The New Family Business
Over the weekend the kids and I spent some fun time playing the “Café World” game on Facebook. Here’s how it works: the game provides a small cafe to customize and decorate, the chef (the kids and I) picks a waiter from their Facebook friends, and then we pick entrees and desserts from our recipe book to sell to our patrons. The game involves keeping the restaurant clean, making sure there is plenty of food, time management of the kitchen, budgeting, and getting good customer reviews—just like a real restaurant!
Doug loves the game so much that the first words out his mouth this morning were, “We need to check our pumpkin pies in our kitchen!”
Planning my Summer Vacation
I was literally looking for vacation rentals this morning when I got a sponsored post request from PayPerPost, so it must be fate! I’m a seasoned vacation renter, and know my way around most of the major rental listing sites (I used to be an owner/renter myself.)
The VacationRental.org site provides a nice, colorful interface for searching for vacation rental homes worldwide. What I like about the site are the user-generated ratings and reviews that are presented in a very visual way, which makes my searching a bit faster than on other sites. Now the big question: Maine or the Carolinas? Here are links to two top picks—let me know what you think! Maritime Maine versus Carolina Coast?
(SPONSORED POST)
Let me start this post by saying that growing up I was never a Florida State fan. I grew up in a University of Michigan/Michigan State/Notre Dame house hold. I was never really a fan of U of M or MSU but I have always liked ND and this by default made me despise University of Miami. I moved to Florida 14 years ago and eventually married a Seminole who has tons of Seminole friends. Going to games at first and “rooting” for FSU was a struggle…even with tons of Crown & Ginger in my system. Over time I realized that not only are FSU fans awesome to hang out with but the games are a ton of fun to watch. Doak Campbell Stadium is the nicest I have ever been in on the college level and is nicer than most pro stadiums I have been in. I still despise Miami and anything related to it.
We usually go to a couple games a year and we take the kids to at least one or two. They love the tailgating, hanging out around campus, visiting the bookstores, checking out the crazy college kids, etc. We usually get a spot infront of the stadium early and pull out a buffet of food and booze. The boys run around with other kids playing catch, watching the band and stuffing themselves with junk food. I guess you can say we are indoctrinating them.
BEER POOL
Send me here, please! Austria + 42,000 pints of beer in a pool + close medieval castle of Starkenberger in Austria’s Tyrol region. You had me a beer.
FSU Football makes me a very happy girl.
Day one in British Columbia! Check out our photos on Flickr! http://www.flickr.com/photos/8394376@N02/
My new friend the 14-pound lobster from Jordan’s Lobster Farm in NY. YUMMY!
Onion Tart with Goat Cheese
SERVES 12
This gorgeous tart has it all—sweetness from the caramelized onions, earthiness from the goat cheese and a subtle saltiness from the anchovies.
8 tbsp. unsalted butter
12 large spanish onions,
thinly sliced
6 tbsp. thyme leaves
2 tbsp. kosher salt
2 9” x 11” sheets frozen
puff pastry, thawed and chilled
4 tbsp. grated parmesan
3 tbsp. capers
24 anchovy filets
4 oz. goat cheese
3 tbsp. chopped parsley
Zest of 1 lemon
1. Heat butter in a wide-bottomed pot over high heat. Add onions, thyme, and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions begin to brown, about 25 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; cook, stirring, until caramelized, about 40 minutes. Set aside.
2. Heat oven to 350˚. Fit pastry sheets into a parchment paper–lined 13” x 17 3/4” rimmed baking pan, pressing them against sides. Trim inside edges of pastry sheets so that they just meet in center. Prick bottom of pastry with a fork. Spread parchment paper over pastry; fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake until edges are golden, about 25 minutes. Remove paper and beans or pie weights. Bake until bottom is golden, about 20 minutes. Let cool.
3. Spread onions over crust. Sprinkle with parmesan and capers; arrange anchovies over top. Dot with goat cheese. Bake until golden, about 30 minutes. Garnish with parsley and zest.
This recipe was first published in Saveur in Issue #117
Just stumbled upon this picture from May 2007 of the boys at the Kennedy Space Center. They are so cute!
Fridays are the happiest days at MindComet, but not because they mark the end of the work week. Early Friday morning, the overhead speakers are turned up a little louder that normal and Pandora floods our office with high energy disco, top 40 and pop! When “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough,” (our official theme song,) comes on the MindComet choir belts along with “Whhoooooo’s” and random dancing. It’s a beautiful thing!
(Photo Source: Epic Records)
I'm ready for my close up
I’ve been having hard time lately with taking my digital photography skills and am on the hunt for easy-to-understand onine resources that don’t require me to buy more equipment. I found some 
Great Photography Articles by Amy Renfrey that have already provided some quick fixes to a few of my lighting issues. Even though a few of the articles are a little length, I’d recommend them to my fellow budget-concious photography enthusiasts! (#spon)
A follow-up on Scotch Eggs
A few weeks ago I made a post about Scotch Eggs and it got me thinking about ways to cook a perfect hard-boiled egg. After a lot of trial and error on different methods I’ve found a winner from the American Egg Board’s website. This method keeps the yolks nice and yellow while maintaining a firm, but not rubbery, egg white.
- PLACE eggs in saucepan large enough to hold them in single layer. ADD cold water to cover eggs by 1 inch. HEAT over high heat just to boiling. REMOVE from burner. COVER
- LET EGGS STAND in hot water about 15 minutes for large eggs (12 minutes for medium eggs; 18 minutes for extra large).
- DRAIN immediately and serve warm. OR, cool completely under cold running water or in bowl of ice water, then REFRIGERATE.
- If peeling, peel while eggs are chilling and use within a day. Otherwise store in the shell in the original carton for up to a week.
Read Twitter posts, share snapshots from the road, follow my causes and enjoy tidbits of humor from my journey through life!
