Gilt Menagerie

I made an AWESOME oven roasted vegetable medley last night! I have never roasted veggies in the oven before, but it turned out to be SO easy! Here is what I did:

Ingredients:

1 medium purple onion

2 baby or Chinese eggplants

2 large portobella mushrooms

8-10 small red potatoes

1 poblano pepper

(you could use any other roastable veggie as well, like different mushrooms, brussel sprouts, asparagus, carrots, zucchini, etc.)

1. Slice up Portobellas into 1 inch squares

2. Cut eggplant into wedges. I was always told to score eggplant with a diamond pattern; I don’t know what this accomplishes. Do you?

3. Quarter red potatoes, cut pepper into strips, and cut red onion into small wedges. I also peeled 4 garlic cloves, and sliced them up too.

4. Season. I didn’t have individual herbs, but I had a “pasta sprinkle” a.k.a. Italian Seasoning that had sweet basil, oregano, thyme, and garlic. Perfect! I also added pepper and salt.

I also tried a bit of this “Old World Seasoning” that had paprika, parsley, caraway, bay leaf and rosemary, among other things! I think any combination of these herbs would be great. You don’t have to have all of them by any means!

5. Toss veggies with olive oil and seasonings. Use enough oil to cover all of the veggies and evenly distribute seasoning.

6. Spread veggies onto a foil covered cookie sheet, and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until the veggies are done! (There will be a sizzling noise from the oil).

In hindsight, I would have made the eggplant pieces larger, because they got a bit overcooked. Everything else was perfect! The Poblano pepper is superior to a Bell pepper, in my opinion, but that is just because I don’t like Bell peppers.

Finished! I also made cheddar garlic drop biscuits and we had some Hoppin’ John as a side dish…it was super homey and filling, but absolutely delicious!

No Comments | In: Yummy | tags: herb roasted potatoes, roasted eggplant, roasted vegetables, roasted veggie medley. | #

1. Go to Mexico for a few months and eat huevos rancheros every other morning because they are only the best breakfast food ever invented.

2. Come back home and fantasize about said huevos rancheros on a regular basis.

3. Go to your local grocery store where little old Mexican ladies chop up nopales and you can buy oaxacan cheese and mexican crumbly cheese*, freak out at all of the ethnicity and then proceed to buy the following:

eggs, salsa ranchera, frijoles negroes, corn tortillas, avocado, onion and crumbly cheese a.k.a queso cotija a.k.a. mexican parmesan

*This may be difficult in states or countries that do not border Mexico. Do not let this stop you. You do not have to use cheese, although if it’s available I highly recommend it.

4. Slice avocado and onion.

5. Heat the amount of salsa ranchero and frijoles negroes that you plan to use in separate containers. I am a container freak in the kitchen, so much so that I had poured all of the crumbly cheese into a tupperware before I could take a picture of it still in the bag. Here is a shot of the bag though, so you can see what to look for. I found this at H.E.B.

6. Fry eggs. This is much easier than it sounds, if you have never fried an egg before (like me). I was pretty nervous. Like, what if the egg doesn’t stay in a circle and runs out all over the pan omg the horror? Luckily all you do is put a bit of spray in the pan, heat it up to medium, and crack the egg into the pan. It totally worked itself out. Just don’t let the pan get too hot, especially if you want your yema de huevos to be muy hecho i.e. not runny which I think is really gross but my husband likes. You gotta let them cook a while and you don’t want the whites, which cook much more quickly than the yolk, to get tough.

7. Heat corn tortillas in another skillet, also with a bit of spray. They should be warm and just a bit crispy.

8. (Optional) Toss sliced onions into a skillet to give them a bit of a browning. I don’t like raw onions, but either way is “authentic”.

9. Place two warmed corn tortillas side by side on a plate, place the fried eggs on top, smother with salsa ranchera, top with onion and avocado, sprinkle with crumbly cheese, and add a scoop of frijoles on the side. (This is a special three-egg version for the lover; mine had two.)

10. Pour a glass of orange juice (preferably from a jug that is labeled Jugo de Naranja for extra authenticity) and gobble up the tasty.

RESULT: For about ten minutes, I felt like I was back in Mexico. So worth it.

No Comments | In: Yummy | tags: authentic mexican food, huevos rancheros, recipes. | #

I think I just made the most terrifyingly rich and chocolaty brownies ever, using this recipe.

Of course, how else could I have rewarded the view from the window?

Unfortunately, these pictures do not do justice to the strangely attractive sheen of sweat, or to the deliciously chiseled v of the pubic bones. AHEM.

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2 Comments | In: Yummy | tags: brownie recipe, brownies, hawt, sexy man pictures. | #

Would you like some warm peanut butter cookies?

Maybe you would rather have a few oatmeal raisin cookies instead. Glass of cold milk not optional.

Special trick: soak raisins in hot water to plump them up before adding them to the batter!

Of course, the fact that they were made by a girl with pink hair that adores baking just makes them even tastier.

Enjoy the virtual yumminess!

1 Comment | In: Yummy | tags: baking, cookies, Yummy. | #

Make your own Yogo Tango or Pinkberry for under 200 calories! And a minuscule amount of fat. (Btw, Yogo Tango is WAY better than Pinkberry. IMHO.)

What you need:

3/4 cup Dryer’s Peach frozen yogurt

1/2 cup frozen peaches

1/4 cup frozen blueberries

Directions:

1. Defrost blueberries & peaches (hint: peaches take longer).
2. Put fruit on top of yogurt.

ENJOY!

Nutrition is as follows:

1/4 cup blueberries, 18 calories, 0 grams fat

1/2 cup peaches, 25 calories, 0 grams fat

3/4 cup frozen yogurt, 150 calories, 3.7 grams fat

Total: 193 calories, 3.7 grams fat

Comments Off | In: Yummy | tags: food, frozen yogurt, fruit, tasty. | #

Today was awesome. We stayed in most of the day, listened to Mannheim Steamroller Pandora, wrapped presents, baked holiday cupcakes for our co-workers, got frisky, loved on Sophie and had family cuddle time. Pretty sappy. I loved every minute of it.

The baking part was great. I could bake all day, but generally am stopped after a few hours because of a lack of clean dishes. Because I don’t do dishes. It makes my hands dry up and besides I have a water phobia.

I present to you not the smallest kitchen ever, but definitely bordering on midget friendly:

Counter space #1                                       Counter Space #2

That is all. Fortunately, we also have a table, which is where I did the best part:

Sprinkletastic!

Photographic evidence that these pretty things tasted like quality:

Hopefully the swell people I work with will have similar looks on their faces tomorrow!

Comments Off | In: Yummy | tags: baking, christmas, cupcakes, Holidays. | #

1 Comment | In: Yummy | tags: bondage, sexy. | #