Valentine’s Dinner and Continued Surprises

February 18, 2012 by

I had no plans for Valentine’s this year, which is the only reasonable way to spend the day. We celebrated on V-eve with his preparation of crab legs and asparagus with hollandaise sauce, and my contribution of quinoa with raspberry vinaigrette. Just, wow.

Quinoa Recipe: (coming soon)
And, of course, starters of salad, accompanied by Perrier and Champagne, all set off with a red tablecloth — sexy. Then, we watched (I should say, he let me watch) the new episode of AMC’s Walking Dead. How’s that for romance?
It was a delightful Valentine’s, and it’s all I expected.
On Valentine’s Day, around lunch time, one of the girls at work came back to my cube and told me that my boyfriend was out in the lobby. My coworkers said they’d never seen me move so fast and run out the door. There he was, with a bouquet of a dozen red roses.

Not just flowers, but a vase to put them in, too.

So Valentine’s Day ended up not just a fancy crab leg dinner, but also a surprise in-person delivery of a bunch of gorgeous roses. And not even just that, but still another surprise the next day:
Chocolate covered (and drizzled) strawberries from Pickwick & Frolic.
Filed Under: dinner recipes, Food, seafood recipes Tagged With: ,

How I Got the Grocery Store to Pay Me for Shopping

January 29, 2012 by
Yes, you read that right: I got the grocery store to pay me for buying name-brand toothpaste. And believe me, I don’t work for Giant Eagle. I’m just a savvy bargain shopper.
First, a disclaimer: I don’t usually buy groceries at Giant Eagle, because I know that you can get better deals on better quality perishables at local grocery stores than giant chains, no pun intended. So that means produce, meat and dairy from Nature’s Bin (preferred) or Heinen’s.
But when it comes to toiletries, some canned goods, and other, more mass-produced “stashables,” the big boys can often offer better sales – and you can usually find manufacturer’s coupons to sweeten the deal.
This is the setting for my story: How I took saving to the extreme and got Giant Eagle to pay me for buying toothpaste.
Here is the formula:
2 coupons, each for for $.75 off one Crest toothpaste, PLUS
1 Giant Eagle weekly sale flyer announcing Crest toothpaste for $1 with a Giant Eagle Advantage card, PLUS
The frequent shopper knowledge that Giant Eagle doubles coupons up to $.99.
You do the math: $.75 x 2 = $1.50. And $1.00-$1.50=-.50. Make that +$.50 that Giant Eagle pays me for buying toothpaste from them with each coupon.
So, to recap, this is how you cheat the grocery system:
1. Clip coupons.
2. Keep your eye on the sales.
3. When the forces of 1 and 2 combine on a single product, you win.
Filed Under: Around Town, coupons, shopping

Pizza Night Every Night

January 14, 2012 by

When you were little, you were lucky to have pizza night once a week. When you’re in college, it’s nothing strange to have pizza night every night.

This week I struck a fine balance with pizza night every other night, twice so far. And I struck that balance even finer for going out one night and staying in the other.
Tuesday we went out to Dewey’s Pizza in Lakewood. And we didn’t just go out — we went all out. Wine? Of course. We’ll take the Red Rock winemaker’s blend, the smoother of the two we tasted.
Salads? Sure. I went for the Candied Walnut and Grape, served up with Gorgonzola and citrus basil vinaigrette. When the greens arrived, we realized $5 was well-paid for a heaping side salad the size of a full one on most menus.
And then the ‘za — the toughest decision of the night. I had trouble ruling out any of the specials, actually. Like the Green Lantern with mushrooms, goat cheese, pesto and artichoke, or Ryan’s Inferno with buffalo chicken, red onion, ranch and celery. The decision eventually and unanimously narrowed to one: the Billy Goat. On a fresh, soft crust, you get: goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, green peppers and mushrooms, plus garlic and the mozz. Delicious, and soon gone.
Pizza sounded good again by Thursday, and we had the time and gumption to do it ourselves. Thanks to a leftover packet of Chef Boyardee dough (just add water!), a convenient squeeze bottle of sauce (which, we commented, should have been invented decades ago), and a fridge-full of veggies (2 heaping cups, to be precise), we mastered it.
You’re looking at red onion, black olive, fresh garlic, green pepper, pepperoncinis, fire-roasted diced tomatoes (which is my new favorite thing) and a variety of cheeses. All it’s missing is mushrooms, but you should be jealous anyway because it was delicious. And you wish you could have pizza night every night again, too.
Filed Under: Around Town, dining out, Food, pizza recipes, wine

Christmas Cookies: The Rest

December 24, 2011 by

After several trips to the grocery store to supplement decreasing supply and a baking flurry that filled all the flat surfaces in my small kitchen, my Christmas baking is done.

At least for now.

The grand total was well over 100 cookies. Here’s the run down:

1. Aunt Leora’s cut-out cookies

3. Rolo Cookies (New recipe this year, made of very simple dough wrapped around a Rolo candy, which melts into a caramel filling.)
4. Rolo Candies (since I already had the Rolos and pecans. Note: Make tons more of these next year, because no one can have just one.)
5. Peppermint Shortbread Cookies (another new recipe – not as sweet or gooey as I like my cookies to be, but you can’t knock peppermint, especially this time of year.)
And when their forces combine…
Merry Christmas to all! May the food only comprise part of the memories you make this holiday season.

Filed Under: cookie recipes, dessert recipes, Food Tagged With: , , ,

Christmas Cookies: Round 1

December 18, 2011 by

It started with Great Aunt Leora’s recipe for Cut-Out Cookies. Next, Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies from the old church cookbook — possibly my favorite cookie of all time. And one batch just didn’t seem like enough, so I made a second.

Here’s what they look like out of the oven:

And the finished product:

OK, so I gave away part of the secret. You would never know by looking at these gorgeous cookies that there’s a marshmallow hidden aside…well, aside from the name of the cookie. If you didn’t know what it was called and you were just looking at it, you would never know there was a marshmallow inside.

And the best news: I’ve only eaten one.

So far.

Filed Under: cookie recipes, dessert recipes, Food Tagged With: , , ,

Winter Wonderland

December 17, 2011 by

On my way out the door for breakfast — okay, a late breakfast at noon, what most people refer to as lunch — it was just starting to snow. I snapped this picture of the one lone rose left on the bush outside my backdoor:

As we sat inside The Shore Restaurant, chatting with Tina about how she planted walnut trees in Greece and harvested the nuts for Greek baklava with homemade phyllo, we watched the outside turn white. People walked in shaking flakes from their hair. Traffic slowed. My car disappeared under a blanket of snow.

After a slow, sloshy drive home, this is how the lone rose was holding up, less than an hour after we left it earlier:

Es ist ein Ros entsprungen,                          Lo, how a rose e’er blooming,
aus einer Wurzel zart,                                   From tender stem hath sprung.
wie uns die Alten sungen,                             Of Jesse’s lineage coming,
von Jesse war die Art                                   As men of old have sung;
Und hat ein Blümlein bracht                           It came, a flow’ret bright,
mitten im kalten Winter,                                Amid the cold of winter,
wohl zu der halben Nacht.                             When half spent was the night.
 
Das Blümelein, so kleine,                             O Flower, whose fragrance tender
das duftet uns so süß,                                 With sweetness fills the air,
mit seinem hellen Scheine                            Dispel with glorious splendor
vertreibt’s die Finsternis.                              The darkness everywhere;
Wahr Mensch und wahrer Gott,                     True man, yet very God,
hilft uns aus allem Leide,                              From Sin and death now save us,
rettet von Sünd und Tod.                              And share our every load.
 
(16th Century German hymn with Theodore Baker’s 1894 English translation)

Filed Under: flowers, garden Tagged With: ,

Bacon-Wrapped Chicken

December 3, 2011 by

What’s better than a big, juicy slab of meat? Meat wrapped in more meat, that’s what.

This recipe is ridiculously simple, and it works double-time to quell a hunger twice as big as the effort it requires. So, in five easy steps:

1. Flatten a chicken breast.

2. Spread with cream cheese, top with onions. (The original recipe called for sweet onions. I had red, so that’s what I used, and topped it off with some fresh cilantro.)

3. Meanwhile, fry bacon but remove from heat before it starts to crisp.

4. Roll up chicken and wrap bacon around it, securing with toothpicks.

* Extra step: I thinly sliced a small potato, sprinkling with olive oil, salt, pepper and the remaining onions. If you slice it too thick, they won’t bake as fast as the chicken.

5. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. My oven runs hot, so for me it was more like 325 degrees for 25 minutes.

Here’s what it looks like headed into the oven — pretty fancy already:

And the finished dish, with some sour cream and fresh parsley added to the potatoes:

 

Filed Under: chicken recipes, dinner recipes, Food Tagged With: , ,

Stuck at Home Sick

November 29, 2011 by

As wonderful as it was to spend Thanksgiving with my nieces, those sneezing, coughing, puking stinkers covered me with their germs. And now I’ve caught whatever they had.

It started with rawness in the throat, which progressed into a stuffy nose and a congestion headache. Now, I feel the way it looks outside — just yucky. Rainy, dreary days are always the best ones to be sick, because you’re stuck inside anyway and at least you’re not missing anything outside.

As someone who’s been stricken with migraines for the last half of my life, I’ve probably ingested more ibuprofen than some pharmacies sell in a week. But now I’m trying to avoid chemicals whenever I can and feed my body naturally instead.

Curled up with Nacho on the couch during Sick Day

So my first line of defense was Tazo green ginger tea, which combines the tummy-soothing powers of ginger with the all-around goodness of green tea into one warm, comforting mug. Then, it was the cold-fighting combo of vitamin C and zinc.

For headache, surprisingly, I turn to Bath & Body Works. Their Aromatherapy Pulse Point Headache Relief with peppermint oil works wonders. As it tells you on the tube, “Ancient Romans crowned themselves with wreaths of peppermint to awaken the mind and alleviate headaches.” It’s blended with cedarwood and spike lavender to help “calm the nerves and ease tension” with every inhale. Their headache mask, a disposable patch you stick on your forehead, also works great, but I tore through that package long ago and Bath & Body has since stopped making their Headache Relief products. This Daily Migraine blog covers the products and offers some more current alternatives. 

Then, of course: chicken noodle soup and ice chips (found out the dog enjoys the latter)(found out even later that feeding dogs ice cubes can actually ‘freeze’ their digestive systems). Laying on the couch with mom’s old heating pad plugged in and wrapped around my shoulders. Drinking lots of water and tea and Naked Green Machine, which I just recently discovered. Looks gross, tastes good.

What are your natural cure-alls for a sick day?

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

Night on the Town: Pickwick and Frolic

November 28, 2011 by

Think crepes are just for breakfast? I did, and boy was I wrong.
Last night I finally had the pleasure of dining at Pickwick and Frolic on East 4th Street, downtown Cleveland, where my boyfriend serves and bartends. For a year, I’ve been listening to him rave about the scallops, so it was about time I put Pickwick’s food to the test, objectively, as someone who doesn’t receive a paycheck from them.
We started with the Caprese Salad, a starter that looks too pretty to eat. Slices of melt-in-your-mouth beets, fresh red and yellow heirloom tomatoes, and crispy-gooey fried mozzarella are layered atop a bed of greens and drizzled with EVOO and a balsamic reduction. The only bad thing is that it’s not big enough — I’d like a whole plateful of the fried mozzarella slices, please.
Then, much faster than I expected, our entrees were delivered. The Pan-Seared Diver Sea Scallops are seared to plump perfection, but what makes them delectable is the lemon-chive Beurre Blanc sauce. Really, I want to drink it. Another nice presentation, too, with the scallops arranged in a ring around a mound of orzo pilaf topped with spinach.
He ordered (and I tasted) the Tuscan Chicken, the closest thing to a French dish on Pickwick’s rustic menu. The meat rests on top of two crepes stuffed with ricotta cheese and lavender, and that’s all topped off with a “rustic floral” tomato concasse sauce. I know, it seems like that game on Sesame Street: “Which of these does not belong?” I never would have thought to pair lavender-cheese crepes with a tomato-based chicken dish, but it works — quite well. It’s a nice, light floral accent to balance out the hearty tomatoes.  
I know I was supposed to be blown away by the scallops — and I was — but it’s those crepes I keep thinking about.
All in all, a terrifically delicious meal in a luxurious environment. Pickwick has a lot to offer, far beyond the excellent food. The Pickwick part is the actual restaurant, and then there’s also Frolic Cabaret, The Champagne Bar, Kevin’s Martini Bar, and Hilarities 4th Street Theatre — all in one building.The establishment suffers from a bit of an identity crisis, with each room claiming its own brand, but it’s in a good way — like if each of your multiple personalities was a beautiful, rich celebrity each with a distinct taste in alcohol and humor. Every room has a retro film noir feel, making it seem like a club that would be better suited for Hollywood than Cleveland. What better way to spend a night on the town than treating yourself to a magnificent dinner followed by a comedy show at Hilarities?
We ended the evening in loge seats for Adam Ferrara’s show. I can’t say that I watch him on either “Rescue Me” (Denis Leary frightens me) or “Top Gear” (I don’t care about cars), but I will say he was quite funny. I felt like I really got to know him during the show because of the personal family stories he told, often pausing for very serious moments to reflect on his father’s death or how much he loves his wife. A good blend of humor and poignancy, and a good way to end a great night.

Filed Under: Around Town, dining out Tagged With: , ,

The Power of a Plant

November 23, 2011 by

Interesting to stumble upon this plant (on the clearance rack, no less) while I’m reading a chapter in “The Source Field Investigations” by David Wilcock about the pinecone-shaped pineal glad in the center of your brain — or your third eye — and how this symbol pops up in sacred art around the world.

The pineal gland is considered by many to be the “point of contact for telepathic information exchange,” as Wilcock puts it. It is, basically, your soul — the door you open to access God and see into the spiritual realm.

This plant’s pink projection looks just like a pinecone to me. So if all this ancient symbolism holds any truth, this must be a pretty soulful plant, this Bromeliad. My boyfriend suggested I name it Lady, and that seems appropriate.

In the first chapter of this book, Wilcock investigates the research of Cleve Backster, who studied the powers of hypnosis and ended up with the CIA helping to pioneer the use of the polygraph. His secretary bought him the first plants he had ever owned. After working through the night, he had a crazy sleep-deprived idea: Hook the plants up to the polygraph.

With just a thought about harming the plant by burning its leaves, Backster noticed the plant’s waves jolt sharply, like it was “screaming.” But here’s the part that will really blow your mind: Once you start caring for a plant, it will start to react to you even when you’re not around. When you miss a turn on the highway or experience some other anxiety, and even when you make the spontaneous decision to return home, your plants react.

So now that this Pink Lady and I have gotten to know each other a little bit, I would be very interested to know what she thinks as I read the rest of this intriguing book…

Filed Under: garden Tagged With: