I finally made sunflower nut butter, about as easy as boiling water, we should have been doing this all along! =d

Take a handful of sunflower seeds, we used roasted & salted, and pulse it in a food processor until you get the desired consistency. That's it!

http://www.ofallonbrewery.com/products/index.html

We recently discovered this awesome seasonal brew. Really happy to find it in the affordable mix-a-six pack rack at our grocery store. Delicious and comforting, though not too sweet. Between this and Founder's Breakfast Stout, we're good. We're also big fans of O'Fallon's Weach in the summer, looks like they have a bunch of other interesting beers. For some reason I thought this brewery was in Michigan, but they're actually not too far away from us. Could warrant a weekend day trip to Missouri sometime!

I've given up on the micro batch cookie project. Too much overhead/time for the result; I'd rather just make a full batch of dough and freeze what I don't want to eat right away.

The mug brownie, however, is totally awesome. It's not the best brownie ever, but will definitely satisfy a chocolate fix. You can make this thing almost faster than you can eat it. In fact, I think you'll spend the most time waiting for it too cool so you don't your mouth.

Super easy. Super fast. Tasty in a pinch. I made a half serving yesterday; microwaving for 45 seconds is about right for that portion.

postponing long bike ride to have a comforting brunch watching Secret of NIMH with Kristina. gonna be warmer a little later anyway. :)

Finally got around to trying this again. I think the last time was years ago in our Chicago apartment, and we didn't like the results. This time it was pretty good.

I used a mishmash of the following three recipes:
http://italianfood.about.com/od/gnocchi/a/aa010298.htm

http://www.deliciousdays.com/archives/2009/05/19/15-minutes-to-fame-gnocchi-for-beginners-and-braggarts/

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/perfect-potato-gnocchi-recipe/index.html

Baked a couple pounds of potatoes and peeled* them. Mashed the flesh and divided it into quarters (~1/2 lb each portion)
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*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. ;)

Saw this on a package for a vanilla bean at the grocery store, looks like it's worth a try. And having started the homemade vanilla extract, I'm confident that this would be pretty good. Anybody have a brand of instant coffee they like? (I'd rather not buy the instant stuff, but I could use it in chocolate-coffee muffins and other treats.:)

2 cups water
4 cups sugar
1/4 cup instant coffee
1 pt. vodka or brandy
1 vanilla bean

boil sugar and water; add coffee and mix well; let cool, then add vodka; pour into a jar and
add vanilla bean, age at least 2 months.

when ready add ice to a glass, pour over a shot of the mixture and top with cream

I would add that you should split the vanilla bean open, leaving the ends intact so it doesn't completely split apart.

I was able to extend my long ride today because I found a couple sweet sources of sugar to keep me fueled after I ran out of my power gels.

The Head West sub shop had awesome brownies for $1.35 (and they had Odwalla bars for $1.50, which I didn't need after the brownie). Then as I was on the way home I saw a lemonade stand in Jerome. The nice kids were donating all proceeds to the local Animal Protective League. BIG chocolate chip cookies, tasty choc/vanilla cupcakes, and lemonade, each for only $0.25! I bought a cupcake, cookie, and had one of the kids pour the lemonade into my empty water bottle. Took off while I snarfed the cupcake.

Man that cupcake was so good and I was thinking I should have donated the 3+ bucks I had left in emergency pocket change. So I turned back, boughtsnarfed another cupcake and packed another cookie to bring home to pt, then gave them the rest of my money. Good job kids! =) With that extra cupcake I was able to take the long long way home.

( the numbers for this weekend )

With all my recent food experiments, as successful as they were, I've come to the conclusion that the Bacon should stand alone.

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.

back to the regimen after an extended weekend of indulgence with friends =)

BBQ tofu, smoked with hickory and applewood:

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 )

I lazed about all morning, but finally got into gear and mowed the backyard. We had planned for a 20-mile ride so pt could get ready for Bike The Drive, but she was too tired from all her yardwork. So I fired up the grill, and installed the dartboard while we waited for our tasty treats to smoke.


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 )

Long bike ride + run in Washington Park w/ pt + 2 massive breakfast burritos = ZzzzZzzzz

For the Totoro fans out there, via BB:

How to make Totoro Cream Puffs tutorial! and associated flickr set

Her blog is chock full of bento goodness, among other things! Wowee

update re: the chocolate buttercrunch matzo



( a couple pictures of the process )
Yay, I actually cooked something well ahead of time! Now if I can only get myself together for the travel weekend...

I realized that I never posted about our day trip to C-U a few weeks ago. Thanks again for everyone who came out to meet us at Black Dog. We had a lovely time. It was great to see you!

Leftovers from our trip to Black Dog Smoke and Ale House. I ate there for lunch (beef brisket sandwich) and then K and I met lots of friends there later for happy hour.

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I have a new foodblog obsession, and his name is Pete. Pretty easy to see why I like him: Pete bakes, so do I. I especially like his 10 rules for amateur bakers. With renewed inspiration, I've tried several new things this last week, all very satisfying.

( english muffins, cheese puffs, pita bread, sesame crackers, lots of other stuff, and FISH TACOS! )