The Day of Love

I have always loved Valentine's Day, even the first eighteen years of my life when my parents were my Valentines.  This evening, because Law-Man is working hard for no money at school in the crooked letter state, I cooked up my own Valentine's dinner.  You have to love cooking what you want when you want.  You don't have to worry about what other people like or don't like and whether anyone else is hungry at 5pm on-the-dot.

First on the menu, corn meal chicken.  Sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic powder, and corn meal on both sides of a boneless-skinless chicken breast that may or may not be completely thawed.  (Sometimes you forget you want chicken for dinner when you leave for school at 7:30am.)  Because of the uncertain thawedness, I heated the pan over low-medium heat so that it wouldn't burn on the outside before it cooked in the inside.  Turned out pretty tasty.

 What are those succulent goodies accompanying my chicken, you ask.  That would be bundle of beans.  First, boil a handful of the frozen green beans that are always in my freezer for just a minute.  Then, roll beans in bacon...BUNDLE!  Finally, put the bundles back in the same pot you cooked the beans in (without the water in it, duh), and sprinkle with brown sugar.  Cook over medium heat for a few minutes.  Turn the bundles to brown the bacon on all sides.  Yum.  Btw, this is not the official way to make large quantities of bundle of beans, but it is my quick, only cooking for me, way.

And it's Valentine's Day, so clearly there was dessert involved.  White chocolate-pumpkin ice cream sandwich.  First, win a dozen cookies by jumping into your apartment complex pool in February.

Bur!  Next, go to the grocery store hungry thus prompting you to buy pumpkin ice cream.

As a side note, this ice cream was indeed purchased in late November when everything is pumpkin flavored, much to the dismay of Roomie.  The key to preventing the grotesque and ever disappointing freezer burn on your ice cream is to adhere a piece of Saran Wrap to the surface of the ice cream after each use.  This is a very helpful hint for a person like me that only occasional craves a bite of something cold and creamy.

Now that you have your supplies, place the cookies on a plate, put ice cream on one of them, and top with the other. Yay!

I hope that you each have a wonderful Valentine's Day and go out of your way to show love to someone you don't always get to share with.

P.S. Results of the Blood Orange cocktail throw down are coming soon.

Back in Action

Greetings to all who pondered, "Will she ever blog again."  As you can see, I am back with a vengeance.  I recently witnessed the genesis of what should prove to be one of the greatest contests of all time.  Tyler Adams vs. Mike Stone, the ultimate kitchen throw down. 
In one corner you have Tyler Adams.  His lifelong love of food has recently blossomed into full-fledged foody-dome.  Coming from a past bound by recipe books, he is looking forward to a chance to show-off his new found knowledge.  One may describe Mr. Adams' style as having southern roots and branches reaching toward the sky.  He has an intense focus for the simple and savory.  Joined by his teammate, Abby Northcutt, there is little that can stand in his way.
In the other corner stands Mike Stone.  Mike's love of cooking was born in his very own kitchen.  He finds greatest pleasure in combining new and unusual flavors to give classic food his signature Stone Style.  Mr. Stone's cuisine takes traditional staples and elevates them to ever higher heights.  His goal is to spice up your everyday favorites.  Some underestimate Stone's assistant, Louisa Warren, while others assure me that she is the backbone of this duo.  Together, they are taking this challenge head on.
The game is simple.  Once a month, there will be a cooking challenge issued by a fifth party including a secret ingredient.  Each piquant pair will then prepare their version of the challenge item being sure to show-off the flavor of the secret ingredient.  Both dishes will then be judged and a winner declared.
I will be posting each month's challenge along with photos and recipes, so that you lucky bloggees may basque in the glory of culinary greatness and hopefully be inspired to challenge one of your friends or loved ones to a fight for food supremacy.
Do you smell what the rock is cooking?