I Miss Fish

It's hard to come by in this house.
I don't think the parents like fish.
I love fish.
I miss fish.
So when I went on a grocery shopping trip with Dad I jumped at the chance to buy some fish. Some fish that would be fit for FRYING.

Deep frying has recently come into mine and BF's lives. We'd never made fish and chips from scratch so, since he was over and we don't celebrate Easter, we deep fried some fish. And some potatoes. It was wonderful.

We used Alton Brown's fish and chip recipe as a guideline and went from there. We didn't have Old Bay seasoning and we had a six pack of Torpedo. I'd say it worked out just as well. Dad kept saying it was awesome.





Although it was an all afternoon affair, it was totally worth it.
I need more deep fried foods in my life.
And more real beer. Gluten-Free just isn't the same.


:)

It Was Inevitable...

My 4th of July post... you know you were wondering where it was/what I made/what I did.

I went home for the 4th. We had a lovely inebriated BBQ badminton bash in which we all wore matching t-shirts and patriotic temporary tattoos. But before I left town I made some festive red and blue M&M cookies.
I could have sworn M&M packaged red and blue M&Ms just for this sort of occasion and, after searching through the seasonal sections in big name discount stores and grocers, I gave in and bought them at a specialty candy store.
I used my favorite never fail chocolate chip cookie recipe and slightly altered it.



Chocolate Chip Cookies (or in this case, M&M cookies)
From Food Network Kitchens How To Boil Water, Meredith, 2006


1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 (12 oz) bag semisweet chocolate chips, or chunks (I used red and blue M&Ms)
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp fine salt

Evenly position 2 packs in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone sheets (if you only have 1 baking sheet, let it cool completely between batches).

Put the butter in a microwave safe bowl, cover and microwave on medium power until melted (alternatively melt in a small saucepan). Cool slightly. Whisk the sugars, eggs, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt in another bowl. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingedients with a wooden spoon; take care not to over mix. Do not do this->Stir in the chocolate chips or chunks.

Scoop heaping tablespoons of the dough onto the prepared pans. Wet hands slightly and roll the dough into balls. Space the cookies about 2-inches apart on the pans. Push as many M&Ms as you can fit into the balls of dough. Bake until golden, but still soft in the center, 12 to 16 minutes, depending on how chewy or crunchy you liked your cookies. Transfer hot cookies with a spatula to a rack to cool. Serve.




Give this recipe a try! They were a hit!




And now... for an update!



Day 6, money spent thus far: $10.25
Had to buy milk yesterday.
Living on 4th of July leftovers.


:)

Cinco de Mayo

Oh Cinco de Mayo... you're not a national holiday (in this country any way) but you are a college holiday; a day where cheap tequila, margaritas in all their glorious flavors, and cerveza flow freely.

It's a day the BF doesn't need an excuse to consume his favorite type of ethnic food. It's a day where I actually consume one form or another of "Mexican" food. (Didn't Anthony Bourdain squash the nachos being Mexican thing on "No Reservations"?)

Observe the wonderful Today's Taco Leftover Nachos. Tortilla chips covered in cheese (yum) and ground beef with spicy taco seasonings. Just pop them in the oven and *insert Spanish word for voila* you have nachos! We used sour cream, refried beans, and salsa as nacho condiments.





And since I had some gin handy (never a bad idea having gin handy) (no I'm not a senior citizen, I just have a thing for gin and tonics) and BF had grapefruit juice handy, he whipped me up a wonderfully refreshing cocktail (bc he is AWESOME at whipping up cocktails). Alas, it was not his own creation, as we found out later.





What it turned out to be was a Reynold's Special. Try it. You'll love it.


:)