Braisin' Hussy

Friday, March 23, 2007

Today's my birthday! I'm all cube-y.

And check out the new pasta recipe I made last night. Mark and I both enjoyed it. I should've used my brain, though, and remembered that Rob doesn't eat beef (pepperoni is a mixture of pork and beef). So he was unable to eat it. Sorry!
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Cavatappi with Pepperoni
adapted from Quick from Scratch Pasta

4 oz. thin-sliced pepperoni, slices cut in half
1 large onion, chopped
1 red or green bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
14.5 oz. can of chopped tomatoes (with liquid)
Splash of red wine
Salt and pepper, to taste
3/4 lb. cavatappi
3 Tbsp chopped parsley

In a large frying pan, cook the pepperoni over moderate heat until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

Turn the heat to medium-low. Using the fat from the pepperoni still in the pan, cook the onion and pepper until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes with their juice. Add the salt, pepper, and wine. Cover and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the cavatappi until just done, about 13 minutes. Drain and toss with the sauce, the pepperoni, and the parsley.
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Thursday, March 22, 2007

Happy birthday, blog! You're three years old today. I should make a new recipe in celebration.
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Friday, March 16, 2007

I made this dip/spread on Tuesday, but didn't try it until Wednesday night. (We had D&D and I just forgot about it.) It is clearly not traditional Liptauer. But it's still pretty good. I did a recipe search on the ol' intertubes and just kind of synthesized a bunch of different things.

Hate anchovies? Use chopped gherkins instead. Don't like heat? Leave out the chili powder. Want to make your breath smell even worse afterwards? Add some chopped onion.

I've been eating it with wheat thins. Yummy.
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Liptauer
(sort of)

8 oz. cream cheese
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
2 Tbsp capers, drained, rinsed, and minced
2 anchovy fillets, rinsed, and minced
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 to 1 tsp chili powder
Salt and pepper, to taste

Mix everything together in a bowl. Chill for a few hours. Enjoy with a strongly flavored bread.
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Wednesday, March 14, 2007

I made a new recipe last night! But I haven't tried it yet. I'll let you know how it turns out later today.
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Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Man, Wondercon was so much fun. I brought two costumes with me- Mandy (from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy) and HIM (from The Powerpuff Girls). I was amused that I was portraying two faces of EVIL at the con.

I made Mandy last year for Fanime. She was super-mega cheap, because I used leftover material from my Katamari costumes. The only thing I bought specifically for it was a seventy-nine cent black headband. The dress was the first thing I ever sewed by myself. It is not so good, unfortunately. I didn't really know what I was doing. I hate the material I used (quilting flannel), because it wrinkles badly. And I screwed up the flower on her dress- it's supposed to have five petals, not six. I brought Mandy to Wondercon because Maxwell Atoms, the creator of the show, was appearing. My friend Debbie and I went to his panel, and she accompanied me afterwards to get his autograph and take pictures. The Cartoon Network people gave me a bit of swag for dressing up. Yay!

HIM was an entirely new costume. He's my favorite villain from The Powerpuff Girls. I actually used the same basic pattern for his dress as I did for Mandy's. My sewing skills actually have somewhat improved over the last eight months, because this dress looks much, much better. It's also made out of flannel, but it's way less wrinkly. The tights on my arms and legs are recycled from my first Katamari costume, Kuro. I used a feather boa that Ryan had given me years ago as part of the invitation to her bachelorette party. The belt buckle is made out of a cheap wooden picture frame painted gold. The wig isn't really a wig, it's felt hand-sewn to a wig cap (and god, what a pain that was). The lobster claws are plush. They're not quite as big as I would have liked, so I may remake them, but they were so hard to do that I may just decide to be happy with them.

Yes, yes, enough talking, you want to see pictures.

Here's a shot of my scary Mandy eyebrows, and here are two with Maxwell Atoms. He was really cool. I'm going to frame the autograph I got because a) I'm a huge dork and b) it's actually a really awesome piece of artwork- it's a tarot card of Mandy as the Magician.

And here's HIM! More pics of HIM will be coming later, but this is the best one I've gotten so far.

I know I've just been talking about my costumes, but my friends were also in costume, and man, their work blows mine out of the water. They had a fantastic Avatar: The Last Airbender group, as well as Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Danny Phantom, and The Fairly Oddparents. This weekend was full of incredible costumes and so much fun!
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