Waffle Recipe (dot com)

September 1st, 2008

I was craving waffles.  I asked around until I found a waffle maker.  Next I needed some waffle batter so, I searched google for “waffle recipe.”   And wouldn’t ya know it, the first hit was waffle-recipe.com.  (who does this?)

The recipe provided on the front page is quite good but

  1. Add a teaspoon or so of vanilla extract to up the yumminess factor
  2. It does NOT make “eight or nine” waffles.  Four?  maybe.

You’ve got to love the banner, too…

So the idea for a waffle party went off rather well.  Everybody had an idea for what to bring that would improve things.  Strawberries, orange juice, whipped cream, pomegranite juice, vegetarian sausage, bacon, and champagne (hey, mimosa!).

But really, today was a day to be outside.  Well, it was here in the nation’s capital.  Things are a little different down in Louisiana.

So while thinking about this, I realized that all that was really keeping me inside was the ability to plug the waffle iron in. It seemed that a waffle party in a park was really feasible with just a little thought and planning.  And especially on sunny summer off-days, when everyone has plans, an outdoor brunch would be a great way to start things off before people disperse to go do their thing.  But where can I find a publicly accessible power outlet in a park?  (side note:  plugging “dc park public power outlet access” returns a crazy set of results, none of them having relevance to my quest).  Or how about I just use a power inverter to plug it into my car?  I may have to alternate between the coffee maker and the waffle maker, but that’s a minor inconvenience compared with having hot waffles in warm sunshine with cold OJ and chill friends.

The outdoor waffle party is doable, folks.  Today was just a warm up. It’s coming.  Be prepared.  Be very prepared.

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Wonderfarm

January 19th, 2008

I would like to think that I’ll try anything once. I’m not sure if I can, I’m not sure if I want to.

When I was in Costa Rica with D they had “chicken of the tree” as a sort-of novelty dish (but I think the local people there eat it as we would eat, say, duck or lobster … a sort of delicacy to the bourgeois). Having lived with her and her pet iguana for years (and, oh, D is vegetarian) there was no reason to discuss trying it. Anyway, the thinking I did in that situation makes me sure that I could never eat something I’ve had or lived with as a pet.

Artichoke DrinkSo it was another one of those heck yea, I’ll try anything once! Kinds of moments when I saw these cans, 2 for $1 at the H-mart in Merrifield. “Wonderfarm Artichoke Drink” … some shit imported from Vietnam that normally sells for $o.79/can and the grocer is cutting me a deal. Thanks pal, I’ll take one. (I only need one to try anything once but, you know, I’m just not anticipating that this stuff is really gonna be any good. Grocer, pal, you gambled and lost. Bum luck.) The can was in all different languages and it was a weird 11.1 oz size and, anyway, it was movie night and I thought someone might try it (but nobody expressed interest).

I tried it, and you might like to know, it’s pretty good! It tastes a lot like southern sweet-tea.

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Quinine? What’s that?

January 7th, 2008

quinine bottle I was thinking about what I put in my body the other day and on the list is “Tonic Water contains Quinine”. And I started to wonder to myself: “What’s quinine? And then I proceeded to have an experience very similar to Zack’s, all the way down to the last comment:

“…you’ve never read Little House on the Prarie, or you’d know that quinine cures malaria. So, drink up!”

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What is fast food?

January 2nd, 2008

Ok, the necessity of tackling this question happened sooner than I expected it to. Here goes.

First of all, anything with a drive through is fast . If I’m unwilling to be inconvenienced even so much as getting out of my car, it is definitely fast . Beyond that, though, there’s no singular definition that fits. Even the Wikipedia page on fast food acknowledges its definition is “dubious” and invites further discussion.

But what about walk-up or take-away? Is it fast if it is made-to-order? Is it fast if I can sit down? Do I order at the counter? Is it brought to my table? Cloth napkins? Where is the dividing line?
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Bacon and Beef Chili

February 18th, 2007

Starting from the RecipeSource version, I’ve honed my chili recipe considerably.

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
    3/4   lb           Sliced bacon, chopped
   1       lb           Lean ground beef
   1                    Coarsely chopped medium-sized white onion
   1/4    c            Chopped pepperocini
  28       oz          Can, tomatoes, Undrained, coarsely chopped
  16       oz          Can, pinto beans, undrained
  16       oz          Can, kidney beans
   1       c            Picante sauce
 -- spices --
   1       tb           Chili powder
   2       ts           Ground cumin
   1       t             Salt
 -- alt. spices --
   4       tb            Martin's pork seasoning (secret recipe, sorry)
   3/4    ts            Cayenne pepper powder
 -- alt. spices --
   ?       ?             Get crazy! :)

In a large saucepan, cook bacon over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until crisp. Remove to paper towels with slotted spoon. Pour off all but about 1 tablespoon of the drippings. In drippings, brown ground beef with onion and pepperocini; drain (if you use very lean beef, you may not need to drain here). Add reserved bacon and remaining ingredients except optional toppings; mix well. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes. For best results, turn stove down to just warm and allow the flavors to mingle for two hours or more, stirring occasionally.

Ladle into a bowl, top with crushed saltines and shredded cheese, and enjoy. Afterwards, ladle the remainder in single-portion amounts into gladware containers and freeze until needed. Thaw frozen containers and microwave on high for 2:22 and enjoy once again.

Optional toppings: crushed saltine crackers, sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped onion, chopped cilantro.

RecipeSource original version follows for reference…
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Mom’s Christmas Breakfast Casserole

February 18th, 2007

Christmas 1991One of my favorite parts of Christmas as a kid was, of course, opening presents. (duh!) But every year that I can remember as soon as the gifts were opened mom would get out her Spode Christmas plates and mugs and serve this casserole and usually glasses of eggnog (nonalcoholic). She would prepare it the night before as stated in the recipe and sometime in the middle of the gift exchange we would pause while she popped it into the oven.

4-6 slices of bread
1 lb. bulk sausage
1 cup (I add a little more) grated Cheddar cheese
6 eggs
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
dash pepper

Tear up 4 to 6 slices of bread and place pieces in greased 13×9 baking dish. Brown and drain sausage (make sure to get as much fat off as possible) and spoon over bread. Sprinkle grated Cheddar cheese over meat.

Beat together eggs, milk, dry mustard, salt and pepper. Pour over mixture in
baking dish. Bake 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Tastes best if prepared ahead of time, cover and place in refrigerator over
night. Recipe can be cut in half and put in 8×8 pan.

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Dad’s Microwave Egg Sandwich

November 29th, 2006
  1. Take oversize soup mug
  2. Spray w/ pam and pat of butter
  3. melt in microwave 15-20 sec.
  4. whip jumbo egg w/ 1 table spoon of milk & seas. salt & pepper
  5. cover tightly w/ film and fork vent holes in top
  6. cook in microwave in 2 stages, 1st for 20 sec, pause, then 20-30 secs, let stand 1 min
  7. open and add shredded cheddar, cover and let melt while toast finishes
  8. cut in half, let cool, salsa if desired, wrap in film, one for ride, one for now
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catbox cake

April 25th, 2006

From Catt’s Kitchen


1 (18 oz.) box spice or German Chocolate Cake mix
1 (18 oz.) box white cake mix
1 pkg. white sandwich cookies
1 large box vanilla instant pudding mix
12 small Tootsie Rolls
1 litter box (preferably a NEW one!)
1 plastic scoop
green coloring


Preparation: Prepare cake mixes and bake according to directions (any size pans).

Prepare pudding mix and chill until ready to assemble. Crumble white sandwich cookies in small batches in blender, they tend to stick, so scrape often.

Set aside all but about 1/4 cup. To the 1/4 cup cookie crumbs, add a few drops green coloring and mix using a fork or shake in a jar. When cakes are cooled to room temperature, crumble into a large bowl. Toss with half the remaining white cookie crumbs and the chilled pudding. You probably won’t need all of the pudding, mix with the cake and ‘feel’ it, you don’t want it soggy, just moist; gently combine. Put mixture into clean litter box.

Put three unwrapped Tootsie rolls in a microwave safe dish and heat until soft and pliable. Shape ends so they are no longer blunt, curving slightly.
Repeat with 3 more Tootsie rolls and bury in mixture. Sprinkle the other half of cookie crumbs over top. Scatter the green cookie crumbs lightly over the top, this is supposed to look like the chlorophyll in kitty litter.
Heat remaining Tootsie Rolls, three at a time in the microwave until almost melted. Scrape them on top of the cake and sprinkle with cookie crumbs.

Place the box on a newspaper and sprinkle a few of the cookie crumbs around. Serve with a new pooper scooper.

Man, I can’t wait to get invited to a pot-luck!

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Problem 56

June 25th, 2005

Mijoy said “It aggravates me when people forget what I’ve told them, but even more so, it makes me mad when someone tells me the same thing multiple times. That shows that they didn’t feel like our conversation was important enough to remember.”

And David Byrne said “Say something once, why say it again?”

And I say “stop me if you’ve heard this one before…”
duff-mini.jpg
Why is my memory so bad? Beer, probably. Come to think of it, it doesn’t do much for my belly, bowels, or breath, either.
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