Skills bucket list, foods

Every once in a while I think of some random skill that is really like to perfect. So now I thought I'd start writing them down. Here are the ones I've recently thought of:

Cooking crispy fish skin
Chopping veggies fast like a chef
Lock picking
Contact juggling

Does anyone else have a random skills bucket list?


In other news, I made the fourth and last aspirational groceries meal. Three of four turned out yummy--black bean burgers, avocado tomato soup, and tonight's chicken kebabs. This was the most Mediterranean meal I've ever made. Kebabs, tzatziki sauce (spelling?), a salad with kalamata olives and feta, dates, fancy grape juice, pasta! Whoa nellie. Brice and I looked it, though as usual the kids were not big fans. Too bad for them.

On the other hand, Ammon has been grabbing for all the things. And wanting to eat all the things! So he's been trying little bits of lots of stuff. Including, today, tomatoes, a new baby food, grape juice (just a tiny sip, but his face was awesome), clementine, and an accidental goldfish crackers. Oops. So at least one of our kids likes variety.

Meat, a Reprise (OR: Histrionics Will Get You What You Want)

A while ago, someone in this household had a mild fit ofhistrionics. Now, I’m not naming names or anything, but I will say that she’s the only female in the household of voting age. Anyway, magically within days of this episode, a major gift card to Fogo de Chao appeared in our mailbox. The note with it said just, “Merry Christmas!” Wow, I felt so loved. Plus, meat!

So that was several months ago. And finally this past week, we went! (The reason it took so long was both slackerliness and the effort to coordinate schedules and have me not freaking out about leaving a baby at home with someone else.) It was so lovely to go out to lunch with my delightful hubby and leave all the kids behind. We dressed up a little, we talked about whatever we felt like, and we could focus on just a single conversation instead of three or four (which always feels like such a luxury).

There was guarana (a Brazilian soda), Antartica brand (the best). There were cheesebreads (essential at a churrasceria). There were sticks and sticks full of meat. Meat. MEAT! (I promise, by the way, that I am not always this obsessed with meat.) There was filet mignon wrapped in bacon. Filet mignon wrapped in bacon. Did you know that filet mignon does, in fact, have a different, softer, more fabulous texture than regular chunks of meat? I did not.

So the food was lovely, and the only real drawback was that they did not have sticks of caramelized pineapple that they carried around (sigh, Braza Grill, sigh). Fortunately, they did have caramelized pineapple on the dessert menu, so even though we were both stuffed and bursting at the seams, we still ordered dessert. After we ate, we pretty much had to waddle back to the car (at least a block’s walk--sheer gastric agony).

We really enjoyed our Fogo de Chao meal. Truthfully, we probably won’t go back except maybe for a rare occasion. It’s just not in our usual price range. But that’s the fun of trying something new and extravagant--it’s an experience to savor for its novelty and fun.

When the server came to show us the dessert menu, he asked if we were there celebrating anything special. Brice said something about an early Valentine’s Day, and I kind of mumbled something about not having our kids with us. But after he left, we realized this is how the conversation really should have gone:

Server: Are you celebrating anything special?

Me: Meat.

Brice: And also . . . meat.

So, to the anonymous benefactor who sent the gift card: We thank you! We celebrate your thoughtfulness. And also . . . meat.

Iron Chef: Stay Style

Here I am, making some dinner.

Brice and I were cooking chicken nuggets for dinner this last Friday, when Coriel declared that we were going to have an Iron Chef competition.

Normally when she declares such things, I turn on my practical mommy routine and say, “Some other time, when we have planned it, dear.” But the hour was not too late, and there was no real reason why we shouldn’t, so Brice and I kind of looked at each other and shrugged. And the game was on.

If you have never watched Iron Chef competitions, you really should (you can watch some for free on hulu.com). They’re delightful and over-the-top. Essentially, two chefs have one hour to prepare five dishes, all of them using a secret ingredient that they are about to discover. In the end, they’re judged on taste, originality, and presentation.

So first we needed the secret ingredient, chosen by Coriel. Drum roll, please . . .

Chicken nuggets!

We decided three dishes was enough for our competition, and I think we ended up with about 45 minutes to prepare (we got a couple time extensions; we started with 30).

Coriel got into her job as Chairwoman (the person who runs the contest), reporter (the one who follows the chefs around, asking them questions about their dishes), and the judge (um . . . the one who judges?). She came up and pushed an invisible microphone into our faces and said, “What are you doing here, chef?” or “It looks like you’re making something with nuts.”

In the meantime, Addra was mostly just standing around watching happily. Brice and I were brainstorming and cooking and realizing that we are not quite up to Iron Chef material. But we’re still epic.

So here’s what we ended up with, complete with opinions/judgments (mostly rendered by me and Brice; Coriel only had a few things to say, and Addra was mostly just eating). We hoped that Addra and Coriel would try most of the dishes, but that didn’t quite work out as hoped. Partially because they preferred to simply dismantle the dishes and occasionally eat the components separately. Also for another reason you’ll discover at the end.

Brice’s dishes:

We decided our favorite presentations were his
coconut nuggets and my parmesan plate nuggets.

* Nuggets on a bed of crunch carrot slices (we thought the crunch of the carrots was nice and refreshing, but it would have worked better if it was one thin round slice instead of a bunch of little slivers; Coriel ate the carrots separate)

* Nuggets on a bed of ramen noodles (this was the losing dish for me and Brice, but not surprisingly it was the winning dish for Coriel—although she ate the components separate)

* Nuggets with a garnish of sweetened coconut and chopped macadamia nut (this was one of the two top dishes for me and Brice—it was actually quite tasty, and we added some of the topping to more of the nuggets afterward; the slight sweetness of the coconut was very good with the nuggets)

Originally I'd only made two tasting samples, and then I realized
I should have made them for me and Brice as well as the kiddos. Duh.
So that's why I have different presentations for some.

Jeanna’s dishes:

* Nuggets with a brown sugar and acorn squash puree, topped with a toasted walnut (seriously! I toasted a walnut! I’d never done that before) (this was an okay dish, but something about the spices of the nuggets didn’t go well with the acorn squash; the components were better separate than together)

* Nuggets on a parmesan plate with a garnish of dried cranberry (this was the other winner for me and Brice; we again loved the slight sweetness of the cranberry with the nugget; also, a nice little parmesan crisp is awesome)* (<--that’s a footnote)

* Bacon-wrapped nuggets (too heavy on the bacon for me and Brice; Addra just ate the bacon)

In the end, Coriel barely tried any of these dishes. She said her stomach wasn’t feeling good. At first I partially wondered if this was her excuse to not try weird stuff. But since we’d had stomach flu going around, it was debatable. Well, she proved the truth of her statement about an hour later; nope, her stomach definitely wasn’t feeling good. So it was probably a good thing she hadn’t eaten much.

However, Brice and I had such a fun time being Iron Chefs and trying to be creative with our food. It was a fantastic Friday night (even with the barfy ending), especially given the lack of good dates we’d been having lately. Sure, the kids were there, but it still felt like an awesome date night like we used to have back in the oh-so-distant past. I highly recommend this for a great, fun activity—and, with older kids, have them compete too!**

Okay, now I’m sure you’re dying to know who the winner was, right?

It was Brice, of course! Mmmm . . . the judge loved that ramen.

* In case you were wondering, here’s how you make a parmesan crisp: sprinkle some parmesan in a little circle on a plate—it has to be actually shredded parmesan, not the sprinkly powdered kind—and microwave it for about 30 seconds. So good!

** Another time, we’d probably suggest that Coriel compete with us, or that we do teams, but she definitely wasn’t interested this time.