Happy Birthday Nicole!

Today is my dear sister's birthday.

Dear by default...she's my only sister.

And it's her 20th. Hmm...what it's like to be young again...I can't really remember.

But I guess that comes with old age.

So although today was Nicole's birthday, I'm making her a cake tomorrow because we had dinner at the restaurant...more on that later. But, I was tasked with making red velvet cupcakes for my mom's coworkers. And so of course I used her Kitchen Aid stand mixer...seemed like such a good idea until...



It splattered.



Everywhere.

And red food coloring resists washing! Per Jenney's advice, I used lemon juice, which worked...but geees did it sting!! I think have a lemon juice burn on my chin. But at least it's not red any more.

So, when the recipe tells you to be careful as splashing may occur...they mean it. Turn off the mixer and start again on low. Unless you like splatter art on youself. In which case, just leave it running.



Yup...two bottles of red food coloring. At least a quarter of it on me.

We went to dinner at Mama's Fish House, which has some pretty amazing scenic views and pretty good food as well. Tonight I really wanted the moi, which is a small yummy fish that was once reserved only for Hawaiian royalty. But, sadly they ran out. Sobs. So instead I had the grilled ahi, which wasn't so fantastic, but the breadfruit mash was tasty. My dad said that his friend caught some moi and gave it to him, and it was just fantastic. Thanks Dad. Really, this ahi is awesome. I didn't really want the moi after all.



The pre-dinner view.



Grilled ahi (on a sugar cane skewer, my waiter was quick to note) with mushroom sauce and breadfruit mash.

But mediocre entree aside (everyone else adored their's), I was hopeful that I could have a heavenly dessert. Like a banana macadamia nut crisp with homemade Tahitian vanilla ice cream. Mmm...I luv macadamia nuts! But noooo....Nicole doesn't want macadamia nuts. And it's her birthday. Blah. Blah. Blah. So we ended up getting our usual dessert, which is a chocolate mousse bombe filled with lilikoi cream and...a chocolate mousse pie. Such redundancy. But hey, it's not my birthday. Doesn't being the older sister mean anything anymore? Hmph.



Chocolate mousse bombe with lilikoi.



Chocolate mousse pie. To its credit, the caramel layer was awesome. And the Oreo cookie crust was crumbly and delicious.



I thought this ginger arrangement was quite lovely.

Oh and what would a birthday without presents?

Specifically...



Fake designer purses!! Hahahahaha!!!

Nicole: "Where did you get these...you know, it's illegal to buy fake stuff".
Mommy: "Huh? Illegal? Why? It's not stolen".

Oh well. Better luck next year, Nicole. Happy Birthday!

No One Rides For Free

I was reminded of this reality as I window shopped around Paia this afternoon.



Hilarious. Gets me every time. Take your pick.

After a day at the beach and fitness magazine reading, Nicole decided that we were going to have salads for lunch at Lahaina Farms, which is like a Whole Food-ish market in the new Lahaina Gateway...which I'm not too happy about in general...but this Lahaina Farms place seems kinda cool as far as gentrification of your neighborhood goes. But I digress.

So we cruise in, ready to pick our salad and fixings when I see an overhead menu.

me: "Look Nicole, they have kalua pig flatbread...mmm..."
Nicole: "Should we just go to flatbread in Paia?"
me: "Yeah. I'm glad to see the fitness magazines were so impactful."

flatbread is this teeny, slightly overpriced pizza place in Paia with the most wonderful kalua pig pizza. And apparently, the tangiest lemonade Nicole has ever tasted. I enjoyed watching her drink it. Very much.



And after lunch we tried on a few dresses at another teeny store...because everything in Paia is small. Apparently the clothes, too, as Nicole soon found out.

So I'm wandering around the store, and Nicole calls me from the fitting room. I figure she wants my candid opinion. But when I get in there, it was a much different story.

Nicole: "I'm having severe difficulties getting out of this dress. Severe."
me: "Ohh..."
Nicole: "You're goona have to Winnie-the-Pooh me out of this thing".
me: (Picturing the Winnie the Pooh episode where Winnie is stuck in his door from eating too much hunny) "Ok..." (tugging at the dress) "Lift up your arms." (giggle, giggle, still tugging at dress) "Why are you so sweaty? What about the zipper?"
Nicole: "It's a fake zipper!! I've been trying to take off this dress for 10 mins! Severe difficulties!"
me: "Oh yeah...hahahaha. Cross your arms"

And off popped the dress.

Oh? You're not familiar with that Winnie the Pooh episode?

Alohaaa Christmas!

Byeee! See ya next year! Keep in touch!

As busy and silly as it can be, I'm always kinda sad to see Christmas go. I like the scarves, boots and umm...dazzling array of cookies. Ok mostly the cookies. Cookies for breakfast. Because someone's gotta eat all those cookies. But when it's not cookies, here's what's on the menu:



Our annual Christmas Eve dinner with the fam bam. The overdone prime rib is a specialty.

And what would Christmas be without a little disaster?



A should-have-been-could-have-been-would-have-been pumpkin roulade. But it cracked during it's roll session. Fail. Sighhh. It was later used as a pumpkin and banana napoleon with an orange cream.

But that was yesterday. Today was beach day!



It was just so perfectly sunny today that Nicole (sister) and I ventured out to Big Beach in Makena, which we only go to on super nice days such as today. And I'm so glad we did! Not because it was wonderfully warm and picturesque (because it was), but because of the entertaining life guard on duty.

He relayed a message to the 10am beach crowd, and it went something like this:

"Aloha, this is your friendly life guard with a message for you. If you are not an experienced swimmer or not from the area, I recommend you not go into the water at all today. If you are an experienced swimmer and think you can handle, and want to take in some floatation device with you, like a boogie board...don't. You're just setting yourself up for disaster. If you have little ones, keep them out the water, otherwise when the big ones come in, they going get suck under. If get questions, come talk to me, and I going answer em for you. Aloha."

Hilarious. Seriously. Maybe you had to have been there.

Oh and yes, there was shave ice.

Merry Christmas from the MVPuppets!!

3 Days Until Christmas...Really?

Seriously...really?

Despite the ridiculous amount of Christmas decorations everywhere, and the sales at the mall, I feel like this happens to me every year. It's like costumes, candy, turkey, pumpkin pie and then Christmas. But I really feel like it was just Thanksgiving. I mean it was though...wasn't it?

And now it's 3 days before Christmas, and tomorrow I'll be back home, and well, I just want my pumpkin pie back. I didn't have enough this year. But can you really have enough pumpkin pie?

Not that I'm complaining. I've never have much Christmas shopping to do. And I'll be home! Home! Away from work and school! And near the beach! And shaved ice! And my mom's pumpkin pie...which she better make...I hope she's reading this! And papayas! And the sun! I miss the sun.

Take that first day of winter!!

As you may have guessed (or already know), it's been a little cold and rainy here. Baking is a fabulous distraction. The oven keeps you warm and eating keeps you occupied.



Chocolate Peanut Butter Crispy Bars from Baked. A layer of candied Rice Krispies...a layer of melted milk chocolate and peanut butter...a layer of a lovely chocolate glaze! It's like a Reece's Peanut Butter Cup meets a Nestle Crunch Bar. I like mine frozen. And in extra big pieces. You will, too. Don't try to resist. You will only be cheating yourself.



No-Knead Cranberry Walnut Bread from Jim Lahey. It's true. Bread without kneading...and without much work either. He operates Sullivan Street Bakery in New York...where Baked Bakery is also located...why are they all in New York??



Fusili with Mushrooms, Marsala, Artichokes and Chicken Sausage from who else but Giada. Ok, I made this is in a moment of weakness. It's a cream sauce. With Parmesan cheese. But it has mushrooms...and artichokes...and it's really good. And I used half-and-half. So I guess that makes it a half-and-half sauce.

And now, my pan of lemon bars are cooling on the counter. Lemon bars...another thing I wish I liked. But I typically don't. They're always too much for me. Too gooey. Too sour. Too sweet. And it has a weird after taste. Makes my mouth feel funny. But with 4 Meyer lemons in the fridge and my annual migration to warmer climates tomorrow, I didn't really have a choice. Maybe lemon poppy seed something. But I zested 3 of 4 lemons for some pistachio and citrus biscotti. And the thought of tossing Meyer lemons was just more than I could bear. But for some reason...the thought of tossing out this lemon bars (if they turn out to be subpar), doesn't bother me as much. I feel like I at least tried to save them.

Too make them less lemon-y (I know...less lemony lemon bars...I'm ridiculous). I scaled back the lemon juice from 1 cup to 3/4 cup. I could only squeeze out that much juice anyway. And I spread a thin layer of raspberry jam on the shortbread. Because raspberry makes lemon infinitely more palatable.

So I'm hoping for the best.

Christmas Cookie Throwdown

I luv contests!!!

I try to keep myself in check, but I do have just a smear of a competitive streak. And by smear, I mean like huge, paint can splash.

But, who doesn't like winning?

And yeah, I'm a pretty salty loser, too. I've deserted countless checkers, card games, Guess Who and Monopoly games when loss was near for me. My sister's a pretty sore loser, too. She once cleared a checker board off the table when she was about to lose. I just move your game pieces around when you take a bathroom break.

...

Oh...you mean not everyone does that?

Well, I mean, is it really cheating if you don't notice that I moved your pieces?

My co-workers decided that instead of Christmas presents this year, we would have a cookie competition/exchange of sorts...and it's going to be this nice, friendly thing where we all bring cookies and then share recipes. And somehow, to my delight, this got turned into a contest with a judge and everything. Oh, and a fabulous prize for the winner.

Which I hope is me!

All week, I've been busy pondering just the perfect cookie to make. And really, I should have been studying...but there's no fabulous prizes in school. Just B's. So far, I've narrowed down the finalists to: Almond Roca cookies, white chocolate and hazelnut cookies, coconut thumbprint cookies or peppermint oreo cookies. In that order.

I've wanted to make the Almond Roca cookies for the longest time...something about the toffee, chopped almonds and milk chocolate drizzle. Mmm...and it seems kinda holiday-ish. Although I luv the complexity and uniqueness of the white chocolate hazelnut cookies (with orange zest and cranberries), I don't think it will be as crowd...or ahem...judge pleasing. But they are a great little cookie. The coconut thumbprints are from Ina Garten, and definitely look the most impressive with the toasty wisps of coconut and pretty jam centers. I luv anything with a jam center. I always eat away at the edges first and save the yummy jam center for last. And the peppermint oreos. The homemade oreos of a few months ago were definite crowd pleasers, and I think the addition of crushed candy canes in the cream is a nice touch. But, it's definitely not oreo we all know and luv.

There's only one way to settle this. And that's with a little cookie throwdown of my own. I doubt I'll manage to make all these anytime soon, but at least two for sampling.

My tummy's ready. But then again, it always is. That's part of (all of) the problem.



That's gonna be me in no time. Sigh. But look how happy he is.

UPDATE!

While cruising the thing called the Internet and ESPN, I stumbled upon this very interesting article about Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards. A preface: He's sort of a strange...ok totally out-there person of space-cadet proportions...but really, this is just about the lamest thing I've heard all day. And I hear a lot of things. Have you seen these ears?

Gilbert Arenas: Just Nuke It
by Patrick Hruby via Page 2 at espn.com

During an NBA preseason road trip, Washington Wizards center JaVale McGee Twittered that he and teammate Gilbert Arenas went to a Grand Rapids, Mich.-area Target so Arenas could purchase a microwave and a mini-fridge ... for a single day's use. Turns out that's only half the story. Following team practice yesterday, Arenas revealed the rest to a small group of reporters, including yours truly:

Arenas: You know how you order room service, and you get in the shower, or you'll be on the phone, and you get back and the food is cold?

Reporters: Yeah?

Arenas: Microwave!

Reporters: So you take it on the road?

Arenas: I send it with our [team] luggage ... it's only like 10 pounds.

Reporters: What about the fridge?

Arenas: We're not in cities long enough for a fridge.

Reporters: Aren't you staying in five-star hotels? Won't they make the food extra hot, or bring a microwave to your room?

Arenas: Most places don't have microwaves. You got to go to the kitchen and reheat it. By the time you get back up it's cold again ... some hotels, they have a late-night menu but they don't have hot food. Just cold sandwiches. I don't eat cold food.

Reporters: Why not?

Arenas: It tastes nasty. It's the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted. Everything I eat has to go in a microwave. Like, if you cook me dinner, I will take the dinner and put it in a microwave. Something about being in a microwave makes it good.

Reporters: It comforts you.

Arenas: It irritates the [expletive] out of people, though.

Microwave all the time? That can't be good for you. Or your sanity. Or your game. The Wizards lost to the Celtics tonight, 104-102. He had 25 points, too. But missed 5 of his 6 FT's. At home. 3rd straight home loss. That's gotta hurt. Microwave!

UPDATE 2!!

So following my initial update, I went back to ESPN to search for a Bill Simmons article. It's been a while since I've been entertained by his musings...and trust me, he is highly entertaining. And lucky me, it was mail bag day (my fav...mail bag is when Bill answers emails from his readers) for his Thanksgiving entry, and I saw this:

Q: If Mike Dunleavy showed up at one of your book signings, what would you write in his book?
-- Anthony Falco, Ontario

SG: I thought about this for 20 minutes and settled on this:

Dear Mike,

Thanks. For each of the past three summers, I nearly dumped my Clippers tickets solely because you were the coach and I didn't want to waste my money watching six months of 20-point blowouts, disjointed strategy, unhappy players and some of the most mind-blowing crunch-time brain farts in the history of this great sport. I kept renewing only because I didn't want to give up quality seats to see guys like LeBron, Kobe, Derrick Rose and Chris Paul, even if they frequently were being removed with 10 minutes to play because their team was leading by 30. So thanks for reminding me why I love basketball so much. If I will pay to see a Mike Dunleavy-coached NBA team, then clearly, I will pay for anything. I love this game.

Sincerely,
Bill Simmons
Clippers season-ticket holder since 2004

And yeah, he's a Kobe/Laker hater. But no one's perfect. Well...except you-know-who.

Boys Only

I think we've all seen such things.

Shampoos, lotions, body washes...all just for boys.

But why? Do boys really have special boy hair and special boy skin in need of special boy hand lotion?

I don't understand. Soap companies just add some boy-smelling goodies and then call it "Men's". And yet, people...ahem...boys buy these! Could it be the names? "Dual Charged", "Refreshing", "Active Sport", "Essence".

While at Target last weekend, I was perusing the Pantene shampoo samplings...moisture balance? Smooth vitality? Ice shine? Oh the possibilities. Ok, I suppose these aren't very different than boy-specific shampoos...but, at least these smell nice. And supposedly makes my hair luscious. Results still TBD.

And just when I thought that I'd just about had enough, I saw this:



3-in-1? Seriously? When you need that "fresh, clean, masculine scent". And you can't bear to own or open more than 1 bottle.

Efficient? Maybe. Ridiculous? Definitely.

But here's something completely awesome...the MVPuppets are baaaaack!!

Check it out!

Oh how I miss fuzzy Kobe and Lebron.

Two words, Lebron: "Black Mamba". And lions don't wear boots.

And he didn't even get to the snake poison.

Say Hello to My Little Friend...

Don't be shyyy...



Isn't he cute? My Little Griddler.

He slices, he dices...ok...Little Griddler does none of these things. But he does make a seriously legit panini. Super sandwiches is right. Little Griddler doesn't lie.

And I luv paninis. Grilled toasty sandwich goodness. I mean sure, you could use 2 cast iron skillets, heating the second one and then putting it on top of your sandwich, and then weighting it down with a can of tomatoes. But all that work and no grill marks? No way, buddy.

So far, Little Griddler's sandwich powers have only been used to make grilled cheese sandwiches. But seriously, amazingly good grilled cheese sandwiches. Since he's electric (it's electric! boogie, oogie, oggie), Little Griddler holds a constant and even temperature, which is perfect for melted cheese perfection and crispy bread.



Mmm...melty grilled cheese! I like mine with a smear of dijon mustard on the inside.

And before you say something like why would anyone buy something just to make paninis, I would like to point out that Little Griddler can also grill vegetables among other things. The possibilities are endless. I just haven't gotten past the panini stage yet. Or rather, the grilled cheese stage. Next stage is Cuban style steak sandwich like the one served at Porto's. That mojo-marinated steak. But where to find Cuban bread...hmm...

What's that? You haven't been to Porto's? Oh you must, must, must! It's the largest bakery I've ever seen. I swear the bakery/cafe is bigger than my house on Maui. For real. It's intense. All that square footage dedicated to everything baking. I can hardly contain myself. If/when you go, try the guava and cream cheese puff pastry. It's like an awesomely delicious guava danish. But I hesistate to call it a danish because it's just so much better than that. Or the cheese pastry. There were these little patties of fried deliciousness in the case. Potato croquettes, I believe. And the flan samples while in line. And the sandwiches. Little Griddler is just one step closer to tasty toasty sandwiches.

All this panini making (and polar bear cold weather) got me in the mood for soups. Last week, I made Giada's White Bean and Garlic soup...also with above pictured grilled cheese.

Such a show stealer.

Yesterday was lamb stew, and today was butternut squash soup.

I have a luv-hate affair with butternut squash. I want to like it...and I try to like it. I've eaten butternut squash ravioli (blech), maple roasted butternut squash (ehh...) and even topped my pizzas with it (so-so). But it seems that everyone luvs butternut squash. Why? It's semi-sweet nature confuses me. Why is it always paired with things like apples and brown sugar and maple syrup? It's a squash!

But I caved a few weeks ago, and bought one at Whole Foods. And it's sat on my tiered fruit tray. Watching apples and pomegranates come and go. So today...three...yes THREE weeks later, I decided to tackle it. These things have an amazing shelf life apparently.

So butternut squash soup it was and with absolutely no sugar or syrup or fruit. It's a squash! But ok...there was cinnamon. And ginger. And curry powder. Oh but it was good. So satisfying and perfect for dipping a toasty grilled cheese sandwich. I pureed it, and it gave the soup amazing color and body. Yes, soups can have amazing bodies. I liken this one's to Megan Fox. Seriously good body.



Butternut Squash Soup

1 medium onion, diced
2 small carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon Herbes de Provence
1 2-lb butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 1-inch dice
4 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled (or 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger)
salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Place a heavy Dutch oven over medium heat. Coat bottom with olive oil, about 1 tablespoon.

2. Add onions. Saute until soft and transluscent, about 5 minutes.

3. Add carrots, celery, garlic, Herbes de Provence and bay leaf. Continue to cook over medium heat until softened.

4. Add butternut squash. Season with a little salt and pepper. Cook until butternut squash is slightly softened, about 5 minutes more.

5. Add the chicken stock, curry powder, cinnamon and ginger.

6. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low to simmer. Taste for seasoning.

7. Cook until butternut squash is completely soft. About 20 minutes.

8. Remove bay leaf and ginger. Puree with immersion blender until smooth.

Sunday Studying

Ha. Are you kidding me?

You didn't actually believe me.

Two days of studying? Me? Not if I can help it.

Well, ok there was some studying...it is finals week.

But really, it was mostly baking. Oh how I've missed cookie making.

My day actually started off quite early with a morning turbo kick boxing class. But surprise! It was videotaping day for the new video or something like that. And I guess mostly everyone got the memo except yours truly. I wondered why everyone walked in with makeup one and coordinated outfits. And I was snooze walking every few seconds. Oh well. I'm pretty sure it kept me off camera.

Sooo of course after working out, the only logical thing to do is to bake cookies. Today, I made 2 kinds, but the chocolate raspberry sandwich cookies were the clear winner. The other cookie was a pinwheel rugelach. Which has always intrigued me...but was somewhat disappointing. It could be because I didn't use raisins. (Don't like raisins). And becuase I used my candied nut mix as opposed to walnuts. (Been trying to get those candied nuts out of my freezer forever). But actually, what I also chalk it up to was that it's more pie crust than cookie. Rugelachs are made with cream cheese and butter...and it's just not working for me.

But then again, it's pretty hard to compete with chocolate shortbread and raspberry jam sandwiches. Especially when you dip them in white chocolate and then dust them with chunky sparkling sanding sugar.

As much as I adore these little suckers, they were definitely an ordeal to make. And I didn't even make all of them.

Actually assembling the dough is pretty straightforward. It's just a shortbread recipe...but the rolling...sighh...those stupid logs.

And you know what the worst part is? Just imagine what chocolate shortbread looks like rolled into a log. Take a moment to picture it. I'll wait.

Yeah, right? Terrible.

And they kept breaking in half. Not at all like Play Doh. Those were the days.



Yup. That was my cookies. Rolled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces.

Then you roll them in sugar.



And then you pancake them.



And then you turn them into sandwiches with some raspberry jam. And you might even want to dip them in white chocolate. Or any chocolate. But sparkly sanding sugar looks much nicer on white chocolate.



I'm always looking for a way to use sanding sugar.

And then you try really hard to just eat one. Just one. I wish I made them bigger.



Tasty and adorable.

Make them! You'll luv them! It's true. As I mentioned earlier, I did not make all the cookies. The rolling got me down. I was all set to have slice and bake cookies with the leftovers until I tasted these little bites, and yeah...more sandwiches on the way.


Typically these chocolate sandwich cookies are filled with a ganache and not raspberry jam. But I luv chocolate and raspberries, and the thought of them together in one cookie was too much excitement for me to pass up. And, I'm not the hugest fan of chocolate on chocolate things, but if you are, feel free to substitute the jam withe ganache.

Baci di Cioccolato (or Raspberry in my case)
adapted from Gina de Palma, Dolce Italiano

Cookies:

1/2 cup whole almonds
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

Raspberry jam for filling
1/2 cup white chocolate, chopped

or

Ganache:

8-ounces chopped semi-sweet chocolate
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup heavy cream

Combine ganache ingredients in heat safe bowl over a double boiler. Mix until melted. Remove from heat.

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Toast almonds 15 minutes. Process in food processor with 1 tablespoon sugar.

2. Whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.

3. Beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy and well incorporated. About 3 minutes.

4. Add vanilla. Mix.

5. Turn mixer on low, and carefully add dry ingredients. Then ground almonds.

6. Mix until dough forms, and you can form a ball with it.

7. Transfer to counter and form into a ball. Cover in plastic wrap, and flatten into a disk.

8. Chill 1 hr.

9. Preheat oven to 325-degrees F. Divide dough into 3 pieces. Chill unused pieces if dough starts to soften. I didn't chill mine...but it was a cold day today.

10. Roll dough into a log 3/4-inches in diameter. (Easier said than done).

11. Cut log into 1/2-inch lengths. Roll into balls and roll in granulated sugar.

12. Place on baking sheet, and lightly flatten with the palm of your hand.

13. Bake 12-15 minutes, being sure to rotate the pans half way through the baking.

14. Chocolate dipping optional!

Saturday Studying

It happens with school.

Especially when finals are next week.

I guess I can't complain too much as today is perhaps one of the most blustery and cold Saturdays in recent memory. In fact, I think this calls for my pink fuzzy socks.

Ahhh. Much better.

Now back to my study break. Now before you think that all I've been doing for the past three hours was looking at food blogs and thinking about all the things I could braise, stew and bake...(that lamb tagine is sounding really good right now...and chocolate chip cookies with coconut? Yummy.) I have successfully outlined 4 chapters for my entrepreneurial finance class. And you know, it's just amazing what you can learn about things when you read. I know I say this every quarter, but really it is.

But really, does anyone read for class anymore? My reading is limited to recipes and Yahoo! sports articles. Priorities. I actually could not locate my finance book until just recently. And it's pretty hard to read something that you can't find.

Or at least it's a convenient excuse.

Hmm...I should make the most of this break. Sports time.

Let's check on that USC game. Last I saw they were losing, then winning, then losing. It's probably over now. Let's see...lost. Geeees.

Well, at least the Lakers won last night over Miami. In part due to Kobe, of course. He an amazing performance last night, culminating with this game winning shot. Did you see it? Click it again. Once isn't enough.

Mike's eating another Slim Jim. I think that brings his mechanically-separated-chicken meatstick count to 6. Smells funny. Now he's complaining about Lamar. That guy clearly started it. But...it's tough reasoning with a Clipper fan that eats Scooby snacks. Delicious, he says. I'll take his word for it. Another bite of the Slim Jim. Yuck. He looks happy though.



Tell me you wouldn't eat that. No really, don't eat that.

You know...I really wish I had another one of those biscuits I made this morning. I froze some for later biscuit bliss. I luv biscuits. Always have. My mom used to make me these drop biscuits when I was little. But what I really luved was those biscuits from McDonalds...with strawberry jam and butter they gave you in those little containers. These don't really taste too much like them, but they are quite lucious and decadent...no doubt due to the nearly 2 cups of cream.

I suggest you make these and bake them as you need them. Which may be more often than you anticipate. I also made a small batch of strawberry butter. I think you should, too.

Biscuits
from James Beard

3 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups cream

Preheat the oven to 425-degree F.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Fold in 1 1/4 cups cream, adding more by the half tablespoon as needed to form a dough.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface, and form into a ball.

Roll out dough to 3/4-inches thickness. Cut out biscuits.

Brush the biscuits you plan on eating right away with butter and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until tops are light brown.

Flash freeze remaining biscuits individually, and then store in freezer for later use. Add 1-2 minutes in baking time for these frozen ones.

And with that, I'm going to have another minty M&M and on to Chapter 13. Money Market Securities.

Someone get me a biscuit.