Cake For the Boys

A friend of ours is taking a cake decorating class with her daughter. She dropped this cake off last night while we were grubbing chow w/the Gov. When we came home our 3 year old was screaming....."I need cake" "I need sugar"..........Thanks Cathy, I appreciate it.

Sour Dough'n Hoochie Mama Part Deux

<----King Arthur is da'bomb

Below is my left over starter I will put back in the crock in my fridge and feed again so I will have starter when I want to make bread again. I feel Amish......kind of like when everyone was getting ready for Y2K and they thought every ATM machine was going to implode....and they bought generators and cases of campbells soup and lots of toilet paper. I am self -sustaining.....bring it on UFO's....I can hide in my basement and live off of bread on the BGE while the world around me evaporates......until of course, I run out of charcoal......i don't have a basement either but makes for good effect.

So today I tried to make sourdough bread bowls for my potatos soup. They turned out pretty good. This was my first attempt at making sourdough bread, let alone making it on the Big Green Egg (BGE).

<----Baking on the BGE <---- LOVE THIS!!!!!

I will definately try these again. I am actually surprised they turned out....I must of had really good starter because I was doing 3 things at once....making potato soup, making sourdough bread and starting my pizza dough for tomorrow and later on in the day I found a ramekin behind a towel on my counter that had the OTHER 1/2 of the salt/sugar mixture I was supposed to put in my dough. UGH! I love the BIG GREEN EGG, I LOVE IT!!!!!

Is it Dinner or Supper???

I call it Supper most of the time. I guess it seems if you are eating at home you are having supper.....unless you invite someone over and then you invite them for Dinner. Or if you go out to eat, you always go out for Dinner. Weird.

....anway I made 2 bean, corn and cheese quesadillas. We did corn, refried and black beans, monterey jack/cheddar/cotija cheese on sundried tomato flour tortillas....topped off with shredded romaine, light sr. cream and salsa.

Tongues of ~FIRE~

Fagiolata Italian Bean Soup Mix

This stuff is SUPERB!!!

Now before I go any further with just yet one more of My Favorite Things (sorry Oprah I have'm too), I have to dedicate this post to my cousin Molly (you will see why as the story progresses). Anyway, I love these beans (no I don't want to marry them). heheheh remember when you were a kid and you said you loved something and then your friend would pipe up and say "If you love them why dont' you marry them". ADD again. I used to buy these beans at Williams Sonoma. They came in a jar for $8.50. I know you can buy dried beans anywhere but this particular mix is ONLY Italian Dried Beans. The ingredient list of the beans is also in Italian so it was hard to search on the internet to see if anyone else carried them. About a year ago I went in to get a jar and they were all out. The girl behind the counter stated they didn't have them anymore......WHAT???? I started to get a bit dizzy, my head was spinning, palms were clammy........how was I going to make my Italian Sausage and Bean Soup???? A pleasant surprise happened in November when I trekked up to the WS outlet in Memphis and saw they had the beans in the store. I bought 3 jars but I am now down to my last jar. The outlet is 2 1/2 hours away and it is not a pleasant drive. The regular WS store no longer carries these. I am going to go on a dried bean search on the internet when I get a free moment to see if I can at least buy them individually. Anyway....back to the Molly dedication. Molly had come with her hubby and son to visit us from MN when we were in NE. I made my famous Italian Sausage and Bean Soup. One of the really large beans in this mix is called an Extra-Large Violet Bean.....it looks like a huge purplish butter bean. Molly proceeded to say that she really liked them and that a lady at her church told her they were called "Tongues of ~FIRE~". Well being the recovering guilt-ridden scaredy cat Catholic I am in my mind I am thinking "oooooh Tongues of ~FIRE~" that is kind of scary in a religious kind of way.......should I be worried.....kind of like if I am not good I am going to get 10 lashes from the Tongues of ~FIRE~.......should I eat them?? Should I put them in a shrine like the (Jesus Cinnamon Bun or the Mother of Mary Tortilla.....see previous posts). Should I invite Benny Hinn for supper or perhaps the other guy that you call for your FREE Miracle Spring Water or your FREE Green Miracle Cloth (don't ask it is the south). So now everytime I eat this soup I think of Molly and get a little twinge of spiritual frightness while I am eating my Tongues of ~FIRE~. I don't know Tongues of ~FIRE~ just sounds religious to me.........I am catholic though so keep that in mind or am I????

Tomorrow We Dine With the Governator

I WISH.........I would rather have dinner with Arnold than Beebe.

Thursday night my presence is requested at a Chamber of Commerce dinner with the Governor of AR. I can hardly wait...........SHA RIGHT! In fact, I don't even know if we are getting dinner. My husband never knows anything about anything if it is not work related. He comes home 2 weeks ago stating we have a dinner to go to with the Governor for the Chamber...2 weeks heads up is a HUGE deal for him...usually I find out 4 days before something. Anyway, he said dinner but the reminder email I received said nothing about dinner and said something about a 5:30-6:30 reception. I did not get a little rsvp card requesting my chicken, steak or fish or ~other for all you pita's (pain in the asses) out there that need a vegetarian or diabetic meal etc. Reception usually means lousy cold appetizers or whore's of yours (see prior posting 12/07/07). To top it all off we have a table right up front which means I will have a hard time rolling my eyes from boredom w/out the whole room seeing me.

Tree Hugging Granola Veg-Head

I wouldn't say that I am a Tree Hugging Granola Veg-Head. I do possess many of those qualities. I am not 100% anything. I am not an extremist on ANYTHING. I believe there are many areas for grays and not everything is black and white. I do some green things and some not so green things. I eat meat but I have my limits. I know PETA says that "In every package of chicken there is a little bit'o pooh"....I really don't care....I am over it. VEGAN's are a whole other story which I dont' have time for today. No meat, dairy or any animal by products??? C'mon already.......I am thoroughly convinced this group of people just HATES food period. Anyway, I am waaaay off my subject. I try to buy organic as much as possible.....do I only eat organic??? No. I try to stay balanced in everything I do in my life. I don't always succeed but I do always bring myself back to the middle when things get out of whack and rebalance as much as I can. Everything in moderation is my motto. I do very much believe that we have foods out there that can hurt and heal our bodies. Foods that can prevent illness. My favorite drink that I have everyday for lunch.....no fail....is what I call my Artery Plaque Busting High Blood Pressure Preventing Drink. I mix a concoction of POM 100% Pomegranate Juice with a Red Ruby Grapefruit that I juice myself and then 1/2 of a lime with 2 Tablespoons of Flax Seed Meal (if you are drinking on a Saturday morning and have nowhere to go....omit the flax seed meal and throw in some citrus vodka heheheheh). Now mind you, I don't have any said ailments to speak of (knock on wood) but I don't want any either. I figure if I can head any of this stuff off at the pass what better way to do it than with foods that are healing in nature. I don't eat completely healthy....but I don't eat completely bad either. I try and balance my options out. Some more of my favorite ailment busting foods are black beans, cinnamon, flax seed, old fashioned oats, unsalted almonds, pecans and walnuts, spinach, olive oil, tea and salmon.....oooh and sundried tomatoes and roasted red peppers (did you know that a red pepper has more vitamin C than an orange). Just looking to do the right thing but with a little fun thrown in from time to time.........definately not going to go through life not having eaten a cookie or pizza or artisinal bread and cheese........that to me would be a living HELL. oooooh and blueberries too!!!

New Recipe on Recipes Schmecipes

I have posted my recipe for Quattros Leches Cake on recipes schmecipes if anyone is interested.

On a Happier Note~

Stage Left:

Here is a pic of the Chicken, Roasted Garlic and Rosemary Potato Pizza with lemon wine butter sauce. That is a mouthful.......I love it when the edges are nice and black and crispy. I could eat pizza every night off of the BGE.

Below: Here is a pic of the Apple Pie Pizza! It turned out soooo good, but still felt as though something was missing. I ordered some sweet dough extract off of King Arthur Flour last night and that should fit the bill. If I add that to my dough next time it should give it a sweet vanilla buttery flavor that you taste in all of your bakery pastries.

R.I.P. My Good Friend

R.I.P. 1997-2008

Dear Good Buddy,

Thank you for being there. You were a trooper. When I couldn't afford a commercial size food processor you held your own. You chopped, whirled, and pulverized things with the greatest of ease even though you were a mini prep. Things you weren't even equipped to chop. We had good times. Last year when Dana brought home the restaurant size Cuisinart from Sur La Table that cost a small house payment for our anniversary.....I didn't forget about you. I didn't cast you aside, I still used you for small jobs, but I took the load off your aching joints. I still kept your spot on the counter even though you looked dwarfed and in need of a facelift compared to my new bigger and better toy. Tonight I took advantage of you and I ask for your forgiveness as you go to the grave. I am sorry. I put pecans, walnuts, AND coconut in your half lifeless body and filled you up to the brim. I heard you struggling but didn't listen, I was too lazy to use the workhorse...that would have required getting out another blade and lid. For this I apologize. You struggled and tried to hold on.......finally taking your last breath. I shall never forgive myself. R.I.P. good buddy, rest in peace.