Well, well, well...

Yes, I do remember this site exists. Yes, every so often I think of something I should post.

Just created a possible yummers: maple & brown sugar custard over pineapple rings. Ditch the pineapple. More custard. Easy nuff to fix. I'll get the recipe posted when it's all ready.

I gave up on the aparagus mousse filled tomatoes. For the ACLS group w/the gentleman who is allergic to *cows* milk, every year it gets easier to come up with creative stuff. Even here in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, you can get Tofutti cream cheese & sour cream. I made tofu cheesecakes & dips last year. this year, I'm going middle eastern with za'atar topped pitas & hummous. I'm also keeping an amazing marinated goat cheese recipe on hand all summer. man oh man is it DELICIOUS. Bill wil be impressed to no end. And I have jalapeno relish.

Good Lord, I'm at camp with a *small* group of people coming in this weekend but holy shit you should see the grocery list I've accumulated.

I need ingredients for Tyler Florence's chili, for NCMystershoppers Spice Cake with Cardamom-Coffee icing, for new potato salad, for BBQ chicken, for Jewelie's Pickled Cherries, granola, pasta sauce, salad, salad, & more salad! Veggies for salad, veggies for dip, veggies for whatever! And lots of fruit for breakfast, lunch, dinner & dessert.

Famous Chocolate Quotes

Man cannot live on chocolate alone; but woman sure can.

Among life's mysteries is how a two pound box of chocolate can make a woman gain five pounds.

Forget love -- I'd rather fall in chocolate!!!

Chocolate is nature’s way of making up for Mondays.

Stress wouldn’t be so hard to take if it were chocolate covered.

Eat a square meal a day - a box of chocolate.

Other things are just food. But chocolate's chocolate.

Chocolate causes certain endocrine glands to secrete hormones that affect your feelings and behavior by making you happy. Therefore, it counteracts depression, in turn reducing the stress of depression. Your stress-free life helps you maintain a youthful disposition, both physically and mentally. So, eat lots of chocolate.

Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands - and then eat just one of the pieces.

A little too much chocolate is just about right.

In the cookies of life, friends are the chocolate chips.

There’s more to life than chocolate, but not right now.

Chocolate is cheaper than therapy and you don't need an appointment.

Nuts just take up space where chocolate ought to be.

OMG, tooooo funny.

Frito-Lay Angrily Introduces Line Of Healthy Snacks

PLANO, TX—"Look at what you've reduced us to," said CEO Al Carey, as he disgustedly held up a bag of Cranberry Spinach Explosion snack chips.

PLANO, TX—With the recent trend of wholesome snack foods reaching "truly ridiculous proportions," Frito-Lay announced Monday that it would, against its better judgment, roll out a new line of healthy fruit-and-vegetable-based chips next February.

"Here," said Frito-Lay CEO Al Carey as he disgustedly tossed a bag of the company's new Flat Earth-brand snack crisps onto the lectern during a meeting with shareholders and members of the press. "Here's some shit that's made from beets. I hope you're all happy now that you have your precious beet chips with the recommended daily serving of fruit, or vegetables, or whatever the hell a 'beet' is."
"Mmm, dehydrated bulb things," Carey added. "Sounds delicious."
Carey appeared visibly appalled as Frito-Lay employees distributed Flat Earth snack samples to the audience.
"God help us all, would you look at these flavors," said Carey, gesturing toward a display showcasing the several varieties of Flat Earth chips, including Kauliflower Krunch, Raisins 'N Chives, Cranberry Spinach Explosion, Rutabaga Yum, Tofu Snaps, Eggplant Ecstasy, Broccoloroos, and Watercress. "Look at what you've reduced us to."
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Frito-Lay delivery people drop off a "bunch of bullshit to some pricks somewhere."
"Weren't Sun Chips healthy enough for you, you goddamn hippie bastards?" Carey added.
Frito-Lay spokeswoman Lisa Greeley, who said that the company made a commitment in 2004 to develop a healthier line of snacks but "never thought it would actually come to this," described the Flat Earth brand as "tailor-made for the small, vocal minority of health-conscious consumers who apparently can't just be content with salads, bananas, apples, or any of the literally thousands of fruits and vegetables already widely available."
"Our new veggie snacks combine the zesty tang of parsnip, the most mouthwatering root vegetable out there, with the bold flavor of, let's say, jute?" said Greeley before reluctantly bringing a Turnips 'N Radish chip to her mouth and forcing down a full bite. "It's a brand-new taste sensation unlike anything you've ever experienced, unless you've ever eaten sisal twine."
According to Frito-Lay's website, the new snacks contain one-third of the fat, one-half of the calories, and one-1,000th of the irresistible flavor of Frito-Lay's classic line of potato and corn chips. The presence of trans-fats and saturated oils is avoided by employing a cooking process "strikingly similar to the method used to create particle board." Serving suggestions that will be printed on the packaging include "definitely not adding any salt or seasoning, because then you might die"; dipping the chips in "delicious plain yogurt, lettuce paste, or other ground-up Flat Earth products"; and enhancing the flavor by replacing the chip in your hand with a Hot'n Spicy BBQ chip.
In January, Frito-Lay will launch a Flat Earth marketing campaign based on the slogan, "Bet You Can't Eat Even One." Surprisingly, however, the company is also in talks with distributors to ensure that Flat Earth snacks are installed in every school vending machine in the country.
"Oh, they're definitely going in the vending machines," Carey said. "Everyone's going to share in this misery, not just a handful of Naderites with spastic colons or loser kids with no taste buds whose parents want them to grow up to be boring milquetoasts afraid to have any fun. And don't think we haven't forgotten you either, office workers on snack breaks and anyone who wants to serve a big bowl of disappointment at a cocktail party."
"If this is what you want, America, fine," Carey continued. "But if you don't like them, then you can suck my fucking dick, because this is it—no more veggie crisps after this. None. You hear me? None."
"You're all gonna die eventually, anyway," Carey added. "Might as well be eating Cool Ranch Doritos with cheese dip when you go."
Frito-Lay is now considering discontinuing its traditional snack line and focusing entirely on chickpeas and sprouts, since, according to Carey, Americans "are so scared of getting fat, and are clearly no longer interested in good-tasting food."
"You all disgust me," said Carey, who then kicked over the Flat Earth display and stormed out of the room.

Cheryl's Sesame Pasta Salad

One of the sweetest mom's at school is a caterer. She donated lots of food to the annual fundraiser Christmas Fair. One of the dishes she brought was a sesame pasta salad. It is soooo good! So I asked her how to make it & she told me. I went home & did it. YUM - it's easy! And she is so pleased that I was able to recreate her recipe. She is just THE nicest lady. Here it is. Please understand that I rarely measure.

Cook up enough of your favorite pasta shape to feed your crowd. Add enough vegetable oil to keep the pasta separate. Add a couple of tablespoons of the best toasted sesame oil you can get. Add enough fresh, cleaned, dried baby spinach to make you happy. Throw in some grape tomatoes or halved cherry tomatoes or whatever makes you happy. Slice up as many scallions as you like & throw those in, too. Sliced bell peppers in different colors make it even prettier. Garnish with a fistful or so of sesame seeds & you've got yourself a dish to die for.

Now wasn't that easy?

Quick update

The asparagus mousse in cherry tomatoes is coming along. It's been tough getting the flavors/seasoning just right & it's not the simplest recipe. BAH.

Busybusybusybusy over at Recipezaar with the Zaar world Tour II. Ya GOTTA check THIS game out!!!

Curried Couscous

1TB olive oil
1TB butter
1 chopped onion
1tsp salt
1/2c dried cranberries
1TB curry powder
1c vegetable broth
1c couscous
2c fresh baby spinach

Melt butter & oil. Saute onion. Add salt, cranberries & curry. Stir until onion is softened. Add broth & bring to a boil. Stir in couscous. Remove from heat. Cover & let stand 4 minutes. Stir in spinach. Cover & let stand another 2 minutes. This warms the spinach but doesn't cook it. Barely even wilts it. Stir & enjoy. Serves 4.

1st attempt

No recipe yet because it isn't quite right. DH said the texture of the mousse was 'slimy' which is obviously NOT good. He made a suggestion, I made a different suggestion. Guess who wins that one? LOL. But here's some pics. Kinda cute, eh?

OH! I made the most excellent dessert this weekend.

It was almost perfect. Fire & Ice Pineapple? Roast a whole pineapple: snap off the leaves, put it in a brownie pan w/a bit of water & roast at 375F for an hour or so. Trim the top, bottom, & outside. Quarter & core then cut into bite sized pieces. Serve with...are you ready?? Serve with PINEAPPLE ICE!!! The Italian ices shop just reopened for the season...I love roasted pinapple - makes a fab dessert - and put the two together. Nifty, eh? Fat free, fruit, fibericious. What more could you want??? But it *did* need a bit more. A drizzle of melted dark chocolate w/a bit of mint extract or oil. Garnish w/fancy pineapple mint leaves if you can (hahaha) find them. Perfect.

Hmmm....

I feel the need to mention that my mom is a cardiac rehab nurse who developed & runs Heartwise at the local hospital in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine (YAY MOM!) & I often help feed her patients. I do my best to conform to AHA rules for this meal. The next group that comes through camp are Kiwanians & it's a free for all. The next group is the ACLS instructors of which one is the aforementioned lactose intolerant friend who I would like to WOW with an array of recipes created especially for him so he doesn't have to bring his own food. How embarrassing. Enough rambling for now. Gotta think up some good food ideas.

Not vegetarian, but...

It sounds good. Pesto Shrimp: shrimp, mushrooms & cherry tomatoes on skewers, basted w/pesto & grilled. I'm not going near it with shrimp AND fungus but I'll serve it. What do YOU think?

ARE there any original recipes left? All the food shows mention 'signature dishes'. The people on Top Chef & So You Want to Be a Food Network Star or whatever it's called make up dishes. I must be a total idiot because I find it rather difficult to come up with a truly original idea. Bah.