Today's Special: Where I Finally Use Those Ramekins I Bought

A few weeks ago I accompanied Annie on a shopping trip to Tai Pan Trading. She was there looking for some decorations for her living room and I agreed to come a long as consultant to make sure she didn't buy anything ugly. When I left, Seth asked me if I planned on buying anything. "Nah," I said, "I can't think of anything we really need. Unless you want a giant basket full of potpourri." "Yeah that sounds good," he said,"and get me a candle statue." "Done."

Long story short I was in the store 5 minutes and had already picked out some miniature bowls (you know, the ones they use for pre-measured spices on cooking shows?) and ramekins I wanted. I only spent like $15 but I could see the scared look on Seth's face when I walked in the door with a giant bag. I convinced him that I'd bought all the items for him. The small bowls were for dipping sauces (think pizza crust & ranch dressing), and I needed the ramekins to make him the chocolate souffles we saw on America's Test Kitchen.

So, this week I decided I should actually use the ramekins. What better use for a ramekin than French Onion Soup? I was going to do the chocolate souffles too, just so I didn't look like a big fat liar, but they didn't have the bittersweet Ghiradelli chocolate bars I wanted at the store I went to, so these will have to wait for another week or so. By the way, I've used the miniature bowls I bought for pre-measuring my spices when I cook and it really does make me feel like I'm on tv! Totally worth it.

Sunday: Crock Pot Roast with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy- I've used this recipe before and really like it. It makes its own gravy, but it's super salty if you use it straight out of the pot. I thinned it out with water until the salt level was to my liking and then thickened it with cornstarch on the stove.

Monday: French Onion Soup- I saw this recipe on America's Test Kitchen (I know, I know, big surprise). I thought this turned out really well, although I did alter their instructions a little. I think they get carried away with all the nit-picky steps, so I just sliced up all the onions and cooked them in a pot the whole time until they were done (I did do the deglazing thing 3 times though). I figured why put the onions in the microwave for 20 minutes to soften them when you can do it faster on the stove and they probably taste better? But, you can do it however you want to. ANYWAY, I'd make this again. Although, I would probably use a greater ratio of beef broth to chicken broth.

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday:  Sichuan-Style Chicken with Peanuts- New Recipe. This was so-so. EatingWell's recipes are sometimes a little extreme on their serving sizes. I'm glad I doubled this one. I think this would be better if the chicken marinaded longer and the sauce was made ahead of time. There just wasn't as much flavor as I thought there'd be. Also, I think it would have been better on brown rice instead of on its own, which I would have done, but I didn't feel like it...

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Tuna Casserole- This is one of my "good 'ol standby" recipes. It's something my mom used to make. I always have the ingredients on hand for this and it's so simple I don't even need to look at the recipe anymore.

Bonus: Chocolate Orange Bundt Cake- New Recipe. I made this cake so I could use up some oranges that were about to go bad. I didn't make any frosting or glaze to go on it... just used hot fudge! Also, I always use Pan Release on recipes like this. It works really well... much better than just greasing and flouring the pans and it doesn't leave any white residue.

New Word Wednesday

Ok so I almost forgot about New Word Wednesday. But it's still Wednesday, so there.

This week's word came from President Obama's "State of the Union" address. It was actually kind of tough to find a word I didn't know in his speech because he doesn't try to talk over the heads of the American people. He wants people to understand what he says. It's all about transparency, yo.

Spleen

noun:  ill humor, peevish temper, or spite.

(from dictionary.com)

Bet you didn't know 'spleen' had any other meanings besides the body part, eh? Well it does. Although I have to confess that Obama didn't use this word in his speech. I was listening for a big word but I never heard one I could use, so I got this word from Seth. It was used in the book he's reading about the 'Age of Enlightenment.' (I made this sentence up... it didn't come from the book... in case you couldn't tell)

"The spleen displayed by the disgruntled employees aroused a feeling of uneasiness in the boardroom."

So don't let your spleen get the best of you this week. Keep your spleen under control. And make sure to remove your spleen. The end.

You Look Just Like...

So Allison did a Facebook status update today themed after a famous person she'd been told she looks like. I don't normally do the "copy and paste" status updates, but I though, Eh? Why not. So I thought you'd all be on the edge of your seats wondering who my famous look-alikes are. Ok, probably not, but you get to hear them anyway.

#1 Natalie Wood- A lady I met briefly while training for a job in Santa Clara, CA went crazy telling me how I could be "twins" with Natalie Wood. At the time I had no idea who she was. You probably know her from "Miracle on 34th Street" and as Maria in "West Side Story." Sadly, she drowned in 1981.

#2 Rose McGowan- Again a girl I worked with told me I looked like Rose McGowan. I don't really know anything about her except that she was on "Charmed" and she seems a little crazy.

Have you been told you look like someone famous?

Delusions of Grandeur

On my way home from work today I saw a woman driving a Hyundai Santa Fe.

The license plate frame said the following:

'Silly Boys, Trucks Are for Girls.'

Um, am I missing something here?

Last time I checked, THIS...

Was NOT the same as THIS...

In fact, I dare say THIS...

Is just a glorified version of THIS...

So lady, I'm pretty sure you're not gonna have any "boys" fighting you for your "truck."

In fact I'd say your Hyundai Santa Fe is the OPPOSITE of a truck.

Just my opinion.

Stop Screwing Around!

It's a lovely Friday evening and Seth and I have been lounging around the house doing a whole lot of nothing in our usual Friday evening way. Free time has the uncanny ability to put awesome ideas into your head as you may well know, and this is where our story begins.

Recently I bought a chin-up bar to put above the office door. This is a pretty cool chin-up bar because it requires no installation and can easily be removed. On this particular evening as I walked by the office door, I stopped and tried unsuccessfully to do a chin-up. Seth was watching me at this point and I suddenly had a bright idea. "I bet I could give you a piggy-back ride." "What?" "Yeah I swear I could probably do it, let's try." So Seth grabs ahold of the chin-up bar to support some of his weight as he's climbing on my back. "Wait! Wait! My pants are falling off, I gotta tie them really fast so they don't slide off." So I secure my pants and we try again.

Just as Seth's legs are secured around my waist, I hear a crash, and something hits my elbow hard as Seth falls to the floor. I turn around to see if Seth is ok, worried he's hit his head or landed weird. Luckily he's fine. At first I think the chin-up bar broke, but not so. Apparently the bar was pulled the wrong way and flew off the door and hit my elbow. Yeah, great idea, ME. See what happens when you screw around? You're lucky you didn't put an eye out!

Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite!

Our personality infused cat, Gracie, has a very odd but endearing ritual we've come to notice. At night before we go to sleep, Seth and I will usually read for a few minutes. During this time, Gracie is usually sitting down on the floor somewhere, roaming the apartment looking for trouble, or participating in her normal late night cat behaviors.

As soon as the lights are turned off and Seth and I get into sleeping position, there's Gracie. Like clockwork we'll hear a little "meow" sound as she jumps on the bed. Then she strolls across our chests and stands there looking down at us, with her Batman silouette. She'll purr very loudly and then as if she's tucking us in for the night, will either bump our heads will her nose or kiss us goodnight with a lick on the forehead. With that, she'll retreat to the end of the bed and go to sleep.

We've only noticed this routine recently, though I wonder how long it's been since she started this. It's something we've come to expect and if one day she forgets to tuck us in, I'm sure we won't sleep a wink.

Today's Special: 30 Minutes or Less

Sunday: Baked Trout with Basil Pesto Pasta- Place whole trout in a baking dish (or wrap in tin foil) and bake for 20 min. per inch of thickness in a 400 deg. oven. Season with salt and pepper and lemon juice if desired. I just used up the leftover pesto sauce from last week's pizza for the pasta. Nothing fancy.

Monday: Grilled Steak Salad with Caper Vinaigrette-New Recipe. This turned out really good. I was worried about being hungry after eating just a salad but the serving size was huge and still had a lower calorie count than anything I've made for a while. I completely forgot to put watercress on my shopping list, but luckily I'd bought a tub of mixed salad greens, so I just used those. This tasted great as leftovers too, especially because I didn't mix the steak/tomato/veggie mixture with the salad greens until ready to eat (so the lettuce didn't wilt). I have to admit it was tough to slice up Seth's perfectly grilled steak and put it in a salad. We really had to restrain ourselves from eating the whole thing plain.

Tuesday: Brothy Chinese Noodles-New Recipe. This was a really fast and easy recipe. If you have never used fresh ginger and/or sesame oil you are missing out. Whenever I smell sesame oil I just want to drink it. This recipe called for bok choy and ground turkey, both of which I've never used before, so it was fun to try some new ingredients. You may have to add additional liquid to this (I just used water) to make it more "brothy," my noodles kept soaking it all up.

Wednesday: Leftovers (For the record, microwaved trout isn't that great. Always remember "fresh is best.")

Thursday: Vegetarian Reubens with Russian Dressing-This recipe is a repeat. I've made it once before and was surprised at how good it was. The recipe desciption said something about it being "so good you won't miss the corned beef" and I was like, yeah right. But, it was true! Seth was raving again tonight about how much he liked it and requested seconds!

Friday: Broccoli, Cannellini Bean and Cheddar Soup-New Recipe. This was yet another fast & easy recipe. Sadly the new pitcher I'd ordered for my out-of-commission blender hasn't arrived yet, so I had to blend this up in the food processor, which worked, but probably not as well as the blender. I thought this tasted like a fresh mild broccoli cheese soup. The recipe says it makes 6 servings. I think 4 small servings is more like it, and 2 if it's the main dish. Seth and I had no problem polishing this off in one sitting. Very good and a great healthy alternative to regular broccoli cheese soup.

Bonus: Fresh Berry Gratin- New Recipe. So after we ate the Broccoli soup I had a hankering for something sweet. We didn't really have much around in the way of desserts, so I decided to make this! I used frozen mixed berries and I thought they worked just fine. This whole dessert took less than a half hour to make and that includes the 15-20 minute bake time. I was a little skeptical of this but was very pleasantly surprised. My new favorite fast dessert.