Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

I have not lived until tonight. Tonight is when I made Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcakes. Seriously. They were that good. I say "were" because by the time you read this, they will probably be looong gone. Here's what they used to look like:

So good, right?

Here's how I made them:

First, call your sister on the phone and ask how she would incorporate cream cheese into the cake part of a cupcake if she were to make this particular flavor. *Only do this step if you have the privilege of having a Cake Boss for a sister, which I do.

1 package French Vanilla cake mix
1/2 brick cream cheese
4 eggs
1 1/4 c milk

Combine cake mix, milk, and eggs with room temperature cream cheese. You want little bits of the cream cheese to come through as you eat but not huge chunks. Chunks are gross. Fill 24 muffin cups and bake at 350* for about 20 minutes (or when a toothpick comes out clean). Cool the cupcakes completely.

Meanwhile.....

Reserve 24 blueberries for decoration. Smush one pint of blueberries with 1/3 c sugar. Bring this blueberry mix to a boil and cook for two minutes, stirring constantly. Put in a bowl and cool completely in the fridge.

When blueberries are cold, mix around 1/3 of the mixture with one tub of cream cheese frosting or you could use your own cream cheese icing recipe since the store version turned a bit runny after adding the blueberries. Use the rest of the blueberry mixture for filling in the cupcakes. Use a piping bag with a larger tip to fill cupcakes. Frost with frosting and put a fresh blueberry on top. Now have a good time at the party in your mouth!

Here's what else I've been doing in the six years since I blogged last. Have you ever been to Silverwood? You should go. It's way too fun. Silverwood is down in Idaho kind of in between Sandpoint and Coeur d'Alene. It's a huge amusement park on one side and a water park on the other side. We went down there and rode rides and swam till we passed out every day. And we went to IHOP for breakfast one morning....which was clearly the highlight. Just kidding. But IHOP is always a good time. The highlight was clearly the Aftershock roller coaster.

Let me explain it to you. It's one of those roller coasters that the business part is above you and your legs are dangling. This one pulls you up so you're looking down at the ground then shoots you down and around the loop-de-loops and you get pulled up the other tower backwards so you're now looking up at the sky. Then it shoots you down and you do the whole thing again backwards.

If you look real close you can see my legs dangling, 3rd seat from the top. I dragged three of my nieces with me but to be honest, I was only talking tough and was surprised they agreed. I was kind of hoping they would back down so I could too and still sound brave. While we were waiting in line, Shalyce looked at me and said, "I'm out" and left. Ten minutes later she joined us back in line.

Dang.

Next thing I looked over at Taylor and she was completely white as a ghost.
T - "Amanda, I'm gonna barf. I can't do this."
Me - "Okay Tay. We can leave if you aren't feeling well." (you know, just being the supportive auntie that I am....)
T - "Well, I think maybe I'll be okay. Let's do this."

Double dang.

Torri on the other hand was waiting for the stinking ride to start! I think she was the only one who really wanted to go on it. Did I mention she's only 11?

Moral of the story is, we did eventually get on (after being at the front of the line for about three rounds), and we LOVED it! It was seriously the funnest ride ever. I talked Katie into going on it too and after a minor (MAJOR) melt-down, she decided she loved it too! We'll definitely be back to Silverwood. You should go too!

So in other news, I'm gonna be in a play! Taber Players is doing Nunsense and I'm Sister Robert Anne. She's the sassy, tough-guy, trouble maker nun from Brooklyn. If you don't know about Nunsense, go check it out on Youtube. The Late Great Rue McClanahan is the Reverend Mother on the Youtube version. It's pretty funny and I'm super excited! I'll post more about that later as we've just started and I don't have much to comment about it yet....

To everything, (turn turn turn) There is a season (turn turn turn)

We are coming on a lot of big changes around here. The song by the Byrds referenced in the title has been running through my head on repeat for the last couple months. Sometime in February it hit me that Emily is going to be in Grade 1 next year. What? When did that happen? I have been waiting for this to happen for what seemed like EVER and while I was waiting, it happened. I thought her going to school full time would bring on some elaborate celebration or a grand freedom march of some sort. Surprisingly it brought sadness. What?!?! Who AM I?

With this grand revelation brought a sense of panic. Not the sense of panic that causes someone to go out and buy 30 pairs of new shoes (this time), but the sense of panic that causes someone to take stock of their life and regroup. A couple months ago, I went with RJ up to Edmonton for business. We went out to dinner one night with a friend of his who is "wiser" than us. That's a polite way of saying he's old enough to be my dad (no offence dad, you're young). Anywho, while we were talking with our friend, he was telling us about his wife who went back to school at the age of 40 to become a doctor. She graduated when she was 48. I thought, I'm only 30. I have all the time in to world to go to school! So the new seed was planted.

This brings me to my grand revelation. I was absolutely intrigued by his explanation of her schooling and now her job. It was hard for her, I mean, who isn't medical school hard for. Come on. But it was totally worth it. *Enter Relief Society-like quote here* -no really. I can't remember the quote about how you have to work hard for anything worth having.....

Anyway.....

I think I found my "thing". Don't get me wrong, I'm still gonna cook with Tyler and write about it....like I have been meaning to do....but I'm going to add to my life experience.

I went to the college and did a 6 hour placement test. That was hands down the hardest test I've ever taken. Partly because it meant dusting off the back caverns of my brain to find the things they were asking for. Ryan, being the supportive husband he is, told me that if I did crappy on the test, I would never hear the end of it from him. It would be mocking of the grandest fashion. I did bring this upon myself because I remind him on every occasion I can that I'm the smartest person he knows and I skipped a grade. His wonderfully supportive comments just added to my nerves. I was more scared to find the marks out than I was to take the actual test! When I went in to get the results, the student adviser told me that typically you lose a grade level for every 3 years or so that you've been out of school. That's been 13 years, ladies and gentlemen, so that would put me at about a 7th grade level (because as I found out today, I put a stop to my math career in grade 11. Yes I am ashamed. No really, I wish I would have put way more effort into school the first time. I thought for sure I did math in grade 12). Turns out I actually still have bragging rights. I am at a Math 20 level (impressive because I only took Math 23 thirteen years ago and did HORRIBLY at it) and I got 83% on my English. Who knew? ME, that's who! I knew! Thanks for the extra boost to do well, Ryan. Love you! Actually I didn't know and I was really impressed with my results. And humbled.

They also did a career placement test to see what would be the best fit for me. They thought I should be a nurse. Well maybe I will! I missed the deadline to apply for the Nursing program this year. That's okay because thanks to my extremely full social calendar I enjoyed in High School, I need a full year of upgrading anyway. Regrets, I have a few, but then again, too few to mention... *two points if you can name that song*

I think nursing will be amazing. I would have NEVER been able to take this seriously until this season of my life. It wasn't even anything I ever considered doing. That's where the song reference comes into play. I love when ideas turn into reality. It's gonna be really hard. *see Relief Society quote from before* I just look at my pal Beckie and she's my hero. She's in nursing but she makes it work and still is a great mom who carpools her kids around to their baseball games. She doesn't glamorize it by saying it's a walk in the park. It's hard. But Becks is still the wind beneath my wings. And my inspiration. Don't think I'm going into this all sparkly-eyed. I realize the work involved and I'm excited for the challenge. My brain needs stimuli. Stimulus? See, it needs a workout.

The moral of the story is, I'm gonna be a Nurse! That's gonna be my thing! YAY ME! This is going to be a big sacrifice for our family for a few years, but I think the end result will be worth it. Ryan is seriously so supportive of my wanting to go to school. He's amazing. There's no way I could even think about doing this without him. High five RJ, you're the best. Enough of that. Wish me luck everyone.....

Red Velvety Goodness

Okay. So technically this isn't a Tyler Recipe but since he's from the south, I'm almost certain he's made it before. I'm gonna email him and tell him he needs to publish his version in his next cookbook. 90% sure he'll listen to his favorite fan.

RED VELVET CAKE
1/2 c shortening
1 1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 c sifted cake flour
1 c buttermilk
3 tbsp red food coloring
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vinegar

Preheat oven to 350*F. Lightly grease and flour two 9" round cake pans. Set aside.

In large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar together well. Beat in eggs until light and fluffy. Add salt. Beat in cake flour alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Make a paste of red food coloring and cocoa. Add to batter and beat well. Mix vanilla, baking soda, and vinegar in a small bowl. Sprinkle over batter, then stir in. Pour into pans and bake for 30-35 min until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 min, then put on racks. Frost. Eat.


I'm not giving you the frosting recipe I used because I hated it. And it didn't turn out. I think I jinxed it though because I was skeptical when I was reading the ingredients. Another reason I don't think it really worked out is because I love to cook by hand. I like to use a whisk and my own man-power over an electric mixer. When you're whipping things into fluffy goodness this isn't always the best policy to use. I still prefer hand mixing.

This is the first time I made this cake and I wasn't too disappointed with the turn out. I know what I'll do differently next time but all in all it wasn't bad. The hint o'chocolate flavor was what I loved about it. I'm not a fan of chocolate cake ( I know, surprise, surprise) but this was a happy medium. I can have my cake and eat it too. Thanks. I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your waitress.

I'm going to keep making and tweaking this recipe until it's reached perfection. I already have some ideas about what to do to help on the dryness factor. It was one of those cakes you need a big glass of milk with. Anyway. I'll keep you posted on how this goes.

Moving on.

RJ's Amazing Birthday Dinner was neither amazing nor dinner for that matter. K's soccer coach called and said they had team pictures at 5:50 and then their game was to be at 6:30. That extra 40 minutes was the time I allotted for actually eating the dinner. RJ tried to talk (guilt) K into skipping soccer all together but she would have none of it. We had 5 minutes to pack the Bacon Wrapped Roast and Velvety Mashed Potatoes up and pop them in the fridge and get to town. We ended up getting an extra special cheeseburger meal from the one and only Raunchy Ronnie's. This is one of those times when it's the thought that really does count. Yay for leftovers tonight though!

That brings me to a couple of pictures found on the lost but now found camera. I have a good excuse for not cooking/blogging so much. Soccer. Soccer is way funner this year because the kids are actuallly playing the game of soccer. I really do enjoy going (most days). But that's where the excuse part comes in. I'm going most days....4 days a week this year. On one of the sacred days off I made this:


Mmmmmmm.

The Ultimate Spaghetti Carbonara
pg 160 of Tyler's Ultimate

When we first got married, RJ introduced me to the joy of carbonara sauce. When he lived in England for two years he learned a different method of cooking this dish that we have since grown out of. He's not a real pasta guy so it's always an extra challenge to make pasta dishes he'll eat. I think (?) he liked this. When I'm not feeling super great the comfort food I reach for is creamy pastas. Carbonara is the granddaddy of all comfy pastas in my book. Something about the onion-mushroom-bacony goodness combination gets me every time. I agree that this is the Ultimate Carbonara. Yummmmmmy! The kids liked it too. He uses an egg in his sauce that was unexpected and yummy. Ty describes it as being a silky egg sauce and I concur. I think I might even make some more tonight because now its on my mind.

You know what else is good? Ricardo's. The owner/chef makes all his pasta fresh by hand every day. He also makes all the sauces and the bread...everything. It just screams home-cooked. This is my new favorite lunch spot with RJ. The only downfall is he likes to sit down and visit with you while you're eating. Now if you know me, you know I'm not a fan of space-invaders. The chef likes to plop down real close. Come on man, I'm just trying to eat my food! I took Em there for her birthday because she's a pasta freak like me and he sat down next to her to talk about stuff. She would have none of it. Why do kids get to be honest and just ignore people when they don't feel like talking to them? I wish.

Speaking of comfort food, here's what else I made.


Fried Chicken with Buttermilk Cherry Tomatoes
pg 128 of Stirring the Pot

Nothing beats fried chicken. PS I thought Tyler's version was better than the Colonels. KFC isn't my fave anyway so that wasn't that big of a deal but still. I left out the Buttermilk Cherry Tomatoes part because I didn't have any buttermilk left after marinating the chicken in it. It was still super good without. This chicken had a bit of hot sauce in the marinade too which was a nice little kick. I love dished with surprise ingredients that you have to think real hard about. It's like your mouth says, "I think that's hot sauce but.....I'm not sure.....". That's my kind of cooking. Good food makes people happy. I was watching Tyler's cooking show and he is a genius. The key to good cooking is to know what ingredients can compliment each other. And you have to experiment. He seriously just was throwing things together that I wouldn't have thought to put together but that actually made a lot of sense that they were together. I like experimenting with my steak marinades. I don't think I've ever made the same marinade twice. There have been some real hits and some real stinkers. The moral of this story is: Play with your food people!

Tyler On The Go!

Yay! Today is RJ's birthday. Happy birthday sweetness!


Lookin' good! So I was looking on Tyler Florence dot com for inspiration on an amazing birthday menu and found out that Ty has a new app for my ipod. Yes he did make it specifically for me. I did get a little bit side-tracked in my recipe hunt for the big birthday dinner but that is serendipity if I ever saw it! Go HERE to get your own Tyler Florence app! You know you want to! Yay for exclamation marks!!! I know I haven't been on here for like ten months but I can't find my camera with all my cooking pictures on it. I'm looking real hard today because I have an amazing dinner planned for RJ and I need to put it on here so you can all be super jealous you didn't come over for dinner. That's all I'm gonna say about that...until later. I PROMISE I'll be back in the next 24 hours to post pics and deets about the feast.....

Winner winner chicken dinner

I decided to cook again. My family has been looking a bit skeletal so I thought it was probably time....

So here's what I cooked:

Perfect Roast Chicken
page 67 of Stirring The Pot

I know. I cooked it on its belly when it should have been on its back. It was amazing though. The smell....oh my gosh, the smell was AMAZING! This is easily hands down the most flavorful chicken I have ever cooked. I put a paste made of tons of garlic, butter, parsley, thyme, rosemary, etc....I left out the lemon though because I'm still a bit scarred from the Provencal Chicken. And I didn't put mushrooms in with the chicken while I roasted. It was still brilliant.

If you haven't gone out to buy Tyler's cookbooks (shame on you!) he does a write up before most of his recipes. The write up on this recipe was really funny because of my inspiration to learn cooking (Julie & Julia). Here's what he said:

"At Tyler Florence: Mill Valley, my kitchen retail shop, I have a constant loop of vintage shows of Julia Child's The French Chef playing on the wall. In my favorite episode, she roasts a chicken. Before she passed, Julia once mentioned that she was a fan of mine and I honestly couldn't have been more flattered. But she also said she didn't agree with my method of roasting a chicken, and I'll tell you, I've made it my mission to right that wrong. So I thought this would be the ideal opportunity to walk you through, step-by-step, roasting the perfect chicken. I think you will find this helpful and that it would make Julia proud."

I think she would be proud of this one Tyler. Scrap the Provencal Chicken and just stick with this one. Just my little tidbit of advice. Love you Tyler!

I wish I could go to Tyler's Mill Valley kitchen retail shop. But I probably won't because I don't think a trip to Cali is in my near future. Partly because I'm so busy....I'll get to that in a bit....but the other reason is because I'm going HERE instead:

My friend Heather opened this store and it has the CUTEST stuff ever. I can't wait to go and shop my face off. For realsies. See you there!

Here's why else I'm too busy to go to Cali:

That's right. My poor puppy broke his leg. Duke was going with Ryan to be a farm dog and he just wasn't big enough yet to understand not to jump out of the truck. The truck was barely moving but it's pretty high up for a 10 week old puppy to jump out of. Dukers got a cute cast that is now off...partly because he is better and partly because he grew out of/chewed it in the 10 days it was on. He was already a big snuggly baby and this has made him worse. He tries to climb up on your lap to get a good belly rub which is hilarious because he's just so big! I'm pretty sure he won't ever jump out of the back of a truck again.

We've also been really busy shipping potatoes from the storage bin to the Old Dutch Potato Chip plant. I had a good picture from doing that but this post is getting too long so maybe next time I'll post it. Plus I'm tired so maybe I'll take a nap....

Tip of the day

Oh my gosh you guys.

I just learned the coolest thing.

Ever.

I learned that if you have been chopping a lot of garlic (which I have been because Tyler loves his garlic!) you CAN get rid of the smell! All you have to do is rub your hands on your stainless steel sink and you don't smell anymore! It's true. I've done it and it really works.

Now go chop some garlic...

Master of the Universe

We got another puppy. I know. I'm an idiot. But this new puppy is SO cute! And Luke finally has another boy around. In my defense, this puppy was the puppy we planned for. Ruby was the spur-of-the-moment-she's-so-cute-can-I-please-please-have-her addition. This new puppy wasn't ready until just now.

The problem with Duke (Luke named him Duke because they're best buddies) is he can't handle much alone time, being one from a litter of eight puppies. We're trying to crate train him and it isn't going well. He got two baths last night because he pooped and played in it. Gross. But he's still cute! He's a silver lab and he has blue eyes. Duke's gonna get big too (he's 1/4 Great Dane) so as soon as we can get a dog run built outside, he will forever be banished to the outdoors as a true farm dog. He mostly just hangs out (poops on) the back deck and sleeps in the garage at night. I should add that Ruby is his chew toy. When they first met, he just grabbed her by the back leg and started dragging her around. Super funny.

I promise this is the last animal I'm getting. Ryan is not happy about all the pets we've acquired. While we were talking about Duke's pick up he says sarcastically, "Why don't we get more pets! Let's just stop at the pet store and get 10 fish while we're at it!"

So I said, "Did you hear that kids? Dad said you could get fish!"

Kids: "YAY!"

That's what you get Ryan. Ha ha!

Here's Duke:

I realize the main blue in his eyes is from the reflection, but he really does have light blue eyes.

Okay. Enough about our zoo.

Dinner was gross.

Veal Piccata with Lemon, Capers, and Parsley-butter Sauce
on page 93 of Stirring The Pot
I've decided I don't like meals with a huge lemon flavor. It's just overwhelming for me. It's not me, it's you, lemon. The kids didn't like it, partly because they asked what veal was and I (stupidly) told them it was a baby cow. (WHAT?!? How did it get killed?) Great. Now my kids are vegan. Not that there's anything wrong with it.

This wasn't too difficult to make but it was messy. Anytime you dredge anything in flour then egg it won't be pretty. I felt the sauce for the noodles needed more depth to it. It just tasted like lemon juice with garlic mixed in. If I make this again, I will probably make a garlic cream sauce and add a hint of lemon to the veal itself.


I've had a hard time cooking lately. I thought when my kids were school aged I would have all the time in the world to just hang around and be a mom. False advertising! I've steadily gotten busier and busier. Who knew?

I have however found time to read everyone else's blogs. Ryan's cousin Rebecca tagged me in a MASTER list that I have been thinking about ever since. I finally have it down.

Here's the deal.

(1) List 6 things you are a master in.

(2) Pass it on to 6 bloggers you think are masters at friendship & make blogging so awesome.

Here's what I came up with:

1) MASTER OF USELESS INFORMATION. I got it from my Dad. Thanks Dad! I could probably win Jeopardy. Blindfolded. This makes Ryan CRAZY. One thing we play is "Name That Celebrity" on movies. I know everyone's name, past movies, age, height, weight....okay, maybe not all that but I do know who they are and what they've been in.

2) MASTER OF SARCASM. If we've ever had a conversation you've probably been subjected to it. Sorry. I can't help it.

3) MASTER OF PLOTTING. Another fun game RJ and I play while we watch the teev (yeah I just shortened that) is we try and guess the ending as soon as possible after starting either the TV show or movie. Well he tries, I win. Not just the ending either, we have to guess how they get to that possible ending. Good times.

4) MASTER CHEF. Obviously.

5) MASTER OF PERSONAL SPACE. I have an abnormally large bubble of personal space. I don't like "Space Invaders" at all. Ewwww. While in any kind of line, be it the bank, grocery store, movie theaters: just back it up people, back it up. I like space.

6) MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE. Well, maybe not the Universe, per say. I am a master of current events. I love the news. I love knowing what's going on. I should have been a reporter because I also love being the one to break the news. And I love discussing current events. I should be on some kind of panel to discuss my thoughts on TV.

So here's my 6 tags. Don't let me down people.

1) Lachele
2) Julie
3) Mandy
4) Tiffany
5) Jackie
6) Colton (even though I can't read your blog....)

Isn't my blog supposed to be about my cooking? Ha! I'm gonna go cook something now....

Let's just make it official, okay?

Raise your hand if you automatically become a restaurant critic every time you walk through any eating establishment. I do it each and every time so I decided to tell you all how I feel about the places I eat. I've decided, starting now, I'm officially a Food Critic. Just ask the guy who was waiting for his wife to come out of the bathroom. I gave him the CliffsNotes version of my critique while I was waiting for Ryan. PS this was really scandalous for RJ for some reason. Maybe because I don't carry a badge? I don't know. It was funny for me though.

Last night, Ryan had some tickets for the annual Steak and Lobsterfest. What he didn't do was confirm the day on his tickets. We actually have tickets for the annual Steak and Lobsterfest for tonight. We already had the babysitter lined up so we decided to try the new restaurant in town that we've been meaning to go to. The restaurant is in a hotel that was recently renovated. We went to a wedding at this hotel in December. The bride was gorgeous, the speeches were funny, the groom was charming, the parents were teary-eyed, but the food. You guys. The food! I have never, nor will I ever again eat food like this. It was a classic menu of prime rib, roasted baby potatoes, salad, vegetables, pasta salad. I know. Doesn't sound very gourmet. But it was. The prime rib was juicy and full of flavor and the potatoes were perfect. It wasn't the menu in itself that was amazing, I think it was the preparation. Amazing.

Needless to say, we have been anxious to try the new restaurant. It's called Firestone and you should go. Here's why:

1) The Atmosphere was really comfortable but still upbeat. The music wasn't too loud which is important. Ryan gets yelled at enough at home, he should be able to have a break while we're dining out. The biggest annoyance for both of us was the seating situation. There were booths and tables all over but the main walkway had booths on one side and tables on the other. Not regular tables, romantic tables for two with side by side seating. Umm....we've been married for 10 years, we don't need to brush thighs while we eat. While the walkway did make for good people watching, it made us feel like we were on front row seating for the booth beside us. Seriously. No thank you. Where do you look when you're sitting and waiting for your food? Straight ahead. There were way too many awkward eye locks with the people beside (in front of?) us.
Overall I gave the Atmosphere 4 out of 5.

2) The Service was okay. When I sit down to eat I like to immediately have a drink order. If I ran a restaurant, I would have the hostess carry a pitcher of water with her as she seats people. Even if you want to order a Diet Coke, there would be water available at all times. I'm serious, it would make all the difference. One night we were out eating and the waiter/waitress didn't even come to take our drink order for 1/2 hour after we were seated! We left. Jerks. *Side note: that restaurant has since gone out of business. Hmmm.* This waitress last night was pretty good about the initial drink order, but we had empty water glasses way too often. The appetizers did come within a couple minutes after ordering though which was really surprising. The main course felt like it took longer than usual but I think I'm going to blame that on the fact that we were sitting there on our front row seats, drooling at the table beside us.
Overall I gave the Service 4 out of 5.

3) The Bathrooms were very impressive. I firmly believe that you can judge the quality of a restaurant by the bathroom. While on a weekend getaway with the kids one year we went out to eat lunch. Before we left I took the kids to visit the bathroom and I was seriously horrified. I swear when I was looking around I could hear the classic "RHEEE RHEEE RHEEE". There was, *ahem*, brown stuff EVERYWHERE!!! On the floor, on every part of the toilet, the walls. I'm not even exaggerating at all! I'm curious about what the guilty party looked like after creating that kind of catastrophe. Did they even survive? I grabbed my crying, scarred children and told Ryan that we needed to go get some kind of shots from the hospital. Or our stomachs pumped. We told the management and they didn't seem too bothered by it. I wish I knew the name of that restaurant but I must have suppressed that bad memory. Seriously. Bathroom cleanliness is a must. This bathroom was super cute (and clean) with individual chandeliers in each stall, a couch and TV (I thought they only did that for mens rooms), and while I was washing my hands, an employee came in to straiten up. Well done, Firestone. Well done.
I gave Bathrooms 5 out of 5.

4) The Food and Menu was amazing. This is our new favorite restaurant because it has everything and the prices were really reasonable and huge portions (thank you guy waiting by bathroom for that little insight). On the menu there was a steak section, pizzas, sushi, chicken, unbelievable salads, unique starters....seriously everything. It had tons of items but it wasn't overwhelming because there were so many sub categories. I have a hard time deciding what to eat so a menu that is ADD-friendly is important. Another thing I like to see is a knowledgeable server. If I'm having a hard time deciding, I like to ask my server what they love. If they know the menu they can give honest suggestions. I did ask and she did know what she was talking about.
To start, we ordered Mini-Yorkies which were yorkshire puddings filled with shaved roast beef served with a horseradish dip. The horseradish was kind of sweet and it added a good flavor to the roast beef, not the usually spice of plain horseradish. Super yummy. The Lobster Spinach Dip was surprisingly fresh. Usually spinach dips in restaurants are overloaded with cream cheese but in this one the cream cheese was a supporting character, as it should be. I ordered Avocado Rolls and they were HUGE. I was so full after eating them. They were definitely up there with the best sushi ever. I'm going to learn how to make good sushi. So many people are mis-informed that sushi is only raw fish. It's so much more people! Ryan got the Half Roast Chicken and he said it was good. It wasn't too memorable, but come on. How exciting can you make roast chicken? It's either good or it isn't in my opinion. The plates were really cute too. I like cool plates. For dessert we got Them Donuts. They were cute little home-made donut holes that were dusted with powdered sugar and came with three dipping sauces: chocolate, raspberries, and a butter rum cream. Brilliant. I was too full to finish these (yay for me, Ry doesn't like dessert so I didn't even have to share!) so I'm pretty excited to dig in to the leftovers. The donuts were really light but crispy. The chocolate was, well chocolate. Chocolate gets a good rating by default. The raspberry sauce tasted like it was just crushed raspberries. There wasn't any sugar or anything. I love fresh tasting food. The cream wasn't my fav, but it was okay. One thing I have to mention from the menu. I think when you only have seven items on your dessert menu, you should have all kinds of options. On this menu, they had two items that had a chocolate/raspberry theme. This brought on quite the discussion between me and RJ. One item was a chocolate cake with a raspberry mousse and chocolate sauce. The other was kind of a chocolate fudge with raspberry sauce. Yes they are totally different desserts but the fact that they are both chocolate with raspberry isn't okay with me. It's the same flavor combination repeated. I don't care how different the dish is, mix up the flavor flav. Okay Ryan? That's the way it is. (love you!)
I gave the Food and Menu 5 out of 5.

All in all Firestone restaurant got a 4 out of 5. We will definitely be going back there. And soon...

Fish and Chips.

Let's face it. If you deep fry something, it will taste good. I've only deep fried twice in my life and I'm not really a fan. Mostly because I HATE smelling like food when I go somewhere and if you deep fry, you smell like McDonald's for a minimum of 24 hours. Gross. In making my way through Tyler's books, I must not have really noticed the deep fry chapter. But it still tastes good even if you smell like a donut after. I'll just stick to the eating part of deep frying.

Side note: I'm glad we (as in Canadians) say "deep fry" instead of the American "deep fat fry". It tricks me into thinking it's more healthy. Maybe that's not a good thing? Still. Maybe we leave it out because we know it's unhealthy and are just ignoring the fact? I don't know. I'll ask my American mother. She's smart about those kinds of things.

Anywho. Back to my deep fat frying. I decided to make Fish and Chips.


Fish and Chips with Homemade Tartar
page 130 of Stirring The Pot
My kids LOVE Spongebob Squarepants. Let's be honest, I do too. It's just pure silliness. When they heard we were having Tartar Sauce they all laughed their heads off. If you don't watch Spongebob, (which I know you do so don't lie) they all say "tartar sauce" as a sort of cuss word. Stub your toe? Tartar sauce. Crash your car? Tartar sauce. Blow up the whole town of Bikini Bottom? Tartar sauce. Thanks Saturday Morning Cartoons! You helped my kids try something new!

My brother-in-law and his kids were over when we ate this and they really enjoyed it as well. Taylor doesn't really like fish but she ate it and liked it! The fries were the star of the show though. Oh sorry, the "chips" were the star of the show. Tyler said to bake the potatoes whole and then cut them into wedges and deep fry them. Basically they're already cooked through and you're just crisping them up on the outside. They were delicious.

Ryan lived in England for two years so he's obviously an expert on English dining. Even he said it was comparable.

Speaking of Taylor, she got a new haircut recently. With thick bangs. Emily thinks Taylor is just the coolest thing ever so it wasn't a big surprise when she decided shortly after Taylor unveiled her new 'do that she needed one too. Actually it was a big surprise because Emily is a princess through and through. One day she informed me that "princesses don't have short hair ever." She's had long hair ever since she started growing hair (so since age 2....) and this is a really big deal for her.

BEFORE

AFTER

Isn't she the cutest? RJ didn't think so. He was offended because she looks like she's 16 now. Which doesn't really help matters because she already thinks she's 16. Parenting is fun!

You know what else is fun? The OLYMPICS! I must admit, I'm not usually a fan of the Olympics. Does that make me a bad Canadian? I had a really hard time getting excited for this because I knew it was going to cut into my regular TV schedule. Since they started though, I've definitely changed my tune. I love the Olympics now! Watching that one guy win the first gold on Canadian soil was super exciting. And watching that girl win another gold in that other sport was amazing too. I'm super into the Olympics.

Just in case you were wondering, here's how Ruby is doing:

Isn't she just so super cute? She is totally cute. Funny story though. Last week we had a dinner party and I made Prime Rib Roast (which was super yummy and not from Tyler's cookbook, that's why I didn't blog about it). There were some rib bones left over so we decided to give one to Ruby. Bad decision. She went completely nuts. We tried to take the bone away and she was growling and snapping at everyone. I thought, no big deal, she'll let me take it away. Nope. She lunged at me too. She ran away to a back corner and me and our friend Julie went back to deal with her. Julie reached for the bone and Ruby seriously jumped at her face! What a bad baby! Julie's husband Randy came over to see what was going on. Let me just tell you about Randy. He is a large man. He's super tall and if I was Ruby I would have been seriously re-thinking my tantrum. Randy just walked up to her and held her down and showed her who was boss. The thing is, Randy is a gentle giant. He just talked her down as calmly as could be. Thanks for teaching me how to control my savage beast Randy! PS, you should work for the police as a negotiator. You could totally talk criminals down. Needless to say, Ruby won't be getting any bones for a while. The thing is, she is the sweetest puppy ever and I have NEVER seen this side of her! Let's just hope we don't see that side ever again. Or else Ruby. Or else....

Sunday dinner

I've said before that Ryan's a "Meat and Potatoes Guy" through and through. I really don't understand why, but he would take a plate of roast beef over a big bowl of ice cream any day. I know. He's nuts. But he is what he is so we have a lot of meat on our menu. On Sunday I tried Tyler's version of roast beef dinner. I'm starting to think the novelty has worn off for the kids because none of them were too excited.

Direct quote from Luke, "You know I don't like meat, Mom!" Except for burgers, steak, any kind of chicken, pork chops, etc, etc, etc.

The Ultimate Sunday Dinner of Meat and Potatoes
page 104 of Tyler's Ultimate
You know what I love about getting dinner ready before church? Going to church smelling like meat. Yes I'm being sarcastic here. That is probably #1 on my "list". I HATE going somewhere smelling like food. It's gross. I'll go into my "list" another day. Not today though, sorry. Here's what dinner looked like:

Yes I am well aware this looks gross. Maybe that's why the kids didn't eat it. It wasn't that bad but the gravy was supposed to be runny and didn't make for a pretty picture.

Ryan called today and said, "What's for lunch? I'll be there in 10 minutes."

Boo.

Being the Domestic Engineer that I am, I did what any trained professional in my field would do. I whipped something up. In doing so I had my first injury.

Believe me, Mom's were hurt in the making of this meal! Lunch still turned out yummy. I made spaghetti (with sauce from a jar, GASP) and even threw in one of Tyler's starters:

Carmelized Onion Toast
page 18 of Tyler's Ultimate
This appetizer asks for Anchovies. All I know about anchovies is that they are what gross adults put on pizza. This knowledge was learned as a small child from the ever reliable Saturday Morning Cartoon lineup. Isn't that where all the most important life lessons come from? I think so. Thanks Mom and Dad for all the street smarts I have. Anyway, this is toast covered with carmelized onions that have been sauteed with anchovies. I've never had anchovies...why would I? I only order yummy pizzas...but you know what? It added some nice flavor to the toast. Does that make me a gross adult? I'm going to go with no because I have great hair. That automatically cancels out any gross attributes. Here's what the toast looked like:


And don't worry Dad, I did wash my hands before finishing the spaghetti.

The toast was yummy. Try it. You'll like it. It also has the option of adding olives but I didn't because I didn't have any on such short notice. Dinner tonight is going to be really yummy. Are you excited? Luke probably isn't.....

Can I get fries with that?

Okay. Here's what I've learned this week.

A) Don't ever blog about how you hope your kids don't catch the flu that's been going around. You WILL have puking kids within a day.

B) Food is yummier when you have good friends to share it with.

C) Puppies are still cute even when they poop on the floor.

To be honest I haven't done much cooking with Tyler to talk about. The other night we were being lazy, too lazy to even go get take out, so I decided to try some macaroni and cheese.

The Ultimate Macaroni and Cheese with Peas and Bacon
page 176 of Tyler's Ultimate
I have always loved Mac and Cheese. It is seriously the ultimate comfort food. There is nothing better than Grandma's Macaroni and after making Tyler's version I think Grandma's is still better. Don't get me wrong, Tyler's is a very close second.

When you make this you mix the mac and cheese together (with a good dose of cream and butter, naturally) and throw it in the oven. This dish has 5 1/2 cups of cheese. That's right. 5 1/2 cups. Wow. This is not your low-cal dinner by any means. Anyway, while it's in the oven, you need to fry up the bacon with some fresh thyme and add the peas. When it's done you pile the peas/bacon on top and dig in. Tyler describes the flavor of the peas/bacon as "smokey" and I think he hit it on the head. This particular mac and cheese took comfort food to a whole new level. Plus with the layer of peas I didn't feel as bad eating all the bacon and cheese and noodles. Add veggies to anything and it becomes healthy, right? I also found it funny when I was reading in another of Tyler's books he said, "this isn't a diet book, it's a cookbook." No false advertising here.

Last week we invited our good friends the Harris' over for dinner. Here's what we had:

Scallop Saltimbocca
page 62 of Tyler's Ultimate
They are basically bacon wrapped scallops with apples. I'm sorry but I don't have a picture of these scallops. When I turned around to take a picture they were gone! I'll take that as a good sign. You know, I'm not really a fan of scallops but these were really good. It kept the hungry mob busy while we were making the rest of the food.

The Ultimate Burger with fixin's from The Burger Bar
pages 94-97 of Tyler's Ultimate
If you want a really good burger, try adding new things on top of it. My idea of an amazing burger is to add mushrooms. You can't go wrong with mushrooms. The sides we added included Sauteed Mushrooms, Carmelized Onions, Tomatoes with Olive oil and chives, and Bacon with Rosemary. We also added Swiss Cheese to the burgers while they were cooking. Mmmmmmm. Nothing beats a good burger. The kids all loved these burgers too which is always a bonus.

Tolan's Mom's Potato Salad
page 190 of Tyler's Ultimate
My friend Kim made the potato salad while I was making the burger sides. Way to go Kimberly! I think you're hired! Here on the farm, I think we're potato salad snobs. Ryan's mom makes the best potato salad so it's hard to try new versions. This one was pretty good. I'm probably not going to make it the new family standard but it was a nice change. It had capers in it. If you've never had capers, try them. They look like pickled peas. It just added a different tang. The only thing I wasn't a fan of was boiling the potatoes whole in the skin. It does add a different flavor to the potatoes but it was just too hard to tell if they were cooked all the way through (which they weren't). Not to mention how long it takes for a pot of whole potatoes in the skin to boil. Here's what Dinner with the Harris' looked like and I'm going to apologize in advance for the sideways picture. I tried everything to turn it around and it just isn't working. Don't judge me, just turn your head sideways.


Yummy! I'm still playing it pretty safe in choosing the recipes I'm using. I haven't braved into he seafood section yet. I'm still trying to talk myself into it. Kind of like on Pee Wee's Big Adventure when the pet shop is on fire and he keeps walking past the snakes with the stink face on. He knows he's going to have to go there eventually, but he makes sure all the safe things are out of the way before saving the snakes. That's how I feel about the crabs. I keep flipping through those pages with a stink face but eventually I'm going to HAVE to make it. I'm not brave enough yet, but soon.....

Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey

I made spaghetti and meatballs on Sunday night. They were hands down the best (and biggest) meatballs I've ever made/eaten. For reals.

The Ultimate Spaghetti and Meatballs
page 172 of Tyler's Ultimate
Here's a secret I'm gonna let you in on: if you want moist, good meatballs, stop using dry breadcrumbs. Take some bread (a little stale is best) and cut it into cubes. Then just before you need to add them to your meat, soak them in some whole milk. Don't soak them too long because they'll be too mushy. Then squeeze the extra milk out of them and add to your meat. When you're mixing them together, only mix until everything is combined. If you over-work the meatballs they'll be tough. This seriously makes such a difference.


When I was ready to cook my spaghetti, I realized I had no spaghetti. How embarrassing. I just substituted fettuccini. The only problem was, the meatballs were huge and we got full after only one! The fam loved this meal. Definitely something we're going to add to our regular menu.

Side note: I think my cute puppy is less cute. Here's what she did while we were gone for an hour:


What a jerk. She's a bad baby. This was my favorite plant. It was a corn tree. Seeing that we're corn farmers, it was a cool (and manditory) house plant. RIP corn tree. The worst part is it died once already and I brought it back to life. I don't think anything can be done this time though. My powers aren't that strong. But put the bets away, I'm not getting rid of Ruby. And no the plant wasn't there when it got attacked, I just put it there to get the picture. And the extra stuff (sock, block, toilet paper roll, and plastic bag) was all brought to the crime scene by Ruby too. The whole area was clean when we left. I'm just sayin. Not cute.

Anywho, you're probably wondering why this post says eggs and bakey and there has been no mention of either. Well, last night I FINALLY had a good nights sleep. I haven't been sleeping too good lately because I've been having some jacked up dreams (stupid Paranormal Activity). The final straw was Monday night. Let me tell you about my dream. Any of you who are dream interpreters, only interpret this dream if it means I'm gonna be famous or rich or something good. I don't need any more nightmares. Okay, here's my dream.

During the night I woke up about every 45 minutes because I kept thinking something was wrong. We've had water pump problems and furnace problems and a new puppy so I just couldn't settle. Plus there's a flu going around and I don't want puking kids to surprise me. ANYWAY....This time when I woke up I was really still dreaming. You know those dreams that feel super real? Well this one felt real. I woke up in my dream because Katie came into my room and was just standing at the door and creeping me out (see Paranormal Activity). She was scared so I told her to come into our bed for a few minutes. Then Luke came in, saying he wasn't feeling very good. Just as he was getting into bed with us Emily comes tearing into our room screaming and crying. This finally woke Ryan up and he was mad because suddenly we have a crowded bed and Emily is losing her mind. She tells us there's a guy in the living room trying to talk to her. Ryan gets his "Ryan Eyes" on (if you haven't seen RJ when he gets excited/mad, his eyes get HUGE so there's more white than color. The first time I saw his "eyes" I have to admit I was pretty nervous. Now I just tell him to put the whites away...something along the lines of his bark is worse than his bite... love you Ry-Ry!).

So Ry gets up to go see this guy while I'm trying to work up the courage to go with him. When I got there, he was talking to this guy like we all knew him. Did I mention he looked and smelled like he broke up with his shower a while ago? He was gross. "It's okay hon. It's just Victor." Who the H is Victor? I seriously had no idea who he was and he was way too creepy to be one of my friends. I have pretty high standards. FYI Ryan, some random smelly guy letting himself in our house to have a conversation with our 5 yr old at 3 in the morning is NOT my definition of "okay". It was at this time that I woke up for realsies. To Emily screaming and crying from downstairs, "GET OUT OF MY ROOM!!" Ryan wouldn't wake up (how convenient) so I had to get the courage to go see her all by myself. I'm not even kidding, this was one of the worst parenting moments of my life. I considered letting her work out her own problems, ghost or creepy guy and all. But since I'm such a good mom, I went downstairs. When I got down there she was yelling at Luke to leave her alone. It turned out funny because she was telling her brother off in her sleep, but let me tell you it was a LONG time before I got back to sleep that night.

That brings us back to the Eggs and Bacon. Like I said before, I finally got a good night's sleep last night so I woke up this morning and decided to try this recipe that I've been eyeing for a while now.

California Bacon and Eggs
page 90 of Stirring the Pot

The layers go as follows: the green stuff at the bottom is a celery pesto, followed by a crispy potato pancake, then a sunny-side up egg that I chose to fry all the way through because I don't like slimy stuff, and then bacon. We were all a bit nervous about the pesto but this turned out unbelievable. I think my potato pancakes were too thick but that's okay. The pesto was gross by itself but with the pancake it was amazing. When you make the pancake, you have to shred the potatoes and then squeeze the moisture out as best as you can. I think I was a bit dysfunctional this morning because when I was putting my potatoes into a cloth, I totally dumped the whole bowl onto my cookbook. Then I burnt my first attempt at eggs. Then I burnt my second attempt at eggs. Stupid eggs. Normally I make killer fried eggs but it just wasn't happening today. I finally got the eggs done and all in all it turned out delicious. This is why I waited until I had a good night's sleep to attempt this dish. Even refreshed I was struggling!

The best part about cooking with Tyler (besides the obvious bonus of eating all this amazing food) is that I'm learning tips and tricks to change how I cook regular food. I won't be making meatballs the old way ever again. I'm not going to make mashed potatoes with skim milk and margarine ever again. There's so many things I've learned how to incorporate into my everyday cooking. And I've only just begun....

Chicken Licken

I haven't been a very good cook this week but we'll talk about that in a sec. Let's talk about the cutest thing ever first:


Meet Ruby. She's our new fur baby and I love her! Ruby is seriously the best puppy ever. She is already potty-trained and she knows how to sit! I know, I know, not the best picture. I just haven't bothered to make an appointment yet for our baby pictures. I want to do one of those shots with me and Ryan holding her in our clasped hands with a black background, but I think she might be too dark for that to work. I'll keep you posted.

Settle down, I'm just kidding. I'm not a fan of people who treat their puppies like babies either so don't worry. Just because I may or may not call her my baby I'm fully aware that I did not give birth to her. Don't judge me if she shows up with the occasional bow in her hair. I won't ever put clothes on her though because that's gross.

Moving on....

Friday night I cooked a chicken. Not just "a chicken" but,
The Ultimate Roast Chicken Provencal
page 132 of Tyler's Ultimate

I don't speak French but I'm thinking "Provencal" means "Tastes like throw-up" in English. The chicken itself was good for the most part. I'm just not sure tomatoes and lemons should be friends. At all. This chicken started out on the right track by calling for a fresh herb paste to be rubbed all over it. Then it was stuffed with a lemon that was cut in half. I think that's when things started to go downhill. It then calls for cut tomatoes, zucchini, onions, lemons, and fresh thyme to be put around it and roasted. It was okay and the fam ate it (a little begrudgingly), I just think I'll skip the lemon next time. Oh well. You can't win 'em all.


It looks yummy though doesn't it? The kids weren't fans of the veggies either. They tasted weird. Maybe I should have added broccoli on the side. Speaking of broccoli, has anyone seen those commercials about broccoli? There's one where a lady and her husband are covered in brand new babies and saying how much of a miracle it was to have 8 babies! The broccoli guy is sitting in the corner (of their bedroom! Ha!) and puts them straight because that wasn't a miracle, broccoli is a miracle because it has 12 essential nutrients. Then creepy guy shushes and rocks his broccoli. Okay....maybe it lost some of the funny-magic by me scripting it out, but still. Super funny. Check it out.

So the other night Ry and I went out to eat with some friends. The waitress was super nice but she was a bit uptight. We kept trying to joke around with her but she was a pretty tough crowd. I've never seen so much frownsmiling in my life. When she brought our food, I looked over to her saying, "Oh, oh! Please no....." followed by a crash of dishes.

She dropped our food.

I was a waitress (all famous actresses are before being discovered) and I could literally feel her embarrassment. Poor girl. The worst part was, Ryan got the brunt of it. He was literally wearing the food. You know what RJ did? He laughed about it. I don't like seeing movies where people scream at the waiter/waitress after getting dumped on. I just don't get it. The embarrassment of it is punishment enough. I guess my point is just that people need to be nicer in general. That's all.

*Side note: the above link doesn't have anything to do with this particular story, it's just a super funny blog that I'm in love with.*

You wanna know what does make me scream? Going to Ikea. Whenever I go there I get the shakes. There's just too much stuff in one place and it turns into a stimulation overload. I seriously get all shaky as if I just guzzled a 2L Coke (all the pretty colors in Avatar made me feel like that too by the way). Anyway, I'm going to Ikea soon and I'm already feeling a bit shaky. I think that's because I looked online to make my list. My kitchen is gonna be equipped to the max after this trip. I might even get a big-girl knife. I can't wait. Does that make me lame? I don't even care.....

So I've been thinking

I think we put too much stock into New Year's resolutions. Why do we make goals about depriving ourselves only to fail by Valentine's day? Then we beat ourselves up because we have only done what we knew we would do to begin with. My wise sister-in-law Julie posted about this on her blog. I have to agree that we should plan on doing things that will make us happier, not make us feel worse about ourselves. Let me also throw in that I'm not advocating over-indulgence. Too much of a good thing is still not wise.

Here's my list of things I'm going to do:

I'm going to enjoy my life more.

This means I'm going to enjoy food more. This does not mean I'm going to gorge on anything anytime I want, it just means I'm going to make yummier food and enjoy every single bite. Dinner time should be an experience not a race.

I'm going to enjoy exercising more. Let me just say that this in itself isn't a resolution. I already enjoy exercising, especially Adventure Bootcamp, I just want to learn new things.

I want to play with my kids more often. And teach them not to cry when Mommy wins every time. And not cry in front of them when (if) they beat me.

I want to spend more time with my friends and family. One of the main reasons of building a bigger house was so we could entertain more. I plan on doing this a lot this year. Who's coming for dinner?

I'm going to go to movies more often. Yes I've seen Avatar (twice) and yes I thought it was amazing. I didn't however think Paranormal Activity was amazing. That was way too much for me. I STILL have to sleep with the lights on. We went to Sherlock Holmes last night and it was good. I just want to say that Robert Downey Jr. is super cute. And that's all I'm going to say about that. ;)

I want to enjoy the outdoors more. I'm probably the biggest baby when it comes to cold weather so I'm going to make a point of enjoying the warm seasons more.

I'm going to enjoy music more. Live from my piano room or recorded from my ipod. And concerts. I need more concerts in my life.

Anyway, that's what I want to do this year. It's not anything new or profound, I just want to make the most of every day. It's the climb, right Miley? I challenge you to do the same. Find things you want more of, not things to deprive yourselves of.

Dinner yesterday was only one item:
The Ultimate Lasagna Bolognese
page 22 of Dinner At My Place
Lasagna holds a special place in my heart. When we were growing up my Mom made a HUGE deal about our birthdays. One of the things she did was we had a birthday place setting that included a home-made place mat that said "You're Special". Yes I AM special, thank you very much! We also got to pick out our own menu for the day. This always included a sugar blasted cereal (my parents only ever bought plain Cheerios or Corn Flakes so yes, this was a big deal), lunch from Dairy Queen (hand delivered by Dad to the school), and our choice for dinner. We almost always picked lasagna. I think the reason this was such a novelty for us is because my Mom took all day to make it. Literally. All day. We were just so impressed that she loved us enough to spend a day making food for us.

When I moved out and cooked lasagna for the first time I was shocked and surprised that it only took me an hour and a half to make. I thought for sure I left something out and it was going to taste wrong. Nope. Lasagna wasn't as big a deal as my Mom led us to believe! This is now a joke between me and my siblings about Mom's all-day lasagna. For the record my Mom still makes the best lasagna ever. And no I'm not just saying that to get a wicked birthday present. (Love you Mom!)

My lasagna I made looked like this:


I have to say, this looks just like the picture in Tyler's book! And it tasted even better! The family loved it too. I've been eyeballing this recipe ever since I met Tyler. I was pretty skeptical because he uses ingredients that aren't on my usual list of things to put in lasagna. Bechamel sauce isn't something I've even heard of until now. Turns out I've used it in many different things, but never for lasagna. It's kind of a glorified white sauce.

You know what else is funny? It didn't take me all day to make it either....it took TWO days! Part of this is because when I was elbows deep in bolognese sauce, Ryan came home and announced we were going out with his brother and his wife in an hour and a half. I had to stop and put everything in the fridge for another time.

The sauce is made from scratch which means putting a bunch of veggies in the food processor and then simmering all the ingredients for about two hours. The noodles are also from scratch. This wasn't as traumatizing because it was basically the same noodle recipe as my Mom uses for her amazing home-made chicken noodle soup. The noodles did however take another two hours to make the dough, let the dough rest, roll it out, and hang dry.

All in all it took about 6 hours to make. I don't think I'll make it with as much bechamel sauce because it was a bit too creamy for me, but I will definitely be making this again.

Tonight we're going to Ryan's parent's house for dinner. Here's what I'm bringing:


Pear Cobbler with Cranberry Streusel
page 224 of Tyler's Ultimate
It is made with halved pears on the bottom of a sugared pan topped with a cranberry crumble. It smells amazing and I can't wait to eat it. Good thing I don't have a resolution to lose weight because I'm going to turn into a Creamy Butterball with all the cream and butter I've been cooking with. You are what you eat, right? I just hope Ryan's mom is making salad for dinner because with the lasagna we had for lunch and this for dessert...I don't know. But I do know my jeans are starting to hate me....

Dinner at my house.

Dinner last night went well. The in-laws came over to watch the World Junior Gold Medal Game between who else but Canada and US. Sadly, Canada lost in a very intense overtime. I'm not a hockey fan and even I was impressed.

Dinner however was amazing, if I do say so myself.


Sorry, but my "plating" needs work. I was hungry and this picture was a last-minute grab and snap with the camera. Here's the menu:

Bacon-Wrapped Roast Beef With Yorkshire Pudding and Gravy
Found on page 54 of Stirring the Pot.
This is a garlic infused bacon-wrapped roast cooked until medium rare (medium well for us). The flavor was amazing. I'm thinking bacon really is the answer. I seriously have to try this roast again with a better cut of meat. The roast I got was the only one they had at Safeway. I think I'm going to only do one or two of these meals a week and make sure I have had time to go shopping at some real stores that have what I need.

The side dishes were:
Velvet Potato Puree
page 198 of Tyler's Ultimate
Amazing. My friend Kyla is as gourmet as they come. She once said that she couldn't believe people used skim milk and margarine to make mashed potatoes. I was horrified because 1) I use skim milk and margarine for my potatoes and 2) there's another way to make them? Well there is and she's on the same page as Tyler. If any of you take anything away from this, let it be the following: Only make mashed potatoes with heavy cream and butter. Put that milk and margarine away and do it properly. There's a trick though. You HAVE to warm your cream and butter up before adding to your hot potatoes. Trust me, it's the only way.

Brussels Sprouts Salad With Pancetta and Cranberries
page 230 of Stirring the Pot
In this recipe Tyler says to trick everyone by taking a few minutes to separate the leaves on the Brussels Sprouts. I thought it sounded like a good idea, they're just little cabbages so how hard can it be? Really hard! Not anything like peeling a cabbage. Those little leaves are tighter than....well, they're tight. It took me almost 2 hours to get them all peeled! Totally worth it though. He says in the write up before the recipe that your kids who hate Brussels Sprouts will love this dish. Well I have a 32 yr old kid who HATES Brussels Sprouts and he actually loved this dish. Everyone really enjoyed this meal. I omitted the yorkshire puddings because I couldn't be bothered.


I seriously cannot believe that there are clean plates! That rarely happens. You know what though? I think I tricked the kids into eating. I've hyped this up so much that it's the excitement of it, along with the good food of course, but the excitement makes it taste better.

The dessert I had planned finally made an appearance. It was modified but still yummy.
Strawberry-Lemon Puddings
page 81 of Dinner At My Place
I turned it into more of a trifle and it worked. I made too much cake but the filling was super good. I'm doing this one again too. The lemony whipped cream was so fresh. PS it was good for breakfast this morning too.


Here's what I've learned so far.

1) Tyler Florence loves him some olive oil. It's everywhere. I'm not complaining, just observing.

2) Nothing beats fresh garlic. Hand cut, not pressed through a garlic press either.

3) You really can't substitute low fat milk for cream. It might resemble the real deal but it sure won't taste as good. If you're worried about calories or weight gain, just eat a little bit of something real. Aren't we all supposed to eat small portions anyway? Think of the skinny Europeans as you're enjoying your food.

I also just found out Tyler has two more cookbooks. I'm gonna go check them out tomorrow. Maybe we'll have a few more exciting meals to add....

Success is MINE!

Last night I cooked my first meal. Here was the menu:

To start
The Ultimate Chicken Wings with Curry-Lime Butter
found on page 16 of Tyler's Ultimate
These are wings that are baked then tossed with, surprise surprise, curry and lime and butter.

Main dish
Baked Rigatoni With Eggplant And Pork Sausage
found on page 162 of Tyler's Ultimate
Again this is pretty self explanatory.

Dessert
Strawberry-Lemon Puddings
found on page 81 of Dinner At My Place
This recipe had me at hello. I really like the tangy goodness of any lemon or lime dessert. Mmmm.

Here's how the meal really went:

To start
NOTHING
My teeny-tiny town is severely ill-equipped for this kind of cooking. I spent two and a half frustrating hours combing the shelves of the two grocery stores in town. A friend made a good observation, "Ummm, isn't that your first clue? The TWO grocery stores?". Yeah, I guess I should be a little less surprised by this. But really, no chicken wings? That's not an exotic ingredient by any means. The curry paste was there, but I'm still not sure if it's the right kind. He asks for Thai curry paste and there was anything there BUT Thai curry paste. So I guessed.

Moving on.

Main Dish
Baked Rigatoni With Eggplant and Pork Sausage
This actually went well. Who needs a starter anyway? I found all the ingredients and it was relatively easy to make. The eggplant was a bit scary though. I'm not too familiar with eggplant so I decided to get some history on it. Here's what I found.

The Eggplant is also known as the Aubergine. It's more common name came from early European varieties that were smaller and white. Botanically it's a fruit but it's used as a vegetable in cooking. Eggplant originated in India and was introduced into Asian kitchens about 3AD. In 11AD it was introduced into Europe where superstitious people believed it induced insanity, even giving it the nickname "Mad Apple". They thought this because it's in the same family as the deadly nightshade. Eggplant is a close relative of the tomato, potato, and pepper. In 16th century Spain, the people there had great respect for the fruit/veg because it was thought to be a powerful aphrodisiac. Those silly Spaniards named it the "Love Apple" (only in Spain, right?). Thomas Jefferson introduced it into the States from a friend from France. It started out as a table ornament until about 1950 when it became more popular as a food. Eggplant is also a popular with vegetarians as a meat substitute because like tofu, it is bland in taste and soaks up the flavors around it. Eat up!

I have to admit, I'm not a fan. It's okay, but I'm not going to get to excited about dishes that include eggplant. I asked my family to rate the dish and here's what they said.

Luke: 1.5 thumbs up. "It's sooo good except for the squishy eggnog thingy. I love it though!"

Katie: 2 thumbs up. "Yummmy!"

Emily: 2 thumbs down (rude). "I don't like anything....can I have a brownie?"

Ryan: 2 thumbs way up. He had no comment at this time, but did go back for seconds. And thirds later that night!

Me: 1.5 thumbs up. I agree with Luke. The rest of the food was really good, but the eggplant wasn't my fav.

Oh yeah. Here's what it looked like:
I even included a picture of the recipe. Looks the same, right? Yay me! We will definitely have this meal again. Moving on...

Dessert
NOTHING
Again, the 2 grocery stores didn't have what I needed. They didn't have lemons. Really? Wow. I was super annoyed. The recipe also called for store bought lemon curd and store bought pound cake, you know, to make my life easier. These ingredients did not make my life easier, thank you very much. Anyone who I asked hadn't even heard of lemon curd. When I got home, I decided to make my own variation of this recipe because how hard could it be?

Well, here's how hard. The cake I made didn't cook all the way through because I just assumed it was done. Oops. I just popped it back into the oven and it finished cooking. But not in time for dessert. The lemon curd that I made took too long to cool too so I think we'll try for this dessert again tonight.

All in all, Day 1 was a success. We have yummy leftovers for lunch today too!

Did I mention Ryan's parents are coming for dinner tonight? No pressure or anything....not the best time to try new recipes. Wish me luck....