Cupcakes and Rock 'n Roll

I woke up at 6:30 in order to have enough to time to knock out 2 thirty minute classes, eat breakfast, and get ready to leave all before 8:45. You see, my first class, Hist. (Sorry, I use shortened forms of class names), was at 9:30. However, they were doing a special at the college because of classes starting so there were some freebies to get. Thus, I wished to leave early in order to collect. :) Well, I did my Eng, then got ready, then ate, and then did my Lit, which did in fact allow me to be ready when it was time to go. I got to the school, and picked up my free t-shirt and goodie bag. The bag held stuff like pencils and pens and notepads and such. And, even if I don't use it, it's still always nice to get free stuff right?

"I say am I right?!"- A Charlie Brown Christmas (had to sneak in a quote somewhere.)

Now, on to Hist, where I met up with my friend Jesse, who is also taking the class. We filed into the classroom and sat down. We were not prepared for the hour and twenty minutes of monotone (and pathetic jokes) that were about to assail us as our teacher, Dr. Hayward, introduced us to the syllabus. I'm glad this lady gives a lot of notes, 'cause I'll need something to do to keep my mind awake!
My next class was Gov. Now, I'd already taken part 1 of the class last semester with Dr. Bob Eubanks, or Brother Bob as he likes to be called. And, I was taking him again this semester. So, I was pretty sure as to what I could expect from him. Of course, any of you who know him, will know that you CAN'T expect anything because he's all about the unexpected. Anyway, his opening class was the usual "history of Rock and Roll." It very funny, and perked me up from the dismal plodding I'd just sat through. When Gov finished, I went down to the Commons for something that I was very excited about.
Cupcake Wars!!! Well, not exactly. Have you seen the show on Food Network? Well, if not, here's a very brief summary. 4 contestants must compete by baking and decorating cupcakes to get to the final round where they must make a 1,000 cupcake display. (They have help! Don't worry.) The college was doing a mini version of that. 4 contestants got 2 minutes to decorate their cupcake with any color icing provided (but only 2 colors of fondant). Then, the cupcakes would be judged, and the winner got a giftcard.
I come up to the challenge thinking, "2 minutes is a ton of time. It's doesn't take that long to put the bag in your hand and squeeze." Well, I decide I was going to make a dinosaur.
My fondant colors are orange and red, and of course, green is my frosting. 2 minutes...and START!!! I start piping, and then I start to make the dinosaur. As I look at the cupcake, I think, "Man, I really want a thinner tip, maybe some black icing to make some outlines. I'd like a spatula to smooth things out, too." Then, I hear that there's only 30 seconds left! AHHHH! Quickly, I start rolling out my fondant to make the teeth and tongue, and they're counting down. I did finish before the buzzer, but it went a WHOLE lot faster than I expected!
We all presented our creations to the judges. The first girl did abstract art, the guy did "Fire and Rain" (and that should be in quotation marks for more than one reason), the second girl did a rubber duckie which was really cute, and then of course was my dinosaur. The judges deliberated, and the winner was......The Dinosaur!!! Yay! I won a giftcard to Pappa John's too, which was really cool! (The picture's below.)

Well, then I ate one of the cupcakes they provided, chocolate with really good icing and coconut on top. I didn't eat my dinosaur 'cause it had A LOT of icing on it. :D Then, I called Mom, got picked up and went home to finish up all my other schoolwork and things.
So, yes. Now, here I sit, writing a blog post with my math work pending. Oh well, math doesn't take THAT long. ;) Besides, my public needs to hear about all of the exciting news that's circling around me! Talk to you guys later!

Choir Camp

My choir has an annual camp in August for getting a head start on the music and for getting a head start on making friends. Because I'm graduating early, this was going to be my last year. Mom was also doing the games for this year.
Well, all the kids got divided into color teams of yellow, green, blue, and purple. I was on the blue team and our name was the Blue Bandits. Purple was the Purple Crowns, Green=Green Hornets, and Yellow had the best one. They were the A.F.R.D. In other words, they were the Angry, Flying, Rubber Duckies. It was so funny!!!
The end winner was determined by the team with the most points. You got points by winning the games or by arriving at the game room first with your whole team or by wearing your team color. Now, usually, the only things you can wear for points is stuff that is meant to be worn like clothes or jewelry or hats. On the last day though, we had something called Crazy Day. This was where anything you could hold or stick on your body with your team color got you points. It was definitely crazy! Some of the weird things people got points for were: CD cases, fake hair, bananas, water bottle wrappers, hula hoops, embroidery floss, food bags (like for chips and cookies), and chairs!
We all had tons of fun, and I thought it was the best camp yet! Also, my team, the blue bandits, won!!!!

Beauty and the Beast Cleans Up

When I was little and became sick, I got to watch a movie. The movies, though different, never varied much. In fact, now I can look back and remember that they were almost in a list in my head. Those certain movies were jokingly nick-named Meaghan's Sick Movies, because I would always watch them then. Some of the movies included the original Parent Trap, the BBC Silver Chair, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Sword in the Stone, and Beauty and the Beast. When I go back to watch those movies, I remember certain times when I was sick and had picked this or that one to watch, but none bring back those memories of being little so much as Beauty and the Beast.
The movie starts and the very first scene, the view of the castle from the forest, is still in my mind the most beautiful picture ever animated. It makes me grin and get all excited. Then, the movie continues with wonderfully old animation and amazing musical numbers. I mean, watching Be Our Guest and Human Again is just amazing. The way everything works together...aaaah, it's so cool!!! For a long time now, I've debated within myself over which Disney movie has the best songs. I'd finally whittled it down to between Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. Well, watching the later yesterday, proved everything to me.
Yes, Beauty and the Beast, is for me, the most beautiful of animated movies. It's also got the best music of a Disney movie. And, it has probably the best comical partnership of a Disney movie as well. Oh, and watching it on Blu-ray makes it even better. ;)

"Serve him tea. Sit in the master's chair. Pet the pooch!"
"I was trying to be hospitable."

"I want to do something special for her, but what?"
"Well, there's the usual things: flowers, chocolates, promises you don't intend to keep...."

Country Music

Kathryn doesn't like country music. She says that while you get some songs about love (Achey Breaky Heart) the predominance of songs are about the singer's dog or truck. Now over the years, I've become more partial to country music. I don't know why I'm liking it so much. Still, I do enjoy it. Yesterday, I made a pandora station and the first song I got was about a car, the second song was titled Big Green Tractor. In this song, Jason Aldean sang about how his girl got all dressed up and had no place to go. He told her they could go into town, or watch a movie, or they could just go ride around on his Big Green Tractor. They could make it go slow, or make it go faster. Wherever they went, it *don't* much matter, as long as they were together.
I must confess, I was not able to controll my laughter at this song. This may be due to the fact that I couldn't help but imagine Kathryn's disgust for such a song. Or, maybe I'm too much of a city girl, but I would not want to get dressed up and go ride on a tractor with my honey. Just my personal preference.
Later on while on pandora, a song popped up that was very different. The chorus was this: "God is great. Beer is good. And people are crazy." This song earned much of my laughter as well. Where do writer's come up with this kind of stuff.
Well, even if I never find any songs on the station that I like, I can always be sure of a good laugh. See ya later, alligator.

Cooking on day 4-last one

Menu Item? Fish Piccata (courtesy of Cook Melissa D'Arabian)
Sides? Cous-Cous and a Vegetable Mix
Estimated Time? 20 minutes
Actual Time? 1 hour

Yes, today marked my last day of cooking for the week. I've enjoyed it, but I'm happy to give the reigns back to the real driver. I was excited about making fish for the first time and also trying capers as well. I ended up using Sol instead of Tilapia. I blotted the fish, seasoned it, dredged it, and put it into the saute pan. (By the way, all yesterday, I was completely unable to get the words 'saute pan' out properly. I always said, 'saupe tan.')

The last fillet

The frying was a little scary, because of the ocassional popping oil. Also, the fillets kept breaking. There were a few that stayed whole, though. I poured the chicken stock (instead of the wine) and the other stuff into the pan to make the sauce. It was also my first deglazing of a pan. :)

The dish came out well, and Kathryn liked it especially because of the lemon flavor. And, because of said flavor, it was not a huge favorite with the chef. I did find the capers interesting, good but a little briny.



All plated



So end the tales of my exploits in the kitchen this month. I have enjoyed them and look forward to next month when I shall try some other new things. Thank you for following along on my Journey Through the Kitchen. Till next time!

The recipe is here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/fish-piccata-recipe/index.html

A Breaking News Bulletin

It has been decided that there are enough leftovers in the refrigerator to make an entire dinner out of. Therefore, I will not be cooking tonight, which I'm just a tiny bit happy about. It'll give me a break. So, all of you guys are going to have to hold on and wait until to tomorrow to know how my cooking extravaganza ends.

Cooking on day 3

Menu item? Pulled Pork Sandwiches (courtesy of Chef Tyler Florence)
Sides? Coleslaw (not Tyler's) and French Fries
Estimated Time (for making the rub)? 20 to 30 minutes
Actual Time (for making the rub)? 1 hour

Greetings to you all from my third day on the job as the executive chef at the Kelly Restaurant that only serves dinner to its four regular customers. I was originally planning a different dinner tonight, but changed when I realized we were planning on doing dinner while watching TV. The other dinner, the one planned now for tomorrow, wasn't a really good dinner for in front of the TV. So, I opted for the sandwiches.
This recipe was very easy. All you do is dump all the ingredients into a food processor (all but the pork, of course) and mix it together to form a gooey paste. Then, you put the pork in the dish you're going to bake it in. Next, you plunge your hands into the paste and proceede to smear it all over the pork, making sure to push your sticky fingers into the little holes around the fat. :D I know I'm just making your mouth water right now.

Oh, you can see from the picture that my pork has two pieces instead of Tyler's recipe which uses just one piece. Well, after rubbing in all of the paste, you put it in the refrigerator for 3 hours. After three hours, you take it out, and put it in the oven for 3 hours, (I knocked off the 1/2 hour because of the two pieces of pork). When the timer goes off, you pull the pan out, let the meat rest for 10 minutes, and then grab two forks and get to pulling.


                                      Before

                                                                                                      After

     It was REALLY good. The other three customers informed the executive chef, that moisture of some kind, perhaps BBQ sauce, was needed. However, the executive chef, who is known for eating dry cereal  and dry BBQ sandwiches thought it was perfect.                                                                                     

Here's the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tylers-ultimate/pulled-pork-sandwich-recipe/index.html

all put together

 "PORK! Mother."-Emma

Craving for Cake

Tonight, I had a rather strong desire for some cake. I didn't want ice cream. I wanted something solid and doughy and chocolatey. The problem was that I had just made dinner and was in no mood to go back into the kitchen to make a cake or anything remotely similar. Also, Kathryn was not willing to make me anything. :) So, I was resigned to eating some cookies. *sad face* I voiced my longing for chocolatey goodness to The High Mogul, and she told me, "Oh well." *really sad face* Then, she turned to me. "You know," she said, "I've heard of recipes where you can make cake in a mug in the microwave."
Hope dawned like the sun or a lightbulb being turned on. I went to get my computer, typed in google, and looked up recipes for cakes in mugs. One linnk popped up at the very top that only took 3 minutes, with a fairly simple list of ingredients.
I sojourned into the kitchen and gathered my ingredients. Pulling out Mom's mug, 'cause it's bigger than mine, I plopped all the stuff into it. I was very happy that the only dishes to get dirty was the mug, a tablespoon, and fork. Everything was stirred up and put in the microwave. It was very hot coming out, a little too hot, but I still tasted it.
While not stellar or anywhere near the best cake I'd ever had, it was still good and satisfied my craving for cake which was the only real purpose for it anyway. After eating a bit of it, I decided to dump it into a bowl and put just a bit of vanilla ice cream on top.

Here's the recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/3-minute-chocolate-cake-in-a-cup-339696

Cooking on day 2

Menu item? Spicy Orange Beef (curtesy of Chef Guy Fieri)
Sides? Rice and Vegetable Mix
Estimated Time? 55 minutes
Actual Time? 1 hour and 15 minutes

This recipe's original title was Spicy Tangerine Beef. However, Kroger was barren of tangerines, so I opted for the orange element. This recipe was a lot simpler than yesterday's, which was welcomed. I put the rice on, then got to slicing the beef. I used sirloin instead of the suggested flank steak/ tri-tip. It was very interesting on slicing the beef thinly on the bias. After marinating the beef, I put it into a large saucepan and "stir-fried" it. :D

Sadly, I did not get any pictures of the prep time. However, I did get a picture of the end result.  

This dish was greatly liked by all for the flavors, though there was not a strong orange flavor. Dad and I especially liked the dish. However, there was a bit of a problem and I can explain it in one simple way. Right by Dad's plate was his jar of red pepper flakes that's always there, and he puts them in almost everything. For this dish, he said it didn't need any peppers. Yes, the "spicy" in the title was well put there. It had quite a punch. So, if you like things a bit calmer, you might put in just one tablespoon of chili sauce instead of two. 

The recipe is here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/spicy-tangerine-beef-recipe/index.html  

I'll leave you with a quote. "Argentina has good beef. Beef...and Nazis." - While You Were Sleeping

The Little Things

A knarled tree,
A twisted fence,
My fancy is caught
Like a thread on a nail.

An impression in a stone,
An unusual bird sitting high in a tree,
My fancy is caught
Like a thread on a nail.

A pair of interlocking ripples,
A group of parading catepillars,
My fancy is caught
Like a thread on a nail.

My eyes can see,
My ears can hear
The little things
In a writer's world.

Cooking on Day 1

Menu item? Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Salsa (curtesy of Chef Tyler Florence)

Side? Spanish Yellow Rice

Estimated Time? 1 hour and 45 minutes

Actual Time? 3 hours

Monday dawned, and I knew that tonight I would be making dinner. I was not apprehensive or distraught. I was actually quite excited. I looked at the recipe and calculated the time I would need to have dinner ready by 6. I also factored in extra time because I'm slow whenever I'm cooking or baking. Then, I donned my Star Wars apron. Everybody should own a Star Wars apron. :D

My first task was to make the tomatillo salsa. I had to chop up the tomatillos, garlic, and put the jalapenos on a pan to roast in the oven. Then, I pulled the pan out after 14 minutes, and put it all, along with the juices of the onion, into the food processor. It was my first time using this appliance, and I liked very much pulsing everything and having it be so easy. The salsa was supposed to be combined well but still chunky. 

Around this time, I had to shred a whole deli chicken. Now, I've never shredded chicken before so it was quite an interesting experience. I'll let you know that your hands sure do feel nice and slimy afterwards. I didn't mind so much about ripping apart the rib cage and dismantling the legs. My issue mainly came with the jelly. You probably know what I mean, if you've eaten refrigerated deli chickens before. At the bottom of the tray or bag or whatever it's in, and often on the bottom of the chicken as well, is a nice browish colored jelly that consists of fat drippings and bone marrow juice. It's pretty nasty to just look at, but when you've got to plunge your fingers into the stuff and pull it from the meat, it gets a bit...not nice.  



After the chicken was shredded, my next step was to prepare the filling for the enchiladas. The first step of this was to dice an onion, which I've never done, and then carmelize it in a saute pan. I took the onion, it was actually just half, and poised my knife, remembering all my watchings of food network chefs dicing onions. I first cut it sideways, working my way up, but of course not going to the very end. Then, I cut down into the thin strips. Lastly, I chopped it the opposite way down, and voila, I had a not badly diced onion. That was the proudest moment for me. I had just diced an onion. It felt really cool! To the left is a picture of my nicely diced onion.

After carmelizing the onion, I added garlic to the pan, then cumin and flour, and then chicken stock. When the velout had thickened a lot, I added half of the tomatillo salsa and lastly, folded in the chicken. Next, the tortillas had to be filled.

Now, the recipe tells you to flash cook the tortillas on the stove top and then coat them in some of the remaining salsa. I tried it with one, and it had no affect on anything. So, I'd skip it entirely next time. I put the filling in the tortillas, sprinkled them with Monterery Jack cheese, and proceeded to roll them like a cigar. By the way, there was about half of the filling left, after all the tortillas were rolled. In the bottom of my pan, was a thin smearing of the salsa, so that nothing would stick. You put the tortillas down and then dump the rest of the salsa on top, as well as cover everything with a layer of cheese.

Getting all nice and melty

The enchiladas had to bake for 30 minutes, so that was just enough time to fix up the yellow rice. While everything finished cooking, I cleaned up the kitchen and had almost all the dishes loaded. I felt quite productive. Okay, now for the big question, how was it? They were good. They weren't stellar, but the flavor of everything was good, and the family all agreed on that point. I still prefer Mom's recipe, but, if we're wanting to make them a little different, this would be a good kind to make.

The recipe is here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chicken-enchiladas-with-roasted-tomatillo-chile-salsa-recipe/index.html

So, my first cooking day was a success. And, I'm very pleased to say that. I was hoping for a good kick off. Also, while it did take nearly 3 hours, because I'm so slow, I never really got flustered, and I enjoyed myself. Ready for meal #2. Here's a final picture to leave you with how it looked coming out.

New Designs

Yes, I've changed the blog look again. I was getting a bit bored with the rain look, so I decided to ask my brother (who's extremely gifted in the area of computers), if he wouldn't mind helping me out. Well, what do you think of his work? I love it! It's purple which is perfect for me and is fun and interesting at the same time. Thank you, Ryan for doing such a great job.