Snazzy Summer Quiche

I made a quiche.  It was bangin.  Everybody said so.  Here's how I did it.

1. Break 1/2 a loaf of stale bread into 1/2-inch chunks (3 or 4 cups' worth).
2. Chop 2 zucchini, 1/2 a medium onion, 2 cups tomatoes, 3 cloves garlic.
3. Mix bread and veggies, salt and pepper them, and dump them into two greased baking dishes (about 8-inch diameter/square).
4. Distribute 1 total cup of shredded sharp cheddar over the dishes (so 1/2 cup per dish).
5. In a bowl, whisk together 9 eggs, 2 cups milk or half & half, and 1/4-to-1/2 cup of herbed chevre (goat cheese) until there are no large lumps and eggs are combined.
6. Add salt and pepper, about 1/2 teaspoon each of dried thyme and dill, and two shakes of ground mustard, then whisk.
7. Pour the egg mixture over the dishes, trying to get all the ingredients moist (if you don't hit it all with the pour, then wash your hands, press those babies all up in your quiches until all of the bread is eggy, scrape the cheese off your hands, and wash again).
8. Bake at 350 degrees for about half an hour, or until the centers are set/firm.

HOLY COW.  Bangin, I say.

Bad Potato, Bad Potato

First of all, this is what has been going through my head now for the past ten minutes:

Second (and those of you who are my friends on Facebook will quite possibly have already read this), here are eight lessons I've learned in the past few minutes.

1.  If something smells funny in your house, don't ignore it.
2.  If you think a funny smell is your washing machine, but washers don't usually (or...really don't ever) smell like that, don't assume it's still your washer.
3.  Potatoes don't like it when you put a warm towel straight out of the dryer on top of them.
4.  Correction: most potatoes DO like warm towels.  Bad potatoes DO NOT.
5.  Bad potatoes make your hands smell TERRIBLE no matter how much you wash them -- your hands -- with lemony antibacterial soap from Bath and Body Works.
6.  A rotten potato turns mushy, not green or anything.  Who knew.
7.  Other potatoes aren't really affected by rotten ones.  They just keep on being happy and growing eyes until you use them.
8.  Put away your clothes and towels when you take them out of the dryer.  Especially if you're tempted to put them on bags of food.

Now, I'm off to wash and scrub and cube the good potatoes, and hope that they don't make my beef stew smell like teenaged boy feet.  If so...there will be a lesson #9.

First I need to tell you about food.

Last weekend, I was a cooking machine.  I'm not really sure what got into me -- actually, I'm pretty sure it was just the combo of a clean kitchen and a freshly-stocked pantry -- but I ended up making all KINDS of food.  I thought I'd give you a quick recap of the stuff I made, along with semi-complete instructions.

Moroccan Couscous
I stole this idea from Mediterranean Deli in Chapel Hill.  Sauté some onions in a pot, add water and chicken bullion, add raisins, roasted red pepper (you can sauté red pepper with the onions if you'd rather not roast them), lots of curry, and garbanzo beans if you want them.  I decided I won't be using the garbanzos next time.  Stir it up, bring it to a boil, add your couscous and cook according to package.  Stir eat enjoy.

Spicy Sausage Dip (Dippity Do-Da, as Shari calls it)
This one came from a friend at school.  Simply cook up some hot country sausage (the ground kind), add in two cans original Rotel, and two packs cream cheese.  Feel free to add milk if it's too thick, more cheese if it's too chunky, or less Rotel/mild sausage if it's too hot, red pepper flakes if you want it hotter.  SO GOOD.

Spanish Rice
Not really sure if it's legitimately Spanish, but I'm pretending like it is.  Cook up some rice with a packet of saffron (I use Goya saffron) and some garlic, add in black beans and Rotel.  That's it.  Add onions if you want (I ALWAYS want) and that's good too.  This with some garlic-y chicken, SON.

Apple-Baked Pork
I made this up.  I win.  Mix up some cracked black pepper, the coarser the better in my opinion, with a fair amount of ground mustard, dried rosemary, salt, and a little bit of apple cider vinegar.  When that's had time to get all happy and matrimonious, rub a little olive oil on your pork chops, then rub the rub into them.  Let them sit while you cut up some apples (I used ones well past their peak so as not to waste them, and it was a success).  Dump the apples in a baking dish or dutch oven.  Brown your pork on both sides, not cooking through (it's not necessary), then put them in the dutch oven, too, mixing them in among the apples.  Bake half an hour at 350, or really whatever time and temp you want, as long as the pork cooks through.  Eat it up and lick the dish, no lie.

Vegetable Soup
Mom's invention.  Get a bag of frozen veggies (I got the California blend, but basically anything with broccoli or cauliflower or carrots or squash will be fine), cover them with water in a big pot, and boil them with a couple doses of chicken or veggie bullion in there.  I happen to use both bullion types.  When they're well done, blend the mixture (immersion blenders are the BIZNAZ) and add two cans of fat-free evaporated milk, and I add a liberal amount of cracked pepper as well.  Party in my mouuuuuth.  If you prefer not to feel like you're in a home for those with soft minds and plenteous gingiva, you can chop your veggies ahead of time and not blend anything.  By the way, cheese with this will blow your mind.

Berry Smoothie
This is not for the faint of texture.  I start my smoothies normally -- yogurt, frozen raspberries and blueberries, milk -- but then I add oatmeal.  Uncooked quick oats, to be exact.  I think it's the best thing in the whole entire world; however, there are those out there who think it looks gross and the oatmeal gives it a strange raw-almond taste.  Which I LOVE.  Note:  if you don't like super-thick smoothies, this one gets thicker with time.  You might want to add more milk later.  Also, if it's not sweet enough for you, honey is a great combo with this!

There you have it.  Six things in one weekend, enough to share, and freeze some as well.  I am one happy camper.

Why coupons are a good idea...

I'm not a super-saver or anything.  I can't stand to carry coupons around with me and sift through them at a checkout line.  Let's be honest, though -- I don't really do checkout lines anyway.  Hence my online shopping habits.

Anyway, I want to tell you how wonderful the easy coupons are for those of you who don't want to be super-savers.

• Once again, I can't recommend enough how fantastic it is to be a subscriber to email deals.  But I know that's not for everyone.
• I think it's a pretty good idea to sort through the junk mail you get and check for coupons there.  Ruby Tuesday sends out mailers at least every two weeks, and they are usually pretty good.  In fact, that's what inspired this post -- Brandi and I went there last night, and we each got an 11-ounce steak (OH EM GEEE), usually 18 bucks, for ten apiece.  Son.  It was good.
• Don't forget to check out online sites for coupon codes.  Just search "coupon codes" and you're done.  It's that easy.  Or even easier, you can click on the links I have on the righthand side of my blog.
• Share your rewards with other people.  If you're in a retailer's I-love-to-save club, get other people to use your login or code or whatever, and you'll get points faster.  I've done this with Lands' End before, but the genius behind Cute is not a Compliment helped me realize the other day that it can work just about anywhere, even DSW.  Love.
• Shop overstocks and sale first.  You want to stock up on those things before you fall in love with everything that's regular-priced.  Gross.

That was quick.  And all I really wanted to tell you about was how we saved so much on our steaks.  And they were darn good.

Easy Eggs

Want to know about some awesome eggs I just made?  Okay I tell you.

First I took a small chunk of diced green peppers out of the freezer and let them thaw.  Then I took my Ziploc of sliced onions out of the fridge and put a few of those in a small pan with the green peppers.  I salted and peppered and garlic-ed and cooked them with a few drops of olive oil.  Then I cracked two eggs into it and salted and peppered and garlic-ed again.  I scrambled.  At the end, I took a piece of sharp "cheese" that comes in fancy individually wrapped squares (my crunchy sister-in-law LOVES that stuff) and smushed it all up in that mess.  Finish off with a dollop of light sour cream, and BUDDY.  This dish right here is how I'm gonna catch me a man.  And it takes no time at all, so I can try to catch a man over and over and over again, just buying enough eggs for each "thanks but no thanks" until I hook the big one.

Plus I'll stay really happy and well fed in the meantime.  Holler.  :-D

Magical Snow Day Chicken and Dumplings

Hello, everyone!  Now this is a story all about how my frown got flip-turned upside-down.  I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there, I'll tell you how I made chicken and dumplings that rocked the new year!

Let me warn you in advance that I editorialize my recipes; however, the editorialization is only going to help you.  It's cooking know-how.  You should probably pay attention to it since I have made this lots of times and made the mistakes that warranted the advice.  But you might already know the info if you're an experienced cook, so make your own choices.

Here are your ingredients (by the way, my recipe makes a veggie-heavy, thick, somewhat spicy stew; please alter amounts to suit your style of chicken and dumplings):

• Approx 2 cups cubed raw chicken (old, almost freezer-burned chicken works since the soup's so flavorful, so just cut off any dried-out pieces and use the rest)
• Two veggie bullion cubes
• Approx 8 cups water depending on your pot size and desired consistency
• Salt n Pepa
• Spices:  ground mustard, thyme, sage, cayenne pepper, oregano, garlic powder
• Olive Oyl
• 3/4 of a large bag of baby carrots (about four cups chopped, maybe?)
• An entire thing of celery, chopped
• A huge sweet onion (equivalent to about three smalls), sliced how you like (I like mine in big slivers!)
• Bisquick and milk, OR see dumpling recipe far below

Cut up your chicken into bite-sized pieces and throw it into a preheated huge soup pot with a little olive oil.  Add salt and pepper to taste, one good shake of ground mustard, four shakes of thyme, about two teaspoons of sage, two moderate shakes of cayenne, a teaspoonish of oregano, and maybe five good sweeps of garlic powder.  The chicken will probably taste over-spiced, but you want that -- you're really seasoning for the chicken and the broth as well.

[NOTE: I'm sorry I don't have real measurements; it would actually mess me up to measure things.  It's more likely the spices would end up really wrong.  ALSO NOTE: both the mustard and the cayenne add heat -- ground mustard creates a dull, whole-mouth heat, and cayenne is what gives the burn on the tip of the tongue.  They work well together, but if you don't want this to be spicy, say no to cayenne and do one light shake of mustard.]

Cook the chicken until it's done.  Heat up four cups of water with the bullion cubes (I do two cups and a cube at a time) and add to the chicken.  Keep it simmering and covered while you do the vegetables.  All your veggies should be chopped into manageable bites.  Begin cooking your carrots first.  Let me repeat that -- BEGIN COOKING YOUR CARROTS FIRST unless you want crunchy carrots and soft onions and celery.  Cook your carrots on medium-high heat with olive oil and some salt, just enough to flavor the carrots.  Add in three good shakes of thyme and half a teaspoonish of oregano.  Cook until the carrots are translucent around the edges but still opaque in the center.  Turn them off.

Add in your onions and celery, then salt them.  Let them sit until some of the juices come out of the vegetables.  This allows you to use less olive oil since moisture is being provided by the vegetables themselves (The salt is what does this, not the heat.  Common misconception.).  When you've got juices built up, add a little olive oil and turn the heat on high.  Add another three shakes of thyme, four swipes of garlic powder, another half-teaspoon of oregano, two good shakes of ground mustard and a good bit of pepper (one shake of mustard and less pepper if you're a weakling).  Cook until the vegetables are mostly translucent, but no more.

Dump all your vegetables into the pot of simmering chickeny goodness.  Add another two or so cups of water until you have the desired chunkiness (DO NOT put in so much water that you don't have room for dumplings later!  Leave about three inches of space from the top of the pot!) and keep on medium-low heat/a low boil while you mix up the dumplings, or at least fifteen minutes.  Don't skimp on the time; you're melding the flavors and creating a unique, full-bodied broth right now.

For drop dumplings:  make according to Bisquick box directions (double batch if you want), or make according to these directions I found on the internet.

• Four cups flour
• Four teaspoons baking powder (I know, right?!  I suggest you try three.)
• One teaspoon salt (You can definitely bump this down to half a teaspoon.)
• Four tablespoons softened butter (YES it needs to be soft, but not melted--try microwaving it for 30 seconds at half power, then stirring it up)
• One cup milk or more

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.  Add in the softened butter and cut it into the mix with a knife or fork or fancy pastry-cutting device (PLEASE get one of these if you ever want to make good doughs and crusts from scratch) until the butter is the size of small peas.  It DOES NOT have to look uniform.  Lightly mix in the milk, starting with a cup and adding more if necessary.  It should be a tacky consistency when you're done, with little to no excess liquid.  Only stir as much as you need to; if you overstir, it will yield tough dumplings.

Make sure your soup is lightly simmering, then drop in the dumplings a spoonful at a time.  Don't stress about them dropping on each other, but try to drop them in kind of different places.  It's okay if you have double-decker dumplings.  Cover and simmer for ten to fifteen minutes, checking to make sure it doesn't get too hot and boily.  You'll probably want to turn it down a few minutes into it.  Check them at ten minutes--do they still look mushy?  Feel free to poke a fork in there and see if they're cooked through.  If not, try a few more minutes.  Mine take right about fifteen.

Done.  EEEEEEEAAAAATTTTTT.  I'm going to make myself another bowl right now.

SNOW DAY

So there's a "winter whopper" (contact me about usage rights, Weather Channel) that's walloping the east coast all the way from the Deep South to like Pennsylvania and New York and stuff.  We're part of that area here.  And guess whose county cancelled school for today?  MINE!!!  :-D

I stayed in bed until after noon, just lying there and listening to Christmas music and planning out my day.  Then I got up, had breakfast, and started to straighten my apartment.  It has taken a lot of straightening, and I feel like I've barely made a dent.  I've got some dishes washing right now, though, and my little bitty Christmas tree -- it's more of a pullet, really -- is put up with the star on top and one ornament on it.  I'll get to the rest of that later.  [By the way, for those of you who feel that it's blasphemous to put the star on the tree before you do anything else, calm down.  It kind of embodies who I am to do it backwards like that.  I'm a crust-first, read-the-end-of-the-book, tell-me-the-movie's-shocking-twist kind of girl.  If I have the star, I'm going to put it on there.  That's all there is to it.  You're not going to change me.]

I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to hang up the way cute letters spelling "THINK WARM" without putting nine holes in the wall.  My current idea is to tie a long piece of string around two nails, glue the ends to the nails, and hammer those babies into the wall.  Then I can hang the letters anywhere along that line that I want to using ornament hooks, AND I can use the string for hanging other things later.  But...I'm worried the letters will slide to the center.  So I haven't gotten my stepstool out and tried it yet.

I'm also finishing up cooking some lentil stew I started a few days ago.  Yes, the same lentil stew that started growing.  I hear sprouted grains and legumes are all the culinary rage these days, though, so maybe this soup will be the envy of foodies everywhere when I'm finished with it.  I'm waiting on my cutting board and favorite knife to finish up in the dishwasher; then, it will be time to get the carrots chopped (my last ingredient!) and added to the GORGEOUS concoction sitting on the stove right now.  Just look at this stuff...

Mmm.  I can't wait to eat it.

I'm planning on making a nice healthy dose of tapicoa pudding tonight, too -- it might even last me until tomorrow evening.  Maybe.  Speaking of tomorrow night...

...IT'S THE CHRISTMAS MOVIE WEEKEND EXTRAVAGANZAAAAAAA

TRACI IS A FRUIT-PUSHER

I've got a big bag of fruit sitting on my floor that I bought from Traci. It's too big to put away, and I've been too tired to do anything with it yet. I just had a grapefruit--so now it's one down, four more grapefruit, ten apples, and ten oranges to go. Holy vitamin C, Batman.

dinner disaster => dinner AWESOME

Oh my gosh, y'all.  I love when stuff happens like this.

So I've had some tuna steaks in the fridge for not quite a week, and that makes me nervous.  I decided tonight was the time to cook them.  I get them out of the fridge, and I notice the package is sticky.  Thank you, grocery bag, for protecting my newly cleaned fridge shelf.  I'm cleaning the tuna when I realize that the edges are slightly browned.  I'm thinking that maybe it's just exposure to the air, but I don't want to take any chances (even though they smell fine...).  Tuna steaks now = smaller.

I begin by cooking some chopped onions in a bunch of pinot grigio with salt and garlic.  After it's boiled down for a while, I stick in the tuna steaks and set up my cutting board on the stove and start chopping.  I've got a pot of water, vegetable bullion, and a little bit of garlic sitting on the stove already, waiting for its happy additives.  I'm chopping roma tomatoes...I'm chopping onions...I decide to turn on my pot of water so it can start to boil.  I'm chopping onions again...something smells weird...chopping onions (it was a lot of onions)...I notice smoke coming from the stove...

...and immediately pick up my melted cutting board and rush it to the sink.  I then click off the burner and make sure windows and doors are open and fans are on.  Then I stand outside for a little while and breathe in the fresh air.  I move inside under the fan to breathe and make sure air is circulating.  Guess what's cooking this whole time?

Yeah, so I realize that the tuna's been playing on side 2 for a good many minutes now.  I turn it off and take it off the heat, and thankfully it hasn't burned -- it's only gotten really tough (exactly why you don't want to overcook fish, especially a dry and fibrous fish like tuna).  I've got the back burner going now and my water starts boiling.  Actually, from here, it's smooth sailing, so let me just give you my couscous recipe (you've already got the tuna one down, right?  Cook onions in pinot grigio with garlic and salt, add tuna, cook on medium-high, covered until only center is pink on outside, flip, cook until juice is clear or until you clear your home of toxic smoke):

Slap-Tua-Madre Italian Couscous

1 box couscous (approx 2 cups)
2 cups water, or whatever box directions say
1 veggie bullion cube (for 2 c water)
garlic powder
3/4 medium onion, chopped
olive oil (not much!)
ground black pepper
lemon juice, approx 1 1/2 tablespoons
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
chopped fresh basil (I like a LOT of it -- I used abt 8 leaves and could have gone for more)
parmesan cheese, about 1/2 cup

Boil water with bullion cube and a modest amount of garlic powder.  Add couscous, stir, and remove from heat.  Cover and let sit for 5 minutes (or cook according to box directions).  Meanwhile, lightly saute onions with a very small amount of olive oil and black pepper.  Do not overcook onions -- you want them to still be crisp, but with a slight nuttiness and minus the oniony sharpness.  Stir into finished couscous, along with lemon juice.  Stir immediately so the lemon juice will be distributed.  Add in chopped tomatoes, basil, and parmesan cheese.

Stir.  Eat.  Love.

Folks, even though the tuna is tough, it looks and tastes so pretty when paired with that magical couscous.  I might even like this stuff better than my fave Moroccan couscous.  What?!  The sweetness of the tomatoes and basil pair so nicely with the lemony and salty fish.  And the textures...ohhhhh...it's like a fuzzy blanket for my mouth.  It doesn't feel like that at all -- it's just happy and snuggly and mmmmm.

Y'all really should try making some of this stuff.  It's extremely good for you (the only fat is in the tuna, cheese and olive oil, and those still add up to only a small amount; calories come from couscous and tuna, and a little bit from veggies; and it's got at least a serving of veggies in there if you do it right), and oh my, is it ever fantastic.  I can't even imagine how good it would be if I changed the parmesan to feta and made it Opa! Outrageously Good Greek Couscous.  SON.  I'm about to go buy some feta.

So here I sit.  I had two big potholes in my cooking journey, but the couscous and the lovely flavors saved the day.  In celebration, I pledge to eat loads and loads of happy food.  And wait for my plastic headache to go away.

This ain't gone be no fun.

Ugh. Traci and I made a pact to start Weight Watchers Online today. We decided today because we had planned to have lunch yesterday after my haircut (oh my goodness it is SO cute!!!), and we wanted to be able to have a last indulgent meal before our time of self-denial began. So of course we ordered cheese fries and entrees and cheesecake--not to share--as our last hurrah.

I started out this morning not having signed up yet, but keeping points in mind anyway. I have no idea what points values are for anything; however, I know it's probably a better idea to have mango salsa for breakfast than a huge bowl of vanilla-almond granola. So I went for the salsa, super proud of myself for having something healthy in the fridge and for choosing it over something else. For lunch...I had leftover pizza. Here's my rationale: I have leftover pizza in the fridge. I do not like to waste food. I only had two pieces instead of the usual three. I can be vigilant the rest of the day. I drink skim milk all the time anyway.

I went to the website and signed up, then started adding in my foods for the points tracker system thing (if you aren't familiar with the system, each food has points assigned to it according to its nutritive value, and you only get so many points per day). Mango salsa? Approximately 2. Skim milk? 3.5 for my serving size. [Wait, 3.5 points?! I know it has calories and sugar and stuff, but it's SKIM MILK!] The Meats pizza? 8 points. FOR ONE PIECE. So here I am, trying to figure out what I can eat for dinner that will not use more than about 5 points. Clearly I will not be eating the ballpark food at the baseball game tonight.

If you're interested, though, I had a super-awesome and rather low-points (if I'd been counting then) dinner the other night. I made tuna steaks and mango salsa, and that's it. No rice or anything, even though that was originally the plan. It just so happened that I started making dinner around 9pm, so I didn't think rice would be time-wise.

Anyway, here's how to make that favoloso dinner:

Tuna Steaks: Wash your tuna steaks, sashimi grade if you want it to be really awesome (that just means you don't have to cook it through and it will keep the fish more tender). Heat up a little bit of olive oil in a pan, just enough to make things not stick. Salt one side of your tuna with sea salt and place that side down in the pan. Press your fingers into the fish, making the meat pull apart a tiny bit (please, not too hard--don't make your fish cry). Pour Pinot Grigio white wine over the tops of the fish, being sure that it collects a little in the crevasses you created. Salt the top with sea salt again, but not too much--remember you've already salted the other side. Cook uncovered on medium heat until the fish is cooked about halfway through. You can look on the sides of the fish or peek down into the middle to gauge when you're at this point. Flip and cook, adding more Pinot Grigio if it starts to dry up. Do not overcook this; it will lose tenderness and dry out after it is cooked through, so pay attention and keep adding more wine if it needs it.

Mango Salsa: Other than the chopping, this is SUPER easy. Dice two mangoes being careful not to slice your thumb as I did. Dice one happily firm cucumber (I like each piece to be an eighth of a slice) and dump it in with the mangoes. Dice half of a medium sweet onion, or a whole small one, and add it in. Chop up a good amount of cilantro (I LOOOOOOVE cilantro, so I probably added a little more than most would choose) and add in along with a little bit of sugar. Star it up real good (which really means stir it up until well mixed, but I've been affected by where I live) and serve on top of the tuna or as a side dish of sorts.

The Pinot Grigio from the tuna recipe is also a nice pairing with the meal. It isn't too dry or too sweet, but has a nice crisp fruitiness that goes well with most types of seafood (though you shouldn't cook many of them in the wine because it changes their flavor too much) and pairs extremely well with the fruit salsa. The salsa is a welcome companion to many light meats as well, including seafood, chicken and sometimes pork.

Happy eating (unless you're also on a diet)!!

"Hot town, summer in the city..."

"...back of my neck gettin' dirty and gritty." Eeew. Who knew that was the next line? And how gross is that?

Today was the first time this whole year when I've regretted not using air conditioning for climate reasons. I often consider switching it on because I hate getting all kinds of bugs in my apartment (you should have seen the one that intruded last night!), but I've never thought to use it because of the temperature. This morning was a different story. I got out of the shower, dried off, and had sweat beads rolling down my body moments later. It was GROSS. But--all I did was close the open window and stand under the fan for a sec. Way to hold out, self.

The plan for today was to go to a pig pickin' at Page's parents' house. I got there a little late because I'm an idiot and didn't estimate driving time correctly, but it was fine. Boy, let me tell you, we had some good food. Page's dad cooked a pig eastern style and I soaked it in vinegar sauce myself, and it was so tender and so spicy and soooo gooood. All the fixins were delectable, too--potato salad, couscous, slaw, and lots of chips and dip and things. Plus there were four or five desserts. I employed my usual M.O. and loaded up on the dessert I wanted the most, my mom's Death by Chocolate Cake. Yuuuuuummmmmmmm.

It was quite enjoyable to be around family again. There were family and friends from both Andrew's and Page's sides in attendance, and I loved being able to see many of them for the first time in a while, and others twice in a week. :) I also got to spend lots of time with my dear cousin Dixon. He's closest to me in age and temperament out of all my cousins, and I hadn't seen him for quite some time. We pretty much sat and talked about random things, but it was good just to hang out with him after so long.

I'm back here now, contemplating what to snack on before bed and watching an NCAA Baseball Regional game between Minnesota and New Mexico (clearly not because I care). My gardenia has about six blooms on it now, and it looks beautiful. I also have lots of blooms on my hibiscus, and my hydrangea is finally unleashing itself. I thought that would have happened weeks ago.

So many good things going on in life right now. I wish I didn't have to ruin it with grades and end-of-year junk...so I'm going to pretend right now that I'm all done. Aaahhhhhhhhh, how nice. :-D

Rhode Island stuff

Nothing in particular has happened since I posted last. It feels like I posted two weeks ago; in fact, it was what, Sunday?

When I'm watching Sweet Home Alabama, I can't help but think every time in that wedding scene when it rains, Oh my gosh, all that silk...

I need to tell all y'all about the stuff I did when we were up in Rhode Island! You know I arrived very late Thursday night, so everyone else got up in the wee small hours of the morning to watch Andrew do his morning run, PT and chow hall stuff. I stayed in bed. We all got ready (my dress was SO great) and headed over to a big gym-thing where the ceremony was to be held. As we waited for the ceremony to begin, Dad and I discussed weather questions I'd written down in my Weather Channel waterproof notebook when I was flying Thursday.

The ceremony was nice. It was very formal, and there was this one awkward moment where a mean man from the North yelled at a lady, but it was nice other than that. We took a bunch of pictures afterward, then headed into town for a beautiful lunch with the whole crew (Mom and Dad, Andrew and Page, Page's mom, Page's aunt, and me). There's a place called The Black Pearl that has fantastic clam chowder (my favorite) and scallops that are TO DIE FOR. These babies were served with bacon and mushrooms in a cream-based sauce...ohhhhh they were so good. I'm a sucker for scallops in the first place, but THESE. WERE. AMAZING.

Afternoon time was taken up by napping like dead people. I remember lying down on my back and thinking, I'll just lie here on my back, and hopefully I won't turn too much and mess up my makeup (which looked great despite my lack of confidence in my skills). Well, let's just say that my makeup didn't have a single smudge. I slept the whole two or three hours completely without moving.

Evening was taken up by a bit of a chat outside before moving along to another incredible dinner. Y'all. This was one of the best meals of my life. Let me tell you about it.

We went to this place called Pier something, like Pier 22 or 22 Pier or something like that. They had bread and real butter (always makes me a happy girl), and I ordered a salad to go along with my meal. The salad was a gorgeous bed of baby spinach dotted with red onion, bacon and boiled egg, tossed with a tangy vinaigrette. I only ate half in preparation for the rest of the meal, plus I was already kind of still stuffed from lunch. And then, speaking of stuffed--

--they brought out my SPECTACULAR meal, which was a 2-lb lobster stuffed with scallops, shrimp, and lobster along with bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and herbs. OOOOO MMMMM GGGGGG. I swear I was in heaven from bite number one. Not only was it totally loaded with stuff that I love (I've been going through seafood withdrawal), but there was loooads OF it!! I for sure didn't finish, and Mom and Dad divvied up the claw meat and tail, giving Andrew good chunks as well (he was pretty satisfied with his filet mignon, though, believe it or not). I had a vanilla bean-infused creme brulee to top it all off, though, topping off isn't quite what it was. It was more like packing it all in.

We tried to walk around for a little while after that, but I think our poor bellies were so distended that we didn't want to do much else than go to bed. Next morning, we checked out of the hotel and went to the Nex (Navy Exchange, maybe? It's like a WalMart) to get some gear. I bought a tee shirt and sweatshirt, though I completely intended to buy nothing when I went in. I'm excited to wear my stuff in the middle of Armyville, though--it will be lots of fun.

After that we just went to the airport and hung out until the others' flight left. Andrew, Page and Dad all flew out an hour before Mom and I did, so we stayed with them for a good while. As a nice change of events from my previous travel woes, Mom and I were upgraded to first class for FREE for our flight to Charlotte. Apparently it's because Dad flies so much. I told Mom that, next time Dad goes out of town, she needs to thank him instead of being sad. All that extra seat room was nice. And I even got to sit next to an empty seat on my connecting flight from Charlotte, so I barely knew what to do with all the extra space.

That's pretty much it as far as the trip goes. It was a great time, and I enjoyed seeing everyone. I'm super proud of my brother for going through all the junk in order to reach his goal. Though, I'm not gonna lie, I never doubted that he would. He's incredibly driven and determined, more than most anyone I've met.

Congratulations, Andrew!

flaming lips

Oh no, not the band. The things on my face.

I bought a pineapple at the store earlier this week. A real pineapple, complete with thorny skin and spiny green top. I sliced it up this morning, but who knew that the acid from this baby would wreak havoc on the mucous membranes in my mouth? My lips are STILL crying uncle. Not literally, though. Because lips actually are able to cry uncle.

I tell you what--this pineapple was worth the burn. It was excessively juicy, which I love, and thoroughly sweet. The label touted that the pineapple was naturally sweet, which begs my thanks to them for not injecting syrup into the flesh before selling it to me. I suppose that is a practice for other pineapple-grower folk since they felt the need to distinguish themselves in this manner.

Anyway, after adding French bread and unsalted European butter to the menu, mine was a happy breakfast. However, I think that I will slather with chap stick in preparation for next time.

I HATE BUGS

They're the worst when they are dumb and they wander into my apartment and they get all mesmerized by my paper floor lamp and they fly up into it and get confused and lost and pop straight into the paper shade over and over and over again....

Brandi came over tonight and we made chicken tacos. Here's what to do for some of the things we made:

POLLO AWESOME-O: Wash your chicken. That stuff is nasty. Cut it into pieces, remembering that they'll shrink when you cook 'em, but not that much. Put them in a bowl and pour on a bit of olive oil, mixing it around. Douse the chicken in garlic powder,

OMG SERIOUSLY I NEED THIS BUG TO DIE

onion powder, chili powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, salt, and a bit of oregano (by the way--if you don't want to measure your own seasonings, this is almost the exact mixture you get in a pouch of taco seasoning). Stir like crazy, checking for clumps, and add a little more olive oil if you need it. Stir in a tablespoon or so of lemon as well (though I'm not sure if this actually makes a difference). Flatten the chicken out into a pan heated up to medium-high and cover it. Let it sit until you can't see any pink (maybe 5 minutes?), then stir and cover again for about three or so minutes. Uncover after that to finish cooking and just to get some of the extra juices out. Turn it down and simmer it while you prepare your taco toppings, or just turn it off when you think it's cooked through.

CILANTRO DRESSING: Take some light or fat-free sour cream (Seriously. It's not that different.), add in a bit of salt, a tiny shake of cayenne, a little bit more cumin, some onion powder and some garlic powder. I only make the stuff with two spoonfuls of sour cream, so you'll want to increase spices quite a bit if you use more. Dump in a bunch of dried cilantro (the dried stuff is WAY less potent than the real thing, so keep that in mind) and mix it up. Thin with milk (once again, skim isn't a bad way to go...) and stir until it's an even consistency. You definitely want this one to sit a little while before serving or else it'll just be soupy, decorative sour cream.

SUPER-EASY SOUTHWEST SALSA: Drain and combine one can of unseasoned black beans, corn, half a can of unsalted diced tomatoes, and half a can of diced tomatoes plus mild chilies (notice, this makes it really easy to double the recipe or save some for a later batch). Add in half a diced onion, more if you like extra bite (not extra bites, Dad). Now, for the spices, a variation on the same yummy combo--some salt (but not too much, for this needs to be a sweet and not salty mixture), loads of garlic powder, more cayenne pepper than you might think (though taste it after 10 mins to check if you need more--Brandi reminded me tonight that the more it sits, the hotter it gets), a little chili powder, cilantro if you want it, and the secret ingredient for all non-fruit salsas, SUGAR. You want about, mmm, maybe a tablespoon for this recipe. I just took a lump of sugar that had grown in the bag and squished it until it felt like the right amount, so you might want to taste for this one as well. You shouldn't actually taste the sugar in your salsa; instead, you just won't notice as distinct an acidity from the tomatoes.

Assemble and enjoy, being sure to wear clothing that has a pattern so it won't show up when you drip chicken juice and cilantro dressing all over yourself. That way you can still wear your clothes a few more times before throwing 'em in the wash, and no one will be the wiser. Be sure to listen to some good tunes and eat outside while partaking. It definitely rounds out the whole experience.

Aaaand, to finish it all off: PET Birthday Cake ice cream with a blue ribbon of frosting running through it. Yes. The girl at the Food Lion checkout thing was so right about this stuff.