Blech, blech!

Mexican Lasagna.  Not Mexican, and well, are we calling every layered casserole a lasagna?  I guess so.  Don’t go to the link I previously supplied, don’t even think about making this dish.  It was awful, awful.  So, I live in San Antonio, TX and I am a gringo.  My mexican dishes are always “Tex-mex.”  I can’t handle spice – when I chop a jalapeno pepper I must don gloves and I cough and hack the entire time.

Here’s what this fabulous (NOT!) dish looked like:  It was awful (did I say that already?).  Never have I tasted a dish that so screamed for flavour in any way – salt, pepper, jalapeno heat I can’t handle, ANYTHING!  I should have taken a picture of this dish tossed in my garbage can – it doesn’t belong on my plate or anyone else’s.  Maybe my dog would have eaten it.  Oh, well.  Too late to find out now.

Coming soon – fusion cuisine courtesy of Top Chef modified by yours truly and cooked in a crockpot.  Before you even think about doing it, don’t dis the crockpot.  It is easy to use, and for you new cooks out there:  it is nearly impossible to screw up.  More on that tomorrow.

G’nite.  -Laura

Bless the shit…

OK, so it’s nearly 3am and I can’t sleep.  I figured I’d post to my blog again, and share a picture I took today (well technically yesterday, I guess).  Here it is:

Septic Scripture: Bless the shit...

So, this picture is of a septic truck pumping out the septic tank of my neighbour from across the street.  I can’t imagine why the owners of this company felt it important to mark religious text on the side of a tank for transporting human excrement, but whatever.

I was raised Roman Catholic and I don’t quote the bible (nor have I read it save for osmosis of the weekly readings in church ages 2 through 14).  My husband raised the same declares himself now an atheist.  I’m not so convinced, but I don’t go to mass anymore.  ANYWAY…I went and looked up 3:16 – according to Wikipedia it is the most quoted of scripture:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  – John 3:16 (King James Version)

 Also according to Wikipedia: “John 3:16 is very short and can be written inconspicuously in out-of-the-way locations. In the U.S., the In-N-Out Burger chain prints it on the inside of the bottom rim of their paper cups.”  OK, fast food cups – to each his own.  I know this is Texas and I’m outnumbered by republican, ultra-conservative, bible-thumping wingnuts 5 to 1, but is the side of (LITERALLY!) a shit-mobile really the place for preaching scripture???

Wendy’s it was.

The whole fam. went shopping tonight.  My question:  why are the ‘terrible twos’ for two year olds?  My three year old was a nightmare at the stores.  He cries more in one day than my 9 month old does in a week.  He nearly managed to pull the fire alarm as we were exiting Old Navy tonight.  I related to him the story of Curious George the monkey calling the fire department for fun and then going to jail.  I’m not sure it sunk in.

I have a fabulous picture of something hilarious that I observed today from the comfort of my home.  I’m too lazy to upload it from my camera, though so it will have to wait for another night.  Enough said.

So, I’m fully-stocked with groceries and ready to cook for tomorrow.  I’m planning on making “Mexican Lasagna,” a recipe found on the Cookingwithcoke.com website if you can believe that.  I know you are wondering, but there isn’t actually Coke in it (click HERE to see the recipe).  I suppose someone thought this wonderful meal went well alongside a nice cool bottle of the beverage.   Since I went shopping instead of cooking, we hit the drive-through at Wendy’s.  Yum (NOT!)  I’m so looking forward to a home-cooked meal tomorrow night.

~G’Nite. Laura

I’m BAAACCKKK!

Not that anyone cares…I mean, I’m not buying into the delusion that people out there are reading and actually care about the occasional ramblings of an anonymous stranger.  But here we go…

So, I have been cooking A LOT, but not blogging about it.  I’ve been too busy going to grad. school full-time in the midst of aspiring to be a Julia Child-like kitchen renegade and raising my 3 year old and (now) 9 month old.  Certifiable, right?  I’m sure that’s what my family doctor thought of me when I asked her for medication to treat my insomnia.  “Why do you think you aren’t sleeping?” was her question.  I said, “I’m stressed out…too much to do, and not enough time – I started grad. school three months after giving birth to my second child.”  Yeah, crazy.

I have put grad. school on hold indefinitely.  I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and a former web developer.  I have a computer science degree and was starting a Master’s management program in Information Technology.  In my first semester, I full-on decided three things:

1. I hate management and I never want to work as a manager.
2. I don’t like my career field anymore.  Hey, I like that I’m tech savvy, but I don’t want to do it for a living anymore.
3. I’d LOVE to be a writer.

Country Captain – Never Again.

I’ve never been a fan of curry. However, in the interest of trying to be a little more adventurous with my food and recipe choices, I decided to give this one a chance.

The chicken was so bland, and the curry was odd to me…kind of like chalk. I couldn’t really pick out a distinct flavour. In fact, the only bites of this dish that were tasty were the ones with a big chunk of stewed tomato, some raisins, or almonds in them.

The dish certainly looked pretty (I am aware though, BTW that it looks pretty awful in the picture…OK, my camera skills suck.  Sorry.), and it was quick and easy to make. But in the end, it just didn’t deliver.

Split-Pea Soup Heaven!

Oh my God! Tonight I made split-pea soup for dinner. I served it with the Ciabatta bread I made yesterday.

Let’s talk about the soup:  It was the best I have EVER had (and this home cook has made and eaten others’ many times before). “JOY” made it so simple – it was ready in two hours…some split peas, the bone from the ham dear hubby smoked a while back, and water.After the first simmer, I added onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and an herb bouquet containing cloves, parsley, thyme, bay leaves and the white part of a leek. I haven’t cooked much with leeks in the past and I have certainly never put them in pea soup…I wonder if that single ingredient was what made it so amazing. I added salt and pepper to taste…maginificent. If you’re looking for a split-pea soup recipe, use the one in the “JOY” cookbook. You will NOT be disappointed.

~ Planned Menu February 7 – 11, 2011 ~

Monday:  Split-pea  Soup with Ciabatta Bread
Tuesday:  Country Captain with Rice
Wednesday:  Turkey Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce
Thursday:  Wiener Schnitzel with German Fried Potatoes
Friday:  Chicken Paprika with Egg Noodles

NEVER AGAIN!

I used my cuisinart chopper/blender with dough attachment. Let’s forget about the fact that I added 1/2 cup more water than I should have (forcing me to keep adding additional flour until the dough looked right. I blended for as long as I could though it certainly wasn’t the 8+ minutes called for in my recipe. No, my stopping point was reached when some of the dough escaped through the blade and on the platform underneath the bowl. Once there, my mixer refused to do anymore mixing. It kind of pissed me off – why include a dough blade for the machine if it clearly can’t handle the work???

It wasn’t the best Ciabatta I’ve ever had most likely due to my screwing up the delicate balance in the ratio of ingredients (adding too much water and way more flour). It still tastes OK, and I will be planning on using them in various ways for this week’s dinner menu (more about that later).

In the meantime here’s my assertion: that was the LAST time I made ciabatta bread in the cuisinart. Bread-making is on hold until my kitchenaid stand mixer finally arrives. I’d better get that tax return fired off pronto.