A FRIDGE FULL OF FOOD...

Peachy Keen Peach Julius

What to do at the beginning of spring when the peaches smell good but have the texture of...well...thready mush?  Make Julius's.  I'd call them smoothies but there's no yogurt or ice cream (but there is milk) and my favorite way to make them is basically a rehash of a recipe my sister used to make for the family when we were growing up that aped the Orange Julius drinks.  Do they even still have Orange Julius stores anymore? I know ours left the mall years and years ago which made me a little sad, really. I loved those things, especially all the other flavors like banana and strawberry.  Yum!

It's Springtime in my Lunchbox

I have a new lunchbox post up at

The Daily Tiffin

Check out the recipe for

Quiche Florentine.

The rest of the lunchbox includes:

Blueberry muffins

Brandied peaches

& Spinach with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Happy (Early) St. Pat's: Corned Beef, Colcannon, & Green Bread

Happy St. Pat's Day  a little early! I'm working most of the weekend including Monday but I wanted to share this meal with you.  Yum! St. Pat's food is one of my favorite go to for celebratory meals. Don't know why I don't prepare it more often.  Actually, the Reuben is my all time favorite sandwich and corned beef hash and eggs is my favorite breakfast. Can't go wrong with corned beef and cabbage in any form!

By the way, the green bread is a joke. It's simply my standard white bread everyday recipe that I added green food paste coloring to for some St. Pat's silliness.

As for the holiday itself, St. Patrick is credited with both driving the snakes and the pagans out of Ireland. As Ireland's patron saint, Patrick is attributed with using the abundant shamrock as a teaching tool to explain the three-in-one nature of the Trinity.

This is my entry for this weeks'  Weekend Herb Blogging, originally created by the lovely Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen.  This week, WHB is hosted by Kel of the fabulously photographed Green Olive Tree.  Check out all the other entries after Sunday evening.

Cardamom is a spice, not technically an herb, but Kalyn's focus is on all herbs, spices, or plants.  Cardamom, my favorite spice, is used quite a bit in northern European and Middle Eastern cuisines.

Blackberry & Cherry Cobbler--Just like Mom's!

When I was a kid I was the oldest of five. With being the oldest and the oldest daughter I quickly became my mother's sergeant at arms in the kitchen.  Growing up, we planted an acre garden across town on some land my dad owned that also came with enough raspberry and blackberry brambles to sustain us with fruit throughout the summer, and frozen, through the winter.  We also canned apples from my Nannie's three trees in her backyard.

This made for the most common winter desserts at our house being apple crisps and berry cobblers. Guess who was in charge?  Yep, me. Even at nine or ten years old I could whip together the family dessert and move on to helping mom with the rest of dinner.

Picture Parad of our Vegas Vacation Part 3: Bette, Amazing Jonathan, and the Cutest Matzo Ball Soup Ever!

And another of my favorite shots of the hotel taken as we waited for the airport shuttle. These were the best pics I took all week!

How about some food pics? This is supposed to be, after all, a food blog but I'll be honest. We didn't eat that many upscale meals.  We had the lunch at RM Seafood and the caviar at the Bellagio but other than that we really stuck with basic food.  I allowed myself a few comfort foods I rarely allow myself to eat like a Reuben & fries, chicken pot pie, that room service bleu cheese & avocado burger, etc.  At Caesar's before Bette's show we ate at the "food court" and that was actually fun.  Gene had carved turkey and dressing and I had a side of mac & cheese. The "food court" at Caesar's ranges from a Starbucks to the carved meat place to upscale chinese to upscale subs.  The tables are nicely done and the condiment bar includes real flatware and real plates you can transfer your "fast food" meal over to.  It was very well done and exactly what I would expect from Caesar's.

After the show we stopped by the basic 24 hour cafe. I had the coolest matzo ball soup I've ever had and Gene chose a quesadilla that was very good, one of the best we've ever had. Sure, it was just a quesadill and soup but the mark of a great kitchen is to do even the basic foods very well.

Isn't the presentation fantastic?  The bowl contained the matzo ball, about 3 oz of chicken, a chunked baby carrot with the greens still attached, and the sprig of dill.  I loved the chicken broth on the side. It was a nice touch especially since I really don't like a lot of broth on my dumpling but like to spoon it separately. It's like they read my mind. LOL! Plus, it was adorable!

The quesadilla was just a basic chicken quesadilla but the remoulade on top was perfect and it had tons of flavor.  That's the kind of food that can be made very well or very badly.

Let's see....other pics of food. Oh, here's one of the morning room service carts from the Luxor. I just love room service carts. I almost judge the quality of a hotel by them. Again, something simple that can be done very poorly or very well.  The Luxor did well. Everything was presented beautifully even though it was only a caraffe of coffee and a basket of pastries most days and a choice of USA Today or the local Review Journal accompanied each tray. That's a nice touch.

Picture Parade of our Vegas Vacation Part 2: Caviar & NASCAR

On to part TWO of our Vegas picture parade. Let's start with another pic I just sort of snapped off at the Luxor's entrance while we were waiting for the airport shuttle.

You know why there's a huge light on the top of the Luxor's pyramid, right?  It's so the drunks can find their way home at night.  At least that's what I've always thought made sense...

Okay, where were we?

Ah yes, the evening at the Bellagio where we mixed the modern art exhibit, loved the Chinese New Year themed Conservatory, and ate caviar in the Petrossian Bar.  That night, like every other time we've been in Vegas since the place opened, as we walked by hearing the piano player and seeing all the lovely tables and comfy chairs, I said "I'd love to have a drink in that bar sometime." Gene replied "Tonight's the night."  Which we all know is man-speak for "Let's get her done so you can shut the hell up already."  :-)

But it turned into a wonderful experience!

This would be us with my cosmo, his sherry, and our caviar.  Boy howdy, we look happy to be there, don't we?  It's okay. You can laugh. I am.  I don't know what our deal was.  I remember it took the waitress a long time to get the shot. Maybe we were tired of smiling or something.  Don't remember.  I swear we were actually having a lovely evening sitting there chatting about nothing important, people watching, and finding out that we really like caviar.  The good stuff does live up to the hype.  And then the bill came.  Just kidding. It wasn't as bad as we thought it would be.  Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find a way to make the car payment...

The Petrossian brand can be ordered here:  Petrossian. They have several different kinds: sturgeon, salmon, pike, and tons of gift basket combinations.  Ours was the sturgeon roe, Tsar Imperial label.  Loved the mini blinis and toast points. They were so cute. Sorry no more pics than the one. I was too busy having a great time! It's a simple thing but vacation to me is about seeing new things and trying new foods. I'm sure I'm not alone out there or we wouldn't be blogging. I'm a lucky girl in that Gene is the same way so even though I make jokes I really don't have to drag him along at all. He's the one who ordered the caviar. He's the one who planned the whole vacation from picking out the room to getting show tickets.  Everybody say "Ahhhhhhhhhhh".

Hey, the lid from the caviar and our Bette tickets. Yay!  Okay, for one, that's the only pic I have from Bette although I do have the souvenir plastic hurricane glass from the show. Duh. Stupid me was so excited to get inside the showroom I passed up the formal pics with the showgirls and then none of the photographers inside the showroom came close to our seats so we have no formal Anniversary pic. Wah.

Second thought about this pic.  The lid? I dropped it into my purse so we could remember the name of what we had.  I didn't even wipe out the couple of eggs sticking to it. Then I FORGOT I'd dropped it in there.  Here's the perfect example of the difference between good fish and bad fish. When I realized it was still there I figured the inside of my purse would stink to high heavens but it didn't. I couldn't even find the silly lid at first, and when I did, even sniffing the lid itself only gave off the faintest of "sea"-ish odor.  Now that's good fish and I'm sure what we had wasn't even the most expensive on the menu.

Picture Parade from our Vegas Vacation Part 1: Soprano's, Bellagio, and Rick Moonen

Our vacation tour via pics should begin with me snoozing my lazy butt away the first day--all day!--but what the hell, that's what vacations are for, right? Fun and rest! Well I had tons of both--one of the best vacations ever! Thank you, Geno, for planning everything and working so hard to entertain me!

Ahhhh...my artsy-fartsy shot of the pyramid. Yes, we stayed at the Luxor.  No, I didn't get any shots of our beautifully fake-Egyptian appointed suite. Well, I did but they sucked. I'm no Diedre. I won't be making my living from my photography any time soon but I did like this one. So you'll have to imagine us checking in tired and bedraggled into an 800 sq ft suite with a full living room, wet bar, separate bedroom, and bathroom as big as my bedroom at home but designed by a freaking man.  No countertop around the double sinks to lay a makeup bag out on. Grrr... But the jacuzzi made up for it.

We have a first night tradition when we get into a hotel late of simply putting on our pj's, relaxing, and ordering room service.  My first meal in Las Vegas?  A burger. But, it was a treat in that it was no ordinary burger, AND, I never eat burgers.  Okay. Rarely.  They normally don't do anything for me but it was vacation and the menu listing of add-ons intrigued me.  My burger was layered with bleu cheese and avocado. The best part?  The bleu cheese was very liberally applied to the burger so I pulled some off and let it melt down onto the garlic fries. Now THAT'S a big yum!  It's a whole new way to look at the pub-standard cheesy fries.  The kitchen also added bacon to my burger that I didn't order but like with all goog pub cheese fries, I crumbled it onto them and it was way yummy.  Worth every calorie.

For more pics, click below. Please be patient. Depending on your computer it may take a while. There are a lot of pics!

Vegas Report 5: The Amazing Jonathan, Soprano's, and The Wizard of Oz

Just in case you're not familiar, this is a clip of The Amazing Jonathan from You Tube.  He's had several Comedy Central specials which is where Gene and I first saw him.  He's 50% magician, 50% comedian, and another 100% clever potty mouth.  Gee, what a surprise that I love him.  He droppeed the F-bomb even more than Bette!

Now after seeing him live he's even more so my favorite magician!

The first bit here with the bowling ball? He did that at our show where Gene and I had front row seats. The exception is that instead of letting the ball drop and going on, he threw it backstage and then his assitant, Tonya, threw it back out at him.  He picked it up and threw it right at Gene and I sitting right there on the front row. Gene didn't even flinch but I, even though I could see it was a black balloon when it came back out, I cringed and turned and totally reacted like an idiot.  He made fun of me! He told everyone my "catlike reflexes" were useless or something like that. It was hilarious.

Then after the show he and Tonya signed t-shirts and dvds and I got one of each (pics when I get home).  He told me the sizes of t-shirts he had and I said "Oh give me the largest you have. I have to accommodate the boobs."  He grinned and said, "Oh I bet there are a lot of men who'd be happy to accommodate your boobs for you." Ahh, I got dissed and then talked nice to and autographed tee and dvd on top of it.  Hee hee.

Afterwards we played the Soprano's penny slot again there at Planet Hollywood where we were for the show and I won another $100 and was "made" a soldier on the mini progressive jackpot three more times. Damnnit, I wanted capo or even boss for the big money!!! Hehehe.  Tony was very good to me (Tony is the wild card).

Then we came home and Gene wanted to show me the new Wizard of Oz slot which is pretty cool.  Not only does it have fun bonus games, the speakers are built into the chair and made by BOZE so the sound effects are awesome.  I won my money back with the Flying Monkey bonus (thought of Missy the whole time and how much she hates the Flying Monkeys!) and Gene won $400 between the Glinda the Good Witch wild spins and the Flying Monkeys and Emerald City bonuses. And that was on a nickel slot.

Oh, and by the way, when I can upload my pics I'll tell you about the buffet we ate at.  Yes. Buffet.  I HATE buffets because the food is always pedestrian at best and institutional at worst.  Well, not so anymore.  We ate at the Spice Market buffet in Planet Hollywood, mostly because we were running late and couldn't get in to any of the restaurants and still be on time for the show.  The Peach Glazed Duck, alone, was worth the price. I was soooo surprised at the quality of the food. More about that later when I get my pics.

Off to pack and get some sleep. Headed home tomorrow morning, y'all.

Vegas Report 4: Our Leap Day Anniversary with Bette Midler

Yesterday (Leap Day) was officially our 4th (16th) wedding anniversary. To mark it Gene bought Bette Midler tickets months ago.  Neither of us had ever been to one of her concerts but we both love her voice, her albums, movies, and basically anything she appears on, not to mention my all time favorite quote is hers:  "I wanted to leave you with the good beneath the gaudy, the saint beneath the paint, the pure little soul that lurks beyond this lurid exterior...but then again, I figured, f*** 'em if they can't take a joke."  My mantra.

Bette said in her show last night that she's evolved over the years:  30 years ago she was on drugs, now she's on medication so her new mantra with all the physicality of the show is "no seizures at Caesar's".  Time goes on and we're all getting older, eh?

To everyone who told me this would be the best show I've ever seen I have to tell you: you were absolutely unequivocably right!  How can so much energy, a voice that big, and such a tall cup of fun come out of such a teeny tiny person?  She's adorably little.  Not small in personality but definitely shorter and smaller than her Harlettes and her Vegas chorus line, the "Caesar Salads" and yet it's all about Bette every moment she's on stage.

The only way to really describe that show is that I laughed until I cried and cried until I cried.  The Delores DeLago and Sophie Tucker vignettes were gasping for breath funny while the calm ballads of The Rose, From a Distance, and When a Man Loves a Woman were incredibly moving in that way that makes you feel like you're the only one in the room with her.  Her voice is still as strong as ever and it's wonderfully chilling to hear her live in person.  No matter how great the technology gets, nothing will ever be the same as a live performance.

Sally will be amused by this count:  Bette said "f***" 7 times, "motherf***er"  3 times, "sonofabitch" 4 times, and "shit" countless times. Rock on. I loved it.

To Gene:  Best anniversary ever--thank you Baby!

To my favorite Fanilows, and you know who you are:  I still love Barry but I have to wonder--did Barry teach Bette how to put on a show like that, did Bette teach Barry, or did they learn it together growing up on stage together, so to speak?