Sunday Slowdown!

Click to hear music file

I love this song, I can't find it on iTunes though :( I love having a Sunday night relaxation fest. Seriously, everyone needs it. My apt is clean, by brain is sufficiently mushy from netflix and TLC, and my belly is cool with Luigi Italian Ice. No food post this weekend, sorry folks. Trust me, my brain is spinning for 4th of July creations. I cannot wait. AND!!!! I have Friday off! What? Yes, university holiday! woot woot.

Sultry Summer days and Strawberries.

It's HOT here in MN. So hot in fact that I don't feel like cooking per say. I have been mixing ingredients though, which counts. Ahhh Strawberries. Thank God for Dads, the berries are all on super sale the Monday after Father's day! I purchased two tubs and these red gems, freshly washed for my nibbling pleasure.


George is hot too. He camps out in the bathroom. The bathroom, is in fact, the hottest room in my tiny apt. He's afraid of my growling, clunking, grunting air conditioners I think. His appetite on the other hand, is unchanged :)



So, after buying copious amounts of these beauties, my weekly task has been to figure out new ways to devour them. My lunch salad on Tuesday. Leftover Mediterranean mouthwatering magical salad on top a bed of spinach. I added a bit more red wine vinegar (fancy shmancy pomegranate infused RWV) and created a border of strawberries and green onions. People were eyeing my salad at lunch, back off Doctas!!!



A gourmet dessert! Dangit, why do I live 20 ft from a DQ?




Wednesday is my day off during this rotation. What to do on your day off? Make a honkin cowboy style breakfast. Tostadas topped with freshly made guac (avocado, diced vidalia, chopped cherry toms, lime and salt). I scrambled eggs (with real butter) and added a dollop of laughing cow creamy cheese and some steak seasoning. Slice some leftover dad's day steak and serve with strawberries on the side.



Delish! I garnished with green onions. Somehow 3 bundles of those sneaky scallions ended up in my basket... Alright, I registered for step two Clinical Skillz exam, so I'm not totally useless today. But now, time for a little netflix worshiping with a full belly. Religulous is already playing on the Boob tube, best get watchin. Credits are not even over and I'm already laughing out loud!

Holy Cannoli Batman

A double hitter! Father's day and qwerkyqook's Birthday!



First the main event! Father's day was celebrated pretty low key on Sunday. We met at my parent's house for a fantastic dinner prepared by my mom. I, of course, brought 18 loads of laundry home thinking that was a reasonable task to accomplish over dinner. Oh well. Dinner was fantastic. Dad requested steak per usual.



MEAT! arhg arhg argh.

The man of honor with his present. My dad is such a goofball, but the kindest and most loving man I know.


There you go dad, glamour shot of your present!


The chef! It's hard to say if my mom's cooking or the stories she tells while cooking are better!


The final product, a hasty picture at the end of the meal. whoops! My taste buds got the best of me.

Steak
"de-fatted" or whatever its called to perfection by moi. Dad let me try out his new toy, it really was pretty slick.
Coat with olive oil salt and coarse ground black pepper. My dad grinds the peppercorns with mortar and pestle. This steak business is serious stuff.

Mediterranean Salad- (insanely good)
Chop cucumbers and cherry tomatoes, salt and strain in colander for a bit.
Add finely chopped red onion, rinsed chickpeas, diced kalamata olives and a generous amount of chopped fresh parsley.
Dressing: equal parts red wine vinegar and olive oil, plus some chopped garlic.
Combine it all with some shredded lettuce and top with crumbled feta. Salt and Pepper your salad as you please!

Garden Rice-A Barb Original
Prepare rice in chicken broth with chopped vidalia onions
Before serving add fresh chopped herbs from the garden. We had Dill, tarragon, parsley...I didn't write the recipe down!!!

The night was finished with ice cream and fresh berries. I left some laundry for my mom to finish, boy am I every a spoiled child:) The hired men (dad and nick) should be arriving shortly to install my air conditioners. Blasted MN, freezing one day then 90 and humid as all get out the next.

Last but not least...


Qwerkyqook turns 1 !

I can't believe a year ago I was making sushi and taking my boards. Funny how things come right back at you though. I just shelled out $1500 for my next step. ouch! I'll leave you with a fun fact, serendipitous at that. My half birthday is actually June 20, qwerky's bday! I know. The implications that has on the universe are profound.

Genius Strikes-Taco Time

Alrighty. Quicky post because I should be studying for my Primary Care test on Friday. Believe it or not, blogging is way more fun than reading about Glipizide. Last week, Jon's brother got tickets to a special viewing of The Proposal. I'm so A list! It was a cute movie. I laughed out loud a few times. Ryan Reynolds is easy on the eyes, Sandra looks slightly mummified. But yeah. I'd wait for the redbox rental. Derailed! Sorry readers, all aboard. Jon called to tell me we would be going to a movie and he'd be over in a bit. He also noted he was famished. So I get my buttoski into the shower to beautify for the big date!

Nothing for dinner? I have radishes, cilantro, onion... Genius strikes as I lathered my locks. Taco Time. Authentic style.




Salivating! Mom's smoked pork belly that I so kindly agreed to take off her hands. Or apprehended from her fridge while she was camping...shhh. She is seriously rocking the new smoker. Jealous? Yeah. So anyways, the shakedown is this. Slap corn tortillas on the burner (I keep them frozen, gotta have the staples around). Slice pork, sweet onion and cilantro. Garnish with lime. Do not add anything else! Dream of Cozumel...



I'm an overachiever. So I made beans too. I sauteed garlic and shallot in olive oil, added the black beans, and some spastic spice supplementation. Mostly fajita seasoning, coriander and cumin (don't tell Jon, he thinks he hates cumin). Garnish with traditional sliced radishes, jalapenos and limes. I sprinkled some chopped green onions on top too, I'm fancy like that.


I applied mascara, got A list ready for the big premiere, then twiddled my thumbs. Jon calls 15 min before showtime to say he's on the way, can dinner be "to go?" Transition the beautifully plated masterpiece to paper plate and solo cupped side dish. I packed some hot sauce and a Dr. Pepper so homeboy could scarf while I drove. Monitor and adjust :)




Lovely lilies for the week. Girls, buy yourself flowers. It's so worth it :)

I'm not great with change

Replacement macbook is growing on me. Especially if I splurge on this

Meanwhile, stock is currently down on Olives. grrr.





Drama Button



As long as you're listening... June should be more...





like this.

We're Baby Back in the Game!

Well what a week... But as the title states, We're Back (insert creepy poltergeist voice). Let's start with the main event shall we? BBQ weekend! Last weekend was warm and sunny, unlike the current atmospheric offering. Jon requested ribs. I had experimented with baby back ribs last fall, posted here. I have my standard Giada BBQ sauce - delish. I know it works, so I use it as a control. This time however, I followed Alton's lead for the most part. I love that man. Science and cooking, I'm in heaven. Anyways, during FN's BBQ week he supplied this recipe, it sounded too crazy not to try. Check it out. Plus, you have drinks planned as well!


Step one, Dry rub. I used my Mom's dry rub I snatched from the fridge at home. Not sure what's in it! It was salty and zingy. I added a big hunk (very technical) of brown sugar to the rub. I let it mingle over night- about 11 hrs. The dry rub turns into a delightful marinade overnight. Then step two pictured above, braise in oven 2 hours with Alton's special (ridiculous) concoction. Holy moley. I got up, dinked around and then started this in the oven. I began my weekend chores, and by the time I was done cleaning the apt smelled FANTASTIC. Seriously, I tasted these out of the oven and they were fab. Alton, I believe in you, and your crazy ideas.

There you go. Final product, complete with classy GF (ie paper) plates at Jon's apt. I have a mini Weber that I store there for grilling expeditions. Jon was in charge of grilling. We also did chicken to feed the masses. I made Alton's BBQ sauce for the ribs, and Giada's sauce for the chicken. Both got two thumbs up. Alas, I admit I played with Alton's sauce a bit, adding more citrus and some balsamic vinegar. A girl's got to add her flair right? Giada's on the other hand, is perfection as is.

MMMM Cornbread. Recipe here. Simple, plain cornbread. I really wanted to zest it up, maybe add some Cheddar and jalapenos. I was outvoted. They were right. I ate these little babies in the am this week with butter and honey :)


The tasters! Justin and Julia enjoyed the ribs. I have to say, neither were big rib fans, but they seemed to like what they got! It's so fun to cook for friends. Sigh, big smile:) I also TOTALLY made the asparagus salad from here. It was wonderful, but somehow it didn't get pictured. I used broccoli not broccolini. I didn't think my clientele would notice :) I did however, almost slice my finger off chopping radishes. I'll make it again, and take a picture. It's worth it, hemoglobin decrease and all.


The grill master, with corn on the cob. I roasted the corn in the oven, husk and all while the cornbread cooked. Could not get easier than that. Notice Jesus in the upper right corner. Yep. No joke.

And finally, the big bummer. I sat down this week to type up a delightfully worthwhile (cough) assignment for my primary care rotation. I thought, well gosh, snacking on olives would make this task way better. Get up, get olives, return to cute black macbook. Sit down, IMMEDIATELY spill entire container of olive juice smack dab on the esc key. Scream, and cute black macbook shuts down. Think, shoot this is not good. Grab Kleenex. Think, are you kidding? Run to closet and grab tons of towels. Attempt to 1) keep the profanity to a minimum 2) dry and tip the computer over at the same time. Well, despite all my efforts cute black macbook died. Enter replacement white macbook. WAY too much money later. Oh well. Live and learn right?

NO LIQUIDS NEAR YOUR COMPUTER!!!!! No matter how graceful you wish to believe you are!