First blush .....

First date.. new guy... first date that I'm blogging about. Whew! It's making me a little nervous actually! Thank goodness he's not into things like facebook, twitter or blogging. I don't know if I could write about it! I kind of feel like I'm about to get naked with someone for the first time, which in essance I kind am! Anyway back to cute cowboy. I mean he's not really a real full time cowboy which to be honest I know nothing about cowboys except what I learned in 'Urban Cowboy'...which I never finished watching. Anyway, it was a date from an oline dating service which was a touch nerve wracking. We had traded texts back and forth for a few days before he called. I didnt pick up, for a few reasons.

1- I had been having dinner with my cousin and sister and had drunk a little too much wine, I really didnt want to take the chance of alientaing him right out of the gate. I thought I would like to wait until date five for that at least.
2- I have had really bad luck with men's voices via the phone. You get a picture of a guy who is really tough looking and then when you pick up the phone, you get Mike Tyson.

...he didn't leave a message. So the next night (sober and somewhat calm but not really...calm,I was totes sober!!) I called him back. Imagine my surprise when a very manley voice answered! I immediently felt my toes curl a little. He definatly had a man's voice. I can't really remember what was said, I was on the way home from class...it was late...I was trying to drive...any number of excuses. But really I was kind of nervous. Usually, I get nervous before they pick up the phone and then I assume the control postion in the conversation and its all easy from there. But the deep baritones in this voice made it hard to focus and I sounded like an idiot most likely. Somehow I was able to make arrangments to meet him for dinner the next night, which was lucky for me because it was a Friday and I had a team builder at work (which usually means that I get off early).

Friday morning, I walk into work and at the appointed time my team met in a conference room to find out that our team builder is a fast food scavenger hunt! Way fun for a day when I don't want to feel bloated and greasy not fun for a first date day. Somehow, I managed to scarf down the following

1- a chili cheese dog
2- animal style fries (good until some literally shoves them in your mouth..)
3- brownie, oreo fudge sundae (COLD)
4- milk

I shouldn't be able to eat all that but I did and we won...and I felt really gross. So I did what any gal would do...I went shopping and got a mani/pedi. I bought a beautiful purple dress that brought out my eyes. I exfoliated, I conditioned, I lotioned, I shaved, I lightly perfumed, I listened to my power song...I felt wonderful....

and I was running a few minutes late...
which I HATE!

Moonpies and Men

I tried my first moonpie today. I know! My first moonpie EVER!! I was at Bass Pro Shop on a family outing for Fathers Day. We all chipped in and got my dad a gift card and then told him we were all going to go to Bass Pro with him. It really made my dad's day. Now, I'm a girly girl. I prefer mani's and pedi's to fishing and massages to hunting. I'm not huge on Football and I could care less about Golf. Pretty much the exception on sports is because of my brother in law. Baseball is in (Angels are our team)and soccer is something I'm becoming fond of (the US was robbed last week). Anyway, although I'm much too much a girly girl but I love Bass Pro shop! They have such cool stuff! And while there's a lot that I don't really enjoy, I love camping and hiking. Today, as we were all rummaging through the aisles and enjoying the wicked fun camping stuff (and contemplating a purchase for an emergency kit, something my previous boss instilled was important and in California where earthquakes happen as often as riots, it was) my one sister and I ran across a huge display for moonpies. Neither of us had ever tried one and contemplated which one to try. They had always been talked about so so much! How many food network specials have been dedicated to it? Chocolate, wafer and marshmallow sounded lovely and delish and so we each bought one. While walking in Phoenix 103 degree weather back to my car, we busted open one of them to share. I was pretty excited to dig in.

The heat had made the moonpie even more visually appealing. The chocolate was just starting to melt inside the wrapper and my tastbuds started to salivate as I ripped open the plastic. I lifted the chocolate goo to my lips and took a HUGE bite.....
of sawdust and gunk.

This moonpie ,I realized, is not all it's cracked up to be.

That's when I realized that moonpies and men share a lot!! Some men are a lot like a moonpie, they are all flash and talked about so much. He looks so yummy from the outside and you can't wait to wrap your lips around his and have his arms wraped around you. He even smells perfect, a mixture of man and spice, heat and muscle. But once he gets right up into your space you realize that he's all cardboard, that there's not a whole lot going on underneath that yummy tempting exterior.

So give me my Snickers bar men.

They are pretty much not flashy on the exterior, plain chocolate with out any fancy circle shape and look like they could be all one layer. But bite into one and you realize they are surprisingly complex. Peanuts, caramel and nougat really makes you happy. Simple ingredients which make me happy......
A lot like the man that I'm looking for.

I'm an Evil Jungle Princess.....

This is my addiction... I know I know, its silly one. But let me tell you what kind of loveliness dances on your tongue when you take your fist bite of this! This chicken dish is called 'Evil Jungle Princess', so even the name rocks my world! I love love love this. The restaurant that I get this fab dish at ,though, is TWO HOURS away from me!! So what did I do? I googled my heart out until I found the recipe. Let me tell you that this is the one thing that you will make over and over again. Pour it over white rice and I'm telling you that you will not be sad when sitting home on date night!

1 tsp. peanut oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 T. finely chopped lemon grass or 2 T. lemon zest (if you can't find
fresh lemongrass)
2 Kaffir lime leaves, softened in a little warm water or 1 T. lime zest
1-8 oz. chicken breast, skin removed and sliced
1/4 c. unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 c. chicken broth
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. sugar
7 fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
2 T. fish sauce
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper or to taste
2 T. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 c. finely sliced chinese cabbage
1 c. finely sliced red cabbagee
1-2/3 enoki mushrooms (optional)

Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok and add the garlic. Cook until
the oil has been infused with the garlic flavor, about 1 min, then
remove and discard the garlic.

Add the lemongrass or lemon zest, lime leaves or lime zest, and
chicken and stir fry until the chicken loses its raw look.

Add the coconut milk, chicken stock and chili powder and stir fry
until the chicken turns completely white and the sauce has cooked down
into a coating, not floating, cream.

Stir in the sugar, mint leaves, and fish sauce.
Add the cayenne at this time but only add enough to suit the amount of heat that you want

Stir in lemon juice to suit your taste.

Add the sliced cabbages and the mushrooms (if used) into hot skillet
with a little chicken broth or water
(enough to cause some steam, and who doesn't like a little steam....)
just to heat through, about 2 min

Serve the vegetables with the delicious chicken on top.

**This is also a very interesting furniture shop in Flag. I ran away from home with my sister a few weekends ago and we had a blast!**

Something simple....Guacamole!

I'm a total sucker for some great Guac. One of the chica's at my work made some killer avocado mash for a Guac competition that was going on and She was kind enough to share it with me. I made it last night to go along with some shish kabobs

Things you Need:
5 avocados
1/3 cup of cilantro (chopped very thin)
1/3 cup of red onion (minced)
1/8 cup of jalapenos (minced)
1 Lemon
2 teaspoons of salt

Add all together and mash mash mash!! When I did this last night I removed all the seeds from the jalapeno's. Its much too spicy with too many in. But now that I think about it, maybe a little spice in the life would be good.

Citrus makes me happy.

30 years ago my mom planted citrus trees in the backyard. Fast forward to now when I rent said house from my parents (for a killer deal on rent btw, and there's a pool!) and there's citrus every year. For the first year I was convinced it was a lime tree and a grapefruit tree. I was told otherwise at a BBQ that the whole family was at.

The nice thing about having a LEMON (that's right LEMON, not lime)tree is fresh squeezed lemonade!


Ingredients

3 cups fresh lemon juice (about 20 lemons)
2 1/4 cups sugar
12 cups chilled water

Preparation

Combine juice and sugar in a one-gallon container; stir until sugar dissolves. Stir in water. Serve over ice.

No so good at dating .... great at food

I'm horrible at dating. Its true I really am. I can give fab advice but when it comes to my own life I totes lack the social skills to flirt. I used to be good and sometime after high school, I lost my mojo. I'm trying I really am! I joined an online dating website and I'm hoping that it will lift my dating life up out of the primordial soup that its been languishing in. Meanwhile, I'm going to enjoy cooking and eating

No, I didn't make this. But tonight is going to be some delish shish kabobs and a dessert bar. Yes, I do know its a Friday night and I should go to happy hour.