New Meal Monday – Mushroom Barley Soup
Well we had a very nice weekend. Matt helped a friend (the husband) demo what is to be their new bedroom on Friday while I went shopping with Holly (the wife) since neither of us can be around that much dust (her pregnant, me allergies). We had a great time and I ended up with new jeans from J. Jill (high time I got a new pair).
Saturday we went to the gym, Whole Foods, and then came home to hang around and play video games and relax. For dinner we made the luscious Mushroom Barley Soup. I will have to get Matty to add it as I forgot to bring it with me, or I'll do it at home this evening when I get a minute. Highly Highly recommended. Soooooo good.
Sunday was a little shopping and a lot of relaxing. We had Kelly over for dinner and hung out, played Life (we'd all forgotten how dumb that game is) and watched Grey's Anatomy.
Skinned!
To mark the upcoming lovey-dovey holiday, I have created a new skin for the site which is called “vwhim,” which stands for Valentines Day – Whimsical (if you must know). I may make another skin in honor of the big lovey dovey day if the mood suits me. We'll just have to see. Continue reading “Skinned!”
Protected: Digesting it All
Dame Edna Tonight!
I've got a busy day ahead of me … work … gym … dinner … and DAME EDNA!
In case you don't know, Dame Edna is a one-man (woman??) comedy act where this guy dresses up like an old(er) lady and well … criticizes and has fun with her audiences and talks about her own life and her son Kenny (and the many friends of Kenny).
We'll be attending the show with my mom, dad, and sis who have all seen the Dame perform before. I'll have a re-cap tomorrow! 
Wonton With Crab and Cream Cheese
from: MyLittleMochi.com
Ingredients
1 – 8 ounce cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 beaten egg
2 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup red onion minced
1/2 lb. imitation crab meat
1 package won ton pi wrappers
1 beaten egg (to seal won ton pi)
Directions
In a bowl mix all ingredients except the won ton pi and beaten egg for sealing. Place a 1 teaspoon heaping mound of filling in middle of won ton pi and moisten top edges with beaten egg. Fold over into a triangle shape, pressing lighting on the top edges to seal.
Moisten one side corner with egg, overlap with other corner and press together.
Deep fry wontons until golden brown, about 1 minute. Drain on paper towels and serve with Thai sweet chili pepper sauce. Makes about 24 won tons.
Moist Lemon Bread
from: AllRecipes.com
Ingredients
6 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 C white sugar
1/2 C milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. grated lemon zest
1/2 C chopped walnuts
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
Directions
Generously grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, combine melted butter or margarine and sugar. Add eggs, and mix until light and fluffy. Add milk, baking powder, lemon rind, and chopped nuts. Mix well. Sift flour, and gradually add to mixture; mix to just combine.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
While bread is baking, combine lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar in small dish. Stir well before using. Immediately upon removing bread from oven, place pan on a cooling rack. Using a large fork, poke holes all over the bread. Pour lemon juice mixture over the top of the bread. Cool for 15 minutes, and then remove from pan.
Boston
Well, sadly, I didn't get that many good photos from Boston. I will be checking with our friends though and getting the ones they took. I wasn't a very good photographic tourist this time around.
Anyhoo, like I said, we went to Bean Town for the long weekend to see the sights and attend friend Holly's hometown baby shower. We left early on Friday and got into Boston mid-afternoon (dern time change). We were lucky enough to draw bee-yoo-tee-ful weather and after we checked into our hotel, we set out on foot to see what we could see. We met up with Mike (hubsand of Holly)'s parents and ended up going to dinner at Legal Seafood. After dinner, we headed up to Harvard Square and got tea at TeaLuxe and walked around checking out Harvard Square and chatting.
Saturday Morning we got up bright and early and caught some Dunkin' Donuts coffee (and their unremarkable donuts) and headed to the Haymarket where we met Holly's dad and step-mom, Ead. Ead is from Thailand and she picks up a weeks worth of produce there every Saturday. It's an amazing farmer's market and we were ardently wishing we had the like in Denver.
After a bit more sight-seeing and some lunch, Holly's dad picked us up at the hotel and gave us an excellent car-tour of the sights and sounds of Boston and then of the amazing old houses and sights of Hingham and Cohasset. Continue reading “Boston”
Back from Boston
Hi all! So we're back from Boston!! We went up for a long weekend to see the sights (Matt had never been before) and to attend our friend's hometown baby shower.
There was much fun to be had and when I'm not so freaking exhausted, I'll tell you all about it.
In Mind of Summer and Beaches
I must confess. I'm a bit of a fan of the Barefoot Contessa's. Sure she's a bit of a name-dropper and she says fabulous way too often, but I like looking at the pretty sandy beaches in the Hamptons. I like that she uses butter and buttermilk, but not liberally like that crazy lady from the South who practically bathes in anything fatty.
I watched a couple episodes last night while I was cleaning my office and there's definitely a lot of recipes now on my list to try:
+ Lunch in a Box (featuring Lobster Cobb Salad)
+ Working Girl (no, not hooker food … a fancy french ham sandwich)
+ Cooking with Tess (her cookbook author friend who likes healthy food)
Don't ya just love Tivo??