Just The Two of Us

Whoa.

..so I blinked, and look what happened.  An entire week flew by. A whole week without a blog post.  Oops.  Oh... and without Dinner & A Movie.  RDub and I got so busy with the "Holidays" (ok, so New Year's Eve, only), and the stress.. STRESS of going back to work after one day off (that would be RW, because I get a 3-day weekend every weekend...), that Dinner & A Movie didn't happen this past week. GASP.

It will happen this week, this I promise you.  Not that you really care all that much, but I feel bad, nevertheless.  Who won last week, you ask?  Well, we have a new winner... Kim was the randomly Chosen One (but not in the biblical sense).  Page 129, and movie #5. 

Let's start with the movie.  It's more convienent for me to start there, because I can look up the movie without leaving my chair.  In a moment I will have to actually get up to fetch the cookbook and see what awaits me on page 129.  But I'm not motivated for that yet, so let's start with the movie.

If you recall, the category is DRAMA this week (well, last week if you want to be a stickler about it.  But flexible as we are, we are doing it THIS week).  Movie # 5 is...

 

Luther.  I vaguely recall watching the last part of this movie in some hotel room on the way to somewhere with RDub, but here's an excuse to watch the entire thing.

Now, onto page 129.  Ok, really?  The one ingredient that I'm ... not fond of... mushrooms.  Mushroom Quiche.  But I'm pretty ok with the quiche part, so the mushrooms vs. quiche will cancel each other out, right?

At any rate, my sincere apologies for the lack of blogging last week.  One can only hope that this week will be bette.r.  I mean.. better.

 

This Little Lamb of Mine...

I have no idea why the old Sunday school song "This Little Light of Mine" is going round and round in my head.  I am just guessing here, but I bet it's going round and round in your head now, too.  You're welcome. Whenever I think back on the little lamb that roasted in my oven, I can't help but sing that song. Perhaps it is because Jesus was the lamb.. ?  Crazy connection, I know.  I'm a little off like that.

I hope you all had a fab Christmas.  Between the broken water heater on Christmas Eve, and some work issues that cropped up on Christmas Day, I'd say that RDub and I could have just skipped this one altogether.   Not one to dwell on the past (with the exception of those... very occasional marital spats, in which case dwelling on the past seems to be the proper and most... convincing way to uhh, win an argument), RW and I are looking forward to next Christmas.  We are sure that next Christmas will be much improved.

One bright spot on Christmas Day was the lamb.  No, not the Lamb of God, although I must say that without that particular Lamb, Christmas would just be.. December 25th.  No, I speak of the poor little lamb that gave its life for RDub and I.  No, NO!  Not THAT Lamb.  The one I purchased at the grocery store to eat.  That one.

I waltzed right up to the grocery store on December 23rd, completely unaware that this particular day, is in fact, the busiest grocery day of the year.  Makes sense, I'm sure. I just hadn't thought of it.  I had to go to the fancy grocery store because no one else sold rack of lamb. It just so happens that every 3rd person in the state of MN was ALSO at the fancy grocery store that evening.  Nothing says Merry Christmas like 3,000 stressed out folks trying to wave down someone at the meat counter.  Oh yes, it was fun.  Particularly fun was the looks I got from the other 2,999 people when the butcher asked me how many people this rack of lamb was to serve:

ME: "2.  2 people."

Butcher: [shouting, I swear to you] TWO PEOPLE?  You are only serving TWO with this rack of lamb?"

Everyone turned to look at this loser of a person, who for Christmas, was only serving... [gasp] 2.  And on top of it, was buying a rack of lamb, as if the fanciness of the meal compensated for the.. lack of friends.  On Christmas.

Head held high, I asked the butcher to please "french" that rack of lamb.  I said this with a certain assertive authority, as if I really understood what I was asking him to do.  But I acted like I did.  And he did.  French it, that is.

I made my [as it turns out, significant] purchases, and headed home.  On Christmas Day, I pulled out that lamb, and rubbed the spices on it, wondering as I did, what I had gotten myself into:

 
I put it in the oven, marvelling at the fact the instructions stated it would take just 12 - 18 minutes.  Wow.  That's fast.  After 18 minutes I pulled it out, and realized that it was no where near done.  I put it back in.  Repeat. Again.  Ooohh.  That's 18 minutes a POUND?  Let's face it, I never was good at reading the directions all the way through.  I eventually figured it out. 

 
 
Aren't you impressed?  RW was, for sure, and that's really all that matters.  And  in case you are so enthralled with the rack of lamb that you wish to serve it to your beloved family this weekend?  Well, before you make a rash decision, I want you to have all of the facts:

 
Just sayin.  Make sure you really, REALLY love lamb.

And did I mention that this fancy grocery store brought in a grand piano for the big event of the busiest grocery-shopping day of the year?  Yes they did.  Although I must admit, the festiveness of the carols the gentleman was playing did not compensate for the $74.00 I paid for the lamb, or the festive crabbiness of the other 2,999 people shopping.  Not. One. Bit.

I am excited about this week's cookbook selection:

 

Leave a number between 43 and 329.  There is only 1 recipe per page in this book.  The movie category this week is Drama.  Include a number between 1 & 10 for the movie, as well.  I'm hoping we'll be skipping the sacrificial lamb this week and go right to the eggs.

And the Winner Is...

Rebecca!  Page 492.  And it's a doozy, but appropriate for Christmas Day:

Roasted Rack of Lamb with Moroccan Spice Rub

Can't say I've ever made rack of lamb before, but I've always wanted to since seeing it served to Kate Hudson in How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days.  The reality is, I've never been brave enough before.

Let's hope it doesn't take the route of the nut roll..

Kristi, send me Rebecca's email address, or whichever email you want the $20 Amazon gift card to go to.  Meanwhile, I'll be attempting to figure out how to "french" a rack of lamb.  Yes, that's a cooking term.  Don't feel bad, I didn't know it either.

Dinner and (no) Movie

It being Monday and all, means that another Dinner & a Movie is in order.  I made the Chicken last night - you know, the kind of boring chicken with mushrooms on top.  If you recall, I actually brought the food to Karen & Nathan's house to share.  Everyone ate it, although I did hear a certain 5-year-old tell her 2-year-old sister not to ask for more, "because it's gross".

 
 
 

This week I'm going out on a limb.  I hauled out this cookbook:

 

I figured since we'd be home all day on Christmas, I could stand to make a more complicated meal.  Now, I might just get lucky and get assigned something quite basic, but I suspect that my loyal readers secretly (or not) want to see me get stuck with something... less basic. 

Leave a comment choosing a page between 35 and 853.  If your comment is chosen and there is more than 1 recipe on that page, I will use Random.org to choose the recipe for me.  RDub & I didn't have a chance to watch the movie chosen for us last week, so we'll keep that one on the agenda for this week.

In the spirit of Christmas, if your comment is chosen you will win a $20 Amazon gift card.  You have until Thursday morning to comment.  And then we shall see what a "joy" cooking is...

Fair Weather Fan...?

RDub may now get the dreaded designation of Fair Weather fan.  As in literally.  Since  our stadium roof collapsed last week, there was a mad NFL scramble to get the football stadium at the University of Minnesota ready for an NFL game.  There were problems with this plan.. let me name a few:

1. It is an outdoor stadium.  The Vikings play indoors.  The fans sit indoors.

2. It is not a winterized stadium, as in the field is/was frozen solid.  They are, as we speak, thawing it out.  Not to mention the hundreds of people that were required to shovel all of the snow OUT of the stadium to get ready for Monday Night Football.  Yup, every stinking seat had to get shoveled off.  The field was covered in snow - remember that uh.. blizzard we had last week?  The snow didn't actually grow tiny snowflake feet and march itself off the field after it landed there, knowing that it was in the way.  No, it wasn't courteous like that.

3. 4 to 8 more inches of snow is currently falling. Again, very un-courteous.

4. This game was a sold-out game.  All 64,000 seats at the Metrodome were accounted for.  Small little issue... the U of MN stadium holds 50,000 people.  Do you perhaps see a problem here?  The NFL "fixed" this problem by designating the game as general seating and first-come/first-serve.  I'm sure that there is nothing a Minnesotan would like better, than to stand in line for 2 hours to ensure they actually get a seat at a game they already have a ticket to.  In the freezing cold.

All to say, these.... issues... were a smidge too much for RW to bear, and he determinedly put his foot down.  He will not be accompanying me to the game tonight.  Wimp.  He would be quick to remind all that he is a "5th-generation" Californian, and not meant to be cold.  Ever. 

Fine then.  My friend Shannon and I will be sharing the adventure of a snowy, cold, outdoor football game.  And having fun, for sure.  Being one that despises cold myself, I undertook the [significant] project of making sure I was warm.  For those that need a lesson, I shall be glad to share the results of my research:

1.  Wear a warm hat.  Now... I must admit I am straying from my usual fashion here.  RDub would say that I always go form over function.  No, tonight I am solidly in the function category, wouldn't you say?  I knew that fur hat from Eddie Bauer would someday come in handy.

 
2. Understand that fans need to wear team colors.  Which is why there is a purple hat going over the fur.  Oh, and the scarf.  The scarf is purple.

 
 

3. Footwear.  Although really very ugly, Uggs are quite warm.  Especially if you have footwarmers, and 2 pairs of wool socks on with them:

 
 
 
4. Equally important is one's core.  I will have so many layers on that I'll probably waddle like a duck, or maybe, a pregnant woman.  Either way, I'll be waddling.  We've got the thinsulate hoodie, the turtleneck, the sweater, the fan-wear, and the coat...

 
 
 
 
5. Last but certainly not least... we need these:

 
Stay tuned.. I'll fill you in on the adventure tomorrow.  And meanwhile, RDub ought to feel ashamed... ASHAMED of himself!  Fair-weather fan, indeed.

Supremely... Safe.

Brax won this week's dinner & movie selection, with page 323 and movie #6.  I however, failed to include the instruction of choosing recipe # 1 or #2 along with the comment, and so I contacted Brax to ask his choice.

I am eternally grateful that he chose recipe#2, as #1 included an ingredient that I consider just this side of revolting... the dreaded sauerkraut.  Instead we go safe, if not just a tad boring... Chicken Breast Supreme.  Fortunately for me, I already have all of the ingredients.  Unfortunately for Karen, those ingredients include mushrooms.

The movie is one I've ALWAYS wanted to watch, I can't believe I didn't catch it in the movie theater.  Instead, I shall try to be content with watching this epic film in the home theater, without the surround sound, movie popcorn, and gallon-sized Pepsi. 

This week's main feature is The Spirit of the Marathon, which follows 6 runners from "vastly different backgrounds as they train for 26.2 miles of glory."  Yes, I'm sure that jealously abounds among my readers, but may I remind you that you too, can experience the thrill of the marathon, through the miracle of Netflix. 

On a different note, this week had a Wednesday in it. Granted, I know that most weeks have a Wednesday, but this week's Wednesday was Karis' birthday.  At work.  Well, she probably and most likely also experienced her birthday at home as well, but I only saw her at work.  And if you recall, I do cupcakes for staff birthdays.  Sparkly, magical cupcakes, of course.

So Tuesday night, pandemonium broke loose in my kitchen.  The kitchen with very little counter space.  Somehow, out that that kitchen, the pandas broke free:

 
 
 
 Yes, the close up reveals many... flaws.  But since perfection doesn't suit me, I'm going to have be okay with that.

 

Dinner with The Apostles of Comedy

Forgive me for being a day late (but certainly not a dollar short - I'll need those dollars for Christmas) on Dinner & a Movie.  But as they say, better late than never, right?  I'm going to go with that theory.

Didn't I tell you - the third time is a charm?  This weeks dinner beat last weeks nut roll by a mile.  And the taco casserole, as well.  At least it tasted good, even if RDub thought the potatoes were a little dry.

Those of your familiar with Rachael Ray know that she is under the [perky] impression that one can make an entire meal in 30 minutes.  I do know this is possible, particularly if you are making something like.. let's say... MILKSHAKES for dinner.  I can for sure make those in under 3o minutes.  But Salisbury Steak, Creamed Spinach, Mashed Potatoes & Peach Cobbler?  Really?  In 30 minutes, huh?  I was skeptical.  And as it turns out, for good reason.

Now I must say, I believe [strongly] that I have a small kitchen with very little counter space.  RW [strongly] disagrees.  If I remember correctly, his comment was something along the lines of: "Please.  Your kitchen is WAAAY better and WAAAY bigger than most of the world." Ok, can't really argue that.  Especially if "most of the world" includes the mud huts of Africa and the kitchens of New York City.  Which speaking of the kitchens of New York City, I told RDub that those kitchens are so small because no one in NYC actually cooks.  Score one for me.

Back to the dinner at hand.  In true Rachael Ray style, I had most of my burners firing away all at one time:

 
Not having made Salisbury steak before (it has a bit of a troubled reputation), I have to say it looked suspiciously like hamburgers.

I started making our 30-minute meal at precisely 6:17.  I was not finished at 6:47.  Not even close.  For goodness sakes, it's not as if I'm a stranger to the kitchen.  I think Rachael Ray built this enormous, false empire (FALSE! I tell you!) on 30-minute meals.  Well, I'm here to call.her.out.  30-minutes it wasn't, but eventually I got everything on RW's tray, and we were ready for our "movie".

 

Notice I put "movie" in quotes.  2 hours of various comedy routines isn't exactly a movie, I guess I could call it a show.  I have to admit, it was really pretty good.  I'm not typically a fan of stand-up comedy, because of the angry f-bombs flying around every other word.  Not my thing.  I don't find it funny.  Really not at all.  But this was actual clean comedy.  And guess, what?  It was funny!

All in all, a fab night for Dinner & a Movie.

Now on to the next meal... I know our days are off here, but I'm going out on a limb with this week's dinner.  I have to bring dinner to a friend's on Sunday night (can you see where this is going?)  I will bring the meal chosen this week on Sunday night.  Granted, these "friends" are only Karen & Nathan.  NOT that Karen & Nathan are any less of friends, however I know the chances are good that they will not end our friendship over a bad meal (what are the odds of another "nut roll" situation?).    Of course, Karen is a picky eater, so she might end up eating cereal, but I shall bring this dinner, regardless.

This weeks cookbook:

 
Leave a comment with a page between 1 & 566.  The movie category is Documentary (just movin' right down the category list).  Choose a number between 1 & 10 for the movie.  You have until tomorrow (Friday) night to comment.  I'll let you know on Saturday what the adventurous (let's hope not too adventurous!) plan is!

And meanwhile, I'm going to try not to whine too much about my [lack of] counter space.  I'm fairly certain that although I may champion a kitchen remodel during our 2011 Spousal Budget Negotiations this weekend, it will not end up on our final plan.  Just guessing.

Dinner, Interrupted

Yes, that's right.  Dinner was interrupted by a blizzard.  As was the movie.  Thus, Dinner & A Movie has been moved to Wednesday this week.

Do you remember that old post office ditty?  The one that says:

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds".

Well it's not true.  I always though it was.  I had complete faith that our faithful mail carriers would sacrifice their very selves to deliver my mail.  It would appear that they wouldn't.  Sacrifice themselves, that is.  Because on Saturday, we had a blizzard here in these parts, and they didn't deliver the mail. Gasp.  Doesn't a blizzard qualify as "snow"?  As in "Neither snow nor rain nor.." well, you get it. Therefore we did not receive the movie needed for Dinner & A Movie.

Granted, I might just give them a pass on this one.  The whole blinding winds/20+ inches of snow/arctic windchills thing can really bring ones spirits down, particularly if you are trudging through 1 1/2 feet of snow, one painful step at a time, carrying 60,000 lbs of Christmas catalogues.  If it were too much snow to actually keep the roof of our stadium inflated...

  

...it just may have been too much snow for the post office.

So, instead of our Dinner & A Movie date, RDub and I did something of a more physical nature - we cleared snow.

 
Just a guess here, but it's a likely gamble that a snowblower will be on RW's list come next weekend's 2011 Spousal Budget Negotiations.

 
Bonfire, anyone?

 
How about a dip in the ol' hot tub?

 
Or perhaps you prefer a picnic?

At any rate, assuming the postal service comes through on their constitutional responsibilities (yes, okay.. it's probably not in the Constitution.  But it should be.) in the next couple of days, look for Dinner & A Movie on Wednesday.  We should be done shoveling the snow by then.

Perfect.

What could be more perfect for dinner in front of a movie, but a "TV Dinner for 2"?  This week's Dinner & A Movie comes to us compliments of Beth (comment #1).

Our dinner menu is:

"TV Dinner For 2" (Rachael Ray):

Salisbury Steak with Wild Mushroom Gravy

Smashed Potatoes with Garlic & Herb Cheese & Chives

Creamed Spinach

Quick Ginger Peach Cobbler

Movie Entertainment:

 
Oh wait, listen to this.  According to Netflix, this recommendation was made based on our "interest in The Passion of the Christ."

Really?!

Apparently Netflix considers the two movies linked because of the words "Apostles" and "Christ".  Interesting leap.  Although... we will "Get ready for LAUGHTER of a HIGHER POWER".

Stay tuned.

Hmmm. About that Nut Roll.

It's Monday and that means Dinner & A Movie.  You may recall that my "dinner" this week was [drum roll please] a Persimmon Nut Roll.  I was mighty excited to have the culinary opportunity to make a nut roll, not to mention, eat a persimmon [blech, and oh... blech.]

RDub was equally moved about the persimmon.  If you've read this blog very long, you know that RW pretty much loves all food, so I knew that the whole persimmon thing wouldn't throw him for a loop:

ME: "Hey! Dinner & A Movie this week ~ I have to make a Persimmon Nut Roll."

RW: "Persimmons? [pause] Really?"

ME: "What's wrong with persimmons?  They grow in California, do they not?  You should feel right at home."

RW: "Ewwww.  Persimmons.  They can be... tricky.  My grandma and mom made them.  They weren't very good."

Great. Just great.  If RDub doesn't like them,  then for sure I won't like them.

Not one to be deterred by mere discouragement, I soldiered on and got together my shopping list.  And then I went to the grocery store.  And another one.  And a different one from that.  And oh, another one yet.  Not one store carried persimmons (do they know the same thing RW knows?)

I read the directions, curious if I could make a Persimmon Nut Roll without the persimmon.  I noticed that it called for mashed persimmons.  Well certainly I can substitute a different mashed fruit, can I not?  Thus, the Persimmon Nut Roll evolved into a Banana Nut Roll.  Yum, bananas.  Yes, there was still the whole "nut-roll-which-is-probably-equivalent-to-a-fruit-cake" thing, but things were looking up.  Bananas.  I like them.

Saturday afternoon was my dedicated nut roll time.  It was strategically placed between babysitting the 4 kids and Joel coming over for dinner.  Joel is a starving law student, I could probably cajole him into eating anything, right?  I started in on the several step process.  Looks good, doesn't it?

 
So far, so good.  One thing in the back of my head did keep popping to the front of my head to bother me... I didn't exactly have the right sized pan.  Seriously, does the 2 inch difference between a 13 inch pan and a 15 inch pan really make that much of a difference?  Yeah, I didn't think so either.  Apparently it does.

Hmmm. My spirits threatened to sag as much as my nut roll.  The directions stated to bake for 15 minutes.  Knowing I had a thicker pan, I put it in for 20.  And then 10 more.  And a good 15 after that.  When the top looked nice and firm, I flipped it onto the dish cloth and found the above. Niiiiice.  Perhaps, just perhaps the size of the pan DID make a difference.   Meanwhile, I started to guess that this was going to be irretrievable. However, I continued on with the instructions, and rolled it up into the dish cloth to cool.

 

While it was cooling, I made the filling:

 
At least that part looked promising.  I unrolled the nut roll, getting ready to fill it up with frosting and roll it up again, this time without the dish cloth.  I'm not sure what I was expecting, given the picture above, but I'm sure this positively exceeded my expectations:

 
RW briskly walked into the kitchen and stopped short.

"Babe, wow.  That looks like a dirty diaper."

However, despite the snarky remark [and can't really blame him for it], he grabbed a fork.  My nut roll soon deteriorated into this:

 
And then this:

 
Then Joel walked through the door.  "What is THAT?" he asked, looking positively disturbed.

"Dinner?" I meekly replied.

I think it's safe to say that I will not be giving out nut rolls to the neighbors this Christmas.  I think it's also safe to say I won't be making them for family either.

We fared a little better in the movie:

 

However... we were watching it on Netflix via our Wii, and right at the exciting part of the film, our internet went down.  Good, GOOD timing!  We had both seen it years and years ago, but couldn't remembered how it ended.  Karen was kind enough to remind us of the conclusion.

I'm all for putting the past behind me [cough cough cough], so let's look forward to THIS week's Dinner & A Movie (they say that the third time is a charm. Let's hope it's so.)

This week's cookbook is:

 
Leave a comment specifying a page between 13 & 247.  This cookbook features menus, so I will make the entire menu (aren't I brave.)  Also leave a number between 1 & 10 for the movie selection, this week's movie comes from the Comedy category.  I will randomly choose a comment on Wednesday afternoon.

And meanwhile, if it's baked goods you are looking for, I suggest you steer clear [very, VERY clear] of me.