Giving Thanks

We had a pretty low key Thanksgiving even by my standards. My mom left for Georgia, Dad was in Indy and brothers went to in-laws. Max commented several times how it was weird that we weren't with our own family - which I found sweet and a bit sad.

We scored no less than 3 invites for dinner. (It is amazing the graciousness of people toward single mothers). We took Shawn up on hers - mainly because her son is Max's friend. We had a nice time with her family. Ate a big meal, played cards, drank cheap wine.

I made broccoli salad, cheese grits, and made a sweet potato pie!

Shawn's husband underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor earlier this year. He is doing great now but we were touched to be with a family that has so many reasons to give thanks. Then again, don't we all?

I hope your day was peaceful and happy.

You Win Some, You Lose Some

Chicken Pot Pie with Homemade Herb Biscuits

I made two pot pies tonight. I made one with onions and herbs for me and a sans onions and herbs for Max. Recently,I have started sneaking in onions into Max's food and even the occasional herbs. "What is that GREEN in there?" Just eat it Max.....I am hoping to give him an unaware acquired taste.

The pot pie was good, not great. I used Ina Garten's recipe for herb biscuits but forgot to put on the egg wash even though it was ready and right in front of my face. So the biscuits did not brown. I also overworked the dough so they were too heavy. Ina would be pissed at me no doubt. Although in a nice way I bet. She seems very nice.....

A few days ago, I came across a stuffed mushroom recipe on Epicurious I wanted to try. The ingredients all sounded good: Italian sausage, Parmesan, oregano, dash of Worcestershire and garlic, cream cheese and an egg.

Moldy mushrooms prevented me from making these last week but after a trip to the grocery store today, I was ready. Here they are right out of the oven.



Here they are in the trash can. Bad. Just bad. I have never written a review on Epicurious although the reviews of other users greatly influences me. I believe this will be my first review.....Blechhhkkkk!



Oh! The vegetable soup was great. I will post the entire recipe later.

Another Saturday Night and I Ain't Got Nobody...

I've got some veggies so I'll just make soup. Details to come!

Cool Gadgets - part I

Shish-k-boom Shish-k-boom,

Don't ya just love it?

First Time EVER!

I am getting ready to go to bed and just thought to myself, "Myself? I think we forgot to eat supper tonight!"

The potato gratin was very good last night (and today for lunch). The rosemary and bleu cheese were a bit much together however. Either one separately would be divine!

Pajama Food

We are having a bad day. Max and I yelled at each other, me with particular force. I have not yelled in ages. I have not yelled at him in forever. I didn't like it. He didn't like it more.

Most obvious statement of the day....Being a single mom is tough.

My friend H is having a shitty day too. Since I am going to bust her out, I am not going to link to her blog here. She had a Taco Bell binge for lunch. I couldn't stand to hear the details, although I can totally relate to the feeling out of control, being out of sorts, wanting things to turn back around on the right track but not being able to move them there. Fuck these days.

So it is 6 p.m. and I am in my pj's. I am going to curl up on the couch and watch bad TV. What's for supper? I still have some bleu cheese left and filet. There is the first course.


Potato Gratin with Bleu Cheese and Rosemary



It sounds comforting and I hope to hell it works. I'll let you know.

Lazy Sunday Lunch

Roasted Acorn Squash and Garlic Soup with Fried Sage

A acorn squash - halved
A head garlic - top 1/3 cut off
1/2 onion - diced
A couple cuts of fresh sage
A couple sprigs of fresh thyme
Chicken stock - about 2 Cups
Half and Half - 1/4, more or less to taste
Butter
Salt, pepper, and sugar

Place squash halves and garlic on baking sheet lined with foil. Add a bit of olive oil on garlic. Roast in 375 degree oven until garlic is soft - about 40 - 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, saute onion until soft. (or roast the onion instead). Add a few leaves of chopped sage and thyme. Saute one minute.

Add chopped, peeled squash and half of the roasted garlic. Save the rest of the garlic for another use.

Add enough stock to cover - about 2 cups. Bring to boil, continue to cook until all pieces of squash are soft. Add 1/4 C (to taste) half and half. Using submersion blender, puree. Add salt, pepper, and sugar to taste.

Take remaining sage leaves and fry in butter for about two minutes. The leaves will brown and become mellow and crispy. Garnish on soup with additional thyme.

Serves 2 as a meal.

I cannot stress enough how delightful the fried sage is in this soup. I am lucky enough to still have some in my garden despite three hard freezes. I hope it makes it till Thanksgiving!

I totally got "the Look"

The "look" from the butcher tonight when I ordered ONE filet. ONE. Head tilt, nod, head tilt, eyes of pity.

Bleu cheese crusted filet with red wine reduction. I ate half of the bleu cheese before it made it onto the steak, but otherwise, a delicious meal.

Sometimes "In Theory" Just Sucks

In "theory", this should have been delightful. Prosciutto wrapped crostini with Parmesan and garlic.
YUM!
YUM?
Uh.....Yuck?
YUCK!

So what exactly went wrong? Perhaps the extremely dry crostini. Maybe the extremely dry and salty prosciutto. Could it be the hard dry cheese? Probably all of the above.

Next time, better crostini. Softer cheese. Higher quality prosciutto. Basil. Tomatoes. And, of course, bacon.

What is the Purpose?

I am sure I am not the only blogger who is struggling with NoBloPoMo, although there are those whose creativity is spewing out of them like bad oysters. But me? I feel pressured by the post a day and find myself completely blank......And yet, still competitive.

So here is yet another, Get-Me-Through-One-More-Day post. Tomorrow I will have a completely brilliant entry.

In the meantime, please do check out my FAVORITE food blogger The Amateur Gourmet. Adam is a cook, writer and food adventurer who lives in Brooklyn and leads a fabulous, glamorous life

I want to marry Adam. Well, no, I don't think that would work. I want to adopt Adam. Hmmmm, his parents seem great. Maybe the could adopt me!

The Red in Betty

I love red! Here's a new purchase....

The following from gawker.com

We've always been unimpressed with the people who trumpet their participation in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), which as far as we can tell involves telling everyone you know (usually via your blog) that you're writing a novel in a month, woohoo, way to go you. Seriously, it's almost as tiresome as people who think they're all special for sprinting through five boroughs. Color us not impressed.
But you know what IS impressive? NaDruWriNi -- National Drunken Writing Night -- which we had no idea was this past Saturday. (Even so, we may have inadvertently participated). The concept is wonderful, but the results are even better. Some of the drunkest are collected here. To whet your whistle, here's an excerpt from one of our favorites from last year:


observation #5

i was going to write about
an old man i saw
but am now so drunk
that i cannot concentrate enough
do do so
or remember him
h9old on
giveme a sec.


Trust us, it's funnier in context. Start getting excited for next year.

Oh! And I also saw a blog doing NaBloSHOEMo, National Blogging about Shoes everyday Month - or something like that! I'll try to find her link.

Cute AND Talented

My teenage son made this apron in home living class. Although my hand looks like it is there to catch crumbs, it was my attempt at the "Janice Hand" from the Price Is Right. I'll work on it.

(not to be hating but here are) Ten Things I Hate

1. Jello
2. Coconut
3. McDonald's
4. Artificially flavored stuff (grape, peach, strawberry and watermelon flavored anything, hazelnut coffee, banana popsicles)
4. Canned soup
5. Sourkraut
6. Kraft Macaroni and "cheese"
7. Brussel Sprouts
8. Tarragon
9. Canned Tuna (throw in canned fruit, canned peas, canned asparagus, canned potatoes, canned mushrooms, blech!)
10.Hamburger

That was pretty easy. Now here are foods I would eat only if given a choice between eating them and fucking Fabio where death is not an option....

1. Grape jelly
2. Broccoli
3. Kidney
4. Grocery store purchased birthday cakes
5. Honey mustard
6. Black licorice
7. Jelly-filled doughnuts
8. Pickle relish
9. Potato Buds
10.Rice-a-Roni

Was that EVERYDAY?

Sitting here tonight, working on the laptop, and watching of all the random things, Sarah, Plain and Tall (don't ask).....I have cruised some of the blogs that Mrs. Kennedy has listed in the NoBloPoMo page.

I can rest assured that I am not the only blogger in a panic with having to come up with a post everyday. Well, an interesting post at the least.....

I hit on a site that did not even put any words on her last two posts, just a title like "blog post #3". Believe me when I say, I am totally not criticizing you sister, that will be me next week and I probably won't even bother with the title the week after!

But today, I am in a bit of a panic of sorts. The PRESSURE of a month's worth of posts. Because ultimately, I am a wee bit competitive. (eye rolls from everyone I have ever met....)

So in a flurry of photos I am taking as I am making supper tonight (JUST WAIT! It will be such exciting reading!), I actually took a picture of the contents of my refrigerator. I was thinking of calling it "A Day in Life of the Fridge." The series could run all month. You've been warned.......

Birthday Boy

Did I mention I have a 13-year-old? 13!!!

My dad, who lives in Indy, decided to meet us for lunch in Bloomington - only an hour and a half drive for us but closer to two and a half for him. We met up at the TGI Friday's - Max's choice for the birthday lunch.

I ordered shrimp. (In fact, it was the second time in one week where I ordered shrimp at a restaurant). And I have discovered that I don't really like shrimp all that much. But yet I still order it almost everything I see it on a menu. Isn't that odd?

Max, who bounces between being a picky eater and an adventurous eater, wants desperately to like shrimp. I think this stems from his cool cousin's love of the little fish. Once, at a Christmas party at our house, his cousin literally ate the entire plate of shrimp cocktail to the tune of 3 pounds worth, in one sitting. Max was amazed and still is trying to figure out what he is missing.

So every time I order shrimp, he wants to try a bite. So far, he just doesn't like it. Oh the things I could learn from a teenager!

13 years ago today, I was in a whole lot of pain

Happy 13th Birthday to my son Max! He does not have school today so we are headed to Peoria for lunch and blowing his birthday wad. His restaurant of choice today? TGIF Friday's. Could be worse, could be a whole lot better.

Damn, I love that kid!

Post a Day Numero Uno

Thanks to Hilarie, Ain't No Answer, who in turn would like to thank Mrs. Kennedy, www.fussy.org, we are both participating in the NaBloPloMo challenge. That challenging challenge is challenging us to blog everyday in November. Yes, it will be a challenge for me at least.

If you are a gambler, put your money and Hilarie to win!