Calamity Shazaam in the Kitchen

I read over on Food on the Food about Operation Baking GALS and that sounded like a fun thing to do this weekend while I waited around for the telephone repair folks to come by on Saturday morning. So I emailed Susan of She's Becoming DoughMESStic who has organized the whole thing and she sent me the information. She and I share the same love for Food on the Food and the whole Tammy & the Farmer saga. As it would happen and Murphy's Law being what it is, the telephone repairman came on Friday night. Saturday morning and well for most of the day I messed about. However I finally did get down to business and fired up the oven. Here's a pictorial synopsis for your vicarious pleasure: Once I get the ingredients out, measured, and ready to go, I turn into a baking MACHINE! If I don't put the eggs in as soon as I can, I am likely to eat half the sugar & butter mixture. Oatmeal mixed with the chips (I add about an extra half cup) and the spiced flour - key compone...

As you may know by now I am a BIG fan of Diemand Farm out in Wendell MA. It is a family farm and for about five or seven years now I have been getting the Thanksgiving turkey from there. The turkeys from Diemand Farm are quite literally the best turkeys I have ever tasted. I usually put my order in around the beginning of October and then Grandpa and I go out the weekend before Thanksgiving to get it - which we call Turkey Shoot Weekend. If you want the best dang turkey ever this year, let me know. Put your order in and I will gladly pick it up for you if you don't feel like driving out to Wendell . Anyway, for various mechanical reasons that are beyond me, my Mom asked me to put 200 miles on her car so that she could have it reinspected. I had every intention of going to help my dear friend Moey make Sassy Sauce , but then of course one thing led to another and I ended up just going to the farm instead. Getting there is a crap shoot. One minute you are barreling down Route 2, th...

So after we went to Pho Hoa ( see post below ) we went to the Super 88. I am in love with the tea aisle at the Super 88. And apparently it loves me back. Or it would with a strong cup of New Wei Gei Tea... There are dozens of diet teas, extract teas ( the chicken one has me a little perplexed ), remedies for booze, boobs, & bowels, cures for TV/Computer, and apparently a Baywatch tea.... Then there are the * ahem * stamina teas, which of course are kept on the upper shelves. Oh yeah, and they were also selling corn in a bag. Curious. FYI - I think if you click on a picture you can see a larger view.

Last night my buddy T called up and said "hey, whachoodoin let's go to the market, and get something to eat ok". Ok! Eating and shopping - my two favorite things. First we went to Pho Hoa on Dot Ave which to be honest I had no idea was a chain. But it is, and it's still good. T had the grilled chicken rice plate and I had a small chicken pho. After we placed our order we were given a pot of cold tea (which unlike cold tea in Chinatown at 2am is NOT beer) and a plate of veg for the pho. The long leaves on the top are culantro , underneath is a stalk of basil, a pile of bean sprouts, a wedge of lime, and a green pepper. Basically you shred the culantro and the basil with your fingers, dump it in the soup with the sprouts and then squeeze in the lime. The hot soup will sort of wilt the sprouts and it tastes delicious. Then on a little side dish I usually mix a little hoisin sauce with sriracha sauce and dip chunks of chicken in that. Dear readers, I really tried to get...

So I was slowly sauntering home tonight from the BCAE and since I hadn't eaten anything since lunch, and it was a little after nine, I decided to stop at Nicole's for a slice and some salad. ( I love their house dressing. Love, love, love it. If I could, I would marry it. I really would .) Anyway so as I walk in I notice that there is a really ridiculously HOT guy standing in the tables & chairs area on his cellphone. Whatever, it's the South End, hot guys abound. However, this lovely looking fella looks just like a young Steve McQueen, ie: ( image from William Claxton , and is available for purchase. If you love me as much as I love Nicole's house dressing, please will you buy me a life sized poster. Thank you. ) So as I place my order, he comes up to get his. And he notices me slavering over his, *ahem*, slices of pizza and starts chatting away. Turns out he is a fireman at Engine 22 (700 Tremont Street if you want a looky-loo for yourself). And he is from Arkan...

If you know me at all, you know that sugar is my weakness. White sugar, fake sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, burnt sugar, you name I will eat it. So when I read that 5,000 gallons of molasses spilled in SUGAR LAND of all places, well let me just say that the ticket is booked and the spoon is packed. I love molasses, especially in the winter, spread on hot buttered toast. But I also have zero problem eating it out of the bottle. Seriously, this makes me almost as drooly as that one time the cheese truck caught on fiyah !