R.I.P.

Good Bye Dear Friend

You have been a good and faithful servant.

You gave your life in the quest of providing joy to another.

You've led a long life, longer than most.

You have been cherished and will be missed greatly.

And now to lament the wine sacrificed in this carnage.....

PS.,

Don't anybody tell Shanna,

she's gonna kill me.

Soak It To Me, Baby

Ok, so only those of you who are old enough to remember

Rowan and Martin's Laugh In

will find the title if this post amusing.

As I've said before, I crack myself up :o)

So I have a couple of marinade recipes for you.

The first one comes from "Mr. Food", anyone remember him?

I came across a cookbook of his while helping my mother and aunt move.

I refuse to take responsibility for the purchase of said book,

but I cannot deny that I did read it.

But, hey, I found this gem!

In my never ending quest to find ways to make chicken not "taste like chicken"

this marinade is pretty darn effective.

Couple of points of interest: check out the pink pepper corns.

Indra's son turned me on to them and they are really good.

A bit mellower taste than regular black. Other point, is actually a good tip.

The fresh ginger, just throw it in the freezer and grate it frozen.

That way you always have some on hand for that random recipe that calls for it.

The second is good with beef, like a flank steak or london broil.

My only issue with it is that it calls for

2 CUPS of wine, that's a lot of marinade.

Just cut it in half. Generally speaking, I like to use fresh herbs but marinades

seem to lend themselves to dry for some reason.

Just rough up the dried stuff in your palms to start to release some of the oils.

But dried parsley creeps me out so I use fresh.

My way of thinking, a marinade is just another name for a sauce.

While you should NOT used the marinade that the raw meat has been

swimming in, you can make extra and in the case of the teriyaki use it to dress

some quinoa or couscous to serve the chicken on.

The red wine one would be good cooked down

and served over some roasted potatoes.

Go create!

Caprese Skewers

I have made these little gems a few times now and each time they've been a big hit.

The best part about them is that they are

Stupid Easy to make.

Just grab a container of those marinated mini mozzarella balls

and a pint of grape tomatoes, or cherry, or those mini heirloom.

Cut everything in half and then skewer together (cut sides together).

The hardest part of this was finding the cool bamboo skewers.

I'll save you some time, Cost Plus.

You're welcome. It's just how I roll.

I show up with these and people think I'm amazing.

I choose to set them straight.

You don't have to.

You're amazing :o)

Bright Idea #2

Well, I hesitate to share this with you all but I just gotta!

I believe I have found (and let me tell you, I feel very Steel Magnolia saying this)

my Signature Gift!

I found that card and it set the wheels in motion.

The inside reads: Enjoy every sip! Happy Birthday.

I think I will run back to Target and buy every one of these cards that they have.

How much fun is this?

A festive bag with the ingredients for the Best Margarita EVER (along with the recipe)

and a package of drink umbrellas. The umbrellas aren't listed in the recipe but they really should be or at least it should be understood. Shake and serve with umbrellas!!!!

I think you can expand this gift as needed. You could include a cocktail shaker, swap out Jose for Patron, margarita glasses, salt to rim the glasses, a Jimmy Buffet CD.

Oh, I could go on and on.

So, back to my dilemma, you all now know what your next gift from me will be

(well, except you, Val) and while I am happy for you to replicate this gift, please know that I have first dibbs on any mutual acquaintances.

OK!?

Oh, and FYI, I love Val, she just doesn't drink :o)

There are Bike Rides, and then there are....

BIKE RIDES!!!!

Lory is my soul buddy,

kinda like a soul mate but not *that* way . ;o)

We may start out doing the most mundane thing and somehow

it usually winds up being a story.

Lory is a very serious biker, I am a very recreational biker.

We really should have taken a picture of our helmets and sunglasses together.

Those are Lory's in the picture.

My helmet is not quite so aerodynamic and my sunglasses would be quite at home strolling through town shopping. That picture would have explained it all.

Ah, missed opportunities.

However, the opportunity to get in some great exercise and spend

quality time (read, margaritas) together did not escape us.

I also should have taken a picture of my bike. I looked like a sherpa.

But, hey, my bike has a jaunty little basket.

Aside from said margaritas (please note umbrellas, I crack myself up)

I made Smitten Kitchen's Artichoke-olive Crostinis,

mozzarella/tomato skewers and threw together some strawberries and grapes.

I'm always on the look out for recipes that I can take on a bike picnic.

It just needs to be something that doesn't need to be particularly hot or cold.

And will fit in my basket.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

I'll post the Smitten Kitchen recipe along with Lory and my

bright ideas. :o) Because margaritas make us smarter :o)

Goat Cheese Scones with a Smile

So, here we are again with my blog having a mind of it's own.

Not only do I have random underlining,

I cannot for the life of me put these two photos in the order I choose.

So, let me say this, I made these scones Saturday because it seemed to make good sense to do a little cooking while I had the time to do it.

I'd take pics and then just archive them for during the week.

That's how picture number 2 came to be.

Then a friend called today

(Hmm, she's a good christian friend and suddenly the underlining disappears)

I digress, yet again.

So, Steph calls and we decide to have coffee on her deck instead of the coffee shop

as we had previously arranged.

I happen to have some fairly fresh scones.

(BTW, they are better the day after you bake them)

Of course I bring my camera because no food is eaten in my presence

without it's close up.

I gotta say, I believe the scones look downright happier in the photo

taken on Steph's deck.

Here's the lesson,

not only do we enjoy our food more when consumed in fellowship,

the food is happier too.

Just to make you smile :o)