Yes, I was one of those who stayed up all night to watch the Royal Wedding and I had a fantastic time!
I set up a little makeshift viewing area in the spare room/my office so I wouldn't disturb J. I used my monitor to stream it live on Hulu, lounging on the bed/couch while munching banana bread and tweeting.
(Ignore all the messy boxes and clutter, remember I'm in the middle of packing!)
Highlights:
-Seeing everybody's excitement on Twitter and around the world. It was such an "It's a Small World" moment to know billions were watching the same as me.
-Kate's dress was absolutely stunning. I loved the classic direction she went in with the lace, the neckline, her veil, and that tiara.
-The princes actually looking like I imagine princes SHOULD look. Sashes, medals, gloves, and all.
-Prince Harry sneaking a peek at Kate for William. Easily my favorite moment of the whole affair.
-The little flower girl covering her ears from the roar as William and Kate kissed on the balcony. I imagine my little face would look much the same at that moment, too.
Criticisms:
-Barbara Walters yapping constantly about inappropriate stuff: Diana's death NON-STOP, funerals, suicide, Harry being better looking than William, William's baldness INCESSANTLY, etc. I found it very disrespectful and tacky, personally. Most of it was gossipy and petty, rather than informative and interesting. She's a news anchor, not a high school cheerleader. Dial it back, Babs.
-Why can't William turn around SOONER to see his bride? He didn't get to see her until she was beside him? I feel like he should have gotten to see a full walking-down-the-aisle-towards-him moment for at least a few feet at the end.
Did you watch? What were your highlights/criticisms?
My dad bought me this bottle of wine as a joke, but I think it's perfect.
Here's the back. So true, right?
Poe is so funny, he loves jumping on the bar stools and sitting up to the counter like he's going to be served. If you give him a fry this is his reaction every time! We love watching it and usually do it over and over, letting Corky reap the rewards!
All of you Glee tweeters, posters, and Facebookers finally piqued my curiosity and I started watching the first season on Netflix streaming.
Let's just say I was up until 6 am this morning watching while J happily snored next to me.
My favorites thus far (I'm only on episode 7 or 8 so don't ruin anything for me) has been I Could Have Danced All Night and Defying Gravity. Both were already personal favorites of mine, so it was cool to see them on the show because they aren't exactly BillBoard Top 100 chart toppers.
Also, is it normal to have fluctuating crushes between Finn, Mr. Shuester, and Puck?
I think Finn looks SO much like a knock off Stephen Colletti:
And Puck looks like he could be Shane West's brother: Amiright!?! I know my hot boys.
If you're like me, you love watching Top Chef. The past few seasons have featured a Quickfire Challenge where the winner gets their dish featured as a Schwan's frozen meal. I am familiar with Schwan's from a previous job where the office, and a few co-worker friends ordered from them. Everything I've tasted from Schwan's had been really great, so I trusted them enough to try the Top Chef meals.
I ordered two. One was Ed's (from this season) Gnocchi, which featured mushrooms, asparagus, snap peas, edamame, and a chicken broth with Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top.
The instructions were pretty straight forward and easy, done within 15 minutes and only dirtying one pot. I really liked that the gnocchi were allowed to sear and brown, getting crunch and flavor on them.
It was meant for three 1-cup portions, but we split it into two servings, having a large salad on the side.
Did I like it? Yes and no. I think the sauce might have killed the dish, or the cheese. Some component in there was ridiculously salty. The combination, however, was great and I'd be happy to eat it again with minor adjustments.
If I ordered this in the future I would add water to thin the sauce, not add as much sauce, and definitely not add the cheese. But it was a cool experience to eat something we saw made on TV.
This is not a compensated review. Top Chef and Schwan's have no clue who I am. I bought this meal with my own money and this is my honest opinion of the product.
Translation: Melted cheese with roasted peppers and chorizo. Verdict: Yum.
If any of you have watched Top Chef or Top Chef: Masters you know who Rick Bayless is. He's been a favorite celebrity chef of Johnny's and mine because he's local so his restaurants and Frontera products are accessible and he's mastered one of our favorite cuisines: Mexican. The attention to detail and love that Rick pours into learning Mexican food is really impressive, as is his sharing of the craft. Rick and his wife lived in Mexico and studied every little in and out of local cuisine.
Since 2003 Rick has hosted Mexico: One Plate at a Time on PBS, which Johnny and I have a few seasons of on DVD and it's better than anything currently on Food Network. He's written five award-winning cookbooks, one of which we own a signed copy of. (No, we weren't lucky enough to witness the signing, Johnny's SIL won it in a gift basket and generously gave Authentic Mexican Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico to us!)
He's also really respectful and responsible in his ingredient usage. He was a founding member of Chefs Collaborative for environmentally friendly practices, and he uses only sustainable seafood. Him and his staff started the Frontera Farmer's Association, his charity of choice on Top Chef: Masters, which provides grants to local family farms.
As you can tell, I really like and respect Rick, so imagine my delight when I tweeted him for chorizo suggestions from our cookbook and he tweeted me back with two recipes and their page numbers! I love that I got a personal recommendation from the cookbook author and chef himself! He's such a cool guy, he tweets often and makes himself accessible to his fans, answering questions left and right.
This recipe made enough to fill 6 tortillas and was a little deceiving in the fact that so little can be so filling! Johnny had three, I had two, and it was plenty!
Roast the poblano over the open flame of a gas burner until the skin is blistered and black. If you do not have a gas stove you can cook these under the broiler of your oven.
Carefully rinse the skin off under water and remove the seeds and membrane. Slice into strips.
Turn the oven to 375° and set a pie pan or ramekin inside to heat while the oven comes up to temperature.
In a medium skillet heat half the oil over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and cook about 8 minutes until the onion is slightly browned. Add the pepper strips and cook until they're softened, then remove everything to a bowl.
In the meantime slice the cheese into small 1/2 inch cubes and place in an even layer in the warmed pan. Bake for about 10 minutes so the cheese can evenly melt. *Note: Rick has taken great consideration in identifying everything in the back of this book, down to which ingredients and sometimes specific brands, he recommends. I used an authentic Chihuahua cheese a local company makes, but otherwise he suggests Monteray Jack or mozzarella.
Add the second tablespoon of oil to the skillet and add the chorizo, frying until done, about 10 minutes. Drain off excess fat. This was the first time both Johnny and I tried chorizo and it was delicious!
Remove the hot cheese pan from the oven and drain excess fat if necessary. Spread the chile and onion mixture along with the chorizo over top. Place back in the oven for another couple minutes to heat everything.
Scoop onto warmed tortillas (again I bought from a local company that makes them fresh and delivers to stores) of your choice. Johnny opted for corn and I went for flour. The sausage is surprisingly subtle, with complexity and a hint of heat. The poblanos, once roasted and their seeds removed, are not hot, but full of chile flavor. Since being slowly sauteed the onions have a sweetness that lends itself to the other bolder ingredients.
Sunday night I was watching The Next Iron Chef and Chef Mullen won the challenge with an Asian inspired reuben. He was describing all of the components, and it sounded so crazy it might work. The judges loved it and were commenting how there isn't a person out there who doesn't love a reuben! I had to feel a little silly at that point, because I've never had one!
So, with corned beef leftovers in my fridge, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to try at least a reuben cousin - my variation, with what's on hand.
I pretty much just cooked it like a grilled cheese! I buttered both sides of the bread, assembled it, and reduced the heat and put a lid on. I left it alone for about 2 minutes on each side so the inside could get hot and everything melty and crisp.
When I cut into it, I have to admit I felt like Sophia! She always creates complex flavor combinations (most times with cheese!) that I would never think of. This was pretty out there for me, the most daring my grilled cheeses have gotten before this is adding sliced ham!
All in all, I really liked it! There was the salty tenderness of the corned beef, the cheesy goodness, and then the tart backgrounds from the pickle and bites of the brown mustard. All balanced by a crusty, buttery bread!
I also finally did something with my Twitter account! There's a link in the taskbar on the side, if you want to follow me! I found a lot of you to follow, but I still need to track some of you down...
I have always liked cabbage, but since starting the food blog I've really come to appreciate it a lot more. And at .69¢ a pound (sometimes on sale as low as .19¢ a pound), it's also a steal!
Ingredients
1 large cabbage olive oil salt pepper
2 Tbsp butter 2 Tbsp flour 1 1/2 cup milk (I used 1%) 1 1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used sharp cheddar)
Preheat the oven to 375° and wash and cut the cabbage into 8 wedges, leaving the core intact. Coat with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Put on a baking pan and roast for about 40 minutes.
Once roasted, remove from the oven and let cool slightly while you are preparing the sauce. Lower the oven temperature to 350°.
Melt the butter in a medium skillet and add the flour. Mix together until it's bubbly, then add the milk. Stir and let it thicken for a minute or two. Then add the cheese, and stir until it's all melted.
Cut the cabbage into smaller pieces, and spread into a greased baking dish.
Pour the sauce over the cabbage and stir to mix everything.
Pop back into the oven, uncovered for another 20 minutes until the sauce is bubbly and the top begins to brown a little bit.
This one is definitely a keeper! I've never had cheese sauce with cabbage, only with broccoli or cauliflower. Great call, Laura!!
I served the cabbage alongside my first ever flank steak (post forthcoming)! Johnny said it's one of the Top 5 tastiest dinners he's ever had, or that I've ever made!
Who's watching Top Chef this season!? I love Jennifer, Kevin, and the brothers, although I favor Bryan more than Michael. Johnny said a few weeks ago it was going to be a tough season. I asked why? and he said because there's so many good chefs - it's a different caliber than past seasons. He warned it'll be a lot harder for us to say bye to some of them.
I understood what he meant this past week when Ashley was let go. I really liked her and felt like it wasn't her time to go - it was just the bad luck of the situation. I cannot stand Michael Isabella, he's a whiney brat, and Robin seems to have skated by a few challenges. I would have preferred they go home before Ashley did.
Who do you think will win? I'm gunning for Jennifer, but wouldn't complain if Kevin or Bryan won!
In case you've been wondering where I've been... I had a busy week!
On top of starting school again (AHHHHH!!! What was I thinking?!?!) my dad came for a visit from Friday morning until early this morning to help with some work on the house. He cut, painted, and installed crown moulding in my new office/guest room, put up some brackets for shelves, and we spent an afternoon trimming the overgrown bushes.
It wasn't all work and no play, though. We also ventured into the city on the heels of Anthony Bourdain's Chicago visit - attempting 3 of the stops featured in the show:
Hot Doug's, which we took one look at and groaned. We attempted to hit it early at about 11am, but as you can see the line already went waaaaay down the block. Spend hours in line to pay $8 for a hot dog? No thanks, as we kept driving to...
Burt's Place, which seemed so endearing on No Reservations. Not so much in real life. We hit a brief window of the business actually being open, and were very excited to try it out. Upon entering the dark (and stinky, and empty) dining area a lady came out from the back to "greet" us. Long story short, apparently you need to call ahead to make a pizza, otherwise an hour and a half isn't a big enough time frame for them to make you a pizza and you consume it. I turned on my heel and didn't look back.
We eventually ended up at Al's Italian Beef in the littlest Litty Italy ever, thoroughly enjoying some unpictured grub! On the drive home, we took a detour for the 3rd, and final attempt at No Reservations recommendations...
Calumet Fisheries!!! Where Hot Doug's and Burt's Place disappointed, Calumet Fisheries made up for it and then some! It's a tiny little building where you parallel park outside and can eat in your car, or take it to go. My dad treated us to a smoked salmon filet and it was divine. Even Mr. Johnny Fishhater himself enjoyed it! We ate it alone, on crackers, and on crackers with cream cheese. Buttery, creamy, rich, and a nice smoke in the background - it was a thing of beauty!
We also went to Navy Pier to ride the ferris wheel, see the beautiful stained glass museum, and chomp down some America's Dogs. When the GPS wasn't acting up, we attempted some local sightseeing, too.
Last but not least, we made 55 pounds of assorted sausages: sweet Italian links, hot Italian links, Cajun links, and breakfast mix. I told you a bit about his sausage making history here, but now you'll get to see it with your own eyes!
We set up shop with a big, plastic covered work station, the antique press, a sharp knife, and plenty of freezer bags.
My dad brought pre-measured bags from home of the secret blends that we added to freshly ground pork, ordered here from a local meat store.
First, he knocked out the breakfast sausage since that just requires mixing the spices with the meat and then portioning out, wrapped in plastic wrap.
Next, we worked on the link sausages. The blend we're working with at the time goes into the press, the plastic lid on top to help mush it down, and then the top swings into place, locks and you can start cranking the handle.
Once you get a long enough piece, you braid the links.
Then, highly acclaimed and expert helpers (cough, cough) bag up the sausage and label it accordingly.
Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat..... until your fridge (then freezer) looks like this! Then, distrubute to your family, friends, co-workers, and eventually potluck food bloggers, until a respectable amount is left in your freezer.
Tonight was Anthony Bourdain No Reservations: Chicago. How exciting was it to watch a show and actually be within reasonable distance to go try the things out?! Very. Well, at least for me.
My new goal in life is to eat at every one of the establishments Tony visited. They even condensed them in a neat little list for me. Well, maybe not all, because Moto and L20 have three figure menu prices per person. That's a little out of the budget.
I have to say, I agreed wholeheartedly with every word he said about Chicago pizza. God, it felt good to hear somebody else say it aloud. Wickedly good. I was giddy. I'm sorry, but I'm just not a fan of Chicago pizza and I seem to be the only person in a 5 state radius that thinks this. It doesn't quench that "pizza" craving for me, because something about it just isn't pizza in my mind. If I'm eating it, I just have to look at it as a generic meal and I can admit it tastes good, but "pizza," as I know it, it is not. Although, I am willing to give Burt's a chance, because even Tony liked it. And Burt made me laugh out loud, literally.
I was also really excited to see that fish smokery! Good seafood! Hallelujah! I'm not a super huge fan of smoked food, but again, I want to give it a chance and also will definitely enjoy the fried seafood.
The two I'm probably most excited about are the Silver Palm Restaurant and their three little pigs sandwich that Tony and Mancow went berserk over. I'm also a "total egg slut" and love a fried egg over anything. And, again, I agree wholeheartedly with Tony's words, this time complimentary ones, about Chicago dogs. I love hot dogs and this city does them right. Hot Doug's dogs had me wanting to lick the TV screen and I cannot WAIT to try the duck fat fries. Yummy, yummy!
(Ignore all the messy boxes and clutter, remember I'm in the middle of packing!)
-Kate's dress was absolutely stunning. I loved the classic direction she went in with the lace, the neckline, her veil, and that tiara.
-Why can't William turn around SOONER to see his bride? He didn't get to see her until she was beside him? I feel like he should have gotten to see a full walking-down-the-aisle-towards-him moment for at least a few feet at the end.
