Thursday, June 19, 2008
Tagalicious
So, the rules of my most recent tag!
1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 5 songs you are embarrassed to admit to others you like and tell why.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
In my last tag on quirkiness, I mentioned my all out love for ridiculously old music. Can't help it... love it. This comes at an awesome time because I just burned a CD with 7 songs on it that I love and put on repeat that I don't so much want to admit that I absolutely love.
1. Forever Young, Alphaville - Napoleon Dynamite to the max. (and I love it)
2. Why, Annie Lennox - There was SYTYCD performance to this last year that I ADORED. I rewound and watched it over and over again. I can still see it in my head. It was that good.
3. 4 minutes, Justin & Madonna - Heard it at a bar recently and really enjoy it. Think I should add it to my gym playlist.
4. Friday I'm In Love, The Cure - Wendy introduced me to The Cure, this song was on their wedding website and I, for serious, would keep the website on in the background of my computer and just listen to the song.
5. Make Love in The Club, Usher - There's something about this song that I love.
6. Lonely Night in Georgia, Marc Broussard - I don't know who this person is. Just found in my iTunes library when I was burning the CD. I really like him and am not embarassed for this particular song.
7. I'm Shipping Up to Boston, Dropkick Murphys - Sometimes Chris and I put this song on and pretend we know how to Irish dance all Micheal Flatley style. Well, it only happened once. But it was awesome and I think we should do it again. Soon.
I'm too tired to tag people. But if you are embarassed for your choices, please blog about it. I wanna read it :-)
Monday, June 16, 2008
Horses
Friday, June 13, 2008
Body: Slow & Steady
Weight: 124
Progress: 4 pounds to go
I've been good and bad. I've been getting to the gym 3 times a week. Which is good. But I've been eating lots of snickity snacks. Brownies and Cookies and Cake. Oh My. But it is delicious and I love it. The key really is just the balancing act. For every brownie that goes in, there must be some gym time exerted.
I'm feeling svelte which is awesome. There's a huge possibility that they replaced the mirrors at my gym with skinny mirrors. You know, the mirrors that make you look awesome. Subtle fun house mirrors.
It's nice to just have this open goal. Before the wedding there was a timeline. A definite finish line for the hot body race. Now, it's just open... I can be fast or slow and enjoy the cookies/cake/ice cream/etc. and it's awesome.
My friend Jen posted something super interested that she read in Self Magazine. All about a "reasonable" weight. I'm going to have to agree with Jen on most of what she says. Go read it, quite interesting stuff!
Cooking: Cedar Plank Salmon
This was a big venture in that I'd never used a grill before. Or Cedar planks. Or giant chunks of fish. But I wanted to learn! And the prospect of smoky cedary salmon was so intriguing.
I let the plank soak for an hour. So it doesn't catch on fire.
I'm guessing that I bought waaaaaaay too much. The lady suggest a 1 1/2 pound chunk. But it was a little more around 1.8 pounds. Heavy.
So, Chris came home when it was time for the grill portion of the evening. Which was good, because I couldn't light the damn thing.
All was going really well. It was smoking (which it is supposed to do.) And it smelled AWESOME! Then I glanced over, and it was on FIRE!
It ended up good, a bit charred on one end. But delicious!
There was some asparagus as well. I just wrapped it in tin foil, squeeze of a lemon and a few shakes of kosher salt. It was a tad limp, but excellent nonetheless.
I Shot the Chef told me I could reuse my plank, but she was a total liar. It is super blackened and super ick.
Holy.Freakin.Crap.
Elegant Bride called him.
They're interesting in publishing our wedding!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
Cooking: Potato Pizza
Friday night was Jim Lahey's Potato Pizza. I don't know who this Jim Lahey guy is (and by the way she writes about him, I probably should), but his pizza is fabulous! Well, it's more bread and topping than pizza as we all know and love it. Fantastic bread and topping.
I got to use my dough hook for the first time! Didn't think it would be able to do much. But it worked amazingly well.
Made the dough on Thursday because there is much rising involved. Note to self: don't forget to put it away. It sat out all night. And all day. Got slightly crusty and super difficult to work with. A splash of water took care of it. And we didn't all die from food poisoning... so that rocks.
The mandolin made a second appearance and I must say that I.Love.It. How did I slice before her?!
The perfection of each slice kills me.
It was absolutely fantastic. Made two little pizzas and that was more than enough for 3 of us. Tastylicious!
Jim Lahey's Potato Pizza
via Smitten Kitchen
Makes two 8-inch pizzas or one 14-inch pizza
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1 cup cold water
Olive oil, for bowl and pans
1 teaspoon instant dry yeast
2 potatoes, thinly sliced (about 2 cups) [I used Yukon Golds, and I believe this is what Lahey uses as well]
1/2 onion, diced into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Fresh rosemary (optional)
1. Combine flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer, and slowly add 1 cup cold water. Mix on low speed until ingredients begin to combine. Switch to a dough hook and continue to mix for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic and cleanly pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl.
2. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and allow to rest for 2 to 4 hours until it has doubled in size. Split the dough into halves, and form each into a log. Place each log on a generously floured surface, and allow it to rest until the formed dough doubles in size again, at least 1 hour.
3. While the dough rises for the second time, repare the potato topping. Slice potatoes very thin using a knife or a mandoline. Then soak them in several changes of ice water to remove excess starch and prevent discoloration. Drain slices in a colander, toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt, and set aside for 10 minutes. Drain any accumulated water. In a medium bowl, combine potatoes, onions, and 1 tablespoon olive oil, and set aside.
4. Preheat oven to 440 degrees. Prepare two rimmed baking sheets with vegetable oil. Divide dough in half. Place each piece on its own baking sheet. Using the palms of your hands, flatten dough out to the edges of the pan. Evenly spread potatoes over the surface of the dough up to the very edge, or about 1 inch from the edge if you desire a crust on your pizza. Season with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle with rosemary if using.
5. Bake potato pizza until it has shrunk away from the edges of a pan and the bottom is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven, and allow to cool slightly; slice into pieces, and serve. Potato pizza is also delicious served at room temperature.
