Food for Thought

Warning: this post may make you hungry.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love food?

Only a few times?

Oh, no? More than that?

Well, it's a fact. Everyone eats in one way or another. (I'm not excluding those who have to use feeding tubes, it's the ALS awareness as well as those who have surgery and such… too dark?) Well everyone has to eat whether it's solid or pureed. And I love food.

I made a dish tonight that's for lunch tomorrow. Jenny is coming to visit. She showed me this awesome kitchen gadget

If you like cherry or grape tomatoes, you need this.

She took me back to the little shop in St. Joe where she bought it and I found one hiding on a shelf. It's also good for regular grapes, large olives, and anything else that size that you want sliced.

I don't know if I have written about the dish I made, so I'll just mention it again. It's Quinoa with Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella.

It's yummy.

I had a blt and corn on the cob for dinner. It'll probably be one of the last for the season. It was also yummy. But the good news is apple season is upon us. Apples won't fit in the kitchen gadget, but that wasn't the point of this post.

I also made my blueberry chocolate cake.

The blueberries were the last of the season too. I don't remember getting fresh blueberries this late in the season, but I enjoyed every last little one.

It's still technically summer, so there should be a few more grilled dinners.

Food, it's what's for dinner.

I'm thankful for our farmers and our food.

Cake delivery

In yesterday's post I talked about two chocolate cakes. There was one piece left of the Guinness cake and before I left work, I sent Bill a message that I would save it for him because it was really good. I also thought he would like it.

He wrote back and said, why don't you bring it to me?

Now, he was in St. Joseph which is an hour and half drive from Grand Rapids.

I told him not to tempt me. Since I had worked yesterday, the only plans I had for today were to go to the grocery store.

In other words, there was no reason I couldn't drive to St. Joe just to deliver a cake.

Then Bill told me he was making jumbalaya for dinner and planned on watching the Tigers opening game (on delay).

Give me half an hour, I told him.

I packed and drove to St. Joe. I hand-delivered his piece of cake.

It was nice to spend an evening with Bill. We took a walk along the path, which winds around by the lake. There are huge mounds of ice, covered with sand, along the shore. They are easily ten feet high. Neither one of us had our phones, so we couldn't take pictures.

It's too bad my sinuses have kicked in. Why do we have sinuses?

Despite my stuffy, runny, drippy nose, I am thankful for the bonus time I got to spend with Bill.

the tale of two cakes

This is why I'm not on Pintrest. I find enough recipes from other people's posts. Then I google them and, if it sounds good enough, I make it.

Recently, a friend mentioned that she made a chocolate cake, but it was gluten free. It used quinoa. You'll remember my quinoa experience. Since I had quinoa left over, I decided I should try this cake. I googled it and found it. Don't be fooled by the recipe (linked below). This makes a LOT of frosting. And the quinoa I used required 3/4 cup uncooked to equal two cups, cooked.

On St. Patrick's Day, someone posted a Guinness chocolate cake. I googled that and the picture looked beautiful. I knew I had to make that one too. But when and for what occasion would I make either cake?

We had dinner with friends Saturday evening. I took the quinoa chocolate cake. It was a hit.

Today we had a staff lunch at work, so naturally I took the Guinness cake. It was also a hit.

If you like chocolate cake, both of these are superb in completely different ways. The quinoa cake is light and fluffy and the frosting is also light. The Guinness cake is super dense and super moist. It has a cream cheese frosting which is very rich. But it compliments the almost molasses flavor the beer gives the cake.

Here's one of the cake recipes.

Here's the other one.

I think you should decide for yourself.

Oh, and for Bill's birthday? I'll be making this cake.

the birthday post

Of course I'm going to post on my birthday. I had a wonderful day.

It all started on Tuesday when Bill and I went to Meijer Gardens to see the Christmas display. (My renewal was my gift from the in-laws, thanks Don & Judy!) They're open late on Tuesdays and, of course, the lights look better at night. Here are a few of the pictures I took.

An ornament on the Great Britain tree.

Just a photo of ornaments.

Pretty.

One of the five newest additions to the train scene (each of these Grand Rapids landmarks are made by volunteers, and are made out of natural materials!)

Jersey Junction! (Bill asked if there was a little diorama of me since I'm there so often, har har.)

The main atrium (this was not new, but I got a good picture of it).

The star in the real atrium.

Today started off with the birthday song by Bill. Then, while I was walking into the bathroom to get ready, I did something odd and my coffee mug flew out of my hand and smashed all over the bathroom floor and me.

I changed my jeans while Bill cleaned up my mess (what a great guy!). Then I went out to breakfast with Sami. She stuck a candle in my breakfast sandwich (don't worry, I didn't eat all of that) and sang to me.

I did some shopping. I came home and enjoyed an afternoon of relaxing. Bill and I went to a wonderful dinner at a local restaurant called Republic. They support the local farms. I had a risotto with beef tips (delicious) and Bill had the pork schnitzel (also delicious). Of course I had the flourless chocolate cake for dessert.

Despite the fact that I now check a different box (no more 25-34 year old) I had a great day! Thanks to all of you who helped make it that way.

our day is full of "mojo"

Today was a busy day.

Bill and I started with a trip to the home improvement store. This was so we could purchase the items needed to finish the kitchen. We also bought the paint so I can continue working on the windows.

When we got back home Bill started working on the drywall.

He stopped so I could make stuff for dinner. We took food over to the church this evening for the Family Promise (formerly IHN) group that was staying at there this week.

I made potato salad (the recipe I found on PW's website), Bill grilled chicken breasts and we had chocolate cake for dessert (the one with blueberries, so it was healthy). There were leftover green beans and mashed potatoes so Bill reheated those to serve.

Sadly, the mashed potatoes were a bigger hit than my potato salad.

And now, since it's summer and there's nothing on tv, we're watching an Austin Powers (2 if you're wondering).

Baking with Skylar

Skylar was here for ten days. We had a great time, we went to the beach twice (and got Pronto Pups, yum!), we went to Meijer Gardens, had lunch at Electric Cheetah, and played croquet. We also went to the Farmer's Market twice.

We bought two pounds of blueberries. Then we made blueberry pie and this chocolate cake that has blueberries in it. It was delicious. Skylar took these pictures and I had to post them, because they are "Good Eats".

We also made our own pizzas, from the leftover pizza dough when I made the skillet pizza. Those were also a big hit. Skylar asked if she could made her pizza into the shape of a heart and I told her if she wanted to, she could do that.



My only regret is not truly understanding the art of pie crusts and the techniques used for the edges. I guess I'll just have to keep on making pies and will learn more each time!

All of these leftovers are gone, however there is one more thing I made, Jam Crumb Cake and half of that is in the fridge. I think it's time to go enjoy a piece of that...