PARTY!!PARTY!!PARTY!!

Quote of the Day "I am thankful for the mess to clean after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends."  ~Nancie J. Carmody

HI!! 
So this week is all for the preparation for TWO parties!! which normally for me would make me run for the hills as I am not really a social person.. but I can't since we are the ones hosting both gatherings, we just don't have enough room to have 40 people sit in our living room...
So now it is time to make the goodies for the gathering. the First being

bottle came from flavored olive oil

Skittles Vodka
I found this while surfing around on DeivantArt, Saw this really cool picture  and decided to make it and it was worth it, 

What you need
Vodka,  
Skittles
enough bottles for each flavor
something to filter with, I use coffee filters. because we have alot


Step 1
separate the rainbow, I let my wife and daughter to do this.. it makes them happy to organize.. 

Broken Rainbow

After Vodka

Step 2. once it is all separated, add the vodka. I worked it out to 1/4 cup of skittles per 6 ounces of vodka to get the right flavor... so you do the math.

Step 3. once you got your vodka and skittles together. shake it.. and shake it some more

Step 4. Let it sit.. takes about 1 to 2 days for the vodka to dissolve the Skittles.. to speed it up shake the bottles vigorously and often.

after a while the Skittles will dissolve and they leave a white residue. which leads you to

Step 5. the Filtering.. I usually set a coffee filter in a strainer and pour the vodka in slowly, about a quarter of the batch at a time because the white gunk will eventually clog your filter.. but you want as much of it out as possible.. you will want to take the filter and squeeze it out not to hard or the white gunk will rip the filter and you really don't want that on your hands... or back in your filtered vodka.

Step 6. once you have it all filtered. I found that if you freeze it.. not that it actually freezes, and filter it one more time you will have gotten all the gunk out..


Step 7. Drink it up.. you can drink it straight and it is drinking candy. Warning thou if your diabetic watch your sugars, after about 4 of these your sugar will skyrocket 
you can mix it with sprite,ginger ale, or mountain dew.

Well there is more to make and I will share more of my recipes I am making later on...
Cheers!!
James

Busy week but some good eating....

Quote of the Day: "“Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans” ~John Lennon

So I again am realizing that I haven't posted anything in a while... it has sorta been a bad week,
Between getting the house finished, keeping the Wee miss occupied, doctors appointments, Fighting with Microsoft, my bike getting stolen..and trying to plan two house warming parties and regular house maintenance, I really haven't had allot of time to do much.
it been kinda stressful.
now getting on with the week, Must plan for L.A.R.P, (live action role playing for the non-geek) of which I am storyteller.. Fun but stressful, good company and cheaper then a night at the bar, hell cheaper then a night at the movies.. if interested here is a L.A.R.P.. don't go searching on google.. because depending on what your  security settings are you are going to get some very not right or scary information which is not what the game is about...

but last night I got a chance to actually make one of my families favorite dishes that isn't meat and potatoes .....

MMMM Tasty

Matsaman Curry
which is a dish we tried once and couldn't remember the name almost as soon as we left the restaurant, but I managed (in my option)  to duplicate rather well... with a few minor changes... mainly no coconut milk... it wasn't till recently did I actually find out how the dish is made and what it is truly called.. we just called it "The Curry Dish" or "The Curry that isn't Singapore noodles"

Ingredients
2 pork chops(or chicken)
Yellow curry
1 large potato or a couple of small potatoes
2 cans Cream soup (mushroom,broccoli,celery)
3 Tbs Matsaman Curry paste or Dried yellow curry
1/4 cups of peanutst
1 tsp of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbs of oil

This is enough for the three of us with a bit left over for lunch the next day.
and it is really easy to make least my way is...
1. Heat pan with oil. on medium - medium low heat.
2. Wash peel potatoes, quarter and thinly slice and put in pan

the beginning of goodness

3. Julienne meat, not to thick put in pan.
4. Open cans of soup.. this is normally where the coconut milk would
     go with some heavy cream... but we found coconut milk made it
     too sweet for our likings.
5. Use a little bit of milk to thin down the soup and wash out, whats left
     in the cans, if you want it a little creamier add a 1/4 cup of Alfredo,        same if you find after adding the curry, it is too spicy.
6. Add your spices (curry,garlic salt and pepper) I ussually add a dash
    of Oregano and Masala because mainly I can't leave anything
    alone and I like the taste and smell
7. Mix this all up and let it simmer till the meat is cooked and the
     Potatoes are nice and tender.
8. While the sauce is simmering and reducing a bit, make your rice(dealers choice, pot,microwave<ewww> or rice cooker) or make Rice Vermicelli... Follow the instructions for this stuff
I like this one because I am the only one that really likes these noodles and they are individualized in the package, and they are cheap and tasty.
9. Once every thing is cooked through, add your peanuts about 5 to 10 minutes before you are ready to serve.
10. To serve put rice or noodles in bowl. generously ladle Matsaman on top. and dig in.
Even our daughter likes this, and she is pretty picky when it comes to anything that might resemble spicy,  and my wife who is not a big fan of anything that has a sauce, has learned that with rice it become of the goodness. she especially likes it the next day for lunch after it's had a chance to marinate in the curry a bit more.

Thou a note to those that have never cooked with Curry before, if you spill some curry on your white counter or stove top.. wipe it up quick this stuff will defiantly stain.

well off to go hang some pictures
everyone have a good day.

Basic Staples

Qoute of the Day: " If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." ~J. R. R. Tolkien (1892 - 1973)

Good Afternoon,

I love my spice rack

So I just realized that I haven't written anything in a week, mainly because I have been really busy unpacking and too tired to write anything by the end of the day...

  But on the good side, there is only the bare minimum of things left to unpack. the house looks nice enough for company...and most importantly, My Kitchen is unpacked...

           Which means getting the basic kitchen staples put together, like Bruschetta..... a basic staple in my kitchen but a good thing to have in the fridge, for a snack or something to throw together if you have surprise company.  or for making quick pizza's, and it takes about 20 minutes to make and last about a month...

Bruschetta Recipe

the start of the Yummyness

Ingredients

• 2 tomatoes, cubed*
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• seasoning salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste 
• 2 tsp Green onion 
• 1 tsp Parsley

* any Tomato will work, I prefer using Roma tomatoes, they are fleshier and not as juicy.

Cube tomatoes, and mix ingredients in bowl and cover and chill for 8 hours minimum, 
 
That's it, really easy but really tasty.
Place it on pizza, use it in wraps,
or take some thinly sliced baguette slightly toast it, 
add the bruschetta,
some grated cheese and parmesan , 
 Garnish with a little parsley and serve






anyways I am off to hang some curtains, and plan my menu for house warming party.. 


Enjoy your day
James