Things That Make You Go, Hmmmm...

Each of these guys has two perfectly good legs

yet they choose to stand on one en masse. 

What's up with that?

Just wanted to share.

My Bestie's Birthday

1997

Our first known photo together.

I think we both look better now.

Going back through our pictures there are a lot like these:

Hmmmm...

But we do do other things together;

Scooter rides

Jumpy Houses

Concerts

The Cayman Islands

Margarita Fridays

Random Cards

Road Trips

Cookie Days

Bible Study

Bike Rides

Potlucks

Laughs

Tears

Hugs

A lady once referred to us as being

"joined at the hip"

like it was a bad thing.

But really, going through all my pictures I am surprised

at the events where there is not a picture

of the two of us with our heads locked together.

This tells me two things, 

We are not joined at the hips in exclusion to others,

and that as I look back on the events 

of the past 14 years, even if there is not

photographic proof, I can see Lory's place in all of them.

And it makes me happy.

One last one:

You're never too old for a Bestie, are you?

(or a jumpy house)

Sweet Potato Bread Pudding

With tabasco ice cream.

Yep, you read that right.

Just one of the amazing things we ate at

Robert Irvine's Eat

on Hilton Head Island.

The ice cream is just vanilla ice cream with some 

cinnamon and tabasco mixed in. 

You don't immediately taste the heat

but you feel it sliding down your throat.

Incredible.

The server gave me the recipe for the bread pudding.

It looks pretty basic with the addition of some 

sweet potato puree.

The recipe says 

"all rights reserved 2011"

Does that mean I can't post it?

Can I if I credit them?

Maybe I'll ask, mean time,

I must remember that I can cut this in half.

It calls for 12 eggs and 3 cups of butter

among other things!

German Onion Soup

With a pretzel grilled cheese on the side.

We've been on vacation for the past week.

A good friend once told me that if there is a washing machine

or a kitchen, it's not a vacation. 

I have lived by that little piece of wisdom

ever since.

So whereas I do enjoy a week of being waited on, 

I can't wait to get back in my kitchen and COOK!

To that end I picked up the October issue of

Cuisine at home 

at the airport for the flight home.

It may be my favorite resource for recipes.

This month I think I may just cook my way through 

the whole thing.

This soup was terrific, a german twist to 

french onion soup. 

One problem;

That's !!6!! LARGE onions.

The knife there would lead you to believe that I chopped all 

those but actually(actually) I used my mandolin.

Wonderful invention.

But it did not help with the river of tears I cried.

Nor the smell that so permeated my house that

when I returned home from being gone a couple of hours

I could smell the raw onions in my car as I drove

into the garage.

So heads up, after you cut up that many onions, 

cook them immediately!

Also, the recipe would have you *float* the pretzel

sandwiches on the soup like a crouton. 

While that would be way cool, 

how would you eat it?

PS, at some point do you think I will figure

out that I can cut a recipe in half?

Silencing Merry

ARGH!

I am having either computer issues or 

Face Book issues.

Whatever the culprit, 

I am not, at present, able to post my 

very witty and necessary commentary 

to my wall, your wall, or the man in the moon's wall.

At first I was very frustrated but I have since come to
view this as an opportunity for a character study.
Mine.
I was pretty sure the world needed
 my pearls of wisdom but apparently it does not.

The sun is still rising.

And for the record, whereas I can post this blog
onto Face Book,
I cannot write a witty intro comment.

Indian Summer Stew

Butternut Squash, Coconut, and Lentil Stew

The term "summer" is misleading, and I'm not sure I followed 

the reasoning behind it. But, whatever.

This was so good and hearty that we were satisfied with

just it and some naan bread.

Luckily I had seen Aarti make this.

It was so easy and quick but the *scary* part was 

what you do with the mustard seeds. 

You get a couple of tablespoons of oil screaming hot and 

then toss in the mustard seeds.

They pop and jump and sputter and generally go nutz!

Glad to have seen that on TV!

Then after you add red pepper flakes, garlic and salt, 

you dump the whole mess into the stew.

Popping, jumping and sputtering repeat.

And then you swirl some of the stew in the pan the spices have been in

and get a bit more jumping, popping, sputtering.

It's a very active dish. 

But very delicious.

My *tips*, 

you can get brown mustard seeds at The Spice House,

unsweetened coconut is in the healthy eating aisle, 

pigeon peas are not native to suburbia Illinois, 

lentils will suffice.

http://www.thespicehouse.com/

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/indian-summer-stew-butternut-squash-coconut-and-lentil-stew-recipe/index.html

Triple-Ginger Squares

Or in my case, Double.

I didn't have any candied ginger in the freezer.

So, Double-Ginger Squares it is.

I got the recipe from November's issue of

Better Homes and Gardens. 

They don't have the recipe on the website that I can find so, 

sorry, you'll have to buy the magazine.

There were a couple of surprises in it.

Pepper.

Which I have actually heard of in some spice bread recipes

but just hadn't used myself.

A TABLESPOON

of baking powder. That's a lot of baking powder in my book.

The cook time. 

They said *33* to 35 minutes. 

That seems pretty specific to me and so I was surprised 

when they actually took more like 45 minutes.

And I took a couple of liberties.

"Mild-flavored" molasses became whatever I had in the cupboard.

Whipping cream became skim milk. 

Room temperature butter became butter that I beat

the bejesus out of in the stand mixer. 

It gets warm, eventually.

Part of the beauty of these was that I had *close*

to everything in house to make them.

Oh, and the other beauty?

They are amazingly delicious!!!