Coffee Jones

LOL Cake

2008-04-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

LOLCats -- love 'em or hate 'em?

At Chez Jones, it's love 'em. Even DinoBurger laughs out loud, which is really saying something.

I made a LOLCat inspired birthday cake for my 10 year old Coffee Bean:

It's true, I did burn the cake somewhat, but it was still delish. I did better with Blondies last night, and hope to do as well with brownies this afternoon. I have a dozen youngsters ready to mutiny if they don't get their legal allotment of treats this evening. And that's no LOL'ing matter.

Wedding Finery

2008-04-10T15:44:00.001-07:00

Trendy NYC Restaurant or Uglydoll Name?

2008-04-07T07:36:00.000-07:00

Babbo
Babo
Tray
Zoe
Abima
Kittichai
Gato Deluxe
Momofuko K
Moxy
Wage
Lomito
Nobu
Fiamma
Peaco

Source for trendy restaurant names: google
Source for Uglydoll names: my children’s bedroom floors, and
http://www.uglydolls.com

Answers
Uglydolls: 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 14
Restaurants: 1, 4, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13

No Bloggie, No Eatie

2007-12-03T16:57:00.000-08:00

I overcame* dreadful, dreadful 120 day writer's block with my _other_ blog. This one may be pure recreation, but that one is meant for work. It's not even really writer's block, it's just plain procrastination coupled with my bad habit of "cherry picking" what tasks to do each day. I had a few moment's cold and snowy peace while waiting for Granny Jones to arrive at her bus stop, and it occurred to me that I really want to blog, want to get past whatever crazy cherry picking behavior was keeping me from gittin' 'er dun.

So while I waited for the oven to preheat for tonight's dinner, I went down to the dungeon to set to publishing something, anything on that other blog. And despite the need to reboot the 'puter, and the littlest coffee beans tracking me down to show me their latest performance art, and my raging desire to eat, and even more ironclad compulsion to serve dinner at the tick of 6:30pm, I did manage to git 'er dun.

Tonight's dinner was yet another leftover from our insanely fabulous party held over the weekend. Baked Brie, baguette, arugula salad, and more of Arax's finest middle eastern grub. It seems that nobody doesn't like Baked Brie!**

* if only momentarily
** we ate at 7:00, and nobody cared

Not a 30 Minute Meal

2007-11-23T16:35:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Thanksgiving here in the new house, and it was a successful day in every way. We had 12 for dinner, 8 adults and 4 kids*. After much ~~crabby arguments~~ patient discussion between Mister Jones and I, he we decided that a "paced" meal would be better than just throwing down the turkey and 27 side orders all at once. We both recall the feeling of putting sooo much work into things all to be over in just a few greedy minutes. I thought it might be a little precious, but it really worked. Here was our menu, with links, even!

Fireside: sesame sticks, banana chips, cheese (pepper goat cheese, smoked gouda), crackers, peppadews**, and Parmesan Stuffed Dates Wrapped in Bacon , which, to my surprise, were only half-finished. Whattsammata, people, something wrong with sweet+salty+smoky?

First Course: Slow Cooked Onion Salad Lovely, if somewhat labor intensive to prepare, with a fabulous dressing. Not good as leftover, though. Not likely to repeat for Thanksgiving, but could work at a potluck, or with a simpler supper.

Soup: Carrot with Toasted Almond Soup Nice. I made this Tuesday night with carrots from Wilson (We're Too Snooty for Peppadews) Farms. This recipe is idiot-proof, providing you use good quality carrots, butter, and shallots. I literally ran out of room in the pot, so I fudged the amounts of cider, stock, and water. Mr. Jones pureed it with our ridiculously loud blender at 11:30pm, amazingly NOT waking up the entire household.

Appetizer: Citrus Marinated Shrimp Cocktail Easy, somewhat different, and light. We made a vodka-free version for the kids. I liked it!

OK, so then we magically*** put the rest of the food on the table. A beautiful, perfectly cooked, mahogany skinned, turkey. Herbed Bread stuffing. Spiced Cranberry Sauce. Mashed Potatoes and Leeks with Thyme. Make-ahead gravy.

And, the surprise (but really, not a surprise to me) hit of the day: Mashed Yams in Orange Cups. I almost didn't go for it, succumbing ahead of time to the imagined peer pressure against marshmallows in any form on The Holy New England Thanksgiving Table. Screw it, I thought, after reading the reviews. Were they a pain in the ass? Yes. Did I burn my little fingers opening up the freshly microwaved (yes, you read that correctly) yams. Did I feel just a little, um, ODD, putting marshmallows in my vegetables? Yes. Was it fussy, cutting the oranges just so, freezing them to firm up the sides, then scooping in the little dolly portions, decorating with marshmallows and pecans... Yes. I served them round, and to my complete surprise, it was Mister Enthusiasm himself, my husband, who positively _blurted out_ after one bite, "these are really delicious!" Quite successful, and really made for a lot of laughs and conversation. (Note: I didn't use eggs, as the idea of making ahead of time and not cooking the eggs until the next day creeped me out. And I added brandy, and cardamom.)

So it was a fantastic meal, which took HOURS to complete, which is only fitting since it took DAYS to execute. We capped it off with coffee (natch) and Mother Jones pumpkin pie****, along with SisInLaws fabulous brownies and raspberry chocolate cookies.

I'm glad I had the time on hand to put into it, but damn, that was a boatload of work. I'm enormously pleased, though!

-----Annoying Notations-----
* This is what the children ate: cheese & crackers, grapes, carrot sticks, canteloupe, apple cider, piece of shrimp (amongst the 4 of them) and .5 oz of turkey (ditto). Oh, and dessert, with seconds.

** You know that fear you have, when you're working from an elaborate plan, that you might actually forget to serve something? This was our "forgotten item". Made slightly more annoying by the fact that it took 3 different attempts to find them. Note to Wilson Farms: Peppadews are delish, and classy enough even for the likes of Lexington. Note to Belmont Shaws: see Note to Wilson Farms.

*** A double oven, is a wondrous thing. To think I almost went with a single!

****She is the best mother in law, the antidote to every mother in law joke ever told. She made an entire 2nd pie, for day after thanksgiving breakfast, shared by all the females in the house: yours truly, Beanette, Granny Jones, and Mother Jones herself.

Her Hipness Speaks

2007-11-19T06:46:00.000-08:00

I just caught myself saying "Oh, Snap!" and not in an ironic faux-hipster way. It was an expression of just plain joy, when I found an item I needed (but suspected I was out of) for a client's shipment.

Still Cookin'

2007-07-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

Wednesday's Meal Smoked Salmon (RRGR*, p. 145)

Backstory It's pleasantly warm, this side of bearable tonight. I'm glad I planned something cool and easy. The kids and I walked down to Wilson Farms to get some of the produce. This is easy and relaxed summer meal. My days don't seem easy and relaxed to me, but I'd say we had a pretty good day at Camp Mummy (playdate, swimming, gymnastics).

Preparation Easy. Almost a no-cook, but for the hard boiled eggs. For whatever reason, my hard boiled eggs were somewhat soft, so I served them individually instead of quartered with the greens and dressing. I was doubtful about a dressing made w/ cherry tomatoes, but after throwing it in w/ the greens, it didn't matter. I did use about 2x the salmon, knowing my family's ~~greed~~ healthy appetite.

Results A definite winner. The boy loved it. Granny Jones was happy, as usual. No complaints from Mr. Jones, either. Beanette was a little busy pushing things around her plate, but that's her normal way.

Rerun Potential Hmmm, I'm thinking tomorrow? I could make this once a week and they'd be happy.

Sneak Peek Tomorrow is Granny Jones' moving day and baseball, so dinner is somewhat up in the air. Friday is some kind of hazelnut crusted chicken.

*RRGR = Rachael Ray Get Real 30 Minute Meals, aka the Low Carb book. Surprisingly good, and anyone who knows me knows I care not for the low carb craze. I was just getting kind of weary of the first 3.

Older and Haggarder

2007-07-25T14:40:00.001-07:00

...and yet the blog is still here. Now disconnected from my work blog. Not that anyone's reading, but still....

Insert Whitty Title Here

2007-01-09T11:13:00.000-08:00

Lots o meals to catch up on! Big events happening at the Coffee Jones household, but that'll have to wait for now...

Friday's Meal Lamb Patties with Garlic & Mint over Mediterranean Chopped Salad (RR365, #89)

Backstory Frazzled and Nervous

Preparation Easy, and flexible w/ respect to veggies/herbs. Some of the fresh herbs on my Peapod order didn't get delivered, but tweaked the recipe to what was on hand. This one's a no brainer, just what I needed. I used Penzey's Turkish Blend to make it more authentically middle eastern.

Results Good, but overshadowed by delivering Big News to the littlest Coffee Beans.
Rerun Potential Will re-run for sure.

Monday's Meal Grilled Halibut Tacos with Guacamole Sauce (RR2, p. 154)

Backstory As is normally the case on Mondays, I needed a quick grocery store run, so might as well buy some fish! No halibut today, so I used Haddock. Got 3 avocados, could have done fine with 2. Skipped the rice and beans that were recommended along with this recipe, focusing on fish, tortillas, greens, a red pepper, some cheese, and of course the guacamole "sauce".

Preparation Another no brainer. (Sense a trend here?) Made the guac. a bit more like my usual recipe. Used sour cream instead of yogurt.

Results Too, too delicous. The fish was great, seasoned with salt, pepper & lime. The guac was sublime.

Rerun Potential Look for it soon, it was that good.

Sneak Peek: Vodka Cream Pasta Sauce tonight!

Happy New Year

2007-01-04T05:21:00.000-08:00

Today is a 2-fer, as I was busy last night being exhausted and playing with my new cell phone...

Tuesday's Meal Pancetta-Wrapped Shrimp Supper Salad (RR365, #319)

Backstory We were in recovery from the final holiday whirlwind. Hit the grocery store for shrimp (post New Year's Day Closeout Sale on shellfish, I guess) and pancetta. Lot O Stress in the Jones family due to Upcoming Major Life Event.

Preparation OK, so I had a few phone calls to make and receive, so wrapping the slices of pancetta on the jumbo (actually just "large" if you ask me) shrimp, "barber pole style", while talking on the phone was just not going to happen. So I kind of just smooshed each shrimp into a half moon of pancetta and secured with a toothpick. OK, I know it was supposed to be raw shrimp, not pre-cooked. Do you know how much RAW JUMBO SHRIMP costs? Please. Yes, I know it was supposed to be a salad with two kinds of greens and some artichoke hearts, but I was in a hurry and only got salad-in-a-bag. And yes, my shallots were, shall we say, expired, so I had to use fresh garlic.

Results No complaints from the Jones family, despite all of the cut corners mentioned above. Really, who in my family will complain about shrimp wrapped in pork? Mmm, it was good. Just not elegant or of the utmost quality.

Rerun Potential Seriously, I'll try this one as written someday soon.

Wednesday's Meal Spring Chicken with Leeks and Peas, served with Lemon Rice (RR365, #121)

Backstory With my regular Peapod grocery delivery safely done, I was somewhat more prepared to follow the recipe as indicated. This one is a winner, and I'm kind of surprised I hadn't tried it already. Wished Granny Jones was here tonight, she would _love_ this one! Another fairly stressful day, with plenty to grumble about and the dreaded INVENTORY going on in the Studio. Making dinner was a pleasure. Beanette made "oobleck" (not a Rachel Ray recipe, to be sure) at the butcher block while I cooked. (Ooobleck = cornstarch plus water)

Preparation Delightfully easy. Got the leeks (Thank you, Peapod, for sending me two BUNCHES of leeks instead of two leeks. Jerks.) chopped and soaking first off. Had to nuke some chicken breast, but managed not to singe the edges too badly. Managed to spill a nice amount of rice across the counter, but Beanette used it in her oobleck, so no harm done. Seriously, that lemon rice (broth, zest, oil) is delish. Uncorked some white wine for deglazing, which should't be skipped -- really works with the chicken and leeks.

Results Nice. Yes, boneless chicken breast can only taste so good, but the dish is really pretty (leeks, peas, parsley) and satisfying. Such a nice change from all the pasta and ground beef I've been cooking with lately.

Rerun Potential Will do again, for sure.

Sneak Peek: no cooking tonight, but on deck for Friday is Lamb Patties with Mediterranean Salad (RR365, #89).

Shuffle Off to Buffalo

2006-12-22T19:02:00.000-08:00

Tonight's Dinner: Buffalo Turkey Burgers (RR365, #260)

Backstory: We're in Christmas Countdown Mode. Supervised a playdate at our house. Ran a few errands, compulsively searched the house for the cross stitched stockings, still missing as of 10:04pm. We may try the storage unit tomorrow, but otherwise it's pillow cases for everyone. Shit. Made Gingerbread (from Epicurious) with Beanette, to bake and decorate tomorrow. Took a nap and trudged into the kitchen to make a pretty easy and really quite delightful "junky" dinner.

Preparation: Could not be easier. I was nervous that the turkey being so lean (a little vegetable oil added to the mixture, but still) would make the burgers dry, but they were fine. Not juicy like a burger, but the buffalo style sauce and blue cheese really helped. What's not to love about Frank's Red Hot with butter. Mmmm.

Results: With all the holiday stress, I didn't plan this week to get such high marks. My goal was just to muddle through so that I can do my "real" cooking for the holidays. Everyone was happy with this meal.

Rerun Potential: Very Likely. Would eat another right now, in fact.

Best Laid Plans: Absolutely nothing planned for supper tomorrow. Will be cooking up a storm, though. Lasagna for Xmas night, Coffee Cake for Xmas morning, and possibly more desserts for our non-traditional Boxing Day Mexican Fiesta.

[RR365 = Rachel Ray's 365: No Repeats]

Blue Ribbon Mum

2006-12-20T17:37:00.000-08:00

Tonight's Dinner: BBQ Sloppy Chicken Pan Pizza (RR365, #71)

Backstory: Out for playdate dropoff and appointments all day. More errands in the afternoon, too. The little coffee beans were self-entertaining, so cooking time was fairly stress-free. Mister Jones and I are contemplating some exciting-but-scary life changes, so having a recipe to follow allowed me to let my mind wander.

Preparation: Fairly easy, very straightforward. Got the chopping squared away first. Added all kinds of extra goodness in the form of Penzeys Spices: chipotle pepper in the cornbread "pizza dough" and BBQ of the Americas in the ground chicken. Mister Jones wasn't around to complain about the brown sugar in the mixture, either. (Aside: I think he's out buying Xmas gifts.)

Results: The kids loved it, and made kid-sounding titles like NumberOneBlueRibbonCornbreadPizzaMum'sBest. Very cute. With all my above-mentioned additives, it came out quite spicy, and I complimented the kids on their refined palates.

Rerun Potential: High. Good when in need of an ego-boost from the younger set.

Best Laid Plans: Tomorrow's Supper is Tonight's Supper, leftover.

[RR365 = Rachel Ray's 365: No Repeats]

Blog? What Blog?

2006-12-19T16:32:00.000-08:00

Uh, yes it has been ~~four months~~ a while since I've posted! I blame writer's block, procrastination, laziness or a combination of the above.

It's been said that No One Cares What You Had For Lunch but I'm sure everyone is just dying to know what I made for dinner. And since I've been blathering on about Rachel Ray to everyone who will listen, I thought I'd pull a Julie Powell and blog about my success (mostly) with Rachel Ray's recipes. In doing so, I might slip in a few updates from my life.

Tonight's Dinner: Tomato-Basil Pasta Nests (RR365, #242)

Backstory: Day 4 of Holiday Vacation for the kids, I have a cold, and my Peapod delivery is set for tonight, so I'm in forage mode. DH arrived home to take the kids out for errands, so as a delightful surprise I cooked and dined solo. <---- I never, ever, get to have dinner alone, so it's a treat!

Preparation: This is about as easy as dinner gets. I had done a Costco run earlier, so picked up some garlic bread and the required pesto, the only things I needed that weren't on hand. I cheated and used vermicelli instead of angel hair, so this wasn't particularly "nesty". Otherwise it was an easy sauce (onions, garlic, tomatoes, fresh basil, pesto, parmesan) and was pretty good. I'd say a couple of notches above jar sauce, to be sure.

Rerun Potential: Medium

Best Laid Plans: Tomorrow's Supper (w/ leftovers for Thursday) will BBQ Sloppy Chicken Pan Pizza (RR365, #71), and Friday is: Buffalo Turkey Burgers (RR365, #260).

[RR365 = Rachel Ray's 365: No Repeats]

Ten Bullet Points

2006-08-01T17:25:00.000-07:00

...to keep the blog alive for at least one more night.

It's frickin' hot (at 5:30 it was 95, feels like 100, according to Boston.com)
My swimming pool makes all the difference in the world. I'm sweating like a pig as I write this, but just knowing it's out there, waiting for me.....
Just when I thought I lost my iPod, there it was, on DH's desk, under some useless paper. Last night I uploaded product and listened to every Steely Dan song, twice. It was delightful but I had a hard time going to sleep. Coincidence?
Design Star is a crappy realitainment, but Project Runway rawks.
I'm in food jail. Again.
I really had to work at those first 5 bullet points. (Why do I always think of the cute/funny/insightful things when I'm at the gym or sleeping?)
My daughter? Has this new habit? Of inserting question marks? In all her sentences? Even though she's not asking any questions? (I'm sure this will stop being cute real soon.)
Today was a shitty day, work-at-home-mothering-wise. And I'm still glad that I'm home.
I'm secretly pleased that my other blog got on the blogroll of someone I consider way cool.
I really don't know if I'll keep posting to this blog.

That Was The Week That Was

2006-06-21T17:26:00.000-07:00

OK, so a week has gone by and we're all still on speaking terms. I consider that a good sign! The days are zipping by, and I'm pretty well exhausted at the end of the day, but in a good way.

MisterJones may not have wanted the pool, but it makes my "job" so much easier. We're practically living out there, which kind of cancels out the whole "get dressed" and "take a bath" parts of my daily checklist.

Did I mention the checklist? As part of Camp Mummy, I thought up a little Mad Lib / Weather Report / To Do List / Customer Service Feedback form. First we choose an animal to be for the day (I don't know why but they particularly love being something other than humans on a regular basis) and perhaps we come up with a few facts or draw some pictures. Then we move on to the weather forecast. I have a dummy schedule with checkable bullet points, and it shows them all the important daily milestones like TV/Computer, Lunch, and Pool. It also shows, in writing, the times when Mummy ~~procrastinates while surfing the web and pretends to clean the studio~~ Works.

So far, the littlest coffee beans seem to like it, and it has kept us more or less on the ball. Of course, one of these days we'll just cross out the whole damn thing and go to the beach.

The highlight of the week came today when I was ~~spying~~ checking on them outside and I found them crouched down on the front walk, elbows on knees, having an intimate conversation. For all I know they were plotting a bloodless coup against the Camp Mummy Regime. It was pretty damn cute, though.

Oh, and to celebrate the Solstice, we did the Diet Coke + Mentos experiment with Ann, Eric, and a neighbor child. It was too funny. Of course my poor, DietCoke deprived kids treated it like a soda fountain and helped themselves direct from the geyser.

The downside of the week would be the overpowering guilt I feel for Not Being Productive At Work. And yet I've shipped orders, answered emails, returned (some) phone calls, and picked up my packages. I've blogged (for the business), uploaded product, and stitched, even.

Guilt? What guilt? I think I'll put my feet up, watch some crap telly, and stitch some more....

G'night!

Any Last Requests?

2006-06-12T16:50:00.000-07:00

Tommorow is the last day of school for the littlest coffee beans. Coincidentally, it's my first day on the job as full time chauffeur, nutritionist, housekeeper, personal chef, jailer, swim-slash-art-slash-music-slash-literacy coach, and personal assistant. During previous summers I had the luxury of using daycare, camp, or what have you while I toiled away someplace else in air conditioned comfort. Fast forward to 2006, and I'm now "working at home", which loosely translated, means "give up any hope of getting anything done between 9 and 6". Somewhere around New Year's Eve, when summer seemed like a distant mirage, I thought it would be good to actually use that $5K earmarked for summer camp for something more luxurious, like food, and the mortgage, and stuff.

So here I sit, somewhat nervous, but mostly hopeful that it's going to be a good summer for each of us. I've got a carefully planned schedule for each day, which includes a couple of hours for me to attend to work (read: websurfing and taking a nap) , and doesn't rely on Vitamin T (that's Television) for more than, say, 3 or 4 hours a day.

Wish me luck, I think I'm going to need it!

It's Over of Quiet Time

2006-06-10T15:39:00.000-07:00

Now what do I do?