Category: food

08/14/06 07:14 - 71ºF - ID#25011

Kara's Perfect Pasta Salad

A yummy way to use up veggies from your 'fridge.
Ingredients
1/2 box rotini pasta (corkscrew)
1/3-1/2 cup chiavettas italian dressing (or an italian version of your choice - for me, only the 'vettas will do)
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
(assorted veggies as you see fit - julienned carrots, peas, and ripped spinach would be good additions. I just did our grocery shopping tonight, and as such had very few true leftovers available.)
Steps
Cook pasta until almost done - DO NOT OVERCOOK. See my Southwestern Pasta Bake for what happens when pasta goes horribly, irretrievably wrong.
Drain and rinse with cold water.
Dump into a large bowl or a casserole dish - whichever will fit in your fridge the best.
Drizzle the dressing over the pasta.
Toss in the veggies.
Chill. Or eat. Or chill then eat.

Permalink: Kara_s_Perfect_Pasta_Salad.html
Words: 145
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: fun

08/09/06 08:41 - 53ºF - ID#25010

Be nice to your coworkers

No commentary needed:

Permalink: Be_nice_to_your_coworkers.html
Words: 7
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: pets

08/06/06 08:36 - 81ºF - ID#25009

Miss August?

Rachael Ray's Magazine

is having a Pet of the Month contest.
This is the picture I used to enter her:

I saw two cocker spaniels on our walk this evening that rivaled Abby in cuteness, but only because they were a double threat and one looked to be an eight week old puppy.

Permalink: Miss_August_.html
Words: 60
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: food

08/05/06 10:03 - 68ºF - ID#25008

Purple food

It's a rare weekend that I'm actually in town with a day to myself. With J at at golf tournament this morning, and no other pressing commitments for me, I hopped down to the Elmwood Bidwell Market for some treats

I worked at a family-owned (not my family) market/garden center for several summers, and after countless 12 hour days of dealing with produce, produce, and nothing but produce, seeing a dozen tables of vendors hawking veggies and fruits in the summer sun doesn't really excite me.
Still, I wanted some fresh stuff, and I was pleasantly surprised by their selection. I ended up with a bunch of zucchini (for shredding/freezing for muffins), tomatoes (for salads), and purple peppers. Yes, one of the vendors had purple peppers and I think I should have bought more than the 6 I did buy. Look for my recipe for purple slaw later today.

Permalink: Purple_food.html
Words: 153
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: potpourri

08/03/06 08:58 - 76ºF - ID#25007

Snakes on a Plane

Have the awesome Samuel L. Jackson leave a voicemail (or send an email) to tell your friends or family to go see Snakes on a Plane:

I love the viral marketing part of this, but even more than that, I love that the producers and marketers are taking such a lead from the Internets in how they promote this film. Make no mistake - this movie will not be winning any Academy Awards. But does it matter?

Permalink: Snakes_on_a_Plane.html
Words: 81
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: money

08/01/06 11:55 - 83ºF - ID#25006

Financial Planning

Does anyone have any recommendations for financial planners? We're looking for suggestions of local people who can give us advice on investments, taxes and retirement funding.

Permalink: Financial_Planning.html
Words: 26
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: food

07/31/06 08:14 - 81ºF - ID#25005

The Magic that is Weggies

I have long been a fan of Wegmans' magazine, Menu, and today when I visited their web site I was again impressed.
Not only do they have a way to create your own set of personal shopping lists, you can customize them by store, which gives you a neatly ordered listing of which aisles have each item.
I generally group my grocery lists by produce, dairy, and types of food, but Weggies makes it that much more precise.

Permalink: The_Magic_that_is_Weggies.html
Words: 82
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: potpourri

07/25/06 08:41 - 76ºF - ID#25004

For jenks

Permalink: For_jenks.html
Words: 1
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: food

07/19/06 09:52 - 81ºF - ID#25003

The S.S. Muffin

As I try to come up with clever names for recipes, like the Ro-Ro-Rollup, here's one that pays homage to my love of boats: the S.S. Muffin. Sounds like a good name for a ship, doesn't it?
Baking when it's 90 degrees in our apartment isn't the worst idea I've ever had, but in the history of bad ideas, it's among the top 20.
The S.S. stands for sunflower seeds and sesame seeds. The recipe is adapted from one on allrecipes.com for five spice muffins.
Tools
One big bowl
One small bowl
Spoons
Muffin tins (I used one tin w/ 6 muffin molds - supermuffins. This recipe would make 12 regular size muffins.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini (I had some frozen - in the summer, when it's local and fresh, I always shred a few and freeze them in bags of 1-2 cups.)
4 tbsp boiling water
1 3/4 cup of AP flour
1 cup sugar, any kind but powdered
2 handfuls sunflower seeds
1 handful sesame seeds
3/4 tsp each of: baking powder, salt, cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, cloves. I used several liberal dashes of cinnamon, and a giant tablespoon of my four spice mix (cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and something else that escapes me).
2 eggs, beaten
3 tsbp veggie oil
a splash of vanilla extract
Steps
Preheat oven to 350 F and grease your muffin tins.
Add boiling water to shredded zucchini, mix.
In another bowl, mix all dry ingredients.
Add the eggs, vanilla and oil to the zucchini mix. Combine the wet and dry ingredients.
Add milk by 1/4 cups until it's a muffin consistency. I can't be more specific than that.
Spoon into your muffin pans.
Bake in the oven for 25+ minutes - mine took 28, but I constantly peek in to see its progress. I need an oven with a window.
Gosh they were yummy.

Permalink: The_S_S_Muffin.html
Words: 296
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: buy

07/18/06 07:51 - 80ºF - ID#25002

Buy our Boat

We're simplifying our lives a bit here at Casa Kane, and part of that involves divesting ourselves of some boat property.
(e:ladycroft)'s entry made me ask myself: does anyone else on (e:strip) have a boat? Like, a real boat, that you can sail - not a noisy motorboat that wastes gas and hurts eardrums.
We have a Potter 15

and it's the cutest thing. If we didn't already have the Catalina 22 in the marina, this would be our main boat. It's trailerable with a decent sized van or SUV, and comes with an engine and all necessary rigging and sails. I have more pictures and other details available; it's perfect for someone who wants to get into sailing, but who wants to start small. What better way to enjoy a western New York summer than out on the water - this is easily launched into Lake Erie, Chautauqua, or any of the Finger Lakes.

If you're interested, or if you know someone who should be, send them my way. Depending on how committed they are to a sale, we could be tempted to take the Potter out for a cruise.