Catching Up

I just realized I have not posted ANYTHING since last October. I skipped over totally Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year and now Valentine's Day. I aim to get things posted; pictures, etc. Perhaps tomorrow I will start. For now, I am about to make fish & chips for dinner. Bought cod and a Guinness Stout with which I will make beer batter .... and just baked a lemon meringue pie. Keith is here this weekend, and so is Ashley, his girl. Today is laundry, watching Olympics, and here I sit - trying to figure out what to post. I think I will start with pictures (and recipes) from tonight's meal. Stay tuned.....

Move over, Stick People!

Last night, I met my friend Debby at the Mall for a quick bite at Sadie's (a local cafeteria) and then we had a 'Wine and Design' class. Several glasses of Cupcake Wine "Red Velvet" (not like it sounds - no, it's not a cake flavor, but a lovely dry red wine -thus the "Red" in the name)and we spent the next two hours painting. Now, except for stencilling walls and such, I have only painted by-numbers as a child (and never on velvet!) or just stuck to my infamous 'stick people'. At the end of the night, I brought home a painting that I have to say I am very proud of. Still waiting on that light to shine on it in a place of honor that we have yet to choose. I hope that place is not the back wall of my walk-in closet! I'll post a picture of it...soon. Tonight, I baked stuffed peppers (stuffed with ground beef, onion, garlic, and parmesan cheese), sauteed yellow crookneck squash with bacon and purple onions, caprese salad (tomatoes, mozzarella and basil drizzled with EVOO) and freshly baked parker house rolls. Not bad....not bad at all. More to come....

What's Cookin'??

When I left work today, it was raining. Now, I do not like to drive in the rain. I love rain, and I enjoy thunderstorms, but since our auto accident several years ago that happened IN THE RAIN, I just do not enjoy driving in it. So, I head out of downtown and get on the interstate, homeward bound. Now, every other person on that interstate must not like to drive in the rain either because the traffic was virtually AT A STANDSTILL. It took me nearly an hour (in the rain, no less) to get to my exit. I had to make a stop at the grocery store - the dogs needed some Chop House canned dog food to mix in with their hard food for dinner. I grabbed the Chop House, a can of Italian Wedding soup, a small flank steak, some fresh mushrooms and a green pepper. Then I came home, fed the 'kids' their Chop House Blend, and started dinner. I put the canned soup in a small pot and turned the heat to low - so it could slowly simmer while I cooked. Then I thinly sliced the steak into ribbons, and also the green pepper, half an onion, the mushrooms, and 2 minced cloves of garlic. I put the slivered meat into a bowl, and it was seasoned with Montreal Steak seasoning, a dash of garlic powder, some pepper, and a smidge of salt. Those of you who are Southern will know what a SMIDGE is. I then drizzled some soy sauce and a little sesame oil over the meat so it could marinate. After 20 minutes, I turned the soup off, cooked some wild rice, and sauteed the meat and veggies quickly over high heat. It took about 5 minutes - after it all browned, i turned it down, popped the lid on for 5 minutes and 'ta-da'!! Done. It was delicious. Not bad for a Monday night, eh? Stormy said so! Stormy knows....

Cooking in the New Kitchen

OK, so we have the 'new' kitchen put back together - sort of.  We needed to get a new dishwasher and have it installed like NOW because when the 3 tiles in front of it are 'cemented' down, the dishwasher is in place FOREVER.  Would you believe we found one - at a GREAT discounted rate.  Now I am all about savings.  Especially when it's a high dollar purchase (i.e., DISHWASHER).  So tomorrow we will attempt to pull out the old one and put this new one in.  The old one is washing dishes right now.  Dishes we used when we had this mouth-watering grilled chuck roast.  Grilled, you say?  Yep....grilled.  Took the roast, pierced it and inserted slivers of fresh garlic.  Rubbed it with salt and pepper and sprinkled a smattering of Montreal Steak Seasoning.  We put that puppy on the grill, and roasted it - slowly - for about 45 minutes.  On the side burner, we threw a handful of mushrooms, some garlic salt, pepper, a half stick of unsalted butter and a splash of merlot.  They simmered while the roast grilled.  Oh My Gosh was it good.  Add steamed fresh green beans with wedges of russet potatoes on top (steamed with bacon grease in the water)....and you have a meal fit for a KING (or a QUEEN).  My friend brought dessert - a dump cake with peaches and apples - with this awesome cake we had steaming mugs of chocolate cappuccino coffee.  Not bad for a weeknight, eh?