Menu Planning

I'm trying what my friend Cathy suggested - menu planning for the week. I used to do it and I know it goes much easier just to have the plan and the ingredients on hand. Here is my menu for the rest of the week:

Chicken Parmesan
Mashed Potatoes
Steamed Veggies

Turkey Burgers
Fresh Fruit

Crock Pot Mac 'n Chicken with Mushrooms
Salad

Thai Basil Chicken
Brown rice
Cucumber Salad

Do you do a menu plan or just wing it for dinners? What's on your list this week?

All You Need is Love

I'm always on the lookout for any signs from above, lessons in karma and other cosmic activity. So far, I have not found any images of the Virgin Mary on my grilled cheese sandwiches and have not seen a UFO. So imagine slicing off the side of a bell pepper for a salad and having this little extra goodie falling out onto your cutting board. A perfect heart!! I put it on my husband's plate and I got all mushy inside and thought it was a reminder of how much my family is shrouded in love...and how lucky we are to have each other.

A Few of my Favorite Things

Chocolate filled raspberries. I just melted chocolate chips and put in a ziplock bag. Snip the corner and pipe the chocolate into fresh raspberries. Best served at room temperature so the chocolate melts in your mouth along with the berry. So delicate and beautiful, these would make a perfect adornment to a cupcake, tart or just pop them in your mouth for no apparent reason (my favorite way).

Dreyer's Yogurt Blends - Caramel Praline Crunch. If you are an ice cream fan and just have to have a serving every night, here is an interesting solution. I LOVE this particular flavor, but there are several to choose from. Only 120 calories per serving and 3.5 grams of fat, plus all those live culture things that yogurt has, which is apparently good for digestion and what not. I think it just tastes so incredibly good.

Do you remember the ice cream trucks coming around your neighborhood when you were a kid? This one I remember well because of the gumball eyeballs. There was also Tweety Bird and the foot-shaped one with a gumball for the big toe. I'm scared of the ice cream truck that comes around my hood. That beat-up 70's van must cruise through here at a brisk pace because when I hear that creepy wailing tune, by the time I run out the front door, he is long gone. I often wonder if maybe they sell more than just ice cream, if you know what I mean.


Sopapillas - Fried flour tortillas topped with powdered sugar or cinnamon-sugar. Now you picky foodie people, I realize that mine are not traditional sopapillas, which are some sort puffy bread made from scratch and then fried....it's just my gringo version. My parents used to make these every once in awhile. I think it was a frugal dessert which made us totally happy.

Random Produce

Just a few farmer's market photos. I'll be back to cooking soon...still trying to use up freezer contents.

I want coffee too, mommy!

Does your child poke his grubby little fingers into your coffee every morning and say "mommy, hot?" Mine does. Maybe I should get him his very own coffee maker. But seriously, who would think of making this, let alone buy it??

Um, Yeah....Lighthouses

I had to giggle at this profound candy concept. Looks like these lighthouses are ready for a little action......

Gigi's Cookbook

My husband's grandma (gigi to our kids) has been cleaning out her cupboards lately and we are getting some windfall from her spring cleaning. She's been kind enough to think of me and my blog when unloading cool retro dishes, tea towels and now cookbooks.

This one in particular I thought was pretty neat. It was printed in 195o and I've been perusing the pages and thinking that some of the recipes could make a comeback. I especially love the section on "Refrigerator Cakes" which are basically cakes made from cookies, whipped cream and other gooey stuff, which don't require any cooking. I see one of these in my future.

Here are some pictures that will give you the vibe of my new old cookbook:

Wednesday Night at Bing's

I just saw in the newspaper that a band called Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums is playing at Bing's in Walnut Creek every Wednesday night from 7-10 pm. They are also offering complimentary swing dance lessons.

This band is so much fun!! I saw them several times before I was a mommy, when I didn't have to pay a babysitter to watch a cool band on a weeknight. But if you happen to have a free Wednesday night, go check them out!! Obviously, you might have to purchase a swanky martini beverage to enhance the evening. Here are a couple of song clips.

Daddy-O

Where's My Gravy

Regular Dinners

Sometimes I just go through a creative slump, where looking for recipes, shopping, cooking and cleaning up afterwards....it just isn't happening. This is one of those weeks, for sure. I think we even had pizza on two different nights.

My "Regular Dinner" is usually some kind of chicken and a veggie or two. This week it was sliced BBQ chicken on top of mashed potatoes with a salad....and Teriyaki Chicken with grilled asparagus. Oh, and regular dinners are *always* served on our festive plastic plates leftover from my brother's wedding rehearsal dinner (where they served made-to-order tacos and lots of margaritas....yum!)

Do you have a "regular dinner"? What is it?

Forget Starbucks

My friend Kim sent me this article from http://www.gadling.com/. Mmmmm....turd coffee!

"At Gadling we are pretty crazy about odd and bizarre foods. We've already written about Indonesian turd coffee, a byproduct of wild civets, but today the good news is that you don't have to travel all the way to Southeast Asia to get it. To get your morning cup of turd coffee, make your way to London instead.

Peter Jones, a department store in Sloane Square, is selling a gourmet coffee blend made from animal dung and selling it at £50 a cup; that's almost $100! Caffe Raro, which is thought to be the most expensive coffee in the world, is a made from a blend of Jamaican Blue Mountain and Kopi Luwak beans. The Kopi Luwak beans are eaten by the Asian palm civet, and once passed through their system, collected and sold for a little under $650 per kilogram. Don't worry -- they're washed before they are roasted."

REALLY?????

Booger?

Once

I know its supposed to be a food blog, but if you have any musical bone in your body you will appreciate this sweet and subtle story of love lost told through the gripping songwriting of Glen Hansard from The Frames. Set in Ireland, this story is about a spurned yet passionate singer who meets a Czech girl that doesn't speak English. They are somehow able to compose beautiful songs together. I loved the film, and I'm enjoying the soundtrack as well. Check it out!

Morning Coffee

Went for a walk this morning and found a huge bush of Mexican Sage growing wild. I thought the color was amazing so I picked a few for this photo. I also think black coffee is more visually appealing, but I'm a wimp and I drink mine sweet and light. This shot was taken in natural mid-morning sunlight coming through the kitchen window.


We saw the 6th stage of the Amgen Tour of California Bike Race this morning. We were watching along Foothill Blvd. as the peloton whizzed by at record speed. It's not really something I follow, but it was fun standing on the sidelines clapping our thunder sticks and cheering for them as they rode by in a pack of over a hundred racers.

Tomorrow a big storm is rolling through, so I am hoping we can find some fun indoor activities with the kids....until next time!

Wacky Lemon

Found this on my parent's lemon tree..it looks otherworldly to me!

My Kitchen Staples - Part 1

The three muskateers, los tres amigos, the three stooges, the Pep Boys, I'll grant you three wishes, The Jonas Brothers (eek, how did I know that?), Three's Company, Three Dog Night.....you get the picture.

Basil, Parmesan, Garlic......such a lovely trio!

Cooper Cat

We got some sad news this weekend. After several tests, we found out that our 6 year old cat, Cooper, has an aggressive form of cancer. Apparently his liver is twice the size it should be and the cancer has likely spread to all his organs. He has been throwing up for weeks. Poor kitty...we will give him medication to help with the pain until we decide that its time.

The old guy has been through some major milestones in his short life....a wedding and the birth of two children. From the time his mother sat at our back door, begging for attention, to the day he was born in a cardboard box in our bathroom, he was meant to live out his life here with us. And I hope he enjoyed it. He's endured endless chasing, tail pulling, dodging swings from train tracks, hurled legos, and even some "hugs" that were more like a wrestling hold. All with nary a defensive swipe. It's going to be a rough week or two here....