Congrats Brian & Carla

So our dear sweet Brian has finally found the one that he wants to spend the rest of his life with and we couldn't be happier. I just only hope that Carla realizes that we are entrusting in her to calm this crazy beast of a man...

Congrats Brian and Carla - we can't wait to hang from the rafters at your wedding!

Dinner with my grandma's cousin

So tonight we went out to Granville and had dinner with my Grandma's cousin Nancy (AKA Kate). She took us on a tour of Granville, a very cute town that we walked through, then through the Dennison University Campus and finally into Newark to see the main street and the courthouse.

Back at her house her hubby grilled steak and salmon which she made a salad with a beautiful heirloom tomato, and corn. She also put out a goat cheese that she poured some mango chutney on and then melted in the microwave for 15 seconds. Very simple but very tasty. Finally for dessert we had vanilla custard with homemade Cherry Jubilee. VERY TASTY!!!

Finally we sat and did a lot of chit chatting about family. It was nice to finally meet her... maybe next time we will do tea...

Stay tuned, tomorrow we are going to the Ohio State Fair so look for pics of butter sculptures, swine races and J and I stuffing ourselves in fried fair food and loving it!

Bedroom crisis averted

So yesterday while Maxwell was over for his day long play date, J sat on our bed to wrestle with the dogs. Then you heard a snap, a crack and then a pop and Joe was now on the bed still, but the bed was on the floor. Oh crap I thought. Not my precious bed! Why can't anything go right? Do we always have to have something broken?

So it was the metal hook on the rails that had somehow snapped off. Upon further inspection, we think that the many moves and the movers doing crappy jobs at putting our bed back together, that might have caused the problem. Needless to say, I was not happy.

So I called Broyhill, the maker of our bed, immediately spoke to a very kind customer service person who explained who I needed to call and what I had to ask for. Then I called Kittle's, they had the part in stock, we could pick it up immediately, and it was less than $100.

So today we picked up the piece, took apart our bed. Re-secured everything, tightened everything down, firmed everything up, put new sheets on and off we went. J laid down on it and loved it. He thought it was better than ever. Crisis averted and fixed...Happy me!

PS - I also got my power tool fix for the day by using the drill to screw the supports into the rails - I love power tools!

Bear's playdate

So my friend had some work done at her house today and needed me to keep her dog while the electrician was in and out of her apartment. Needless to say, by 2 he was pretty much making himself at home.

Here's Maxwell:

Whip it up: Week 4 - Seared Scallops with Fresh Linguine and Romano Cheese

I can't believe that this cooking challenge is half over. So I really looked for a vegetarian recipe this week. I only planned for tonight and tomorrow and vegetarian just didn't seem to fit with either of these meals. I was looking through this month's Cooking Light and in my favorite section - 20 minute meals, I found this. For the record, the past is good enough to eat on its own, so you could totally make this as a vegetarian recipe and thus it could fit with this week's theme. Sorry there aren't more pictures, J mostly cooked this and I decided as it was coming to the table that it would be good enough to blog about so that's when I decided to take the first picture.

Here is the recipe.

Seared Scallops with Fresh Linguine and Romano Cheese

The key to obtaining the perfect sear on the scallops is to cook them in a very hot pan. Fresh linguine has a silky texture that provides a nice contrast to the browned crust on the scallops. Add mixed greens tossed with a balsamic vinaigrette.

1 (9-ounce) package refrigerated linguine

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (about 1 1/2 ounces) finely grated fresh Romano cheese, divided

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 pounds sea scallops

4 lemon wedges

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain pasta in a colander over a bowl, reserving 2 tablespoons pasta water. Combine pasta, reserved 2 tablespoons pasta water, 1/4 cup cheese, 1 tablespoon oil, chopped basil, and pepper in a large bowl; toss well.

2. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large cast-iron skillet over high heat. Sprinkle salt evenly over scallops; add scallops to pan. Cook 1 minute on each side or until golden.

3. Place 1 cup pasta mixture on each of 4 plates; top each serving with about 3 scallops and 1 1/2 teaspoons remaining cheese. Serve with lemon wedges.

Yield: 4 servings

CALORIES 495 (23% from fat); FAT 12.5g (sat 3g,mono 5.8g,poly 1.5g); IRON 5.6mg; CHOLESTEROL 110mg; CALCIUM 177mg; CARBOHYDRATE 42.4g; SODIUM 872mg; PROTEIN 51.7g; FIBER 1.9g

Cooking Light, AUGUST 2008

Question time:

Was the recipe easy to follow? Very - I love Cooking Light recipes. Except for those that ask for ingredients that are super specialized or hard to find, they are very accurate and easy to follow.

Did the dish taste good? Excellent. I love scallops and we get some great fresh linguine from the North Market so its almost impossible to mess up unless you over cook the pasta - which I didn't.

Would you ever make it again? For sure - easy, tastes good, fast, and uses little dishes - always a repeat performer in my book. I would just want to do something to avoid the pan looking like this after I seared the scallops :)

Where is my button?

So every day I walk across the street at N. High St and Russel St. and for some reason the button to request a crossing of the street is missing on all four corners. I have no idea why...I hope it returns soon because if I don't request the cross, the light takes FOREVER!!!!

Whip It Up Week #3: Chocolate Brownie Cookies

So I thought since this week's theme was old favorites I would try a new spin on an old favorite. My parents had to make Chocolate Brownie Cookies for their gourmet club dinner on Saturday night so I thought I could help out and make these cookies for them. It being a new spin on an old favorite - brownies.

I am not sure where the recipe came from, I just know that it is from their gourmet club which gets their recipes from various sources depending on the theme for the dinner.

So here it is:

Chocolate Brownie Cookies

Makes 5 dozen cookies (no way - it only made 4 dozen and I can't imagine them being any smaller)

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 tablespoon brewed espresso (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

5 oz. extra bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degree. Lin baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.

Briefly whip eggs to break them up in an electric mixer bowl. Add the sugar, espresso, and vanilla. Beat on high speed for ten minutes, until tripled in volume.

While eggs are whipping, place the butter in the top of a double boiler or a metal bowl suspended over a pot of simmering (not boiling) water, and scatter the bittersweet and unsweetened chocolate on top. Heat until butter and chocolate melt. Remove from heat and stir the butter and chocolate until smooth.

Gently fold chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until partially combined (there should still be some streaks)

Add the flour to the batter and carefully fold in. Then fold in the chocolate ships. Let batter rest for ten minutes during which time it will thicken slightly.

Drop batter by heaping teaspoons onto the prepared baking sheets and bake until puffed and cracked, about 8 to 10 minutes (mine took the full 10). Cool on a wire rack before removing from baking sheet.

Question time:

Was the recipe easy to follow? It was relatively easy, but with double boiling and parchment paper and folding, it was a bit fussy for me.

Did the dish taste good? The cookies were very good. I'll be interested to find out if they ever get crunchy, for now they are very chewy.

Would you ever make it again? Probably not. It was just too much work - three types of chocolate, the double boiler, etc. I will stick to the boxed brownies for me next time.