Long Overdue...

I was reminded by more than one person that I am slacking on the blog front.  My sincerest apologies.  I guess the new year distracted me from my duties....but no excuse!  I resolve to be better this year...how does that sound?  Too late for New Year's resolutions?

I have been playing in the kitchen, though and I do have a few things to report.  But even more exciting, thanks to Jason's influence (and admittedly his labor hours) I have stepped beyond the four walls of the kitchen and outside to the grill...though I don't think I can take credit for those creations when I'm not the one actually slaving over the flames.  Take Monday night's dinner, for example.  I can't really claim a meal when all I contributed were a few chopped veggies and pureed beans.  But with our powers combined, we prepared an MLK day feast that rivaled all the other BBQs burning in downtown Savannah that holiday evening. 

It all began with a spur of the moment trip to Kroger.  I don't think we intended to get more than a few toppings for the leftover pizza dough in the refrigerator, but evidently we struck gold when Jason discovered lamb on sale...apparently it was a steal!  (I'm not really sure why I say "we," but I certainly benefited from the excuse to get the grill fired up).  Suddenly our meager leftover pizza plans turned into a feast of roast potatoes and garlic, stuffed eggplant and wood-fired pizza...and lamb something-or-other.  

Vegas is guarding the grill...in case anything should happen to fall off...

This was the first time we used the grill-specific pizza pan and the results were very pleasing.  The crust was wonderfully crispy on the bottom and a little doughy on top.  Personally, I liked the contrast between the two layers.  We used Bob's Red Mill gluten free pizza mix again, but this time we added some grains leftover from Jason's latest brewing process.  The grains were dehydrated in the oven and then ground in the coffee grinder.  The result was a really tasty wholegrain effect.  Surprisingly, an effect that is hard to come by in the gluten-free world.  

Dehydrated Beer Grains



In other news, quite literally, I made the front cover of the Savannah Morning News today.  And because I simply haven't suffered enough harassment from coworkers and acquaintances alike, I'm going to post the link here to our 30 second news byte.  Notice how you never see my head lift up to the camera.  That's because I was under the impression that if "you can't see them, they can't see you."  Obviously, a huge misnomer. 

And one more thing!  I was forced to retire a beloved old friend on New Year's Eve and buy my very first brand new sewing machine.  It was the best arm-twisting purchase ever!  I may have had a few moments of buyer's remorse following the unmistakable impulse buy, but I haven't regretted it for one second.  The difference between my old machine and the new one is night and day.  I'm finishing projects 10 times faster now that I don't have to stop and fight with my machine every 2 minutes. 

Isn't she pretty!? 

I made this little bag for my friend Sarah who is getting married in May.  It's an emergency bridal kit to hold all your last minute snafu resolutions.  I'll be taking orders, so get yours in soon! O;)