Maangchi Is My New Guru

She teaches me how to be a Korean cook with these wonderful tutorials and then I screw up all her recipes in my kitchen.  Today I screwed up Japchae (pronounced Chop Chee).  Normally a delicious savory noodle dish - tonight I made something that tasted like a dessert.

Thanks Maangchi!

Scientific Mozzarella Stick Study

Frozen Mozzarella stick taste test.  I thought the TGI Fridays ones were an obvious shoe in.  WRONG.  A unanimous vote decided the Alexia Mozzarella Stix were the leaders.  They are the ones in the right column.  They were also the cheapest. 

The Secret To Nick's Diet

Atkins Diet!

 

 

Projects

Special shout out to slow cookers and farmers markets - without which this meal would not have been possible!

Staying Busy Pizza Partay!!!

Monday's project was pizza dough.  I don't really know dough, so texture, consistency, color - that was all a guessing game.  After a few spins in the bowl and a few kneads of the knuckle, it looked good enough to me, so I threw it in the fridge over night and waited for it to rise.

Homemade sauce was easy - just tomato paste, water and olive oil.  I also included dried rosemary (crushed), basil, oregano and chopped garlic.  No cooking necessary!!! 

All the other stuff was pretty intuitive.  The best pizzas always have basil, mozz and any combo of olive, mushroom, artichoke, tomato, etc. 

Making the dough into acutal pizza was a little aggravating.  Dough is stupid and stubborn, so getting it into a form that looked like it could accommodate toppings was a process that took a lot of finessing.  But in the end, ta da! Motorino, Roberta's, Paulie Gee's - all rolled in to one! 

Representative Of The Lollipop Guild

Stew Night

Stew Night Harder:

Charleston: Too Small To Be Its Own Country, Too Big To Be A Mental Institution

Charleston, South Carolina is really, really old. It kind of looks like a town from the North Shore of Boston that has been shipped to the South and painted turquoise. The burg is big on a number of things, to name a few: Eating, history and frogs. Seriously, there was a frog in every window. Tim's parents had no explanation.

Some facts for you to take home tonight: The Civil War started at Fort Sumter which is a man-made island in Charleston Harbor. The Union actually won the Battle of Fort Sumter, but we all know they lost the war. You know the feeling. Also, the first successful submarine attack in history went down in the same Harbor. The H.L. Hunley belonged to the Confederate - can you believe they even had a submarine back then?!?! I mean, wasn't that before things like sunblock and airplanes??? New biggest fear of all time: Submarines.


C-town is haunted and lots of former high school football stars make a living on giving "haunted tours" of the city. There was this one plaque outside a house that said if you came by at night, you could see the ghost of a white man shooting the ghost of an Indian in the third story window. This was a Unitarian cemetery and strangely, most of the people buried there were born and died in Gloucester, Ma (Perfect Storm). Tim's dad made some comment about the people being "ripe" by the time they got to Charleston and Tim's mom got mad at him and then apologized to me.


Along with the colonial charm was also the small town delight that comes with any hamlet that had a boom in the mid-1900's. On King's street there were several retro businesses and store fronts such as this theater. It felt like we were on the set of the movie My Girl but when we walked past the American Apparel that was so neon it was probably visable from outer space, that was all ruined.

Where I might retire?

Tim's parents lived on Kiawah Island, which is actually 45 minutes outside of Charleston and not an island. There were a lot of critters there including gators which were in abundance and proved to be the ultimate golf course obstacle. I went running one morning and what I thought was the biggest iguana I had ever seen was actually a gator out for some sun. Shiver. When I had to run past it I did the weirdest jog/walk where I tried to take really smooth strides (no sudden movements) while getting the hell out of there at the same time. Picture the grace of a speed skater in running shoes and two sports bras.


Look at this though?!?! You can't get these vistas in Nyc. Not even from some one's roof top BBQ in Brooklyn.


Oh yeah, and to add to all the mystic wonder, South Carolina's governor went missing while we were there. His wife wasn't concerned and mentioned he needed time off from the kids which is particularly un-southern on Father's Day weekend. Anyway, they found him hiking old Appalachia so the anarchy only lasted six days.

I Can Dream About You

For Jeff

Glitter Graphics

Last Blingee. I promise.

Orange Lobster

Thanksgiving 2008: Pop! Pop! Pop!

Turkey Master, Rosanne,serving up some savory. Grandpa and Nick ensure succulentness.*

This way, there was no need to argue over programming.**

Tin foil, a twenty-something's alternative to the 'hot plate.'***


*Turk was literally the best of my life. Sorry Mom!
**On the TV - a Seahawks slaughter. On the Imax - Our first time viewing Freddie at Live Aid!!!!
***Hella tin foil.

Current Mood:

Bork Bork Bork.

Little Salt Bird

I wish I had a little pepper bird too.

DD Sausage Egg And Cheese: Hangover's Secret Weapon

This is for Gramps, who just logged out of Gchat to go get one because he is afraid he is "seriously still drunk" at work right now. God Speed you, Jasie.

Office Outing

Our boss takes us on one outing a year. Last year it was a circle line tour that left everyone heat-stroked and pissy. Matthew learned his lesson this year and conned us into bowling at the Chelsea Piers. I won. and I won a day off.

Later a coworker told me that I was "scary." Scary good I thought.

Headline: Mac Shares Nachos With Group, Gets One Chip

Food Groups Included: Vegetable (corn chip), Meats (potted beef), Dairy (cheese pump).

Gimme Some of That

Only children aren't good at sharing and neither are foodies.

We All Get a Little Grumpy Around Our Birthdays

Anne says "Thank you" for making it a memorable one.