back in the kitchen again

i realized yesterday morning, as i trotted happily out of starbucks with my grande iced nonfat upside-down caramel macchiato, that i was falling into an old bad habit. one that was way too easy to get sucked into, as well as bad for the ol' checkbook. and as i took my first sip of that delicious concoction, i vowed that it would be my last - at least for a while. i decided right then and there that i was going to start making my own homemade iced coffee.

not exactly the same, i know, but i was also finding myself quite addicted to the iced coffee at mcdonald's. it's about half the price of my favorite starbucks drink, but still - those $1.99 drinks add up after a while. and i knew i could make my own version at home for way less money. hell, one bottle of torani syrup could be recouped after, oh, 2 or 3 homemade drinks!

after posting a cry for help from my friends on a nest message board, i remembered that i'd bookmarked a recipe from one of my favorite cooking blogs - smitten kitchen. i also got a lot of really helpful responses and links, so i pored over all of the info and waited for the clock to strike 12:30.

i came home with, among a bunch of other stuff, this:

as i've mentioned before, i'm pretty good at following a recipe, even when it just looks or sounds funky. and look at this shit - it is definitely nasty looking.

cold brewing seems to be the way to go when it comes to making iced coffee. you mix the ground coffee with water and let it sit for a few hours before proceeding to the next step. so i did just that, and then joined the bean on the floor for a little playtime.

my friend amber sent me a link to a fantastic-looking recipe for a crab, corn and tomato salad a few days ago. realizing that my cooking efforts earlier in the week had led to a super sweaty wan and a hot ass kitchen, i thought it would be a great time to give this a shot. plus, it was fairly healthy and made for a nice, light, cool dinner on a warm summer evening.

not having access to fresh lump crabmeat out in BFE, i settled for buying a pound of snow crab clusters and pulling the meat out of them with my own two hands. i'm an expert at this, so it didn't take me long to get through the task, and i was happy to see that i'd managed to accumulate a nice pile of delicious, succulent crab. and it took all i had not to pop chunks of it in my mouth - if you know me well, you'll know how hard this was for me. gosh, just looking at the pictures is making my mouth water all over again. damn.

i'd found cute little slipper lobster tails on sale at the grocery store during my iced coffee shopping extravaganza, so i decided i'd make a few minor adjustments to the recipe. i took them out, boiled a couple of inches of water, placed those tails in my steamer basket, and covered the pot.

this is how i killed time while i waited for the timer to go off.

about eight minutes later, the lobster was all nice and pink and perfect. i cooled them down by giving them a nice cold bath.

i pulled the meat out of the shells, chopped it up, and added it to my lovely seafood pile.

when i was all done manhandling the crustaceans, i remembered something i'd read a long time ago. my paws were all fishy-smelling, and normally i'd just rub some lemon on 'em and call it a day. it never took the smell completely away, but i was okay with it. but i decided to try out something different, so i washed my hands and then rubbed them on the stainless steel sink. supposedly, this neutralizes the odor regardless of how rank it is.

i am pleased to report that this little trick works like a charm. i still used a little lemon juice, just for good measure, but it wasn't necessary - my digits were odor-free. yay!

grating lemon zest without benefit of a cool microplane thingy is a pain in the ass. i only had a mini grater (yes, i suffer in the kitchen with my scaled-down utensils, but there's no freaking storage space in the thimble we live in, so there), so i made do. and my reamer (heh heh) made an appearance for the second time in one week.

i love using my whisk to mix shit.

then i was done for a while, because the hub wasn't due home just yet. so i put everything in the fridge and then realized that the bean was...occupied. poop. literally.

finally, the hub arrived and i put the finishing touches on dinner. since i'd left out the onions and red pepper, i chose to add some crunch and color by adding some chopped cucumber. my grocery store sells freshly baked french bread, so i'd picked up a loaf [snicker] (remember, i'm, like, 8) to serve with the salad. isn't it pretty? some of the very best things on earth, all on one plate.

it was a HUGE hit. we scarfed up every last bit on our plates and managed to go through at least half of the loaf of bread. it was so good - all soft and chewy and fresh. mmm.

after i'd done the clean-up, it was time to tackle project iced coffee. i poured it through my mini strainer, and was kinda grossed out by this:

i pulled out a coffee filter, shoved it into the strainer, and poured the coffee through again, to make sure there wasn't a single speck of grounds left in there.

now this is some deep, dark stuff. it smelled really good, though. i was totally excited for the morning, when i'd mix it with the vanilla syrup and a shitload of milk and pour it over ice, just like they do at mickey d's.

and this morning, i got up and did just that - i threw in some french vanilla creamer, skim milk, and a couple of shots of that torani syrup, and mixed it with ice.

the hub took one sip and said "mmmm, that IS good." and i had to agree - it was super delicious.

SO worth the effort! i'm totally making this part of the morning routine. yay for coffee!

no me gusta. sort of.

we were all sad when sunday rolled around. it meant the end of a lovely long weekend, with a return to the salt mines looming in the near future. boo.

the first sunday of every month is communion sunday - and although we've been slightly lazy about going to church in recent months, we do make the effort to attend for that. it's always nice to sit there and do a little soul-searching and reflecting on our lives, and leave with a clean slate and a fresh start. and we started off our morning doing just that.

then, since we were with a bunch of old folks - the grandparents and great-grandma - we found ourselves at one of their favorite eateries: souplantation. although i do know at least one person that's far from senior citizen status who adores this place. heh.

afterwards, we headed home ostensibly to change, but somehow ended up staying put for several hours while the bean indulged in another of her super long naps. the plan was to meet at the grandparents' to watch the dodger game and then head down to the beach to cool off and find dinner, but by the time we got out the door, it was a little late to make the drive.

after debating several other possible destinations, we ended up heading out to glendale - the americana at brand.

we managed to score a sweet ass spot right in front of the elevators. i always take that as a sign that good times lie ahead.

having ridden with the ILs, we had no stroller to roll the bean around in. she ended up doing her peoplewatching from a great vantage point - the hub's shoulders.

she was transfixed by this shiny statue, and as she got down from her lofty perch, we had to hold her back from diving right into the water.

as for dinner, we ended up here:

we put our name on the list, and it was a blessedly short wait before we were called in and escorted to a table.

while we perused the menus, i handed the bean a snack cup with some lucky charms cereal inside, and she got busy hunting for marshmallows.

the distraction didn't last long, though, and not content with sitting quietly in the high chair, FIL took her out for a walk, where she was immediately captivated by the sight and sound of the mariachi band playing out on the patio.

while they were gone, the hub, MIL, and i munched on the chips and salsa on the table. the chips were fresh and crunchy, but the two cups of salsa - one green, one red - were pretty gross. the green was tolerable, but the red one tasted like barbecue sauce or some shit like that. i never knew you could fuck up chips and salsa.

our server was pretty shitty, too. she slunk around the restaurant, looking dazed and confused, and took forever and a freaking day to come back and take our order. we had to literally flag her ass down to get her to stop at our table. and she brought two of the five drinks requested, then stood at the end of the restaurant and gaped at the floor for a while before finally returning with the rest of our beverages. it was terrible and frustrating.

not surprisingly, our entrees were delivered by someone other than our server. maybe she fell asleep in a corner or something. anyway, i was delighted with my tacos de langosta - sauteed lobster meat, tomatoes, black beans, and rice in a soft flour tortilla.

the others weren't nearly as pleased with their choices. "this is the blandest mexican food i've ever had," said the hub. coupled with the disastrous chips and salsa, i'm thinking we won't be returning ever again.

frida's doesn't offer a kids' menu. instead, they mark some of the entrees in their menu with a little symbol to indicate that smaller portions are available. for the bean, we chose simple chicken tacos.

she liked picking them apart, eating chunks of melted cheese and chopped chicken. the rice went over pretty well, too. but the biggest hit on her plate was...the wedge of lime.

despite that sourpuss face, she couldn't get enough of it. she popped that lime in her mouth time and time again. silly bean.

just before we left, the mariachi band returned from a break and walked around the restaurant, playing at each table. the bean was again captivated and clapped and danced to the music.

outside, we headed to the big lawn area and let her run wild.

so, while it wasn't a perfect outing, it was still nice to get out and enjoy some fresh air, walk around, and peoplewatch. quite a lovely way to end our long, leisurely weekend.

cordelia ain't got nothin' on me

i never buy buttermilk.

i really don't have a use for the stuff - because, really, who does? - but i'd picked up a carton of it over the weekend for that red velvet pound cake i made for the 4th of july. to make matters worse, since i had cut the recipe in half, i'd only used a quarter cup of it. so i had a crapload of the stuff leftover, and despite the fact that it only cost <$2, i couldn't bear to leave it sitting in the fridge, unused and unloved.

the only thing i could think of, off the top of my noggin, that required buttermilk was biscuits. and i knew i had chicken in the freezer. and that's how fantabulous mrs. wan's chicken dinner monday came to be.

i haven't actually been to the chicken dinner restaurant at knott's berry farm in ages - in fact, the last time was when i was pregnant with the bean, taking the teen to amusement park after amusement park and keeping her happily occupied over summer vacation. and as i mentioned back then, if poor cordelia knott had gotten a taste of what her beloved kitchen was serving these days, she'd roll over in her grave. maybe twice. i knew i could do better.

and then as i was getting caught up on my local board on the nest, my friend ssinca posted a link to the yummiest looking summery beverage - watermelon lemonade. now, despite my distaste for actual fruit, i do love the taste of a lot of it, and watermelon is a flavor that i dig quite a lot. so the bean and i trooped out to the grocery store to pick up a few things, including an overpriced bowl of cut-up watermelon. i was too lazy to buy a whole one, didn't really have room in the fridge for it, and what if the end result tasted like ass?

i follow directions quite well - at least, when it comes to recipes. i pureed the watermelon chunks as directed, and then painstakingly strained out the seeds and pulp.

next, i juiced the lemons and strained that, too.

despite smitten kitchen's disdain for premade simple syrup, i actually had a bottle of the stuff on hand - we'd bought it a while ago when the teen had to have sweet tea and just couldn't wait for me to make it from scratch. it's sugar and water, people. oy.

despite the fact that i'd tripled the recipe, my pretty glass pitcher was still sadly not-quite-half-full. oh, well. at least it looked good, right? and a quick sample of the finished product proved that i could have used that whole watermelon quite easily. next time.

next, i mixed up the biscuit dough. this stuff is uber sticky, and even though i've made it at least once (albeit a loooong time ago), i didn't remember it being this difficult to work with. i was too ashamed to take a picture of the pathetic-looking cutouts in the pan, pre-baking.

lacking the proper equipment (i.e., a round cookie cutter), i busted out my super duper clever macgyver skills and improvised with what i had on hand.

i was pleased to see that they didn't look as laughable when i pulled them out of the 500-degree oven. i don't know why i always manage to pick days when it's as hot as the surface of the friggin' sun to get these crazy urges to cook a full meal.

my favorite part of mrs. knott's chicken dinner, oddly enough, is the cabbage and ham side dish. i know, completely bizarre. but i love that stuff. even though it gives me some super amusing, splendiferous gas afterwards. TMI?

anyway, through the magic of facebook, i managed to connect with an old friend who had the knott's cookbook on hand and was kind enough to e-mail me the recipe. i'd had a copy of it once upon a time too, but it's one of the zillion things i left behind in my rush to move out of the house i'd shared with the ex back in the day.

somehow, i'd managed to time everything just right and had everything cooking and ready all at the same time. impressive, yes? i plated it up and called the hub and the bean to the table.

the hub was completely in awe and full of compliments over my efforts, and hoovered up every last bite on his plate. i was really proud of myself, and basked in his praise as i got to work cleaning the mess i'd left in the kitchen and he whisked the bean off for her bath.

this post is totally out of order, because i actually have a restaurant review to share from sunday, but i was still glowing from my successful dinner and just had to show it all off now, now, now!

so, tomorrow. i'll write about it tomorrow, and i've got a shitton of pictures to illustrate it all, too. i know, i know, you can't wait.

well, you'll have to. heh.