Steaked

Feeling 33

How have I gone almost 33 years without making a homemade steak??

Since my hubby is such a good sport about eating so many vegetable-based dinners that I make, I wanted to put some love in his tummy by making an old-fashioned steak-and-potatoes dinner that he'd been craving. And what says love better than meat?

Here's the recipe to the steaks. I just got some 5-oz sirloins at Target, and seared them with some steak seasonings, olive oil, and butter. Hubby said they turned out tasty, and if our awful stove can cook up a good steak, then anybody can do it!

The potatoes were a big hit. I grabbed some russet potatoes that were on sale, sliced them in wedges, then cooked them according to this recipe. Soooo easy, I'll be making them again soon!

No pictures made it (we were too busy eating to take any), but here's a picture of the aftermath.

So Egg-cited

Feeling 33

There's one thing that I've never been a fan of, and that is the yoke in a hard boiled egg. I'm fine with it if it's it egg salad or a deviled egg, but if it's just plain, then no thank you. However I loooooove the white in hard boiled eggs. So this morning I got an idea - I'd try soft boiled eggs! Then I'd get the best of both worlds - the white from hard boiled eggs and the yolk from fried eggs. Thanks to Pinterest, I found a great site with instructions (because I need them!) here.

Even though it was super easy, I didn't place the egg in the boiling water quite gently enough. Next time, I'll try a spoon so it won't crack. But the final product was deeeelicious!

Almost 33 years old, and I just made my very first soft boiled egg. Just another example of how it's never too late to try something new!

Everything Tastes Better With Cheese

Feeling 33

If I had a dollar for every time someone commented on the size of my salads, I'd have a lot of dollars. You could say I take after Elaine Benes on "Seinfeld" - I LOVE my Big Salads. I think I might have been a rabbit in a former life. (If I believed in that stuff.)

Since not everyone shares my love of "rabbit food," it's an ongoing quest to find recipes that will jazz up vegetables. I know when I've found a winner because my hubby will go for seconds ALONG with telling me how much he likes the dish. I think that last night's recipe will be a keeper!

Fancy

Feeling 33

On my list of things to do before I turn 33, one of them was to make a soufflé. I'm not sure why, they just always sound so fancy and elegant, and it makes you sound like you know your way around a kitchen. Think about it, someone asks, "what did you make for dessert?" You say, "oh, I made some brownies." Sounds yummy, but it's pretty common (not that that's a bad thing. I'm never going t turn down brownies!). Now, if someone says they made a soufflé for dessert, my eyes widen and my voice gets all high and I go, "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!" Sort of like the green aliens' reaction in "Toy Story" only much higher. They just sound so classy and sophisticated.

Using an "easy" recipe I found on Pinterest, I attempted these mini individual chocolate soufflés for me and the hubby.

Despite my lack of kitchen counter space, I managed to follow all the steps and watch with wonder as the egg whites became all fluffy. (And let me add, phrases such as "do not overbeat" and "fold gently into the mixture" fill me with terror because I have a tendency to over do things when it comes to cooking.)

Using my beautiful bright pink Kitchen Aid mixer (thanks, Steve and Dad!) and the mini ramekins that we got for our wedding, the soufflés turned out light and fluffy - they tasted like a warm chocolate marshmallow cake.

Note: my hubby's soufflés DID collapse as it sat for a while before he got home from work, but I managed to get some pictures of the soufflés immediately before and after they were in the oven.

I'd say they were a success for my first soufflés. Cross that off the bucket list!