Thursday, May 17, 2012

Turn off the damn TV

You wouldn't serve her microwaved TV dinners, so why the hell are you sitting on the couch, in front of the TV, eating that nicely-prepared dinner?

So, I'm hoping this would never happen on the first cooking date, but I'm sure its crept in on future cooking nights. Now that our lives are run by electronics (try avoiding Twitter, Facebook, or Words with Friends at a red light), there occasionally needs to be this unfortunate but necessary reminder that there's more to life than the images smashed behind a glass screen.

So unless its Sunday night and you're busy watching HBO weave together incredible writing, great actors, and random displays of violence and nudity, turn off the TV. Even if you're at the table but the TV's on from across the room - it doesn't count. 

Go old school (I can't believe this has turned into old school). Put on some music. Turn off that florescent light. And enjoy your company and the dinner you've just prepared, because you can't DVR life.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Grilled Artichokes



Sliced, boiled, and ready for the grill
My writing habits are have been withering faster than my failed at attempts at growing green beans on my patio. But I promise to try harder - with more posts and better plant skills (I just purchased jalapenos and banana peppers). 

Tonight (like most nights nowadays), I've shunned the stove in favor of the grill. And with feeling energized, I tried grilling two new things: drumsticks (I can't deny that Game of Thrones may have encouraged my desire to eat meat from a drumstick) and artichokes (Trader Joe's has some looking great mid-sized 'chokes that were just calling out to be grilled). 

Ingredients
  • 4 mid-sized artichokes (about the size of an orange)
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Olive Oil
  • Lemon

Steps
  1. Wash and Prep the artichokes by:
    1. Cutting the top third of the artichoke off
    2. Chopping the stem in half
    3. Slicing the artichoke in half longways
  2. You'll need to precook these guys before putting them on the grill, so boil the artichokes for about 15 minutes
  3. Strain
  4. Coat the artichokes with olive oil, salt, and pepper
  5. Preheat a grill to med-high/high
  6. Place artichokes on the grill
  7. Char, rotate, char, rotate (~10 minutes)
  8. Slice a lemon and serve

Finished Product