An Exception for Every Rule

So what's the rule? If you (meaning me) don't post your lunch on the day that you eat it you don't post it at all. The exception? This post. And probably tomorrow's.

Hey, it's my rule, I can break it if I want!



1. peanut butter sandwich
2. plum jam
3. carrots
4. oreos
5. full fat milk

Looks like a pretty normal lunch, no? A veritable American classic I'd say, if not for that jam on the side business. Let me tell you about that. I -needed- PB&J because I'd already decided on the oreos and milk. Self-explanatory, right? So I started my sandwich and only then discovered that I didn't have an appropriate jelly. There was raspberry which of course can only be eaten on toast, and Seville orange marmalade. Uhm, no. What to do?

I know what to do. Grab a couple of plums off the counter and make your own damn jam, that's what to do. Or you could go to the store. But I didn't, I made jam. Felt like Ma Ingalls making-do during a long cold winter out on the prairie! (Except she probably didn't have plums sitting around. Or sugar.) And best off all it was the most delicious plum jam I've ever had the privilege to smear on bread.

Turns out plum jam is really easy to make, just chop up some fruit and cook it for 1/2 of forever with just enough water to cover and a little sugar to make it sweet until it gets sort of goopy, cool it and eat it. (Feel free to steal this recipe)

See? Look at it? Doesn't it just scream sweet/tart wonderfullness?



Of course the reason I was so dead set on my oreo and milk idea was because I made the oreos. That's right, homemade oreos. None of that nasty cake mix business either! I was inspired by @scatteredmom from Chasing Tomatoes who had been inspired by a recipe found on Smitten Kitchen. I wanted a dark, crisp, thin cookie and the third time was the charm. I was -really- happy with the way these turned out. Want a closer look?



I know right? Here's what I did:

Cookie:
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup dark chocolate cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 stick softened salted butter
1 egg

Filling:
1/2 stick softened salted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 375 F.

Stir the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar together then with an electric mixer add in the butter and the egg and mix until it makes a ball. Gently knead it a few

times until it turns into something resembling black play dough.

My small cookie scoop was too big for these (and don't even try a press - trust me) so I scooped out 1 teaspoon sized scoops, rolled them into balls and arranged them on a paper lined cookie sheet. I covered the sheet with waxed paper and smashed the balls flat with the bottom of a beer a glass then peeled away the paper. I ended up with 3 trays of 15 cookies each not counting attrition by tasting. I baked these on sheet at a time on the center rack for 11 minutes.

To make the filling just beat the butter and shortening together with the vanilla, add the sugar and mix on low until smooth, then beat a couple of minutes until fluffy.

Match up your halves for size and fill with a generous sploodge of filling (I used a pastry bag) then smash it down with the matching half.

Eat with milk!

Read more...

Bad Cookie

I want your ugly, I want your disease ... I want your everything as long as it's free

Know what this is?



That is a BAD COOKIE. It's also the only one left. Apparently my family digs the Gaga AND bad cookies.

Had a sweet craving - saw a box of cake mix leftover from RumCakeExtravaganza09 - remembered some buzz about "cake mix cookies" and the rest? History.

Want to make your own Bad Cookie? Here's how.

1 box of yellow cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
a couple of big hunks of dark chocolate chopped up
what's left in a bag of walnuts you come across while looking for chocolate

Mix it all up, roll into balls, bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Pile them up on a plate and watch as your family devours them two by two all the while exclaiming that these are the best! cookies! you've ever made. Taste a cookie and marvel at it's odd soft yet oddly heavy and crumb free texture. Enjoy the flavor of artificial yellow. Try to suck the coating off the roof of your mouth. Drink some milk. Kick yourself once (gently, but with feeling) for wasting good chocolate. Remember how excited they were to have McDonald's for dinner the night before. Remember how underwhelmed they were about your homemade oreos. Ask yourself why you even try. Turn up the music. Dance to forget.

Read more...

Rarer than Rubies

A lunch without leftovers? I know! I couldn't help myself, dinner was a delicious sandwich from Flancer's and I ate every last bite! Can't remember the last time I had to pack a lunch without the benefit of leftovers.



1. somen noodles with boiled egg and chives (sauce in the bottle)
2. dumplings with dipping sauce in the panda
3. green beans
4. tomatoes
5. teeny tiny cupcake with a marzipan persimmon on top

Read more...

When the Cat's Away

The mice eat scallops!

With the spouse out of the country and girl insisting on salad (!!Iknowright??) it was a great opportunity to indulge in some expensive seafood. The boy was hoping for BACON wrapped scallops but honestly I don't know how you are supposed to get the BACON done without overcooking the scallops. Heck I usually overcook scallops without any complicating factors at all. But not this time. I cooked the BACON first, then managed to get a decent sear on the scallops without overcooking them at all. It was almost like a Christmas miracle.

The puree was an attempt to entice the Boy into loving squash by adding copious amounts of butter and heavy cream. Okay a little butter and a splash of half and half. Either way it didn't work. He still hates.



1. scallops with BACON
2. squash puree
3. some figs and a berry and dried cherries

Read more...

Sometimes a Salad is Just a Salad

and sometimes it's a salad with a side of yogurt. Okay, not very often, but sometimes. And that sometimes may very well coincide with the sometimes that you really need to go grocery shopping. Sometimes.



1. lettuce
2. goat cheese
3. beets
4. Sporadic Cook squash
5. almonds



1. yogurt
2. dried fruit and nuts

Read more...

True Blood Sunday Dinner

What kind of nerd plans a theme dinner based on a TV show? Well don't look at me, I certainly don't know!

Here's another leftover lunch.



1. fried chicken
2. coleslaw
3. fried okra
4. pickled beets
5. deviled egg
6. red velvet cupcake

Unfortunately I didn't have room for anything else in my lunchbucket, but this was also served at dinner.



1. Talbot

Read more...

Tomato Farming and Sauce Craving

How was your Labor Day> As always we celebrated the holiday (any holiday) with food. There was ...





1. pulled pork
2. coleslaw
3. trailer park baked beans
4. and homegrown tomatoes

I made the 3 Day Slaw Julie talks about here and it was okay, but probably not my favorite. If I made it again I would use 1/2 the celery seed and maybe add some mustard seed. Also it was really, really juicy. I think you should either prepare the cabbage ahead of time and get some of the liquids out, or use less dressing, or both. And don't use red onion if you can help it. It made the color kind of off.

And those tomatoes? Grew 'em myself. Yep. Sure did. Here's another shot to give you some perspective.



Oh. By the way. That's the entire harvest. Anyway, moving on.

Good news! There is one thing that I can do better than growing tomatoes and that's making barbecue sauce. I was seriously craving a certain style of sauce. Memphis style sauce I guess it is. Vinegary and peppery and sweet. And guess what? I nailed it. Really! I did! It was exactly what I was looking for. I know sauce is a personal thing, but who knows? Maybe this one is just what you're craving. And if you make it with organic ketchup there's no evil HFCS! I know, right? I shall share.

Crave Sauce

3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons dry mustard
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
5 drops of liquid smoke
1 cup ketchup

Mix everything except the ketchup in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until the dry stuff dissolves (the onion powder takes the longest) then add the ketchup. As soon as it starts to bubble turn the heat all the way down and simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir it pretty frequently and watch out for eruptions. You can eat it as soon as it cools down but it's better the next day.

Read more...