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Thursday, September 28, 2006

Yes, you heard me right. I know Bec is about fallin' over in her seat, but this gal hosted a Southern Living At Home brunch party Saturday morning and I'm about wiped out.

Here was the menu:

• Lemon and Basil Eggs over Foccacia
• Breakfast Pizza (super simple and SOOOO delish!)
• Cranberry Orange mini-muffins (can I say Silicone muffin pans are the bomb)
• Brown Sugar bacon (so simple - 450 oven - 15/20 minutes - sprinkle brown sugar & cracked pepper over bacon)
• Homefries
• Lys' famous Tuna Pasta Salad
• Tostitos with Lime served with Bec's Salsa Dip (Salsa dip - 2 parts salsa to one part reduced fat cream cheese)
• Pretzels with Ginger Wasabi dip (Le Gourmet Chef strikes again)
• My friend's Oriental Coleslaw

And - the best part

SANGRIA!! Lots and lots of Sangria… Sliced fruit and wine in fabulous pitchers and cute stemless wineglasses from Crate & Barrel. Needless to say, good food, good booze, good conversations, Shadow behaving (except for the time she tried to steal some of the bacon on the d/l) - IMO, I'm guessing that the brunch was a hit!!

Now - I highly recommend any of those recipes and a little 411 - the Lemon/Basil eggs - I skipped the Lemon oil - still very tasty! For the Breakfast Pizza - I used a cup or so of the mascarpone cheese and let the pizza crust cool first before putting the cheese on it - and Boboli Pizza Crust - 2 snaps and a twirl babyee! I'm also going to add a little cooking link love to the side. For those that want kick azz recipes, y'all need to check out Sarah (Yes - the Pink Shoe Diaries Sarah) over at The Pink Shoes Cookbook

I thought Roomie and my dad were going to keel over in shock. Now - here's why - back in the day (like 8 years ago), my ex-fiancé idiot, Mark, would swear I couldn't cook. As I was inclined to believe him on 99.9% of the crap he said, I wouldn't even ATTEMPT to cook. Bec smacked me out of it one day and I started to learn - baby steps with some mac & cheese, occasionally some pasta dish and over the past few years I've sharpened my culinary skills a bit, thanks to the Food Network, Everyday Italian, Nigella Lawson's old show, and Paula Dean. I've learned that while Nine West may be my weakness and Starbucks is my vice, my kryptonite of late has been Williams Sonoma, Crate & Barrel, and Le Gourmet Chef. I now can trot through the grocery isles and know how to kick a vanilla bean into shape and the differences between mascarpone, asiago and fontina cheeses. I know that I made out in the non-divorce by getting custody of Mark's set of Henkels cutlery. Chiffonade - no problem. Fresh basil & mint are ALWAYS in my fridge. I lust after a Le Creuset Pan more than I used to fondle the Coach Bag that I absolutely was obsessed over last year. I've realized that the importance of cooking with good tools & ingredients is so much better than some of the crap that I've been used to. And I realized one other thing… My ex was beyond wrong - this wench CAN cook.

Now want some other scary news…

Yesterday - I bought a Le Creuset teakettle to replace the p.o.s. one from 5 years ago - for $29.99. The other day, I came home from Tar-Jay with a slow cooker/crockpot for $18.00. Tonight, I'm bringing home THIS in Red for $79.99 rather than the $150.00 price tag.

Home Goods - I *heart* you!!

Posted by Lys :: 12:51 PM :: 0 comments

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