we are hungry ghosts

Last Minute Delicious

2007-09-17T23:22:00.000-04:00

I had only half of any kind of meal waiting in the cupboard tonight, despite the fact that we did a big grocery trip on Tuesday night. But look what I geniously created with bagels, pizza sauce, cheese, and a snack cup of pineapple chunks.

Anthony Bourdain would probably not approve, but Nigella would have my back.

Reposted from drunkensailor.vox.com 8/17/06

Candy Sushi

2007-09-17T22:54:00.000-04:00

I admit I was a little grumpy about having to make food for my book discussion of Zen Shorts tomorrow, but how could I stay grumpy when the recipe was candy sushi?

(By the way, I substituted jelly beans for the gummy worms.)

Reposted from www.myspace.com/kutsujunki

Beer Margaritas

2007-09-17T22:52:00.000-04:00

-This is for Joe (and anyone else who cares)-

1 lime, cut into 8 wedges
1/4 cup coarse salt
2 12-oz. bottles of Corona or similar beer
1/2 cup frozen concentrate limeade, thawed
1/2 cup chilled tequila
Ice cubes

Rub lime wedges around rims of 4 margarita glasses (or whatever is handy). Dip rims into salt to coat lightly. In a medium pitcher, combine beer, limeade, and tequila. Fill prepared glasses with ice, then with margarita mixture. Garnish with remaining lime wedges.

Serves 4.

- From Jackie, who I think got it from a Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade cookbook

Reposted from www.myspace.com/kutsujunki 12/19/06

Christmas at the WAB

2007-09-17T22:50:00.000-04:00

Reposted from www.myspace.com/kutsujunki 12/10/06

Zingerman's Tasty Training

2007-09-17T22:48:00.000-04:00

We had a trainer from Zingerman's come in for our staff day today to talk about customer service. It was really helpful and entertaining. Everyone please call to order food from them because she is the manager for their call center and she was super nice. She shook my hand for laughing at her jokes.

Reposted from www.myspace.com/kutsujunki 6/2/06

Summer Days

2007-09-17T22:42:00.000-04:00

I am in love with this recipe and had to share. But don't make it for a party this summer please! I intend to bring it to the next event, peoples.

Corn Salad

1/4 cup lime juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro or fresh mint, snipped
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 ears fresh corn, husked and cleaned, or 3 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 1/2 cups baby spinach leaves
1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
3/4 cup cucumber, seeded and chopped

Directions:
Whisk the lime juice and honey together in a large bowl until well combined. Stir in the japaneno pepper, cilantro/mint, and salt. If using fresh corn, cut the kernels off the cobs. (Do not cook the corn.) Add the corn to the lime juice mixture. Stir in the spinach, tomato, and cucumber. Eat!

-From Better Homes and Gardens, June 2007

In Other News...
The new Ikea catalogue is out ,and my love/hate affair with Ikea continues.

Reposted from badraincoats.livejournal.com 8/13/07

There's Sunday and There's Monday, There's Tuesday and There's Wednesday

2007-09-17T22:39:00.000-04:00

I am going to steal a recent event recap format used by a friend and do this in list form:
Sunday=Black Lotus Brewery
weak-ass beer
spicy fries
Indie filmz
bad bad acting
City Club sentimentality
hipster chicks in lace shirts
irresponsible commentary
Monday=Explosions in the Sky
more shoegazer than shoegazer
Bohemia and Stella Artois, Michelob Light for James (ha ha)
dudes with beards all around
sore feet, hypnotism
thank you Paper Chase, you saved the day
I want to go to Texas
fries + a very pale chocolate milk shake

Tomorrow I am off to Spring Institute in Frankenmuth until Friday. I got a call tonight that Mo Willems might miss his connecting flight from Detroit to Flint, in which case I would have had to pick him up tomorrow as I am the only one in the Detroit area, but damn it, he made his flight.

Reposted from badraincoats.livejournal.com 3/27/07

Thank you food gods

2007-09-17T22:38:00.001-04:00

for the transcendental dining experience at Living Room- the artichoke pizza and bread sticks being aided, no doubt, by La Fin Du Monde, Framboise Lambic, a hot bartender chick in a paisley blouse, and Broken Social Scene on the stereo.

I love our town.

Reposted from badraincoats.livejournal.com 3/3/07

Welcome, Year of the Pig

2007-09-17T22:37:00.001-04:00

James is out having dim sum with his parents and I am stuck going to work. Hopefully he will bring me back some fried squid and some pastries from Tong's.

After work I'll be stopping by to see my niece and nephew and give them their lucky money envelopes.

Reposted from badraincoats.livejournal.com 2/18/07

Tonight's Meal

2007-09-17T22:35:00.000-04:00

at Sweet Lorraine's was vegetarian Shepherd's Pie, Woodchuck's Pear Cider, and chocolate mousse cake with White Russian ice cream.

Yum, yum, yum.

Sweet Lorraine's is always so bustling, as is every other restaurant around here. James and I were observing the differences in the people we see out and about on this side of town. More liberal-looking mostly. We have also noticed a preponderance of restaurants using child labor in Berkley. I think they were the owner's daughters in both cases, but still.

The house is kind of coming together. I spent the afternoon buying some odds and ends we still need. I wanted to get some shelves for our closets at Home Depot, but that place overwhelmes me. I just had to get out of there. No football for us tomorrow. Just housework, and a visit from Stephanie.

Looks like we are on for next Saturday for Kuhnhenn.

I just looked up the Groundhog forecast for yesterday. Here it is. I don't know about that groundhog. It's feeling more like winter everyday. There was snow blowing all over the roads this afternoon.

Reposted from badraincoats.livejournal.com 2/3/07

Possibly My Weirdest Conversation Ever

2007-09-17T22:34:00.001-04:00

A boy came up to the desk. His mouth was all puffy and swollen-looking.
I asked if he was OK. He shook his head no.
I asked if he was looking for someone (thinking he might be freaking out and want his mom). He shook his head no.
I asked if I could help him with anything. He asked, "Is there any way I can chew this food and swallow it without throwing up?"
I said, "Well, you might want to spit it out if you think you're going to throw up." He walks away.
He returns ten minutes later, mouth still stuffed with food.
I ask again if he is OK. He says, "What will happen if I swallow more than I can chew?"
I say, "Well, you might choke, so I think you should spit that out." (And I'm thinking, Oh great, I don't want to have to call an ambulance tonight.) He walks away again.
He returns twenty minutes later and says, "I spit it out."
...In other bizarro news, my hairdryer exploded this morning.

Reposted from badraincoats.livejournal.com 11/21/06

Today we bought

2007-09-17T22:32:00.000-04:00

a stove. Anyone know anyone interested in purchasing a 2006 freestanding stainless steel electric oven?
We also got milkshakes at Steak and Shake. I had egg nog.

Reposted from badraincoats.livejournal.com 11/12/06

Adventures Up North

2007-09-17T22:31:00.000-04:00

This is what we did:
Walked around Traverse City. James bought World War Z and spent the rest of the trip looking for the author's previous book, The Zombie Survival Guide.
Ate a primo meal at Bowers Harbor Inn, which is in an old haunted house and faces out on the bay. The Red Wings were eating there at the same time. We originally went to Mackinac Brewing Company, but they were too lazy to ever come talk to us, so we left. It worked out for the best though because we had some awesome seafood, wine, and good service.
Went to the beach at Empire, but it was cold, so we just waded. That was a shame because I consider that the best beach in Michigan.
Hiked up the Sleeping Bear Dunes and took silly photos for future fake bands.
Took a scenic drive around the Dunes. I took a walk out on the edge of the dunes where they slope down to the lake and there was a sandstorm blowing.
Ate at Mode's Bum Steer in Traverse City, at James' dad's recommendation.
Toured vineyards on the Old Mission Penninsula. The people at Chateau Grand Traverse are snooty. The people at Brys Estate are nice.
Went to see the Old Mission lighhouse. While there, we took a walk out to the edge of the penninsula. It turned out to be longer than I expected and started raining half-way through. James says I made him trek across Mordor.
Toured vinyards on the Leelenau Penninsula. We now have a full case of Michigan wines.
James saw a place called "Dogland" and promptly declared war on it.
Ate pizza and then went to Turtle Creek Casino, where James played blackjack. I watched.
Tried to rent a sweet sports car, without luck. The best car you can get in that area is a Chrysler Crossfire.
Drove up to Harbor Springs, where James got a pirate shirt and we had coffee and quiche at a place called The Woolly Bugger. We also saw an antiques shop called "Pooter's."
Drove to Petoskey and walked around. They have an awesome kitchen store there called Cutlers and I finally found some pie weights.
Stopped in Charlevoix- not much to do there.
Ate another good meal at Freshwater Lodge, which looks like a hunting lodge, has a cozy fireplace, and has great seafood.
Stocked up on fudge and pasties.
Stopped at a farm stand and bought apples, corn, and watermelon.
Eric and Jesse, we saw lots of your favorite shoes for sale all across the northern lands.

Reposted from badraincoats.livejournal.com 9/23/06

Living Dangerously

2007-09-17T22:29:00.000-04:00

I am licking the bowl of brownie batter and I don't give a rat's ass about salmonela.

Last year, Regis and Kelly had a Christmas special during which Kelly was making cookies with her kids. Kelly told her kids they could lick the bowl and her daughter said, "No. I don't want to get salmonella." When we have kids, they are going to learn to lick the bowl before some stupid teacher gets to them.

We are also going to teach them to play with frogs and bugs and wild things.

And James is going to watch horror movies with them every weekend.

Reposted from badraincoats.livejournal.com 9/15/06

More Movies

2007-09-17T22:27:00.000-04:00

I thought of some more great food films today:
Christmas in Connecticut (Home cookin')
Like Water for Chocolate (Mexican)
The Night We Never Met (Food in general, but especially cheese and caviar)
Crossing Delancey (Pickles)

---

Wait, here's more:Small Time Crooks (Cookies)
When Harry Met Sally (any kind of food- practically the whole movie is set in a restaurant)
Woman on Top- Caribbean, I think

Reposted from badraincoats.livejournal.com 9/1/06

Yes

2007-09-17T22:25:00.000-04:00

Tonight I made this dinner:
- Corn and Tomato Gratin
- Rosemary and Basil Trout
- Fresh greens salad
- Baguette
- Alice White Chardonay

Eating it was like this:
"For one perfect minute Tyler had sat in the palm of a perfection he'd created himself."
- Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk

Reposted from badraincoats.livejournal.com 8/31/06

Top Five Tuesday: Food On Film

2007-09-17T22:23:00.000-04:00

In honor of my new phone, this week's top 5 is best food-related movies, or at least movies with a great food-related scene.

1) Eat Drink Man Woman- Gourmet Chinese
2) God of Cookery- Gourmet Chinese
3) Chocolat- Chocolate!
4) Sideways- Wine
5) Tortilla Soup (even though it's a remake of Eat Drink Man Woman)- Gourmet Mexican

Honorable mention: Beerfest- go see it!

----

Damn- I forgot all about Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle when I posted.

Reposted from badraincoats.livejournal.com 8/29/06

Fruits of the Devil and Otherwise

2007-09-17T22:20:00.000-04:00

My battle with the printer at work today deserves retribution.

On a less evil note, the last two days have been filled with good food:
From Milford Memories with Jackie and daughters
- 2 large bags of kettle corn
- 1 bag of wasabi peas - 1 bag of candied cashews
- spicy shrimp at Lei Ting
- tea and more tea (and don't forget tea cookies)
From my parents' vacation to Mackinac:
- fudge
- a vegetarian pastie
From Sangria:
- fried squid
- fried potatoes with tomato sauce
- seafood salad
- some kind of sardine pastry
- cheese fritters
- black bean soup
- sangria
From Kroger:
- Edy's Whole Fruit rasberry sorb

Reposted from badraincoats.livejournal.com 8/12/06

Blah Blah Blah

2007-09-17T22:18:00.000-04:00

I've had lots of opportunity to listen to my iPod at work lately, which is awesome. I listed to almost the whole Bjork catalog while I was stickering books this morning.

Also, I saw this horrendous creation on Attack of the Show today. Kevin Pereira called it "a confection that spits in the face of God." Knowing James, he will have to try it.

Reposted from badraincoats.livejournal.com 8/10/06

Top Five Tuesday: Top Five Foods to Start the Day

2007-09-17T22:16:00.000-04:00

(since I know for a fact that some of you eat breakfast, hopefully there will be more participation this week!)
1) Fried squid from Wah Court
2) The Dutch Baby from Original Pancake House
3) My mom's cheese potatoes
4) Entenmann's coffee cake
5) Cinnamon raisin French toast made by me
P.S. I am happy to announce that Summer Reading is over, and this shirt is now in retirement.
P.P.S. Anthony Bourdain is cool.

Reposted from badraincoats.livejournal.com 8/1/06

Quiche Heaven

2007-09-17T21:55:00.000-04:00

I made quiche yesterday and it was awesome. I make quiche quite a lot, actually, but yesterday I had no frozen piecrusts on hand so I had to make the crusts myself. Believe it or not, quiche is really easy. It’s basically just sautéing stuff, putting it in a piecrust with some cheese, and covering it with an egg mixture. Here is my recipe so you can make quiche too. I am also including the recipe for piecrust dough, in case you are feeling energetic someday.

Cheese and Vegetable Quiche (courtesy of an old coworker, Deb F., who took it from Linda McCartney’s Linda’s Kitchen)

2 piecrusts (frozen or homemade- do not buy a graham cracker crust, pastry only!)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion
About 3 cups (24 oz.) of chopped fresh vegetables (I like cherry tomatoes, asparagus, and mushrooms)
2 cups shredded cheese
4 eggs
2/3 cups half-and-half
seasonings (I like Herbes de Provence or oregano)

1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2) Blind bake the piecrusts for 5 minutes. This means take the empty crusts, cover them with foil, put dried beans (or pie weights if you have them) in the crusts, and stick them in the oven. (If you don’t weight the crusts down when you do this, they will puff up and no longer be piecrust-shaped.)

3) Sautee the vegetables in olive oil until softened. Season them with herbs of your choice and pepper. Tip: put harder vegetables (like onions and asparagus) in the pan first and sautee them longer than the soft vegetables (like tomatoes or spinach). Also, sautéing means pushing something around in a medium hot pan that has oil in it.

4) Spread the cheese in the bottom of each crust, saving some cheese for the egg mixture. Then spread the vegetables in each crust. (Do not transfer the liquid from the vegetables to the crust or the quiches will turn out too runny.)

5) In a bowl, beat the eggs and then stir in the half-and-half and remaining cheese. Pour this mixture over the vegetables.

6) Bake for 30-45 minutes.

New Basic Pie Crust (courtesy of Julee Rosso’s and Sheila Lukin’s The New Basics Cookbook)

When you make this, make sure the butter, shortening, and water are really cold. Cold ingredients make the pastry flufflier. Also, it is best to have a pastry blender and rolling pin if you are going to try this. This recipe makes dough for 2 crusts.

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons dried herb (I like rosemary-it makes the house smell really good!)
Note: If making a desert piecrust, substitute with 2 teaspoons sugar.
1 stick cold butter
6 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening (Crisco)
About 6 tablespoons ice water

1) Combine flour, salt, and herbs in a mixing bowl. Cut in the butter and shortening. (This means cut off little bits from the stick of butter and shortening and drop it into the bowl until all the butter/shortening is chopped up.) Using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut the ingredients together until they form a crumbly mixture.

2) Sprinkle the ice water over the mixture 1 tablespoon at a time and toss the dough together after each addition. When the dough can be gathered into a ball, you have added enough water. Don’t add more water than you need. Transfer the dough to a lightly-floured dough mat or large cutting board. Kneed the dough by smearing the dough away from you with the heel of your hand. Keep turning the dough until all of it has been kneeded. Form the dough into a ball and cut it in half. Wrap each half in waxed paper and refrigerate for a ½ hour to 1 hour.

3) Roll the chilled dough out on a lightly-floured surface to make a circle bigger than your pie plate. Carefully transfer the dough to the pie plate. Don’t stretch the dough when laying it into the bottom of the plate. Trim off the excess dough and pinch down the edges. Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork. Blind bake before filling.

Reposted from badraincoats.livejournal.com 6/23/06

Tasty

2007-09-17T21:28:00.000-04:00

The Apple Strata won for Easter breakfast with one vote, which goes to show the power of voting. Gold star to Eric in participation.

Anyway, it was good, so here’s the recipe folks:
Apple Strata from Maryana Vollstedt’s The Big Book of Breakfast.
Adapted to lasagna dish size (that would be 9 x 13).

About 2/3 of a day-old sourdough bagette loaf, sliced and cubed
5 ½ ounces plain cream cheese, cubed
2 smallish apples, peeled and chopped
½ cup raisins
8 large eggs
1 heaping tablespoon brown sugar
1 heaping teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
Dash of ground nutmeg
Maple syrup for topping

Place half the bread cubes in a lightly sprayed or oiled baking dish. Distribute cream cheese cubes over bread cubes. Top with apples and raisins. Cover with remaining bread cubes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Pour over bread mixture in dish. Push the bread down so that all the ingredients get completely doused in the egg mixture. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bring strata to room temperature before baking. Bake uncovered until set, 50-55 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes. Cut into squares and serve with maple syrup.

After breakfast, we blew bubbles with my niece (note: 99 cents for bubbles is a good investment if you have kids coming over). Then we played the Eye Toy. She rocked at smashing tomatoes.

Reposted from badraincoats.livejournal.com 4/17/06

Appetizer

2007-08-15T19:55:00.000-04:00

We have been eating well this week and I am inspired to begin this record of our culinary adventures. Perhaps it is the hint of fall in the air, or just the need to slow down and stay closer to home after an abundance of summer socializing, but I am channeling that primal instinct now to get my hands messy in a pile of beautiful foods.

- Monday's Menu-
Corn and Jalapeno Salad
Italian bread with butter, simple and lovely

-Wednesday's Menu-
Penne with Pea, Parmesan, and Pine Nut Pesto
Leftover Italian bread

-Tomorrow's Menu-
Mom's Tamale Pie
Spanish Rice

Speaking of getting one's hands in a messy pile of food, something less elegant that we are in love with these days is the abundant food imagery in Tom Goes to the Major, such as

- Pipe's Buffet-

- Puddins -

- St. Patriot's Day Cake -

I advise watching the DVD to appreciate the full glory of Jefferton's cuisine.