Our Amazing Italian Feast

This weekend was a culinary treat! Saturday four of us got together for our dinner & a movie date that we have every couple of months. Last time it was Julie & Julia, and of course we made dinner with recipes from Julia Child's The Art of French Coooking.

This time around we watched Under the Tuscan Sun, and the recipes were from Giada de Laurentiis. The meal was fabulous. And, in true Italian form we took our time with it. Enjoying each other's company, laughing and drinking lots of good wine.

Our first course was a simple cheese and crackers plate with a side of grapes. We had three different cheeses (forgive me I don't know what type) accompanied by sesame crackers and grapes. Of course we had this with Presecco (an Italian sparkling white).

This was followed by appetizers. Apps were my department. I am used to desserts or main courses, so having to choose anything else is often mind-boggling to me. And let's not forget that I've been on a "I don't want to make any decisions" kick lately, I was really afraid I'd let the girls down with my apps.

For apps I served Goat Cheese Toasts and Watermelon, Tomato, Basil Skewers. Both these recipes were easy to make. The toasts were baugette bread lightly toasted in extra virgin olive oil, then spread with a mixture of goat cheese and herbs, topped with chopped kalamata olives and chives. YUM! My other app, I was a little leary about. Who ever heard of pairing watermelon and tomato? Much less putting balsalmic vinegar on it? I am not a huge fan of tomatoes by themselves, an only eat them in small doses. But let me just say - OMG! Giada is a freakin' genious. This was a light appetizer which was refreshing on the palate. The contrast of textures, the smoothness of the watermelon paired with the acidity of the tomato and crispness of the basil - very good. Top that with the reduction of equal parts balsalmic vinegar and sugar, it was just so refreshing and left you ready for the rest of the meal. Definitely something to make for spring/summer time get togethers.

Our next course was salad. Colin prepared an Artichoke and Tomato Panzanella, in which she grilled artichokes and mixed them with toasted  bread, olives and tomatoes,along with a few herbs. So tastey! Especially as I'd never had grilled artichokes before. We all agreed that grilling them adds a bit of sweetness to their flavor. This is one salad I'd prepare again, and even enjoy just as a light meal by itself.

   Our next course was soup. Again, this was Colin's department (bless her heart, one of our members cancelled so Colin picked up and took over 2 courses. She's originally just planned on soup but provided us two great courses to our meal)! She chose a Ribollita. What she describes as "A simple tuscan style soup". It is very similar to what we are used to as minestrone. But has spinach mixed in and is served over toasted ciabatta bread. This soup was so good I had to restrain myself from having seconds (or from licking the bowl). It could also stand by itself as a light meal.

Now for the main course! Kirsten stunned us with a twist on Chicken Marsala. Now, I have to admit when I heard we were having chicken marsala, I was like "Really? Great." It's not one of my favorite Italian dishes. I guess my days waiting tables at Olive Garden in college kind of turned me off from it. I served it so many times that I got to where just the smell of it kind of churned my stomach. However, this recipe had an interesting twist, Chicken with Mustard Mascarpone Marsala Sauce has a nice creamy sauce unlike any Marsala I've had before. The cremini mushrooms give it a nice earthy taste against the sauce, which is sweetened up a bit by the addition of mascarpone.

And finally, what meal isn't completed by a wonderful dessert? Caroline wowed us with Pears Poached in Red Wine. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have an undying sweet tooth. But of late I've traded in my love affair with chocolate for a love affair with fruit. Pears Poached in Red Wine, satisfied this affair immensely. First the pears were cooked in the wine with cinnamon sticks and lemon slices, then the extra ingredients were removed and the wine was reduced to a thick syrup. Marscarpone was mixed with heavy cream to creat a dollop of creamy sinfulness to accompany the pears. I was in heaven. I truly think this was one of the best desserts I've had EVER. And, that's saying a lot.

Finally, in true Italian form a "Digestivi Liquore" was served as at the end of the meal. Colin's homemade Lemoncello was excellent. I've had many variations of Lemoncello ranging from smooth and creamy to so stout it would grow hair on your chest. Her's was a smooth mixture, light and crisp on the palate. A perfect end to an amazing meal!

*note I have recipes to all the courses listed above. If you are interested in trying these for yourself feel free to let me know and I'll gladly send them your way*

Weird Weather

Sorry for the absence. It's been a weird week. Two days this week were spent at J's bookfair. And, well, the rest of the week I was basically just too absent minded to sit down and blog. Of course the fact that I've got "blogger's block" isn't really helping any, either.  Nothing happening here seems too terribly interesting to blog about these days.

I say that as I look over my monitor window into the back yard and wonder about this climate, yesterday was tornadic today it is a rain/snow mix. Who ever heard of a tornado followed by snow? I thought we had weird weather in Arkansas. I'm starting to think it's weirder in Colorado, just not as "severe". I hope my second observation stays true. Everyone knows I hate HATE severe weather. It gives me panic attacks, and since I'm not on such a close acquaintance with my doctor here as I was with my former doc back home, the use of Xanax anytime a tornado siren goes off is now an impossibility.

Yesterday was an interesting day. Started out slow and boring enough. I was at the bookfair, and we were relatively quiet. So planning for next year was underway (apparently I'll be chairing it next year, we *think*). A little after lunch we were completely dead and I was considering leaving early if it didn't pick up (we had 4 other volunteers there, so I wasn't shirking my duties. Plus I'd been there since 8 a.m.). That's when the sirens went off.

So, off to a little "closet" to the side of the library we go. Us and a classroom of kids. Now when I say closet, it was more of a storage unit. An actual room, just very small. Not like a coat or broom closet. There we huddled for about an hour while hail loudly pelted down on the roof. No, we didn't actually have a tornado here, just a strong possibility of one, and a funnel was observed south of us. We did get hail. On the side of town by H's school I heard one lady say it was enough hail that they got the plows out and plowed Chick-Fil-A's parking lot so traffic could go through. And apparently her neighbor's car windshield was broken by it? I don't know, it wasn't that bad by me - but that's what she was saying?

It was enough that flashbacks came. I remembered that day in January a few years back when I huddled with a group of friends in  their dorm at HU. Luckily this time, while huddled in my son's library closet, the lights didn't go out and sprinklers didn't come on. I really think e HU storm experience is what has made me prone to the panic attacks of late. Once everything was over, normalicy resumed. The bookfair continued. And, turned out to be a hectic/busy/profitable day. Maybe we need storms more often? The parents had to come inside the school to pick them up instead of just going through carpool line and the little stinkers got them to buy books while they were inside.

Update: Curse of the phones

Customer service is sending me a new, new phone. ha ha. We'll see... they are also giving me a small credit on my bill for my inconvienence, so I won't complain. At least not until the new, new phone doesn't work.  ;)

The Curse of the Phones

It's safe to say, I'm fairly addicted to my blackberry. I use it for everything, so when it began acting up about a month ago I wasn't terribly thrilled.

It started innocently enough. The roller ball in the center just quit working one day. There are other ways to navigate around without the roller ball, so I made due. Then, one day the thing worked again. I didn't question it. I was just thrilled to  not have to navigate the long way.

However, now my camera doesn't work. Anytime I open the camera application it kills my phone. Literally, I have to power it down and take the battery out for a while before it functions again. And it doesn't hold it's charge like it should. Very aggravating.

So, I went to my retail store. They were very nice, said they'd replace it through my warranty. I'd have a new one within a couple days as they have to ship it from the warranty department. Fine. I wasn't thrilled to have to wait, but understand they have their processes. They did say I could go to the warranty department and pick it up if I didn't want to wait - but it's in a part of town I'm not familiar with and didn't care to become familiar with.

So, new phone and battery arrive this week. Great, I think. I charge everything up and get ready to transfer my info. Nope. Won't work. New phone doesn't have anything on it to allow me to set up email. Weird. I go to the retail store again. Guy is confused. His manager is confused. Three people look at it, they are all confused. Said they've never seen anything like it before. Ask me if I have my old phone with me. Of course, I don't. They then explain that I can try do to a transfer through the computer by hooking both phones up to it and that should work. So that's the plan for today - once I find my box of blackberry accessories (the computer cord is something I haven't used since we moved here).

It should be noted that we have, but do not use, a landline phone. The only reason we have it is for the alarm system on the house. I don't even know the phone number without looking it up in my blackberry. So, since we use our cells almost exclusively for everything from talking to internet to gps we typically have a fairly large bill each month. In fact the sales rep informed me we were considered a high value client, and that I could probably use that knowledge as leverage if the warranty department became difficult to work with. I find this tidbit interesting. So far no complaints about their customer service, but we'll see...  here's hoping today's fix works and "Evil Beth" will not have to make an appearance and demand a new phone or take business elsewhere. Yes, I'm petty like that.

Phase 2: Bathrooms

Phase 2 of our home renovation has begun. Do you have any idea how difficult it is for a family of 4 (not counting the baby because he isn't mobile yet) to use one bathroom? It's no walk in the park, that's for sure!

This weekend started off with a quick trip to Lowe's & Home Depot. The floor we are putting in the master bath had to be ordered, so that's taken care of and will arrive sometime in the next two weeks. But the floors we're using for the other two baths were in stock. Purchased that, and all the things that we thought we'd need (of course not everything, as I've made probably 3-4 trips back since) and headed home to get started.

I wish I would have taken before shots so you'd know just how tacky the bathrooms were. Awful white carpet is throughout my house. Err, let me rephrase that... Awful carpet that should be white is throughout my house, including the bathrooms. We bought this house as a short sale. The 300 people who lived together as renters prior to their landlord going broke reaked havoc on the floors. The flooring everywhere is getting refurbished, but in baby steps. This phase is just the bathrooms.

We are currently in the "the tile has been laid, but not grouted" stage. Hopefully the grout will go in this afternoon and the bathroom accessories can go back in very soon. Right now it's somewhat like going to the DMV - take a number, you'll get service when your number is up.

I know, the settlers two hundred years ago didn't have bathrooms, and had to share an outhouse. But, I'm not a settler two hundred years ago. I do not share bathrooms well. Especially not with angsty teenagers who wake up before I do and are loud and obnoxious when getting ready for school.

Tune in for pictures, at some point everything will be back together and I'll share "after" pics, even though you can't have "before" pics.

Diplomatic Immunity

Yesterday, I posted on Facebook about the idiot low level diplomat who was detained and questioned after joking about igniting his shoes on a flight from DC to Denver. You can read the latest on his story here.

As more and more details emerge, I get angrier. At first I thought he was just an idiot. Then I wondered if maybe there was a language problem, he got flustered and said/did the wrong thing (even though diplomats typically are well trained in the language/customs of the country they are visiting). Afterall, it's my understanding that some foreign airlines allow smoking on their flights, so maybe the guy thought it was ok to light his pipe in the bathroom. When questioned he motioned to his shoes like he was lighting a match. So maybe he was just trying to explain, right?

Then, I read the above article and realized that this guy was on his way to speak to a Qatari national who is sitting in prison here for plotting terrorist schemes. hmm.... he obviously knows the punishment for such behavior.

Diplomatic immunity or no, this type of thing should not be allowed. Yes, it's great and wonderful that he's being sent home and shouldn't be returning to the USA, but some things just shouldn't be joked about.

On my FB page yesterday I was asked if I'd feel the same way if it was an American diplomat who made the mistake overseas. And, quite frankly, yes - I would. When you are on someone else's turf you should respect their rules/regulations/laws. If you don't you should suffer the consequences to the fullest extent of the law. Sure, everyone makes mistakes but can you honestly tell me that in this day and age someone would think it's ok to get on a plane and joke about lighting anything on fire.

I remember in 1994, there was an American kid in Singapore who screwed up. He spray painted and threw eggs at 18 cars. The punishment by law in that area was to get lashed with a rattan cane (here's his story). Sure there was outrage, but hey, the kid lived in Singapore for several years before committing his crime. He knew they weren't going to say "no biggie" and let him get away with it, yet he broke the law. And then he suffered the consequences.

I think the same should have been dealt to this guy on the plane. At the very least someone (other than my tax dollars) should have to pay the U.S. Government for the expense of scrambling a few F-16's to escort his flight into DIA.

Let's face it, some things can be overlooked; but when someone makes a joke as serious as that they are putting not only themselves, but the other 150 or so people on the plane at risk. If the marshalls had thought he was serious, what do you think those fighter pilots would have done? They aren't there for show, they are there to shoot before thousands of people on the ground are harmed, you know  the sacrafice a few to save many concept is what they are trained to do.

I saw one of the passengers on the Today Show yesterday and he thought the situation was handled well on the plane that night. Nobody was alarmed, in fact, only a few people who happened to be seated near the marshalls knew what was going on. I wonder if he still feels the same. Sure, it sounds like everyone did their job that night, but what in the days since? What do you think would have happened to this schmuck if he were you or me? Would we get to go home and not pay a penalty? Why should he? I think these circumstances definitely have warranted a look at our "diplomatic immunity" policies.

Wednesday Recipe: Red, White & Blue Potatoes

Last week, I complained that I had no clue what I was going to cook for Easter dinner. I asked for suggestions, much to my surprise nobody gave me any. So, I was left to my own devices on putting together a menu. Whilst browsing through Foodnetwork.com I stumbled upon "Red, White & Blue Potatoes", sure it's probably more of a 4th of July theme but I made it for Easter - go figure.

I'm not a huge fan of blue cheese, so I was a little afraid to try this. But after much deliberation, I decided it couldn't be too bad, and took the chance. I was pleasantly surprised. The use of heavy cream instead of the usual milk I've always used gave the potatoes a nicer texture. Also, gorgonzola isn't as tangy as the typical blue cheese I'm accustomed to. The recipe turned out to be enough for leftovers, which my kids actually ate without complaining for 2 days following Easter. I'm taking that as a pretty good sign, too. While, it's not anything I'd want on a regular basis, I liked it well enough to give it a B+, and will probably make it again in the future.

The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients

2 pounds red new potatoes, quartered
2 cloves garlic, smashed
5 to 6 strips bacon
1/4 pound Gorgonzola cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup heavy cream, room temperature
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Add potatoes and garlic to a medium pot and fill with enough cold water to cover the potatoes by an inch. Season with salt and bring water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until potatoes are soft, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, fry bacon in a skillet until crisp. Set aside on a paper towel to drain. Roughly chop and reserve.

Drain potatoes and garlic and place them back in the pot with the cheese, heavy cream, butter and chopped bacon. Roughly mash, adding more cream if needed. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Hope you enjoy it. I know we did!