Omaha Food Blogger Posts

Balsamic Chicken Caprese Salad

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:55:55 -0700

Yesterday I bared it all when I showed you the embarrassing amount of food I had in my pantry when I thought I had “nothing to eat”. With the realization that I had way more food than I thought I decided to challenge myself to cook from my pantry. Using food in my pantry and refrigerator, and not making any special trips to the grocery store. Last night I made my first meal using what I had on hand.

These first few meals I’m guessing will probably be easier to put together and better than the ones we eat towards the end of the challenge. Last night’s dinner was so good. It makes me sad I didn’t think about it earlier this summer. With a loaf of crusty bread it would make the easiest summer dinner. This dinner will make a reappearance in our meal line up.

BALSAMIC CHICKEN CAPRESE SALAD
Served 4 as a side or 2 as a meal

2 chicken breasts, boneless & skinless (mine were thinner chicken breasts)
2 T butter I am all out of olive oil
Balsamic vinegar, a couple good splashes
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper to your taste preferences
water

Season chicken breasts with salt & pepper on both sides. Coat chicken with a couple good splashes of balsamic vinegar. Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat. Add butter/oil. Add chicken breasts to the butter and sprinkle the garlic on top of the chicken. Cook about 5 minutes, turn breasts over and cook 4-5 minutes on this side. Stir the garlic so it doesn’t burn. Give the chicken breasts another splash of vinegar and a splash of water then reduce down to a lovely brown glaze. Remove chicken and turn off heat and remove pan. Let chicken sit 4-5 minutes before slicing thinly. Place chicken on assembled salad and pour glaze over top of the chicken.

CAPRESE SALAD
lettuce
4 thin slices of fresh mozzarella (it is soft)
2-3 Roma tomatoes sliced
2 sliced, cooked balsamic chicken breasts
fresh basil
salt & pepper to taste

Place lettuce on a large plate. Top with sliced mozzarella and tomatoes. Salt & pepper according to your taste preferences. Add sliced balsamic chicken and the balsamic garlic glaze. Top the salad with fresh sprigs of basil.

*The tomatoes and basil came from my garden

My Pantry

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 11:08:40 -0700

Hello readers! Is there anyone still out there? I’m sorry for my extended absence. The absence was unplanned. In fact I have a few recipes and photos of food I have made this summer that I had intended on sharing but never got around to doing it.

Let me briefly explain, to me food blogging was starting to seem like a giant popularity contest. Other blogs I would read would occasionally mention all the readers they had or I would see hundreds of comments on each post knowing that I would never have an audience like that. At first that saddened me and I quit writing, I have never been popular before why did I expect popularity through blogging. Basically it was a pity party, I magically wanted a pretty website with hundreds of readers.

This time off has made me realize that I miss sharing my recipes with others. So what if I don’t have legions of readers. Those big food sites deserve all the traffic they get. They have pretty websites with pretty pictures and eloquent words. I am ok with my twenty or so visitors (Hi Grandma!). I have learned a lot about cooking and food photography by doing this site. My site may not have the most eloquent descriptions or the most beautiful photos, but I am learning and that makes me happy. So that’s that. I hope to be back to a regular posting schedule.

OK….

How many times have you opened up the pantry or the refrigerator and while staring at full or semi-full shelves said “there is nothing to eat”? This is something I have said countless times since childhood I am sure. I have been fortunate in my life to never know the true statement of there is nothing to eat, there has always been food to eat. Today I opened up my pantry and thought “there is nothing to eat” and then it dawned on me how much food there actually was in the pantry. Every item in my pantry was bought for a reason even if that reason has long been forgotten.

With two grocery stores less than half a mile a way I have gotten lazy. It is easy to run to the store (or have my husband stop on the way home from work) to pick up a specific ingredient for a meal instead of getting creative and using what I have on hand. The laziness and disregard for my grocery budget is stopping today. I am challenging myself (and you) to plan meals centered around what you have on hand.

I emptied my pantry shelves onto my dining room table. I was shocked to see that my table was covered with “nothing to eat”. It is embarrassing. I took pictures to show you what my “nothing to eat” looks like. There are no pictures of my refrigerator and freezer, they aren’t filled to the brim, but there is food in there I will use to make meals for my family. In the freezer there are several whole chickens, a pot roast, and shredded cheese which will help round out some of the creative meals.

So without further ado here are the pictures:

Here is everything from my pantry laid out in an embarrassing amount.

There it is all laid out for you. If you empty out your pantry please share your photos with me. The recipes I will post in the next week will be made using these ingredients. We are all out of bread so that is the first from the pantry food item I am going to make. I am really hoping to make it a week or more without having to go to the grocery store (other than for milk, butter/oil, and eggs).

I am looking for any meal suggestions you may have for me after looking at my ingredients. Or if you have any questions about what something might be let me know in the comments and I will get back to you.

LOOK HERE FOR A COLLECTION OF MY PANTRY RECIPES:
Balsamic Chicken Caprese Salad

Another Adventure

Lainey Seyler — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0700

I'm writing this night before setting off on the last big adventure with Home & Away. I'm really going out with a bang here: Tomorrow I fly to Lima, Peru, to see Macchu Pichu and the Sacred Valley. Who gets that in life? Not many. And I choose to leave it all. I quit my job earlier last week to go to culinary school full time in September. It's scary, even scarier writing it. Now it's out there to be judged by all these people. I love cooking. I love writing. I've done the writing; I still want to do the writing. I still will for The Reader.

Talking to friend, I worried today that I might be one of those people who can't be pleased. I hope not. I feel more content with me, myself than ever before. I want to take a crack at it though, the bakery/pastry thing. I want to add to what I already know. More than what I know in my head, I want to add to what I know in my hands. It's scary. I could mess up. I could hate it. I might never get health insurance ever again. But I don't think so. Nothing gets me excited like cooking.

New Music

Lainey Seyler — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 23:04:00 -0700

I've been working on a new mix of music for at least a month or so. Here it is.

1. We're Going to Be Friends by the White Stripes
2. I Still Remember by Bloc Party
3. California by Rogue Wave
4. Wash Away by Matt Costa
5. Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs
6. Islands by the Xx
7. Is This It by the Strokes
8. Too Afraid to Love You by the Black Keys
9. Peach, Plum, Pear by Joanna Newsom

Outstanding in the Field Iowa

Lainey Seyler — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 11:23:00 -0700

July 27, I had the chance to head to this thing called Outstanding in the Field, which is a farm-to-table meal held in Waukee, Iowa, to cover the event for The Reader. You can check out the full story here, I just had some extra images that I wanted to share.

It is sort of funny to think about people paying to go eat dinner in the middle of July at a farm. People traveled from all over just to attend this meal. There were folks at my table from nearby Des Moines and West Des Moines, Iowa City, and Orange City, Iowa. Then there was me, from Omaha (and a few others who wisely got a hotel and stayed the night), some ladies from South Dakota and people from Minnesota. I drove two hours to eat dinner on a farm, y'all. That's something I'm sure Nebraska farmers would balk at, but there it is and it was really a beautiful event.

The food (four courses plus hors d'oeuvres) all came from local farms and was cooked by a local chef Andrew Meek of Sbrocco. Wine was provided by Calcereous Vineyard in Paso Robles, Calif. Below is the first courses: a salad of tomatoes and melons served with basil and a citrus-honey vinagrette.

Second course was Mediterranean vegetables (zucchini, tomatoes, fennel, eggplant) with roast lamb and bagna cauda. I don't know exactly what it was, maybe the skin, but there was this cripsy, bacon-like meat that I was just making love to on the table. This courses was by far my favorite. The lamb was so tender. I loved the addition of the fennel just slathered in salty olive oil.

Meals were served family style, which was nice because I went alone and made friends with my table, particularly Madison and her mom Marilyn. In this photo, there's a good shot of the rainbow Swiss chard growing in the background.

Marilyn took this photo and emailed it to me that night (very nice!). I like it even though my attention is immediatly drawn to my teeth--holy crap, you can see all my gums. But I'm obviously having such a great time, who cares what I look like.

Wings and Rings and Cheesecake, OH MY!

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 10:40:32 -0700

It seems like all sorts of new restaurants are springing up around Omaha, which is a bittersweet development for the OC and myself. I love nothing more, when we have a chance to go out to eat, than saying “Let’s try somewhere new!.” Sadly, there are far more “new” places than our budget allows us to visit!

To that end, we stopped in to the new Buffalo Rings & Wings at 12240 L Street. We stopped in for a late lunch, so we missed the majority of the lunch rush. After a little confusion amongst the wait staff as to where to seat us, we were given a table, and immediately placed our drink orders. Our server, Luke, was awesome at making sure we had everything we needed, and that we never had to wait for a drink refill.

I ordered their lunch special boneless wings with lemon pepper sauce (5 boneless wings and a side for $5.99), as did our daughter with parmesan garlic sauce, and OC represented all of MANHOOD by ordering 10 mild roasted garlic wings, 15 Original Hot wings, and then an additional lunch special with 5 Original ATOMIC wings (Yes, about half of them went home for the rest of our troops to devour). For sides, we ordered saratoga chips and onion rings.

The wings? They’re good. They’re not spectacular – they don’t stand out as the BEST wings we’ve ever had, but they were good. They were flavorful. They had plenty of sauce and were cooked perfectly, for both the boneless wings and the traditional wings. Heat-wise – they just weren’t that hot. Even the atomic wings – while they did provide some longlasting burn – weren’t that hot. The Original Hot wings would be on par, for me, with a Buffalo Wild Wings Medium hot wing. The roasted garlic and lemon pepper sauces were good, but not spectacular. The parmesan garlic sauce was my favorite of the ones we tried.

The saratoga chips? Meh – they were good chips, I will say that, but they also weren’t anything to write home about. The onion rings, however? PHENOMENAL. They were easily the best onion rings we’ve had in a very long time, and when dipped in the garlic parmesan sauce from the wings? Outstanding. VERY VERY GOOD.

The only down side we felt was that there could be a little more flexibility in allowing customers to select more sauces. OC wanted 25 wings with 3 different sauces, but was told he could only have 2 (as an order of 10 and 15). He would have tried more sauces if he could have broken them out in 5′s – and then we’d be able to rate more of their sauces for you! Unfortunately, it is what it is. I understand it’s easier for them to manage this way, but as a customer, especially at a new place, you want to try all the sauces. More accomodation would be nice.

OH – the other thing that was absolutely fabulous – we had the Xango dessert, which was essentially cheesecake wrapped in a pastry shell and fried, and then dressed with cinnamon and sugar, strawberry sauce, and whipped cream. It was AWESOME.

The atomsphere was great – very uptown sportsbar-ish, with enough tv’s on the walls to make my husband’s ADD-addled head explode. Everything was clean and efficient, and aside from the small issue seating us, everything was perfect. It’s not overly pricey (on par with the other wing places in town), and everything was great.

I give it a solid 4 French Fries – it’d go up if the’d let you mix and match your sauces a little more.

~The Critical Wife

M-M-M-Mexican!

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 10:15:26 -0700

Mexican food is by far one of my favorite “categories” of food. From time to time, we venture out to South O to check out some of the more “authentic” Mexican restaurants, and we have a couple of less authentic, more tex-mex-y type places around where we live. We are always looking for new places to try – and just happened to find one the other day that we hadn’t known about.

While we were out looking for a new/different place to eat yesterday, we stumbled on Salgado’s Mexican Grill, near 90th & Fort. (It’s in the shopping center where the Shopko is. Formerly Julios, Matt’s Grill, and possibly several other random things.) Going into the restaurant, it reminded me of most of the other middle of the road Mexican restaurants around here. Somewhere along the line of Julios or LaFondas, is what I expected.

We arrived around 12:15, and were seated quickly in an empty section. Upon perusing the menu, the OC and I were both stumped. We wanted one of everything. Salgado’s offers a mix of more traditional Mexican fare, along with Americanized versions of many dishes, and even burgers. OC kind of twisted it up by having traditional Mexican tacos, but with ground beef and chicken fillings. (This seriously bummed me out, as I was hoping he’d get asada and carnitas. Darn him.)

I went the white girl route with the Burrito Gringo. People…what they didn’t say on the menu is it should be burrito gringoS. Plural. As in there is no way one person can finish that burrito in one sitting. WOW.

Ok, the food – rather than the standard chips and salsa, Salgado’s serves chips with a selection of salsa, beans, and a spicy pico de gallo. All of these were good – very spicy on the salsa and pico, but the beans were a little bland (fixed this with salt). The tacos were great – all they were missing was a slice of lime, which was requested but never delivered. The dish was two ground beef and two shredded chicken tacos in corn tortillas with onions, cilantro, and radish slices. Flavorwise, they were awesome. My burrito was also fantastic, and I ate about 1/3 of it before being completely miserably full. It was filled with beans, rice, and ground beef, and smothered in melted cheese and sour cream. TOTALLY wonderful.

The best part – the burrito bigger than my head was $5.99. OC’s tacos were 7 or 8 bucks total – can’t remember if he got them as a lunch special or a la carte. Either way, still cheap. The horchata they offer….wasn’t memorable. It had a really perfumey taste I don’t love, but it wasn’t bad. Service was decent, but a little flighty.

We will definitely go back.

My rating? 3.5 Napkins, brought down only for service. If I could give it a 3.75, I would. Very tasty food, very affordable, decent service (not great). All in all, good, authentic-ish, Mexican food! Give it a shot.

Rated by: TheCriticalWife

Slop

Lainey Seyler — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 23:44:00 -0700

I suppose it's usually a good thing when I don't have enough time to put up another post. I've probably been keeping myself busy on purpose because my roommate is in and out and my parents are out of town, so it's just me and the dog in the apartment exactly one year after our scary break in. I just don't want to deal with lonely right now, so I'm making myself so busy I can barely think. I never thought I would ever get to this point and especially not after a year, but I'm actually glad the break in happened even though the whole ordeal was awful. Meg and I did end up very lucky in the first place; I doubt I'd be singing the same tune if things had been more traumatic. And I finally learned something about justice and mercy that I don't think I would have.

This time around, I've been having a lot of summer fun with friends cooking, swimming, going to concerts and whatnot. This meal, which I shall title chickpea-bacon slop, was just a bunch of stuff I had lying around that ended up being quite good together. I am quite the lucky genius you know, just tossing a bunch of plump-sweet corn and garbanzo beans in a pan. I wish the things worked out this weel every time I try this. The chili smoked things up a bit for the plain old corn-and-garbanzo combo. And then who could live without bacon and cheese? The choice was obvious.

Chickpea-bacon Slop:

olive oil

lime juice

2 ears of corn

1 15-ounce can chickpeas

1 clove garlic, minced

3 spring onions, chopped

2 teaspoons chili powder

salt and pepper

bunch of fresh cilantro

grated parmesan cheese

bacon, cooked and crumbled

Heat olive oil in a pan until it's warm. Add the garlic and onion and saute for a minutes until they have tanned slightly. Break the corn cobs in half and add them to the pot. Drain and rinse the chickpeas, toss them in as well. Season well with salt, pepper and chili powder, turning the corn so it cooks all the way around. Once the garbanzo beans have split, transfer to a serving bowl. Squeeze the lime juice over the top, sprinkle with parm, chopped cilantro and bacon. Serves two nicely.

Family Dinner

Lainey Seyler — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 23:53:00 -0700

Midway through a droll Tuesday, I got word that a friend was back in town after a month's hiatus from the steamy Nebraska summer. Small dinner plans grew to incorporate seven people and lots of pretty vegetables. I don't think anyone saw these eggplants before they became the brilliant mush that is ratatouille.

I pulled these carrots myself from my mom's garden. I must say, it was intensely gratifying even though I did nothing to care for these miniscule carrots before they went into the pot. I even improvised a tomato-cucumber-feta cheese salad that was by far the best use of backyard cucumbers yet.

Thai Cucumber Salad

Lainey Seyler — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:04:00 -0700

I love change. People complain about Midwestern weather: extreme heat (right now) and extreme cold. I adore when it gets so hot you can't wait for the crisp cool of autumn, you're sick of cucumbers (though never tomatoes) and anticipate fall bonfires, hooded sweatshirts, crunchy leaves under the feet and soup. Then, wonder beyond wonders, you find yourself eager to see the first dancing flakes of snow to cover the trees. You want roasts and furry boots and snow angels more than anything until it's mid-February and minus 20 and all you can think about is something green. And before you know it, there you are again, longing for summer dresses and heat so all-encompassing you can barely breathe in.

I complain halfheartedly these days about having too many cucumbers. Too many cucumbers! What a blessing. Nothing could be more appropriately cool and crisp when it's 95 degrees outside. I've been forced to get creative with salads, and as of last night, I'm fresh out of produce. It helps when there are barbecues and "family" dinners to bring salads to. With this salad, I was hoping for something akin to this cucumber relish served alongside pretty much everything in Thailand. It's not quite right. The true Thai version is more syrupy and sweet. This was salty and sour with soy sauce and lime. Still good if not quite on target. The heat sated and the buzz of cicadas dulled enough to allow us enough relief to eat al fresco to say goodbye to Casey and happy birthday to Sean (who got a new smoker!).

Thai Cucumber Salad: from Chez Pim

2 large cucumbers (or 1 American-size, ginormous cucumber you neglected to harvest for a few days too many)

3/4 pound shrimps

bunch mint

bunch cilantro

green onions

for dressing:

1/4 cup fish sauce

3 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar (add extra to taste)

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Quarter and seed the cucumber and slice into discs. Add already cooked shrimps. Chop the cilantro and mint and toss with the cucumber and shrimp. Chop the green onions and fry in vegetable oil or sesame oil (because I'm fancy and have that) until crips but not burnt. Set aside.

To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients and whisk together. I let the dressing sit for a couple hours so the red-pepper flakes could infuse with the dressing. Then toss dressing over the salad and serve chilled.

Pickle Love

Lainey Seyler — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 23:44:00 -0700

Years ago, if you asked me to name my favorite food, I would have said dill pickles. I still love the sterile and jarred cucumbers quite a bit. (I was at the Old Market's La Buvette a week or so ago and ate all their pickled mini gherkins before anyone else had the chance.) In fact, it's been four years now, but my 16-year-old sister Emily and I had our biggest and only fight over a pickle.

One of her friends gave her a big jar of whole dill pickles for her twelfth birthday. Whole pickles. The good kind. We only ever got kosher spears or chips in our house, so these were quite the treat. I got hungry for a snack one day while she was at school. Surveying the fridge, I went straight for the goods, thinking she wouldn't notice, and truthfully, she didn't say anything until the moment was right.

Later, we were arguing with my mom over who should get the cell phone the next day. Never had I ever had to share something with this sister 10 years my junior until I came back from Thailand and she had hajacked my phone. (Indeed, she was erasing my address book on the drive to the airport.) I came home early from Thailand, and she, the only (and thus coolest) sixth grader with a cell phone, found herself in joint custody of the electronic.

We were debating about who needed the phone more. Me: I need it in case someone calls me for a job interview. Emily: Brian asked if he could use my phone today, and I couldn't give it to him. Mom and I probably both laughed at that response and out of desperation she cried out, "You stole one of my pickles, too!" We argued on for a moment, and as mom says, I backed her into a corner with my superior wit at which point she shouted, "I hate you!" ran upstairs, slammed her door shut and wouldn't talk to me.

I ended up buying her another jar of pickles as a peace offering, and my dad went out and got her a new cell phone (insert comment about spoiled youngest children here). And that is the argument we still talk about today.

At the moment my garden is a hot freaking mess. There are uncontrollable weeds hiding behind a wall of thorns from a rose bush gone wild. The tomato plants are falling over on top of themselves and each other and everything (including that hideous gargoyle). The cucumber plant has grown into places I can't even reach and there is fruit hidden under practically every leaf. This week will be an exercise in the creative use of the cuke. One harvesting of cucumbers produced 10 pints of beautiful vinegary, dilly, salty pickles.

These pickles are actually supposed to brine for six weeks, but after a mixup with the proportions of vinegar and water and salt, I went ahead a sampled the pickles just to make sure. Once I sampled, oh, I just couldn't stop. There's an audible crunch when biting into the chips; they just reak of freshness. And I just love the pucker of the vinegar. My mouth is starting to water just thinking about it.

Pickles: recipe thanks to my friend Caitlin O'Hare
quart jars
cucumbers (the pickling variety have thinner skin, great for soaking in the brine)
1 scant teaspoon dill weed
1 garlic clove, peeled
3/4 cup apple-cider vinegar
2 tablespoons fine kosher salt (or pickling salt)
1/8 teaspoon alum

Arrange half the cucumbers in the quart jars. Add the dill and garlic clove (I chopped them into a couple smaller pieces). Fill the jar the rest of the way with cukes. Pour in the vinegar, salt and alum, which serves to keep the cukes crispy. Fill the jar the rest of the way with cold water. Put the lid on and shake it up, making sure the salt dissolves. Brine in the fridge for six weeks (or you know, a week--I chopped mine so I figured the flavoring didn't have to go through the skin before soaking the cucumber with goodness). These pickles need to stay in the fridge because they are sealed or properly sterilized for that sort of thing.

Food Porn

Lainey Seyler — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 10:41:00 -0700

It has been blazes hot lately. Fortunately, by the time you all are reading this, I'll be wearing a fleece in Juneau, Alaska. It's days followed by days followed by days like these that make me appreciative of pools and air conditioning. We didn't have the ac on in the apartment until I caved last Tuesday. I was making dinner with some friends right before Simon left to go home to Innsbruck, Austria. It had to be hotter than 100 degrees in my apartment with the stovetop fired up. Dan popped the window open as wide as it could go, I grabbed another fan and the three boys took their shirts off. Let me repeat that last part: The boys took their shirts off to reveal their sweating not-at-all-unattractive bodies. That's enough to raise the temperature a few degrees itself.

I recreated a pasta dish that my friend Amy had made for a potluck, teaching Justin some basics of cooking (like using whole, fresh garlic and salting pasta water). My pasta didn't turn out as good as Amy's, but the watermelon-tomato salad was just as good as it was last year. I have some more pictures from the evening, but it feels like I'm exploiting my friends' bodies to get attention to my blog, so I'll just post one picture. The sun was going down and we hadn't yet turned on any lights (but had flicked on the air). All I could see were dark silhouettes of glistening bodies in the glare of the sun.

Pasta with Garlic Lemon Sauce: from Cooks.com

1 pound penne, linguini or larger pasta (spaghetti was not the best choice)

2 cloves garlic

2 zucchinis or yellow squashes, diced

zest of a lemon

4 tablespoons butter

1 cup heavy cream

salt and pepper

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup parmesan cheese

juice from a lemon

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to instructions. Drain.

Melt the butter in a pan on medium heat. Saute the garlic, squash and lemon zest until vegetables are softened. Add the cream, salt and pepper, and nutmeg. Reduce heat and saute until cooked through--3 to 5 minutes. Throw in the noodles and toss to coat with sauce. Add parmesan and lemon juice, stir to combine and serve.

Baguette Success

Lainey Seyler — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:41:00 -0700

Despite all self-sabataging efforts, this baguette came out just barely shy of pefection. (This picture is bad and I couldn't get those beautiful slits in the top of the loafs--that is all.) It was crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and salty. The French are genius, and apparently, I am too. I have tried my hand at making bread countless times. Countless. The only time I've ever made yeast bread that was even edible was this idiot-proof bread from Sullivan Street Bakery in New York. Other times I've burned them, but most often they refuse to rise and end up more akin to a cement block. This French baguette, my friends, is a true success. I have been trying for literally years (seriously--I used to make yeast bread weekly when I lived with my parents) to achieve this, and I can't even believe it happened because I did not follow the directions.

They say that's the rule with baking: There are rules and they must be followed. Cooking allows much more improvisation (and room for error). But substitute olive oil for butter in a cake and you're screwed. The problem with bread is waiting. The bread has to rise (in the right climate) for a certain period of time. Well the World Cup and the rest of my social life took precedence over kneading bread after it had risen one hour. And when I did end up kneading, the dough was so gummy and gooey I thought for sure it would just melt in the oven. I obviously know nothing about proper bread making because I thought all those other times would work out, and they ended in complete and utter failure. It felt imminent this time. Certain death of good yeast. I guess I know a lot less about life and love and bread than I thought I did.

Baguette: from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

(to come)

Rustic Tea Cake

Lainey Seyler — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 23:54:00 -0700

List of awesome things that happened this weekend:

dancing in the park with Justin, James and Katie

watching boys climb trees and Celtic crosses

running through the sprinklers after Shakespeare on the Green

going to the farmer's market with Dan

sipping lemonade on the curb while watching a zydeco band

baking and cooking all afternoon

pool parties

yard games

Amy's pasta with garlic and lemon sauce

sitting on the back porch

learning to lead climb

Espana gana!!!!

I barely woke up in time to make it to the farmer's market on Saturday. I hadn't planned on going, but it just felt right. Thankfully Dan agreed to go with me--it's much more fun with friends. We wandered around while I tried not to buy more vegetables than one person would be able to eat. This adorable French man was selling plums hardly larger than a grape for $3. I couldn't resist them or his accent. He threw in some chives and peppery parsley.

Dan had never tried plums--can you believe it! I love trying new things and especially introducing others to new things, but had I known it was his first I would have picked a different plum. These were more tart than usual and the skin was a touch bitter. The bitterness really came out in the tea cake I made later. Not enough to ruin things. In fact, I love the recipe for this batter. I dug through a dozen old issues of Gourmet to find the right one filed under rustic fruit desserts. The cake was really dense, almost crusty but not dry. I don't even know what to compare it to.

Stone Fruit Tea Cake: from Rustic Fruit Desserts

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter

3 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups coarsely chopped stone fruit

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs and mix, one at a time. Add the vanilla, mix. Blend in the flour in two batches and mix until it is just combined. Lay out batter on a piece of plastic wrap and form into a gooey circle about 1/2 inch thick. Throw into the freezer for 30 minutes just so it's not so melty--you don't want or need it to get completely frozen.

Remove from fridge and preheat oven to 350. Divide the batter in half and press the larger half into a 9-inch fluted tart pan. Arrange the stone fruit on top of the batter. Then rip off bite-size chunks of batter from the other half and arrange on top of the stone fruit. Bake for 30 minutes until the top is golden brown and hard.

Vengence Is Sleeping

Lainey Seyler — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 00:44:00 -0700

Last night I cried at a bar. In public. And I wasn't drunk.

I was with Katy and our friend Jacob. I was drilling Jacob for dating advice--he asked me about Zach and the break in and I just totally started crying, softly, quietly, endlessly. He felt pretty bad. No one wants to see a girl cry. I tried to get it together, but it took a minute and a laugh. I don't feel bad for crying. I cheered and jumped up and down when Spain won the semi-final game against Germany, and I cried myself to sleep the night before. (This girl will never be guilty of not feeling.)

It's almost been a year since the break in. I'm still getting over things, which is embarassing because I was raised to be tough.

It still makes me angry to tears that so many people got away with things and I didn't. That guy who broke into our house hasn't been caught and probably never will be. Then there's my ex-boyfriend who I naively thought would be there, then all the people who said ridiculous and insensitive things to me (i.e. my ex-boyfriend's dad, the landlord and people at this Bible study I went to), friends who tease me for the window and door alarms in the new place, people who think I'm silly for being scared. So if I make my list, almost no one is innocent. But it was actually this unknown faceless man who caused all the problems. The worst part of it is that it's been a year and it feels like I'm in the same place I was back then. I hate that.

I suppose that's not true. I physically relocated. I've got the same old friends and some new ones. I still love bicycling but now I go rock climbing too. I still do yoga at the same Benson Yoga Studio. I've been working at Home & Away for more than three and a half years (!), plus I've been writing for the Reader for three years (dining editor for a year and a half). But I feel some change on the horizon. I still love tomatoes and make the same caprese salads:

And I still try out new ways to combine the same old mozzarella, tomatoes and basil:

My garden is better this year (so far). I've made more meat dishes, which was my goal for year 26. I've been going to West Hills Church for 10-plus years. Faith is probably still the greatest committment of my life, which is good because there are moments I'm convinced it's a load of crap. Sometimes I wonder why faith is so important to me, and I think it's because I know (and I want/need to know, if that makes sense) that at the end of everything, love wins.

First Harvest

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 09:05:41 -0700

Last night I harvested the first produce from my square foot garden. There was only enough for each of us to have a small sample. Currently there are tons of green grape tomatoes and tiny little green beans that will soon ripen and be ready to harvest. Last night’s little taste was a wonderful preview to what is ahead. I love that I can walk out to the garden and pick what I need for dinner. Mom and Dad shared some freshly dug potatoes with us over the weekend, which I boiled for dinner last night too. I am jealous of their 5,000 sq ft garden. Some day I hope to have an area where I too can plant an enormous garden.

What have you enjoyed from your garden this year already?

Oatmeal Raisin with Honey

Lainey Seyler — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 14:05:00 -0700

I haven't made cookies in ages. I think summer is too hot for them. In fact, these oatmeal raisins were so soft and gooey and the weather has been equally soft and gooey that the mass of them just melted together to form one giant cookie. To eat them, you had to pull off little chunks of goodness bit by bit.

I actually made them for a friend who tuned up my bike (before I ran it over). Then that friend got hit by a drunken driver whilst on his bike, so the cookies served a dual purpose: thank you and get well soon. I don't know how much he appreciates baked goods, but I think time has told that nothing can heal broken bones, broken hearts or broken spirits much like a homemade baked good, especially those dunked in cold milk.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies: from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks softened butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup honey (Martha suggested syrup)

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 325. In a medium bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium until light and fluffy. Add the honey and blend again. Add the egg and vanilla, beat until combined. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture in two batches and beat until just combined. Add the oats and raisins and mix briefly until combined. Arrange on baking sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Sam's Italian Villa

NinjaDebugger — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 07:51:00 -0700

Restaurant: Sam's Italian Villa

Address: 3312 West Broadway, Council Bluffs, IA

Website: http://samsitalianvillacb.com/

Genres: Italian

Check Constraints: None

Chain: No | More Omaha Locations: No

==NinjaDebugger==

Ordered:

Garlic Bread ($3.95)
Soda ($1.95)
Prime Rib Dinner ($16.95)

Baked Potato
Bread
Salad
Spaghetti w/marinara

I have a history with Sam's Italian Villa that does not actually involve eating there. See, when we finally moved into our house across town, I had the opportunity to get myself a job, so I took myself around to the local fast food places, naturally, and got myself a job slinging tacos. It was a good job, and I am still willing to eat there, so overall, it worked out pretty good, except when I had to quit because they kept scheduling me to close on school nights.

In any case, on the path to and from work, I would be forced to walk past Sam's Italian Villa. Now, being poor, my money pretty much all went into either helping with the bills or purchasing a computer, for I had decided I wanted to be a programmer, so while I was sorely tempted by the wonderful smells wafting forth from the vents of Sam's Italian Villa, I was never actually able to simply go have a meal. Other concerns came first. But someday, I would. That day was today.

Unfortunately, it started off poorly. The bread from the dinner came out first, and was old was swiftly hardening into a Breadstick of Indestructibility +5. This was followed swiftly by the garlic bread, which was burned on top, underdone on the bottom, and lacking utterly in any form of garlic. This was swiftly followed by the salad, a mass of iceberg lettuce with a smattering of carrot, straight from a bag, accompanied by two cucumber slices and two cherry tomatoes. It was quite evident, especially from the wilted, dried out look of the cucumbers, that it had been sitting out a while, and the accompanying vinagrette was bland and uninteresting in spite of the many herbs. Then the cup of spaghetti with marinara came out. They didn't fuck up the pasta, at least, even if the marinara was the most bland, uninspiring marinara I have ever tasted in my life.

Then came the baked potato and the prime rib. The potato came with a side of sour cream, thankfully, but was very slightly underdone. A forgivable sin, next to all the others. The prime rib was, um... immense. As big in girth as the monsters we had at the Drover, but half again as thick, it was mightily impressive... until I realized that at least a third of it was either gristle or massive chunks of fat.

Overall, I have to say that I would rather eat out of the Drover's dumpster than go back to Sam's Italian Villa, and that opinion is not in the least colored by my high hopes for it. For the same price I could go to Cascio's Steak House or the Drover, and get food that is quite literally better in every way. Sam's Italian Villa is much better experienced from the outside, where it smells simply divine.

Shrimp Scampi

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 10:34:33 -0700

Recently I posted a recipe about pesto I made using basil from my garden. If you are a frequent reader then you already know I love all things pesto. Even though pesto and pasta make a terrific meal I wanted to add something more substantial to the dish. My first thought was to add some garlicky chicken, but alas, all our chicken was frozen. The next best thing was garlicky shrimp, especially since shrimp defrost very quickly under cool running water and cook in a flash. For me it was the perfect last minute solution.

This recipe cooks up in minutes and has minimal ingredients. If you really want to impress your friends with a dish that is delicious but requires very little work shrimp scampi is your winning ticket. Once cooked you could toss with your favorite pasta or serve as is with a nice crust bread to soak up any left over buttery garlic sauce. Your choice! I added it on top of the pesto pasta and my family thought it was perfect.

SHRIMP SCAMPI
1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
4-6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped (I like the garlic bigger, feel free to mince if you prefer it smaller)
2T butter
1 T olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
juice of 1/2 a lemon

Over medium heat melt the butter in a saute pan. Add garlic cook for 1 minute making sure not to burn. Add shrimp. Turn the shrimp over once they turn pink. Cook until other side turns pink. Season with salt and pepper. Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon. Give everything a good stir then serve.

*If you’re serving this plain with pasta you could add another tablespoon of butter and oil.
*Adding red pepper flake to the shrimp would be a nice spicy addition. I left it out because it is too spicy for my little girls.

OTHER SHRIMP RECIPES:
Shrimp Pasta from My Baking Addiction
Spaghetti with Shrimp, Broccoli, and Basil from Taste Food Blog
Shrimp Scampi from Nook & Pantry
Asparagus Pesto Pasta with Blackened Shrimp from Gimme Some Oven

Watermelon Salsa

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:06:04 -0700

Recently we went to a friend’s house for a barbecue (I am a huge fan of summertime barbecues). Wonderful food was served including watermelon salsa. I had never had watermelon salsa before and after the first taste, I knew I had to replicate it at home. To some the idea of sweet fruit combined with spicy jalapenos may not sound like a winning combination. Let me stop to remind you that the tomato is actually a fruit so went you are enjoying your favorite salsa you technically are enjoying “fruit” salsa. Right? My Dad and my Grandpa (who I wouldn’t classify as adventurous eaters) tried the salsa and liked it. I think they both said something to the effect of “It is different. Different but good.” as they each scooped up another chip full. If that still doesn’t convince you, I encourage you to follow the advice of my four year old, “Try it. You will like it.”

The watermelon provides a sweet coolness to an otherwise regular tomato salsa. Please make this for your Fourth of July get together or next family barbecue. This is a refreshing snack to enjoy while you are waiting for the coals to heat up, while you are sitting around chit-chatting with friends and family, and/or while you are enjoying a frosty beverage.

Have a happy and safe holiday!

WATERMELON SALSA
inspired by a friend

2 c ripe seedless watermelon, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/2 large red onion, minced
2 jalapenos, minced –remove seeds and membrane if you don’t want it too spicy
handful of cilantro, chopped coarsely
1 lime juiced
season with salt & pepper as needed

Combine all ingredients in serving dish. Stir together. Season accordingly.

Feel free to add more of any ingredient according to your taste preferences. Serve with tortilla chips. Enjoy!

OTHER SALSAS:
Fresh Salsa from Jamie’s Recipes
Fresh Fruit Salsa from Guilty Kitchen
Blueberry Salsa from Kitchen Parade
Peach and Peppadew Salsa from Pinch My Salt
Mango Salsa from The Arugula Files

Tunes

Lainey Seyler — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 04:59:00 -0700

Instead of writing about this (quite good) egg cassarole I made for work, I joined 8tracks.com and made a mix. I can't pretend to be as good or as experienced as Lindsey (who is practically legendary), but here's a link to my meager effort at some nice summer tunes:

Egg and Potato Cassarole:

I just threw this cassarole together in a flash. I pre-cooked the potatoes (and asparagus) a la Dan with some fresh rosemary and a clove of garlic. I chopped up a chipotle pepper and threw it in for some heat. The following morning, eight eggs, some Dijon mustard and a cup of half-and-half went in. I embedded a couple slice of ripped stale bread in a baking pan and poured the egg/potato mixture over the top. I sprinkled crumbled queso fresca on top and baked it for 45 minutes at 350. And that's that.

Best Breakfast

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:38:47 -0700

I just read on Eater that the current issue (July/August 2010) of Food Network Magazine listed the best breakfast in every state. This is not a magazine I subscribe too and I have not read the article so I am unsure how they determined where the best restaurant breakfast is. To pick one winner in each state would be a difficult and delicious task.

For my Nebraska readers the Belgian waffles at Petrow’s Restaurant in Omaha was the winner. I have never eaten there before so I can’t comment on the quality of the waffles. BUT if you do want my opinion on one of the best breakfast meals I’ve eaten in Omaha it would be the red beans and rice omelet from Dixie Quicks. Dixie Quicks is a small comfort food style restaurant. Their menu is on a giant chalkboard and items get erased when they run out. If you want to try Dixie Quicks reservations are recommended during the week and are required for Sunday brunch.

OK breakfast eaters, do you agree with the results that Food Network Magazine came up with? If you were in charge of writing that article what restaurants/breakfasts would you include? Where is your favorite breakfast served in your city or state? Please share in the comments.

Here are the magazine’s results:

Alabama: Eggs Mauvila at Café 615, Mobile
Alaska: Reindeer Sausage Omelet at Gwennie’s Old Alaska Restaurant
Arizona: The Over Easy at Over Easy
Arkansas: Banana Pancakes at The Pancake Shop
California: Fantastic French Toast at Marston’s Restaurant
Colorado: Breakfast Burrito at King’s Chef Diner
Connecticut: The Portuguese Fisherman at Kitchen Little
Delaware: Sausage Sandwich at Helen’s Famous Sausage House
Florida: Philadelphia Scrapple at Skyway Jack’s
Georgia: HabersHam and Eggs at B. Matthew’s Eatery
Hawaii: Ahi Steak and Eggs at Eggs ‘n Things
Idaho: Oatmeal Soufflé at Red Feather Lounge
Illinois: Vegetarian Scrapple at Ina’s
Indiana: Paxton’s Potatoes at Village Deli
Iowa: Our Famous Pancake at Grove Café
Kansas: Buenos Dias Frittata at The Chef
Kentucky: French Toast at Lynn’s Paradise Café
Louisiana: Got Boudin? Omelet at Café Des Amis
Maine: Fresh Buttermilk Pancakes at Boyton-McKay Food Co.
Maryland: Shirley’s Affair with Oscar at Miss Shirley’s Café
Massachusetts: Doughnut at Craigie on Main
Michigan: The Cowboy Curtis at The Fly Trap: A Finer Diner
Minnesota: Pastrami & Egg at Be’wiched Deli
Mississippi: Beignets at Triplett-Day Drug Company Soda Fountain
Missouri: Rooster Slinger at Rooster
Montana: Haystack at Goode’s Q & Bayou Grill
Nebraska: Belgian Waffle at Petrow’s Restaurant
Nevada: Cowpoke Quiche at Dish Café
New Hampshire: Littleton Buckwheat Pancakes at The Littleton Diner
New Jersey: The Slider at Summit Diner
New Mexico: Atole Piñon Hotcakes at Tecolote Café
New York: Poached Eggs with Curried Lentils, Yoghurt and Cilantro at The Breslin
North Carolina: Fried Chicken Biscuit at Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen
North Dakota: Rancher Skillet at Kroll’s Diner
Ohio: Cinnamon Rolls at Omega Artisan Baking
Oklahoma: Steak and Eggs at Cattlemen’s Steakhouse
Oregon: Triple Berry Toast at Green Salmon Coffee House
Pennsylvania: Strawberry Hotcakes at Pamela’s P&G Diner
Rhode Island: Johnnycakes at Jigger’s Diner
South Carolina: Fried Green Tomatoes and Shrimp with Grits at Marina Variety Store Restaurant
South Dakota: Buffalo Steak Tips and Eggs at Blue Bell Lodge at Custer State Park Resort
Tennessee: Tennessee “Jack” Egg Sandwich at The Capitol Grille
Texas: Reggie’s Weekend Special at Torres Taco Haven
Utah: Sill’s Famous Scone at Sill’s Café
Vermont: Penny Cluse at Penny Cluse Café
Virginia: California Huevos Ranchero at Kuba Kuba
Washington: Corned Beef Mash: at The Braeburn Restaurant
Washington DC: Fried Chicken, Eggs and Waffles at Founding Fathers
West Virginia He-Man Breakfast: at The Poky Dot Diner
Wisconsin: Swedish Pancakes at Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant & Butik
Wyoming: Chicken-Fried Steak, Eggs and Potatoes at Sherri’s Place

Mmmm…pancakes!

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 22:46:57 -0700

For year’s I’ve been hearing about Vidlak’s Brookside Cafe in Millard, located on the Northwest corner of 156th and L/Center/Bob Boozer/whatever it is at that point. (Sorry, no website or we’d link!) I’ve heard time and again that Vidlak’s had the best breakfast in Omaha. But, to be honest, the best breakfast in Omaha is made by my husband right here at home on a fairly regular basis – so we don’t go out for breakfast much!

Regardless, I wanted to try Vidlak’s out and see what all the hype was about. We stopped in on a week day morning, around 10 AM. The restaurant was busy, but not overly crowded, and we had no problem finding a table. I overheard one of the servers saying that they had just had a rush, and everyone who was there had come in within the last 10 minutes. Ok, I thought – it may be a bit to get our food, if everybody just got here.

We ordered quickly – a selection called the “gut buster”, which included two sausage patties, two eggs, two potato pancakes, and choice of toast or regular pancakes, all for $6.95. I also ordered a cup of coffee, as I find that’s almost always a good barometer of a “breakfast joint”! If they can’t get the coffee right, forget the rest.

As I sat and waited for our food to come, I watched how the servers buzzed around the room and interacted with the other customers. Buzzed is very much the right word – as the main server in my section was constant in her trips from table to table, making sure everyone had what they needed. Now – Vidlak’s isn’t all that fancy. I stop short of calling it a diner, because…well…because I guess it feels just a step above a diner. It’s just a nice, middle of the road kind of place.

To my surprise, the food actually came out rather quickly, and piping hot! The sausage was great, the potato pancakes were awesome, and the eggs…well…they were eggs. Scrambled, by my selection, and there was nothing wrong with them. Eggs just don’t thrill me, so I admit I avoided them. They looked good, however, and my dining companion enjoyed some of mine.

What I really loved, though? The regular pancakes! They were served as a side to my meal, and…wow…the were sensational! Great flavor, cooked to a beautiful golden brown, served with warm syrup and softened butter…the were pancake perfection! I will definitely be back!

My overall rating…it’s a good 4 napkins. I can’t find much to argue against it actually being the best breakfast in Omaha. It was pretty darn good. The ony slight problem I saw was that the person sitting across from me never got her food, and there was confusion over who had put her order in. HOWEVER – three of the servers immediately worked to make the situation right. I left before she received her food, so I don’t know how that ended, but it was the only less-than-perfect thing I saw. Given the actions of the staff, I can’t even fault them for it.

I can’t wait to go back for some Eggs Benedict. Or maybe a potato casserole. Man, I don’t know – I just want some more pancakes!

~The Critical Wife

In the Heat of Summer

Lainey Seyler — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:47:00 -0700

Last night, I sat on the porch and watched the sun go down on the longest day of the year while turning pages in a book that I am actually reading for pleasure. That tree kind of blocks the view, but the pink-purple-blue-yellow streaks of cloud still peaked through. We get some of the best sunsets in the Midwest.

Last summer was a season of live music and cold salads. (I cannot wait for the tomatoes to ripen.) This year I think it will be a summer of outdoor adventures and (somewhat) spicy Mexican cuisine--I'm kind of a baby when it comes to heat. I've already embarked with friends on several biking adventures. However, those may be put on hold for a couple reasons, one being that I ran over my own bicycle and bent the front wheel so badly it won't rotate all the way around. My friend just gave my bike a marvelous tuneup last week. For one glorious ride, my bike shifted gears with ease and made barely a squeak. But Sunday I was in a hurry and pulled out of my garage packed with three bikes and a stupid lacrosse goal (that dang lacrosse goal). My mirror hit the handlebar of my bike and knocked it over and I just kept driving. I didn't actually run it over per se, but jammed it between the wall and my car. You know those times when maybe you walk out of the house with like 10 things in your arms and you're already late for work and then you drop something and instead of picking it up again you just kick it because you're annoyed--that's pretty much what I did to my bike. I am such an idiot.

So far nothing has spoiled my summer of Mexican food. I plan to fully embrace my discovery of the hot pepper and queso with a diversity of cooking. Or maybe I'll just remain content with an easy tortilla dish. I thought for sure I already shared this chili-chicken recipe on here, but I can't find it. It's got to be on this blog somewhere because this is one of the first things I really cooked for myself and kept cooking. I got the recipe from Weight Watchers who recommends cooking the chicken in Pam's light cooking spray. Now that I'm completely off that healthy kick, I douse with olive oil--the "heart-healthy" oil.

Chili Chicken Tortillas: serves 4

2 chicken breasts/thighs whatever, just cubed

1 tablespoon flour

1 teaspoon chili powder

big dash seasoned salt

dash pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

Toss uncooked chicken in a bowl of flour, chili powder, seasoned salt, pepper and paprika. Cook in a saute pan with olive oil until the chicken is cooked through. You might need to experiment with the seasonings on this to your preference. Serve in a tortilla garnished with whatever you've got that might go with Mexican food (i.e. cheese, peppers, salsa, tomatoes, sour cream and so on).

Basil & Sunflower Seed Pesto

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 09:06:38 -0700

It wasn’t that long ago that I tried pesto for the first time. On a whim I bought some, it was jarred and sitting next to the spaghetti sauces on the top shelf at the grocery store. I was a little hesitant to try it and the jar sat in my pantry for at least a month after I bought it. When I finally had the courage to try it (which is weird because I love trying new things) I opened the jar and noticed there was a layer of oil just floating on top of a green mass. So far I wasn’t impressed. Uncertain whether or not to stir the oil back into the pesto or pour it off I opted just to stir it back in. Finally I was ready to try it. I stuck the spoon back into the jar and scooped up a little bit of pesto. I ate it straight off the spoon and I was pleasantly surprise how wonderful it was. Prior to this experience I really hadn’t tried much basil before, but now I was in love with the garlic, basil, Parmesan cheese combination. Last summer Mom grew basil in her garden and canned plenty of pesto to enjoy during the off season. When I was planning out my garden, I knew without a doubt, basil would be included.

Last week my basil was finally big enough to harvest some leaves for my first batch of pesto. When I did my weekly grocery shopping trip I planned to get Parmesan cheese and pine nuts (I always have garlic on hand) for the pesto. Much to my surprise pine nuts were $29.99 per pound at Whole Foods. Eek! I knew they were a costly little seed but I was surprised at the actual price tag. Not wanting to spend that much I was just going to buy walnuts since I’ve used them before when making pesto. As I was reaching for the walnuts I saw the sunflower seeds and recalled I still have a small stash of them at home. So the walnuts went back on the shelf. The sunflower seeds I had were salted and roasted so I skipped adding any extra salt to my pesto. The pesto was quickly made in my food processor and tossed with some fettuccine. To make the meal a little more substantial I made some shrimp scampi (recipe here) to toss on top.

I think the sunflower seeds worked wonderfully in pesto. They are a really nutty tasting seed and combined with the Parmesan cheese and garlic I thought it was delicious. Have fun with your pesto and switch around which type or nuts or seeds you use. Give the sunflower seed pesto a try, I think you will like it. Do you have a favorite nut or seed you use in your pesto? Let me know in the comments.

BASIL & SUNFLOWER SEED PESTO
2-3 c Basil leaves
2-3 cloves garlic
1/3 c Parmesan cheese, grated
1/3 c roasted sunflower seeds (without the shell)
squeeze of 1/2 lemon
2-3 T olive oil, enough to loosen the mixture

Place everything besides the olive oil in the food processor or blender. Pulse until smooth. Turn food processor or blender on so it will continuously blend. Slowly stream in olive oil -just until the mixture is loose. Toss with cooked hot pasta. Enjoy!

*I like to reserve 1/4 c or so of the pasta cooking liquid to add to the pesto. This allows for it to coat the pasta easier without adding more oil.

OTHER DISHES WITH PESTO:
Deconstructed Pesto with Beet Greens & Garlic Scapes
Baby Bok Choy Pesto
Sausage and Spinach Lasagna Rolls with Pesto Tomato Sauce
Pesto Couscous
Tuna and Pesto Sandwich
Spaghetti and Meatballs

Summer Potluck

Lainey Seyler — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 23:38:00 -0700

Here's hoping the rainstorm clears out so I can enjoy the longest day of the year by staying outside until the sun goes down. Summer is officially here, though I feel like I've been enjoying it for a good month now. I've been embarking on weekly adventures, usually via bicycle, with friends. Last Friday, we ended up looking out on the city from atop this abandoned railroad bridge that spans the Missouri River. Downtown was lit up and airplanes landed overhead while we sipped a PBR. Life isn't always that good.

Saturday, Amanda and I threw a summer potluck. We pushed the table back and welcomed scads of food to the buffet. I made way too much of this chipotle white bean dish, and now our fridge is as packed with food as our apartment was with people. I didn't get to try all the food because I was full by 8:15 (when only two people were at our house). Sean brought kimbab and homemade kimchi (which was never opened), the Wagenknechts brought a couscous salad and a summer cocktail. There were blueberry brownies, and Adam's cookies weren't gone by the end of the party, but they are now. Amanda threw together a lemony pasta. We had a variety of dips, crackers and beer. A summer storm brewed overhead, and friends talked, ate and played music until nearly 2 a.m.

In making the chipotle beans, I got to try out a few new things: making dried beans, cooking with queso fresca and using adobo sauce. I was a little nervous about the dried beans; Amanda said they take forever to cook. These great northerns were actually fine, and if I ever have the foresight to presoak some beans again, I would. Queso fresca is amazing. I've had it before in Latino soups before but had never bought it plain. It's like feta but creamier and less salty. I used it in three recipes this weekend--this may be the summer of Mexican. I bought canned chipotle peppers for this recipe and ended up using those beauts in an egg cassarole (with queso fresca obviously). Good.

Chipotle White Beans: from 101 Cookbooks

1 pound white beans

1 bunch kale, chopped

Tomato Sauce:

olive oil

1 large clove garlic, diced

1 teapsoon red pepper flakes

salt

1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 1/2 tablespoons adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers

1 teapsoon dried oregano

Cilantro Pesto:

1/3 cup cilantro

1 clove garlic

1/3 cup olive oil

1 cup breadcrumbs toasted in olive oil

Soak the beans according to directions for your specific brand of beans. Place beans in a pot of water (with water one inch above the beans and with the lid cracked), bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the beans are tender. Remove from heat once cooked through and salt the bean broth. Let sit for 10 minutes and then drain.

Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce and then the cilantro pesto. Saute the garlic, red pepper flakes and salt in olive oil for one minute. Add the tomatoes and oregano. Bring to a simmer then remove from heat. Stir in the adobo sauce. Taste and season with more sauce or more salt if needed.

In a food processor, pulse the garlic and the cilantro. While the processor is running, add the olive oil until you have a smooth paste.

Preheat the oven to 425. In a fireproof pan, toss the beans, tomato sauce and chopped kale together. Top with crumbled queso fresca. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cheese has browned ever so slightly and the beans on the top of the pot have crispy skins. Serve garnished with bread crumbs, cilantro pesto and more cheese.

Okinawa Sushi Grill (how do you grill sushi?)

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:13:44 -0700

Okinawa sushi, at 124th & L. (I can’t find a website for them – sorry!)
As you may or may not have noticed, we’re big sushi fans. Omaha Critic is more about the sashimi/nigiri, while I am definitely more about the maki rolls. But when there’s a new sushi place opening, you can bet it’s on our radar. I hit up Okinawa early in the evening on their grand opening weekend. Now – I will admit, I expected there to possibly be some bumps, given that it was their opening weekend, but it wasn’t too bad. We tried the Gyoza appetizer, which was pretty good. We also tried the california roll (if a sushi place can’t do a cali roll, they need to close up!), a tempura shrimp and crab roll (I think it’s called a rocky roll), the shrimp naruto roll, and the “Golden Eagle”.

The sushi, overall, was good. It doesn’t compete with my favorite sushi place, but it was good, and better than some of the other places locally. The service was fairly good, if not really communicative. The cali, rocky roll, and naruto roll all came out together, and we had quite a while to finish them before the Golden Eagle came out. The Eagle, which we ordered on the recommendation of the server, is a tempura roll with tempura banana and a special sauce. Unfortunately, because that came out quite awhile after our other rolls, we were too full to really enjoy it, and took the majority of it home. (Cold – not so great.)

The restaurant, being brand new, was clean and nice, if a little small. The food was good, and the service fairly decent. My only complaint about this restuarant was that they charged us for refills on our drinks. Normally, this wouldn’t annoy me because most places tell you they charge – but Okinawa didn’t. Also, the server started asking if we wanted refills before we were even half way through the drinks, and did refill them far before they were empty. SO – it was just a minor annoyance, but it bugged me.

I’m feeling 3 stars on this one. Some room for improvement, but not bad overall. We’ll definitely give this one a try another time, and see if that moves up!

Well isn’t that GRAND! (Grand China Buffet)

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:12:01 -0700

Ok, so again we’re not updating quite as often as I would like, and I have the best of intentions. But you know how it is – life gets in the way.

LIFE, man.

Grand China Buffet – Roughly 112th & Chicago (by Parable book store).
Ok, people. Don’t roll your eyes. It’s a buffet. It’s a CHINESE buffet. Sounds a LOT like China Buffet right across Dodge street at 114th. But you know what? WOW. This place offers the standard Chinese buffet, Mongolian barbeque, and…wait for it…SUSHI! Not the premade sushi a lot of buffets have, but fresh, prepared on-site where you can see it, sushi. I’m not going to lie – it’s not on par with our favorite sushi, but you know what? It’s not half bad! Their buffet is expansive, with many, many selections including some non-Chinese options. My personal favorite? Their coconut shrimp. AWESOME. They also have the standard crab legs at dinner, and all the Blue Bunny ice cream you can handle for dessert! SO – as buffets go, it’s a win. The restaurant is clean, the staff has been very attentive on the several occasions we’ve gone. The food is buffet food quality – but not bad, and plentiful. I’m going to give this one a solid 4 napkin rating. It is definitely well worth it.

Peach-oat Scones

Lainey Seyler — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 23:46:00 -0700

I'm still on a quest to make the perfect scone. I feel a little closer this time than ever before, but I'm not there yet. What could be so difficult about making a scone, you might be asking yourself. Well, it's got to be sweet, but not too sweet, flaky but not dry and not chewy. Perfect scones are possible. I've eaten them before, but I'm beginning to think they were manufactured in a plant using chemical compounds to deliver the right amount of crips exterior and bready interior.

It's been blazes hot lately, and I'm loving every minute of it. I adore summer: its heat, sun, watermelon, tomatoes, ice cream, not its mosquitos, its pools, campfires, bike rides, everything. When I'm inside, I long for the outdoors. It was so hot the day I made these peach-oat scones that the butter melted instantly, which is not a good thing in this situation. The dough for the scones swiftly turned to batter when I turned it out on my new table. They stuck everywhere. Amanda tossed copious amounts of flour onto the mixture, while I scraped the peach-flavored goo onto the baking tray. According to Martha Stewart's instructions, I put the scones in the freezer for half an hour or so before baking.

They turned out pretty good. Amanda asked if I would start a bakery with them. No, I wouldn't. So they're not that good. I think that's a pretty good gauge of whether I would make something again or not. So I guess these scones don't cut it. They're fine. Good. The oats lend a heartiness. They're probably the best scones I've ever made, but still. I'm not there yet.

Peach-Oat Scones: from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook
1 cup oats
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks cold butter, sliced
1/2 cup dried apricots or peaches, coarsely chopped
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon cream
sanding sugar

Stir together the oats, flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, and salt in a large bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in the cold butter, mixing until it forms crumbs. Fold in the dried fruit.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the egg and buttermilk. Add the wet mixture to the crumbly one, mix with a spatula until the mixture comes together. Turn out the dough on a (heavily) floured surface. Form the dough into a rectangle--try not to get too sticky--that is about one-and-a-half inches thick. Cut the rectangle into triangles and arrange on a baking sheet. Place sheet in the freezer for one hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 when you're ready to bake. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk with the cream and brush it over the scones. Sprinkle sugar atop the scones. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the scones are golden brown.
Read about my other scone escapades here, here and here.

Been hang’n at Mother Zemog’s

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 11:28:14 -0700

Ok the title is a very obscure inside reference to som old game stuff I used to do… Anyway… Zemog’s catered lunch today downstairs. I got an order of their Nachos and I have to say: Yum. So I stood in line and made my order, the gal started prepping it with pride. Something you don’t see much in food service in this town. At that moment, her whole focus was that $6 plate of food. She took great care to make sure that each bite and chip had the right amount of beans cheese and meat. We chit-chatted a bit and came to find out that they make their own beans and Tortillas. She passed off my plate to the next guy who put on the garnishes and I manged to snake one of these home made tortillas. They were pretty darn tasty. Thin, light and had good flavor. So far great experience. So then he motions over to the salsas. “mild” “hot” and “Surface of the Sun”. Hearing the last, I scoffed and got a nice big cup of it. I then took a cup of the regular hot, then headed back up to my desk.

I sat down and started to take apart their sauce… I tasted the “surface of the sun” and had to laugh. It was WARM, but not too hot… (please remember, I have a LOVE for hot food and only Taste of Thailand can make things that are too hot for me) I then tasted the regular hot sauce… Tasted about the same. They were ok, but they had the kiss of death when it comes to salsa… they used canned tomatoes. They needed something else too… I can’t put my finger on what, but the salsa was bland. There weren’t enough layers to it. The funny thing is, I just made my salsa last night. Fresh tomatoes, cilantro, onions, fresh serrano peppers, garlic and salt. Finding the perfect blend is important…. I’m not going to go into my ratios and prep… that will give away my Texas State Fair winning secrets. Yes kiddies, my recipe (that I snagged from a restaurant I used to work at) won the Texas State Fair salsa competition 3 years in a row if I have my facts right… Well… that’s at least what I was told by the head chef and the manager. He could have made it up.

I will be going back to Zemogs when they come back.

Pros: The enthusiasm of the staff and the food quality
Cons: Canned tomatoes

Overall: I liked it. I loves small locally owned businesses. They are doing their best to make a name and I will recommend them until they tick me off. As I said… I will be going back.

My Lovely Patch of Wilderness

Lainey Seyler — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 03:15:00 -0700

I haphazardly planted herbs and vegetables this year (and a few impatiens). Last year was such a disaster what with the chiggers, lead contamination, snakes, overabundance of weeds and no tomatoes to speak of. Scoring the current apartment almost makes last year's ordeal worth it. Our current landlord fixes things AND has someone mow the lawn every week. Amazing. Our neighbors are fantastic: Pat gave me tips about weeds and has extended an open invitation for wine at his and his wife's fire pit; Eric the chef had a block party and loans me tools; and Patrick helped me push my car out of the snow. The only ones I'm not fond of are the downstairs neighbors who still use our dryer but no longer have loud sex (thanks to our awesome landlord). In fact, Amanda found a ginormous pair of men's underwear in the dryer that she tried to explain away as one of our friend's until she realize how big it was at which point she tossed it quickly on their washer.

I have got to get over it, but everything they do irks me: the dryer, the satellite dish, hideous lawn ornaments (an angry dog gargoyle, mushrooms and a stone starfish) and running the air conditioner when it's 70 degrees outside. Truly, now that they don't keep me awake at night, they keep to themselves, so it's not big deal. I hardly ever see them even though I'm out weeding in the backyard daily. They probably think I'm this crazy girl who hangs her washing on the line and is obsessed with her plants. It's true I'm totally obsessed.

I give Amanda and my mom daily updates on the progress of the plants. The tomatoes all have flowers and one even has the teeniest tiniest tomato. There is a little bity cucumber. And the herbs (dill, cilantro, rosemary, sage, thyme and two kinds of basil) are proliferating. The basil leaves are humongous and, come last weekend, were in desperate need of pruning. I could practically hear them speaking to me, "Pesto, we would make the best pesto. Put us in a bruschetta. Tear us into a tomato salad. Please, anything." Without ripe tomatoes, pesto was the best choice. I paired it with cream cheese and crackers at a barbecue, and it disappeared.

Pesto recipe here. I added a teaspoon or so of lemon juice to give it some zing.

Salmon with Creme Fraiche and Capers

Lainey Seyler — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 08:27:00 -0700

Today I'm thinking about life. What makes a good one? What makes one happy? Does happiness equal a good life? Before I even start, I'm afraid I don't have any answer. I know the things that make me happy: coffee in the morning, just being with friends and family, cooking and eating, cooking and eating with friends, doing anything outside (doesn't matter what) but especially bicycling. But we humans, we're all so complicated.

I've realized lately how many things I'm afraid of. There are dumb things like spiders and close spaces, but then there are real things like being lonely (I hate being lonely), leading a boring life, being made a fool of, being left behind. But these are all things I'm just going to have to deal with. There will always be spiders and, geez, I make an idiot of myself on a regular basis. And as much as I wish I were immune to it, loneliness will find me some day or another. But then there's always the good things. I have the best friends you could ask for and an even better family. I live in a country where there is always food, though I realize some people are not so lucky. I guess, even though I don't possess everything I want and even some of the things I want more than anything, my life is pretty good even when I have to sit inside.

Salmon with Creme Fraiche and Capers: for one

(This is the easiest recipe, ever. Plus, it gave me the chance to use some of my herbs from my now prospering garden.)

1 salmon filet (with the skin)

1/4 creme fraiche

curry powder

salt and pepper

capers

dill

In a skillet, heat some olive oil on medium. Lightly salt and pepper the salmon. Place salmon filet in skillet, skin side down, and cover with a lid. The steam will cook the top of the salmon and the skin with be extra crispy. Cook until the salmon turns a lighter pink color and flakes all the way through when you stab it with a fork.

Meanwhile, stir together about a teaspoon of curry powder with the creme fraiche and season with salt and pepper to taste. Top the cooked salmon with the curry creme fraiche, capers and fresh dill.

Breaking Hearts

Lainey Seyler — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 23:46:00 -0700

I typically get artichokes from a can or maybe a jar. Marinated and salty, I love the texture biting into the hearts, how the leaves sort of smush and juice seeps out. They are so Mediterranean--I can just see these hearty souls taking blasts of salty wind whilst clinging to the side of a Grecian cliff. More than likely, this artichoke came from California where it was hacked from its stem by a machete-wielding migrant worker. This was my first real artichoke. I liked it.

I followed Julia's instructions, except that I didn't boil it long enough so the pulp didn't quite slide off the leaves the way it's supposed to. The outside leaves were tough to tear off and tough to eat. But the closer to the heart we got, the more succulent. Amanda (the new roommate) and I pulled the meaty parts of the leaves off with our teeth after it was dipped in melted butter. It's hard to imagine snobby French people eating such an ugly vegetable and discarding sucked-on leaves right at the table, but that's what we did. I'm so glad my life is largely devoid of pretense.

Artichokes are just so weird (they're hairy!), but in a way, they are kind of beautiful. All those spiky leaves and the hair (some of which is quite pokey) protect the heart. It took a lot of pulling and pealing to get to the center, but I think it was worth it. I would try it again.

Boiled Artichokes: from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

1 artichoke
water
salt

Tear off the stem of the artichoke. Cut 1 to 2 inches off the top of the choke, then trim all the leaves using kitchen sheers. Wash. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Boil artichoke for 40 minutes. Serve with melted butter or hollandaise sauce.

Homemade Ice Cream

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:51:58 -0700

Summer is my favorite time of year. This weekend we were busy spending time outside, barbecuing, and mingling with friends. Actually this weekend I did not cook a single meal. My husband made breakfast and both nights we ate at our friends’ houses. Stepping out of the kitchen and not having the “burden” of cooking a meal has really inspired me and excited me to get cooking again. I have a good list of food I want to make and share with you soon.

On Saturday evening we joined a small group of people at a sushi making party. It was so much fun and I can’t wait to have my own sushi making party so I can share pictures and recipes with you. For the party I wanted to make a fun dessert that would compliment the sushi theme. At Whole Foods I found sweet matcha powder and used that to make homemade green tea ice cream. Before making the ice cream I hadn’t tried green tea ice cream before so I wasn’t exactly sure what flavor I was trying to create. The ice cream was smooth, sweet, and creamy with a subtle green tea flavor. Everyone seemed to enjoy it at that party. My daughter’s loved the (natural) green color of the ice cream. I am looking forward to cranking out many delicious ice cream recipes this summer.

GREEN TEA (MATCHA) ICE CREAM
from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 cups heavy cream
4 tsp matcha (green tea powder)
6 large egg yolks

*I used 1/2 c sugar and 3 T sweet matcha powder

Warm milk, sugar, and salt in medium saucepan. Pour cream into a large bowl and whisk in green tea powder. Set mesh strainer on top. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks together and slowly pour in the warmed milk mixture, you don’t want scrambled eggs so pour slowly and whisk constantly. Pour the contents back into the pan and stir over medium heat with a heatproof spatula. Continue to stir until mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Remove from heat and pour the custard through the strainer, stirring it into the cream. Whisk vigorously to dissolve the green tea powder. Stir until cool over an ice bath. Chill mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

OTHER WONDERFUL ICE CREAM CREATIONS:

Honey lavender ice cream by Homesick Texan
Earl Grey Ice Cream by At the Baker’s Bench
another David Lebovitz recipe: Gianduja Gelato at Two Peas and Their Pod
Cherry Frozen Yogurt by Simply Recipes

Website work, ideas, and competition.. and a splash of merlot

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:02:38 -0700

I have been noticing some strange issues with the web site as well as some old out-dated information. Over the next few weeks I am going to try and clean some of that up.

In the meantime, I would like to invite everyone to make suggestions for improving the site or adding content. I have a co-worker whose son is looking for a job. They are a chef working part time and looking for full time work. After having that conversation, I was kicking around some sort of chef recommendation service. Let me know if you have any thoughts on if I should add this.

I have another idea bouncing around in my head..

Is anyone interested in a version of “Chopped” for Omaha chefs?

Thanks!

~The Omaha Critic

A (so far) Losing Combination

Lainey Seyler — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:35:00 -0700

After last week's grand cake success, I was overdue for an ego check, which came in the form of a tart. I was inspired by my prospering basil plants and ripe summer fruit to substitute the sweet-tart strawberry for the tart-sweet tomato. My mom pooh-poohed the innovation. I never listen to her, but this time, she was right. I'm convinced basil and strawberries could pair serendipidously, but not with feta cheese or creme fraiche.

Things went wrong how they usually do with me: I tried to cut a corner. I didn't want to make an entire pastry crust so pulled some old puff pastry out of the freezer. A good idea in theory, but the pastry (obviously) puffed up and expelled the egg-mixture all over the pan it was resting on (not the easiest cleanup). Aside from that though, the tart had an inedible quality to it. I was planning on bringing it to a party, but abandoned that idea and brought Jamaican Red Stripe instead. I tried it again the next day, hoping to pinpoint exactly what turned me off to the tart, but it wasn't worth discovering and I just spit it into the trash. Sigh. I can't wait for tomatoes.

Friday last week became one of those days on which nothing goes right, until I came back from a meeting to find Tender by Nigel Slater sitting on my desk chair. The tome is beautiful (a tome it is, the cookbook has more than 400 recipes in 500 pages). It's filled with artsy pictures of vegetables from Slater's garden in various stages of production. The photos aren't even needed with how Slater describes the food--my words feel pathetic in comparison.

Hail the Conquering Hero

Lainey Seyler — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:09:00 -0700

I hate to prematurely toot my own horn, because this cake has yet to be cut into and eaten, but this photo at least proves that a cake I made and frosted existed in a perfect form. Once it was iced, I admit I started to get a little paranoid about inadvertently destroying it. I thought, "What if the roses have bugs in them that come out of the petals during the night and devour the cake?" Then when I was carrying it out the door of my apartment, down the steps, opening the garage (yikes) and placing it in the passenger seat, I imagined dropping it flat on its beautiful face.

The cake is currently safe and sound in my parents' fridge (in anticipation of my sister Allison's going away party tonight), that is until my sister Emily wakes up and runs her little fingers through the icing. She's probably doing it right now! She did. She licked it. Supposedly, you can't tell. Now if she could only resist taking another taste for the next eight hours--it's impossible. Once Allison wakes up, she'll try it. And then once my mom gets home from work, she's going to lick it too. These people have no control! The cake will probably be gone by the time the party starts! Because the cake is that good.

I made the same batter recipe as last time because it was just that splendid--just barely flavored with almond and orange, barely barely sweet. A couple days ago, I caved and bought Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. This time, for the frosting, I followed the directions exactly. I read the recipes in advance and purchased two dozen eggs in order to have enough for the batter and the frosting. I heated the egg whites in a double boiler, using a candy thermometer to exactly 160 degrees and to the point at which the sugar had completely dissolved. I transferred the egg-sugar mixture to the KitchenAid and mixed until it doubled in size and fluffed out. The sugar gave the whipped egg whites a glistening sheen. It became sticky and gooey, sort of like a marshmallow. Adding the butter, tablespoon at a time, the frosting went from goo to cream. Soft, smooth, not-too-sweet. Completely glorious.

Those of you who aren't fond of cakes--you haven't had this cake. Martha Stewart and her team of chefs are genius. I was having a borderline spiritual experience in the kitchen last night, whipping butter, egg whites and sugar into submission. It was like the clouds parted and angels burst out in the Hallelujah chorus. The cake held the frosting, nothing broke, melted or crumbled to pieces. Swirls of spackle held the layers together, enticing onlookers. This cake wants to be licked, cut apart and enjoyed. It wants to be eaten.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting: from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

4 egg whites

1 1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (at room temperature)

1 teaspoon vanilla (I also added almond extract)

Bring a pot of water to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. In a separate heat-proof bowl combine egg whites and sugar. Place heat-proof bowl in the simmering water. Begin whisking and do so continuously until the sugar has dissolved. Using a thermometer, whisk until the egg mixture reaches 160 degrees. Remove from heat. Using the whisk attachment (still obsessed with my KitchenAid), beat the egg whites until they are stiff but not dry and let cool while you're mixing (takes about 6 minutes according to Martha's directions).

Switch to the padder attachment on the mixer. Mix in the butter a couple tablespoons at a time until the frosting is creamy and smooth. Martha directs that if the butter separates from the whites, kick up the mixer speed until it unifies. Before finishing, turn the mixer on the lowest speed to remove air bubbles. Before icing the cake, mix with a spatula to remove more air bubbles. Expect the frosting process to make quite a mess--this means you've done a good job.

More Kale Please

Lainey Seyler — Thu, 27 May 2010 23:38:00 -0700

Summer hit like a slap in the face. Last week, I went camping with friends to glorious, wooded, rocky, redneck southern Missouri--Thursday, it rained all day, Friday, it was sunny and 75, and then Saturday, bam, it was 90. And I love it. Love it. I have a theory or life philosophy that you can't complain about the weather being hot and about it being cold--you have to pick one or the other. It's supposed to get up to 90 degrees today and guess who still doesn't have their air conditioning on? This guy.

It's time to swim at the pool, go camping and fishing, turn off the oven and toss together salads (except for next week when I master the cake--I am determined to succeed, so get excited readers). I cannot wait until the tomatoes come in and I can make this salad. In the meantime, I discovered roasting greens until they're crisp. So it does involve an oven. But if fall is about soups, winter is about stews and spring is ... I don't know what spring is, recovery from winter? Then in summer, I'll keep it simple: crackers, soft goat cheese and kale chips drizzled with olive oil and salt roasted for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. I suppose we're still technically in spring, but I mean, once people start turning on their ACs and leaving them on, I think it's transition time.

I can barely remember this day back in February when my world was buried in three-plus feet of snow and it seemed like it would never melt. But Omaha in summer totally makes up for the howl of a Nebraska winter. I've already done the Wabash Trace Taco Ride once, in fact, I've been riding my bike about Midtown and Dundee for the past month or so. The farmer's markets have started, some even a few weeks ago. The College World Series will be here in a month, bring thousands of fans to the steamy hot grandstand at Rosenblatt. And then there's Shakespeare on the Green and, my favorite, the Summer Art Festival. Outdoor concerts featuring the Old 97s, the Faint, Spoon, Superchunk and the Morning Benders. Now if only I could round out the season with a summer fling.

The Meltdown

Lainey Seyler — Tue, 25 May 2010 23:12:00 -0700

I'd like to blame some abstract cosmic force who is obviously working against me in the kitchen, but it's me. It's all me. I have an inability to follow directions. I don't plan on it. It just happens. I get to the bottom of the ingredient list and think "SIX egg whites! I have this meringue powder that should be a perfect substitute." And there it is. I've strayed ever so slightly from the instructions down the precipice and into the canyon.

Difficulty arose with my stubborn refusal to make another batch of hideous frosting. That buttercream frosting truly makes me want to yack. There was no way I was going to make an entire cake that I didn't want to eat. So I went to who we all know is the master of home baking: Ms. Martha Stewart. I decided upon her orange-almond cake with Swiss meringue buttercream--a buttercream recipe that calls for actual butter not Crisco. Using my new KitchenAid mixer (!) I whipped up the most delicious batter. The recipe calls for folding in egg whites--who knew how glorious egg whites could be when whipped to a frothy tower! So easy with the KitchenAid. The orange gave just a touch of zing to the moist cake littered with barely noticeable crunches of almond. For a filling, I used the remainer of the strawberry-peach-orange jam I made last summer.

I made an orange-flavored crumb coat, and moved on to the frosting while the crumb coat dried. We already know I substituted meringue powder for egg whites in the Swiss buttercream recipe--to my eventual detriment. But the frosting went on fairly smoothly, plus it's edible. A touch on the too-sweet side, but a fine balence when teamed with the cake. And I made the traditional buttercream frosting for the decorating portion of the cake--thank goodness. My sister Allison was standing by in case disaster struck but more to witness an emotional breakdown.

I carefully hauled my cake to the decorating class, taking every turn at calculated pace. One member of the class was not so lucky as I. By the time I waltzed into the classroom cake in hand, Desiree was red-faced and grumbling. Her cake broke en route--the top separated from the bottom and she was busy spackling it back together with the loathed buttercream. I offered a simpathetic glance and we mumbled about how horrible the frosting tastes--her fix was to substitute lemon juice for the water in the recipe (an excellent idea).

Together I and Desiree (my cake-decorating kindred spirit) fumbled through the final session. Once I coaxed my icing away from neon hues, I aced the roses. Desiree struggled with cabbage-like constructions until the light bulb clicked, and she got it too. I mastered the sweet pea, the simple rose bud, the leaf and the ribbon with almost no tribulation. Transferring my skills to the cake was more of a challenge, but it came out pretty well. I was the first one in the class finished with my cake, received my "diploma" and headed out to meet up with friends. I would trade my spendid cake for a meal of stir-fry.

I precariously balenced my cake in the front seat next to me and drove off. A little frosting transferred to my purse, so whilst driving I lifted the cake and balenced it in my right hand and steered with my left. There I was driving down Center Street with a cake in one hand. Not five minutes into the drive, I noticed that the butter-based icing was indeed melting in the 85-degree evening heat. My green-dot border was not-so-slowly sliding down the side of the cake and onto the stand and my arm. At a red light, I placed the cake back in the passenger seat. I couldn't have cried--it was too funny. I'm a lost cause with the cakes. If only Desiree could have seen me, she would have felt so much better about her own cake. I parked quickly at Dan's and ran up without even grabbing my purse. Once inside, Laura and Adam licked off the dripping frosting with their fingers while Dan snapped a quick photo (below). Such a delicious disaster.

Here are only the successful portions of the recipes, including the buttercream, which does taste horendous but works great with the roses.

Orange-almond Cake:

1 cup butter plus more to grease pans

1 1/2 cups flour (sifted)

1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar

6 large eggs, separated

orange zest from 2 oranges (I skipped this)

2/3 cup orange juice

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup coarsely ground almonds

pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease two 8- or 9-inch baking rounds and sprinkle with flour (that's a new trick I learned). Set aside.

In a medium or large bowl, beat together the sugar and egg yolks until light and fluffy with the whisk attachment (because I have that now!). Add the orange juice and zest and both the extracts and mix well. Using the paddle attachment, gradually mix the almonds and then the flour into the batter until combined. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the salt and the last 3 tablespoons of sugar. Beat until stiff but not dry. Set aside.

Melt the butter. Fold the butter into the batter using a spatula. Then gently fold in the egg whites, being careful not to deflate the whites. Pour batter into the two pans and bake for about 35 minutes, until cooked through. Let cool for 15 minutes. Turn out on a wire rack to cool completely.

Crumb Coat:

1 cup powdered sugar

orange juice

Put powdered sugar in a small bowl. Pour orange juice into the bowl one tablespoon or so at a time (very slowly). Mix with a fork between each tablespoon. Add enough liquid to make the icing runny, but still viscous. It should be about as thick as corn syrup. Pour onto the cooled cake that has already been stacked (if it's a two- or three-layer cake). Let dry.

Buttercream Frosting:

1 1/3 cup vegetable shortening

2 tablespoons meringue powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 or 6 tablespoons water

2 pounds powdered sugar (!)

In a mixing bowl, cream the shortening with the paddle attachment of a standing mixer (or just any old attachment for you commoners without a KitchenAid, yes, I'm already a snob). Add the meringue powder, vanilla and butter flavoring, salt and 5 tablespoons of water. Mix until smooth consistency. Add the powdered sugar one-third at a time. I left out probably 1/2 to 1 whole cup of the directed amount of powdered sugar and the consistency was totally fine (this was according to some tips from one of my aunts).

Add more water as needed to get the right consistency to frost a cake and/or make silly decorations like the roses and leaves (don't even ask me how to know what consistency is right).

The Coolest People I Know

Lainey Seyler — Mon, 24 May 2010 23:38:00 -0700

It only took 23 or so years for me to realize how truly amazing my parents are. Before moving to Thailand, all I wanted to do was get away from boring America, boring suburbia, boring parents. One of the things I learned in Thailand and through coming home is that life is only as boring as you let it become. My parents, who I once thought were the epitomy of predictability, are shining examples of people who have found contentedness in everyday life. Sure not every day is a breeze, but at the risk of my own "hip" reputation, these people are cool.

Now that my sisters and I are older, they have a lot more time to pursue their own interests. They've been married 32 years now and are still totally in love--they still hold hands people! They are obsessed with playing tennis. I would often call their house on a Friday evening to catch Emily home alone because Mom and Dad were out with their tennis team. My mom gardens, which is something I would have thought to be the most boring, suburbanite thing one could do back in my high school years. In the summer, they ride their bikes from Millard to Dundee (probably 10 to 15 miles) eat dinner at the Dundee Dell and ride home. They go skiing on vacation or canoe the Boundary Waters. And my dad is an amateur carpenter. He made the table pictured above and below with his own two hands and a few saws. He makes furniture. And not just any old furniture, really really nice furniture. Furniture I would never be able to afford. So far, he's made me a desk, bookcase and now this 6-foot-long dining room table. My parents' entire house is furnished probably 50 or 60 percent with stuff made by my dad. That is cool.

Gardening Adventure 2010

Mon, 24 May 2010 09:35:30 -0700

This is the first gardening season where I have a permanent space to garden. Since we haven’t lived through a gardening season at our new house I thought it would be best to build a garden box instead of tilling up our yard. Have you heard of square foot gardening (SFG)? At my local library I stumbled upon a book on the topic and thought this method may be the best option for us to try our novice hand at gardening. Last year my parents had a large garden and very generously shared the surplus harvest. This year they planted another large garden which hopefully will be prolific. With the hopes of receiving some of my parents surplus, I was able to focus on just a few items while honing my gardening skills. I didn’t plant potatoes in my small garden because I helped plant about 500 hill of potatoes Easter weekend in my parents’ garden.

Here is my dad hoeing a row for potatoes. As you can see they have a lot more space for a garden than we do.

At the beginning of the year I ordered my seeds from Johnny’s Seeds. The first gardening lesson I’ve learned is that in order for my tomato plants to “bulk up” for planting outside next year I will need to start the seeds much earlier. Since the tomato plants were so little I did purchase plants from Menard’s. My pepper plants still seemed a little scrawny but I planted them with hopes they will still produce. I have plenty of seeds leftover so next year’s garden seeds will be started earlier. I am excited about my garden. Below are pictures of the gardening box and my garden.

Sorry for the poor quality photo, I took it with my cell phone. I built a 4 foot x 4 foot gardening box using 2 – 8 foot long 2×6 cut in half, a 4 ft square piece of 1/2 inch plywood, and some chicken wire left behind by the previous homeowner. If you want to build your own garden box make sure that the wood you use is untreated. On the bottom of the gardening box (the plywood) I drilled drainage holes about every 3 inches. Once the box was built I moved it to a nice sunny spot on part of our driveway. I placed the box on a couple of 2×4 to prop it up to allow for proper drainage. The box was then filled with a combination of vermiculite, peat moss, and compost. Along side of the gardening box I have pots with herbs and a couple of boxes for my lettuce.

Basil is on the left side of the photo with Bibb lettuce (which will be turned into a salad tonight) in the boxes.

Starting at the top left to right: Sage, lavender, cilantro (in the green pot), mint, Bibb lettuce, and basil

Starting from top left moving to top right:
Green beans and Burgundy beans in the top 3 squares and grape tomato in the final square
jalapeño pepper/green onions, Roma tomato, mixed colored bell pepper, grape tomato
jalapeño pepper/green onions, Roma tomato, mixed colored bell pepper, grape tomato
jalapeño pepper/green onions, Pink Brandywine tomato, mixed colored pepper, grape tomato

QUESTIONS FOR EXPERIENCED GARDENERS:

I live in Nebraska. When should I start my tomato and pepper seeds?
What is the best way to stake tomatoes in a SFG?

Have any of my readers tried a square foot garden before? I would love to hear your tips, lessons learned, and gardening stories.

Every Rose

Lainey Seyler — Mon, 24 May 2010 04:32:00 -0700

Cupcake decorating went way way way better than the cake decorating near fiasco. There were no bag explosions, no meltdowns. And look what I can do. I can make a rose out of sugar and Crisco. And it actually looks alright. Again, I won't vouch for the taste. I couldn't eat even one cupcake. Too sweet. But my friends, thankfully, finished them off.

At the third session in the four-week cake decorating class, I learned to make a shell border (sort of), a number of different flowers and should anyone be in need of a cake topper in the shape of a clown, I can do that too, but that one will cost you.

Megan and Eric were packing up their stuff all day last Monday before they left on Tuesday. After a long sweaty day, we met up for the last drinks with friends at the Dundee Dell. Our whole little group of friends came to hang out with only a half-hour notice. It's surreal to be saying goodbye to Megan. It's sort of like a chapter closing on life.

Brunswick Chicken Stew

Wed, 19 May 2010 19:04:01 -0700

I have to admit that I impressed myself with this stew. We got a crockpot for Christmas and we’ve been playing with it a fair bit. Several slow cook cookbooks came with the crockpot including Slow Cooker from Cooking Light.

While flipping through the pages, I stumbled across Brunswick Chicken Stew. It looked delicious and warm (this cold winter is getting to me). Of course, I didn’t have the right ingredients on hand but when has that ever stopped me. The recipe below is my variation with several substitutions and additions. It was delicious if I do say so myself. And it was mostly healthy – except for the butter.

4 cups chopped sweet onions
1 cup chopped yellow onion
2 chicken breasts
1 can diced tomatoes
3 cups frozen corn
2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon celery seed
2 tablespoons grey poupon http://brands.kraftfoods.com/greypoupon/
4 tablespoons hot sauce
3 cups water
4 tablespoons butter

Layer the onions on the bottom of the crockpot. Then place the chicken breasts on top of the onion. Cover with the diced tomatoes and hot sauce. Sprinkle on the parsley and celery seed. Layer the corn on top and pour in the water. Dab on the butter and grey poupon. Cook on high for one hour. Then cook on low for 5 hours or until chicken is done. Remove the chicken from the crockpot and shred it. Then place it back into the crockpot and stir everything up good. Cook for another 30 minutes.

The main difference between my version and the one from Cooking Light is that I didn’t use chicken broth. Instead I used water and added the parsley and celery to make up for the flavor. Also, the recipe didn’t specify what type of onion so I picked sweet onions because they just looked sooooo good in the store.

Fruit Pizza

Wed, 12 May 2010 07:31:40 -0700

In high school I worked at Hy-Vee (a local grocery store) in the produce department. Every Saturday and Sunday I would make dozens of vegetable and fruit pizzas. It was fun getting to make pretty designs using the fruit. I probably made hundreds of each when I was working there, and it has been since high school (nine years ago) since I’ve made one. It seems so silly since it is so easy to make and easily adapt to whatever fruit is in season.

A simple sugar cookie dough, cream cheese frosting, and top with whatever fruit your family likes would make a beautiful fruit pizza for a brunch, picnic, or a barbecue gathering. My two little girls who love to help in the kitchen enjoyed rinsing the berries and pressing the cookie dough into the pan. They enjoy helping any way they can.

Check out your farmers markets for fresh local berries.

FRUIT PIZZA

SUGAR COOKIE DOUGH:
from Pinch My Salt

2 1/2 C. flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. cream of tartar
1 C. butter, softened
1 1/2 C. powdered sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. almond extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In separate bowl mix together flour, soda, and cream of tartar. Set aside. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Slowly and in batches add the flour mixture making sure it is completely mixed together. Press into a jelly roll pan (17 x 14) making sure to come up the sides. Bake for 15 minutes or until crust looks golden. Cool.

CREAM CHEESE BASE:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Cream together all ingredients. Spread over cooled crust.

Top with your favorite fruits. Some fruit topping ideas: kiwi, grapes, berries, orange segments or mandarin oranges, apple slices, bananas, pineapple, peaches, nectarines, plums, shredded coconut, the possibilities are endless. If you want to use apples or bananas give them a squeeze of lime juice to help stop them from browning so quickly. Have fun and be creative! ENJOY!

SALSA

Wed, 05 May 2010 09:43:33 -0700

Feliz Cinco de Mayo! Me encanta celebrar herencia cultural de Mexico especialmente para incluir la comida mexicana.

Forgive me, I haven’t practice Spanish since college, I am a little rusty. What I hope I said is: Happy Cinco de Mayo! I love to celebrate the cultural heritage of Mexico, especially if it is to include Mexican food.

I have posted some of my favorite Mexican recipes time and time again. At 6 months old my uncle was feeding me chips and salsa. Once I got my first taste I couldn’t stop. This is the first salsa recipe I’ve done and truthfully it is more of a method than a recipe. It is easy to make mild or super spicy, in small or large batches, whatever your fiesta requires.

This year I planted a garden which includes tomatoes, jalapenos, and cilantro so I can make garden fresh salsa. I can hardly wait!

SALSA

*This is for a small-medium batch of more spicy than mild salsa

4-6 Roma tomatoes
3-4 jalapenos (*I left in the seeds for added heat)
1/2 white onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
handful of cilantro (no stems)
juice of 1/2 a lime
pinch of salt
tomato juice (enough to make it as liquidy as you want)

Chop tomatoes, peppers, and onions in to small pieces. I like to throw everything into my food processor add garlic and pulse until desired consistency. Add cilantro, lime juice, salt, and tomato juice. Give it a couple more pulses to mix it up. Taste and season accordingly. ENJOY!

Serve as a dip with tortilla chips and top your tacos or fajitas with it. If you have any leftover it is delicious spooned over scrambled eggs the next morning. Yum!

*If you want a less spicy salsa use fewer jalapenos or remove the seeds and membrane since that is where the heat is.

MORE CINCO DE MAYO RECIPES:

Margarita Cake from Recipe Girl
Grilled Chicken Fajitas from Annie’s Eats
Chunky Guacamole from The Cooking Photographer
Black Bean Guacamole Omelette from Closet Cooking

Holy Kobiashi Maru Batman!

Tue, 04 May 2010 12:47:10 -0700

There are some treasures you stumble across by complete accident. Today, such a thing happened.

A coworker and I went to lunch and we were headed to Jason’s Deli. When we pulled up, the line was out the door. We couldn’t find a parking spot within reasonable walking distance and we both became agitated. So we drove away and I figured we should try someplace new. We exited out on to “I” street and I said, “Ever have Korean?” The answer was no, so I drove up “I” street to 108th and cut across. I was feeling rather Han Kuk Kwan-ish and so I figured some nice Bulgogi would be in order. We pulled up in front of what used to be the right place and there was a new sign: “Maru”. It was now serving Sushi and Korean food. We walked in and the homey mom and pop restaurant was replaced with a spiffy modern look. No more karaoke room, no more big screen TV… it was all gone. What was in its place was a totally remodeled, sleek new dining area and an extended menu. I ordered my Bulgogi and two rolls: Mikki and Salmon Skin. It was a little strange though because my co-worker and I were the only two in the place for a while. Our waitress seemed a bit new at it, but she was nice and took pretty good care of us.

The food came out and I was a bit sad, I had ordered off the lunch menu which has a different Bulgogi recipe than the dinner menu, but it was still good. Then my sushi came out. It looked real good. The presentation wasn’t as artistic as I like, but they were big rolls. Fat with filling and thin with rice. The rice was good and I am happy to say that the fish was fresh. As we dined others came in, having the same reaction that we had. Nobody really knows that it’s there. So I am taking it on myself to say something nice about them. Am I putting this place on par with Hiro? I don’t know. Is it better than Blue? I think so. Better than Sushi-Japan? YEAH! (Duh!)

I hope the owner takes my advice and does a promotion with Club Roxbury, which is just up the street. I think it could bring them new business. I believe that after a bit of refining, that Maru could be something special. The southwest side of Omaha needs something good. We’re lacking awesome, Omaha owned and operated food.

The Good: Great sushi, Fresh fish, Great remodel, Nice staff, great location

The Bad: MORE GINGER!!! MORE WASABI!!! Ginger is like candy… more more more… ;) There wasn’t much on the plate when it came out. Made me feel like you were skimping.

The overall impression: Good job. Nice place, prices are on the same level as Hiro and Blue. I am looking forward to exploring their menu more. I think that it is going to be a place I start dragging people to. Will it be “Hiro” to me? Dunno… doubt it… but it’s damn good for what it is. I will be back. (Someone Build them a website!)

~The Omaha Critic. (Well Fed)

There are some treasures you stumble across by complete accident. Today, such a thing happened.

The Good: Great sushi, Fresh fish, Great remodel, Nice staff, great location

The Bad: MORE GINGER!!! MORE WASABI!!! Ginger is like candy… more more more… ;) There wasn’t much on the plate when it came out. Made me feel like you were skimping.

The overall impression: Good job. Nice place, prices are on the same level as Hiro and Blue. I am looking forward to exploring their menu more. I think that it is going to be a place I start dragging people to. Will it be “Hiro” to me? Dunno… doubt it… but it’s damn good for what it is. I will be back. (Someone Build them a website!)

~The Omaha Critic. (Well Fed)

Sasha’s Birthday

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 09:13:23 -0700

Almost two months have past and I haven’t shared pictures of Sasha’s birthday cake –oops. Both our families came to help her celebrate. It is always fun having a house full of people since I love to entertain. I made two different kinds of lasagna, Caesar salad with homemade croutons, and garlic bread.

My inspiration for the cake was her current favorite animal. We searched high and low for a seahorse piñata, and after visiting every party store in Omaha we came back empty handed. She was so sad that she wasn’t going to have a seahorse piñata at her party. I wanted to surprise her with a seahorse cake. I made a white sheet cake using a recipe from allrecipes.com. I love the use of almond extract in the cake batter it adds a little something special to a plain cake. The cake tasted good although it was a tad dry which made me sad since I haven’t baked a dry cake since high school. The frosting is vanilla buttercream and colored with AmeriColor gels*. These food gels are now my favorite way to color frosting. The colors are really bright, and I found that I had to use less gel to achieve my desired color. The best part is you don’t get that yucky food coloring aftertaste. I free-handed the seahorse on the cake first, and added everything around it after the seahorse was complete. This method worked best for me instead of frosting the entire cake then adding the design on top.

Sasha did not know what her cake was going to look like, I wanted to keep it a surprise for her. When we went to the craft store I had her pick out the gel colors that she liked. Once we had the colors she liked I had to figure out how to decorate her cake with those colors. I think the colors she picked out worked wonderfully for an under the sea cake. With each birthday cake I make, I realize that I really enjoy the cake decorating part. I wish I was more artistically inclined but if my cake brings a smile to my daughter’s face that is good enough for me.

Happy Birthday Sasha!

*I just want to say that I really liked the AmeriColor gels. I was not paid or compensated to share my opinion.

Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Around the World in 80 Blocks

snekse — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 16:59:00 -0700

The United States is often called the melting pot of the world. Many cultures living together under one roof so to speak. Yet outside of places like Berkeley CA, the diversity in most cities is segregated into little cloisters. Out of these enclaves come neighborhoods that get labels like Chinatown, Little Italy and Spanish Harlem. And of course in each of those, you'll often find the best of that region's cuisine.

24th Street - Omaha, NE

The Longest Street in the World

In Omaha, 24th street not only connects South Omaha to North Omaha, but it also connects many cuisines to one another. You can take a culinary tour around the world by starting at one and working your way towards the other. And that's what we did.

With the company of Paul Kulik (Executive Chef; The Boiler Room) and Nick Strawhecker (Executive Chef; Dante Pizzeria Napoletana), we started just South of the South Omaha Main Street Historic District and ate our way up past the Near North side. We sampled Mexican, Thai, Ethiopian, Barbecue and Soul Food with some good old Midwestern fried carp and beef jerky thrown in for good measure - all in about 4 hours.

For some people, wandering into a random ethnic restaurant and ordering something unfamiliar is a bit terrifying. I'm here to tell you to just let go; don't be afraid. If need be, ask for help. As long as you avoid your allergens, nothing is likely to kill you. And if it tastes gross, so what. It's just food. Order something else. The point is you don't have to travel to eat exotic foods. My bet is that there's something on a menu in town that you've never had before. It could be something as simple as a Mexican mole to something as exotic as bird's nest soup. Just get out there and explore what your city has to offer.

Exploring the Cuisine of Omaha

So let's take a look at some of the things we discovered during our trek.

How would you like to start your morning off with one of these each morning? El 7 Mares is open at 10 am each morning and specializes in seafood from a distinctly Mexican perspective. We asked our waitriss what their specialty was and she pointed us to the La Campechana Pescado Cocteles . This massive goblet was filled with a a nice tomato broth similar to a gazpacho with piles of shrimp, calamari, octopus and oysters. This was much sweeter then cocktails any of us had tried in the past and was a great way to begin our day.

Next we headed to Joe Tess Place for their "Famous Fish" which just happens to be fried carp. I wish we had good things to say about this odd delicacy, but the fish left a lot to be desired. We'll leave it at that. They do offer Schlitz beer, which could be seen as a bonus in some circles :-)

Putting that memory behind us, we headed to our most anticipated destination of the day - Taqueria Tijuana. Many a debate is often had about where to find the best Mexican food in Omaha. Many of our trusted friends have told us about the amazing tacos at Taqueria Tijuana, yet none of us had been yet. Cut to the chase: A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! There was some very colorful, passionate language used, but I'll paraphrase and just say "That's a damn good taco". I think the phrase "Best Taco in Omaha" was also used. Oh, and I know we got 4 different tacos, but those statements stand across the board.

Pay. Jump in the car. Head down the road. Laos Thai Market. Another place I've heard I must hit. A spot that's half market, half restaurant with no real line between the two. An incredibly small kitchen is tucked in the back with residential refrigerators for coolers. The entire place is run by 3 people. Presumably mom and grandma in the back cooking and cleaning with the son waiting tables in the front. Unfortunately that killed our time line taking over 20 minutes to get our green curry with chicken. It was *almost* worth it. The curry was spicy, clean and balanced - not at all cloying with coconut milk.

Back in the car to see what else we can find. A quick drive-by Shang-Hai Garden Chinese & Mexican food for a laugh, but no food. Then a pit stop at Stoysich House of Sausage for some jerky that Paul had been calling "meat butter". Opps, that was Wohlner's Grocery that had the "meat butter". Nothing wrong with the Stoysich jerky though. Next place.

Here I elected to cheat just a tad. The International Cafe is a 1/2 block off of 24th Street, but how do you pass up the opportunity to have East African food in Omaha? Don't be thrown off the trail by the "House of Gyros" tagline. Inside are the goods. Falafel, Sambusa, something called Mendase and more. We ordered the Doro Wat on Injera. We quickly dug into the braised chicken in a nice rich red sauce. You'd swear has tomatoes in it, but you'd be wrong. The injera here was rather delicate, so forks are not a bad idea. Keep in mind that being Muslim requires prayer through-out the day, so be prepared to wait if you go during one of these times.

For our last stop with the full crew, we sought out the Southern Boys Cafe. Not much to look at on the outside, but the inside is plastered with character. Pictures, posters and the guitar in the corner give you a fast idea about the owner in case you don't get a chance to meet him. We got a chance to talk to the owner and I think the place is appropriately named. We ordered ribs and fried okra, but were easily talked into getting the fried catfish as well. Everything was excellent. The ribs were unique with just a ton of flavors going on. The okra was some of the best I've ever had.

At this point, Paul and Nick both had to head back to "the office". I chose to carry on since there were a couple more places I wanted to check out.

I was told I should stop at Chef Mike's Community Cafe. Since Thursday's are soul food day at Mike's, who was I to argue. It was not what I was expecting it to be. Don't expect a restaurant. Instead this is basically a cafeteria. My stomach was getting full and I had other stops I wanted to make, so I decided to pass. If you think I made a mistake, leave a comment and tell me how great the place is.

Back in the car and continue up 24th to a place I haven't been to in years. I was a little proud of myself for knowing of a barbecue place that one of the members of Greater Omaha Barbecue Society hadn't heard of. Not to mention a little funny since the person in question happens to share the same name as the location in question. Granted the place is called Bill's BBQ, Liquor Store and Gas, so not being a dedicated barbecue joint might have something to do with the oversight. Waiting for your 4 bone ribs while people get rolling papers, alcohol and Starbursts is a little amusing. I should also mention, in case it wasn't clear, this is not a restaurant. There are no seats, no counters, and certainly no hostess. You walk up to the barred window, order your food and go. It's not the best BBQ in Omaha, but it's not bad and worth a slight detour if you're in the area.

My final stops for the day actually weren't on 24th Street. I popped up to the Institute for Culinary Arts at Metro Community College to drop off some of Bill's barbecue to some friends. If you haven't seen their new building yet, get out there ASAP. It's amazing. I believe Omaha will become a destination school for those entering the culinary field because of the incredible work put into this new facility. And if you haven't been to Sage Student Bistro, change your dinner plans soon. This is one of my favorite places to eat in Omaha.

By now it was time to head home. Since my wife didn't get a chance to join me, I wanted to bring home some dinner. What did I bring her? Some of the Best Fried Chicken in Omaha from Time Out Foods at 30th and Pinkney. A good Southern style fried chicken with a nice crunch and a spiciness that adds a little zip, but is not overpowering. The potato salad and coleslaw were both tasty as well.

It was a long day and a food coma ensued, but it was completely worth it. Hopefully our journey will inspire others to really investigate all their town has to offer and uncover some special gems that are worth the trek. Eat well.

Special Thanks To...
Foodbuzz for funding our tour.
Paul Kulik and Nick Strawhecker for joining me.
Food & Spirits Magazine from whom I borrowed this idea.
All the restaurants that we visited for just being there.

ApologiesThere was supposed to be video to go along with this post. I'm still trying to get the technical difficulties worked out on that one.

Tags || OMAHA | 24TH STREET | FOODBUZZ | 24 24 24 | PAUL KULIK | NICK STRAWHECKER | more... |

Lemonade

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 10:09:25 -0700

As the temperature increases so does my desire for a ice cold refreshing beverage. Squeezing lemons for some fresh lemonade was a wonderful way to get my little ladies involved in the kitchen, they were so excited to try the lemonade they made “all by themselves.” My oldest daughter has told me several times this week that we need to go back to the store to get more lemons so we can make lemonade again. If lemon and lime trees could survive in Nebraska I would be in lemonade and margarita heaven.

This is a perfect recipe to get your children involved in the kitchen. Don’t worry if any seeds get into the measuring cup you can always strain them out. While your child/children are busy squeezing lemons you can make the simple syrup. We will be making this lemonade countless times this summer.

Has anyone tried making lemonade using agave syrup instead of sugar? If so please let me know.

LEMONADE
1 c sugar (use more or less depending on your preference)
1 c water
1c fresh squeezed lemon juice* (it took us 6 lemons)
1 qt cold water (less or more depending on flavor preference)

Heat 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water until sugar is dissolved.Turn off and let cool.

Roll lemons between your palm and the counter top to release the juices or pop them in the microwave for 5-10 seconds. Squeeze lemons until you have 1 cup of lemon juice. Strain lemon seeds from the juice.

In a pitcher stir together lemon juice and sugar mixture. Add 1 quart cold water until you achieve a tart/sweet flavor your family enjoys. Serve over ice. ENJOY!

*You could substitute equal parts lime juice for a delicious limeade

Installing mini blinds in the garden…

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:09:04 -0700

Every modern garden needs a good set of mini blinds!! I just found this idea on the Internet tonight… Disassemble an old set of blinds, cut the slats to your desired height, and use them as markers in your garden. Super simple and super CHEAP! So I decided to give it a try tonight, and I will keep you posted about how well it works. Has anyone else tried this? Let me know.
PLEASE NOTE – If you want the labels to look cute or stylish in any way whatsoever, then I’d recommend allotting a bit more time for your project than I did for mine. LOL!
(Click on photo for enlarged view.)

Buying in bulk ROCKS!!

Sun, 18 Apr 2010 18:01:41 -0700

$50 can go a LONG way in the produce section of your local warehouse store. Here are the goodies we filled our cart with today…

Would we prefer local, organic fruits and veggies? Of course! But since our garden currently looks like THIS, it’s gonna be a while…But we SURE did enjoy a delicious light and fresh dinner from the bounty we secured from the store today. Even better, we got to enjoy it outside on a beautiful evening -the perfect end to a perfect day! Oh, and Jackson thought he should join in the picnic, too…but no such luck for our canine friend – well, okay, he may have scored a few bits of bell pepper

RECIPE: Omaha Reuben Sandwich

snekse — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:50:00 -0700

24th Street - Omaha, NE

The Longest Street in the World

Exploring the Cuisine of Omaha

So let's take a look at some of the things we discovered during our trek.

Amish Friendship Bread

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:13:45 -0700

If you are of a certain age you will remember chain letters. They are the old fashioned version of email forwards. If you don’t send this to 10 friends true love won’t find you, your wish won’t come true, or something bad will happen to you.

Amish friendship bread is the culinary version of a chain letter. If you don’t bake your friendship bread your friendship with the person who gave you the starter is doomed –ok maybe I am exaggerating a little. I don’t think the Amish are that cruel. Actually according to trusty wikipedia Amish friendship bread may not actually have any connection to the Amish people –Shocking!

My sister-in-law is an Amish friendship bread baking master. I am not sure of the actual number of loaves and muffins she has baked, but I would venture to guess over a dozen. She baked a couple of the traditional cinnamon sugar loaves for a family brunch we had last month. That was the first time I had the bread since middle school/high school when my friend Amber had made it and shared her starter with me. With my starter I wanted to make something different than the traditional cinnamon and sugar friendship bread. The combination of lemon and poppy seeds evoke feelings of happiness for me. I knew if I could pull off a lemon poppy seed friendship bread it would be the perfect way to celebrate Spring.

AMISH FRIENDSHIP BREAD -LEMON POPPY SEED VARIATION

2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1.25 oz (1 container) poppy seeds
2 (3 oz) boxes sugar free lemon pudding mix
2 tsp lemon extract
1 c starter*
2 eggs
1/2 c milk
1/2 c no sugar added applesauce
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl combine all dry ingredients. Mix well. Make a well in the center of the bowl. In another bowl mix together all the wet ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mix until just combined.

Pour mix into two greased loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour. Cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing bread from pan and transferring to wire rack to cool completely. ENJOY!

*When you remove your 1 cup of starter for this recipe you will have 2 cups of starter left over. Put one cup into a ziplock bag for your friend and the other one cup you will keep for yourself. You can print off directions for how to feed your starter here.

Super Bowl of Pizza Round 2 Week 1

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 13:55:08 -0700

As last time, I stared blankly at the numbers in disbelief.Â I checked and rechecked these numbers, but I stand by the tastersâ€¦ The majority of them have been with us the whole way!

That being said, I am just going to post the numbers rawâ€¦.

Sortino	Yuk	Val	Yuk
3	1	2	3
4	4	2	2
3	1	2	2
4	1	2	1
2	1	3	1
2	4	4	5
4	3	2	3
3	2.142857	4	2.428571
4		3
4		3
4		3
4		4
3		3
3		3
2		3
3		3
4		4
3		3
4		3
4		3
2		3
2		3
2		3
2		4
2		4
2		2
2		3
3		4
-2.14286		-2.42857
2.82266		2.847291

So the final score is Johnny Sortinoâ€™s 2.82266 and Valentinoâ€™s 2.84729â€¦. Valentinoâ€™s squeeks past Sortinoâ€™s to the next round.

Now for my take on it… Sortino’s, I thought was hands down the better quality Pizza. Â The Crust of Valentino’s makes me.. Well… It’s like eating a squishy wet sponge. Â I had a friend of mine say that Val’s is just Nebraska Tradition and that people associate it with Husker Games…

Come on… The Pizza I had today was just not that good… and somehow… Somehow… it scored higher this time than it did last time. Â But… I still stand my tasters… It’s about what THEY prefer, not what I prefer… I thought the Sortino’s crust was much better. Â I thought that the cheese was better and the pepperoni had more of a bite like it should. Â Â The sauce was better, everything, IMHO was just better and fresher…

Sorry Johnny Sortino’s… I have loved you and will continue to love you… but you’re now eliminated….

~The Omaha Critic (confused)

A King-Kong Sized FAIL.

Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:07:30 -0700

So here’s the thing.Â The Critic and I eat out a lot.Â We have a large brood, so therefore, the places weÂ tend to frequent are those that are family-friendly.Â We place a very high level of importance on “FAMILY FRIENDLY”.Â (Which is not to say we don’t love to sneak away to decidedly grown-up establishments like Le Voltaire every chance we get, but THAT is another post!)

One of the restaurants we have frequented for many, many years is King Kong fast food.Â I am not going to link to that restaurant, because as of this moment, I will not give that restaurant another PENNY of our hard-earned money.Â While the establishment prides themselves on gigantic burgers and gyros, their claim to be a “Family oriented” restaurant (it says so right on their website!) could not have been further from the truth based on our experience today.

SO I’m not going to talk about their food, or their cute little gorillas outside, or their stuffed animals inside.Â Instead I am going to relay to you exactly what happened to us this afternoon, at approximately 4:15 pm, when a friend and I decided to take our daughters to King Kong for burgers and gyros after a day at the zoo.Â (If you’re local – you’ll know exactly which King Kong we were at, since it’s RIGHT THERE by the zoo.)Â

We ordered our food, and sat down.Â My friend and I, both women in our thirties, were there with four of our daughters, who ranged in age from 16 to 1.Â Apparently it was “teach each other Spanish cuss words day” behind the counter, as the staff behind the counterÂ kept shouting things such as “puta madre!”, and other curse phrases.Â My friend and I kept trying to give them the motherly glare, and my friend even at one point yelled “Shut up!Â We can hear you!”

Well, this was not enough to get the potty-mouths behind the counter to stop,Â and my 16-year-old, who had heard enough, stood up and went to the counter.Â SheÂ told the guys we could hear them, and that weÂ DO understand what they are saying.Â The guy behind the counter said “SO?”Â Â She explained to him that there are CHILDREN present, and they UNDERSTAND what those words mean.Â The guy behind the counter (apparently the manager?) says “Ok”, and as my SIXTEEN YEAR OLD DAUGHTERÂ turned away, he called her a bitch.Â

SO.

I don’t know about you, but I do not find that terribly family oriented.Â

And we WILL NOT spend another penny there.Â EVER.Â

If you want gyros?Â Â My first pick is Jim & Jennie’sÂ Greek Village.Â Greek Islands (who doesn’t have a website), or Feta’s are good too.Â

Burgers?Â Dude, there’s a million places, but I’m LOVING Smashburger lately.

Just do me a favor…don’t take your kids to King Kong unless you want them to walk away knowing how to say “mother f—er” in Spanish.

Please allow me to introduce myself

snekse — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 15:52:00 -0700

24th Street - Omaha, NE

The Longest Street in the World

Exploring the Cuisine of Omaha

So let's take a look at some of the things we discovered during our trek.

Grill…here we come!

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 05:49:50 -0700

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssss!!! It’s finally been a great week for grilling out!! And just in time, too, because we just got our quarter beef from Range West Beef this past weekend. Now our deep freezer is fully-stocked (with over 100 pounds of vacuum-sealed meat) and ready for the grill. And, as you’ve probably figured out about us by now, we LOVE to save money by buying in bulk! Purchasing a quarter beef or more brings down the price of steak so much that it costs no more than the ground beef! Bonus!

Speaking of steak…our first meal from our newly acquired quarter was strip steaks. They were cooked just right – nice and rare, as grass-fed meat should be prepared! Mmm….mmm…mmm!

Gotta love the grass-fed meat! It’s so much healthier for you than the conventional, corn-fed varieties…and it tastes WAY better, too!

Please note – That salad was for TWO of us. Of course, we could still barely get it all down! Our eyes were a bit bigger than our stomachs this evening!

SousVide Supreme Review

snekse — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:29:00 -0700

24th Street - Omaha, NE

The Longest Street in the World

Exploring the Cuisine of Omaha

So let's take a look at some of the things we discovered during our trek.

Sous Vide for the Home Cook

snekse — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 09:39:00 -0800

24th Street - Omaha, NE

The Longest Street in the World

Exploring the Cuisine of Omaha

So let's take a look at some of the things we discovered during our trek.

Garlic Herb One Hour Dinner Rolls

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:57:13 -0800

Dinner rolls are not high on my priority list when I am cooking dinner, truth be told they are more likely an after thought. For example, after I set the food on the table I think to myself, hmm some dinner rolls or fresh bread would really round out this meal. Unfortunately if you do not have any of those “heat to serve” dinner rolls sitting around there is no way to enjoy them with your dinner that night. Like most yeast breads dinner rolls need (I really had to resist typing KNEAD –I love a good pun!) to be a forethought since you have to knead, then let double in size, then shape, then let double in size again, and finally you are able to bake them, all which take plenty of time.

Luckily for me and for you since I am sharing it, I found a recipe which allows you to have piping hot dinner rolls on your dinner table in about one hour from start to finish. This recipe is awesome because I just start it a little bit before I would normally start prepping for dinner. For me it was not a huge change in my cooking routine.

I found this recipe months ago from Holly at Phe/MOM/enon (congratulations on the new babe). She adapted a recipe from My Kitchen Cafe and posted about it in November and I marked it as a recipe that I wanted to try. This is a daily habit of mine. I sit down and read my Google Reader and star all the recipes I want to try some day. Currently I have hundreds of “want to try” recipes marked. I have maybe tried a handful (a small handful) of these recipes. It is such a shame. To fix this problem I have decided that a couple times a month I am actually going to try some of these recipes and share them with you. After all, I would like it if people would try my recipes instead of saying “that sounds good, I will have to try that some day” and some day never comes.

That being said, a recipe from the famous Ree at The Pioneer Woman was also starred. She had made some delicious Buttered Rosemary Rolls using frozen bread dough. Well Ree recently posted about these Rosemary Rolls again which jogged my memory and I knew I had to make them soon. First I tried Holly’s recipe a couple weeks ago only I substituted half of the AP flour for whole wheat flour. My family loved the dinner rolls, and I was happy how quickly they came together. They were so light and fluffy. Fast forward to this week, when we were going to have spaghetti for dinner and didn’t have any frozen garlic bread around. The solution was to combine Holly’s recipe with Ree’s recipe and throw in my own touch. My family really enjoyed the soft, subtly garlic herb dinner rolls with our spaghetti. The garlic flavor didn’t come through as much as I hoped it would, next time I make these I will try doubling the garlic amount or adding roasted garlic instead of minced.

PERFECT DINNER ROLLS
I first saw it at Phe/MOM/enon
1 1/2 cups warm water (11o degrees F)
1 T instant yeast
2 T granulated sugar
2 T vegetable oil (I used Olive Oil)
1 tsp sea salt (I used Kosher salt)
4 c AP flour, lightly spooned into measuring cup & leveled off

HERE ARE HOLLY’S INSTRUCTIONS:

In your mixing bowl stir together water, yeast, and sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes until creamy.

Add oil, salt, and 2 cups of flour to the yeast mixture. Beat on low speed with the paddle attachment. While still on low speed add 1 additional cup of flour stir until incorporated. Switch to dough hook and add the final cup of flour. Mix until dough pulls away from the bowl, then turn speed up to medium and knead for 5 minutes –or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turn dough to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and set in warm place until dough doubles in size –about 20-30 minutes.

Dump dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently deflate and press dough into a rectangle. Cut dough in half vertically, then vertically again into thirds so there are 6 equal strips of dough. Cut each strip into fourths so there are 24 equal pieces of dough. Pick up each piece and lightly cup it under your palm on a clean surface. Press lightly and rotate and roll the dough quickly so it forms a ball. If you’re really good you can do one with each hand, thus speeding up the process.

Place each dough ball into a greased 9×13 baking pan in rows of 4 (about 1/2 inch apart). Cover the rolls with a lightly greased piece of plastic wrap and let double in size while the oven is preheating to 400 degrees F –about 20 minutes. Brush rolls with melted butter before placing in the oven for a nice golden brown color. Bake for 15 minutes.

HERE IS WHAT I DID:
Since I do not have a dough hook for my mixer, I used my bread machine on the dough setting.

In addition to Holly’s ingredient list I added in 1 T minced garlic. Next time I would add more. The garlic flavor wasn’t as strong as I hoped.

Place all ingredients in your bread machine in the order your machine recommends. Turn the machine on the dough setting, but do not walk away. Allow the dough to knead for about 5 minutes after all the ingredients are incorporated. Once the dough is smooth place the dough ball in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a towel, and put in a warm area until the dough doubles in size –about 20-30 minutes.

Once the dough has doubled in size, dump it out onto a lightly floured surface and gently deflate while carefully pressing into a rectangle. I followed the instructions from Holly’s recipe for shaping the rolls. Cut dough in half vertically, then vertically again into thirds so there are 6 equal strips of dough. Cut each strip into fourths so there are 24 equal pieces of dough. Pick up each piece and lightly cup it under your palm on a clean surface. Press lightly and rotate and roll the dough quickly so it forms a ball. If you’re really good you can do one with each hand, thus speeding up the process.

Like the Pioneer Woman’s recipe I greased my cast iron skillet with melted butter and placed six rolls in the pan (the other rolls I baked on a regular baking sheet) cover them with a dish towel and let rise for about 20-30 more minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

While the rolls are rising gather:

2T butter, melted
1-2 tsp dried rosemary
1-2 tsp dried oregano
1-2 tsp dried basil
generous pinch of Kosher salt

Mix together the herbs and salt. Paint the melted butter on each roll. Sprinkle a generous pinch of the herb and salt mixture over every roll.

Bake rolls for about 15 minutes until nice and golden brown. Enjoy!

*Sorry for the funky coloring in my pictures. It was dark outside by the time I finished baking, and I don’t have any of that fancy photo editing software.

Why I LOVE Recycling…

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:45:32 -0800

First off, I apologize for the blurry photo. I snapped this shot as quickly as humanly possible. It’s hard enough to get along in this world as a “food freak;” the last thing I need is to be spotted out and about taking pictures of trash cans!

Throwing away my trash used to be soooooo easy! Not anymore. And I’m the first to admit that I am no match for these new set ups. It literally took me 3 minutes to figure out what to do with my fork – and I’m pretty sure I still got it wrong!

Admittedly, I was already feeling intimidated and defeated upon approaching the “recycling center” at this local eating establishment. I was just sure that everyone else knew exactly what to do and that even the slightest hesitation on my part would reveal me as some sort of “un-green,” heartless, waste-producing consumer.

As I neared the bins, I was relieved to see that “hard plastics” clearly belong in the red bin. Awesome! My fork met both of those criteria!

As I reached to deposit my fork, I realized that the sign for this bin also instructed, “Clean materials only. No food.” Ahhhh…..my fork totally still had food on in it. Don’t worry though, I had the fork tightly in my grasp at this point (crisis averted).

But, what to do?? I consulted the guy next to me who informed me that I was not misinterpreting…this bin, indeed, only accepted “clean” plastics.

Alright. Here’s the embarrassing part – I panicked and threw it in the “landfill” bin. And, yes, these recycling set-ups sure do make a person feel guilty for throwing something away….but, hey, I truly wanted to recycle that darn fork…really!

Unfortunately, good intentions don’t count for much with the landfill bin, which went on to taunt me with its sign stating, “Recycling bins are available on the premises.” Yes, thank you; I realize that! But, evidently, I don’t have what it takes to successfully utilize said bins, so here’s my fork. Sorry.

Why not just lick the food off of the fork?!?!? Brilliant! But that didn’t occur to me until it was too late.

So, here’s my suggestion (for what it’s worth). These bins need to join the 21st century. Would it be too much to ask for them to be equipped with scanners that inspect your items and then counsel you on your depositing decision? Just sayin….

Wohlner's Market

Mecha — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:00:00 -0800

Restaurant: Wohlner's Market
Address: 2289 S. 67th Street
Website: http://www.wohlners.com/
Genres: deli
Check Constraints: Short-order.
Chain: No. | More Omaha Locations: No.

==Chamelaeon==
Ordered:

Grilled Roast Beef Sandwich ($7.99)

Pasta Salad

Cup of Chicken Tortilla Soup ($1.99)
Fountain Drink ($0.99)

Some (not-too-longish) time ago, Wohlner's moved from its Leavenworth location into the new Aksarben Village "modern urban living center (possibly of doom)", one of those newfangled "planned" communities where there are apartments mixed with commercial offices with shopping and restaurants below, and everyone pretends that it's a vibrant tiny neighborhood of some dense urban metropolis which was airlifted here overnight. Or they would, if the economy hadn't prevented a good number of the retail and commercial slots from filling up. Regardless! Wolhner's is there to serve as the local neighborhood corner grocery store, like the Mr. Hooper of Aksarben.

... what? I can make non-geek references from time to time. Anyhow. Inside its new interior, Wolhner's sports a deli! It was to this deli that we descended like a horde of hungry code monkeys, and when the food finally came out, we all realized one thing more or less simultaneously; this place isn't just a deli. It's a bistro-deli hybrid.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, mind. The sandwiches here were definitely tasty, and everything was held to a good quality standard. What it does mean is that the food is artfully arranged on a plate which makes the quantity look rather small, and that your dollar will not go as far here as you think it will. With a bistro, you're paying the price for the high-quality food you're consuming, and the same goes here.

The sandwich, for instance, had a healthy amount of roast beef, a slice of good cheddar, and a tapenade spread across it which was delightful. There was supposedly a horseradish sauce, but though I got hints of it from time to time it was generally too weak to make a difference. I got with the side of pasta salad, which was al dente in all the right places and firm in the remainder. I also ordered a cup of chicken tortilla soup, which stood head and shoulders above the yellow-flavored liquid I remember being served in my university cafeteria.

It seemed the consensus that the winner here were the sandwiches (no shock). I feel remiss in posting this without a review of the pizzas they do here, but we weren't certain how long they'd take to cook, and we were under time pressure that day.

==Mecha==
Ordered:

Pizza Burger (w/Slaw and Chips) ($7.49)
Cup of Soup of the Day (Tortilla Soup) w/Bread ($2.99)
Fountain Drink ($0.99)

The soup was definitely strong here, plenty of chunks and tasty bits, as was the bread (White, Wheat, or Rye options, I chose Rye) that came with it. I think they only offer the one soup of the day, though, so your soup may vary.

The pizza burger, unfortunately, was not as good as the sandwiches turned out to be. The place advertises 'Kobe burgers', and I can't disagree with the quality of the meat itself, but it was cooked to medium-well/well, I'm fairly sure, and it was not particularly large. To be fair to them, it's hard to compete with some of the excellent burgers available elsewhere in this town, and it's not bad. It just might be better to pick one of the sandwiches. Several of them looked very good. The place also has a lot of strong competition, with Blue Planet, Amatos, Gandolfo's, and Jini D's all basically within walking distance. Also, I don't like slaw and didn't eat it, so someone else will have to talk about that.

There is something to be said for eat-and-shop, and it's among the better of those, but personally I don't think I'll be visiting much for the food. The placement is fairly convenient, though, and they've got a good selection of groceries and alcohols and such. I think it'll do fine.

==NinjaDebugger==
Ordered:

Grilled BBQ Chicken Sandwich ($6.49)
Cup of Soup of the Day (Tortilla Soup) w/Bread (included)
Homemade Chips ($1.99)
Fountain Drink ($0.99)

I'm going to be quite brief about this one. The chicken sandwich was good, with nicely done chicken and a bbq sauce that was a level of heat or so above BWW's honey bbq. It didn't drip too much, it didn't slide around too much, but was a bit small for the size, and especially for the price.

The tortilla soup was probably quite good, but it was less chicken and more veggies, which means it's very much not to my taste, so buyer beware, on that.

The chips weren't chips so much as they were crisps, to steal the terms, and the best they got was when the not-quite-done ones were nice and soft and reminded me very much of my mother's homemade jacket fries.

All of this was overshadowed, though, by the incredibly uncomfortable seating, which was actively painful for me. I can bear a lot of different seating arrangements, but those fucking chairs are not only not comfortable if you fall into the "large" category, they are actively uncomfortable. So basically, screw that place. I'll be back, but only because they're one of the few places locally that carries Sprecher's, and it's in the grocery section, so that's where I'll be grabbing it from, and fuck those damn chairs.

It's worth noting that almost everything on the menu is also available in take-out form, if the dining-in option won't work for you for whatever reason. This also makes it a decent work-lunch destination.

==Moogle==
Ordered:

Wohlner's Reuben Sandwich ($6.99)

Tortilla Soup

Fountain Drink ($1.17)

I'm not sure what the deal is, but I just noticed I have the price for my drink written down as just a little bit higher than the others'.. In any case, ordering food at a grocery store to eat there at the store always seems a little odd to me. Here though, they have a kitchen in the back, menus, glassware, fountain drinks, and a section for seating. Yes, the chairs are not great. They are metal with arms that are a bit tight even for the "medium" category. The parking nearby is not great either. There are two lots on the side of a relatively busy street out in front. People around there don't seem very willing to let others who are parking or leaving go ahead.

The food was pretty good. I thought the reuben was a reasonable size. It came on a different bread than the others did, which I thought was pretty good. It had plenty of meat, sauerkraut, and sauce. The flavor may not have been as strong as it could have been, but I still enjoyed it. The soup was ok. It did have a lot of vegetables and only two or three bigger chunks of chicken. The next time around, I would probably try the pasta salad Cham got, since it looked pretty good.

Egg Genie is truly magical!

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 06:50:06 -0800

I have never been a big fan of hard boiling eggs. I’ve read about a million different methods for obtaining the “perfect” hard-boiled egg. But when I heard about this kitchen gadget, I had to try it for myself! It works GREAT! The only down side is that it only cooks 7 eggs at a time….

First, you pour the appropriate amount of water into the bottom tray. The Egg Genie comes with a measuring cup that tells you exactly how much water to use, based on the number of eggs you’re cooking and just how firmly you want them boiled.

Then you prick the pointy end of each egg. Trust me, this must be done! LOL!

Place eggs (pricked side up) in the Egg Genie.

Cover the eggs, and plug in the machine.

Don’t worry, Egg Genie will let you know when your eggs are done!

And the Egg Genie is super affordable, too! Get yours today on Amazon.com by clicking here: EggGenie Egg Genie Electric Egg Cooker

Potato & Ham Chowder

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:21:58 -0800

I hope the new year has been good to you thus far, I can’t believe we are already 1 1/2 months into 2010. Did you make any diet related resolutions this year? Are you still sticking to your resolutions? If so, good for you. You may want to bookmark this recipe for when you a) break your resolutions or b) if you need something to eat on your “free” day. Please don’t run away –this soup isn’t diet food but it is an absolutely delicious creamy soup that is comforting on a frigid night.

My brother-in-law (who works in a restaurant kitchen) probably loves food as much as I do. He made me this soup for lunch a couple weeks ago. It was wonderful. He boiled the potatoes in chicken stock, and once they were tender he added rest of his ingredients. Brilliant! I can’t believe I never thought about boiling cubed potatoes in chicken stock and using that starchy boiled stock in the soup. This is truly a one pot meal. You can make a lot or a little in a short amount of time. This soup is great for those “it is so cold to do anything” type of days, and this winter we have had plenty of those.

POTATO & HAM CHOWDER

4 c chicken stock
4 medium-large Russet potatoes, peeled & cubed
1 yellow onion, minced (could use leek)
2 cloves garlic, minced
bay leaf
1-2 c ham, cubed (could use bacon)
1 c whipping cream
1 can(fat free) evaporated milk
5 slices of American cheese
salt & pepper
garnish with sliced scallions

In a large pot add potatoes, onion, garlic, and bay leaf. Bring to boil and simmer until potatoes are fork tender. Add ham, cream, milk, and cheese. Stirring until cheese is melted. Season with salt and pepper. ENJOY!

Homemade Chicken Stock

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 10:08:26 -0800

On store shelves today you will find so many convenience foods. Jarred spaghetti sauce, canned refried beans, chicken stock in a box, and so on. Now I will admit, I do buy these convenience foods. They make cooking dinner, well, convenient. Convenience is nice but there is something special about making things from scratch. I have made my own spaghetti sauce before (if you follow the link you will see a goofy picture of me when I was about 13), I love making my own “unfried” beans, and in the past I have given half-hearted attempts at making chicken stock.

This time I wanted to do it right. I wanted to make a beautiful golden colored chicken stock. Doing it right to me meant that I would roast a whole chicken, clean the chicken off the bone, and toss the bones in a large pot with all the aromatics and let it do its magic. I am happy to say that I succeeded.

Somewhere a long time ago, possibly on an old episode of The Splendid Table Lynn said the secret to a golden colored chicken stock was tossing in the onions with their peels still on. I am not sure where I heard it for certain but I am glad I did because my stock turned out a beautiful golden color.

CHICKEN STOCK
makes about 2 quarts
1 roasted chicken carcass
1 onion, quartered –peels still attached
4 celery stalks
3 carrots, unpeeled *I used handful of baby carrots
2 garlic cloves sliced
1 bay leaf
a pinch or two of dried rosemary and thyme
3 quarts water

Toss all ingredients into a large pot and bring to boil. Once boiling place lid tightly on the pot and turn burner down so the pot is simmering for 1 1/2 hours. Check the liquid level a couple times during the duration to make sure there is plenty of water in the pot. If you think the liquid level is getting low you can add some more water. After 1 1/2 hours remove the lid, turn the heat back up and boil for 20-30 minutes. Some of the liquid will boil off, which allows the flavors in the stock to concentrate. Add salt & pepper if needed.

Using a fine mesh strainer pour the finished stock into jars. Refrigerate until cooled. A band of fat will form on the top of the stock. You can remove this before using if you’d like. Since this is fresh stock I would use with in a couple days. Or you can freeze it. I recommend pouring stock into ice cube trays, once frozen place stock cubes in a freezer bag. Pull out as many as you need to add flavor to your favorite dishes. Enjoy!

Stove takes a beating…

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:14:27 -0800

In the early days of this blog, I posted a photo of the inside of my fridge. Admittedly, I did happen to catch my fridge on a particularly cleanish day, which left several of you wondering…”are these people REALLY that tidy?”

In an effort at full disclosure, I present to you…MY STOVE! (And, this is not – - I repeat NOT an exception to the rule…my stove is pretty consistently slopped all over! In my defense, though, I do use the heck out of it!)

Doesn’t look dirty to you? Click on the photo to enlarge…but consider yourself warned – it aint pretty!

Lucky for me (or so I thought), my cousin Mandy was hangin’ at my house when I took this picture. And, since she had been very much involved in the culinary devastation that took place in my kitchen on this particular today, I guilted her into believing that SHE should “take one for the team,” and clean the stove. Actually, I think the scene technically played out more like this: She was scoffing at me and saying that she doesn’t understand why I don’t just “wipe it down real quick because baking soda and a little elbow grease would take care of it lickety split!” So I invited her to demonstrate

Look at her go, folks! Just look at her go!

Unfortunately, she ended up “having to go home” before the job was done. (Big surprise there!) And since there was baking soda all over my stove, I was kinda forced to finish the job.

So, clean the stove I did. But it’ll be a while before THAT happens again!!

Fat…Free??

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:48:12 -0800

When it comes to food, lots of folks seek out items that are “fat-free.” I still have not been able to understand exactly how you end up with fat-free ice cream for crying out loud! I mean, cream = fat, the last time I checked!? But I digress.

My point is that, unlike many folks, “fat-free” is NOT a goal of mine. In fact, I am much more concerned with free fat – like the nearly 10 pounds of free beef fat that I scored during my last visit to the Bag ‘N’ Save store on 108th & Maple.

Oh, don’t worry….it’s not for me! It’s for our dog, Jackson! We supplement his diet with this free stuff. Unfortunately, it’s often difficult to find because most butchers sell it off to rendering plants….yes, to be added to commercial animal feed.

But this particular Bag ‘N’ Save location ROCKS! They save the fat scraps in their back freezer because they have customers who come in and request it. And, it’s perfectly priced at $0.00/lb.

Want some for your po0ch? Just ring the magical doorbell in the meat department, and a butcher will appear Tell them you’d like some fat scraps for your “best friend,” and they’ll hook you up if they have some on hand!

Shrimp-tastic Saturday Night!

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:01:15 -0800

Well, it’s Saturday night! So, what better to do than workout with Tony Horton and then…try our hand at shelling and deveining some shrimp!? We had to Google for instructions – sad, I know! But we’d never done it before

What is Sous Vide

snekse — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 09:23:00 -0800

24th Street - Omaha, NE

The Longest Street in the World

Exploring the Cuisine of Omaha

So let's take a look at some of the things we discovered during our trek.

Some Gluten Free Love

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:44:48 -0800

Does your special someone have a gluten allergy? Are they unable to enjoy tasty Valentine’s Day treats because of this allergy? Don’t leave them out this Valentine’s Day, make them some gluten free red velvet cupcakes.

The first time I tried this recipe was last year for Valentine’s Day, and it was my first attempt at making anything gluten free before. We invited friends over (who also have young children) for a Valentine’s dinner party. Being Valentine’s day and all I knew I wanted to make a dessert. I found the recipe on Gluten Free Cooking School’s website.

This year instead of making a whole cake I made little heart shaped cupcakes for my husband to bring to work. I am assuming everyone liked them, because the cake pan came back empty.

You could make this in two round cake pans, and have yourself a beautiful red velvet layer cake. I however, chose to make mine into heart shaped cupcakes. My mom bought me some silicone heart shaped cupcake molds and I was excited to use them for the first time. Needless to say, some of the cupcakes got stuck in the mold. Looks like I am not the only one that has had an unfortunate experience with silicone cupcake molds. There is a whole discussion at The Kitchn about baking with silicone molds –they actually made red velvet cake in theirs too. Maybe it is the cake and not the mold?

GLUTEN FREE RED VELVET (CUP)CAKES
from Gluten Free Cooking School

1 3/4 c. canola oil
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs, beaten (room temp)
1 c. brown rice flour
3/4 c. sorghum flour
3/4 c. tapioca starch
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. buttermilk (or 1 Tbsp cider vinegar and 1 c. milk substitute)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 oz. red food coloring (this is one of the McCormick’s bottles) *I used just enough to give the batter a reddish color. Less than 1/4 of the bottle.
1 Tbsp. cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream together oil and sugar. Add one egg making sure it is completely mixed in before adding the other egg.

Sift together all the dry ingredients (leaving out the cocoa powder) in a separate bowl. Add the flour mixture to the oil, sugar, and egg mixture in FOUR parts. Alternating the flour and buttermilk. Make sure the last one added is the flour mixture.

Make a paste out of the vanilla, red food coloring, and cocoa powder, and stir into the batter.

Pour batter into two greased and floured (GLUTEN FREE) round cake pans OR fill cupcake molds 2/3 the way full. Bake for 25 minutes for the cake pans OR about 18 minutes (turning pans about half way through) for the cupcakes. Test the cakes and/or cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness.

Allow cakes to cool completely before frosting.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, room temperature
2-3 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 c chopped nuts

In mixing bowl beat together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Add the sugar while mixing on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and beat until light and fluffy.

You can stir in the chopped nuts or sprinkle the nuts on top of the frosted cupcakes. ENJOY!

OTHER RED VELVET (not gluten free) CREATIONS:
Red Velvet Cupcakes from Rue le Sel
Red Velvet Macaroons from delectable deliciousness
Red Velvet Bundt from Recipe Girl

Peru Mucho Gusto!

NinjaDebugger — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 03:00:00 -0800

Restaurant: Peru Mucho Gusto!
Address: 7755 L St.
Website: None.
Genres: Peruvian, Asian
Check Constraints: None noted.
Chain: No. | More Omaha Locations: No.

==NinjaDebugger==
Ordered:

Papa a la Huancaina (4.50)
Chicken Chaufas (8.50)
Crema Volteada (3.00)

Peru Mucho Gusto is a tiny place that is not exactly hard to find, but is unfortunately not very noticeable. It's tucked back in a tiny strip mall, in the hinterlands of L street between 72nd and 84th, and the interior of the place actually reminds me a lot of the Lithuanian Cafe and Bakery, but unlike that place, Peru Mucho Gusto has almost nothing BUT ethnic food, and oh what food it is.

Papa a la Huancaina is basically a baked potato, chilled and sliced, then doused liberally in a cheese sauce made with some Peruvian hot pepper. There is also half a hard boiled egg and an olive on the plate, but really... potatoes and cheese. It has just the right amount of heat for me, too, enough that I really can say "That's hot." but not so much that I can't devour half the freaking plate.

Other appetizers you'll be hearing about include this killer fried pork stuff and papa rellena, which bears little relation to the not so great dish I had at the Cuban place. Papa rellena is, uh... well, mash a potato, then form the mashed potato around a mixture of meat, raisins, and some other stuff, deep fry the whole damn thing, then coat it with that same spicy cheese sauce from the potatoes above. It's so good we had it twice.

We actually came here twice before doing the review, because the first time we forgot to write down what we had. Turns out, first time up, I had aji de gallina, which is a lot like papa a la huancaina, only there is an almost curry-like mixture of cream, cheese, shredded chicken, and hot peppers atop the potatoes. Also, a side of killer spiced and peppered rice that must be tasted to be believed.

This time, I went for Chicken Chaufas, which is a Peruvian/Chinese fusion dish, basically a Peruvian take on fried rice. It seriously blows regular fried rice out of the water any day of the week. The spices used really give the chicken an amazing flavor, and the rice and veggies go with it amazingly well. As a side note, the dish is huge, and even I was unable to finish it. It's actually something a whole table could consider grabbing as a side dish for everybody, it's just THAT BIG.

They did not have any cheesecake, which I had a craving for, so I ended up trying crema volteada instead. It was described as "Peruvian flan", which didn't help much, as I have never actually had flan. When flan was described to me as "custard", that was also not helpful, as the closest thing I had ever had to custard was pumpkin pie. I had very limited dessert choices when I was growing up and got dessert at all (holidays). Turns out, I can't really describe this stuff very well, aside from saying that it has an interesting texture, like pudding only much more firm, but it's delicious, if a bit cloying after a while. I'd suggest splitting one with somebody unless you have a real sweet tooth.

So yeah, that's pretty much Peru Mucho Gusto. We went here twice, you should too. At least. Every appetizer on the menu is pretty much pure gold, the main dishes are high quality, and there's a bunch of random stuff you can try, so just go eat. With, uh, mucho gusto, or something.

==Chamelaeon==
Ordered:

Iced Tea ($1.79)
Tamal ($3.50)
Seco De Carne Con Frijoles ($10.00)
Creme Volteada ($3.00)

My uncle and I once had the good fortune to actually go to Peru, on what should probably best be termed an "ecotourism" trip. Most of our time was spent at a lodge on the perimeter of the Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve (if you're curious, the company we booked the trip through is here), so it's not like I spent a week in Lima for the cuisine or anything. Most of our meals were cooked at the lodge, actually, and were very good if not extravagant (as an aside, if you ever get a chance to try red-bellied pirahna, don't pass it up. They look bony but they're good eats). However, on the several-hour-long trip upriver to the lodge we stopped at a village along the way for lunch. I regret that I was tired enough I never caught the name of the village, or the name of the restaurant we ate at, but we were served a large plate of rice and about half a chicken each.

I mention that story so that I can tell you this - the first time we came to Peru Mucho Gusto, I ordered the arroz con pollo, a fairly standard chicken and rice dish. The first bite of the chicken caused a flashback like I thought only happened in movies; the taste and expression of the dish were almost identical, and for a moment everything about the trip came rushing back. Now, I'm the first to admit that a sample size of two makes for really poor statistical significance, but it lends credence to the restaurant's authenticity, at least.

The seco de carne, also a traditional dish, was also excellent, though I don't recall having it on the trip. It's a beef stew, made with Inca corn beer, and as you may well know through cooking adventures of your own, beer plus beef is almost always delicious. As with most dishes at Peru Mucho Gusto, it's pricey, but you could actually order multiple dishes and do family-style dining, if you wanted, and probably come out ahead. The tamal was basically a tamale, as you may have already guessed. They're not identical; primarily the same elements are used to construct them, but the spicing's different, as well as the texture. The custard was firm and delicious - perhaps a little worse for the wear from being in the fridge for a while, but still very good.

I should mention here, after having found out post-eating, that you can apparently request a heat level when you order your food; this is not made apparent by the menu or the staff. Hopefully you have as good a time here as we did - it's nice that Omaha has such a wide variety of ethnic cuisines, and we should attempt to keep the ones we have thriving.

==Moogle==
Ordered:

Papa a la Huancaina ($4.50)
Lomo Saltado ($9.50?)
Arroz con Pollo ($8.00)
Chicha Morada ($2.00)

No, I did not eat two lunches at once, but I do remember what I ate both visits. The first time around was the Papa a la Huancaina and the Lomo Saltado. The Papa a la H. were decent. They are as ND has described, and the heat creeps up on you. I would probably pick one of the other appetizers we had ahead of this on my own though, such as the Papa Rellena. That was some good stuff. Definitely give that a try. There were also some Yucca Frita (fried yucca) around the first time. It was ok, but I wasn't really a big fan of that either.

The Lomo Saltado was really good. Tender beef strips, tomato, pepper and onion on top of french fries. The sauce/juices were tasty. They made the side of rice really good and had a bit of spice to them. The dish was very filling with lots of potato and rice. The prices on some of the beef dishes may have gone up a dollar or two since that visit, but they also have more options.

I had the Arroz con Pollo on the second visit. It's the same dish Cham had the first time around. The rice had a fairly strong cilantro flavor at first. It was mixed with various cooked veggies and came with chicken on top. The color of the chicken made me wonder if it was cooked through, but it appeared to be. The whole thing had good flavors and was plenty of food.

The Chicha Morada was a very interesting drink. It was made from corn (blue corn, I assume) and pineapple, and you could definitely taste both in it. It was a dark blueish purple and the flavors made it a little odd to drink. Though, it did go well with the food.

==Mecha==
Ordered:

'Seafood Sampler w/Rice' (9.50?)
Chicharron con Camote (8.00)
Arroz con Pollo (8.00)
Chicha Morada (2.00)

I will note that I cannot remember at all the name of the seafood dish I got the first time, but it was a rice deal run through with all sorts of minor seafood, including a shrimp with the head still on it and an oyster and... well, it was not wholly to my taste, but it wasn't bad, all the same.

The second visit is a bit more vivid. The Chicharron con Camote (ND's aforementioned 'killer fried pork') was an incredible pork dish that came, I believe, with sweet potato chips, but the important thing is the fried pork, which tasted so very good. Browned normally then fried, I think. Definitely a strong appetizer. The first time we went we couldn't get it, though, so there may be availability issues (the menu hints it's more a weekend deal, but we didn't go on a weekend, so.)

I also went with the arroz con pollo, and while there were no flashbacks, it was good all on its own without misty memories of South America. Moogle is right about the cilantro, which was pretty well balanced, in my opinion (you want unbalanced, let Cham make you food with cilantro in it). I think this is a reasonably solid dish for anyone to get here, but I think I'd want to try some of the beef dishes next time.

The chicha morada was thick in the mouth (think grape juice, but a little thicker) and had an incredibly unique flavor that I really liked. I don't think I could drink it every day, as it stands, but I'll be drinking it next time I go back.

GFC Re-Launch Announcement

snekse — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 08:12:00 -0800

24th Street - Omaha, NE

The Longest Street in the World

Exploring the Cuisine of Omaha

So let's take a look at some of the things we discovered during our trek.

Aint No Wheaties!

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:37:07 -0800

How did I end up eating fried eggs and leftover spicy asian slaw for breakfast today?

Well, the eggs just sounded good – they are warm, I was cold – seemed perfect!

And the slaw, well….we seem to have a lot of random “left overs” to use up these days due to my “experimenting” for my cookbook project…and someone’s got to eat ‘em!

Do I recommend this meal to others! NOPE! (especially when the slaw juices run over into the egg…not the most pleasant combo – LOL!)

Lunch Date

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:11:14 -0800

For the first 13 years of my relationship with Chad, I soooooooooo looked forward to the nights we would go out to eat. Toss in a movie with popcorn, pop and Milk Duds after that, and it was a date made in heaven as far as I was concerned!!

Needless to say, our idea of “fun” changed quite a bit once we started to learn about what exactly we were putting into our bodies on date nights like these!

Nowadays, we just prefer to make our own meals at home because:

A) Then we know for sure what we are eating.

B) I am extremely sensitive to glutamate, and it’s not worth the risk to eat out at most restaurants.

C) Now that we know how to cook for ourselves, we are generally disappointed with most restaurant fare – - and we’d prefer to cook our own meals, rather than pay twice the price for something we like half as much!

However, on occasion we do end up at an eating establishment for fellowship purposes (e.g., meeting up with friends) or because we are on vacation, etc. Today was one such occasion.

Shortly after sitting down to my lunch at Jason’s Deli this afternoon, I began to realize that my version of dining at the “all you can eat” salad bar was attracting a wee bit of attention from passers by. So I did what any dedicated blogger would do… I snapped a quick picture of my plate. Hmm….ya… now that I think about it, I suppose this wouldn’t strike most folks as a lunch worth eating. LOL! But it was actually VERY tasty…and filling!

Oh, and I even managed to find some dessert that seemed pretty “safe” for me to eat. At the waaaaaaaaaaaaay end of the salad bar there was some organic granola — it was very tasty…almost suspiciously tasty. LOL! I was pretty darn full from my plate o’ veggies, but I still managed to pack in some granola for good measure! Ya know, for “research purposes.”

P.S. – Jason’s Deli even offers quite a few organic options, both on their salad bar and as choices in their other menu selections.

P.P.S. – Don’t let my plate scare you away from Jason’s Deli. There were countless other super tasty-looking items on that salad bar, including salad and a variety of dressings (which just happen to be “off limits” to me). So don’t feel like you’d be relegated to my kind of “feast” should you decide to dine there

Sew Lovely: Storybook Friends

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:14:50 -0800

Goldilocks & Red Riding Hood

It has been awhile since I have shared a sewing post. For Christmas this year I sewed some storybook friends for two of my nieces. I used the pattern for the Black Apple Doll from Martha Stewert’s site. You can download a template here.

The arms using the enlarged template seemed to be too skinny which made them difficult to turn. The dolls I made ended up being bigger than the template. I also wanted my dolls to have the appearance of longer hair, so I cut out two smaller pieces of hair from the felt. I didn’t have any fabric paint, so instead I cut the eye out of felt and hand sewed them on and hand stitched the mouths.

I gave these dolls to my nieces along with the appropriate book featuring the doll (Goldilocks and The Three Bears & Red Riding Hood). These dolls are truly easy to make. The most difficult part for me was trying to sandwich the stuffed legs and arms in between the body front and body back and sewing it on my machine. If you have some sewing experience you probably can sew one doll from start to finish in a little over an hour.

Have fun sewing!