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!

The hostess with the mostest

Apparently... i love entertaining. Despite the fact that I was running behind although I had all afternoon to cook and when my guests called to say they were en route, I hadn't showered and my kitchen and rest of apartment looked like a hot mess, which then caused me to rush and run around like a lunatic. It was Jaclyn's birthday and she and company came over for sangria and appetizers before we headed to a martini bar and then the usual spots for more booze and some dancing. It was truly a night that incorporated all that is the namesake of this blog. high five.


Here is the spread.... beauteous, no? I made a healthy seafood bruschetta, ricotta dates, spinach-parm rolls, babaganoush and crudites and some freaking fantastic sangria (if i do say so myself). The plates are courtesy of my going overboard at target on friday.


Seafood Bruschetta:

• shrimp
• crab meat
• mint
• parsley
• chives
• EVOO
• lemon juice
• garlic cloves
• french bread

I got this recipe out of the Better Homes and Garden's cookbook my mom gave me when I graduated from college. I thumbed through it enthusiastically but basically let it collect dust for a few years. I wasn't using it as a table prop or anything, but it was close to being that obsolete. When I started to get back to cooking which coincided with my family's health issues, I realized that, ironically (or serendipitously, you decide) the book had a breast cancer section where they featured healthy recipes. My mom and I made this bruschetta this summer and it was as fabulous then as it was last night. Note to self: cook more with my momma :)

My experience with dates before yesterday was limited to an Amelia Bedelia book where she was supposed to put dates on the calendar and got the meanings mixed up. Oh that Amelia Bedelia.

Anyway, these are the best and easiest fancy snack ever. As Jaclyn said: 'heaven'

• 8 dates, sliced long ways and pitted
• ricotta cheese (i upgraded to get the good stuff, spending some serious time with the cheese guy at the grocery store)
• pistachios
• honey

Spinach-Parm Roll-ups. There is probably a fancier name I could give these. Too bad I'm not feeling very creative this morning as I'm sucking down my gatorade, and nursing a headache. Roll ups is all you get my friend.

• pre-made pizza dough (not so health foodish or wheat, lay off, i didn't have so many options here)
• 1/2 cup fresh parmeson (i grated it myself, and it was not kraft, seriously could this get more impressive)
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 tablespoon parsley
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 cups frozen spinach, thawed and drained well
• 1 egg

heat the garlic and onion in a skillet with EVOO, then add spinach and seasoning, mix with parm before putting spreading on pizza dough. roll up pizza dough and brush with a whisked egg and bake for 15 minutes at 400.

Here is the Ba-Ba-Ganoush from the other day, which supposedly was to be improved after the flavors have been able to sit and meld for a while. I was as blah about this the second time. I am sure not all ba-ba-ganoush is this blah, but this was. blah. the worst part was that I cut up WW tortillas into triangles brushed with EVOO and sea salt and put under the broiler for a few minutes. Too bad it was a few minutes too long because I got sidetracked and when I checked on them the second time they were completely charred. My apartment STILL smells like burnt tortilla strips. boo.

SANGRIA... whoop whoop!

• 2 bottles red wine (I used Mississippi Red from local MO winery)
• 6 shots of gin
• 6 cups ginger ale
• 2 oranges
• 2 lemons
• 2 limes
• 2 handfuls of frozen berries
  
  Booze and fruit... what a fantastic combo.

Ever since I got this little pitcher on clearance at Pier1 I've been dying to put something interesting in it... does this not scream Sangria or fresh squeezed lemonade? with vodka? You kind of can't see it, but I wrote 'Jacyln's' B-day on it with chalk. Too bad I waited until it was full to write it so it sort of looks like I did with my toe.

For all my dinner party successes there was one true disaster. The grossest brownies ever. Because I have all of the ingredients I plan to give it another shot. The problem was that I skipped a step and tried to incorporate it later, out of order. It didn't work. Even the burnt melted batter was really gross.

The evening was fun and by the end was filled with lots of dancing (yay!!) but shoes are not always conducive to dancing and then walking 8 blocks home from the bars. This night was no exception. To relieve our suffering feet we decided to switch shoes for the walk home... and because we (okay..I) wanted to try on each other's shoes because they were freaking adorable. Not pictured are the pairs of shoes from Jaclyn's other friends including a phenomenal pair of grey leather boots. I will be getting some this season. what recession? new fabulous boots are a requirement for cool weather. Plus I would be doing my patriotic duty by contributing to getting the economy back with my foolish consumerism... right? right.

We are not crippled, we just wanted to feature the sides of the shoes in the event the top picture was not doing it justice. so cute. seriously.

All in all a successful dinner party. I feel like I'm a heartbeat away from a book deal and a show on cable access. Hey if Wayne and Garth can do it..

the vegetables of my labor

Ba-Ba-Ba....Ba-Ba-ganoush (to be sung to the tune of ba-ba-bomb-Iran by John McCain) ... so I just watched the debates (LOVE being home this evening) and had two friends surprise me by dropping by. Con: my apartment looked like a category 3 storm had come through due to the crazy houseguest and school schedule I've had since it was cleaned last week. Seriously, I had articles of clothing draped over absolutely everything and every shoe I own (which let's not kid ourselves, is a substantial number) was in clusters making making bridges to nowhere all over the place. Con: my attention was divided and wasn't able to get the adequate shout-at-the-TV action I was hoping for (..or for which i was hoping.., sorry dad). Pro: recipe tasters. woohoo.

I tried my hand at a little BaBaGanoush this evening. I have only used eggplant in lasagna (which was delicous) but knowing it is a versatile veggie, and because I love making hummus so much I have been meaning to make this dip forever. First of all, one eggplant was not nearly enough. Although they are amazons in the world of vegetables, by the time you peel them and remove the pulp, there is virtually nothing left. Note to self: next time get multiple eggplants.

Also because I was anticipating a larger final product, I decided to forgo the mini food processor (my love) and attempt to repair my cracked blender. No need to tell me how ridiculously GHET-TO the following image is:

What would Martha say? Duct tape... it's a very good thing.

Good thing it didn't become unglued because i'm pretty sure that anything you find at home depot shouldn't be touching your food. The verdict? I sort of thought it tasted like mashed potatoes, is that weird? My buddy thought so too, so maybe it's not just me. I used a lot of garlic and possibly it was the parsley... but anyway, yummy and not nearly as delicious with carrots as it was with little home-made tortilla strips (more on that in a second). The picture below is about a cup and a half of dip... Cue disappointing trumpet sound effects (still tasty though, which is I suppose the point).
BaBaGanoush:

• 1 large eggplant
• 1 glove garlic, minced;
  1/4 teaspoon salt
  1.5 teaspooon ground parsley
  2 tablespoons tahini
  2 tablespoons lemon juice
• Bake eggplant (poke holes in the skin first) at 450 for 20 minutes. When it has cooled, peel, remove pulp and process with the other ingredients.
  

In honor of kickball being cancelled (I've never been so excited for rain) I decided to use my first real evening at home to try not only a new app but a new yummy soup as well. Once again, I stole the recipe, but made my own additions and alterations so I feel like I can claim it. Tonight was Chicken Tortilla Soup. I ommitted all things that could've been s to the picy because I'm a wimp, but it was still yummy and flavorful... AND.. it had a favorite healthy food ingredient of mine, quinoa (pronounced keen-wa. However since i've never actually heard any one 'say' it, i will continue to say it like it sounds).

TA- DA! deeeee-lish. I used the skinny gourmet creation. I'm stoked to be having this as a leftover. Also my recipe testers loved it. Not that with me hovering over them writhing my hands together in anticipation they would give me anything but rave reviews (me = not an accomplished enough cook to take criticism)... but I'll still take it as success.


The list of ingredients is for ever long (just use the hyperlink, you know you want to)

• carrots
• onions
• zucchini
• garlic cloves
• chicken
• chicken stock
• corn (i ran out, which has never happened, probably because i never think i need to buy any so i haven't in forever... but more corn would've been delicous
• diced tomatoes
• sweet peppers
• cilantro
• chili pepper spice
• cumin
• oregano
• quinoa

So for the tortilla strips I just sliced whole wheat wraps and put them under the broiler for a few minutes. Super easy and delicous, I'm pretty sure I could make pita-ish chips like this too. (i sprayed them with olive oil and dusted them with salt... yes... dusted)

For lunch today I had a wrap (with a handful of almonds) that had sweet potato, spinach and black beans. The combo of black beans and sweet potato is the bomb.com.

After the weekend of eating whatever and using semi-frozen things while running around for school, it felt AH-MA-ZING to be having fresh things that came out of my refrigerator/kitchen. I felt better. The sun was shinging, the birds were singing and I was all kinds of healthy with no mystery ingredients. nice.