Bowliday Party

My team voted on a bowling outing for our Christmas Party. We went to the Lucky Strike which is a "swanky" bowling alley. Is there such a thing? Oh contrare (inside joke). First off, contrary to Wii bowling, you are subject to injuries. Exhibit A; the "bowlers thumb"

Exhibit B; the "bowlers bottom"

And along with the physical injuries, there are the psychological injuries.
Exhibit C; the "elusive tenth pin"

Now some people are Ok with having their picture taken. And others who like to sneak into the shot:

There was an amazingly diverse representation of techniques.
Exhibit D; our fearless leader with a nice follow through:

And others which defy description:

And some good old fashioned just dang bowling.

What was really cool is the screen recorded the speed of your ball. We had a couple of incredibly fast 22 mph right along with an incredibly slow but ineffective 6.9 mph:

Just remember, it's all about the color of your balls, and how many steps it takes you to get right up to, but not including the foul line. Ok, one, two, three, no wait, one, two, three, four, oh F it.

Girls Gone Wild

So Jaime came over today for a practice run to try out our cookie recipes for the contest. Good thing we did. Had a few FAIL's. But here is the end result:

Ha ha! Had to do it. Lady and the Tramp (um, Jaime would be the Lady) meets Beauty and the Yeti (um, Jaime would be the Beauty).

First on the list was the Brandy Snaps (see previous post for how they should look). Here is the first FAIL:

We cooked them 10 minutes and they spread out too much and we ended up with tacos and broken pieces. They were too thin and too crisp and would not form nice cannoli like tubes. Taco:

Pieces:

Let's try this again. A little less than a TBSP this time and baked for 9 minutes. Now we are getting somewhere:

Good tubular shape but we never did get them to remain small. They spread ALOT. Here is our finished product with the filling. We made both a luscious buttercream and the brandy whip cream.

After a taste test (see above) we decided that a mixture of both a layer of buttercream and a layer of brandy whip cream was the bomb. They are very crispy and the shell is like toffee. And the buttercream/whipped cream melts in your mouth. We cooked these on parchment paper but I'm wondering if using Silpat instead might keep their shape better. Anyway, the recipe is easy but getting the shells just right is is a little tough.

Next on the list is Furballs, or Somwman Turds, or whatever you want to call them. I am open to ideas. No baking, made in a skillet. In a large skillet add: 1 stick butter (real butter. no fake stuff), 1 cup sugar (I might try half white and half brown sugar next time), 1 egg beaten, and 1 cup chopped dates (the 8oz packages you see here work perfectly as they melt well into the mixture.

Over medium heat stir and bring to a boil. Simmer 5 minutes strirring constantly (the dates should have melted well into the butter/sugar) then add 1/2 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans) and 1 tsp vanilla (Jaime, that's 1 tsp : ) Stir in 2 1/2 cups rice crispies and mix well.

Let mixture cool slightly. Grease hands (with butter) and shape into balls. Roll in coconut and set on wax paper to cool.

We made a few without coconut for those non-coconut lovers. And for those who do not like nuts, or dates, or coconut....well...

Delish. Furballs in all their glory. Oh and some reindeer droppings as well for those non-coconut lovers. Makes about 3 dozen. Enjoy!

Christmas Shopping

There is an annual warehouse sale in Glendale, AZ for Conair/Cuisinart. I went 2 years ago with Mom, Stephanie and Ann. I think we got there around 6:30, doors open at 7 and we were way back in the line. Didn't realize how popular it was. We didn't make it through the entry door for a couple of hours, then spent a good amount of time filling our boxes, and then at least an hour in the check out line. But it was fun, all in the Christmas spirit. Got some great deals.

This year I went again. Me, Danielle, Charles, Ann, Steph and Kat. I got there at 5am. Even that early there was still a few hundred ahead of me. Side story, small world, the couple and the girl next to me were all from New York. And the couple lived right around the corner from me. The doors opened at 7am right as the sun was rising and here's the lovely sunrise looking west. You can see dome of the Cardinal's stadium to the right.

Got inside and they only let so many people at a time in so waited about 30 minutes to get to the goods. Here is a view of all the goodies inside. They continually restock the tables with cookware, appliances (food processors, ice cream makers, paninni presses, coffee makers, waffle makers, etc), hair dryers, irons, hair trimmers, etc, etc,etc.

They have a giant line of big cardboard boxes with xtra strong tape as the strap and you just drag your box/boxes around the floor with you as you fill them up (I filled up 2)(oh and of course the tape strap broke on one). Fun time, got some great deals. Even bought myself a waffle maker, an immersion blender and a few pots & pans. Then we went and had a wonderful breakfast at Mimi's. Good time with great friends.

Lentil & Rice Casserole

Wait! It's really good. I like to have a meatless dinner occasionally and this is one of our favorites. No meat substitutes, like tofu, not that there is anything wrong with tofu. But only THREE count em THREE ingredients (excluding spices) and very cheap. Here you go:

I used to make it with white rice and it's ok but got over my FEAR of making brown rice and it really adds a wonderfully hearty texture and flavor (not to mention the awesome nutty scent wafting through the house while it is cooking). If I have time I use the long grain brown rice from the Sprouts bins but it takes about 45 minutes total to cook. So if you are pressed for time, say on a weeknight, you can use the Uncle Ben's which only takes about 15 minutes.  Tonight I used the long method.

So to cook the brown rice throw out everything you know about cooking white rice. Take about 1 1/4 cups of brown rice, put in a strainer and run cold water over for 30 seconds.

Bring 8 cups (YES I SAID 8 CUPS) of water to boil in a pot. Add the rice, stir, and boil over medium heat uncovered (YES I SAID UNCOVERED) for 30 minutes.

Pour the rice back into the strainer over the sink to drain the water. Return to the pot, cover with tight fitting lid, and let rice steam for 10 minutes. Here it is in all its fluffy glory:

Do not be afraid of the brown rice! Time to assemble the casserole. Mix the rice with the 2 cans Progresso Lentil Soup in a large bowl. Layer a third of the mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish. Sprinkle on some garlic powder and pepper. Then add a layer of some shredded mozzarella (if you are real adventurous you could use an italian blend cheese that also has some parm and romano).

Crush some dried oregano and sprinkle liberally over the cheese. Follow with 2 more layers of the same and presto it is ready for the oven:

I bake at 350 for 15 minutes with the lid on and the last 10 minutes with the lid off. And here you have the beautiful result:

Let it sit a few minutes after you remove from the oven so it sets a bit before you dish it up (and so the cheese doesn't burn the roof of your mouth, I hate when that happens). I like to serve with green beans (those microwave bags are great) and some garlic breadsticks. And seriously, I just ate some and the brown rice really punches it up a bunch. Enjoy!

Here's all you need:
1 1/4 cups brown rice (or a pkg Uncle Ben's)
2 cans Progresso Lentil Soup
Garlic powder, pepper, oregano
2 cups shredded mozzarella

Put brown rice in a strainer and run cold water over for 30 seconds (unless using Uncle Ben's then cook as directed). Add rice to 8 cups boiling water, stir and boil over medium heat uncovered for 30 minutes. Pour the rice back into the strainer over the sink to drain the water. Return to the pot, cover with tight fitting lid, and let rice steam for 10 minutes.

Mix the rice with the 2 cans Progresso Lentil Soup in a large bowl. Layer a third of the mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish. Sprinkle on some garlic powder and pepper. Then add a layer of some shredded mozzarella. Crush some dried oregano and sprinkle liberally over the cheese. Follow with 2 more layers of the same.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes with the lid on and the last 10 minutes with the lid off.

Beautiful Story (have kleenex handy)

Have to share this beautiful story. Perfect for the Holiday Season.

http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/And-the-Angels-Danced-The-Habit-of-Witness.html

Holiday Cookie Contest

My team entered a holiday cookie contest at work. We are going to make these Brandy Snaps from http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/11/brandy-snaps/ The Pioneer Woman's website. They look delish. Going to do a trial run this Sunday to make sure we got the technique down. Here they are in all their yummy glory. I'll let ya know how they turn out.

A Christmas Wish List

The little grandman was over yesterday. We played some Monopoly Jr and then after dinner he sat and made his Christmas Wish List while I was doing the dishes. The only help he received was how to spell Peyton Manning for the Peyton Manning Jersey at the top of the list. Everything else is pure Daniel.

We were able to decipher much of it but still have a few questions. It is nice to see he is thinking of others on his list. Momy and the bog. I think my favorite is the ping pog tavol.

What is funny is that we went shopping at Penney's yesterday morning and bought him 2 gakit's and some shrt's but they still made the list.

Happy Holidays.