Gourmandery

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

So I’ve been watching a lot more of the Food Network lately. Seems weird given my morning

all day sickness, but I can look at food on TV where I can’t look at some foods in real life. I’m thinking it’s the smell and 3D factor. Who knows!

Anyway, I managed to catch all of the Chefography shows but the one about Emeril. I found Ina Garten‘s and Paula Deen‘s stories the most fascinating since they have no formal culinary training and yet they have amazing skills in the kitchen.

I’m also watching this season of The Next Food Network Star. I think it will come down to Guy and Nathan with Guy winning. At least he’s my pick so far.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

I got a hankering for Baja Fresh at about 11am today. So at noon I called in an order for lunch and then went out to pick it up. All excited, I cleared space on my desk and started to eat, anticipating the flavors I had been salivating for for almost 2 hours.

None of it tastes right. Not that it wasn’t prepared properly. It’s beautiful. But my pregnant taste buds do not interpret the combination of flavors as my brain remembers them.

So sad.

Didn’t stop me from eating half of it anyway. I’m saving the other half for a snack in an hour or so.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

One of our admins is retiring. Her last day in the office is in a couple of weeks, but she has a lot of sick leave accrued and will be using that until her official last day. She’s solitary and didn’t want a huge luncheon, but she did want to go to lunch with My Boss and me. I forgot that today was the day.

What stinks is that she’s an early bird that gets to the office at 6:30am, so she was ready for lunch at 11am. I usually eat lunch at around 1pm since I’m here until 5:00-5:30pm. So here I sit at about 2pm, with three more hours to my day, but feeling like it’s almost time to go home.

Plus, it’s a little boring in the office while The Circus™ is on hiatus this week. I believe that party will resume on schedule next week, so I’ve got that going for me.

We went to the Great American Steak & Buffet, by the way.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

I think I’m going to try making this for dinner tonight. I’ve got salmon fillets in the frig and wanted to try something new. Sounds tasty.

Monday, February 27, 2006

Lee Anne tagged me.

1. How many meals does most of your family eat at home each week? How many are in your family?
It’s just Beau and I and we eat most meals at home. Lunches M-F are at work, but all other meals are pretty much at home.

2. How many cookbooks do you own?
Too many to count. I inherited quite a collection when my grandmother died over 10 years ago. I’ve collected a lot over the years as well.

3. How often do you refer to a cookbook each week?
Cookbook, not often actually. I have a random collection of loose recipes that I go to the most. Things that I got from online or my mother or friends or that I made up and happened to write down.

4. Do you collect recipes from other sources?
See above.

5. How do you store those recipes?
In a gallon ziplock bag. I know, I’m administrative and highly organized. You’d think I had a lovely binder with everything categorized. Nope, I store them in a bag.

6. When you cook, do you follow the recipe pretty closely, or do you use recipes primarily to give you ideas?
It depends. Often I’ll follow a recipe to the letter. Other times I just throw things in the mix. I’m more particular about following a recipe when I bake because the chemistry of baking is so precise.

7. Is there a particular ethnic style or flavor that predominates in your cooking?
Not really.

8. What’s your favorite kitchen task related to meal planning and preparation?
Pretty much everything but the clean up afterwards.

9. What’s your least favorite part?
See above.

10. Do you plan menus before you shop?
Sort of. I prepare a list based on things I think I might cook.

11. What are your three favorite kitchen tools or appliances?
Beau’s cast iron skillet, rice cooker, bread maker

12. If you could buy one new thing for your kitchen, money was no object and space was not an issue, what would you most like to have?
A whole new kitchen? Renting means you’re limited to what the homeowner has. My house is 20 years old and the kitchen looks it. I’d like a complete overhaul with stainless appliances, Silestone counters, and a double sink.

13. Since money and space probably are objects, what are you most likely to buy next?
A new, much quieter dishwasher.

14. Do you have a separate freezer for storage?
No, but I’d like to have one.

15. Grocery shop alone or with others?
Alone - Beau and I have tried to shop together a few times and we bought way more than we needed or planned. We each do much better when we shop alone.

16. How many meatless main dish meals do you fix in a week?
Not many. Beau likes a well rounded meal - he’s a hearty eater.

17. If you have a decorating theme in your kitchen, what is it?
Renter’s eclectic chic.

18. What’s the first thing you ever learned to cook, and how old were you?
I have no clue, but it was probably eggs in some form. Somehow I’ve always known how to cook scrambled eggs or an omelet.

19. How did you learn to cook?
I watched my mother as a child. When I had my own place and really started to cook, I used recipes until I felt that I had the ability and confidence to experiment. Later, I went to culinary school for a year - that was the true education.

20. Tag two (OK, three) other people to play.
I won’t tag - if you play, let me know in the comments.

Monday, January 30, 2006

We had a good weekend despite my cold. The coughing was the tough thing that kept me up each night, but it’s much better today. I’m thankful and tired. The amazing thing is that Beau says the coughing didn’t bother him at all. Weird.

We had planned a trip to H’burg for church yesterday, but decided against it because of my cold. So we met up with Dad at the early service at our church (Mom was up north babysitting CootieGirl and CootieBoy while their parents were exploring and closing on their new land in South Carolina). After church, Dad came over to our house for a lunch of leftovers from the turkey dinner on Saturday night, which was fabulous.

After Dad left, we cleaned up and I started a pot of turkey stock with the carcass and leftover veggies (onions, carrots, celery) that I had roasted in the pan with the bird. From the stock, I made a pot of turkey soup and then split the rest of the stock into three quart-sized ziplock bags for freezing.

While the stock was simmering we watched the last disc of the Firefly DVDs. I am officially a Whedonerd. I ended up watching Serenity later, too. It was as much fun as when we saw it in the theater, but I caught more of the insider things this time from having watched the Firefly DVDs.

So now it’s another work week. Joy.

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Hey Mom! Ith has the recipe you mentioned you wanted to try.

Monday, December 19, 2005

Today marks the annual Christmas holiday

Winter Office Potluck. Yes, we’ve reduced it to the season instead of the Season. Sad, especially since we don’t do these for every season. Spring, Summer, and Autumn must feel so slighted (discrimination!). Actually, our resident atheist (although she’s more agnostic really) dubbed it thus. Since she’s the party planner these days, I guess she gets to choose the party title. Although Potluck is a misnomer since she and I are the only ones who cook food and bring it in for the wolves to consume. This is my fourth Winter Potluck and she didn’t even bother to have anyone sign up to bring food; she just asked for $15 per person then she made a trip to Costco. But because I actually like to contribute food that I have labored over, I offered to make my potato casserole, which I did, in duplicate. (There is a recipe in the archives somewhere, I am pretty sure that I’ve posted it.)

Anyhoo, The Director and The (Acting) Marshal both made appearances, which was nice. The Director made a point of taking a large portion of salad just in case anyone was going to

make a report to his wife.

The Cake Lady brought festive cupcakes this year. But the most popular dessert is Paula Deen’s banana pudding. Within 10 minutes of the first person taking a spoonful, it was pretty well devoured.

I’m now going to take a few Tums™ and curl up under my desk until the food coma wears off.

Saturday, December 17, 2005

This is a recipe that I modified from the original that I got from a gal at church. Since I made about four changes to the ingredients (out of necessity because I forgot to buy a couple of ingredients when I was at the store), I’m making this version my own. It’s very easy and it is delicious.

Jen’s Texas Chili
Makes 10-12 generous servings

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1 29-oz can tomato sauce
1 15-oz can stewed tomatoes
1 10-oz can Ro-Tel
1 16-oz bag frozen corn
1 15-oz can pinto beans, slightly drained
1 15-oz can black beans, slightly drained
2 Tbsp Goya Sofrito (red label)
1 small can diced green chilies
1 packet taco seasoning
1 packet ranch dressing mix

Brown the ground beef in a medium or large stockpot. Drain the fat, if there is a lot. Add all of the ingredients to the pot and let simmer at medium heat for 30-45 minutes. Stir frequently. Can also be cooked in a crockpot on high for about an hour.

Great served with cheddar cheese and Fritos as toppings.

I used a 2 or 3 quart pot and it was full to the brim. This is a thick and hearty chili - not too hot, just a little kick, lots of flavor. Let me know if you make it and what you think.

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Remember the candy jar I kept at my desk when I first started this job? I was at the front desk and used the jar to encourage passersby to stop for a chat. The jar remained at the front when I moved into my current office and some kind soul fills it with candy every once in a while.

I passed by just a minute ago to find some new candy and stopped to inspect. I chose two items, both by Brachs:

1. Sugar Free Peanut Cluster
2. Peanut Butter cup (there is no link for this item)

The peanut cluster was OK. No matter what people say, I can always tell the difference between real chocolate and “other” chocolate. This was definitely “other.” Meh.

The peanut butter cup was one of the vilest things I’ve tasted in a long while.

Saturday, August 27, 2005

Apparently, there’s a cookbook for Ramen noodle lovers - 101 Things to Do with Ramen Noodles. And it includes desserts. I’m intrigued.

LATER: Oooh, companion cookbooks:

101 Things to Do with a Tortilla
101 Things to Do with a Cake Mix
And then there’s 101 More Things to Do with a Cake Mix.

STILL LATER: Dear heavens, one of the reviews of the tortilla cookbook is hilarious and poetic:

Though this delicacy has long been recognized as a favorite by mid-century minimalists such as Yves Klein and Josef Albers, Ashcraft proves the tortilla is a relevant medium for contemporary art as well. Her stirring arrangements of lettuce and shredded cheese display a keen sensitivity to color and emotion, and establish her as the unrivalled queen of postmodern cookery.

Postmodern cookery?

Sunday, August 21, 2005

As usual, another busy weekend has passed. This one covers:

1. Wedding Mania
2. My Freakin’ Family
3. Let’s Talk Sports
4. TV - It’s a Good Thing

And I’ll throw in:

5. Gourmandery

I’ll go in that order with quick hi-lites.

1. Wedding Mania: We stopped at the wire manufacturer on Friday afternoon. Actually, I should say that we drove around the building that houses the wire manufacturer and opted not to go in for a couple of reasons: 1) no obvious door and 2) skeevey part of town. We decided to just order the amount of wire we will need and go with it.

2. My Freakin’ Family: I have such a fun family. Beau blended well with Jaynee and Denis and he managed to avoid a serious inquisition.

*pause to clean up the cat yak - Beau and I were sitting here, heard a weird noise, looked to where the cat was wondering off and noticed the pile. I shall resume this post in a moment.*

And…we’re back. So. I have a fun family. My niece and nephew get cuter everytime I see them. CootieBoy’s first birthday was great - he seems not to like chocolate, so he got a banana cake with blue frosting instead. He enjoyed smearing it all over. CootieGirl was very sweet to give him some of her cake, too.

It was a good weekend with the Cooties. I wish we lived closer so that we could see them more often.

3. Let’s Talk Sports: We went to the Mets-Nats game last night at Shea Stadium. It was a special evening as we celebrated Hispanic Heritage night with Bring Your Dog night. The Mets were killing the Nats (8-0) until the 7th inning when the Nats scored 6 runs. Another 2 runs in the 8th inning brought the game to a 10th inning, when the Mets managed to score the winning run. It was fun to be at a game.

The journey to and from the game was typical New York - part bus, part subway. We rode the 7 train, of course, which was fine except for after the game when we were packed in there with a bunch of sweaty, stinky guys. There was one guy who absolutely reeked. Double deoderant in the summer, fellas! I was worried about any who might have imbibed a few too many that might have resulted in a puking event on the train. I would have had some troubles then, but were saved. We got home at about 12:45am and crashed hard.

4. TV - It’s a Good Thing: We watched last night’s BB6 this morning when we woke up. Dang that Friendship. I can’t wait to go read the updates to see what’s been going on since the show aired.

In children’s TV I have to say that I still prefer The Wiggles over a lot of the stuff. One I loathe and yet find mesmerizing is Doodlebops.

5. Gourmandery: Now, my brother-in-law is a fantastic cook and he excelled Friday night. We got to the house to discover the most delectible smells coming from the kitchen. Braising in the crock pot were short ribs that were cooked to the most tender perfection. When he pulled them out, the meat fell off the bones. As a matter of fact, he left most of the bones in the crock. Fab-u-lous meal.

Beau and I enjoyed the drive up and back with my parents. There was some good conversation, good laughs, good food, and just generally good times.

Saturday, August 06, 2005

Some have Pop Tarts.

Others have Starbucks.

I have Pirate’s Booty.

Cheeseburgers, fries, fruit.

Back in a bit.

From here on out I will be grazing. Although I think my Dad is planning to grill burgers for dinner, so maybe this won’t work. But so far I haven’t eaten a large meal and I’m thinking that I’ll need snacks throughout the night to keep me awake. And coffee, although I’ll probably stick with Vanilla Diet Coke™ for the most part.

So here’s the Which is Better?

Vanilla Diet Coke

or

Lime Diet Coke

Leave your vote in the comments…