Thursday, August 5, 2010

Granada, Granada...

I'm off during the weekend because I'm visiting some of my best friends at Granada, and I think I won't have internet there... see you on Monday!




Pictures from almost a year ago... my hair war orange!!

Design

 Here are a couple of banner sets I was thinking about selling on Etsy for individual shops. I plan to make some specialty shops along with some generic. Any suggestions? (Click to view full-size)

Henry's Birthday, Part Two

To Henry's great credit, he's pretty low maintenance.  Especially when compared to me (I won't tell you about the time I pitched an entire quart of water at him - and then he just calmly toweled himself off and asked me if I was done yet, haha).  

He's generally pretty easy-going about most things (with the exception of work, but we're not going to talk about that either) and he doesn't even complain when I feed him grass and trees (his expression) most nights in an attempt to limit the carbs and ramp up the veggies.  If you meet him at a party, he will introduce himself as "Mr. Liz" and he will be the first to tell you that he lives in the best restaurant in town.

How lucky am I, anyway?

Tragically, we both love to eat and drink too much, which is why we aren't skinny.  One of the things we like the most is dining at home on a Saturday evening as I mentioned in an earlier post:

http://nevertrustaskinnycook1.blogspot.com/2010/07/recipes-not-required.html

So it only made sense to celebrate his birthday yet again on the Saturday night following his actual birth date.  Dinner at the best restaurant in Atlanta (yeah, right!)  Two of his favorite foods were involved:  corn (usually off the menu due to its sugar/carb content) and fresh figs (I'm not a huge fan). 

Here's to you, Henry.   It is one of the greatest pleasures in my life to cook for you!


CORN PUDDING (adapted from Scott Peacock's and Edna Lewis' "The Gift of Southern Cooking")

4 ears of fresh corn, shucked and cut off the cob
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon all-purpose, unbleached flour
2 extra-large eggs
1 cup milk (I used 1% because that's what I had on hand; whole milk would be better)
1 cup half-and-half (the recipe calls for cream, but I couldn't quite go there)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 35-degrees.  Butter a 6-cup baking dish.  Place corn kernels in a bowl and sprinkle with the sugar, salt, pepper and flour.  Stir to combine.  In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, half-and-half (or cream), butter and nutmeg.  Pour over the corn mixture and blend well.

Place into the buttered baking dish and bake for 35 to 40 minutes until just done (it should still be slightly wobbly in the middle).  Serve immediately and prepare for major accolades.

Serves:  6 - 8

Note:  freshly grated nutmeg is crucial to this recipe.  Just do it.


SAUTEED FIGS WITH PROSCUITTO AND ROSEMARY

(A note here:  I'm not giving you a specific recipe, just a basic idea and method.  Tweak it as you see fit).

Fresh figs, halved
Proscuitto, cut into 1/2-inch strips
Fresh rosemary sprigs
Extra-virgin olive oil
Unsalted butter
Fresh goat cheese  for serving (or any cheese of choice; Parmigiano Reggiano would work as well)

Wrap fig halves with strips of proscuitto and secure with rosemary sprigs.

In a saute pan, heat equal amounts of olive oil and butter.  Add figs until cook over medium-high heat until proscuitto crisps.  Remove from pan and drain on paper towels.  Serve with crusty bread and soft, fresh goat cheese.

Note:  I may not be a fig afficionado, but even I will eat these!

Mission Organization: Hubby's Dresser!

If your husband is anything like mine then you can definitely tell whose dresser top is whose in the bedroom. Just for fun, see if you can guess?!



If you guessed the one at the bottom, then you are right!! :) Besides the fact that David probably wouldn't decorate his dresser top with fairies or pictures. And no I hadn't made the bed yet, I've been cleaning sheets all day too! :) I guess that is why God has blessed me with being the organization nut between the two of us. I have been cleaning the house all day getting ready for company and this was just staring me in the face every time I walked in our bedroom to put things away. So while I was at the store getting a few odds and ends I decided to tackle the dresser top.

So I started to work pulling everything off the dresser and organizing it into these two items. The result was wonderful!!


 And the final result....


There is still too much on top for my liking, but since it is his dresser I left his books and magazines on top that he likes to read. At least all the little nick-nack items are organized neatly in the box! I am quite pleased! Hopefully hubby is too when he gets home from work! :)


 
Heather


Strawberry’s star-studded Sports Grill

“Excuse me, why do you think you were invited to this?”

That looks worse in writing than it sounded. Nadia, the woman in back of me on the bus, wasn’t asking me what made me think I was supposed to be on the bus. She wasn't assuming that I wasn’t invited and had somehow sneaked on.

Or, gosh, maybe she was. She did point out the guy on the bus I was supposed to check in with. Is it possible that I’ve finally evolved to a point where it doesn’t even cross my mind that I might be spotted as a fraud who doesn’t belong on the same bus as fabulous people?

At any rate, I thought Nadia was, like me, just trying to figure out who all these people were.

I did notice that it was a handsome crowd, and the guy sitting next to Nadia looked familiar, like he was part of that good-looking set of food and lifestyle writers (mostly lifestyle writers, except for Andrew Knowlton) whom I notice from time to time.

Is there a group word, like herd or gaggle, for impossibly tall, thin and leggy blond models? Bevy, I guess.

Well a bevy of them came onto the bus shortly before it pulled away. They all sat together, possibly in the same seat. And then I knew I was going to one of those parties.

I told Nadia I was a food writer, and so I tended to get invited to restaurant openings, like the opening of Strawberry's Sports Grill that we were all going to, braving the traffic to head to the Queens-Nassau County border.

The restaurant is owned in part by New York Mets legend Darryl Strawberry. It hadn’t occurred to me that it was one of those parties that celebrities go to, but in retrospect it should have.

How about Nadia? What did she do?

“I’m an actor.”

“Oh, where do you act?” I asked, because of course New York has a lot of actors, tens of thousands of them I’d guess.

“TV,” she said.

I cringed as I asked the ridiculous question of whether I was supposed to know her.

It’s a stupid question, to which the only civilized answer is “no,” which she gave, and told me she was next going to be on The Big C, on Showtime with Laura Linney.

I introduced myself to the guy next to her, hoping we hadn't met before and now assuming that I recognized him because I’d seen him acting somewhere. “Mike,” he said, and shook my hand and I went on with my conversation with Nadia.

She also has a baseball show on the web and was hoping to get Darryl Strawberry to be on it.

I wished her luck, and then looked at Mike and said “Oz!”

“You were on Oz. You were that guy who was mad at whatshisname...”

Mike knew exactly who he was and I don’t think he felt like listening to me fumble around with a plot summary. He said succinctly that he was a violently homophobic rapist who was himself raped and killed.

Yeah, that was it.

I said I was sorry when he was killed. I mean, it seemed like the polite thing to say, and I was sorry when he was killed. I had enjoyed watching him.

Well, that was that. I figured Mike and Nadia had actor things to talk about or whatever, so I turned around and, with the entire borough of Queens to get through and my Blackberry before me, I looked them up.

I determined without a lot of trouble that they were Mike Doyle and Nadia Dajani.

Later I even found Nadia’s web show, Caught Off Base. It’s cute.

When we arrived at Strawberry’s, I got off behind one of the statuesque blondes and in front of Mike Doyle. I felt like a gnome.

But I was, in fact, recognized by someone. Oh yes I was.

The paparazzi didn’t care about me, but I was greeted warmly near the back of the bar by restaurateur Michael Sinensky, who had fond memories of something I’d written about his restaurant Vintage Irving.
Michael is friends with Eytan Sugarman, who is Strawberry’s business partner in this restaurant.

He’s also the owner of Southern Hospitality, which I thought was partly owned by Justin Timberlake, but if that was true, it is no longer. He just helped conceptualize the place, according to Sugarman’s publicists.

Because we all know how intrinsically good pop stars are at conceptualizing restaurants...

Parties with paparazzi tend to be tedious and lame, but I knew I was trapped at this one until the bus departed at 11pm, so I had beer and crispy buffalo shrimp and barbecued chicken and watched the crowd go by, not recognizing the sports stars, except for Strawberry himself because I was in Boston during the 1986 World Series, and only being jostled enough to splash my own beer on myself twice.

I certainly didn’t recognize the reality TV stars that were there — apparently a Bachelorette and a Dancing With the Stars winner. There were a number of young men with high-maintenance gel-laden haircuts and beautiful eyes. I wonder who they were. Possibly just locals with good eyes.

The return bus was delayed as it waited for good looking, drunk people in their 20s to pile in, so in the meantime I caught up with Tom Farley and got acquainted with Max Gross, who, quite apart from being a writer for the New York Post (and, being a native New Yorker and lifelong Mets booster, a huge fan of Strawberry’s), is also Arthur Schwartz's godson. Imagine that.

As we waited we talked about restaurants and such with Juliet Izon, who works for Life & Style. Meanwhile some of the other reporters from magazines like People had to get off the bus because Justin Timberlake had arrived and they had to, oh, I don't know, stand near him or something. It’s their job.

But I’d met Mike Doyle, so I was all set.

He shook my hand and wished me a good evening as he left, I’ll have you know.

Oh right, pictures. I didn’t bring a camera, but I got one from StarTraks Photo of Karina Smirnoff from Dancing with the Stars, and some of New York’s Finest.

I asked for pictures of Mike Doyle or Nadia Dajani, but I guess they didn’t rate.


Here's my news story about the restaurant.

stand for yourself -- let it all out ;)


i will, and always, think twice, or perhaps, more... before i begin to write anything here.
this blog, it ain't myself anymore. not at all. u guys keep on manipulating me.
keep reading, and judging me. and being so hypocrite towards me. and yourself as well.

i can't, and will never be good enough to satisfy everyone. so do you. SO,
stop feeling sympathy -- towards all the feeling i've been trying so hard, to hide.
stop making rumors, stop saying 'hye' when all u wanna say was -- bye!

i have my stories. u have yours. we might share the same flow, the same situations.
but, this is me. and that is you. i am who i am. and you are who you are.
do not expect me to face it, the way you did. cuz we are all different.
even when basically, we are exactly the same.

to gfs (girlfriends -- with 'S' -- no specification, it is for everyone, including myself)
- stop being a player. we are in the twenty(ies). be a grown up girl. stop SELLing-FISH.
- stop smiling in front of me when u r a real back-front-right-left-opposite- STABber.
- don't act like u care, when u are wearing that 'fake smile mask' on ur face.
- stop updating ur status -- such as blaming others, talking bout karma, or begging for sympathy, when u r talking bout ur reflection. change yourself first. BAD GIRL.
- don't have to be such an emotional girl -- reading all this thoughts, & advices. i'm telling u the truth. change... gfs, naa, girls. not such a good friend anymore, to be frank.
- and to be honest, i HATE to have a friend with an ATTITUDE like u (u u u u). such a drama queen with a black, bitter, stinky heart.


okay, who's having an emotional breakdown now? haha. *gile kaw qilah.* just. kadang diri terlalu peduli apa kata org, apa perasaan org. sekali sekala perlu peduli kata dan rasa diri sendiri pula. siapa lg mahu peduli kalau bukan diri sendiri?

thank you true friends. very much appreciated, deep down inside. *blessed*

get out fake friends. thank you, for being a part of my life, at least. you are so much welcome to blah blah blahhhh. ;)

Coconut Rice (Nasi Lemak)

Coconut Rice (Nasi Lemak)

For coconut rice
4 stalks lemongrass
80 gr galangal
5 salam leaves
7 kaffir lime leaves
1 tablespoon salt
700 ml coconut milk
5 cups rice

Wash rice with cold water
In a pot, add rice, coconut milk, salt, galangal, salam leaves, kaffir lime leaves and salt
Boil for 20 minutes – until all liquid is absorbed by the rice
Move the rice to a steamer. Steam for 20 minutes
When the rice is dry and fluffy, it is done. If not, steam longer

For condiments
250 gr (1 1/2 cups) peanuts
100 gr (1 1/3 cups) anchovies
100 gr genom crackers
100 gr red and white crackers
200 gr (1 pc) cucumber
200 gr cabbage
250 gr string beans
3 eggs

Deep fry peanuts, anchovies, and both type of crackers
Cut cabbage and string beans into bite sizes and blanch with boiling water for 2 minutes
Make thin omelette and cut julienned
Serve with the coconut rice

For Chili Shrimp Dip
50 gr (1/4) tomato
20 gr (1/4 cup) bird’s eye chili
50 gr red chili
40 gr (10 pcs) shallot
1 clove garlic
Juice of 1/2 lime
5 gr shrimp paste (“belacan”)
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Boil tomato, chili, shallot and garlic for 5 minutes
Toast/pan fry shrimp paste/belacan for 3 minutes
Grind all ingredients using a spice grinder for 1 minute till medium fine
Serve as dip for the vegetables and coconut rice

Coconut Rice (Nasi Lemak)

Coconut Rice (Nasi Lemak)

For coconut rice
4 stalks lemongrass
80 gr galangal
5 salam leaves
7 kaffir lime leaves
1 tablespoon salt
700 ml coconut milk
5 cups rice

Wash rice with cold water
In a pot, add rice, coconut milk, salt, galangal, salam leaves, kaffir lime leaves and salt
Boil for 20 minutes – until all liquid is absorbed by the rice
Move the rice to a steamer. Steam for 20 minutes
When the rice is dry and fluffy, it is done. If not, steam longer

For condiments
250 gr (1 1/2 cups) peanuts
100 gr (1 1/3 cups) anchovies
100 gr genom crackers
100 gr red and white crackers
200 gr (1 pc) cucumber
200 gr cabbage
250 gr string beans
3 eggs

Deep fry peanuts, anchovies, and both type of crackers
Cut cabbage and string beans into bite sizes and blanch with boiling water for 2 minutes
Make thin omelette and cut julienned
Serve with the coconut rice

For Chili Shrimp Dip
50 gr (1/4) tomato
20 gr (1/4 cup) bird’s eye chili
50 gr red chili
40 gr (10 pcs) shallot
1 clove garlic
Juice of 1/2 lime
5 gr shrimp paste (“belacan”)
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Boil tomato, chili, shallot and garlic for 5 minutes
Toast/pan fry shrimp paste/belacan for 3 minutes
Grind all ingredients using a spice grinder for 1 minute till medium fine
Serve as dip for the vegetables and coconut rice

Open House - Yard and Entry

Kimberly over @ Raising Olives and three other moms are doing a 4 week Open House asking everyone to post pictures of their house and link up! This weeks is the yard and entry. So I went out this morning and took some pictures, dogs following closely behind, on top of, and beside me.

 First off is the view from the front of our driveway. That is the family farm diagonally across from us.


And this is our house. It is a 70 year old farm house. I had the gate shut because of the 2 "little" mommy shadows there watching. I had daises blooming around the light post earlier this year, but I guess they decided to be done for now.


Here is a closer look. When we first moved in, the only plants were the three yellow bushes and the large green bush on the right. There was also white gravel in all the beds, yuck! So last year I spent most of the summer digging out the white gravel and putting brown mulch in all the beds. I also added the two flower pots and the hostas. 


The front porch now; the swing directly in front was a Christmas gift from David's parents and the rocking chair was from my parents. I just need one more rocking chair to for the spot where I am standing to take the picture. The front door goes directly into our living room, which will be another post.



And now the side yard and side entrance, which we actually use as our main entrance. The door you can see now actually goes down to the basement, and there is also a door from our kitchen to the basement as well. Also, my blog mascot, Caspian decided to make an appearance in this picture.

So here is our backdoor, or main entrance. You will notice part of the paint on the siding missing below the window. You can thank our youngest dog, Cody for that. He decides that when he wants inside to be fed he should jump on the side of the house to get our attention. Since we plan on re-siding the house sometime soon, we haven't repainted it. Also the plant hiding the garden flag is a giant mum that I planted from last year and decided to take over half of the bed when it came up this year!

This is a side view of the back porch. Denali, our other Golden decided to make an appearance for this picture. She was being camera shy and wasn't outside most of the time I was taking pictures.

Our back yard; we have 2 acres so our land basically goes to behind that second shed you can see out behind the garage. Here is another view from the other side of the garage.

And this is our back porch. I was able to get patio furniture this year, which was really exciting. David also got a new grill, which you can see on the left. We have had quite a few grill outs this summer with parents and family.


A picture of the side yard on the other side of the patio. Cody also decided this would be a good time to start playing with Denali right at the bottom of the picture!


Since we use the back door as our main entrance, I decided to use the mudroom/dog feeding area as our entry-way pictures. As you can see, the food bucket and dog bowls are out! The door in the picture goes to 1 of 2 bathrooms and laundry.

And lastly, from the bathroom door way, the backdoor. There is also a nice coat rack, as you can see being used, and I also have a shoe rack in there as well. I hope to someday have a nice entry-way bench and be able to hide the dog stuff a little bit better.

So there you have it for this week! Be sure to check back next Thursday for more pictures! Also, be sure to head over to Kimberly @ Raising Olives and link up your house pictures!


Heather