what is it about the fries?!?

Our family loves to spend time at the pool. They have a great kids' play area with hoses, buckets, rope ladders and slides. They also have a concession stand. My husband is crazy about their french fries. He will make sure to have his $1.25 in order before we get in the car to head to the pool. Last night, he ate two batches. Of course, each one was consumed alongside copious amounts of ketchup. I'm fairly certain that these are your garden variety frozen crinkle cut spuds, which begs the question...what is it about the fries? I'd like to think that I have a slightly more sophisticated palate. My favorite fries are at AT&T Park (formerly Pac Bell Park) in San Francisco. They are the famous garlic fries...served with chunks of freshly crushed garlic. They are so garlicky, you're likely to smell them in the air when you arrive at the stadium, and on your breath a week after cheering your team on to victory. Now, those are some yummy fries! Perhaps the thing that makes food taste so good is the circumstance surrounding its consumption...summer vacation, a victorious ball game, a family gathering, etc. I hope you have a chance to share some good food with great company over the next few weeks.

st. louis all-stars

So, I'm sitting back, watching St. Louis show off its new Busch Stadium (and NL MVP Albert Pujols!) in the 2009 All Star Game, thinking about some All Star foods from St. Louis. Perhaps the oldest and most recognized consumables native to St. Louis are the bubbly adult beverages from Anheuser Busch. The AB brewery was started waaaay back in 1860, and is still a St. Louis icon! A few foods made popular in the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (a.k.a. the St. Louis Worlds Fair) in 1904 are: Dr. Pepper, iced tea, hot dogs, hamburgers, peanut butter, cotton candy, and waffle cones (for ice cream). More recently, St. Louis favorites have come to include toasted ravioli, gooey butter cake, and crunchy-thin-crust pizza (of course, topped with provel cheese). What's the only way you can make these specialties any better? Make them chocolate, of course!

Here is my favorite Double Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake recipe (thank you, Marla) for you to try at home.

• 8 TBSP (1stick) butter, melted, plus
• 8 more TBSP (1 stick) butter, melted , plus additional butter for greasing pan
• 1 (18.25-ounce) package chocolate cake mix
• 1 egg, plus 2 eggs
• 1(8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 3 to 4 TBSP cocoa powder (the more the merrier!)
• 1(16-ounce) box powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Lightly grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
• In large bowl, combine the cake mix, 1 egg, and 1 stick melted butter, and stir until well blended. Pat mixture into prepared pan and set aside.
• Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the remaining 2 eggs and the cocoa powder. Lower the speed of the mixer, and add the powdered sugar. Continue beating until ingredients are well mixed.
• Slowly add the remaining 1 stick melted butter, and the vanilla, continuing to beat the mixture until smooth.
• Spread filling over cake mixture in pan.
• Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the cake; the center should still be a little gooey when finished baking.
• Let the cake partially cool on a wire rack before cutting into pieces.

shopping lists

I am a list person. I keep lists of everything. 'To do', 'To make', 'Bills', etc. I am just shy of the lists of lists (except for the brief example above!) kind of person. I have a computer program which will generate a shopping list from my menus for the week, or any given event, and I love, love, love it!

Well, this week is a big week as far as grocery shopping goes...baby shower on Saturday, wedding reception on Sunday, and a family to feed in the meanwhile. So, I entered all of the things I'll be making this week from turkey sandwiches at lunchtime to cheesecake for one of the events desserts. The computer generated list is 3 pages and 100 items long! The beauty of it is this: the computer has arranged the list according to departments in the grocery store. I had better get started!

wednesday family night out dinners - fall 2009

West County Assembly of God Church Wednesday Family Night Out Dinners are open to anyone, provided you have made reservation. Please email Ellen in the church office to do so. All adult meals include an entree, side, vegetable and/or salad, and dessert. Children's entrees are often available and junior-sized adult meals are available each week. The costs are $5 per adult (over age 12) and $2 per child (ages 3-11, children aged 2 years and under are free). First time visitors will receive complimentary meals as guests of the church (please make a reservation). Meals are served each Wednesday from 5:45-6:15PM.

Fall quarter menus:

• August 26: Oven Fried Chicken, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Cucumber and Tomato Salad, Dessert
• September 2: Made to Order Pizzas, Salad Bar, Dessert
• September 9: Barbequed Beef Brisket, Baked Macaroni, Broccoli Salad, Dessert
• September 16: Shredded Chicken Nachos, Corn and Black Bean Salad, Dessert
• September 23: Pasta Prima Vera, Garlic Bread, Caesar Salad, Dessert
• September 30: Baked Potato Bar, Salad Bar, Dessert
• October 7: Pot Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Market Vegetables, Salad, Dessert
• October 14: Spinach Lasagna Rolls, Market Vegetables, Garlic Bread, Pasta House Salad, Dessert
• October 21: Balsamic Herbed Chicken, Aunt Bev's Rice, Market Vegetables, Salad, Dessert
• October 28: Chili with beans and meat or White Chicken Chili, Salad Bar, Dessert
• November 4: Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables, Salad, Dessert
• November 11: Taco and Burrito Bar, Salad, Dessert
• November 18: Potato Chowder and Spicy Black Bean Soup, Salad Bar, Dessert
• November 24: (TUESDAY) Creamy Mostaccioli, Garlic Bread, Caesar Salad, Dessert

a few of my favorite things...

Although my fellow shoppers at Homegoods were well aware that the excursion was not among my toddler-daughter's list of favorite-things-to-do-today, they may not have known that it is one of my all time favorite places to pick up odds and ends for the kitchen. I shopped for all of ten minutes, and fully eight of them were spent trying to console and shush my sobbing kiddo. But, all of you with toddlers know, shopping must be quick and to the point (no meandering allowed)...so the two minutes were productive, and I found the perfect plates! I'll post pictures when I dress them up with some delectables after the wedding reception next weekend. Another favorite is an online party supply site, Smarty Had a Party. I love all of the unique disposable (but washable and reusable) party ware. I ordered some square plastic shot glasses this morning. And the part that I think is the best, is they are based in St. Louis, so to forgo the shipping, I am going to go to the warehouse to pick up my order (and perhaps get a few more ideas while I'm there!). Here's hoping all of your shopping is a little less eventful than mine!

a new venture

Just in case you think I may have tried a fabulous new recipe for dinner, and want you all to do the same, my new venture today was in the realm of computer-speak...not food! My kiddo and I re-heated leftovers for dinner (gasp!), and I was determined to enhance your experience while viewing my blog. If you would kindly take a moment and locate the lovely links (Gallery, Experience, Menu, Reservations) at the top of my blog (immediately under the 'header' if you want to be technical about it), you will know what consumed the free portion of my day. I must say a huge thanks to the author of bloggersentral.blogspot.com for translating the thought into HTML. And for those of you who cannot believe that I did it alone...you're right. I had just about everything set, except for one little snag, and my hubby comes home and says, 'you have to remove the /*'. Done and done. Thanks, honey.

gallery

Greek Cucumber Rolls

Chicken Salad on Cucumber

Raspberry Brie and Mint Tartlets

Antipasto skewers

Red velvet cake

Festive buffet

Veggie platter

Spinach salad with warm bacon vinaigrette

Assorted cheeses and flatbreads

Fresh vegetable and mozzerella salad

Fruit Kabobs

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Julie's Yellow Cupcakes with Pink Buttercream and Marshmallow Polka Dots

Assorted Sandwiches

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Stacks, Loaded Carrot Cake Bite with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting, New York Style Cheesecake with Raspberry Monogram

Buffet

Fruit Kabobs

Chicken and Bacon Brochettes

Tomato, Basil and Feta Pizzettes

Twice Baked Baby New Potatoes

Fruit Kabobs

Parmesan Flatbread

Crudite Shooters

reservations

In order to reserve a date for your event, a signed Catering Agreement and a non-refundable date reservation fee of one thousand dollars ($1000) or 50% of your estimated total (whichever is less) are due. Once your food, beverage and other event details are finalized, I will provide you with a final amount due.

For more information or to arrange a tasting, please email me (Carrie Roberts) at: PinkPeppercornCatering(at)gmail(dot)com.