Weekend Dog Blogging # 44 - Ziggy

Hey Boo!

Ziggy's favorite spot- the window seat where he keeps up with all that's going on outside.

Sweetnicks hosts every week.

I'll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours #3

I'll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours #3. This month, the theme is your tried-and-true recipes.

A collection of notebook binders, xerox copies of recipes, handwritten sheets, newspaper cutouts, magazine cutouts, FoodTV recipes/Internet sources, handouts from cooking classes and you have it, my tried and true collection. Not very pretty, not very organized except for by type of event, but I can find what I need whenever.

I have a binder for cookie decorating, one for holiday events, one for special event, one for BBQ and one for just general day to day recipes.

I have been collecting these recipes for nearly 20 years. One would think I should have an organized system by now. My intention when I first started
collecting recipes "Tried and True" was that I would put together a family booklet (not cookbook per se)of recipes to be used for generations to come. This is still my goal.






Cate at Sweetnicks is sponsoring this monthly event. Go check her out for this wmonths roundup. Thanks Cate.

The Heat Is On

It has been a very hot weekend in all parts of L.A. including the coastal areas. For documentation and to look back on later, I just had to do a cut and paste of the urgent weather message for Southern California. Now you ask how does this relate to food? Well, I didn't cook anything and don't feel like cooking. All that sounds good to me me is a nice fruit smoothie and lots of water. Kick back and try to chill.

Ziggy and J know how to beat the heat during another weekend of dog blogging #44 hosted by Sweetnicks.





Urgent Weather Message

All times shown are local to Los Angeles.
Today
Hi: 101°
Lo: 70°

DANGEROUS HEAT AND HUMIDITY ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA MAY RETURN IN VALLEY AREAS MONDAY...

.A VERY STRONG RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE...VERY WEAK ON SHORE FLOW...

AND SOME MONSOONAL MOISTURE IS COMBINING TO BRING EXCESSIVE HEAT TO MUCH OF SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AGAIN TODAY. ALTHOUGH AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES HAVE GOTTEN A SLOW START DUE TO THUNDERSTORMS AND CLOUDINESS IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY...IT IS STILL DANGEROUSLY HOT ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA. FOR THE REMAINDER OF TODAY...HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL PEAK TO BETWEEN 101 AND 112 DEGREES IN THE VALLEYS AND IN LOWER MOUNTAIN AREAS. ACROSS INLAND PORTIONS OF THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY COAST...HIGHS WILL RISE TO BETWEEN 95 AND 100 DEGREES... EXCEPT 100 TO 108 IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN FROM BEVERLY HILLS TO THE HOLLYWOOD HILLS.

WITH RATHER HIGH RELATIVE HUMIDITIES ACROSS THE AREA...HEAT INDEX VALUES WILL RISE TO BETWEEN 15 AND 115 IN THE VALLEYS AND LOWER ELEVATIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS...AND TO BETWEEN 100 AND 110 ACROSS INLAND SECTIONS OF THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY COASTAL PLAIN. THE MAXIMUM HEAT INDEX VALUES ARE EXPECTED TO OCCUR LATE AFTERNOON INTO EARLY THIS EVENING.

AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM PDT THIS EVENING.

VERY HIGH TEMPERATURES COMBINED WITH HIGH HUMIDITY LEVELS WILL PRODUCE DANGEROUS HEAT INDEX VALUES BETWEEN 105 AND 115 DEGREES FROM LATE THIS MORNING THROUGH THIS EVENING. THE HIGHEST HEAT INDEX VALUES ARE EXPECTED IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN FROM BEVERLY HILLS THROUGH THE HOLLYWOOD HILLS.


AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING MEANS THAT A PROLONGED PERIOD OF DANGEROUSLY HOT TEMPERATURES WILL OCCUR. THE COMBINATION OF HOT TEMPERATURES AND HIGH HUMIDITY WILL COMBINE TO CREATE A DANGEROUS SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE LIKELY. DRINK PLENTY OF WATER...TRY TO STAY OUT OF THE SUN...PREFERABLY IN AN AIR- CONDITIONED ROOM. CHECK UP ON RELATIVES...NEIGHBORS...AND CHILDREN AT PLAY.

Weekend Dog Blogging #43

Ziggy spent another Sunday afternoon with his best cousin J. A day of fun, laughter, and good times.

Weekend Dog Blogging brought to you by Sweetnicks.

Decorated Sugar Cookies

This is a link to a post featuring the recipe to the decorated sugar cookies. Kitchen Gifts is a site which I often use for ideas and to purchase cookie cutters (the diva cutter came from them). Many of my baking supplies come from Surfas located locally in Culver City.




Colored Fondant



Fondant applied using Simple syrup as a glue.










Some of my other cookies are featured on my Flickr site.
Heart Cookies
Football Cookies
Miscellaneous Designs
Holiday 1
Holiday 2

Finally Got to Bake Again

You all know my first cooking passion are my decorated sugar cookies. Well, for the past 5 months I have not taken the time to indulge myself until this past weekend. I had a few incentives including a few family and friend birthdays to get me going. I also had this idea in my head that I would create a sort of diva cookie with an ethnic influence. I tried using fondant as the primary decorating tool with a little royal icing for the finishing touches. I did discover that making a "kente cloth" type pattern with fondant will take a little more practice.

The result of my creative endeavor is an assortment of bikini or apron clad bears and my cookie divas.

Ziggy Goes Swimming WDB #42

It's not easy to get pictures of Ziggy in the pool. He won't get in willingly unless I bring him in with me and of course my camera isn't waterproof. I did manage these shots through a little trickery (hopefully he will forgive me).
Another heated weekend in Los Angeles. Weekend Dog Blogging #42 hosted by Sweetnicks.

G's Smoked Fish

Earlier this week I posted about my adventures in the backyard smoking ribs and cornish hens. G was also busy. He had gone deep sea fishing the previous day and caught much of nothing. With a freezer full of his previous fishing adventure catches (chunks and fillets), he decided to smoke what he had. This included primarily tuna, yellowtail and a barracuda. The fish was brined overnight in a mixture he puts together which has rock salt, brown sugar and bourbon (I think). In the past when he smokes fish, he takes it out of the brine, pats it dry and hangs the fish to air dry in a cool area. With limited time, he skipped this step on this run.

He got out his New Braunfels Smoker, loaded it with charcoal, alder wood chunks and rosemary with a water bath. The fish was smoked at a very low temperature (200-210)for about 8 hours. He is not looking for moist fish. The result is not what you would expect from the process. G and friends describe it as very good tasty smoked fish (I'm not a fish eater). It is not meant to be served as a main course, but rather as an appetizer, snack, in salads or some of the smaller pieces are like fish jerky and are meant just to nibble on. It does make very good tuna salad.

He vacuum packs serving portions and then he's good to go.

July 4th Holiday Weekend 2006

I have been so looking forward to this holiday weekend. Four days off from work and no set plans or a list of things to do.

I decided to smoke some Cornish Hens and Ribs in the WSM. How pretty it was to see the smoke rising from the WSM as it was lifted to the skys and viewed through the suns piercing rays. May I also add that the smell was fantastic.

I mentioned previously that I received some sample bottles of Budweiser's newly released BBQ sauces. I opened the regular BBQ and the Beechwood BBQ sauce. Both were actually quite good. I must also add, that this is a sincere comment. I actually like them both better than the sauces I have currently in my refrigerator (Masterpiece and Stubbs) including the one I made from scratch. There is a mellow sweet taste, however, no spice or heat.

I did sauce some of the rib tips and country style ribs I prepared prior to pulling them off the WSM. I left the baby backs without sauce as G prefers it this way. The sauce also went well with the cornish hens. I haven't tried the wing or basting sauce yet.

Ribs

The temperature on the WSM ran a little low this cook. I had a hard time getting it above 215. The hens stayed on for 3 hours and the ribs I pulled after 5 1/2 hours. I did foil the ribs the last hour to keep them from drying out. This is the first time I tried this method. I liked the result. Moist and tender.

Cornish Hens


Ribs after foiling.