From Pineapple to Tofu

Just call me Stephanie--I've been a cooking/baking fool lately. Well, it's not like I've been cooking a lot, I guess--I've just been more experimental. (and I'm just a fool.) Our gourmet dinner group of course lends itself to trying new things--although often I just want to make something that I know will be GOOD and I'm not in the mood to experiment. Inspired by the Byerly's spring magazine, I decided to go for making a Pineapple Upside Down Cake. It was daunting to me--will it be all mushy on the top?? Since I have to saute the pineapple and then actually pour the cake batter and bake it all in the same pan, will it really turn out okay?? For whatever reason I was feeling brave and went for it--and I'm glad I did! I have to say, the cake itself wasn't exactly spectacular--I mean, it was tasty and all, but I don't know if it really made a difference to chop and process crystalized ginger to add to the batter and it was a bit dry--but since Greg said it tasted just like his Mom used to make, I figured it was a success. There, I did it. I made a Pineapple Upside Down Cake in my life. There is something so 1950's about that, isn't there?? Nice! (yes, the cake didn't quite get centered on the plate...YOU try flipping over a hot and heavy Le Creuset sauce pan quickly and accurately on a serving plate...not so easy!)


Then tonight I actually cooked with tofu. (sorry, no photo of that one.) I've tried it in the past and never hated it or anything, but it never struck me as something I needed to eat much either. Lately tho I've been both wanting to find healthy alternatives and have some variety for goodness sake--so why not try tofu?? I found a site on the web that told how to cook it so it doesn't turn out mushy...I have to say, it was good advice. I used the asian marinade and it was downright YUMMY. Totally crave-worthy. Sullivan actually liked the first couple of bites but then started spanking his head Andrew Zimmern style, so I guess I can't really say it was a hit with the entire family. Ah well, I'm hoping that was just the sauce. (he's not a soy sauce kind of guy) I'll try it again. I did read somewhere that you actually have to get your kid to try something some ridiculous amount of times--like, 17-- before they will actually like it...so keep serving those kids that broccoli, my parental friends! (at least both Sullivan and Vivian do like that!)

Who knows what will be next on the menu? Actually, I think I may try a coconut rice pudding and try it out on my dear friend Stephanie when she comes over for coffee on Friday. She and my friend Darcie are about the only ones I can think of that would actually EAT that kind of thing. YUM, I say.

Try something new this week! Heck, it's spring. Or is it?! (she says as she laments about the weather forecast of another 6 inches of snow...)

Shakin' it Up!

I just had to post about my glorious friend Stephanie, who recently exhibited the most Metal behavior--makes a Metal Mommy friend proud. She was visiting her son's new Catholic school and was chatting with some of the moms. At one point she went to give a 'thumb's up' and absent-mindedly threw the Heavy Metal hand signal instead!!!!!!!!!! She was mortified by her own actions, especially upon seeing another mom's smile falter a bit. Long live Metal, I say, and Long Live being irreverent in these sort of uptight situations. Of course my dear friend never meant to offend, it just came out! Which is what makes it so sweeet of course, and so very Metal. You just can't keep a Metal Diva down, and that friend of mine is always shakin' it up. I love it!!

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum my glorious friend will be dining with Andrew Zimmern tonight, and being filmed whilst doing it! Stephanie, her husband John, and another couple will be on a future episode of Andrew's television show Bizarre Foods eating Lord knows what! Omg, I'd be so nervous about that. Forget about being on camera in front of millions, I'd be more frightened about what I'd have to be putting in my mouth. Considering Andrew travels the world and eats everything from giant grubs to still-beating frog's hearts, I can only imagine. Well, it's only Minnesota mind you...us Northwestern folk don't get too crazy up here. Maybe Stephanie will be eating raw lutefisk?! Perhaps she will be throwing the Metal Hand Signal at the same time! SWEEET!

As for me, I'll be eatin' cake officially one week from today. The countdown has begun! Strange. I'm very excited, although of course a bit melancholy about leaving this great house and neighborhood. We are definitely moving on to bigger and better, but this has been a wonderful place to live. The hardest part of it all will be dealing with the kids and their adversity to change, which of course is to be expected. It seems that there is a lot of change happening for a lot of people lately! A Time of Flux and New Opportunities. That's a good thing, it's always good to shake things up a bit.

Dream a Little Dream

I'm doin' my homework. Homework, you ask? As a (Metal) Mommy, does that mean studying food nutrition? Parenting manuals? The long-term effects of tooth decay if your kids don't floss daily? Nope. None of the above. (although, the last one I may pay more attention to, now that I think about it....!) I am listening to Andrew Zimmern's talk show on the radio.

Remember a while ago how I mentioned that a dream of mine was to be on FM107 talk radio? Well, ladies and germs, I am proof that dreams can come true. I hesitate to even mention this at this premature point since my actual date and time hasn't been confirmed yet--but hey, I've already gone ahead and threw it out to the universe (or to the blog world which I'm thinking is the same thing) that I even WANTED to be on the radio and it looks like it's happening, so what the hey! I'm gonna be a glass-half-full-er and I'm just going to bank on it coming through.

Not only am I getting on the radio, my friends, but I am going to be on the one-and-only Andrew Zimmern show, which started yesterday (Monday, June 4th) and will be on Monday through Friday from 1-3 on said FM107.1. As I said we're still working out the details as to when and where, and even exactly what my role will be, but it looks like my contribution is going to have something to do with--*gasp!*-- being the 'Modern Mom', or maybe dare I say, the Metal Mommy? We shall see. At this point I believe I will be calling in to chat with Andrew for anywhere from 7-10 minutes every couple of weeks, but again, to be determined. As you can imagine, I am very excited. What an honor it will be to be a part of Andrew's daily conversation! Andrew and I have been having our own conversations back and forth about it all and as soon as I know the details you will know the details.

So keep on dreaming everyone! Blog about it! Put it out there with all your heart and soul and you may be surprised. I think it really does help...well, that and having support from friends and family, and of course having connections...;-) When it comes right down to it, it's often who you know. But you aren't getting anywhere if you keep that dream to yourself. A little pep talk from The Suz.

Happy Memorial Weekend!

That doesn't sound quite right, does it? Even though we all use this weekend either to get away somewhere or just to relax/party at our own homes, I suppose we should take a moment to think about the reason we even HAVE this holiday.
There. I gave it a moment, and I hope you did too. On to the getaway! We had a nice weekend up north where we not only hung out at 'Grammy's house', but also in Kim and John's brand-spankin' new 32 foot trailer, definitely a home-away-from-home. Parked out on Grammy's beautiful 2-lot lawn, it was a very nice and relaxing place to hang for both the human and canine species. We ate very well and did the shopping-tourist thing. Nice. It was definitely a good thing to get away for a few days.

In the spirit of our friend Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods show on the Travel Channel--that both of my kids adore watching, by the way-- Vivian decided she was going to actually try escargots--or snails--and film herself doing it, with the hopes that it will make it on an episode. (Andrew does indeed ask for videos of people eating bizarre foods.) Of course to many people snails are not a very crazy thing to eat, but it sure is to an eleven-year-old. I have to say, I was impressed that she would even try it. She filmed the whole process from how they were prepared to eating it, and she did it--although the jury is still out as to whether she actually swallowed one and not just the french bread that she also had in her mouth at the same time. Showing off, she popped another one in her mouth but once the camera was off she quickly spat it out on the lawn...! (good thing we were eating outside!) Hilarious. I think she gets points either way. Who knows if Andrew spits things out once the cameras stop rolling?? What say ye, Andrew? Inquiring minds want to know...personally, I don't know how the guy can keep things down like a still-beating frog's heart, a shot of sake half filled with fresh turtle's blood or a live 12 inch or so long mangrove worm--but if it inspires my kids to try some new and interesting things--hooray! Better him than me, is all I can say.

Anyhoo, I hope your Memorial Day festivities were memorable as well...

A Snowstorm? Let's Party!!!

What a weekend! It definitely did what Minnesota does and dumped about a foot of snow on us. Beautiful! Many people have been grumbling about it, but you know, I don't mind at all. These days we don't get enough snow as it is. I always feel like, hey, if it's gonna be cold, we may as well have some pretty white stuff to go along with it. It's not 20 below like it was for so long. It's nearing the end of winter, so it will melt soon. And as I always say, it's really easy to like the stuff when you don't have to shovel/snow-blow it. Thanks to Coreman! (and as I've also said before, the only good thing to come out of a gimpy back.)

The snow really started kicking in early Saturday evening, as we were getting ready to head over to Stephanie's for her belated 40th Birthday Bash. She was really bummed about it, understandably, as there were sure to be some folks that couldn't or wouldn't venture out in the slip and slide to get there. But no, not us! I will not let a little snow keep me from celebrating with my peeps. I told Steph I'd be there if I had to walk over in my snowshoes! (ok, I don't own snowshoes, but I'd get some from Hoigaards just up the street.)

The party was amazing, as I knew it would be--definitely the highlight of the weekend. Stephanie looked beautiful in her fabulous forty glory, and she has wonderful, interesting friends that are definitely fun to chat with. Plus it's always fun to hob-nob with a few local celebs like Andrew Zimmern and Rudy Maxa, who are just as fun and interesting as you think they would be. The highlight of the evening was definitely giving Steph a special birthday surprise--Mod Hair Ken. Stephanie had brought him up a few times when we'd touch on childhood memories--I'm sure it all started with the Dirty Barbie story. (those of you who have listened to the podcast know just what I'm talking about. If you're curious, check out Episode #4 from our early days...) Kim thought of the wonderful idea of finding one for her, and good ol' ebay provided once again. The presentation was hilarious--since it's near-impossible to find Mod Ken complete with box and facial decals, we just had to make our own. I cut decals out of brown felt and labeled each one--of course I had to make up a few of my own. Ken just had to have a merkin. Kim's hubby Brian made an incredible box to put him in, complete with original 'artwork' and an open display window. The funniest thing was the card we gave along with it--we did a photo shoot of Ken and a random lucky Barbie and posed them in all sorts of compromising positions--then Brian photoshopped Stephanie's face on the Barbie. These we put on a self-made card that said, "You're Never Too Old to Play Dirty Barbies!" The gift definitely got the response from Stephanie that we were hoping for...but of course I wasn't counting on everyone at this glorious party taking a gander and seeing just what Kim and I are made of. Ha! Ah well, I can only fool people for so long. It's not long before they start to see the real me. Like as soon as I open my mouth....

So! Into a busy week. Vivian has one more little thing to shoot for her commerical thang today at Fallon, so I'll be dropping Sullivan off to hang with Cory at work, picking Vivian up early from school and heading downtown. It will be a lot of rushing, but there are worse things to do than hang out at a rockin' internationally known ad agency on the 28th floor of a building in downtown Minneapolis.