Let's Get Fancy!

I have taken up super couponing.

Although I am not at the "extreme" level, due to our careful planning and hoarding of coupons over the past few weeks, Danny and I have managed to save over 200 dollars worth of groceries. This, coupled with the fact that we are more than stocked up with the basics until the end of time, is a good feeling. For example, cereal. Kellogs gave us a free gallon of milk during our next shopping trip due to the amount of cereal we've bought. So. Much. Cereal.

Other than cereal, we have seriously stocked up on meat, due to the Price Chopper Big Meat Sale (not as creepy as it sounds!) that happened two weeks ago. We got 30 pounds of meat, all different kinds and cuts, for $99.00.

As you can see, our freezer is full of meat. Our fridge isn't looking too shabby either, and this picture was taken two weeks ago right after we moved in.

 

If you're thinking "there's probably only crap meat in that kind of a deal" you wouldn't be alone. I was skeptical as well, but Danny stuck to his guns and convinced me to give it a try. I was made a believer after we bought the deal, with the most surprising cut of meat being a seriously thick, juicy, and huge steak. I ask you - what better meal to make with a good cut of steak than a Surf and Turf dinner?

 

Now, I promised in my last post a sad pre-boiled lobster picture... and I make good on my promises.

 

Why it's fuzzy and shiny, I'm not sure. Probably because the universe knew my hair looked awful that day.



 



  To give you an idea of how massive this lobster was, the following picture puts it into perspective:

IT'S LOBSTERZILLA!!!

 

 We prepared our lobster's bath in the traditional New England boil fashion - one lemon (halved), small golden potatoes, bay leaves, fresh rosemary and thyme, corn on the cob, plenty of salt, and ground black pepper. We let the water come to a boil and placed our giant friend right in and covered the pot with a lid... to foil any escape plans he may have had.

 

 

 

I grew up in a small town in Northern New Hampshire. I am familiar with lobster boils. When I was small, my family would get together around my father's birthday (July 4th) and have a giant lobster boil and clam bake in my backyard. It was our "family reunion," and we kids would help the men put the lobsters into the pot. For some reason, that fearlessness and calloused outlook on preparing my food has somewhat waned, due to the fact that I could barely stay in the kitchen while Lobsterzilla bubbled away in the pot. Is this what living in suburbia for six years has done to me?!

 

 

While Lobsterzilla visited our New England flavored stove-top spa, Chef Hoyt prepared a steak rub of shallots, garlic, fresh rosemary, thyme, ground black pepper and salt in our new-to-us food proccessor. Best thing we acquired in the move hands down. 

 

 

Then, he cooked the steak medium rare, allowed it to sit in it's own juices, and sliced it up good and thick to serve with our friend, who's bath was just about over. 

 

Look at that delicious slab of protein.

 

 

Finally, Danny halved Lobsterzilla, removed the brain stem, and made a sauce from the tamale (that lovely green gunk that is actually the lobster's liver and pancreas) using salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice. As you can see, this behemoth sea monster looks a little fancier prepped like this than torn apart in my childhood backyard, and I can tell you it was just as delicious, especially with the tamale sauce. 

 



 

 

 

That night, we could only eat the body and tail of the giant, not to mention maybe half the steak. The claws and any other parts of the lobster that remained were cleaned and kept for Lobster Mac n' Cheese, which Danny made later in the week. Which, of course, was also delicious, although I sadly did not get pictures of that particular dish. Also, we need a casserole dish to bake things in... the frying pan won't cut it forever.  

 

It's when Danny prepares something like this that I remember how incredibly talented he is. That's not to say that he can't make bread and butter taste better than I ever could, but it's apparent the level of training and experience he has when he takes the care to clean, prepare, and pre-crack the lobster like a pro in a five star restaurant. Lobsterzilla's remains were treated with respect, so unlike the barbaric backyard lobster boils of my past that left discarded red-shelled carnage everywhere at the end of the day. It gives you a new appreciation for food, especially food that had been alive only moments before, and really makes you think about more that the delicious meal it provides.

 

Next up: Nachos... made by yours truely with no - I repeat, NO - help from Le Chef.

 

 

Peace, Love and Butter

 

- Brooke and Danny - 

 

Hiatus - OVER

Hello my (non-existant except for two) followers!!

I apologize for the lapse in posts... it's been a crazy couple of months! Probably the biggest things that's changed is that Danny and I have officially moved in together! It's very exciting and we couldn't be happier. Who wouldn't want to wake up to this face every morning?

 

I know, I'm a lucky woman.

 

Some other big changes in our lives include a new job for Danny as a General Manager of a local restaurant, the perfect next step towards owning his own place someday, a raise at my job, and celebrating our 6th month anniversary with VIP passes to Jazzfest earlier this month. (GM work perk... can't complain.)

 

 

I have also become involved in couponing. Not quite extreme coupon status, but we did save $57 dollars on our grocery bill this week, and that was pretty exciting.

 

 

One thing that hasn't changed, despite our busy schedules and the ins and outs of every day life, is the food. Whenever we can, we still like to get in the kitchen and make something yummy with or for each other. Clearly, when Danny cooks it's magic, but I've actually managed to make something he can't get enough of; Taco Pie, a recipe from my Momma's kitchen that I took with me to college. More on that later... for now - PHOTO MONTAGE!

 

 

Pan-seared salmon with angel hair, pea puree and cheddar cheese.

 

 

Roasted golden potatoes and green beans topped with medium rare thick and juicy steak and aged Cabot Cheddar cheese.

 

 

(This was a favorite!) Roasted corn and sweet potato soup with homemade croutons garnished with cool cucumber.

 

 

And lastly, pan-seared scallops topped with basil ribbons with mango salsa and cauliflower puree. Reminiscent of the first meal Danny ever cooked for me, so it holds a special place in my heart.

 

 

 

Tonight's menu is Surf and Turf... stay tuned for sad pre-boiled lobster pictures.

 

Peace, love and butter-

 

Brooke and Danny

Run For Your Life (AKA Look Good Naked Plan)

This past weekend, Danny and I traveled to the beautiful town of Dover, New Hampshire, to visit my dear friend Amanda (aka Manner, co-author of this blog and my proverbial partner-in-crime) for a couple of days. After we both finished work on Friday evening, we fueled up with some gummy bears and Starbucks and hit the highway.

We rolled up to Amanda's split-level condo which she shares with a 6-year-old girl and her crazy, alcoholic mother around 10pm, far too late to make any kind of snack besides chips and salsa. And V8 Fusion juice. Which we killed a gallon of very, very fast.

The next morning, Amanda, her sister and I completed the Smuttynose Palooza 5K. Danny, being the wonderful piece of man that he is, came along to be our designated bag holder and photographer. Here we are, enjoying our orange outfits and my post-race Smuttynose with big, happy smiles.

Nothing like a beer at 10am to start your day off right.

Danny's excellent photography skills as
I cross the finish line

Me, being the meat in a St. Martin Sandwich.





The Coup de Gracy of all photographs. I'm so happy this moment was captured for these two wonderful women!

 

 

I have officially termed this race as the first day of training for my second half-marathon, which will take place on September 7th in Manchester, Vermont. Amanda, the one with her arms up in the triumphant stance, will be my support team, but this time I'm sure she will have Danny's company as I destroy my body again.

 

I was going to post about the incredible creme brulee Danny made Amanda and I the next day after discovering Amanda's weakness for caramel, but I am exhausted from spending my day on the road for work and want to fully focus on watching Hoarders. So, another post for another day. Not that anyone reads this anyway. Right?

 

(Psssst! Prove me wrong, people! Comment! Comment! Comment!)

 

-Peace, Blessings and Butter-

Brooke and Danny

Wanna Be KKD

Today is Town Meeting day here in Vermont. This means that all around the state, businesses and schools are shut down to ensure the inhabitants of the towns are able to vote on the important issues pertaining to school board related politics and other politicky... things. (Okay, okay... I don't really know what people vote on during Town Meeting day.) Most people will head to the polls and submit their magical ballot, then return home to enjoy this freak day off at the beginning of their work week. I just enjoyed it from the beginning of my day, which started around 10am after Danny and I woke from our respective comas and decided, as always, on what to eat.

After a shower, Danny got himself in the kitchen and whipped up the home-grown version of our fair city's most famous 2am college kid snack, the Kountry Kart Deli Rise and Shiner , a staple snack for anyone who has ever braved the walk back "up the hill" to UVM campus after a night downtown. This delicious treat starts with a large (12in) or small (bulkie roll) with your choice of bacon, ham, pork roll or sausage. If you want to get really creative, the fine folks at KKD will let you mix and match other types of protein, but why mess with perfection? After you've chosen the size and the meat, they slap it all together with a big, greasy, golden hash brown, some american cheese and a fried - not scrambled - egg. I cannot even begin to tell you how many large Rise and Shiners with bacon accompanied me back "up the hill" at 2:30am, yolk and grease dripping down my chin onto whatever outfit I'd carefully chosen to biddy it up in that night (read: flannel shirt and snow boots... I am a Northern girl, after all!)

 

To create this at-home masterpiece, we started with fresh 12" Koffee Kup Bakery Grinder rolls, Cabot butter and Cabot Cheddar cheese, frozen sausage patties (small... like half-dollar sized) a potato (for hash browns) and four eggs. Danny melted some butter in a hot skillet and fried up the sausage nice and juicy. 

 

 

Then, he grated a raw potato and formed it into patties, cooked it up and let it starch-i-fy into homemade bundles of buttery, greasy, crunchy goodness. He let these drain while he crisped up the rolls, then fried the eggs over-medium, so they were just runny but didn't make the sandwich a hot, soggy mess. 

 

He just loves it when I take pictures of him.

 

While all this went on, I ground up some espresso beans and used my Melitta to drip some jet-fuel coffee. Danny assembled the greasy, crunchy, sausag-y deliciousness into our version of Rise and Shiners, which I have termed Good Mornings so we avoid any kind of unintentional copyright infringement.

 



 

The rest of our town meeting day has consisted of taking a trip to our local Plato's Closet and exchanging some clothes, then using the seventeen dollars they gave me for my clothes combined with my Four-Square check in to purchase a pair of twenty dollar boots for ONE DOLLAR. ONE. DOLLAR. If that's not a day-maker, I dont know what is.

 

Tonight, we're making tomato-free pizza for our friend while we acquaint ourselves with her apartment, seeing as we've decided to live together come June and she just happens to be moving out of her incredibly adorable and inexpensive one bedroom place at the same time. Divine sign? I think maybe.

 

For all those out there who might actually stumble upon this and maybe read it (maybe... please?) what is your favorite copy-cat dish to make? Let us know! We'd love to hear it!

 

Peace, Blessings and Butter:

 

Brooke and Danny

Red Velvet Devil

When I was a kid, my grandmother would always make all of her grandchildren their own red velvet cake for their birthday. She called it "Waldorf-Astoria cake" and we could choose if we wanted to keep it all for ourselves or if we wanted to share with family and friends. We can all guess what I chose to do (hint: if you guessed share, you guessed wrong)

Naturally, when I came across this recipe while pinning like a mad woman one day, it made me nostalgic and I told Danny we had to try it. Lucky for us I had friends coming over for Superbowl Sunday, so we had somewhat of a reason to make something so dangerously delicious.

The recipe can be found at the original website, so I'll spare you the repetition. Besides, I want miss fatgirltrappedinaskinnybody.com to get all of her due credit, for both the trifle and the blog name. All you need to know is the trifle came out amazing and it was a huge hit with my friends. It also made A LOT of trifle, so much so that Danny and I had it for the rest of the week with Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia, which complimented it well.

Red Velvet Trifle #1 in a Pyrex mixing bowl

 

Last weekend was my coworker's 30th birthday. Being the new kid at the office, I thought I would get in good with the crew and offer to re-create the trifle to celebrate during group supervision the next week. Monday being a holiday (President's day, or, Naughty Chicken day), I enlisted Danny to help (read: make) the trifle again. What we had at my apartment:

• flour
• sugar
• red food coloring
• cocoa powder
• 10x sugar (or confectonary sugar, for all you non-professionals like myself out there)
• baking soda
• baking powder
• white vinegar
• butter (well... margerine)

What we needed to get to re-create the masterpiece:

• heavy cream
• eggs
• marsacpone cheese
• cream cheese
• new trifle dish

The last one on the list was the most important, and I had a feeling I knew where we could find one. Maybe it was because this song has been playing non-stop and always makes me want to go to Goodwill, but I felt like we'd hit it big digging through the donations at our local store. The first location was a bust, but on our second try we found a beautiful, slightly dusty, glass trifle dish for $2.99. In the words of Macklemore, "savin' my money and I'm hella happy, that's a bargain."

Being poor, we decided to take fatgirlskinnybody's advice and sub the marscapone for all cream cheese. We also added cocoa powder to the cream cheese whipped cream and changed the chocolate ganache to white chocolate ganache, mainly because we forgot to get actual chocolate. All in all, though, it worked out pretty well. I even made the cake this time, and it didn't catch or fire or implode or anything!

PicStitch is my favorite. Also, note the trifle dish. Thank you, Goodwill!

My coworkers thoroughly enjoyed it. Danny assembled it, which is why it looks a Hell of a lot more professional than my Pyrex one, and we also added some Oreo cookie crumbles between the layers instead of chocolate chips. All in all, very successful, and definitely a devil of a dessert.

 

 

If anyone actually reads this and wants to try the recipe, let us know how it goes! Don't be afraid to get a little creative when you're in a crunch. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

 

 

Completely unrelated, I leave you with this video of Janie Cutler kicking ass on Britain's Got Talent. If I'm half as awesome as this lady when I'm half as old, my life will be complete. Besides, she's singing Edith Piaf. Can't get any better than that.

 

Peace, Blessings and Butter

 

 

Brooke and Danny 





Naughty Chicken

Monday was my first paid holiday off ever. Well... not EVER, but it was the first agency holiday that I was able to have off with the rest of the agency, regardless of if it fell on my day off or not. Because I recently became a salaried employee. And can make my own schedule. And am such a big girl!!

When I woke up in the morning, I think my subconscious wanted to celebrate, because I was craving roasted chicken and mushroom risotto like nobody's business. I rolled over and pulled my mascara-caked eyes apart to find Danny watching me with his little half-smile I love seeing first thing in the morning. My mother always told me that if someone loves you enough to watch you sleep, they are either a serial killer or a keeper. In this case, it's the latter, thankfully. Besides that, he kisses me when I have morning breath, and I can have some pretty rancid morning breath.

We took a trip to the grocery store and set a goal to get all the ingredients for under 20 dollars. One 5.5lb whole chicken, bundle of fresh rosemary, arborio rice, mushrooms, cream and some brussel sprouts later (Danny was determined to change my mind about those disgusting little cabbages) we came in under budget and went back to my apartment to prepare. Granted, we did have some ingredients at home already, but my momma taught me to budget shop with the best of them!

Once home, Danny started making his magic in the kitchen. When he's cooking, I like to stand across the counter and watch him work. It literally is magic, the way he just knows exactly how much of anything to put in, the accuracy and skill he has when handling ingredients and marrying them all into one beautiful dish. Tonight was no exception, and being the wonderful person that he is, Danny took extra care to explain each step of this somewhat tedious dish to me in detail, including tips on how to get the breasts nice and juicy. Obviously, I turned that into a dirty joke, hence "naughty chicken" but more on that later.

 

Here, you see Chef Hoyt preparing the herbed butter for the "rub down." Simple butter, olive oil, garlic, fresh rosemary, (we used dried) thyme and lemon zest, all mixed together into a lovely, buttery lump. We warned you... there will be LOTS of butter.

 







 

Next we put the herbed, zesty, sexy butter underneath the chicken's skin. Convienently enough, Frank Sinatra was playing, and just before this step Danny led me around the kitchen to "Under My Skin." The trick to this is making sure the butter is as evenly spread over as much of the breast as you can get at without damaging the chicken. We then cut the lemon in half, sandwiched some whole rosemary sprigs between the halves, and then stuffed the whole shebang into the cavity of the chicken.

 

WARNING: DIRTY JOKE ALERT!! (All those with less tolerance or higher morals than I, I apologize in advance...)  Danny then placed our perfectly seasoned bird FACE DOWN onto the baking sheet. When I asked him why, he explained in a very serious, non-perverted way that putting the bird on it's belly makes the breasts good and juicy. It was too much for my thirteen year old little boy mind to handle, and naturally I went into gales of laughter about how #foodporn had taken on a whole new meaning for me. The lesson here, folks, is not that I shouldn't be allowed in public on most occasions, believe it or not. It is that in order to make the most delectable bird you've ever tasted, you have to think a little dirty, and put it doggy style for 20 minutes at 375 degrees Farenheit.

 

 

 

After 20 minutes, flip the chicken to missionary postion (that's the last one, I promise!) and contine baking at 375 for roughly 20 to 30 more minutes, until skin is golden brown and juice runs clear. If you have a kitchen thermometer, which I did not, the meat should be at least 170 degrees Farenheit.

 

 



                                                   

While the chicken roasted, Monseiur Hoyt made some mushroom and rosemary stock, quickly sauteed mushrooms so they were still firm yet beautiful, and then created risotto, of which I am still too scared to make. I have been informed that I will be making pumpkin risotto this weekend, so stay tuned!

 

Danny then made brussel sprouts, or as I like to call them; Death Cabbage. I remember trying them as a kid and being absolutely repulsed. I had never tasted anything in my life that so closely resembled a sweat sock and I vowed never to eat them again. That was, of course, until Danny convinced me otherwise, claiming that his brussel sprouts would certainly change my mind. We took 8-10 of the vile little buggers and de-stemmed them, then halved them length-wise. Then, we (and by we, I hope you have all picked up on the fact that Danny made this whole meal. I supervised...) blanched the sprouts in boiling, salty water for about a minute, shocking them immediately afterwards in VERY COLD water. We let the liquid drain while heating a pan on the stovetop. Then, we tossed the sprouts into the pan, which was very hot (I'm told this is the secret to good brussel sprouts) and let them sit, turning every few minutes until they began to brown. They should be crispy, so don't be afraid if they get a little darker color. Once they darkened up, we added butter and seasoning to taste. If it helps, think of it as sending them on vacation and they're getting tan... except for when it's over, they're devoured by hungry humans. Fun, no?

 

 

And Voila! There you have it! A delicious rosemary roasted chicken, mushroom risotto and brussel sprout dinner. One of my favorite things about Danny is that he plates EVERYTHING he makes for me, as you will soon witness. He barely gets food on his plate most of the time, but mine always looks like it came straight from a five star restaraunt. Here's my plate, complete with the gravy he concocted from chicken drippings and sherry and butter that I didn't get a picture of.

 

 

I asked for a thigh, since I love dark meat, which was incredibly tender and had a subtle hint of the rosemary and lemon. Danny took a breast piece, which was EXPLODING with the sexy butter flavor and absolutely to die for. After I destroyed my leg, I went up for seconds. And thirds. But who's counting?

 

The risotto was the perfect consistency, sticky yet creamy, and full of hearty flavor and perfectly portioned chunks of mushroom. As much as I was a skeptic, I think that brussel sprouts might be a top three favorite veggie for me now. I asked for seconds and there were no more, since we only got a few in case I didnt like them. Next time, I will make a quadruple batch of sprouts, eat 3/4 of them and bring the last 1/4 to work the next day. My coworkers were jealous enough when I returned from our long weekend with mushroom risotto and roasted chicken. Imagine if I walked in with a tupperware full of emerald brussel sprouts that just returned from their pan vacation with a nice tan? Can you say jealousy or should I spell it out for you?

 

Hope you all had a fantastic President's day. I know, after this meal, I certainly did.

 

'MERICUH. (Like "America," but in American... Danny didn't get it either, so if you don't it's okay.)

 

 

 

Peace, Blessings and Butter,

 

Brooke and Danny

 

Food Porn at it's Finest

I am an active Instagrammer.

Social Media in general is something I've become pretty savvy in. Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, all well-walked avenues I utilize to let those who care and many more who don't know about my day-to-day life. But when I became the proud owner of a smartphone (read: not iPhone), Instagram and I became fast friends.

There is a saying that goes "if you ate a meal and didn't Instagram it, did you really eat the meal at all?" No, my friends. You did not. I post pictures of just about everything I put into my body. Why? To start, the filters usually make whatever random concoction of kitchen leftovers I have thrown together actually look edible. It wasn't until I met my boyfriend, a professionally trained chef, that I became fully aware of how beautiful food can be. From eggs Benedict to chocolate dipped strawberries and brie to hand rolled chocolate truffles, he makes sure every meal is plated to perfection even if it's just breakfast for me to devour before work. After three months of watching him create delicious art and taking pictures before destroying his hard work with my ravenous appetite, I proposed the idea of making a food blog to share with the rest of the world.

I am well aware... there are zillions of blogs out there probably just like this; two people fall in love and make a lot of really delicious food and think "hey! Let's be super original and cute and post pictures on yet another social media site for others to be jealous of!"

We are obnoxious. It's okay, we know.

All that aside, I must say that in the three months I have known this amazing man, I have not only learned some important life skills like love, trust, and how to be with someone in a fully functional capacity, I have also learned some pretty cool stuff in the kitchen. For example... how many of you have actually attempted to crack an egg with one hand? Anyone? This is a skill I did not know I possessed until I was taught, despite his belief that it couldn't be done. Or that chicken shouldn't be cooked with salt EVER because it dries it out? I wish my mother knew that one growing up.

We're cute. We're happy. We're trying something new. Read or don't, we don't really give a shit. If you decide to stick around, than welcome! We hope you enjoy your stay, and that you pick up some useful information about love, life, and the pursuit of delicious food along the way.

Peace and Blessings (and butter... lots of butter)

                                                          Brooke and Danny