Monthly Archives: June 2011

Dulce de Leche-Nutella Swirl Loaf Cake

There are still a few things Dan and I need to do to fully recover from our Great Beach Robbery — getting new driver’s licenses, for example — but everything is closed on Sundays, so we’ve been having a pretty lazy day so far. We slept in until the hungry meows of our kitties could no longer be ignored, fed the little beasts, and then promptly collapsed in front of the TV to catch up on all the shows we missed during vacation. But, once we’d blown through all the eps in our DVR queue, things got real boring real fast. Sundays are just so blah. I don’t know about you, but nothing interesting ever happens to us on Sundays, and the day is...

So, Dan and I just got back from a week in Costa Rica. We’re a little more tan, a little more relaxed, and approximately $1200 poorer. No, that’s not how much our trip cost…it’s the combined value of all the stuff that got stolen from us on the beach at Playa Grande, Montezuma. Yeah. Don’t you just love petty thievery? Anyway. Other than the bag-snatching incident, it was a good trip. The weather was beautiful, the food was delicious, and we even managed to squeeze in an exhilarating zip-lining tour through the canopy before racing home a few days early to take care of bank account stuff. Even so, I was more than a little bummed when we got home (I could still be on the beach, you...

The first time I heard about Turkish Delights was probably fourth grade, when I was reading “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” The White Witch gives Edmund Pevensie some Magical Turkish Delights, and he gets so hooked on the stuff that he betrays his siblings later in the story just to get another taste. I remember reading that and thinking the fourth grade equivalent of “that must be some good sh*t!” The book didn’t really describe how Turkish Delights looked or tasted, but I just always assumed that they were chocolate. I mean, a magical candy good enough to cut through bonds of blood loyalty? Must be chocolate. Maybe with some caramel and mousse cream and candied nuts. Imagine my disappointment when I...

Maybe it’s just my imagination, but I’m pretty sure the limoncello is getting stronger. It’s only been two days, but when I poured myself a glass yesterday, the lemony-boozy fumes about knocked me out on the first sip. It was still very sweet and lemony and all, but…whew. I can see why people say the stuff is lethal. This is definitely a leisurely-post-meal-sipping kind of beverage. Mixed with tonic water and blueberries though, the limoncello lost its intense boozy kick. In fact, the cocktail tasted almost exactly like Sprite! Don’t be fooled though, the alcohol is definitely still there — it’s just diluted enough by the fizz to not be quite so in-your-face. Proceed with caution, folks. Blueberry-Limoncello Cooler (Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis’s...

So, my friend Spike and I have been having intense gchat conversations about what we can do with all the ground beef we’ve got on our hands. We each saw family-sized packs of ground beef on sale at the grocery store a couple weeks ago and couldn’t resist getting in on the deal. Seemed like a pretty idea at the time, but now we’ve each got 5 lbs of meat in the freezer. That is a lot of meat, guys. I used up a little over a pound of the meat for stuffed burgers a few weeks ago, and Spike made both burgers and meatballs. Not sure what he’s going to do with the rest of his meat, but I have grand plans for kimchi...

OK, so the thing about summer is that it’s so frickin’ hot that I never really have any motivation to cook anything. Who wants to stand in front of a hot stove/oven when it’s 95 and humid? I mean, yes, I have A/C, but just knowing that the air outside is thick enough to swim through really takes away a person’s appetite. So lately all I really want to do after work is sit on my couch, in my air conditioned apartment, and suck down an endless stream of cold beverages.Frozen margaritas, rum punch, lemonade, daiquiris, agua frescas…etc etc. After a string of recent posts on summer beverages, my friend Karen accused me of getting lazy with my blog. How rude! I obviously did...

Monthly Archives: June 2011

Dulce de Leche-Nutella Swirl Loaf Cake

Dulce de Leche

Turkish Delights

Blueberry-Limoncello Cooler

Hanbagu (Japanese Hamburger Steak)

Limoncello

Blogs I Love

Cool Sites