I Tried Something New. Grade: D-

I guess they all can't be winners.  But I had really high hopes for this one.  Quinn found this recipe at Bloom (our local grocery store) and asked me to make it.  Angel Food and Grapefruit Lush Cake.  It sounded intriguing, the ingredients were few and simple and the calorie count was pretty darn good.  Here is the recipe and a picture of what it was supposed to look like >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Ingredients
+ 5 cp Grapefruit
+ 8 oz vanilla flavor instant pudding and pie filling
+ 2 cp non dairy whipped topping
+ 10 in angel food cake
+ 5 Strawberries

Preparation

• Mix grapefruit sections and dry pudding mix in medium bowl.
• Gently stir in whipped topping.
• Cut cake horizontally into three layers. Place bottom cake layer, cut-side up, on serving plate. Top with one-third of the pudding mixture.
• Repeat layers two times. Refrigerate for at least 1 hr.
• Top with grapefruit sections and strawberries just before serving.

Here are my pictures as we went and my end result:

We started off good....





Cooling...

 



Looking good...

 



Uh oh.  It's leaning.  This was the beginning of the end.





The filling looked "ok".





Oh geez.  It was so ugly.  I actually took this pic from the good side.

Look at mine next to what it was supposed to be.  Shameful.








 
                                                       I thought, "Maybe it will still taste good."   Nope.  The kids each took a bite and after a moment of yum, their little faces squished up they were like, "What is that taste?!"  It seems the grapefruit took on a metallic, soapy flavor after being mixed with the other ingredients.  Abby said it tasted like hand sanitizer.  So alas, it's in the garbage now which means the quest continues to find another beautiful, delicious, healthy dessert for my family.  

Kitchen Tips #1 - Little Touches Go A Long Way

I love to cook.  And so do you I bet.  I like to try and make things outside of the norm but there's one problem.  I have this romantic notion in my head that I'm going to look like Giada and don my pastel v-neck blouse with my costume jewelry, hair perfectly coiffed and not a single smudge or smear of any type of sauce on me.  I'm going to slowly and beautifully chop and slice just like a pro all the while narrating how luscious the marscapone (and I'm going to pronounce it mer-SCA-pone-eh) sounds as I fold it into my cavattapi.  But we all know that's not how it's going to go down.

The reality is that I'm going to scramble for ingredients, loose my recipe countless times and dirty up more pots, pans, spoons and utensils then I care to clean.  My kitchen and myself will look like a bomb blew up and the end result will just be "ok" since it takes many times making a particular recipe to really get it right.  So now I've spent more money on groceries then I would've to go out to eat AND I'm stuck cleaning up the mess.  But with a few encouraging words from Cory (ALMOST every time I make something new.  If he's quiet I know to throw that one out.) I feel proud that at least I tried.  With that said, I'm going to reference yet another Food Network "chef" (used loosely for her, sorry) but Sandra Lee has the right idea with Semi-Homemade.  On this night I needed a short-cut. 

Do you ever eat in restaurants and wonder, "Why doesn't my food taste like this?"  Simple.  Fresh ingredients and special touches make all the difference.  Here is an example of how I put that into practice just the other night.

I purchased a pack of Grilled Chicken and Mozzarella Ravioli from Costco.  I boiled it.  I opened a jar of marinara. I nuked it in the microwave.  But here is how to turn an ok dinner into OK It's Dinner!

 Alongside my beloved mint plant stands my basil plant. 
If you've never grown basil it's simple and it takes off like a mofo.  I plucked a few basil leaves off and cut them into a chiffonade. >>>>>

I then took a wedge of delicious Parmesan cheese (not the powder you buy off the shelf people) and grated it finely.

Whallah! These two minor touches on top of my 5

minute dinner elevated it to restaurant quality. It looked professional and tasted heavenly.  Home-grown basil is so fragrant and fresh and the parm is salty and nutty and wonderful. 

Tip: If you don't want to grow your own herbs you can find small packages of them in the produce section of your grocery store.

Sadly I was eating alone this night but I were to serve this to company I would pair it with a classic crusty garlic bread and Pinot Grigio.  I hope this inspires you to try adding a special touch to your next meal!  PS - If you want to borrow some basil, come snip it off my patio :)

Eggs and Helicopters and Beers! Oh My! Part 2 - Duck Fat and Krispy Kreme

...I take you now outside our egg adventure and into our culinary quest of the day...

The egg scavenging was done and after the exhausting 3 minutes it took to get our eggs we were all famished.  I cannot wait to introduce you to my new all time favorite restaurant.  I can't explain it.  It just screams ME! I am on a quest to try every single item on the menu and write about it all!  

Behold - The Nose Dive

NOSE: With all things food and drink - the first sense involved is the sense of smell.

DIVE: A rare place where high and low rub elbows - bums and poets, thieves and celebrities.

Chef Joey rocks and I know first hand.  Not only have I had the pleasure of sampling a few things this past weekend, Cory and I were also guests at the Thomas Creek Beer Dinner which will receive it's own blog.



L: Thomas Creek Pilsner  R: Ballast Point Big Eye IPA



So what did we eat?  Try to not short out your computer by salivating on the keyboard.  Let's start with some beer.  We began with a Thomas Creek (a local brewery, literally right up the street) Pilsner and a Ballast Point Big Eye IPA which hails from San Diego.  All their beers are named after fish. 

The Pilsner hit the spot after sitting in the sun for a few hours.  Cold, malty and a little skunky, but in a good way.
The IPA was also tasty.  It had a really nice reddish carmelly color with lots of citrus notes and that distinct hoppy twang that makes an IPA an IPA.

They have a magical assortment of appetizers and just as I'm about to order something unusual Cory busts out with "We'll have the calamari."  I roll my eyes and mutter "Oh geez" under my breath knowing full well I can order boring calamari in any bowling alley, let alone restaurant.  Well, the actual calamari isn't much to write about.  It was a little pale in fry color and a little chewier than I like.  But the sauce! Gasp! The sauce is something to write about!

It came with a drizzle of what I thought was a balsamic reduction but no! It was sweet soy - delightful surprise!  And then there was a ramekin of a speckled orange-y sauce that turned out to maybe be the best thing about the whole meal.  It was a spicy aioli and it was amazing.  Creamy, salty, sweet, spicy.  Which brings me to maybe the most decadent thing I've ever eaten (maybe even better than the Duck Pizza at The Lazy Goat).

Sweet Potato Fries Cooked in Duck Fat

You read it right.  These fries were a cross between heaven and a funnel cake which are almost the same thing.  I'm not kidding.  They were so rich it was like eating dessert.  The deep sweet and savory flavor of the potato enhanced with the sprinkle of salt were like all the smells at a state fair on the most beautiful day...minus the carnies.  And the best part? Like uncivilized cavemen we dipped the fries in the spicy aioli!! Stop it!  I'm pretty sure I invented the 8th wonder of the world.

What did we get the fries with?  Something (some of) you never heard of.  We had a Vietnamese Banh Mi (baan - mee).  It was in one word - ridiculous.  A banh mi is a sandwich on soft bread with pork, pickled vegetables and cilantro. I feel as if there is a little part of me that is complete now that I've had this perfect partnership of meaty, tangy, fresh goodness.

On to the lobster roll! Yeah I said it.  We had a lobster roll too.  So?  Don't judge us, I told you I was on a mission.  It was delish.  Totally authentic toasted square hoagie roll, lots of fresh lobster barely dressed with a touch of mayo and served with a lemon wedge that I squeezed the heck out of.  I don't have a picture of it because I was so excited and I've been waiting so long to have one that Cory and I couldn't get our faces on it fast enough and before we took a breath it was gone. 

And then came dessert.  Try not to squeal with delight as you read:
Krispy Kreme Creme Brulee with Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oh my goodness.  Are you kidding me?  I read it and had to have it too.  Creme brulee is easily in my top 5 favorite desserts and this one was no disappointment.  I literally took notes on it at the restaurant.  Here is what I wrote: Super satisfying.  Rich, creamy, sweet. My only complaint was that the hard sugar shell on top was compromised by them jamming the cookies in but I guess I would've ended up dipping them in there eventually.  But I do hold cracking the sugar and having a little crunch on it very sacred.  The cookies were stoopid good.  A light espresso flavor which made them a little more special but not so much that the kids wouldn't eat them.



View from the Liberty Bridge at Falls Park




Come visit! I'll take you here and to all my favorite joints.



After a little stroll downtown to view the falls and digest our coma inducing lunch we hit the Carolina Ale house.  I enjoyed a Sweetwater Blue (a blueberry beer from Atlanta, GA)and Cory got something that was around 10% alcohol and smelled awful, yech.  He's welcome to write about his beers that smell and taste like dirt.

That completes one 3000 calorie food adventure around town.  I'll be putting my gym membership to good use this week getting ready for the next.  Cheers!

Eggs and Helicopters and Beers! Oh My! Part 1 - Egg Chaos

Let me begin with an OMG.  The Croissant family packed more fun and calories into one Saturday than should be legal.  With that said, I will begin with Part 1 - Egg Chaos.

Easter weekend 2011.  Saturday.  It was an exceptionally beautiful day here in Greenville, SC.  75 degrees with a cool breeze.   The Crow's had a full day planned.  First we started with the ever popular "get up too late, yell at the kids to hurry and make a mad dash out the door. Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Dammit! Get in the car!".  You know, the typical way we start out a wonderful day of family-ness.  We raced downtown, zipped into a parking lot, where a convenient trolley was waiting to take us, and the other 10,000 people, to our event. 

One and a half minutes later, (guess we could've walked) we pull up in front of Fluor Field, our local minor league baseball field for a big ol' egg hunt! There were 7,000 kids registered and 50,000 eggs on the field.  The coolest part? Not one, but 4 helicopters came and dropped the eggs on the field!                             

 They had the field roped off for different age groups.  Cory and I divided and conquered, him taking the twins and me taking Quinn. 

Now, we've been to these events before.  We are no strangers to the cut-throat world of adolescent Easter egg hunts, especially when big ticket prizes are being given away.  They had a multitude of flat screen T.V.'s, Wii's, Playstations and Go-Carts.  Now I'm not here to judge (you know I will anyway), but you should have seen the people telling their kids to shake the eggs and if there was candy inside to drop it and move on to the next (looking for the prize tickets).  Let's just say if you've ever been to Walmart on Black Friday you've seen what I saw.  Never the less, there were also plenty of people who were just out there to give their kids a special Easter experience. 

I have a treat for you.  I took a short video of the chaos that ensues when you let 7,000 kids run out onto a field at one time, their eye's mad with anticipation.  Their little Mary Jane's and boat shoes matched perfectly with their ridiculous smocked jon-jons and ballet skirts, quivering in excitement, ready to burst through the gate, longing for that fun-size Twizzler!  Let me also add that parents were not supposed to go out on the field with the kids and as soon as they let them go, fear shot through me as I watched Quinn disappear into the crowd, assuming I would never see her again.  I just hoped she got enough candy to keep her full until she ended up in Vegas where she would launch a one woman toddler show.

Please to enjoy, notice the guy at the very end with the rat-tail...I'm just saying.

Stay tuned to Part 2 where I will review all the wondrous eats and drinks we consumed after the hunt.

Ode to Mojito's

My mint plant.  My phone is at the bottom to show scale.

Ahhh, the mojito.  So fresh.  So tart.  So sweet.  So perfect.  I'm devoting an entire blog entry to the mojito because it is the most perfect drink ever in the whole wide world to me.  I even planted a good bit of mint (see above) this spring as to not have to pay the ridiculous price at the store and/or have a nervous breakdown when I run out and need "mommy's relaxer".

 Let's start with a little history lesson.

The mojito (moe-hee-toe) is a traditional Cuban highball consisting of 5 ingredients.  Rum, lime, sugar, mint and sparkling water.  There are several theories as to where the name Mojito came from.  One relates the name to "Mojo", a Cuban seasoning made from lime and another is it's a derivative of the word "mojadito" which is Spanish for "a little wet".  I assumed it meant "a lot sloshed". 

 

A recipe will follow but please note I have a little short cut.  A traditional recipe will have you muddle (squash together) the sugar and mint to allow the mint to release it's oil, not unlike cooking strawberries with sugar to make a sauce.  Feel free to do this but it's a tad time consuming and when I need a drink, I need a drink like now.

What's special about a mojito is that it has a unique drinkability in that you can have quite a few and feel invincible great! The following is a list of why I choose this drink over the others, perhaps you'll identify with me:

1. Beer fills me up
2. Wine gives me a headache
3. Foo-foo-ier drinks are all sugar and will make your belly hurt eventually
4. Tequila makes me regret decisions I'm sure are a good idea at the time
5. Brown liquor makes me fight

I want everyone to try to make their own mojitos! You really can't get them wrong and you can always tweak as you go.  This is my recipe for the perfect mojito (Sorry about the cheat):

• 1 jigger  = 1 1/2 oz. rum - really any will do although I don't love citrus rums
• 7 mint leaves - you can find mint amongst the produce in your grocery
• 2 oz. of Limeade - the frozen kind but made w/ 2 cans of water, not 3...and yes I know this is a cheat but to cut and use a billion fresh limes for as many mojitos as i consume would make us go broke
• 1 Tbs. granulated sugar
• Sparkling water - any kind

Fill a glass pint glass with ice.  Transfer ice into a shaker tin.  Add all ingredients except soda water, place pint glass back on shaker and shake like hell until the mint is broken up.  Pour into pint glass and top with soda water.  ALWAYS use a straw to drink a mojito or you will look like a boob as you unsuccessfully casually try to pick mint out of your mouth over and over.  You may notice the sugar doesn't completely dissolve.  Don't panic! That's the best part.  Something about crunching on the sugar is divinely satisfying.

I truly hope you enjoy this crisp, refreshing, champion drink as much as do...maybe just not quite as often as I do.  Cheers!

So What's the Point?

So here we are.  The beginning.  The maiden voyage.  But the question is why?  Why create yet another blog in the vast internet sea?  And why do I keep making nautical references? That's neither here nor there but the answer is because I need a project and I think I have some interesting knowledge to share.  Apparently a part time job, three active kids, a household to run and a home business don't keep me busy enough.  Contrary to what my family will believe, based on the fact that they will always see me as an extremely lazy teenager, I find myself unable to sit still.  I often find myself multitasking (like picking bits of glue off used jewelry bails) when I do sit down to watch one of my beloved cooking traveling Anthony Bourdain shows.  But something is missing.  A creative outlet to share my relationships with eats, drinks and experiences.

<<<------ My very artsy and well-traveled sister-in-law Kristin Croissant started writing a blog (http://croissantcraic.blogspot.com/) when she and my brother-in-law Adam recently moved to Ireland.  Awesome right?  Clearly she has a ton to write about and we hang on her every word and picture.  So when brainstorming for my blog I had to think to myself, "What should I write about?  What will people want to read?".  The answer stems from my friends and family.  When I'm at work or socializing and conversation turns to food or drink or restaurants or politics or religion or books I always have too much to add (especially after a few delicious Captain and diets...with lime).  The proverbial light bulb above my head had been lit.

It all started about 3 years ago.  Cory and I were doing some extensive pallet expansion and realized that there is a whole world of new tastes and textures...shoot, I guess that means we're officially grown-ups.  No more hot dogs, macaroni and cheese and Bud Light.  It's more like a spicy fennel chicken sausage, stout braised onions, farfalle with gorgonzola and an IPA.  Also, we are constantly on the hunt for something unique and fun to do around town and I feel like I'm always being told how great it is that we go do these fun things, make these bizarre recipes and generally try new things. 

With that said, I want to write them down, share them, remember them and keep the good times coming!

Don't worry, this blog will not become a daily overview of my eating habits, not unlike a Weight Watchers journal.  It will encompass everything we as humans are supposed to appreciate and indulge in to make life well...livable.  I am going to do my best to saturate enrich myself with all things great for mind, body and soul and search for truly interesting finds that you will all appreciate learning about and hopefully have a laugh or two.

My second post will kick off with one of my favorite topics and something I consider myself to be an expert in:  The Mojito.  I will also be posted the long awaited and anticipated recipe for the Cro-jito. 

I hope you follow me along my journey of consumable happiness!