We used a flamethrower on our sous vide ribeye and ribs tonight. We might have melted the grill. But the meat was amazing and was done in record time.
Category Archives: Food & Cooking
It’s what’s for pre- and post-dinner.
We sent Katie to the basement pantry to find some Alfredo sauce, saying it was white sauce in a spaghetti sauce jar. She brought up Bloody Mary mix…so we considered it a sign.
A revisit of the Welcome to Illinois dinner.
From Jami:
So… back in February (cough cough), we had a dinner to welcome the Hudsons to IL. I finally got around to downloading my memory card this weekend. Oops.
Owen was the photographer on the group shot!
A nice day means burning wood, playing outside, and s’mores
It was a nice day so Tom was burning some scrap wood and playing football with the kids…
And a little dance:
Which meant when I took a break from my Facebook party, I was sitting out there enjoying the smell. And getting the coals ready (I’d already run to the dollar store to get marshmallows for roasting).
But before s’mores there was a costume change:
And then it was time.
Ribs, ribs, and more ribs.
Tonight was supposed to be a Saturday Night Dinner except one family had to bail due to a family plague and one had clients run long…so we only had one family attend which meant a lot of leftovers. And we didn’t even cook all the ribs we’d prepped in the sous vide. They were delicious!
Dinner tonight…as threatened!
I’ve threatened to buy one the next time I saw an orange sticker…and today was the day! A glorious 2.28# of ribeye. Getting the sous vide ready now!
Someone is also interested…
Just sea salt, garlic powder, pepper, topped with an onion slice then cooked sous vide for five hours. Then Tom will take a torch to it to sear it!
It turned out absolutely delicious. We momentarily thought it was too rare and we going to toss it in a pan quick but we took a taste test and immediately decided it was perfect.
You know it’s going to be a good day…
You know it’s going to be a good day when they have your favorite pre-made Strawberry Lime margaritas back in stock! It also means summer is coming! ☀️🍹
I may have bought two cases. 🙂
Welcome to Illinois Axe Murderer Dinner
Our Tivo friends Jami and David prepared a dinner in our honor to welcome us to Illinois. It was originally going to be our first dinner there…until we ended up going last-minute to one of their previous dinners. As usual, everything was DIVINE…and we came home with leftovers once again. 🙂
I wanted to try my infamous selfie shot but we went the easy route since the kids were with us—Owen was our group photographer.
The Menu
Searing the sous vide prime rib.
Checking on the kids who were being amazing in the living room. They had their iPad, Netflix, and pizza…the kid trifecta.
Part of the aftermath.
I hate when they get off their sleep schedule but I have good memories of sleeping in the car on the way home from family events (and being carried into the house by my dad) that I feel it’s only fair they get to experience it, too. 💗 Katie was out within five minutes; Owen took about 10.
Internet axe murderer friends are the very best.
We have some foodie friends who always make the most incredible-looking meals and we are always jealous when we see the pics on Facebook. But tonight our wishes came true and we were invited to a dinner! (It was last-minute as fill-ins but we didn’t care—if Jami and David ever invite you to dinner, you do whatever you need to do to make it happen!! In our case it was get a last-minute sitter to pick up the kids from Parents Night Out at the rec center and take them home and put them to bed.)
Holy shitballs was that an amazing multi-course meal. Here are just a few pics…and yes, I missed a few courses because wine. We might not need to eat at all tomorrow, though the leftovers will be tempting. Totally worth the 2.5 hours of drive time. Internet axe murderer friends are the very best. 💗
Sesame butter and radish chive tea sandwiches. Aged Gouda. Chorizo foam and goat cheese chantilly with bread sticks. Prosciutto-wrapped artichokes.
The first bottle of delicious wine…
Sous vide pork belly on smoked gouda mac and cheese
Sous vide potatoes and filet mignon (missing bearnaise in the pic)
We then ended the evening with a super fun game and were on the road home by 9:30. A great time was had by all…and we can’t wait to do it again!
Mama can I help you?
I had a whole bag of limes to juice so I let her at it. I did have to help a bit (making sure she got the juice in the cup) but she did really well!
My first Instant Pot lasagna.
I just did a quick taco lasagna with taco meat (from the freezer), ricotta and Mexican cheese blend, and some enchilada sauce at the last minute because I had no “sauce” in my layers (just meat). It cooked for 20 minutes, did a 10-minute natural release, and then I didn’t let it sit any longer because we were hungry, so it started to slide apart. But it was yummy. Owen even wanted seconds. Of course Katie didn’t like it at all.
This is what sad looks like.
Poor bacon. Poor us for not getting to eat the bacon.
This is what happens when you go to the basement for one quick thing then get sucked in to something else. By the time I smelled bacon it was too late.
Green bean cleaners!
Grandpa and Katie were cleaning green beans for dinner tonight—not quite sure who the instigator was!
Helping Gramma make soup!
Thanksgiving 2017
Our turkey chef tonight! #infraredfryer #17pounds #50degreesinmichigan #thanksgiving
I thoroughly enjoyed drinking my first wine in two weeks tonight with Dee (Rob’s girlfriend)… But it gave me a headache. Maybe we should have stopped after the first bottle! 😂
And all the leftovers!!
Potato Helper
Gramma wanted Katie to check with me if we had enough potatoes for our Thanksgiving Dinner. I said no. I mean really, you can never have too many mashed potatoes.
Leftovers for lunch!
Lots of good stuff to choose from!
Ahhhh. A hot toddy and fire-roasted hot dogs!!
Tom had some wood he needed to burn so we decided to have a campfire and cook dinner in it!! But first, something to help warm the insides…
And the kids were playing with huge ice chunks from the water table we left outside!!
We ate them right off a fork by the fire!
I love apple cider season.
It’s time to relax.
The craziness of the craft show is over so it was time to relax. The kids were at the rec center for another Parents Night Out so we went out for a fancy steakhouse dinner at The Tavern.
—Our Menu— BAD KITTY (for me) and BEER (for Tom)
MEDITERRANEAN OCTOPUS
GRILLED OCTOPUS, POTATOES, PROVENCE OLIVE OIL
BAKED FRENCH ONION SOUP
CROUTON, GRATIN CHEESE CRUST
CAVIAR POTATO CHIPS
TOBIKO, SWEET ONIONS, CRÈME FRAICHE
THE TAVERN FILET 8 OZ
& BLOC OF FOIE GRAS
CREAM CHEESE CARROT CAKE
Tastes of childhood.
Mom’s blueberry muffins…
I was warned to stay out of the kitchen.
The kids helped make my surprise birthday cake!
My early birthday night.
Since I had plans for a live LipSense demo and sale on my birthday, we went out tonight instead.
Of course my dinner choice was sushi.
Bulgogi egg rolls
A Volcano and Black Widow
And then since it was still way early…we did what we always do and went to Costco. 🙂
We were home by 8:30. LOL
Marshmallow selfies and drawing by the fire
We grilled steak for dinner and Maggie got this…
She was thrilled!!
Happy 45th Tom!
Tom got a half day off work so we celebrated his birthday in style at our first local Diners, Drive-ins and Dives restaurant: The Shanty. I started with Pineapple Sangria…
Then we tried one of the dishes they showcased on the show: Whiskey Shrimp. It was delish.
And another dish they profiled in DD&D: Blackened Conch Filet. Super yummy.
And a free birthday dessert!
Then we went to check out the Costco in Wisconsin—just a few miles away!
Facebook, friends, and scallops—oh my!
I had a major kitchen crisis (nothing fits anywhere and I was losing my mind) and jokingly asked on Facebook if anyone wanted to come help me figure it out…
And Jami volunteered! And then was serious! (She lives about 1:30 away so it wasn’t completely insane.)
She’s an amaaaaazing cook and has bragged about her perfect scallops so, since I LOVE SCALLOPS, she brought them to teach me how to do it! So I learned how to make perfect scallops with a saffron wine sauce on fresh spinach Fettuccini. It was divine!! Of course, she also brought snacks and wine…and a cast iron pan and avocado cooking oil and cream because my kitchen isn’t up to par yet.
They were so beautiful they really deserve a full-size shot:
She had brought cookies to Owen and Katie. When she handed them out, age called them by name. Katie asked how she knew her name and I said she knew her from the day she was born. (I had told the kids previously that Jami was from the same group of friends as Uncle Eddy, Aunt Sheryl, Miss Nancy, and the whole group of people that came to our house a few times).
Owen waited on his cookie, but Katie was all in.
Owen being silly after tasting other desserts.
Then we played with makeup a bit, did an unplanned Facebook Live video, she bought two new lip colors and a blush, and we drank wine.
I had to get creative since we forgot to keep it chilled. Yes, that plastic ice cube is from a boo-boo bunny.
Oh yes, we did also get some kitchen stuff figured out (also with Linda’s help).
Dinner, wine, and s’mores with the neighbors.
Our two next door neighbors could not be more welcoming. Aside from letting our kids play together all the time, this happened tonight…
Stacey came to collect her kids and I happened to mention that Tom was gone so I was ready to pop the wine and she said her husband was going to be really late so we should do a patio dinner. Yes, please! She would do hot dogs and pizza sticks and I’d bring wine and fruit. She even had frozen peaches for the wine! The middle neighbor, Ines, joined us and felt guilty for not bringing anything, so she offered s’mores at their house after! Yes, please!!
Our first Illinois dinner outside!
It pays to know the owner.
Shopping before the store opens…the benefits of being related to the owner. We brought home 18 packs of brats!!
