BeeCharmer’s Buzz

Last night we threw a Birthday/Valentines/new job party. We had such a good time and we had 10 of our closest friends and family over to celebrate with us. I even got some really great gifts although I thought Honey and I were careful to tell everyone -no gifts.

Get a load of this menu I put together and pulled off. Honey thinks I should do catering. I think I have enough on my plate for now. Besides I am practicing now for the B&B,L&D at the farm in our retirement. Great food and wine will be a draw for guests.

Menu-

Oyster shooters- with my famous homemade cocktail sauce.

Crusty garlic and peppercini bread with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Assorted veggies with homemade Ranch dressing.

An assortment of great olives.

Lighly steamed oysters with a sweet balsamic/garlic reduction.

Clams cooked in white wine, garlic and butter.

Rock crab claws lightly steamed.

Top sirloin fondue with homemade soy ginger dipping sauce.

Brocolli, yellow squash and mushroom tempura with homemade seseme/soy dipping sauce.

Pickled ginger.

Japanese pickled plums.

** omg I almost forgot** I made Hawaiian Nachos (an appetizer from a great local restaurant)A taro chip topped with  soy and ginger marinated ahi, homeade pineapple chutney and homemade wasabi ailoi. These are fanastic for your sushi loving friends. They remind me of an upscale version we used to enjoy in Hawaii.  Try these at your next get together or romantic stay- at- home dinner.

Milk chocolate fondue with fresh pineapple, bananas, grapes, pretzels and tiny marshmallows.

And finally- Honey’s famous Chantilly Cake. The kind they serve at Zippy’s in Hawaii, only hers is wayyy better.

We had some fantastic wine (picked out by our new wine steward friend). Everyone brought their own drinks, but it turns out we had plenty of wine for everyone (another splurge). Everyone was fat and happy, not literally fat- you know what I mean, right?

I played my new Best of the Grammy’s cd. I did my impressions of Frank Sinatra and Fred Astaire. Then we set up Rock Band and played until 1am. None of us were real rock stars, except Honey on the drums.

Blondie and her two other halves ( Hubby and BFF) came but had to leave early to get to a previously scheduled Karaoke session. We wanted to go listen to Blondie sing, but by the time the rest of the guests left, we were a little buzzed and getting tired. We missed Karaoke- I was sad about that, but maybe Blondie will sing for me while she cuts my hair tomorrow.

Small world moment- I printed pictures of things that are cool to me or are of a more personal nature (baby pics) and put them all over the house. One of which was a picture of Brandi Carlile that said “Who is this and how do I know her?” My soon to be brother in law (who doesn’t know all of my stories already) says “Hey, how do you know Brandi Carlile?” I’m like blah, blah blah, blah. He says “Really? My parents and her parents are best friends, they went to celebrate BC’s new house a couple months ago” and “yeah, my dad is a musician, he has played with her since she was a kid.”

say what? another link in this web we call life. weird huh? Btw 80’s was there too, so we had BC stories out the wazzu.

Can you guess the only thing I forgot during the party? Mood music-check. Lots of candles-check. Great food-check. Plenty to drink-check. Over the top decorations-check. Party games and prizes-check. What I forgot was super important and almost unforgivable- MY CAMERAS! I had the digital ready to go,  a few disposables for “just in case” and my mini DVD recorder charged to capture great Rock Band performances. I forgot to get them out of the drawer and actually use them. Ugh!

Peace out everybody- have a great week!

and pork and lamb (No judgements please, it’s for the worlds best meatloaf).

I ordered from http://www.thunderinghooves.net/ and picked it up today.

For those of you in Seattle, there are a number of neighborhood buying clubs that offer local pick up.

For those in Portland and elsewhere- are you jealous? Probably not, but you should be. This is some great meat.

I’m thinking of trying the 100 mile diet this summer. Anyone care to join me?

http://100milediet.org/

I have been grasping at straws this week on subjects to write about. I read an entry by one of my Blog buddies about being overwhelmed. I totally “get” being overwhelmed. It happens to me about every 28 days. Lots of little things wriggle into my mind, then maybe a big thing or two, homework is due and the laundry is piling up, then the hormones hit- Whammy! The world is against me. I will never get to the bottom of my “honeydew” list. The kids are ingrates. X plans his life around making mine hell. There’s no food in the house. We are all going to starve before I have time to shop. I’m pretty sure my mother hates me and the dogs are obeidance school nightmares. Aaaauuuuuugggggghhhhhhh! Where’s the xanax? 

 Through budgeting I found a great stress reducer for busy mamas. I know meal planning isn’t a new concept, many mothers have used this technique to stretch the food budget. To me it’s all new. If I needed something at the store I just went and got it and probably a few more items I didn’t really need. I might have ended up at the  grocery store 3-4 times a week. I did some research on how to stretch my moderate food allowance and found many sites advocating weekly meal planning. I gave it a try. Here’s the first week, not a particularly health conscious week, but the first week all the same.

I know this is big, sloppy and out of proportion.  I just wanted it readable on one scroll. I’ve learned to be a little more legible when I do this. BTW, Honey wrote that on the bottom after she found out I saved over $100 on groceries that month. The menu planning worksheet is available at http://www.betterbudgeting.com/freeworksheets/menuplanner.htm

The first thing I did was grab a cup of coffee and put Melissa on the CD player. Then I listed every conceivable family friendly dish I knew how to make. It surprised me how few items are in regular rotation. I pride myself on being a very versatile cook. So I added a few that I knew would be iffie with BB, figuring he needs to expand his palate I picked pairs out of the list that had similar staple ingredients and listed what could be done ahead of time. I also listed what needed to be done for that night’s dinner so the kiddos could help out. After that I listed all the ingredients I would need to make all the meals seperately. Then combined the lists in the quantities I needed  for the whole plan. I checked off the things I knew were already in the house and then off to the grocery store. I actually started with two weeks worth of menu plans and did two weeks worth of shopping all at once. Time saver and stress reducer. I hate grocery shopping. The only things I needed from the store after that were some fresh fruit, milk and bread. I had Honey pick those up on the way home from work.

I know this is getting long… hang in there. Now after a few months I have a good rotation and ready made shopping lists. The kiddos say they love knowing what is for dinner all week. I am not rushed thinking of what to make every night. The plan is on the fridge so everyone knows what they can do to help out. The chopping and browning are done all at once for most of the week. There are good leftovers in the fridge for lunches and I save 75-100 bucks a month that goes to Honey and I getting a night out every once in a while.

Menu planning is a winner in my book.

I bought this book at the college bookstore. It was a “suggested reading” title for a class I am not even taking. Again my geekiness shows through as I bought allthe suggested reading for all classes starting with HORT, AG or CROPS. 

The first part of this book begins with explaining the “hows” and “whys” of government sponsored corn subsidies then attempts to follow one farmer’s field corn through the food system chain that leads to our dinner tables. I am only a quarter the way through this book and I can already tell you that I love, love, love it. It’s well written and easy to follow for the non-agriculturists and non-food scientists among us.

It takes a look at how corn is fed to the livestock (which goes against the cow’s natural diet) we eat and in every conceivable processed food we buy at the grocery store. So far it eludes to a connection between cheap surplus corn and our growing obesity problem in the US. Absolutely fascinating.

I was so inspired in the first 116 pages that I placed an order with our local beyond-organic meat producers. Grass fed beef, no antibiotics or hormones and pork with a vegetarian diet consisting of forage and not feed corn. I pick up my order on the 15th. What am I going to do with all the conventionally grown meat I have in the freezer? I suppose I could give it away, but alas I am too cheap for that. Meat is expensive. I guess I better wait to educate Honey and the kiddos until after the frezer is empty. I will just have to think happy thoughts and try to ignore the fact that I am eating….well…… I’m not exactly sure what. I just know it isn’t good and isn’t good for me. Ugh.

If you are interested in organics, sustainability, agricultural activism, let me know- I have tons of book and website recommendations.

 **Update** I am now half way through this book and it is still great. Pt. 2 of the book takes a look at organic growing as a philosophy and as a giant industry. even more fascinating.

The response from this evening’s dinner was YUMMY. Who knew kiddos would dig french onion soup. Man oh man was it simple.

Heat Campbell’s french onion soup

Top with thick crusty bread (several day old leftover) and sliced Swiss

Place under broiler until cheese melts.

Serve. Warn kiddos about hot bowls.

Everyone was fat and happy afterwards.

Yeah for me!