Pre-Memorial Weekend

Still here...just been a road warrior, babysitting Super Auntie with the normal household duties sprinkled on top!

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I do have lots to share with you all, especially some delicious food from my BF's Bridal Shower last weekend!! However, you will have to wait...with growing anticipation for the full story, which includes oh-so many delicious treats!
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Just to share a sneak peek...
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Sticky Rice, Mango and Coconut Ice Cream.
Outta this world delicious!!!!!!!!!!
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So with this mouthwatering picture, I bid you all adieu for this glorious long holiday weekend. I am off to Beantown to celebrate my cousin-in-law's (not sure what else to call him) wedding this Saturday and consume some overpriced Fenway Franks and beer with the Sox on Sunday!
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Wishing you all a fabulous weekend of fun and ask that you also take some time to remember the U.S. men and women, and their families, who have given the ultimate sacrifice through service in our country's military.
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I am also going to be thinking about these guys...
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It's been just over 7 weeks now since Hubs left!

Only about 25 to go...

Ice Cream Soup

Kids can be tricky...especially when you are the gullible Aunt.

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My Sister in Law is in school. She has recently returned to become a Nurse Practitioner. With a crazy schedule and a husband who is jet set for work from the start of Spring Training through the World Series, it can be tough. It is a good thing that she is the high energy, OCD type. Between classes, caring for a little one (let's call him Mini-Sox) and a house to maintain...she always pulls it off and does it so amazingly well!

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Grammy (aka Minnow...her self selected name) helps with Mini-Sox and Pops (Grandpa's self selected name) does his fair share as well. Since Mini-Sox started attending pre-school, life seems to be a bit easier for the family. During the week when needed, they have hired help or Minnow & Pops to assist with the school drop off, evening pick up, dinner and bedtime. It is only when all possibilities are exhausted that Auntie Homemaker is called.

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It's not to say I don't like kids or that I am bad with them...no, I LOVE kids and can't wait to give Mini-Sox some cousins. It's more that at this point in my life my schedule is pretty crazy and I feel awful that I don't get to see Mini-Sox more often.

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Last night was my first shift in a long time as the 'babysitter.' With Mini-Sox being more self-sufficient and able to communicate, it's really a pretty easy job. The hardest part for me is not being dooped by someone just a fraction of my age.

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The night began with after school pick up. I feared I wouldn't find a parking place in the bustling downtown area where Mini-Sox's preschool is and that his parents would be charged the $1 a minute late fee...but that was anxiety wasted and I pulled right into one just steps from the building.

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Then I worried I may have to negotiate with Mini-Sox his departure from his friends, class pets and toys...but again, things went smoothly.

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As we rode in the car home, Mini-Sox asked if we could watch a movie. Knowing his Mom and Dad often let him have a little bit of TV time in the evening, I didn't see anything wrong with that. Working my way through the busy rush hour packed streets, Mini-Sox informed me his Mommy says that 'if I watch a short movie, I can watch the whole thing...but if I watch a long movie, then I will only get to watch half.' Wow, that was a pretty honest of him!

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The movie of choice, Monsters Inc. It was 5:22...dinner was to be served at 6:30. Figuring the film was like any other I would watch, I assumed letting Mini-Sox watch until dinner would be fine. Laying out the ground rules, I said 'You can watch the movie until dinner, so when the clock says 6:30, we need to turn it off.' Mini-Sox, being the good boy he is smiled and agreed.

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Mini-Sox's Mom is an incredible cook. Every time I am in the kitchen with her, I resort myself to being her sous chef. Dinnertime was a breeze, she had a spicy marinated flank steak all cut up, potato salad, green salad and broccoli all ready to go in the fridge. When 6:30 finally rolled around I noticed the movie was almost over! Seems that kiddo movies are shorter than the ones for us adults. I couldn't bring myself to making him turn it off...so Auntie Gullible let the movie run it course and we ate dinner at 6:45.

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Having had dinner with Mini-Sox quite often, I knew there would have to be some negotiating. Partially my fault, I put way too much food on his plate...the inevitable battle of finishing your dinner began. All in all, it was not too bad. He ate his veggies/sides and a good portion of the steak. Satisfied with his attempts, it was dessert time...every kids favorite (and Hubs' too)!

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Much like how I love to spoil my nephew when I can, my sister in law does the same for the Pups. Having recently had him over for a few days, when I was on the road for work, they had delicious Yoghunds (doggie ice cream) in the freezer. Mini-Sox was delighted by the idea that he AND Pups would be having ice cream for dessert.

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As they dug in, I realized I still had one dinner battle before me...getting Mini-Sox to finish his glass of milk. Nearing the end of his bowl of chocolaty delight, I asked if he had ever had ice cream soup?!?! You see, when I was younger I would often mash up my ice cream and stir it into the consistency of a milk shake. As I ate and the ice cream warmed it became soupy...I called this ice cream soup.

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Intrigued by my question, Mini-Sox was game for trying it out. I explained to him that he should pour his milk into his bowl of melting ice cream and stir. With a delighted smile he giggled and said that Mommy would not like him doing this...so he did it anyway, as happy as can be. I pulled out a can of whipped cream, gave him a squirt and declared we had made ice cream soup! Mini-Sox LOVED it, as I knew he would. He is just crazy about chocolate and banilla (this is how he says vanilla) milk, so of course thoroughly enjoyed this!

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Mission accomplished :o)
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Mini-Sox's Mom was let out of class early...phew, this saved me from the last potential battle I was fearing that night - bedtime haha! While Mom fixed herself a plate for dinner, Mini-Sox asked if I would play a game with him. I agreed and you know what he pulled out? A true classic...Chutes and Ladders!
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This game, while remaining true to how I remember it being played, has had a total makeover! From the board to the player pieces, the colors have changed and the overall style much more modern.
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This was Mini-Sox.
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This was Auntie Gullible...which I actually had to convince Mini-Sox of, since he originally assigned me to be the blond girl.
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We played a couple of rounds. Final score was Mini-Sox 1, Auntie 1.
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I enjoyed a nice chat and glass of wine with my super fabulous Sister in Law before heading home for the night.
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While yes, Auntie Gullible did have her moments of weakness...in the end I felt like I had won and that it was the ice cream soup that brought me victory! HAHA!

B&A Do it Again...Mexican Fiesta!

Before I get into the fabulous 2010 Annual B&A Event, here are a few words from Wiki for a 'Mexican Fiesta' - "...many of the fiestas, especially the nonreligious ones, are a mixture of Mexican and American cultures. They may attract participants from across the whole community. "

A mixture...why yes! Not only did the annual party boast a traditional Mexican theme with great food and drinks...but it also celebrated this year - The Preakness!!

Held on the third Saturday of May, this Maryland based horse race is just the second of the coveted Triple Crown. Having never really followed, bet on, or just known much about horse racing, this was a learning experience. I have come to understand this race (and the Triple Crown for that matter) is dedicated to excellence in three-year-old thoroughbred horses. When I googled this trinal of races, it was interesting to find that no single horse has swept the series since 1978...the year my father graduated high school and years before my life began.

At the party, next to the pitcher of margaritas and extensive variety of Mexican Beer, was a pitcher of Black Eyed Susan...the official taste of the Preakness. Until now I thought the Mint Julep was the festive horse racing beverage of choice...but it turns out this is reserved for The Kentucky Derby. The Preakness has the Black Eyed Susan and the Belmont (I've learned) used to be a White Carnation (until 1998), but since transitioned to the Belmont Breeze.

When I learned of the mixed drink's elements, I couldn't help but think of it as a turbo charged Mai Tai. The two drinks share in common - rum, triple sec, orange juice, and pineapple juice...but the Black Eyed Susan also includes vodka and lime.

In the past A's mixed drinks, especially her delicious margaritas, have quite literally kicked my butt. Always so smooth and tasty, they are sneaky drinks that you don't feel set in until after you've had a few...and then WHAM! This year I stuck mostly to beer...Pacifico of course, with a few sips of good tequila.

At kick off (not sure what the start of a race is supposed to be called), we all gathered around the television. In just a couple of minutes, we were done and Lookin' at Lucky won! It was an exciting couple of minutes...but really, all that build up for a race that is over before you've even taken a second sip of your drink?!?! It came and it went...the big Americana element of the day over (minus the games of horseshoes and some delicious dishes, which lasted through the evening).

Now about the food...

Shame on me, but I didn't give proper attention to photo'ging all of the day's delicious offerings...I was too busy eating!

Above are Jalapeno Poppers created by a guest. These were great! I've never attempted to make them before and seems it would be a lot of work to stuff them. While it is a simple idea, I never thought of doing it, so will commend the guest for his smart approach to these...he cut them in half! Also the crunchy outside...corn flakes!! Very tasty, with a kick you'd expect from such poppers...I ate my fair share :o)

Guacamole...but of course, we're at a Mexican Fiesta and you gotta have it!

There were also a bunch of different salsas...homemade salsa, hot salsa, wimpy (aka mild) salsa etc.

Now here is something I had never had before - Moros y Cristianos (I think that is what it was called). A traditional Cuban black beans and rice dish.

Absolutely delicious! Included in this recipe are olives, which gave it a wonderful salty zing!!

We had enchiladas this year...a variety from veggie to chicken. I don't need to say it, but these were freakin' awesome!

I wasn't there for 10 minutes before I dug into the fresh batch just pulled from the oven. So good in fact this was all that was left when I remembered to take a pic. YUM!!!

Now here we have what appears to be a tomato, basil and mozzarella platter, which is of course always a delicious combination.

But you know what is so special about this platter?!?!

The mozzarella is homemade!!!

B&A's friends MAKE THEIR OWN CHEESE!

Can you believe it?!?!? This is incredible!

It was tasty, soft, delicious...and motivating! I need to try this!!!

Of course I had to pick their brain about it and learn the hows/whys of this amazing feat. Seems they have taken a cheese making class and are already into mozzarella, ricotta and feta...with talk about moving into chèvre!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What more can I say, these folks are superheros in my mind and I want to be just like them...I want to make MY OWN CHEESE!

The 2010 Mexican Fiesta was fabulous, as expected. I contributed my batch of Bridezilla's Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies (which were gobbled up) and I ate...then I ate some more...

I got to talk about the food, have a few drinks and just unwind :o)

Americana with a taste of Mexico (and Cuba), thank you B&A...I'm already looking forward to the next one!!

Oh No She Dih-int...

Oh yes I did...I totally messed up yet another baking attempt!
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However, I do have to wonder if this go might possibly fall into the category of being a saved baking bust???
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The recipe is once again from blog friend Bridezilla Bakes. This one was just another of her delicious creations that has stayed on my mind. Initially I was attempting to make it to bring over to my in-laws, but when things went sour, I opted to wait for attempt #2.
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What was I attempting to bake up this time around was...Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake. After all Bridezilla herself posted "MAKE THIS LEMON CAKE! NO, REALLY, DO IT, DON’T PUT IT OFF!"
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This is the lemon sugar for the cake and it is fabulous.

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"...rub the lemon zest into the sugar until all the sugar is moistened and aromatic. At this point, it should smell like lemon heaven." And heaven it is...since my in-laws are lemon crazy folks, I actually doubled the amount of lemon zest from 2 to 4 lemons :o)

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Everything for this recipe was moving along smoothly and the house filled with the most delicious sweet lemon smell. Then my oven did it again. Just when I think I have figured out the correct adjustments to temperature and cooking times, baking failure strikes! A bit preoccupied with skyping with Hubs (skype by the way has got to be the BEST invention ever!), I ran into the kitchen as the timer went off, stuck my cake tester into the loaf, only to have it appear to come out clean and considered it done.

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Once fully cooled I sliced off a piece of the beautiful cake only to find...it was not cooked! This was no case of a being a bit soft. You know how sometimes you can under cook cookies or brownies, only to make them even tastier?!?! Well not this time...nope it was goopy inside, ugh!

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I took a few moments to try and figure out what I was going to do. I wanted to try making another batch, but used all my lemons. Toss it? No, that was not an appealing option at that point. You know what I decided to do?!?! I laid the slices out over a parchment covered baking sheet and put the undercooked cake back into the oven. Sounds crazy right? What else could I do. At worse this could only further ruin my failed attempt.

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Needing to run out to the Mexican Fiesta, I knew I couldn't bring this sad twice baked attempt to my family. No way in heck was this even close to resembling what I originally envisioned and I just didn't have the time or energy to deal with this baking disaster right then.

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So these fully cooked lemon cake slices sat on the counter only to be dealt with Monday morning.
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As I got ready for work, I kept staring at the failed pound cake attempt. I couldn't just let it sit there forever and I didn't want to throw it out...so I sliced up the twice baked cake into smaller bite sized pieces, threw them in a zip-lock bag and headed into the office.

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I did have to taste one, just to see...and honestly it was awesome! I turned lemons into lemonade!!!

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The cake was now a dense, crunchy cookie...and I mean crunchy, kind of like shortbread cookies.

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That huge bag of these Lemon Cream Cheese treats was devoured by the office staff! While I didn't perfectly execute the Bridezilla masterpiece, I did manage salvage the failed attempt :o)

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I will try to make this lemon pound cake again, as the flavors are amazing and I think my in-laws are going to love it.

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Original recipe can be found at: http://bridezillabakes.com/2010/03/lemon-cream-cheese-pound-cake-with-very-berry-coulis/

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Thank you Bethany for another delicious recipe!!

Spicy Bridezilla Brownies

Bethany, this one is for you!

Since starting the blog I have found new common interests and discovered a plethora of support/love from family and friends. Among those I know personally from lifetime experiences, there are many new folks that have entered my blog life as fellow bloggers and/or blog readers. One of the first is Bethany...aka my Windy City blog friend Bridezilla Bakes!

While baking for me is still in the category of an impossible to conquer task, Bridezilla Bakes has motivated me through her lovely decadent posts to keep at it. As one of the several blogs I routinely follow, this is one of those where as I read, I think to myself and often comment on how delicious the creations are and how I must try to make them...

Well that day has come! This is my first attempt to follow a recipe from a fellow blogger and it was the perfect recipe.

As you will read later this week, I had a Mexican Fiesta to attend on Saturday. Last year I did fresh fried tortilla chips, which were a huge hit...but this year I went out of my comfort zone and decided to bake. What did I bake? MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE BROWNIES W/CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING from Bridzilla herself!!

To be honest, I have never made brownies from scratch before. That is not to say I have never baked brownies, it's just that until now, mine have always come from a box.
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This recipe is truly one that makes the taster wonder what else is going on in every bite. The dry ingredients pictured here are flour, cinnamon, chili powder and cayenne.

Many of Bridezilla's recipes (well at least those with chocolate) call for the use of a double boiler. Being a non-baker by nature, this is pretty intimidating. In her recipe she combines the butter, sugar and cocoa powder employing this intimidating technique. I am not sure if I combined this correctly, or just over stirred in the beginning, but I do not think my chocolate mixture ever came together correctly.

Rather than get a smoothed liquid type of consistency, I maintained a solid coarse mass of buttery chocolate sugar. Finally giving up on achieving what I thought it should look like, I moved onto the next step and added the eggs, etc. Above is the glossy, now smooth combination...which fits the bill what I envisioned the mixture would look like.

Into the oven they went and in the meantime I whipped up her prescribed cinnamon cream cheese frosting. This was another first for me, but a huge success. Who would have ever thought cream cheese frosting was so easy and achievable!!!

Once the brownies were cooled, I frosted, cut and arranged them.
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Yes, they are as rich, dense and delicious as they look!

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Off to the Mexican Fiesta we went...me and my Bridezilla Bake's Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies!!

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A big, no a HUGE hit!! These chocolaty squares of pure heaven were devoured by party goers. In addition to the various compliments, one guest liked them so much she asked if I could go home to make some more haha!

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Since the platter for the party did not fit all of the brownies on it, I brought a small plate into work yesterday...and they went FAST there as well :o)

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Thank you Bethany for your delicious brownie recipe!!

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If you are interested in reading her fantastic blog, visit: http://bridezillabakes.com/

Tofu'ing it up

I am not sure what I was thinking when I did this...I am a meat lover through and through.
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I do like tofu, but have only truly enjoyed large amounts of it when simmered in my mother's fabulous kimchi soup!
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I've said this many times before but Hubs lives by his idea that 'a meal is not a meal unless there is meat.' While tofu is a healthy protein source for the daily diet, it's not meat and so in my mind was off limits for our houshold...until now.
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For some reason or other during my first visit to the grocery store following Hubs' departure, I was drawn to the tofu. I may have done this as a way to motivate myself for new adventures, with many experiments and all foods being on limits!
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My new favorite salad dressing was also discovered during that same shopping trip. It is called Mrs. Talbot's Asian Sesame Vinaigrette. Holy freakin' YUM! It is awesome. I like it so much that I am almost through my first entire bottle of the stuff, which is actually quite a remarkable feat. As I am sure many of you also share in common with us...we are the type that have a variety of dressings that sit on the door of our fridge, with only about two kinds that are ever being emptied and in need of being replenished.
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I marinated the tofu in a bulgogi type of marinade before grilling.

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I also had a craving for some grilled scallions...which is weird cause I've never actually had grilled scallions before, but for some reason knew that I wanted them.

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There you have it, my Asian Inspired Vegetarian Dinner...

really just a salad with grilled tofu.

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When I told Hubs about this dinner experiment he chuckled and asked how it was...my response was that it was pretty good, but not as good as if it had meat haha!!

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Burger for One

Yesterday was a perfect New England spring day. Inspired by the weather and driven by my cravings for some red meat, I paid tribute to Hubs' by cooking up his favorite meal...a big ol' burger!
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Let me start off by commenting on how hard it is to buy meat for one person! The smallest package of ground beef I could find was just shy of a pound. This means we're probably cooking beef tonight and maybe even the next...
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Being the first real meal I've managed to prepare just for myself, I kept it simple, but added a little kick.
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This Burger for One was seasoned with - salt, pepper, dijon mustard, worcestershire, garlic powder and cayenne. I also decided on some extra sharp VT cheddar to make it a cheeseburger!
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In addition to the overly portioned beef at the grocery, buying rolls is also a challenge. One of the few downfalls to my go-to supermarket is that they do not have those bread bins where you can grab a single roll. Instead the Kaiser Rolls come in a package of 6, the cheap hamburger rolls as 8 and the ciabatta rolls...well another package of 6.
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I noticed a small loaf of the store made wheat bread. Hubs is not a big fan of wheat. I've tried to feed him whole wheat pasta, pizza dough, etc and usually strike out. Occasionally I can sneak in a loaf of sliced wheat bread without protest, but it doesn't get eaten as quickly as others.
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With no Hubs and at just a $1.50, it was perfect for this particular night.
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Now call me crazy or just plain weird, but what you see here is a wine glass...yes wine glass with beer and lime.

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Having recently discovered our local Costco carries 24 packs of Pacifico, I've been trying to find ways to resolve a minor problem I'm having with it. The issue is not the beer...it's great and at each first sip I remember and thank our super cool Seattle cousins for first turning us onto it during a family trip to FL. No the problem is that we recycle and when you shove a lime into a beer bottle, it's not so easy to retrieve it when you're done.

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So last night, I tried this (and yes, we do own pint glasses, but those are kept on the very top shelf and I was too lazy to grab the step stool). All in all it was not bad, but there is something to be said about drinking beer out of the bottle...it's just better!

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I grilled up the burger, melted on the cheese and toasted the bun...delicious!!

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Hubs would have been proud of this one too, it was huge!

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So large in fact that all I needed to accompany it was a tangy dill pickle.

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A Burger for One is good, Burgers for Two are even better...

Miss you Hubs!

April Showers (& snow)...Bring May Flowers!

It's too bad that today is Thursday, cause we sure would have liked a day of this...

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Warm sunshine, blue skies, green grass...and minimal bugs (esp considering the biters are not out yet)

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It's heaven.
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When I took this pic, I had disturbed the pup from his restful nap in the sun during my lunch break from work. I actually said to him 'look up and smile.' Instead I got this annoyed look...isn't he so darn cute!
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Last June my grandfather, who is truly Grandpa GreenThumb when it comings to gardening, gave me several shoots from his raspberry bush. We dug the short stalks up, wrapped wet newspaper around the roots and I headed North to plant them in our yard.
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Never having been very good at caring for plants, I did not have great expectations...well it turns out, I was wrong!!
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Grandpa's amazing strain of raspberries survived and flourished through the summer, offering us a decent amount of late season raspberries. Already the stalks are tall and full...knock on wood, this might just be a great year for them!!
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We also have a touch of these along the fence, where we have stacked our freshly cut cherry logs.
Hubs calls them weeds and each year runs them over with the lawn mower...me, I think their just great and so will let them be for now.
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And of course we have many, many of these...
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which make for many, many, many, MANY of these.
It must be a good year for dandelions, cause we have plenty.
In fact there are so many it's enough to keep me busy trying to pull them all for an entire weekend!
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It's an absolutely beautiful Spring day here in VT!

Feeling inspired to grill tonight!!