Preparation

Hello!

Day two and as promised, I am here.

Went to Sam's Club today to get some of the thing I'd need for Saturday night. Not surprisingly, didn't find like half of what I needed, but only $11.98 for 2 pounds of 31-41 size shrimp and $7.36 for a liter of tequila = can't be beat. Getting the rest tomorrow at Hy-Vee on my breakie.

Tonight was awesome! I had a nice, chill night with my best friend and her bf (also, now a bestie). Went to the Vaudeville Mews for a show - one of my buddies from high school plays bass for the Jamie McLean Band, the lead vocal/guitar is an original member of The Dirty Dozen Brass Band (played with Dave Matthews on his stellar solo debut album Some Devil.) They were pretty awesome. It was really good to catch up with Ben.

Then it was off to The Royal Mile (right next door) and I had some amazing Porters (Fuller's London Porter and Young's Double Chocolate... um, YUMMY).

We had heard really good things about an Italian Beef Sandwich place right down the street, so we had to stop there.

IT. WAS. SO. GOOD.

I got a mild sandwich, which was still had a nice sweet/sour kick. The meat was tender and extremely flavorful. The hoagie was drenched in essential au jus, and the veggie mix on top was killer.

The thing I love about this place (almost as much as the food) is that it is literally a whole in the wall. If you didn't know there was an amazing eatery there, you'd walk right past. The "kitchen" area is no larger than a bathroom sink, but what they lack in space, they more than make up for in flavor (not to mention cheerful, inviting service).

They serve one thing: beef. (check that... you can get a combo with sausage for a buck more). Also, soda, chips, or water are there for $1. All I needed was the sandwich! The perfect after-bar punctuation. And FYI I hear the Hot Pepper version is even better, if you don't mind the slow burn of hot marinated peppers and their possible next day side-effects. I'll say this much, next time I'm going for it!

I'm liking this blogging thing so far! Stay tuned... tomorrow: Avocado Ice Cream!!!!

Declaration!

Today, while cleaning my basement, I glanced at the calendar and noticed that today (May 19th) is my half-birthday. Now, for some people this may not be a huge deal - not that it is for me - BUT this time, I realized that in 6 months I will be 25. When I say to my friends "I can't believe I'm almost 25!" they respond with little enthusiasm. The thing that they may not realize is that I'm not really surprised or excited or even filled with dread - I'm terrified.

If I sat down and really thought about what I've achieved in the last say, 20 years, it would end badly, probably with a night of heavy drinking to shake off the disappointment. Namely because: NOTHING. Yes, I am like 5 credits away from getting my A.A.S. in culinary arts which is, of course, a major accomplishment. But that does not mean that my future's in the bag - what will I do with this degree?

My DREAM job is to work in a test kitchen. I don't care where or who (Food Network or Bon Appetit would be nice, yes!), that's what I want to do. This would entail developing recipes for any and all genres, cultures, courses, and ingredients, perfecting that recipe, and showing people how to do it through writing and photographs. So, I'll have the culinary degree (and some impressive recommendations, if I do say so) and I've always been a strong writer. I need to start writing more... much, much more.

SO... to my declaration. My task is to write an entry for this blog DAILY (everyday!) for 6 months. (a.k.a. my 25th birthday)

I'll write about what I ate, what I shouldn't have eaten, where, when, with whom, and how it was. I'll write about what I made myself (I'll try to include photos!), what I want to make, what I hate making... you get the idea.

So, ONWARDS!

We had a spiral-cut ham for Easter and I saved the bone in the freezer, not really knowing my intentions in doing so. I found it again yesterday fishing out ice cubes, and it clicked - split pea soup! Never made it, but I decided a legume-cookery review was in order. So I went to the store and looked for split peas (a.k.a. lentils) and came across "mixed soup beans". Great northern, corona, pinto, black, garbanzo, and green and yellow lentils... PERFECT. So I got two 1-pound bags. At home, I rinsed them, sorted out the duds, and added 8 cups of COLD water - cover, soak overnight.

Today, the beans increased by about double. I put the bean pot on the stove and cranked up the heat.

In went:

2 1/2 cups beef stock (I like Kitchen Basics brand)

the thawed ham bone

2 medium onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 bay leaves

2 tsp each, cumin and dried mustard

salt and pepper

Once it was boiling, I turned the heat to simmer and threw in a diced-up ham steak, and let it go, covered, for about 90 minutes. When I checked it, the beans weren't quite there, so it went about 45 minutes more. Then they were perfect. I took out some of the liquid once I removed the bone and bay leaves (about 2 cups), then it was a good, thick-soup consistency.

I threw together 2 boxes of Jiffy Corn Bread, and called it a day.

The beans were tender, and the nice meaty chunks of ham were really good. I think next time I'll only use 2 bay leaves... I always go overboard with bay. It was good, but just a little... off. Also, the hulls from the coronas fell off and required a bit more "sifting". They're edible, but they feel like a balloon in your mouth - weird. Next time I'll just use lentils or great northern. It's probably also possible to puree the beans; that would probably be pretty good.

This is what it is to be a test cook!!

I love it.

See you tomorrow!