| 2006-07-30 - 7:11 p.m.
Might as well be walkin' on the sun
Heatwave here again. Actually, it's really a humidwave. It's 88 degrees with 65% humidity. Fuuunnnn. But I will take it over winter any time. I'm inside in the a/c (which never stops running....we're gonna have to sell a kidney or two to pay the electric bill), Steve is outside working on the porch swing. Dinner for the inlaws went well. Just a cook out...but superdeduperde Ina Garten burgers, which are really good. And my mom's recipe for baked beans, which makes for some good eatin'. The nice thing is, the house is now pretty clean. So...if we can keep it that way for the party next week...... So it was a weekend of recipes. Dessert last night---so simple it's embarassing..... Premade graham cracker crust....bake about five minutes, or whatever the directions say. Let cool. mix:
1 not quite half gallon of vanilla ice cream, softenend
1 can frozen lemonade concentrate
1 tub of cool whip Pour in crust, put in freezer for about an hour. YUM. Seriously. It's way too good for being so easy. I dumped the filling ingredients into Big Blue, my Kitchen Aid mixer, and boom...mixed and fluffy. Today....BBQ sauce and spinach balls.
Ina Garten�s Barbecue Sauce
1 large onion, diced
3-4 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup vegetable oil
10 oz tomato paste
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup honey
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
Add the vegetable oil to a pot and saute the onions in a large pot over low to medium heat for about 10 minutes or until soft.
Then add everything else. Stir it together and let it simmer on low for about an hour. Makes about 1 1/2 quarts.
Seriously. SUBLIME. So good. Sweet and hot and complex. It keeps for a long time in the fridge, so I just jarred it up and will use part of it to marinate some chicken for next weekend, and the other part for a dipping sauce for ....whatever.
The other thing I made was a double recipe of Spinach Parmesan Balls. My mom used to make these when I was a kid...They are awesome. I cooked one batch, to make sure they came out ok, and froze the rest. Then I'll defrost and pop in the oven before the party. Made a double recipe because they freeze so well....good to have on hand. Anyway...from Food Network:
Spinach Parmesan Balls Recipe courtesy Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh
Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 30 to 40 spinach Parmesan balls
1 pound package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
5 eggs
1 large onion, minced
10 tablespoons margarine, melted
1 cup shredded Parmesan
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 3/4 cups Italian-style bread crumbs
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Squeeze the excess water from the spinach and put it in a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well by hand. Form the mixture into 1-inch balls, either by hand or with a small ice cream scoop. Place the balls closely together on a baking sheet.
Cook in the top half of the oven until firm to the touch, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, and then transfer to a platter and serve immediately. So. After the cooking, I spent the day watching "What not to Wear". I SO want to be nominated for that. I'm going to nominate myself, I think. I can't figure out how people who get on that show, which gives you a FIVE THOUSAND DOLLAR CLOTHING ALLOWANCE, as well as EXPERT fashion, hair and makup advice, can be so...so...bitchy and ungrateful. (Yeah, yeah, for the tv drama) But I tell you what....they choose me, I'm so there. I'm putting my OWN clothes in the trash can and saying "whatever you want" on the shopping trip. And why oh why do the women get all flipped out over haircuts? It's hair. It will grow. And honestly? Really really long hair doesn't look that great on anyone anyway. Let the pros do their jobs. Yeah. too much time on my hands today.
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