Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Fresh Finds: Pork Medallions with Grapes in Pomegranate Sauce

The other week we found ourselves in a conversation about our cookbooks and the need to try more new recipes. It started out as a conversation about stepping out of our comfort zone and dipping into the different flavor combos out there. So we decided that we would cook at least one new recipe a week. We decided that there are few rules, the two rules being it has to be new and not our own recipe!

We were so fired up about this idea we dove right into it! I thought it'd be great to take a picture of the cookbook and a pic of the final product. I know it's silly but I really wanted to see how closely we could get our dish to look like the dish in the book. I'm aware that not all books have pics but I thought it'd be fun for the ones that do.

Our first dish is brought to you from Jacque Papan's More Fast Food My Way 2008 book. I grew up watching this man on PBS and was so excited to get this book. We settled on a Pork Medallions with Grapes in Pomegranate Sauce. I think we were both a bit apprehensive to try this dish at first. Eventually it sunk in that pork and fruit tend to go together quite well.

Overall we agreed that the combination of flavors were yummy and the texture of the grapes were really enjoyable. I had expected the sauce to be a little thicker but then again I'm a gravy loving girl. Mario overall expected the dish to have a lot stronger flavor.

In the end it was a little disappointing dish. I think we expected some amazing flavors to pop due to the ingredient list and they were just very subtle. Now don't get me wrong we did enjoy this dish, it just probably won't get made again. I had it for lunch the next day and I think the sitting over night did it some justice. But we all know things taste better the second day.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

*drum roll please* The Kitchen

I figured since I wrote about the pond it was time to keep the ball rolling and finally get to the post about our new kitchen.

As any cook knows the kitchen is what makes up a big part of one’s cooking experience. In our old kitchen we had minimal room, white grout counter tops, white porcelain sink, a gas stove, horrible cabinetry and a standard refrigerator. For 5+ years we made the best of our situation. We learned to make this kitchen work and complained about it every step of the way.
Well when picking a house we knew we knew what we wanted in our new house. When we first stepped foot into our house it seemed cool then we entered the kitchen. Our eyes grew very big in excitement. To be honest between the endless possibilities of the backyard and the beauty of the kitchen we were sold. So I present our new kitchen!
Complete with granite counter tops, a gas stove, cabinets a plenty, a lazy Susan for whatever we want, a refrigerator with french doors, a deep stainless steel sink. And man look at the lighting! I also have to say that for the amount we cook and move around in the kitchen the mass amount of space is refreshing.
I think our fridge is one of the best purchases we have made so far. See the little white board to the left of the refrigerator? That's our weekly menu. It is nice to not feel cramped in the kitchen. We even have a window that allows us to watch the world around us go by.
Of course I can't forget our ever growing cookbook collection! We still need a better dinning room table, but that will come eventually! I dunno, I adore our kitchen and wanted to share it with anyone who happened to take a peek at our little blog!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

The Bubs will be choosing Earth!

Next Saturday night we have decided to take part in this very interesting event. I encourage everyone to take one hour, just 60 minutes out of their life to support the world! Which side are you on, the earth's or global warming? Make your vote count switch off your lights.

To learn more go to Earth Hour for more information and tips. The website sums it all up, so no need for me to!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

A new home for Molly McButterPants

This weekend was a big weekend for our pet turtle Molly. Yes her name is Molly McButterPants. She is our 2 year old Red Eared Slider. Over the course of 2 years Molly has grown to be a lot larger than we ever expected. She went from a 29 gallon indoor fish tank to a 110 gallon pond in just under two years.

In the scope of things we felt like building Molly's new habitat was a top priority and a quality of life issue for her. Since moving to the outdoors Molly hanging out in large Rubbermaid container with a filter. These were not ideal conditions but we knew it was a temporary fix for our massive turtle. Enough about Molly on to the pond!

The morning started off at about 7:30 a.m. at our local Home Depot store. We grabbed a pre-formed pond and headed home to deal with the deed at hand. When we moved in to our house there was this slab with rocks and wood. We assumed it was for a hot tub. Well we really aren't hot tub people so this seemed to be the perfect spot for Molly.
After a lot of shoveling rock and getting ride of the wood frame we finally hit actual ground. The natural next step was to figure out how we wanted the pond situated and to start digging. We ended up sinking the pond in the ground about a foot or so. Once it was perfectly into the ground we were off to Home Depot again!
We had to make trip number two to pick up the cement blocks. I'm sure they have a proper name but I'm just going to say the heavy cement blocks. We loaded up 20 blocks and headed back home knowing that as much as we did not want to we had to do a 3rd trip to Depot. Did I mention that we are lucky enough to have a Home Depot RIGHT around the corner? So like I was saying we headed back for a 3rd time to good ol' Home Depot. All in all we needed about 40 blocks to get the look we wanted.

After our shape was fixed we had to support the blocks and pond with the dirt we had pulled out. So, back in the dirt went.
Mario found a great use for the flag stone we had been tearing up in the yard. He put some stones into the ground surrounding the pond. Once the winter passes and we clean them up they will be a lot more visible. We filled up the pond, de-chlorinated the water and let it circulate for awhile.

Next came Mario's favorite the fencing (not really it was a big pain in the butt). One might ask "why the fencing" well folks our turtle is like most other turtles an escape artist. She has the option of land but not the option of running away. Good thing Mario had the brute force to get those suckers in the ground!
At around 6:30 p.m. we grabbed up Molly and let her check out her new home, while The Bubs grabbed a beer. Molly appears to be happy and we love how it looks, so a good situation all around. Now the next step in this project is to get some plants in there. Phew one project down a billion more to go. I couldn't forget the lady of the hour Miss Molly McButterPants!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Offbeat Grub: Prickly Pear

I get so excited when we try new foods! Our most recent new food we picked up a Prickly Pear Cactus Fruit This fruit was going for $3.99 per pound, which meant we spent under $2.00 on one piece of fruit (I forget the actual price).
The prickly pear when cut into has a great magenta color and minimal fragrance. As with most fruits we try we wanted to taste it in its purest form and decided to have it with our lunch. I did some research online as to how to prepare the fruit for consumption. I peeled it and carved it up and put some slices on a plate.
Presentation wise the fruit is very visually pleasing. The taste was very subtle. The one draw back to eating a prickly pear is the amount of seeds. There is a TON of seeds in every bite. The amount of seeds for us took away from the enjoyment of the mellow flavor.
It is nice to report that we both agreed that we would love to try cooking with prickly pear and making some sort of reduction out of it. The flavor condensed with maybe a little honey would very tasty over some pan fried chicken or pork.

Anyone got any great Prickly pear recipes they wanna share?

Friday, March 6, 2009

Lunar New Year

During the moving process we tired our hardest to keep making yummy meals. At times we had to resort to the evils of fast food. While this wasn’t the healthiest of choices it did save our hides more than once.

Even though our time was being consumed with packing and moving we did make time to celebrate a new holiday. I was so excited in February to celebrate our first Lunar New Year. This was the first year that Mario and I had actually paid attention and took the time to learn about the food traditions and cultures surrounded around this very special holiday.

(A photo from our parade)
I was super stoked to be celebrating it both in my home life and my work life. I work at a special education school that focuses on complex emotional and developmental disabilities. The Lunar New Year allowed me to organize a celebration and parade around this cultural holiday. The students and staff both seemed to love it. After the parade we had a snack table that was complete with oranges, tea, and cookies.
That night before our big celebration at work Mario and I had our own feast. As I was preparing cookies for the students I was also preparing a low fat lunar feast. I felt as if I had on a very small scale transformed into a person who was excited and filled with the culture of the New Year. My thoughts of year of good prosperity, good fortune, and good healthy in my little family filled the kitchen. It was important to us that everything we ate during this feast had meaning and understanding
Our meal consisted of dumplings for wealth , egg drop soup for fertility, and long life noodles for well a long life in the new year. So it may be late but from we wish everyone a great and healthy New Year!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The Bubs are back!

It seems as though we have made it through the move! Life right now is all about getting settled and making the house our own! We had to do a lot up front to make it our own! Right off the bat we painted the front room and the bedrooms. We had the floors done with hardwood and carpet. They look great by the way! This house looks so different already from when we first checked it out.

We have also had our fair share of new home owner syndrome. After only three weeks of living here we already have an electrician and a plumber. Luckily, these guys have helped us out and taken care of business.

Now that we are all settled-ish it's time to get back to business and making our dream house.

It's good to be back!