I like wandering through the grocer and being inspired by...

what's on sale.

Particularly the "going bad" clearance sales, if it's something I can fix for dinner that night.

Yesterday my browsing was rewarded with 8oz of fresh mushrooms for $1 (down from $2), two Moroccan artisan olive loafs $1.50 each (down from $4.50), grated Romano cheese 5oz. $2.19 (down from $5) and a pound of fresh strawberries for $1.50 (down from $4).

I already had rice at home and a pan full of sausage grease from the morning, so I used some garlic, onion, spices, the mushrooms and Romano to turn that into a Risotto after lots of stirring and adding just enough liquid to keep the rice barely covered (minus the white wine that the Wife doesn't care for.)

Carved the olive loaf tops in a "v" trench, removed the top, added cooked chicken breast slices, and filled the trench with my sort-of Risotto, and baked them to crisp for a few minutes before serving.

The strawberries for dessert were cut and soaked in the tiniest bit of Balsamic Vinegar and sugar.

Risotto1

ChickenNestOliveLoaf

StuffedOliveLoaf1

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

For years the wife and I have been making a McDonald's mutation sandwich which we dubbed the Beef N' Bird.

Equal parts double-cheeseburger and McChicken. 
Discard one set of buns (i.e. let the kids eat them when they swoop in to take a break from the playground.)
Combine the meats, sauces, and assorted veggies (term used loosely)
between remaining set of buns and there you have it. 
The Beef N' Bird.

I was inspired by this when preparing dinner last night and classed-up (ever so slightly) the original concept.

Gourmet Beef N' Bird:

Pan-fry a large medallion of beef sausage until crisply browned then cut in halves and cook two chicken tenderloins pan-fried in the beef sausage drippings.

One large leaf of Romain lettuce placed on a plate, with a thin layer of sun-dried tomato pesto spread over it, then sprinkled with grated Romano cheese.

When the meats have cooled slightly (so not to wilt the lettuce) alternately place sausage halves and tenderloins on top of the Romain leaf.

Drizzle spicy wing sauce or BBQ lightly over the meats and serve.

BeefNbird2

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

TacoSaladSpringRoll2

Taco Salad with Lemongrass Chicken Spring Rolls.

I had the eldest daughter assist with this one.

Just shy of 4, she was able to shred the romaine lettuce leaves by hand.

She also sprinkled the chopped onions into the skillet with the hamburger while it was browning.

Then she poured a little of both ranch dressing and cheesy pasta sauce onto the salad and mixed it in with a spoon.

Finally, she crushed the (generic) chili cheese Fritos by hand and stirred them in.

By then, the frozen Lemongrass Chicken Spring Rolls were coming out of the oven and ready to be placed for presentation just as my wife arrived home from work.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Inspired by the tornadoes sweeping around us last night, I put two shots of vodka into six shots pineapple juice and diced up a quarter of an Granny Smith apple that the daughters hadn't finished eating with their dinner. 

PineappleDapple

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Last night I got down with Tilapia fillets.

The wife was headed out of town for a few days, so I wanted a good send-off dinner.

First step, thaw frozen Tilapia (purchased in a bulk bag but in individual packets.)

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Dredge fillets in a mix of seasoned bread crumbs (I used crushed bits of unused Thanksgiving stuffing mix), and grated Parmesan cheese until well coated.

Sprinkle dried cayenne powder, black pepper, rosemary, and Italian seasonings on top of each.

Bake for twelve minutes on a buttered, foil-lined cookie sheet.

Remove and drizzle lime juice on fillets before serving.

The coating, aside from adding flavor, will protect the fillets from scorching or drying out, keeping them moist and steamy.

I leaned just a tad heavy on the cayenne, hence the moniker, "Fire Fish" for this dish.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

• Wake, sort of
• Sheets pulling me back under like water lapping at a drowning man.
• Pillows at least a half-mile deep.
  
• Sunrise, walking the dogs, orange light, dewy grass
• Note that the dogs have gotten into a diaper somewhere, visual data from their droppings
• Shower, warm, borderline hot, needling; and smelling ever so slightly of mold
• Mental note to confer with property management agent.
• Kids, where the hell are the kids?  Bed, a yes, awake but not in trouble.
  
• Shave, note blade slightly rusty... slightly?  It is or it isn't.  It is.  Must find replacements in box somewhere.
• Coffee, java, espresso... life.  Christopher Bean Tiramisu beans.  Hot steam under pressure, voila.
• Kids, where the hell are the kids?  Ah, breakfast table, eating cereal, mostly neatly.
  
• PC to check traffic for wife's commute.  Suggest alternate route.  Avoid congestion = faster = happy.
• Sausage.  Squished medallions of porcine yumminess emitting greasy smoke.  Crisp and unburned.
• Kids, where the hell have I put the kids?  Oh, TV, Noggin, to make smart kids who are active, by sitting on their asses.  Actually very active today.  Lots of play in the dogs crates.  The pups yield the field with valor.
  
• Drag pool off patio into yard.  Do battle with insects of extraordinary size.  Extend hose.  Fill pool.
• Cuppy and a nap in crib for youngest.
• Eldest spots pool.  Much whining.
• Eldest changed into swimsuit.  Much splashing.
• Sunny.  Warm.  Chair.  Footrest.  Backyard.  Pool.  Daughter giggle.  Tanning.  Beer.
• Where the hell are the kids?  Ah, lunch.  Dry one off, dress, table, peanut butter toast in the face.  Wake other up, dry off bum, change diaper, reapply clothes, table/high-chair, peanut butter toast, on the face and the hair, and the floor, to the puppies.
• Pool, splashing, two daughters giggling, warm, sun, chair, footrest, tanning, beer.
• Tired tantrums.  Nap for one.  Quiet puzzle time for two.  Microwave, processed-cheese on tortilla chip rounds Nachos for me.  Lookie, BBC America, and Discovery Science Channel and way too many others to ever flip through.
• PC time with the eldest.   Lots of Nick, Jr games.
• Checking on wife's commute home, suggest alternate route, ignored.
• Wife stuck in traffic, finally aborts and attempts suggested route.
• Dinner, sirloin tip under the broiler, finished with blue cheese, bovine bliss.
• Music and dancing and craziness on the coffee table and lots of shoulder rides and tummy-floor-swing-rocker rides.
• Kids asleep, nightlights on.  Grown-ups on the patio with matches and marble, and green faeries dancing with the fireflies in the treeline down the hill along the creek.
• Sweet tea and vodka.
  
• Marital aerobics.
• Oblivion.
  

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Butterflied boneless leg of lamb.

Savoury.

Baked brie with apricots, cranberries, almonds, and brandy in lattice-top pastry.

Tangy.

Greenbeans with pecans in sauce.

Well-balanced.

Affligem Abby "Noel" Christmas Ale from Belgium, 9% abv.

Warming and heady.

Braided breadsticks and salad.

Yummy.

Watching the kids open up and play with their presents under the tree.

Fantastic.

Feigning a medical condition that allows me to turn a deaf-ear to 90% of what my mom-in-law says.

Pure numbed bliss.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

So, I'm making the 2.8 year old dinner tonight and I ask her what she'd like.

No reply.

So I go to the two ever-ready standbys.

Chicken nuggets or fishsticks.

Yes, I know they're overly processed.  I also know that when the kid will eat nothing else, she will eat either chicken nuggets or fishsticks... and they are at least better than the nutritional content of twinkies or sugar cereal.  So there.

Anyway, she says, "FISHSTICKS!" in a way that only a child under three can be excited about fishsticks.

I say great, how many would you like.

Silence.

Would you like 5 fishsticks?

"I want 5 fishsticks!"

The reply was so energetic that I think it's possible she might eat more than usual.
Do you want 6 fishsticks?

"I want 6 fishsticks!"

Hey, she never says yes to that, why not raise.
Do you want 7 fishsticks?

"I want 7 fishsticks!"

At this point my Texas Hold'em instincts take over and I decide to raise, feeling that she's bluffing.
Do you want 8 fishsticks?

"I want 8 fishsticks!"

Now I know it is a game and we get theatrical.
Do you want 9 fishsticks?

"I want 9 fishsticks!"

Now I'm thinking that this could go on for a while and I consider changing languages just to hear her mimic me.
Do you want 10 fishsticks?

Silence.

She looks down, shyly as though slightly embarrassed at having gotten caught up in the moment.

"I want 5 fishsticks."  In a pleading voice that asks if she can get out of her prior commitment.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend