Spring Fever

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Originally uploaded by scarlettvr

I don't know if it's the up and downs of the weather or what... But it seems as if people are just becoming meaner and inconsiderate. I know that I'm not too overly sensitive to it, it's one of those things that has to just roll off your back. Besides... The more people talk bad about you, the more pathetic and jealous they look, and hey, (as my friend Lauren says) it makes you famous. Ok, not really, but it's a good way to think. I just think people are sick of the crappy weather and are taking out on everyone else.

But food related... I made Shepard's Pie. It was yummy. And I had to listen to J constantly repeat "I've got shepard's pie in my knickers" for days before and after.

It was good, I just made a couple substitutions though. I don't eat red meat, so it was made with ground turkey breast, and I added some onion, carrots, celery, corn and mushrooms to it. It was topped with mashed garlic Yukon Gold potatoes. This was the first time I used Yukons and they were mighty delicious, so much so, I just bought a five pound bag of them.

Ahh To be Young Again

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Originally uploaded by scarlettvr

I want to be one again... You get your own cake for your birthday and you get to smash it around and get dirty. It got much messier than this but I didn't get anymore pictures. Her cake was amazing... White cake with a strawberry filling and an almond flavored frosting. It was good.

Welcome Spring...

Err or not... It's such a wonderful thing to wake up to the second day of Spring to find out that you'll be recieving a foot or more of snow. What a shame, especially since it was almost 50 yesterday. I wish that this snow would just be over with, I'm getting tired of it...

But anyway, I've decided that Friday has become a night of Italian food. J is all excited because he's getting lasagna tonight (which I will post pics etc later). But last week Friday was definitely the feast of the month. It was a friend of ours birthday and he decided that we should go to dinner at Joey Buono's in downtown Milwaukee. Oh my goodness, was the food amazing and huge. We did the "Pizza Party" for a group of people, meaning 2 appetizers, 2 salads, 2 pizzas and 2 desserts. It doesnt sound like a ton, especially when there are 7 guys and me there, but we ended up taking a lot home. The appetizers were all right, fried ravoli and mozzeralla (I'm not super keen on fried foods) and the salads were amazing. Despite the fact that someone decided that we needed to get four plates of Ceasar salad, instead of exploring, they were very good, and I'm not a fan of Ceaser.
Pizza was typical toppings, but we got a deep dish and a thin crust....
This was oh so good, amazing sauce and a really flaky butter crust.

Dessert was really good too. Tiramisu (my favorite) was literally a loaf to be shared...


Seriously, if you are in Milwaukee and looking for a good Italian place, Joey Buono's is the way to go. They do more than just pizza, they have pasta etc. too, and everything is served family style so you get what you pay for...

(photos courtesy of the joeybuonos.com)

Wherefor Art Thou?

I know, I know, I haven't updated in a long time... I know, I negelected this for too long. School has been busy, lots of papers and tests... Ahhh, the joys of being a History Major. Work has been kinda busy. We really only do two big promotions in the year, Lent and Christmas. So it's been busy, but it has been a fight. The economy has certainly taken it's toll on the business, let's face it, cookies and candy aren't exactly neccessary buys. But that slowness has allowed me to explore more in my culinary exploits, which benefits me and J, which I know he appreciates.

A couple weeks ago, J and I took a road trip to about 2 hours away to Appleton to check out a car. J has a hobby of taking cars apart and using/selling parts for extra income. Well, needless to say this car was no going anywhere without his help. Yea, I know both of us are crazy but it's a good investment...

But we did go to lunch at the mall up there, and that's where I got the idea for this recipe. I love Chinese food, but wasn't feeling the crappy food court type that day, so I decided that was what were going to have for dinner that night, including us making our own dumplings. We happened to stop at a different grocery store than I normally shop at, and they just happened to have a pre-chopped chinese cabbage, with carrots, celery, pea pods and bok choy. I totally used this for the dumplings and dinner. 

For the dumplings, I browned up some ground turkey breast and let it cool. I chopped up about half of the bag of the vegetables, added some grated onion and garlic, about a 1/2 tsp of ginger and chinese five spice, a 1/4 tsp of cayenne, a splash of soy, juice of half a lime and some stir fry sauce and put it in the middle of the wonton wrappers. I only put a little more than a teaspoon of filling in, don't overfill or they won't stay together.


Used some egg wash to close them up. I didn't have a steamer, so I just used my colander and a pot with some simmering water and the lid and used that. It worked perfectly, but just remember to use something like Pam before you put the dumplings in to cook, or else they will not come out in one piece. I learned that one the hard way. But they turned out really well, J could not stop eating them...


Hmm... I have some more of those wrappers in my freezer, I should find another use for them soon...