More Of Rosie And Xmaskatie's Trip And Some Good Food.

Here's the money shot. I put that first so bloggers who have me on their blog list will have a pretty picture to see. Now I'll backtrack.

On our way to Norfolk the other day, Xmaskatie and I crossed the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway, a 3000 mile waterway running most of the length of the Eastern Seaboard.

Congress authorized the creation of the ICW in 1919 and it is maintained by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers.

This video was taken driving north, looking to the east, on our way to Norfolk.

This is the home of the famous monster truck, Gravedigger, in Poplar Branch. Check out the buried school bus at the end.

And here's the view of the Intracoastal Waterway driving south, looking west, as we're driving home.

We decided not to stop and eat anywhere up in Virginia, since we couldn't decide where and figured anywhere would be a mediocre, disappointing, waste-of-money meal, and there's no where along the way back to North Carolina to get a decent meal. And by this time, both Xmaskatie and I were starving. Luckily, Xmaskatie brought along a snack baggie of pretzels, so we jumped on that like Pauler Dean on a stick of buttah. And that sustained us until we got home, where Mr. Hawthorne was preparing a pesto pizza for us. I guess my hunger was causing a bit of delirium since I passed this sign and wanted to take a picture of it since I actually thought it was advertising an eating establishment called "Eat 'n Barf." But no, it was actually "Eat 'n Barn." Then I realized I still had my camera on video. So once again, it's cutting edge videography like this that keeps you coming back begging for more. Whoa .... Back up the truck. What did I just write? And that sustained us until we got home, where Mr. Hawthorne was preparing a pesto pizza for us. Yes, you read that correctly.

I had called Mr. Hawthorne on the drive back, and asked him please, please, please to fix us a pizza since we were really, really, really hungry. I'll admit he copped a bit of an attitude when he told me he was "busy waiting for the exterminator." By "busy waiting for the exterminator," I gather that's Man-Speak for, "sitting on the sofa watching TV." Now, I'm getting a bit indignant and I can be a bit cranky when I get hungry. Rosie: "Well, why can't you do BOTH? As in make a pizza while waiting for the exterminator." Mr. H.: "What the hell do you want? You want the pizza or do you want me to do all these chores on your toilet paper list you left for me?" Ahhhh... I'm getting somewhere! (I had left a list of things that needed to be done. Things I wouldn't need a list for. Things I would do automatically. And I did not write the list on toilet paper.) Rosie: "I want you to do both. No, wait. I want you to do all three, since 'waiting' is such a Herculean task." Hrrrmph. So, imagine our surprise when we got home and there was poor Mr. Hawthorne, working his fingers to the bone, kneading his pizza dough.

He'd made the dough all by his lonesome and he'd made the pesto, too. Man, it's taken me so many years to train this man properly but he's still a whiner.

It sure is nice just to sit back and watch somebody else do it. Here's his toasted crust, with Mozzarella cheese on the bottom, the glops of pesto all over the cheese, sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, asparagus, onion, and orange pepper.

More cheese went on top.

Looking pretty good, isn't it?

And here's his finished pizza.

And it tasted even better than it looks. Check out his thin crust. Xmaskatie took some slices to Glowria and she declared the crust to be the best she ever had.

Here's Dixie's Cousin Katie. Dixie and Katie get along very well together. They respect each other and each other's space, unlike some other little whippersnappers that Dixie can barely tolerate.

Dixie and Katie waiting for pizza. Xmaskatie had read my post about the fried plantains and put in a request for fried bananas for breakfast and I was happy to oblige.

It's a very simple, light batter: 1 cup flour and 3/4 cup club soda The last time I made it, I used vanilla, but I forgot that this time, which is good, since I might want to try shrimp in the leftover batter tonight.

Mr. Hawthorne lightly scrambled eggs and cheddar cheese.

I sprinkled powdered sugar over top the bananas.

And here's a mighty fine breakfast: fried bananas bacon creme fresh with orange juice and zest and sourwood honey scrambled eggs.

I do believe this hit the spot. Fried bananas are a thing of beauty.

Last Night's Dinner - Disguised Leftovers.

Here's Dixie hiding under the oleander trying to avoid the puppies.

Several nights ago, Mr. Hawthorne decided to cook a lamb shank in the slo-kukker.
Since the lamb didn't take up much room, we added in half a Boston Butt.
The other half went to making bar-be-cue some time ago.

He poured in some red wine and I added some parsley.

And cooked away until the meat was falling off the bone.
CanIjusttellya, I could literrrrallllly seee all the flllllavors.

Now, a few days later, I needed to use these meats up,
so I decided to make lamb/pig pie.

First saute some onions.

Then I had my sous chef, Mr. Hawthorne pull the meat off the bone.
He always complains because I give him the shit detail.

Add the meats to the onions, and then I added some squash since I have squash out the wazoo.

I added 1 can of beef broth.

And a can of tomato sauce.

Next, add in oregano, chili powder, and cumin.

I realized I had a leftover chicken bosom in the fridge along with one pork chop with the cinnamon on it. Mr. Hawthorne carefully washed off the pork chop since he hated the cinnamon and he chopped up both and added to the pot.

Barely simmer for about an hour.

Near the end, I chopped a green pepper and added a can of corn and just heated through.

Now, my cornmeal crust:

1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold Crisco
5-6 TB ice water

Combine the dry ingredients, then cut in the shortening until coarse crumbs form.
Add just enough water to form a fairly soft dough.

Flatten dough into a disk, wrap up, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

I've poured the pig/lamb pie mixture into a buttered baking dish and rolled out my cornmeal dough on a floured board.

Roll up the dough on the rolling pin.

Then carefully unroll it over your dish.

Daughter Hawthorne helps with the decoration.

Here's my decorated pie with an egg wash brushed on.

Ooops. Rosie should have watched this a little more closely.
It looks more burned than it was.
Actually, even the brown crust tasted good.
It did not deter Middle Hawthorne from consuming large quantities.
This is one of his favorite meals and he was especially happy to have lamb in it.

Mr. Hawthorne had a hankering for pizza so I started on a dough:


Proof:
warm water
1 package yeast
sugar

Add in:
1 egg
a few tablespoons of oil

Add in bread flour a little bit at a time.
Keep adding until you have a manageable dough, then turn it out and knead on a floured surface until the dough is very smooth and elastic, adding flour as kneaded ... or needed.
Cover. Place in a warm spot to rise until doubled.

If you really want the hard core visual instructions,
go here.

Just go past this post and on to the next one.

And now my favorite part:

SMASH!

Here's Rosie tossing her dough.
Mr. Hawthorne probably shot 30 pictures of me tossing and only got this one with the dough in the air. He's a tad slow on the shutter release.

I'm making two pizzas today.
The first will be a pineapple/ham pizza.

I had some leftover homemade pizza sauce in the fridge, so I got to use that all up.

My sous chef adds the ham and pineapple slices.

I also had some leftover peaches so we added them along with cherries.

Mr. Hawthorne carefully places mozzerella slices.

I don't particularly care for these PRE-shredded cheese blends.
They don't have near the flavor of freshly grated cheeses, but Mr. Hawthorne was determined to Semi-Ho this pizza.

The next pizza is a basil pesto based pizza.

I decided to add a little extra on this one.
Cheese inside the crust.

Nice yummy, gooey cheese on the inside.

First I spread pesto over the baked crust.

Next, I put on sun-dried tomato slices, which I'd soaked in hot water for 30 minutes.

I used up my leftover black olives.

And I used up my leftover caramelized onions.

Feta cheese goes in.

Steamed fresh spinach.

Now, some mozzarella cheese.

Here are my two pizzas ready for the oven.

And here are my delicious pizzas. The crust is nice and crunchy/crispy
and the fillings were scrumptious.

After dinner, I found this legal pad which Daughter Hawthorne had left behind.
And, yes, Beau still pees like a girl.
Hee!

Now, for the after dinner entertainment.
I had on Food Network in the background, and I heard a familiar voice.

Why it's Aunt Sandy!

Whoa, wait a minute.
Is Snadra chanelling Linda Evans of Dynasty fame?

What's up with the shoulders, Girlfriend?

Did she leave her coat hanger inside her jacket?

Perhaps a Kurtain rod?

I didn't know this was back in fashion.

Is this really back in fashion?

I find it ironic that Aunt Sandy is giving out the awards for the Million Dollar Pillsbury Bake Off, when she couldn't bake her way out of a bag if her life depended on it.
Bake from scratch?
That's MONKEY BUSINESS!