St. Patrick's Nutella Pocket Cookies

Ok, St. Pat didn't invent these cookies. They're the delightful creation of La Fuji Mama that I adapted to the Irish holiday by adding green food coloring. I shared with her that I had never heard of Nutella before, but upon discovery of her recipe, found some at the store (among the peanut-butters and jellies). Curious, I opened it in the car on the way home and tried a couple fingers full. I had to toss the jar into the back seat where I couldn’t reach it to keep from eating most of it before I got home. This stuff is perilously addictive.

We had a St. Paddy's potluck at work today, so I baked and took these; everybody I work with just loved them. So my derby is off to you, La Fuji Mama! I award you the glorious shamrock o' the kitchen!

The only change I made, besides their wearin' o' the green, was that I believe I cut them a little thinner. After you get a routine going, they're quite simple to assemble. The only advice I would give is to resist the temptation to overfill them with the chocolatey Nutella gooey goodness, because it squishes out when you try to seal them. They taste just as great, but are slightly less attractive. So I ate those.

And yes, that is a seriously old Tupperware pie crust guide! I've had it forever and use it for anything I'm rolling out. I don't happen to own a cookie cutter though, so I used a drinking glass and may be looking for a cookie cutter next...

Today at work we had the potluck. We work in a rather shabby area of town in a fenced in compound with about a dozen buildings called the "Region Complex". The building I work in is just across a chain-link fence from a small mobile home trailer park where police activity is not uncommon, so we have occasional "lock-downs" that we are notified, when they are searching the trailer park for some unsavory criminal element, to lock all the doors and stay inside.

My supervisor told us this morning he'd seen a police car go by next door, so we all watched as, not one, but two stole slowly by and turned the corner into another part of the park. Some time later, I walked over to another building in the complex and when I returned, found the door was locked. Oh holy hell! I envisioned armed criminals and cops in a crossfire with me at its center! I started banging on the door and yelling to let me in. When my boss opened the door, he was laughing so hard, he had to lean against the wall to keep from falling. Other than a totally warped sense of humor, he's a great boss :)


He loved the cookies, too...Happy St. Pat's day everyone.

The Olympics, Steak & Shrimp Scampi

I bought a lot of seafood on sale this weekend, so we had steamer clams and store-made shrimp scampi Friday night. The clams, I boiled, drained, added some garlic, white wine, and lemon juice. I could eat those by the gallon! Tonight, though, to celebrate the Olympics-so far we've seen two couples skate-not being able to ski (rain rain rain-but I don't feel so bad, I watched the nordic combined today, and those guys were out cross-country skiing and shooting in sleet-blech), so I had some cooked, deveined shrimp (hey, I'm lazy, but I'd gladly take a lesson on deveining if someone has some advice to make it easy). The store-made scampi was pretty salty, so I left salt out and mine turned out less salty and, perhaps, healthier.

Olive Oil in skillet, about 2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 sliced green onions
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
2 lbs. cooked deveined shrimp (but not those little bitty canned things that have the consistency of pencil erasers and are suitable for a last-minute salad for a 4th of July picnic!) 
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup white wine
Italian seasoning

Multi-grain thin spaghetti

Saute garlic and green onion in olive oil. Add crushed red pepper flakes and shrimp and cook until warmed through. Add butter and Italian seasoning, then white wine when the butter has melted. Add to cooked, drained pasta and serve. I plan to submit this to Presto Pasta Nights, the hosted this week by Mrs. Ergul Passion of Food and Life and courtesy of Ruth of Once Upon a Feast.
 

My son Brian cooked the steaks, a talent he has perfected over the last several years. When he started, he cooked them all the way he likes them - nearly raw and coated with cayenne pepper. Once I explained that the rest of us like them cooked, and edible, he does a great job, and did so tonight.

Years ago, when he was a novice, it was my parental pleasure to listen to him clicking the starter repeatedly on the barbeque, lean outside and suggest he open the lid, as fire needs air. He did, then clicked the starter again immediately and then disappeared, albeit briefly, in a fire ball. Mercifully the only damage to his person was singed hair and eyebrows, and to me, wide open mouth and rapid heartbeat.

It's still hard for me to watch Olympic skating. My mother loved it and followed it avidly. She died of heart disease in 2001 and were she still alive, I would know who was skating for what country, their standings, and would have watched some of the competition leading up to the Olympics. So, I watched the young American couple skate tonight, often overcome with tears. I always miss my Mom, but at times like these, I miss her more. Even if I didn't, there are so many poignant stories on the paths the competitors take to get there, I would probably be weepy anyway. Many of the athletes and their families sacrifice all to compete.

I have found limitless creative ways to waste time on the web. I spent quite a lot of the day on Facebook, not only creating a comic avatar for myself (this actually looks quite a lot like me, except I might look slightly older), but also chronicling where I've traveled on "Where I've Been" both of which are excellent examples to tick away your time on - well - the inconsequential.

Ghee

I haven’t made ghee for a couple of years, you know, life gets busy, you let things slide, but this is one thing I shouldn’t have ignored. The recipe is ridiculously easy, but you do have to keep and eye on it.

Ingredients:

1/2 – 1 lb. unsalted butter

You can find a lot of directions for this online-most of them probably work.

Melt the butter in a sauce pan on medium-low heat-it depends on your stove. It will begin to boil-actually, it can get quite explosive at first, then it settles down to serious business.

Don’t stir, but allow it to continue to cook 20 to 30 minutes. It will develop a foam on the top and the solids will sink and start to brown. This is where you should watch it, if it starts to burn, you won’t have that golden delicious flavor and aroma! You have to kind of get a feel for when it’s done. I read in one post that it should smell like fresh-baked croissants-that’s a pretty good description.

Remove from heat and let cool for half an hour. Line a strainer with 4-5 thicknesses of cheesecloth; strain into sterilized jar. It does not need refrigeration.

This is what's left in the pan: