All Things Mimi

I got a Flipvideo camera this week! So I used it to film the first use of the "Furminator" on Bear. Hopefully this little device will help reduce the amount of hair we sweep off the floor every single day!

I was going to title this post "Dinner When it's too Hot to Cook," but I decided I needed to give a little more background than that.

My love for food has been with me a long time. I don't remember a time when I wasn't aware of people in the kitchen, making wonderful things.

This life long love of food has given me eccentric tastes in food, and very peculiar shopping habits. And as a result of this weirdness, my icebox has a rather odd mix of things in it at any given time. I think this is a good thing. My husband sometimes doesn't agree. Although his objection isn't to the range of things. It's more a statement about the STATE of some of those things. I do tend to forget about the things that get pushed to the back. I have some interesting science experiments going on most days... :)

Oddness in my icebox brings me to tonight's dinner. There were 2 factors greatly influencing my choices for dinner: 1- it's hotter than blazes outside, a…

I am always on the look out for my new favorite restaurant! I love cooking, don't get me wrong. But sometimes I want to sit back and let someone else prepare the food. Unfortunately, I haven't had many wonderful dining experiences out here in Colorado.

Last week, however, Dev and I found a diamond in the rough. A while back (while we were looking for the perfect dog to adopt), we drove out to the animal shelter in Glenwood Springs, CO. At the turn off from the highway, I noticed a restaurant in this little strip mall called The Nepal Restaurant. I made a mental note of it and filed it away in the back of my mind.

Earlier this week, Dev and I were shopping around in Glenwood Springs (which is a fairly common occurence). For some reason, I remembered the little restaurant in the strip mall, and suggested we go eat there.

I am sooooo glad I did!

The restaurant itself is nothing fancy. The dining room is rather smallish. The decor consists mostly of posters of Mt. Everest and…

I am a very lucky girl. I married a guy who loves learning how to make cheese. I happen to love eating cheese. Works out well for me, huh?

I have been asking Dev to make a batch of fresh ricotta for a few days. I've seen several ricotta recipes on blogs and in magazines, and I prefer to use home made, because it is softer and sweeter than store bought ricotta.

I used the first of the batch on pizzas day before yesterday. This morning I used a little more to make something I've wanted to try for a long time- ricotta pancakes.

I saw a special on The Food Network about different chefs' favorite things to eat. On the breakfast episide, someone said they loved the ricotta pancakes at some fancy restaurant. I watched the process and figured there wasn't any rocket science involved and I could probably do just as well at home.

I started with my standard buttermilk pancake recipe.

I usually let the batter sit a few minutes while I plug in and heat up my electric griddle. Ri…

Pie crust used to be on my list of things I was terrified of. My last attempt at making a pie crust ended badly. I ended up with a sore hand from repeatedly banging it on the counter and a frankenstein-looking pie crust that was dry and tough.

Fast forward 2 years. I am standing in my kitchen looking at 2 pounds of fresh cherries that are quickly going to start decaying if I don't do something with them fast. What to do?

I had no choice but to consider a pie application. No problem, I thought. I'll just go down to the basement freezer and pull out a handy dandy store bought pie crust. Wrong. No pie crusts in the freezer. Clock ticking on fresh cherries. How bad could it turn out this time?? I have 2 more years cooking experience under my belt. I can do this. Breathe. Concentrate. Suck it up. MAKE A PIE CRUST FROM SCRATCH.

I gathered my ingredients....2 1/2 cups of AP flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and two sticks of cold butter- oh- and a glass of ice …

I love eggs benedict. I always have. Unfortunately, Devin doesn't, so if I make it at home I have to make some slight alterations in order to make it palatable to him. The only way he will eat eggs is scrambled. He is also not fond of hollandaise sauce.

On this particular morning I had lots of odds and ends sitting around in the icebox, and the craving for eggs benedict hit me right between the eyes when I woke up.

For the base (where the English muffin would normally be) I split and toasted a piece of garlic/jalapeno cheddar focaccia. On that I put a slice of capicola ham and a slice of juicy tomato. Atop that I perched the scrambled eggs. To guild the lily, I added some shrimp and mushrooms in a spicy sour cream sauce. I have to admit, I didn't make it, it was leftover from a trip to a local Mexican restaurant the night before. But let me tell you, it did the trick. This was seriously good. I might order the shrimp dish again just to have leftovers to make this!

This gorgeous guy is ours!! Last week we adopted Bear from the Rifle Animal Shelter. I can't say enough about the wonderful people who work there. They are truly dedicated to making life better for all the animals under their care.

Bear is a 2 year old black lab/New Foundland mix. At first he was quiet and shy, but now he has come out of his shell! He came to us house trained and crate trained. However...he does not walk on a leash well. Dev is working with him constantly and I'm sure he'll get the hang of it soon.

I'm sure there will be numerous future posts about Bear's exploits. Right now he's napping at our feet while we work on lesson plans and check email. I'm sure he'd rather be somewhere riding around or playing in some water. But then again, so would we!