Abundance
Off to Costco, to stock up for the Apocolypse...
One Year food supply, for twoFruit supplyVegetable supplyDeluxe Emergency Supply KitYou gotta love Costco. I gave up my membership for a few years because, as good as the bargains were, I always felt broke after leaving their warehouses. Not to mention the difficulty storing the pallets of toilet paper and paper towels. Now look! You can buy food for a whole year. Just add water and a heat source and you're prepared for anything. Is this overkill or what?!
Updated: Okay, seriously, I think I may buy this for my mother, for Christmas. She lives in a pole house on a cliff in CA not too far from the San Andreas fault and as she should (given the number of earthquakes and wild fires that have threatened her home), she is always working on emergency kits. She has flashlights and batteries in every corner of the house, bottles of water, and whatever other supplies she deems necessary, but I don't think she has a condensed supply of food like this...so...shhh, don't tell her!Labels: Food and recipes, The Absurd
Simplest Soup Ever!
I can't believe I needed a recipe for this, but doubtful of my own abilities to just whip up a good potato leek soup, I consulted
this book by someone named Crescent Dragonwagon (I've no idea if that is her real name, but I have met her and she's a little out of this world, IYKWIM). Anyway, this is souper simple and very good:
Chop up a pound of potatoes (I used small new red potatoes and left the peels on) and 8 leeks (the recipe says to use only the white part...I only had 3 leeks, and I used all of the tender green parts as well).
Throw these in a stock pot with 4 cups of chicken stock and 4 cups of water, and a couple bay leafs if you want, and a couple tablespoons of butter if you want (who doesn't want butter in their soup?). That's it. No sauteeing first or prepping anything else.
Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for an hour until liquid reduces by half. Smash some of the potatoes to give it a thicker consistency and voila! You are finished.
This really is great by itself or it can be a good base for any number of additions...vegetables, meat, and of course, milk or cream. We did try adding a tablespoon of basil pesto to a bowl and that was very tasty as well.
Labels: Food and recipes
Peep Eyes
Happy Spring! To celebrate, I bought my first box of Peeps of the season. Orange is the new pink! I picked orange. I've never had orange peeps before. I hope they're just as good as the pink ones. I prefer the chicks over the bunnies because I think there's more surface area to deliver more of the sugary coating, and they are more fun to eat after they've hardened for a week or so in the open air (or the freezer if you're in a hurry, as I am). Never mind that these little babies may be the most toxic of all the food groups, surpassing even Pop Tarts. In my research a few years back to determine just how toxic they may be, I discovered
this website. My favorite part of all was the
solubility testing in which they concluded that, "Given enough time, the proper resources, and access to some really toxic stuff, one can probably dissolve just about anything except Peep eyes." Take the time to read the complete testing process and then dare yourself to sit down with a box of Peeps (like I'm about to do) and eat the whole thing. I dare you. :-)
Labels: Food and recipes, Near-Death Experiences, The Absurd
Still Life With Cornflakes
Faced still with several boxes of
uneaten cornflakes (all of which are open now! And by "open," I mean opened in the manner that you see here about which I shall not comment any further because of my already elevated blood pressure), I decided to make these, the World's Best Cookies (recipe copied years ago from the first cookbook of the San Francisco Junior League). These are really delicious with a very delicate buttery crumb. They are light and crispy crunchy, not chewy, but wonderful with a cup of hot coffee, or a glass of milk, or indulge in 3 or 4 all by themselves. ;-)
All the makings for the World's Best CookiesRecipe:
Cream together:
1 C. butter (I use unsalted, but can be salted also...won't be too salty)
1 C. sugar
1 C. brown sugar
1 egg - stir into creamed mixture
Next, stir in:
1 C. salad oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
Next, stir in:
1 C oats
1 C. crushed cornflakes
1/2 C. coconut
1/2 C. chopped walnuts
And finally, stir in:
3 1/2 C. flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
Form balls and press with fork. Bake at 325 on ungreased cookie sheets for 12-15 minutes.
That's it...only one dirty bowl and very easy to make!
Labels: Food and recipes
When Life Gives You Cornflakes...
...make cornflake cookies. I am convinced that there is no better combination in the food world than peanut butter and sugar. Throw in some butter, corn syrup and corn flakes and you've got all the makings of a heavenly diabetic coma. I've got several versions of cornflake cookies lined up, not all of which are coated in peanut butter, but all of which sound positively delicious.
This is my entitlement. See, our daughter, being a single mother on very little income, qualifies for
WIC coupons and while we could well afford to stock the kitchen and buy the grandson's formula, she can't, so I figure this is her way of contributing to the household budget and we might as well take advantage of this gracious gift from our federal government much as I am opposed to "entitlements" generally.
Trouble is, we now have a cupboard full of store-brand cornflakes and evaporated milk (the coupons specify exactly how many ounces of specific food products you may purchase...not being one to turn away free food, we dutifully stocked up on evaporated milk with every coupon even though I have no clue what we are supposed to do with it). We were keeping up with the cornflakes supply until I made the executive decision to throw away the white sugar, cannister and all (the reason for this is simple...I grew weary of putting away the sugar cannister and wiping sugar off the counter and floor because someone else in the house, who shall remain nameless, was unable to put away/clean up after herself...also, none of us really
need any more white sugar in our diet, so no more...which leaves us with a bunch of unsweetened cornflakes and really, who wants to eat that?).
Granted, I could have thrown away the extra 5 or 6 boxes of cereal. Afterall, the cost per box, if we had paid for them was only about $1.84 each. But this runs completely counter to my core beliefs...i.e. though shall not throw away food (somehow, in my mind, cornflakes count as "food" while sugar apparently does not) because there are starving children all around the world. So instead? Well, instead, I decided to go to the store and buy sugar again, and a bunch of other ingredients that cost more than the 5 or 6 boxes of cereal, so that I might make lots of cornflakes cookies. Most of which I will give away because seriously, I think I may be borderline diabetic.
But first, I will indulge myself in the wonder that is peanut butter cornflake cookies. Mmmmm...
Labels: Food and recipes
Cooking Up A Storm
Well, what would you do if you woke up to find the neopolitan ice cream all over the floor? And a flood of water trailing back to the freezer? Agh!! When I discovered the source of the problem (a frozen Stouffer's Chicken Lasagna stashed in sideways, preventing the door from closing completely), I was able to trace it back to Thursday night when I insisted that the other household residents put away the groceries. But since there are two other residents, I was not able to place the blame squarely on just one (both denied putting away the lasagna, although this is difficult to believe...but then, if I had been in their shoes, I would not have wanted to confess either). Anyway, this meant the freezer had been open all night on Thursday, all day Friday and all night Friday. By Saturday morning, most of the meat was completely thawed. The ice was melted and all over the kitchen floor. And other various items were coated in a creamy film of neopolitan ice cream which found its way out of the freezer and onto the floor.
I quickly went to work appraising the damage, tossing things that needed tossing, wiping up the freezer and floor and pulling out all the thawed meat that either needed to be cooked right away or thrown away. A couple of the items were easy to assemble...another batch of chili, another tater tot casserole (oooh, yee haw!). Then I grilled up a bag of chicken tenderloins to make a cobb pasta salad, and made a marinade and sauce for the pork tenderloin (which I'll grill tomorrow)...both from
my favorite cookbook. I'm soaking beans for ham hock/navy bean soup in the crock pot. We've still got a salmon filet to grill and a whole chicken to roast as well. Oh, and we also made a big pot of chicken/vegetable/barley soup. Sheesh. I haven't cooked this much in one day for a long time! There was more mostly frozen stuff that hopefully won't kill us when we do get around to eating it because I left it in the freezer, including the Stouffer's lasagna.
I was about to brag about how good the Stouffer's chicken lasagna is, especially for only costing $10...until I read
this. Heh. Homemade stuffed shells are way better. But it sounds like
Sisiggy and I spent our Saturdays in similar endeavors.
Labels: Food and recipes
Cake Box Banana Bar Cookies
On Sunday, while I was supposed to be working on several less than enjoyable projects, I decided to indulge myself in "something sweet." The only problem was that there was nothing sweet in the house, except a cake mix (but no frosting to go with it) and one pudding mix (intended to be mixed with Cool Whip for the frosting that was intended to go on the cake if I ever made it, but since I had no Cool Whip in the freezer, baking the cake was out of the question...it can
only be eaten with sliced bananas and Cool Whip frosting on top). I was too lazy to get out a cookbook and make something much more complicated than that (and besides, I was supposed to be
working). Recently,
Jen has been posting recipes for Cake Box Cookies, so I googled banana cake box cookies and came up with this (it took literally 5-10 minutes to pull them together):
1 pkg mix cake mix, any kind (I used banana)
1/2 cup oil (I used canola, although I nearly had to use olive oil when I couldn't find the last 1/2 cup of canola I had stashed in the back of the pantry behind a 1000 vinegars...does anyone know what happens to cookies when you use olive oil...do they taste off somehow?)
1 mashed banana (I happened to have exactly one very ripe banana in the house, how lucky was that?!)
1 large egg (I only had medium eggs, so I used two, which was just a tad too much because the cookies turned out a little more on the cake-like side than if I'd only used one, I'm sure)
1 cup chopped walnuts (these, I had to pick out of a bag of trail mix in the cupboard, so they were slightly salted)
1 cup raisins (I substituted 3/4 cup white chocolate chips and would never, ever consider going back to raisins!)
1 tsp cinnamon
Combine all but the nuts and raisins/chips, until smooth
Add the nuts and raisins/chips
Spread into two greased 9x13 pans (I used one 9x13 and one 8x8 for a thicker cookie)
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (I baked at 375 degrees in a convection oven)
Cool 10 minutes in the pans before cutting
These were delicious (if you like banana and white chocolate)! I liked them better than Toll House bars, but then, I love banana and white chocolate. :-)
Labels: Food and recipes
Cult Chef?
You Are a Creative Cook
|
Your cooking is unusual, inspired, and definitely one of a kind. People love your unique style, but you've had your share of kitchen flops.
You have the makings of a cult chef. You may not cook at the Four Seasons, but you could have your own little funky cafe in San Francisco!
|
Flops? FLOPS?! You mean, like when I put too much brandy in the bread pudding? That was intentional. Maybe the potato peeling/vegetable scrap soup wasn't so great, but seriously, we were strapped for cash. Hrmph.
And this afternoon's lunch? Tater Tot Casserole (a pound of ground turkey, a can of corn, a can of peas, a can of cream of mushroom soup, a can of cream of celery soup and a 32 oz bag of tater tots...mix it all, lay the tater tots on top and bake on 375 about 45 minutes). Heh. Laugh if you must, but church cookbooks always have the best recipes, if you don't count calories and sodium. This is actually pretty good although I probably wouldn't serve it at my funky little cafe. :-)
Via Jen, who is an
Excellent CookLabels: Food and recipes, Quizzes and Memes
Too Much Time On My Hands, Not Enough Flavor
I've been meaning to post about this for awhile now. A while back, mid-tax season (when I was too busy to say anything about it), Miss Vickie's changed their packaging and the seasoning on their Jalapeno Kettle Chips. Did anyone else enjoy these delicious marvels of deep fried goodness (or what
was delicious before they went and screwed up the recipe)? Now, they are called "Hand-Picked" Jalapeno chips and gone is all the jalapeno flavor! Replaced with what can only be described as the exact same seasoning that Lay's uses on its Sour Cream and Onion chips. Before posting, I decided to see if anyone else out there was talking about this and found
this very important website (now,
there's a blog with a mission, don't you think?). It seems they agree...the green specks are clearly chives, not hand-picked jalapenos, and all the spicy flavor is gone, gone, gone. I'm hoping the makers of these chips will read my blog, of course, and change the recipe. If that doesn't happen, then I'm afraid I will need to change my loyalty back to
these.
Labels: Food and recipes
It Tastes Like Play-doh
I'm eating left over salad at the office and it's filled with all sorts of greens, berries and cheeses. It's very good until I get a bite full of a certain "green" that tastes
exactly like Play-doh. And yes, I do know that that tastes like. I was a member of the paste-eaters club in grade school. We weren't above devouring a bite or two of Play-doh if that was also available. But what could this beeee?!
Labels: Food and recipes
Mmmm...Fish Bait
Because
one person thought this was funny and because I have nothing else to share, I will posit my thoughts on eating fish bait here on my blog, for posterity. Because one never knows when one's memory will disappear forever and then, where will these stories go?
When Sissigy wrote
a nice post about her latest culinary failure (and from what I have read, I believe this is a rare occurrence in her house of Domestic Derring Do), it brought up one of those memories that in hindsight is very funny, but in the moment, it is just another moment in your daily life. I find that it is very hard for me to post daily because to do so becomes very boring, for me and everyone else..."today, I woke up, made coffee, took a shower and went to work. And then I came home. And all moments in between were exactly like every other day...busy. And then I went to bed."
I don't usually find myself thinking things like this,
as they unfold...
Today, this guy cooked fish bait for dinner. It was delicious. I think I'll marry him.
No. It wasn't like that at the time.
At the time, I was so enchanted with his cooking skillz that it never even dawned on me that, hey! We're eating FISH BAIT! And I wasn't quite yet of the opinion that we would one day get married.
Here's the thing. We lived in California at the time, and we lived on an extremely tight budget, like $100/month for groceries. Something like that. And my husband liked to fish, so there were many occasions when we grilled or fried fish for dinner, mostly for free, except for the cost of bait. And in CA, one of the things he liked to fish with, when he couldn't find the most grotesque
sea centipedes on the beach (no, we've never eaten those, although...give us time...we've got more boat repairs ahead) was
squid. Salt water fish love squid. He bought it at the deep sea fishing outfitter's and kept it in the freezer. Back in that day, squid was still kind of a rare menu offering at seafood restaurants, so it was still really cheap, especially when you bought it as bait. In Croatia, where my husband is from, squid has been on the menu for eons and it is a specialty along the coast where he lived. So, one day, when faced with the choice of fish bait or nothing, he pulled the fish bait out of the freezer, thawed it, and sauteed it (whole, tubes and tentacles all) in a sauce consisting mostly of
Chinese Oyster Sauce, and some chopped vegetables. He served it over rice, and it was delicious.
Since then, we (
he, much more than me) have eaten sea urchins, straight off the boats and crabs, straight off the beach. So to order sushi in a restaurant is a very tame experience.
It is the good chef who can turn fish bait into a gourmet dinner. It's been a while since we've had fish bait for dinner, but when I reminded him of it last night, he laughed and said we need to go to the Chinese market and get some stuff. A trip to the Chinese market is like a trip to Disneyland for him. In the right light, he even looks Chinese. I'll let you know what he cooks up. 8-}
Labels: Food and recipes, The Absurd
Cooking For Two
Heh. The pot is overflowing. You would think I'm cooking for a large gathering. I could make this a contest...what am I cooking?
It's
Jen's Texas Chili...a double batch (that's an 8 qt pot!). It's yummy. We make it all the time (with ground turkey instead of beef and with chicken taco seasoning instead of regular...it has a little lime kick to it) because it is super easy and we love the leftovers. We're making this for the coming week. Chili for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But we are supposed to be eating carne asada for dinner tonight. That is, if our cook ever gets here . Our daughter and her
fiance (yes, well, that was news to us also) were supposed to come over and fix dinner for us. The fiance is Mexican and sounds like a good cook, and we're looking forward to sampling it. They were supposed to be here at 3:00 but it's now 5:30...they just called to tell us they're on their way...doesn't carne asada take like, a
long time to cook?! In the meantime, I guess, we have our back up pot of chili.
I laughed as I "assembled" the chili, because of
this post, the funniest post about baked beans I've read in a long time. It's true, if you have to open a can, it's probably not technically "cooking" (the trash can was full of cans after this picture was taken...14 in all!). But I say, if you have to cut up an onion, it's cooking. And I outsourced the onion cutting to my husband. ;-)
Okay, the cooks have finally arrived. I'll be back tomorrow.
Labels: Food and recipes
Too Much Mango in the Chili
There may be worse problems, but this is a new one for me. Too much mango.
I found a great (read "simple and tasty") recipe for Carribean Turkey & Sweet Potato Chili which I've now made several times. It's super easy and we love the leftovers. But this time, I accidentally used one "can" of mango nectar, instead of just one "cup." In an effort to compensate, I reduced the chicken broth, used more sweet potatoes, added more beans and finally, threw in some Sofrito for good measure. So it's no longer really the same recipe, but I can still taste the mango a little too distinctly. I highly recommend this recipe as it was written (you'd never guess this has mango nectar in it), from
Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade 20-minute meals:
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1.25 # ground turkey
1 t. minced garlic (or if you live in our house, 3-4 cloves :-)
1 15 oz can rinsed and drained reduced-sodium black beans (add another can if you like beans)
1 15 oz can sweet potatoes, diced (I can only find sweetened yams, so I rinse them off before dicing and a 29 oz can works also)
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with green pepper and onion
1 14.5 oz can reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 CUP mango nectar, Kerns
1 packet (1.25 oz) mild chili seasoning mix, McCormick
1/2 t. ground allspice
Chopped fresh cilantro
Saute turkey and garlic in oil until turkey browns. Throw in the rest of the stuff and simmer for at least 10 minutes. That's it! It's delicious!!
Labels: Food and recipes
Thanksgiving 1993 Revisited
Okay, not really. But I did reach for a dusty old 1993 November issue of Bon Appetit (yes, it's nearly an antique) and cracked open the gravy stuck pages to find my favorite cranberry relish recipe on Thursday. Alas, I did not have all of the ingredients for the Triple Cranberry Sauce. I did happen to have fresh ginger in the house (a rare event) and stumbled on another cranberry relish that is now our new favorite recipe...
Behold, the fabulous Cranberry Ginger Relish:
Combine 1 12-oz bag fresh cranberries, 1 1/2 cups fresh squeezed orange juice (I also happened to have just enough oranges on hand to accomplish this although those Texas oranges are not nearly as juicy as the California ones and my wrist was worn out by the time I finished squeezing six oranges for this dish...it's always the little unexpected detours that they don't show you on those food network channel that cause a 30-minute dish to take 2 hours and 30 minutes in real life to prepare...but anyway...), 1 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger in a saucepan. Bring to a boil on high heat until sugar dissolves, then reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens, about 15 minutes, stirring frequently and smashing a few cranberries in the process. Refrigerate. This relish is absolutely delicious!
I was not really planning to cook much for Thanksgiving, but after the relish was in the refrigerator, I spent the next 7 hours cooking, deciding on each recipe as I went along. Since I wasn't really planning anything in particular and nobody was expecting dinner at a particular time, it was quite relaxing and fun. Our only guest was our 18-year old daughter who decided to bless us with her presence for the holiday. It was a quiet but meaningful Thanksgiving for us.
We gave the turkeys a break this year and instead pulled a rack of lamb ribs out of the freezer (the victim of a brutal massacre last Spring). Combined with the
GMA stuffing (which is every bit as good in real life as it looked on television), garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potato/carrot puree, green beans sauteed in bacon and onions, and red wine sauce, we ate like kings...or very hungry Pilgrims no longer in need of a king. We finished off with Bourbon Pecan Pie smothered in Reddi-Whip (God's gift to pie). Mmmm.
Groan...who else took a nap on the floor after dinner? There are starving children in Africa, you know. Ahem.
We finished off the evening with a movie. As did everyone else in the Greater Metropolitan Kansas City area. I had been wanting to see
No Country for Old Men ever since I read the book, and finally, we found a theatre in town that was showing it. Yikes. It is every bit as brutal on screen as the book, and then some. Bloody visuals aside (and I did have to look aside a few times), this was a wonderfully done movie. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a movie as much as the book. Reading the book first normally ruins the movie for me, and I've learned to set my expectations very low, but still, I do think this one was better than most. The Coen Brothers clearly "got"
McCarthy's story and took it to the next level, adding their own layers of emotional wreckage and symbolism. It followed the complicated plot lines of the book very well and in some cases, helped shed more light on the gruesome story (trying to keep track of the many interests in this drug deal gone bad..."bad" may be a huge understatement...was challenging in both the dead tree and big screen versions). The casting was absolutely splendid! The main characters were brilliantly played, utterly believable and completely wacked (except for Tommy Lee Jones who was simply brilliant and believable). I loved the ending, but you could hear some groans in the audience when they realized it was over...like the book, the ending wrapped it all up for me, but on its surface, it leaves the viewer hanging. If you can stomach the blood and guts, go see this movie. References to the Bible and Greek mythology abound. The West Texas imagery is beautifully shot. This is much more than your typical Crime Thriller/Western/or Suspense film.
Labels: Food and recipes, Movies
Dressing or Stuffing??
In case you missed it,
this looks awesome! I watched the prize winner prepare this dish on GMA this morning and I am absolutely going to try it this Thanksgiving. In fact, we may just forego the turkey altogether. Who needs it when you have the best possible ingredients from all of the major food groups represented (cheese, hot italian sausage, roasted pinenuts, garlic, french bread and cornbread, pancetta! more cheese!!)? But anyway, my real question is why do we continue to call this "stuffing" when nobody dares stuff it into the bird anymore?
What are you fixing for Thanksgiving?
Labels: Food and recipes
All Shook Up!
How did I miss
this?! These "limited edition commemorative" candy bars were released this past summer to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of Elvis' death (which was on my birthday, wouldn't you know). I think I might prefer the real fried PB&B sandwiches that Elvis was famous for indulging, but these candy bars are certainly worth a try. I have yet to spot one in its natural habitat. Have you?
I wonder why they didn't use the Fat Elvis for the packaging. Notice that there are several cover designs. Collect them all!
Thanks to
Jagasaurus for the enlightenment.
Labels: Food and recipes
The Birthday Celebration
*Warning* Long, boring, self-indulgent travelogue follows...
I don't often celebrate my birthday in a big way, but this year felt special, being 7-7-07 and all. :-) During my last trip to El Un-Del-Del, I turned up a couple of nice liveaboard sailboats. I knew I needed to get MBH out there to see them. So about a week beforehand, we began making "plans" to do double duty...show MBH the sailboats and celebrate my birthday in San Diego. He lined up some workers to cover him while he was out of town for 3 days and I went on Priceline to get us a cheap hotel (the Sheraton in downtown San Diego took our lowball offer...but wait...even though we paid for 2 nights at the Sheraton, we never used them...Priceline is great until you start changing your "plans").
What God had planned for me was much more fun than just a couple nights in San Diego. If you let Him, He will show you a good time. Really. Here's how it unfolded...
A call to my mother before we left revealed that she was going to be in the area for a jury selection of National Watercolor Society awards (although San Pedro is 2 hours north of San Diego, it's much closer than the 2,000 miles we live apart from each other, so a detour to San Pedro Friday night for dinner with Mom seemed in order). Dinner with Mom turned into spending the night in San Pedro instead of driving back to San Diego late at night (but we couldn't get a refund of our San Diego room...read the small print on Priceline's policies), so we reserved another room in San Pedro for Friday night.
Spending the night in San Pedro turned into "hey, why don't we take a ferry to Catalina Island on Saturday and return to San Diego after that?" I had never been to Catalina and it sounded like the perfect "exotic" getaway without the hassles of going to Mexico (an idea we had discussed but nixed due to rumors of long lines crossing the border on weekends) for "my special day." So we bought tickets for the 6:15 am departure for the island on Saturday, my birthday.
Our non-stop on-time flight to San Diego arrived early Friday morning and we went to look at the first of two boats we planned to see. On second viewing, it didn't appeal to me nearly as much and we decided we could not live aboard comfortably. We decided to do a bit of sightseeing and then drive up to San Pedro. Weather was sunny, breezy, 75 degrees, perfect. On the drive up, I decided to check my messages at the office because the day before, I had been asked to join an "important" conference call re: a business acquisition. Since I was on a plane at the time of the conference call, I had to decline but told them I would check in later in the day...big mistake. I spent the next hour driving through L.A. traffic with one hand on the wheel and one on my cell phone, negotiating nit-picky details of a contract, while my husband tried to navigate us to the hotel in San Pedro. Have I ever mentioned that I despise the phone? I especially despise cell phones, and I really hate the freeways of Los Angeles, even when I have two hands available. My husband hates city driving even more than I do so I was voted "driver of the day." Nerves rattled and knuckles white, I finally lost my patience and the cell phone went "dead" for the last time. From that point on, we had a marvelous time...
When we hit San Pedro, we headed straight for the pier...
San Pedro Pier
Where we enjoyed...
Snacks (ceviche & baby octopi)!
And later, dinner with Mom accompanied by some live music, including a bluesy jam session with "Chris Morrison" (alleged son of Jim Morrison...given what I have since found on the internet, I am not convinced, but the music was good for the most part, once we moved away from the speakers a bit, and Chris was entertaining anyway...they pulled off a very good version of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida)...
Dinner (& Music) With Mom
My birthday started after only a few hours of sleep at 4:15 am. I am not a morning person! At the front desk, we asked for directions to the ferry landing and also a map. The desk clerk told us, in broken Indian-English, that we didn't need no map, his verbal directions were very seemple and all that we would need. I pressed him for a map (I love maps), but was not successful..."no map for you!" We tried to remember all of the turns and bridges and landmarks he had given us and managed to feel our way to the ferry landing in time to board our boat at 6:00 am, grumbling all the while that we should have reserved the 8:30 boat instead. But on board the boat, we "accidentally" entered the Commodore Lounge and were treated to free cocktails (at 6:30 in the morning...gak). We ordered Mimosas. What the heck? It was MY BIRTHDAY! Heh. I was going to milk this for all it was worth. When we arrived on Catalina an hour later, it was overcast and still a bit dusky (and quiet)...
Catalina Island (early morning)
And there was no line yet for Joe's, which is where we went straight away for the world's best breakfast. Joe's is a classic diner where we sat on swivel stools at the bar and ordered corned beef hash and eggs and hash browns and a side of bacon and Portuguese sausage and coffee, lots of coffee, and english muffins. What a great way to start MY BIRTHDAY!
The Line at Joes
After breakfast, we walked around town and out on the pier (where I noticed a kiosk with internet access for rent...I toyed with the idea of posting a special blog entry from the pier but instead, kept on walking...a decision that will no doubt haunt me forever) and wandered into a few stores that were open (where my husband bought me a silver bracelet with 7 charms representing Catalina Island, for my birthday)...
And laughed at all the golf carts tooling about the island...
By late morning, we were at this little snack bar on the beach at the far end of town, for ceviche and a margarita (what?! yes, well, it is my birthday afterall)...
Catalina (late morning)
After more strolling about, we put our clothes in a locker, changed into our bathing suits, rented snorkeling equipment and headed for the beach (only not this beach...the other beach, where the snorkeling is better...there will be no pictures of us in our swim suits or snorkeling gear ;-)...
Catalina Island (late afternoon)
After snorkeling, we found a community shower near these birds of prey and cleaned up for dinner...
Which One is Not Like the Others? Throughout the day, we witnessed 5 weddings in various stages of progress (there were 12 scheduled on the island that day)...
One of Many 7/7/07 Weddings on Catalina
All dressed up for dinner...
Avalon Promenade (& Casino)
And then, accompanied by a bottle of Pinot Grigio, mmm...
Birthday Dinner
Shortly after dinner, we boarded the ferry back to the mainland and the sun was just beginning to set. Also, the fog was returning and Catalina was once again enshrouded in hazy, grey skies...
Leaving Catalina
And this concluded what will always be remembered as one of the happiest days of my life. It was completely relaxing and free of any thoughts related to work or responsibilities. It was full of indulgences and quality time spent with my husband. Quite simply, we had a blast. It was just Enough.
We landed back in San Pedro at about 8:30 pm and drove the 2 hours back to San Diego. We went straight to the Sheraton where we had paid for two nights, and checked in. Only, they had re-sold our room! Yep. Since we never picked up our keys the day before (although we DID check in because we wanted to prevent exactly this sort of thing from happening...they just didn't have a room ready yet). After much bickering with the desk clerk who tried unsuccessfully to explain how it is that they could re-sell a room we paid for, her manager agreed to put us up in a "partner" hotel down the street. They drove us over to a quaint bed and breakfast where we enjoyed a very restful and romantic evening, ignoring the slight hiccup at the end of my near perfect birthday.
We woke up early Sunday morning, wandered around a small farmer's market going on outside of the hotel, enjoyed the most fantabulous savory crepes (filled with eggs, bacon, cheese, tomatoes, guacamole, and spinach), and then went to look at the 2nd boat, which turned out to be a perfect fit for both of us. We haven't committed to an offer yet, but are working on the logistics surrounding the reality of pulling this off (i.e. pulling up roots and moving onto a boat in the Pacific Northwest...my husband has grown out his beard so as to look more the part of Sailor). After the viewing, we drove over to Coronado for lunch at a sushi bar I had spotted on my earlier trip. We took a stroll through the grounds of The Del (most of the construction mess has now been cleared) and asked some innocent bystander to take our picture...
"The Del" Redux, w/MBH
We left San Diego late Sunday evening after a full day in San Diego. On Monday, after I thought it was over, a special delivery arrived at my office (which I brought home to share)...
Flowers!
And last but certainly not least, my birthday was extra special even before receiving any presents, but this year, my husband outdid himself in the present department (we typically don't exchange birthday gifts between us), completely surprising me with this (no, not the coffee cup...that's from my mom), pulling it out of his pocket at dinner on Catalina Island (how he managed not to lose it with all the schlepping of our stuff in and out of lockers, snorkeling, etc. is beyond me)...
Presents!
I've tried to find the words to express the happiness that I experienced during this very special weekend and while the circumstances certainly made for a pleasurable weekend, the true Joy came from a peace within that only God can provide. Sometimes it takes the vulnerability of travel to an exotic (or at least unfamiliar) place to fully experience this wonderful sensation. As C.S. Lewis wrote, "there is a kind of happiness and wonder that makes you serious. It is too good to waste on jokes." And so I'm left speechless. :-)
Labels: Family, Flora and fauna, Food and recipes, Travel
Mmmm, Gumbo!
For Superbowl Sunday, we made our favorite (read
easy) gumbo. When in New Orleans a few years ago, we sampled the gumbo of nearly every eating establishment in the city and for those who have been there, you know that's
a lot of gumbo! Here is the recipe we made, upon request by my step-mother. It's a slightly modified version of the Filé Gumbo from
The Gumbo Shop cookbook. The only modifications I made were to reduce the salt from 2 to 1 tsp and to add a pound of shrimp. For those who like okra (you know who you are), this recipe may disappoint, but I encourage you to try this quicker and (imho) equally tasty alternative.
1 (2 ½ pound) chicken
3 quarts water
½ C. plus 2 Tbls butter
2 C. chopped onion
2 C. chopped green bell pepper
2 C. chopped celery
¼ C. minced garlic
¼ C. filé powder
¾ lb. smoked sausage, sliced in ¼ in rounds (spicy Andouille is preferred)
1 lb large frozen (cooked) shrimp
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp white pepper
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
2 C. tomato sauce (I've substituted 2 C. of canned chopped tomatoes with pleasant results)
¼ tsp Tabasco sauce
Steamed rice
Cut and cook the chicken in a stock pot, covered with 3 qts water, bring to boil then simmer 1 hour until meat is tender. Remove chicken and cool, then remove from bone and tear into bite sized pieces.
Strain the stock and skim fat off of the cooled stock.
In same stock pot (or Dutch oven), melt butter over medium heat. Cook onion, celery and bell pepper until tender allowing veggies to stick and brown a bit.
Add chopped garlic and saute 2 minutes.
Stir in filé and sauté (stirring often) 5 minutes.
Add sausage, salt and peppers and cook 10 minutes.
Add tomato sauce and Tabasco and cook 10 minutes allowing it to stick to bottom of pan.
Slowly add 8 cups of the chicken stock, stirring continuously, bring to a boil and simmer 20 minutes.
Add more stock if too thick or too spicy.
Add chicken and shrimp and simmer for 10 more minutes.
Remove from heat and serve over steamed rice.
Labels: Food and recipes
Random Thoughts Posted Over Dinner
Tonight, the office ordered dinner in for us. Chinese. My fortune?
"The night life is for you."
"Night life," as in discotechs, clubs, bars, dance halls, whatever you kids call them these days? Ha! Very funny. That life is
not for me! Although I have been known to pay my respects to our local
honky tonk once in awhile.
But there might be some truth in the "night life," as in working late. I've always been a night owl, hitting my stride about 4 pm and working into the wee hours. That is normal for me. So maybe that
is where I will find my fortune. Who knows?
I received this fortune many years ago, at lunch, the day of a dear friend's funeral:
"The one you love is closer than you think." This one made me look around the room a bit, but I appreciated the affirmation. The timing was perfect.
Does anyone else remember or keep these things? I hate it when I get a really stupid fortune, like "you will have good luck" (not that I don't want "good luck," whatever that might mean, but this doesn't speak to me in the kind of specific terms that I'm looking for). Or no fortune at all. That's never good. And then I want to try again, pick another cookie. But I know I'm stuck with the first one I'm dealt. That's the first rule of fortune cookies. ;-)
Labels: Chinese fortunes, Food and recipes
