Quirky Cookery

How to host an amazing crawfish/shrimp boil party

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Fri, 25 May 2012 11:05:00 +0000

Circa 2009 again.

I had never even heard of a “shrimp boil,” much less been to one. I wasn’t even sure what to expect, but whatever…it was a party invitation with new friends of the family and really, when have I ever turned down the chance at food?

If you don’t know what it is either, it’s often times with crawfish (crayfish? crawdads? craw daddies?) and is mostly associated with Louisiana or at the very least, the coast. Wikipedia is happy to explain more:

A boil is usually done in a large pot (60 to 80 quarts) fitted with a strainer and heated by propane. However, some traditionalists see no need for a strainer and make use of a net or a wire mesh scoop. Seasonings include crab boil packets, cayenne pepper, hot sauce, salt, lemons, and bay leaf. Ears of corn, new potatoes, onions, and heads of garlic are usually included in shrimp and crawfish boils. Some people will add smoked sausage links and/or mushrooms. (….) The contents of the pot are removed, drained, and then dumped onto a newspaper covered table. (…) Bottles of hot sauce, lemons and melted butter are usually available

I didn’t know any of this beforehand, so it was quite new for me. Watching the guys rip open ‘alcoholic beverage’ boxes and bags for the serving platter and dumping food everywhere was….well….spectacular.

I know it’s silly, but I love that! Nothing fancy. Nothing scheduled or concrete or any special way that something has to be eaten. Just dig in!

We learned lots that night actually, and the pictures will teach you about a great party way better than I can with words, so enjoy:

(Oops, sorry it’s blurry…old camera)

Friends and family are key. I don’t remember how many people were there, but everyone acted like they knew each other, even though some of us were clueless. A great party should feel like you’re hanging out in your PJs with family, even when it happens to be coworkers, too.

Seats should be aplenty, but musical chair should be encouraged. Adults and kids alike were all over the place, running about or playing games, but there was always a seat ready to be taken when feet needed a break.

Oh, and on the left, there, that’s the Boil Master. He’s in charge of manning the pot, making sure the ingredients go in at the right time, and keeping anxious fingers at bay.

Potholders are key. The basket is hot and you don’t want to waste any time with burned fingers unless it’s from popping open shrimp!

Dump away!

It might look like there’s a helping hand involved there, but really, there’s just a line of people waiting to dig in and as soon as he backs up, they’ll crowd the table from all directions.

This is actually a picture from the second or third round, as evidenced by the carrots left behind from the previous go and a fresh batch going on top.

Blowing on it really isn’t going to help, but if you’re hungry and impatient, you can try, hehe.

Learning to peel your own shrimp can be hard…and gross even.

But the success is so worth it. Even the shrimp will be smiling by the end. :)

Ketchup, ranch dressing, squeezable butter and crackers should all be arranged on your best pink kids’ table. The crackers are perfect for the whole garlic clovers that will melt in your mouth or to pair with the butter while you’re chomping at the bit, waiting for the next round to come out.

Bags/corn hole can be a backyard blast, especially if you have little helpers in between. Horse-shoes could be fun, too, but watch out for little toes.

If accidents do happen, make sure you have a big sister around to comfort you. They’re the best.

Princess shoes are optional, but highly recommended.

They entertain for hours, encourage sharing and trading….

And really, even the big kids will love them. ;)

Just keep an eye out for runaway jeeps and princesses.

And at the end of the night, when bellies are full and everyone’s happy, there’s nothing better than impromptu music and curling up on mama’s lap. If you choose to do them at the same time, though, your mileage may vary…. ;)

Fish pastry pie (Wordless Wednesday)

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Wed, 23 May 2012 10:53:00 +0000

;)

3 cheese stuffed shells - Do you really want to cook 7 nights a week?

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Tue, 22 May 2012 10:41:00 +0000

This is another guess-y recipe, but another one that I used to make a lot circa 2009. It was sooo easy to just put all the cheeses together, pipe it into dozens of partially cooked jumbo shells.

(Side note - When I was looking to see if I had posted about these yet, I realized I have more posts marked as “jumbo” than I would’ve expected. Aiming for “larger than life” much?)

I looked up a recipe for you so I’d have the right proportions listed, but really, I just used whatever I had. No mozzarella? Let’s go with cheddar. No cottage cheese? Cream cheese it is then… At one point, I kept catching plain yogurt on sale and even that would get added for the creaminess. It’s a catch-all recipe that works with whatever you have.

You can use the pre-grated parmesan shaker cheese if you want, but we prefer buying the block. If you’re going to use a shredder like this instead of a microplane, though, then watch out for shredding your palm, too. Not that I’d ever do anything like that…

Am I the only one that finds these pictures appetizing? More than likely….but I also know what it tastes like in this form and it is delicious. Cheese, cheese, and more cheese, mmm.

Do not skip the step of writing the instructions on the bag. Sure, you probably assume you’ll remember the temperature when you’re ready, but chances are, you won’t. But hey, if you do, this is pretty forgiving considering the shells are already partially cooked and the filling only needs to be cooked enough to heat the egg and melt the cheese.

3 cheese stuffed jumbo shells

1 (16 ounce) package jumbo pasta shells

4 cups large curd cottage cheese

12 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 pinch garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried parsley

Cook shells according to package MINUS about 2 minutes cooking time. Toss in cold water to stop the cooking.

Mix filling and put into a gallon sized ziploc bag. Cut the tip and pipe filling into shells. I tend to double the filling recipe and then split it between 3 boxes instead of just two. Perfect for once-a-month-cooking plans again.

Place on a pan or two and then place in the freezer for an hour…or until you remember to pull them out.

When shells are a little more solid, place them all into a ziploc bag and freeze until you need them. When you’re ready to reheat, place in a casserole pan, cover with your favorite pasta sauce, and cook for roughly 30 minutes.

Or…. toss them in the microwave for a couple minutes, pour some sauce on, and call it a day. Either way works. :P

Meatloaf cake - Lookalike dessert for dinner

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Mon, 21 May 2012 10:47:00 +0000

Another flashback to 2009 before I started taking pictures for this site. This was a meatloaf that I had shaped and “iced” with mashed potatoes to look like a real cake.

It looks rough here, but at the time, the girls were baffled by the ‘cake for dinner’ and then thoroughly confused when I grabbed a bottle of ketchup to ‘decorate it’. With a classic smiley, of course.

Scalloped potatoes - Bake until burnt

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Sat, 19 May 2012 12:34:00 +0000

Scalloped potatoes is one of those dishes that started as a side, meant to accompany a meal and round it out, but eventually turned into something we wanted as a full meal.

Correction - We always wanted it as a full meal and would stuff ourselves on it regardless, but for whatever reason, it was still taboo to fly solo. Something about it being unhealthy…

But hey, I see meat, dairy, veggies…. definitely a balanced meal.

So how do you make them? Lots of layers, kid helpers, and this recipe. And if you’re anything like us, you better make 2 pans…

Facts about Food Friday - Chicken stock ice cubes

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:21:00 +0000

FaFF

Mmm, appetizing, right?

That large roaster I love so much is also great for cooking big turkeys or multiple chickens at once. And that much poultry, uh, goodness, means a whole lot of stock can be made at once, too.

You ~~never~~ usually don’t know which recipes you’re going to use in 3 months and how much stock/broth they’ll call for, so a really easy way to store it is to freeze in ice cube trays.

Cool it in the fridge like you normally would, pour into trays, freeze until solid, and then toss them all into gallon sized bags so your trays aren’t monopolized with soup base.They don’t stick together, so later, you can simply pull out a couple for a quick sauce or a couple handfuls for a soup.

Chili for a crowd - 21 quarts for under 10 bucks

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000

2 bags (32 oz. each) pinto beans - $3.50 (Aldi)

3 pounds ground meat (beef, pork, turkey…whatever you feel like) - $3-6 (Catch it on sale)

Several cans tomato products (sauce, paste, diced, stewed, fresh) - $3?

Spices, weee! - Do you really need a price check on this?

Total -- $10-$15

This is another reason I don’t do these sorts of posts. I have no idea what was put in that particular pot of chili. Those were complete guesses and vary a lot based on how it’s made each time.

What I do know, though, is that whether you prefer mostly meat and no beans….soupy or thick….tomatoes or no tomatoes…chunked meat instead of ground…. spicy or mild…

No matter what, 21 quarts of chili is a lot of chili. O.o

Based on a cup serving, that’s 84 servings…

Which means a large roaster pan of chili like this (or soup, meal, whatever) will not only feed you tonight and tomorrow….but once frozen, you’ll have meals for months for those lazy nights where you don’t feel like cooking. Add it into your OAMC rotation and you’ll be set for a while.

And for potlucks, fundraisers, etc, it’s a great way to push out a lot of food for a small amount of money. Turn it into chili dogs for something more substantial or serve with corn chips, crackers, or bread. It can easily be turned into a chili casserole, too, to stretch it even farther and get more bang for your buck.

Video game food research

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000

I had planned to get several posts written up for QC today because I have been working hard on digging out all these photos.

But then...well....detour. So today, I am working hard at "researching" a video game instead. I'm hoping to find some food within that I can, uh, replicate like the WoW food posts I did. *nods* Yep, that's what I'm doing....

So in the meantime, have a power up drink! This one's on me. ;)

Orange biscotti mohawks

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:10:00 +0000

It’s rare that I post recipes here, but once upon a time while I was still figuring out what I wanted this site to be like, I actually did take tutorial-type pictures and hold onto new recipes I tried in order to share them. (Don’t panic…I won’t bore you with a full-on tutorial.)

This is an example of one of those days. It was another cold day in January 3 years ago, not long after the duck butt ordeal, and I had discovered biscotti. Now it’s not the first time I had ever had it, but it’s the first time I’d made it and known it by a real name. Apparently “those hard, crunchy things you eat with coffee” isn’t what they’re actually called.

So before the girls got home, I hunted down a decent looking recipe, zested and mixed, baked and baked, and then rebaked again, and got the hot chocolate all ready to go….

Oooo, this is from a time before I fell head over heels in love with my Kitchen Aid mixer.

Mixing in the eggs until everything is extra fluffy is always key. Well, or it’s just fun. Whatever.

I have no idea why I had a picture of a lime, by the way. This is strictly an orange biscotti recipe. I’m sure there was something significant back then, but not so much now. Maybe I was excited by it looking more like a golf ball? Or maybe it was a particularly huge one, but I didn’t think to place something next to it for size perspective? Who knows…but hey look, it’s a lime! /random

^ How not to zest an orange, by the way. You shouldn’t see nearly as much white because that means all the white pithy stuff is getting into your food, too. But guess what? I didn’t have a zester at that point and used a knife….so I sliced off thin pieces and then scraped off as much white as I could and chopped away. Go back to the zesty mix picture and you can see that it almost looks diced.

Work with what you’ve got….another life skill from my mom. Wait until I bring out the duct tape. ;)

Those? Those are fingerprints. Like…full on indents of my entire fingers across each log to press them into the right shape. I was hoping you could see them in the final product, but not so much.

^ Not done. This is the point where you cook them until solid and hard, but after you slice them, flip ‘em on their sides and bake until they’re that extra crunchy dip-worthy biscuit people seem to love.

And then coat them in sugary goodness so they taste decent. In this case, I went with chocolate. Lots of chocolate…

Obligatory funny faces!

Here’s the recipe for you guys who actually follow them to a tee. I didn’t, though, I’m sure, so don’t blame me if yours don’t pop out of the oven all smiley and fun. ;)

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 egg white

1/2 cup chopped almonds

2 tablespoons orange zest

4 (1 ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a cookie sheet.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat in the egg and egg white, then mix in almonds and orange zest. Knead dough by hand until mixture forms a smooth ball.

Roll the dough into a log about 10 inches long; place on the prepared cookie sheet. Press down, or roll with a rolling pin, until log is 6 inches wide.

Bake for 25 minutes in preheated oven. After baking, cool on a rack. With a serrated knife, cut into 1 inch slices. Place slices, cut side down, back onto the baking sheet.

Return them to the oven for an additional 20 to 25 minutes; turning over half way through the baking. Melt the chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave oven. Allow chocolate to cool but not harden before dipping one side of the biscotti into it. Place cookies on wire racks, chocolate side up, until cool and dry.

Duck Butt Cake - Quirky bunny parties hard

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Wed, 09 May 2012 13:17:00 +0000

Let’s flash back to January 18, 2009 when these pictures were taken. I had just finished getting my degree at OSU the previous month and it was time to celebrate.

I’m torn between thinking “Holy cow, that was just 3 years ago” and “Holy cow, it’s already been 3 years? Wtf have I been doing??” Yikes.

The previous summer, I had been visiting home and in one of my particularly quirky moods, I became obsessed with a 3D duck cake pan at a yard sale and convinced my mom to not only buy it, but agree to make a cake for me for a graduation party we weren’t even planning yet, lol. I didn’t let her forget either and she obviously followed through.

Yes, I did say I graduated college…with a real degree…with multiple minor specializations…at the top of my class. And yes, I chose to have a duck cake with lots of little rubber duckies. If that blows your mind, wait until you see me playing with glow sticks and dancing the night away with toddlers. ;)

On an equally as quirky obsession note, I called dibbs on the duck butt. Don’t ask why….I don’t know. I just *had* to have the duck butt. It has a nice ring to it, right? Duck butt, duck butt, duck butt.

*cough*

Anyway…. as with every party or cake post I do, I have tons of pictures, so I put most of them into a collage. Mouse over them and they’ll pop up a slightly larger version or click on through to see the full pictures. Some of them come with stories, though, and they’ll be on down.

Oh, and any of you who attended the party and don’t quite recall some of the details that are now showing in your pictures, it’s because I’ve replaced all your “adult beverages” with baby bottles. PG-13, y’all. ;)

The top middle pictures is how glow stick balls look put together, but for whatever reason, they ended up as hats to spin on our heads, too.

You know it’s a good party when only a few people know the picture is being taken, but everyone in it is smiling.

That second one is my “come hither, you’re dancing with me, too” move.

I really don’t know if I sat down at all that night. I think I might’ve to eat. Maybe. Most of it was spent right out there on the floor with a bunch of kids, though, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I also drove many of them home at the end of the night, too….my home…and we all crashed on couches and floors.

Some of us obviously weren’t done partying, even when bodies said it was time to sleep.

But never fear, the next day brought more duck cake fun. And in case I didn’t say it enough then or you don’t get the impression here, thanks for the fabulous party. <3

Justin Bieber meat baby head

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Tue, 08 May 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Really, I should’ve made this a Wordless Wednesday post, because what is there to say about this?

It’s creepier than any meat version I’ve done. Just look at those eyes! And that bacon weave, er…wave? Wow.

What’s worse, though, is that you know they cooked it. And you know that we don’t see a side-by-side picture of both the raw and cooked version of this Beiber meat head because it had to look awful. Absolutely horrendous. Like zombie Beebs twice baked. *shudders*

Wanna know what’s even worse? I have to tag this with the “art” category here. Gah!

Van Gogh’s ear slides into a vat of chili - Product dump #1

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Thu, 03 May 2012 10:43:00 +0000

You know how when people save up a bunch of pictures, and toss them in a picture dump post? The same for link dumps? They don’t think each one deserves its own post or maybe they’re behind on time and can’t write about each little thing.

That’s where I am. I’ve said it a million times before: I have THOUSANDS of links saved and THOUSANDS more pictures of my own that I want to share here. I’m never going to get through them all, of course, so I pick and choose. Well after yesterday’s post about the rolling pin I was drooling over, I figured I should probably just do a “product dump” and talk about some of the ones I’ve tucked away for a rainy day where I feel like shopping for random kitchen accessories.

For the record, all links are -not- affiliate links. Yes, that includes the Amazon ones, simply because my state no longer allows that anyway, even if I wanted to. No advertising. No sponsorship. No requests. Just quirky stuff I want. ;)

Reusable Stainless Steel Straws - I don’t use straws often, but if I were to have some at home, I’d want these. I’d probably drink more water and hey, I’d finally have a use for all those old pipe cleaners!

Universal jar lids - They’re supposed to fit most Mason jars, so it’d be another easy way to turn standard jars into more versatile containers.

Bull clip hangers - This one isn’t something to buy, but rather, a really easy fix for the kitchen. Instead of draping towels over the oven door handle and picking them up when they inevitably fall off, just tie ribbon through some bull clips and you’re good to go without the slippage.

Van Gogh Mugs Yes, there are not one, but at least two different sets of mugs that focus on Van Gogh cutting off his ear. The first mug seems clever enough by appearance, but there’s more to it: It’s made of silicone, so you can twist and tug and pull on that ear to try to take it off, ha. And the second requires you to use hot and cold temperatures to get his ear to appear and reappear. I won’t be buying these, but they still make me giggle.

Spaghetti Scrub - “are an eco-friendly alternative to cleaning and taking care of your cookware and appliances. Each uniquely shaped, pliable scrub consists of natural abrasives made from corn cobs and peach pits. There is no need for soap or cleaner since the abrasives are enough to do the trick. All it needs is moistening with water and if you would like to use soap, just a tiny amount would suffice.” I just want to taste one….

Lappers Diner Tray - No more balancing on my lap. Enough said.

Ice Cube Maker & Bucket - “Simply remove the inner bucket and fill the orb with water to the indicated fill line. Place bucket back in the orb (displacing the water), place lid on and pop into the freezer.Once frozen, again pull out the bucket, pop the ice cubes out of the wall and either use, or store inside the bucket. The orb doubles as a wine bucket or as a serving vessel.” Seems excessive unless you serve a lot of wine at backyard barbecues, in which case, you should probably get a few of these….and a new freezer to hold them all.

Fruit Slide - Because fruit bowls are so 90s…

Soup cooling paddle - You know how I am when I get to cooking. 10 quarts of chili? Let’s do it! I hate waiting on large roasters and crockpots full of food to cool down so I can split it up and get it into the freezer, though. You can actually do this with frozen water bottles if you want for it to cool down a little bit first, but that’s not nearly as cool looking. ;)

Manly man jelly bean flavors (Wordless Wednesday)

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Wed, 02 May 2012 11:58:00 +0000

Everything a man needs (and doesn’t), in a handful of weird little colored sugar drops.

Adjustable rolling pin - Pies, cookies, fondant made easy

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Tue, 01 May 2012 19:49:00 +0000

When I first saw this adjustable rolling pin a while back, I wondered why I had never seen one like it before. Anybody who bakes at all, knows how hard it can be to guess if your cookie dough or pie crust is -really- an eighth of an inch thick, give or take a tiny fraction of an inch.

Rolling something out to be 1/3 inch instead of 1/4 isn’t going to make or break your dish, of course, but it can certainly mean the difference between 24 thick doughy cookies or 36 thin, crispy ones.

And I know I’m not the only one who has ever rolled out a crust and had one end slightly thicker than the other. So my inner-occasional-wannabe-perfectionist is all over this. I was surprised to see it’s not even 20 bucks on Amazon either. Considering I’ve been using a can of tomatoes as a pin for the last while, maybe it’s time to invest in a real pin again?

Adjustable rolling pin from Joseph-Joseph

Condiment ice cube tray storage

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:46:00 +0000

You’re a fast food condiment hoarder, right? Even if you don’t have fast food often, those little condiment packets are great for tossing into lunches or eating on the go.

I think combined with the fast food bento-esque holder, these two would make road trips a breeze. I kinda wish there were reusable packet-style containers that could simply be refilled and reused, though, instead of having to go to various fast food places to stock up in the first place.

Eat it, don’t tweet it (Wordless Wednesday)

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:45:00 +0000

10 Quirky Cupcakes - Plain ol’ cupcakes are so last season…

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 21:16:00 +0000

I see a lot of cupcakes.

I mean, A LOT of cupcakes. They’re everywhere, all the time, even on sites completely unrelated to food. I love cupcakes (and cake pops, for that matter, which is also rather faddy), but I could easily flood a site with cupcakes in no time. Sometimes I save some that stand out as really unique and plan to blog about them, but never do.

So here’s some just from the last few months that I held onto.

Wicket Witch Crushed by a Cupcake - Love this one! We see characters put on top of cupcakes all the time, but to flip it over as part of a scene? Very cute.

Starry Night Cupcakes Cake - I’m usually not a fan of cupcake cakes, but this one is really well done as the famous Starry Night painting.

Sesame Street cupcakes - Annie was awesome enough to do a full photo tutorial for these. You’ll love how Big Bird’s beak was created.

Santa Claus hats - So what if this is April? They’re awesome. :P

Muppets - We’ve seen a lot of Muppet creations, too, but I still think these are the best cupcakes I saw.

Indiana Jones - Simple, and yet, oh so awesome.

High heeled cupcakes - These gets points just for not being only cupcakes.

Groundhog’s Day cupcake push pops - This is kind of like cakeball pop meets creative cupcake, huh?

Candy frog - Cute, huh?

Piranha Plant - If you follow my Quirky Mario tumblr, you’ve probably already seen this one.

The logic of a mother - Balanced meal > Fast food (Wordless Wednesday)

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:26:00 +0000

Electronic cupcake inhaler - Sniff away the calories?

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:55:00 +0000

Yeah, I’ll pass.

At a glance, it sounds great, right? Smell makes a large portion of our taste, so why not smell the cupcakes while resisting the temptation to eat one?

Because um, it’s not really a cupcake. If I want a cupcake, I want a cupcake…not just to smell one. And boy is my stomach going to be furious when my nose sends the message that cupcakes are coming, but they’re not. How devious. ;)

If you really want them anyway (hey, if you like sniffing things, it’s none of my business, right?), then you can find them at Vaportrim. I’ll warn you now that it smells of a weight loss scam site, but hey, for a few bucks shipping, they’ll send you a free sample, so might as well, right?

I would’ve ordered one, just to try it out and do a review, but when I made it to the order screen, I remembered how indecisive I am and had to walk away after not being able to choose. :P

The best stuffed bacon cheeseburger ever

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 13:16:00 +0000

The full process of stuffing it carefully, wrapping it with bacon, slathering it with green sauce, etc, can be found on 9gag…..in large, glorious, drool-worthy photos.

I’m slightly disappointed that’s green chili sauce and not an avocado guacamole sauce, but any and all hints of disappointment are smothered away by the oozing cheese.

via my sister

Transport thumbprint cookies without squishing them - Eat the mistakes

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:27:00 +0000

Thumbprint cookies (you know, the little peanut butter cookies that have a thumbprint sized area in the middle, squished down with a Hershey kiss?) are awesome.

Obviously.

But they suck for trying to do anything with them other than eat them. Now normally this wouldn’t be an issue and they’d never make it past the baking sheet, but occasionally I do share my food.

No really. I swear I have pictures of it somewhere. Maybe.

But anyway, even just for making several dozen of these and storing them on your counter to indulge throughout the week, this makes those pointy chocolatey goodies on top much easier to manage. Just put them in a shoebox lid (or flat cardboard box like you’d get flats of canned goods in).

The tips will stay untouched and make it possible to wrap them without waiting for the chocolate to completely reharden (because really, it never does unless you refrigerate them).

Better yet, if you go the shoe box lid route, a gallon-size Ziploc bag will likely fit over it perfectly, which means no fighting with the cling wrap either!

So long as the bag fits tightly or the saran wrap is tight, you can stack a few of these for carrying purposes. I wouldn’t recommend having them stacked for too long, though, simply because the weight may eventually cause the plastic to sag and then you’ll have to eat the entire bottom row of squished mistakes.

Flaming Deathwings - World of Warcraft hot wings

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 12:34:00 +0000

Like my post of Yor’sahj oozes, this is another boss from World of Warcraft. This is -the- boss. The Bowser or Mario games, but bigger, badder, and a whole lot hotter.

No, literally, check out that fire…

The wings were originally inspired by this t-shirt, which I think khorre sent me first, but I could be wrong. It’s been a while and I save lots of bookmarks. :P

But why stop at little puny chicken wings when Deathwing is HUGE? For the non-gamers, huge as in, one of the fights fits 25+ people on a tiny section of his back.

And since I can’t buy my own dragon to replicate this or even an ostrich, I had to go with the next best thing. Turkey wings!

I know nobody wants to see raw meat and I’m sure it’s listed in some rulebook of what you can and can’t put on food blogs, but you’re going to get the pictures anyway.

And on a note that I’m sure some of you could’ve lived without knowing/seeing (I’m looking at you, Mom), I did discover something about Canadian poultry. They do -not- tend to pluck and de-feather them nearly as well as I’m used to.

Even after cleaning and removing what I could see, once I floured the wings, I found even more. I’m thinking I should’ve sent them to the salon first.

Big wings meant I needed something a bit bigger than Clifford to stand in for boss. Fortunately, I had a screeching superhero monkey who was willing to take on the role. He even let me remove his pink cape before posing with the dead bird.

And if you’re just here for the wings, this is the gorgeous color they end up before going into the oven.

Yes, very orange. The bowl after reminded me of the orange cheese that comes out of Kraft dinner.

The cooked variety, of course, is a bit less orange…..

But still just as Deathwing Monkey worthy.

Don’t think I left out my handy dandy guildie stand-ins either:

Nom, nom, nom!

Yes, I washed them after….

Here’s the recipe I used for the wings, too, although on a smaller scale and obviously with two large wings instead of 20 mini-chicken ones:

Baked Buffalo Wings

Ingredients

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

20 chicken wings

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup hot pepper sauce

Directions

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and lightly grease with cooking spray. Place the flour, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and salt into a resealable plastic bag, and shake to mix. Add the chicken wings, seal, and toss until well coated with the flour mixture. Place the wings onto the prepared baking sheet, and place into the refrigerator. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Whisk together the melted butter and hot sauce in a small bowl. Dip the wings into the butter mixture, and place back on the baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, and crispy on the outside, about 45 minutes. Turn the wings over halfway during cooking so they cook evenly.

It’s worth nothing that I used about twice as much hot sauce as called for, and I basted them twice with it so they were coated more. They still weren’t quite as hot as I wanted, but delicious, no doubt. I served them with mashed potatoes instead of a standard bleu cheese or ranch dip, too. Insert some pun here about “smashing” the boss. ;)

Food trucks, but not - Trucks that look like their foods

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 12:42:00 +0000

I actually had a hard time finding information on some of these because any searches that continued both “food” and “truck” automatically brought up a billion different food trucks. I love ‘em, too, but their popularity over the last few years especially is getting a little ridiculous.

Mostly because there’s no way I can try out all the food trucks I want, pfft. :P

Anyway, to the trucks!

Planter’s Peanut Mobile

Hershey Kissmobile

Maximus Minimus

Midwest Dairy Association

Westport Flea Market Bar & Grill - This one is actually one of my favorites. If it weren’t parked outside the sign saying it’s for a bar and grill restaurant, too, I might be a little confused but regardless, I like that the entire vehicle has been transformed into a burger and all its fixig’s.

Boston Lobster Feast Car

Goldfish - The snack that smiles back

Sweet Jenni’s Cupcake Truck

via Mom

How to make drawings in your latte - Coffee bunny!

noreply@blogger.com (Quirky Jessi) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:30:00 +0000

Actually, there are two bunnies in there.

I don’t even like coffee and I suck at drawing, but it’s tempting to learn how to do this, just so I can say I’ve drawn a quirky bunny in a drink before, too.

(via sister)