Gourmandery

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.

- it’s not too late to make a pledge!

Free Tea For All Reasons tea for anyone who sponsors me.
If you pledge up to $25, you will get one bag of tea.
If you pledge over $25, you will get two bags of tea.

Cheeseburgers, fries, fruit.

Back in a bit.

- it’s not too late to make a pledge!

Free Tea For All Reasons tea for anyone who sponsors me.
If you pledge up to $25, you will get one bag of tea.
If you pledge over $25, you will get two bags of tea.

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…

- it’s not too late to make a pledge!

Free Tea For All Reasons tea for anyone who sponsors me.
If you pledge up to $25, you will get one bag of tea.
If you pledge over $25, you will get two bags of tea.

Monday, July 25, 2005

Dogette’s tale of visiting the Land ‘o Meat known as churrascaria is well worth the click over to read it. Tres amusement.

Profanity alert for those who care.

Oh, and there’s the Artist’s Depiction as well. What I love most is that she made reference to no less than four separate movies and each instance was brilliantly apropo.

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

A few of us took ECD for lunch today - our farewell to our friend. I ate way too much and then added dessert to the mix. I am so miserable right now and the Tums™ are barely working. I just want to lie down and take a nap.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

I have been requested by the lovely Gwynne to wax philosophic about Pop Tarts™. So here ya go.

They rule.

My favorite is the classic Frosted Strawberry. However, I recently discovered the delectable Frosted Blueberry. I lean toward the classics, as you can see. That said, I do enjoy the occasional Frosted Chocolate Fudge.

I tend to eat the pair right out of the faux foil wrapper, although I do like them lightly toasted when I think about it and a toaster is near by.

I have to admit to a skepticism on the taste quality of the new-fangled Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Cookies & Creme flavors. I am intrigued by the S’mores offering, which I have not tried yet.

Disliked Wholeheartedly: all manner of the unfrosted Tart™, Brown Sugar Cinnamon, and Apple Cinnamon.

I’m a huge fan of the Ritz Chips. Light, crispy, salty. I could eat a whole bag in one sitting.

Yesterday I picked up a bag of Wheat Thins Chips. Oooh-la-la. Equally good. And they’re new enough that they don’t have their own variety page yet.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

We’re having another farewell luncheon here at the office. Lots of food in chafing dishes in the conference room.

This means, of course, that I won’t get a lot of work done today because by sexist default the wimmin do the prep work. Case in point - the Ops supervisor walked into the squadroom where all of the deputies (mostly men) were sitting in their cubes and went straight to ECD to ask her to help the criminal clerk to set up for the lunch. Now, she’s happy to help, but the point is that there are a dozen men in that room that can and should help as well.

I’m no raging feminist, but it’s a little discriminatory to expect that only the wimmin will take care of putting on the luncheon. I’ll be interested to see who does the clean up later.

LATER: I’m in need of a nap now. Ate way too much, but not as much as I normally would, so that’s a good thing.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Stay away from cilantro. When you see cilantro in your Tex-Mex food, do not eat it. Always remember that nasty taste it leaves in the back of your throat and the borderline heartburn.

Is that TMI?

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Nothing to say today.

Just had Raaga for lunch. Mmmmm...Indian food.

Very sleepy.

Must. take. nap. now.

Kidding.

Must. do. work. now.

Sunday, March 13, 2005

I have a knack for making 9 year old girls cry.

A couple of days ago it was over a surgical procedure (known as fraenectomy) that some kids have to have during their orthodontics tenure. You know that little flap of skin at the front of your lip that attached to your gums? Some with gapped teeth need to have that flap “trimmed” in order to prevent the gap from returning. So one of Holly’s friends said that she would have to have it done and she was asking me about it. I said that she might have to have it done, but it’s not a big deal - I had it done and didn’t even need stitches. But apparently, Holly has a low pain tolerance and she’s terrified of this precedure that she might not even have to have. Because I didn’t reassure her that it was going to be unnecessary, the tears flowed. Oy.

Then today, I cooked lunch for us while they were at church this morning. Chicken breasts with Jared’s Diablo sauce (which is delicious! Recipe is in comment #11 - thanks, Rod), corn, lima beans, Rice-a-Roni, crusty rolls. I knew the chicken was a gamble with the kid since she’s a picky eater - it’s why I didn’t load up with too much Tabasco. What I didn’t know I was cooking into was that Holly was counting on Chicken Out for lunch today and when ECD informed her that I was cooking there was much disappointment (and whining). I was headed upstairs to check on the food when they walked in, Holly with a clearly unhappy face.

Uh oh.

I decided long ago that I was cooking for ECD and me - Holly will have to eat what I prepare or not eat and I try to include veggies and rice that I know she will eat. She does not go away from the table hungry. Mostly - there are times when I’ll make her something because she definitely doesn’t like, say, salmon. Anyway, I’ve tried several chicken recipes and only one has gotten a positive response from her. At this point, I’m not inclined to eat bland meals because a 9 year old “doesn’t like it.”

So we’re eating and Holly is eating everything around the chicken and I know that she’s building her dislike for it in her head before she even tastes it. But ECD and I will not let her get away without eating it, so the battle begins when she tries to cut off a miniscule morsel of an already bite sized piece of the chicken. Uh uh. Eat that whole thing. Before it’s actually in her mouth she’s complaining that she doesn’t like it.

I lose it a little, “Holly, you don’t even know you don’t like it!” And then the tears come.

Fortunately, her mother took over the discipline at that point and I cleaned up. Just a couple of minutes ago, Holly came to apologize to me - I’m not sure she knows what she’s even apologizing for, but that’s OK. And I know we’ll have the food battle again the next time I cook.

Monday, March 07, 2005

Since this is right up my alley, it has to be done.

1) What is your favorite kitchen appliance?

Too many to name, but you cannot cook without a good quality chef knife. I’m also rather partial to the classic six-burner stove.

2) What kind of cookware do you have?

I’m in the process of migrating over to all Circulon. Slowly and piece by piece.

3) What color are your counter tops and cabinets?

The cabinets are a honey oak with medium slate-green counters.

4) Name one kitchen appliance or gadget that you wish you had.

Convection oven.

5) Describe your dream kitchen.

My appliances and sink area would all be stainless steel. I would have a commercial grade refrigerator and freezer. I would have a six-burner gas stove. Double ovens with one of them being convection. I’d have an island with a utility sink for veggie washing/disposal with cooling/warming drawers beneath the Silestone counters. My parents have Silestone counters (I believe they have something like Blue Safita on the island - the one they have is actually discontinued - and I think they have Blue Sahara or something similar on the main counters) and they are beautiful and resilient - you can use it like you would marble for pastries, it will take hot pans, and won’t scratch or nick with knives. I would also have a custom drawer for my knives - blocks aren’t that great for storing your knives. And finally, I would have a large walk-in pantry where I would be able to store, small appliances, decorative serving pieces, baskets, and glassware in addition to food items.

Courtesy: Christopher