Recaps from last year:
pictures from me
from ChambanaCranksgiving
from Smile Politely
I used a mishmash of the following three recipes:
http://italianfood.about.com/od/gno
http://www.deliciousdays.com/archives/2
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyle
Baked a couple pounds of potatoes and peeled* them. Mashed the flesh and divided it into quarters (~1/2 lb each portion)
( Read more... )
*Re: leftover potato peels: Not wanting to waste the peels, I chopped them up and fried them in bacon grease along with rough slivered onions and chopped mushrooms. Topped with shredded cheese and a couple poached eggs for a potato skin hobo skillet type thing. A junky treat to myself for raking leaves. ;)
- Feelin'?:
satisfied
Store-bought extract on the left, homemade on the right. 2 weeks to go, so it looks like it's on the right track. Didn't have two white or two clear spoons and I wasn't sure the metal spoons would show enough, but I think you can see the difference.
Wish I had thought of putting a few drops of extract on a piece of paper each week to get a better record of it, but I think this will do just fine this time around.
Previously:
vanilla extract: six weeks
vanilla extract: two weeks
vanilla extract: one week elapsed
week 0, day 0
What can I say? Bento + WtWTA = awesome. more info at Anna's blog post.
Slow and low, with apple and hickory wood, about 3 1/2-4 hours. Had to finish the potatoes in the oven to free up the grill for other stuff; they needed to cook a little more, so braised them with a little oktoberfest and water. The eggplant was an experiment, I think I like it, probably about as much as regular grilled eggplant slices.
These are not really that good together, because once you start, the smoke flavor becomes overpowering. Good to use one smoked competent in a dish. For example, finely diced smoked potatoes make an awesome addition to enchilada or omelet fillings.
This morning I finely diced just one of these potato halves and added it to the egg mixture for these egg muffins. It was so good! The potato bits tasted like smoked ham!
Inspired by this, I'm starting a big cloth napkin project so we can stop using paper napkins. Thought I'd start easy, with some precut fabric quarters. Kinda like how the colors worked on this one, will probably get more to make a set (2 or 4?).
Lots of scraps and reclaimed clothing material will be going into future pieces for this project...
I made a huge batch of this today using some of our latest haul of Green Zebra tomatoes. Initially I thought it'd be a "slimy" mary mix, but the bright green flesh color dulled a bit and the carrot bits darkened it too, so now I'm calling it a zombie marie mix.
It is so good! I can't believe we never considered making this with our tomato hauls. Definitely won't make that mistake again. Yummuy!
update: Here's a picture of the stuff. About 45-55 green zebra tomatoes, plus the amount of vegetables in the recipe, yielded about a gallon of mix. I kept this batch on the thick and chunky side, thinking that the addition of vodka and ice would give it a perfect consistency. But it could also be stretched a little to have more mix. I'm calling it Zombie Mary Mix. ;)
( 2nd update: virgin zombie mary as served )
day 0, Originally uploaded by kidmissile.
making vanilla extract:
-3 beans, split down the middle, but left intact at the ends
-1 cup vodka
-put in a sterilized jar, swirl around, and store in a cool dark place for 8 weeks!
Could someone please remind me to post a weekly picture to track the color changes? :)
It rained all day, which was sad for the art fair (though our friend said that Saturday is always her busy sales day), but good for our gardens. We spent the day lazing around, cooking (pasta sauce, leek confit, this vanilla extract, and cheddar biscuits), watching TV, and I worked on our new butcher block cart/kitchen island, which we scored at a garage sale last weekend for $30!
( +3 pics of my next wood refinishing project )
green zebra pasta sauce prep
Originally uploaded by kidmissile.
score, blanch, peel.
We're making a sauce tonight so I can have a couple big pasta meals in prep for the century bike ride on Sunday. I'm looking forward to the freaky green sauce, I've already made a small batch of pizza sauce with them. =)
These heirloom tomatoes are beauties, our current favorite. Perfect size for cutting and eating without worrying about storing leftovers.
That's my main problem with Brandywines—I love their flavor, but if you just want a couple slices for a sandwich, you have to contend with a juicy leftover. Not really a big problem, actually, but these GZ's fit our eating habits perfectly. =)
That's right. Layers of mashed potatoes, pulled pork, and bbq sauce!
Made by the same people who had the "Fried Pepsi". Didn't get the fried soda, as the parfait was plenty for my tummy. I'm going back this week, so I'll try fried Dr. Pepper if I can get it.
So for the 4th of July I made another Bacon Explosion. It was good and all, but I really think the draw of that dish is the pure audacity and spectacle of it. And while it was super tasty, I don't think it is as satisfying as a well done bbq pulled pork (you can crumble bacon on top of your pulled-pork sandwich if you like ;)
The other day I made candied bacon (bake at 375F on racks on rimmed and lined baking sheets, with brown sugar sprinkled on each slice, about 20-30 minutes, depending on how crispy you like it; and that's "racks" as in extra cooling racks sitting in the rimmed cookie sheets, not directly on the racks of your oven, unless you want to set your kitchen on fire).
Yesterday I made my Ghirardelli choc. chips cookies, using the Cook's Illustrated tips, and crumbled the candied bacon into half the batter. The result was fantastic! But I think it needed either *more* bacon or fewer choc chips, which seems like kind of an odd thing to say for choc chip cookies. Was it yummuy*? Yes. Did it blow my mind? No.
I also took several of the candied bacon strips and drizzled melted dark chocolate over them, then chilled in the fridge. *extremely tasty* but honestly not nearly Last Meal material. Well, on second thought, I haven't tried the chocolate covered bacon strips over vanilla ice cream. And for the record, I don't know what I'd want for dessert in my last meal, or for that matter, any of the courses. =)
I'll report back this afternoon on the bacon over ice cream. But for me now, I don't know if there's any better way than eating one of my mom's classic breakfasts: bacon with white rice. That's it, simply delicious.
It's true that everything is better with bacon. But I think the Bacon should stand alone.
- Feelin'?:jabba
http://annathered.wordpress.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/annath
After a taste test, it's missing one vital component: soy sauce marinade. We were out so I just went with various seasonings and a little drizzle of olive oil and Worcestershire sauce.
( explosivo )
Last week we had a good Cinco de Mayo dinner. pt and I rode our bikes to a local Mexican restaurant. We called N and fortunately she was able to join us, we met her on her bike on the street. It was totally like when we were young, cruising around the neighborhoods meeting up with friends on their bikes. Except now we get to go as far as we want from home, and drink. ;)
We thought about going to one of our favorite places downtown, but they were having music that night as part of the celebration and we didn't want to get too annoyed with a band in our face as we're trying to eat. I'm glad we checked out AZ-T-CA, it's a little place nestled in the corner of a Schnuck's grocery store strip mall. Great find though, their Tuesday half-price margarita special was in effect ($2.50 each!) and they were tasty, definitely not bottom shelf liquor.
The small restaurant was packed and we waited a really long time to find a place to sit, actually ended up squeezing in at the end of a large group's table. The food was good, and cheap. I got 3 fish tacos for $6, pt had some sort of tequila shrimp for about $8. Some guy I was talking to while we were waiting bought us a round of margaritas too! The weird thing is that they had a lot of people working, but maybe just one guy (the owner) doing all the cooking. Maybe he needs to hire me on as sous chef?
I was surprised at how busy the place was, but apparently it's very popular. That's the thing about Springfield, it's like you have to know where some of the good spots are, because, as you see in the picture, you'd never know by driving past that it was hoppin' in that restaurant. Before we left some guy saw our bike helmets and started talking to me about biking; he and his buddies have a riding group that seems like it's about my speed, so I gave him my e-mail address and I hope he contacts me for one of their weekend group rides.
My goal for next year is to get on an smsl futbol squad, maybe AZ-T-CA will have a spot for me... ;)
( my 5x5 strength training testimonial )
pt beat me in the first game of 301, with a very nice 3 dart closeout combo. I won the next match of Cricket.
( smoked fish )
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