my grossest love

i adore pizza rolls. love them. the pictured combination are my favorite, followed by the reduced fat pepperoni variety. they're disgusting and bad for you and i love them.

food topic #2, check! :)

aer<><

nablopomo: july edition

uff da. my last post was in march?! the time really has flown. it's been a crazy few months here at casa de Girl & Husby... updates to come.

for now... i got the email from the NaBloPoMo guys, and july's topic is food. so i'll be posting on various food shtuff - things i bake, supper ideas i come across, restaurants worthy (or unworthy) of review, Husby approved snackies...

it'll be good to get back to blogging. tonight we ate some of the best pork chops i've ever had. grandpa, Husby and i went to Cap's Grille (no website to link to). grandpa said that each time he voted to go to Cap's for supper, grandma would say, "You really want to go there?", but after eating she'd say, "This is an alright place to come." :) grandpa also said the place "has no atmosphere, but the food's real good." mom pitched in with "you'll like it; Husby will love it!"

for $17, Husby and i split half a chicken, 5 ribs and a huge pork chop, steak fries and a salad. the chop was juicy, slightly charred and stark white in the middle - covered in Cap's BBQ, oh yum! the chicken held the BBQ flavor throughout the meat, and was very tender and tasty. and the ribs were meaty and delicious - not at all tough. all was served on a plastic cafeteria tray. the waitress was busy, but didn't make a single forgetful mistake, and she was even patient with grandpa (not all waitresses pass the grandpa test).

overall, pay Cap's Grille a visit. the drive is spectacular - take the Lake Nokomis loop, ending at Hiawatha. it's a pretty drive, with a great meal awaiting.
aer<><

more tales from the couch

today is my sweet Husby's birthday. he has made breakfast, spoken to both fathers, both mothers, all grandparents, picked up a cake, attended worship, picked up groceries, and checked in with the Easter breakfast volunteers because today is also my day 2 from the couch.

the crud lives on despite cough syrup, advil, sudafed, 7up, saltines, bad daytime television, and a growing mound of kleenex. the crud slows down for no one - including a youth director with an Easter breakfast in two days.

i hate the crud. but boy, do i love my Husby. he makes the crud bearable. here's hoping his birthdays not cruddy!
aer<><

news from the couch

deep chest cough? check.

runny nose? check.

sore throat? check.

splitting headache? check.

i've been struck by the MN 2008 winter crud.

plus i work at a church & its holy week, there's an Easter breakfast looming, and tomorrow is Husby's birthday (all these events are happening for first time with us actually being together).

meh. in sickness and in health, right?!
aer<><

pounds, pounds, pounds

i made my first pound(s) cake last week! yes, pounds. i've gained a few since marriage, so i'm thinking about that a little. a lot. all the time. not that i try to do anything about it, especially with all the cool kitchen gadgets we got as wedding gifts.

anyways, the cake was easy to make, smelled amazing, was super yummy warm from the oven, and settled into a dense and even yummier cake the next morning. not that i smothered it in strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast...

Pounds Cake

adapted from the Betty Crocker Cookbook, New Edition

*i halved the original recipe, which made 24 servings! Husby and i only needed 12... yes, needed*

1 1/2 cups AP flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt (really 1/8 tsp, so a couple pinches)

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 1/4 cups butter, softened

1/2 tsp vanilla

3 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

1. heat oven to 350. grease bottom and sides of 9x5 loaf pan; lightly flour.

2. in medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. in large bowl, beat sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. beat on high speed for 5 minutes, scraping occasionally. beat flour mixture into sugar mixture alternately with milk on low speed, beating just until smooth after each addition. pour into pan.

3. bake 55-60 minutes (til it passes the toothpick test). cool for 20 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. cool completely, or until you can't stand it anymore. slice a big slab and eat up.

aer<><

first hurdle syndrome and steak

when i was little, some stuff came super easy to me. like reading. i love to read, and have since i was 2. my first book was little house on the prairie. i used to read to my kindergarten class and give my teacher a little extra prep time. reading was one thing i rocked.

so since then, if i have to spend a lot of time learning how to do it, i don't wanna. this has come back to bite me in the rear many a time - relationship building, piano playing, math class... but the thing is, if i just take the first step and do whatever it is, sometimes i can actually learn it! i coined it "first hurdle syndrome". it's tough to jump the first hurdle, but once you've done it, the hurdles that follow ain't no thang!

so i'm posting a food blog. this is my first hurdle. i wrote about my secret desire to be a foodie last month, but the blogs i read are so fab that it makes me nervous to start my own! we'll see how long it lasts (my track record with consistently blogging isn't so hot), but for tonight, here we go! i took the pictures with my phone (crazy!). Husby thoroughly enjoyed this meal, as did i - super garlicky, a little cheesy, tender steaks... mmmm good.

Garlic Cheese Bread & Steaks
adapted from 30 Minute Meals, Rachael Ray

1 loin flank steak, 1 ½ inch thick
2 teaspoons dried thyme
Salt and black pepper
1 tablespoon EVOO
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 garlic cloves, grated
A handful of fresh Italian parsley leaves, chopped
2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
A handful of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 2-inch thick slices of Italian bread

Slice the steak in two strips (mine was slightly smaller than Husby’s). Season both sides of each strip with the thyme, salt and pepper. Pour the EVOO in a large skillet and place the skillet over high heat. Place the steaks in the hot skillet and sear the meat (about 2 minutes on each side). Reduce heat to medium and let the steaks cook for 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove skillet from heat, cover and set aside.

Combine the melted butter, grated garlic, parsley, basil, cheese, and a pinch of pepper in a bowl. Spread the butter mixture onto each side of the 2 pieces of Italian bread.

Remove steaks from the skillet, put on a plate, and cover with aluminum foil. Place the skillet back on the hot burner, and toast each slice of bread for 2-3 minutes per side in the skillet.
Serve steaks on top of the garlic cheese bread!

aer<><

road trip weekend

the ginormous otter in fergus falls of otter tail county, mn

mom, grandpa, ilse the dog and i hit the road this weekend for fergus falls, mn. grandma and grandpa grew up about 8 miles outside fergus, and two of grandpas' sisters still live there. he hasn't seen them in a while, mom didn't have school (she's a teacher) due to presidents day, and Husby worked the whole weekend, so up we went!

it was a good visit. we went to the nursing home to visit with great-aunt L - who used to be a dead ringer for the church lady of saturday night live - and her husband. great-aunt L has some dementia and her husband has parkinsons disease, so conversation was a little lagging. but it was a nice visit nonetheless, and i know it was a well-timed one.

we stayed with great-aunt V. she is one wild 75 year old! she just retired from her job as a sexuality nurse - she actually was also a professor who taught other sex nurses. =) she actually moved back to fergus from detroit to take care of her sister (great-aunt L). every piece - pottery, paintings, cookware - in her home belonged to some relative and has a story. her daughter married a man from algeria, converted to muslim and moved to algiers. great-aunt V just got back from her 3rd visit to them. she's a wonderful, savvy lady.

it was grandpa's first trip to fergus without grandma, so naturally it was a toughie. we made burial arrangements for grandma, which was hard. both sets of grandma & grandpas' grandparents and parents, as well as other family members (including their 2 babies and adult son) are buried at swan lake cemetary. they grew up at swan lake church, which is in the absolute middle of the country - you can't even see a farmhouse from the church! when we bury grandma in the spring, it will be beautiful.

besides sad things, we had a great time. sharing the backseat of mom's car with the dog, eating out more times in 2 days than i have in 2 months, using the internet of my new pink blackberry from the car, staying up til 1am with my great-aunt and mom, sharing a futon bed with mom... all in all, it was a good trip.
aer<><