Im a lazy blogger or just dang busy

Good Evevning fellow food freaks,

It's been a couple of weeks since I last had time to share.  I hope everyone is continuing to enjoy the holidays.  I recently spent some quality time with Terri creating ginger bread cookies.  Of course we couldn't just make conventional ones we chose to make ABC cookies.  I have to give Terri full credit for the choice of cutters.

I had never made ginger bread before and being the purist that I am I decided to make them from scratch. 

We went on a pilgrimage to Winn-Dixie for supplies and immediately we were thrown by the choices of molasses.  Heck if we knew which to get so...black strap it was.  Note black strap is VERY strong in flavor and lends an almost licorice flavor to the finished product.  Next time I'll get regular to tone it down a bit.  It almost overpowers the ginger flavor.

Another thing we didn't realize is afteer you make your dough it has to sit in the fridge over night!  Oh, and I don't recommend using a small hand mixer.  Smoke gets in your eyyyeeesssss!  I will either haul my Kitchenaid toTerri's or make them at my place. 

The recipe we chose was on the cookie cutter box and yes Terri I know you gave me a copy but in true form and style I misplaced it. Next day we break out the dough.  It looked like S*&t, literally!  took the mass and tossed it onto the floured counter top and rolled it out to 1/4 in thick.  Note to self, break dough into 3 or 4 seperate pieces.  The recipe rolled out a really large sheet of dough. 

Another neat quality of ginger bread cookie dough is you can play with the thickness to make either a really crunchy product or if you prefer cut thicker cookies for softer ones.

So like I said this makes a lot of cookies so as I was rolling Terri had the oven working overtime cranking trays through 2 at a time.  WOOHOO!!!!    I get excited over kitchen efficency!!

After the baking frenzy we ended up with some pretty creepy Already Been Chewed cookies.

The edges weren't as sharp as I envisioned but I think if I rolled the dough thinner I'd get the desired effect.

Not being satisfied with beheaded and amputee cookies we decided to dress them up a bit.

Evil aren't we?

As you can see we kind of over did it but what a  ball!!

"Chow For Now"

Pete

Long time posting

It's been too long since my last post.  I made an attempt at creating Tyropitakia.  The critics enjoyed the flavor but I couldn't fold the darn dough into a triangle!  So I made rectangles instead!

I made a mixture of different cheeses: Blue, Feta, Cream, Pamesan and Ricotta.  Tossed in some eggs and with melted butter standing by created the above mess. 

Remember to always brush between layers of Phylo dough to make it flakier than I am and that is flaky.  Baked for 15 at 325 and allowed to rest on paper towels for a few prior to serving.  \

This is the same app that they serve at Mr Greek although their version is prettier.  I originally thought they were fried but after making them myself I realized the oil on the plate was the fat from the cheese and butter. 

I do plan on making them again but I am going to experiment with the filling a bit more.  I think diced red onion, olives and some oregano should be tasty. 

On a better food note Terri and I ran away for a weekend in Destin FL.  Of course we ate too much!  Lunch Saturday was at Panera Bread.  LOVE the macaroni and cheese there and have a dream of wallowing in a huge vat of the stuff! 

Terri and I also had sammies but I can't remember what they were due to the cheesy goodness causing memory loss.

For dinner we went to PF Changs. This was a first for both of us.  We started with fried wontons, egg drop soup and unsweet tea.  Wontons had a good flavor but were a bit greasy.  The tea had a mango flavor which I enjoyed but Terri was not a fan.  The egg drop soup was wonderfully thicker than I am used to and the flavor was very chickeny. This caused raised eyebrows as the flavor was not at all subtle.

One thing of note the wait staff has a little ritual where they mix a dipping sauce for you it's pretty tasty and is a different touch. 

Main course Terri:  I believe it was Chang's Spicy Chicken - Great flavor and came with a choice of brown or white rice.

Main Course Pete:  Mongolian Beef with white rice - AWESOME flavor but a bit heavy on the scallions. Don't get me wrong I love scallions and onions in general but they really piled them on.  I think Terri enjoyed the beef more than I did.  Like all meals together we share and she really dug into the Mongolian.  In fact we ate at PF Chang's the following night. More on that later.

Terri and I are some eating fools!!  Chinese doesn't last long in my belly so I had Terri stop at Winn Dixie for ice cream. 

Next day we went back to Panera bread for coffee and a quick bite.  Terri had a cherry danish and I had a bacon egg souffle.  If Panera ever opens a restaurant near me I will pitch a tent in the parking lot and eat souffles ALL day.  Yup I think they are that good had the artichoke one the following morning.

Day 2 lunch was at Johnny Rocket's.  This is a really cool retro burger joint.  Bugers are fresh and made to order and the fries are high quality and tasty.  Waitress was wonderful and she brought us containers for ketchup with smiley faces written in ketchup on the bottom.  Terri really dug the waiters in their bow ties maybe a little too much LOL.

Price was a little bit more than I normally would pay for burgers but they were worth it.  Atmosphere is really retro which raised the squee factor to 10 for Terri.

Dinner back to PF Chang's.  This time we opted for egg rolls as a starter.  Once again grease city.  I wondered if they tried pre frying them to save time.  The food at this place flys out the kitchen.  In fact it's almost too fast. 

Dinner choices were Terri - Mongolian beef and I had wok charred beef.  I personally found the charred beef to be more to my liking.  It was more savory than the mongolian and it had SHROOMMMMMS.  I love fungi!!

Dinner wasn't too costly and the serving sizes were good.

A great weekend all around!!

                                                                   "Chow for Now"


Pete