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A few months ago, I was in the waiting room while my son was having his braces tightened at the orthodontist. I pay an awful lot of money to this doctor, and her waiting room is decked out with state of the art decor, an automatic espresso machine, the latest video games, fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and a selection of finer magazines. It's hard not to wonder how much less her services would cost if she was in a strip mall with more scaled back surroundings.
I was perusing the latest copy of Gourmet when Mario finished his appointment. He came out to grab his fresh chocolate chip cookies and entered a contest to win a new Nintendo DS. I got a phone call and herded him out to my truck. Once we arrived back home, I realized I had accidentally stolen the orthodontist's copy of Gourmet magazine. My conscience was bothered, but not enough to actually drive back with the book. I made a mental note to return it on our next visit, but of course, I forgot and besides someone else had ripped out a couple other pages...so I'm sure they don't really miss it.
My subconscious probably encouraged this illegal behavior because of the following recipe. The magazine's editor says it better than I could:
Since these potatoes are "hasselbacked," or sliced accordion style, the scallions and bacon fat really penetrate; the sour cream and bacon are the icing on the cake. (The dish has been known to elicit marriage proposals from strangers and tears from bacon lovers.) From Gourmet, June 2007
He's not kidding. These potatoes are begging to be paired with a thick, juicy steak. I'm probably a few months early with this recommendation-well, at least here in Minnesota. I won't crank the grill up until I can reach it without the use of snowshoes.
And someone who puts it even better than the Gourmet editor is Jim Gaffigan. I know Dooce posted this video a couple of months ago, but it resonated with me. It really touched me. Enjoy the video, laugh hard, then make these potatoes for your lovah.
Roasted potatoes with sour cream and bacon
6 bacon slices, cooked until crisp, drippings reserved
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced, keep white and green sections separated
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
6 medium russet (baking) potatoes (2 1/2 lbs.)
8 oz. Daisy sour cream
After cooking bacon, set it aside and transfer drippings to a small heatproof bowl and stir in white part of scallions, salt and pepper. Put oven rack on middle position and preheat oven to 450. Make deep crosswise cuts in potatoes 1/4 inch apart, leaving bottom 1/4 of potato intact-don't cut all the way through. Place each potato on a sheet of foil (about 1 foot long) and drizzle each with 1 tablespoon of the bacon dripping mixture, separating slices to allow some to drip into cuts. Gather up foil around potatoes, crimping foil to tightly enclose. Roast potatoes until tender 45-50 minutes. Just before serving, stir together the sour cream and scallion greens. Top potatoes with sour cream mixture and bacon crumbles.
Posted at 08:59 AM in Food and Drink, Potatoes | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)
"Are you going to try it with me tonight?"
me, gulping audibly "You know what? I will. But you're going to have to guide me."
"If you're apprehensive, we don't have to do it."
"No, I want to! I really do!"
"You're sure? I don't want to seem like I'm pressuring you."
"No, I've wanted to try it for a long time, and I was hoping the first time would be with you."
"Why me?"
"I guess I consider you an expert."
"Well, let's go then!"
a few minutes later
"Stop trying to be dainty. Just put the whole thing in your mouth. You need to suck off the salt, it makes it taste better."
"Here again, you just need to pop the whole thing in your mouth, otherwise it falls apart and it's just not the same."
Posted at 03:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)
I don't blog very much about my husband. I suppose it's because I'm afraid that anything I write could somehow trivialize my feelings for him and I think he deserves better than that. Additionally, I'm not a "rainbows and unicorns" type of person. I am normally positive and very happy but I don't feel compelled to thrust my bliss in your faces every day and rub it in about what an ideal life I have, la dee da. It's not perfect, but it is wonderful.
The reason Steve and I went to Las Vegas two weeks ago is because he was promoting a product that he has invented and has a patent pending. It's an incredible product, but probably not too interesting unless you work in the tile or construction industry.
For years he has scribbled design ideas on cocktail napkins while we ate at restaurants, or on the envelopes from discarded junk mail at the kitchen counter. He is like a mad scientist at times, pulling his hair as if it will somehow jumpstart his brain and stimulate those neurons. He has spent every free moment on this and other ideas-fabricating, testing, working out the kinks. I've never felt resentful of the time he has spent, or neglected. This is what he does, and he is usually at home with his family at nights, even if he's busy doing CAD renderings of his designs.
His hard work paid off. During the convention, Steve's little brainchild was named "Best New Product of the Year."
The convention organizers stopped at our booth to present the award shown above. We had been tipped off that Steve's product was leading the vote count by a healthy margin, so it wasn't a complete surprise when they arrived with the trophy. In spite of that foreknowledge, I burst into uncontrollable tears. I could not stop crying. My husband is the hardest working man I have ever known in my life-and I've known and worked for some real workaholics in my years, so that's saying a lot. I can't imagine a more deserving person on the planet than Steve. It was nice to finally see someone else recognize his talent, and in such grand fashion. I can't ever remember being as proud of someone as I was of my husband at that very moment. I actually felt my heart swell, I mean I could physically feel it.
Steve's typically humble reaction to all of this hoopla? "Even if nothing else comes of it, it's nice to know that someone else thought it was a good idea."
Posted at 10:59 AM in Family | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)
Not all of my cooking experiences have been flawlessly executed. Some have been miserable failures, others gastric nightmares that have left me slung over a toilet, blaming the meal I'd just eaten and swearing off the ingested food for life. I had to laugh recently when my kids said their dad told them to ask me why I never make orange roughy. Early in our marriage, Tony gave me a copy of The Southern Living Cookbook. I began to experiment with recipes from the tome with regularity. One of the meals we both enjoyed was a grilled orange roughy with broccoli and cheese sauce.
Pardon me, I must pause. I still get dry heaves thinking about it.
I had made this particular meal on several occasions, but one fateful evening after we had enjoyed it (probably with a glass of ice cold white zinfandel, tres sophisticated) I became sick. Really sick. I could not stop throwing up. There is no worse regurgitation in this world than fish and broccoli, let me tell you. Jee-ZUS. This was vomiting of biblical proportions, and the first time my new husband had seen me in such a vulnerable state. I'm quite sure it was food poisoning, in hindsight. I can't blame the cheap white wine, I'm incapable of drinking enough to get sick-two glasses of wine puts me to sleep better than any Ambien or Lunesta ever could. Nonetheless, I've never been able to bring a forkful of orange roughy to my lips ever since. I've also sworn off of any combination of broccoli and cheese. Just a whiff of a soup with those two ingredients is enough to make my stomach clench in terror. It's been twenty frigging years and I've never eaten those foods again. My palate has the curse of total recall.
One of my other recipes gone awry resulted only in a technical failure, the taste wasn't impacted. For my sweet 16th birthday, I had sewn a dropped waist dress made of a pale pink, fine whaled corduroy. It had a cream colored grosgrain ribbon encircling the waist, and a large bow on the left side. I wore it with cream colored panty hose and nude colored vinyl high heels with a large bow on the toe. The dress looked a lot like this, sans the lace and hat.
I had lots of dreams of what my 16th birthday would be like-a boyfriend, a real date, lots of French kissing, a gold necklace with a floating heart-but it turned out to resemble nothing that I had hoped for. Of course, that pink confection of a dress may have had something to do with my lack of a beau or any type of social life for that matter. My mom rented 16 Candles for our Betamax, and I watched that with her and my sisters while I ate chocolate mousse-which I had prepared while talking on the phone and subsequently screwed up because I was distracted. The chocolate mousse method I employ uses gelatin, and it needs to be dealt with swiftly. Otherwise, it starts to set up, and no amount of mixing will get rid of the little bits of gelatin that remain which have the consistency of toad eyes.
I love to serve this with raspberry coulis. Red raspberries and chocolate were just meant to go together. You can even substitute Splenda for the sugar in this recipe for a low carb dessert. This recipe is from a wonderful cookbook, Hershey's Fabulous Desserts. My copy is covered in chocolaty smudges and splatters, proof that it delivers the goods. My apologies to the Hershey company, I'm not so loyal when it comes to their cocoa. I prefer higher end brands for the mousse.
Chocolate Mousse
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
2 TBSP cold water
1/4 C boiling water
1 cup superfine sugar, or Splenda
1/2 cocoa powder
2 C chilled heavy whipping cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
In a custard up, sprinkle the gelatin over cold water; let stand 1 minute to soften. Add boiling water; still until gelatin is completely dissolved and mixture is clear. Cool slightly. (Not for say, a half hour while you chat with your friend about your lame 16th birthday.) In a mixing bowl, stir together sugar and cocoa; add whipping cream and vanilla. Beat at medium speed, scraping bottom of bowl occasionally, until stiff peaks form. Pour in gelatin mixture and beat until well blended. Spoon into serving dishes or chocolate shells. Chill at least 1/2 hour prior to serving. Makes 4 cups.
Posted at 10:36 AM in Food and Drink | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
I began to feel human again yesterday afternoon. I'm sure the first shower in 48 hours helped in the recovery effort, as did the return of the ability to taste and smell. I picked the twins up from school and decided to make a nice Eye-talian dinner. I made Chicken Parmesan, pepperoni rolls, and a tossed salad with some fresh herbs thrown in. Sam, my son's gluten free friend, was visiting and my motherly intuition told me that there would probably be at least one more extra at the table, so I made nine servings. For Sam's wheat intolerant benefit, I omitted the bread crumbs on the chicken breasts.
Drew walked in as I was browning the chicken and mentioned to his dad and I that his new girlfriend was outside, and asked if we wanted to meet her. Our response was somewhere along the lines of...Hell, YES!
I'm happy to report that this girl is pretty, she is normal, she is respectful, she maintained eye contact, she interacted well with the family, she has plans for life after high school...people, we have a WINNER! Woot woot!
I asked if she would like to stay for dinner, and assured her I hadn't lost anyone yet as a result of my cooking. (She giggled. She actually politely laughed at my lame attempt at parental humor.) Drew inquired about the menu. I told him we were having Chicken Parmesan. He then asked, "Are you making pepperoni rolls?"
"They're in the oven as we speak."
"SUHWEEEEET! You have to stay for dinner, Jackie, you have to try her pepperoni rolls."
I was floating a few inches off the ground at this point. The old Drew had returned and with much better company. I restrained myself from dramatic fist pumping action.
The teens sat in the family room, and I began conversation. "So, did Kalvin tell you his mom started a blog?"
"For real? Can I see it?
"Sure."
Reads it for a few minutes, "Cool. All my friends read your blog."
"YOUR friends read MY blog?"
"Well, John and Som do. When they're bored."
"JOHN reads MY blog?"
"Only when he's REALLY bored."
Yeah. Wouldn't want me to get a big head about my audience now, would we.
Posted at 11:53 AM in Family, Stepparenting | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBack (0)
I picked up a nasty bug from Annelise over the weekend. I thought I was fighting it off on Saturday, but it knocked me on my ass yesterday and today. Constant sneezing, chronic cough and a throbbing headache. FUN. For your amusement, some observations from my sick bed.
I'm very grateful to the apothecaries at Bigelow for their wonderful Mentha Lip Shine.
My lips are dry and cracked from constant mouth breathing-it's every bit as attractive as it sounds. I'm only enjoying sporadic functionality of my taste buds, even though I've been downing bowls of hot and sour soup from my neighborhood Chinese takeout and gallons of hot tea.
You would think from the hundreds of channels of programming I pay dearly for each month, there would be better choices. You would be wrong. I started the day with a weepfest during an episode of The Learning Channel's "A Baby Story." Manipulative sons of bitches. How can you watch that show and not burst into tears as the baby finally arrives? Aforementioned weeping only made the congestion worse. More hot tea.
Fortunately, it was time to take a nap on my exquisitely uncomfortable couch. I was awakened by the alert that Mrs. G's my secret boyfriend, Anthony Bourdain's journey to Los Angeles was on. I felt much better after watching Tony insult Rachael Ray. Next, I caught the second half of one of my all time favorite movies, Pee Wee's Big Adventure. Even though I've seen it dozens of times, it still entertains me. Watching it this afternoon though, I've come up with a groundbreaking hypothesis. I believe that these two guys
and
were in fact separated at birth. Or, that could be the Claritin talking.
Posted at 01:54 PM in Health | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)
Posted at 11:21 AM in Kids | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
Well, we're the company-but I'm on pie duty.
One cherry.
One apple.
Because I'm all about excess when it comes to food, I'm bringing along the ice cream maker and the ingredients for my homemade vanilla ice cream.
Recipes will follow.
Posted at 03:01 PM in Food and Drink | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)