Water and Watermelon

Last night CPT Fromage and I decided to grill. We totally would have done it over the weekend but everyone and their brother was grilling! It’s not that we’re too cool to do something if it’s already trending, but rather that our apartment complex won’t let us have our own grill (lame sauce) and our entire development has to share ONE propane grill. Double lame sauce. So we waited until the weekend was over to bring our brats and “good dogs” (dude, tofu dogs are my new favorite food) outside. Know what else we brought? Wait for it…

Watermelon.

Yes. We totally grilled watermelon. And it was UH-FREAKIN-MAZING. I wish I could describe it to you so you’d be totally excited to try it, but I can’t even begin to start. The texture; it’s gets almost meaty, and the taste is indescribable except to say it’s smoky, it’s spicy and it’s heavenly! We ate it as a side dish, but I hear it’s also good in place of a burger (slap some cheese on it and throw it on a bun? I’d try it!)

Grilled Watermelon

4 slices of watermelon, 1 ¼ inches thick (My slices were quarters, if that makes sense… A half of a half slice) ¼ cup honey
juice of 2 limes
dash of cyan pepper
dash of salt

Combine the honey, lime juice, salt and cyan pepper in a glass baking dish and add the watermelon slices. Flip them over so both sides are coated and let sit for 15-20 minutes.

Turn your grill to medium-high heat and grill watermelon slices for approximately 5 minutes per side (you’re looking for nice, dark grill marks)

Serve and enjoy! You can thank me later.

So about that water... it was good luck we planned to grill last night, because we got hit with a pretty fierce storm about 45 minutes before we started cooking. The wind and hail broke one of our windows, wrecked the cars (and we just last week picked up one of them from the shop for hail damage repair… FML…) and knocked out our power for 12 long hours. We’d have had no way to cook a darned thing inside with the power out! Our A/C didn’t work either of course, and our apartment wasn’t the only thing getting warm… I had to throw out the week’s worth of groceries I’d bought just that afternoon… Lame sauce. At least the watermelon was delicious!

Watermelon Smoothie

So it’s about 100 degrees here today, and humid, and I’m still pregnant. Just makes me want a mug of hot chocolate… Kidding! What I really wanted was a milk shake, but let’s be honest, it was too hot to get in my sick minivan with the mostly broken air conditioning to drive to Sonic. Also, the window doesn’t roll down, so it’s a little embarrassing when I have to open to door for my drink (Eh, actually, I sort of roll with it now, I’m learning to embrace my new ride).

With a milkshake out of the question, I decided I’d try out my new Ninja blender. It got here yesterday* (Er, last week, I just was too lazy to walk to the office and pick it up until yesterday) and I wanted to see if it was really as amazing as the reviews claimed. Dude, it is. Know what else was amazing? My watermelon smoothie.

Since getting pregnant, I’ve been on a mega watermelon kick. I always liked it before, but now I crave it like crack. It’s still not really quite in season yet, but at least it’s easier to get my hands on than it was in oh, January or February. Anyway. We bought one last month that turned out to be a dud, but I couldn’t bear to throw it away so I chopped that sucker up and threw it in the freezer, figuring I’d think of something to do with it when I one day got around to buying a new blender.

Guys, it was amazing. If I could be in love with a food or drink item, and Green Curry was already in a committed relationship, it would be this smoothie. Try it. If you don’t like it, send it to me and I’ll drink it!

Watermelon Smoothie

Makes 2 servings. Unless you’re me, and then it’s one big serving.

2 ½ cups frozen watermelon
1 small apple (I used Pink Lady, ‘cause that’s my fave)
½ of a fresh lemon, squeezed
1 TB maple syrup
½ cup Limeade*  (Give or take. I prefer my smoothies pretty thick, so add more if you want  to use a straw instead of a spoon!)

*Lemonade is probably great too, or Sprite for that matter. I’m pretty sure this would rock your socks with Vodka, but seeing as I’m with child, I can’t vouch for the awesomeness that I’m sure would ensue if you added a grown up beverage… Let me know if you try it so I can be jealous.

Blend it all up and enjoy!

You've Gotta Try This...

First off, we’ve gotta talk something about Kale.

I’d never had this green before, but recently I saw a recipe for kale chips on Pintrest (dude, if you aren’t pinning yet, get your bootay on over there!) and decided to give it a try. Dang! CPT Fromage and I haven’t bought a bag of potato chips in a month, which is huge for a couple that was going through something like 3 bags a week before this discovery. Besides the fact that this is the tastiest snack ever, kale is also a “super food” and, obviously, much healthier than the deep fried stuff we were buying before.

Super easy. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, wash and dry your bunch of kale and tear into smallish-mediumish pieces – about the size of a potato chip. Drizzle with olive oil (I use extra light extra virgin) and sprinkle with salt (We’ve been enjoying Pink Himalayan Sea Salt, but use whatever you prefer). Spread onto a baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 16-18 minutes. Pull those bad boys out when the edges start to get brown and enjoy!

Are you back from your snack? You’re welcome!

On to some lame sauce news. My bestie in the whole wide world lost her baby last week. She was almost 32 weeks and we were so excited about raising our little boys together. She’s in the less than 1% of moms who suffer this tragedy so late in the process and my heart is broken for her and her husband. Life just isn’t fair. At all. In the midst of it all, I feel a little bad being happy about how well our little man is doing, but I’m relieved to say Baby Fromage is growing big and strong (he’s measuring about a week ahead, going to be tall like his daddy I suppose!) and it looks like the down syndrome and/or heart problem the doctors were concerned about are worries of the past.  

So good stuff since my last (forever ago) post… Kale chips, a healthy baby and we’ve made it a whole month without getting shanked out here (because, dude, if I’m ever going to get shanked, it’s going to be in this town!)

Carnivore in the Making

As I’ve mentioned here before, I’m a long time vegetarian. If it ever had a face or a mom, you wouldn’t find it on my plate. For nearly 3 years I’ve been cooking up poor little animals for CPT Fromage, but my mouth never watered, not once did I sneak a bite or reconsider my eating ways. That is, until I got pregnant.

Dude, I’m growing a tiny carnivore in here.

It started with fish: Fish tacos, fish sticks, grilled fish… Next I had 2 roasted chicken wraps and I hoped it would stop there but yesterday CPT Fromage was telling me how good his lunch was… Barbeque. Someone in my tummy must have been eavesdropping because for the rest of the afternoon my stomach growled. I tried to offer other things, different, vegetarian, protein options, but someone was having none of it. Barbeque was the only answer. I ordered a brisket plate. I don’t know the barbeque lingo, so I wasn’t sure what that meant, but it had a ribbon icon next to it indicating that it was one of their most popular dishes. Personally, I found it rather fatty/chewy/meaty but 4 servings of sauce helped make the parts I found eatable more palatable.

Bleh. Baby Fromage seemed to have been satisfied, and our German shepherd was more than happy to help me out with the left overs, but I hope from now on this kiddo sticks to foods that I like to eat too. Like, it would be awesome if we could have some cravings for my favorite foods, like some Thai or mac and cheese (actually, I’d be happy if I could just stomach the foods I used to love! Apparently, someone finds them repulsive because they keep being sent back…)

Years from now, when this little Fromage is a mouthy teenager and claims I don’t care about making them happy/don’t love them/other youngster gripe, I’m going to remind them of the brisket (and the fish, and the chicken) and the 14 year run of meat free dining that was interrupted for their dietary preference. Now THAT’S love!

*I’m pretty sure the only reason this 4oz Fromage is demanding when it comes to dining is because I haven’t been able to eat hardly anything from the get-go. I’m down 14+ pounds already, so I suppose this wackiness is just my body making sure I’m fueled up properly for this pregnancy when I am able to eat something.

You love me, you really love me!

Thanks so much to Kara, from Visions unto myself , for awarding me this….

In order to accept (plus it gives me some substance to constitute an actual post) I have to list 5 guilty pleasures and pass this award on to three (just 3?) of my favorite bloggers….

Off we go…

1. Cheese. Obviously. I love all things cheese, all kinds of cheese, even nasty processed crap like Velveeta. Does that make me a true cheese lover, or is eating that some sort of blasphemy?

2. Green curry, Indian food of any kind, chocolate, margaritas and frozen yogurt. Not all togeth…. Wait, I just had a fantastic plan for supper!

3. Rodents. I collect them like some people collect stamps. Except most people don’t use small furry animals as postage, and stamp collectors hold their treasures in books, whereas I like to carry mine around in my pockets.

4. Cows. If it’s black and white spotted, I must have it. There are more cow items than cookware in my kitchen. And I have a lot of cookware.

5. MTV. Sad, but true. If I can get an afternoon marathon of Real World or Teen Mom, I’m a happy girl.

Now, I wish I was watching some trashy TV with a big bowl of curry and a platter of cheese on the side. A rodent snuggled in my pocket and my stuffed cow, Sir Loin would complete the picture. What a fantastic day that would be!

Enough day dreaming, gotta pass this on to some other worthy blogs….

Big Fat Gini

http://bigfatginiblog.blogspot.com/

Bre's Recipes

http://brerecipes.blogspot.com/

Life After the Aisle

http://ashleyisawife.blogspot.com/

Lady Fromage’s Million Dollar Mac&Cheese

Serves 2

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Ingredients:

2 cups pasta, cooked al dente (shells, elbow, whatever you like)
2 cups Alfredo sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
3/4 cup whole milk
Red pepper flakes (to taste – about a tablespoon)
Paprika (to taste – about 2 tablespoons)
Onion flakes (to taste – about 2 teaspoons)
1 cup Panko bread crumbs

Melt cheeses with sauce, milk and spices then stir in pasta, pour into an oven safe dish and cover with bread crumbs. Bake until cheese is gooey and bread crumbs are toasted (about 15 minutes).

Enjoy!

Back in the Saddle Again

After a rough few days, I’m back at work. I prefer to use my sick days when I’m feeling good; D@MN having to use them (plus vacay time! eff!) for when I feel like crap.

In my down time, I did manage to Christmas-fy the Fromage Palace. Or, at least I’m off to a good start! (ETA for the tree is Sunday!)

The stockings are hung on the balcony with care. Except there is some sharing going on. The cats are sharing a big red paw, and all 5 rattinos will find a can of oysters in their community stocking (Otherwise, we’d need a much, much longer balcony!)

The cows are ready for Christmas (Oh, by the way, the dogs ATE ALL OF MY COW COOKIES. And broke my cake display. Notice Erika has a “naughty” stocking with a piece of coal attached.)

My grandfather’s antique box is filled with “snow” covered, cinnamon scented pine cones and LT Fromage’s beer steins are even in the spirt, donning a big red Santa hat.

The doorway is draped with snowflakes and lights,

And once you reach the kitchen, red and white flowers from LT Fromage, next to my Christmas candle sticks set the table for all the yummy snacks like....

White and milk chocolate dipped candy canes and pretzels

Sugar cookies loaded with pistachios, milk chocolate and dried cranberries

Spicy chocolate; white chocolate peppermint; mint chocolate and eggnog candies and truffles piled high on the tabled (and safely removed when we’re away and the dogs are inside!).

Recipes for these goodies to follow. Also, be on the lookout for the very first Lady Fromage give away!

Remember to follow me on Twitter for up to the minute, life shattering updates like “if I hear one more Taylor Swift song I'm going to shoot myself. Just putting that out there." Or the new Question of the day; today’s being: What part of the gingerbread man do you eat first? (Gini, get your mind out of the gutter! *wink wink*)

Livin’ the Dream

Some years ago, I purchased a cow shaped cookie cutter. If you don’t know it by now, I love cows. However, I don’t love cookies as much as I do cows, at least not sugar cookies (the only ones that really hold their shape. I tried making cow chocolate chip cookies…. Fail.) But last night, my dream became reality, we finally made cow cookies (and I didn’t burn the house down in the process!)!

I rolled out the dough, cut lots of little bovines and baked away until their little toes turned golden brown. Once they cooled, we iced. I even bought black decorating icing and those fancy little tips (which didn’t fit, by the way; we ended up squirting icing into sandwich bags and cutting the corner off. Resourcefulness: just one of my many gifts.) I even went so far as to buy little pearl sprinkles for eyes. Hardcore? Maybe; but I’ve been waiting for this day for quite some time.

LT Fromage decorated his cows with red and green spots, since he was in a festive mood (er, I was hogging the black icing).

Santa’s not the only one who likes cookies and milk, so when LT Fromage finished his snack we poured some leftover milk into a cat-sized mug for Toby, who sat on the cow rug and helped finish off dad’s drink. Before we finished up, we carefully made 5 dime-sized cookies for the rats (The Ladies). The dogs didn’t get to partake in the festivities. Sorry, guys.

Giant snowflakes and tiny twinkle lights are hanging and the garland, nativity and stockings will soon emerge too. Best of all? LT Fromage suggested we go pick out our tree… THIS WEEKEND. Shocked? You should be! This comes from the man who grew up in a family who was getting their pine on Christmas-freakin’-eve! I, the polar opposite, erected my fake greenery as early as November 1st when I was a single lady. I thought this gesture was a peace offering since I slept on the couch the night before, but in fact, it’s due to his work schedule; this being the only weekend we can go unless we want to pick up a scraggly tree a few days before the holiday. Whatever the reason, we get the tree this weekend, and I can’t wait!

And finally,

I started Twittering. Yeah, they got me. Be sure to follow me (on the side bar to your right) so you can get updates on my super exciting life every time anything semi-awesome happens. C’mon, you know you want to!

Host First Thanksgiving as LT and Lady Fromage: Check!

(Unattempted as of yet, but they look quite yummy! Check them out here!)

Phew! It’s over.

We actually had a great time, and I have to mention (rub in) again how lucky LT Fromage and I are to have in laws we love, who love each other! The food was great, the company even better, and by a miracle of God (or it might have been my momma) the house was sparkling clean when everyone left!

However, the stress of so much company, more cooking than we normally do in a month, constant entertaining and 3 dead car batteries (each family experienced it at different times, his, mine and ours) spread over the week has us a little on edge now. When I say a little on edge, I mean I slept on the couch last night. (Lesson learned: When LT Fromage is burnt out, he wants to be left alone, which conflicts with my need to draw close again. Ah, the discoveries of a young marriage. See, L, we aren’t perfect all the time!)

With thanksgiving out of the way, it’s time to start prepping for the most spectacular time of the year…. Christmas!

Stay tuned for cookie recipes (It’s true, I’m going to try my hand at baking once more!), darling home décor ideas and wish lists (listen up, Santa! Or blog readers in a giving mood!) In the mean time, be sure to check out Shutterfly, where you can score 50 free personalized Holiday greeting cards, with your photo! They also offer mugs, calendars and more. LT Fromage and I are totally doing it this year. Especially since we get them for free. Free is good. It means saving more money for the mega-electric bill we’ll get in January thanks to all the lights I’ll be attaching to the house.

D@MN it Feels Good to be a Gangsta

One night in December, after an evening of pizza, Wii and lots of drinking with our couple friends S & J (My best Non Sucky Army Wife friend), we met “Gangsta Gangst”, J’s alter ego.
We had a lot of laughs at his “gangsta name”, because J is not, in fact, a “gansta”, not even close. He wears sweaters and watches Food Network. LT Fromage also wears sweaters and we're also Food Network junkies, so the 4 of us can discuss the Iron Chefs for hours. It’s no surprise that we’ve become such good friends. Try as we might, none of us are quite gangtas, though.

I began to feel jealous, if fellow sweater-wearing, Food Networking-watching, early-bedtimer , J could have a Gangsta name, why couldn’t I? LT Fromage said he would work on it.
A few days later, driving home from a Monday night date (We try to get some good Margaritas….er, I mean Mexican food, on Mondays), it came to him. “I’ve got it!” he said, “Lady Fromage.” Of course!

I love, LOVE, loooovvvveeeee cheese. LT Fromage claims that if I was an animal, I would be a mouse. (Although a good friend once suggested badger… Aw, that’s mean. Oh, and then those boys MOO’d at me, so maybe a cow, also... But I digress).

When LT Fromage is away, most of my suppers consist of an array of cheeses (I always keep a minimum 6 selections stocked in the fridge at all times), jellies and jams, crackers and breads. Pair that with a bottle, er, glass of wine and I’m in heaven. Our older cat, Garrett also loves cheese, so when LT Fromage is not home, Gare and I can be found indulging on delectable dairy products together while we watch trashy MTV reality shows. (LT Fromage does not delight in cheese to the extent that I do; he prefers meals that are slightly more… diverse and substantial. He also doesn’t enjoy trashy MTV specials. His loss)

On a recent drive home from St. Louis LT Fromage took me to The Cheese Store. This is exactly what it sounds like. That is, Heaven.

I limited myself to 5 cheeses; however I sampled each and every one in the store (some more than once) My final purchases:

*Havarti with Dill (LT Fromage's favorite)
*White Cheddar with Onion and Garlic
*Cajun Cheddar Curds
*Smoked Mozzarella Curds
*White and Orange Cheddar Curds

Other favorites:

*Goat cheese. Plain ol’ is my favorite, but it’s also delicious with herbs and other add-ins.
*Gorgonzola. I make a fab-u-lous sauce to go over steak (or Portabella mushrooms, for me), and I always buy an extra tub so I can snack on the tasty chunks while I cook.
*White Queso. Pretty dee-lish, when you get it at an authentic Mexican restaurant!
*Brie. I even named a pet rat this, once. If ever you have an opportunity to eat baked brie, try it! I promise you’ll eat every last bite!
*Swiss. One word, Fondue.
*Smoked Gouda. O.M.G…. Oh, yes, yes yes!
I’m also a sucker for- this is embarrassing – Velveeta. Sorry, I can’t help it. Heat it up with a can of Rotell, you’ll love it too.

And there you have it. The backstory of my cheesy name. Now you know, and knowing is all the power (*wink *wink, LT Fromage!).

Duct Tape, Pork Chops and other Nifty Things

So I realize that the last few posts have been about childhood toys, cartoon characters and reality televesion. Next thing you know, I’ll be blogging about Justin Beiber. Just kidding. I won’t go that far.

But I do owe you a grown up post, filled with useful information and nifty things you can take away with you (because I’m not all-that enough to do give aways just yet).

Here you go, some free advice. Things I’ve learned and will now pass on to you, loyal readers. Now don’t say I never gave you anything!

Duct tape works well to patch pants from the inside when they begin thinning from your fat thighs rubbing together. Be aware, though, that it will soon begin sticking to said fat thighs, which is quite uncomfortable, and will need to be gently tugged away from the skin, which can be awkward in social settings. Another layer of duct tape fixes this problem, but not for long. Lesson learned: This is not a permanent solution. Buy some new jeans, thunder thighs.

I can substitute vinegar for the cleaner in my Hoover Floor Mate. It’s way cheaper and works just as well, if not better. Plus it’s green, which I feel good saying. Since I don’t actually do many “green things” It is my favorite color though, so that should count for something.

A mixture of half Red Wine Vinegar and half White Wine Vinegar can be used in place of Apple Cider Vinegar when cooking. I don’t know how it would do in the Hoover though.

Pork Chops are a very good substitute for steak, and much less expensive; even than a less than stellar cut of beef. This sounds good to me, because A) I like to save money, and B) I don’t care as much for pigs as I do cows, and will likely feel less terrible about serving them on a plate. I made some piggies for LT Fromage last week and he loved them. (Mouth watering yet? Here you go!)

Apple Ginger Pork Chops
Recipe courtesy Guy Fieri (Who totally rocks)

Ingredients
4 pork chops, double cut, center cut, bone in
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons minced ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup sliced (1/4-inch) yellow onions
2 cups cored and sliced (1/4-inch) Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup raisins
2 tablespoons butter

Directions
In a resealable plastic bag, add the chops, apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, ginger, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Marinate for 30 minutes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large saute pan heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil to almost smoking, then add pork chops, shaking off excess marinade. Brown on both sides, then place on a sheet pan and put in the oven for 20 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 135 degrees F.

In the same saute pan deglaze with wine then add onions, apples and raisins and cook until apples are soft and onions are translucent. Add butter salt and pepper, to taste, and keep warm.
Remove chops from oven and add to the apple mixture. Serve hot.

Notes From Lady Fromage:

I didn’t buy bone in chops; I couldn’t find them so I got a thick cut instead.

I subbed my above mixture for the Apple Cider Vinegar because I didn’t have any.

Also, who has fresh ginger around? I used powdered instead, but not as much obviously. Those would have been some gingery pieces of pork!

I didn’t have raisins so I used dried dates (Why we have those and not raisins I don’t know…).

I used Lime Juice because we didn’t have any lemons. A citrus is a citrus.

I clearly need to restock my kitchen. Now we don't even have anymore dried dates.

Lastly, I marinated for more like 12 hours, because how can 30 minutes do anything?

100 Things

I’m speechless (Not really. I’m never speechless), this is my 100th post. In honor of this mile stone, here are 100 things. Not really related things, funny or impressive things, but 100 things none the less.

My list of 100 things.

1. My highest score in solitaire is 735. Which is the highest possible score. NBD
2. I can reach 97 WPM with 97% accuracy
3. I can hold my breath for 1:14
4. Jolly Ranchers always give me hiccups
5. I love grilled cheese sandwiches with sliced jalapeños
6. Or onion and tomato
7. Or dipped in ranch dressing
8. Pretty much anything can be dipped in ranch dressing for that matter
9. I was home schooled until my senior year of high school
10. When I was a little girl, I had an imaginary friend, a horse named Acorn
11. I broke my left ring finger in high school and set it myself, it still bothers me when it’s cold out
12. I love Splenda
13. I add red pepper to hot chocolate, it’s so yummy
14. I’m terrified of earth worms
15. When I was little, I killed a butterfly in a jar using a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol, even though my mom pleaded with me not to
16. I’ve had a stereo stolen from my car and my house broken into twice
17. I worked in an animal shelter where I had to euthanize peoples unwanted pets, I quit working there when I realized I had stopped feeling sad about them dying
18. Ringo is my favorite Beatle
19. I carry 3 types of anxiety medications at all times
20. I starred in the spring musical my senior year in high school (Once Upon A Mattress)
21. I was awarded “Most Improved Dancer” by the cast
22. My favorite color is green
23. I have prosopagnosa (face blindness)
24. I burp when I yawn
25. I read really, really fast
26. I’m not sure if I believe in ghosts, but I am sure that if they’re real, there are some in my house
27. My favorite number is 27
28. I always tip at least 20%
29. I have giant feet, some of my shoes are size 10 ½ wide
30. I had to buy men’s hiking boots because they don’t make women’s that fit me
31. I can’t hike anymore because of patella femoral syndrome in my right knee
32. I love cemeteries, I find them peaceful not creepy
33. However, I do have an abnormal fascination with death
34. I love the old Window’s Entertainment Pack with Chip’s Challenge, Rodent’s Revenge and Tetris
35. I hate the number 35
36. I bruise very easily. I’m afraid most people think LT Fromage must beat me at home
37. When I was little, I had a crush on the Nickelodeon cartoon character Doug
38. My favorite Starbucks drink is the pumpkin spice frappuccino, but when it’s out of season I order a caramel frappuccino with a half cream base
39. I have a paw print tattoo behind my right ear, in memory of all of my pets I’ve lost and the ones I’ve had to put down because there was no room left for another unwanted animal
40. I can fall asleep anywhere, any time. My parents used to think I had narcolepsy
41. I’m the oldest of 4 children, 2 of whom my parents adopted. I love my family so much
42. LT Fromage and I laugh all the time. I’ve never seen a couple who laughs so much and can be so silly, except maybe on TV
43. Last New Year’s Eve I caught our kitchen on fire making breakfast. The fire department had to come put it out
44. We now own a fire extinguisher
45. I love tanks and have a small collection of 1/144 scale miniatures
46. My favorite tank is the Stingray, but it was never mass produced
47. I’ve only been on public transportation once in my life and I was terrified
48. The Office is my favorite TV show
49. I’m also recently lovin’ Arrested Development
50. LT Fromage and I went to Sicily, Italy for our honeymoon, which was amazing except…
51. Our luggage was lost in Rome, so we didn’t have our things for the first day
52. Also, the water was out 50% of the time, so we only showered every other day
53. And we ended up sleeping on separate couches because the bed was so uncomfortable
54. I’m terrified of stopped school busses
55. I dated a guy who went to Annapolis, later married a man who graduated from West Point but was never involved with anyone from the Air Force Academy, despite living only an hour away, while the other schools are on the east coast
56. If while walking, an object is between me and my companion, I have to repeat the phrase “bread and butter” until we are no longer separated
57. I get nosebleeds when I’m nervous
58. I got two nosebleeds on our wedding day (one about 5 minutes before walking down the aisle. In my white dress. The second at the reception immediately before pictures)
59. I had nosebleeds all the time when we started getting frisky, which is a pretty good mood killer
60. I love diet Pepsi, but usually buy Sam’s Club brand diet soda. I won’t touch diet Coke with a 10 foot pole
61. Generations ago, my family owned the Coca Cola company
62. I once stole an Obama sign from a deli window and am guilty of removing an Obama bumper sticker in a parking lot on at least one occasion
63. I didn’t grow out of stuffed animals like my mom predicted I would. I still sleep with “Sir Loin”, a cow LT Fromage gave me for our first Christmas (He had no idea when he bought that cow that he’d be sleeping with it 3 years later)
64. I once ripped the seat of my pants dancing with my friend at a gay club
65. I also ripped the seat of my pants at a county fair while showing my dog
66. My current favorite pair of jeans are wearing thin in the bottom, so to prevent another rip I’ve duct taped them on the inside
67. I live by the phrase “If you can’t duck it, chuck it” (except sometimes I use another work that rhymes with duck)
68. The song “The Reason” by Hoopastank makes my ears hurt, much the same as nails on a chalk board does. Only worse
69. So does the sound of the new Sun Chips bag
70. I don’t believe in the territories
71. I also don’t believe in umami
72. I once cut off my own skin tag with nail clippers
73. I can’t swim
74. I had no idea it would be so hard to think of 100 things. Eff, what was I thinking?
75. My favorite color is green
76. I was raised Protestant, but converted a few years ago to Roman Catholic
77. I got to stay in a Monastery when I was in New York for LT Fromage’s graduation
78. At the present time LT Fromage and I own 2 dogs, 2 cats, 4 rats and a frog
79. Our older cat can sit, speak and roll over, the younger can speak and sit up to beg
80. I own and can shoot, disassemble, clean and reassemble my own gun (Ruger SR9c)
81. T-Rex is my favorite dinosaur
82. If it was socially acceptable, I would totally hole up in the house and never come out. Except to pick up an order of green curry (to go, of course) once in a while
83. I have to sleep with one leg out of the covers
84. I love stadium nachos and M&Ms. Yes, together
85. Blue M&Ms are my favorite, even though I think the Red M&M on the commercials is the best
86. My current favorite commercial is the Geico “Bird in the Hand” one
87. Or maybe the Skittles Tube Sock
88. Or the shake weight, because that is too crazy funny, and not on purpose
89. My birthday sometimes falls on national donut day, which is great, because I love donuts
90. I also love cheese, anything to do with cheese, and also green curry
91. I’ve read my favorite book, Life of Pi at least a dozen times
92. I basically live in my “Nothing Tips Like A Cow” hooded sweater
93. I’ve got a space heater with a remote, it’s set up so that I can turn it on to heat the bathroom before I even get out of bed in the morning
94. I’m a die-hard Colorado Rockies fan
95. I love cooking
96. But I can’t bake and always end up frustrated when I try
97. I live for Christmas and, before I was married, would bring out my (artificial) tree on November 1st
98. Now we wait until the first day of Advent and buy a real tree
99. I love antique stores
100. I hate funnel cake

Grilling Pizza and Buying Guns

Goals for this week:

Grill a pizza. I stumbled across this technique and can’t wait to try it! I think I’ll top it with alfredo sauce, sautéed spinach and garlic and chicken (Only on LT Fromage’s side!)

Make coca cola ribs in the crock pot. Friday is supposed to be rainy and cool, what a great day to come home to a warm supper that will leave left over’s for the weekend!

Order as many deployment prep books as I can find. Check! Done!

Buy a gun. Headed to the shop/range after work this afternoon to go over my short list one last time before I take one home.

Do the Fort Riley Ghost Tour. Boo!

Watch The Memory Keeper’s Daughter. I got it on Netflix weeks ago and haven’t started it yet, but I loved the book and hope I enjoy the movie, too.

Make some more of the yummy peaches we had for breakfast a few weeks ago (Really easy, half the peaches, drizzle with honey and sprinkle with sugar. Cover in an easy crumb topping made of butter, brown sugar and flour and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes)

Spend some time with my neighbor, and good friend, S, who’s hubby just deployed.

Make an effort to really enjoy every moment this week. The weather is perfect (it’s still fall here, winter is creeping up, though!) and LT Fromage is home. What’s not to enjoy?

Anyone have any goals for this week?

Things I’ve Been Doing Instead of Blogging

Visited the national WWI museum in Kansas City, which wasn’t as freakin’ awesome as I expected, but was still pretty alright. Best part was the tower where you could see, like, all of the city (D@MN, I really wish I could upload pictures from the digital camera…). Worst part was the tank selection, they only had one and it was a stupid French tank. I like German tanks best, followed by American. French and Russian don’t do much for me…

Ate at the Brick in Kansas City. My new life goal is to eat at as many places featured on Food Network as I can. Great goal, right? Big dreams. Anyway, we’d originally planned to check out Swagger, since the menu looked good (and the huge beer selection was also a factor…!) and it was on Diners, Drive-In’s and Dives. Friday night we were watching Food Network and Guy was at the Brick in Kansas City! Pretty much a sign from the Food God’s, so we went there instead and it was dee-lish. We had a few beers and some fried mushrooms with horseradish dipping sauce, then selections featured on the show: LT Fromage ordered the meatloaf sandwich and sweet potato fries (I’m pretty sure both of us would kill for sweet potato fries, they are that amazing, folks). I got a brie and granny smith apple sandwich. Sounds like a weird combo, but on rye bread with apple butter… uhm, probably the best thing I’ve eaten in a while (besides my true love, green curry, of course!). I also got the sweet potato fries, of course, with sides of mayo and their special chipotle catsup, which was as yummy as Guy said it would be.

Already finished season 6 of The Office. Some episodes were less than stellar, but near the end they hit their stride again and brought it with some awesome moments. I gotta call Pam out though, she’s sort of turned into a bee-ach this season. What’s up with that?

On Sunday LT Fromage and I went shooting, I decided I need my own gun. A girly gun. Because I don’t know what his is exactly but I have a hard time holding on to it because it’s massive. When I accidently shot straight into the ground about a foot in front of my target I concluded that a smaller, lighter gun that I can hold on to might work out better for me. Also, I want it to be pink. LT Fromage is doing some research because the pink one I picked out is only a .22 and apparently wouldn’t have much more effect on an intruder than a can of pepper spray.

We finally got the computer back and everything on the hard drive was lost. Eff. Mostly it’s pictures we’re bummed about – 3 years worth, including ones from our honey moon. Sigh. LT Fromage got us a service that backs up everything now. We learned that lesson the hard way. On the bright side, for the last year I’ve griped about not being able to upload pictures from the digital camera (we… or maybe I… lost the connector cable thing) but at least we’ve still got the last 12 months of pictures saved on there.

And finally, we’re now entering week 3 of fall here in the Little Apple, which apparently, is about 2.5 weeks longer than the typical fall folks here are used to. We got apple and cherry ciders this weekend and made some more beer cheese soup, in the evenings we take the dogs for a walk and “smell fall” and I look in peoples’ windows (I can’t be the only one who loves looking in windows… from the street I mean. I’m not getting all up in their flower beds or something!). I wish it would stay fall forever, or at least fade into something besides winter because I hate scraping ice off the windshield and single digit temps.

Reasons to be Happy

At Work

1. The vending machine is finally fixed, which means 75 cents will once again buy me a bag of F4 (Which happens to be Quaker Snack Mix Baked Cheddar - so so yummy).

2. With Halloween coming up and the good candy on sale, we now have Milk Duds mini boxes in the candy dish. Well, we HAD them in the candy dish. Until I ate them.

3. Someone brought chocolate frosted donuts to work this morning, which, if you ask me, is a fantastic way to start the morning.

4. Someone else brought cider mix for the break room. Uhm, yeah, my co workers are pretty alright.

5. I brought a yummy can of broccoli cheese soup for lunch and the weather is still soooo nice I ate outside in the park again. (Although, it was tricky driving to the park with a hot bowl of soup in my lap…)

At Home

1. LT Fromage finally returns from the range today; I haven’t seen him since Monday!

2. There’s fresh bread in the bread machine, next to a crock pot of stew, waiting on the counter for supper tonight. I’m also totally making beer cheese soup. Yummmm....

3. I had a dream last night that The Office season 6 was finally available on Netflix (why does it take so long for things to be on Netflix?!), so I checked today and IT TOTALLY IS THERE! We’ve got a serious date with Jim, Pam, Michael and Dwight tonight!

4. Saturday morning breakfast of apple stuffed French toast has been on my mind all week… In a few hours, it will be on my plate!

5. The weather is supposed to be perfect this weekend and enjoying some outside time with the dogs at the park may be in our Sunday plans.

Happy Friday!

Toby the Meerkat

What a beautiful fall day it is here! I hope everyone is enjoying this same weather, wherever you may be.

I had a crisp apple for lunch today in the park, a squirrel and a yellow butterfly for company. A wasp came by, but luckily he didn’t stay long. It’s so nice to enjoy some time outside with a good book (see the side bar for what I’m reading now), even if it is just an hour.

LT Fromage is away (again, as we’ve come to be used to, thankfully it’s only 3 days this time) so tonight will be nothing more than frozen pizza while I watch a few hours of Teen Mom, but I’m looking forward to cooking later this week. I’ve enjoyed our recent trips, but have been looking forward to eating at home again. Last night I was dreaming of the big, fluffy pieces of stuffed French toast I’ll make on Saturday (If you’ve never had stuffed French toast, it’s a must try!). I can’t wait for this weekend, to make beer cheese or maybe broccoli cheese soup and sourdough bread (with the help of my handy bread maker, since baking is not my strong point!), beef stew and bourbon peach cobbler. Soon, I’ll be able to pick up fresh apple and cherry ciders on my way home from work, I can’t wait!

Besides the fall weather and yummy warm foods, a few other things that I’ve been enjoying…

Arrested Development. Have I mentioned before that Netflix + a bluray player = awesome? It does. We just started season 2 and I think it’s tied with the Office for best show ever (Oh yeah, and Teen Mom).

Sweet potato fries dipped in mayonnaise and BLTs with baby spinach (with “fakin’ bacon” on mine, of course!). I don’t know how we both forgot about BLTs, but neither of us had thought of them in years until recently, now, we eat them on Sunday afternoons, yum.

Green curry. Yup, I’m still pretty much obsessed. We tried a place in Kansas City that got great reviews, but I still say nobody beats our little place here in The Little Apple. I think before LT Fromage accepts orders to another post, we’ll have to scout out the Thai restaurants before making any decisions… At least I finally know how to make it at home.

Our cats, Garrett and Toby. Gary already knows sit, speak and roll over so we’re working on beg. Toby can stand up like a little meerkat and it’s one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen, his balance is unbelievable. Next we’ll take on speak.

(They could be brothers! Tobes even has the same stripes)

“Smoke A Little Smoke” by Eric Church, “Walking Away” with Zak Brown Band featuring Allen Jackson and Deirks Bentley’s entire new album “Up on the Ridge”; also, “If I Die Young” by Band Perry and “Just By Being You” from Steel Magnolia.

Klondike Bars. Like BLTs, another long forgotten treat. The perfect dessert.

Lamebook.com, regretsy.com, awkwardfamilyphotos.com and awkwardfamilypetphotos.com.

Enjoy the fall weather, before winter sneaks up on us! And make some stuffed French toast this weekend, you won’t be sorry!

Happy Anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. Wunderlide

What a wonderful weekend! We stayed at the Hotel Phillips, a beautiful hotel in Kansas City, where we were surprised with chocolate covered strawberries in our room with a card addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Wunderlide. The strawberries were great, the room was lovely, but Wunderlide is not our last name. Close. But not right. (Last year, our honeymoon suite offered a bottle of champagne and a note for the Weatherfords, which is again, not us. We’ve got a tough last name, it happens a lot.)

LT Fromage planned so many fun things for us to do; we started with Mediterranean food on Friday night and saved room for Kadayif, a dee-lish cheese/pastry dessert. We had a yummy breakfast at the hotel on Saturday and then went to the City Market, a 145-stall farmer’s market to check out all the treasures: fresh produce, spices, breads, jewelry and other trinkets. We shared a big bag of kettle corn and freshly squeezed lemon and limeades and went home with a cow bobble head and a bag of Spicy Thai dried pasta (I can’t wait to make it with peanut sauce!).

We had planned on eating Indian food for lunch, but nixed it to try Grinder’s. The valet recommended it to us and when he mentioned it was featured on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-in’s and Dives we decided we had to check it out! LT Fromage got the Bengal, one of their featured pizzas, which is a Northwest India inspired pie covered in tandori chicken and crab. I ordered the Fun Gi instead. After removing everything that had once been alive, I did take a bite of his, since it was the one Guy ate, and it was so yummy! As if the dining experience wasn’t cool enough, there was a garage door across the street painted like a cow, where I insisted we pose for a picture. (I wish we could upload pictures, but right now our laptop is dead and on its way back to the store to be repaired. I've got my camera phone and lifted images from google in the meantime!)

Of course, it rained on Saturday afternoon, and not just a little, it poured. It was reminiscent of our honeymoon where we battled rain all but one night. The weather didn’t stop us from strolling (under the cover of eves) and stopping into shops to look around downtown.

Saturday night we had intended to see “Going the Distance” but couldn’t find a theater showing it, sadness, so we just chilled out for a while before going to the WaterFire show on the river where they lit big fire pits all down the river. There was music, fire dancers, food, drinking and some other cool stuff. Sadly, the rain caused a late start and early finish, but we had a great time anyway.

For dinner LT Fromage had picked a tapas bar, Extra Virgin. Neither of us had ever been to a tapas bar before and it was a great first time! We enjoyed caprese salad, and tried the chick pea fries which were so yummy. I picked the Garrotxa “Cati” cheese that was recommend by the waiter, LT Fromage was daring and ordered Fried Duck Gizzards. I kid you not. Ew. He said he liked them, however. We were so full after we shared a baked pasta fromaggi and a bottle of Riesling.

On Sunday we had Ethiopian food for lunch and some of the best hot spiced tea ever. We bought 2 miniature beer steins at the River Market Antique Mall, which is 4 stories and full of the coolest goodies, including the dinner set I grew up using, the one my parents registered for at their wedding almost 30 years ago! Does that qaulify as antique? I'm not sure. It was fun to see, though!

LT Fromage found a perfect card that made me cry and then laugh at a reference to our “terrible” first year of marriage; he bought me a gorgeous diamond and sapphire journey pendant necklace. He was thrilled with the 17-inch tall beer stein I found for him. We braced ourselves for some wicked freezer burn and cut into the top of our wedding cake. It was surprisingly not that terrible (just like our first year of marriage!).

(Aren't you digging the black and white floor tiles and the cow spots on my fridge? I love my kitchen!)

I hope you all had equally wonderful weekends!

Cheese Filled Baked Meatballs

Not much to say today, but just in case you haven’t made up your mind about what to cook, this is what we’re fixing for supper tonight in the Fromage household:

Cheese Filled Baked Meatballs

Ingredients

1 package ground beef (I use 80/20)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg white
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 mozzarella string cheese sticks

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, ½ of the breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, egg, basil, parsley, garlic powder, salt and red pepper flakes. Mix until well blended. Divide the meatball mixture into 10 meatballs (about the size of a golf ball).

Place the remaining bread crumbs into a small bowl and cut the string cheese into 10 equal pieces (about ¾ inch). Using your (clean!) finger, in each meatball create a hold to add a piece of string cheese. Shape the meatballs into rounds, being careful to cover the cheese, roll in the bread crumbs and place the meatballs in individual, miniature muffin tin cups. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Serve over warm pasta with Emeril Lagasse’s Gaaahlic Pasta Sauce (yummy!), French bread and caprese salad. I’ll be making this caprese salad tonight instead of our usual, which is half of the salad with standard olive oil and balsamic, the other half drizzled with pesto.

Today’s Post Brought to you by the Letter S

School Busses

School is back in session! This means I’m back to avoiding school busses. I wish I could express just how stressed those yellow busses make me when they stop. In high school, one of my friends got a ticket for not stopping for the bus. She was in the far oncoming lane and didn’t know she was required to stop way over there, the cop watching the situation was familiar with the law though and she almost lost her license. Since then I’ve had a terrible anxiety surrounding school busses. It’s silly, really, since I know what to do when I see a stopped school bus, but still, I avoid them at all costs.

Squisher

LT Fromage bought me a “Curries of the World” cookbook a few weeks ago, and to go with it, a beautiful mortar and pestle. Sometimes, when I’m reeaallly excited I lose the ability to recall the appropriate words for things, and this gift made me very, very excited! “Mortar and pestle” just wouldn’t come out, but “Squisher” did. I’ve been using my Squisher every few days, experimenting with different recipes for green curry. It’s not quite where I want it just yet, but I’m getting closer with every batch! Yum!

Steak

While I could drown myself in green curry, LT Fromage prefers a little variety in his diet, Top Sirloin has been on sale and he swares that mine is the best steak he’s ever had! When I’m not making curry, I’m cooking LT’s favorite meal:

Steak

LT Fromage prefers Top Sirloin, but I’m sure a similar cut can be substituted.

Pat the steak dry with a paper towel and bring to almost room temperature. While your steak is sitting out, preheat your oven to 325 degrees F and place an oven-safe skillet on a burner over medium-high heat (Cast iron is great, I use my grilling pan)

Take your dry, room temperature steak and rub with olive oil, liberally apply salt and pepper to both sides. Add a small amount of olive oil to your hot skillet and in goes the steak! Sear on both sides, the time it takes will depend on the steak you chose and how hot your skillet got, just remember, you only need to sear it, not cook it!

Once seared, place a few pats of butter on your steak and place the skillet in your preheated oven. Again, cooking times will vary depending on your chosen cut and preferred finished temperature.

This next step is oh so important!

A few minutes prior to being “done” take your steak out of the oven and cover it for about 5 minutes, this step is key to a juicy steak. Don’t worry, your steak will finish cooking while it’s covered.

This steak is so tender and juicy that LT Fromage usually eats it as-is, but if he’s in the mood for a little something extra, I’ll whip up a Gorgonzola sauce.

Gorgonzola Sauce

Dice a shallots, or about 1/8 of a white onion, add to a sauce pan with a tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Once the shallots or onions become tender, add 1 cup of heavy cream, simmer until reduced by half then add ¼ lb of Gorgonzola cheese (yuuummmm), stir until melted and add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

This sauce is yummy over steak (or so I’m told), grilled portabella mushrooms (My steak alternative) and mashed potatoes. I may or may not eat this up with a spoon…. it’s that yummy!
Lastly, we eat a lot of asparagus in the Fromage household (Thus, we often have skinky pee…), my favorite way to prepare it is so easy!

Roasted Asparagus

Wash asparagus and remove lower portion (If you’ve never done this before, it’s really simple – bend them 1-2 inches from the bottom, the yucky part will snap right off). Add the asparagus, in a single layer, to a backing pan, drizzle with olive oil and add salt and freshly ground pepper. Pop in the oven at 425 degress F for about 15 minutes. I usually shake the pan up once or twice during roasting, to make sure everyone is getting coated and cooked equally :-)

Enjoy! If I ever get the green curry down, I’ll share the recipe for that, too!