Dreamy Popcorn - as simple as it gets

After an early dinner, I sometimes get the urge to just keep on eating. As I love food - it's not too surprising. However, I also like to fit into my clothes and not blow up like a whale - so I try to keep it under control. So - I've been resorting to popcorn at night. It's the PERFECT evening snack, easy to share or not and extremely easy to snazz it up with some "GOURMET" style flavors. *** Perfect for after holiday meals when the family is just hanging out - and you don't want leftovers!***

First: go for the gold and make the popcorn on the stovetop. Microwaves don't cut it here. It's easy and cheap - and makes your kitchen smell like a high school basketball game (in a good way.)

Old-School Popcorn

Let's Get Punchy!

punch [puhnch] –noun

1. a beverage consisting of wine or spirits mixed with fruit juice, soda, water, milk, or the like, and flavored with sugar, spices, etc.
2. a beverage of two or more fruit juices, sugar, and water, sometimes carbonated.

Make your holiday hosting a BREEZE by preparing a punch or other big batch beverage for your next gathering. Read More and Click on the beverage for the link to the recipe.



Mulled Red Wine (adapted from Barefoot Contessa and Gourmet)
- Main Tastes: Red Wine, Citrus, Kirsch,
- Serve Warm - will make your house smell delicious!

Admiral Russell's Christmas Punch (Bon Appetit)
- Main Tastes: Lemon, Cognac and Sherry

Sherry Eggnog (Esquire)

Homemade Hot Chocolate
- great to have on hand for the kids
- keep a bottle of peppermint schnapps handy for the adults

How do you find the right spot?

Right spot to eat? Right spot for a "fun and spontaneous" date? Right spot for a lazy Sunday afternoon? Right spot when you were too busy all day to find the right spot but still want to have a fun night with someone special?

How to be "A Good Wife" (a la 1954)

Betty Draper must have missed this class in high school.

"plug and play" tool for Thanksgiving Dinner

This is a must to check out! A simple quiz to see how exotic or traditional, easy or gourmet, many or few people - all to kick out a great menu for the great fall get together.

Coke Addict

I'm sitting in a library, trying to write. There are two things that will help me here - some caffeine, and to just start writing something, anything (like a blog post.) Big LEGAL MEMO on Defamation and Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress is due on Tuesday. I sometimes wonder if law profs are trying to find the line of IIED - and go right up to it. They all say that you can't really win an IIED case - I think it's their way of protecting themselves...

OK - so I'm writing now. Words are starting to dance around in my head - that's a good thing. Now - caffeine... but, I've decided to give up artificial sweeteners whenever possible... so, my FIRST COKE! No diet today! I ran over to the little deli near school and grabbed a wrap for lunch - and a can of Coca Cola. Coke Classic. I don't even know the difference between Coke, Coca-Cola, Coke Classic. Is there a difference? Whatever - it won't change my claims of actionability for defamation.

Want to bake something with Coke? Check out this Coke Cake.

There - I think I've just accomplished my two goals of the moment. Now, back to writing something legally smart.

Dutch Apple Pie for a fall BBQ

Apple pie just seems like the right thing to do in the fall. Looking for some way to add something new - I decided to try out the Dutch Apple Pie recipe with some modifications from Cook's Illustrated Fall Entertaining (2009 cover recipe - still on the shelf). Check out the magazine for the full recipe. It's worth the $8.

This recipe breaks the process down into three parts: the bottom crust, the apples, and the streussel topping. This proved to be helpful on a busy day that made me leave the kitchen several times between steps.

Crust: baked blind, and using cold vodka for part of the water. Very smart. You can get vodka much colder than water! If you don't keep it cold, measure it into a small ziplock and throw it into your freezer while you get everything else together.
Scate's Tip: I used pear vodka.

Apples: The apples are cooked down in a big dutch oven before assembling the pie. This is a great way to manage the amount of liquid that goes into the finished product.

Scate's Tip: you need liquid! After cooking down the apples, if you don't have much liquid left over, add about 1/4 cup of apple cider to the cream. This will really help your pie meld together. Also, I don't like raisins with apples - so I used finely chopped dried apricot. It added a nice color and was really perfect for this pie.

Scate's Tip: Check out your farmer's market for apples! I was able to chat with a woman from the farm - she knew everything there was to know about apples and apple pie. It was really helpful. I got some harrelson and something else that was soft... I can't remember! Look for a mix of crisp and soft, and sweet and tart.

Streussel: mixed with a little bit of white cornmeal! This made it retain the crunch even after sitting on the counter for a bit.

Scate's Tip: Avoid over mixing - you want the lumbs to create a great topping.

Justice by way of Annie's Shells (pep'd up!)

I'm doing an A-1 job studying tonight. Feeling the first signs of a sore throat today (ACK!) - I decided the full-force attack plan had to get enacted, then I could study better.

Step 1: Target pit stop after school. Load up on Zicam stuff, they're out of echinacea???

Step 2: Don't touch anything or anyone on the bus ride home. Pop a zinc lozenge.

Step 3: Get my sweat on - run 3 miles with bursts of speed. It will help get blood moving, i'm sure.

Step 4: Shower. Run salt water through cavities to find and DESTROY the bad bugs. Pop a zinc lozenge.

Step 5: Incorporate peppers into a "comfort food"/study dinner.
Step 6: Mango sorbet and sleepy-time tea. Hope this leads to a good night of sleep!

Annie's Shells and Cheese - they used to be the fancy mac n'cheese that families had in Boulder when I babysat (in undergrad). Organic food was so young and new, but in Boulder - it already had a strong hold of the market in the late nineties. Somehow, eating "organic" mac n'cheese makes it seem healthy. However, it does not manage to take away the "i'm a student now!" fun dinner.

This past weekend, I spotted these great peppers at the farmer's market. They were sold as "sweet, and creamy" when cooked. Hmmm... i've never had a 'creamy' pepper before. Sounds good. Looks even better sitting on the counter ALL WEEK waiting for a dinner to call home.

Since I was just cooking for my self tonight - into the Annie's shells it went! This was so tasty! I threw an all-beef hot-dog and one of the peppers into a little non-stick pan while the noodles boiled. I let the pepper and dog get all dark and cooked through - pulled it off the heat just as the noodles were done. Drain the noodles, slice the dog and pepper (can keep all of these seeds - not spicy at all). I stirred in the pepper and hot dog before the sauce ingredients. I'm not sure it would really matter - I was hoping that the pepper would help flavor the sauce. Maybe it did - but not noticibly.

Tasty for a Thursday while going over my Lawyering Skills material. I came up with a great mnomonic device to remember all of the US Supreme Court Justices:

The Super Active Girl

Sails, Bikes, Runs*

and Sometimes Kayaks.

(Thomas, Stevens, Alito, Ginsburg, Scalia, Breyer, Roberts (CJ), Sotomayor, and Kennedy).

Who knows - it could be on the test tomorrow. Even if it's not - it's something every law student SHOULD know!