Blowing Off Some Steam:Hot Tamale!

Have you ever wanted to make 40 tamales? Yes? Well, settle in. I'll show you how. (I am experimenting with photo-size here. X-tra Large? BBW? Thoughts, experiences? No one cares? Perfect, let's move on.)

Until recently I had never made a tamale. Frankly, I wasn't even really sure what it was other than it being wrapped in a corn husk (or a plantain leaf?) but with some thorough internet research (thanks Wikipedia!) I discovered that Tamales were a Spanish Conquistador staple and that in Central America they use plantain leaves, but in Mexico, corn husks are used.

 

No More Sweet Talk!

Do you remember that time I promised you caramel corn? Today I shall deliver, and hopefully before The Rapture hits (crossing my fingers)!

I sometimes dream about caramel corn the same way I dream about beef jerky and those tofu egg patties (has anyone thought of a name for those yet?). Ew, and I truly mean beef jerky, get your mind out of the gutter! I recently decided to make my dream of caramel corn a reality and now, without further adieu, I bring you:

Tofu Eggs Are Hard to Beat!

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but it's so damn hard to eat it! At least for me. When given the option of sleeping in an extra 30 minutes or stumbling downstairs and eating, I will choose sleep. That is why the Food Gods created protein bars; specifically protein bars for Women (Receive a FREE box of TAMPONS with every purchase of 7 or more!(I kid, I kid...that's not a real offer, but it should be.)).

Weekends, however, are another story. I rise with the dawn (well, more like 8:30-9 AM) and ponder what's on the menu for the morning. Unless, of course, I am going to the Highline. The last couple of weekends I have been attempting to use up the magnanimous amounts of tofu I have on hand. There are several things I purchase every time I go to the store, regardless of need,  and tofu is one of them. Chex Mix is another.

So, prepare yourself, here are two of my faux-egg-cellent breakfast dishes.

Highline Part 1: Being Vegan ain't no Missed Steak

The best way to cure a hangover is the Highline. (I will spare you the link because hopefully all of you have been so enraptured with my previous two posts that you have already viewed both of the links provided. If not, I suggest you take a look. I'll wait for you here. In my food coma.)

I love food; I love eating food, cooking food, taking pictures of food, reading ingredients...I'm no Craig, but maybe in time. I plan on reaching that goal by eating absolutely every item on the Highline Menu, and after an eventful evening on the Bayou I was famished.

The Higline brunch menu is where I began my adventure. Well, sort of,  I began my adventure with a red beer (you know, the whole "hair of the dog" philosophy) which isn't on the brunch menu per se, but whatever.

So. Delicious.

I Wanna Be Loved Bayou!

It has been one whole week since my first post, and what a week it's been. There have been two cooking projects, a birthday party, a hang-over and my first visit to Highline since deciding  to eat my way through the menu.

Where to begin!? The best place to start is going to be on the bayou.

I had been enlisted to cook appetizers for 50+ guests for a bayou-themed birthday party. On the menu for the occasion were Cajun Mini-Quiche, Jalapeño Cornbread and Cajun Spiced Popcorn. (I actually had to stop typing for a second and reminisce about those quiche. They were so wonderful. Mmmmm....) Okay, so, last Friday:

I used Susan V's phenomenal, wonderful crazy-delicious mini quiche recipe and then kind of added my own little spin to Cajunize it. For the cornbread, I found this  mamma jamma. I replaced the corn with jalapeños and we were set! My own little spin for the quiche involved Tony Chachere's creole seasoning and extra bell peppers! 

( Ca-jun-ize  transitive verb  \΄kā - jun, - īz \ : to make something Cajun, in this case food). 

(Mamma Jamma  noun  \ 'mä-mä, ‘jam-mä \: 1. something that is considered by many to be very sexy and/orboss. 2. synonym for the word "thing" (Thank you Urban Dictionary)).

We started the evening off with a some green beer to celebrate the launch of my almost world famous blog. 

My roommate, Tiff, helped by drinking beer. 

Brandi looks a little skeptical of the project. 

         

The green beer slowed the cooking process down a little bit, but we still managed to get everything done. And Brandi even found time to KNIT!