Peach Ice Cream and a Flat Tire on the Freeway. What??

The New (Cooking) Adventures of Ole' Bill

Confusing Title? I can explain that.

Highlight of this past Monday: I got a Flat Tire driving on the freeway. Now for those who are from small towns or don’t have freeways in major cities.

One would say it’s scary as hell esp when you live in Texas. It’s a danger zone. But fortunately I was able to get off the freeway accident free and w/some assistant from my one of my boys. Got a spare put on.

Right before a rainstorm hit. To say that I had a “Case of the Mondays”, I’d probably throw somethin at you and laugh at you at the same damn time.

Word of advice for those who have crappy days: Pour ya’self a tall glass of whatever your fav drink is. (Mine’s Peach Lemonade.) Try and Crack a Smile. Thank God you survived the day and hope that tomorrow will be a…

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Peanut Noodle Salad

Simple Provisions

One thing I miss about Australia is easy access to fresh, aromatic and cheap Southeast Asian food. I have cravings for a steaming bowl of rare beef Pho topped with fragrant Vietnamese mint, a squeeze of lemon and a squirt of chilli sauce that’s so hot it makes my nose run. Or a big mound of Pad Thai noodles piled with crushed peanuts, spring onions, fresh bean sprouts and herbs.

Although I miss my local Thai take-away, you will not find me complaining about the plethora of fantastic and cheap Mexican restaurants nearby in Brooklyn (that deliver!). I have happily swapped Southeast Asia for Mexico when in need of a I-can’t-be-bothered-cooking Thursday night meal. But this week I wanted a simple taste of Asia. And I had a picnic to cater, so a noodle salad was made.

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Elotes (Mexican street fair corn) salad

Five And Spice

I’ve been meaning to make this corn salad for a ridiculously long time, ever since Joel first told me about the amazing grilled corn he used to eat when he lived in Mexico.  As far as I could tell, he couldn’t bring it up often enough, it was that good.  And from his description, I believed it was exactly as delicious as he remembered it being.

Elotes is grilled corn smeared with mayonnaise, rolled in crumbled cheese and spices, and spritzed with lime.  If you ask me, that hits pretty much all the most important food groups and flavor categories.  It sounded like something I wanted to be able to shovel into my mouth by the forkful.

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Garden: Spaghetti with Summer Squash and Tomatoes

Katie at the Kitchen Door

I’ve been waiting for this meal for a long time.  Since February, to be exact, from the moment I put the first seed in the first pot to sit in my bedroom window absorbing the weak winter sun.  And by this meal, I don’t mean this dish exactly – I just mean the first meal where all of the produce (well, except the garlic, we don’t get to plant that until September) could be fresh-picked from the garden, moments before preparing it.  Accomplishing this was just as satisfying (and delicious) as I thought it would be.

The garden has been far more successful than I expected.  Our random assortment of pots with store-bought dirt have turned into a lush array of greenery, and I’m so happy about it.  The highest tendrils of the watermelon are beyond arm’s reach, the cucumbers have climbed all the way up the porch and threaten…

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Drink Week: Chellinis

Ages ago, I said I would participate in Drink Week, Marisa’s gathering of adventurous DIYers who don’t balk at a tipple or two with their preservy creations. I had grand plans: a local white wine sangria, with seasonal, local fruit; an herby-infused vodka, to go into a sophisticated, cucumber-and-something cocktail; or maybe something with foraged wild wineberries and local Tuthilltown whiskey. Alas, life happened, as it so often does: work appeared, in hunched-over-the-computer-’til-10 pm amounts; friends visited, birthdays popped up, and I somehow gathered 87 lbs of green beans in the fridge that need pickling.

Then I realized that my post was due this weekend and I am climbing all day Saturday (another, long-delayed birthday present for a friend), so I had better get crackin’. I had in mind a simple bellini: fresh peaches are in season after all, and prosecco is easy to come…

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Ms. F. And The Jelly Bean Monster

eggton

When I was in the second grade, my teacher devised a terrible way of getting us to pay attention.  It was called “The Jelly Bean Monster.”

I should say this: While I like to think Ms. F. went on to play Cruella de Vil on Broadway, she was not an evil woman.  I truly believe she saved The Jelly Bean Monster for times of genuine classroom anarchy–times when a lesser woman would have stuffed her head into the nearest backpack and cried.

In any event, The Jelly Bean Monster became her claim to fame.

This was ironic, because for a second grade teacher she couldn’t draw worth crap.

It didn’t matter.  She slapped that Monster up on the blackboard and assigned each of us a misshapen jelly bean.

And she moved our jelly beans closer to The Monster’s mouth when we misbehaved.

That was basically all she had to do…

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Pop Tarts !

There are lot’s of recipes for pop tarts and I would definitely be into trying a different recipe next time, but for my first time making pop tarts we used a recipe from Alton Brown’s blog.  We LOVE Alton Brown!  The leftovers were perfect to take to work for breakfast throughout the week.

I used Strawberry, Raspberry, 3-Berry jam and Lemon Curd for our fillings.  We definitely made frosting for them as well, and I topped a few of them with sprinkles.

One thing I would do differently next time is I would roll the dough out a bit thinner.  I went a bit too thick, still delicious though.

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Ice Cream Bar Lollies

Scratch That

eggton

Okay, so–my story about Ms. F and her Jelly Bean Monster backfired.  You guys were supposed to be outraged on my behalf, but instead everyone was like “What a neat idea!  Love it!  I’m going to use this on my child/spouse/students/employees!”

Take my friend Movita, for example.  She says she’s going to use The Jelly Bean Monster to maintain order in her college-level ballet classes.

That’s a terrible idea.  You know why?  Because her students are going to freak out.  It’s fine to upset a puny second grader, but you do not want to piss off an adult professional ballerina.  They’re strong.  They’re usually a little nuts, too (um, hello–Black Swan?)  And I get the sense that when they’re provoked, they’re not afraid to drop kick you and call it a pas de bourrée.

So, for everyone’s safety, I have to bomb the internet again.  This…

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Tuesdays with Dorie BWJ: Blueberry-Nectarine Pie