Archive for the ‘Straight to the Hips’ Category

We planted the zapote tree about a year and a half ago. We were astonished at how quickly it grew, and thrilled when we saw it was going to fruit already.

The websites say the fruit matures November through January. So, last Monday, we plucked a large fruit from the tree and brought it inside. We set it with the bananas to ripen. A week later, it had darkened to an olive green and was mushy (it was hard as a rock when picked). We cut it open.

The websites call it a chocolate pudding fruit.

The pulp is custard texture, with a slight chocolate flavor. I’ve never tasted anything like it before. It’s not sweet enough. We’ll wait a couple extra days with the two we just picked to see if another day or two increases the sweetness.

I’m thinking about a custard pie with these bad boys.

The tree is very heavily loaded with these fruit. If you’re local, come get some. Well, wait a week to see what I think of them next week, as this one might have been too early in the season.

Actually, now that I’ve had another taste of it, it reminds me a lot of the Sapote (Mamey) fruit in consistency. And the flavor is very similar, just chocolatier.

wRitErsbLock

Comments (4)

I forgot, it’s free taco day at Taco Bell because someone stole a base in a recent World Series game.

wRitErsbLock

Comments (1)

Holy toledo! These are like the best cookies ever!

Lukie’s recipe for pumpkin cookies is here. But, it’s 2 cups of powdered sugar, not one, in the icing. Also, if the icing gets too pastey, it won’t smear over the cookies at all. So, my first batch out of the oven is ugly, and has a big clump of icing instead of a pretty smear. But the next batch will be pretty.

I might try chipping the clumped icing off the first batch, re-melt the icing in the pot (I added a little water to soften my icing a bit), and re-ice my cookies. Or, I might just eat all of them, since they’re too ugly to serve.

UPDATED Now with picture goodness:

wRitErsbLock

Comments (2)

It’s a nice cool day. It’s baking weather! I anticipated today being baking weather, and bought butter last night.

Commence baking as soon as this phone call with my dad ends. I plan to try out Lukie’s pumpkin cookies recipe.

wRitErsbLock

Post a Comment

Yes we can, because this is my blog and I can talk about whatever I want to.

I boiled ten eggs last night. I would have boiled a dozen, but two were missing. Hubby has missed having eggs to take with him to work because I’m a slacker, so I wanted to make sure he had comestibles for the rest of the week. Well, he’s home sick today, so that meant I had extra eggs. I decided to make egg salad.

If I think too much about egg salad, it grosses me out and I cannot eat it. It is something I rarely ever make, which is kind of sad since I think it tastes pretty good, as long as I don’t think about it too much. (I have issues with eggs stemming back to age 11 when I cracked an egg with a large blood spot on the yolk.) So, I made my simple egg salad, threw some bread into the toaster, and went in search of husband and MIL to let them know there was food.

Me: Ma, I made egg salad if you want some.
MIL: What?
Me: Egg salad.
MIL: Ooh! (her eyes lit up, as they do when I make egg salad, as apparently it’s a food she rather enjoys) Can I have some?
Me: No. I was just coming in here to gloat. Ha ha! I made egg salad and you can’t have any!
MIL: Okay. (followed me back to the kitchen)

my toast popped up.

MIL: Can I have some bread?
Me: Nope. You also cannot have any of the coffee I just brewed.
MIL: (grabbing a mug) Okay.

MIL inhaled her egg salad sandwich (she also had it on toast). Eventually, sherlock came out of the computer room to eat the sandwich I made for him. I don’t think he enjoys it as much as his mom does, but that’s okay. I forgot how much my MIL seems to enjoy egg salad. I’ll try to make it more than once a year for her.

MIL: How do you make this? I’ve never made this before.
Me: Really? It’s so simple. Just boil some eggs, smush them, add mayo, a little mustard, and some salt and pepper.
MIL: Oh, that’s it?
Me: Yup.

Yeah, she’ll never make it. Too difficult!

I think egg salad is poor people food. Eggs are still relatively cheap. And it’s a simple food to make that can be quite filling. And, frankly, it’s protein. So, it’s a good food. Since we’re poor, I think we’ll start having egg salad sandwiches more often.

Do you like egg salad? See, now that I’ve spent all this time writing about it, I think it’s gross again. I have such issues with eggs!

wRitErsbLock

Comments (8)

Is it too early to start perusing Thanksgiving recipes? I’ve been reading status updates on various social networking sites of friends in Northern states. Because they have cooler weather than I do here in Orlando, they are all baking apple crisp, pumpkin pies, and other autumnal goodies. I love to bake, but it’s still too warm here to have my oven on. I need to look online and see if I can find a recipe for pumpkin bread in the bread machine, that way I wouldn’t have to utilize the oven. And I need to try Lukie’s recipe for pumpkin cookies she posted for me a few weeks ago.

If tomorrow’s weather is as pleasant as today’s was, perhaps I’ll do some baking. Baking is good for my soul. Bad for the waistline, though!

wRitErsbLock

Post a Comment

It certainly seems that my husband and I are trading off who feels stressed out about my employment situation. This is a good thing, because both of us being stressed and depressed at the same time would be, um, discouraging. Today, I have been very down. Lousy run. Depression (and desire to eat all day long that, thankfully, I have not completely acted upon). If I don’t snap out of it, you and I both know I will have an acne outbreak from stressing myself out, which will only make me more stressed. Vicious cycle, that.

Holy toledo! The gift card we received from F&K was for a LOT of money. Wow. It made me cry. I hate being a charity case. We did good grocery shopping: lots of meat (mostly ground) and some rice. Pasta was not BOGO, so we didn’t get any. We’re big on BOGO shopping.

I opened a bottle of previously-purchased wine with dinner. Sherlock said, “are you sure you want to open that? We’re not going to be able to refill our rack for a while.” I replied, “how much does it suck that now, when we’ll be wanting to drink away our stress, we cannot afford it?” The wine: delicious. We have a bottle of champagne left over from New Years Eve. We’ll pop that cork when I accept my fabulous new job offer. So… any day now!

I’ve decided I’ll skip Monday night training, but will go to the previously-impossible-to-attend Wednesday morning training. I prefer to run in the morning, and I am very disinclined to go out at night. So, going to the Monday night training without having it be on the way home from work just is not very appealing. Also, we both feel stressed about either one of us riding our scooters at night in the dark, whereas riding in the morning in the dark is less stressful for some reason. I think it’s because in the morning, it’s getting lighter; at night, it’s getting darker. Also, other drivers are more likely to be sober at 6a than at 6p. I hope, anyway! So, while I am unemployed I’ll go to the 630a Wednesday training sessions instead of the 6p Monday night training sessions. Same amount of training, but at a much better time for me. Hmmmm… I’d better email my coaches to make sure the Wednesday morning trainings still exist.

wRitErsbLock

Comments (1)

I made a fabulous roast beef tonight. Here’s what I did.

1 Hunk of meat (it was on sale at Publix)
threw it into the pressure cooker, filled with water to come half way up the side of the meat
1 beef bullion cube (because we’re out)
4 garlic bullion cubes (see above about lack of beef cubes)
healthy shake of garlic powder.
healthy shake of my favorite Sazon Completa (I’ve linked it in many blog posts, you should know by now)
large handful of carrot straws that dissolved completely, thereby becoming a sneaky food my husband could not pick out
six potatoes, cubed (we’re now out, someone needs to buy groceries)
handful of dried red onion flakes (from the Asian grocery store)
tablespoon of minced garlic
brief shake of cinnamon (trust me on this, but just a dash, don’t over due it)

Pressure cook for 45 minutes or until meat is tender enough.

My potatoes absorbed such amazing flavor, as did my meat. My carrots, as I said, completely dissolved.

I thickened the gravy in the usual corn starch way. Made hubby slice the meat. And had a delicious dinner.

I’ll wash it down with ice cream. You know, as you do when you’re depressed. Unless I decide to drink more, which is also very likely.

wRitErsbLock

Comments (2)

This is really how conversations sound in our house.

I arrived home from work and was greeted at the door by my husband and kid.

sherlock: Time for ice cream?
me: Just let me pee first.
RTY: Ice cream?!
sherlock: Yup, it’s free ice cream day!
RTY: Awesome!

Moments later…

me: Ready?
sherlock: Ready.
RTY: Ready.
Ma: Que paso?
sherlock: We’re going to get ice cream.
Ma: Antes de comer?
sherlock: Yeah.
Ma: Bueno. Vamos.
Me: Did you just say, “Bueno, vamos?!”
Ma: Si.
Me: **Laughing**
sherlock: We’re talking ice cream, what did you expect her to say?

My MIL loves ice cream. It is one of her weaknesses.

So, we went out and had free ice cream before dinner. Then, we came home and had dinner. For dessert, we went to the other Cold Stone and had more ice cream for dessert. We’re like that. (Yes, yes, we donated to the Make a Wish collection jars at both ice cream places. We’re not that cheap!)

We met up with F up at the second ice cream place, so while Ma too RTY back to her other domicile, sherlock and I spent the rest of the evening being social. I’m ready for more ice cream…

wRitErsbLock

Post a Comment

Don’t forget to visit Cold Stone ice cream tonight 5p-8p for free ice cream.

On September 25th from 5:00 - 8:00PM, guests will be treated to a 3 oz. serving of Jack or Emily’s Creation. All donations will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Bring some cash to donate, because Make-A-Wish is a great charity. And enjoy some tasty creations.

wRitErsbLock

Comments (1)

Just because I have a stomach and taste buds, and I’m pretty sure you do too, I offer these brief, unsolicited reviews.

***

I have never been a fan of Hershey’s Kisses; I just don’t like them. I don’t like their Hugs, either. Their peanut butter filled kisses are slightly more palatable, but still not something I crave like I crave PB Cups. Imagine my surprise, then, to discover a kiss I love, even as I feel my teeth rotting off from the sugar. The end cap at the check out at Target yesterday had a seasonal variety: Pumpkin Spice. Always an impulse buyer, that bag jumped onto the conveyor belt and was opened in the car. OMG! These are so fabulous! No chocolate at all. It’s like a Pumpkin smoothie in a quick bite of heaven. If you like pumpkin bread/pie/muffins/ice cream/smoothies, get thee to the store and grab a bag or twenty of these before I buy them all.

***

I’m no fan of active cultures, but am trying to eat healthier due to some marathon training or something. Also, it’s better if I bring snacks to work than eat the Doritos that scream my name all day long. There are some products I don’t mind buying store brands for, and others I avoid. Yogurt was one of my avoid items, until Publix brand yogurt went on sale a couple weeks ago, and I tried all the flavors that appealed to me. I buy the green and white containers, they’re supposedly lower fat. Kids, these active cultures taste so good. I’ve tried banana cream pie, cappuccino, pomegranate blueberry, key lime pie, and my absolute favorite: wildberry crumb cake. Awesome flavor! I can taste the graham cracker crust and can trick myself into thinking I’m having dessert. So, even though I have a mental aversion to active cultures, I have found a brand and flavors I can enjoy.

***

There you go, two food reviews for you. I’m hungry.

wRitErsbLock

Post a Comment

We hit a winery up the road. We got there at the right time, as we were the only customers in the place. As such, the nice lady let us taste almost every single wine they had. So, we each had something like twelve or fifteen different wines. My kind of tasting!

We bought two bottles for tonight.

My cousin and cousin-in-law are about to get off work, so I think we’re heading back out. I really need a quick nap, but I don’t think that’s likely.

Having fun! Wish you were here!

wRitErsbLock

Comments (1)

Yesterday, while shopping for lunch at the grocery store, RTY asked, “can we make cookies?”
Me: What kind of cookies?
RTY: Olympic cookies.
Me: What kind of cookies are Olympic cookies?
RTY: Round.
Me: Are they peanut butter? Cinnamon chip? Sugar?
RTY: Cinnamon chip.
Me: yes, we can make cookies.

I sent her to buy a box of butter, but really, I should have had her go in search of acne treatments given how bad for us the cookies are!

Back at home, sherlock started the grilled ham and cheese sandwiches while RTY and I started the cookies. And, because I suck, I kept discovering missing ingredients. So, the cinnamon chip cookies (generally just your classic chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I live with three weirdos who don’t like chocolate, so we substitute cinnamon chips, which, btw, are nearly impossible to find except around Christmas, when I stock pile) had to be improvised. Now, don’t get me wrong, the cookies taste fabulous, but they are ugly. I used too much butter given the missing dry ingredient, and that I didn’t substitute enough additional flour. Ugly, flat, super crispy cookies. Tasty, but ugly.

Before I started the peanut butter cookies sherlock requested, I bought the missing ingredients. I didn’t want two ugly batches of cookies.

wRitErsbLock

Post a Comment

some of them are so wonderful and bring by huge cheese cakes from The Cheesecake Factory as a thank you for designing such a beautiful home for them. And they do this on days when no one is here, forcing me and co-worker E to have to dig into the delicacy without any of the powers that be.

wRitErsbLock

Comments (2)

Hubby just emailed me and reminded me that today is 7-11.

FREE SLURPEE DAY AT 7-Eleven! Well, I think I need to brave traffic, walk across the street, and get my first 7.11 ounce slurpee.

You may recall, we go a little Slurpee crazy on free slurpee day.

wRitErsbLock

Comments (3)