When you are with your kids, you spend a lot of time joking, singing, and making up words, anything to stop you from completely losing your mind. You find yourself saying and remembering things you really don’t need to remember. For instance, the Frito Bandido Song, which was eventually removed from the air for being so racially insensitive. (Which, in retrospect, it totally is, and makes you wonder how on earth it ever got on TV in the first place. ) I must sing this thing a few times a week in the car on the way to Day Care, the hardware store, or my Cultural Insensitivity Workshops. But it certainly it was one awesome and memorable jingle. Now, all together!
It’s the Holidays, so that means it’s time to make Holiday cookies. My Mom got me this awesome Pizzelle maker a few years ago, and I found this recipe on the web. The other Pizzelle recipe I tried was more like pancake batter, and madea light, crispy pizelle. These were butter-based, rolled into balls before pressing, and made for a more substantial cookie. Either way, they’re quite tasty! Cooper and I made 3 dozen in about 30 minutes! Peopel get very impressed by this stuff, so don’t tell them how easy it was…
Spoon size shredded wheat is nice, especially w/ bananas and a dollop of cream and a sprinkling of sugar, but for real comfort food, I prefer the “full-size” shredded wheat the way I had it when I was a kid: Take out two pieces in a bowl, pour boiling water over to soften (but still leave some crisp parts!), pour off the water, add some butter, a small amount of milk, and sprinkle with sugar. Dee-lish, and perfect “comfort food” if you’re into that. Also helps with digestion, if you catch my drift, though trust me that is not an issue. As Dr. Steve Brule says – Check it out!
One of my favorite foods is Polish Kielbasa. It is especially tasty when split open and grilled, then dropped in a hot dog roll with hot mustard. It is even tastier with some sauteed mushrooms, onions and peppers. Heavens to betsy it is tasty. Perhaps not particularly good for your health, but as long as you don’t eat them, say, every week, you should be OK. If you live in or around Dearborn, Michigan, I woudl highly recommend Dearborn Sausage Kielbasa. Yum!
I was at the Deli counter at grocery store yesterday with my kids, and the kids are jumping up and there’s people rolling their carts into us and I tell the counter guy “Turkey, please.” and he goes “Maple Smoked? Mesquite smoked? Flavored? Brined? Original smokehouse flavor?” and I say “Just whatever you have on hand. And some Swiss cheese.” and he says “Baby Swiss? Aged Swiss? Norweigan Swiss?” And I started to wonder exactly when buying simple consumer products became like taking your SATs.
What’s even worse is when I’m at the lunch counter and someone is ordering a sandwich and they go “A little mayo–no, that’s too much! And grainy mustard–no, a bit more, and lettuce, and no, just a bit of the onion…” to the point where I want to say “Why not just put on a paper hat, get behind the counter and make it yourself?” Honestly, it is a sandwich, a bit of sustinence until you get home…how important can this be?
I’m starting to feel like my idol Karl Pilkington, who insists “two kinds of toffee are enough.” We have all this perceived choice, but to what end? And a cynical person would say that this is to distract us from the real choice we genuinely need, in government, in life, in the future.
Living in cubicle-land, one must get used to the realities of office worker life, such as being moved like homeless nomads from your cube area of some 5 years to go to another, less, shall we say, glamorous cubicles on another floor to make way for other displaced cubicle-ites from closed buildings. But such are the facts of life for people such as we, and you really can’t complain, because hey, what with the free copy machine, and the phone, and the PC, and the fax, and the six figure salary (perhaps I exaggerate…) But I will say there is one very, very excitng thing about my new work area and that, of course, is that the kitchen area now features a fridge with….an ice maker!
I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that the accomplishments of the telephone, the telegraph and and even The Google pale in comparison to the mighty ice maker. Who among us would not prefer a glass of any chilled liquid without the refreshing accompaniment of a frosty, well-formed cube of frozen H20? Who needs the tedious and time consuming process of filling and emptying your own trays, with their cracked, imperfect rhomboids, day after endless day? Not I, fine fellow, not I. So while this may not be the truly awesome icemaker-with-crushed-ice-option-including-optional-filtered-water jet I have at my own private domicle, it is an awesome step up in the corporate world and I for one can sleep a little easier at night knowing that after say Hi to the security gal, scanning my falling-apart hallpass, and vaulting the stairs to my new digs, awaiting me is a frosty condiment like no other.
Some of you who know me may know that I originally hail from a place called “Connecticut.” Others of you familiar with history may be aware that one nickname for Connecticutians is “nutmegger.” An even smaller subset may be aware that that particular name is actually a pejorative expression, based on the fact that settlers in that area used to sell fakenutmegs to unsuspecting cooks. Well, oddly enough for a home cook like myself, I only just began grating my own nutmeg (the real kind thank you, not the fake –once shame on you, twice shame on me) just last month, and I have to say–the taste and aroma of freshly grated nutmeg is very distinctive and an excellent addition to any recipe. But remember–only use 1/2 the amount the recipe calls for of pre-ground nutmeg.
So the next time you’re at Penzey’s Spices or your local grocer, check it out! And don’t forget your microplaner!
It’s getting to be a little nippy out there, in a good way, and once it starts getting cold that’s a great excuse to bring out the “hearty” soups, which taste great after playing outside and coming into a warm, nice-smelling house for dinner. One of my favorites is Sausage Soup. This recipe is stolen from my Mom, who I call up every three months to ask once again for the recipe which I have yet again misplaced. The ingredients are simple and you add or eliminate what you don’t have lying around–I’ve seen it with fresh spinach added, or chick peas, or tortellinis. (However, the sausage is a must). It’s best with a nice loaf of crusty bread with butter and of course a nice glass of red wine. Before you know it, you’ll be glad it’s Fall!
Ingredients: 1-2 lbs sweet Italian sausage, 1 cup chopped onions, 1 clove garlic (crushed), 2 cups celery (chopped), 2 green peppers (diced), 2 lbs zucchini squash (sliced thin), (2) 28 oz. cans crushed or whole tomatoes, 2 cups red wine, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp dried basil.
Cut open the sausage skin and brown sausage in a soup pot or dutch oven. Add onions and celery, saute until soft. Drain any fat. Add green peppers, zucchini, and seasonings. Saute briefly. Add tomatoes, wine, bring to a boil then reduce heat and let simmer with lid on for at least 30 mins and up to two hours. Spoon into soup bowls, sprinkle grated cheese. Enjoy!
I am Brad. This is my Blog-ola. All you kids with your Facebooks and your Twitters...in the old days all we had was a rawhide Blog-ola, and we were lucky to get that!
