milkring.com

I’m a Food Network junkie. One of my favourite shows to watch is Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello. Not only does he make really good food, but his kitchen is to die for. Seriously? I’d marry the man for his kitchen alone. (Sorry, honey.) All those beautiful wood cabinets, and grani-… Yeah.

On his show, I couldn’t help but notice he uses a lot of grey salt in his recipes. In fact, that’s all he uses. Because I’m a geek, and I like to imitate the bigwigs, (and, of course, I wanted to see what all the hype was about) I went to New Seasons and picked myself up some Sel Marin de Guérande grey salt. The package I found contains bigger granules of salt, not like the fine table salt you normally see. If you want the salt in a finer quality, simply grind it up. I like mine chunky. The first thing I noticed was that it did not contain the bitter taste, should you get too much of it, like regular table salt does. It’s got tons of flavor to it.

I did a little reading about grey salt. Apparently, grey salt is an unprocessed sea salt from the Brittany coast of France. It’s made up of salt crystals that form when sea water evaporates. French salt makers rake the crystals into mounds and package the salt, which remains slightly moist with seawater. The pale grey colour indicates the salt’s origins in the sea. Grey salt provides all kinds of healthful minerals - chloride, sodium, sulfur, zinc, magnesium, iron, potassium, manganese, copper, silicon, and iodine. Maybe the next time the doctor suggests to cut back on your salt intake, you could throw some facts his way, eh?

A high school friend of mine wrote me an e-mail tonight to let me know his parents are going to be featured on HGTV’s “ReZONED” this Sunday, January 29th, at 7 p.m. Pacific/Eastern, 6 p.m. CST. Apparently, they converted their grain bin into a house, and HGTV is interested to see what it’s all about. Knowing the family and area HGTV will be covering, it will be neat to see my little wee town on TV.

A few weeks ago, I watched Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello on Food Network, and I watched him make the most incredible looking roasted tomato soup I have ever seen. I knew I had to try it. So this afternoon, I managed to find myself twelve lovely vine-ripened tomatoes, and everything else I needed to make this hearty soup, at New Seasons, a local grocery store specializing in organic foods.

The whole thing took maybe an hour and a half, including prep time. The ingredients are so simple and fresh; there really isn’t any complexity to this recipe, though the rich hearty flavours will fool anyone.

The first bite was a blast of immense flavours - the sweetness from the roasted tomatoes really stood out, as well as the garlic and basil. The flavours blend incredibly well in this dish. I have to say (and it’s not because I’m partial to my own cooking) that this tomato soup is literally the best tomato soup I’ve ever had, anywhere. Do yourself a favour and give it a go.

I had dinner at Romano’s Macaroni Grill the other night. I was sitting there, picking apart the crust on my parmesan chicken. It was flaking off in big large clumps, completely separating from the meat. You could tell it was pre-packaged and simply thrown in a frying pan for a few, and plated. Not much cooking involved. In fact, I could make this same dish twenty times better at home, likely losing 70% of the fat and calories not even trying to cut calories or reduce fat, and it would taste better; more fresh.

I’ve been thinking about this the last few days, and it makes me wonder just how health-conscience we are, overall. People seem to want healthier options at restaurants. So we hit up the sushi places, salad joints - all good choices. Lots of restaurants offer lighter choices on their menu, promises of reducing fat and calories. (Just how much, I’d love to know.) As part of the health trend, fast food chains have also taken part in the crusade. Or so it appears. You’ve got Arby’s promoting their “market fresh sandwich.” I checked out the BLT - bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayo, and honey bread. Seems simple enough, right? Could someone please tell me how you can derive 780 calories out of a deli sandwich? I could make the same thing at home, for under 300. Easily.

So if we’re all so consumed by wanting to eat healthier, why aren’t there more average joe’s making restaurants; their food prepared just like they would at home? Why don’t I open a restaurant with every thing I serve being low fat/low calorie? “Jenn’s Lose Half Your Ass Cafe.” I don’t think it would go over, do you? People like to eat out because the food served to them is good. Really good. Good as in every ounce of fat you can muster in that bad boy. There’s nothing wrong with that, I suppose, in moderation. Every one likes to go out and get a meal they’ve been craving for a while that they normally wouldn’t eat unless they planned on gaining one hundred pounds in a year. But what about when you think you’re eating healthy?

What’s the solution? Is there a solution? Cook more at home; avoid restaurants like the plague? That would seem logical. At least then, you know what you’re getting, for the most part. You’re in control of what you put in your salad, unlike when McDonalds packages one up for you.

Beginning January 30th, my local library will allow you to download audio books. Best selling titles will be available 24/7 and will automatically expire within two weeks, so you won’t have to worry about late fees or returning items. Pretty cool, eh?

I’ve decided to take this week I have off between jobs, to really dig into the wedding planning. Today, I accomplished something big: I found THE DRESS and purchased it, along with all the gear that comes with it. I was surprised that I found it in one store, and it was the fourth dress I tried on. I’ve never felt so pretty in my entire life. Standing on the little platform, staring at myself in the big full length mirrors had never been so fun before today. Today, though, I felt like the most beautiful woman in the entire world. I’m anxious for Matt to see the dress, but of course, we’re sticking with tradition, so I guess October 21st will be when he sees it. I was surprised to find out it will take 4-6 months to get my dress, since they are all hand made. Four to six months can’t come fast enough. I’m anxious to show friends and family what I look like in it before the big day! I wish I could put it on all over again right this very second.

Matt, Charity, and I went to Lindsey’s party last night. It was a lot of fun. We met several cool people, and I tasted India Pale Ale for the first time. I’m not a beer person, but I was really thirsty and thought I’d give it a go. Way too strong for me. Luckily, I found OJ in the fridge.

We met a couple folks last night, one in particular was literally the funniest man I’ve ever met, I think. His sense of humour was ridiculously contageous. Matt couldn’t stop laughing. I think i was bawling at one point, trying to catch my breath within the first five minutes of meeting this guy. At one point, the conversation shifted to what I do for a living. I’d explained that I’m in the subprime world of the mortgage industry; I’m an underwriter, etc. You likely had to be there, but I remember we were all getting a kick out of the term ’sub-prime.’ This guy’s friend, Jude, was a social worker, and she was talking about the types of folks she deals with. One in particular has a disorder (can’t remember the name?) where they literally will eat anything. The next thing I hear flying out of Mr. Comedian is, “I eat my own poo. Now, that is sub-prime.”

Thanks for the great party, Lindsey! We had a great time!

I was reading Jeff’s blog, and came across this nutcase running for the 2006 governor of Minnesota, Jonathon “the Impaler” Sharkey. A little tidbit about him:

Honesty is very seldom heard nowadays, especially
from a politician. So, I am going to break from
political tradition. My name is Jonathon “The
Impaler” Sharkey, Ph.D., L.D.D.D. I am a Satanic Dark
Priest, Sanguinarian Vampyre and a Hecate Witch.
My Magikal Path name is: Lord Ares.

Ahem. Before you ask, yeah, this guy’s for real.

If you want a good giggle, go check this assclown’s site out. Nevermind the hating God bit. Who the hell would want to vote for some idiot who wanders the Magikal Path and refers to himself as Lord Ares? I’d have a hard time taking the prince-o-darkness seriously. Why am I reminded of a certain classic Saturday Night Live skit?

I gave my two weeks’ notice today. I’m going to go back to work for a former employer. (Man, I never thought I’d say that.) I’m actually excited about it. The environment’s going to be a lot different than what I experienced, in positive ways. The office seems small and everyone seems cool. The benefits alone are worth going for. The four and a half weeks paid time off cinched it. I think I’ll be just as happy there as I have been with my current employer. Wish me luck!

Matt and I cooked burgers and veggies out on the grill, and it makes me long for summer that much more. There’s nothing better than a good bottle of wine, friends, conversation, and really good food on the grill on a balmy summer evening. We love to grill, and we grill just about anything. One of my favourite meals as of late, is a simple one. We take a bit of ground sirloin and make burgers. You can make a patty, if you want. We’re not too particular - they usually wind up in a giant meat hunk ball thing. Chop the veggies of your choice (we usually use zuchini, red pepper, and onion), into decent sized hunks so they don’t fall down the grill slats. Grill the meat and veggies to your liking (we prefer medium on the meat and charred veggies to bring out the sweetness). Plate everything when it’s done, and top the meat with bleu cheese crumbles. We don’t bother with buns or condiments - it’s perfect just the way it is, trust me. The meal is healthy, low carb, and fresh. Better yet, you can get the feeling of summer any time. If you decide to try it, let me know what you think. If you’ve done something similar, fill me in on different variations you may have used. I’m trying to eat more veggies, and I love grilling. Combining the two just seems like the right thing to do.

Random funny:

Me: I’d be interested in taking up kung pao.

Matt: You mean.. kung fu?

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’ve been lacking some creativity. I don’t find myself getting frustrated with milkring, necessarily, but I’d like to focus my time on something I really love. What is something I really love? For a long time, I had a hard time coming up with that answer. There’s a few things I love - making every day items look beautiful through photography, hanging out with good friends, cooking new things, going out for great food, just to name a couple off the top of my head. But what could I do with that? I came up with it today, over sushi at one of our favourite restaurants: Why not make a website about anything dealing with food? It could involve recipes, cooking tips, interesting facts about food, information about different types of food, rants/raves, reviews on local restaurants - really, the possibilities are endless. I’m not real sure on the details, so I wanted to know your thoughts. Do you think something like this would be beneficial? I know there are sites out there that already do what I’m mentioning - it’s not like no one’s ever talked about food before. But I wanted to localize it more, discovering all the things to love about the Pacific Northwest when it comes to food, in general. Do you have any ideas? Anything you’d like to see in particular? I haven’t decided if I’m going to get a special domain for it yet; might just stick with a subdomain for now, and if I get a good response, maybe look into it then. So I’m asking for your feedback. You can leave me a comment or e-mail me. Thanks!