Category: Food

Thanksgiving Part Deux

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Saturday we had our Thanksgiving with E, my SIL, and Brother # 2. I cooked an actual turkey this year instead of a turkey breast like past years. It came out… a bit dry. But it was my first time and it wasn’t so dry that it wasn’t edible (good enough that I made two turkey sandwiches for lunch yesterday, oh yea)!

Friday I made the green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and mac and cheese so that I wouldn’t have to figure out how to get those done while the oven was busy cooking the turkey. Oh, and we used a nice roasting pan we got at IKEA last weekend for only $12.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Earlier on Saturday I was using my food processor to make hash browns (I did actually use it to chop pecans for the sweet potato casserole but right now it’s mainly used to shred potatoes) and I cut the tip of my middle finger on the shredding blade while extracting it from the protective cardboard I’ve been keeping it in to prevent getting cut. Irony, I love thee.

After dinner on Saturday we decided to nix our original plans of going out to see Christmas lights since it’s been so cold lately and played Phase 10 instead. At some point the cards kept rubbing against my cut and unbeknownst to me it started to bleed. E pointed out there was something red on some of his cards, so I put a band-aid on. As the game went on and on we got sillier and sillier and I ended up drawing a face on my band-aid and flipping people the bird, or, depending on your interpretation, the cat or fox since that’s what it ended up looking like after I kept adding onto the face.

Finger Band-aid

Speaking of foxes, I think Joe and I were probably the last people on Earth to see the What Does The Fox Say video that’s been making its rounds online. My family introduced it to us on the real Thanksgiving. As we watched we were getting frustrated because we know we hadn’t seen it before but the melody sounded so infuriatingly familiar. It wasn’t until two days later that it came to Joe why – we had seen a parody of the video on SNL a few weeks ago not knowing it was mocking a real video. I’m not sure about you, but I prefer the SNL version, What Does My Girl Say.

4-Day Weekend

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Joe took Friday and Monday off so we could enjoy a four-day weekend together (I always have one because I work Tue-Thu).

Friday we headed over to IKEA to enjoy a cheap breakfast and ended up buying a roasting pan for the huge 19 lb. turkey I got on sale at Jewel earlier in the week (only 49 cents per pound without any coupons or minimum purchases). We also went to the Brunswick Zone nearby to play a few games (air hockey and skeeball) before heading over to Whole Foods to get some vanilla beans since I’m making my own vanilla extract.

We had lunch at our favorite Vietnamese place before grabbing a movie from Redbox (The To Do List which wasn’t that great) for later in the evening.

Once we got home I started working on making some Magic Cookie Bars when Brother #2 called asking if we wanted to hang out since he had just gotten off work nearby. I said sure, and he was over about a half hour later.

We ended up going to Target to buy some frozen pizzas and appetizers (their Market Pantry honey BBQ boneless wings were really good) for dinner which we ate while watching the aforementioned mediocre movie.

Saturday morning we headed over to Kohl’s so Joe could look for running shoes. He found a nice pair for $45 before discount; they were $30 after using a $10 coupon from Discover and a 20% friends and family coupon.

We also went to Meijer to look for biscuits & gravy fixings and I found an inexpensive food processor there. I’ve been wanting one for awhile, but since I don’t have the need for one too often, I didn’t want to spend much. They had a nice Hamilton Beach 8-cup processor on sale for $25 so I had to get it!

We also snagged another Redbox movie – The Purge which was pretty decent.

Sunday we used the new food processor to make homemade hash browns along with biscuits and gravy after an unsuccessful trip to Walmart in search of running pants for Joe and fleece Cuddl Duds leggings for yours truly (they’re selling for only $10 so of course they were out of stock as they normally sell for $28). We rented another movie, Planes, which wasn’t that great. I also made spreadable butter at half the cost of the store bought variety by following these directions. I’ve made it in the past using canola oil but didn’t like the taste as much.

We didn’t do much today other than return the movie since it was snowing. Staying cuddled under the electric blanket on the couch and watching tv was fine by me. Only two days of work this week and we get another four days off together!

Pierogi Fest

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Yesterday we picked up Brother # 1 and went to the Pierogi Fest in Whiting, Indiana (Brother # 2 was too tired from working extra hours all week to accompany us). The last two years we would get there on a Sunday at 11 am but since we opted to go on a Saturday this time around we decided to go later so that when we got back my mom would be home from church (she always goes on Saturday evenings) so we could all hang out the rest of the evening.

We arrived at the fest around 3 pm and didn’t leave until after 6 pm. We sampled some new pierogi flavors such as cherry (good), strawberry (ok), and plum (yuck), but my favorite was the sweet cheese. Joe and I split 12 pierogis total, and in addition he had an ice cream cone, a huge polish sausage, and a funnel cake. I had a bite of the polish and some of his and my brother’s funnel cake. I also brought home a slice of deep dish pizza from Beggar’s that I only ate half of because I felt nauseated all day. Later in the evening my mom made me a nice plain chicken breast which helped.

We met some nice people at the fest which is one of the reasons, besides the food, that I enjoy it so much. There’s a lot of picnic benches sprinkled throughout the fest so you end up meeting people while you’re chowing down. This year it was unseasonably cool – in the 60’s – which was SO much better than the past two years where it was so hot you felt as if you were melting. You just can’t enjoy eating as much when you’re spending all your time seeking shade and/or air conditioning. Thanks to the weather we weren’t turned off from standing in a half hour line for the best pierogis at the fest (Dan’s Pierogis) either; they have the most varied selection of flavors and was the only booth I saw that had the sweet cheese pierogis that I know I’ll be stuffing into my pie hole come next year.

Father’s Day

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On Sunday we picked E up at noon and decided to have lunch at Lone Star Steakhouse since there is one between his house and my parents’ (our final destination) in good old Crestwood, IL which happens to be one of my old stomping grounds. Even with a $5 off coupon our meal came to just over $60 (including tip), but damn was it good! I got the five star filet, E got a sirloin, and Joe got a sirloin with chicken breast. It’s probably a good thing that there isn’t a Lone Star by us anymore because I just love their steaks but cannot afford to eat there often, and much to my disappointment Discover card doesn’t offer a gift card via their cashback program for them even though they do for the inferior Outback Steakhouse.

Side note: I just ordered a Buffalo Wild Wings gift card from them and am looking to visit the newly built one that replaced the local Ruby Tuesday. I hope their food is good! We had their wings once several years ago so I can’t remember what they were like.

We killed some time after lunch by taking the “scenic” route to my parents’, including crossing into Indiana to get some gas and then riding past my grandparents’ old house (ahhh… memories – I spent my whole summers there for years). When we got to my parents’ we immediately headed to Brother #1’s room in the basement to hook up the new computer he had commissioned us to build him. He got the works, including new speakers and an HDMI monitor. I must admit, I’m slightly jealous, because there’s nothing better than a brand new computer, but I’m pretty happy with my machine overall so I really can’t complain. Plus we made $100 for doing the work. :)

After dinner and two rounds of Aggravation we had to leave to drop E off and get home at a decent hour since Joe had to work.

As for me, I’m still looking for work but not aggressively. I’m looking forward to the 1st week in July when Joe is off and E will be staying with us as we have a bunch of fun things planned and in years past I’ve always had to miss some of that time working. That being said, I spoke with a recruiter today and if she finds me something interesting I will definitely consider it but I don’t just want to end up at any old job. I have a feeling the right thing will come along. Despite how much I worry about money and the future (and trust me, I worry about it a lot), on the flip-side I’m actually optimistic that things will work out in the end and I will find the fulfillment I crave.

Food Pics

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Why do people bitch about other people taking pictures of their food, and in some cases go so far as to ban cellphone photography in their restaurant? Seriously, what’s the big deal? It’s called free publicity, people! Besides, people love food and likewise they want to share a memorable meal with others. I see nothing wrong with that and therefore I’m not a fan of this blog for poking fun at people doing it, referring to them as hipsters.

Maybe if all you ever photograph is food and you’re posting it all over Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and Instagram daily I could see how that would be annoying to others, but the occasional food shot is no big deal. If the restaurants are truly concerned about it disturbing others (although how is that any different than people taking pictures at a restaurant or bar during a get-together), then ban the use of flash, but really, I haven’t even noticed it when I’m out so I have to wonder if it’s the big deal some people are making it out to sound.

Personally, I like taking quick pics of my meals so I can post them along with a review on Yelp or my blog. I’d hate to find out someone was snapping a pic me doing so and adding it to a blog like the aforementioned one.