teaser!

... more to come!

home sweet home

I finally got a chance to park it in front of the tube and chow down tonight...
it's TACO TUESDAY! so i had 3 tacos with a macho coke from Del Taco...
then I proceed to inhale some leftovers from a previous dining excursion:

Grillin' Chicken Sandwich with Sweet Potato Fries from the Veggie Grill

(leftovers did NOT do the fresh sandwich justice... but when are leftovers just as good as the original?) Cilantro Pesto = YUM. Chipotle Ranch = YUM. Cute eco-friendly take-out box= AWESOME.

And to finish off the evening, a bowl of Rocky Road. YUM.

experimentation

so... again, i haven't eaten at home or cooked/baked anything for a week. and that's dumb. The next chance I get, I am going to make chocolate chip cookies. I'm going to experiment with them mainly based on what I read in this article. Hopefully, I will do it this week, but this "experiment" takes some commitment. We'll see.... :)

torn

ahhhh the puppups and the penguins.... I can't choose!

procrastination gives you 40 cents

So, remember way back when... when I was collecting recipes out of my Real Simple magazines so that I could sell them for a small amount of change?

WELL. change I did get. 40 cents to be exact. 4 issues for 10 cents each = 40 cents total

I lugged literally 3 trader joe paper bags full of magazines to the used book/mag/cd/etc store... aaaaaaaand they only took magazines up to 6 months past, and also had some other scale of magazine selection. So out of all that, they took 4. I guess, I should have sold back earlier like in 2007 when I was still consistently buying the magazine monthly... but nope. Whatevs. (This kind of situation happens to me with Buffalo Exchange too... no one ever wants my stuff. WHY OH WHY.)

On the brightside, I'm "sloughing off the excess to find my center"...

quote from Uptown Girls... gotta love that movie!

... so I feel better now that I don't have that massive amount of magazines in my room. But knowing me, I'll buy something else to take up space. Ridiculous, really.

Anyways, nothing food related. I have a picture of a cream puff from Beard Papa's... but that's really about it. Probably won't be any post with food tomorrow either since I'm dining out! (again...)

Peas Fettuccine Alfredo

During my recipe collecting from my Real Simple magazines, I took down the "Fake It, Don't Make It" recipe for Broccoli Alfredo. I had to make some minor changes... and this time, it worked out well! (Or I was REALLY just STARVING.)

Broccoli** Alfredo

1 tbsp salt
Half a 1-pound box dry fettuccine
4 C (8 oz.) broccoli florets **I didn't have any, so I just used a handful of peas- mainly for color. I could have added more, since they were pretty good in the dish.
4 tbsp butter
1 C freshly grated Parmesan
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (optional) *I used
1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional) *I used
1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
Yields 4 servings (I guess I shouldn't have eaten most of it... oops)

Boil pot of water for pasta. Add salt when water is almost to a boil.
Add in fettuccine to boiling water. Cook until al dente.
Towards the end of cooking, add in peas (or broccoli).
Drain. Reserve 1C of pasta water.
Place butter in same pot and melt on medium heat. Add 1/2C reserved pasta water. Then stir in 1/3 C Parmesan.
Add in drained pasta and peas/broccoli. Add cayenne and nutmeg, if using.
Toss well. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with another 1/3C of Parmesan and pepper. Toss again.
If sticky, add more pasta water.
Serve and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan.

Notes: This isn't really the typical alfredo SAUCE you would think. Obviously, it's not creamy and liquidy since there's not milk or heavy cream involved. But same great taste! Very cheesy. And I would always add nutmeg to any alfredo. But adding cayenne definitely gave it a different kick. Not HOTHOT, but a nice accompaniment to the creamy richness of the cheese and butter. Overall, I think I did a good job and actually enjoyed my dinner!
Cleanup semi-sucked since there was melted cheese all on the pot bottom.

disneyland noms

My visit to Disneyland included the usual... rides and shows. And of course FOOD! We had frozen lemonade and churros to snack on. Then for dinner we had BBQ skewers of delish chicken and beef in tangy sauces. AND a mickey pretzel with warm jalepeno cheese dip. And to top off the night, we stopped into the candy shop on Main Street with a plethora of candy and confections. After careful and semi-compulsive consideration, we made our purchases of...

Rice Krispy Marshmallow Treat
We've dubbed this "The Brick". Shown above is only 1/3 left of the actual uneaten size. YUMMY.

and of course, we couldn't help ourselves when we saw these...


Mickey Mouse Rice Krispy Treat w/ chocolate dipped ears,
on a STICK!

Here's some other shots of the display case we drooled all over and pressed our noses against:

more kitchen catastrophes...

Hooray hooray! I baked! From scratch!

I took this recipe from the best book EVER...

Well, my favorite is really "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"... but this one has recipes... and they're easy!

So tonight, I made "Aunt Petunia's Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies":
1C+2Tbsp. Flour
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
A pinch of Salt
1/2 C Softened Butter
1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 C Sugar
1/4 C Packed Lt. Brown Sugar
1 Egg
***For the "Chocolate Chips": I used those specialty chocolates I've been meaning to try. I just broke those into chunks and stirred into the cookie dough.

Mix dry ingredients.
Mix wet ingredients.
Add dry to wet, gradually.
Stir in chocolate chunks.
With wet hands, shape and pat down cookies onto greased/lined baking sheet.
Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.
Yields (the recipe claims) 8 cookies

Royal Milk Tea Chocolate Chunks. Tasted just like those bottled Kirin milk teas.
(The "nibbler" sized)

Madagascar Chocolate (a very dark chocolate, without the bitterness of cacao)

Delish! (the 3 huge cookies could barely fit on the baking sheet without touching)

Maccha Chocolate Chunks

GORGEOUS color. Taste came out strong as well. Has more of a white chocolate undertone.

Three down, two to go. Strawberry and Rose.

Notes: When the recipe says 'jumbo', it means it! The cookies spread out REALLY big, and they make THIN cookies, which I'm not much of a fan of. I thought I would make "nibblers", but those actually baked out to be normal cookie size. Definitely leave plenty of space between cookies. I hate when they bake into each other and look like a butt print.
Also, next time, I might bake a minute or two longer... makes it a slightly crisper cookie.

The mess: spilled brown sugar on the floor, then when I swept that up, ended up dumping contents of dustpan NOT into the trashcan, had to re-sweep. not fun. at least I didn't burn my arm on the oven, as usual.

kitchen blunders

So now that I have a burn from hot water and egg particulate on my arm, and a bruised hipbone from hopping into the granite countertop...
I had a very fulfilling dinner. Really though. Another one of my one pot wonders...

Tofu and Ramen Noodles w/ Poached Egg and Ponzu Dipping Sauce

Boil everything. DUH. I put noodles first, then tofu (since tofu don't get soggy). Then when noodles were done, I broke an egg into the slightly rolling boiling water. (I like my eggs soft boiled... mmmMMMM.)
I lightly flavored the noodles with ponzu, soy sauce and sesame oil. Yum. And of course, have to have the ponzu dipping sauce.

And for the observant ones, yes, I eat on newspaper. In fact, it's the same newspaper as in the previous post. I eat in the same spot, as well, on the floor, and often times with the same (cleaned) fork and bowls. I'm awesome that way.

home for dinner at last

This is the 2nd time I've made this 'dish'... can't go wrong with it I guess.

Cilantro and Pork Dumplings with Ponzu/Soy Sauce Broth and Ramen Noodles

Pretty much a one pot meal. Just boil everything together. I like to break a dumpling in the pot so that more flavor gets into the broth and is absorbed by the noodles. And of course, since dumplings take longer to cook than noodles do, add noodles towards the end of cooking. Add some ponzu and soy sauce to taste.

no dishes no fun

As much as I enjoy dining out since that means I don't have dishes to wash (and/or leave sitting in the sink), I still get very sad that I wasn't able to create something in the kitchen to eat. I haven't eaten at home since Sunday (or was it Saturday)... and its very depressing. I don't know what it is exactly, since honestly I don't really enjoy eating my own cooking and i LOATHE the cleanup and I'm not paying tax/tip for service... maybe its the eating/stuffing my face in my PJs on the floor in front of the tv. Perhaps?

Anyways, my next baking adventure is COOKIES! I'm trying to find a cookie dough recipe that is versatile to different additives... mainly specialty flavored chocolates. And since these small small squares of chocolates can't make a whole batch of cookies... I would need to be able to divide the dough to be able to add these several flavors of chocolate. Hmmm... the search continues.

Check these out at 100% Chocolate Cafe!

old school

I found some fabulous recipes from when I took a summer cooking program for kids years ago!

Great stuff!

Recipes include but are not limited to:
Oatmeal Raisin Spice Cookies
Little Snack (French Bread) Pizzas
Orange Julius **YUM!
Fruit Salad
Macaroni and Beef
Cashew Nut Chicken
Taco Salad

Maybe I'll re-create these someday soon and re-live the memories...

munchiness

Made some "food" this weekend to take to a bbq... easy peasy stuff... but yummy nonetheless.

Spicy Goldfish Cracker Mix

(found on BakeSpace)

3 pkg (6.6 oz each) Cheddar Goldfish
1 Envelope Ranch Salad Dressing mix
3 tsp. Dill Weed
1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/2 c vegetable oil (the original recipe called for 2/3c, but reviews on the recipe by others suggested less... waste not, want not.)

With all goldfish in a big pot/bowl, and ungreased baking sheets ready to go into the pre-heated 250 degree oven...
Mix together ranch, herbs and spices with oil. Toss with the crackers. Then spread out on to the baking sheets to bake for 15-20 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Notes: People seemed to like these... something different than just normal goldfish crackers. I personally REALLY munched down when these were right out of the oven... and not so much at the party. But, maybe I was filled up on other delish foods. MMMM love bbqs!

Cap'n Crunch Berries Marshmallow Treats
(the store brand, actually)

I used the same "recipe" as before, but this time it came out too sticky. I think there was less cereal (which i GASPED at upon opening this "15oz." box of generic brand Cap'n Crunch), which REALLY makes a difference. I thought about cutting it with some corn flakes I have, but ended up THINKING it would be okay as is. WRONG! So, note to self, not all cereals are the same... experimentation with finding the right balance of cereal and marshmallows is key to a successful and delicious (non-sticky) marshmallow treat! (Too bad "branded" cereals cost an arm and a leg at $5.00 a box!!!!!)

instant gratification

Whoever came up with the insta-curry pouch is a genius. What could be better than boiling a pot of water, dropping in the pouch... and 5 min. later, voila! Yummy curry. Granted, nothing can beat made from scratch curry, but for that quick fix... this is the way to go.

cookie cookie cookie!

Holy monkeys.... I think I need to make some special cookies for a special pup-pup I know named Maggie. Well, they would actually be more for her parents, but same thing! (not really.)

It's a dachshund cookie cutter found on Fancy Flours, which I personally think should get some better graphics of their products. But great stuff nonetheless!

(The penguin example did not strike me as particularly OMG WOW I HAVE TO HAVE IT... so I pass.)

in excess

What the hell am I gonna do with 2 packs of these "french cookies"? Geezus.

I haven't done much cooking/baking as of late... been busy/already ate by the time i got home/on a diet since last week. But I'm still collecting recipes... so I should get in some baking/cooking this weekend. And thank goodness these transient tummy aches I've been having since Monday are seemingly gone gone gone... so I can keep food down!

Mia Michaels

... is AMAZING.
I'm not a dancer, not even close, but it has definitely been a large part of my life. And when I happen to catch "So You Think You Can Dance" on the tube, I anxiously wait for a piece choreographed by Mia Michaels.

The piece that got me hooked was Lacey and Cameron's from last season (I think). YOUTUBE IT!
Then check out her other works!!

in no mood

no post today... in no mood to contribute much of anything. Added some new links though!