Yummmy

I just ate Balela which I had never even heard of until I purchased it at Trader Joe's on Monroe yesterday. It is a delicious middle eastern salad! So good that I may have to experiment with a recipe so I can make vats for the spring & summer months!

Ingredients: chickpeas, black beans, tomatoes, red onions, parsley, mint (dried), lemon juice, cider vinegar, mix of canola oil/extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, garlic, black pepper.

Dog Spot - No. 2

I walked by my dog's food bowl on Sunday night. It was empty. And then I remembered I was supposed to pick up dog food. Dagny is not high maintenance in the food arena. She will eat just about anything and I don't think she would even hunt me down if I forgot to feed her for a day or two. Don't worry - she has never skipped a meal.

I filled her bowl with some cat food. She looked at me with her big brown eyes - "IS THIS A JOKE? ARE YOU GOING TO YELL FOR ME TO GET OUT OF THE CATS' BOWL?" I squirt the food with her salmon oil - letting her know - "N0 - tonight is a special occassion". I don't add "You get cat food because I am a bad owner and forgot to stop to buy you your food."

She is completely forgiving that one and gulps the food down in one inhale. For her it is like the best day EVER.

mini cupcakes & crack dip

i just finished making mini cupcakes. i love cupcakes. they seem to be the rage. again. every 5 year old KNOWS the joy of a cupcake. it seems we adults have just discovered them though I know i loved them when i was a kid. especially when i could just lick the icing off of the top of them. i liked the top part of the cake and the icing the best.

and that is why mini cupcakes rock. one bite. that's all. heaven. and i don't frost them. oh no - i leave the frosting out for everyone to frost their own. it allows everyone to control their own amount of frosting - thick or thin. i made yellow cupcakes. the frosting will be chocolate. mmm.

dags was right there WAITING patiently for me to drop something on to the floor. she learned at my parents house when she was a puppy to sit sweetly and still in the kitchen and good things would happen. at my parents house, my dad would hand feed her some amazing treat like liver. now she lays in the dining room with her front paws crossing the threshold into the kitchen. but she knows if she sits there - good things happen. like me knocking off a mini-cake and it landing at her feet. it really was an accident. she knows the joy of a mini cupcake.

the other thing i prepped was artichoke dip. it is like crack on a cracker. yummy. garlic, cheese & artichokes. i was mixing it to take with me to dinner tomorrow. i did put a small amount into the oven to heat tonight for my dinner. yummy.

The Perfect Brown Food

I have in the oven a baked potato. Technically it is still just a potato baking but soon it will be dinner. I was going to make tortilla soup but I lost my senses and got to the grocery store without looking at the recipe. I plead coma nap. The rotissiere chickens were still cooking. It was then that I heard my name and turned to see a potato from Idaho beckoning me over to his bin.

I love potatoes. I believe potatoes are a perfect food. I am particularly fond of potatoes in the baked form. I like them as a side but often it is just too much food. So from time to time, I indulge in the baked potato as the center piece of my meal. I have lite sour cream, sharp cheddar cheese and scallions (no chives to be found) to top it. And of course - sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

The smell is wafting through the house now. Oh, My Gosh! I had planned on having a little pinot with dinner but I have just discovered that the bottle I thought was in there is not. Sunday. No wine purchasing.

I am off to set the table and get ready from my potato enjoyment.

Delectable Indeed!

Wednesday for lunch I had the pleasure of returning to Muss & Turner's for my second AMAZING meal. I am going to go ahead and tell you on the enjoyable scale - 5 barks plus a wagging tale. AMAZING I tell you.

My most recent meal involved 1/2 a Ruben sandwich and cup of the day's soup which was white bean & vegetable. The corn beef is incredible - the best I have found in this City. I am not a girl who usually eats the pickle offered with her sandwich but at M&T - I LOVE the pickle. You have a choice of 4 pickle flavors. My favorite is the "new cucumber". In fairness to the other pickles - I have not tried them. My friend & I split a sandwich and they gave us each our own pickle - not a quarter or a half - but a whole pickle each. Their sandwiches are a plentiful; take some one you like and share.

The desserts - OMGosh. Again - out of this world and tough to make a decision. Even if you are stuffed when you leave, at least take a cookie home. You will thank me later. I promise.

One day soon - I am going to go back and try the Chocolate Elvis.