Showing posts with label Next Food Network Star. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Next Food Network Star. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Next Food Network Star



The garden, lush and colorful. The bag of impatiens has been particularly good this year, and the geraniums are loaded with blooms. The red nasturtiums have also been fine. The tiny hummingbird visited the new feeder and also the purple sage (not visible) where he went up and down the blooms. The blasted ants just won't leave the feeder alone.

My small guest watched the Next Food Network Star with me and we didn't think Melissa had a chance but she suprised us. Last night I tried her four step dinner plan: bread the meat and saute, add aromatics, add liquid, return meat, swirl in butter and serve. I had some chicken tenders and I used an egg then panko for the breading. Sauteed in half-butter, half-canola oil, the yin and yang if you will. When the chicken was cooked, I put it in a warm oven and added 4 split green onions to the pan, 2 big cloves of garlic, slivered, and 2 home grown plum tomatoes, sliced. Added white wine to get up all the "fond," then returned the chicken to the pan and swirled in the butter. We ate it on a bed of microwaved spinach. Yum! I just used the ingredients on hand, which was Melissa's plan, too. It really works. Would have never thought of serving on the spinach, but we are in light-diet mode, and carbs are carefully chosen.

Tonight, I'm making shrimp with tomatoes, olives, herbs and feta. Another low-carb affair. We have discovered that grissini, thin breadsticks, have few carbs and calories. A salad will round out the meal. We're doing either soup, salad or diet fare the rest of the month. I'll report in on how much weight, if any, was lost.

The plum tomatoes appear to have avoided the blight, as have the cherry and some in a pot on the other side of the house.

The herbs are in full swing, and I need to replant cilantro and dill. We love cucumbers in dill and cilantro in anything. Thinking some tortilla soup would go down easily. Bon appetit.

Grapeshot

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

The tomato blight

Sigh! This was the year that I would have tomato soup, tomato bread salad, home made salsa, gazpacho, tomatoes provencal. Well, you know.

Instead we had 6 weeks of rain and now the blight. I still have three plants in pots, but the tomato plants in the garden have been destroyed. The best laid plans of mice and men, but I don't think mice actually make too many plans. What they make is nests in the garage. Even in the doll house. Bad mousie!

The last houseguest left today, and except for a mountain of laundry, yea, veritable alps of laundry, we're all set. I've been away from my book for so long that I printed it out to read and discover what I had actually written. So far, I am impressed with the beginning. Did I actually write that? Not bad.

The papers have had stories about information warfare and I always wonder if it really happened, then would The Shadow Warriors take off? Who knows?

I watched the finals of The Next Food Network Star, and like both finalists, even tried the winners 4 step dinner plan tonight and it was a winner, too. Of course, after the pasta and the ice cream and all the meals out, we will have to go into serious diet mode. Summer salads beckon. Hey, it can't be THAT BAD. Well, can it?

Grapeshot