book clubs and shish-ka-bobs

This isn't exactly a tutorial on how to make something, but it will explain what I've been doing this week. I hosted a book club. When I say "a" book club, it was not some random book club, it was my bookclub. Well, the one I've been going to for many years anyway.
It was my turn to host, it was my book choice---The Great Gatsby. (for more info on that, I do have a "book" blog at http://ffbookblog.blogspot.com/
where I wrote a wonderful literary commentary on the book. LOL )

But more importantly, I made GREAT shish-ka-bobs that night.

More pictures and marinade recipes below...and I'm off now to make "Marlboro Man Sandwiches", of which my husband is really hesitant to try (he hasn't seen or smelled them yet tho) because of the name I'm calling it.

Asian Beef Kabobs
1 pound beef top sirloin steak
6 green onions--cut into 1/2
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons dry sherry
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
2 cloves garlic--crushed
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
16 bamboo skewers

Trim all fat from the steak. Cut crosswise into 1/4 inch thick strips.

Make marinade by combining brown sugar, sherry, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and ginger.

Place beef and the marinade in a sealable plastic bag, turning to coat. Close securely and let marinade in fridge for 20 minutes. (you probably could have doubled this and saved a little marinade for brushing on the kabobs while cooking)

Meanwhile, soak the skewer in water for 10 minutes.

Remove beef from marinade and discard marinade.

Alternately thread beef (weaving back and forth) and green onions onto skewers.

Place kabobs on grill and cook, turning once, about 5-6 minutes.

Yum.
***** **************

Dijon Chicken Kabobs

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 32 pieces
16 large mushrooms, stems removed
16 large cherry tomatoes

optional: 1 pound of small red potatoes, halved, cooked in large pot of boiling water for 10 minutes to blanch.

3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl, combine the honey, mustard, lemon juice, thyme and pepper. Add the chicken and mushrooms, tossing well to coat.

Alternately thread the chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes, and potatoes onto 8 skewers.
Grill the kabobs, covered turning occasionally for 8 minutes or until the chicken is cooked thru.

These were good too.

Here's the deal. I did not do the potatoes and I did do some zucchini.
I didn't follow the recipe.
So sue me. (do I sound like a smart alec? sorry)

The kabobs were GREAT. and we had good desserts too... lemon bars and mini-cheesecakes.

yum, yum, yum.....
Discussing books and eating.
My favorite things.

Friends EATING and discussing books..

I guess I can't

I guess I cannot have it all.... food blog, book blog... it's two hard for me, so in my brilliant mind, 2 different blogs will work better. :~)
So, I am setting up the "Book" blog as we speak.
Tonight is my book club ( one of 3 or 4 ) and we are having "Indian Food". It'll be tasty, I'm sure.

culinary vacation

Okay....so the vacation was a year and a half ago, but we had a great time!! Theda and I took a cooking class last March at the "Nothing to it" culinary school in Reno, NV.
We flew (well, I drove) in to spend a girls weekend together. We saw a movie, gambled, went to a lecture by the author of "the Kite Runner", took a cooking class, went to tea, and ATE at great places.

Rhubarb Crunch

Let me tell you what just happened.... (my being a novice at this whole "blog" thing).
I got a "comment back" from "Southern Plate" lady. (I'm sorry, I do not know her name right now. I'm sure there is a way for me to find out, but that will have to wait until I get help from Sadie )
Anyway....if any of you want to visit her food blog, it's on my blog list, just click on it and it'll take you there.
(omg...that's a song lyric....I'll take you there. What is it from? )
Back to "Southern Plate"! She made some delicious "crock pot chicken and dressing" yesterday.... which I, of course, told Rich we were having in a day or two. It looked delish!! And as you all know, even tho I'm from Nevada and the Pacific Northwest, I LOVE all things Southern. Food, customs, slow-talking men. LOL.
It saddens me that Nevada doesn't really have a "taste", a flair--such as Southern Cooking or Tex-Mex or, well... ALL THE OTHER REGIONS DO! I need a catchy Nevada title for my blog...something to pull you in.
Rattlesnake recipes? (I've actually eaten rattle snake..no joke. I was young. And tipsy)
Anyway, back to "Southern Plate".
I LOVE HER BLOG. I am her fan!! (and her mother's and grandmothers---since she uses a lot of their recipes)
Check out her blog!!

Now for me? Well once a year, I like to make a rhubarb recipe. When I told Rich I was going to make rhubarb crunch, he asked me "why"? (Rhubarb is not his favorite, although he does like this crunch--he just forgets about it from year to year. But I answered, "because I can". And then I made it... not with the puny, sad looking rhubarb in my slide show (yes, that is from my garden....well actually my "sideyard" and I forget about it. It's by Monroe's pen. The rhubarb and some stray mint ), I actually bought some rhubarb at the market to make this crunch.

Sadie (my daughter in law, who has been on a week's vacation, and is not available to help me figure this blog set up right now) will help me figure this out sometime in the coming week. But for now, I can't figure out how to insert a picture and then write underneath it and then insert another picture and give more directions, etc etc. Whenever I try to insert, all my pics go to the top, so I am going to do two blog posts.... pictures of me making the rhubarb crunch and then this one with the directions.
Hopefully it will kind of work out.

I'll know in a minute.....if not...if this is all out of order...forgive me. I'm taking a break until after I learn how to do this. ~grins~

going out to lunch

Every Friday some of my friends and I go out to lunch. (consider this your invitation)

The trouble is, here in Winnemucca, Nevada, we are very limited on where we can go... seeing as we have only a handful of restaurants. Okay--two handfuls. But limited just the same.

Last Friday, we tried "Dos Amigos", a very nice place, with great food. The only trouble we've always had is with the waitress. She's very slow. And very forgetful. I'm sure she's related to the owner. She's always there, always working. And in the world of waitressing, you sometimes have big turnover. But not at "Dos Amigos". We get the same waitress all the time. Don't get me wrong....she's very nice. Just really slow. If I were doing a restaurant review, that would be the only bad thing I could say about the place. If you want a nice liesurly lunch, go ahead and enjoy, but if you are limited on time, you might want to skip it.

On Friday, I had a steak quesidilla. Mmmmmm....it was so delicious! And big! Full of grilleds steak, cheese and veggies---similar to a fajita. I could only eat half of it and I took the rest to my husband Rich, who was happy to finish it off for me.

The only other interesting thing about lunch was my group of friends. NOT "foodie bloggers". Need I say more? LOL While they do love me, they don't always understand me. "why are you taking pictures of the food Debbie?" "don't you dare put us in the blog?" etc etc. They lucked out. This time.

Thanks Nigella

I was watching Nigella Feasts this morning. You know at the end, how she gets a "midnight" snack? It's her signature spot...that midnight snack.
Well today she got a piece of fried pork fat!!

It made a nice crisp crunch when she bit into it. It came from the fridge which got me to thinking...YUCK cold fat is gross! Not that hot fat is all that "un" gross, but a little bit of fat makes for good flavor, we all know that.

I guess, tho, that her fried pork fat is in essence just a home-made pork rind.

So...what do you think of fried pork fat?
Hot maybe....cold NEVER. For me that is.
What do you think of pork rinds?
Once in a great, great while, for me.
But of course, now I'm hungry for them.

Thanks Nigella!

While I love my Friday Friends

While i do love my Friday Friends, and they in turn LOVE to read my blogs, they aren't much for making comments. It saddens me greatly.
So... I am thinking....about....changing to a "foodie" blog.
What do you think, oh dear Friday Friends?
I like to cook, I like to eat. I like to read, I like to read about cooking. And eating. and I like to eat while I'm reading.
So....how can I go wrong?
Food blog. There is a whole world of them out there.
I am checking into one right now (or tonight) , where you are on a "food blog roll". But your blog has to be 80% about food and cooking and recipes or they won't take you in.
I am doing it...tonight.

So...what's for dinner?
Me? Clam Linguini and salad

perhaps I better learn how to spell too.....my FF's (except for Barb) have been linient about my spelling mistakes, but I will now have to face strangers...who most likely know how to write linguini.