I Saw George Tonight!

Saturday night with George...........Foreman grill. Ha! Good ole George always keeps it lite.

 

 

 

My other half had to work so dinner for one it was. 

 

I kept things with George simple because I try not to over work good ole George. It was sliced turkey on wheat bread and I added Swiss and American cheese slices. I squeezed some Chipotle mustard on one slice and spread lite mayo on the other then pressed together, like so.

 

 

I buttered my wheat bread and on hot George it went, like so.

 

 

So while George was hard at work, I needed something on the side to add flavor and I went with red.

 

 

Okay and I did not wait until the sandwich was done. I did get a head start with Santa Ema......I had to have something to encourage my patience while little George kept the heat going.

 

Just 4 minutes or so on each side and it was time to remove my little sandwich.

 

Yep it was just too simple and lonely of a turkey sandwich. I had to keep George's heat burning after getting him all worked up so I added some crab legs. I swept them with butter and listened to them sizzle while I watched them grill.

 

 

It ended up being about 5 minutes on each side of the legs and they were ready.

 

 

The highlight of my evening was that I found an old music album online that I listened to when I dated my husband, over 20 years ago. It was amazing how the songs instantly brought back all those  hot summer memories from all those years ago. Who knew.

 

 

I cheated and took a sample bite of my turkey sandwich.

 

My dinner with George was nice and smooth and I will add......very tasty. I savored the different tastes as I strolled down memory lane. Wow, it's hard to believe that it was more than 20 years ago of dressing up, getting the hair style just right (early 90s so it was still worn high back then), just the right amount of make-up, and not too much perfume to impress the guy that seems to have kept his word-as far as I know anyway.

 

Nights like tonight, I do enjoy my one-girl private dinners. Tonight was a bit different as it was filled with fun and great memories of the guy that still drives me crazy. He has been a blessing and has managed to teach me that love is so fulfilling as much as it is challenging.

 

I sure do hope he says something about the music when I play it for him. Maybe he will notice.

Easter and Capirotada

Easter is another important day in our home. In order to get the day started off right, first things first.

 

Then, the next important thing is to get home and start the cooking. Today, I went home to find another blessing-the family grill chef had it all fired up and ready.

 

As I started my rush for a blessed day, I was not going to be too busy to catch the beautiful clouds. I caught the sun piercing through the clouds. The perfect weather for our grilling was soon to arrive.

 

 

Inside, I had to get the Easter tradition started. I had the Piloncillo for the Capirotada. Many families have their favorite Capirotada recipes. As for me and my family, our late Tia Maria Elena's-"Lena"- recipe is our favorite and has become my little family Lenten tradition. A certain thing for our Lent, I will make Tia Lena's Capirotada recipe between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. Some years, it's more than once.

 

You can use your favorite brand of Piloncillo, I know some people may use brown sugar-just your pick. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, 375 for glass pans.

 

 

Because Piloncillo is so rich, I take a saucepan, 1 tblsp of ground cinnamon, 1" of water then I add the Piloncillo to dilute. Once it's all diluted, it is ready to pour over the Capirotada.

 

 

While the Piloncillo is diluting over the stove-top, toast and butter the bread. This will be the base and first layer, as this recipe is a layered Capirotada.

 

 

 

 

Then, add sliced bananas on top of your toasted and buttered bread. I recommend you slice up the bananas before you get started, but I usually slice them as I go along. I find this keeps them from softening too much. 

 

 

I add coconut flakes, grated mozzarella, and unsalted roasted peanuts as the following layers. Raisins are optional. My final layer is sprinkling of ground cinnamon (to taste and lightly because I add extra cinnamon to the Piloncillo while I dilute it). Today, I omitted the raisins but your favorite raisins or dried berries are always optional.

 

Continue the layers in the same order of your first layer of ingredients. I usually do three layers. I have topped with toasted and buttered bread on top, and then just left that off other years. Either way, it's delicious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, I left the toasted bread off on top.

 

After you have finished the layering, add the diluted Piloncillo.

 

 

Press layers down into the Capirotada to submerge the layers in the diluted piloncillo.

 

Bake for about 30 minutes or until all the piloncillo bakes into the layers. Bake longer if using glass pans, as the oven temperature should be lower for glass pans.

 

Voila, there it is..........baked Capirotada.

 

As for the grill, that's the fun part of togetherness and listening to the latest activities, or just listening to the cooks tell their best ways of cooking......or how the other guy that's not grilling does it.

 

Then it was our family grill chef at work. He even chops his own mesquite to keep those fires going. I was too slow to capture the action of the actual chopping. However, no work boots required for that.

 

 

First things first. The poppers that everyone enjoys.

 

 

Tomato chicken. I lightly spread Tomato bouillon powder (Caldo de tomate)......not too much because then it's real salty, awe just enough for flavor.

 

 

Popper Tip: I boil my bacon for 10 minutes, then I wrap the boiled bacon around to complete the popper. I find they grill quicker and more evenly. To each his own.

 

Oh, when there is not enough grill then have a back-up plan inside....no problem.

 

 

Yum, it was all ready to enjoy!

 

 

To finish the meal, do not forget the traditional Capirotada.

 



 

Another scrumptious menu at Easter.

 

 

 

 

Saturday and Bananas Foster

It was a great Saturday and the boy wanted Bananas Foster, my style.

All I did was get 1/2 stick of butter and melted it over the stove top in a sauce pan. Once that was melted, I added 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon then I added about 3/4 cup of brown sugar and stirred until dissolved. I added some Captain Morgan and lit it up until the flames were gone. I took the sliced bananas, lengthwise, and put them in the sauce. My order of things is different then most but the taste is still delicious.

Once the bananas softened and browned then I knew it was time to pour over the vanilla ice cream scoop on top of a pound cake round.

See, like so.

It was so wonderful as I drank my White Russian (Vodka, Irish Cream, Kahlua, and half and half-all to taste) and the boy tried his resurrection cocktail drink.

 

Yum, just delish! Great times with great company. Makes for wonderful family memories. Enjoy your week!

Independent Friday with Legs and Tail

A storm is brewing and makes for a fine finish to this crazy busy Friday. The sound of thunder is dominating but handsomely compliments the smell of wet dirt. There are some natural beautiful things to my wonderfully ordinary life but I had to move quickly.

 

I decided to shake things up a bit for dinner. I went to the local grocery store. I found some crab legs and a lobster tail.

 

I got to my one-man kitchen and started the steaming process over the stove-top. I just put a deep sauce pan on the burner, added 1" of water to boil, salt, a steaming rack, covered until I heard the bubbling water. I laid the legs and tail on top. It all steamed for approximately 10 minutes.

 

 

 

On the side, I had my Skinnygirl red and that was only 100 calories so that I could ensure moderating my meal and balancing those calories.

 

Imitation Alaskan Snow Crab Legs-the best part is no cracking delays to savor the first bite. The taste was great and the butter was just a perfect dipping sauce.

 

The lobster tail turned the perfect color, like so......such a pretty little tail.

 

 

Awe, it was just the perfect independent Friday.

The sweetest side of my life, a nice and quiet finish to a fast week. It was simple and plain but it was as delicious as I may find in this Texas panhandle, and it was cost-effective too.

Cupid and Dia de Amor y Amistad

In our culture, we have what we call Dia de Amor y Amistad (Day of Love and Friendship). It's an excuse for me to do something a little different.....make treats to share and celebrate amistad (friendship).

 

I got some really fresh strawberries, at the local market.

 

 

I went ahead and got some butterscotch chips, to decorate the beautiful strawberries.

 

 

Of course, it just does not feel right without the traditional chocolate but I wanted something different for the chocolate so butterscotch it was. The melting began.

 

 

I wanted some different toppings too so I grabbed some Macadamia nuts and put them in a zip-lock bag.

 

I took a rolling pin and crushed them in the zip-lock bag.

 

For those that followed me on My Real Life Mi Vida Real, you may have seen that one of my last posts on that blog was my practicing cracking walnuts. I found the perfect reason to use them. 

 

I put those in a zip-lock bag and crushed them too. One can never have too many toppings for a girl's treat, I mean for Cupid treats.

 

It was time to start dipping and it all came together so perfectly. Melted chocolate and then butterscotch, or butterscotch then chocolate....just to shake it up a bit.

 

Later, I wanted to try making some squiggles, so I did......just for fun because obviously, I was not going for perfection. I mean strawberries and chocolate are already perfect so you cannot really mess that combination up.

 

 

I wanted to make them a bit nutty, so I did.

 

My 2.14, or Dia de Amor y Amistad, is not real until it includes some red velvet.

 

No difficult recipe or from scratch anything required. Duncan Hines has a little box and a genius added some magical stuff that results in pretty close to perfect red velvet. I added the icing for the cheating on the diet friends, and for the extra love of course. 

 

All the other days I diet, or I mean live the better life style.........but not on 2.14. I added some crushed nuts, just like so.

 

Good crushed walnuts and macadamia nuts.

 

I boxed some of it up and all I need now is Cupid and some diet cheating friends to celebrate Dia de Amor y Amistad with some good American tradition.

 

Come on Cupid, your treats await and bring some pretty flowers to make it look good.

 

Feliz Dia de Amor y Amistad!