On Sunday, it was our 1/4 year Wedding Anniversary. Doesn’t sound like very long does it? But feels like it’s been much longer. It’s strange but neither of us feels married, more like we’re just living together (we hadn’t previously).
I’m actually quite enjoying the domestication of it all. I quite enjoy the cooking, though trying to decide what to make really does my head in. Despite my shelves groaning under the weight of all our cookbooks, just deciding what to have for dinner on a Friday night can cause hours’ worth of paper cuts and hair loss.
This is hardly the intended use for it but I find The Cook’s Companion by Stephanie Alexander to be a great prop for our laptop. We were given it as a wedding gift and I swear I will get through it one day, but at the moment, the sheer volume of the thing sends shivers of fear running through me.
We also bought one for our best man (who loves the art of dessert making), and I believe he is slowly making his way through it. Last I heard he was up to Cheese. Mmmm cheese…
Cleaning is tolerable, and some days even fun – I’m considering it exercise. Yes, I know. It won’t last.
So 3 months and all is going well, and our house is almost ready (we’re building) and I can’t wait to get in there and fill it with stuff. Perhaps it’s an age thing but crockery and furnishings have suddenly become very sexy. Forget the clothes and the accessories, just give me that set of pretty tea cups any day.
And I’m already dreaming of the bookshelf we’ll be buying. *Shivers* Now that’s sexy.
ALWAYS CHOP CHILIES WITH RUBBER GLOVES.
Or, if you’re on the fly like me, turn the plastic bags you bought them in inside out, slide them over your hands, and there you go.
Please practice caution with chilies.
If you don’t have these, and end up using your bare hands, never touch your face. Wash with scalding hot water and condensed soap. I once washed my hands with vodka then hot water and soap, and it worked beautifully.
What ever you do, never touch your face or use the restroom while cooking with chilies. Wait until the meal is prepared, time has past, and you are sure your hands are clean.
If your hands, cuticles, or under nail beds burn, be cautious.
Step 1: Boil potatoes until soft enough to mash, then drain and rinse potatoes. Add buttery spread, seasonings, and half of the Rice drink and begin to mash the potatoes. If you need to add more of the rice drink please do so (I don’t cook in exact measurements). The potatoes don’t need to be smoothly mashed. Lumpy Potatoes are good for making Pierogies. When potatoes are to the consistency you like, add the cheese
Step 2: Get your wraps ready and the cup of water. Into the first wrap you’ll spoon 1 heaping teaspoon of the potato mixture. Wet your finger in the water and moisten the outer edge of the wrap halfway around. Fold dry half of wrap over on to wet half to seal the mixture inside. If you’re feeling fancy you can crimp the edges of the wrap, but it’s not necessary. Continue this until you have your desired amount made.
Step 3: Bring a pot of water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, put as many pierogoies as you feel comfortably managing into the pot. The pierogies are done when they float to the top, usually about 3-5 minutes.
You can serve these with a spaghetti sauce, but I’ve found that Kraft® Zesty Italian Dressing compliments them nicely.
There are eleven major categories for cabin accessories. Most of them add to the general controllability and stability of the truck itself. But what adds a very personal touch to the most important part of the truck, the cab?
Apart from spare parts and add-ons for the winch and locking parts of the truck, twelve volt appliances and gadgets travel, which are much milder.
Accessories
Compass Digital compass to your safe trip by providing you ageneral guidance on the direction you're headed, especially if it's your first time to go to a city of more than fifty miles away. Some compasses are even equipped with a warning of ice, you keep that much safer.
Heaters cabin cabin heaters are very useful, especially if you travel in the coldest regions of the country. Why suffer in silence when we can artificially regulate the temperature inside your truck cab? These heaters portable cabin just need to be connected inside the coils compactheaters do all the work.
Electric blankets, away from home for weeks at a time? You need the warmth of home in your truck, and we can talk now. Twelve-volt electric blankets are very comfortable and provide a constant flow of heat to make your night comfortable sleep.
Shavers-Forget the batteries on this one. These systems require electric razor juice directly from your truck to work, but they work wonderfully, and they actually seem pretty cool sitting inyour truck cab.
Sandwich makers, we've said manufacturers are making designs as welcoming as possible. Twelve Volt Sandwich makers work exactly like the ones we sat in the kitchen, they have only been made more robust. These compact sandwich makers will not take damage even if the car is knocking when you're on the road. Perfect for heating the mayo sandwich your wife asks you to bring along the trip.
Cabin Coffee makers, if you like your coffee black, hot and wantNow, your best option is to get a coffee machine. Again, they were specially designed to withstand rigorous travel, and they work beautifully when plugged into your port truck twelve volts.
Clocks, if the sun is not enough to wake you up from the dream, then a digital clock would be a good way to wake up from sleep. Again, this product is compact and does not mind sitting in your car forever. You can also easily adjust the time and intensity ofalarm with a few clicks of a button.
This is not really a recipe, this is “Hey! These ingredients taste good when you throw them together!” There’s a difference in that I did not take the time to figure out the exact measurements. I’ve done this dish twice now and it’s come out well both times (and it all started with a strong desire for protein and pawing through my kitchen to see what I could come up with). Turkey Penne Throw Together
(Serves 4)
Ingredients
8 oz whole wheat penne
8 oz ground turkey
~13 oz tomato sauce of choice (I used half a bottle of Trader Joe’s marinara)
1/4 cup of white cooking wine
2 cups spinach
1 garlic clove, diced.
~1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, grated.
basil (to taste)
salt (to taste)
rosemary (to taste)
Directions
Boil penne with salt according to directions (al dente). Strain and rinse.
In a large pan, brown the ground turkey on medium heat.
When the turkey is done, put the heat on low. Add sauce, wine, spinach, garlic and spices. Let the spinach wilt just a little. Mix thoroughly before tossing the penne in with the sauce. Makes great leftovers.
Will work for food. Yes, I’ll even do yard work. I can’t afford to eat at all of these places without a little help here and there. My sister and her husband Dave were clearing out a little patch in their backyard for a “dog park”. Mindy and I showed up and helped them out then they suggested lunch……I love that system. Originally they suggested Duke’s but it was a nice day and it’s on Alki so it would have been a madhouse plus we really weren’t in the mood to change into our Alki clothes (I have no idea what that means, don’t ask).
Huh, how about we just drive on California Avenue and see what’s open. This has been my usual response so to hear someone else say it was great. California Avenue, home of Spring Hill, Mashiko, Bakery Nouveau, Cupcake Royale, and so much more (need more time/money to get to all of the other restaurants!!!). It’s almost like we planned to move to West Seattle on purpose…..hmmmmmm, interesting.
Hey, check it out! A BBQ place, let’s try it out! Great choice. Let me do something really quick, testosterone time. When talking about BBQ you always have to talk about how big your BBQ IQ is (I was going to say something else but this is a PG rated blog…PG-13?…alright R). Let me just qualify this by saying. I lived in Texas for three years and I have been to some pretty amazing BBQ places and before you proceed to tell me about how great this or that place is let me just tell you that it’s not going to go far with me.
(I wonder if I still have that shirt….)
I’ve been grilling, bbq’ing, and in more general terms burning things over fires for a long time so when it comes to good BBQ I know what’s up. Yup.
The Brickyard BBQ. We came for the standards, brisket, ribs, pulled pork, and some chicken wings. What we received was execution at a very high level. The plating (abundant), sauces (go for the spicy!), bar area (bottles on ice look awesome), meat, bartender (hilarious), and owners (amused with Mindy’s jokes) were all great.
(Ugh, camera phone)
The restaurant itself is indoor with a large porch on the outside for great summertime awesomeness. They have been open for 5 months now so I can’t wait to see what they are going to do with their open space…..I’ll be there….working on my sauce on face tan-lines…..”haha, looks like you missed some sunscreen”…..No man, that’s BBQ sauce and I meant to do that.
The great smell of smoke in the air, open space, great beers available, awesome food, and family. THE
(Oh man, I’m good at this whole blogging thing. You see what I just did there. I used a picture from their restaurant to finish a sentence……Professional!)
Those wings I was talking about earlier. They’re the best in town. Yeah, I know there are two posts in a row where I proclaimed best of something (crab cakes in the other) but these smoked chicken wings are a thing beauty. Yes, I know there is a Wingdome opening soon but their wings are nothing like this….they’re still fantastic but the wings at the Brickyard set the bar. Don’t believe me? Go try it. When you taste them and you agree then tell your friends. If you taste them and you don’t agree then there are plenty of other blogs to read on a regular basis.
The Brickyard BBQ
2308 California Avenue Southwest, Seattle, WA 98116-2403
Yes, I know. It won’t last.
(Ugh, camera phone)
