stephalupagous's Open Salon Blog

Penelope

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:11:04 -0500

This is inspired by Homer Langley because what he wrote managed to open the door to exactly how I am feeling these days.

I am Penelope, waiting...

My love is across the seas of wheat
Fields of rippling, endless green
Yellow heads bending in the wind
Frozen brown furrows of waiting earth

I know why you chose this journey
I know what you do matters
I know where you lay your heart
I know who you miss often
I do not know when you’ll come home

A home has been promised and built for you (if only in my heart)
A bed has been dressed and laid for you (with no tree as a post)
A heart has been saved and mended for you (freely given with joy)

Come home to me, my love
Come home to me, my heart

I am Penelope, waiting...

Missing....

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:11:29 -0500

I am missing so many people these days. Some work out of town, some have left me, some are far away, some have died.

Anyone want to fill some vacancies?

Need a:

grandma

grandpa

friends

support net who won't judge or leave...

Foodie Tuesday - Zebra Cake

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:10:33 -0400

This week I'm posting my recipe for my favourite cake - zebra cake, aka chocolate wafer icebox cake.Easy peasy and cheap! (for the Cheap Bastid)

Ingredients

Couple of packages of Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers (These are usually in the ice cream cone isle – not the cookie isle) - can use other chocolate wafers if you can't find Nabisco.

Whipped cream* - now I mean the real stuff, no sweetened dinosaur by-product like Cool-Whip or it's ilk. Yeech! Plus we need all that petroleum product for the SUVs. And honestly - making your own whipped cream is cheaper.

Fresh Fruit (optional)

Equipment

Pan, dish, bowls, martini glasses, whatever floats your boat
Butter knife

Directions

There are two ways of doing this, the easy way and the easiest way.

Easy way

1. Put some whipped cream on a cookie and then lay it in the pan, add another ...continue until container is full. Top with fruit. Always have a layer of cookies on the bottom. Wrap and place in the fridge for 12-24 hours.

Easiest way

1. Put a layer of cookies down, then whipped cream, then cookies, then whipped cream...continue until container is full. Top with fruit. Wrap and place in the fridge for 12-24 hours

Variations

1. Add your favourite liquor to the whipped cream instead of vanilla – BUT don’t serve it to kids or those who don’t want alcohol – it makes it boozy

2. Use Nilla wafers and chocolate whipped cream – switch out the vanilla for chocolate syrup – add it until it looks chocolate-y enough

* Easy whipped cream

4 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (can use instant vanilla pudding mix here - keeps it stiff for a long time - kind of like cialis for desserts)
1/4 cup sugar

In a large bowl, whip cream until stiff peaks are just about to form. Beat in vanilla and sugar until peaks form. Make sure not to over-beat, cream will then become lumpy and butter-like.

Foodie Tuesday - Best Gol-durn Nacho Dip

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:09:49 -0400

My mom used to make this every Saturday night when we watched movies. I love eating it with the round, yellow chips. I let 'em soak until they get soggy.

Equipment

- Microwave oven
- Casserole dish with lid
- Knife - for chopping
- Hand blender* or a potato masher

*(fancy-schmancy, I know. But another indispensible kitchen tool. I have a Bamix, another Calgary Stampede purchase. It does make whipped cream from skim milk - which I guess would be whipped milk?! Here it is at Amazon.)

Ingredients

Block of cheddar cheese - no American cheese, it's is NOT REAL cheese, people!!
- Half as much cream cheese as cheddar cheese
- Milk
- Salsa
- Worcestershire sauce
- Hot sauce to taste (optional)
- 1/2 a white onion (optional)

Directions

Everything goes into the casserole dish.
Shred or chop cheddar. You are welcome to use the pre-shredded stuff.
Chop cream cheese into bits - 1/2" big or so.
Chop onion.
Add equal parts milk and salsa and a healthy dash of Worcestershire. The liquid should come up half as far as the cheese in the dish. P
ut the lid on and nuke for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese melts about half way.
Stir. You can use the blender or potato masher at this point.
And repeat until hot and creamy.
Careful - the dish will be hot when you take it out!
Taste and add hot sauce to desired heat. Also add more milk/salsa if it is too thick.
Serve with whatever you like to dip in nacho dip. Or pour over stuff.
This will keep in the fridge for about 5 days. Add liquid when reheating as it will thicken up.

Foodie Tuesday - French Onion Soup

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:09:18 -0400

For my first Foodie Tuesday, I'm posting my 'recipe' for French Onion Soup. I'm an 'eye-ball cook'; if it looks right, I'm going for it. So that is why this isn't a traditional recipe. And I enjoy being slightly irreverant in the kitchen - seems to be the one place I can poke fun at myself - so don't be offeneded by the language or whatnot.

Hope you enjoy this lovey, perfect-for-cool-fall-nights soup.

French Onion Soup

Equipment
- medium saucepan with lid
- knife or madoline*
- spoon - one for stirring, one for eating (or use one for both - i do)
- oven safe bowls
- stove/hotplate and oven/toaster oven

*a.k.a slicer-dicer - my fav is the Borner V-Slicer. It is the best $35 I spent on a kitchen tool ever. You can find them at home stores, county fairs and tradeshows and on Amazon.

Ingredients
- medium bag of yellow onions (you can use sweet ones like vidalia or walla walla if you want to, whatever's cheap)
- grease of some kind: butter, marg, oil, bacon fat (mmmm....bacon fat)
- 1 box of beef broth (16oz/1L)
- glug of white wine (nothing expensive, but something nice - i use whatever is floating around the fridge)
- dijon mustard
- all-purpose flour
- salt and pepper
- stale bread (any kind will do, even crutons)
- cheese! (traditionally the recipe uses gouda, I like swiss. try stuff out till you find what you like)

Directions
1. Peel and slice onions thinishly. about a 1/4". chop the rings in half if you don't want big strings of onion.

2. In the pot, add the grease and melt. it should be enough to coat the onions. you can add more after you put the onions in if there isn't enough.

3. Fill the pot 1/2 to 3/4 full of onion and slowly sautee (fancy word for browning) until they are limp, translucent and carmel-coloured. At medium-low heat this takes about 20 mins. It's worth the wait! And it's the longest part of the whole process.

4. Add a spoonful of flour to the onions and stir to make a roux. Add flour until all the grease is soaked up and stir until the flour-grease starts to brown a bit.

5. Add a spoonful of dijon. More mustard, more kick. It's better to err on the side of less to start, you can add more later.

6. Season with S&P. More P than S because of the salt in the broth.

7. Add broth and simmer. Add glug of wine - this can be omitted with little issue. Also, VIP!, the alcohol will burn off in cooking so don't worry about that part.

8. Taste after about 30 mins. Season more if you wish.

9. Ladle into bowls, add bread and cheese. Pop under broiler until cheese is golden and bubbly.

10. Eat. Make someone else do the dishes. :) Store the remainder in the fridge (when you do that the grease will congeal on the top - don't scoop it off.)