Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Hurricane Earl.

Looks like the Hawthornes might get a bit of a blow later this week.

Easy, Quick, Simple, Delicious, Go-To Dinner, All In One Dish.

If you want a simple, good meal for dinner
that only messes up one baking dish, this is it.
We bought these chicken breasts
 for $0.97/pound at FoodLion.
Mr. Hawthorne trimmed a bit of the skin off ...
... but left some on the top.
Fill halfway up with chicken stock.
We're using Jasmine rice.
Sprinkle some rice in the liquid
and add in a can of pineapple chunks or slices
with juice.

And here's where we Semi-Ho it.
 Sprinkle a package of Lipton Onion Soup mix over top.

Cover with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven
about 1 hour 10 minutes.
 Check after an hour and see if it's ready.
Ta daaaa.
The chicken is fork-tender.
The rice has absorbed all the flavors.
 Simple, easy, and good.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Umm... I'll Pass, Thanks.

Sometimes, Food Network just scares me.
"Stretch" was on Guy's Big Bite recently. The "Stretchinator," as Guy calls him, is a sculptor and restaurateur in Kansas City. His establishment is Grinder's. And once again, I'm glad I live on the East Coast. I just checked out Guy's info on the above link and read this:

About the Show

Guy Fieri's bleached blonde hair,

goatee

and skateboarder shorts

make a strong statement

– you are what you eat!

What does this mean? Does it mean Guido eats bleached blond hair, goatees, and board shorts?
Both of these douchebags can bite me.
Could this be Stretch's doppelganger?

Colington Color.

One of my favoritest places to go is Billy's Seafood on Colington Road. We go there several times a week.
I walk in and sit on the locals bench and people watch.
There's Billy himself. Holding court.
All tourons.
A senior cyclist dropped in. It says "senior cyclist" on the back of his T shirt.
It's a happening place.
We bought 7 pounds of heads-on shrimp. The shrimp is $3.75/pound now. How much shrimp do you think 7 pounds of heads-on makes after heading and shelling? Well, I'll tell you. He ended up with 5 freezer bags of shrimp. 13.7 oz. 1 lb. 1.2 oz. 1 lb. 0.1 oz. 1 lb. 2.3 oz. 14.9 oz.
_____________ 3 lb. 32 .2 oz.
or 5 lb. 0.2 oz.
5 bags at .2 oz. a bag is 1 oz. So we ended up with 4 pounds 15.2 ounces of shrimp.
And check out the size of these shrimp.
Thank you, Mr. Hawthorne. I didn't do nuthin'. He de-headed, de-veined, de-everythinged to the shrimp. And placed them in freezer bags.
When I looked up, there was a plate of shrimp lo mein.
He'd cooked whole wheat pasta, shrimp, black sesame seeds, and fresh scallions. And served it on a coral plate!
Mr. Hawthorne cooked the shrimp in butter and sesame oil. Be careful. A little sesame oil goes a long way. He added white wine to the shrimp, and tossed in the cooked noodles, scallions, and black sesame seeds. Quick, light, and very enjoyable.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

My Kitchen Remodel Is Finally Finished.

I started this blog September, 2007 when I began our kitchen remodel. One thing was never finished from the remodel. Until Thursday, August 26, 2010.
And that would be the trim around the kitchen window.
Check it out. Click to enlarge. For almost 3 years, it's just been bare, exposed wood. We had a piece of cherry trim to go around, but Mr. Hawthorne never wanted to bother with it and now I'm glad he didn't. So, this window has been untrimmed all this time ... ... until now. Back in June, Mr. Hawthorne and I had lunch at Bad Bean Taqueria in Seagate Shopping Center. When we left, we happened to walk by Creative Touch Tile next door. And I saw my tile trim. We went in, talked to the owner, Matt, about the trim and a bathroom remodel and here we are now: I finally have my trim and we're on the fourth week of a major bathroom remodel. And yes, I've documented the before, during, and after of the remodel, all of which I'll be blogging about, as soon as the renovation is complete. But for now, I'll show you my finally completed kitchen window.
It's hard to shoot a picture of this iridescent tile that does it justice.
It's the thin strip on the right. Without the grout.
Here's my tile guy doing the grout.
Here are some closeups of the tile strips so you can get an idea of what they look like.
It's iridescent and changes with the light and angle of view.
Oooooh.
Ahhhhh.
Rosie's happy.