Holy Guacamole!

Mike, Audrey and I FINALLY went to NewBo City Market in Cedar Rapids yesterday. It’s been open for a while and I decided we had to go check it out once and for all. There are two halves to it the market: one side with permanent food vendors (Mexican food, cupcakes, spices, ice cream, coffee, baked goods, and lots and lots of yummy stuff) and the other side with temporary vendors (food & craft) that can rent a spot for just that weekend. Our first stop was Iowa Soul Food Market’s spot (run by the same couple that owns Sweetiepie’s Chicken & Fish Fry with the BEST fried chicken and hush puppies) we tried chicken & waffles for the first time. The fluffy waffle, salty fried chicken & sweet maple syrup made for an interesting and delicious combination! Sorry there’s no picture of it. It disappeared right before I realized that I should have taken a picture of it!

We also tried cupcakes from That Cupcake Place. They were really dense, didn’t have butter cream frosting and just weren’t very good. Maybe I’m just a cupcake snob now, but if I’m paying more than $2 for a cupcake, I expect it to be better than something I could make myself.

Now on to our 3rd stop: the absolute best guacamole I’ve ever had in my entire life. I am NOT kidding. We purchased it from one of the temporary vendors. It’s called “Tim’s Holy Guacamole.” He had samples of lots of salsas (mostly), a ranch/salsa dip and guacamole. I saw that guacamole and headed straight for it. Then I had another sample, and another sample. It was so good I couldn’t stop sampling! The secret ingredient? BLUE CHEESE! Of course there’s the usual cilantro, tomatoes, onions, some spices and even bacon which I’ve put in my guacamole before. Tim handed me my purchased container of guacamole and said it also made a good spread on sandwiches. I believe I said under the influence of his most-excellent guacamole, “Forget that. I’m eating it straight from the container with a spoon.”

Help Me Decide!

If you saw the post “Floored” you know the floors of our kitchen/dining area were just refinished. At the end of that post, I hinted that our cabinets were probably going to have to be painted since they don’t match the new color of the floor. I’m having a little difficulty deciding which color to paint them and need your help. Part of the problem is that there are just too many choices out there! White? Green to match the hutch I refinished last fall? Light yellow? Below is a picture of what the kitchen cabinets currently look like along with a few photoshop’d color possibilities. Of course I have an argument against each combination: too many colors in the kitchen, too boring, too dark…the list goes on and on. And once the cabinets are redone the counters will have to go, too, I’ve included 2 options for your choosing pleasure (dark brown/black & tan/brown). Please comment on this blog post and leave your thoughts instead of the FB page so I can see all comments in one place…Go!!!

Current color of cabinets & counter.

“Meadow” cabinets (to match hutch in dining area) with dark brown/black counter.

Blue cabinets (a little darker shade than the walls) with tan/brown counter.

Buttery yellow with tan/brown counter.

White cabinets with tan/brown counter.

 

 

 

 

 

Hooray for Mustard!

I made these cheeseburgers for dinner a few weeks ago and forgot to write a post about them. I know you’re really sad about my neglectfulness.  The amazing thing about this cheeseburger was that Audrey ate an entire one! I mixed in a little bit of Dijon mustard with the meat before grilling them. Maybe that was the reason she loved it so much. I’ll never know since I didn’t tell her there was mustard in it!

Easy Greek Salad

I was on salad duty for this month’s Cooking Club dinner. I threw this together a few minutes before leaving the house. Gotta love Greek salad. Forgot to throw in the kalamata olives, though. Rats!

The recipe for the dressing was from my new Cooking Light Essential Dinner Tonight cookbook:  1 T. lemon juice, 2 t. red wine vinegar, 1/2 t. dried oregano, 1/4 t. salt and 1 T. olive oil. I threw all the ingredients in a little plastic container and gave it a good shake before drizzling it on the salad.

 

BBQ Rubbed Pork Chops

Another recipe from my new Cooking Light cookbook: BBQ rubbed pork chops, asparagus and cheesy grits. I’ve eaten grits before but have never made them myself. Just quick-cooking grits with a cup of cheddar cheese thrown in at the end…cheesy goodness! The pork chops were good, too. They were just rubbed with paprika, garlic salt, cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper and a few other things and then grilled. The asparagus I tossed with olive oil, salt & pepper and then put under the broiler until it started to turn a little brown. Even Audrey ate at least a bite of everything!

Shrimp and Sausage Paella

Nothing like a easy one-pot meal to warm up your tummy when there’s a winter storm warning outside! The recipe for this is from my new Cooking Light: The Essential Dinner Tonight cookbook. This was the 2nd recipe I’ve made from this book and the 1st was good, too!

National Drink Wine Day

Yesterday was National Drink Wine day. What better time to crack open the 1st bottle of the case of wine I ordered with a Groupon from nakedwines.com?  It was a bottle of Stephen Millier Angels Reserve Viognier 2011. I don’t really know what all of that means and I’ve never heard of that winemaker before but what I DO know is that it was excellent! Not too sweet but not dry either. I’m looking forward to enjoying the rest of the bottle…and glad there were 2 in the case!