Photo taken by McShane Photography, 2012.

I read earlier today on one of the 100s of food blogs I subscribe to that today is indeed “National Margarita Day.”  I checked my handy Google machine (AKA my iPhone) to make sure that it was the “truth” and figured that FIVE whole news sources can not be wrong!  If they are, it does not matter because EVERYONE loves a good margarita!

Think back to Christmas, 2011.  Chet gave me an incredible holiday gift.  I am a little embarrassed to admit that (1) I haven’t told you about it yet and (2)  I only finished it tonight.  He bought me a bottle of Roger Clyne’s Mexican Moonshine.  This is one nice little bottle of tequila.  It has been in my cupboard for OVER one year and I have brought it out only on special occasions.  I think my friend Dianne is the only friend who has actually shared a taste of this delicious beverage.  I have been that tight with it.  It is delicious.  It is a tequila you can sip and while I have not done a shot, I am sure it would be smooth and it makes the most wonderful margarita I have ever had!  Here is a picture of the awesome margarita I made with it tonight.

This margarita was made with two ounces of Mexican Moonshine and four ounces of Tres Agaves Organic Margarita Mix in a salted glass full of ice with a wedge of lime.  As my friend Shay would say, it was DElicious.  The bottle of mix recommends two shots of tequila to three shots of mix, but I preferred a little more mix.  I have made margaritas with Mexican Moonshine and freshly squeezed lime juice and agave nectar, but I have to say that keeping a bottle of Tres Agaves in the fridge is much more convenient and just as delicious!  I picked up this bottle for $11.69 at the East Lansing Food Co-op last week and I will be heading back for another bottle soon!  Next to the Mexican Moonshine itself, the second best part was the Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers CD that came attached to the bottom of the bottle!  In honor of National Margarita Day, here is some Arizona Peacemaker music for you to enjoy.  I really wanted to play Girly, but only found some pretty low quality fan recordings on Youtube.  This recording of Banditos was much more user friendly and yes, that is the theme song for “King of the Hill” at the end.  I love Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers!  Their music takes me back to my grad school days in Tempe, Arizona, although I was around for the last local Tempe days of the Gin Blossoms,the Refreshments,  Dead Hot Workshop, August Red, the Chimeras (AKA the Pistoleros, the Zubia Brothers, all things Zubia,  Lawrence Zubia, et al.)  Yes, I know that ages me!

Roger now has an anejo variety and the next time I visit the valley I hope to find a bottle and ship it home.  Happy National Margarita Day everyone!  Be safe.

I decided to make Chet a special belated-Valentine’s treat for dinner last night.  One of our favorite splurges is Zingerman’s Pimento Cheese.  Zingerman’s takes the traditional southern favorite to a new level with Grafton Village Raw Milk Cheddar, roasted red peppers, mayonnaise and ample black pepper and cayenne.  This is the best pimento cheese I have ever tasted.  I tweeted about it a few years ago, marveling on how delicious it was only to receive a personal email from Ari Weinzweig (at least I choose to believe it was personally from him) with a link to the recipe.  I have yet to make it myself because I can always pick it up locally at the East Lansing Food Co-op or the Pickle Barrel Deli in Jackson.  The last time we visited Zingerman’s Roadhouse in Ann Arbor, we had a side of the Pimento Bacon Mac and Cheese and thought it was probably one of the best things either of use had ever tasted.  I was happy to find that someone else had already done the work of mocking up a recipe for this delight on annarbor.com.  Since there is no way that two people should have access to the amount of mac and cheese that a pound of macaroni plus a pound of Pimento Cheese can make, I went with the .40 pound of cheese that I picked up and cut the recipe grossly in half.  I also put it in a small casserole dish and topped with a sprinkle of sharp cheddar and baked it for about 10 minutes and finished it off with a couple minutes under the broiler.  It was heavenly,  rich and creamy and heavy on the bacon.  This is not something I will make often, but it was oh so good for a special occasion!

I think I need to take a Lipitor and fast for a few days now. 

In June, we visited Toronto with friends.  It is a good midpoint between Michigan and the Finger Lakes and we made plans to meet our friends Shay and Ben there with Michigan friends, Carrie, Jason, Sheryl and Mike.  It was a great weekend!  Chet and I went a day earlier than the rest of the Michigan cohort and I got to visit Fresh, a restaurant that I have drooled over on the blog Oh She Glows multiple times.  Chet discovered that he likes quinoa.  Well, he likes PUFFED quinoa as a breading for something fried, but it is a step.

We had the Quinoa Onion Rings with Avocado-Chipotle dipping sauce.  These were fabulous!  The onion rings are made from scratch with breadcrumbs and puffed quinoa.  We bought some puffed quinoa after this visit and I TRIED to bread something with it.  It was less than successful to say the least!  FRESH has several cookbooks out and they are all on my wish list.  I think I will order whichever one has the recipe for the onion rings in it first!  Even though this was fried, the fact that Chet ate quinoa willingly and liked it was HUGE.  Many of my friends will agree with this!

Chet was on a smoothie and juicing kick at that time, so he opted to order a smoothie instead of an entree of lunch.  I can’t remember which smoothie he ordered, but it looked delicious and he sipped it while I had one of the best meatless meals I have ever had.

I ordered the Tangled Thai Salad with “Fresh Salad Topper” (puffed quinoa, goji berries, currants, pistachios, hazelnuts, almonds and sea salt) and Crispy Tofu Cubes.  This salad included shredded carrot and yellow beets, jicama, napa cabbage, chopped peanuts, cilantro, cucumber and peanut lime dressing.  It. was. un. believably. de. licious.  I spent the rest of the weekend in Toronto searching for a reasonably priced spiral vegetable slicer!  I am still in the market for one if you have any recommendations.  Just for the record, I am an omnivore.  I enjoy meat but only buy it from known sources, avoid CAFOs and buy sustainable seafood.  The cost and logistics of doing this have made me enjoy meatless meals more and more.  I love this and have welcomed the change in my diet.  I see myself eating less animal protein in the future, but don’t see myself becoming a vegetarian or a vegan.  (sorry, Mare but keep trying!)  This salad could make me rethink that statement, but for now, I stand by it!

I loved FRESH.  I loved the convenience, there are several locations in Toronto.  I loved the atmosphere.  It was clean and fun and busy.  If I lived and worked in Toronto, I could see myself eating there often.  FRESH has several cookbooks.  I will own them!

In July, we visited Chicago.  Chet’s nephew visited us from Pennsylvania and we took him to Chicago for a weekend.  We had a great time.  We visited Evanston and saw my nephew Paul, went to the Lego Store and the American Girl Store.  Cody is still recovering from us making him go to the American Girl Store!  We went to a Cub’s game.  One of the highlights of our weekend (for me at least) was a trip to The Protein Bar.  I had found out about this chain online and was eager to check it out.  I have to say that Uncle Chet and Cody were NOT as excited as me about this little gem.  Cody had a brownie (at least it was a high protein brownie) and Chet once again opted for a smoothie.  I had the Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Bowl and loved every minute of it!  I took the leftovers to our hotel room and ate it the next day.  It was just as good cold (or maybe even better?) the next day.  Again, it was so nice to find a healthy and convenient choice in Chicago.  It wasn’t far from our hotel either!

Everything was delicious

Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Bowl.

I may need to recreate the bowl.  It had warm quinoa, shredded carrots, celery, blue cheese, chicken, scallions and LOTS of hot sauce!  I will use Frank’s Red Hot when I try to make it.

2012 was a good year with some very good travels.  We are getting better at finding these healthy places to pick up a quick meal and before we venture out again, I will hit google and my RSS feed full of foodblogs to find more.  If you ever find yourself in Toronto, please check out Fresh and in Chicago, please check out The Protein Bar. You won’t regret it!

Last night I hosted “dinner club.”  In past years, my closest girlfriends and I held dinner club every four to six weeks.  After our friend, Tia moved to New York, the frequency diminished and it has honestly been a couple YEARS since we held such an event.  I am happy to report that on February 02, 2013, the four remaining local members of dinner club reunited.  In honor of such occasion, I bought a jar of Biscoff Spread in order to make a spectacular dessert.  WELL…I immediately tried a spoonful of it when I opened the jar and all I can say is OH. MY. GOD.  It is just as delicious as I had ever imagined.  I continued to make the Biscoff Brownies recipe I found with a quick google search for recipes.  Everyone at dinner club had to try a spoon (or two) and I have to admit that Chet and I had a few more than our share!  I wish I had a picture of him standing in the middle of our kitchen eating it with a fork in his underwear this morning.  He looked up at me and exclaimed “DO NOT BUY THIS AGAIN.”  It is really that good and really that dangerous to keep in your kitchen.

Here is what was left of the brownies after last night.

WOW…Biscoff Spread is a life changing experience.  It is like the cookies only better.  Chet wanted to make Biscoff Cookie Sandwiches with the spread sandwiched between biscoff cookies!  I am actually headed back to the store to buy the ingredients for a couple more batches of this to send it to his mother and aunt for their birthdays this week.  You really have to try it.

The bad part is what happened AFTER dinner club.  There was the “eating biscoff spread in your underwear incident”, followed by “let the dogs try it, it is better than peanut butter!”  A friend on Facebook posted that she can’t keep this stuff in the house because she “eats in in three days!”  THREE DAYS?!  I can see a person eating the entire jar by the spoonful in one sitting!  It is that good and the reason I will not keep it in the kitchen regularly!

YUM

Caught you!

Hobart likes Biscoff Spread too!

WOW…this stuff is dangerous!

When the Tomato Kibbe hit the table, I swore it was a plate of raw lamb.  I even asked the waiter if he had mistakenly given us the “real” kibbe by mistake.  This is seriously one of the most delicious Middle Eastern dishes I have ever tasted, and living in Michigan, I have eaten a lot of them! It was full of tomato, onion, pepper, bulgar, lemon, olive oil…you name it, we tasted it!  A hush fell over the table as Karen, Chet and I devoured 3/4 of the plate. We took the rest home.  Chet rarely eats left overs, but believe me that he was standing in the kitchen (in his underwears) eating kibbe with a fork when I woke up the next morning!  It was THAT good!

I researched the availability of this delicious dish locally over the next week.  We have a couple favorite Middle Eastern spots in the Lansing area.  I made my typical weekly stop at Jerusalem Bakery and was happy to see that they had a “Vegetarian Kibbe” available but they didn’t have it that day.  I actually stalked them that week and was disappointed to find that they didn’t have it at all that week.  We pick up fattoush and hummus there nearly every week, so we will continue to watch for it and try their version when it is available.

The next week, Chet and I had to travel to the Detroit metro area again and actually planned our drive around getting MORE kibbe!  We realized that there is an Ollie’s in Brighton and made plans to stop there on the way.  We ate half an order there and took an order to go for our friend, Karen.  The next morning we were again eating the leftovers for breakfast!  We quickly realized that Karen might be out of luck on her order of kibbe.  That afternoon, in between March Madness games, I called Karen and with only a minimal amount of arm twisting (maybe just a suggestion?) talked her into driving to Brighton on a quest for more kibbe!  It was pretty insane, but we did it and made it back in time for the Lehigh game.  I brought three sides of Tomato Kibbe and all I can say is “that is a LOT of kibbe.”  This is what it looks like:

WOW…that is a LOT of kibbe!  Chet and I had a nice dinner out on the balcony the next night.  I plated the kibbe and dressed it with a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil and garnished it with Parsley and we were in heaven.  I ate so much Tomato Kibbe over a 5 day period that my mouth was raw from the acid in the tomatoes!

We ate most of this for dinner that night and I still took more for lunch the next day!  It was good with vegetables, but not as good as with the fresh pita bread.  I have shared several stories and pictures of this with a friend of mine who is vegan and gluten free.  We have great plans for making something similar to this dish with quinoa in place of the bulgar.  Hopefully this will be a Meatless Monday post in the NEAR future!  After eating the better part of TWO QUARTS of tomato kibbe, we were a little “kibbed out.”  Just today, Chet started asking for kibbe again!  It might be time for another drive to Brighton.

So here I am, researching tomato kibbe (or kibbeh) recipes online.  I have found a few resources and plan on trying them soon.  Once I have this worked out, I will start working on the gluten free substitutions.  I have a feeling that this will be a “go to dish” for a long time to come!

One of those recipes was for a vegan fajita filling that really piqued my curiosity.  I made it today and it is awesome and so worth sharing!  This is a perfect Meatless Monday recipe.  When I made it, I had planned on eating it with a dollop of greek yogurt and/or a little cotija cheese.  After tasting the filling, I knew that it wasn’t needed.  I shared this recipe with an old friend I have recently gotten re-acquainted with through Facebook (more on that later) and she actually made it first.  She gave me some advice on the use of coconut oil, as I had never cooked with it.  The flavor combination of the coconut oil, lime juice, cilantro and garlic is heavenly.  It is a flavorful pesto-ish combination that I am sure I will make and use in other dishes.  The recipe can be found here on Three Many Cooks.  I ate a second serving of the filling on some sliced avocado and it was just as good.  I called these vegan black bean and quinoa tacos because I used the tastiest corn tortillas I have had in a long time.  I found these Maria and Ricardo’s Corn Tortillas at Foods for Living and gave them a try.  They were a bit pricey for a small package, but the handmade style of a little thicker tortilla held up well with an overstuffed taco.  I found little information about them online.  Their website is under construction but there were links to distributors.

I heated up the tortilla for a few seconds on the burner and topped it with a generous spoonful of the filling, a few slices of avocado, diced tomatoes and scallions.  It needed a touch of sea salt.  I cooked dry beans and had not added salt and avocado always needs a touch of salt for me.  All I can say is my meatless meal turned into a vegan meal and I didn’t miss the dairy one bit.  This did not need cheese or greek yogurt.  It was perfect as is.

I had to use up the rest of the avocado half!  I topped it with another spoonful of the filling and toppings…I can’t wait to take the leftovers to work tomorrow!

I have been hearing people talk about cooking with coconut oil for some time, but had yet to try it.  The flavor of the coconut paired perfectly with the lime and cilantro.  I can’t wait to try it again in the next dish!

On the topic of “Meatless Mondays”, Chet and I have been having many more meatless meals and days lately.  We have been juicing like fools, have dropped a few pounds and are really enjoying trying new foods!  Even Chet!  One of our recent finds in a Lebanese restaurant was Tomato Kibbe.  The restaurant that serves it is in the Detroit metro area (we found a closer one in Brighton) but we have yet to find it locally.  Watch for this to come…either a post on our favorite or once I work out the kinks and come up with my own version!  If anyone has any advice on tomato kibbe or recipes for me to try, please comment and share!

My nephew is home for his college spring break and I thought this was the perfect time to introduce him to the experience of Golden Harvest breakfast.  Plans were made with him Friday night by text message.  Is there any other way to communicate with a 20 year old? I imagined the look on his face when he read my text telling him that he and his girlfriend needed to meet me by 8:00 AM.  I promised him that it would be worth it.  I arrive right at 8:00 AM as the line that had formed to the curb was filing in the door as it opened.  I parked quickly and hopped out to jump in behind them.  Paul and Betsy were right behind me and we got the LAST TABLE in the opening crowd.  I think they realized then that I wasn’t just pulling their leg to get them out of bed early during spring break!

Our breakfasts did not disappoint.  I have always wanted to try their cheese grits and we ordered a side of it to share.  It was the creamiest cheesiest grit concoction I have ever tasted.  Ordering an appetizer at breakfast is not advisable though.  You don’t want to ruin your appetite for the main course!  Pauly and I probably ate half of the bowl.  It was as rich as the richest Mac and Cheese you can imagine.

Paul ordered from the Daily Special Board and had the “Yard Sale” that included three slices of various flavors of French Toast plus a plate of potatoes and choice of eggs or meat.  It was enormous and the name was very fitting!

BEFORE

AFTER

Betsy was able to do some damage on the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Waffle!  I don’t know where that petite girl puts it, but I was impressed!  You could smell the peanut butter before this even hit the table.  I had one small bite at the end of my meal and it was really awesome.  I watched Zane sprinkle sugar on the split banana before throwing it on the grill.  It was pretty decadent and over the top.

I tend to order whatever omelet is on the special board when I go there.  Saturday’s special included portobello mushrooms, bacon, onion, leek, garlic, chives and aged white cheddar cheese.  I ate about half of the omelet, two bites of home fries and gave my toast to Paul.  The best part of their omelet is the cheese that is on top and then fries around the edges of the omelet into frico on the grill.  Eating there this weekend reminded me of sharing a meal there with my friend, Duane.  He is a vegetarian and typically orders the special omelet sans meat.  After sitting at the counter and watching what goes on and off that grill, I like to remind him that NOTHING coming off of that grill is truly vegetarian! That grilled is seasoned with years of pork fat and it is a beautiful thing.

It was a great meal and more importantly I got to spend time with my nephew, Paul and his girlfriend, Betsy.  It is important to take advantage of times like this and spend time with family.  I have to keep up my “favorite aunt” status too!  Paul was born when I was in grad school and living in Arizona, as was his family.  I had him so conditioned to the phrase “whose your favorite aunt?”  That when he was a toddler you could just say “favorite” and he would replay “Amy!”  Now he likes to tell me that I am his “favorite Aunt Amy.”  I of course hear that as “You are my favorite Aunt, Amy!”  It is all in the punctuation!

So what was the verdict on this meal for him?

THUMBS UP!

2011 brought about a few changes for the Spatula household.  Here is a nutshell recap.  April marked the ten year anniversary of my sister, Therese’s death.  It is hard to believe that it had been ten years, it still feels like yesterday.  My sister, Clare and I traveled to Columbus, Ohio and met her daughter there for the weekend.  We celebrated her life that weekend with wine, shopping and eating at her favorite Columbus area restaurants.  We miss you T!  I didn’t take a lot of pictures that weekend, but did take this picture of a picture that my niece had with her.

I finished the graduate certificate I was working on from UNC in the first half of the year!  That was a relief.  I worked a LOT over the summer.  Between my summer responsibilities in Jackson and another part time job in Ann Arbor, I often didn’t know where I was going each day until I checked my calendar! It was a great summer though.

My friend David moved back to Michigan from the other side of Lake Michigan.  It is great to have him and his dog Gus back!  Hobart and Gus get along well.  We took them for a walk around Ann Arbor together and they hung out on the side walk outside Arbor Brewing during dinner.

Of course we went to several shows.  I can’t even think of all of them.  Two of the most memorable ones were Elvis Costello in Royal Oak and U2 at Spartan Stadium.  Chet was sick and couldn’t go to Elvis at the last minute, so I took my friend Sheryl.  It was a great show.  Seeing U2 was unbelievable.  Here is a picture of the stage from my seat.

Chet and I took a vacation and visited friends in upstate New York in August.  It was wonderful to hang out with Tia and Ben. Hobart got along well with a dog 1/10 of his body weight!  Of course this was after he hip checked him when we first arrived and accidentally sent him flying off the porch!  We came home with Taylor Pork Roll and lots of Yuengling Beer.

The school year started and at first it felt like part time work since I was only working in one place! That quickly changed, as my schedule became as crazy as ever.

We celebrated my birthday in Traverse City, extending my trip there for a conference.  We were a little scared about Northern Michigan in the first week of November.  The weather was unseasonably warm and I got to show Chet how beautiful Northern Michigan is!  It was his first trip.

On 11/11/11 we met a very nice female springer pup who needed a new home.  We agreed to take her for a “trial” to see how she got along with Hobart.  I am sure you can guess how this story ends.  By Thanksgiving she was a permanent part of the household.  She is a sweet dog and after a “touch and go” start with housebreaking, she is doing great!  She is good for Hobart and for us.  We have gotten a lot more exercise since she has been around!

We traveled to the Chicago area for Chet’s 50th Birthday and attended the NU/MSU Football game Thanksgiving weekend.  I wore purple.  If you don’t know, I am a Wildcat Football Fan.  Go Cats!  It was a very wet game, but dinner out with the family afterwards was great!

My friend Beth gave my blog a little overhaul.  Isn’t it pretty?  Thanks Beth! We got to meet her adorable daughter Ada.

Hobart was a little freaked out with a baby around.  He barked every time she cried or made sound.  Sunday was actually much better with the baby.  Here is a picture of her guarding Ada during a nap.  She also liked to sniff her head.  Who doesn’t like to sniff a baby’s head?  What a smart dog.

We stayed home for the Christmas Holiday and had a relaxing break.  I can’t believe that it is time to go back to work tomorrow!  Chet and I are both looking forward to a happy and healthy 2012!  We have some mutual health and fitness goals.  I will refrain from a laundry list of resolutions and just live.

I have been pleasantly surprised by the current recipes published by Weight Watchers!  I own several of their books and have multiple recipes flagged to make in the coming weeks.  This is one that I have been making for several months and I don’t think that I will ever tire of it.  This morning, I was out of canned black beans, so I substituted pinto beans and it was still delicious.  I am an equal opportunity legume lover, so you could use whatever one you like best.

I also have to say that this recipe has taken the place of a much loved dish at a local restaurant that closed recently.  This is a much healthier alternative to the Eggs Enchiladas that were served at Soup to Nutz Bistro.  The recipe is a bit “Sandra Lee-ish” but it is delicious, nonetheless!  This recipe serves four, but it is very easy to keep the bean mixture and the polenta in the fridge for several days and make individual portions daily.  I ate this four times in one week a month or so ago!  I prefer my egg fried over medium in a teaspoon of olive oil.  If you are on the WW Points+ Program, it adds one P+ to the recipe, but I think it is worth it for flavor and you get a serving of a good fat in as well.

Spicy Beans with Eggs and Polenta

Adapted from Weight Watchers Points Plus Cookbook

for printable recipe, click here

• One 16 ounce tube of prepared polenta, cut into 12 equal slices
• One 15.5 ounce can of low sodium beans (black, pinto, kidney etc.)
• 1 cup salsa (I used NSA Fire Roasted Tomato Salsa from Trader Joe’s)
• ½ teaspoon chili powder (I used regular chili powder from Penzeys)
• 4 large eggs
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• ½ cup reduced fat pepper jack cheese
• 2 T chopped fresh cilantro
• Salt and pepper to taste (I used a spicy habanero sea salt and black pepper)

Preheat oven to 425.  Place polenta in a single layer on a baking sheet sprayed with nonstick spray.  Spray tops of polenta rounds lightly with nonstick spray.  Bake until hot, approximately 20 minutes.

Combine beans with salsa and chili powder in a small saucepan; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Heat skillet over medium heat.  Eggs can be cooked to order.  I prefer to fry them over medium in one teaspoon of olive oil per egg and seasoned with a bit of spicy salt and black pepper.  When egg is done to your liking, top with 2 T cheese and allow to melt in the pan for a few seconds.

To serve, place three hot polenta rounds on a plate and top with ½ cup of bean mixture.  Slide one cooked egg with cheese on top and garnish with a liberal sprinkle of cilantro.  Serve immediately.

Points Plus = 8 as written.  Adjust accordingly if you choose to cook your eggs without fat.