

I'm a pretty nice person who probably doesn't deserve what you have 

just regurgitated all over me. 

I'm also a person who lives in a pretty small town

and will most likely be looking you name up in the church directory.

Yeah, they've been there. 

That is all.

Making it Lory

This is what I got when I asked Lory if she would sew some

scraps of fabric together that I could use to cover some old pillows.

See, I bought a green chair

 

and an orange chair

to go with my purple couch.

And while this all makes perfect sense in my world, 

I thought the world at large

might like some visual cues to link the three. 

I thought that if Lory dug into the treasure trove that is her 

fabric *wall*she may come up with an assortment

 of fabrics that she could cut strips 

from, sew together to make one big piece of fabric

and then I could use that to cover my pillows. 

Yeah, that's what she did alright...... 

And while this post started out as a way for me to share

the artistry of my friend, I really want to share my friend. 

Well, not really *share* cause I really want to keep her to myself.

Lory and I met by very unlikely circumstance. 

In fact she just recently shared another twist to our

 whole meeting that reinforces our firm belief that God 

gave us to each other as a gift from Him.

We've been through a lot together and I could probably start another

whole Blog devoted to our escapades. 

I guess I can sum us up with this statement; 

we are friends who could ask each other for, or to do, anything

and know she would say "no" if need be. 

But we never say no. 

Can a "Foodie" and Jenny Peacefully Co-Exist?

Craig, that is.

This is what I do to my Jenny Craig food.

I just thought I'd share.

I may have many things to say about this in the future

but for now, I think I will photo document what I do to the 

dear girl's "cuisine" and I'll get back to you. 

That is all. 

Just wanted to share. 

Welcome to the Process

Lynne asked me the other day if I could replicate an item 

she had at Graham's 318. It was an egg, wrapped in bacon, cooked 

inside a cheese muffin. 

Hmmm....

Well, soft cooking the egg to begin with was a no brainer

and the recipe for the muffin was one as well.

If you haven't tried "Fig's Cheese Muffins"

from the Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen site,

well, you just need to. 

They are amazing. 

But I digress.

Some day I'm going to run some kind of scan that will tell 

me the most used phrase on this blog and I bet you it will be,

"I digress".

Argh, but where was I? 

Oh, the bacon! I wasn't quite sure what would become of it 

so I only made a half batch of the muffins and only

put the egg concoction 

(second most used word)

in three of them. I figured if it was a bust there would be

less wasted food and at least 3 glorious muffins!

Well, the bacon wasn't *raw* it was more like *steamed*.

Still, not a lovely thing.

I've learned 3 things from this endeavor

 (third most used).

Use a smaller egg, mine were *large*.

Cook the bacon a bit first, just till it starts to firm up.

Use a "jumbo" muffin tin.

And my conclusion on the whole concept?

It's kinda quirky and while I wouldn't make these for 

Sunday morning breakfast, if I needed something that was finger food

transportable, and kinda fun, these would fit the bill.

Maybe Lory's next Triathlon. 

They'd be a good tailgate breakfast served with a mimosa.

or 5. 

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/08/dairy-contest-finalist-recipe-cheese-muffins/

Hominy! I'm Home!

How cool does THIS look???

It was the craziest thing. Last week I happened upon some *thing*

(because I can't remember for the life of me what I was looking at)

that mentioned hominy. The weirdest things catch my attention 

these days and I just wanted to figure out what or who a

hominy was. So, I googled it and found it is derived from corn,

pretty innocuous, and is used quite often in mexican dishes.

The next day I get one of my Facebook updates from

Vegetarian Times 

and what do you know!

Hominy Stew!

Or as they like to call it,

Spicy Fall Stew Baked in a Pumpkin.

Mine's easier to say.

Just sayin'.
It looked pretty straightforward and as a bonus,
I get to use tomatillos for the first time!
Ever!
The hardest part was probably finding an appropriate pumpkin to
use as the cooking vessel. They gave you a few to choose from.
I couldn't find *one* pumpkin large enough so figured dividing it
between two would work just fine.

And, it did.
I gotta say their picture was a bit misleading because they show a
ladle next to the cooked pumpkin. You don't actually serve it in the
pumpkin. It gets pretty soft and you pull the flesh of the pumpkin  into
the stew. Then they have you make a poblano-cucumber salsa
to serve on top and the combination is fantastic! 

I threw the tomatoes on top there just for fun.
My picture taking abilities kinda stink.
Maybe it's the red bowl.
This would look nice on a wall.
But, it did taste good.
Trust me.
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10829?section=

Asian Meatball Subs

with...

Hoisin Mayonnaise!!!

                                       

The meatballs were just fine but the best part of this little baby was the sauce!

It has Thai Chili Sauce in it along with Hoisin sauce and the

mellow heat you get is unbelievable!

This is another little find from The Food Network Magazine. 

Best 18 bucks (for the subscription) we've ever spent!

Well, maybe not *best*, but pretty darn good. 

I think this sauce has real potential as the goop for chicken salad.

 I can just see it with some shredded chicken breast,

chopped water chestnuts, cilantro and some shredded carrots.

Lots of the same things they put in the meatballs. 

Maybe some sliced almonds on top?

Could it be warm over some quinoa?

Oh no, wait, Salmon!!!

Yes! 

Salmon!

Ah, the creative process. 

...or, ADHD, you decide.....

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/asian-meatball-subs-with-hoisin-mayonnaise-recipe/index.html

BACON!

In my never ending quest to determine if there is 

ANYTHING

 you

CAN'T 

put bacon in, I submit my latest concoction.

Food Network Magazine had a version of these in their

June/July issue. I was looking over the ingredient list and when 

I got to "potato starch" I drew the line.

I'm sorry but this magazine has sent me on one too

 many wild goose chases for ingredients. 

I submit my "Japanese Seasoning" at $15 (including shipping cause

you know *that's* not just sitting on the shelf at Meijer's).

So potato starch may not be that exotic and is probably something

you just boil up at home with a couple of potatoes,

but I'm sorry, just not in the mood. 

So let's just say I used their idea as inspiration.

I started with a spice cake mix and substituted the the grease

from the bacon for the oil. 

Yeah, these will kill you.

Get over it.

I substituted about 1/4 cup maple syrup for 1/4 cup of the water.

(Actually could have used more.)

Then I crumbled up about 3/4 pound of bacon into the batter.

Baked those puppies up and then made the cream cheese 

frosting the magazine published.

Now *that* was good!

It's really just a standard cream cheese frosting but instead of vanilla 

and milk you use 1/4 cup maple syrup and 

a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon. 

Then you garnish with what's left over of the bacon.

Yum! 

I think the chocolate bacon cupcakes are still my 

favorite weird way to eat bacon, 

but I'm not tossing these out either!

BTW, did I ever tell you about the company that sells 

Kosher, vegetarian, bacon flavored mayonnaise? 

Yea, scary, huh?

If Loving You is Wrong, I Don't Want to be Right

There are so many things wrong with this. 

Not the least of which is that I really like this.

In this bowl is what started out as perfectly lovely, healthy potatoes

that my sister has beaten to within an inch of their lives.

And then she adds the *secret* ingredient.

Please, don't tell anyone. 

I think she put in a half gallon of the stuff.

I've tried being all *better than that* and make

cheesy potatoes with real cheese, but it's just 

not the same. 

Cheese Whiz and Twinkies will survive a nuclear blast.

I feel like I'm at a 12 step program. 

Hello, my name is Merry and I like Cheez Whiz potatoes.

I will sit down and hang my head in shame now.

Hummus

This is a test.

I'll let you all know what I'm up to 

tomorrow. 

This is a test.

This is only a test. 

Happy Fall Y'All

I went on a bike ride yesterday and actually remembered to take

my camera along.

And then bothered to actually stop and take some pics. 

And now I'm just sharing. 

Cause, I figured if you bothered to come here,

there should be something new to see.

(Michelle) :o)

Awful Falafel ?

NOT!

I get updates from Vegetarian Times on my Facebook account.

Mike and I are very interested in cutting way back on the amount of meat we eat.

Don't get me wrong, we are most definitely NOT giving up

hot dogs and hamburgers.

It's that theory, if you do what's best for you most of the time, 

 then you're on the right track.

It's not a new concept, there's a term for it,

"Flexitarian."

Hah! spell check doesn't even recognize it yet :0).

So, every now and then some totally unusual thing will catch my eye.

I had no idea what was involved in a "falafel" but I was intrigued.

Turns out they were pretty yummy and 

I will probably make them again.

I just have one concern. So, there's no meat involved and that's 

good.

But what about the method of cooking?

Are chick peas and vegetables still good for you when you
deep fry them?????

Here's the link:

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10709?section

Breese My Niece

I suppose if Shanna (my daughter) got the

 Thank You Note gene from my aunt

it's possible Breese got the cooking gene from her aunt (me!).

Breese lives in DC and while she has an extensive pool 

of culinary guinea pigs to pull from out there, nothing quite

beats experimenting on one's own family!

Ask her mother and father, I do it to them routinely. 

Breese came to town this weekend with a mission mapped out.

Chicken Masala Saturday night and pulled pork

with coleslaw Sunday night. 

I was otherwise engaged Saturday night but was able to 

join in for the festivities Sunday night. 

She used Bobby Flay's recipe. 

It was really good, all be it a bit hot to start off.

The recipe calls for you to serve the sandwiches with coleslaw on top.

I've had BBQ that way before and while it seems really odd

to us Northerners, it's really quite good.

Breese and I agreed that the coleslaw would help to cut 

some of the heat so we decided to build the sandwiches

 and put them out as a "done deal".

We did catch a certain amount of flack but in the 

end we were proved correct.

So, my take away for today, when someone is preparing an unfamiliar

recipe or combination of foods for you, eat it as the

creator intended. Those weird combos may actually be what 

makes the dish so unique, great, wonderful!

Then, when you go back for seconds, do whatever you want. :o)

PS, Also, don't throw salt all over everything till you have tasted it. 

It just tells me that you're pretty sure I don't know 

what I'm doing before you have even tried :o)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/bbq-pork-sandwich-recipe/index.html
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/creamy-cole-slaw-recipe/index.html

Court and Christine

If you could take happy and bottle it, this is what it would look like. 

Lory's baby got married yesterday. 

Christine's last name used to be Merry.

How funny is that!?

On top of that her mother's first name is my middle name!

Weird, huh?

Court and Christine had a wedding in what is now my

official FAVORITE way to have a wedding, or at least the reception.

Would you call it homemade?

All the food was made by hands of those who love the couple.

All the food was made by groups of people.

It was like a bunch of little parties leading up to the BIG one.

Court and Christine made the chicken and egg salads 

that became the wraps.

Christine and some of her friends made ALL the cupcakes.

Lory, her mother and I made the side salads. 

Mike even helped roll the wraps in the hour before the guests arrived!

Those of you who are familiar with Mike's aptitude in the 

kitchen are very impressed at this point. 

Court and Christine gave me the privilege of setting

up the room for the reception. I enlisted Lynne,

Brian and of course, Mike.

We had a little pizza and wine party beforehand, helps

with the creativity. And the laughs. 

It's so much fun to do things this way. 

We are all invested in it.

We all know what's not "perfect".

We all know it doesn't have to be. 

We all know the real reason we are there.

We all know we aren't trying to impress anyone with our 

party throwing prowess.

We just want to impress the couple with how much we love them. 

The Reluctant Entertainer would be proud. 

reluctantentertainer.com

I Want One!!!!

Have you ever seen such a thing?

This is a little spot we stumbled upon while on Hilton Head Island.

This is the coolest concept and I don't understand why 

there isn't one on every corner of every town. 

It's an Italian style wine bar.

How it works is that when you go in they give you a

 "credit card" and you slide it into the slot of any given "bank" 

of wines and then choose from, a taste, a half glass or a full glass

of any given wine. These contraptions keep oxygen out of the wine 

and the wine at the correct temperature. They have a full range from 

whites to reds from cheap to pretty pricey. 

They have a smattering of tables about and a selection of

 "small plates" and artisan cheeses. 

What a great way to try some new wines, have a little snack 

and hang with some friends.

When your done you just take your card to the cashier and it 

reads the charges you made. How cool!? 

I totally want to open one!

Lynne says those machines would run about 150 grand a pop.

Any investors?

www.winetimes4.com

Pink Ribbons and a Suck It Pin

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

In case you didn't know.

I think I have more things to say about breast cancer

 than I have pink ribbons.

My mother is a 26 year survivor. 

Other survivors like to hear that "26" so I'm putting

that out there for you :o)

Mom and I have a contest going to see who can accumulate more

pink ribbon pins. 

I wear one every day during the month of October.

My goal is to have a different one for each day.

That is a hard goal to achieve when one has a daughter unit 

who takes off with them. 

But I digress.

My mother met cancer head on and showed it who was boss.

One year ago next month, a friend who is very dear to my heart

was diagnosed with breast cancer. 

Her family history was very different from mine. 

She lost her mother and quite a few other female relatives

to the disease. I didn't know Indra back then, 

or those amazing women, but I believe they managed

 to instill one killer instinct in Indra

 and I pitty the fool (or cancer cell) who decides to mess with her. 

Indra and I have lots of laughs together and don't tend to tolerate 

Debby Downers. 

Cancer can be a big downer. 

So, whereas Pink Ribbons have their place, in Indra and Merry Land,

the Suck It Pin reigns!

It is the biggest gaudiest thing you will ever see.

I gave it to her and told her that any day that cancer was trying to 

get the best of her, she was to wear that pin proudly and tell

cancer to

SUCK IT!

Happy Birthday Mom!

It's my mom's birthday.

I have an amazing mother.

My mom was Betty Draper before Betty Draper was.

But she was a brunette.

And for every day stuff she wore her hair more like Peggy's. 

But man could she rock a french twist!

She was that stereotypical 50's stay at home wife.

She had some jobs as a teenager during the war.

One was butchering chickens, she taught me how.

It's a very important life lesson.

Once you can butcher a chicken from stem to stern,

 there isn't much else in a kitchen you won't attempt. 

And she dated a lot of Bills. 

I dated a lot of Mikes.

 Another life lesson, if you date guys with the same name 

you never have to worry about having your 

Dad (in her case) or your 2 year old (in my case) 

call a guy by the wrong name. 

My parents got divorced when I was in 5th grade.

So, my mom who hadn't worked a day in her life to support

herself, figured out how to get out of a rotten marriage,

 dissolve a bankrupt business,

 dispose of a house she could no longer afford,

 and cloth, feed and shelter 4 children. 

She didn't do it on her own, she had an 

amazing mother (and sister) herself.

It wasn't always pretty but it worked. 

And the life lessons I learned in that 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom house 

on Oakton Street have served me well all these years. 

Thanks, mom.