Belly Up to the Bar With Bendy and Her Friendies!!! Button Pics & New Thread Started!

[oybolshoi]

I like the scenes in the dining room right after the ship has flipped ... something about those upsidedown tables.

And I've never forgotten the Mad Magazine spoof Upsidedown Adventure.

 

[oybolshoi]

Oh ... and at the end when Gene Hackman goes "IN YER FACE" with the great almighty. That's some great over-the-top male histronics if I've ever seen them.

 

[TDC Nala]

Oh ... and at the end when Gene Hackman goes "IN YER FACE" with the great almighty. That's some great over-the-top male histronics if I've ever seen them.

especially when he follows it up by flinging himself into the fire pit.

Have you read the book? It's far more interesting, much more of a character study. The author was Paul Gallico.

 

[D&R love Disney]

**dons flame retardent suit**

I don't like most of those movies.

I do, however, love the cheesie disaster movies from the 1970s.

When Jay and I were still dating I ended up staying at his parents house until 5AM one Sunday morning because TNT was running a bunch of them back to back to back ...

Poseidon Adventure
The Towering Inferno
Volcano
Hurricane
Avalanche

Oh man ... were those good times or what?

I love those movies Can't forget the first 2 airport movies either!

There was substantially less food at our house on New Year's Eve, but what we did have was awfully tasty! Allow me, please, to share a little more food porn with you while the last of my laundry (for today) churns in the washing machine.

I had to work until 3PM again on NYE and Jay was lucky enough to be able to work from home - his official day ended around noon. When I got home he was playing the Wii Animal Crossing City Folk game that we've both been addicted to this week (yes, Gina; you were right ... those are our mii's in the game).

My first order of business was to whip up one last pitcher of milk punch - the leftover cream was just going to get all gunky and chunky in the refigerator if we didn't do something useful with it.

Pretty as a pitcher ... except for that spot where I spilled cream all over the place

Would you believe me if I told you that of all the cheese we had on Christmas Day, this is all that was left? Well, there was still some Fromager d'Affoinos leftover, but it wasn't worth taking a picture of.

Some cheese is better than no cheese at all!

This evening's main course courtesy of Dean & Deluca: Lobster Mac & Cheese. Here's how it looked out of the box:

Hmmmm, definite potential here!

And here's how it looked after baking for about 30 minutes:

I swear I cooked it!

One of the things I liked about this was the packaging - both servings arrived in 8 ounce ceramic ramekins which will definitely come in handy down the road. As for the food itself ... wow! Big, succulent chunks of lobster meat were hidden in and around pasta shells and creamy mascarpone-cheddar sauce. The dish was topped off with crunchy panko bread crumbs, herb butter, lemon zest, and Parmesan cheese.

I don't even like lobster all that much and I thought this was incredible. The ultimate comfort food for grown-ups!

Jay also cooked a French baguette to accompany our dinner. We smeared some pieces with goat cheese and others with my Fromager and ... sigh ... is there anything better than hot bread smeared with meltingly beautiful artisan cheese?

Glorious bread!

There's dinner ... enjoy!

We washed our tasty food down with some Schlafly's Barleywine. Schlafly's is a local independent brewery here in Stinktown and they make a mighty fine product. We enjoy many of their brews and when feeling really adventurous we will drive all the way to downtown Stinktown and visit their restaurant: The Tap Room. If you're a micro-brew lover and ever have the misfortune to travel to Stinktown, try try try to get yourself over to The Tap Room. You won't regret it.

The Barleywine was good but I think I like Schlafly's Bier d'Garde better. Still, this is a nice alternative to a standard beer and I believe it has a higher alcohol content ... which might account for some of the silliness going down in Animal Crossing. You have never experienced the true hilarity of a talking animal pulling a carpet or piece of furniture out of its pants until you play this game with a strong buzz. The potential downside to playing the game in this reckless manner is that we apparently helped the animals create new "catchphrases" and they are now walking around calling each other and us "Prune Face", "Dingus", "Buthole", and "Bilge Pump." They are also using greetings such as "Whoopee Twang", "Goo-goo-ja-joob", and "Bite Me."



As midnight grew near we broke out some chocolate truffles ordered all special like from Williams Sonoma (the last smoking remnants of my gift card).

So what the heck was that I just posted? Those are Blanc de Noir Truffles created exclusively for Sonoma by Michael Recchiuti (I don't know who he is but I think he must be a confectionary god ... ). These truffles were made with 65% El Ray Venezulean chocolate ganache and infused with Schramsberg Blanc de Noir Sparkling Wine. They were then rolled in fine Pernigotti cocoa powder, coated with a blend of El Ray 65% Sur de Lago and Etienne Guittard Madagascar chocolate, and finally dusted with confectioners' sugar.

How did they taste?

Indescribably incredibly unbelievably good ... if your mouth can have an orgasm than I promise you this chocolate will produce it. Deb, if you're reading I'd recommned these babies hands down over those dominoes from Christopher Norman - not only were these better than the caramel filled dominoes but they were less expensive, too.

You wanna know what made this lovely little taste-treat even better? Everyone's favorite sparking pink wine ... Rosa Regale!!!

And there you have a Stinktown New Year's Eve! No crowds; no smoke; no noise, no bad food or cruddy service; no smoke; no stupid drivers.

Once again ... a Happy Happy New Year to you all! May it be filled with joy, peace, and prosperity!!! Oh yeah, and good food and booze!!

Brenda, I saw those and almost ordered them! I'm off to the WS site to see if they are still available. They look like they deserve a

When you earlier mentioned the lobster Mac & Cheese I just knew it was Dean & Deluca. Have you tried any of the food from Stonewall Kitchen? There stuff is fantastic. We stop in their store when we visit Maine and I'm always buying their yummy items.

 

[oybolshoi]

especially when he follows it up by flinging himself into the fire pit.

Have you read the book? It's far more interesting, much more of a character study. The author was Paul Gallico.

I have not read it but I may have to give it read now ... the book is almost always better than the movie.

 

[oybolshoi]

I love those movies Can't forget the first 2 airport movies either!

OH YES!!! I totally forgot all those airplane disaster movies ... my mom loved those movies.

Brenda, I saw those and almost ordered them! I'm off to the WS site to see if they are still available. They look like they deserve a

When you earlier mentioned the lobster Mac & Cheese I just knew it was Dean & Deluca. Have you tried any of the food from Stonewall Kitchen? There stuff is fantastic. We stop in their store when we visit Maine and I'm always buying their yummy items.

Definitely get those truffles if they're still available - they are unbelievable!

Have not heard of Stonewall Kitchen ... I will need to do some on-line sluething.

I have to say though ... everything we've ordered from Dean and Deluca has been spot on. They don't misrepresent their products and they don't skimp on the ingredients. The crabbie eggs bendict we had this morning were ordered from them ... wait until you see these crab cakes - so chock full of crabbie goodness that they were falling apart on the baking sheet. And the cream cheese biscuits they included rather than holland husks ... so tender and flaky and delicious.

YUM!

It's probably a good thing we don't have much in the way of specialty food shops here in Stinktown or Jay and I would be in big big trouble.

 

[Tink rules]

Just a little bit, I turned 38 on the 1st

Speaking of which....I've got a wonderful DH who for 18 years now has cooked for me for my birthday. Helps that being a holiday, he always has the day off

This years birthday menu was a Disney theme:
Tonga Toast for breakfast
LeCellier Canadian Cheddar Cheese soup & pretzel breadsticks for lunch
Seafood Crepes (from the old Empress Lily) for dinner
Milky Way cake from Beaches & Cream for my Bday cake

Several things to admit here
1st, my tummy did not feel well enough after New Years Eve to have the tonga toast for breakfast, so DH made it for brunch for me today
2nd, I forgot to take pics of all the wonderful food

It was all soooo good! We had never had the Milky Way cake before (except maybe in the Kitchen Sink, but you can't taste much in there) but DH figured how bad could it be when the recipe starts with "melt 6 milky way bars in a pan" It's really really good, but very rich! Even I couldn't eat much of it, and that's saying a lot!

If anyone would like the recipes, I'll try to get them from DH Happy New Year everyone!

do we want recipies???? Yes.

And I'd like the 6 Milky way bars on the side too!!!

Whew!

Final holiday meal is behind us and just the kitchen left to clean up. Our revised brunch menu was as follows:

Brandy Milk Punch
Bloody Marys
Crabbie Eggs Benedict
Croissants
Snausages
Fresh Fruit
Amaretto Cream Cheese Dip
Panne Cotta
Leftover cheese, eggnog bread, and gingerbread cake

And I took pictures again because it's likely to be the last bit of food porn I'll be posting here for a while. The diet and workout plan start in earnest tomorrow.

And I have to get back to the Disney reviews so that will take up the next few months ... har har.

Hope those of you who are under the weather start feeling better soon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ChelleinNC!!

FAREWELL BENDY!!!!!! Come back soon!!! Bring Take out!!!

 

[Tink rules]

And I thought I was the only one that could watch Shelley Winters swimming in that tunnel (hallway) in the Poseidon Adventure over and over again!

I like the scenes in the dining room right after the ship has flipped ... something about those upsidedown tables.

And I've never forgotten the Mad Magazine spoof Upsidedown Adventure.

Maybe I'm glad I'm doing the EB transatlantic....

(I can see it now... Bendy's doing Poseidon jokes at the Muster drill... ) (no measuring the chandelier in Lumieres either for diving potential...)

 

[oybolshoi]

I've got two browser windows open while I try to finish the regional lunch review from October.

I do hope this thread keeps going even if I'm not posting pics or recipes. Let's just keep having a good time talking about whatever the heck we feel like talking about and when someone wants to share some food porn or a recipe or a drink then bring it on!

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

Brenda, I was just peeking in and saw the great photos from your NYE fiesta and there was the Mickey head cutting board again, just like mine. I loved the lobster mac and cheese, totally decadent my friend. And if I can join you all would you let me be the baby? I'm still (barely) 37!!

 

[oybolshoi]

Brenda, I was just peeking in and saw the great photos from your NYE fiesta and there was the Mickey head cutting board again, just like mine. I loved the lobster mac and cheese, totally decadent my friend. And if I can join you all would you let me be the baby? I'm still (barely) 37!!

Can we call you baby wah-wah?

All are welcome and the more the merrier! I'm glad to see you here!

 

[ireland_nicole]

warning: rant!!!!!D%&$ it, I just had to catch up on 15 pages again, so just stop being so darned popular Ms. B I can't keep up! Next time around I'm definitely putting in my order for neuro typical kids, I bet they're a lot less time consuming (this whole autism gigs for the birds)
end of rant

OK, haven't had a chance to upload pics of cake; and didn't think to post pics of NYE meal. We didn't plan a party until about 2pm NYE, so all planning seriously last minute. Kids involved, so had to keep food accessible. Tagliatelle Carbonara w/ carmelized onions and bruschetta and basic ceasar salad, then for later a cheese board w/ a yummy white stilton w/ apricots, irish farmhouse cheese, smoked mozzerella and procuito roulade, brie and another cheese I can't for the life of me remember, sourdough slices w/ a warm spinach and parmesan dip, and ensalata caprese w/ buffalo mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, and some amazing 80 y/o balsamic my husband brought home from italy (given the choice between some stupid designer something or other and food, my dear sweet husband can be counted on to make the right choice, bless him.) And because I don't have enough to do, I recently took a fondant and gum paste cake decorating course, so I made a flourless ghiardelli chocolate cake covered it in fondant, made gumpaste ribbons, and then handpainted the whole thing. That I actually have pics, I'll upload them eventually if anyone's interested. We shared some local tx wines from a recent wine tour (brought by our guests, so I can't remember) toasted the new year w/ prosseco and then drank way too many irish coffees thanks to my sainted Irish husband who worked his way through college in Dublin tending bar.
Talk to ya'll later- loving all your recipes and chat! And home decor!- not to mention reindeer noses hehehe
oh, please excuse the spelling; haven't been able to sleep more than a couple of hours at a time thanks to dd and ds's recent med changes.

So that's me

 

[whogirl'smom]

Nicole, that cake sounds beautiful--I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures.

Alright, now I'm off to the urgent care clinic, I think I have strep... .

 

[ChelleinNC]

Alright, now I'm off to the urgent care clinic, I think I have strep... .

DS had a nasty case of strep last week, I hope yours isn't as bad. They gave him a shot of penicillin in the tushy and he spent the next 3 days complaining that his butt hurt Hope you feel better soon!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Subbing.

 

[oybolshoi]

warning: rant!!!!!D%&$ it, I just had to catch up on 15 pages again, so just stop being so darned popular Ms. B I can't keep up! Next time around I'm definitely putting in my order for neuro typical kids, I bet they're a lot less time consuming (this whole autism gigs for the birds)
end of rant

It's not me that's popular ... it's just the topics under discussion on a given day.

Sorry to hear you and the kiddos have been having a rough time of it ... maybe now that the holidays are over things will calm down.

OK, haven't had a chance to upload pics of cake; and didn't think to post pics of NYE meal. We didn't plan a party until about 2pm NYE, so all planning seriously last minute. Kids involved, so had to keep food accessible. Tagliatelle Carbonara w/ carmelized onions and bruschetta and basic ceasar salad, then for later a cheese board w/ a yummy white stilton w/ apricots, irish farmhouse cheese, smoked mozzerella and procuito roulade, brie and another cheese I can't for the life of me remember, sourdough slices w/ a warm spinach and parmesan dip, and ensalata caprese w/ buffalo mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, and some amazing 80 y/o balsamic my husband brought home from italy (given the choice between some stupid designer something or other and food, my dear sweet husband can be counted on to make the right choice, bless him.) And because I don't have enough to do, I recently took a fondant and gum paste cake decorating course, so I made a flourless ghiardelli chocolate cake covered it in fondant, made gumpaste ribbons, and then handpainted the whole thing. That I actually have pics, I'll upload them eventually if anyone's interested. We shared some local tx wines from a recent wine tour (brought by our guests, so I can't remember) toasted the new year w/ prosseco and then drank way too many irish coffees thanks to my sainted Irish husband who worked his way through college in Dublin tending bar.
Talk to ya'll later- loving all your recipes and chat! And home decor!- not to mention reindeer noses hehehe
oh, please excuse the spelling; haven't been able to sleep more than a couple of hours at a time thanks to dd and ds's recent med changes.

So that's me

Your NYE food sounds wonderful and I'm sure everyone would love to see pics of your cake ... it sounds gorgeous!

Please share when you have time.

 

[oybolshoi]

Nicole, that cake sounds beautiful--I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures.

Alright, now I'm off to the urgent care clinic, I think I have strep... .

Eeek! Feel better soon ... I guess I should have mentioned that milk punch doesn't build up your immune system.

 

[oybolshoi]

DS had a nasty case of strep last week, I hope yours isn't as bad. They gave him a shot of penicillin in the tushy and he spent the next 3 days complaining that his butt hurt Hope you feel better soon!

Hope the DS and his beeeeehiney are feeling better now.

Subbing.

Welcome my friend!

 

[D&R love Disney]

Milky Way Cake, sounds devine! Milky Way is my favorite candy bar.

Brenda, WS didn't have the truffles but Recchiuti Confections site did. I'll be ordering them along with something else

This store http://www.espritduvinusa.com/ is right by my work. They have a great wine selection, Keith always holds a few bottles of Cakebread when it comes in for me, and their cheeses are superb. I just took out a nice chevre with paprika that I had left over for lunch The store is a great place to get a loaf of bread, hunk of cheese and a bottle of wine.

 

[ireland_nicole]

Bendy;
I am now an official Rosa Regale convert; my DH apparently brought some home NYE but we drank the other first and then lost track of time with the irish coffees, Oh, memories... Anyway, there was the bottle waiting patiently for me this morning- bliss!!!!