krunkstar

just annoying…so i had to share. they just creep me out in the same way as those creepy icky talking egg commercials

too much food for dinner last night. i’ll have the pic of the finished product later (forgot my camera cable) – but description is necessary

-ribeye steak with balsamic/red wine/shallot reduction
-asparagus with horseradish hollendaise sauce
-corn with asparagus puree cream sauce
-hasselbeck potatoes with shallots/garlic/butter
-creamed spinach topped with fresh parmesan

-coffee ice cream dessert

*notes*
-balsamic reduction sauce: next time make more (3 cups to reduce)
-asparagus cream sauce: peel the ends before removing from stalks- makes things easier/faster – made with olive oil, shallots, garlic, asparagust ends, cream, salt
-creamed spinach: reduce nutmeg to 1/4 tsp…was too “woody” for me – make time to bake for a few minutes with breadcrumb/parmesan topper – would have added nice texture

my car has been being lame recently.  Yes,  I need an oil change, but that has nothing to do with it.  So yesterday morning I move my car from the drive way ’cause Joe had to leave before me…i pull out, he leaves, i pull back in…no problem.

20 minutes later i go to leave (celebrating my mom’s 70th birthday!!! wow!!!) get in car…click click click – Nothing.  Doesn’t start. Great. call AAA. get jumped. drive…4 miles later, car dies as i’m driving down the street. No stutter, nothing. it was like i just turned off the radio. dead.  call AAA. get towed back to joes.

day goes by- yadda yadda yadda

call AAA – get the first two calls removed from my charges and have them send out for battery service (should have been done on the first call,- thier error, tow would have never happened if i knew the actual problem). Good thing we have a friend who works for AAA marketing in the know of what should have occured.

guy comes out. tests alternator and battery. buy new battery from him. Alternator is good. Terminal is bad.  ugh.

drive  to work. get gas. car doesn’t start. gas guy holds cables for me to start car. bummer deal!!! getting new terminals today.

Thanks joe for helping me out on this…manual labor, info from AAA..dealing with my frustrations…i highly appreciate it.

I didn’t even realize that i do this often.  It’s just kinda what I do.  Growing up, we never used a microwave for cooking anything.  I had never seen a hot dog or potato enter the microwave raw until i had graduated from high school.  My friends thought I was a freak.  I thought they were the freaks. 

I never opened a can of soup or spaghettios, dumped it into a bowl, and zapped it.  Everything went  into a pot or pan. I thought that was normal. I thought that’s how things were done.  Microwaves were strictly for popcorn, frozen foods, or sparce re-heating.  Thawing – refrigerator.  Heating water – kettle.  par cooking was actually par cooking. – She also had a thing against pre-packaged food.  I didn’t know potatoes or vegetables came canned, I was denied such luxuries as lunchables or string cheese. Its just how things were in my house.

Heck – my mom wouldn’t even let us stand 2 feet from the microwave, let along stand infront of it while it was on. I had no idea you could open the door before the thrid beep.  None of this because we had a faulty microwave, or anything of the sort.  My mom was just all about the cooking.  (and the fear that “what if” situation occured and i suddenly became unable to conceive due to these crazy waves contained in that strange box with buttons)

Fast food was a treat – McDonalds became as exciting to say as Disneyland.  Instead of getting a hot lunch from school consisting of some strange chicken nuggets and tater tots (and boy was i jealous of the kids eating that stuff!!! Nothing tastes as good as that which you can’t have!!), I brought a bento box to school.  That’s right. My mom still thought she was in japan.  Rarely would you see a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in my bag.  Instead it was rice, steamed green beans, mayo/shoyu dip, and homemade teriyaki chicken.  Or maybe some momma innari and sushi (she made the sushi american flavored though, egg, clauson pickles, and ham…i still think it’s the best )  Once in a while i’d get a fluffy egg sandwich with mayonnaise on some white bread with the crust cut off.  That was always a fave!!

Back to my topic though – one pan cooking.  So, everything had to go in a pot or pan.  I quickly learned what steps I had to take to make a meal…sometimes prepping items ahead of time that would be needed later in the recipe, just so i wouldn’t have to cook using more than one pan at a time – basically so i wouldn’t get yelled at for making mounds of  dishes.

30 years later…So i cook all the time still. Using a lot of the recipes that I grew up with in addition to new ones.  But I didn’t realize my natural inclination to using one pan until my boyfriend pointed it out.  I’d say about 40% of the time i succussfully cook us meals utilizing only one pot or pan without even thinking about it.  I’m not talking grilled cheese here either…grilled burgers with whole grilled onion and toasted buns ( all cook at the same time in one pan…and its so good), pasta with sausage, grilled sweet peppers, and a cream tomato sauce, pot roast, omelet with grilled onions and garlic, bacon, sausage, pan fried rustic toast, maybe some homemade scrapple hash with potatoes, curry rice…you get the point.

I never paid attention to these things before joe so attentively pointed it out.  I’m thinking of catalogueing all of these recipes now. i swear, you’d never know how easy cooking can be!!

Remember New Years? Its all right, most people don’t.

Since I mentioned it in the last post, i thought it only appropriate to show you exactly what i’m talking about.  Here, in all its glory, the Pie-N-Burger cheeseburger

I also have to recommend their coffee milkshake – they use vanilla ice cream and real coffee grinds. I know, it sounds grainy and gross, but its really delicious and full of coffee flavor!

Pie-N-Burger
913 E California Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91106
626.795.1123

(edited to include the pics)
Best food weekend so far – and we didnt step outside of the house. (i’ll post some pics later – forgot my camera even though I remembered the cables – doh!)

Friday night – Homemade pizzas! We made the dough in the processor (first time, awesome, super fast ), got some fresh italian meats at the best little italian deli and went to town. *pineapple and fresh jalapeno (SUPER HOT)*Pepperoni, salami, and italian sausage*pepperoni, mushroom, and olive*red/yellow peppers and onion*

Saturday - brunch - sunnyside eggs, bacon, pancakes, and crostini; dinner- homemade chicken wings – was the first time to fry these little buggers up, and yes, they will be done again. They were perfect! really – makes me never wanna order some up again knowing how delicious they can be at home.

Sunday – brunch- bacon, poached eggs (finally figured this one out properly), skillet potatoes with red/yellow peppers, onion, and italian sausage, toast; dinner – baked mushrooms stuffed with a bed of wine tossed spinach, italian sausage, topped with fresh parmesan, served with herbed hollendaise.

This whole cooking thing is making going out to eat less and less appetizing. Sure, there’s a lot to clean up, but the food is just better! Commercials are less and less appealing. Its kinda sad. I’m being spoiled by all this food. There will always be somethings that I don’t even try to mimic (In-n-Out, Pie-n-Burger, (although i’m getting close without even trying…i just need to find the right bun!!) and I haven’t mastered the art of the carnitas yet…but that one’s  being worked on.)

by now everyone’s seen all that there is on this new Android released by Google – i mean, first day out there was a link to purchase straight on google’s homepage (and yes, i’m still super excited but am holding out to buy until atleast a month after release.  I’m all about the reviews and not being the first to get, and be disappointed) complete with all the specs and a 360 degree viewing. LOVE IT! I know i know, it’s hard to see how it really will perform from a spec page. (ps., here’s the iphone spec page too for all of  you comparison shoppers). And we all know how the “specs” lie – i mean, just from personal experience, I know that the iPhone does not last the 5-9 hours on the internet that they claim.  So i can’t fall into believing that the Nexas One is all that they claim also with regular usage.  But still, oh little phone – how i want you. 

once again, i’m practicing patience.

heh – this post reminded me of the Simpsons episode mypods and broomsticks  – i tried to link to the simpson website episode summary – but alas, there’s something askew in springfield and it wasn’t loading properly.  But if you haven’t seen it go! now! really, you know you can find it somewhere.

Four months post surgery, and here’s what my hand’s looking like. The scar comes and goes – okay, well the coloring changes depending on temperature and how much i’ve been using my hand. The pain is almost totally gone. Once in a while it feels “strange” but mostly I just forget about it! Healing ahoy!!

joe spent all this time seeding the pomegranate, but look how beautiful they are!!! had to share. tis the season!!