We were out of town for Christmas, so we had it a little late. :)

A lovely brunch of mimosas, hashbrown casserole and Brunch Egg Casserole.

(I forgot to snap a picture before I started serving!)

I also got Twain’s Feast for Christmas!

I hope everyone had wonderful holidays and a fantastic New Year.  In 2011, hopefully you’ll see more posts!

So, I made my baked potato soup last night (and had more for lunch today) and I’ve decided there is something just not quite right with it.  It’s certainly not bad, but there is something a tiny bit off.  I keep coming back to the basil & thyme.  Maybe it just doesn’t need them and the salt & pepper is enough?  Throw in some celery with the onions & garlic to add a bit more in the aromatics department to offset any “loss” from the basil & thyme?

I’ll have to keep that in mind the next time around.  And to cut the recipe in half because it makes WAY too much for two people!

FROM SCRATCH!!!!!!!!!!!  This is not something that has worked well for me in the past, which is why I’m so excited.  They were AWESOME.

Took 2 russet potatoes, peeled & chopped up into SMALL pieces and put them in boiling water. (I had thrown some onions and crushed garlic in the water before bringing it to a boil.)

Brought it back to a boil and then boiled for 10 minutes.

Drained them, threw them back into the pot for a few minutes to steam off any leftover liquid, and then put them through my nifty potato ricer.

Mixed in about 3Ts of butter and a couple spoonfuls of sour cream.

Put it all in a casserole dish and put it back in the microwave for about a minute and a half (the sour cream cooled things off.)

Topped with some cheddar jack cheese and put it under the broiler for a few minutes.

Awesome.  REALLY AWESOME.

Couldn’t have been easier.
1. Brine for several hours beforehand.  (8# turkey breast, had it in the cooler for ~6 hours.  Don’t want more than 1 hour per pound.)
2. Melt a stick of butter and cover the turkey with it.
3. Cover w/any kind of cracked pepper goodness – whatever your favorite rub is.
4. Roast @ 325 degrees until it has an internal temp of 165 degrees.

Juicy and awesome.

Met up with my friend Stephanie tonight and we went wandering about Old Town Alexandria for dinner.  As we approached the Majestic Cafe, she asked if I’d ever been there.  Nope.  I’ve walked or driven by it countless times, but never been inside.  (And honestly thought it was a diner.)  She said, “It’s pricey, but good.”

Well, when it comes to good food, I am totally OK with pricey, so in we went.

And it kicks ass.  To start off with, the water is awesome.  I know how totally bizarre that sounds, because it sounded a bit strange to me when she said, “Get the still water – it is incredible!”  But it was also a million degrees out and I wanted water – and as much as I love sparkling water, at $4.50 for sparkling vs. $0.00 for still with a very emphatic recommendation – I went with the still water.  I have no idea what filtration/water softening system they use at the restaurant, but it makes water actually TASTY.  And from me, that is actually saying something, because I really am not much of a water drinker at all.  I downed 2 LARGE glasses of this water without even blinking an eye.  In the normal course of a day, I have to *force* myself to down 8 to 16 ounces of water.

As humid and sticky as it was, I wanted an icy cocktail, but wasn’t quite in the mood for one of their many tiki-rum drinks, and the Salty Dog I ordered was top-notch, but the “Missionary’s Downfall” in the awesomely goofy tiki-glass that Steph ordered seemed to perfectly fit the bill for her.  (I have to be in a certain mindset for rum drinks.  I have no idea why.)

For dinner, I got the sauteed soft shell crabs.  Outstanding.  They were smothered in perfectly ripe off-the-vine-this-morning tomatoes, sweet corn and lima beans.  (And I SO love lima beans!  My only argument would be that they need *more* lima beans in it!)  Steph had the Amish chicken, which she definitely seemed to enjoy and took the rest home for tomorrow’s lunch.  (Bonus:  When you get a to-go box, they put the date on it.  However, I can’t imagine anything from this restaurant lasting in the fridge more than 24 hours.)

By the time the dessert menu came around, I was perfectly stuffed and felt I couldn’t really avail myself of their selections (though I was tempted by the chocolate & bourbon beignets, as was Steph!) but I couldn’t resist their Irish Coffee.  I **love** Irish Coffee and if someone is bold enough to include it as a menu item, I have to see how it stacks up to the rest.  And the Majestic indicated that it “looked like a Guinness!”  Well, I love Guinness, too, so I had to check this out.  It’s coffee, Irish Whiskey and brown sugar, topped with their homemade whipped cream.  And it really does look like a Guinness!  And is very, very tasty.

The cherry on the top was chocolate truffles rolled in coconut that came with the check.  Beats a peppermint any day of the week.

Seriously, if you want an un-fussy place to eat with spectacular food – hit the Majestic.

I wish I had a photo – I took some quick shots, but when I pulled them off the memory card, they were blurry – and I’d already finished the grits by then.  (I’m quite certain I’ll be making this again, so there is hope that I can get a shot.)

Best Cheese Grits Ever:

1/4 c. old fashioned grits (NOT instant)
1 1/8 c. chicken stock or broth
2 ounces shredded chipotle cheddar cheese
salt & pepper

Bring the stock to a boil, add grits, stir well.  Set heat to LOW and cover.  After about 6 minutes I hit it with the salt & pepper.  Then at the 12 minute mark, I stir in the cheese.  I did notice that with the chicken stock, it was still a touch soupy at the 12 minute mark, so I let it go another minute or so.  (In the future I may just cut it back to 1 cup of stock.)

Once the cheese is stirred in, sit back and enjoy!

According to the grits package, 1/4 c of grits is 2 servings.  Maybe if you’re eating it with something else.  Otherwise, it’s one perfect serving on it’s own.

Now, I haven’t made these in about 10 years.  I pulled the recipe from the Betty Crocker/Bisquick website.  I thought the proportions seemed quite a bit off – 3 cups of bisquick, 4 cups of cheese?  To just one pound of sausage?  But then I thought, hey, it’s Bisquick’s own recipe!  They of all people should have it right.

I should have trusted my instincts and found another recipe.  They were awful.  Ended up as sort of a cheesy dough with bits of sausage and just terrible.

Next time I’ll be using this recipe from Consumer Web Help – the proportions seem much more reasonable and the sausage isn’t so far outnumbered by the cheese & Bisquick.

Ah well, lesson learned.  Onward and upward!

I really do.  When I gave my brother a choice of baked or fried potatoes with dinner and he chose baked, I certainly couldn’t argue it.

So easy, so simple, so good.  Prep time of a whole 2 minutes of washing them off, poking them a couple times with a fork and tossing in a pan. An hour in the oven at 400 degrees and that’s that.  Even twice baked are easy, another 5 minutes of mashing them up and a couple minutes back under the broiler.

They’re healthy (even with toppings – just don’t use an entire pint of sour cream) and easy and one of my favorite sides.

All hail the lovely baking potato!

Would a gherkin by any other name taste as sweet?  I certainly hope so.

No matter how modern the holiday relish tray may become, you will still sit at centre stage of the crystal tray.

Your sweet crunchiness hits the spot every time, and your tiny diced up bits do lovely things to tuna and ham salads, and my hot dogs would be empty without your relish.

Let us all raise a pickle to the man who first sweet brined a tiny cucumber!

*crunch*

You may have noticed that we don’t necessarily focus on “gourmet” stuff here so much as “stuff that just tastes good”.   I suspect Salsa Jack cheese falls into that category.

I spied it at the grocery store while doing the Thanksgiving shopping and thought, “Why not?”

It’s really tasty.  It’s the same idea as Pepper Jack cheese, but with salsa ingredients instead, ie, tomatoes, onion, peppers, etc.  It’s not as hot as some Pepper Jack cheeses, but still has a hint of heat, so it’s not boring.

My market sold it under their private label brand, but I do know there are other companies out there that produce it.  So if you see it, give it a whirl!

(No pics, cause I ate it.)