Post-Playa Piccata

Josh and Lindsay just got back from Playa del Carmen and their tans have more than once inspired me to glob on fake-tanning sauce in a pathetic attempt to forget that it's not even March yet.  So far it's not working, but my face makeup I bought in August matches again, which is nice.  On their way out of the country, the Suttons' picked up a few (five) bottles of TEQUILA!  They threw down a few shots of TEQUILA! prior to their dinner, which is not Mexican in nature but who the hell cares when you have a bottle or five of good, Mexican TEQUILA! sitting around the house.  They did make some tasty salads that allowed Lindsay to showcase her Amazing Egg Poaching Skills, which are indeed amazing.  I blame the altitude in Colorado for my repeated, epic failures in egg poaching but Lindsay still likes to rub it in.  They followed it up with chicken piccata, for which Linds has the following comments:

"Made chicken piccata last night, Josh's favorite. It's Giada's recipe which I personally think is the best, I have tried a few others.  Also tried out a salad with goat cheese, bacon, and a poached egg with homemade croutons.  Watch carefully as I make a perfect poached egg :0) It's SOOOOO easy.  hehe...

BTW the started the night off with tequila that Josh got at the duty free shop in Mexico.  We were at a bar in Playa and they shot it with this yummy mexican seasoning and a orange.  3 shots later and dinner was ready and I was sauced!"

And so was the chicken. 

Lick - Shake - Lick...

Drink! *Cringe*

Into the drink!

Posting this photo for the world's vegetarians - you know you want some.

I think this is why Jim used to turn the TV off during dinner;) 

Perfectly plated - nice plates too!

Throwing down at Brown (courtesy of Kelly Sanford)

College students aren't commonly known to cook and prepare meals more complicated than frozen pizza but then again you don't know my talented, brilliant cousin Kelly (cooking isn't the only thing that run in the fam;).  Also, can I say how awesome it is to get an email from a dear cousin I don't get a chance to catch up with very often?  Awesome. Despite busting her ass at Brown University, Kelly cooked a beautiful meal AND managed to send along photos of this lovely chicken tortellini soup.  Here's what she has to say about the process...

Since I don't have a car and the nearest grocery store is a fifteen minutes walk away, my roommates and I order our groceries online and get them delivered to us. In some ways it is convenient, but it also has its drawbacks since you can't actually SEE what you are getting. I made the mistake of ordering split chicken breast instead of boneless skinless chicken breast. After ripping the flesh from the bone in order to get at just the meat (letting out my inner savage) I was left with a lot of bone with remnants of flesh on it. I felt bad wasting any of the meat, so I figured I'd try making my own chicken stock with all the bones. After trolling through a bunch of different cooking recipes to get an idea of how this is actually done, I threw them in a big pot with some carrots, half of an old onion, a sprig of fresh rosemary and a hunk of parmesan rind and then let it simmer for 4 hours or so. Then a couple days later I made chicken tortellini soup with sauteed onions and carrots and cheese tortellini. I seasoned it with salt, pepper, garlic, lots of oregano, a bit of basil, and some soy sauce. Served it with parmesan cheese and some roasted garlic/rosemary sweet potatoes. Mmmmmm... Making the stock from scratch was so satisfying, and it provided a richer flavor than the canned soup. Plus it feels good not to waste anything. yay!

Sweet potatoes are the new black.

That stock is from SCRATCH, people.  

Is it just me or is that bread eyeballing the soup?  I'm not smoking anything, I swear. 

Shake! Shake! Shake! Senora!

Anytime I see shrimp cocktail presented in a martini glass I think of Beetlejuice, hence the title of this blog. Missy (ahem, Melissa) and Jeff sent along these photos from their Valentine's Day dinner- very adult, which must be refreshing every once in awhile:)  Here's what she had to say...

Inspired by the mouth-watering Bloody Marys Jim and I had while lunching (with Jeff and Luke) at the Gunflint Tavern in GM (while Mom entertained the boys, or vice versa, at the cabin)... Jeff and I enjoyed these for our Valentine's Day along with shrimp cocktail. Very spicy with worchestershire sauce, horseradish, tabasco. Seasoned with celery salt, dill, cracked pepper. Splash of olive juice and pickle juice. Garnished with Cajun-spiced shrimp, celery stalk, jumbo olive, kosher dill pickle, pickled cauliflower. Yum!

Best. Bloody. EVER.

Work! Work! Work! Senora!

Curb Your Appetite

When I come home from school, I'm starved.  Even if I'm not starved, I'm still going to be eating something because that is how I roll.  Today at 5:30 I made salads for Mike and I so I could wait until a non-early bird special hour to eat dinner, because I'm already drinking decaf every night - I start eating dinner before 6:00 and AARP will start sending me magazines and offers for nearly free! life insurance policies.  Now, I realize these aren't exactly what you'd call the healthiest salads - a little light on veggies and we're obsessed with this parmesan/red wine vinegar dressing Mike's family calls "Rich & Charlies."  I call it heroin. Anyway, it's still a salad damn it and it's better then housing a box of Red Hots, which I considered.  I threw some sliced leftover steak from the other night on top of the usual, which is hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, and just a little sliced onion.  We're fancy.

The after-school special.

Will Wax for Lamb

Tonight, for your consideration, Lindsay and Josh have submitted "Irish Stew with Parmesan Polenta."  As I requested, Lindsay submitted a few words about their meal: "My client traded me a big bag of random leg parts to get her brows done a few times." Perhaps I should elaborate.  Lindsay's an esthetician and has a client who is passionate about the quality of lamb her family raises and really, really wanted Lindsay and Josh to try it, so she showed up to her brow appointment with a hunk of meat.  God, the perks of living in Sonoma.  Both Lindsay and Josh (a hair stylist) are accustomed to working for trade so Lindsay now has to pull a leg o' lambs' worth of eyebrows, but appears to be well worth it.  

Pot o' parts getting brown.

Pot o ' yum.

Pot o' GRAVY (!)

This is an iPhone pic - they couldn't be bothered with a real camera at this point.  I get it.