Just a little good-natured fun.
All posts by NerdMom
Hell’s Kitchen 3/12
Now that we are rid of Colleen who is the next to go? Let’s strap in a go!
Hell’s Kitchen is hosting a Bar Mitzvah! So they are going to take the guest of honor’s favorite recipes (from his mom and grandmother) and come up with their own version. Each team has 45 minutes to come up with their own versions of chicken soup, hamburger and brisket (his favorite foods). My question is where are they at on the kosher issue? Ben is feeling a lot of his Jewish pride. Carol is planning a blue cheese burger that will be cooked to medium. No one on the red team agrees. Max, the guest of honor, is going to be judging. The guys won the chicken soup round. The girls won the brisket. The Blue Team won the challenge because Max didn’t like the blue cheese in the red team’s burger. So the blue team was off to a day at the spa. The punishment was to decorate the dining room for the Bar Mitzvah. They have to work with a party planner that JP doesn’t like (I think he was from the 16th last year). Though all of this so far, Carol has made herself a huge target.
Out the gate Andrea messed up on risotto. The red team had to go out and hold Max in the chair for the hora. This gave the guys a chance to get a little edge. Jay seemed to be falling behind at the appetizer station. An hour and half into service the apps were all served. Coi forgot the burgers for the guest of honor’s table. Then Coi couldn’t seem to get the burgers right. Danny’s plates were dirty and Coi was serving more potatoes than beef on the plate. Then Lacey seemed unable to reheat the brisket. Then the party planner dropped the cake and JP was had a bit of a fit. The chefs did complete dinner service and Ramsay arranged a little surprise for Max. It was the Harlem Globe Trotters. Andrea tried to mend with Carol but Carol said at the time she wanted to punch her in the throat and that made Andrea mad.
The winning team was the blue team. Andrea was considered the best of the worst so she had to go “think” about 2 nominees. Normally he says to pick 2 people for elimination. I think she will pick Carol and Coi. When they all came before Ramsay and she said she wasn’t sure. Ramsay said tough. She ended up nominating Coi and LA. When Coi says that Andrea was the worst Ramsay then polls the whole team to see what they thought. Everyone except for 1 person said Andrea but he ended up eliminating Coi.
One2Believe Noah’s Ark Set
My kids love it when I get to review a toy so you can imagine their delight when I received One2Belive’s Noah’s Ark Set. They quickly volunteered to play with it and let me know what they thought (How unselfish of them;). Some of you may remember my enthusiastic review of their Nativity Set last year, well the Noah’s Ark Set was just as good. Like the Nativity Set, this was made well and has enough pieces that all the kids can play together with it (always a winner).
Even as I was handing out the animals the fun began. I had to remind them to come back to ma and get the rest of the pieces;). Of course my type A kids did ask about Mrs. Noah but they quickly got over it. They also loved putting the plank on the boat and taking it off and just playing with angles, etc. So that was its own educational toy.
The only disappointment my kids had with the set was that the boat didn’t open up. But that disappointment left when they realized that the reason it doesn’t open is because its, wait for it, a water toy!!!
We loved this set and highly recommend it for your children or as a gift for a child you love!
Bank Failure and Foreclosures
CNN has a very interesting map of where the bank failures and home foreclosures are at (per state). I was kind of shocked to see here in California our foreclosure rate was under 5%.
(HT: Why Homeschool)
J&J Women’s History
Kilmer House has some interesting facts about Johnson and Johnson. Such as when they started in 1886 half of the staff was female. Also they sold home baby delivery kits. It is some really interesting stuff.
The Chopping Block
So I just watched NBC’s premiere of The Chopping Block. It was ok. This was my first big experience with Marco Pierre White (I have seen him on Ramsay’s F-Word). I wasn’t impressed even though he trained both Gordon Ramsay and Mario Batalli. He seemed pretty pretentious. The rest of the show was ok but I like the British Last Restaurant Standing better.
Pecan Tassies
This is another one of those Pampered Chef recipes that come in that little $1 cookbook. I have made these for a variety of social gatherings and they have always been a hit. They are great for dessert or as a brunch addition. Just factor in the hour for the dough to firm up. The recipe is done in 2 parts so I am splitting it up totally. The recipe says it yields 30 but I always make 24 (the size of the mini-muffin pan).
Crust:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup flour
Process
Mix the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Then mix in the flour until it is smooth. Then wrap it air tight and put it in the frig for 1 hour but it can stay until overnight. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put walnut sized pieces of dough into a mini-muffin tin. Then use a Mini-Tart Shaper (from Pampered Chef but it is a little wooden dumbbell) dipped in a little flour and press each ball into the tin until is forms a cup. Now it is important that it actually come up around the sides and form a full cup.
Filling:
Ingredients:
2 tbls butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
Process:
Mix all the ingredients together and fill each uncooked cup, do not over fill. Bake for 15-20 minutes of until the dough looks golden. Dust with powdered sugar when cool.
Jelly Telly
I love VeggieTales! If you didn’t know that just means you don’t know me well;). Now Phil Vischer is behind a new venture called JellyTelly. Originally they were going to be charging but they aren’t any more (at least not for a while). While we are a pro-tv family, we wish there was more Christian media out there and this might be the answer! Watch the clips and then go check it out!!!
They are letting churches use the clips for download $4.99 to use over at JellyBits.
Quick and Easy Corned Beef Without the Cabbage
I am Irish! I love Corned Beef and Cabbage. But early in my marriage I realized that my husband doesn’t like cabbage or mustard. Both things that are essential to a good corned beef and cabbage meal. So I tweaked. I now have a great corned beef recipe that everyone will love, even those who hate corned beef. The first thing I did was toss the mustard seeds and the cabbage. You can make it in a crockpot or the oven. The key is seasoning it like a tri tip roast. Make sure that you put a little water in the pan, even if you are cooking it in the oven. Our favorite way is putting red potatoes and the corned beef into a baking dish. Then I just bake it at 350 degrees until it is done. This depend on size and temperature, ours is usually an hour to 1 1/2 hours. You could also put it in the crockpot for 3-4 hours on high and 6-8 hours on low. That is it! Corned Beef every one will love.
Video Fun
NerdDad found this, enjoy!