Saturday, January 12, 2008

What's For Supper Tonight

Our friends The Lindsay's are coming over for Pizza Night on the Big Green Egg (BGE). I am doing Chicken Caesar Salad Pizzas on Honey Wheat Dough and Cheese Pizza's on Rosemary Dough for the kids. Blood Orange Italian Sodas topped off with some Limoncello. I really like doing pizza's with the salad on top. For the chicken caesar I marinate and grill the chicken prior with the olive oil, lemon, fennel seed marinade. Instead of sauce I coat the dough with olive oil and herbs and a small amount of parmesan, asiago and mozzarella cheese. I bake the crust in the BGE for 5 minutes. Take it out of the BGE and top it with romaine and red leaf lettuce, the sliced grilled chicken, toasted almonds and shaved parm and then a caesar dressing or dressing of your choice. They are beyond yummy!

www.recipesschmecipes.blogspot.com

We Gon' Drink Yo'Baby's Like It's Your Birthday


Since this blog is intended to only be about food, culinary experiences, food, liquor, food, recipes, food, and food obsessive behavior I still feel this post deserves a small spot since the song is about a libation. When our 2nd son was born 15 years after our 1st son the song "In Da Club" by 50 Cent was quite popular on local radio stations (we were in California at the time). Our child became addicted to Yo'Baby Stoneyfield Farms yogurt drinks. We called it Yo'Crack. Here is the song by 50 Cent.........


50 Cent - In Da Club Lyrics[50 Cent]Go, go, go, go, go, goGo, shorty It's your birthday We gon' party like it's your birthdayWe gon' sip Bacardi like it's your birthday And you know we don't give a phuck cause it's not your birthday!


Here are the Swanson's lyrics that we sang and still sing to our now 3 1/2 year old and our 1 year old everytime they drink a Yo'Baby: Go, go, go, go, go, goGo, Maxwell It's your birthday We gon' party like it's your birthday We gon' drink Yo Baby's like it's your birthday And you know we don't give a hoot cause it's not your birthday!


It has become our household Anthem.

Friday, January 11, 2008

What's For Supper Tonight

Grilled Chicken Panini's and Baby Romaine Salad w/Balsamic

Lemon, Olive Oil and Fennel Seed Marinated chicken breasts grilled outside
Garlic Rosemary Bread
Drunken Carmelized Onions
Roasted Red Peppers
Garlic/Herb light Boursin Cheese
2% Mozzarella

Assemble and put in panini press.

Not Your Average Girl Scout Campfire

Fire up the bar-b we are making s'mores.....well not really, fire up the oven we are making whole wheat s'mores cookies.

S'more appears to be a contraction of the phrase, "some more".[4] The informal nature of this term reflects the environment in which s'mores are traditionally served. Some have jokingly surmised that the name originated from people who were so busy eating the tasty treat that they did not have time to speak in complete sentences, or alternately, that their enunciation was compromised by the fact that their mouth was still full of the previously mentioned s'more.
While the origin of this popular campfire dessert is unclear, the first recorded version of the recipe can be found in the
Girl Scout Handbook of 1927. (per wikipedia).

We all have to evolve, right?? Even the Girl Scouts. So yesterday when I received my February issue of Bon Appetit magazine I couldn't wait to dive into it. There it was, staring back at me on page 125......a picture of what looked like the most delectable homemade cookies....accentuated by half drunk or is it drank?? I don't know, half drank glasses of milk and crumbs littered all over the counter. WHOLE WHEAT S'MORE COOKIES.......are you serious??? Is this a joke??? Don't play with my emotions. I was ELATED to say the least. This past week I had really been craving some plain old chocolate chip cookies. I have started to experiment with whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour and these cookies seem just like the ticket. Plus you get the whole grain component and the dessert component so even though you are being bad you do have SOME good. I am really excited to make these.......perhaps tonight even. I think the Girl Scouts should adopt this as their new cookie. I mean if they are going to peddle their crack every year perhaps they should add a little whole grain to it, eh?? I will let you know how they turn out. Perhaps I should get my hat out and my green sash with all my patches to pay homage to this lovely group while I prepare this upscale version of their campfire morsel, SHA RIGHT, that could be a problem since I quit the brownies and never made it to Girl Scouts........chalk it up to a bit of an attitude problem (on my part or so I was told)........go figure! So here I come, whole wheat flour, golden brown sugar, buttermilk, molasses, butter, eggs, milk chocolate chips, mini marshmallows and walnuts...............

Great Tip---No buttermilk?? In a pinch, use 1/2 cup milk soured with 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice. Let stand at room temp 15 minutes before using.


Thursday, January 10, 2008

Update on Recipes Schmecipes

I am also going to try and start posting some of my favorite recipes on Recipes Schmecipies. Do what you will........change them up to make them your own. I only want positive comments. If you make something and don't like it........I don't care.......STFU and keep it to yourself. They are my own recipes, I have made them many times, they are good and they turn out........I can't be responsible for your own operator error or your immature taste buds. Otherwise, ENJOY!
http://recipesschmecipes.blogspot.com/

The Third Eye

Artist: Albert Dubout (May 15, 19051976) was a French cartoonist, illustrator, painter, and sculptor.

These are known as the Dubout Cats. This particular illustration is called "The Third Eye".....yes it is a bunghole staring at you.

This is my favorite piece of kitchenware.

I had actually received 2 of these mugs w/saucers years ago from my Aunt Mary Lou. I think the story behind them was that her daughter had received the pair for a wedding present. Whether they did not like them or didn't use them, I don't know and I don't care because I was the lucky regift recipient of these. Thanks Mary Lou. At the time of receiving these..........I had been collecting for years this blue spatterware from Robinson and Ransbottom Pottery of Roseville OH (since I was 19 years old). I tucked these away because I loved them but they didn't go with my current dishware. March '07 I decided that I was over the blue spatterware already......I sold the whole collection on ebay in a few days and I went WHITE!!! I have so many great white pieces that I love but these are my favorites. I actually did some internet research and found a place in LA that sells Parisian Imports and they carried these same mugs. I ordered 4 more so I would have a set of 6. These are huge and are great for soups, great conversation pieces and great for entertaining. I have a whole wall of glass cabinets w/glass shelves and they light up and these look great amongst my other white pieces. Maybe some might find them offensive, but I think they are hysterical, kitschy and fun. They say "This person has an attitude problem but you love them anyway". Albert Dubout has done a whole kitchenware collection of the Dubout Cats. They are all black and white and the illustrations are really kitschy. My particular style is to have very neutral items and then just a couple of pieces that jump out and really hit you. If these don't come up and smack you in the face I don't know what does. Who knew a cats ass could be so stylish???? Meeeoooowww!!!

Date night update w/hubby last night: Rumba Revolution down in Market District. Tapas and Mojitos. It was good but could have been better. Bacon wrapped scallops, mini cubanos, chorizo flatbread, empanadas, chicken taquitos, pork & apple skewers, and a raspberry mojito.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Gluttony or Gourmand.....you decide



gluttony
noun
1. habitual eating to excess
2. eating to excess (personified as one of the deadly sins)


gour·mand

noun
Definition:
food lover: a lover of food who often eats excessively or greedily



My latest and greatest obsession is Torani syrup. I love Italian Sodas. Now I am not much of a regular soda person. I never drink a coke, sprite, or fanta, dare I say "mellow yellow" (which they still sell prevalently in the south). I drink a diet pepsi on occasion.....that is about as far as it goes. I don't like sweet drinks. I could live off of iced tea. I like fresh brewed unsweet tea with lemon and a pinch of sweet n low. Yes, I know that in labratory animals large amounts of sweet n low has shown to produce cancerous effects, you are falling on deaf ears, my argument being that since I outweigh a labratory rat by about 140 lbs I don't think 1 packet of sweet n low a day is going to kill me. Anyway, I digress. So it is really odd to me WHY I like Italian Sodas. They are pretty sweet....I mean sugary sweet not Carmen off southpark sue-weeeeet but they are sue-weeeet also. Digressing again......it is the ADD. Torani syrups are kind of hard to come by in Little Rock. No one seems to carry the fruity varietys. Ordering from the internet is actually kind of hard also because they only like to sell to distributors so your options are very limited. Our 19 year old son was in Omaha visiting vegetarian girlfriend turned meat-eater. She no longer be an herbivore. So, I call Ben on his cell phone 2 days before his flight is to leave. Giving him plenty of time to go to Cost Plus World Market to get said Torani syrups. He calls me and reads off the flavors dilligently and I give him my order. 1 strawberry, 1 raspberry, 1 caramel, 1 guava, 1 peach, 1 blood orange, 1 almond rocha, 1 sugar free almond and 1 sugar free raspberry (for a friend). Thinking these were the smaller size bottles they ended up being wine size bottles. No worries, I won't have to stock up anytime soon. He then treks off to the UPS store and has them package it up for the plane ride. He actually didn't do as much complaining as I expected either. Although both he and my husband know that when they are out and about whether here or in another state, they can expect a call from me at anytime requesting food items from various places. Deal with it. Anyway........I love these syrups. My favorites so far are 2 Tablespoons of Torani Syrup, 2 Tablespoons of fat free 1/2 & 1/2 (which is another of my latest and greatest obsessions......fat free 1/2 & 1/2 whouda thunk it???), and then mix with club soda..........it turns into a cream soda.......the raspberry and caramel are soooo good. I get on these kicks with certain culinary items and this is one of my new ones. I have a couple more and will post on those in the future. If you come across a Torani.....buy some and try it. The drink is delightful and refreshing. It is also great with the splash of lemoncello or limoncello. I guess the meaning of this post was.........when I get on an ingredient kick or find a food or drink that I am enthralled with.......I can't just buy one. In this case I bought 9 and spent $60 on syrup and then another $29 to have UPS pack it up so my son could bring it on a NWA flight from Omaha to Minneapolis to Little Rock. I will go to great lengths to get whatever food item I am interested in at the time. Dr. Phil, Why couldn't I just have bought 1 or 2 bottles like a normal person instead of 9. Gluttony or Gourmond.........you decide.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Simply One of the Greatest Inventions Ever


I LOVE this stuff. Tomato paste in a tube. Who would of thunk it??? They even do sundried tomato paste and anchovy paste. I mean, is it really rocket science?? I don't think so......who was the moron who invented canned tomato paste?? When have you ever had a recipe that called for a can of tomato paste?? My guess is NEVER. It always calls for 1 or 2 tablespoons. I guess if you are making 24 batches of something you might use a whole can. Why didn't I think of this......Kudos to tomato paste in a tube!!!!