...slices of life in the Garden of Good & Evil

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

One lump or two?

So the wife buys a small container of buttermilk a few weeks ago because a recipe called for some. I'm sure it was good eatin'...whatever it was she made.

It is unfortunate, however, that Kroger puts their buttermilk and half & half in very similar containers differentiated only by a splash of color (yellow vs. purple). This ever so slight variance of packaging can possibly slip by the early morning sleepy-eyed coffee drinker hunting for a dollop.

I don't recommend Folgers with curds....

Monday, September 10, 2007

Grill Thrills - Part 2

So after raving about L. Mullins fabulous ribs in my last post, I come back with a story of fear and loathing from my own backyard at Casa Jimmy...

Me and the wifey decided to simply grill a couple of burgers for dinner one evening last week. Cam calls and says he's coming over (fine by us). He's bringing a couple of friends as well.

Problem - we have only one small package of ground beef.

Solution A - go to the store for more meat

Solution B - smash out the patties really thin and flat to make 5 burgers.

Of course we chose B...

Anyway, soon dinner is on the table as we all prepare to chow down. My burger tastes like crud - really chalky and gross. Maybe we smushed them too much resulting in overcooking and subsequently crappy tasting burgers. Any respectable cook yearns for a compliment on their offering, but I knew one wasn't forthcoming on this night. Burgers that taste like feet for Cam and his buddies. Great. Time for a full confession.

Me: "Guys, sorry the burgers are so bad. Must've overcooked them."

Wife: "Mine's great."

Cam and friends: "Mmpphff..."

They were just being kind,I'm sure. At least that what I think mmpphff means.

I continued to choke down the lousy excuse for a burger when it popped ever so slightly out of the edge of the bun - the piece of wax paper stuck to the slice of cheese that I had been slowly devouring throughout the meal. I quietly removed the gnarled portion of the remaining sheet in time to have the last bite of an untainted burger. It tasted just fine.

There's a moral here - but I'm not quite sure what it is...

Friday, September 7, 2007

Lest Not We Forget

This has been haunting me all week...

Darling daughter Meredith was hanging out for a long weekend with the blood family while Big Willie was embroiled in the opening of dove season in the Delta. We (me, wifey and Meredith) got a cordial invite to join some friends at Chez Mullins for a pre-Labor Day rib fest.

Not sure if you people know this but Larry Mullins' ribs make Dreamland's suck by comparison. Simply amazing grillmaster - but I digress...

We enjoyed some chat and adult beverages whilst the meat was being prepared. Upon the appropriate signal, we all gathered in the kitchen to stack our plates and wear out some hot ribs. Janet asked that we return thanks - always correct in my book.

She offered up a nice blessing of the food and then asked that God help us all to "remember the true meaning of Labor Day."

What exactly is that and why don't I know about it????