My new favorite way to eat corn

I don't know when I decided to turn my "daily blog" into a "food blog". It seems the last several posts have been all about food!! Maybe it's because I have been a cooking fool lately. I still want this to be a daily blog, but clearly, this is what I have been doing with my life as of late: eating.

So, I discovered another way to eat fresh corn. Fresh corn happens to be in the top three of favorite vegetables for me. It's sweet and crunchy and textural and just plain delicious. I LOVE CORN. But, what I love more than corn is when corn is on sale 3/$1. When this phenomenon occurs, I become a mad woman and stock up. Usually, I boil it and laden a cob or two with butter and a very light sprinkling of kosher salt.

A few weeks ago I wanted corn, but not the same old way I usually eat. So, I experimented:

I started by shucking a few cobs, maybe 3 or 4, I cannot remember.

I shucked (or used my knife and shaved all the kernels off) until I had a heap like this...

...and placed all of the kernels on a foil-lined baking sheet. You know where I am going with this. It's a culinary GENIUS way to make flavors POP, come to LIFE, and make the ordinary totally and FOREVER extraordinary! Yes, I decided to ROAST my corn.

But, before I popped it in a 400* oven, I doused a few tablespoons of olive oil all over and tossed it all up. I just used my hands...

...and minced a couple of cloves of garlic...

...and minced about a tablespoon of italian parsley up. I sprinkled the garlic and parsley on top of the corn, and tossed gently.

Of course, I salted using kosher salt.

And, I grabbed my favorite pepper mill and did the obvious.

*Note, I am thinking about painting my kitchen the color of this pepper mill. I LOVE this color!*

And this is about what your corn should look like by now. Pop it in the oven and roast for about 20-30 minutes. Your kitchen will smell amazing!

And....

While your corn it roasting, try to pick out the perfect fabric for kitchen curtains.

Try the corn and ENJOY!

Weekend Review

I love it when babies come to visit! This baby came with her mom, who is standing beside her crushing strawberries.

Clearly she is intrigued with the big black box in front of my face. In case you are wondering why her mom is crushing large amounts of strawberries it is because she is preparing to can strawberry jam.

We all were. And it was not only fun, but really rewarding too. I know we all felt really super when it was all said and done.

The Hubs likes it when babies come to visit too. He can't help himself, he has to play a little, and coo a little, and connect with baby.

I like that I chose the quilted jars. I also like that Kathryn said that her mom called strawberry jam "red gold". It's the truth! We were eating this stuff by the spoonfuls!! Once you have had the real thing, you never want to eat the store-bought stuff. This was a great way to spend with your gal pals and we definitely have something to show for it!

I will be doing it again soon so if anyone wants to join me, let me know!

Because I was asked for the recipe, I'll tell you that there are several online. But there are photos involved at The Pioneer Woman and her recipe is simple and step by step.

"From the Archives" Friday

As you know I have been on a quest to make our office an office, and in doing so, I have had the task of wading through boxes and boxes of stuff that either (1) needs to be store in airtight containers, namely photographs (2) needs to be donated to Good Will (3) needs to be trashed (why do we hold onto things, ridiculous things?), I have decided that I would start something new, fresh and fun on this blog o' mine.

"FROM THE ARCHIVES" FRIDAYS!!

So, Here is my first offering. I had my Aunt in mind when I decided to post this. She is second in from the left and her name is, well never mind. I cannot share that with you. She prefers anonymity.

This was taken back in the mid '90s. The first few things that comes to my mind when I see this photo are:

1. This was WAY before boot-cut jeans. The tapered leg and high waist was still the rage

2. This is before I discovered my aunt, second from the left, used Miss Clairol. Boy, was I naive! I had asked her a year or two before hand if she colored her hair. She answered immediately "No". Later on, while visiting her one weekend, I walked into her laundry room to put a load of laundry in and discovered the bottle and box sitting next to the sink. Hmm!

3. I really thought I was fat in this photo! What was wrong with me?

4. Notice the '95 Mustang in the background...Too funny to see how cars can really date a photograph!

5. I hate that my cousin Avery is chopped off...I am not sure who was behind the camera...maybe one of the boys.

So there's more...After the girls took that shot, she lined us ALL up along my grandmother's house and did the same including the boys, You cannot tell, but we were all really laughing...

I should probably explain that this photo taken at the request of my aunt because she always told us we had "big butts". I still giggle when I see these photos... Brings back so many fond memories!!

The Best Medicine

What could possibily be this funny?

I'll tell you...though, I hope it's ok if I tell you....because it involves the military....

...it also involves underpants...or lack thereof....

What is so funny is finding out that when this Coastie went in for his physical upon joining the Coast Guard, he was instructed to do a duck walk, along with 20 other people in the same room, in underwear so old that there was absolutely no seam holding the underwear together - hence, virtually having modern-day loin cloth. I guess he had no idea what he was getting himself, and his barely-there underwear, into, when he signed on the dotted line.

It was rather hilarious.

And this, my friends, is his mortified mother.

Good times. Good times!

*Note: I sure hope my brother doesn't mind me telling this story. I thought it was too funny not to! I love you bro!*

Sacred Rite

I haven spoken much on this blog about my love, dedication, commitment and utter loyalty to my favorite restaurant in the world, King's Inn. And, while I will retract the "sacred" part of the title, I will not retract the "rite" part of it. Why? Because it is a rite. It is ritual. It is special and customary and when you are eating the divine sustenance placed before you, it is solemn.

Birthdays have been celebrated here, graduations have been memorialized, anniversaries, and even the "just because" have occurred here. It is a special place that hold memories and the food is incredible.

Most recently, this passed weekend, we celebrated the arrival of my brother and his wife who are visiting from the East coast. He is in the Coast Guard and is homesick. So, the two of them flew in for a few days. While here, my father said "Let us celebrate!" And, that only meant one thing: Let us eat at Kings Inn!

The thing about Kings Inn is that in all the years that I have been, I have never once seen people order from a menu. Never. I am sure that they have menus, but I have never seen them. And, each time we go we get the same 5 things. Oh, and it is served family style.

To begin, we always start off with steak tomatoes and this avocado salad...

The salad, is very simple, only consisting of avocado, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, banana peppers and the special house dressing which is a salad oil. The salad dressing is the absolute STAR! It is so amazing it is ridiculous! It is tangy and lemon-y, garlic-y and oil-y, but not oily, I don't know how else to describe it. Except that it is dangerously addictive....

The other "must have" is the unique tartar sauce. I have never had tartar sauce like it anywhere else, It is sweet and savory, and spicy and does not have a heavy mayonnaise flavor. SO, what I like to do is cut a bite sized piece of my tomato and dip it in the tartar sauce...yumm!

So, after enjoying the light refreshing salad, in comes the fried onion rings, gulf shrimp, and broiled drum.

And this is basically what your plate looks like with everything on it. The french fries are on the house and are really good too! I top everything with a few squirts of fresh lemon. And then, I do not let that my cholesterol is shooting through the roof or that my bottom is widening affect anything. I enjoy. I eat. I savor. I say a little prayer in thanks for having known such wonder. I have access to this obscure, hole-in-the-wall restaurant that sits on Baffin Bay and it happens to serve the best seafood in the world!

Now, the only component to this always successful meal is the company that is sitting at your table:

Now, he looks upset, but he's not. This is the face I got when I said "Dad, stop bouncing the baby..."

see, he got over it really fast...

V & Christian...

Here is mom and bro...

And sweet angel faces too...

Our two buddies that love UFC - I still cannot believe that one. I am not sure how they stomach all of the blood, flailing bodily parts and fluids, broken noses, disgusting feet in each other's faces, crotches.... I'll stop now! I love them regardless! I just cannot get passed the UFC....

And, the three gals. It's always fun to catch up and chit chat. I love them both. Melissa, on the left is married to Mon's (on the right) brother. And Mon is my first cousin. I was her maid of honor in a yellow Ralph Lauren dress and carried a bouquet of roses and calla lilies. I can still remember that happy day as if it was yesterday...

See, with great company and delicious food you just cannot have it any better!

Halloween 2009

In the weeks leading up to October 31st, nothing really had been discussed about what to do on Hallow's Eve, except that we would be giving out candy. Specifically, candy BARS. Ever since trick or treating at the Genho's growing up, I was determined to do the same thing "when I grew up one day".

The day before Halloween, the Hubs decided to create a wonderland of Halloween lore the front of our home by turning our front lawn into a graveyard, fit with headstones and Halloween epitaphs.

He put a lot of thought and effort and it was a hit! The neighbors stopped by and offered their congratulations and nods of approval...

So, early that afternoon, off we went to Sam's Club to buy candy bars, like Snicker's and Hershey's and Butterfinger, you get the picture. But then we got there and saw big boxes of individually wrapped twinkies and oatmeal creme pies, nutter bars and mini-pecan pies, etc. And so we scrapped the candy bar idea for a different kind of novelty. The kids seemed to like it and it was sure fun for us to. We put them all on a large platter and invited the trick or treaters to pick their poison!

A fun night for all , indeed! Cannot wait for next year.

A delightful meal

Usually, our Sundays are so hectic with church in the morning and meetings before and sometimes after. I longed for a nice traditional Sunday lunch for after church and I did what most responsible people do and I planned ahead! And, I was so glad I did because the outcome was incredibly delicious!

On the menu:

~ Pioneer Woman's Perfect Pot Roast and Carrots - I got this recipe from her cookbook, I am not sure if she has this one posted on her website. Now, I have made a pot roast many times and they were good, but this pot roast stole the show! So easy, and the flavoring was impeccable.

My mashed potatoes - I always use red potatoes and I leave the skin on. I LOVE the skin mixed in for texture, taste and nutrients. Then, I just do the normal thing: milk, butter, kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste.

Barefoot Contessa's Chive Biscuits - THESE WERE PHENOMENAL! They were also UBER easy. For never having made biscuits from scratch, I whipped these up in no time and they were very, very good. I also used garlic chives I planted several months ago and it really added a lot of flavor.

Later, I made lemon bars for dessert.

I'm completely content having spent so much time cooking and baking.

What Could This Be?

So in yesterday's post I presented you with quandary:

I asked you to take a stab in guess at what the objects in the above photos do.

*And the only one that responded was Tara and her coworker - Thanks Tara and her coworker for playing along!!*

(*Note: speaking of photos, please excuses these. They are not my finest and in fact I am embarrassed I produced them. But, the lighting in my dining room is poor at best and this is all I have*)

The circular object on the left is a small dish. It contains something that the object on the right needs. The object on the right is ornately carved at the top and is made of a marble or stone. But, let's see them from a different point of view. I will open the small dish up and turn over the stone and you will find this:

This, my friends, is a chinese stamp and ink pad. Notice the engraving on the bottom of the stone?

Now, dip it in the red ink, which is a thick red paste. It has the consistency of.....well I don't know. I just know it is soft yet firm. It's different from our ink pads.

Anyway, so here I am stamping a piece of stationary....

And, voila!

Next question: have you ever wondered what your name looks like in Chinese?? So have I!

And today you get to see what my name looks like in Chinese because that is exactly what this stamp is: my name! Now, how fun is that??

My dad suggested I stamp my photos with this stamp. But, I'm not sure. I still need to figure that one out.

Anyway, now you know what this foreign object is... Happy stamping!

Treasures from near and far

Today brought about treasures. Some near and some far. The first one was the arrival of THIS COOKBOOK:

It's Pioneer Woman's cookbook and I spent the better part of my afternoon flipping through it. I love it - it's colorful - of course her own amazing photos are used to illustrate step by step process for each recipe and it's very Ree! I sat and chuckled as I read her quips and humorous one-liners. She will be in Austin in December and I am HOPING I can make her book signing!! I'd love to meet her, get my book signed and get a photo with her.

The other treasures I have actually had for a few weeks now, I am just now telling you about them. Actually, I have been cleaning out what is supposed to be our office (it is undergoing major transformation with painting, the addition of shelving and rearranging and de-cluttering and all that fruffamuffin) and I remembered that my folks brought me some more goodies from Beijing. On this last trip, my mother returned to the silk factory to purchase some more goods...

One of which was this beautiful table runner. I LOVED it immediately. In person the green is a lot softer, not quite so yellow. But anyhow, this is it...

I will be using it as soon as the holidays decor is put away (I have not even taken it out yet, point it, when the holidays are over).

Love the details. And, my mom said that compared to some of the rugs and wall hangings, the detail on this table runner pales in comparison.

The next little surprise came in this lovely red box.

And this is what was inside. Anyone want to take a stab at it???

Have any ideas what this could be???

I'll let you stew about it (if you don't already know what it is)...

I'll reveal it's purpose tomorrow!!

Evidence of a changing season...finally!

Today started out to be muggy, and warm. By lunch time, we had 80 mile an hour winds, TONS of rain and the temperature dropped nearly 20 degrees. It's a welcomed change and now it feels like fall!