Valentines day is, by no means, a well celebrated holiday in our house hold. Largely we both think of it as a Hallmark holiday, but one that has some amazing deals on food (champagne, steaks, seafood, chocolates etc). We took advantage on Saturday (read: NOT the big V Day) and picked up a couple of nice steaks along with some manila clams.

We cooked up the steaks using a recipe that we pulled off of a main dish challenge viewed on Worst Cooks In America (Anne's Rib Eyes with Mushroom Sauce) and we steamed the clams in a white wine/garlic reduction. It was bliss. I was in heaven. I love good deals on food.

I'm getting hungry just thinking about what we had on Saturday night.

I may have to go grab my lunch a couple hours early.

Drool.

At any rate, you may be wondering what we did last night. We didn't ignore it all together. We usually spend the evening in. Together. Watching a movie, or whatever else strikes our fancy. Last night? We had sandwiches and watched Smokey and the Bandit II. We washed it down with some $4 champagne.


What can I say? We keep it classy around here in Jonesville.

I'm one of those people who absolutely hates it when a friend or coworker's dietary restrictions are overlooked at an event. Friends who are lactose or gluten intolerant are frequently left to provide their own food, as though the food the can eat is somehow less tasty.

I began thinking about this as a girlfriend of mine is undergoing testing for a number of conditions that may be related to a brush with anaphylaxis shock last week. Her reaction to the news that she was being tested for celiac disease was immediate and virulent. It brought to harsh light the realities of how people can feel about something like this condition (for a better look at what celiac is exactly visit the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness).  Another girlfriend of mine, also a coworker, is having a baby and thus, logically, a shower is in the works for her. This is an emotionally trying time for her (prayers for her little, growing family are certainly needed. Visit Team-Ewan.com to show your support for this beautiful family) and one of my concerns is always that her gluten intolerance is overlooked at functions that we as a department or team have. As such, I'm making forays into the gluten free world.. so that if/when a shower is planned for her I can ensure that she has goodies which she can also consume.

My first foray, such as it was, involved Betty Crocker's new gluten free cake mix. I figured that they're normal mixes were decent so it might be a good place to start. I will interject here with the fact that, while a baker, I know absolutely nothing about baking gluten free. After doing some quick research I established that, with Hubs not working at this time, going completely from scratch would not be cost effective.  So off we went to the store to see what our local grocer carried.... answer? Everything but the chocolate mix I wanted to try. My goal here is cupcakes. They're cute, easily decorate-able for a baby shower... and easy to transport. I flubbed the instructions on the back of the box a bit, I will admit.... it specifically called for gluten free vanilla. I used what I had on hand...but I'll fix that in the non trial run (if I establish that mine is actually gluten containing) My goal here? To see if I and others in the house liked these cupcakes. As a gluten consuming household I figured if we liked them... they'd probably be a good way to go! I'll say they weren't as sweet as I think of cake being... but it wasn't in an off-putting way. We're hoping to try the chocolate to determine if that one will be sweeter. Maybe I'll do a marble of both... who knows!

If I don't like the results of the next two tests I already have a back up in mind... we'll test that one this weekend. What? You want to know what that back up is? Oh all right here it is: Wheatless in Seattle! Every single thing at this wonderful establishment is gluten and wheat free. One other thing? They provide some of their tasties to places like Romio's. If it's the same cheese cake that I fell in love with years ago... then we're already BFFs!

Well friends, I'll leave you with this for now... I apologize for getting a little long winded... hopefully future posts on this particular subject (if there are any) will not be quite so long.

I love food blogs.

There it's out there. I can't take it back now and I'm not sure that I want to. I truly and honestly LOVE food blogs. If Mike and I cooked fun things more often, I would totally have one. But we don't, so I don't. Which is fine, I just lurk on other people's food blogs.

I was lurking, as I am wont to do, over at Tales From the Fridge, Connie cracks me up and usually has some fantastic commentary on the foods she's tried. Today, I discovered her Tuesday Tastes post about the Ultimate Grilled Cheese. It made me stop and think for a moment, because saying a grilled cheese is ultimate brings two things to mind... 1) umm... has she been watching Tyler Florence? 2) An ultimate grilled cheese better be pretty darned ultimate!

So, Connie got this from an Oprah show a couple of years ago, and now she's posted about it herself... I'm going to give it a shot this weekend. Recipe below... feelings about the sammy to follow after trying it.


The Ultimate Grilled Cheese Sandwich


 1 slice Havarti cheese

1 slice mozzarella cheese

1 slice Danish fontina cheese

1/2 Tbsp butter, softened (for best results, use high-quality butter)

Honey from a squeeze bear bottle

1 tsp. fresh basil, chopped

2 slices tomato

2 slices bread (organic multigrain bread works best)

 Sauté pan large enough for 2 slices of bread


Butter bread on one side with melted butter. Place in pan, butter side down, over medium-low heat. Place mozzarella on one half of the bread and fontina and Havarti on the other. Cook until golden on bottom and cheese begins to melt. Place tomato on mozzarella side and honey on fotina/Havarti side. Place under broiler for a few minutes to heat up tomato. Sprinkle basil and assemble sandwich.


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Update:
We tried the sandwich last night and it really is the Ultimate grilled cheese. Dan says the wouldn't categorize it as a grilled chees, more as a warm sandwich... but I really only care about how it tasted.

Lessons learned:
*Don't be shy with the honey!  A couple of people in the house had two sandwiches, which allowed me to use thier first ones as test runs. This was a good idea because we learned that, while seemingly an out of the box idea, the honey really does lend an absolutely heavenly note to it. I'm not saying to drown the poor cheese in honey... just don't be shy about it.

*Salt your tomatos. It didn't call for it, but after the first attempt at this masterful sandwich, Joe mentioned that he thought the tomatos could use a little salt. They did, it was wonderful. We used pepper as well, but got mixed responses on that. Some loved the pepper, others thought that the Basil lends enough bite to the sandwich to not need it.

At anyrate family mine, we all highly reccommend this tasty treat... especially if you love cheese. Mike wants to trade either the fontina or the havarti out for brie next time, so we'll see how that one blows over.

A while back I was lurking on Pioneer Woman's site and discovered a most tasty treat to make. Subsequently, I made this heavenly dish for dinner and everyone loved it! I may even make it tonight. (I did mention it was tasty, right?) At any rate, I don't know where she got the recipe from.. all I know is that I heart it, and I credit her with bringing it to my epicurian world.

BBQ Meatballs - I highly reccommend these tasties served with rice and some greanbeans to round out the meal, but Pioneer Woman prefers them served over mashed potatoes. You can make your own call.

Ingredients


FOR MEATBALLS

1-½ pound Ground Beef

¾ cups Oats

1 cup Milk

3 Tablespoons Very Finely Minced Onion

1-½ teaspoon Salt

Plenty Of Ground Black Pepper, to taste

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FOR COOKING MEATBALLS

1 cup All-Purpose Flour (coating For Frozen Meatballs)

Canola Oil

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FOR SAUCE

1 cup Ketchup

2 Tablespoons Sugar

3 Tablespoons Vinegar

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire

4 Tablespoons (to 6 Tablespoons) Onion

1 dash Tabasco

 
 
Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all meatball ingredients. Roll into medium-small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Place sheet in freezer for five minutes.

After 5 minutes, remove meatballs from freezer and immediately dredge in unseasoned flour.

Brown meatballs in canola oil until just brown. Place into a baking dish.

Combine all sauce ingredients. Pour over meatballs and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

I heart this and you can be sure that any future hit recipes that I either dream up or come accross will make their way here. As always the site I located it on will be credited... if the origin of said recipe is mentioned there I will pass it on.
 
Now off to see if anyone else has come up with a spectacular plan for the evening meal!