Well, friends - it's been fun but my blog is moving for technical reasons. Please find me at my new home .
Just incase something goes awry with that link it's :
http://boychefgirlwonder.blogspot.com
See you there! =)
Make dinner, that is.
Boy and I don't cross paths much during the day, and towards the end of the week, even less due to boy working at night. So, our dinners are interesting ones usually because we both equally contribute in the thinking, buying, and cooking process. It usually starts out with a midday text.. an idea that spurs banter about past meals and things we'd like to try.
By the time we are home together, some protein is thawing or tofu (or the like..) is marinading. Once I've kicked off my shoes and settled into comfy clothes, the creation wheel starts to spin and we both flawlessly scurry around our tiny kitchen blurting out - how about a little of this or what if you sprinkled some of that to zest it up a bit? Before you know it things are in the oven, or on the stove. Then me, boy and moose are out on our nightly walk.
Last night we started out with thawing pork.. then decided on an Asian influence, which was eventually blurred a bit in the production.. Anyhow, we did zucchini noodles which hit the wok for a minute, and then a cold zucchini, tomato, red onion relish and jasmine rice. The pork was cooked low and slow in a ginger vinaigrette, hickory liquid smoke and s&p. The dish was very clean, fresh and alive - it turned out to be one of the very best dishes.
So, yes.. we all hate them, all of them. But do we hate them? The cliche itself - no. Why? Beeeecause..
They are always true, always! I think we just mostly hate people saying them to us because normally when they DO say them to us we are in NO mood to listen to them.
Now students, one I would like to focus on today is... "When life gives you lemons..." - Ok, I won't take it that far, but I do realize this is a very, very true statement. I think it can be seen and received in a lot of different lights. In my case the other day I was feeling particularly sad because of where I am living. I like FL, but I do not LOVE it. I admit wearing flip flops in January is nice but it gets old. Anyhow, the other day I got home from work and was so annoyed that it was nearly 80 outside, no turning leaves, no snow in the future and of course that sort of vibe, that sort of warm feeling is not embraced here in the sunshine state. Sooo.. I decided to make my home my own little autumn getaway.
It was pretty simple actually, I hit a boiling pot of water with sprinkles of nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves - before you know it the house smelled as though 15 pumpkin pies were baking. Then I lit every pumpkin spice, apple cinnamon, gingerbread candle in the house - to...enhance..the..pumpkiness. After that I cranked down the ac to 60 (not for long, just enough to make pajamas and socks comfortable..) I made some coffee, grabbed some maple pastries and settled into the couch with my favorite blanket and a good movie.Boy also largely contributed by bringing home some prune, walnut & black pepper goat cheese and fresh made chicken and duck liver pate - it brought autumn right home.
So.. what's the moral here people? Cliches are annoying, yes. People say them too much, yes. They are ALWAYS true, yes. Ok, the real point is life really isn't always going to be as you want, or even like a lot of the times... if you don't put in some amount of effort to make it good for YOU then it never will be, no matter where you live, what you do, how much money you make.. it's a big lesson I had to learn in life, not too long ago - and I am very, very glad that I did. Thanks Boy.
Strolling thru a vineyard.. the wholesome soil beneath my bare feet, the faint smell of grapes in the air..a warm breeze beckoning me toward the stone house.. the savory scents wafting thru the air, intriguing my mind, and my stomach.
Ok, no - not even close to strolling thru a Tuscan vineyard BUT my dinner tonight took me there, in a big way. I must admit - italian style cooking isn't a huge play in this house but when we do make it, we strive to perfect it.. Tonight boy said he wanted a pasta casserole.. with bacon, the very mention of it sent images of pizza hut, boxed yuck floating thru my mind, I nearly dry heaved - then I had an idea.
Boy threw some organic ground chuck, bacon, onions and garlic in a skillet and walked off - heh.. thats ok, he's had an interesting week already. So after that I cut up plum tomatoes - tossed them with parm, fresh garlic, parsley and basil paste.
I also somewhat did the same with a 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, except I plucked some fresh rosemary and basil from our herb garden to toss in. I cooked rotini pasta, layered - make some garlic toast and holy shit.. it was really some of the best feelgood food I have had in a while, it was the right amount of sweet, garlicy, baconesque*.. yea, boy thinks bacon is another food group? oh well.
Now I'm going to go get in my spring fed, bubbling, mineral pool to soothe my... no, Im just going to my 1950's style pink tub.
Enjoy!
GOBAMA! =)
7:30 p.m...
Cooking, blogging, watching...
Aren't youuuu?
Pics eventually.
10:15 p.m...
Ok, back to me..
So, I'm not even going to go there.. Anywho..
I had a vision of what I wanted for dinner tonight.. and boy made it happen! Nothing special I tell ya, actually quite simple and...southern? That's right - coleslaw, chicken drumsticks and a baked potato.. now, of course we added our own take on everything, like adding dijionaise, basil and thyme to the coleslaw, the drumsticks were marinaded in coffee, hot sauce, molasses, garlic, rosemary, and brown sugar, and of course hit the potatoes with chopped garlic and olive oil, s&p before popping them into the oven - Mmmmmmmmm. So, so good, it completely hit the spot! Apologize for no pics of the slaw or potato.. couldn't catch a great one tonight, lighting, focus.. etc.
We paired all that goodness with Blue Moon...and now coffee, with an intermission of raisinets, whoppers & milk duds - hah. It's movie night, right?
The weekend was a good one, full of plentiful sunshine, cold breezes and baseball!
Whaaa now..? Yes, Boy & I decided to throw the ball around this weekend out by bluff... wow, haven't worked THOSE muscle's in some time.. it was a lot of fun to run around, laugh and taunt each other with the very idea of missing a ball.. hah.
Monday has so far gone off without a hitch! Sorry for the quick post but I have some researching to do and some curry to eat! =)
A few photos of the photography I did at Bok Tower Sanctuary & Gardens in Lake Wales, FL - it was a nice place, and there was actually some HILLS, in....Florida.. although not sure it was worth the 2 hour drive on I-4.. maybe one of those places to stop by if you're in the neighborhood. We were too tired from the night before and should have known better as it commenced a bit of chaos between the natives.. oddly enough, I did snap quite a few really nice pics and there were some very pretty flowers in bloom.. I will start editing and posting the others on another day.
To add to our adventure that day, we did have QUITE the interaction with wildlife, poor tall Boy nearly walked into 6 or 7 banana spider webs, I was STALKED by a rabid squirrel and a swan got the chance to bite at Boy's foot. I only have pics of the swans (which I adored, and now I want one..) and the evil squirrel...... stay tuned.
Also, we made smoked peppercorn pork & swiss chard enchiladas last night, I only took a couple pic's of the preparation - 1) I was starving! 2) the outcome was delicious but not quite as capture-able as I would have liked. Oh well, another day.
So, I also attempted one of my first fall recipes of the season, and something I have never made before - semifreddo.
I made a pumpkin toffee pecan semifreddo and here are my thoughts on it - the dessert itself was GOOD, as in the texture, the crunch, and of course the pumpkin flavor... but, in this particular recipe they advised to top this dessert of with whip cream and caramel - WOAH, sweet overload. I normally have a very sweet tooth but after the pumpkin, the toffee, the sweet roasted pecans, then to top it off with whipped cream and caramel - GOOD GOD. I felt that nearly ruined it... but, I did opt for a couple of plump blackberries to tartly cut the sweet - good choice by moi.
So, the passed few days have been interesting ones - as you may have noticed, we took down the Keystone post. We decided not to go there for a few reasons.. now, don't get me wrong - it looks beautiful there but we were planning to go pretty much smack in the middle of their season, and the rates were outlandish - the flight was pretty cheap but the lodging - holy hell. One of the most important things to me on a vaca is lodging, I like cuddling up in cloud like over sized beds, strolling thru beautiful grounds, the complimentary wines and cheese, cookies and home made breakfast's by the fire place. I am normally very willing to compromise OTHER things but my lodging, No. For what we REALLY wanted in Keystone, we were looking at no less than $300. nightly and well I like to spendalot on my vaca's - I find that to be somewhat extravagant for MY world.
green onions, cabbage, steak..
Beyond that, don't DIG OUT SEEDS OF A SERRANO PEPPER WITH YOUR BARE FINGERS. I'm sure some of you knowledgeable foodies/bloggers out there already know this fine piece of information but my friends, I.. honestly thought it wouldn't be an issue and thought nothing of scraping out the membrane of that little green firecracker until a mere 15 minutes later when my hand was literally, FUCKING ON FIRE - I soaked my hands in mylanta, cream, rubbed veggie oil on them, let them numb out in ice and finally after more than an hour of intense burning I went for the booze, that's right... popped some Tylenol and decided to shine off more than half a bottle of cab... the burning stopped, eventually.
Enjoy your weekend friends. I will.
