I'd like to start by asking: WTF happened to my followers? I sure hope somebody fixes this soon.
Anyway, decided to pick up a grill today. Been in the mood for a little smoky taste. After careful shopping (looking for the cheapest), I brought it home and put it together, and voila! There's now a grill on my patio. Company's coming for supper tonight, so I'm cooking a pork roast on it.
I've already made a couple of salads, and they are chillin in the fridge. I'll also have some pasta with portabello mushroom sauce, and maybe some corn. A couple espresso martinis and I'll be in la-la land. I've got some jazz on the ipod (even though it's not raining), and life is good. My dinner companion is due any minute, so I'll sign off for now, with a special nod to my aunt Melanie in Tx. I'm happy that you are happy, and that's from my heart. Good talking to you after so long. Let's keep doing that. Ok there's the doorbell-gotta run.
L
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
A Perfect Rainy Day
That's what I'm talkin' about! It's been raining off and on for 4 days, and I just love it. After putting in 7 hours at my second job (Thank You, God, I love it), it was off to the store for bread making supplies. I had thrown out all my flour and potato flakes while unpacking and a moth flew out of the box, and to make a long story short, I know all about the moth plague, and didn't want any more of it. So there I was, at the checkout, paying for the supper I'm cooking Thurs night, when I realized that what I actually came for (bread flour and regular flour) was not in my basket. So back through the checkout after getting these items, and on to the house, praying the rain would continue forever. My friend and co-worker Charlotte had told me (after my aforementioned illness) that if I needed ANYTHING to let her know. Well, I needed her mother's potato bread recipe, that of course I lost in the move. True to her word, she handed it over within a day or two, all typed up and pretty!
So here I am, with the rain softly falling and the ipod kicking (Michael Buble got me started with his Sinatra-esque Summer Wind), warming milk to pour into the bread machine. John Denver took me home on the Country Road while i mixed the dry ingredients (bread flour, salt, sugar, potato flakes), and Gato Barbieri's sax seduced me while I made a well in the dry ingredients and added the yeast. 4 chunks of butter in each corner, and I set the bread machine to dough and let it do it's thing. It's still doing it. When done, I'll put the dough into a bread pan and bake it in the oven for the most perfect loaf of potato bread you have ever seen. In the meantime, I'm gonna listen to Barry White tell me he's gonna luv me luv me luv me, and try to resist the overwhelming urge to call him a liar.
If you want this recipe, just leave the request in my comments. I'm happy to share.
L
So here I am, with the rain softly falling and the ipod kicking (Michael Buble got me started with his Sinatra-esque Summer Wind), warming milk to pour into the bread machine. John Denver took me home on the Country Road while i mixed the dry ingredients (bread flour, salt, sugar, potato flakes), and Gato Barbieri's sax seduced me while I made a well in the dry ingredients and added the yeast. 4 chunks of butter in each corner, and I set the bread machine to dough and let it do it's thing. It's still doing it. When done, I'll put the dough into a bread pan and bake it in the oven for the most perfect loaf of potato bread you have ever seen. In the meantime, I'm gonna listen to Barry White tell me he's gonna luv me luv me luv me, and try to resist the overwhelming urge to call him a liar.
If you want this recipe, just leave the request in my comments. I'm happy to share.
L
Burnin' Down the House
Mishaps do occur in my kitchen from time to time, but this one nearly scared the bejesus out of me. One day last week I came in from work and decided to get creative in the kitchen. After cutting chicken breasts into bite size pieces and marinating them in italian dressing, I decided to incorporate some anduille sausage that had been languishing in the fridge for a week. I like to brown the chicken quickly, so I set my favorite skillet on the stove and set the heat all the way to high. I was multitasking as usual, chatting with an old friend online, and said "brb-need to start the chicken before the pan gets too hot". well, the pan was smoking, which seemed like a good thing, but I went ahead and reduced the heat a bit before adding about a tablespoon of olive oil. Apparently the temperature of the pan exceeded the burning point of the olive oil, and before I could blink, I heard POOF and there were flames licking the underside of my upper cabinets. Panicking, with my 6 month lease flashing before my eyes, I doused it with a glass of water, and immediately wondered if that was the best thing to do. It didn't help much, but shortly the flames died down enough to get the pan into the sink with water running full blast. My apartment was filled with smoke, and I opened the patio door to help clear it. I realized at this point that I had left my online friend Mike hanging, so I dashed off a quick note to let him know I would be back once the smoke cleared, evoking the old ROFL response from him. I wasn't going to be discouraged from creating, though. Once I got everything cleaned up, I started over, and the chicken, sausage and pasta was just delicious, thank you. Warning: please don't try this at home!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Beef Tips-LeAnn Style
On tonight's menu, we have beef tips over rice. I got the rice (Uncle Ben's, of course)started while the Intruders were singing Love is like baseball (3 strikes you're out, but apparently I didn't learn this lesson, and went for a 4th and even possibly a 5th. Time to get a clue, huh?)
Then on to a pound of pretty stew meat that I cut into small pieces while War wondered Why Can't We Be Friends? Next I diced an onion, and sauteed in a little olive oil. I then set the onion aside and tossed in the meat, while Stevie Wonder serenaded me with Sir Duke. Once the meat was browned, I removed it and let it mingle with the onions (how you durrin?), and hearing Diana Ross (accompanied by the Temps) crooning Someday We'll Be Together (keep dreaming, sister), I added 2 cups of water to the pan to deglaze, and dumped in 2 pkgs brown gravy mix, whisking fervently to remove lumps. Toss in a small palmfull of dried bell peppers, and let simmer a few minutes, whisking as needed. At this point, Cheryl Lynn is singing Got To Be Real (and I wholeheartedly agree). Meat, onions, into the gravy! I had to add a little extra water, because you don't want it too thick with all that beef, as it has to distribute well over all that rice.
Now we simmer for about 10 minutes or so, just to make sure all the flavors marry. You may add mushrooms at this point, but since they went on the pizza last night, I'm fresh out.
Wondering about that aforementioned pizza? Let me give you a quick rundown:
Frozen pizza from Target (Buffalo mozzarella and sun-dried tomato). I added marinated artichokes, pepperoni, fresh basil and rosemary (all supplied by Dan), grated cheddar (because I didn't have any mozzarella), fresh grated parmesan, and sliced mushrooms. Onto the pizza stone and into the oven. 8 mins later, into our stomachs! Got all my pictures, sconces, etc. hung on my walls and my apartment is now my lovely home! Thanks, Dan. You're a peach. Even my landlord, who came over with his little german helper lady, said it looks beautiful. Think I'll light some candles tonight just to see how pretty it is.
Ok, the rice is almost done, the tips are done, I have a glass of cabernet/shiraz (this is from one of Target's cubes--love those!), and James Brown is grunting on the TV. Time to change the channel, lol.
L
Then on to a pound of pretty stew meat that I cut into small pieces while War wondered Why Can't We Be Friends? Next I diced an onion, and sauteed in a little olive oil. I then set the onion aside and tossed in the meat, while Stevie Wonder serenaded me with Sir Duke. Once the meat was browned, I removed it and let it mingle with the onions (how you durrin?), and hearing Diana Ross (accompanied by the Temps) crooning Someday We'll Be Together (keep dreaming, sister), I added 2 cups of water to the pan to deglaze, and dumped in 2 pkgs brown gravy mix, whisking fervently to remove lumps. Toss in a small palmfull of dried bell peppers, and let simmer a few minutes, whisking as needed. At this point, Cheryl Lynn is singing Got To Be Real (and I wholeheartedly agree). Meat, onions, into the gravy! I had to add a little extra water, because you don't want it too thick with all that beef, as it has to distribute well over all that rice.
Now we simmer for about 10 minutes or so, just to make sure all the flavors marry. You may add mushrooms at this point, but since they went on the pizza last night, I'm fresh out.
Wondering about that aforementioned pizza? Let me give you a quick rundown:
Frozen pizza from Target (Buffalo mozzarella and sun-dried tomato). I added marinated artichokes, pepperoni, fresh basil and rosemary (all supplied by Dan), grated cheddar (because I didn't have any mozzarella), fresh grated parmesan, and sliced mushrooms. Onto the pizza stone and into the oven. 8 mins later, into our stomachs! Got all my pictures, sconces, etc. hung on my walls and my apartment is now my lovely home! Thanks, Dan. You're a peach. Even my landlord, who came over with his little german helper lady, said it looks beautiful. Think I'll light some candles tonight just to see how pretty it is.
Ok, the rice is almost done, the tips are done, I have a glass of cabernet/shiraz (this is from one of Target's cubes--love those!), and James Brown is grunting on the TV. Time to change the channel, lol.
L
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