From the GTFO files...

Did you know that raisins can restore fizz to champagne? Drop a couple in the bottle a few minutes before serving.

WHOA!

This tip may work someday, for someone else... as if i could ever bring myself NOT to finish the bottle. ;)

Ch ch ch changes

I had the drop the '...at least i think i can. :)' from my blog name.

Now i KNOW i can! ;)

Thank you spammers for passing by my blog daily to leave all kinds of interesting messages, from the bizarre to the sublime. I'm HERE though, so please move along. More posts to follow soon.

Food2

Check out this site. Food2 I mean what's not to love about a cooking site that has recipe categories like adventurous, cravings, munchies and hangover! lol.

Low grade shenanigans in the kitchen? I'm IN! :)

Tweet Tweet!

I'm on Twitter, come and follow my tweets! I keep it mostly foodie related. ;)

Food on the Tube

IS POWERFUL! lol.

Every nite at 7PM, my Tivo tapes the Food Network Challenge. Last nite was Challenge: National Pie Championship (2004). Over 400 pies were entered into this contest and after hearing pie pie pie about 4 million times half way though the episode, we only had pie on the brain. MUST.GET.PIE.

My fave pie is cherry, my hubby's is Village Inn French silk pie, however since we have no Village Inn's anywhere near us, apple is his #1b pie selection.

I called around and found that Epicure had both cherry and apple available. I also called Denny's, Boston Market, Publix and Jerry's Famous Deli. I was on a mission. lol. I had a list, if Epicure had slices that was top of my list, cause though i've never tasted their pies, Epicure makes phenomenal cakes. If they only sold whole pies, i was heading to Denny's who had both apple and French silk slices available.

Anyhoo i get to Epicure and only find apple mini-pies. They had one whole cherry pie, but A. it was a whole pie and i only needed to feed the craving tonite and B. it was $10.95...wtf! Skipped it, grabbed one mini apple pie and picked up a Linzer tart cookie too (cause hello, i wasn't going to let a spontaneous trip to Epicure go to waste, i had to grab something different and fabulous). ;)

Got home, warmed up the pie and dug in. One bite in, major disappointment. The crust and apples were soggy. I looked over at my hubby and asked what he thought. He said, it's ok, but you make a much better pie. I sat back and enjoyed my soggy pie with a big smile on my face cause... YOU KNOW IT, MELI CAN COOK! :D

Here's a picture of the last apple pie i made. It's not much to look at, but it sure beats an Epicure apple pie!


UPDATE: The Linzer Tart cookie was FABULOUS! :)

Step Away from the Turkey

Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving! If you still have leftovers in the fridge, it's time to throw everything away. ;)

Since i didn't have to cook anything this year(tear), i just got crafty...

Cute Edible Apple Turkey

Super fast, super festive! :)

Clever!

YESSSSSSSS!!!!

Tickets on sale TODAY for the 2009 SouthBeach Food and Wine Festival!

We've been wanting to go to this event for YEARS, but something always comes up for that weekened. Well not this year, we've cleared our schedules and we're definitely going to indulge. We just scored tickets to the Whole Foods Market Grand Tasting Village. We are so excited!

And now that i've got mine, go out and get yours! Tickets famously sell out unbelievably fast. So get 'em while they last! ;)

Breakfast of Champions

I woke up wanting fried rice, go figure. I decided to make a breakfast version. Loved this recipe i totally created on the spot; super fast and easy, didn't even have to take out a knife or cutting board, just snipped everything right into the pan with my kitchen shears.

Bacon & Egg Fried Rice

2 strips of bacon
1 egg
1 Green Onion
1C cooked rice
1tsp Soy Sauce
Red pepper flakes

Snip the 2 slices of bacon into a hot pan, scramble egg, add to pan once the bacon fat has rendered. Snip the white part of the green onion into the pan. Once egg is cooked, add the rice and soy sauce. Stir until heated through, just about a minute or so. Add the crushed red pepper flakes. Put into a bowl and lastly snip the green part of the onion over the rice. Enjoy immediately! :)


I couldn't find my soy sauce. After tearing apart my fridge, i realized that i had the leftover packets of soy that you get in Chinese/Japanese take out, so i used a packet of that. I totally guesstimated that it was about 1tsp. Hooray for stashing random sauce packets! lol.

So next time you have left over rice, or want a little something different for breakfast, try this breakfast of champions! ;)

Oh Boya!

Goya's ad campaign ages ago was "Goya, oh boya!" And what can i say, it stuck, every time i think Goya, i think 'OH BOYA!' <--- v. enthusiastically, natch!

So when i went looking for a good authentic ropa veija recipe, i hit up Goya's website and clicked on 'Celebrate Hispanic Heritage with Recipes Full of Flavor' and viola, found exactly what i was looking for:

Ropa Vieja

Ropa vieja is a Cuban shredded meat stew, and after reading the recipe, i figured this recipe would work in the crock pot. So i threw in everything in my crock pot and let it cook all day long. In the evening, i just took out the meat, shredded it, stirred it back in the pot, let it sit for about 20 minutes, then served it up with maduros and white rice.

Mmmm mmm, ropa vieja is one of my fave things to order at Cuban restaurants, and i never thought i'd actually be able to make it at home with ease. But with this recipe, it was easy peasy.

Delish and easy, you know i have to go there... OH BOYA! :)