Only half the vodka but all the cream...

I'm only talking about dinner here. Not some floozy, teetotaler party where half the drinks gets you all the goods.

Last night, I simply planned to simmer some vodka and cream with my homemade marinara but realized that I only had half the vodka I wanted. Hmmm, how the hell does that happen? Oh yeah, it's called 'the weekend'.

Regardless, I always enjoy creamy, homemade pasta sauces, even and especially when they are my own. I really love food.

Match Play!

Um, I sure hope I can find Accenture Match Play somewhere on TV today or tomorrow. Tiger Woods is back!

For those of you who cannot stand watching golf on TV, whatever. However, I will certainly agree with anyone who thinks reading a live blog about golf - not so fun. So, here's to hoping it's on TV somewhere, sometime.

A Rhino's Ass-end

I love creative ways of saying one's hungry. I think, right now and for quite some time, my favorite is:

I am so hungry, I could eat the ass-end out of a dead rhino.

I don't know why a rhino, let alone a dead one, but it informs the listener of the simple fact that the speaker is quite famished - in fact, very horribly famished.

What are some other good ones? Who has the 'diamond in the rough'?

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, aka Baked Cat Vomit

OK. After pulling out a cookie this morning and taking a picture to post here, I realized that maybe these cookies are not that bad. However, I am very critical of my own work, regardless of the field, and I am still not fully pleased with the result. The taste is good, the texture is too crisp (yes, I know, bake them less), and most of the cookies are too thin and too brown.

So, whatever. If it tastes like an oatmeal raisin cookie, smells like an oatmeal raisin cookie, but looks like baked cat vomit - watch out! Fluffy may have eaten so cookie dough and puked on the sidewalk during the Texas summer.

Osso Buco - but red, not white

I made osso buco for the first time last night, and I used a recipe that called for braising the shanks in lots of red wine vice some dry white wine like many others. I thought, "Hell, why not? I like meats braised in red wine blah blah blah." The result was good, but, for me at least, the veal lost some of its own unique flavor with the massive amount of red wine in the dish. A bottle. Yes, full bottle of red wine.

It was topped with a gremolata, though one using orange zest and dried cranberries rather than (I think) more traditional lemon zest and no cranberries. That was nice, but I am interested to see how this dish would taste with just a lemon gremolata or a bouquet garni.

Regardless, I did enjoy making it as it is not that difficult and allowed me to work with veal. I am looking forward to making this dish again with a more classic recipe (i.e. dry white wine for braising and maybe a bouquet garni rather than gremolata).

The recipe I used was one I had seen awhile back while watching Food Network - here.

NOTE: I certainly did not use Amarone wine because the only bottle I found cost $50. I subbed a cabernet sauvignon and, perhaps, this is why I felt the red wine often overpowered the veal.