Succulent Sustenance - Dinner Party!

This is a couple weeks late. I have excuses: allergies, end of summer, packing to go back to school, leading a summer day camp for kids (ages 6-12, and just precocious enough to make me want to remove my uterus), Renaissance festival. But those are just that, excuses. So rather than blathering on and on, or making lists of the things I have been doing instead of blogging let's get right on to the good stuff.

So two Thursdays ago I had an End of Summer dinner party for several of my friends in the area. I had an entire menu planned out but since all the recipes were new I only wound up making one of them. That was probably a good thing since it took so much longer to get everything finished than I had planned. Of course the best laid plans get disrupted and all the careful list-making did nothing to prevent everything falling apart and me driving all over town trying to gather ingredients.

Since dinner was a little later than I planned I did a little appetizer. Sliced French bread toasted with goat cheese and sliced fresh basil. Unfortunately they never got pretty plating and thus no pictures.

For the main course I got a recipe from a weekly email called Tasting Table They send out two recipes a week. Any foodie who appreciates experimenting with new stuff should sign up for it. One of the recipes that showed up in my email was Grilled Lamb Skewers. Since this came at a time I was craving red meat, I was eager to try the recipe and foist it upon others. I made a few changes to the recipe. I doubled the recipe (11 dinner guests) and I cut the ground lamb with ground chuck. Since lamb is so flavorful the mutton overpowered the beef  and the fat in the chuck made the skewers extra juicy. I also made additional wine reduction and added about a tablespoon of honey and melted 2/3rds of a stick of unsalted butter in the reduction to make a sauce. For side dishes I made wilted spinach and sauteed red bell pepper salad and saffron flavored rice.

Prep work

The Skewers pre-grill

Ravishingly Red Bell Peppers

A dinner plate for one lucky guest

My sister played co-host for the evening and her major contribution was dessert. I don't have links to the recipe she used but as soon as I do I will post them. She made individual Raspberry Creme Brulees for each one of my guests.

It may look like a basic creme brulee but at the bottom of the ramekin was a layer of raspberry preserves and fresh raspberries.

The dinner was a hit! Even my friend who is a notorious picky eater cleared most of her plate (and all of her dessert). I love entertaining like this when everything gets to come together even though things were delayed.

PS. The Picky Eater is the reason the photos in this post look so amazing. She brought her giant camera and took all the pictures for the evening. Unfortunately most of the pictures of me are before I was able to shower so I am not posting any featuring me. I love her to death for making my food look amazing and plan to invite her and her camera every time I make a good meal.

I Won!

Most people in the world have luck of one kind or another. Not me. For the most part I tend to be rather luck-less, suffering from neither good or bad luck. However every once in a while I am given a sample of luck (sometimes good, sometimes bad) just so I can have the experience. 

Last week I received a taste of good luck: As I may have mentioned the amazing and creative Carly J. Cais of Chic Steals was one the of the bloggers who participated in New York Design Shop's Create Couture Challenge  Since she is a major overachiever and puts my little projects to shame (I have three shirts I keep putting off even though summer and my free time is coming to a swift end) Carly submitted 12 DIY projects within the time constraints of the contest! As a rabid follower, of her blog I voted for her (though ...Love Meagan has some of my loyalty as well). Carly won the contest by what I hear was a very narrow margin (cue applause!) 

Thats where things get a little confusing, at least when I try to explain it. Seriously, I had to tell my mom three times why I was giving my home address to a random internet celebrity. NY Design Shop had a drawing for the voters who participated in the Create Couture Challenge. The winning voter got to choose a prize from the DIYs of the winning blogger. And I won!!!!11!!one!!

The prize I chose was the beautiful Double-Fringe Necklace Which was awesome since I planned on making one anyways. Instead I got to have one made for me by the designer! (Excuse me while I have a complete and total fan-girl moment) 

Of course no good luck comes without it's constant companion Bad Luck. I was sick with crippling allergies for the better part of the rest of the week. Anyone with allergies can attest the the attractiveness caused by swollen sinuses and runny noses. In order to prevent permanently scarring any future generations I avoided all cameras until my face returned to a semblance of normalcy. 

Finally I have a picture of me in my newly won necklace!

I'm freshly showered in this picture my hair is not normally so well behaved. 

I wore the necklace out shopping today and got tons of complements. Even my mom liked it and she prefers jewelery to be understated. I'm thinking I will pair it with my cute navy blue dress and cork wedges for the first day of my final year of school! May as well carry my pinch of good luck into the school year.

Working on my movie review....

But i'm busy and I have been knocked on my ass by allergies. So rather than leave this space empty for today I present the only kind of poetry I am capable of, Haiku:

Allergy Season

A Symphony of Sniffles

Trumpets in F-Flat

Monday Lust - Boots

I love boots. I love the way they make me feel like I can conquer the world. The last pair of boots I got have a five inch heel and little gold buckles. I call them my boots of Doom. If I could find a picture of them I would post them.

But today the lust has been re-awakened by the most gorgeous pair of boots.

Now they look very basic from the front. But the back is where the real beauty is.

The red zipper detail is just the right thing to perk these boots up from basic to sexy. So if any one wants to purchase them for me they are available at Nordstrom for just shy of 275$ LINK


All Images from Nordstrom.com

PS. In case you have never heard of the Blog http://www.chic-steals.com/ she has some of the best DIY's on the internet. Recently she participated in the Create Couture Contest sponsored by New York Design Shop and won! (I was one of the many who voted for her designs. I had to. She did a bajillion projects with the materials supplied) Anyways,  NYDS had a drawing for voters that awarded the winner a creation by the winner of the contest.  Guess what. I won!!!! I never win anything and I'm getting to be getting a beautiful fringe necklace created by Carly. I plan to wear it at every opportunity. As soon as it arrives I'm posting pictures!

Succulent Sustenance - Deep Fried

With the extra time to sleep in and/or work out the weekend is the best time to have awesome food. So here is Succulent Sustenance where I recount the best meal of the week (which usually occurs during the weekend) and indulge my illicit love of alliteration.

This weekend after a straight week of cravings this dish, my mother and I made her world famous Southern Fried Feast.  It seems to be a tradition below the Mason-Dixon Line that the Sunday dinner is the big one. As a reward for going to church that morning (and no offense to any Southern Baptists but I feel like I need some kind of payment for attending your services) the average Southern family starts their week by  indulging in the sin of gluttony. This saves the other six deadly sins for the remainder of the week.

While mom peeled and butterflied the shrimp I prepared the French fries. Though we have this dish about once a year this is the first time I remember using red potatoes for the fries.

Start with a potatoe:

Slice:

Chop into strips:

And they are ready for the oil!

For the rest of the meal we prepped chicken, shrimp and oysters in an seasoned egg-wash. It's no Colonel Sander's eleven herbs and spices but I find it delicious. (Could have used a pinch more cayenne in my opinion)

From Left to Right: Oysters, Shrimp, Chicken Tenders

The best part was when we finally had all the food cooking.

Left to Right: Fries, Chicken, Shrimp

Lured by the scent of the oysters and shrimp we had an extra helper. 

By "Helper" I mean: Tripping Hazard (aka Ollie)

Finally dinner was served:

Hot Sauce for the shrimp. Ketchup for the fries. Honey for the chicken.

Several servings later...

Nothing but the shrimp tails.

Not a Real Post

I have a ton of stuff to post. However I'm busy, and when I'm not busy I'm lazy, and when I'm not busy or lazy I'm trying to sleep.

This wasn't helped by my friend turning 21 (finally!) we got to have an amazing party including some surprise guests. She loved her bracelet and unintentionally (I think) dressed to match it. Of course I took it as an opportunity to  wear my new shoes and skirt.

There are two more food posts to come! No new movie review since Tuesday night i was dancing my ass off.

Wednesday Movies! - Actually Not a Movie this week.

I was going to try to see SALT this week but I was foiled by two things. 1) Salt was not eligible for the 5 dollar ticket price and 2) three of my friends wanted to see Inception. It should speak volumes that I went to see this movie twice. If you want my complete opinion see my review HERE

Instead I am going to review a new summer TV show:

I realize the coincidence that both my intended review, Salt, and Covert Affairs are based around hot chicks who work for the CIA.

First off allow me to say I am biased in favor of Covert Affairs for two reasons. 1) Most of USA's original shows are extremely entertaining and pure escapism. Which is perfect for me. When I watch TV it's as a little break between chores or homework. 2) Christopher Gorham. I mean look at him. He is a sexy sexy nerd:

Got to say ever since White Collar I'm a sucker for a man in a well fitted suit. 

Anyways onto the review:

The basic premise of the show is Piper Perabo is Annie Walker, a new CIA recruit with a gift for languages (she speaks six). Because of a broken heart she joins the CIA in order to marry herself to her job. She is pulled from her training at The Farm a month early for use of her language skills and her good looks. (Here's a game: Name a spy movie where the attractive female is not disguised as a stripper/prostitute/drunk slut etc.) Turns out after her first mission the CIA doesn't send her back to finish her training but keeps her on not just because of her performance but because there's a conspiracy regarding her previous lover afoot. 

Overall the show is cute. I don't think I have ever had to say that about an action based show or movie. But it's the only word that really fits. Piper has the same fish out of water but slowly discovering it has lungs behavior that she showed in Coyote Ugly (yes I watched it. I'm only mildly ashamed). Christopher Gorham is Auggie the blind tech guy who is kind of a player. Kari Matchett and Peter Gallagher are a married CIA  and seem to have the role of Mommy and Daddy to the field operatives. Unfortunately Mommy and Daddy don't have the healthiest relationship and I can see that is going to trickle down onto "the kids" in a negative way. Anne Dudek plays Piper's older sister who allows her to live in her guest house and creates the family tension (similar to John Goodman in Coyote Ugly). Since she has to remain unaware of Piper's true career she thinks that her sister is working for the Smithsonian.  

Cute still seems the right word. But in this case cute is all you need. There is a cute guy (plus a cute guy of the week for each mission), a cute main character, a cute family interaction (both at the CIA and between Piper and Anne) and somehow it kinda works for me. I'm not saying it's the best TV show ever but it does what I think decent TV should do, provide you with an hour of time in which you can just chill and watch the screen. It's better than a good 80% of what's on the tube anyways. 

My only suggestions are: Use Anne Dudek more she's a great actress and deserves more screen time. and put Piper in designer dresses and shoes (She wore a classic pair of Louboutin pumps in the pilot, jealous!) more often so I can live vicariously through her wardrobe.

Images from Starpulse.com, poptimal.com 

Monday Lust - Corsets

Like so many others I have a problem. I long for items I cannot afford. Fortunately, my upbringing has hobbled me when it comes to impulse buys. When I spend money it's when I go out with the purpose to shop for a specific item or I limit my budget severely. For example my spring break shopping trip this year was limited to 100$ (not including my swimsuit).  While this keeps my wallet happy I fall into the occasional puddle of lust.

The point of this is to bring you Monday Lust. Where I post the items that are clogging my shopping list in the hopes that confession is good for the soul (and wallet).

Today (and for the past five years) I have been looking at corsets. Once upon a time corsets were required for women to appear beautiful (and faint at the appropriate dramatic moments), and because no-one had taken the time to invent the bra.* In more modern times the corset was considered fetish or wedding night wear. But recently the "corset top" has become more popular. Is it bad I want to say I was wearing a corset before it was cool? It's true.

Working at the Renaissance festival led to my first expensive purchase. I laid down a good 300$ (a fortune to 17 year old me) for a gorgeous satin corset in black and gold.

Me with Mike from Tartanic

I fell in love with corsets. Suddenly my boy-ish figure looked like a woman. I had curves and cleavage dammit! Since then I have been craving to purchase additional corsets. Next on my list is a simple over-bust corset in black leather (insert dominatrix joke here).  I think with the right jacket I can wear it out in "normal situations" (though I think I will avoid wearing it to church).  One such corset can be found HERE

The other corset I am currently lusting for is an under-bust corset to complete my steam punk costume. Yes I am that much of a nerd and I love it. The problem with the under-bust corsets is that I cannot decide which one I want. Today I stumbled across a company called Dracula Clothing that has really nice corsets for really good prices.  So if anyone wants to help me make a decision for a new corset you can vote for:

A. The Leather Over bust

B.  The Pointed Under bust (Which I would get in black of course)

C. The Military Inspired Corset

Please vote by writing your choice on a memo line of a check (suggested donation is ten dollars). Or remove the choice from my hands completely by purchasing any of the above corsets for me (I wear a size 18).


*Fun fact: in the early to mid 1800's it was thought that a corset was a medical necessity. The reasoning was that women were the weaker sex and despite having been fine for the past 1800 years they needed the support to stand. (Eve didn't wear a corset) Since girls were forced into corsets as early as 4 years old and were unable to develop the back muscles to keep themselves standing by the time the average girl reached her teen years it became a self-fulfilling prophesy.