Portobella Mushroom With Polenta and Roasted Red Pepper Aioli

I found this on Pintrest but I changed enough

of it that I'll just give you the low down here.

First, I ditched the bun.

I marinated the portobellas in some

balsamic, olive oil and garlic

and then grilled them.

The polenta is basic with the addition

of some chopped up roasted red peppers.

But the star of the show:

The Roasted Red Pepper Aioli.

Otherwise known as mayo with garlic, 

roasted red peppers and some cayenne pepper.

Blended all together.

This would be good on a shoe.

 I have said that about the avocado chimichuri I make.

I think I would also say it about this:

That is the giardiniera, black and green olives

run through a food processor.

Oh, and a couple of red pepper flakes.

Shoe-worthy.

I seem to be collecting condiments.

They should come in handy for the 

slider bar I have in mind for Lory's housewarming.

The mind spins!

Flat Val

In all fairness this should be a post about 

Erin's wedding.

She was a beautiful bride.

Her mother was beaming.

The venue was perfect.

 There were friends and family from far and wide.

Except for one very important person.

Val.

Val is to Carol what Lory is to me.

What are the chances two very good friends of Val's

would have children getting married on the 

exact same day?

Chances would be VERY good.

A decision had to be made and this was

Val's solution.

Now don't get me wrong, 

Flat Val is in NO WAY a substitute for 3-D Val.

But hey, you have to make the best of these situations. 

And we did.

 3-D Val does not drink.

But Flat Val? 

She's a lush!

I don't know as I have seen 3-D Val dance, but 

Flat Val?

All that drinking and twirling took it's toll.

Kristi is doing what any good friend would do, 

holding Flat Val's hair back as she,

well, you know...

 I'm not sure if Flat Val was presenting herself as a gift, 

her presenting herself with a gift...

 She barged her way into photo shoots.

 She helped the new couple make their entrance.

 And after much discussion about her sleeping arrangements

she settled in, 

by herself.

 Some how she was able to shake off the effects of 

the night before and join the newlyweds for

breakfast.

 And then she was off. 

For parts unknown.

...I can't wait to see where she turns up next....

Things Change...

Remember this?

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Not quite sure what to title this one. 

It has to do with a trip to The Czech Republic, 

a lawn mower, a forsythia bush, 

flower beds, and giving birth. 

You name it. 

I mean it, you name it.

I haven't written for a while because I usually like a visual to 

go with my rantings, er, stories, 

but my camera is in The Czech Republic. 

I decided to mow the lawn so my sweet son would not 

have to come over and do it. 

 Although he told his father he would

take care of his mother while he was gone, I felt

I should man up and take care of the lawn. 

ROFLMAO!!!

I don't even want to get started on my lack of skill in working the 

self propel feature. Let's just say, the lawn mower 

dragged me across much of the yard.

And I had the bright idea to start on the front yard

so all of St. Charles could witness and enjoy 

my learning curve. 

OK, forsythia bush.

 It is, well, was, one crazy

out of control all over the place mess. 

The first year we lived here I came home one afternoon

to see my guys chopping the heck out of the poor thing.

Man did I give them what for and they have left it alone ever since. 

Um, it's kind of a real pain to mow around, under, near. 

Wish I had my camera. 

You would be impressed by the destruction I have wrecked. 

It's gonna be a breeze to mow past in the future. 

Flower beds, you know those neat amoeba shapes

that look so artsy in your yard?

Yea, well all things that are not at absolute 90 degree angles

are a PAIN to mow around. 

Know how we women like to say that if men 

had to give birth there would

be a zero population growth?

Well, 

if I had to mow there would be

squared off shrubs, 

squared off flower beds,

and perhaps, a condo in my very near future. 

A year later.....

OK, well I find I am in the position of having to amend

my previous stand on mowing.

I have learned to mow patterns. 

I have moved beyond the expected 

diagonal.

Here we have a repeating arc.

 And here, 

a little more difficult to see in the photo,

concentric circles.

It's all in how you look at it. 

Mowing can be a chore to be dreaded or,

an opportunity to create!

I choose to create!

Micky Mouse is next. 

I'll let you know how that works out.

Cheesecake Balls

And a sign.

There appears to be a movement out there to 

convert every dessert into a ball. 

And then put it on a stick.

I will not. 

Put it on a stick.

They slide down. 

There's a technique. 

I don't know it. 

I will, however, turn it into a ball. 

To that end I present the 

Cheesecake *Ball*.

Not *pop*.

I followed the directions as printed because

I figured there is a specific texture you must

need in order to roll the cake into balls. 

It worked great. 

I did leave the cake in the oven 5 minutes 

longer than suggested because 

it just didn't seem set.

It wound up getting a bit golden on top but

that didn't seem to affect it's ability to be rolled. 

First you make a ball and then roll it in crushed 

graham crackers and then coat it in chocolate.

I started out with milk chocolate.

But I far prefere the white candy coating. 

The chocolate overpowered the cheesecake.

In my opinion. 

Some of you (Big) I am certain

would prefer chocolate.

As for the sign, that's it in the first picture. 

These are just trim ceramic tiles.

Like they use in a bathroom.

I cut little 45 degree wood blocks

and epoxied them on the back

and then applied little decals on the side.

You just use a dry erase marker to identify food

(like on a buffet) 

and WALA!

It's a sign.....

that I found on Pintrest.......

Quinoa with Black Bean and Hominy

Or, 

Quinoa with Black Beans and Corn. 

It was supposed to hominy.

I didn't have any. 

Hominy is corn kernels on steroids. 

Well, not really, but messed with corn nonetheless.

So why, I reasoned, couldn't I just

substitute corn?

The answer?

No reason why not!

And while I was at it, I didn't have any cilantro

so why not throw in some peas for a little green?

Why not!

It was actually pretty good. 

I served it as a cold salad but I think

it would be equally good served warm. 

The only thing (else) I would tweak

is the lime juice or apple cider vinegar.

Something was a little "tangy"

in there. 

I love quinoa and am always looking 

for ways to serve it so, 

this one's a keeper. 

ARSM Pizza

Or, 

Arugula, Ricotta and Smoked Mozzarella Pizza.

Ala Giada.

I have a couple of observations about this.

The recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, 

don't do it!

The smoked mozzarella is salty enough on its own.

Either put this on a thick crust or a larger pizza.

The cheese certainly overwhelmed the dough.

And in this house, that's not OK.

And while those red strips might look like

red peppers, they are in fact tomatoes.

Canned tomatoes.

I have heard more than once that if you can't find 

good fresh tomatoes you should use canned.

So I did. 

And honestly, they were pretty good. 

I put them on the last 5 minutes of cooking

just to get them warmed through.

I'm not sure if this one's a keeper, 

but by the same token, 

I'm not sorry I tried.

Onion And Bacon Marmalade

It wasn't what I was going for.

What I really wanted was bacon jam.

I saw it on an episode of

Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. 

I'm not sure why I fixated on this recipe as opposed

to the others I found where 

bacon

was the main ingredient. 

But, be that as it may, I made 

Onion bacon marmalade.

And hey, I say when life hands you lemons,

make lemonade.

Or in this case,

Pizza!

PS, it was realy good.

Once you get over the fact it's not

bacon jam.