Vintagey Cookin'
Topic: Cuisine

As if I don't collect enough items, vintage cookbooks are starting to catch my eye.  I picked up this Carnation 1955 beauty and am thinking non stop about the kitchsy graphics. 

 And for total comic relief, I like (laugh at) the style in which this is one is written - very much "a woman's place is in the kitchen!"

 

Mexican at its finest...
Topic: Cuisine
After months of waiting... the PINK TACO opened its doors in Scottsdale yesterday, and wanted to have dinner there. It's a Mexican themed restaurant (decorated very LUCHA LIBRE style) and the food it AWESOME, the drinks are great too... and you can't beat the atmosphere- a must visit recommendation from the amyville arizona tourism bureau!

An artsie shoot of my pink taco tank:

My STAY Sweater... it's gonna be a race to get it done by tomorrow!

AND yes, I am guilty of sending out Christmas gifts in June :-/

sushi heaven
Topic: Cuisine
Friday Mark and I met up with our friends Mark and Cherise- and Cherise's sister Paige joined us as well to feast on some sushi. Our absolute favorite sushi in town is Celcius Sushi. The owners, Peter and Joe, always take great care of us. Look what Peter sent over to our table-- a unique sushi cocktail-- yummmy-

Twinkie-licious
Topic: Cuisine
Dare we make our own Twinkies-- We saw this at Bed Bath Beyond and decided to give into the marketing ploy... I couldn't resist!

Best Flying Saucer
Topic: Cuisine
I love Mexican food. And one of the best Mexican Restaurants around is Rancho de Tia Rosa. They have this menu item called the Flying Saucer, and it's to die for. (Imagine a tostada with lots of shredded pork and a heaping salad on top....mmmmmmm.)

Meme'd Cuisine
Topic: Cuisine
Raquel, one the best chefs out there, food meme'd me, I am not worthy! So I will answer the questions, but not passing on the torch....
What is your first memory of baking/cooking on your own?
Making mini pie shells for strawberry tarts around the age of 6

Who had the most influence on your cooking?
First & foremost? My Grandma. She lived with us...She was an excellent cook, owned and ran two diner style cafes in the 50s and 60s.

Do you have an old photo as evidence of an early exposure to the culinary world and would you like to share it?
none that I would admit to!

Mageiricophobia - do you suffer from any cooking phobia, a dish that makes your palms sweat?
Rack of lamb... seems so scary to make!

What would be your most valued or used kitchen gadgets and/or what was the biggest letdown?
My Henckels, and my garlic tube and press.

Name some funny or weird food combinations/dishes you really like - and probably no one else!
combos- lots of salty and sweet... I like anchovies!

What are the three eatables or dishes you simply don't want to live without?
Bread, cheese, and garlic


My favorite ice-cream:
Butter Pecan

I will probably never eat:
Tofu hot dogs

My own signature dish:
Still in development!

And on two other cuisine notes

Checked out Lee's Sandwiches this weekend...My new favorite sandwich place. I had the grilled pork the Vietnamese name escapes me right now. VERY YUMMY!
And at the grocery, I found this regional flavor of Kool-Aid...MANGO!--

Eat your greens!
Topic: Cuisine
Wow, I really thought this picture would turn out better than this, how do all you foodies out there take such beautiful pictures inside??

Well we started a new work out routine-- so Bally's is becoming an every other day affair this week. I am really trying to eat healthier too. Since Mark snacked on some leftovers, I decided to make myself a salad, and thought I would share. I used field greens, fresh sliced strawberries, about 2 Tblsp. of Goat cheese (I wanted to eat the whole log) and I toasted cubes of fresh baked A.J.'s rosemary/olive oil bread and a handful of pecans in the oven. For the dressing I made it with some yummy olive oil (Mariko sent to me for my birthday) with balsamic vinegar, dash of worcestershire sauce, dab of honey, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. I am sure there is a recipe out there- but I was in improvisational mode last night!

You Suck da' Head!
Topic: Cuisine
Dot & Sam had their annual Crawfish Boil last night. I used to work with Dot when I taught at ASU East. It was great to see my old colleagues and of course chow down on some Crawfish. I think I had 5 plates worth... yummy.

And another great part about this party is the Hurricane! We had authentic Hurricanes from Pat O'Brien's.
Here is a pic of Crawfish puppet theatre with Jon.

Eat Your Veggies
Topic: Cuisine
We are always trying out new recipes... and gentlemen, we have a winner. Linguine with Squash, Bacon and Goat Cheese. Of course like the recipes I follow, I normally tweak a few things.

The "Amy" changes include: using a heartier bite sized pasta like Orecchiette (little ears!-- I like the De Cecco brand), added lots more bacon (1/2 pound (I know, but it's so yummy we get our bacon from the meat case--applewood smoked bacon thick sliced) and I microwave it all so it's crispy and actually only fry about 2 slices worth, and doubled the goat cheese to 8 oz for a creamier sauce.

This is a total comfort food meal. I serve with a romaine salad and some crusty french or sour dough bread.

On the knitting front... Ribby is about 50% complete, but I won't bore you with pictures, yet! and I started working on my monkey... which has actually morphed into an orangutan!

Baby, It's Cold Outside
Topic: Cuisine
The past few days here have been so NON-Arizona-like! I am such a wimp, it's a cold and rainy- and I complaining about the weather! We went out to check on our dirt (see previous post) and due to weather, no progress... that's ok. We stopped at AJ's grocery store on the way home and picked up veggies for the week and decided to make a "tried and true" favorite ... sausage chili, not just any sausage chili-- Emeril's recipe. Our notes: we use Turbodog Beer-- if you can't find that-- NewCastle works well too!

(Like the rubber duckies?) the picture was taken in our guest bath, which seems to have the best lighting for indoor pictures!--The whole bathroom is decorated in rubber duckies--- even an Ernie with his rubber duckie colored pencil artwork piece I drew years ago. I will post a pic of that sometime.

Also made it to the Tempe Arts Fair Friday during my lunch break with a few co-workers. I only bought one thing, and of course it's something I fell in love with, as opposed to Christmas shopping wrapup I should be doing! Bad Amy.

I love the fabric-- I know you can buy it on reprodept.com-- great fabric source!-- By the way, I was so bummed on Saturday-- I wanted to purchase the gnomes fabric, but I didn't "act soon enought" because it's sold out :(
Anyone seen this print sold somewhere else??