D is for Detour

Ok, . . . guys? It's the end of August and I'm drowning in zucchini. In the interest of actually blogging here again, I hope you'll be tolerant of my skipping ahead a bit and letting you know how I'm dealing with the squash overload. Because I'm looking at pickling and, frankly, I'm a little scared.

C is for Canned Pancake Batter

Oh yes I did.

I was watching Unwrapped on the Food Network, an episode loosely themed around "unusual containers". The push up sushi triggered a light gag reflex, but Batter Blaster (organic!) excited me a whole lot. (Beware the theme song if you follow the link.)

It took me a few tries to locate Batter Blaster at my local supergrocery, mostly because I couldn't for the life of me figure out where in the store it was likely to be (cheesy dairy case, as it happened). Once found, however, it was everything I hoped it would be: Fast, easy to use and the pancakes taste normal, ie delicious. They were slightly less fluffy than scratch pancakes, but not by a lot.

The can informs me that I can also use this wonderful product for waffles (heart!). I'll try that next weekend and report back.

C is for Chairman

Having quit my job almost a month ago (due to a lying, dishonorable boss plus an abusive co-worker), naturally I'm looking around for new employment.

A friend told me that one of the first questions she always asks an interviewee is "What is your dream job?"

"Easy," I replied. "I want to be The Chairman on Iron Chef."

You get to wear nice clothes, hang out with Alton Brown and eat really good interesting food. Your every move is foleyed (swoosh! whoop!) and you don't even have to judge.

All this plus a paycheck? Sign me up!

T is for Turkey

A bit out of order here, I know, both temporally and alphabetically, but I wanted to share pics of my gorgeous Thanksgiving beastie:

This is mid-process and that thing covering half of Mr. Turkey is a lint free towel.
I soak it in melted butter and cover the turkey with it at the start of the cooking process. Basting takes place both over and under the towel every 15 minutes.

Yes, I know, I know, you can go the roaster bag or aluminum foil route but I got this method from the Joy of Cooking and
a) It has never, ever failed me. 7 years strong here, people.
b) My turkey is annually praised as one of the moistest anyone has encountered. (Somehow that sounds naughty. Hmm.)
c) What else exactly am I going to be doing on Thanksgiving anyway? Composing a symphony? Working on my juggling skills?


Pretty, no?

Happy Holidays to everyone! More from me soon.

B is for Block. Writer's Block

I'm tired of talking about why I left the job, but I also haven't been cooking much this week, between rehearsals, meetings and puppet shows. I had a very nice japanese curry for dinner tonight. They seem to do curry more savory than spicy, which is right up my flavour profile. Also, there were pickles on it, which sounds wrong but tastes oh so right. And now I must post this before time runs out. See you tomorrow, when I hope to have remembered what i actually meant to write about today.

B is for Bacon Antidotes

With all this bacon I have been/will be eating, I had a moment (brief, granted) of concern for my health. Maybe, I thought, just maybe I should look into foods that help fight cholesterol. So I went to Google.

Fortunately, the 4 most mentioned foods all involve things I already like to eat:

- almonds (yum. and you can even get Snickers made with these now)
- oatmeal (a favourite breakfast of mine in winter and also darn tasty when it gets made into bread)
- fish (I live in Seattle. Salmon is plentiful and fresh.)
- soy (ok, only in edamame, but that totally counts)

Maybe at the end of B I should make a meal incorporating all these elements. Twould be an interesting challenge at any rate.

The articles I liked best:
Mayo Clinic
Wellsphere

Randomized for your protection

- Naturally I watched The Next Iron Chef Sunday night. I think this will be a very good season.

- Funniest thing said in my house in response to the show: "Looks like 'confit' has become the new 'ceviche'."

- I'm working on the last "A" entry, and then we can proceed to "B". At last.

- Oh hey, that thing I auditioned for week before last? Totally got the part. Huzzah!

SundAy, SundAy, SundAy

- Last night was the first concert in our season tickets to the Seattle Symphony, so we ate at The Brooklyn. Best known for their oysters, but every darn thing there is so decadent that I always expect the mob of angry peasants to come carry me off while I'm eating. On my plate this time: Quail stuffed with sweetbreads and fuji apples.

- Woke up this morning to see an old high school friend had posted a link to lots of apple recipes on my FaceBook wall. Huzzah! If you know me, you know my attention was especially caught by the Apple Bacon Pancakes.

- And now off for a little field trip to secure tickets for the local Alton Brown book signing October 16th.