Nothing says Disco Duck like neon orange... made possible by the signature day glow yellow of the Galliano

First the martini, The Disco Duck… So do you remember Rick Dees (or is it Deez) and his 70s mad lib of a song Disco Duck? Complete with Donald Duck impersonation?

Well, I desperately wish I could say I cracked open a can of Donald Duck orange juice to make this super niftily kitch but alas, I did not… I did however contemplate what type of martini such a creature would have though… well, what I came up with is the Harvey Wallbanger was one of the it things of the 70s and Disco Duck would have been very certainly drawn to what he thought would make him seem popular and hip… so that was a start… a martini of course updates it just enough to exemplify that suaveness he was so certain he possessed… but let’s not forget he was not exactly a cautious seeming fellow so it would most undeniably not faze him to bruise the gin, hence it must be shaken not stirred… really a lot more things occured to me, because I can be a loser about thinking deeply on off topics… but on to the drink…

The Disco Duck
1.5 oz gin
1 oz ea: orangecello and orange juice
1/2 oz Galliano
splash of vermouth (about 1/4 oz I guess)

And since I don’t drink martinis but it was our anniversary weekend, and I’m not one to let anyone feel they must drink alone, the not a ‘tini specially for yours truly was born… So for that I pondered what would appease me–complete with brownies of course as what else would round it into the perfect dessert??

Umm, know someone with a sweet tooth?

The Pecan Pie
2 oz Bourbon
1 oz pecan liqueur (you could sub frangelico but obviously it wouldn’t be “pecan” at that point but similar enough to be tasty)
1/2 oz Sweet Lucy (Duck’s Unlimited Bourbon Liqueur)
[optionally, stir in a tiny dab of blackstrap molasses... because the calcium makes it healthy... just kidding, it because that's delicious in a pecanut pie and it'll ironically enough help cut the sweetness...]

Swirl and enjoy…

PS. The Round up is here (and Cara’s awesome sounding Pumpkin one won… cool!!)

* The Hubs, still doing to much but when I’m sick I take help wherever it comes from even if it means a bit of guilt: Fried Breaded Pork, mac and cheese soup, lima beans

* Parent-Teacher Night: Leftover Gumbo and some Brown Rice

* Store bought chicken, Hubs made the rest: Fried chicken, Oven fries/roasted potato wedges, baby carrots (raw for some, cooked for others), buttered corn

* Shortcut Chicken and Dumplings

* Sausage Jambalya, Buttermilk Biscuits

* Garlicy-er, Limey-er Pasta (aka. Amber’s Plus…)

My wacky BeeGee helping me in the kitchen...

So I made Amber’s pasta a while back but knew I wanted some changes so I finally got to it and it was a hit!!! The BeeGee helped me in the kitchen and sang his own disturbing version of “It’s getting hot in here” to the broccoli as we prepped it… meanwhile, he somehow manages to stand on a chair shaking his shoulders and booty while rinsing and plucking leaves from the 4 broccoli stalks and passing them to me as he’s singing without missing a beat… ”It’s getting hot in there *points into pot of not yet boiling water for the pasta and broc* so let’s take off your leaves… I am getting hungry (uh uh), so help me take your leaves off.” At which point he falls in to giggles and flashes an ornery grin and I groan to myself at the fact that hubby clearly exercises little caution with his selection of school driving tunes, but am at the same moment mildly amused at my silly boy… (Don’t get me wrong I like Nelly and all I just didn’t think it wore well on my 4 yo…)

while boiling the sauce, I was serenaded with Lets get it saucy, saucy

Garlicy-er Limey-er Pasta
8 oz box spelt rotini
1 head broccoli florets (about 4 c)
1 lb chicken breasts, cut in strips
1/2 head of garlic, minced
olive oil

quick taste for the cooks...

1.5 T ea: butter and flour
1.5 c chicken stock
1/4 c lime juice
(and zest of one lime, optional)
1 tsp ea: blk pep, garlic pwd, onion pwd
1/2 tsp ea: salt, smoked paprika, cayenne, thyme
parm to garnish

Boil the pasta in salt water for about 5 mins, stir in the broccoli cover and cut off the heat. After starting the pasta (but before adding the broccoli), soften the garlic and start browning the chicken in a little olive oil… push the chicken off to one side, make a quick roux melting the butter and flour together and whisk in the liquids and seasonings… mix the chicken back thru anad bring to a boil… drain pasta and broccoli and toss with the chicken sauce… top with the cheese and serve…

Sausage Jambalaya
12-16 oz andouille, sliced (or a lb of whatever assorted cooked meats were in the fridge or freezer if you don’t want sausage)
2 onions, diced (or 1 lg yellow onion)
1/2 head of garlic, peeled and crushed or minced
1/2 head of celery, diced
2 bell peppers, diced (I have both red and green at the moment so I’d probably use one of each, but normally I just use green)
1-1.5 T cajun/creole seasoning of choice (or 1/2 tsp ea: garlic/onion pwd, thyme, cayenne pep, 1 tsp ea: s/p)
1.5 c rice
1 can tomatoes
3 c water, stock or white wine (if you use brown rice you can use 2 FULL tomato cans worth as it’ll fall right about 3.75 c)
maybe 1/4-1/2 tsp salt (depending on taste–the saltiness of your sausage and/or liquid–but best not to skip entirely or the rice will drain the flavor from the dish, so take it just a little past where you think it needs to be…)

Brown the sausage and remove to a plate… Use the drippings (or drain off and use some oil) to saute the veg… and the rice and seasonings and stir well to coat, bring to a boil cover and simmer… until rice is tender and liquid is mostly absorbed (if it gets completely absorbed add back a little boiling water while stirring to get it looser and a bit silken instead of dry) around 15 mins or so… {I’m guessing again but it simmers for just enough time to preheat your oven and bake some rolls… when you pull out your rolls/biscuits and flip them over on their heads it should be time to pull the rice…}

well, I married just such a yankee so he’s got this contrary line of thinking… and I made him chicken and dumplings the way my daddy did as we grew up with a roll out biscuit dough dumplings that you cook submerged in the liquid… he thought it was great but said it just didn’t have the comfort food factor because the dumplings were different, almost like gnocchi… having never had gnocchi at the time–and thinking they seemed just like daddy’s dumplings to me–I tried really hard not to roll my eyes, even hearing my grandfather’s voice in my head saying “Don’t wall your eyes” but I clearly must not have been successful… as the Hubs followed up with “I mean that in a good way. I love gnocchi. And this isn’t so much the same as similar.” and I smiled at him but thought to myself it’d be a long time until I’d put so much work into dinner again…

but of course the irritation passed rather quickly, as is usual for me, so I made him one with spoonfuls of drop biscuits (some submerged for me and some floaters for him)… he found this mildly more familiar but complained it was still not the same… and yes it really was complaining and he even waxed nostalgic about the dumplings he grew up on… and at the time we were still so newly married and in that honeymoon phase that I didn’t/couldn’t just tell him “Duh! I’m not gonna make anything that’s the same because I think your way is nasty… But you’re welcome to get in the kitchen and make it the way your mama used to if you want it like that.” or something to that effect, as I probably would have had it happened later in the sequence when I was comfortable enough to be my snarky self… so instead I said, “Well this way was a bit of extra work, so if you don’t really like it I’ll just make it my regular way from now on…” To which he replies, “Ok honey, that’s fine. I like your cooking anyway. You can make whatever you want. Really.”

Well the catch is that one of his favorite foods (not his favorite favorite, but high ranking) is of course chicken and dumplings… and my way(s) were not satiating that favorite craving… So over the course of our marriage I’ve asked tons of people how they make theirs in the hopes of discovering a different dumpling method that might serve as a compromise for us… Generally, there was more variations to the soup base than there were to the dumplings… so I finally got the tip from someone that they used cut up canned biscuits… at the time, I didn’t think to ask more questions and figured that it was essentially a roll out dough cut smaller to minimize the nasty middles problem with floaters… but later came the second tipper to mention the same cut up canned biscuits, but she explained that she indeed cooked them submerged… I was excited by the ease of doing it this way but decided to hold of on it because it really would be the same thing the Hubby didn’t especially care for so no particular compromise… well, again I found the canned biscuit tip online, but this time I really liked the idea of trying it…

so yes, it’s true it’s no compromise and makes no head way to his side… but now that we’ve got 4 kids and crazy hectic evenings it sounded the perfect time for shortcuts… so I’m trying it and I even sold the Hubs on the idea that it was a compromise somehow when he mentioned they’d used canned biscuits… (but truth be told I’ve picked up another online tip for baking the “dumplings” resting on top of the soup in individual dishes… which may prove to be somewhat satisfying to the Hubs while not being undercooked for my tastes… so that’s in the works for the future, though I plan to test it with more of a beef stew base as I dread that it may turn out undumpling-ish from baking and don’t want to exacerbate things in this arena…) and just as one last word, this is nothow I normally make my chicken and dumplings base for those of you who know I use it for pot pie… but I don’t see why this couldn’t work (just cut the buttermilk to 1 c or so and add some corn starch to it, stirring it in after the meat and veg warm thru… bring to a boil to thicken to put under a crust instead of fussing with the dumplings… or cool it first if you wanted a double crust…) if that’s what you wanted to do…

girlies bowlful... that thing there on the spoon that'd be a dumpling... the shredded chicken made it hard to tell the difference by photo...

I boiled the beans and carrots in the stock until I was done pulling meat from the chicken (I pulled the meat because I got lazy–I’d had an exceptionally bad day and it was going to be another scout night full of paper mache on the other side of things not rest, so I was a bum and I regretted it–but I’d recommend you cut it as the cubes I bothered to cut before I lost interest worked better IMO…) strained out the beans and carrots, added the dumplings in 3 batches each kept submerged under a third of the chicken, and a third of corn and peas, straining out and adding to the beans and carrots as I went…

after the last batch has been strained out, whisk in your buttermilk as needed to get the broth as you wish texturewise… (I apparently didn’t do a good enough job of shaking off excess flour from the dumplings as mine was as thick as paste and took more milk than I’d planned…) taste the broth and season as desired–I think I did more Mrs Dash grill seasoning – prob 2T, about 1T ea: s/p, g/o pwd… add back the reserved stuff and mix well…

** I seasoned mine with 1.5 T Mrs Dash chicken grilling seasoning and a little salt, because when I make my dumplings I put seasonings inside the biscuits and though this would help… it did so little I’d vote for not bothering… (and yeah mine’s Lily too, as ap pretty much always is in this house… but a hard white wheat would make no difference here, so if that’s not what you keep on hand as your staple you can use what you keep on hand for this… I mean you’re just dusting, it’s not like you’re actually making the biscuits…)

1. American-style bacon
2. Canadian bacon
3. Prosciutto with melon
4. Pork belly, braised
5. Pork butt, smoked
6. Pork ribs, smoked
7. Roasted leg of lamb with mint jelly
8. Gyros (I’ve had ample opportunity to but won’t because of the cucumber mayo sauce… I’ve eaten the meat from one, as considering the list this is I think that should be at least 1/2 pt…)
9. Duck confit
10. Roasted chicken
11. Standing rib roast, rare (I don’t eat rare meat)
12. Chitlins
13. Cracklins
14. Boudin or blood sausage
15. Haggis
16. Peking duck
17. Roasted turkey with traditional American accompaniments
18. Roasted goose with traditional English accompaniments
19. Foie gras
20. Pate campagne
21. Moo Shu pork
22. Shepherd’s pie
23. Steak and Kidney pie
24. Chicken and dumplings
25. Turducken
26. Venison sausage
27. Pork cheeks
28. Pickled pigs’ feet (frankly because I imagine it tastes pretty much like scrapple soaked in vinegar, ‘nuf said…)29. Barbacoa
30. Birria
31. Chicken Marbella
32. Steak tartare
33. Beef Bourguignon
34. Potatoes roasted in duck fat
35. Spam
36. Tandoori chicken
37. Lamb vindaloo
38. Spaghetti Bolognese
39. Cuban sandwich
40. Croque Monsieur
41. Philadelphia cheesesteak
42. Chicken Satay
43. Shabu-shabu
44. Teppanaki
45. Schwarma
46. Meatloaf
47. Beef Wellington
48. Beef tenderloin with béarnaise
49. Taco salad
50. Chili con carne
51. Pastisto
52. Corned beef brisket
53. Bangers and mash
54. Guinea pig
55. Ropa vieja
56. Wurst (any)
57. Lamb tagine
58. Kosher hot dog (New York-style)
59. Jerk chicken
60. Chorizo
61. All-American hamburger (as in the NY drive in, no…)
62. Pigeon/Squab
63. Steak frites
64. Pastrami
65. Salami
66. Sweetbreads
67. Wiener schnitzel
68. Goulash
69. Pho
70. Char siu bao
71. Kalua pig
72. Pork rinds
73. Scrapple or goetta
74. Jaegerspaetzle
75. Sauerbraten (not sure…)
76. Tongue sandwich
77. Baked ham
78. Frog legs
79. Alligator
80. Squirrel (don’t want to know if I have…)
81. Liver and onions
82. Bone marrow and marmalade (seperately but not together…)
83. Cevapcici
84. Creamed beef on toast (shit on a shingle)
85. Red-eye gravy
86. Head cheese
87. Jambalaya
88. Steak Diane
89. Veal piccata
90. Bulgogi
91. Smoked chicken (barbecue)
92. Beer can chicken
93. Chicken teriyaki
94. Coronation chicken (curried chicken salad)
95. Ostrich
96. Rogan josh (possible, but I don’t know…)
97. Poutine
98. Chicken mole
99. Irish beef stew
100. Loose meat

My Score: 52 – I knew I’d had; 27 – I didn’t know (7 of which I’ve eaten); 4 maybes; total 59/100

1. Appalachicola oysters
2. souse
3. A sazarac (mostly because I wasn’t much of a mixed drink drink before kids…)
4. moonshine (shhhh…)
5. A Ramos gin fiz (umm, yeah same reason as #3)
6. single-barrel bourbon
7. Jack Daniels and coca cola
8. a moon pie (Lookout Mountain brand of course)
9. sweet tea
10. a pimento burger (Georgia)
11. whole hog barbecue (not that I can recall… but I have a bad memory…)
12. one of the “freak” bbq dishes (bbq sundae, bbq spagetti, etc.). Freak is my term.
13. pork shoulder in Memphis
14. dry ribs
15. wet ribs
16. a hot dog at the Varsity in Atlanta
17. a muffelata
18. what your waiter thinks you should have tonight at Galatoire’s
19. frogmore stew (ha, we always just call this “a boil”… no wonder I know none of these names of things… I guess I grew up too simplistic…)
20. fried catfish
21. she-crab soup
22. Boiled crawfish at a roadhouse in Louisiana (e.g. the Guiding Star in New Iberia)
23. bbq with Carolina mustard sauce
24. insanely hot chicken in Nashville
25. bbq mutton (Kentucky) (oh, even the BeeGee knows this is the way to go… and has since he ate table food pretty much…)
25. burgoo (Kentucky)
26. brunswick stew
27. bbq chicken with “white sauce” (North Alabama)
28. shrimp and grits
29. a lucky dog (quite probably as I used to love hot dogs as a kid…)
30. seafood gumbo
31. chicken and sausage gumbo
32. fried okra
33. chitterlings
34. greens cooked with a ham hock
35. yellow squash casserole
36. deviled eggs
37. kumback sauce (I’ve watched someone else eat it with fried pickles, they claimed it was the best thing to eat them with… but I can do without mayo, or pickles… LOL)
38. Delta tamales
39. a steak at Does
40. red beans and rice
41. fried pie
42. Natchitoches meat pie
43. maquechoux
44. fried chicken, milk gravy, and rice
45. alligator
46. deep fried turkey
47. bread and butter pickles (as a kid, couldn’t make me eat a pickle now)
48. blackberries just after they are picked
49. blackberry cobbler
50. pecan pie
51. extract pound cake (I really have no blooming idea what he means by this, but since I’ve had so many pound cakes… some with a handful of different extracts (lemon, almond rum, vanilla, coconut, orange, etc), I’m gonna go ahead and say yes…)
52. tea cookies
53. a breakfast of country ham, fried eggs, grits, biscuits, red eye gravy
54. a glazed and baked Tennessee or Kentucky country ham
55. hickory smoked sausage in a canvas poke
56. a Greek hot dog with meat sauce in Birmingham
57. pimento cheese sandwich
58. A fried fish plate from a fish shack anywhere along the Gulf or Atlantic coasts
59. a mint julep
60. boiled peanuts
61. peanut soup
62. sweet potato pie
63. sorghum molasses (straight from the spoon even…)
64. Chesapeake bay softshell crabs
65. Maryland crab cakes
66. Stuffed ham (Maryland or Virginia)
68. cornbread
69. cornbread stuffing (cornbread dressing is better, and likely what he meant as cornbread stuffing usually falls to s*** and is a wet sloppy mess… but I have suffered this fate as well so either way it’s a yes…)
70. andouille
71. boudin
72. jambalaya
73. gumbo z’herbes
74. crawfish etouffee (but I hate shellfish and you’d never make me again..)
75. sugar cane (nothing like it straight from the cane… and this is how I’d love to get all my fiber… LOL)
76. wild duck gumbo
77. shrimp remoulade
78. bread pudding with whiskey sauce
79. barbecued shrimp
80. A New Orleans creole Italian salad
81. field peas
82. okra and tomatoes (and you can have it!! I won’t fit you…)
83. skillet corn
84. a “meat and three” plate lunch in mid-to-late summer (of course, what single person cooks in the summer?)
85. a revolving tables-style boarding house meal (not even sure what this means, so I’ll go no… but if it’s at one of those huge round tables where the center is a lazy susan so you can sorta spin in it instead of pass things, then yeah I actually have…)
86. red velvet cake
87. fried buffalo fish (again, I don’t really know as I’ve eaten a lot a mystery fish… especially fried… LOL someone’d catch something and we’d eat it, if it didn’t taste good you’d stop otherwise you wouldn’t but it was easy to have no clue what it was…)
88. ramps
89. yellow meat watermelon
90. Food and drink at an SEC football game tailgating (I can’t really remember but I’m betting this is probably a yes…)
91. venison
92. turtle soup (it’s possible but I don’t want to think about it…)
93. quail for breakfast
94. pickled egg (sin upon sin this nasty…)
95. Barqs root beer
96. A home or house-made cream pie with meringue on it
97. A country church “dinner on the grounds” (frankly I’m not sure if it was a “country” church or not, but yeah… it’s kinda fun too, I’d be on top of going to one pretty much any weekend there was decent weather… and while I’m not baptist and they were, it was the mosiquitos that came during the singing that bothered me, but I like music and so I got bit… LOL)
98. squirrel and dumplings (it’s possible but I don’t want to know about it…)
99. beaten biscuits
100. hoop cheese and saltines in a country store

My score: 60 – I knew I’d had; 18 – I didn’t know what they were (6 of which I’d had); plus 8 maybes
total 66/100 for sures; and my 7 nevers are simply because I don’t like to eat shellfish (and the not eagers are probably self-evident)…

The Vegan’s 100: Just bold what you’ve eaten, and cross out what you’d never eat.

1. Natto
2. Green Smoothie
3. Tofu Scramble (yeah and I found it quite gross)
4. Haggis (no but it sounds delish!)
5. Mangosteen
6. Creme brulee (oh yeah, and an almond milk creme brulee is heavenly, but I’m a custard freak… I know not what replaced the egg but I cared not either as the almond milk made this wickedly delish… and the one I had also had a carob sauce at the bottom sort of like a flan would if you ate it from it’s baking dish, it was sort of a nice surprise but I could have done without that…)
7. Fondue (not sure I would want to, as I’ve only had on vegan cheese I liked, but who knows…)
8. Marmite/Vegemite
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Nachos
12. Authentic soba noodles
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Taco from a street cart
16. Boba Tea
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Gyoza
20. Vanilla ice cream (soy and rice and I don’t like fake ice cream)
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Ceviche (not yet, but I really think I must try this…)
24. Rice and beans
25. Knish
26. Raw scotch bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche (nope, not in any non-dairy version…)
28. Caviar
29. Baklava
30. Pate (no, but I’d be on top of it…)
31. Wasabi peas
32. Chowder in a sourdough bowl (as a matter of fact I had a vegan corn chowder in a vegan bread bowl… I know not if it was sourdough, but I’m counting this as close enough…)
33. Mango lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float (no, see I found the vegan vanilla IC nasty so I didn’t keep eating it in any fashion…)
36. Mulled cider
37. Scones with buttery spread and jam
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo (umm, I’m guessing this means like say green gumbo… aka. the highlight of any lenten fast… and you better believe it!!!)
40. Fast food french fries (well, I’ve had fast food fries… I didn’t know they were vegan though, guess I never though about it…)
41. Raw Brownies (not yet but I’m so all over this, you may see it soon…)
42. Fresh Garbanzo Beans
43. Dahl
44. Homemade Soymilk
45. Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more (who knows, a little less of a maybe than the whisky was… but it’s possible, just not on my dime… LOL)
46. Stroopwafle
47. Samosas
48. Vegetable Sushi
49. Glazed doughnut (homemade and even without bone processed sugar, I feel like a rock star now…)
50. Seaweed
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Tofurkey (unfortunately, a “friend” made me taste this…)
54. Sheese (not this Teese she linked to… but otherwise, yes several…)
55. Cotton candy
56. Gnocchi (yep, and I’ve even made vegan gnocchi which makes me realize I could potentially feed a vegan… at least once or twice…)
57. Piña colada
58. Birch beer
59. Scrapple (well, I’ve had the not vegan variety… LOL but I’d be game… of course, this vrapple stuff looks more like a vegan spam than scrapple but that’s fine too…)
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores (and it’s why I had homemade marshmellows too…)
62. Soy curls
63. Chickpea cutlets (nope, but I’ve had a very very similar bean burger and would definitely try these…)
64. Curry
65. Durian
66. Homemade Sausages (again with the yeah, but not vegan ones…)
67. Churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake
68. Smoked tofu
69. Fried plantain
70. Mochi (sadly, no…)
71. Gazpacho (I guess it was vegan…)
72. Warm chocolate chip cookies (yeppers, even Lentil CC cookies that might have been vegan too… so this might be a double yes…)
73. Absinthe
74. Corn on the cob
75. Whipped cream, straight from the can
76. Pomegranate
77. Fauxstess Cupcake (I certainly would)
78. Mashed potatoes with gravy (nope, I’ve never had a vegan gravy… well, except chocolate gravy but I wouldn’t want that on potatoes…)
79. Jerky
80. Croissants (no, and I like my butter too much to rush to these)
81. French onion soup
82. Savory crepes
83. Tings (no, but I’ve had other of their products…)
84. A meal at Candle 79
85. Moussaka
86. Sprouted grains or seeds
87. Macaroni and “cheese” (oh yeah, and with pureed cashews and yellow peppers in it and it’s good… I may have to showcase it come lent…)
88. Flowers
89. Matzoh ball soup
90. White chocolate (this may happen as hubs love wc and I find it commonly nasty so this may be worth looking into…)
91. Seitan
92. Kimchi
93. Butterscotch chips
94. Yellow watermelon
95. Chili with chocolate (yes, and it even had no meat… but I’m not sure it was vegan… but I’m petitioning for the 1/2 pt again…)
96. Bagel and Tofutti
97. Potato milk
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Raw cookie dough (of course, it’s the biggest plus of making vegan cookies…)

My score: 51/100 (with a lot more I actually want try from this list than the other… who knew…)

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred: Just bold what you’ve eaten, and cross out what you’d never eat.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding (I’m too adventurous for my own good)
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp (not positive… I’m realizing I perhaps eat too many things without knowing what they are…)
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush (not positive, but it’s a super probably maybe and I’ve at least had something very very like this if not…)
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi (aka. one of the only ways cauliflower is palatable…)
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters (unfortunately, however I learn from my mistakes… LOL)
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda (didn’t know what it was, but yep turns out it’s one of my favorite things… I suppose I should really learn the names of more things… LOL)
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (again, not one I’ll repeat…)
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (just the cognac though, quite a few times… LOL)
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo (umm, maybe once or twice… *giggles*)
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal (no, but I soooo should!!)
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more (entirely probable, but again wasn’t my money so can’t say for sure… but I’m thinking this is a big old yes…)
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini (hey, you live and learn…)
58. Beer above 8% ABV (no, but does this help disguise the hops?)
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (perhaps in a medicine, otherwise no…)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis (but because of the blood… eew eew eew…)
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette (oh, I remember when I was little and I’d beg daddy for chitlins and he would never ever make them, but fortunately in the south it’s easy to buy them prepared so he’d still let me have them now and then… but secretly, I think it bothered him… LOL odd considering the things he’s eaten…)
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill (I don’t want to know if I have… but it’s quite possible…)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini (not officially with Prosecco, but with a different sparkling wine yes… I’ve had a knock of bellini…)
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict (made me sickier than sick, but c’est la vie…)
83. Pocky (again no, but yes to a knock off…)
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef (yes, and eating it well done was somewhat akin to sacrilidge apparently… as I got the evil eye… LOL)
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate (not absolutely sure…)
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox (possibly, my dad eats it and he can be pushy with “try this” so maybe as a kid I did)
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

My Score: 50 – I knew I’d had, 29 – I didn’t know what they were (2 of which I’d actually had) for a total of 52/100 (plus with 9 maybes, that could approach 61…) I have few nevers, 4, but a grand 19 “I wouldn’t eagerly stand in line for but might try if placed in front of me” ones!!

Asian-ish Orange Chicken Burritos

inside, outside, but not upside down... HAHA, I crack myself up...

Bring rice thru garlic to a boil and simmer until rice is cooked… Mix reserved juice, sugar, soy sauce, and water & bring to a boil… add chicken tenders and poach, flipping once… remove chicken and shred while poaching liquid reduces to a sauce… Mix salad together… add the shredded chicken to the sauce and coat…

add your shredded chicken to the sauce...

add the rice, then the oranges...

add your chicken and sauce...

add your salad, then add your cheese...

To assemble: put a bit of rice on each tortilla, top with oranges, top with chicken and sauce (or not, as this chicken was good on its own and the rice needed a boost, so this sauce might have been better mixed with the rice… *shrugs*), top with salad and top with cheese… roll up burrito style, and put seam side down in a pan with a little bit of hot oil to melt the cheese and seal shut the burrito… flip and fry the top side until a bit golden… (if you’re gonna also crisp up the sides, then start with the side that tucks under the outer flap… then move to the bottom… this will help insure a good tight seal…)

** A bit lame on the add in veggies especially the peas (which though disappointing, is apparently is no fluke but a rather common occurance), so next time I’ll do my own version of this… I’m thinking: lettuce (which I’ll probably shred) or just a bag of mixed greens, maybe 1/4-1/2 c ea: snow peas and grated carrots, 2-3 T ea: roasted soynuts and sesame seeds, 1/3-1/2 c Brianna’s Rich Poppy Seed Dressing… (but truth be known, I may revisit the bag again too… LOL)

so the sweet 100: Just like the other 100 lists, you just bold what you’ve eaten. Cross out what you’d never eat.

1. Red Velvet Cake
2. Princess Torte
3. Whoopie Pie
4. Apple Pie either topped or baked with sharp cheddar
5. Beignet
6. Baklava
7. Black and white cookie
8. Seven Layer Bar (also known as the Magic Bar or Hello Dolly bars)
9. Fried Fruit pie (sometimes called hand pies)
10. Kringle
11. Just-fried (still hot) doughnut
12. Scone with clotted cream (but I’ve had both items seperately so does that earn me 1/2 a point? LOL)
13. Betty, Grunt, Slump, Buckle or Pandowdy (wowza, I decided to check the differences and I’ve actually had all 5)
14. Halvah (possibly something really similar at least…)
15. Macarons
16. Banana pudding with nilla wafers
17. Bubble tea (with tapioca “pearls”)
18. Dixie Cup (obviously I’m not old enough for the real deal, but I’ve had the knock offs… could that be 1/2 a point?)
19. Rice Krispie treats
20. Alfajores
21. Blondies
22. Croquembouche
23. Girl Scout cookies (duh!! have you met me?!?)
24. Moon cake
25. Candy Apple
26. Baked Alaska
27. Brooklyn Egg Cream
28. Nanaimo bar (technically, no but I’ve had something very, very similar)
29. Baba au rhum (no, and further more…why on earth not?)
30. King Cake (one of the many reasons my best friend Mark was so super fab, when we lived in Jackson–and when it was the season–he’d drive down to nola on the weekends to get them and then call me over to help eat…)
31. Sachertorte
32. Pavlova
33. Tres Leches Cake
34. Trifle
35. Shoofly Pie
36. Key Lime Pie (made with real key lime)
37. Panna Cotta
38. New York Cheesecake
39. Napoleon / mille-fueille (not sure)
40. Russian Tea Cake / Mexican Wedding Cake
41. Anzac biscuits
42. Pizzelle
43. Kolache
44. Buckeyes
45. Malasadas (oh yes, and I’m realizing the pre-lenten season is one of the highlights of my food life…)
46. Moon Pie
47. Dutch baby
48. Boston Cream Pie
49. Homemade chocolate chip cookies
50. Pralines (and Ms. Mattie Lou’s are the best I’ve ever tasted but she coyly won’t give me the recipe and’s been holding out for over 1.5 decades…)
51. Gooey butter cake (it seems a crime I know, how this has happened I am not sure…)
52. Rusks
53. Daifuku
54. Green tea cake or cookies
55. Cupcakes from a cupcake shop
56. Crème brûlée
57. Some sort of deep fried fair food (twinkie, candy bar, cupcake) (sadly enough–shockingly enough–no)
58. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting
59. Jelly Roll
60. Pop Tarts
61. Charlotte Russe
62. An “upside down” dessert (Pineapple upside down cake or Tarte Tatin)
63. Hummingbird Cake
64. Jell-O from a mold
65. Black forest cake
66. Mock Apple Pie (Ritz Cracker Pie)
67. Kulfi (nope, but I have had pistachio ice cream *raises eyebrows* so I’m really thinking I should try this…)
68. Linzer torte
69. Churro
70. Stollen (no, and clearly this means I’m not appropriately loved… imagine to be so deprived)
71. Angel Food Cake
72. Mincemeat pie
73. Concha
74. Opera Cake
75. Sfogliatelle / Lobster tail
76. Pain au chocolat
77. A piece of Gingerbread House
78. Cassata
79. Cannoli
80. Rainbow cookies
81. Religieuse
82. Petits fours
83. Chocolate Souffle
84. Bienenstich (Bee Sting Cake)
85. Rugelach
86. Hamenstashen
87. Homemade marshmallows
88. Rigo Janci (still not sure, couldn’t tell from the recipes/descriptions… at least have had something very close if not…)
89. Pie or cake made with candy bar flavors (Snickers pie, Reeses pie, etc)
90. Divinity
91. Coke or Cola cake
92. Gateau Basque
93. S’mores
94. Figgy Pudding
95. Bananas foster or other flaming dessert
96. Joe Froggers (Idk, I’ve eaten tons of hermits and other molasses cookies I knew not how they were made so I reckon it’s possible…)
97. Sables
98. Millionaire’s Shortbread (possibly, as I’ve had something much of the like… but again I didn’t make it so who knows…)
99. Animal crackers
100. Basbousa

My Score: 56 – I knew I’d had, 39 – I didn’t know what they were (7 of which I’d actually had) for a total of 63/100 (plus with 7 maybes, that I couldn’t decide if I’d had or just had something close, I could unwittingly hit 70… or even 71, if you spot me the 2 half points… LOL)
really no nevers, but 3 “I wouldn’t eagerly stand in line for but might try if placed in front of me” ones: 17, 24, and 66… (and 6 “I can barely stand that I haven’t had them know what they are” ones… plus others I’d eagerly try…)

* Ravioli Soup

* Tuna and White Bean Pasta Fagiole garnished with shaved parm

* Crockpot Simmered Gumbo, Rice, and Daddy’s Cornbread

* Hubs went back to work so they made it out the door late (but supposedly he got them both to school on time) I took notes for Bluejay’s never ending story on Animal Habitats, went Cub Scouts where I became the go to mom having to help with all things paper mache (eew eew eww), and then I went to Target and ran around getting all the things we needed (including stuff to soak the Hubs’ foot) while hubby took the kids to the drive thru, did more junk including getting everyone ready for and in bed and trying to tend to the hubster’s foot: so we had BK takeout… I personally had a cold chicken sandwich (they did not hold the mayo, so I actually tossed the bread and lettuce and had a cold towelled of piece of chicken) and onion rings… starved to death and made a peanut butter and honey sandwich that I snarfed down at 10+ pm, maybe even 11… (and still went to bed hungry because I was too tired to bother)

* Beef and Mushroom Sauce over rice (rice leftover from gumbo), Girl Scout Potato Casserole, Salad

* Hubs made dinner (in spite of his foot) because I was so sick: Chicken and Rice Soup w/green beans in it…

PS. yes we were supposed to be in chicago friday night… but I was sick, so we only made it to somewhere in arkansas before having to turn around and cancel… so no fun!! (though we may go to the local zoo tomorrow after church) and Hubs will probably go on in to work on monday afterall, since we obviously won’t be driving home… but leaving a little earlier than usual to be in time to get us to the parent teacher conferences…

Behold the newborn son of blob... ok, potato casserole is not exceptionally photogenic... but it's pretty good, especially when you add the onion and cornflakes (I saute the onions with part the butter and coat the cornflakes with the rest of the melted butter)... if you open the oven half way thru to add the cornflakes you do need to cook it the full hour...

Girl Scout Potato Casserole (original recipe given, tried and true)
2 lb hashbrowns or cubed Irish Potatoes
1 pt Sour Cream
a can of cream of chicken
10 oz grated cheddar
1/2 c butter
1 c minced onion

Mix in 9×13 pyrex. Cook at 350. After 30 min, top with corn flakes and cook 30 min more.

My Modified Version: (as I was lazy and wanted to do even less)
28 oz bag frozen potatoes o’brian (diced potatoes w/peppers and onions; I measured and this was about 6 c), not thawed
1 c sour cream
1 c cottage cheese
s/p, garlic/onion powder
1 can cream of chicken
1/2 lb grated cheddar

Mix together all but cheese… Then top with cheese and bake about 50 min @ 350…

yeah I know, I am not a food porn artist... but I just eat, you are the ones who asked for pictures, despite being less than fabulous with the camera I try to indulge...

before the boil and simmer...

Beef and Mushroom Sauce
1.5 lb cubed beef
s/p, garlic/onion pwd
3T flour
(oil if needed)
1 c red wine (I used cab, oh yeah that S.African obsession)
1 c water (could use beef broth if you are prepared)
13 oz can mushrooms, drained (dr 8 oz; can use fresh and cook with the meat)

Season the meat and brown it up on all sides… push the meat off to one side and add the flour to make a roux with the run off (if you have leaner meat add oil as needed until the flour is coated, or you can drain the grease and do the whole thing with oil too)… stir the roux until the flour begins to golden a bit, the mix in the wine and the water, and then the mushrooms… Cover and bring to a boil for a couple of minutes, then reduce to a simmer… when beef is tender, serve over rice or noodles or even mashed potatoes…

Mix up your cornbread batter and fold in your meat and cheese… I used silcone muffin cups, but if you don’t have or want to use those, you’ll probably want to use paper liner to prevent the cheese sticking to your pan…

If you want to make the whole thing on the stove, just use a serving platter to pile the cooked meat and veg on as you go and while you make the roux, then whisk in all your liquid and bring to a boil… add back all your bits, cover, return to a boil and reduce to a simmer… then add the shrimp in the last five minutes or so from when you want to eat and simmer right in the gumbo (until they are pink and curled up tight like a clip on earring)…

with the shrimp and over rice...

Crockpot Simmered Gumbo
3/4-1 lb andouille sausage, sliced
1.5-2 lb cubed beef **
1.5-2 lb chicken breast tenders (mine were frozen), cut in spoon friendly chunks
2 qts chicken stock, separated (if you want to make this not in the crock you’ll probably want around 3 qts)
1/2 lb cajun style bacon ***
2 lg onions, diced
1 head garlic, minced
oregano, garlic/onion pwd, thyme, blk pep, bay leaves
1/2 head celery, diced (about 2-2.5 c)
7 carrots, diced (about 2-2.5 c)
about 1/2 c flour
1-2 bell peppers, diced
handful of okra pods (or say 7), finely sliced ****
1-1.5 T King Creole seasoning (courtesy of Joelen from the prize booty, but please adjust to your tastes)
2-3 lbs shrimp (most people will prefer these shelled, I’d suppose)

Preheat your crock on high, preheat your pan to med high or high… Brown up the sausage on both sides, add to the crock… brown up the beef on all sides (doesn’t have to cook thru just want a good sear with some nice browned bits), and add to the crock… then I added water to deglaze the pan and poached the chicken a bit to thaw it and make it easy to chop… chopped and added them to the crock… topped the meat in the crock with 1 qt of the stock… dumped the deglazed poaching liquid down the drain (as I didn’t need the extra liquid in the crock and knew the stock would be tastier)… reduce to medium, and set about crisping the bacon, drained off about 1/2 c of the bacon grease (most of it)and reserved… add the onions and garlic (more oil if particularly needed, I did not but depends on the leanness of your bacon and how crisp you cooked it, so you gauge that) along with the seasonings (which I actually remembered to measure but didn’t remember to write down) and cook until onions are becoming translucent… add celery and carrots (I add only half the celery to saute so there is a contrast of soft and crisp, but you can saute all or none as you wish…) and continue cooking until they caramelize a bit, then add to the crock… I reduce the heat to med-low (but you could probably get by on med if you are careful, attentive and a diligent stirrer) add the reserved bacon grease and the flour to the pan to make your roux, and darken to about a walnut color, stirring constantly… whisk in the other qt of stock and bring to a boil, boil 2-3 minutes to thicken and pour into the crock… add the peppers,okra, and cajun/creole seasoning and reduce the heat to Low and allow to simmer all day… when we were getting ready to eat, pulled out some of the gumbo broth into the pan to boil the shrimp and add back to the gumbo (I added them to the kids’ and the Hubster’s portions)…

give it a little stir... and now you are ready to simmer it, while you go about what you have to do...

this is about how dark you want it... trust me, it is worth it to go slow...

Ive got carcasses, yes I do... but Im not making stock, how bout you?

             NB: technically, I took the roux a touch darker than the pic… but that was a good point to snag the pic and still get the broth in in time…

** If you want to use pork instead that is fine, but it’ll need to be cooked all the way thru first as it’s not gonna taste so good cooking from the simmer… hence beef is easier if you don’t have leftover pork roast or such on hand…

*** pretty much a hickory smoked one with a dry rub on it, so you can use regular and add more seasonings if you don’t have this… I just like that it’s smoked with the rub, need to get charlie’s to make it this way as their bacon would make a better base… [note to self: attempt to sweet talk the butcher into cajoling whoever smokes it]

**** but oddly this time it was truly a fluke as it was just a grab and bag… I only counted as I was chopping, but it brought a smile to my face… and I forgot to measure but I’m guessing this was in the neighborhood of 1 c… of course if you like okra feel free to use however much you want, personally I hate the stuff… but for me gumbo is not gumbo until it’s got that okra ooze in it (even if I do fish out the actual pieces)…

we really liked the mini bowties... so cute...

Saute the diced/minced raw veg, add the remaining ingredients and simmer until pasta is cooked (under 10 mins).

NB: I’d like to add more lemon, some blk olives, and fresh parsley for starters… but this will be made again, and I will tinker…

a yummy soup when you are the only physically capable of fetching more for the entire family, not the best laid plan... plus your soup goes cold as you do so...

Ravioli Soup
1 lb ground meat (again, I used veal because it was on sale cheaper than beef)
seasonings (salt/pepper, dried herbs–rosemary and other italian type seasonings, garlic pwd)
1 lb frozen green beans
1 lb can campbell’s tomato soup (slightly bigger than usual size)
2 (15 oz) cans diced italian style tomatoes
2-2.5 c frozen cheese ravioli
grated parm (opt)

Brown the meat with the seasonings and stir in the frozen beans… Add the tomato soup and 2 canfuls of water, and the tomatoes… bring up to a boil and taste for seasoning, and adjust… reduce the heat to med-med low, add the ravioli and simmer until they float… top with parm to serve…

[Quick Reminder: Make sure to scoop low to get meat as well as it sinks while the pasta and veg float...]

brown the meat and add the frozen beans...

step two add everything and bring to a boil...

when the raviolis float to top it is done...

See making soup can be almost as easy as 1, 2, 3… and the slight guilt I felt making another slap dash so soon after the last, passed quickly as everyone started needing this and that and I realized I couldn’t sit down long enough to think let alone eat… and in the midst of all this flurry, I also forgot to start the washer so I had to stay up another hour after getting everyone to bed… : (

Sept 13-19:
* Black Bean Lasagna, salad
* Fast Food Takeout: Bill and the kids had Backyard Burgers (the kids had free meal tickets), I had Quizno’s…
* Southwestern-ish Lasagna Roll ups, salad? (can’t remember for sure)
* Pulled chicken sandwiches (made with leftover Mandarin Chicken filling and caramelized onions), Asian Five Spice oven fries
* Tired mommy day + scouts = frozen battered fish and frozen onion rings with ketchup (sad I know, but it gotten eaten so quickly so we could get everyone out)
* Chicken, Spinach, Apple and Grape salad-all, grilled cheese–the kids, portabello lasagna–us
* the pitty pat turns 1, as his treat I make a dinner which he can fully partake and not feel jealous of the siblings: an all in one polenta (not only the perfect finger food but quick and simple too), roasted green beans with shaved parm (turns out he LOVES parm, who knew… I mean it’s been in things before, but this time he fished out every scrap of cheese he could find before starting on the beans and he loves roasted veggies so that’s kinda big love to trump them…)

Sept 20-26:
* Paprika Chicken, Scalloped Potatoes, green peas
* bluejay turns 6: Birthday Cod (it’s got bacon and fish!! the boy was in heaven), Cheesy Risotto, and boiled green beans–just beans, bacon grease, onion and water really, spiderman cake (aka. I made a chocolate cake with chocolate icing and we topped it with a small spiderman cake from the store as it really was only $3-4 dollars more than they’d sell us the topper alone)
* Store bought, due to the 6 yo’s Community Helper project being largely unfinished: fried chicken, mac and cheese–me, potato wedges–others, salad
* another quick meal for facilitating the CH project wrap up: burgers (which I “grilled” in the oven on the cast iron grill, preheating it before putting the burgers on it, around 400-425 I think… and it totally worked!!! making me a rock star in a propaneless house… the grill did look a bit of a sad state by the end… so I might have to check with the spouse how hard it was to wash before making it a habit, though for now I’m a happy happy girl at the discovery), potato chips, salad
* campbell’s tomato soup with mini wagon wheel pasta cooked in it and some WG goldfish for the kids, Quick Fish Chowder for us
* Hubs called needing to work late, so: hot dogs, tator tots, carrot sticks (salad for the non-”hard” carrot eater)
* Hubs, home, cooked while I crashed on the bed weak with a probable hypoglycemic spell (he even brought me gorp while I was there) and made: sausage pasta, and a tomato, olive, fresh mozz salad that unfortunately 2 out of the 3 kids rejected (but they all fished out the cheese, LOL)…

Sept 27-Oct 3:
* Daddy’s Red Beans and Rice, salad
* “Grandma’s Chili” (Hubs), Grandma’s Rolls (mine)
* Spicy Chicken Tortelini Soup, the last of Grandma’s Rolls
* Lentil Hodge Podge
* Open House/Report Cards at Bluejay’s:bought CD’s fried fish, hush puppies, green beans, and made mac and cheese (lazy lady started before we left for the school) at home…
* Homemade Lunchables: meat (bologna and ham), cheese (mozz), and crackers (wheat townhouse and garden veg ritz), snapea crisps (aka. “pea chips”), dried apples and dried figs–the kids; a big eggy cheesy baked mac and cheese casserole for us (I think bill had a salad but I just ate more mac and cheese and pretended they were green peas…)
* Breakfast for Dinner: Cottage Cheese Pancakes with Pineapple Orange Coconut Salad, fried turkey spam (aka. not really spam at all but sacrilege)

Bonuses:
* Peach Bread, folllowed up by the Peach Blueberry Bread that served as baby’s b-day cake (but he tuckered out so we did it in the morning instead)
* the Hubster slept in, so I made breakfast: French Toast
* the I am a cow/I need to make something for Eat to the Beat special: Buttermilk Love Pie (another Grandma dish for the grandma fest on Family Favorites night…)