Friday, July 25, 2008
TGIF
Well, thank goodness it is finally Friday. I am having some friends over tonight for some Mediterranean Pasta, salad and LOTS of wine. Off to Yazoo City tomorrow to hang at the lake with Kay and the gang. I'm sure there will be stories to tell after that so check back in next week. Hope everyone has a good and safe weekend!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
The Making of the Ultimate Panini
It is becoming increasingly apparent that we do a lot of cooking, eating and drinking........three of our favorite past times....may be I should have written drinking, cooking and eating...because we never eat until WAY after the drinks...
Our girl's home spa weekend included the making of Linda's Ultimate Panini. Precious
(my big sistah) had purchased up some wonderful bread at the Fresh Market in the "big city". She had planned to smuggle it home with her on Sunday, but Linda and I had other plans for usage. Linda broiled 
up some heavenly thick sliced bacon and damn if the power didn't go off at her house.......after much ado and cussing of the power company, the lights came back and low and behold when we opened the oven the bacon was cooked to perfection..... Linda dragged out her gourmet grill sandwich press (aka George Foreman grill) and got it heated up. She placed a slather of mayo on the sliced bread, topped with fresh mozzarella cheese, then fresh basil leaves from her patio herb garden, vine ripened tomatoes, and the thick bacon......with 
salt & pepper to taste and a coating on the outside with a little EVOO.....(extra virgin olive oil for you Rachel Ray haters..) and pressed them on the grill.
(my big sistah) had purchased up some wonderful bread at the Fresh Market in the "big city". She had planned to smuggle it home with her on Sunday, but Linda and I had other plans for usage. Linda broiled 
up some heavenly thick sliced bacon and damn if the power didn't go off at her house.......after much ado and cussing of the power company, the lights came back and low and behold when we opened the oven the bacon was cooked to perfection..... Linda dragged out her gourmet grill sandwich press (aka George Foreman grill) and got it heated up. She placed a slather of mayo on the sliced bread, topped with fresh mozzarella cheese, then fresh basil leaves from her patio herb garden, vine ripened tomatoes, and the thick bacon......with 
salt & pepper to taste and a coating on the outside with a little EVOO.....(extra virgin olive oil for you Rachel Ray haters..) and pressed them on the grill.
Bon Appetite'
They were delicious and received many oohhhhs and AAHHSS...from Precious and myself. (especially since she did all the work and served us like we were guest or somebody special)......which made them taste all the better !!
Day 2 at T&B Spa
After all day of "eat, drink, and be merry" on Saturday, we realize
d we must continue the torture on Sunday to get in all the food, drink and wax before time to return home. The wax was still hot and melted so I decided to start my morning with a foot job and Kona coffee and Kahlua while lounging on the sofa and let Linda serve me up some breakfast.........
It was with great joy that I remembered that Precious (my sweet sistah) and I failed to clean our plates last night and hopefully some of that awesome cypress plank grilled salmon might swim back into the breakfast menu. About that time Linda presented me with a fresh bagel topped with cream cheese, (and you guessed it).....salmon with a caper garnish. I was beginning to think it was worth it to let Linda talk me into immersing my hands & feet in scalding wax, but I must admit the smooth outcome (the bliss) was well worth the torture.
Precious and Linda followed my lead and after breakfast got the hot wax foot treatment and by the time that was over it was "time for cocktails".............
We were starting to get a pretty good collection of wax creations.....Linda insisted we create something out of our used wax....so here you go folks.......
Yeah, I know what you're thinking......... "those girls ain't right !!!"......well you're darn well right and we're damn proud of it.....
It was about
110 degrees outside today, as Precious put "it's a firecracker out there" !! Linda's neighbors were pulling WAY to much electric as everyone was home from work and lowering the A/C.....it is Mississippi by the way....so the power kept going off and then coming back. This continued till after noon and then we got the blackout.....good thing we had plenty of ice and mixers cause it looked like it might be awhile. So what else to do but get out Yahtzee and snacks to bide the time........Red grapes, goat cheese and assorted crackers......everything was good again. Except Linda and Precious kicking my ass with the dice, time and time again.......
d we must continue the torture on Sunday to get in all the food, drink and wax before time to return home. The wax was still hot and melted so I decided to start my morning with a foot job and Kona coffee and Kahlua while lounging on the sofa and let Linda serve me up some breakfast.........
It was with great joy that I remembered that Precious (my sweet sistah) and I failed to clean our plates last night and hopefully some of that awesome cypress plank grilled salmon might swim back into the breakfast menu. About that time Linda presented me with a fresh bagel topped with cream cheese, (and you guessed it).....salmon with a caper garnish. I was beginning to think it was worth it to let Linda talk me into immersing my hands & feet in scalding wax, but I must admit the smooth outcome (the bliss) was well worth the torture.
Precious and Linda followed my lead and after breakfast got the hot wax foot treatment and by the time that was over it was "time for cocktails".............
We were starting to get a pretty good collection of wax creations.....Linda insisted we create something out of our used wax....so here you go folks.......
Yeah, I know what you're thinking......... "those girls ain't right !!!"......well you're darn well right and we're damn proud of it.....
It was about
110 degrees outside today, as Precious put "it's a firecracker out there" !! Linda's neighbors were pulling WAY to much electric as everyone was home from work and lowering the A/C.....it is Mississippi by the way....so the power kept going off and then coming back. This continued till after noon and then we got the blackout.....good thing we had plenty of ice and mixers cause it looked like it might be awhile. So what else to do but get out Yahtzee and snacks to bide the time........Red grapes, goat cheese and assorted crackers......everything was good again. Except Linda and Precious kicking my ass with the dice, time and time again.......the beginning
In our infinite wisdom, Kay & I decided this weekend that we needed to start our own blog so here we go--------------------hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoy writing about our escapades.
“The Girls” (that would be Kay & Mary Lee) announced that they were coming to my house on Saturday for girl weekend. We began with lunch on Saturday at The Cherokee with our friend Teresa. She lives in Montana and it has been quite some time since we’ve seen her. What’s the old saying “eat, drink & be merry” – well, that’s just what we did!
Now since the girls do not live in the “big city” I just HAD to take them to the “fancy” grocery store after lunch so off to The Fresh Market we went. We needed to pick up a few things for our dinner that evening but since we all 3 love to cook I knew it would not be a short trip (and I was right). Finally after hanging out in the store for over an hour and looking at every single item in there we had all the things on our list and could finally go home (after all, it was time for another cocktail).
I had a surprise for the girls when we got back to the house – I had heated up the hot wax machine. After several cocktails Kay was the first one to try it out. She dipped one hand and immediately screamed as if she was being tortured
(she said it was too hot-----well, it is melted wax for crying out loud). Mary Lee & I thought it was perfectly delightful (bliss) – hence the name of our blog, Torture & Bliss. What is torture for one person can be bliss for another – just a matter or personal preference.
Earlier in the week I had planned our menu for the evening – cedar planked grilled
salmon, roasted asparagus, heart of palm salad and bread. To begin preparing the salmon I sprinkled it with some charcoal sea salt. I did this to draw out any fishy taste that might be there. I let the fish sit with the salt until my charcoal fire was ready and then I rinsed the salt off. I rubbed the fish with olive oil and then seasoned both sides with dill. I laid lemon slices under the bottom and on the top of each piece of fish, put them on the cedar plank (that had soaked in water all day) and then on the grill. Cook about 10-15 minutes dep
ending on the thickness of the fish. For the asparagus I tossed it in some walnut oil, sprinkled sea salt and black sesame seeds and roast
ed in the oven. Kay made us a lovely salad with mixed greens, red bell pepper (fresh out of her garden), heart of palm, feta cheese, seasoned salt, lime juice and a dollop of Parmesan Peppercorn Ranch Dressing.
Our dessert was 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1 cup of sour cream, 1 cup of lite Cool Whip, mix and refrigerate for several hours – place in a chilled martini glass and top with canned Oregon Raspberries (if you can’t find these use frozen) and a brown edged wafer (I prefer rolled wafer cookies that have been dipped in chocolate). After all this it was time to say “you’ve been a good dog, you can go to bed now”.
“The Girls” (that would be Kay & Mary Lee) announced that they were coming to my house on Saturday for girl weekend. We began with lunch on Saturday at The Cherokee with our friend Teresa. She lives in Montana and it has been quite some time since we’ve seen her. What’s the old saying “eat, drink & be merry” – well, that’s just what we did!
Now since the girls do not live in the “big city” I just HAD to take them to the “fancy” grocery store after lunch so off to The Fresh Market we went. We needed to pick up a few things for our dinner that evening but since we all 3 love to cook I knew it would not be a short trip (and I was right). Finally after hanging out in the store for over an hour and looking at every single item in there we had all the things on our list and could finally go home (after all, it was time for another cocktail).
I had a surprise for the girls when we got back to the house – I had heated up the hot wax machine. After several cocktails Kay was the first one to try it out. She dipped one hand and immediately screamed as if she was being tortured
(she said it was too hot-----well, it is melted wax for crying out loud). Mary Lee & I thought it was perfectly delightful (bliss) – hence the name of our blog, Torture & Bliss. What is torture for one person can be bliss for another – just a matter or personal preference.Earlier in the week I had planned our menu for the evening – cedar planked grilled
salmon, roasted asparagus, heart of palm salad and bread. To begin preparing the salmon I sprinkled it with some charcoal sea salt. I did this to draw out any fishy taste that might be there. I let the fish sit with the salt until my charcoal fire was ready and then I rinsed the salt off. I rubbed the fish with olive oil and then seasoned both sides with dill. I laid lemon slices under the bottom and on the top of each piece of fish, put them on the cedar plank (that had soaked in water all day) and then on the grill. Cook about 10-15 minutes dep
ending on the thickness of the fish. For the asparagus I tossed it in some walnut oil, sprinkled sea salt and black sesame seeds and roast
ed in the oven. Kay made us a lovely salad with mixed greens, red bell pepper (fresh out of her garden), heart of palm, feta cheese, seasoned salt, lime juice and a dollop of Parmesan Peppercorn Ranch Dressing.Our dessert was 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1 cup of sour cream, 1 cup of lite Cool Whip, mix and refrigerate for several hours – place in a chilled martini glass and top with canned Oregon Raspberries (if you can’t find these use frozen) and a brown edged wafer (I prefer rolled wafer cookies that have been dipped in chocolate). After all this it was time to say “you’ve been a good dog, you can go to bed now”.
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