Day of the Dead Lunch…

…and bike ride.

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We had the day off AND it happened to be The Day of the Dead, so we decided to do something I’ve wanted to do for about a year- ride bicycles to lunch (Mexican, of course).

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We rode to our other favorite Mexican restaurant, Mi Ranchito. It’s closer than Dos Reales, and we were turning into skeletons ourselves- the closer the better in that case!

In our Day of the Dead duds…

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I had huevos rancheros.

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And JY had his usual, cheese and enchiladas with no beans, rice only.

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We discovered the ride home is downhill, and trust me, that was a very good thing to discover!

Full Belly + Pedals = Nap.

More Halloween Feasting

Every year I make “FRANKEN-Mummies.” Veggie hotdogs wrapped in Pillsbury original breadsticks (they wrap so much better than the crescent rolls).

I divide the dogs in thirds for more mummies. And don’t forget the mustard and ketchup eyes!

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The rest of the meal: charred bones (spicy oven fries), pirate’s teeth (oven roasted cumin corn), and alien babies (peas).

Spoooooky eats, folks.

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Hello Kedgeree

So I read on-line that the first meal in the opening scenes of season 1 of Downton Abbey is a breakfast of Kedgeree. Not traditionally a veggie meal, BUT, that doesn’t tend to stop me when it comes to my love of British food.

Trusting my ever faithful Jamie O. I tweaked and twisted his recipe to become a veggie Kedgeree that would make Carson proud.

Serves 4

First, I chopped the veg and tofu:
1 white onion, a handful of cherry tomatoes, and I used garlic infused tofu instead of mackerel. You see there that I sliced the tofu more than chopped it because I wanted it to flake more like fish.

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I cooked my white jasmine rice -4 servings.

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While my tofu and onion got a little brown and crispy in two tablespoons of olive oil.

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I got out the hard boiled 4 eggs I had prepared earlier in the day. John doesn’t care for soft boiled and though those seem to be more traditional, we went with hard boiled because a happy husband is a happy thing.

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I added the rice to the tofu and onion, then the spices to the mix: 2 tsp curry, 1 tsp turmeric, a shake or two of pepper.

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Because my eggs where hard, I chopped them up. I halved the tomatoes and added them to the pan (which was now cooking on low heat).

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Oh, and don’t forget the “scatter” of parsley when you add the eggs next!

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I stirred it all up into one giant, yummy, yellow breakfast for dinner.

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This is a seriously hearty meal in disguise, so be ready! You’ll want to eat a few helpings, but the heartiness will win in the end.

We also had the last of my Yorkshire puddings from the freezer reheated in oil and butter in a skillet. That worked out so much better than the microwave!

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The customary greens…

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And I had a new-to-me British ale that was left at our house by a friend.

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I have never seen so many instructions on a beer can. They were worth it .

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See, when I blog first thing in the morning it just makes me not want to go into work and cook the meal all over again. Alas, someone had to pay the grocery bills.

Good-bye for now, Kedgeree.

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A Love Letter from a Restaurant Regular

John and I are regulars at two restaurants: Dos Reales on 75th Street and Johnny Cascones on 91 St.

Dos Reales was a happy accident as most “regulars” experience. You just eat there a lot and the staff starts to recognize you.

Cascones is a different situation completely. Yes, I’m just going say it, we’ve worked at being regulars. Nine years ago we were dining there and loved the food and the atmosphere so much we decided to “become” regulars.

How you might ask? We ate there 3 times a month. We always put in a reservation by name. We remembered staff names and tipped like friends not customers. We even had our wedding reception there. Extreme I know…

Here’s the thing though, it was all done with genuine love for the restaurant, the food, and the people and over the years the staff and owners have noticed.

Nine years later, I bring the staff baked goods at Christmas, we get friendly “drop-byes” at our table from long time staff, they note when we haven’t been in for a while, and my most favorite thing – a handshake and warm chit-chat when we arrive and leave. I look forward to the day we’re the little old couple who get a hug when they walk in the door– that is my lifetime goal.
We’ve seen it happen.

But now I’m happy with the fact that they not only recognize us, they really like us. And I can’t help but feel
Iike (in a small way) part of the Cascones family — which is what being a regular is really about right?

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Our Cascones dinner from Saturday night:

Emily with her shells, mushrooms, broccoli and cheese sauce .

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Regular, John Young with his standard cheese ravioli.

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And me with marinara, spaghetti and mushrooms.

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Thanks for loving us back Cascones.

Pre-Halloween Eats!

Here are some of our Pre-Halloween eats from today.
Breakfast…yes, pumpkin faced donuts again. I had to make two trips to get them this time. Thanks 2nd Krispy Kreme for having them.

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Annual Oreo Pudding Graveyard for book club tonight.

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I make this every year and it’s tied with pumpkin beer as my favorite Halloween treat! You’ll note there are ten graves this year. We read Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” where there are 10 perspective victims.

And then there was none is also the general outcome for the graveyard pudding.

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Sneaking in one more summer dinner

Our friend Megan joined us for dinner a few weeks ago. It was Friday night so that usually means homemade pizza, but we had a guest, so I debated a “welcome to fall” meal.

Then I said- “Nah. Let’s have loose pizza.”

As you may remember oven roasted mint and garlic tomatoes are one of my favorite things. I make them all summer long while tomatoes are local and fresh. Putting them on top of fresh pizza crust topped with mini fresh mozzarella balls is just another one of my sneaky ways of eating them more often.

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Oven Mint Roasted Tomatoes:
Pre heat oven at 325.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs of cherry or grape tomatoes
1/2 cup of olive oil
7 cloves of garlic split length wise
A healthy handful of mint leaves trimmed
1 tsp garlic salt
I tsp freshly ground pepper

Wash tomatoes and add to a pottery or ceramic dish in a single layer. Pour oil over tomatoes. Toss in all other ingredients.

Bake, uncovered, for 45-60 minutes or until skins start to split on the tomatoes.

Spoon on baked pizza dough (or bread) and top with fresh mozzarella.

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Yeah, we had some salad too.

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Megan brought dessert – homemade cookie dough and ice cream. We baked up some right after dinner. Yum.

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It was so much fun to bake together! Good idea Megan.

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Ok– here’s the other great thing about these tomatoes. If say, you make too much (which I always do– very sneaky of me), they are great reheated and mixed into pasta for a whole other meal the next day!

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Yeah, I think I might need to make them again…

Dinner at Farmer’s Gastropub

Farmer’s Gastropub in our little Springfield Missouri was voted one of the best gastropubs outside of the U.K. You know we had to get to the bottom of this!

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Lynley’s bangers and mash.

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Dad’s cottage pie.

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Mom’s cheese sandwich.

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My veggie Saturday curry.

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With an extra side of mushy peas – of course!

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Then there was the Scotch Egg for dad and Lyn.

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And of course the pub part…

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All around some of the best British food I’ve had in the states!

Cheers!

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Pumpkin Beer Taste-off: Round One

I love pumpkin beer.

So why not have a pumpkin beer taste-off. Inspired by a pint a couple of weekends ago, I decided I needed to know which pumpkin beer is my favorite. We hit a beer snag right away when the beer I wanted to test the most was sold out (and reportedly selling for $8 a glass in the KC metro area).

So I made due and decided to have a second round of tastings ASAP.

Josh and I were the tasters. John the pourer and photographer.

We judged using some of my beer tasting learnings from my Sam Addams Tour a few years ago: clarity of the beer (is it cloudy and it shouldn’t be), scent, and how does it taste when you swish it all around your mouth.

We added some specific pumpkin tasting qualifications (which we made our finally judgements on) pumpkin flavor, autumn color, seasonal flavors, and overall rating.

Let the pumpkin awesomeness begin.

The contestants:

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The official opener:

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Beer number one:

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Scores for contestant 1:

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Pumpkin flavor: 0
Autumn Color: 3
Seasonal taste: Mostly tastes like a sweet wheat
Overall rating: 1

Second contestant:

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Scores for contestant 2:

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Pumpkin flavor: 2
Autumn Color: 1
Season flavors: All Spice, not so much a pumpkin flavor
Overall rating: 2

Contestant Number 3:

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Scores for contestant 3:

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Pumpkin flavor: 2 1/2
Autumn Color: By the third tasting we forgot to rate color- a sign of a good tasting.
Season flavors: Cinnamon, Nutmeg and a hint of pumpkin in the after taste.
Overall rating: 2

The O’Fallen was our overall favorite for this round of beer tasting. Stay tuned fir more pumpkin beer events!
If you have suggestions for round two let me know!

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