(43-104) Check Her Out...

If you've ever read "The Bumpy Ride" before, then you know that I am a BIG fan of food related shows.  In the past I've mentioned "Top Chef," "Master Chef," "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," "The Amazing Food Truck Race," and "The Best Thing I Ever Ate;" just to name a few.   And tonight, I want to write about a Chef that regularly appears on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate"; "Chopped," as well as on her show "Alex's Day Off," on The Food Network.

The Chef that I'm referring to is Alex Guarnaschelli.  Alex  is the executive chef at Butter restaurant in New York City; and I first became aware of her on an episode of "Iron Chef America," a couple of years ago.  Alex is an Italian American, New Yorker, who received her culinary training in France.  I love to watch Alex because she is an ample sized woman who loves food and makes no apologies for it.  There's something about the tone of Alex's voice that I find captivating and I thoroughly enjoy her vivid descriptions of the food that she prepares as well as the food that she eats.  Just as Renee Zellweger told Tom Cruise in "Jerry Maguire," "You had me at hello;"  Alex had me, when she said "Breakfast is only complete if you are feeding yourself while you're cooking;"  while she was making this outrageous bacon, which can be seen in the clip that I've provided, from "Alex's Day Off."

Because I'm such an Alex fan, I DVR her show; in which she frequently cooks her favorite comfort foods.  I watched the latest episode today while I was emptying my dishwasher and even though I'm not a lasagna fan; she enticed me to want to make a lasagna the next chance that I get.  I've actually never really eaten lasagna because I don't like Ricotta cheese; but Alex made hers with fresh Mozzarella and Parmesan; so this lasagna was one that I could really take a bite of.  As if the Lasagna recipe itself, wasn't enough; Alex also made chocolate pudding from scratch.  What I find most amusing about this is that when I was comprising my "100 MORE Random Things About Me" list, I was going to mention that I love the kind of chocolate pudding that you cook and refrigerate as opposed to the  liquidy kind; but because I didn't think that I could phrase it right, I left it off.  Now today here's Alex, cooking up EXACTLY the kind of pudding that I love; so phraseology aside, I just had to mention it.

I think that it's safe to say that I like to watch TV personalities that I can relate to.  People that I could see as my friends; and that's definitelyy the case with Alex.  If you've never watched her show before and you give it a try or attempt one of her recipes; please comment or email me and let me know what you think. Also, if you've been to Butter or you go in the future; I'd love to hear about that too.  Honestly, I think she's got a lot to offer and she's too good to miss; so in the interest of (say it with me,) "The Greater Good;"  check her out.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

(43-80) Sometimes Size DOES Matter

When I posted "Master Chef Marathon;" I told you how the burger competition made my mouth water; and caused me to crave Red Robin.  Well, since today was date day; guess where Luis and I went for lunch?  Yup!  We did.  Red Robin it was.  It wasn't quite as magnificent as the "Master Chef" burger; but it did hit the spot.

Before and after lunch, we ran a myriad of errands; from getting Luis his flu shot; to depositing his last paycheck from the pharmacy.  And when I say his last paycheck, I don't mean his most recent (even though it was;) I mean his last as in; he quit. 
We paid our Kohl's bill.  A whole $14.17 (Gosh we love Kohl's.)  Then stopped at Old Navy, since they were having a sale that I couldn't pass up.  Because I have an Old Navy credit card; I had a $10 gift card to spend; and a coupon to get a FREE child's item, for each adult item that I purchased.  The adult items were either on clearance for 50% off, or ran between $5-$16 for the most part.  I bought one shirt from the clearance section, and paid $2.50, I got one $10 shirt for FREE, and then I purchased 3 other shirts, and was able to get Nicky FREE sweatpants, and FREE winter hats for the girls. (Yes, I know I live in Arizona, but we do venture up to colder, climates during the winter months.)  Including the $2.50 shirt; I spent about $25.00 on everything.  Talk about (say it with me,) "The Greater Good!"

We left Old Navy thrilled with our purchases and planning our return; as I have another coupon for the BOGO deal.  We then went to Sam's Club to purchase fruit and snacks for The Torpedos game on Saturday; since we're this week's snack parents.  (I had already stocked up on Capri Sun during a smokin. deal at Fry's last week.)  We chose to buy bananas for the team; and as we rounded the corner, we were mesmerized, by the most voluptuous, grapes that we had EVER seen.

The sheer, size of the grapes made them amazingly, appealing and we anxiously, opened the container so that we could taste the gigantesque, globes and make sure that they were as sweet as they were sizable. Affirmative!  The grapes were the best that we'd ever tasted; and I commented to Luis "See, sometimes size DOES matter."  And we laughed.

Perhaps I'm a glutton; but there is something that makes fruits so much more desirable to me, when they are largish.  It's harder for me to to resist an enormous Nectarine, than one of average size; and although I can't eat Strawberries; I ask you, what's more seductive than a stupendous, Strawberry, dipped in chocolate?  I mean anything dipped in chocolate is good; but if you had a couple of Strawberries on a platter, and they were of mixed sizes; I'd be shocked if the larger ones weren't the first to be selected.  Oh, if only it was the same for people...  But I digress.

Now, I was willing to chalk up my enthusiasm for the gargantuan, grapes as gluttony; but since Luis, Lyndzi and Kelsie all had the same reaction to the bodacious, beauties; I'm leaning towards believing that the more tremendous the fruit; the more tempting it is.  Proving, that in fact; size DOES matter. (At least when it comes to fruit.)

Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

(43-76) TRUST

Last night, after I added the link for "The Hangover" DVD to my post, I checked to see if there was anything that I could offer, relating to "Master Chef;" and I accidentally stumbled upon the cookbook by the winner.  Curses!  I had just ruined the finale for myself. When I was done typing my blog, Luis and I were able to finish watching last night's episode and then I told him about my discovery. I had no intention of spoiling the show for him and I refused to tell him who the winner was even though he used his best bravado to convince me that he already knew.

After dinner we settled in to watch the second half of the finale, with Lyndzi and Kelsie watching right along with us. Since my Maks lookalike had been eliminated last night; that left Luis' young thang in the running; and she was our family favorite. We watched as she advanced towards the final 2 and Luis and the girls asked me repeatedly if she won. I remained silent on the matter and I told them that what I thought I saw may not have been correct; so I didn't want to say anything.

With just a couple minutes to go, I started to ponder what I would write tonight's post about; and Lyndzi turned to me and implored "Tell me, just tell me; does Whitney win?" I looked at her and said "You have just a few minutes left; can't you wait to find out?" With that, Lyndzi said, "I know Whitney is the winner; I can see it in your eyes." I chuckled and said "Maybe I was lying and I don't really know who won." To which Lyndzi responded, "You would never lie to me; " tilted her head inquisitively to the side and ever so sweetly asked, "Would you?" I assured her that she was correct; that I would never lie to her. As soon as Lyndzi asked this question; I knew EXACTLY what I was meant to write about tonight. Lyndzi's trust in me is what I have aspired to as a parent and was more rewarding than if I had won "Master chef" myself. According to Dictionary.com; trust is defined as "1. reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence." And the fact that Lyndzi has implicit faith that she can trust me; is the cornerstone of our relationship.  I think that if a child is confident that they can trust  their parent; the lines of communication will remain open and the child will strive to be trusted as well.  I pride myself on being a woman that people can trust and depend on; and tonight Lyndzi has validated my venture.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

(43-75) Master Chef Marathon

Luis and I are as different as night and day, when it comes to our taste in TV shows and movies. Suffice it to say that it is rare that we are both interested in the same movie or TV show, so when we are; it is a cause for celebration.
Luis usually likes to watch CNN, MSNBC, Boxing, Soccer and the Discovery channel.  In fact, I can't tell you how many times he's watched the documentary on the Stick-Dick tribe.  I on the other hand, STILL watch "General Hospital," which confounds him no end; and I delight in my dancing and cooking shows too.

Well, in the past couple of weeks, I have managed to get Luis hooked on a few of my faves. Although he's not quite a Gleek yet; he has liked what he's seen; and has even commented on a number of occasions, that he thinks that they sound better than the originals.   He's definitely, devoted to "Jersey Shore;" and I actually have a theory on why it is, that  we like it so much.  I'm now convinced that the reason that we find it so delectable is because it's very similar to "The Hangover;" in as much as you are shocked by what these numnuts do; and you never know what to expect; so that's my answer and I'm sticking to it.
 
Lastly, when I wrote "Reality Check," I told you that I'd DVR'd but had yet to watch "Master Chef."   So the other night,  Luis and I were checking to see if we had anything DVR'd that we could agree to watch and I suggested "Master Chef;" but he wasn't interested.  I reminded him that HE had asked me to record this show after seeing a commercial for it; so he reluctantly acquiesced; and gave it a try.  Once we got past the auditions we found the show compelling; and we have been watching nothing else for the past couple of days.  I have to say that I'm positively, pleased that we're watching it via marathon; this way we don't have to wait a whole week to see it again.
Neither Luis nor I had watched "Hell's Kitchen," so we weren't very familiar with Gordon Ramsay; but we like him.  He seems very fair and caring in his own way.  Much like "The Great Food Truck Race," we've been cheering out loud for our favorite contestants and even though our tastes don't often coincide for shows, when it comes to people; we are in total agreement.  Neither of us finds arrogance attractive and we've been annoyed by a couple of the contestants who were cocky and rude; and ultimately this caused us to root for the contestants who were perceived as the underdogs.  In one group challenge the underdogs truly had the better food; but because they ran out of food they lost the challenge.  In the next challenge, most of the same people were on the underdog team (even though in reality a lot of them were stronger contestants;) and the team who thought that they were "better;" behaved in a manner that was repulsive.  The challenge involved making burgers for truck drivers.  Each team needed to come up with one kind of burger; and then make 100 of them; and the truckers would cast a vote for their favorite; and the first team to get 51 votes would win.  Well the team who thought that they were all that and a bag o chips, made a run of the mill burger, with cheese, butter lettuce, tomato, onion and cole slaw.  The underdogs made a burger with Swiss cheese, bacon, sauteed onions, and a chipotle barbecue sauce on a toasted bun that had a bit of bacon flavor.  Can you guess who won?  The winner as it should have been was the underdogs; and my mouth watered for their burger something fierce.  I begged Luis to go to Red Robin for dinner after watching this episode, but he promised to make burgers tomorrow instead and the frugal side of me folded.  Luis and I discussed this challenge and he commented "These are truckers, of course they're going to like bacon; it's not like they were making burgers for Rabbi's;" and I almost peed my pants.  Oh my god,  sometimes Luis is just TOO funny!  Just like when he told me that he knows that I like this one contestant because he looks like Maks from "Dancing With the Stars."  HAHAHA, well he was right about one thing; I do like this one contestant because of what he looks like; but even I hadn't made teh correlation between he and Maks, until Luis pointed it out - and he is SO right! YUM!!  I don't feel guilty though, because Luis' favorite contestant just so happens to be a woman (a very young woman at that.)  I don't mind though; because I do like her too.

Needless to say, I have to finish up tonight's post so that I can go catch one more episode of "Master Chef" before I go to sleep.  So I'll leave you with this.  If you eat up the cooking shows; and you haven't watched "Master Chef;" see if you can catch it online, because it is nothing short of slendiferous.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING