Saturday’s Girlie Drink

Howdy!! Today I bring you a fabulous concoction featuring my favorite liqueur, St. Germain. This fabulous liqueur is made with elderflowers, and has a sweet herbal taste. It is a good complement with sharper libations such as gin and vodka.

Luckily, this cocktail features all three!

Elderflower Martini

• ½ oz. Vodka
• ½ oz. Gin
• 1 oz. St. Germain Elderflower liqueur
• 2 oz. Fresh sour mix*

Pour all ingredients in a shaker with ice, and mix well. Serve in a coupe glass, and garnish with a lime slice. You can increase the amount of gin or vodka or both for a sharper taste. Enjoy!!

* For fresh sour mix, first make simple syrup: bring one cup of water and one cup of granulated sugar to boil, stirring until dissolved, and set aside to cool. After cooling, add one cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice and ½ cup fresh squeezed lime juice to the simple syrup. Shake well before serving. It will keep for two weeks in the refrigerator.

I May Suck at Blogging, But I Excel at Yorling

As y’all have noticed, I have lacked the will and the fluff to blog on a regular basis. My severe lack of happy is also affecting this, to the point that even Hubby has asked when I will get back to blogging. So you know it’s serious when he has noticed. Lately time has not been on my side, what with school stuff, work stuff, and itty bitty surgery (I’m fine, no worries). No sweets and no wine make Aggie a grumpy Sith, so what is left?

That’s right: YORLING!!!

For those who are new or don’t know the history of the term Yorling, it simply means whim shopping. Our blogger friend Mitchell over at Center of the Anomaly used to go by the nick “Enas Yorl”, and he is famous for whim shopping. He takes whim shopping to a serious level. Now, I’m not insane enough to shop for stuff I do not need. Mostly. But the other day I got a postcard from the Le Creuset™ Outlet advertising two wonderful things: a sale, and the new color, chiffon pink!!! And there on the bar was a Christmas gift card from my parents along with a birthday check from my parents ( I am lazy and wait until the last possible minute to go deposit anything), and on top of that, I had noticed an obvious lack of a large round Dutch oven in my collection. It was like Kismet and Karma decided to take some pity on me and align the planets and stars.

Meet Gigi, my 5.5 quart round Dutch oven. She is lovely, and is on display awaiting her christening this Sunday when she will be instrumental in making bread. Yes, you can make bread in a Dutch oven. I have a big French oval Dutch oven (heh, French and Dutch) but the round lends itself to more even heating. The best part of this was I had enough in my gifts and the sale that I only paid in the double digits. I count it as a win.

Chiffon pink…. cotton candy and fluff. And perfect for moi 😀

This Is Super Bowl Weekend, and I Will Be Celebrating the Ads

I remember vaguely when the Super Bowl was a game, and not a soap opera. I am not the most savvy football person out there, but holy cow….cheating, on the field and on your girlfriends (you know who I’m talking about), and “I’m too good to talk to the media” (you know who I’m talking about), and now one of the big time players may miss the game due to his girlfriend giving birth to their child (you know who, and if he loves her, put a damn ring on her finger and your name on the birth certificate). Honestly, I am half-tempted to DVR the whole game so I can skip it and fast forward to the commercials. But if I did that, Hubby would be disappointed. Although….. we did just get a new TV for upstairs, so he has that going for him, which is nice. Besides, the game justifies the food.

No, I’m not making that food stadium extravaganza. I am making seven layer dip and pigs in a blanket and popcorn chicken and po boys and micheladas and snickerdoodles and fried biscuits bits rolled in cinnamon sugar. Hopefully that will be enough for the five of us.

And what will y’all be ingesting in celebration of the end of football season? 😀

Happy Pi Day!!!

That’s right!! The second nerdiest holiday of the year!!

I’m sure I don’t have to tell y’all which is the greatest nerd holiday, right??

So in honor of π, I shall be making a pie. Yes it is Lent and I can’t have any sweets, but the rest of the family wasn’t boneheaded like me, and they sure can partake.

I will also be serving a fruit cooler with ice cubes made from this:

I purchased that tray from Think Geek a while back, and is no longer available through their site. But Woot! has it for today! If you miss out, there is always Amazon. They have everything, apparently.

Anyway, I’m off to start baking. Hope y’all enjoy the day and get your geek on!! 😀

Mmmm, Mmmm, Stew!

It has been a while since I have posted a recipe here. With the passing of our blogging friend Yabu, I lost the desire to annoy food pic haters, as he used to call them. But after yesterday’s near debacle, I felt I should share the wondrousness of the beef stew. So easy, and so good, you’ll want to make it every week. Or so my kid tells me.

It was inhaled so fast I had no time to take nice photos.

Simple Beef Stew

(Adapted from Lipton Recipe Secrets™)

• 2 lbs. Sirloin, cut up into cubes
• 4 medium gold potatoes, halved and quartered
• 4 carrots, cut into 1 inch lengths
• 1 small white onion, halved and quartered
• 2 envelopes Lipton Recipe Secrets™ Onion Mushroom Soup mix
• 2 Tbsp. Tomato Paste
• 1 C water
• 1 C Red wine*
• 1 C peas (waaaaaay optional)

*You can substitute a cup of water for the wine.

If using a Dutch oven, preheat oven to 275* F.

Brown the sirloin in a large pan with a bit of cooking oil. Once browned, transfer all the sirloin and the collected juices to a Dutch oven. Add the carrots, potatoes, onion, and peas (if you must…). Add the soup mix and tomato paste to the water, and mix well. Pour over meat and vegetables. Pour wine if desired. Stir well, and close lid. Place in oven for three hours or until meat is tender.

If using a crock pot, follow the same steps but heat on low for six hours, or high for 3½ hours.

Good food doesn’t have to be complicated. Thank goodness 😀

What a Crock

This is just not happening. NOT. HAPPENING!!

It is freezing today by Texas standards, which means hot comfort food is a must. I don’t get the chance to make beef stew often, but today was the perfect day for it. Sleety, windy, gray, cold: just like winter should be. Not what I want in a winter, but nothing I can do about that except maybe place The Goron on my Voodoo List™.

Not saying I did, mind you.

Anyway, I go to do my kitchen prep: peel and dice potatoes, carrots, onions, brown stew beef cuts, and open the red wine. Yes, I cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food. I place all that heavenly goodness into the crock pot, plug it in and….. nothing.

NOTHING!!!

I am aghast. My crock pot is dead, y’all!!

I am at a loss. I love my crock pot. I use it at least once a week. After hyperventilating and walking around the kitchen island sobbing, I calmed down and decided to put it in the oven to cook, like a boss. Actually, like a boss that has a ton of cast iron dutch ovens. I’ll be danged if I let this setback ruin dinner. I mean, there is no way I am going out in this weather. Not even for a dinner out.

On the upside, Hubby has an idea of what to get me for Valentine’s Day 😉

Thursday Never List

Some days ago, I was cooking dinner and manage to catch Little One in a mood to help. It doesn’t happen often, so when it does I take full advantage of it and basically turn her in the Sous Chef. The irony here is that she is my picky eater, and wasn’t going to eat dinner that night. Of course, that didn’t stop me from putting her to work. Anyway, I asked her to get the dill, and she brought me two jars.

LO: Here you go, Mom.

Me: We have two jars of dill? Both open??

LO: No, we have four.

Me: So why bring out two?

LO: One for each hand?

Me: *rolls eyes*

Apparently, we are fans of dill around here. And it got me to thinking about what else I have in my spice hoard. And what spices I just can’t do without.

#5– Pepper

All kinds. Except Jolokia. No joke.

#4– Oregano

I love it for most ethnic dishes, especially Puerto Rican ones.

#3– Thyme

The best part, aside the flavor, is hearing the mispronunciation.

#2– Paprika

Sweet or sharp, but especially sweet.

#1– Rosemary

Alone or in Herbs de Provence, the fragrance and flavor are sublime.

So there you have it: spices I can NOT do without. You may wonder why dill isn’t listed. Well, that’s because Eldest is responsible for that particular hoard. I’m only responsible for the jars, packets, and tins of Herbs de Provence and paprika.

All ten of them 😀

Random Musings for Sunday

Today is the Twelfth Day of Christmas, and still no drummers drumming. Thank goodness, because I am taking down all the Christmas stuff today. Usually I wait until Epiphany to do so, but I have stuff going on tomorrow. Nothing like taking down lights while a cold front moves through to get you motivated to do it quickly.

I made some hot chocolate the other night with Ghirardelli, milk, and cream. I topped it off with one of these:

That’s right: Candy Cane Marshmallow Peeps, dipped in chocolate. DIVINE!!!

I hate the new “Related Pin” crap at Pinterest. Who the heck would think I would be interested in pickled Northern Pike?? I do like the blood orange margarita, though.

There is no end to laundry, ever.

I am a very patient person, except when waiting on packages from Amazon to arrive. Then I am stalking the mail carrier like a boss.

I made the mistake of wearing a red shirt when I went to Target©. That wasn’t as bad as being able to answer everybody’s questions, though.

And with that, hope y’all have a wonderful Sunday 😀

I’m Turning Into My Grandma

I have passed the turning-into-my-mom stage and gone straight to plaid, apparently.

Let me tell you, she loved, LOVED those cookies. But we seldom got to eat any because she got to them first. And then came the disappointment as we sneaked into the kitchen and found the tin under the cabinet, and opened it to find needles and thread. Or tape and pencils. Or ANYTHING BUT COOKIES.

And now guess what?

I can’t wait to finish the cookies so I can use the tin to hold my crap.

*sobs uncontrollably*

At least I get cookies out of this 🙂

Thursday Never List

I am a fan of sugar. I love it. Candy is dandy, y’all. I am the type that takes her time savoring sugar, be it a candy bar or hard candy. No matter, it is sugar and it should be properly consumed. But every wonderful thing has a flip side, and sometimes you have to draw the line, even where your sweet tooth is concerned. You can imagine the angst I feel during Halloween.

It’s hellish, y’all.

No Sense Candy

#5– Baby Bottle Pop

Sucking on a candy pacifier may indicate severe mental trauma. Same goes for the stupid ring pops.

#4– Push Pops

Uh, if I have to work at getting the candy, it’s not worth the trouble.

#3– Eyeballs

I had to eat sheep eyes once, and this just sends me into paroxysms of rage.

#2– Spiced Candy

Wasabi, jalapeno, serrano, jolokia, I don’t care. NO SPICY PEPPERS belong in candy. EVER.

#1– Insect Lollipops

Whoever thought coating a dead scorpion in hard candy was a good idea should be rotting in Hades.

Now, time to eat some chocolate to wash out the bad taste from this post 😉