I'm Not Waiting on a Lady, I'm Just Waiting for My Goddamned Sushi Delivery

An hour? AN HOUR??? And you know what? It won't even be that great. However, wasabi shumai are included, so there is that.

Hot Stuff

OK, so it's cold in temperature, but I made a kickass batch of very spicy gazpacho the other night, and as it's sat in the fridge for a few days, the kick has become really pronounced. I used a whole variety of the tomatoes that have overtaken my yard, a cucumber from the garden, and my own herbs, plus the usual peppers, red onion, tons of garlic, and of course tomato juice. I used a jalapeno for heat, and it didn't seem too spicy, but it really bloomed, which is fine with me. Seasoned with lemon and lime juice, a touch of honey, salt and pepper. It's goooood.

R.I.P. Bailey, the sweetest dog in the world

Care to try some of my homegrown?

Gateau and Cake Bake

Yesterday, Miss Cake and I took a terrific course on Sweet and Savory Baking at the ICE culinary school in Manhattan. We had tried to get into something more cakey, but many of the classes were already full. As it turned out, this was a perfect class for us.

We worked in teams of two, and each team made 4 of 5 recipes. Working in a professional kitchen with a full range of equipment and supplies, plus a person on dishwashing and a chef-instructor and assistant to help us, was delightful.

The recipes were:

Pissaladiere (a sort of French cheeseless pizza, with onions, olives, and anchovies)
Calzones with Ricotta-Prosciutto Filling (also spinach or dried sausage options)
Blueberry Crumb Cake (sour cherries also available; we did half and half)
Triple Chocolate Biscotti with Walnuts and Chocolate Glaze
Breton Apple Cake (we didn't make this)

I am going to make that apple cake, though, this fall when I go apple picking and overdo it. It's very caramelly and has rum, so what's not to like. Also, it's gorgeous and is very easy to make look like it came from some fancy patisserie.

The whole thing was tons of fun, and Cake and I worked great together. The only downside was that we had to share the worktable with a nasty couple. They barely spoke to each other, and generally seemed to be having no fun at all. They were big space hogs, but would grumble if you edged into their space at all (and they had a long side of the table, while we had the short one). They'd hoard supplies, but take whatever anyone else was using, and act proprietary with the communal equipment. Basically, they sucked and our stuff came out better. So there.

My weekend of meats

My friends Pam and John are thoughtful enough to rent a beautiful country house in the summers just perfect for entertaining their friends. This past weekend, we packed up the little Gateaux and met them and their kids up there, along with our mutual awesome friend Meg. It was nearly a reunion of our Jamaica trip, and to make it even more so, the weekend specialty cocktail was the Dark & Stormy. Even Mr. Gateau put several away, and he's not usually one who's big on spirits OR sweet mixers.

We ate well, and we ate a lot of meat. At lunch on Saturday we had lots of delicious composed salads from a good takeout place, and a portion of the quesadilla of the day, which happened to be a meatloaf quesadilla. Those who ate it said it worked much better than expected. Oh, and drank a bottle of rose with that.

For dinner, John hauled out a motherlode of grass-fed, thick rib eye steaks. Those were grilled and served up with grilled vegetables and roasted potato wedges, and we drank a few bottles of red wine and capped it all off with flourless chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream.

On Sunday, Mr. Gateau cooked up a massive breakfast of challah french toast, which we served with mixed berries and three, yes three, different types of breakfast meats. We had two full packages of thick-sliced applewood smoked bacon, pork breakfast sausages, and chicken breakfast sausages. I thought this was overkill and almost put the second package of bacon away, but Mr. Gateau was thinking ahead, and insisted I make it all, and damned if we didn't put away all but about three slices.

Then we rolled home, but before that we got ice cream at a wonderful roadside stand. The children were basically covered head to toe in sticky drippings, which is just about the best way to end a summer weekend.

Deep Concern

I was coming over here to post about how Terra Red Bliss Bloody Mary flavor potato chips are basically the greatest thing ever, but first I figured I'd go get a link from the Terra website so you could see them for yourself. Imagine my chagrin when I find that the page listing all the Red Bliss varieties has no Bloody Mary to be found. To be sure, there is a sundried tomato-balsamic vinegar flavor that is probably really good, but I have gotten completely addicted to the slightly spicy Bloody Mary chips, with their hint of Worcestershire and celery salt. Terra, say it ain't so! I love putting these out in a bowl, serving cocktails, and calling it a day.