Yes, it's that time of year... when a young Hausfrau's thoughts turn to the birds and the bees...
No wait, that's not right.
Oh yeah.
Yes, it's that time of year, when a young Hausfrau's thoughts turn to what a mess her household in and her inherent laziness can no longer overcome the sense of shame at not keeping a properly cleaned house......
That's the one!
This weekend it was time to focus on the house. Re-stocking with shopping on Saturday, and cleaning today.
Yesterday I braved the masses at Sam's club, the produce mart, the regular grocery store, and then another produce mart. Then it was some general straightening up, making some cheese steak sandwiches for dinner.
Today was the major cleaning... so far the downstairs bath, vacuuming the carpet and couch, scrubbing floors, and I still need to do general "straightening up" in the kitchen. Oh, and laundry load number 3 just went in. While I was grumbly going about my tasks earlier the hubby mumbled something about how he'd clean the upstairs bath... which has yet to start as of 4pm and I suspect will not be happening until I finish the kitchen and then head up there and start it myself. Grumble. Yeah, this evening I'm gonna look up some maid services online. This is just bullshit. I don't care if the hubby "doesn't see why" I think I need maid service... since we moved into the townhome he's helped me do a big cleaning session all of... three? times. Of course he doesn't see why I need it, because his ass is happily seated upstairs in front of his computer while he does NOTHING and I have to spend my whole weekend cleaning up after his messy self.
And I'm not even going to get started about the basement.
The plan for dinner right now is a steak for the hubby and some salmon for me, but if I'm still cleaning come 6pm that is not going to happen. If it doesn't, I finally made it to the little taqueria up the street yesterday and ohmygawd, they are pretty good. Nice, basic, street-style Mexican food that is done well. I'd happily eat that for dinner.
Ha..... the hubby just made his very public display that he's finally starting to clean the bathroom with asking me a zillion questions about various cleaning supplies and so on. But that ain't gonna stop my search for a bi-weekly or monthly made service this evening.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
What's this? Actual free time???
I think Addendum Hell at Old Company is finally nearing and end. Ahhhhhh..... Only four more docs to churn out, and they're all pretty much the same. Should be about an hour of easy work tomorrow night, and then this weekend is sorting out all my files and getting everything properly transferred over to Old Company's servers. Yay!
Not exciting cooking around here. Last night was.... um... what was last night? Oh yeah, Shrimp Scampi. I started to ask the hubby what he wanted for dinner and he stopped me right away and said "No eggs". Well, that counts out Egg Salad BLTs or the Baked Scotch Eggs out of my version of the Joy of Cooking. So, that meant time to hit the freezer, and one of my freezer staples is always Shrimp Scampi. I always have some shrimp in the freezer, I also have a supply or shrimp stock in there now, and butter, dried pasta and garlic are always on hand. Easy enough.
Tonight was fish for me, and frozen chicken cordon bleus for the hubby. He was actually so excited for the chicken he asked me to make him two. Two? Of something chicken? Alright....
Now, I did my second try of using microwave steamer bags to cook fish, and color me less than impressed. I bought some monkfish last week, and it did not do well in the bag. Not at all like a nicely steamed piece of fish. I guess those things are good for veggies and not much else. At least I have learned my lesson.
Tomorrow should be the egg salad BLTs. Wooo.
And, I am super dooper excited because I placed an order with Bruce Foods yesterday for a case of my most favorite ever hot sauce, Louisiana Gold, and it's already shipped. Oh yeah! Bring it on! I'm actually hopefully it will be here in time for me to take a bottle along when the hubby and I go out for crawfish boil next week for our anniversary. I will be a very happy Hausfrau.
Not exciting cooking around here. Last night was.... um... what was last night? Oh yeah, Shrimp Scampi. I started to ask the hubby what he wanted for dinner and he stopped me right away and said "No eggs". Well, that counts out Egg Salad BLTs or the Baked Scotch Eggs out of my version of the Joy of Cooking. So, that meant time to hit the freezer, and one of my freezer staples is always Shrimp Scampi. I always have some shrimp in the freezer, I also have a supply or shrimp stock in there now, and butter, dried pasta and garlic are always on hand. Easy enough.
Tonight was fish for me, and frozen chicken cordon bleus for the hubby. He was actually so excited for the chicken he asked me to make him two. Two? Of something chicken? Alright....
Now, I did my second try of using microwave steamer bags to cook fish, and color me less than impressed. I bought some monkfish last week, and it did not do well in the bag. Not at all like a nicely steamed piece of fish. I guess those things are good for veggies and not much else. At least I have learned my lesson.
Tomorrow should be the egg salad BLTs. Wooo.
And, I am super dooper excited because I placed an order with Bruce Foods yesterday for a case of my most favorite ever hot sauce, Louisiana Gold, and it's already shipped. Oh yeah! Bring it on! I'm actually hopefully it will be here in time for me to take a bottle along when the hubby and I go out for crawfish boil next week for our anniversary. I will be a very happy Hausfrau.
Monday, March 24, 2008
No longer Master of the Crepe
I have to say, on Saturday, I was the master of the crepe.
The cake actually did turn out wonderfully and was much enjoyed by all (including a young cousin, who ate what was about 2-3 slices worth). I happily left the remainder of the cake with the parent in law's since they enjoyed it and I knew they'd eat it before we did.
The original plan was to do extra crepes on Saturday so I could use them later in the week. But, I did also take time to run out on Saturday morning to try and find a gasket for my blender (which I couldn't) so I was a little crunched for time. Decided to skip the extra crepes.
Tonight, the plan was some crepes filled with a ham and cheese sauce. I felt confident, knowing how fan-flippin-tastic I was with the crepes on Saturday.
Today? Not so much.
First of all, when one is measuring out the stuff for a recipe, one should pay extra attention to make sure when it calls for cream, you grab the cream, and NOT the buttermilk. And then measure and add to everything else before you realize what you just did.
The original recipe for the crepes made about 24, so I figured if I did 1/3 of the recipe, I'd get about 8 crepes. Apparently the space/time continuum was a little off in my kitchen this evening, as a 1/3 of the recipe gave me 4 crepes. Four very fragile, kept tearing crepes. And by this point I was out of cream.
So, whipped up another batch using all milk, and at least got two usable crepes (out of four more attempts) outta that batch. I figured they were at least lower fat, they'd be mine.
Filled them with the already-made ham & cheese sauce (at least the culinary gods were smiling on me with that one, I didn't measure a thing but made a pretty decent bechamel) and topped them with the remaining sauce, and popped them under the broiler for a couple minutes.
Hubby said they were fantastic, and I thought they were good.
I chalk up this kitchen half-disaster to really really bad heartburn. The hubby brought home some gin, limes and tonic last Friday so we had several gin & tonics over the weekend. While we were in Vegas, at Guy Savoy, we had what we declared the bestest gin & tonics ever (and at $10 a pop in the land of free booze, a bit steep, but in the end well worth it) so we were both scratching a craving. However, the tonic water has given me the worst heartburn I've had in years, so I'm a little uncomfortable and distracted.
Years ago I went thru a deal with heartburn and spent a year on Prilosec while my doctor tested for every cause under the sun and found nothing. The Prilosec messed up my system for the year I was on it and a year afterwards, which is about the time I swore off all prescription meds that we're safe, harmless, reliable things like Valium. No doctor caught it, but talking to another person with a similar problem brought it to light that my diet of healthy iceburg and romaine lettuce salads were the problem. I guess I can now add tonic water to the list of "will give you terrible heartburn to the point you think you're having a heart attack" foods. Sigh. Just have to watch and not have it in too large of amounts for too long of a stretch.
The cake actually did turn out wonderfully and was much enjoyed by all (including a young cousin, who ate what was about 2-3 slices worth). I happily left the remainder of the cake with the parent in law's since they enjoyed it and I knew they'd eat it before we did.
The original plan was to do extra crepes on Saturday so I could use them later in the week. But, I did also take time to run out on Saturday morning to try and find a gasket for my blender (which I couldn't) so I was a little crunched for time. Decided to skip the extra crepes.
Tonight, the plan was some crepes filled with a ham and cheese sauce. I felt confident, knowing how fan-flippin-tastic I was with the crepes on Saturday.
Today? Not so much.
First of all, when one is measuring out the stuff for a recipe, one should pay extra attention to make sure when it calls for cream, you grab the cream, and NOT the buttermilk. And then measure and add to everything else before you realize what you just did.
The original recipe for the crepes made about 24, so I figured if I did 1/3 of the recipe, I'd get about 8 crepes. Apparently the space/time continuum was a little off in my kitchen this evening, as a 1/3 of the recipe gave me 4 crepes. Four very fragile, kept tearing crepes. And by this point I was out of cream.
So, whipped up another batch using all milk, and at least got two usable crepes (out of four more attempts) outta that batch. I figured they were at least lower fat, they'd be mine.
Filled them with the already-made ham & cheese sauce (at least the culinary gods were smiling on me with that one, I didn't measure a thing but made a pretty decent bechamel) and topped them with the remaining sauce, and popped them under the broiler for a couple minutes.
Hubby said they were fantastic, and I thought they were good.
I chalk up this kitchen half-disaster to really really bad heartburn. The hubby brought home some gin, limes and tonic last Friday so we had several gin & tonics over the weekend. While we were in Vegas, at Guy Savoy, we had what we declared the bestest gin & tonics ever (and at $10 a pop in the land of free booze, a bit steep, but in the end well worth it) so we were both scratching a craving. However, the tonic water has given me the worst heartburn I've had in years, so I'm a little uncomfortable and distracted.
Years ago I went thru a deal with heartburn and spent a year on Prilosec while my doctor tested for every cause under the sun and found nothing. The Prilosec messed up my system for the year I was on it and a year afterwards, which is about the time I swore off all prescription meds that we're safe, harmless, reliable things like Valium. No doctor caught it, but talking to another person with a similar problem brought it to light that my diet of healthy iceburg and romaine lettuce salads were the problem. I guess I can now add tonic water to the list of "will give you terrible heartburn to the point you think you're having a heart attack" foods. Sigh. Just have to watch and not have it in too large of amounts for too long of a stretch.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Mommy, who is that lady all covered in flour?
Why, that's no lady... that's the Hausfrau!
For Easter this year, I got the urge to bake. Not typical for me, but I went with it.
And sorry for the lack of pictures... ran out of memory and I had too much to do to sit for a half hour and sort thru pictures.
First round of the day was the Grand Marnier Crepe Cake. The funniest thing about this was being about halfway thru making the crepes, and taking out a separate plate to use for the prettiest crepe I'd made so far. But then the next one was prettier. And the next one was even more beautimus, and so it went until I was out of batter. I did flub the recipe... forgot to put the sugar in the crepe batter so I just used the whole amount in the whipped cream. We'll see how it is tomorrow, but from licking my fingers clean from the whipped cream, it ought to be good.
Next up was Carrot Cake muffins. Made this recipe before, and it's always good. I usually just leave the maple syrup out of the frosting but was actually going to try it this time... until I discovered I was out of syrup. And I ain't putting the hubby's fake shelf-stable syrup in my cooking. I was also rushing a bit and should have let my butter sit out longer, I ended up with lumpy frosting. I think after a good 5 minute spin in the Kitchen Aid I got most of them out. I'm not stressing over it. Lumps of butter are always a good thing, right??
Last baking was the Tiramisu Brownies. Hubby looked over my shoulder as I was looking thru a magazine one day and said he wanted them. I've had the good on hand to make them for awhile, so I finally decided to. They don't look like the recipe, as some reviewers said, it was hard to get the top-brownie part to work right. But, I'm sure they'll taste good. I did also cut the amount of coffee. That sure seemed like a lot.
And now it is time to dust off the flour and do the browned butter and almonds that I'll pour over some green beans tomorrow. Then cleaning up the kitchen, and I am DONE for the weekend.
For Easter this year, I got the urge to bake. Not typical for me, but I went with it.
And sorry for the lack of pictures... ran out of memory and I had too much to do to sit for a half hour and sort thru pictures.
First round of the day was the Grand Marnier Crepe Cake. The funniest thing about this was being about halfway thru making the crepes, and taking out a separate plate to use for the prettiest crepe I'd made so far. But then the next one was prettier. And the next one was even more beautimus, and so it went until I was out of batter. I did flub the recipe... forgot to put the sugar in the crepe batter so I just used the whole amount in the whipped cream. We'll see how it is tomorrow, but from licking my fingers clean from the whipped cream, it ought to be good.
Next up was Carrot Cake muffins. Made this recipe before, and it's always good. I usually just leave the maple syrup out of the frosting but was actually going to try it this time... until I discovered I was out of syrup. And I ain't putting the hubby's fake shelf-stable syrup in my cooking. I was also rushing a bit and should have let my butter sit out longer, I ended up with lumpy frosting. I think after a good 5 minute spin in the Kitchen Aid I got most of them out. I'm not stressing over it. Lumps of butter are always a good thing, right??
Last baking was the Tiramisu Brownies. Hubby looked over my shoulder as I was looking thru a magazine one day and said he wanted them. I've had the good on hand to make them for awhile, so I finally decided to. They don't look like the recipe, as some reviewers said, it was hard to get the top-brownie part to work right. But, I'm sure they'll taste good. I did also cut the amount of coffee. That sure seemed like a lot.
And now it is time to dust off the flour and do the browned butter and almonds that I'll pour over some green beans tomorrow. Then cleaning up the kitchen, and I am DONE for the weekend.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Damn you, Snow Meiser!!! (and random thoughts)
Ok. Mid/Late March snow 'round these parts is not unheard of.
Warnings of up to eight inches of snow (and we always get the max amount where I am) is not fun. At all.
The steamed buns I made earlier this week gave me some problems, but mostly because I was trying to steam them in a different way and they ended up in the water. Ooops. Still turned out tasty though, after an addition 10 minutes of correct steaming. Love that recipe.
Oh, and this? Is the greatest garlic press EVER. I got it after a night of being particularly frustrated by my old Pampered Chef garlic press that had peeling non-stick coating. The next day, on America's Test Kitchen, I saw them review garlic presses and this Kuhn Rikon Epicurean Garlic Press came in first. Hefty price tag, but oh my lordy, so worth it. Even with my crappy carpal tunnel hands, it is a breeze to use, and it is so easy to clean. I love it.
Easter cooking planning is heavy on the mind.... boiled my eggs tonight so they'd be dry for dying tomorrow. Saturday is making the crepes for the crepe cake and the assembly of the actual cake, carrot cake muffins (if I can find the recipe... which I can't right now... sigh) and the browned butter & almonds for the green beans. I may also bring over some cheese and crackers.
But better sign off and focus on getting ready for bed...... stupid snow. Grumble.
Warnings of up to eight inches of snow (and we always get the max amount where I am) is not fun. At all.
The steamed buns I made earlier this week gave me some problems, but mostly because I was trying to steam them in a different way and they ended up in the water. Ooops. Still turned out tasty though, after an addition 10 minutes of correct steaming. Love that recipe.
Oh, and this? Is the greatest garlic press EVER. I got it after a night of being particularly frustrated by my old Pampered Chef garlic press that had peeling non-stick coating. The next day, on America's Test Kitchen, I saw them review garlic presses and this Kuhn Rikon Epicurean Garlic Press came in first. Hefty price tag, but oh my lordy, so worth it. Even with my crappy carpal tunnel hands, it is a breeze to use, and it is so easy to clean. I love it.
Easter cooking planning is heavy on the mind.... boiled my eggs tonight so they'd be dry for dying tomorrow. Saturday is making the crepes for the crepe cake and the assembly of the actual cake, carrot cake muffins (if I can find the recipe... which I can't right now... sigh) and the browned butter & almonds for the green beans. I may also bring over some cheese and crackers.
But better sign off and focus on getting ready for bed...... stupid snow. Grumble.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Weirdness
Ok.
I new that Old Company was going thru some management changes, and the guy I was reporting to for awhile was on his way out and out as of recent. Not in a bad way (which is a first for the time I've had any association with the company) at least.
But, was poking around on LinkedIn and saw a new profile for the company CEO. New dude. Um, ok???
Hopefully it will be a good change. But it's very weird to now know it happened and I didn't get the skinny on it. It's an odd relationship with the people still there... they do have moments where they seem to have forgotten I'm not around for 40 hours a week and I don't get all the hallway gossip/news. Not that it makes a lick of difference in what I have to do for them... but it's nice to know.
I think "addendum hell" is finally nearing an end for Old Company. I'll be happy when we reach that point and I can spend my evenings surfing the web rather than doing actual work.
Dinner tonight was an easy one... chili dogs. Heat up hot dogs, defrost chili from the fridge, and dinner is more or less ready. Hubby is always happy for a chili dog night, as am I, because it is easy and cleanup (which I still gotta do) is easy.
Things at New Company are still going along... got some training on a new product tomorrow, and have ample work to keep me busy. Doing a lot of clean-up and trying to not let the inconsistencies that are there (aka - "legacy weirdness") get to me. I know the one writer who was there was working under extreme pressure and deadlines, and hopefully we'll get it all to a good point soon.
The week ahead does not look all too exciting... probably going to dye Easter eggs (swirly dye!!!) on Thursday, maybe make some brownies on Friday since I have everything on hand, and last minute shopping and making the crepe cake and cupcakes on Saturday. I'm also doing green beans in browned butter, but that is so easy I hardly consider it a chore. Might also bring over some cheese and crackers. Not too much.
I do want to make a stir-fry and some steamed buns this week, and since my sausage and kim chee is dated for this week, that might happen tomorrow. Thursday might be pepper and egg sandwiches. Exciting stuff.
I new that Old Company was going thru some management changes, and the guy I was reporting to for awhile was on his way out and out as of recent. Not in a bad way (which is a first for the time I've had any association with the company) at least.
But, was poking around on LinkedIn and saw a new profile for the company CEO. New dude. Um, ok???
Hopefully it will be a good change. But it's very weird to now know it happened and I didn't get the skinny on it. It's an odd relationship with the people still there... they do have moments where they seem to have forgotten I'm not around for 40 hours a week and I don't get all the hallway gossip/news. Not that it makes a lick of difference in what I have to do for them... but it's nice to know.
I think "addendum hell" is finally nearing an end for Old Company. I'll be happy when we reach that point and I can spend my evenings surfing the web rather than doing actual work.
Dinner tonight was an easy one... chili dogs. Heat up hot dogs, defrost chili from the fridge, and dinner is more or less ready. Hubby is always happy for a chili dog night, as am I, because it is easy and cleanup (which I still gotta do) is easy.
Things at New Company are still going along... got some training on a new product tomorrow, and have ample work to keep me busy. Doing a lot of clean-up and trying to not let the inconsistencies that are there (aka - "legacy weirdness") get to me. I know the one writer who was there was working under extreme pressure and deadlines, and hopefully we'll get it all to a good point soon.
The week ahead does not look all too exciting... probably going to dye Easter eggs (swirly dye!!!) on Thursday, maybe make some brownies on Friday since I have everything on hand, and last minute shopping and making the crepe cake and cupcakes on Saturday. I'm also doing green beans in browned butter, but that is so easy I hardly consider it a chore. Might also bring over some cheese and crackers. Not too much.
I do want to make a stir-fry and some steamed buns this week, and since my sausage and kim chee is dated for this week, that might happen tomorrow. Thursday might be pepper and egg sandwiches. Exciting stuff.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Nuttin much happening....
It's been quiet since we got back from Vegas.
Travel plus the time change over the weekend plus being stuck (yet again!) in Addendum Help for my old company has kicked my ass this week. And general just "not feeling well".
Cooking has been laughable... old, easy standards, nothing exciting. Tonight was delivery pizza... I was going to do the usual steaks/potato/veg for dinner, but the steaks at the markets today looked horrible and were not on sale. No fun.
I am going to be making some soda bread and a wheat soda-type bread tomorrow for the usual St. Pat's dinner at the parnet-in-laws' house tomorrow.
And Easter is also looming on the horizon... plan to make a fancy crepe cake-thing from the newest issue of Gourmet, some tiramisu brownies, and maybe some kind of appetizer. Possibly a crab/horseradish dip. I had forgotten I bought some sage cheese and brie also, so I might just bring those over. At this point, it will depend on if I feel any better next week.
But, corned beef and cabbage for dinner tomorrow, likely I'll use leftovers to make some hash on Monday with some poached eggs. I've also got a hankering for some steamed chinese buns, so I think I'll be doing a stir-fry at some point. Hot dogs were also on sale this week, and the hubby is always happy with some chili dogs for dinner. Might also do some pepper & egg sandwiches, which I haven't done in awhile. All fairly easy stuff.
But, for now, it's an evening for finishing "Bone in the Throat" and relaxing.
Travel plus the time change over the weekend plus being stuck (yet again!) in Addendum Help for my old company has kicked my ass this week. And general just "not feeling well".
Cooking has been laughable... old, easy standards, nothing exciting. Tonight was delivery pizza... I was going to do the usual steaks/potato/veg for dinner, but the steaks at the markets today looked horrible and were not on sale. No fun.
I am going to be making some soda bread and a wheat soda-type bread tomorrow for the usual St. Pat's dinner at the parnet-in-laws' house tomorrow.
And Easter is also looming on the horizon... plan to make a fancy crepe cake-thing from the newest issue of Gourmet, some tiramisu brownies, and maybe some kind of appetizer. Possibly a crab/horseradish dip. I had forgotten I bought some sage cheese and brie also, so I might just bring those over. At this point, it will depend on if I feel any better next week.
But, corned beef and cabbage for dinner tomorrow, likely I'll use leftovers to make some hash on Monday with some poached eggs. I've also got a hankering for some steamed chinese buns, so I think I'll be doing a stir-fry at some point. Hot dogs were also on sale this week, and the hubby is always happy with some chili dogs for dinner. Might also do some pepper & egg sandwiches, which I haven't done in awhile. All fairly easy stuff.
But, for now, it's an evening for finishing "Bone in the Throat" and relaxing.
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