Friday, February 15, 2008

Foodie Updates

Yeah, so my kid had his pajamas on all day, SO WHAT
This was after we had to scrap 3 of them.....4th time was charm

uh, speaks for itself


Round loaf of deli rye cooked on the BGE



Cooking rye on the BGE

Rye rising on the pizza board

Thursday, February 14, 2008

A Foodie's Pet Peeve #3



The Coffee Poser.........you know who you are. I won't name any names here to protect the identity of those involved and his identity has been sealed with a mask as this could get vicious.







COFFEE POSER:
1. one who pretends to drink coffee.

2. who tries to drink coffee but with exaggeration

3. Any one who does not follow his/her own ideas of what he/she likes. Following no one set norm makes you real and following no one set norm makes you poser. Poser is governed not by the coffee you drink, but rather by the state of your mind and the conformity to your own beliefs

4. A person who attempts to blend coffee into a specific social group.

You have a ritual..........you fill up your "pink" thermal cup and then let it cool down (WHAT IS UP WITH THAT), you add heaps of sweet n low and flavored syrups, even your little girl vanilla liquid creamer, you even sometimes put an ICE CUBE in it (that is really irritating), you carry it throughout the house for part of the morning eventually leaving it somewhere completely full from the the time you started. Just drink a pop already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You don't like coffee, just admit it!!!!!!

I LOVE YOU HONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Rye Bread Update

Bread turned out pretty well. I was SHOCKED.......I was hoping for the best but expecting the worst. I did one loaf on the BGE and one on a pizza stone in my convection oven. Soooooo, tomorrow is on for Valentine's Day Reuben Panini's. My waffle cone maker showed up 2 days earlier than expected also. Since I never made the ice cream............here is my plan.....I am going to make waffle cones tomorrow and dip them in white chocolate (also my hubby's fave) and then sprinkle chocolate "jimmies" or "sprinkles" to the rest of ya, from Guittard onto the white chocolate. I am just going to buy some ice cream since I don't have time to make any now.....a girl can't do everything, I got 2 kids bouncing off the walls and cat at the vet for a sex change, I am a busy woman. I know "white chocolate" is not really "chocolate" but what else can I call it?? I have a hard time saying that word "white chocolate".

White chocolate is a confection of sugar, cocoa butter, and milk solids. Unlike chocolate, white chocolate contains neither chocolate liquor nor cocoa solids. The low melting point of cocoa butter allows white chocolate and chocolate to remain solid at room temperature, yet melt easily in the mouth. White chocolate thus has a texture similar to that of milk chocolate.

Jimmies~You're correct in your assumption that 'jimmies' is primarily a New England term for what the rest of the country (and probably the world) know as 'sprinkles.' According to the Dictionary of American Regional English, 'Jimmies' is actually a trademarked term for a brand of candy (not necessarily chocolate) sprinkles, which they explain are 'tiny balls or rod-shaped bits of candy used as a topping for ice-cream, cakes and other sweets.' Although 'Jimmies' is trademarked, my guess is that the term was in generic use for many years prior to the founding of Jimmies as a brand name. And while 'jimmies,' meaning chocolate sprinkles, first showed up in English around 1947, 'jimmies' has also been used since around 1900 as a short form of the old English slang word 'jim-jam.' 'Jim-jam,' in turn, has since the 16th century meant 'a trivial article or knick-knack,' so it's not too great a stretch to see a connection there with candy "jimmies," which are certainly trivial.


I will quiz you on these terms in the future....................................................

Reuben Kulakofsky

My husband's favorite sandwhich "hands down" is the reuben.

I did not know this and I bet you didn't either:According to Omaha lore, the combination of rye bread, corned beef, Swiss cheese, and sauerkraut had been dreamed up in 1925 to feed participants in a late-night poker game at the Blackstone Hotel in downtown Omaha by a local grocer, Reuben Kulakofsky. Charles Schimmel, the hotel's owner, was so taken with the sandwich that he put it on the hotel restaurant menu, designated by its inventor's name. Fern Snider, a one-time waitress at the Blackstone, entered the Reuben in a national sandwich competetion in 1956; her entry won--hence one of the earliest pieces of documentation for the name of the sandwich, an OED cite from 1956 from the food services journal "Institutions". ~Jim Rader of Merriam-Webster

I thought it would be nice to try and make some homemade deli rye bread on the BGE (big green egg) and then make him a reuben panini for Valentine's Day supper. I am getting ready to fire up the BGE in a minute. I made 2 loaves just in case 1 does not turn out. Both may not turn out. I have still not purrrrfected the art of baking bread. Lessons will be learned if it doesn't turn out........learning opportunities abound in failure. I embrace failure. If they both turn out.........then some lucky recipient at the railroad will receive the other loaf. Wish me luck!! I will post pics whether it be success or disaster. Although I am sure the disaster will make for more comical reading.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

What is for Din-Din???





Tuesday night din-din. Din-Din is the other slang my hubby uses for sup-sup. Slightly annoying, I know, you are talking to to the choir. Anyway, I made this chicken soup adapted from Tyler Florence Ultimate. I substituted gnocchi for the tortellini. If you haven't used gnocchi yet in a soup, you need to. They are soooo yummy. Especially in a chicken based soup. They are tender little potato dumplings that melt in your mouth. Basically the soup was a chicken stock base, carrot, celery, onion, thyme, garlic, bay leaf, italian chicken sausage meatballs and the gnocchi. I then took some roasted garlic bread and spread one side w/some basil pesto, layered roma tomato and a small amount of fresh mozzarella and grilled on the panini press.

Danger, Danger, Danger Will Robinson



Quite frankly, THIS CONCERNS ME!!! I open up my package from KAF (King Arthur Flour) today and this is what I pull out.

*USE CAUTION STRONG FUMES*

All I wanted to do was try and make some homemade rye bread. Instead, I find myself suiting up w/latex gloves and looking for the mushroom cloud gas mask ensemble. Who knew that baking could become a biohazard.

Just in case you are too young to know who Will Robinson is or you live in a bubble:“Danger, Will Robinson!” is an English catch phrase derived from the classic 1960s American television series Lost in Space. The phrase characterizes the relationship between two of its regular characters, the Robot and Will Robinson over the course of several episodes of that series. The autonomous (and nameless) robot takes a protective attitude toward Will, and alerts him thus to dangerous situations, expecting Will to take immediate action to protect himself. The robot cannot do everything, even though its sensors are amazingly sensitive: Interesting Factoid:Despite the popularity of the phrase in everyday culture, it was only said once on the show.

I Call This One~ BOY EATING COOKIE


Monday, February 11, 2008

Breakfast For Sup-Sup

My husband always asks what is for Sup-Sup (supper). I have no idea where that came from, the sup-sup. When I don't cook anything (which is not often), he will come home and walk in the door and say "What is for sup-sup" and I will reply "What do you smell" and he will say "Nothing" and then I will reiterate "Then I guess that is what we are having for sup-sup".

Tonight I am making Italian Omelettes filled with Italian Turkey sausage, tomato sauce, red/green peppers and low fat mozzarella. Grilled Rosemary Bread brushed w/olive oil (toast), a salad of baby italian lettuce and a caramel iced coffee (just going to throw some coffee, torani caramel syrup and fat free 1/2 & 1/2 in a glass of ice. mmmmmm good.

I don't know if anyone saw Tyler's Ultimate today but he made a really yummy grilled cheese and a chicken soup w/chicken sausage meatballs and tortellini and chocolate amaretto walnut brownies...........that is definately going to be on the menu at this household this week!!!!

I don't know that I am going to pull off the mexican hot chocolate ice cream w/mallows for V-day. My waffle cone maker will not be here until Thursday. It might have to wait for another time. DRATS!!!! Back to the cooking drawing board for V-day. Emeril made a beef stew w/cocoa and a flourless chocolate torte today........perhaps that could be the one.

Fishing For Waffles

Last night I had a dream that I was fishing with corn on the cob and catching fish left and right. I think it was because I had been bad mouthing all of you "so called" salmon eaters out there.

I also dreamt I was making waffles.

The End.