my leg is haunted

I woke up this morning feeling all sorts of awful. 

Cooking is not going to happen this week. Mostly on account of the haunted leg, but also this weekend I'm taking Dude on a belated birthday adventure. I will do some meal planning and whatnot and next week should not disappoint.

I was so exhausted that I made Dude make his own lunch (after his dinner of toaster waffles--don't judge, I still totally fed him).

He's wearing camouflage in honor of Veteran's Day--true story

I had a can of soup and instant mashed potatoes for dinner---btw when Lorelai was sick she had soup and mashed potatoes at Luke's every morning, so I'm still on track right?

See you next week!

The Magic of Sookie

Got a little distracted this week. I regret that it's taken me so long to post.

This week I focused on Sookie's culinary creativity and expertise with two of her dishes from season one.

 In episode 4 they made a big deal about her "magic risotto". You remember, she served it to her mother on her death bed and she lived another three years. We know Sookie as a confident, talented and accomplished chef, but this is the only time I remember that Sookie really went to bat for a particular dish. With all of the talk of the magic risotto she doesn't really go into detail about what makes this risotto so special. So for this recipe I turned to Giada De Laurentiis.

 I've made this recipe before and it is so delicious!!!

I made it my own by adding the zest of one lemon and using a Romano/Parmesan mixture in place of the straight Parmesan (and maybe added a little extra white wine cuz that's how I roll....).

 I balanced out my plate with broccoli and a lemon garlic chicken (I did not get the recipe from Gilmore Girls but from the side of a Lipton soup box. To that recipe I also added white wine, but again....). This was such a delicious dinner! Try it. For realz. Try it.



The other recipe comes from episode 3 of the same season. In this episode Sookie was going to make Strawberry shortcake, but in a classic Sookie/Jackson quarrel he brought her blueberries instead of strawberries.

BLUEBERRIES! 

So Sookie 'invented' Blueberry Shortcake.
  Since Sookie, Jackson. and Emily all said 'there's no such thing as blueberry shortcake' I thought that finding or creating this recipe would be more challenging than it was. But I quickly found out that Sookie did not invent this dessert. I feel cheated and lied to. But I made this dish anyway (and had it for breakfast--this is the "lighter version" so I don't feel bad about having dessert for breakfast).

My intention was to turn this...

                                                   

Into this.....

 But in reality mine looked like this....

So mine was not nearly as pretty, but it was still quite tasty I must admit, and I have a good feeling the left overs will be my breakfast again tomorrow.
That's it for this time.
Since I can't think of a clever way to close this edition out I'll say "super cool party people bid you super cool adieu!"

'Til next time friends!

Happy Birthday Baby!



Dude awoke to a hundred balloons covering his bedroom floor.

I LOVE birthdays!! I genuinely don't care about mine all that much--don't get me wrong, if you bring me hoopla I'll gladly take it! But I absolutely love other people's birthdays! I love making people smile and feel special. It's my fave. I love how the Gilmores do it up right for birthdays. Rory especially got into celebrating others'. For Lorelai's birthday she made "the world's largest pizza" (so she let Lorelai believe; "apparently the worlds largest pizza was 122 feet 8 inches, and Litchfield made one last year that was 98 feet...")

and for Logan's birthday she went all out bringing him the highlights of her best birthdays to make up for all of his previous lack-luster birthdays.
  I'd fit right in with the girls here. I absolutely love making a big deal out of birthdays! In honor of my son's 7th birthday last week I thought I'd kick things off with a salute to the birthday episodes. As far as I can tell (mostly from memory and with minimal research) four birthdays were celebrated over the course of the show: Rory's 16th and 21st, Lorelai's 35th, and Logan's 25th (there is also an episode where Lorelai and Rory have a belated 21st birthday weekend after they are reconciled).
 I wanted to start my son's big day off right the way Luke did for Rory at the diner.
For breakfast I was going to make him coffee cake. Unfortunately Dude is allergic to cinnamon, so I'll save the birthday coffee cake for my own birthday. So instead he had seasonal Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts. I'm pretty sure Lorelai would not only approve, but buy them in bulk for the off-season. He didn't have the coffee cake, but I made sure to put helium balloons at his breakfast spot. He also awoke to find the entire floor of his room covered with balloons--he's still young enough to think they magically appeared as I tried to hide my yawns and sleepy eyes after staying up late blowing up a hundred balloons.

Sookie's birthday menu for Rory's Sweet 16 included Mini Orange Biscuits with Honey Mustard, Ham and Cheddar.

So a variation of these adorable little sandwiches made their way into Dude's lunch box. My son doesn't care for condiments (weirdo) so I omitted the honey mustard. We also didn't have cheddar, so I used colby jack and muenster cut into star shapes. I put them in his lunch box so he could assemble his own sandwiches.

     We didn't attempt the world's largest pizza for this birthday, but we did have homemade pizza, mac and cheese and chocolate pudding for dessert. Emily served their chocolate pudding in crystal bowls. I had to settle for my plastic goblets.



 

I also made my own whipped cream with a little sugar and a drop of almond extract

Dude is also fortunate enough to have his actual birthday on Halloween. We had a fun filled birthday weekend with trick-or-treating, birthday treats for his whole class, and making and eating these yummy recipes together.

 

(Full disclosure our mac and cheese was Stouffers.Why mess with a classic?--but we did share it right out of one big bowl.)

 I think that's it for now. What about you Gilmore Fans? Do you go all out for birthdays? What's your fondest bday memory? Did I forget any birthdays that were featured on the show?
Discuss.

Escape to Stars Hollow

 I have spent countless hours sharing meals with two dynamic characters both named Lorelai.
  Gilmore Girls was more than a tv show for me. It's a guilty pleasure. It's like comfort food. Rory and Lorelai kept me company at 3 in the morning when I was up with my restless, cranky newborn. They helped me laugh when I was down and depressed. It was nice to have an escape for an hour to put my life on hold and watch theirs unfold. 
  I see some parallels between my life with my son and that of Lorelai and Rory. Dude is my boy Rory. 
  Lorelai is a smart dedicated working mom, as am I. She's raising a child that loves to read and loves to learn--same here. She has made some life choices that may have disappointed her parents---Yup. She's strongly independent and loves her kid more than anything. That's me too; call me Lorelai.
Also, the Gilmores love food and so do I.
 Food was just as much a part of the show as any of the eclectic Stars Hollow residents. There's not a single episode with out at least one fancy Friday night dinner, a catered event or last minute take out.

 

Then it hit me: combine my love of food and cooking, my fascination with the show, and my desire to write in one tidy little package!

   Here we can discuss the show and discover all the decadent, disgusting and delicious foods Lorelai and Rory shared over seven seasons.

   At first I thought how hard can this be? Diner food, a couple of burgers, a stack of pancakes; piece of cake--or peach pie--right? Then I remembered the creative, inventive sushi from season seven including the dessert and meatloaf versions. And from season six Sookie's chocolate layer cake with "a rum raisin tropical fruit ganache." And who can forget comforting Richard with Mock Turtle soup after the death of his mother? There were even homemade Twinkies one Friday night dinner.

 In this blog I will attempt to make, eat, and document it all.

It's a hefty goal for sure, but I'm gonna try....

Between the cuisine, the company, and the conversation every meal had unforgettable aspects. What are the most memorable meals or moments on the show for you?