Web 2.0 Awards

For the 2.0 Awards, I checked out the food blogs. Surprised?

imcooked I thought was interesting, but as it was all videos I didn't browse too much. I really enjoyed urbanspoon. I love that you can read reviews, and it gives you maps and you can narrow down your food choice by neighborhood or by ethnicity. I also like that it's in several cities, so you can look at your own restaraunts or some in a city you may be visiting. iFoodstv was good too. I liked that it had videos and recipes written out, along with tips and a glossary.

Urbanspoon was my favorite, but I did enjoy scoping out all three!

Easy Entertaining II - Breakfast

One of the easiest egg recipes I've ever come across is the frittata. It's super easy to make but it has a fancy name and looks good and it combines eggs and cheese so what's not to like? I also love this recipe because you can use what you already have. Typically I start with onions and peppers, and the day after Thanksgiving we threw some turkey in too. I've also used mushrooms, potatoes, hashbrowns, tomatoes, spinach, garlic, broccoli, ham and bacon.

To make:
Saute veggies and/or meat in frying pan
Season to taste.
Pour beaten eggs (I guestimate based on how many people I'm feeding) over sauteed veggies. Let it sit! Don't stir it or you will just have scrambled eggs with veggies in it.
Once the eggs are almost fully cooked, top it with cheese and stick it under the broiler until the cheese is melted to your liking.

Serve with fruit salad, or toast, or whatever you usually serve eggs with.

I've also put a link below to an Alton Brown recipe from foodnetwork.com. It's a real recipe from a real chef and may explain things better than I.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/frittata-recipe/index.html

If you have a good frittata recipe, or ideas for a good one (I keep thinking of a Greek one, but have yet to make it) please let me know!

Easy Entertaining

So this year for Christmas, it has been decided that the fam will all descend on Columbia so that my oldest sister can bring her dogs and Matt can actually participate in the holiday (retail prevents us from traveling much around holidays). So we will have 5 adults and 3 dogs (ok one is a poodle and doesn't count) in our 2-bedroom apartment. With that, and my small kitchen in mind, I started thinking of easy recipes and what I could do ahead of time so I can relax and enjoy my family.

So below I have a couple of easy (and cheap) dessert recipes.

Cheesecake:

1 ready-made graham cracker crust
1 brick of cream cheese
1 container of cool whip
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix together cream cheese, cool whip, sugar and vanilla. Pour into the crust. Let it chill for at least 2 hours.

To make it festive: crush up mint candies and fold them in, or mint and chocolate chips. Add additional cool whip on top and then dust with additional mint. Or use Oreos! Or top the whole thing with a can of pie filling. The options are endless.

Key Lime Pie:

1 ready made graham cracker pie crust
1/2 cup key lime juice
1 can condensed milk (do not use fat-free, it won't set up)
1 container of cool whip

Beat the juice and milk really well; fold in cool whip and pour into crust. Let chill for at least 2 hours.

Next I may tackle easy breakfasts...or soups...I know you are on the edge of your seat now!

Things Lucy has Eaten

http://docs.google.com/View?id=df62jhgs_0dgsfj3c3

So for this week's challenge I compiled a list (using Google docs) of some of the things Lucy has eaten. Some things are a little weird (Duraflame log) and some things are normal (peanut butter) but weren't actually given to her. The peanut butter was stolen from the kitchen counter and found between Lucy's paws in the living room with her tongue down in it as far as it could go. Don't worry, this peanut butter was promptly labled "Lucy's" with a sharpie and stuck in with the rest of her treats.

Hopefully it works!

Food!

I loooooove to cook. And I love food. And new restaraunts. And entertaining at home. And trying new things in general. But...really, I love to cook.

This picture is of cruncy vanilla almond french toast, sweet bacon and fruit salad. This recipe is one of Rachel Ray's. I know...you can only watch her show for about 5 minutes at a time but she has some great recipes and I love that she encourages you to experiment on your own and use what you already have.

This picture I cannot take credit for. My husband, Matt, made jambalaya for me and a friend one night. It was spicy. And delicious. He's really good at thinking of a meal he wants to try, looking at a dozen recipes and then coming up with something that's a bit of a mix of all recipes he's read.

This one was a collaborative effort (apples from the farmer's market, yum!). I did the filling and made the dough, but Matt had the painstaking job of doing the lattice top (his own choice). Lucy stole the bits that fell on the floor. It didn't quite turn out like mom's, but pretty close.

Photos courtesy of Mrs. Brandy Shannon Sanchez

7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learning

The habit that is both hardest and easiest for me is having confidence in myself as a competent, effective learner.

I enjoy learning new things and once I've done something a couple of times I'm usually confident enough to expand and take initiative on it.

That being said, I also sometimes have doubts about learning new things and that I won't retain the information well enough to do a good job.

Mar-leeen vs. Mar-lane

So apparently the pronunciation of my name is a subject of hot debate, so I thought I'd clear it up. Even though it is spelled "Marlene" and it looks like it should be "Mar-leeen" my parents thought they'd make things fun for me and it's actually pronounced "Mar-LANE-a". Which is actually not as bad as my maiden name, "Werne" pronounced "Vair-nuh". Yeah. I know.

That being said, I will never be offended if you ask or accidentally call me Mar-leeen. Because I have also been called Mary, Molly and am frequently mistaken for Lauren on the phone. Not to mention the plethora of nicknames I had growing up because Marlene is just too hard. Or because my sister has diarrhea of the mouth. Those, however, I will not be sharing.

Lucy

Lucy is my 85 lb bloodhound. We got her to be my guard dog while my husband was out of town for training for 6 weeks, but we quickly learned Lucy is not intimidating in any way, shape or form, unless you count slobber.

I have found slobber everywhere. On the walls, ceiling, TV, books, and most recently connecting a chair to the dining room table. I have learned to love Chlorox wipes.

She also follows her bloodhound nose to things that smell good and has eaten an array of items around our apartment (including peppermint lotion, 5 lbs of frozen chicken and a Duraflame log) and is miraculously still alive.

But mostly, Lucy sleeps. She often commandeers 2/3 of the couch, leaving the rest of it for Matt and I to squeeze on to. She also enjoys sleeping in doorways, hallways, and just outside the kitchen while I'm cooking. It's incredibly helpful.