.
Useless news I can’t stop not using.
.
.
Damn, frogs.
You boys need to step it up…
.
.
Like we women need a doctor’s prescription to start us on the road to crazy cat lady.
.
.
Who can blame him?
.
.
I find that very easy to believe.
.
.
Lasagna rocks.
.
.
Apologies to Dolly, but that’s really not news.
.
.
As I’ve previously stated, I’m all about the macaroni and cheese. It’s the ultimate comfort food and while I usually make an old fashioned recipe of my MIL’s that includes the dreaded Velveeta, I’m always willing to try other versions.
.
.
6 cups of cheese? How can you go wrong.
.
.
This looked promising when put together. Very smooth and so creamy it seemed positively soupy.
(I had to add crushed Ritz crackers tossed with half a stick of melted butter because the husband likes a topping.)
.
.
Out of the oven it looked good.
.
.
But when I spooned it out? The consistency was weird, almost quiche like.
And the flavor? Virtually non existent. Dull. Boring. Bland. Dry. And even though it had a large bowl of cheese… not cheesy at all. How the Hell did that happen?
I’ve been known to consume my weight in mac and cheese and that little square was all I ate… so you know it was bad.
Very disappointing.
😩
.
.
Yes, I tried another recipe I found online.
I can’t help myself at this point, but at least this one turned out to be tasty.
I don’t know the name of it so let’s just say it’s an Italian-y tortellini soup.
.
.
Easy to make and quick… at a little over half an hour cooking time… I’d say with a few tweaks this one’s a keeper.
.
Ingredients:
½ bunch kale, stems removed and leaves
chopped
⅓ cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound Italian sausage, casing removed
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium sweet onion, diced
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to
taste
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups chicken stock
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
Instructions:
Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven
over medium heat. Add Italian sausage and cook
until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure
to crumble the sausage as it cooks; drain excess
fat.
Stir in garlic, onion and Italian seasoning. Cook,
stirring frequently, until onions have become
translucent, about 2-3 minutes; season with salt
and pepper, to taste.
Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
Gradually whisk in chicken stock and tomato
sauce. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer,
stirring occasionally, until reduced and slightly
thickened, about 10 minutes.
Stir in tortellini; cover and cook until tender,
about 5-7 minutes.
Stir in kale until wilted, about 1-2 minutes. Stir
in heavy cream and basil until heated through,
about 1 minute; season with salt and pepper, to
taste.
Serve immediately.
.
.
I only changed one thing when I made this and I’m sure you can guess what that was.
Yes, I axed the noxious green devil’s weed called kale and substituted spinach.
When I make this again I think I’ll cut back on the sausage. If you like it really meaty, leave it as is… but a little sausage goes a long way for me.
.
.
Are you like me?
Not able to scroll past an easy new recipe you see online?
If so, let me save you the trouble.
.
.
I found this the other day and tried it last night.
.
.
Since I won’t buy those horrible bacon bits and was out of real, I opted for garlic powder and parsley.
.
.
With an entire bag of cheddar cheese.
.
.
They looked promising …
.
.
But were actually hard dry lumps. We had to slather half a pound of butter on them just to make them edible.
If you see this recipe? Keep scrolling..
.
.
When we were finished finding a suitable microwave oven replacement, we strolled down the street.
.
.
Downtown Bath is a quaint waterfront area filled with quirky shops and restaurants and we were hungry.
.
.
J R Maxwells us a family run place that’s been a mainstay for 44 years. We’ve had many meals there… some were perfect, others less so.
.
.
Starting with their signature Cosmo…
.
.
I opted for a less than satisfying cup of clam chowder. Thankfully the homemade bread made up for the soupy disappointment.
.
.
Bath is a shipbuilding town with a rich maritime history and the restaurant’s decor reflects that.
.
.
But while the husband’s prime rib looked wonderful it turned out to be chewy and flavorless. Talk about disappointing.
.
.
Thankfully I ordered crab cake stuffed jumbo shrimp and they were heavenly. Rich and buttery, filled with tender crab. A definite win.
.
.
Photo of the second largest employer in the state, Bath Iron Works. A defense contractor that builds the Navy’s battleships.
.
.
I didn’t think living with a dead microwave would bother me very much…. until I spent a few days living with a dead microwave.
.
.
Reheat that leftover for lunch? Nope.
Quick cup of tea? Uh uh.
The recipe calls for melted butter? Better fire up the stove.
Turns out I actually do use the microwave I thought I never used. Who knew?
When it comes to replacing small appliances, I’m a tactile shopper. You can’t tell the heft and quality of a product from scrolling a website… so off we went. Bed Bath and Beyond stores are gone. Sears is dead. The mall is over an hours drive away. We tried Wal Mart and Target but both had cheap feeling crap so the husband suggested we go to the nice kitchen store where he bought the dead before it’s time, counter space hogging oven we needed to heave.
.
.
Now You’re Cooking is one of those pricey specialty kitchen stores where you’ll find every gadget, geegaw and countertop cluttering gizmo you want but never need. (Yes silicon egg separator shaped like a frog, I’m talking to you)
We were pleasantly greeted at the door and lead to the appropriate aisle. When we explained our situation and said that my husband had purchased the old microwave here, the salesperson immediately asked his name and looked on the computer.
Miracle of all miracles… the silly thing was still under full warranty. If we brought it in we could have a brand new one free of charge.
I can’t tell you how happy this made me. Finally! Something was going our way.
So we beat feet home, grabbed the dead micro and drove back to surrender it. The husband was all for swapping it out with the same model but I chose to go with a slightly smaller version. Counter space is precious in our house.
.
.
It still has his precious self closing door, and we even had a sweet $100 store credit to boot.
.
.
With which I bought the mini Cuisinart food processor I’ve been eyeing for months.
Life is good.
For now….
.
.
Of all the awful real life pickle abominations my algorithms make me view, I finally found one worth my time.
.
.
The Pickle Sisters!
.
.
This was just silly enough to be true…they didn’t call them the roaring twenties without reason…. but sadly it wasn’t. Further research showed it to be a complete fallacy.
Very disappointing, that.
I mean, look how beautiful they are in technicolor.
.
.
.
I’m pleased to report the giant lemon lemonade stand was operational at the Fryeburg Fair …
.
.
And though it cost a ridiculous $8 per ice laden glass, I purchased one…
.
.
To accompany the husband’s three $10 chicken fingers and $5 bottle of water. $23 for what amounted to a nibble. Welcome to the price gouging, we know you have no alternative, fair food concession stands.
Trying to make up for it, I made a beeline for my favorite fair treat…
.
.
Which sadly was an undercooked, under spiced disappointing piece of fried dough. Boo to that.
I ate said disappointing dough in the grandstand of the pulling ring where the husband likes to watch the draft horses. I don’t enjoy this spectacle as I always feel sorry for the animals. The teams of three are expected to pull double their weight which can end up being 10,000 lbs, and while I know they’re bred and trained for this exact purpose… it still makes me cringe on their behalf.
I did however smile at this happy fellow who started the show in true Fenway Park 7th inning stretch fashion.
.
.
If you’re not a Red Sox fan?
Never mind.
.
.
This team was amazing. Perfectly matched and working completely in unison.
.
.
I may not like it…
.
.
But it’s hard not to be impressed with the strength of these magnificent creatures.
.
.
Every agricultural fair in Maine has a few cows, but the Fryeburg Fair has multiple barns devoted to multiple breeds, varieties, colors and sizes.
For a cow lover like me, it’s blissful bovine heaven.
.
.
Look at that beauty!
.
.
Beef cows, dairy cows…
.
.
Large cows that pull things…
.
.
Gentle cows who enjoy a scratch.
.
.
Seriously big ass impressive cows…
.
.
Sweet baby cows.
.
.
There’s even a barn filled with Oreo cookie cows.
.
.
Cows!
.
.
I not so subtly pointed out there were even cows for sale to my husband….
But the man kept right on walking.
😉
.
.
We went to dinner with my husband’s niece and her fellow last week. She’s finally starting to get over her mothers death and that called for a drink… or 12… so we took them to my favorite cocktail destination The Blind Pig.
.
.
I started with a pear Mojito and the most delicious mushroom Arancini I’ve ever had.
A few cocktails in, niece’s significant other got curious about what appeared to be breakfast in a glass.
.
.
The girls were disgusted, the bartender was surprised and kept asking, “Are you sure?”….but the husband egged him on (I’m groaning at that one myself) and said he’d pay for it … so a bacon and eggs was ordered.
.
.
Blech.
🤢
.
.
The women refused to try it but the guys polished it off… though I can’t say they enjoyed it.
And though our bill was a bit cocktail heavy…
.
.
There was food as well.
I just forgot to photograph it.
🍸
.
River's world..... 