Alton Brown's White Trash Recipe

I made this to take to work - always a hit. I used cashews instead of mixed nuts.

Alton Brown’s White Trash

Ingredients
• 3 1/2 cups Cheerios toasted oat cereal
• 3 cups Rice Chex
• 3 cups Corn Chex
• 16 ounces M&Ms plain chocolate candies
• 2 1/2 cups salted mixed nuts
• 2 cups small pretzels
• 2 (11 ounce) packages white chocolate chips (Ghirardelli brand preferred)

Directions
1. Dump the cereals, M&Ms, nuts & pretzels in a large bowl.

2. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler. Melt very slowly, stirring occasionally, being careful not to burn the chocolate.

3. Dump melted chocolate over the rest of the ingredients and fold over and over until you have well-coated hunks and chunks.

4. Spread the whole mess out on parchment paper and set in a cool place until it sets up, then break it into pieces.

5. Store in zip-top bags or air-tight containers.

I Rocked the Taters!

I said I'd bring mashed potatoes to Thanksgiving at Gretchen's. She wanted her son Paul to learn to make them so Grampa set up a tutorial because he thinks he's some hot shit potato masher dude. Then Gretchen started calling it The Mashed Potato Throwdown. Next thing I know, my niece Jill wants in on the action. And the trash talkin' commenced.

Pulease, people.

I knew I was perhaps taking this a bit too seriously when I said to my 80 year old dad when he arrived at Gretchen's today, "You're going down, old man!"

What's that? Who won, you ask? Why moi of course! And above is the bedazzled trophy that Gretchen and Jill made. I could not be more proud.

My potatoes included the usual butter and milk, salt and freshly ground black pepper, plus diced thick cut bacon, cheddar cheese and just a dollop of sour cream. Then I added a layer of shredded cheddar to the top and broiled it, adding homemade fried onions for garnish and presentation. I should have taken a photo when it came out of the oven - it looked great!

We think a new tradition has been born. Next year: a Stuffing Throwdown.

Simon insisted we have shrimp cocktail today so I asked him to arrange it attractively. Even he knows presentation is everything!

I have about a skillion things to be thankful for - primarily family and friends whom I love and love me back. Life is good.

Time for a nap.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Halloween Takes the Cake

These photos of cakes came to me in an email with the caption, "Would you eat any of these?" I consider myself not very squeamish but even I might have trouble with a couple of these. I put my 3 favorites at the top.

Enjoy! :-)

I Like Cake

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These photos of cakes were sent to me in an email yesterday titled, "Why Men Should Not be Allowed to Order Wedding Cakes". Kinda dumb title but the cakes are neat if you like unusual, and I do.

For off-roading enthusiasts. (Did I get the terminology right?)

This one stumps me. Ba-da-bing. G'night folks! I'll be here all week. Try the veal - and don't forget to tip your waitress!

In my book, you just can't beat the crew at Charm City Cakes. I see they have a new & improved website, complete with virtual tour. That sort of makes up for the less than successful attempt at finding Charm City Cakes when we were in Baltimore last summer. I knew we couldn't go in and tour - it's a working bakery. I just wanted to see the outside of the building. Dunno why, I just did.

Here's my newest favorite cake on their site! It's a replica of an iPhone/iTouch, complete with custom-to-the-couple apps. Gretchen, this one's for you!

~ ~ ~

Scanner update: I really thought the second suggestion from FixYa.com website was going to be my salvation. A different expert suggested I uninstall all printer software - and reinstall from the Epson website, not the CD. Brilliant! Or not. Same result. So I replied to that guy, specifying every thing I did to see if I missed anything, asking him what to try next.

I know, I know, I work for a computer company (reseller). I always take our computers in to work to be fixed but because I'd have to haul the big-ass all-in-one printer in too, I've been trying to fix it myself. Besides seeing if FixYa.com comes up with an answer, Steve will look at it this weekend, which isn't as far away as it was when he offered a couple of days ago.

I checked out GeekSquad.com and prices "start" at $50. For that much money I'll see if I can pay one of our engineers under the table to come to my house. I have a pretty good relationship with them, could maybe throw in some brownies too, to sweeten the deal. :-) I have a feeling being asked to do favors, even for pay, is one of the banes of their existence though. I could also hire one through the company and pay the going rate. Cha-ching. Ouch. And there are other forums and live chats, so I'm not done with this. I just wish I was.

Starting tonight I'm forcing myself to move on to other projects. Last night I gave up in frustration and went to bed early so I could go into work early. I knew this was going to be the week from hell - back from vacation, straight into a week long audit. (One of our usual quarterly audits, same auditor, great to work with - just lots of unfulfilling work.) Then I've got The Bully trying to schedule a collections meeting. I was able to put him off until next Wednesday afternoon. I have 8 sales tax returns that must be filed no later than Monday. I'm highly motivated to go into work early today and Friday, otherwise I might have to go in Saturday and Steffie don't do Saturdays.

The good news - that crap will eventually be over and I should have a couple of smooth weeks before the Illinois sales tax auditor returns for a week in August.

I keep saying, it's a good thing I like my job. And honestly, I'm grateful to have a job, I really, really am.

~ ~ ~

I know when my blog stats go through the roof that Bruce Jenner must have done something again. Sure enough, I checked the details and Google Images of Bruce Jenner is the most common referral. Then I happened to glance at my Live Feed over in the sidebar - filled with the Bruce Jenner entry hits. I've only had one new comment so far - that his bad face lift self looked like an older version of Ellen DeGeneres.

I didn't delve in too deeply, I think he just gave a new interview or two.

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Vacation Wrap-Up

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One of our days in Maine, we bought breakfast at a fast food place and found a place by the ocean to eat. It was raining so we ate in the car. The first family of ducks we saw had 4 parents and at least 2 dozen or more ducklings. There seemed to be such an unusually high number of ducklings that I said to Steve those adults must be running an orphanage.

Then we saw one lone duckling swim by. I couldn't look! I was afraid he was a straggler from the first group and they didn't know he was missing. Steve kept talking about him until I got him to understand, I was serious - I don't want to know about the duckling, stop giving me a play-by-play!

Then this second group swam by - with newborns! Turns out the straggler was more likely a scout for this second group. (It's hard to tell their size in the ocean unless there's another duck for reference.) That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Can you imagine how hard these little dudes have to paddle to get anywhere in the ocean current? I was so afraid the waves would wash them ashore and bash their little heads on the rocks but they were in control somehow. (I know, I'm hot & cold with visuals. Sorry.)

~ ~ ~

We ended up coming home from Maine a couple of days early. We felt we'd had all the fun we wanted to in Maine and Boston and the idea of a 4-day weekend at home was very appealing. It was definitely the right thing to do - it's been fantastic. It's days like these that always heighten my desire to retire. Now. But alas.

Simon's girlfriend is on vacation with her family for a week. He's been so bored he's hanging out with me, I guess. He went grocery shopping with me the other day and managed to help me keep things within budget for a change. (His going with me usually has the opposite effect, as other parents can attest to, I'm sure.) We saw prepared chicken kabobs but he noted they were pretty expensive, "I bet we could make those ourselves." I assured him we could. He's a pretty good cook in the kitchen and loves to grill. He cut up the chicken and marinated it. I cut the veggies and we assembled them together and he manned the grill. We had to buy skewers because I didn't have enough left for some reason from back in the day - that's how long it's been since I made these.

I'll have to find other ways to capitalize on Simon's boredom this week. He already installed a new flag pole for me on the front of the house. Now, where's my list . . .

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Stuffed French Toast

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Intriguing entry title, yes? There's a food photo coming but first, here are a couple of shots from our walk on the beach yesterday afternoon. We ate breakfast at The Egg & I, then spent the morning driving and walking around Ogunquit a bit. It was expectantly crowded for a Saturday 4th of July. A nice thunderstorm came through in the afternoon (we were hanging out in our motel room) and I said to Steve I would love to see an aerial shot of the crowds leaving the beach. Gradually, as dark clouds approached? Holding out until the last minute, getting soaked? Like little ants diving for cover?

This beach is right across the street from our hotel, so after dinner we walked along the sidewalk, amazed by the high tide. (This picture is also from our afternoon stroll, not high tide.) The tides are intriguing us so I'll have to do a bit more research on that. I found a schedule online that tells when high and low tides are each day. Interesting stuff.

We ate dinner last night at Ruby's Wood Grill. I had one of my favorite summer sandwiches, a BLT - but man, there was nothing dainty or light about this sandwich. I've never seen this much bacon on a BLT before. It was a bit fatty for this turkey bacon girl, but once I got rid of most of that and was just left with the thick cut smoky bacon on the sandwich, it was perfect. I couldn't eat all the fries, nor could Steve eat all his Buffalo fries with his burger. We skipped dessert and headed to the beach to walk off our dinner.

But this morning - here's the Stuffed French Toast I had that was To Die For. We headed out to a bagel place we'd seen listed on a map, but the line was out the door so we kept driving. We happened upon The Firefly Diner, which just opened 1 week ago yesterday. The Stuffed French Toast was their breakfast special, choice of strawberries, blueberries or blackberries. I had strawberry and Steve ordered the blueberry version. The waitress took our order then shortly thereafter we heard her tell her co-workers she had to go home and get (something) they were out of. It turns out it was her homemade fresh strawberry preserves that they put on this dish, along with cream cheese. It wasn't much of a wait, but even if it was, it was so worth it.

Unfortunately no one saw me take this photograph, thereby I didn't get to embarrass Steve, so that was a little disappointing. But I had not even tasted the food at this point - little did I know how outstanding the taste was going to be. When the waitress came over to check on us, I was gushing on about how fantastic this was, pointing out I usually finish eating before Steve but I purposely ate slowly because I didn't want it to end.

She brought out a jar of jelly she made to show me - it was kiwi with rum and bourbon (I think?) in it. It looked gorgeous, all green with black seeds. Now there's a PB & J that could kick your butt, huh?

She then sent the owner over so I could tell her how great the dish was. The family next to us turned around to see what we had eaten (too late!) that could be so good. She and I talked about our favorite cooking shows on The Food Network. I returned to going on and on about how great the food was and the family turned around again. I swear I could see their thought balloons, "Geez Louise, lady, we get it - you liked it. Simmer down."

The first time I had Stuffed French Toast was at an IHOP a year or two ago. Now I never pass it up given the opportunity. This homemade version was the best ever. As much as I like it, it never occurred to me until right now, that I could make this at home! Duh!

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Strawberries

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Photo swiped from World Community Cookbook.

I sliced up two quarts of strawberries for a birthday treat at work today, to be served with angel food cake and whipped cream. The birthday girl received the requisite Stefani Brownies last week but for various reasons we were unable to celebrate with our usual sweets in the afternoon. It's a departmental thing we like to do.

When I was slicing the strawberries, I made Simon his only little container because I was afraid he'd dig into these and go hog wild. We do love our strawberries.

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Stooopid Facebook

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I couldn't even drag my sorry ass away from Facebook this morning to go to JoAnn's to look at fabric for my new tablecloths. Steve left at 11:00 to do some things for his mom with his daughter, so I says to myself, "Self, as soon as you finish this one thing, you leave too." I literally did a double take when I looked at the clock TWO hours later. Sheesh.

I hate Facebook and it's evil time-sucking ways. (If you want to Friend me, there's a button over in the sidebar!)

I went out to dinner last night with work friends to the very expensive Black & Blue Steak & Crab. It was sponsored by a vendor and the Director of Purchasing very kindly invited the 3 of us from Accounting to go along, even though we don't deal with the vendor directly. He's very keen on raising morale so I think this was part of his plan. There were 10 of us and the bill came to over $500. (But that includes the tip, so there's that.) Gulp. But I will say that the food was outstanding. I had a Black & Blue salad - blackened spiced tenderloin tips over baby spinach and blue cheese in a warm bacon and shallot vinaigrette, except I had them hold the blue cheese. Excellent!

I had looked over the online menu during the day and had pretty much decided I would order the Pork & Beans. I had two reasons, 1) it sounds really tasty and 2) I thought it would be fun to order $19 pork & beans at a high class restaurant. It's a grilled marinated pork chop over barbecue baked beans with apple-wood smoked bacon and garlic spinach. (Eww to the cooked spinach - would have had to sub something for that.)

But I called an audible at the last minute because one of their specials was black bean & corn enchiladas, finished with pepper jack cheese. I had them substitute fontina cheese for the pepper jack - and boy was this dish outstanding. It came with very tasty rice. I can't even tell you what else was in the enchiladas or what made it so delicious. As I said at the table, "This is so freakin' good!"

They offer a handful of desserts, every one of which sounded delicious, but I went with the chocolate crème brulee served with a fresh strawberry compote. Damn near licked the bowl.

Overall, it was a pretty fun time. But I told Steve later that I think I'm socially challenged. Even though I know these people pretty well and certainly feel comfortable with them, I just feel out of place sometimes. All in all, I'd rather be home, eating dinner with Steve, playing with our pets, stitching and watching TV.

But I'm glad I went. It's nice to do something different every once in a while. I'm not sure if I'll have another opportunity to go to this restaurant. To me the guilt of spending that much money on food, outweighs any pleasure derived from it. Let me clarify - I mean my money. I clearly had no problem spending someone else's money on food last night.

And the restaurant was packed. I'd love to know the back story of the people I saw sitting around us. Like the 2 young women who looked like they stopped there after work. Lots of couples. A table of 4 men. Lots of people doing what they can to stimulate the economy.

~ ~ ~

Thanks for your kind notes in response to yesterday's blog about Reggi. I think I got a lot out of my system the other night because I've actually felt a lot better since then. Tuesday, we'll find out and deal with whatever it is. I do believe in the power of prayer and good positive thoughts, so I appreciate the help on that front.

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More Thread to Drool Over

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Mom sent me the link to a tour of Marie Osmond's craft room. She warned me in particular to look for the wall of thread but my head still exploded when I saw it! And thank goodness it's arranged by color, or I'd have to email Marie with an offer to straighten it out for her. This, I can - and could, live with!

Bonnie sent me this link to Peter Callesen's website. I think I've seen his work before but even so, I had to look at pretty much every image on his site. My head can barely comprehend how he does this work.

~ ~ ~

So much for my optimism about system upgrade testing at work not lasting 4 hours. It did. It went relatively well. There will be a few bugs left to work out on Monday, I'm sure, but mostly that's over. Good thing - because the Illinois sales tax auditor shows up Monday for the whole week. And of course, I'm not at all prepared, as usual.

Steve and I picked up dinner from Applebee's last night, using their curbside service. We went in our sweats and slippers so we prayed we wouldn't have a car accident. I got the bruschetta burger with onion rings and Steve got a different burger with French Fries. When we do that, we split each side. There were, I counted them, FOUR onion rings. Small to medium sized too, not large by any means. Of course we didn't see that until we got home. We used to like Applebees quite a bit but not lately - and that sort of became a deal breaker for me.

I remember once Simon and I went to Friendly's for dinner. He was very little - 3 or 4. I ordered some chicken tenders dinner thing - that came with 7 French Fries. I'm not in the habit of counting my food under normal circumstances, but clearly this stuck in my mind if I'm blogging about it 18 years later. Me, bitter? Nah.

As I'm writing this, I can't believe I didn't complain either time - I just stopped going there. Must be some dumb kid in the kitchen that doesn't care - and I've let them get away with it. Kind of makes me part of the problem, I guess. Need to rethink this so I'll be prepared for next time to speak up.

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Everyone Likes the Edges

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You might remember when Mom gave me this brownie pan for my birthday a couple of years ago. It came with a little right-sized red spatula for lifting out the brownies. It's a very heavy duty pan - works really well. Every piece has edges, my favorite part!

Baker's Edge Brownie Pan.


Slice Solutions Brownie Pan. I see this company also makes similar round cake pans, pie pans and loaf pans.

I saw this pan in the AC Moore ad in Sunday's paper. You pour the batter in, then set the divider in place. It also has a removable bottom so once the brownies have cooled and the divider is removed, you can easily slide a little spatula underneath each brownie so not even one gets crushed.

I tend to use the top pan just sometimes, like when I'm not in a hurry because it does take a bit longer to fill and then to get the brownies out. More often than not I tend to go old school and bake the brownies in an 8" square pan (even though the box calls for a 9" x 13" pan) because I like them thicker and more moist. When they have cooled, I run a plastic spatula around the outside edge and flip the pan over so the brownies fall out in one 8" square. I then turn the square over (right side up) and slice them into 16 pieces with a knife large enough to make each cut in one swell foop (as we used to say).

Every time I slice brownies I think of this funny thing Dad said to me once. I took him a plate of brownies to give to someone, can't remember who or why. I told him that although I cut them into 16 brownies, I find that 14 fits on the plate just perfectly. (Because I usually hold two back, one for Steve, one for me.)

Dad: Just imagine how well 12 or even 10 brownies would fit on that plate!

I have no idea if the brownies ever made it to Dad's friend or not . . .

~ ~ ~

Ever since I mentioned feeling a little off recently, I've felt a bit better each day, but not fully myself. I think the dam broke yesterday - that thing brewing under the surface finally broke free. I noticed when I was reading the Sunday paper, I was feeling very anxious, even though I was purposely steering away from reading bad news. I thought, "Well this is stoooopid - now it's become a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Then after dinner, I was in the family room with Steve, he was watching football, I was stitching. All of a sudden, this popped into my head: "What if I lost my job? What if I can't take care of Simon?" and the tears started flowing. I've never had a panic attack but I imagine that's what one would feel like, heart racing, etc. After football was over - I'm considerate even when emotional :-), I asked Steve if I could talk to him and I explained what I was feeling. He was oddly uncompassionate, pointing out A) Simon is 21 and although he still provides some financial support to his 22 year old daughter *, Simon is old enough to support himself, and B) he (Steve) is more likely to lose his job than I am.

Alrighty then. Thanks for the pep talk.

He wasn't mean about it by any means, just factual, true to his gender. We went back to watching TV and about 10 minutes later I said, "Oh! The answer is - if I lose my job, I get another one."

And I was cured.

This will be interesting to see if this "sticks" but as of this moment, I'm not sad or mad and in fact, feel quite ready to tackle anything. I feel like Stefani.

Whew! That was weird. And thanks for your comments and emails of support - they mean a lot to me.

In fact, I've been working on some new stuff I'll be ready to show you soon. I know I've been featuring other artists because I haven't had any new work to post. Soon . . .

* Steve's daughter is now living with his mom, who is in failing health. Steve is so grateful for her help in caring for his mom that in return, he's more than happy to help her financially. She really does do a lot for his mom so I can see Steve's point. (As for Simon, I made my usual 12/31/xx speech about "The Bank of Stefani is closed." But I'll always be his safety net - I just need to work on my definition of safety net.)

~ ~ ~

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Paper Straw Wreath & Almond Macaroons

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Isn't this cool? Directions by Kathleen George are here. The short version is decorative paper is wrapped into straw shapes and glued to a Styrofoam wreath base. So many projects, so little time.

~ ~ ~

My Sunday recharge day worked out well. It's so weird to me that every time I have one of those, I'm afraid I won't "snap out of it". But I do - I feel back in the game today.

I even made cookies! Steve & Simon were shocked that they were for us. These were in the newspaper the other day and for some reason they really struck a note with me. They were delicious yesterday but it turns out they are even more delicious today. I like them just as much without the chocolate as with, surprisingly.

Almond Macaroons

Here is one of the easiest macaroons you'll ever encounter, and among the most delicious, with intense almond flavor and chewy texture. If you are a purist, skip the chocolate. From Lisa Zwirn's Christmas Cookies (William Morrow, $16.95).

If you can't find whole blanched almonds, it's easy to do it yourself. Put whole almonds in a large pot of boiling water for about 60 seconds. Drain. When almonds are cool enough to handle, rub them with a clean towel and the skins will pop off. Be sure the almonds are completely dry before using.

Ingredients

10 ounces (about 2 full cups) blanched whole almonds

1¼ cups granulated sugar

3 large egg whites

½ teaspoon pure almond extract

6 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line one or two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Combine the almonds and ¼ cup of the sugar in a food processor and process until the almonds are finely ground. Add the egg whites and almond extract and process until blended.

Add the remaining 1 cup of sugar and process until thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds, or until the dough is a thick, sticky paste.

Drop the dough by level tablespoonfuls, arranging about 2 inches apart on the prepared sheet(s). Using a pastry brush lightly moistened with water, brush the tops and sides of the macaroons, gently pressing down on them to form smooth rounds about ½ inch thick and 13/4 inches in diameter.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until the macaroons are pale golden. They should feel crisp on the outside but still soft inside. (If using two cookie sheets, rotate them from top to bottom and front to back about halfway through baking.) Remove the sheets from the oven and slide the parchment onto racks. Cool for about 5 minutes, then use a thin metal spatula to remove the macaroons from the paper. Place on rack to cool.

For chocolate-dipped macaroons, melt the chocolate in a metal or glass bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring frequently, until fully melted. Alternatively, melt it in a microwave-safe bowl in microwave, using 20-to-30-second bursts at medium power, stirring well after each interval. Line baking sheet with wax paper. With a silicone pastry brush, brush the melted chocolate on half the cookie, both top side and bottom, in a semicircle. Let the excess drip off or gently scrape it off the bottom using the brush. Place the macaroons on the wax paper and let stand until the chocolate is completely set.

Store macaroons in an airtight container, layered between sheets of wax paper, for up to five days at room temperature. Macaroons without chocolate can be frozen for up to two months.

Makes about 32 macaroons.

~ ~ ~

Valentown Garden Club
Holiday Open House & Gift Sale
Miss Lillian's Tea Room
at the Historic Ichabod Town Homestead
267 High Street, Victor, NY
Valentown Museum Grounds

Friday, December 12, 1:00-6:00 PM
Saturday, December 13, 10:00-6:00 PM
Sunday, December 14, 10:00-5:00 PM

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Yellow Squash & Corn Casserole

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Yellow Squash & Corn Casserole from Julia Johnson, AllRecipes.com.

I'm out of practice and need to brush up on my food photo skillz. The macro shot was unusable.

I used regular corn, not cream-style corn and I used a bit of Splenda instead of sugar. Oh, and Colby Jack cheese because I didn't have any Parmesan. Other than that, I followed the recipe to the letter. ;-) This was so delicious, I'll be taking it to work for lunch this week. Even Steve, a vegetable non-eater declared it, "not bad". Higher praise for vegetables, you'll not come by from him.


I watched part of the Democratic convention last night because I wanted to see the tribute to Ted Kennedy. It was fairly moving but what really got to me was watching an emotional Maria Shriver watch her uncle & extended family. I feel like I "know" her from her friendship and interviews with Oprah. I still don't quite get what she sees in Arnold but it must be something. Still, she seems like someone you could just hang out with. (If you're Oprah, I mean.)

I said to Steve that these political conventions should be produced by some former Olympic organizers and/or Olympic television producers. Not that they need the same entertainment value, but man oh man, the production could definitely use some tightening up. Way too much wasted time between events. I haven't watched any conventions in years but the delegates are still way too silly. I never understood that. Imagine being a foreigner seeing that for the first time. What the serious business of politics has to do with silly hats, I'll never know. It's embarrassing, quite honestly.

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Creative Food

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