Thursday, May 31, 2012

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!

Monday, May 28, 2012

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....

Sunday, May 27, 2012

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.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

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 
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.......

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Quinoa with Black Bean and Hominy

Or, 
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. 



Wednesday, May 9, 2012

ARSM Pizza

Or, 
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.


Friday, May 4, 2012

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.