Camp Food

This is the wunderkind's first year in Girl Scouts.  She's a Daisy, to be precise.  I wasn't a Girl Scout, but got extensive cookie sales experience when my sister had a stint as a Brownie.  She was all jacked up to sell the most cookies so she'd be able to go to camp for free.  Turns out, sales really isn't her bag.  So, I walked her around the neighborhood and sold cookies, then turned the order form loose on mom's company and dad's too.  She won.  She went to camp for free.  She had a scavenger hunt for her breakfast.  She hated it.  She never returned.

The Godfather of Bacon

I've admitted to you all before that I am an unabashed fan of bacon.  I love it.  I admit it and I'm not ashamed of it.  If I'm ever in a coma, please just advise the nurses to start cookin' up some bacon and I'll wake up in a flash.  

Today, the Vivvo and I joined my parents for lunch at the Gourmet Shop.  Viv loves to eat here for a few reasons:  1) our friend Brandi manages the place and always comes over to talk to us (Viv thinks that means we're VIPs) 2) One time, the owner let Viv go with her behind the counter and pick out any cookie she wanted (complimentary... of course it took a few conversations for me to make her understand that we don't get free cookies every time we go there) and 3) She loves croissants. I mean, really loves croissants.  She's actually developed her own "usual."  She orders a croissant with raspberry jam, butter and honey and a glass of milk.  Every time, without fail.

Like most people in Columbia, I usually order the chicken salad.  I mean, it IS what makes the Gourmet Shop famous.  One of their staff shirts reads "Peace, Love and Chicken Salad."  But, today, I decided I was up for a change of pace. There are lots of other dishes that I love at the G.S., but I decided on something new, well, new in the sense that I've never ordered it. The BLT.  OMG, call the BFF about the BLT, it's the BOMB.

You can't see the tomato, but trust me, it's in there!

This is the bacon lover's dream sandwich.  It is packed to the gills with beautiful bacon.  I mean, see that pile of it to the left?  It was just spilling out.  And this wasn't paper thin Waffle House bacon; no, no this was the real deal.  And, under all this dreaminess were two nice slices of bright red, beautiful tomato.  A little mayo completed the package.  And, as you can see, it's served on a croissant.  The waitress did ask if that was the bread I wanted, but I just don't like sandwiches like this on multi-grain because I think it's too sweet and the baguette can simply be too tall for me to bite.  I ordered the pesto pasta salad as my side.  This is a great pasta salad...fresh tasting pesto, bowtie pasta and green peas.  Today, however, I could only have a couple bites because of my monster baconator!

Since my big tomato breakthrough last summer, this is the best BLT I've come across so far.  Next time you're in Five Points, pop in there and see what you think.  If you get a really sticky table, chances are Viv was sitting there with all her honey and jam!
  

Asian slaw that hits the spot!

I didn't have much time for dinner prep tonight.  Had chicken marinating in teriyaki; always a good thing. Already had some leftover green beans in the fridge, only in need of a little heat-up.  But what else?  I am one of those who believes any proper square meal needs a main dish and two sides.  I guess technically that's a triangle or maybe a circular meal.  Anyway, that's just how I am.  Once in a blue moon, I've served a dish with just one side.  No one died. No one walked away emotionally scarred.  But, I must admit I didn't feel right about it.

So, you see my dilemma right?  I have teriyaki chicken, I have green beans, BUT WHAT ELSE????

Neil's "burnt out buds"...a tragic tale

Getting tonsils out:  It's not all fun and games!

Those of you who deal with me on Facebook are well aware that my beloved recently underwent a tonsillectomy.  Leading up to this event, I got lots of advice, warnings and war-stories from friends, friends of friends, the doctors and everyone else I can think of about the horror that was about to take place.  You see, adult tonsillectomies are notorious.  Adults take longer to heal, the pain is greater, the incidence of getting sick while recovering is greater, and the list goes on and on.  As the wife of a man who, well, let's just say is a real "joy" to care for when he has a common cold, I was armed for bear. 

Happy Happy Joy Joy

I'm not much of a buffet girl.  Especially not a Chinese buffet.  But from time to time I guess we all end up at one.  But, as a general rule, I stay away from buffets.  Although the champagne brunch buffet at the Hotel Coronado in San Diego is pretty flippin' amazing!  But usually buffets are picked over, tired looking and just not very exciting.  

A few days ago, my mom ran into her former neighbor.  They chatted a bit and he said each week he takes his mother-in-law to lunch and that quite often they go to this Chinese place that they really like.  He went on to say that it's the ONLY Chinese place he goes to.  Why?  He knows someone who served as a missionary in China and this is the ONLY Chinese place that he will patronize. And <<gasp>> it's a buffet restaurant. 

Crazy Spaghetti Tip

This will be short and sweet.  

First, a little history.  When I was in elementary school, my mom and a bunch of other moms were in charge of a huge spaghetti supper at the school.  Our good friend Dupre owned a restaurant in Irmo at the time and he let them use the place during the day, while the restaurant was closed, to mix up all their sauce.  My memory (be warned...this is a kid's memory) was of buckets and buckets, like sheetrock mud buckets, just lined up everywhere.  They were making the sauce en masse, of course.  One lady's task was to add x-number of cups of Worchestershire sauce to each bucket.  She went into the kitchen, grabbed several bottles of that yummy black nectar and set out to get the job done.  

At about bucket # 20, someone looked at what she was doing.  She had grabbed a yummy black nectar, but a different one than intended.  Yes friends, she was adding soy sauce to the spaghetti sauce.  As you can imagine, all the  moms went bonkers, there were some meltdowns and I'm pretty sure some emphatic "dammits" and "shits."  But, finally the chaos subsided and someone, I'm going to assume it was the level headed Dottie Webber (my mom),  who said something like "Hey, it's done.  Keep adding soy to the rest of the sauce so it's consistent."

The secret weapon

Well, you know what?  That spaghetti supper at Dutch Fork Elementary back in the early 70's was a resounding success.  In fact, up until that time, I wasn't such a spaghetti fan.  But I became one that night.  I think it was the soy sauce.  No, I know it was.  Soy sauce is one of the most precious liquids on Earth, if you ask me.  

So, here's the message I wanted to impart to you all this evening.  When you have those quicky weeknight suppers of spaghetti sauce from a jar <<oh don't act like you don't use it from time to time!>>  add some soy sauce and little garlic powder.  It elevates jarred sauce tremendously.  In fact, my little diner dove into hers this evening and said, 

"Mommy, did you make this yourself?"  <<Okay, I told her yes.>>  Her response? "I love it!  Thank you so much!"  

Do I feel guilty about using a jarred sauce now and then?  Not with a compliment like that from the most important person on the planet!