Food obsession of the week: FRITO PIE!

As I've mentioned before I tend to obsess on a food or a recipe until I either make it or go out and get it. Lately it's been all about desserts and baking. This week my thoughts have gone from sweet to savory.

This week all I can think about is Frito Pie! Now for those of you who aren't from the Southwest you may be wondering what the hell is Frito pie. Well I am going to tell you.

Frito Pie- is a bowl of Frito corn chips with Texas or New Mexico Red chili with meat poured over them. Top off with Cheddar cheese and onion and you've got Frito Pie!

I think the universe really wants me to make this for dinner because. My mom's office is having a Frito Pie party. My friend Sonya who teaches in Santa Fe was having it for lunch today. And Kirsten and I were both talking about how much we enjoy and miss Frito Pie.

This is an excellent cold day meal! Seeing that it's 80 degrees here today I don't need the Frito Pie to warm me up. It will make me feel cozy and all the same.

I may or may not make it for dinner tonight, but since my mind wont let it drop until I do make it. It will most likely be on the menu this weekend.

That time of year!

It's that time of a year again folks, where a girls thoughts turn to turkeys, stuffing, sweet potato pie, brining etc... Well at least this girls thoughts anyway. Yes I am aware that it's not even Halloween yet.
However, early October is when I start my menu planning for Thanksgiving. When I lived in New Mexico I never once thought of Thanksgiving, to be honest I didn't even like it. I didn't know what all the fuss was all about.
Back home we all went to my Aunts house for dinner ( lunch) and we were all back home by 3. My grandmother and Aunt did all the cooking and the menu has not changed ever! They are good cooks but twenty plus years of the same thing can get old.
Anyway when I moved to California, I had to start giving some serious thought to what my plans for Thanksgiving would be. The first three I traveled, and one year my mom and her homies came out to visit me.
But last year, last year was the first year I wasn't going out of town nor did I have family to come visit. I realized that I would have to make Thanksgiving dinner, It would be totally up to me what we would have. Did I mention I had never cooked a turkey before in my life! The thought of making Thanksgiving dinner made me excited, nervous and giddy all at the same time.
I would be making dinner for Me, Cory and Jill.
Three people should be easy enough right? The goal was simple, meal for three. Well that idea flew right out the window as I started reading food magazines and the New York Times food section. All of sudden my soul concern was, am I going to brine the turkey? Do cornbread stuffing or make my grandmothers dressing. It went on and on for days and I loved every single minute.
Finally the week of T-day came and I started cooking the Sunday before. I must have been to the grocery store at least a dozen times in those four days leading up to dinner. I would like to add that my good friend Jill did contribute appetizers ( yes of course we had appetizers) and side dishes to the menu. Our menu consisted of the following:
Appetizers
puff pastry pinwheels (Jill)
Kettle chips with blue cheese melted on top (Jill)
Champagne Cocktails with blackberry liquor
Dinner:
Turkey
Cornbread Stuffing
mashed potatoes (Jill)
cranberry sauce (Jill)
Princess yams
spicy green beans and kale
Cranberry Margaritas
Dessert
2 Sweet Potato pies
Lime chocolate cheesecake
Black velvet and coke (Jill)

We started this day at 11 and it went on until 3 am! The three of us had so much fun that day. I have to say it was my favorite Thanksgiving so far.
This year I will again be cooking dinner and the planning has started. I've read that Salting a Turkey is the new Hotness for bird prep this year over brining. I'll have to do more research to learn about this technique. I am so excited for this year after the success of last year. Now I finally get why people love this holiday so much. Great food, friends and relaxing it's awesome! So look for more T-day post from me in the next month and if you have any ideas or recipes I'd love to hear them.

Wait for it....

Monday night I was watching How I met your mother. I heard the best and funniest way to tell someone how much you enjoy a particular food item.
This episode was all about finding the best burger in NYC. In one scene the friends each took a bite of their burger and began to go on and on about this burger is so good blank. They finally came to Barney (my favorite character) and he said:
"This burger is so good; It makes me want to sew my ass shut!" I could not stop laughing all night. It also lead me to ask what I have eaten that was soooo good it made me want to sew my ass shut. What springs to mind at this moment is a hot Hash House biscuit with fresh berry preserves! Now I want to know what did you eat that was that good?

Bad blogger

As an avid, and do mean avid blog reader. I often feel disappointed when I click on my favorite blogs to find that they don't have any new posts. I am cool with going a day or two without new posts by my favorite bloggers. But more than that, and I start to get frustrated.
Don't they know that I check everyday to read their funny, entertaining or insightful post?! Don't they understand that if I don't have any new post to read, I'll actually have to read and respond to my work email?!
My love of reading blogs is what prompted me to start this one. Today it hit me like a 10 pound sack of flour. That cannot complain or be disappointed when bloggers fail to update daily. You know why because I leave in a big glass house of I don't update my own blog every day. So I will put down my stone.
I have thoughts everyday about post and things I want to share with you. However, work, life or just good TV seem to get in the way. I am truly in awe of the bloggers who make time to post once a day or even several times a week!
To my few loyal readers out there I apologize for being lax in my post. I am going to try and do better. Because I know how much I enjoy reading updated blogs. So I will do my best to check in more than a few times a month.
:)

Biggest Loser is back!!

I normally post about food and my obession/love of it. I am so excited today because my reality show The Biggest Loser is coming back on tonight. I think this show is so inspiring and motivating!
If you've never watched it I encourage you start this season. It's on NBC, Tuesday nights at 8pm PST. Check out the commercial for this season. The theme song is awesome for getting through the last moments of a hard workout.
Pride on Three!

Who knew?

Today Cory and I went to the library in our neighborhood. I haven't really spent much time in a library since college. I figured a library with an ocean view can't be all that bad. Today was my second visit, and do my great surprise and excitement they had cookbooks! 

Most of you may have all ready known this but I had no idea that you could check out cookbooks from the public library! They have cookbooks on anything you might ever want to make. What I really like is I can try before a I buy. So now when I see a cookbook I might want to buy, I can go to the library check it out at no cost and see if I actually like it before I buy it. Cookbooks can be expensive so this the perfect solution for those of us on a budget who still want to try new recipes.

I was overwhelmed with the selection of cookbooks available, so I couldn't really decide which ones I wanted to checkout. I ended up letting Cory pick one for me, he picked a chocolate dessert book. I've flipped through it and all ready found two or three recipes I want to make.

Next time your in the market for a good cookbook go to your local library first and test drive it before you buy it! 

 

Food for thought

It's Wednesday, and as most of my foodie lovers know. Wednesday is the day that the New York Times runs it's dining in/out section in their paper. I love reading this every week. It features great recipes, and I the articles keep me up to date on what's going on in the food world.
The highlight of my week is reading this section, its my escape into the world of food which is my happy place.
This week was different, this week after reading the article Love Food? Think twice Before Jumping In . I felt like my reality check had just bounced! The article is a cautionary tale of starting your own restaurant.
Its purpose to warn those who have dreams of leaving their day jobs in search of a glamorous career in restaurant ownership. The message is don't quit your day job! Which I understand, there is a very harsh reality that people need to know before starting your own business. The article is right not everyone is going to have the success of Ina Garten or Paula Dean.
But one think I know for sure you'll never succeed at your passion if you don't try! Everything in life is a risk. Who to say that your "day job" will be there tomorrow. Nothing is guaranteed in this life.
I felt like that article was talking to me, saying hey cubicle girl wake up and realize that your dream of running some sort of food based business (haven't figured out what I want to do yet, but taking suggestions) is just that a pipe dream. I was pissed off and sad and felt trapped!
But what I realized, that I do know for sure. Is your dreams will never come true if you don't follow them. It's like hoping to win the lottery yet never buying a ticket! Where would Ina and Paula be if they hadn't followed their passion? What if they listened to everyone and every statistic that said that their dream was doomed to fail?
I think I'd rather try and fail, then leave a life of regret wondering what if? When, I do figure out my food calling (besides just eating) I hope I have the courage to pick up the phone.