Is your refrigerator running?

I regularly read the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette online since they won't deliver it to my doorstep in a green bag out here in Hawaii. Today's paper has a really interesting article titled "Have you Hugged Your Fridge Today?" Enticing... No, I don't usually (read: ever) hug my fridge.

As much as I'm dying to get a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, I suppose they're right, the fridge is hands down the most important appliance in your kitchen! I was born a good 70-some years after the fridge was introduced so it's something that I certainly do take for granted. I thought my cousin, who didn't have a microwave 2 years ago, was OUT OF HIS MIND! Even as a freshman in college sharing a small dorm room, it came equipped with a small fridge (and that's about all!) Our fridge at our family's cabin is pretty old and cool, no pun intended, I wonder if it came with a June Cleaver-esque cook book!


Here's the link.


And how cute is this?!?! I think my 3 year old Goddaughter, Marissa NEEDS it for Christmas!

Restaurant Review: Banana Leaf Pasta Cafe

Bryce and I went to the Banana Leaf Pasta Cafe a few weeks ago, to kill some time between terrible apartment viewings. It's a really cute restaurant, although they didn't have ANY of the pizzas or sandwiches that were listed on the menu. They're "getting a new menu" - well an Italian restaurant without pizza and sandwiches, or "hoagies" if you're from the Burg, is pretty silly in my opinion.

So we got pasta, duh, it's a pasta cafe. As a rule of thumb I typically don't get pasta in restaurants since I make it all of the time. I've yet to attempt to make risotto, all the adding and stirring intimidates me, so I got the mushroom risotto and it was delicious! Just enough mushrooms, very hot, and great, creamy texture. Bryce got the fettuccine with prosciutto, mushrooms, and peas in a white cream sauce, which he loved, too. For once, we liked our own dishes best and kept our forks to ourselves.

We pigged out and didn't have room for dessert, BUMMER! Maybe next time, since we'll go back again, for sure :)

My mushroom risotto:



Bryce's fettuccine with prosciutto, mushrooms, and peas in white cream sauce:

Funny Food!

Clearly I love food. I also love things that make me laugh (if we're good friends you know that I snort when things are really funny!) These 2 links encompass both: food and laughter.

First: Cake Wrecks - http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

Their book is a New York Times best seller! Surely I helped since I bought 2 of them, duh. One for Brooke and one for Amy - you guys better be reading this! They update their page daily with HILARIOUS, literally make you LOL, cakes that mean well but end up being a total wreck.

Like this:



Second: Food Network Humor - http://foodnetworkhumor.com/

Freakin' hysterical. You have to watch the Food Network a lot to get most of the jokes so it's PERFECT for junkies like me :)

Here's an example:



That's funny! (snorts)

New apartment and comfort food

Bryce and I moved this weekend (yes, we're living in sin, don't tell Grandma Sally, please!) We lived in a 2 bedroom apartment for a year and we had ONE visitor, my parents. So we decided to save some cash and downsize to a 1 bedroom. 9 apartment visits later we found a perfect, charming apartment in Nuuanu. For those on the mainland, say it with me: New-Ew-On-Ew. Good job!

So this Saturday we rounded up our friends, got a moving truck, and paid them for their services in food. Bryce and I spent the rest of the weekend unpacking, cleaning the old apartment, rearranging furniture, shopping for shower curtains, and other boring household items, etc. As always, moving is exhausting.

New apartment - new kitchen. There are pros and cons to both kitchens, old and new.

PROs of the former apartment:
Upgrades - Stainless steel appliances & granite counter tops
Roomy enough for a 4 seater table

CONs of the former apartment:
Electric stove
3 drawers
Small in size
No dishwasher

PROs of the new apartment:
HUGE in size!
Gas stove
Island/bar

CONs of the new apartment:
Stove/oven awkwardly wedged in the corner
Still no dishwasher!
Island/bar is the only seating area - for 2, bar stools not included

We searched high and low for 24" bar stools, which are really called "counter" stools, with no success.

So last night, Sunday, we had our first real meal at our new home. I felt the need for some good old comfort food: spaghetti & meatballs :) I still have sauce frozen from the lasagna, so I defrosted that, got my hands dirty with some homemade meatballs, and made some spaghetti. (Our new neighbors already have already inquired - "What smells so good?!" Does that mean we have to invite them over?!)

Since we don't have anywhere to sit we had dinner on the couch and watched a movie (we also don't have cable yet, don't you LOVE moving!?)

Dinner was good! It definitely filled the comfort food craving. The movie, Brothers, made me ugly cry, though - good thing I was already done eating. NOT a chick flick.

Side note: The new apartment has a yard and an avocado tree! AWESOME! Our neighbor grows basil, tomatoes, and strawberries, so stay tuned!

Here's the dish:



Taken approximately 3 minutes later, before the movie even began, from the "dinner" aka tray, table:

Sweet Potato Pie and I Shut My Mouth

We were invited to a friend's birthday BBQ this weekend which had a "Southern" theme. When we got there we found out the theme was "nixed" so I felt really ridiculous when I showed up with a Sweet Potato Pie! I've never made any Southern dishes before and all I could think of was "Song, song of the south, sweet potato pie and I shut my mouth". So that's what I decided to make.

I'm fairly confident that I've never even eaten Sweet Potato Pie before. Being in Hawaii (aka the land of STRANGE food) there were 4 different types of sweet potatoes/yams at the store: some purple, some orange, some "oriental". We hounded the produce guy, told him what we were making and he set us on the right track with some yams.

I used Alton Brown's recipe from the Food Network website, which also had a great video from Good Eats. Making the pie was pretty uneventful. It included sweet potatoes, dark brown sugar, egg yolks, plain yogurt, nutmeg, and cinnamon, all mixed together and poured into a (frozen, store bought) pie crust. It was topped with pecans and maple syrup. Blah, blah, blah.

So we took it to the party, found out it wasn't "Southern" any longer, and dropped it off on the food table. When it came time for dessert there were literally 6 options: dream cake, banana cream pie, strawberry pie, etc. Mine was the least beautiful and delicious looking!

I was one of 2 or 3 people who actually took a slice and to be honest I was NOT impressed. It was good, not great. I think I expected it to be sweeter like pumpkin pie, OR even better, to actually taste like pumpkin pie! It tasted like sweet potatoes, eh, I don't really like sweet potatoes. I probably won't make it again, but it sure did look purty!