I NEED A BLOWTORCH!!!

…and copper mule mugs and a new grill and a food processor. These are the things that keep me up at night. My usual routine to fall asleep is to get in bed, turn on some food show (last night’s choice was Bizarre Foods Singapore) and Pinterest pin until I can’t pin no mo’.

For some time now I’ve wanted a blow torch. I can’t remember why or what I was cooking or wanted to cook, but I was angry that I didn’t have one. Crème brûlée maybe??? Anyway, that led me to begin thinking about what else is lacking in my culinary arsenal. From How to Stock Your Spice Rack…, you already know that my spices are up to snuff. However, there are some kitchen tools that I desperately want…well need, because who doesn’t need more gadgets! Do you have kitchen toys you’ve been pining for?

I have an Amazon.com wishlist for my problems and 75 Pinterest boards waiting to be tackled. Amazon did me a solid two weeks ago by having that Prime Day. I had two goals that day, buy a Kitchenaid mixer and a tv. I managed to lurk the interwebz until it was time to order. Victory is mine! I scored the larger, professional version of the mixer (even though it’s red) for just shy of $180; shipping and tax included. I was so excited about the mixer and the price that I didn’t even care about not getting the tv.

Long story short, I’ve got my eye on a few things. But I’ve promised myself that once I close on a house, I’m buying all the things! There will be parties at my house just because I wanted to cook. I’m almost inclined to say that I can’t wait for fall!

“Its like you’re trying to making out with someone and trying to eat at the same time…”

That’s the description of live octopus chopped into bite-sized pieces and drizzled with oil and herbs.  In my brief escape from work today I came across this video Americans Taste Test Exotic Asian Food.  It’s pretty hilarious.  I’m down to try almost anything except for that half born baby duck.  #justsayno  What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever eaten?  I had alligator flavored ice cream once…and a kangaroo burger.

Happy Belated Memorial Day!!!

So the week is almost done and for the first time, I feel like this week has gone by as fast as the weekend.  I’ve been so busy with work that I haven’t been able to get anything else done, namely prepare for the summer.  I forgot/was too tired/it was too cold to go outside to cover up my grill this past winter, so now its just an ashen, spiderweb filled shell of what it used to be.  I’m going to try to tackle resurrecting summer’s best friend some time this weekend so I can try out all of my favorite staple and new recipes.  Somewhere on our site is a picture of some grilled fruit…it’s probably Lindsey’s but I think there’s a picture of mine too.  Anyway, one of my all time favorite and super quick and easy grill recipes is grilled peaches.  I found the recipe online a few years ago and as with everything, I tweak it to my liking, though I can hardly even write down a recipe…and my liking almost always includes adding alcohol.

• Get as many peaches as you like (half them and DON’T remove the skin)
• Enough liquor to cover the bottom of a pan (Bourbon or Whiskey works best, but you can take this out if you have kids…or not)
• Brown sugar to mix in with the alcohol (You can skip this if you’re not making them for dessert or keep it in if you’re leaving the liquor out)
• Butter or your choice of non-stick assistance (To prevent sticking)

 

• Mix the liquor and brown sugar together if you choose to use it and let the peach halves soak for at least 4 hours and no longer than 24hrs.
• Oil the grill grates well (If you don’t, most of the peach will stay on the grill!)
• Cook the peaches over a medium-high fire until grill marks show and the peaches are tender but still firm when you press them.

But onto the reason I actually wrote this post…I need to clean my grill!  Outside of buying a new one, I’ve been researching ways to bring mine back to life.  I found a decent article on The Kitchn for a quick grill refresh.  Guess I’ll start with throwing all of my stuff in the dishwasher!  Do you have any tips?

What kind of cookie are you?

I’m not really the baker here…I dont have the patience, but I thought this was funny…and kind of accurate!  So…what kind of cookie are you?  If you didnt like that one too much, check out this cookie quiz  from Buzzfeed.

Anyway, I came across an interesting cookie recipe at Honest Cooking Gastronomy and Travel using Greek yogurt instead of traditional cookie ingredients.  They described the cookies as “guilt-free”, but I don’t know…there’s something about a cookie that’s supposed to be guilty and sinful.  Especially chocolate chip!  Check out the recipe here and let me know what you think.

 

All I Want for Christmas is…a Bacon Silicone Spatula?

So this was really supposed to be posted back in January, but then life happened…

Really, the only two things on my adult Christmas list this year were a record player and  Keurig…well I still haven’t cashed in on all of my gifts, but I’m one for two so far.  The funny thing is that I’m the worst person to buy for unless you completely catch me off guard and don’t listen to my random rants about what I want or would like.  Most of the time, I don’t wait long enough for people to buy things because one week I want it and the next week I buy it.

So I got a gift this year and automatically I recognized the box was from one of my favorite splurge stores Sur la Table.

The box!

It was a little bit weighty, but handed to me with care, so I had NO idea what was inside.  I opened the box to find several items individually wrapped so that I still couldn’t tell what they were, but the gift giver’s face gleamed with pride as if they knew I’d love everything, even before I knew I’d love everything.

The first piece I unwrapped was a bacon Christmas ornament that was all shiny and covered in glitter.  I got my gift a few days after Christmas unfortunately, but it inspired me to do a food themed ornament tree (courtesy of Epicurious) next year instead of the wine bottle one I saw on Pinterest…or maybe I’ll do both!  There were a few other delightful things that I can’t wait to use in my concoctions…a Chianti Classico D.O.P. Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Fattoria Estense Silver Seal Aceto Balsamico di Modena (balsamic vinegar).

The goodies…10-year age balsamic vinegar!!!

The other two items I’m really excited about are my chili-lime seasoned salt and Hepp’s Salt Barrel Gourmet Salts Applewood Smoked Salt.

Good salts…not bath salts!

I’m so eager to use both of these that I’ve already created so many ideas and I’m already contemplating purchasing more.  Stay tuned for a recipe on how to make shrimp tacos and curtido, using the chili-lime salt.  I’m still working on what I can use the Applewood salt for.  Any suggestions?

And the piece de resistance…most people who know me, also know that I’d only like to die of old age or from bacon…hence the blogger name.  Anyway, the last gift was strategically wrapped and placed under all of the other pieces, so I didn’t even realize it was in there.  I open it and lo and behold, it’s a damn bacon spatula…a silicone Tovolo Spatulart bacon spatula!  A bacon ornament wasn’t enough???  I got an awesome, oversized BACON SPATULA!!!  Owww!  It’s big enough to flip a pancake, a slice of French toast, or like 5 whole pieces of bacon!  In case you can’t tell, I’m uber excited about this thing and I plan to use it this weekend for brunch.

So baconly awesome!

I haven’t even finished opening my presents yet and its after the new year…I’m just so caught up with this one.  I didn’t even care to write an informational or worthwhile post…I just wanted to talk about everything in this box.  Keep your eyes open for upcoming posts using this stuff.  Happy New Year!!!