Eating Well in Season plus 1.5 bottles of wine

My graduate classes were filled with people who were either entirely uninteresting or just uninterested in being there and chatting with whomever was sitting next to them.  I found this dissapointing.  I knew going back to school wouldn't be like going to the high school of fame, but it didn't stop me from thinking how fun that would be.  Seriously, how fun would that be?

I digress.  Lo and behold, next to me one day sat Jaclyn, a stylish smart girl who laughed at my jokes.  The motherload.  Now that we are much smarter and have all the higher education we could want, I see her much less than I would like to.  However because she enjoys food and is not quite as disaster prone as I am, I love having food nights to catch up and chat about vegetables.  Over wine.  Obviously.

I found a couple of seemingly worthy recipes.  The grand finale was going to be candied apples using a homemade caramel/red wine sauce.  Amazing, no? .. No.  The fact that I went to gourmet.com for the recipe is probably what doomed me.  I don't think they do anything for beginners or those without a natural nack.  (nack? gnack? knack?)

Anyway, cups of burned sugar, burned fingers, smoky kitchen, smokey apartment, smoky hallway to the apartment, I finally ran out of ingredients at midnight and went to bed without even cleaning up the kitchen.  It almost drove me to drink.  Almost.  Technically I waited a day to indulge, so that's a almost, right?

Also because I started this blog to be more adventurous with recipes and vegetables I tried a new one.  One I seriously have spent most of my life hating.  I will never forget the father's day where mom forced us to eat some out of a can and I barfed.  Yes barfed.  I've hated beets forever.  Mushy, awkward flavor, bad teeth.  What is to like.  I mean yes I made a thousand Dwight Schrute jokes but that only goes so far.

I wore rubber gloves.  Those jerks weren't going to leave their mark on me.

Below was as far as I got with the candied apples from this Gourmet recipe.  That was the easy part.  Minus finding the sticks, I had to go to a craft store.  Why would grocery stores not carry these?

Hour 309842329842032984023984 of trying to make the caramel sauce and this is what I had.  Maybe it was supposed to be totally runny and thin and not resembling caramel at all.  Maybe.

Okay so candy apple fail.  The rest of the apps though, were a smashing success. 

My beet crustini was based off of the EatingWell in Season Farmer's Market cookbook.  Basically it's French Bread topped with pureed roasted beet and cream cheese (okay they used goat cheese but I went the cheaper route this one time).  I made two varieties because I thought it would be delicous with green apples.  High five Lauren.  They were even better!  The hot pink color was enough to make me love them.  Seriously, can you even believe that is a color found in nature?  A trapper keeper color?  Also any texture a yucky vegetable flavor can be masked by cheese and fruit, apparently.  This was a non fail.  A pass, if you will.

Jaclyn made these guys from eatbetteramerica.com.  A dried tomatoish tapenade that she already had on hand, with goat cheese and basil leaves on cucumbers.  Awesome.

My other contribution was a deconstructed spin/artichoke dip.  Basically I took canned artichokes (note to self do not get the large kind next time, they are way way way too large), sauteed a little spinach on them and then topped them with Brie and boiled them until they were melty and delicous.  MMMMMmmmmmm Brie.  Another keeper. 

As in recipe to keep.  Not trapper keeper.  Are you still thinking of the hot pink dip? Me too. 

Jaclyn made a butternut squash pizza.  So good!! It had rosemary and carmelized onions on it too.  She found the allrecipes.com recipe here. 

There was booze too.  Duh.

What a great night!

Master of the Cuisinart

So even though I have two degrees and all of the street smarts one can get in the rural midwest.. For the life of me I couldn't figure out how to assemble all of the additional blades on my 11-cup food processor. I needed to make perfectly even slices of potatoes. These inexperienced shaky hands just weren't going to cut the mustard (mostly because I was making homemade chips and if not even half will be sog-city and the other half with be totally burnt..... or so i assumed/read/feared)

I even tried calling my mother (the master) to whine about how the triangle thingy wouldn't fit into the blade squarish thing. Clearly, her direction to me was limited. She probably thought she tought me as a toddler with the whole round hole square peg thing. Her mistake.


Good thing I found the manual... and made some GLORIOUS chips. Those are sweet potato and russets. Holler.


I made Ellie Krieger's Cracked Pepper chips/dip

• Greek Yogurt (I just used regular strained)


• Mayo


• carmelized onions


• garlic powder


• onion powder


• S&P baby
  

I also threw some cucumber slices and some baked red peppers with laughing cow cheese on them. All of this was for the benefit of my friend Mallory, who was in town saturday for a bachelorette party but was alllllllllll QT with me Friday :) She called me Suzy homemaker and I felt so accomplished.

Other highlights of the weekend include:

• walking around the plaza shops with my BF


• loading up at the half priced book store (4 for $15... whoop whoop!)


• cajun food


• dance party with some random hilarious horrible middle aged dancers at the irish bar... where they were covering katy perry


• wearing some new leopard print heels. RARRRR


• meeting up with Mallory's bachelorette party (several were sorority sisters a few years younger than yours truley) were the bride insisited John and I be at the wedding. What can I say... we're pretty invitable.


• catching up on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia episodes via hulu


• taking advantage of the ridiculously nice weather to visit the zoo, and my friends.

Mr. Leopard.... who was giving us love growls the whole time. He'd probably make a pretty great housecat... or shoes.

Mr. Kangaroo who was just hopping all over. Apparently there are no fences in that section of the zoo and they can get up close and personal. Nice. And the baby Joey (oh that's right, i totally made uncle Joey Full House jokes). Just looking at those pouches makes me wish I was wearing a hooded sweatshirt.

John wouldn't let me retake this. Photo op fun hater.

pssssssssssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhh meat eaters.

In OTHER exciting food news, the theme for the week was Mushrooms and Movies. Not together though.

Tuesday John and I went to see where the while things are.... EXCEPT they kept screwing up the projector. So they gave us coupons to come back and on our way out we snuck into cloudy with a chance of meatballs. loved it! Later I went with the girls to catch This is It. Is it too late for me to be a professional back up dancer? I want to dance to thriller every day of my life and get paid for it. *dreamy sigh*

Back to food. I found this recipe from delish.com for a Portabello Philly Cheesesteak Sammie

• provolone cheese (i made the cheese counter guy give me two slices)
• portobello cap
• red pepper
• onion
• seasoning
  
  not too shabby! I had it on a sandwhich thin.
  

the next night I had sweet potato fries (a serious staple at my house) and a baked portobello with a laughing cow wedge and some yellow squash. YUM!

That's all folks! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

O! no you di'int

OH what a weekend! It started off with heading out of work Friday to meet John for his Alumni basketball game. TONS of his friends flew in and there were 20+ alumni that came (including four that few in) for the event. All of them were either guys he played with or coached (or both) so it was the best kind of reunion. Even better was that one of the wives came too so I had a buddy to sit with (and leave early to get drinks with... what? it's a Friday!)

EARLY EARLY EARLY the next morning I raced back to KC and had I not thrown some elbows and made enemies get through the crowd to where my mom was holding my badge, I totally would've missed Nate.Ahhh... Nate. This was a random sighting outside (no cameras were allowed, but I got bolder as the day went on as EVERYONE was ignoring that rule and I knew that unlike the MJ tribute concert in Denver, I would not get kicked out).... I was so dazzled and star struck I forgot I had a real camera in my purse and preserved this precious moment with iphone. Not quite the same quality. Also I told him to say 'Cheese' and 'I love you lauren and will switch teams for you' but I don't think he heard it. Or did he?Yo Oi!

We had a session with Dr. OZ...... I just love that guy. Seriously, he's SO SMART. During the Q and A at the end, people were asking him all of these super specific questions on these medical ailments and medications the were taking. Without skipping a beat he rattled off names of studies, (including years and institutions that published them) drugs, etc. etc. Many had NOTHING to do with his specialty as a heart doctor. It amazes me that any one's brain can hold that much ready information at one time, not to mention that Dr. OZ is also a great communicator and appealing. What a guy.

We also had a session with Suze Orman. You know, I have always been kind of on the fence about her but she was awesome. Truly. Relatable, Informative, laid out steps to take, in what order for most situations. If you go to her website you can download a free kit for doing your will, etc. which is free (as opposed to roughly 2K) to have your affairs in order. That's on my agenda for this week! She was also big on 'if you believe it you can achieve it' for financial security and in life. Kind of the 'secret' philosophy that things can be a self fulfilling prophecy. She got us all inspired and charged up. I was impressed.

We also saw the clean house guy. My aunt went to his session and said it was actually pretty deep. He said that people Hoard for two reasons: 1 because they were much happier then (when they had those things, etc.) and because you think you 'might' use it again. A La Fat pants.There was also this fitness guru who guy who said to give up cardio. He said it's all about strength training. Interesting.

Also my momma got a quick foundation makeover and we picked up some sweet samples.

Then my BFF showed up. I loved her. Her big thing that was Fashion is an industry and Style is unique and personal. She was saying to always look for classics with a twist... like basics with an interesting detail in terms of color, texture, pattern, etc. She was really good. The Q and A here was good too as the women asking where and how to buy clothes were really frustrated, as many of them didn't fit the mold of clothes. Anyone who watches the show could tell you what stacy had to say to that: Fit the biggest part of you and tailor down from there. It actually seemed like a lot of the women just needed a really good super professional Bra fitting so they could finally define their waste. It made me appreciate what my momma gave me... which was easy considering she was sitting right next to me.THEN... we headed back to me casa for a cocktail party :) After a long day everyone was pretty exhausted. My aunt Anne had been traipsing about KC (farmer's market, new downtown grocery store and bakery that i love) to assemble some goodies for us for the evening... Thanks Anne!

• Shrimp Cocktail


• Pumpkin Dip with apple dippers and cinnamon sticks (my contribution)


• Brie and Blue Cheese with some kind of summer sausage


• Dill dip with veggies


• Two kinds of bread (one white one brown, both yummy!)


• Cheese ball with parsley


• Marinated olives/grape tomatoes/asparagus/shrooms


• Cut Vegetables


• Hummus


• Grape Leaves stuffed with rice and other goodies (what are those called, dolmans?)

spoiler alert: Emily if you're reading this, here is roughly what you can expect me to be bringing you as leftovers tonight

Then the dessert table............ happy birthday uncle greg!

• Cream puffs with alternating mousse (compliments of my momma)
• Fresh Fruit
• Bakery Cake!!
  

Of course it wouldn't be a party without a t-shirt. This came courtesy of Aunt Theresa (cookie Aunt and dog lover extraordinaire) getting some fun retrieve-for-the-cure shirts for us.

First thing the next morning we headed out for mass at the cathedral 3 blocks away................... but not before mom got stuck in the elevator of my building for 30 minutes. Oops. It's kind of an old elevator. She laughed, I laughed at her. It was good times. All in all a great weekend!

It's the Freakin' Weekend

Anyone else happily humming R. Kelly right now? I mean, I hate to quote the guy, what with him peeing on underage girls and all ... well ... and generally being a pretty creepy dude. However, he does know how to make a good weekend anthem, and those songs are just so darn catchy.

In other weekly events, my high school BFF was in town briefly for work and stayed with me. We got to chat about her wedding, reminisce, discuss the great tragedy that was the cancellation of Arrested Development, and eat. She ALSO asked me to be in her wedding in September.. whoop whoop!

So obviously, I baited her to come with promises of snacks [caution: you are about to see a bunch of pictures of food with varying degrees of orientation, lighting, and quality] . I made FAUX jalepeno poppers by cutting up green peppers, smacking (yes smacking) them with 1/3 less fat cream cheese, dunking them in an egg mix and coating them with bread crumbs. A little baking later and VWALLA... all of the gooey deliciousness of poppers without being fried (and made at home no less). I am a big fan of these. huge. We also had sweet potato fries.
Early the next morning I made my shacker a breakfast of champions. She requested real bacon... sheesh, Bridezilla. Joke's on her though, I used low sodium. mwahahahahah. I made an Egg McLauren with english muffin, tomato, spinach (okay that's the picture of mine, hers was sans vegetables), slice of cheese, poached egg, and a bit of bacon. YUM. Easy peasy and delicous.
So what's a girl to do with a bunch of Bacon lying around? Last night I tried my hand at baked potato soup. Now... I tried once last year to make a fancier version with leeks and brie. I got all my measurements mixed up (i know, knock you over with a feather) and it tasted like liquified brie. Delicous, but so rich i thought i was going to die. Of happiness, but possibly of cheese and richness. So last night's impromput soup consisted of:

• One honking potato, cubed with skins on (why the soup is that darker dingy color)
• 2 cups veg broth
• 1/3 onion sauteed in bacon grease (i felt a little dirty doing it, but it smelled pretty great)
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup plain low fat yogurt
• topped with crumbled bacon (the one sauteed with the onions), cheedar, and a dollop of low fat sour cream

It rocked my socks off... but it needed sourdough bread. Yum leftovers.

SOOOOOO..... you say, what is on the agenda for the rest of the weekend? Well tonight is a big alumni/reunion/shindig of Johns. Tomorrow I will race back to KC because I have something VERY VERY exciting to attend. My friend's magazine is throwing a party...

And my boyfriend will be thereSo will my doctor...

And so will my BFF
And most importantly so will these ladies...

Who are hilarious..


My mom's sisters are AMAZING and i can't wait for them to come down to Missouri for fun and the O! you Conference that will be right HERE in KC! (um.. just a few blocks from my apartment) Can I get an Amen? Oprah here we come !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Off Roading it

Hello lovelies! I can't tell you how GREAT it was to hang with my old college roomie this weekend. For a trip down memory lane... behold the small selection of scanned photos I have at my desk at the moment. Circa 2003 seemed like a long time ago didn't it? And how about this bad boy? P.S. Steph it's weird to see your hair that short... I feel like that is not how I remember it from yesteryear.Anyway in honor of her visit, I raced home from work to prepare the following snackies before we met up with our other friends.

The fruit/cheese/nut plate. FYI for maximum efficiency I assembled this exactly as is (the triscuits were still in their own bag) then I saran wrapped it several times so I could just pull it out of the fridge and unwrap. However the almonds got STALE. boo boo. lesson learned.

This was pre-made spin/artichoke dip that kelly brought over last weekend. In my processed food snobbery of the moment, I decided to thin it out with NF Plain yogurt.... it was a good move (considerably less gunky)... so yummy and oniony though :)

A SUPER easy bruschetta recipe that had the following:

• tomatoes (obviously)
• basil (mcduh)
• garlic
• parm
• balsamic vinegar
• EVOO
• ?? eh can't remember (onions? does that sound right?)

And best of all.... SANGRIA! :) It was the same recipe I've used before:

• merlot
• ginger ale
• gin
• oranges
• lemons
• limes
• strawberries
• love.... the most important ingredient.
  

It was fun getting ready and pretending to have a roomie full-time live-in fashion consultant again! We headed over to our friend's house who has the most adorable front porch ever... which is where a group of us sat, chatted, boozed, reminisced, joked, and she smoked while we attempted divine intervention:

Ash-tray art/miracle. She's catholic so maybe that guilty conscience will start creepin' in. Then we went to the bar where a purse set of the alphabet and numbers in post-it notes came in pretty handy as we schemed our way out of paying the cover. FYI.. this lady turned 26 two weeks ago.... NOT 33.

She was having fun though... i think she convinced herself it WAS her birthday. The letters started falling off so we borrowed some scotch tape from the bartender and wrapped it around her torso 5 times. CLASSY. but hilarious... right?

The highlight of my life was when we tried to walk to the next bar a few blocks away. Trying to use a shortcut we found ourselves trapped at the end of a parking lot, and someone's brilliant idea was just to hop down off a wall and cross the street to where we need to be. Brilliant.. right? I don't think ANYONE'S shoes or cat-like-reflexes were ready for ........

Falling into the bushes. MWAHAHA (below is me holding my friend's cigarette and falling down laughing)

We celebrated our hiking/mounting scaling success by romping in some fountains by our destination and wall summit. (please not the masking tape still around miss 33rd birthday)

All that work for a bar that was SUPER packed.

We hung around and played with letters anyway.

And decided that we don't need third party vendors to laugh all night long. Spontaneity makes for the most hilarious of evenings.. no? Anyway all in all it was a FABULOUS weekend. I celebrated it's coming to a close by preparing a vegan take on Chili Mac:

Chili Mac (fatfreevegan.com)

• WW elbows
• onion
• spinach
• kidney beans
• tomato sauce
• chili powder
• crushed red pepper
  

John liked it (GASP!)...

Hope errrrrrrybody had a crazy fun weekend.. and a Manic Monday. Later gaters.