Chocolate Caramel Tryst

I'm on vacation in Tucson, AZ, with limited access to the technology I need to transform my old-school drawings into jpegs. So today I'm dipping into the archives.

The Army Dude and I had this delectable dessert at Finale in Boston a few weeks ago. If your first impression is that it's enough food for a family of four, you would be correct; however the Army Dude and I are made of tough stuff. We polished it off like a pair of champions. It was heaven. Absolute heaven.

Just Another Manic Wednesday

Contrary to what you probably think given all the treats I've been posting lately, this is the type of thing I tend to eat during the work week. Alas, a woman cannot live on chocolate alone - or at least not unless she wants to get as big as a hippo or work out two hours every day.

Here's the thing about a stir fry. If you decide you are going to make it into an art assembly project by using fancy knife cuts and insisting on eleventy kinds of vegetables, you will be prepping it until doomsday. If, like me, you limit the vegetables to between one and three kinds (depending on how much you have on hand of each), and you chop them like a normal person instead of a Martha Stewart wannabe, you can be eating in half an hour. And that includes making rice.

This particular recipe is healthy and really good, especially in the spring when pencil-thin asparagus is in the stores. It could be done with chicken, I suppose, but the great thing about tofu is that you can prep it without having to declare the cutting board and counter a hazmat area and dealing with it accordingly. That's why it's smiling.

Also note that the asparagus spears are not only smiling, but are also sporting some pretty fancy bouffant hairdos. That's a lot of fabulous for one meal.

EZ-Cracker

A week or so ago, Army Dude and I were going to lunch at a restaurant whose TVs blare the bad new of the day around the clock for the diners' convenience. The TVs are muted or I would flat-out refuse to go no matter how good their Buffalo wings are.

As we were being seated, I saw an ad on one of the televisions. I looked at Army Dude quizzically. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Did I just see what I think I saw?

Army Dude: Yes.

Me: No, really... that commercial... are they advertising...?

Army Dude: An egg-cracking gadget.

Me: A gadget. That cracks eggs. For $19.95?

Army Dude: Plus postage and handling.

Me: [Still looking at him quizzically.]

Here's the thing: eggs are fragile. They are heavy compared to the strength of their shells. They crack. The challenge with the egg, as I see it, is to avoid having it crack until you want it to. An entire industry has developed around the harvesting, storage, and delivery of eggs using specialized equipment and packaging to avoid breakage.

So after millennia of using our hands to help the egg meet its cracking destiny, now we're being told we need a $20 gadget? It's enough to make me despair for the future of the human race. Seriously.

Guest Blogger: Elizabeth, Age 5

I'm excited to bring you the work of an wonderful new talent, fresh from a gallery showing on the front of my refrigerator. The artist is my great-niece Elizabeth; the event is Katie's birthday dinner.

Depicted from left to right: Katie, me, Lizzie (you can see the family resemblance), and the Army Dude. Katie (Lizzie's mother) drew and colored the hearts; I provided the hair styling for the Army Dude because Elizabeth specializes in ponytails and not Army regulation flat tops. As you can see, a good time was had by all.

I'm delighted to feature this up-and-coming young artist, and I expect big things from her in the future.

Culinary Quote: Rob

Gentlemen, I believe we have a winner.