Noodley Goodness

My husband first lived in China before we had ever met. He lived in Northern China, Xi'an (pronounced She-On) .



It is the town that is home to the terracotta warriors. 



In northern China, they tend to live more on noodle dishes than rice dishes. How is that for an interesting fact for you? There was a little noodle shop in his neighborhood, that he often frequented with his roommates. Before we ever moved to China together, all I ever heard about were those damn noodles. Finally, we were able to make the trip to Xi'an together.. along with Mario, Crystal and our friend Randall. I was excited to finally see what all the hub-bub was about.


The whole gang, minus Brandon (someone had to take the picture!) - Randall, Yours Truly, Crystal, Mario.

The noodle shop was really just a tiny little whole in the wall place, with a giant wok on top of a large open flame - boiling water for noodles.


taken by Mario


taken by Mario

The restaurant was not in the Muslim Quarter, but was owned by a Hui family. Like most noodle restaurants in China, the noodles were handmade.

Almost a year after my first taste of the noodles, Brandon and I went to Xi'an again. We, of course, headed to the Muslim noodles shop asap only to find that it, along with almost an entire block of buildings, had been leveled.

Out of curiosity, we ran across the street to a shabby dry cleaning place and asked the owner if he knew if the restaurant had moved.... it had. Score! He jotted down the directions and off we were. We hiked around Xi'an for the better part of an hour before finally stumbling across the new home for those glorious Xi'an Muslim noodles.

The new establishment was much more Western friendly...

They were still run by the same family and were still hand making their noodles.

I don't know if you can tell, and you may already be familiar with this, but the man in that picture is taking the long strands of dough and pulling, swinging, and thwaping it around in the air and on the table. This is actually a common site among the streets and restaurants in Northern China. Oh, and do you see that basket of green stuff? Coriander .. or Cilantro. Whatever you want to call it.

The noodle ingredients were pretty basic: noodles, cauliflower, potato, fried tofu, black fungus and carrots. Always with cilantro on the top! Mmmm.


Please excuse the blurriness.

The flavor comes from all of the spices. I'm sure there is something in the broth they used to cook the vegetables in, but the majority of the spice comes from what you add after your helping has been dished.







I've slowly learned how to recreate this dish for my husband. Of course, I have no noodle-thwapping skills, so I just make egg noodles and cut the strips out. I have a pasta maker, but it doesn't make them as thick as they should be.

I made this dish the other night. I like to think it is one of the reasons he still keeps me around.

Getting My Noodle-Groove on, in our hobbit-sized kitchen in China, 2005

----

After searching through my old Chinese photos, I came across some lameo ones I took with a point and shoot, because I oh-so-desperately wanted engagement picture. And OMG look at my hair! LOVE it. Why can't it be like that now? (insert whiny 4 year old voice, foot stomp and door slam here)


Spring 2005

I Can't Get No...

I had a craving for something other than my standard, leftover, grilled chicken and veggies for lunch today. I decided to hit up the drive-thru (shudder. I know) and grab me one of those tasty (looking) new Southern Style chicken sandwiches from McDonald's. I ordered and pulled ahead with my debit card out ready to be swiped. 

Nope. Sorry. Not going to happen. 

Their credit card machine was down, did I have any cash on me? Ha. In this day in age? I save my cash for tipping the bartender! So, I pulled out of line and headed home to let the dogs out. 

The craving stayed with me, and not be able to have it made it worse. So, I headed to the ATM to pull out $20 and back in the drive-thru line I went. This time, I ordered and had a crisp bill in hand to pay for my sustenance. The McDonald's employee and I exchanged goods. I drove to a shady spot and opened my sack, pulled out a (surprisingly light) box... only to find a box of chicken tenders. Not curiously non-chicken-like-nuggets.. but real, chicken tenders. Blah. Who wants that? 

That meant I had to get out of my car and head back inside and explain that my order was wrong. I finally got my southern style chicken sandwich and dashed for the car. I couldn't wait to devour it! 

Guess what? That sandwich wasn't very good. There's nothing on it but two pickles! Ugh. I think the fried-crispy-goodness gods must have been trying to warn me. I should have paid attention. 

All You Can Eat

I live in Reno, NV, which of course means loads of casinos and all you can eat buffets. Normally, we don't hit the buffets up unless someone is in town visiting or other random occasions.. about once a year typically.


There is a local's promotion going on at The Grand Sierra Resort and Casino here in town - All You Can Eat for $7.77, seven days a week, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Last night, we trotted on over to the casino that was home of the $7.77 buffet (and also, surprisingly, home to Ashton Kutcher's restaurant, Dolce). We weren't looking to stuff our faces... just simply looking for sustenance at a low price (we haven't been to the store yet this week). I was also craving a "real meal" - meat and potatoes.. and for $7.77 ... who could resist?

After the 30 minute wait (yeah.. Monday at 6:30!), we grabbed some plates and checked out the grub. I wandered over to the crab legs to select a few appendages to adorn my plate and ended up having to wait several minutes behind Mr. Crab as he selected Every. Last. Meaty. Crab. Leg. At arms length. Seriously. This guy left no leg unturned... and only left the chicken-y crab legs for me to choose from. How rude?! I mean, no sweat for me, because I only wanted like THREE crab legs anyway... but what kind of honky are you? Were you raised by wolves? Who taught you to pick through every last crab leg at a public eating establishment so you could have ALL of the good crab legs?


Guess what.. each time I went back ... there was someone else doing the exact same thing. It was like I was the only considerate person eating crab that night.

By the time the idea to blog about this finally popped into my head... I had missed the chance to photograph another Mr. Crab. I lurked around the crab station for minutes.. just waiting for the next Gluttonous Crab Eater to make a spectacle of himself in front of my trusty iphone. No such luck. In the end, I just grabbed another plate and two more crab legs (even though I was oh so full) so I would look like a moron.

**and yes, it is our anniversary, and instead of writing a mushy, “I love my husband THIS much.. even after two years of marriage.” post... I'm posting about an all you can eat buffet. And tonight? Tonight we are cooking steak, opening a bottle of wine, and watching Enchanted. I do love him THIS much .. but I'm not sharing that with you... I'll save that for him ;)

Chicken a la Emily

One time in China, I was cooking a recipe for Chicken Marengo out of a Peace Corps China cookbook. At some point, I grabbed a jar of cinnamon instead of some other seasoning, and dashed away into my pot of Chicken Marengo. Whoops!

Oh well. I was already that far into making it, and I didn't have any other options for dinner, so I dipped a spoon into the concoction and tasted it.

Mmm. Interesting.

From then on, I slowly changed the recipe to what we now affectionately refer to as, Chicken a la Emily.

I made it the other night, and thought I'd share it with you ...

• 2 large chicken breasts, cubed
  
• olive oil
  
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1/2 cup beer
  
• 2 cups chopped tomatoes
  
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
  
• 2 (generous) dashes of cinnamon
  
• 1 dash cayenne pepper
  
• salt and pepper
  
• 2 T chicken bullion (though I tend to use more like a half cup! heh.)
  
• 1-2 T cornstarch (only if mixture doesn't thicken)
  

Heat oil in skillet (I use a wok). Add chicken and brown lightly on all sides, sprinkling with salt and pepper when browned. Remove chicken and set aside. Cook onion and garlic in remaining oil until soft. Return chicken to the pan with other ingredients. Cover and simmer until sauce has thickened.

Serve on top of rice, and sometimes with Nan - depending on how carbalicious you are feeling. I usually serve it with garlic broccoli, but had some asparagus that needed to be eaten that night.

*I have another chicken recipe I got from a co-worker's girlfriend that I'm going to try out this week. We desperately need to reintroduce chicken into our lives, especially now that we've given up fast food! If the recipe is tasty, I'll share it later...

My Favorie Muffin

Besides my Little-Love-Muffin-Husband of course....

We had breakfast at My Favorite Muffin today. There is something relaxing about going out for breakfast on the weekends... almost like you are on a vacation.

Weekend or not, tasty bagels are always a welcomed treat.





I got so excited when I saw the green wall by these tables. I wanted to take a picture of B but whenever I'd bust out the camera, he'd duck and take a bite of his bagel-wich. Such a party pooper.

Pneumatic Diner

Went to lunch and a movie (27 Dresses) with a friend this afternoon. Which is a wonderful alternative to Super Bowl Sunday I might add.

For lunch, we headed to the Pneumatic Diner here in MyTown, USA. It is a small, hippie-crunchy-type vegetarian cafe that is close to downtown, hidden amongst a deteriorating neighborhood. I had never been before, but not being a stranger to tofu, was anxious to give it a go.

You enter the building and have to climb up a flight of colorful stairs before reaching the restaurant (not only do they serve tofu, but they force you to exercise before hand. great). The restaurant itself is filled with that eclectic, interesting type of clutter found in backpacker cafes across the world.



We were greeted by young woman in dark rimmed glasses and skinny jeans (of course).

"Just wait there girls."

The place had like 7 tables in it. Were they really worried about the seating arrangements or table sections? The server then grabbed some menus and walked us two steps to our table, plopped the menus down and walked away. This place was obviously not known for its service. (Oh God. Come to think of it.. there was such a lack of "service" I'm pretty sure we forgot to tip. Whoops. Being an ex-server myself... I almost NEVER do that.)

The menu was surprisingly large. It even offered up a number of vegan friendly dishes. When the time came to place our order, we were informed that they were out of tofu. What? The vegetarian place was out of tofu? You couldn't have mentioned this when we sat down? A little "Just let me know when you are ready, and by the way.... we are out of tofu today... my apologies" would have been greatly appreciated. Nope. Instead, after we sat there with confused looks on our faces for several seconds (totally threw us for a loop), the server just sighed and said she'd be back. Then she stormed off to the table two spots away and took their order.

I ended up ordering a breakfast burrito and a latte (mmm), while my friend had the lasagna. The food was excellent... and filling.

I guess that brings me to the conclusion of this "review".... (such a dramatic ending, I know). While the server was your stereo-typical, grouchy truck stop waitress, the food was still pretty damn good. I think someone forgot to tell that girl that hippies love life. They smile, they sing.... they don't sigh and stomp away.

Blondes Do it Right

My husband LOVES meatloaf... and when I say LOVE, I mean an emotion that is borderline abnormal. On any given day, he's either craving Mexican food (bleh) or meatloaf (double bleh).

A long, long time ago (back during that hellatious month known as NaBloPoMo) Unnaturally Blonde posted about a dinner her Hubs made. He had found a new meatloaf recipe to try and even baked it in the shape of a Christmas tree for her.

I NEEDED to get my hands on that recipe... like YESTERDAY. I grew up with a pretty tasty meatloaf my mom made, and I've sampled countless other recipes, but have never really found one where I wasn't forcing myself to like it. Instead, I've lasted four years with only making meatloaf for my husband a total of three times. Once, when we were first dating and I was still trying to Woo him with my domestic-abilities (ha. fooled him didn't I?). The second time I made it we were living in China and I was forced to use only ground pork because for some reason we could never find ground beef. The meatloaf turned out greasy and undercooked ... and wound up in the trash. And the third time ... well I'm not exactly sure. Obviously, it wasn't that memorable.

I emailed N and she was quick to send me the recipe. I was grateful and told her I'd make it that weekend. Lie. I never made it. I mean, I had every intention of making it, I just never got around to it - until last night anyway.

Now, I must admit. When I first read through the recipe I thought, "This doesn't look like anything special." I had my doubts. That may have even played a part in my procrastinating.

Last night, I sucked it up and went to work. That was the EASIEST, real meal I've prepared in a long time. It made my husband's week and he hadn't even tasted it yet. Once he had tasted the first bite, he totally forgot about all the whining and misery I put him through last week! He even said it was the best meatloaf he's ever had. Yeah baby. The BEST.

Honestly.... it was pretty damn good. So good in fact, that we ate the entire loaf.

The Recipe:

1 lb. ground beef
1 tbsp. ketchup
3 cloves garlic (finely chopped) OR I like to use minced (makes things much easier)
1 1/2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. olive oil
1 egg
2 cups Italian style bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper, to taste

Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl. By hand, mix all ingredients until well blended. Shape meatloaf into desired shape, drizzle oil over top and rub by hand.

Apparently, you can bake a myriad of ways, depending on your oven. What I did was bake it for 35 minutes at 350°F in my ghetto-fabulous, electric, apartment oven. Then I took it out and poured My Own Little Concoction over the top, and baked it again for about 8 minutes.

The Recipe for My Own Little Concoction:

1 part ketchup
1 part mustard
a bit of brown sugar (maybe 1 tbsp. or more)
2 dashes of garlic powder
1 tsp. soy sauce

Mmmmmmm.

Nestlé Toulouse

*Kudos to those of you who get the title reference.

I must say, out of ALL of the different desserts I've had, (in all my 26 years) chocolate chip cookies would still have to be my favorite dessert.

I'm not talking fancy-schmancy chocolate chip cookies either. The ones I crave and love come from the simple recipe on the the back of the Nestle Tollhouse Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips bag.

The best part about making cookies.... is of course the dough! (PS... totally tried to find a non-pornariffic shot of me licking the beater... this was the best I could do... sorry. Before this, I had no idea licking something as innocent as cookie dough off of a beater could look so graphic.)

As usual, whenever I'm in the kitchen (regardless of the reason) I have company.....



...just waiting for a tasty morsel to fall on the floor to then be gobbled up with out so much as a single sniff or chew. The floor is of course, his turf. Or so he thinks.

Christmas Tacos

Hankering

Driving down the 80, staring at the mountains ahead of me covered in fresh snow... and it reminds me of powdered sugar. Suddenly, I have a craving for deep fried Oreo cookies sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Keep in mind, this is after a breakfast of fudge (thanks C!) and 1.5 slices of cheesecake for lunch. The holidays are going to be killer on my thighs.

Zagol Ethiopian Cuisine

Last night, nine of us went out for dinner. We went to a new restaurant in town, Zagol Ethiopian Cuisine.

I think it is pretty safe to say that this was EVERYONE’S first time with Ethiopian food. Which helped make for an exciting night. No one really knew what to expect. Though, I had read this (raving) review before hand, which prepped me with the basics of Ethiopian food:

Injera - soft, thin, spongy bread - the consistency of a nerf ball, but it tastes better
Eating with your hands - using injera as a vehicle to get the food from the plate to your mouth
Lamb, beef, and spicy

Why not? I love Indian food (hello lamb, naan, spicy!). Plus, I really enjoyed most all of the food in China (and let me tell you - it was nothing like P.F. Changs). So, why not add Ethiopian food to my list?

When we started looking at the menu, I think we became a little overwhelmed. I can’t speak for the rest of us, but pretty much everything on the menu sounded good to me. Thankfully, the (super sweet and funny) server suggested the veggie combo (includes 3 types of veggie dishes) and two meat combos (3 types of meat dishes for each combo) for our group.

Here is what we chose (along with the restaurants description of the food):

Veggie Combo:

Shiro Powdered peas simmered in hot Ethiopian sauce and spice
Kik Alicha Yellow split peas cooked and flavored with green pepper, turmeric, onion and Ethiopian spice
KilKil Fresh green beans, carrots, onion and green pepper flavored with garlic, ginger, tomato and Ethiopian spice.


Meat Combos:

ZilZil Tibs Long strips of tender beef sautéed lightly in purified herbal butter; seasoned with onion and fresh rosemary
Key Wat Lean beef stew slowly cooked in spicy chili pepper sauce and purified herbal butter
Gored Gored Cubes of beef lightly sautéed in purified herbal butter and a sprinkle of chili pepper
Kitfo (Well done) Lean minced beef seasoned with purified herbal butter, mitmita (a hot-spiced chili pepper) and robust spices (choice of raw, rare or well done)
Beg Tibs Fresh lamb sautéed with purified herbal butter seasoned with onions, green pepper, tomato spices and fresh rosemary
Doro Wat Chicken legs or thigh slowly cooked in spicy hot chili pepper sauce and robust spices (Hard- boiled eggs and homemade cheese are optional)

On each combo, we also got Abesha Selata (lettuce and tomato salad).

The food was served on top of large, round pieces of injera. We also had several baskets of injera, but when the baskets were gone, we were able to peel off the bread from the platters.

We didn't have personal dishes, just the three big platters of food, our hands, and the injera. I'm also proud to admit the nine of us went the entire meal with out breaking down and asking for flatware! Way to go us!

Pretty much everything was delicious. A few favorites of mine, Kitfo, ZilZil Tibs, and KilKil.

We even ordered the Ethiopian Beer. A nice stout, that we referred to as, “Chocolate” beer - because that is pretty much what it tasted like. I think that beer could easily be on my top 5 favorite beers list. Others ordered the Ethiopian, organic honey wine. It was a white wine that kind of smelled like vinegar. I don’t think anyone really cared for that too much. Then again, I’m not quite sure Ethiopia is known for its wines.

In the end... I’ll definitely be back... but probably only with a large group. The family style atmosphere was pretty fun. It is definitely enhanced when you have a large group of people. This food is also like eating sushi... you eat a lot, but never really feel full. We had to stop for ice cream on the way home! What a shame.

Eating Ethiopian food with friends really is an event! I highly recommend trying it if you get the chance.

*Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my camera... as I only have my monster D-SLR (Santa has yet to replace my old (broken) point and shoot with a new slim, compact, point and shoot camera that easily fits in purses!) So there are no pictures. So sad, I know. If you’d like to complain, feel free to do so! I’ll make sure it gets forwarded on to the big Boss.

**edit, there are a few pictures (courtesy of Vaungaylyn) up on my flickr site now. but since I didn't have control of the camera and had just met this person so I wasn't going to demand that she retake my picture a million times to get The. Perfect. Shot. I won't be post the pictures here... because the last thing I want to do is look at my cheesy grin and double chin over and over again each time I load this page! ha. But if you are reading this V... I do appreciate the pictures.. thank you oh so much.

Not the Brightest Crayon in the Box

Apparently, all those years in food service and all those classes to get several food handler's permits didn't teach me a damn thing about proper food storage.

Last night, I decided to eat some left over pumpkin pie. Left over pumpkin pie which my husband ate a slice of just yesterday. Left over pumpkin pie that has heavy cream & eggs in it. Left. Over. Pumpkin pie that has been sitting out on my counter since the night before Thanksgiving. (Yes, I know this was wrong, NOW.)

When I took the pretty glass cover off of the pumpkin pie, I got a whiff of something slightly sweet, yet slightly sour. I disregarded this. The pie looked like there was some condensation gathering on the top. I tried to dab it up with a paper towel, and found that it wasn't condensation, but sticky stuff instead. I disregarded this as well.

I placed the slice of pie on my plate and covered it with ginger whipped cream. Then, I headed over to the couch to watch The Santa Clause with my hubby. As soon as the fork entered my mouth, I thought out loud (yes, with my mouth full), "I don't think this pumpkin pie is good still." As soon as the fork left my mouth and that rotten, sour, moldy tasting pie hit my taste-buds I leapt from the couch, screeching in agony, and ran to the bathroom. I spit the pie out in the trash and rinsed my mouth out with as much water as possible, all while trying to avoid placing any pressure on the pie and my tongue - hoping to avoid an encore of that God awful taste!

I was still screaming and B was upset that I was unable to properly communicate what it was that was afflicting me. Once my mouth was free of that wretched taste, I said, "I think the pie should have been refrigerated. It tastes bad. Want to taste it for me?"

Needless to say, after the reaction to my piece of pie, he wasn't going near it! The pie was thrown out and a packaged cupcake consumed instead.

I guess I should say that this is the first time, in my adult life, I've had Thanksgiving at my own place - so we could actually have leftovers. Growing up, I never remember there being a pumpkin pie in the fridge ... but then again, there may have never been any left over pie to go into the fridge. But... I've learned my lesson. Next year, into the fridge the pie goes.

Thanksgiving

The food is in our bellies, the dishes are in the sink... now the pictures are on the blog!

We had a nice, relaxing day. I'm really looking forward to the next few days (and pumpkin pie later tonight, mmm with Ginger Whipped Cream!).


Even T&F had a relaxing day, very little bitey face & wrastling for them. Mostly, they just followed the sun around the house so they could lay in it.











We made WAY too much food, and will most likely have left overs until Christmas. I think we could have fed at least a family of 6!





Setting for two..

Sinful

Because you and you asked for it... I'll share the recipe for cream cheese brownie pie!

Cream Cheese Brownie Pie

1 refrigerated pie crust (from 15 oz. package) softened as directed on package (or your own. I do both depending on how into the baking I'm feeling.)
8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
15 oz. package Pillsbury Thick 'n Fudgy Hot Fudge Swirl Deluxe Brownie Mix ( but really, and brownie mix will do .. even your own. I've made it several different ways.)
1/4 cup oil
2 Tbsp. water
(1/2 Pecans, if you are so inclined... Hubby hates nuts in his baked goods, so we leave 'em out)

Heat oven to 350°. Prepare pie crust as directed on package (for one-crust filled pie) using 9-inch pie pan. In medium bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and one of the eggs; beat until smooth. Set aside.

Reserve hot fudge packet from brownie mix for topping. In large bowl, combine brownie mix, oil, 1 Tbsp of water and 2 remaining eggs; beat 50 strokes with a spoon. Spread 1/2 cup brownie mixture in bottom of crust-lined pan. Spoon and carefully spread cream cheese mixture over brownie layer. Top with remaining brownie mixture; spread evenly. (Sprinkle with pecans.)

Bake at 350° for 40 to 50 minutes or until center is puffed and crust is golden brown. If necessary cover edge of crush with strips of foil after 15 to 20 minutes of baking to prevent excessive browning. (Pie may have cracks on surface.)

Place hot fudge from packet in small microwave-save bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir in remaining tablespoon of water. Drizzle fudge over top of pie. Cool 3 hours or until completely cooled. Store in refrigerator.

This has to be on par with the richness of a chocolate pecan pie. It is ridiculously rich, chocolaty, creamy, and just all over tasty! Unfortunately, I wont be making CCB pie for today. Since it will just be the two of us and all.

The turkey is now in the oven and we are planning to eat around 3:00 pm-ish. We'll see.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'll post pictures later.

False Alarm

(Hubby, this is for you. If you get home this evening, smell something burning and question whether or not to call the fire department... don't worry. It was just your domestic goddess trying to cook again! )

I had big dreams of making a tasty meal for lunch today, instead of the usual lean cuisine (despite what one might read on my twitter). The menu: veggie burger with Gorgonzola cheese, sauteed mushrooms, tomatoes, pickle and low fat mayo, and brussel sprouts ( I eat a lot of those) on the side. Tasty.

While getting the burger ready, I decided to toast my bread in the toaster. I wasn't paying attention and didn't check on the toast until it popped up. Sniff Sniff. What is on fire?

I ended up having to make a redo, but none the less, my meal was fabulous!

Mmm... Lunch

Mmm... Lunch, originally uploaded by Wander Lust1.

Chutney vs. Indian Kebab & Curry

We cheated on our favorite Indian restaurant this weekend.

We made the mistake of trying to go to Costco at 7pm on Saturday, not knowing it would be closed. Near the Costco parking lot, I noticed the new Indian restaurant, Chutney, which I had read about in the RGJ.

Curiosity got the best of us and we popped in.

Let me just say now that Indian Kebab and Curry (IKC from here on out) is still my #1 (with the only close 2nd being Naan and Curry in SF).

The decor was very new and trendy... it was a very snazzy & elegant looking place. The staff was SUPER friendly and more than willing to share their story with you if you asked (as the people sitting behind us did).

The menu was a little smaller with some different items and lacking other items. It wasn't nearly as descriptive as the menu at IKC. We also were not greeted with the peppery plate of Papadum (or any plate of Papadum) as we usually are at IKC.

We paid a whopping $8 for one large bottle of Taj beer. Yikes!

I had the Chicken Tikka Masala (I didn't find it to be dry, unlike the writer of the RGJ review)- $12.95

B had the Lamb Vindaloo (B described as a cacophony of tastes, though B would frown on my use of that word in this context) - $13.95

They didn't ask us about how spicy we wanted the food ... just made it spicier than what we order typically at IKC. The food was very good... at least as good as IKC.

We had garlic naan. I disagree with the writer of the RGJ article, I didn't like Chutney's naan. However, I have never had "authentic" indian naan, so of course I would prefer the naan with butter.

Unlike at IKC, our food didn't come out and get placed on fancy warmers.

I kind of missed that. Nor were there flat screens with Bollywood
movies and Music videos flashing around above our heads. Which I am ashamed to admit, I find rather entertaining.

IKC and Chutney both have lunch buffets. IKC's is $6.95, naan extra. Chutney's is is $8.95 .. but I think it includes naan, a plus.

All in all, IKC has an atmosphere that I like better. I kind of like their slightly cold and disgruntled staff. I also like their bar prices and menu options better.

Pizza Pizza

Tuesday night, I made a pizza from some store bought dough. Not just any store bought dough... but delicious, 99 cent, made fresh, store bought dough (found in the lunch meat section at WinCo). This pizza was too beautiful to not post about.

The toppings were pretty basic:

Garlic tomato sauce, five cheese blend, pepperonis, mushrooms in olive oil, onions (to B's dismay), fresh garlic, bell pepper, and fresh tomatoes

We even got super classy and served it up with a $3.24 bottle of Merlot (also from WinCo). I wont comment on the wine.

My First

I made my first EVAH casserole last night! Well, apart from the obligatory green bean casserole for holiday dinners and the infamoustater tot casserole.

I attempted a, mostly from scratch, chicken and broccoli casserole recipe I found on the Cooking Light website. Except, I used FULL OF FAT products .... so my dish wasn't exactly fit for Cooking Light! I also decided to add a little rice to the mix.

Here she is...

Ain't she a beaut?

I was proud of myself. It was DElicious... but it took FOREVER to make. Oh, and let's not count the number of dishes used to make this dish! I was a good girl however, and cleaned up after myself.

I'm currently enjoying the left overs for lunch.

Now that I've discovered the wonderful world of casseroles... I can't wait until my friend's cookbook comes out.