Addiction, Snacks, and Carbo-Loading

I work in an office that sees a lot of addicts. Usually their issue is with alcohol, occasionally with drugs. My addiction is different from theirs. It is an addiction to Ritz crackers.



Crisp, buttery, and all around delicious, the Ritz cracker is perfection in a carbohydrate. Yesterday, in preparation for The Oscar's and Hugh Jackman winning my heart yet again, I was making chocolate covered strawberries. When I had finished dipping all the strawberries, along with a few apple slices that I just stuck in my mouth covered in warm chocolate, there was a good deal of chocolate left over.

My first 'experiment' was with the baked Kettle chips I had just purchased at Trader Joe's - mmm. A few friends of mine would randomly make chocolate covered potato chips in college, so I decided to give it a whirl. Glenn approved, and this low fat salty/sweet treat is waiting for me in the refrigerator as a Welcome Home! snack.

A full cookie sheet's worth of chips and there was still chocolate left, my brain began to spin. "Ritz, Ritz, Ritz, Ritz" hummed this little mind of mine, to the tune of "Jingle Bells" (my brain is obviously stuck in December) so I ran to the cupboard and whipped out the first halfway eaten sleeve of crackers I saw. Smooth, milky chocolate, perfectly crisp and fresh Ritz crackers, it was a masterpiece. Almost as good as Penelope Cruz's dress.



I wonder if Penelope eats Ritz? I wonder if she eats at all? I bet if she ate Ritz, she would thank them in her Oscar speech.

On to other snacks and carbo-loading. This past weekend the future Hughes Family, Ciervo Family, Reynolds family, and us (the Murdock's!) got together in Idyllwild for a mini retreat. Everyone brought snacks. Everyone ate snacks. All of the snacks, with the exception of string cheese, were starch-filled. I did not run a marathon today, and thus, eating this many carbs did nothing good for me. I am beginning to wish what Lindsey Lohan says about Calteen bars in Mean Girls was true.

And that, my friends, is my weekend in a nut shell. Or a cracker box, whichever you prefer.

My Mom Rocks!


Please check two posts down - that awesome Country Cooking of France cookbook with the steep price tag? My super-de-duper Mom got it for me for my birthday!
THANK YOU MOM, I love you!

*More birthday and January adventure details to come.*

Luxury


Yesterday I bought this cup of English Breakfast tea at the coffee house on campus. I decided on tea over the Mexican Mocha for two reasons: tea is generally less expensive, and tea has significantly less calories than the chocolate whole milk whipped cream cinnamon fantastic-ness mentioned above.

$2.79 is how much I paid for this cup of tea. (Insert Seth Myers voice): Really?

Oh yes, really. I could have purchased an entire box of loose leaf tea, a pair of new running socks, a pint of cottage cheese, a gallon of milk at Trader Joe's - SO many other things that would have been more worthy of my close to $3 than a few dried leaves soaking in hot water.

Moral of this story: always get the Mexican Mocha.

Provence Meets Dark Nails

I have had a fondness for the country cooking of France for some time now - it all just seems so tasty and fresh and perfectly French without being stuffy. Plus, all those natural ingredients and herbs - wholesome olive oil, freshly chopped parsley, local cheeses - how could you go wrong?

When we were in Julian earlier this year I found an awesome cookbook that could double as a coffee table book featuring beautiful images of freshly prepared meals accompanied by stories of the origins of the featured dish and, of course, a price tag of $60. Being the thoughtful husband that he is, Glenn had the idea to take a picture of/with the book since I couldn't actually purchase it. I think this book goes particularly well with black nail polish, don't you? I know, I'm so fall 2006...



Back to French cooking - one of my favorite things to do is get ideas from cookbooks and create my own variations of them, or combine recipes from a handful of different chefs to create a unique menu. On weeknights it can be hard to find time to pluck a chicken and braise short ribs, so I try to get creative. Enter the meal pictured below.




French Bistro steaks inspired by Ina's recipe in her latest cookbook, spinach salad with goat cheese and cranberries inspired by your local Chili's and any other C list restaurant that tries to be gourmet but fails miserably, and a slice of fresh baguette served with Manchego and St Andre, inspired by the Trader Joe's cheese selection and my love for all things fattening.

Not bad for a Tuesday night, is it? Speaking of, why does Taylor Swift always sing about Tuesdays and kissing in the rain?

New Year, New Me

Technically it's not the New Year yet, but I am counting this as a HUGE accomplishment and a change in the essence of who I am. To be honest, I have to credit my college roomie and bestie (not beastie - bestie) Julie for this drastic change.

Several weeks ago I was complaining to Julie about my incompetence when it comes to bread making. I have tried 3 different times and each time my bread comes out stiff and really dense. I think the primary reason is my house is so cold the dough refuses to rise, but it's just so frustrating when all I want to do is make my own bread and I simply CAN NOT DO IT. Ugh.

A few people had mentioned the "no rise" bread as an option when I received my Dutch Oven but, being stubborn, I did not think too much of these recipes. Fast forward to my conversation with Julie - she mentions the "no-rise" bread and I asked her if it was really worth it and if it would really work - she promised yes.

Pictured below is what I pulled out of the oven an hour ago. It is so good! You should try the recipe today!!

Left Behind



Are you excited because the title of this post is making you think it will be on my own personal eschatology? Or how Kirk Cameron films are always the best? Or how you, too, had a childhood crush on Austin O'Brien? No, my friends (little Maverick shout out there), I am sorry to disappoint but this post is actually dedicated to the left side of my behind, which is killing me due to the excessively long run I did Saturday - more on that later. Oh, and the fact that it's kind of an "update" which I'm getting really good at - I think I'll only blog once a month from now on since these update blogs are so successful.

This month started out like any other December - with a visit from my seeester Kimberly (who can be stalked on facebook if you are interested) and her bf Erik-with-a-k. When they came, we did lots of fun things. I made dinner at home one night - tomato soup with fresh cracked pepper and parmesan crostini, french bistro steaks with blue cheese crumbles, green beans and asparagus - blanched? why of course! - and roasted golden potatoes. YUM.
Here is the table, I welcome you to my dining room.



We also spent lots of time with #2 in the Kalleberg ladies line up - Corrie! We went to RA! Sushi and ordered half the menu...


Paid our holiday visit to Disneyland where we used the lovely blue lighting in Space Mountain for fabulous photographs. While at Disneyland we dined at our 2nd favorite lunch spot - Storyteller's Cafe at the Grand Californian Hotel where I think everyone should eat every time they are at Disneyland. Lunch is better than dinner, and you can't go wrong with one of the hot sandwiches (including the burger) or the cobb salad. If you don't think it's going to be worth the price and aren't feeling like leaving the park - take a chance and do it anyway. I guarantee the first bite of unlimited hot out of the oven bread will make the 1/4 mile walk worth your while.

The week of Christmas I had NINE DAYS IN A ROW off! Paid! Only had to use two vacation days! Welcome to the amazingness that is my job! We went to Idyllwild for the Murdock family vacation (the extended Murdock's, not just Glenn and I - we do plenty of other annual vacations on our own...) and spent time with the nieces and crazy uncles/brothers/girlfriends/wives/moms/fun. I modified Ina Garten's Chicken Chili and it was a success! I used ground turkey instead of chicken, added a lot of extra cayanne pepper (ai yai yai!) and also snuck in two cans of kidney beans, much to Glenn's dismay. Nothing seems to pair with chili like cornbread so I did the Ina jalapeno cheddar cornbread that I've only made twice now but, like most of her recipes, has been breathtakingly scrumptious both times. Wish you were in my family? I know, it's awesome.

The Christmas Chill, two favorite friends getting engaged, fun gifts from Anthropologie (hello, aprons) and A NEW SANTOKU KNIFE, a long run and a life saved by my running buddies (not kidding - read about it here) later, it's almost January and Glenn and I are discussing 2009 goals.

On the agenda for this week: use the knife as much as possible, read a few more chapters of the book pictured below, and enjoy the last days of what has been a glorious year.

One Crazy Night



This is a story about walking, eating raw things, car crashes, and murder. Children, be ware.

Once upon a time in a beautiful city called San Diego, there was a fun-loving couple who enjoyed food. For this couple, eating dinner at restaurants was a fun and special treat, as they were trying to stick to a not so fun-loving budget. On top of food and eating out, this couple enjoyed spending time with family and friends, and experiencing new foods with said groups of people.

One sunny Sunday afternoon, after the Chargers had been stomped on once again, the fun-loving couple decided it was a good night for sushi. Wanting to spend time with people they loved, they thought it would be a great idea to invite the husband's parents to come along. Slightly nervous at the thought of sushi, but eager to spend time out on the town with their youngest child and favorite daughter in law, the parents said "YES! We would love to!"

Now the fun-loving young wife had heard of a great new cupcake shop in the downtown area and was eager to try it out. It was decided that the two couples would drive downtown together, stop by the cupcake shop to pick up dessert to go, and then get sushi at a lovely, inexpensive spot in Hillcrest called Sushi Deli.

As they drove downtown, getting closer and closer to the cupcake shop, the anticipation was rising. Too excited to contain herself, the fun-loving young wife hopped out of the car while the rest of the crew found parking. She ran up to the cupcake shop, threw open the door, breathed in the sweet smells of chocolate and vanilla, and noticed there were no cupcakes sitting out. The friendly shop owner informed the fun-loving young wife that they had just ran out and were closing up for the day. NOOOOO! The fun-loving young wife's heart broke just a tiny bit, but it was ok because at least she had sushi to look forward to.

On they drove until they reached Sushi Deli. The group decided to park about a block away, as there were plenty of spots there and not many right in front of the restaurant. They then proceeded to the front door and put their name on the list, anxious to eat as they were all very hungry. 20 minutes passed and nothing... they noticed there were a lot of people standing around who had been there even longer than they had. Inquiring as to how long each different group had been waiting to be seated, they learned the wait was going to be an hour. Too hungry to be able to wrap their minds around standing on the streets of Hillcrest for an hour, the fun-loving young couple and their fun-loving parents/in-laws thought it best to walk down the street to find a new place to eat.

Down, down, down they went - and nothing was found other than a super cute Italian place that was significantly out of their price range but should still be visited at some point. So back up, up, up the hill the two couples walked, passing by Sushi Deli on the way only to notice the wait had now been increased by 10 minutes, so they were no closer to being seated than they had originally been. Down, down, down the other side of the street the two couples walked. They passed a moderately priced Chinese restaurant but decided that was not the way to go tonight. They walked back toward Sushi Deli, passing Jack In The Box and debating Jumbo Jack's and Ultimate Cheeseburgers for dinner as that was sounding mighty fine at this point in the evening. When they reached Sushi Deli for the third time, their name was next on the list.

"It's a miracle!" the two fun-loving couples exclaimed. Truth be told, it was no miracle, they had simply been walking for an hour instead of waiting in line for an hour. Excited at the realization that they would be eating sushi after all, the couples ordered a handful of rolls, a noodle dish, miso soup, and plum wine. And by 'the couples' I mean the fun-loving young wife. The rest just looked on and trusted her judgement. Good call since she was very hungry and not to be messed with.


Dinner was delicious and oh so fun. A new experience for the in laws/parents and a great time for the fun-loving young couple. Arm in arm and laughing, the foursome left Sushi Deli and noticed a policeman circling their car. Being extremely strong and manly, the two husbands ran ahead to see what the problem was. "Your car was hit by a drunk driver." stated the police-man. "He was driving erratically, ran the red light, smacked into your car, and kept driving. Some good citizens noticed what was going on and followed him back to his residence, calling the police on their drive. We now have this man in custody, and it looks like the only damage done was to the back left side of the car."

Crazy! The car was hit, the sushi was still settling, the policeman had victoriously captured an evil law breaker, and they hadn't even decided on dessert yet. Energized from the adrenaline rush, the two couples decided they needed to go somewhere fun and new for dessert, too. "Extraordinary Desserts it is!" they laughed as they hopped into the slightly bent up but still working car and headed a few blocks away.

Tea, coffee, chocolate deliciousness and a berry crostada topped with meringue were all these four needed to end the night right. Oh, and a story about the crazy guy that killed a man a couple of years ago at Extraordinary Desserts.



I told you there was murder in this story.