Stressed or Desserts?

Last Friday night, before the big ride, we went to dinner in Logan. Too bad I can't remember the name of the place. But the food was really good and it was a "cool" looking place.

We had a good meal and relaxed to the point of me having a lazy eye.

And then came dessert.

Now this is the point of this post. The dessert.

Look at this thing:

It was a 7-layer chocolate cake with a variety of chocolate-y names and it was insane.

Insanely good, that is.

We all had a slice of it and took the remaining half to our room for Jake to have for breakfast the next morning. And he did.

See Del Rey's Hawaiian shirt? No, that isn't what he hangs out in. That is what all the volunteers were given to wear. You know, the Hawaiian theme and all. Jake was also given one but wasn't about to wear it until he had to.

I think chocolate is what powered Abbie the next day on the ride. 

Good quality chocolate.

No Words Needed

It is hard for me

to come up with anything

that is better to eat

in the pre-summer

than

sweet

fresh

strawberries.

That's all I have to say about that.

Who Needs An Excuse?

Cinco de Mayo?

Really?

Do we really need an excuse

to eat Mexican food?

No.

In fact,

around here it has been known as

"Taco Tuesday".

It's Tuesday?

Oh, we must be having Mexican.

But I decided yesterday

to give this Mexican holiday

a wink and a nod

and I ventured into

the world of Google

in search of a refried bean recipe

and today I made my first batch

of refried beans.

We may never eat store-bought

Taco Time beans again.

And it is always a moment of

extreme excitement

when my kids realize I'm going to make

the tortillas.

And in honor of the holiday

I also made chips.

I know. I know.

I'm over-doing it.

Too much kitchen time.

But the results?

Well,

the results made everyone

happy

and

full.

(yes, yes, it is homemade guacamole also.)

(How do I do it??) 

I'm not sure what Jake-o is thinking

as he watches Nick build his taco.

But let me tell you,

we had some serious eating going on tonight.

And I cannot get over

how good the beans were.

City Delights

What does one do with an afternoon in The City?

You get the idea.

More of that today.

But before I move on, may I just say that there are so many stores. It has been a long time since I've lived in a place where there was a store within minutes for anything I wanted/needed. Colorado Springs, 1991-1992. That was the last time. Ever since then it has been an effort.

And not always an enjoyable one.

So, moving on.

Oh. There are also so many eating options. No wonder we're all broke and overweight. Go shopping. Go out to eat. 

Okay. So. Moving on.

I met up with Doug and his staff for Italian food. Doug ordered an appetizer of calamari (of course) and wanted everyone to try it.

And they did.

Seriously. I don't care if everything IS better fried (as my boys say), it is just not right to actually EAT something that looks like what it looks like when it is alive.

I was fine sitting with my smile while they all crunched away.

The rest of the meal was divine. My favorite?  The

EGGPLANT PARMIGIANA

Breaded and fried eggplant slices topped with marinara, fresh tomatoes, basil and mozzarella,

then baked to golden perfection.

ooohhhh. And it was.

Moving right along. The pregnant ones were stuffed...

then the waiters brought out a piece of birthday cake for Doug and invited all in the room to join them in song...

which surprisingly many did...

and Doug carefully cut the Red Velvet Cake into six thin pieces for all to enjoy...

which we all did do. Boop-boop-be-do.

Doug with 4 of the 6 people who help him keep things going.

It was a lovely dining experience. We were all quite full and content.

And we're doing it again tonight. After I go do some more shopping.

Different group of people. Different country of food.

I'm going down to the little gym now to spend 45 minutes on the elliptical so I can justify tonight's excess.

Once Upon A Time...

...as the story begins, there was a Little Red Hen. All she wanted to do was to make some bread for her little chicks and she just couldn't get any help. You know how the story goes.

I used to love to read this little Golden Book to my young children. I love books with subtle brain-washing going on. This story is one of the best.

Well, no brain-washing going on here.  And I'll tell you what I love now (and it is a lot easier than what that poor Little Red Hen had to put up with).

I love that this:

becomes this:

which turns into this:

which becomes this:

and ends up like this:

And I did it all myself.

Well,

I did it all myself with the help of my

Magic Mill wheat grinder

and my

Bosch bread maker

and my 

electric oven.

But I had to measure things

and shape the loaves

and, you know,

put the pans in the oven.

Stuff like that.

I still feel pretty good

when I take those pretty loaves

out of the oven

and feed them to my not-so-little chicks.

I feel connected to that

Little Red Hen.

Sort of.

P.S. Here is my recipe: http://oak-den.blogspot.com/2008/04/i-love-my-bosch.html  only I have stopped using the dough enhancer because of the soy. So ignore that part of the recipe. Sometimes I use white flour. Sometimes part white, part wheat. This is 100% fresh-from-the-grinder whole wheat, and nothing tastes better.

 

OH MY GOODNESS!

I am writing this post early enough in the day to give you time to do this.

TODAY. You must do this today.

In my never-ending quest to find and prepare good and interesting food for my family I have been trying different recipes from different sources. My friend, Tami, told me that she tried a potato recipe from The Pioneer Woman that was good.

If it involves potatoes, I'm there (my Irish heritage beckoning me to my roots).

Last night I brought my sweet new Notebook to the kitchen so that I could follow Pioneer Woman's wonderful step-by-step instructions for Crash Hot Potatoes:

And I made them. And let me tell you, ooooohhh are they good. They are so good they are better than good.

You have got to stop whatever you are doing RIGHT NOW and go to the store and get the stuff for these. Actually, you can finish reading this first because that's what you're doing right now.

Pioneer Woman uses these as a side dish with steak. We used them as a main dish. They would be good with steak. Or with veggie burgers. Or as the main dish (we can be pretty simple).

Doug said we should have these every week. I said we need to be careful not to burn out on them. Okay, he said, then at least every other week.

They are that good.

I promise.

Okay. I'm done.

Now go to the store.