Perfect Salad Dressing Recipe

My cousin Maya, who is actually my cousin Roy's wife but I call her my cousin since we look more alike then Roy and I do, makes this dressing at every family meal. When the salad is placed on the table, it is only minutes before it disappears.
There is always the polite person who asks if anyone wants any before he/she finishes it, hoping deep down inside that everyone will say no so he/she could engulph the last lettuce leaf.
No need for anything except for lettuce and croutons(see previous post).
So here it is:

Maya's Magnificent Dressing


2 tablespoons of balsamic vingegar
1 teaspoon of mustard
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 lemon
2 garlic cloves
Half a cup of olive oil

I mix all ingredients except the oil. Then I drop the oil in, tablespoon at a time for an extra smooth consistency.
If you want, you can just mix all the ingredients in a container and shake.

Croutons, You'd Better Not Be Buying Them!

Last time I had a dinner party at my house. I made a salad with homemade croutons. My friend asked me if I made them myself. " Really, you made those from scratch?" Croutons are one of the easiest things to make. I can't understand why someone would buy fake Parmesan, preservative soaked, crusty old pieces of bread at the supermarket. Oh yeah and they are usually fried too! Making them at home literally takes 10 minutes. All you have to do is cut old bread into cubes, toss with olive oil, season and bake in the oven. The correct baking time varies. I usually put them in at 400 degrees for 10 minutes but some prefer to bake them at a lower heat for longer. Just keep checking, they burn easily. I have made my share of burnt to death croutons.
I like to season them with salt and pepper. Sometimes I make zaatar croutons. These taste great on Greek salads. You can find this spice at any spice store. I got mine at Market Spice. Other ideas for croutons can be parmesan, paprika or garlic powder. Just experiment.Any old bread is fine. The best croutons that I ever made were from a homemade Fucaccia bread that had dried out into a big hard block. Now I am crouton crazy. I buy an extra loaf of day old bread at the store which is usually half price and make the croutons while getting ready for bed. Keep in an air-tight container and hide from the snackers!

Martha, You Lied Again!

I admire Martha for all her ideas; for the fact that she works so hard for everything she has accomplished. She really is a genius, an innovator, a trend setter for all women. The only problem, sometimes her recipes are not that great.

I was reading Martha Stewart Weddings when I came across an article that suggested using regular stamps to print on cookies. I was so excited. I spent 5 dollars a piece on two different stamps.

I followed her shortbread recipe religiously...............results....nada, no picture, just a flat cookie. Not even a

tiny sliver of a design in sight. I decided to try another peanut butter cookie recipe on the Internet that is also used for cookie stamping. No luck!!!

Then I read this post in Amateur Gourmet. He tried to make a pound cake from a Martha recipe. Okay, so it didn't work out. Things happen.

Read the comments on his post to see how many of Martha's recipes apparently don't succeed.

I still love Martha, even if she lies sometimes( she has a jail sentence to prove it) and the best thing about Martha is her daughter Alexis and Alexis' best friend Jennifer. They have a radio show on Satellite Radio.

Note: The pictures are from before. I didn't bother taking a picture of the mediocre cookies with no design.

Girls Night Out at Paper Source in Bellevue

My friends and I have this thing. We pretend not to be girly, we refuse to acknowledge that we like girly things and we pretend to be too cool for girls. The truth is that we are damn girly; let us ooh and ahh over kitchen stuff and were ecstatic. Leave us at Urban Oufitters and we will get lost in the clothes. This week we had girls night out at Paper Source. One of my friends heard they were having a girls night and she signed us all up. It was so much fun. First we got loot bags full of beautiful paper and things; origami instructions, lip gloss, recipes for drinks, stickers and a girly cd. The cd has songs like California Girls, Staying Alive and Tainted love. There was food from Mccormick and Shmick's. There were drinks, popcorn from the movie theater and lots of fresh fruit. There were craft demos. There was even a table where we could use all the craft stuff and make our own crafts. There was a raffle and I actually won something. I got a box for my pictures. Best part of all this: It was FREE!!!!

We had a blast and now it's time to toughen up. I think I will go clean the garborator.

Note: If you want to do something with the girls, this is really fun. Call them and sign up because I am sure there will be a waiting list for the next one.
Oh!!!!!!!!Don't forget to pretend to be macho later. It's part of the game.

Risotto Therapy

When I first started cooking, I looked for easy things to make. I obsessively watched Rachel Ray, trying to beat her at her 30 minute meals. Then I discovered the gracefulness of cooking, the art of it , the dance of it , the whole idea of focusing all your love in one place. You might think I am a freak but cooking has become a pleasure that I can afford to do endlessly without feeling the tiniest speck of guilt. This is of course as long as I don't eat endlessly.I realized I was hooked when I made risotto for the first time.RI- SOT- TO.The word rolls off my tongue softly and gracefully like when Nabokov chanted the word LO- LI- TA, in his controversial but extremely brilliant book.At first I just heard about Risotto. People would say : "Oh it's delicious but it's so much work!" The first time I made it, I had no idea how it was supposed to taste. I started with the basic, Risotto a la Milanese.The yellow, saffrony, creamy rice came out perfect the first time. ( This never happens to me!)I felt like I was eating a pot of gold.So for all those people who tried to scare me into making instant rice, you are missing out on something in this world. Risotto only takes about 30 minutes(including prep time), but a meaningful 30 minutes where all you do is focus on this one beautiful masterpiece of golden porridge-like, pasta textured rice.This is your time with your Risotto. No answering phones, No checking emails and no distractions.So... The next time you feel stressed or overwhelmed with work. Two words , Risotto therapy!
The technique in risotto is to have one pot of stock on the stove on a simmer so that it stays hot and to cook your rice in another pot by adding one ladle of hot stock at a time to your rice. Then, stir, stir and stir some more. Homemade stock is the best but if you are not ready to put that much effort into it you can use cartons of stock too. Just try not to use those cubes of soup powder, they taste really bland and are usually infested with M.S.G.The only inconvenience with risotto is that is tastes better when it's piping hot and just made. This is a bit more complicated for restaurants to make perfectly since it requires individual attention. This is one of those foods that taste just as great or even better when you make it.
So get some Arborio rice(the rice for risotto )and have some relaxing time with this creamy new friend.
Risotto A la Milanese Recipe

Food Writing Course

Do you love writing? Do you love food? How about taking a food writing course on line?
Candace Dempsey is teaching a course online. I enjoy her Italian food stories all the time especially reading about her obsession with Bourdain.
So what do you think? Are you ready to take the plunge?

I just recently realized I got mocked by Candy-O for listing circus peanuts as one of my favorite candies. What ever happened to freedom of sweets? I posted my candy list on my other blog in the Seattle PI. Who gives someone the right to mock my sugarness. Candy -O listed those sugar dipped fruit slices as one of her favorites " Those things that look like fruit slices dipped in sugar (but only the lemon and cherry)" . Those are nasty, they taste like an old person's gums.

Mock me if you will but I see that you were inspired to write up your own list.
I think this calls for a taffy wrestle!