Labor Day Soirée Rough Draft menu

Celebrating having days off by inviting new friends over. Tomorrow's menu is today's 'What's in the Fridge!?!'. Here's my brainstorm/rough draft (theme is the cities we saw on our westward adventure);

- Philly: roast pork broccoli rabe sandwich
- Chicago: Speakeasy Cocktail; vodka cucumber etc etc (Juliet & Romeo = gin, mint, cucumber, rose water)
- St Louis Vegetarian Sliders ( black bean & chipotle patty, apple jalapeño salsa, cranberry sour cream
- Beale Street Chicken Braid
- NoLa muffuletta
- Texas; Fries chickpeas!!!
- Santa Fe; onion rings? Like the miraculous staircase or green chiles?
- Grand canyon. Cheap booze!
- NYC - dirty water hot dogs!!!!
- Rhode island mussels:calamari?
- Massachusetts??? Sauce?



Some may not make the cut, but I will share pics tomorrow!

Have a great weekend!

Found Journal, Return Whenever

I really like journals. I have a few and only write in them sporadically. I usually just open to a random page and jot some thoughts or sketches down. No particular order and sometimes not even dated. It's fun to go back and read the entries later.

I found one of these journals the other day and thumbed to a paragraph I had written when I heard Heath Ledger died. I guess it affected me more than I knew;

'A truly talented and especially gifted individual passed away today at the age of 28. At the valley of his maturity and the very cusp of his creativity, he lost grip and could not regain composure. He was 4 years older than me! I don't know why this particular gentleman's early death hit me so hard, but it made me think. Every day counts!'

I'm 28 years old now and the passage has again ignited a need for reflection. But mostly a realization of those last three words.

What's in the FRIIIDDDGGGEEE!?!

Breakfast Edition:

Last night I peeped a killer dish on this crazy chick, Squirt Russell's instagram/twitter @RonnieWK. She always shares the most legit food pics and is just the right amount vulgar (check her out here too http://radmobile.tumblr.com).

Anyways, inspired by the breakfast dish I peeped, I headed to the icebox where my heart used to be, and made my own vurrsion.

Here's the things I found;

- Brown Rice Medley

- Sweet Potato

- White Onion

- Garlic

- Bacon

- Garbanzo Beans

- 1 Egg

- 1/2 an Avocado

- Salt & Pepper

- Tapatio (optional)

Here's a quick abridged, run-on sentence version of how I made it. I cooked the rice in a pot until tender and cubed the sweet potato then sauteed in a separate pan until you could put a fork through it. I added the diced onion and garlic, only using EVOO for the pan, chopped the bacon to small pieces and threw it in.  Garbanzo beans were added last and put the finished rice with everything until hot.  Fried an egg, sunny side up, slid it over the 'hash' and salt and pepped the dish. Sliced an avocado for color and because they are awesome. BOOM! Put it in your mouth. Enjoy.

Fear is Good...

I'm scared

I'm scared that I will never find my true passion
Concerned that things will never work out
I'm shamed by the idea that I may not succeed
Haunted that my demons will catch up to me
I wonder every day if there is something out there that I truly excel in
Debt
I'm indecisive about the choices I continually do not make
Afraid my head will trap my heart
I know I am very good at this job and so I may not find that career
Selfish that I want a family but not right now
Will I be able to provide for them when the time comes?
Consequence
Plagued by 'what ifs' and 'if only's'
Conflicted by my free-spirit and my driven-mind
Weighed down by my love of the drink
Inspired by the promise of grandeur
Diminished by the thought of loss
Failure

But these words are good. Hearing them helps. I can take each one and grow, prove that I deserve everything I work for. Nice guys can finish first! Build character through experience. Get out of your own way. Find it. Share it. REFINE the REVOLUTION!

What's in the FRIIIDDDGGGEEE!?! Friday!

It's been a couple weeks since my last update, but it is Friday and I was hungry so here we go:

So you ready for this one? I had no idea it was going to be this good. And it did look way better in person.

The cast of characters;

onion

2 shiitake mushrooms

2 jalepanos

panko bread crumbs

canola oil

mozzerella cheese

raspberries

cilantro vinnigerette

butter lettuce

s & p

    I started off by caramelizing some onions in a small pan on low heat. Popped some beautiful butter lettuce on a plate.  After they were done, I put the onions aside and heated some canola oil in the same pan.  I then sliced some shiitake mushrooms longways (don't know the culinary term for that).  Lightly egg-washed the mush, coated them in panko breadcrumbs and fried them puppies up to a light brown.  Halved some jalapenos, longways again, de-seeded, egg-washed, panko-breaded, and fried em like the mushrooms. After they browned I placed the mush and penos on a paper towel to drain some of the oils. Alright all 'cooking' is done.

    Now, I cubed the mozzarella cheese and sprinkled it over the bed of lettuce. Strategically placed some raspberries on this same bed of lettuce. I then did the same with the fried mushrooms and jalapenos.  Lightly dressed the entire salad with some Trader Joe's Cilantro Dressing and some salt and pepper.  

Done.

Sweet Baby Heysus, that was a random and pretty awesome salad.

Stay tuned for next week.