Ever feel too optimistic? Then click on this. It'll take care of that.
http://www.poodwaddle.com/worldclock.swf
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Potatoes Pave'
A recipe that certainly made our Christmas dinner MUCH more satisfying....But after I noticed what it cost me to make it I just about threw up. The ingredients are a bit pricey. So I would suggest finding less expensive alternatives to the meat and cheese, or make this dish only occasionally. Like after you make a few sales on Ebay or something.....
4 oz Boar's Head Pancetta, Diced (very salty meat--$12.00 per pound OUCH)
¼ cup Small Shallot, Finely Chopped
¼ stick Butter
½ tsp Black Pepper
1/8 cup All Purpose Flour
1 cup Boar's Head Pecorino Romano Cheese, grated (strong flavored cheese)
½ cup Chives, Finely Chopped
1 tsp Garlic Cloves, Finely Chopped
1 cup Heavy Cream
½ tsp Kosher Salt
1½ lb Potatoes, Yukon Gold
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Thoroughly wash potatoes. Slice potatoes into ¼ inch thick ovals leaving the skin intact. Boil potatoes for 10 minutes, drain and set aside.
Saute pancetta in butter over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add shallots and garlic and saute for an additional minute. Add flour and mix with a wire whisk until thoroughly incorporated. Add heavy cream, salt and pepper and cook until thickened. Remove from heat and fold in chives and cheese.
Spray the inside of a medium-size roasting pan with non-stick spray. Cover the bottom of the pan with a layer of potatoes. Place 1/3 of the sauce mix over the potatoes. Repeat this procedure 3 times ending with sauce mix as the final top layer. Cover with foil and cook in the oven for 30 minutes. Incease oven temperature to 375°F and cook uncovered for an additional 15 minutes. Yields 3-4 servings.
Very garlicky, very salty, very delicious. But if you can find a substitute for the Pancetta and Pecorino Romano, you would probably feel better about making this one.
4 oz Boar's Head Pancetta, Diced (very salty meat--$12.00 per pound OUCH)
¼ cup Small Shallot, Finely Chopped
¼ stick Butter
½ tsp Black Pepper
1/8 cup All Purpose Flour
1 cup Boar's Head Pecorino Romano Cheese, grated (strong flavored cheese)
½ cup Chives, Finely Chopped
1 tsp Garlic Cloves, Finely Chopped
1 cup Heavy Cream
½ tsp Kosher Salt
1½ lb Potatoes, Yukon Gold
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Thoroughly wash potatoes. Slice potatoes into ¼ inch thick ovals leaving the skin intact. Boil potatoes for 10 minutes, drain and set aside.
Saute pancetta in butter over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add shallots and garlic and saute for an additional minute. Add flour and mix with a wire whisk until thoroughly incorporated. Add heavy cream, salt and pepper and cook until thickened. Remove from heat and fold in chives and cheese.
Spray the inside of a medium-size roasting pan with non-stick spray. Cover the bottom of the pan with a layer of potatoes. Place 1/3 of the sauce mix over the potatoes. Repeat this procedure 3 times ending with sauce mix as the final top layer. Cover with foil and cook in the oven for 30 minutes. Incease oven temperature to 375°F and cook uncovered for an additional 15 minutes. Yields 3-4 servings.
Very garlicky, very salty, very delicious. But if you can find a substitute for the Pancetta and Pecorino Romano, you would probably feel better about making this one.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Merry x-mas....
We just got back home from a trip to romantic Bouse, Arizona, where Steve examined yet another airplane for sale. This time, it wasn't some old man in the middle of nowhere with a junk plane. It was an old man in the middle of nowhere with a very nice plane. Too bad it's out of the acceptable price range. He's selling it because his 78 year old wife was just diagnosed with breast cancer and it's probably going to be an expensive fight. He did admit that the guy he bought the plane from had the same problem, a wife with cancer. I let him know that it's not a good selling point. However, Steve's gonna keep in contact with him and maybe they'll work a lower dollar amount. Who knows?
On the way home we encountered something that is quite common to Arizona although probably foreign to other states: "Virga."
It is rain that evaporates before it hits the ground. Very frustrating to us people who enjoy a little REAL weather now and then.
Further down the road, we noticed some interesting skies and had to pull over to take a few photos. The highway between Havasu and Parker (Indian Reservation) is surrounded by gorgeous mountains and the river is beautiful.
As we neared the outposts of Havasu we were astonished at some cloud formations that looked to be rain off to the East, with the sun reflecting off them from the West:
We must've taken 50 pictures, from the side of the road. The mountains in the distance were completely covered up by these clouds, which just seemed to be taking over the desert.
Once we got into Havasu, we noticed the "cloud" had taken on a more interesting look, and Steve's daughter called excitedly to tell us it was snowing in the mountains.
We tried to climb the nearest mountain in order to get a better look, but by the time we got up there the storm moved away from us. So we went out for some Friday night fish and chips.
It was an exciting day altogether, really, because Steve and I enjoyed ourselves a Latte on our way to the romantic, isolated community of Bouse:
That's his rugged, wonderful hand in the photo, with a scratch on it because he was wrestling a mountain lion earlier this week. Or he mis-handled his pocket knife. I dunno.
But, the Latte thing is quite exciting because Steve has NEVER been a coffee person, his whole life. And now all of a sudden he's interested. This means I've changed him. CHANGED HIM. Soon he will like Superman as much as I. Oh yes. It will come to be.
Our Christmas was quite subdued. We didn't do the gift thing, Steve did cards for his daughters and I. But his daughters got money with their cards. I got a kiss. Shay had a stocking with some Hot Wheels and money in it. And some clothing. Oh and of course the Kung Fu Panda DVD that I ordered him several weeks ago. But that was it. The food was delightful, and Steve's brother came over to enjoy it with us. Potatoes Pave was the big hit as well as the Red Velvet cake I made from scratch.
I gave Steve his carbon fiber cane which he loved. His actual present for me was a Cobra Helicopter jacket that he had made. It arrived in Fed Ex today, rather than before Christmas. He went thru a lot with the flight jacket manufacturer and the embroiderer to get it done right. The only other ones in existance belong to him and his boss. Mine actually fits nicely. And I look like a kung fu badass in it:
I especially like the "Remove Before Flight" tag on the sleeve zipper:
I hear Steve on his phone right now, telling someone that we're going to drive three hours tomorrow morning to see their plane. DAMMIT!
On the way home we encountered something that is quite common to Arizona although probably foreign to other states: "Virga."
It is rain that evaporates before it hits the ground. Very frustrating to us people who enjoy a little REAL weather now and then.
Further down the road, we noticed some interesting skies and had to pull over to take a few photos. The highway between Havasu and Parker (Indian Reservation) is surrounded by gorgeous mountains and the river is beautiful.
As we neared the outposts of Havasu we were astonished at some cloud formations that looked to be rain off to the East, with the sun reflecting off them from the West:
We must've taken 50 pictures, from the side of the road. The mountains in the distance were completely covered up by these clouds, which just seemed to be taking over the desert.
Once we got into Havasu, we noticed the "cloud" had taken on a more interesting look, and Steve's daughter called excitedly to tell us it was snowing in the mountains.
We tried to climb the nearest mountain in order to get a better look, but by the time we got up there the storm moved away from us. So we went out for some Friday night fish and chips.
It was an exciting day altogether, really, because Steve and I enjoyed ourselves a Latte on our way to the romantic, isolated community of Bouse:
That's his rugged, wonderful hand in the photo, with a scratch on it because he was wrestling a mountain lion earlier this week. Or he mis-handled his pocket knife. I dunno.
But, the Latte thing is quite exciting because Steve has NEVER been a coffee person, his whole life. And now all of a sudden he's interested. This means I've changed him. CHANGED HIM. Soon he will like Superman as much as I. Oh yes. It will come to be.
Our Christmas was quite subdued. We didn't do the gift thing, Steve did cards for his daughters and I. But his daughters got money with their cards. I got a kiss. Shay had a stocking with some Hot Wheels and money in it. And some clothing. Oh and of course the Kung Fu Panda DVD that I ordered him several weeks ago. But that was it. The food was delightful, and Steve's brother came over to enjoy it with us. Potatoes Pave was the big hit as well as the Red Velvet cake I made from scratch.
I gave Steve his carbon fiber cane which he loved. His actual present for me was a Cobra Helicopter jacket that he had made. It arrived in Fed Ex today, rather than before Christmas. He went thru a lot with the flight jacket manufacturer and the embroiderer to get it done right. The only other ones in existance belong to him and his boss. Mine actually fits nicely. And I look like a kung fu badass in it:
I especially like the "Remove Before Flight" tag on the sleeve zipper:
I hear Steve on his phone right now, telling someone that we're going to drive three hours tomorrow morning to see their plane. DAMMIT!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
It's Post #200
Yep, since Brandy got me hooked on Blogger, I have posted 200 times. How appropriate to use this opportunity to share a very evil EVIL dessert recipe!!!
Crunchy & creamy pumpkin custard pie (serves 8)
½ can (=1 ¾ cups) pumpkin
½ can (=2/3 cup) 12 oz evaporated milk
2 large eggs
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 -21/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
½ - 1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
½ pkg (=7/8 cup) yellow cake mix with pudding
1 cup chopped pecans
½ cup unsalted butter or margarine melted
Whipped cream for serving
TO MAKE FILLING: In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin ,milk,sugars, eggs,pie spice,cinnamon and salt.
Grease a 9 inch glass pie dish. Line with 14 inch piece of waxed paper. Pour filling into paper. Sprinkle top with cake mix and then with nuts. Drizzle melted butter over top.
Bake in center of oven at 325 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean.
Cool. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. To serve, place serving plate/platter on top of cooled pie and turn upside down. Remove pie dish and waxed paper.
It's not a very impressive looking dessert, once you pop it out of the wax paper. People look at it and go "ew." Really. But the taste is amazing.
For those of you who are doing the Christmas thing this year, Merry Christmas. We are having food and family and friends, but we've instructed everyone that we are not doing presents. We've been telling people this for years but nobody has adhered to it. So I guess this year it might "take" because so many people are broke.
My son has a few items that I've gotten for him, like a DVD and some clothing, but that's it. I may put some cash in his stocking, and that way he can go buy something. But we're not doing GIFT-A-PALOOZA this year. It's nice that my son is eleven years old and very understanding. We talked several weeks ago about Christmas and he was completely fine with it. I also let him know that his grandparents weren't going to be going insane with the gifts, either. He really didn't seem to care. Putting it all in perspective; Shay gets everything he wants and needs all year long. And he knows it. Anytime he gets money as a gift, he puts it away in his room and never spends it. If he wants a video game, he and I negotiate what he's going to do to earn it, and he follows thru.
He's a great kid, does what he's told and I reward him all year long for that. I'm taking this opportunity to start weaning him off the idea that Christmas is the gimme gimme gimme time of year.
It truly was breaking my heart to hear the fear in family member's voices when they'd call to tell me they couldn't afford to get us anything this year. "What? I don't WANT anything!!!" What's the point of a holiday that stresses people out because they've got all the pressure to buy, spend, and finance all kinds of gifts that typically won't be appreciated as much as it was originally intended.
Festivus for the rest of us, I say.
Merry Christmas...
Crunchy & creamy pumpkin custard pie (serves 8)
½ can (=1 ¾ cups) pumpkin
½ can (=2/3 cup) 12 oz evaporated milk
2 large eggs
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 -21/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
½ - 1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
½ pkg (=7/8 cup) yellow cake mix with pudding
1 cup chopped pecans
½ cup unsalted butter or margarine melted
Whipped cream for serving
TO MAKE FILLING: In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin ,milk,sugars, eggs,pie spice,cinnamon and salt.
Grease a 9 inch glass pie dish. Line with 14 inch piece of waxed paper. Pour filling into paper. Sprinkle top with cake mix and then with nuts. Drizzle melted butter over top.
Bake in center of oven at 325 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean.
Cool. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. To serve, place serving plate/platter on top of cooled pie and turn upside down. Remove pie dish and waxed paper.
It's not a very impressive looking dessert, once you pop it out of the wax paper. People look at it and go "ew." Really. But the taste is amazing.
For those of you who are doing the Christmas thing this year, Merry Christmas. We are having food and family and friends, but we've instructed everyone that we are not doing presents. We've been telling people this for years but nobody has adhered to it. So I guess this year it might "take" because so many people are broke.
My son has a few items that I've gotten for him, like a DVD and some clothing, but that's it. I may put some cash in his stocking, and that way he can go buy something. But we're not doing GIFT-A-PALOOZA this year. It's nice that my son is eleven years old and very understanding. We talked several weeks ago about Christmas and he was completely fine with it. I also let him know that his grandparents weren't going to be going insane with the gifts, either. He really didn't seem to care. Putting it all in perspective; Shay gets everything he wants and needs all year long. And he knows it. Anytime he gets money as a gift, he puts it away in his room and never spends it. If he wants a video game, he and I negotiate what he's going to do to earn it, and he follows thru.
He's a great kid, does what he's told and I reward him all year long for that. I'm taking this opportunity to start weaning him off the idea that Christmas is the gimme gimme gimme time of year.
It truly was breaking my heart to hear the fear in family member's voices when they'd call to tell me they couldn't afford to get us anything this year. "What? I don't WANT anything!!!" What's the point of a holiday that stresses people out because they've got all the pressure to buy, spend, and finance all kinds of gifts that typically won't be appreciated as much as it was originally intended.
Festivus for the rest of us, I say.
Merry Christmas...
Monday, December 22, 2008
A Long Time Coming
JVR and Sunny had their wedding ceremony on Sunday, and we were lucky enough to be a part of it.
A wonderful toast from Sunny's nephew:
Mmmmmm...strawberry and vanilla cake:
Sunny took a moment to say "Thank You E Harmony!"
And she posed for me as the sun was setting:
There were celebrity guests....
A little bit of bling...
Afterward, we joined Jim and Sunny at their house for some wonderful conversation and "Sunny Delights" which were Bailey's Irish Cream and steamed milk. Steve noticed that Jim had two espresso machines, and he couldn't help but get a little instruction on how espresso is made. He has a sudden interest in lattes. Yay! He's never been a coffee man, but recently he had a double shot latte and he said he actually liked it. So here's Steve and Jim, going over the whole steamed milk thing:
I can't wait to show them my photos, there are 90 altogether.
It was a wonderful day and I'm so glad we were there.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)