Cooking up a storm, literally...

Well, with no weather brewing in my neck of the woods, my wonderful groom and I opted to cook up a storm in the kitchen. It was really a wonderfully relaxing weekend. We had so much fun together, but it all started with our own rendition of "Chopped". If you don't happen to watch that show, it's similar to many of the elimination reality shows out there today, except on this one, there are only 4 contestants. They are given mystery ingredients (usually off the wall and unrelated) and asked to prepare an appetizer. The chef of the least liked appetizer is eliminated and the remaining chefs prepare an entree and a dessert through the same pattern, until a single winner remains and is awarded $10,000. Nice, huh? Well, for us, that show is appointment TV. When we see the ingredients, I will often ask my wonderful groom what he would make. I don't know what it is about the show, but we love it. Well, on Friday, I picked up a few ingredient choices of my own, and he was challenged with preparing our 3 courses from those.

So, what was on the secret ingredient list???
Appetizer: Puff Pastry, Avocado, Artichoke Hearts and Ginger Root.

I would describe his avocado-artichoke pâté w/ balsamic braised ginger puff pastry towers as... scrumdiddlyuptious! Even the presentation was pretty cool. He was so cute whipping up stuff in the kitchen. Where I thrive around weather, he thrives in the kitchen. I love all the passion he has for creating in the kitchen, especially since I am not a huge fan of cooking.

After we devoured that yumminess, I presented the next round of mystery ingredients, which were still a secret to him.

Entree Ingredients: Skinless Chicken Breast, Turmeric (which stains the counter horribly, but it's nothing bleach can't handle), Chanterelle Mushrooms, and Banana Chips. :D He knocked it out of the ball park!! Yummy! You see those banana chips rehydrating...? Drowning their sorrows more like... He added apple jelly to make a wonderfully flavored jelly to eat with the chicken.
In the end, he had created drunken chanterelle chicken rolls with tipsy banana puree'. Yes, we were getting a little silly after this round. The chanterelles had bathed in a pool of whiskey, while the banana chips rehydrated with some vodka. The flavors though... yummy, yummy.

Then, the final round was dessert, where I brought out Pomegranate, Ricotta Cheese, Pepperidge Farm Milanoes, and a Milky Way. Seriously, how can you go wrong melting heavy cream and milky way together??? My theory on life, "You can never go wrong with a Milky Way." So the Milky Way melt was just a covering for the yummy Kahlua Milano brownie. The bits of Milano added bursts of explosive yum throughout the dessert:

Milano Way brownie and pomegranate cream... for mature tastes... It may not have been the most appetizing looking dessert, but oh my!!! Ta da!

Of course, I mentioned cooking up a storm, I somehow missed capturing the tornado that blasted through our kitchen... He sure is excellent chef, but he can also wreak havoc in a kitchen.



I know you're not here to hear about our kitchen escapades, so let me share this... Tropical Storm Parma (remember that one? The storm that has killed 600 or so, so far in the Philippines) has made its 3rd landfall, this time in China. It is devastating the impact that Parma (the storm that wouldn't end) has had on that region. Fortunately, Parma should be downgraded before making landfall again.

In addition to that, back in the states, while the higher elevations are battling snow storms and ice on the roads, here in the south where we are battling humid and warm weather, the Atlanta area is being pummeled once again with gobs of rain, causing flash flooding and reigniting the fears of those who have just endured serious flooding in that region. After years of drought... they are now dealing with a scary surplus that is literally washing them away. Unfortunately, what they are experiencing today is nothing compared to what's in the forecast. Turn Around, Don't Drown.™

Apparently, the storm brewing at our house, brewed up a little something-something.3:00PM radar.

AREAS AFFECTED...PARTS OF S CNTRL GA INTO EXTREME SRN SOUTH CAROLINA

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH UNLIKELY

SEVERAL LOW AMPLITUDE MID-LEVEL WAVES ARE APPARENT WITHIN THE WEST SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ON THE NORTHERN FRINGE OF SUBTROPICAL RIDGING CENTERED OVER THE FLORIDA PENINSULA. PERHAPS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT OF THESE MAY BE CURRENTLY ACCELERATING EASTWARD THROUGH THE CAROLINAS. IN ITS WAKE...A SURFACE COLD FRONT HAS BEEN ADVANCING SOUTHWARD THROUGH SOUTH CENTRAL GEORGIA AND SOUTHERN SOUTH CAROLINA...UNDERCUTTING DISCRETE CONVECTIVE CELLS FORMING IN THE WARM AND VERY MOIST TO ITS SOUTH...AND AHEAD OF THE NEXT MID-LEVEL WAVE. WHILE THE PRE-FRONTAL BOUNDARY LAYER AIR MASS IS CHARACTERIZED BY WEAK TO MODERATE POTENTIAL INSTABILITY... LOW-LEVEL FLOW FIELDS IN THIS ENVIRONMENT HAVE BEEN SLOWLY WEAKENING...CONFINING STRONG LOW-LEVEL SHEAR TO AREAS IMMEDIATELY ALONG AND TO THE NORTH OF THE FRONT. GIVEN THE STABILITY OF THE POST-FRONTAL BOUNDARY LAYER...ANY RISK FOR TORNADOES SEEMS CONFINED
TO THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY OF THE FRONT...AND LIKELY SHORT-LIVED...WITH THE POSSIBLE LOW PROBABILITY EXCEPTION OF ANY CELL ABLE TO PROPAGATE ALONG IT FOR A SUSTAINED TIME PERIOD. OTHERWISE...LOCALIZED STRONG WIND GUSTS AND PERHAPS SOME HAIL SEEM
TO THE BE PRIMARY SEVERE THREATS SOUTH/EAST OF MACON INTO THE SAVANNAH AREA THROUGH 22-23Z.

Have a great day!
~Dewdrop