• Affiliates

    If you're gonna shop anyway, I'd really appreciate it if you'd click through my links to help support the growing needs of ballet slippers, art supplies, and soccer shorts. :)

  • Add to Technorati Favorites
  • Mom Blogs
  • Widget_logo
  • -------------------------------
  • You are visitor number

    • 150,570
  • free counters

Fx4: Octopus

Candid Carrie sponsors this one – head over to her blog and find LOTS of links for bloggers who’ve joined in! (You can join in too!)

I know I saw this on another blog…Cat’s maybe?? …it was a while ago and I’ve been meaning to try it out ever since I saw it. . .  Let’s just say I heard a lot of “More!”s 🙂

Hot Dog Octopus

Thread spaghetti through cut up hot dogs

Thread spaghetti through cut up hot dogs

I use the HUGE Hebrew National hot dogs so they’re nice and fat…lots of room to poke the uncooked angel hair pasta through. And it took me a few tries to get into the groove of threading it through without breaking it!

Boil

Boil

I boiled it for the amount of time the pasta needed to cook.

Remove carefully!

Remove carefully!

You don’t want the tentacles to break 🙂

"What is this, Mom?"

"What is this, Mom?"

"Yum!"

"Yum!"

"Octopus??"

"Octopus??"

Favorite Foods: A – Z

Can you tell food is on the brain? *sigh* These foods, although favorites, aren’t necessarily on my diet…

A – Artichokes

B – Beef Stew

C – Clam Chowder in a Bread Bowl (Perhaps I should just say Chocolate)

D – Dough (as in, Fried Bread. With powdered sugar.)

E – Eggs (the Deviled kind)

F – Freetos

G – Goobers (That’d be chocolate covered peanuts)

H – Hot Dogs (From Fenway!)

I – Ice Cream. HäagenDazs bars – all the way!

J – Jax

K – Krispie Kreams

L – Lasagna

M – Mike’s Marinated Chicken on the grill

N – Noodles

O – Onion Soup (of the French variety.) Even though it gives me a headache.

P – Potatoes – any kind…except sweet. Those are not potatoes.

Q – Quiche Lorraine

R – Root Beer Float (I know – not really a food.)

S – Shepherd’s Pie

T – Turkey

U – Ugli fruit

V – Veal Parmesan

W – Waffles (especially Dad’s.)

X –

Y – Yogurt (I couldn’t think of anything else…not a HUGE fan, but it’s okay)

Z – Zucchini

Way Back When-esday

Cheryl over at Twinfatuation hosts this one. Go on over to see who else is playing – and join in too! Oh, and don’t forget to wish her a Happy Birthday 🙂

I believe that this was taken about 3 years ago …

Mike tends to go overboard when grilling. This is my sister and my brother – laughing at the insane amount of food.

Do You Think Its Enough

Do You Think It's Enough?

More Hunger Pains?

Hey look! Another meme about one of my favorite topics 🙂 This one has grosser stuff on it (and comes from the UK – so I haven’t even heard of half this stuff), so I’m sure that I’ll be bolding less and crossing out bunches. Perfect timing … since food is pretty much always on my mind with this whole diet thing.

The rules:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding – right.
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht: blech
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari – tried it. Yuck.
12. Pho – I think I tried it…
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes – Blueberry. Uhm…ya – yuck.
19. Steamed pork buns – maybe? Not sure…
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries – lots!
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese: right.
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl – the best way to eat it!!
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects – not on PURPOSE…I’ve inhaled a few bugs in my time though
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine – take the cheese aspect out of this and I’m all over it
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox – no lox for me…
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

38 out of 100. I suppose that’s not TOO bad, but what’s with all the cheese?? And all the hot stuff??

What’s on your list?

Are You Hungry?

I saw this over at The Nut House and just had to grab it.

According to halfbakedbrownieguider, this is 100 “North American” foods. You bold what you’ve tried.

1. New York pizza

2. Hoppin‘ John

3. New Mexico green chile

4. Homemade buttermilk biscuits

5. Tasso

6. Whole Maine lobster (I refuse to eat anything with the eyes still in it)

7. Calabash-style shrimp and hushpuppies

8. Kansas City barbecue ribs

9. Hot glazed Krispy Kreme

10. San Diego fish tacos (does this even SOUND good to anyone??)

11. Cheese curds (ya. don’t want that spider to sit down beside me…)

12. Key lime pie

13. Philly cheese steak

14. Memphis pork barbecue sandwich

15. Lowcountry boil

16. Huckleberry pie

17. New England clam chowder (The only sea food I’ll eat)

18. Boiled peanuts

19. Buffalo (Bison) burger

20. Eggs Benedict

21. Pastrami on rye

22. Corned beef and cabbage

23. Pancakes with maple syrup (REAL maple syrup – Vermont style baby!)

24. Everything bagel with cream cheese and tomato

25. Thin Mints

26. Frito pie

27. Potato knish with mustard

28. Silver Queen corn on the cob

29. Soft pretzel from a street cart

30. Fresh-picked blueberries (I try one every year and am reminded why I don’t like them)

31. Sourwood honey

32. State fair funnel cake (Fried Bread Dough is better *grin*)

33. Chesapeake crab cakes

34. Candied yams

35. Oyster dressing

36. Snow cone or snowball

37. Wild Alaskan salmon

38. Sautéed more

39. Persimmon pudding

40. General Tso’s Chicken

41. Frozen custard

42. Italian sausage with peppers and onions on a hoagie bun

43. Chili dogs

44. Buffalo wings with blue cheese (If boneless counts…)

45. Spam musubi

46. Saltwater taffy

47. Fluffernutter sandwich on Wonder Bread

48. Black and white cookie

49. Frybread

50. BLT with thick-cut applewood bacon (better with “regular” bacon though)

51. Baked beans

52. Pumpkin pie

53. Collards with vinegar and Tabasco

54. Tex-Mex fajitas with skirt steak and sautéed peppers

55. Fried green tomatoes

56. Succotash (although, I didn’t know it was called that until I married Mike)

57. Shrimp and grits

58. Hot water cornbread

59. Barbecue chicken pizza with red onions

60. Chicken fried steak

61. Carnitas burrito

62. Apple butter

63. Geoduck

64. Soft-serve ice cream cone dipped in chocolate shell

65. Pecan pie

66. Catfish supper at a church or fire station

67. Oysters Rockefeller

68. Homemade cranberry sauce (blech)

69. Pimento cheese

70. MoonPie washed down with R.C. Cola

71. Pickled watermelon rind

72. Cracker Jacks at the ball game

73. Smithfield ham

74. Meatloaf and mashed potato blue plate special at diner

75. Chicken and waffles

76. Po’Boy with many napkins

77. Green bean casserole with French’s fried onions (Grandma’s ROCKED)

78. Stuffed sopaipillas

79. Turducken (This is Turkey stuffed with Duck stuffed with Chicken, right?)

80. Shad roe on toast

81. Sweet potato casserole with or without marshmallows

82. Cioppino

83. New York cheesecake

4. Pan-fried river trout

85. Jambalaya

86. North Carolina pig pickin

87. California rolls

88. Burgoo

89. Penuche fudge (used to make this at work)

90. Fried peanut butter and banana sandwich

91. Scrapple or livermush

92. Elk medallions in red wine reduction

93. Muscadine grapes

94. Cheeseburger at backyard barbecue (although, NON cheese is better)

95. Open-face turkey sandwich

96. Chicago deep dish pizza

97. Cobb salad

98. Peach pie a la mode

99. Macaroni and cheese

100. Root beer float (OMG, I must have one NOW)

TOTAL: 47. Which, much like Shirley, surprises me. I’m pretty picky, which is why anything having to do with seafood on this list is *not* bold – except the clam chowder, but I’m fairly certain that I like that for the potatoes. And there are some things on this list that I’ve TRIED, but I don’t eat on a regular basis. Some of these things I’ve never even heard of.

Your turn! How many of the top 100 have you tried?

And…if you weren’t hungry before…are you now? *grin*

Good Food, Good Company

…not necessarily in that order…

Yesterday, our good friend Jon came over for some BBQ. He and Mike were going to try to get the swing concreted in (MAN does it seem like it’s going to tip over when the kids swing ‘energetically’!), but with the rain in the forecast, they decided to bag that and just BBQ instead. (They chose wisely – the minute Mike stepped in with the food, it started to pour – so not only did they save the concrete, but they started BBQ’ing earlier so Mike didn’t get stuck cooking in the rain again.)

What did we have, you ask? Even with only *ONE* guest, Mike goes all out: Steak, kielbasa, ribs, green beans, onions, and potatoes. See?

View of the goodies from the right

View of the goodies from the right

View of the goodies from the left

View of the goodies from the left

I’m going to give away one of Mike secrets. Penzey’s spices. MAN oh MAN – once you use these, you will NEVER go back to regular ol’ store bought spices.

Oh, and I’m happy to report that even though Jon was here, my towel tags are still attached.

Logan on his birthday

Logan on his birthday

Logan on his birthday

Logan on his birthday

Commenting on Comments: *phew* threeundertwo is okay with me blatantly stealing her idea…and you make great points about building the blogging community.

I Was Carded!: Glad we saved you a stop, Jon. 🙂

Yucky Nose: Boogie art. Lovely 😛 threeundertwo, Are you the one who posted about that a little while ago? And you were nice enough to NOT include a picture 😉 But Heather, it WAS my shirt! Uhg…dragging his nose down the *wall*?? Bia, let’s hope that doesn’t happen here! LOL Yup, grannyfrani, I’m *sure* this all comes from Mike’s side of the family…we would *never* do anything disgusting on OUR side 😉