7 Quick Takes Friday

--- 1 ---

I know a minor celebrity!  Chef Patrick Cassata is a contestant on this season of Hell's Kitchen, and he's my BFF.  Well, when he was executive chef at a local restaurant, he would give us free drinks.  Plus, one of his gorgeous daughters is in Edmund's class.  And they always sit behind us at 11am Mass on Sundays.  Yep.  BFFs.

Anyway, I'm not caught up on the show, so if he got kicked off already don't tell me.  He's a great guy, and a fabulous chef.  Plus, he had TWO premiere viewing events that benefited the Mission at Our Lady of the Angels.  

He did warn us via email that M14 TV is "not for the kiddies."  This show is nothing like Top Chef.  Lots of bleepity bleep bleep bleep.  Tons of drama between the contestants.  Not much about the food.  That's why I like it.  I can't watch Top Chef without eating an extra meal, and The Chef can't watch it without making me one.  Hell's Kitchen doesn't leave me feeling like a moron cause I've never tasted those white truffles or sous-vied something.

--- 2 ---

Grace at Camp Patton made a whole quick take about me!  She's wickedly funny all the time.  I'm dying to meet her kids:  Blob and Hot Mess.  Plus, she made something that has both the terms "Gooey Butter" and "Cookies" in the title.  Brilliant!  We're pretty much BFFs.   

Too much, Grace?  Am I coming on too strong here?  Like a cyber stalker?  backing away slowly...

--- 3 ---

Another Idiot Proof Recipe.  And it's meatless.

Once upon a time, as I was killing time in my happy place...no, not the fancy jewelry store that does free ring cleanings and has bowls of Lindt truffles on the counter.  No, the jewelry store didn't relocate because of me.  The other happy place.  The one place in Chicago that has palm trees all year round.  Trader Joe's.

Anyway, I was at Trader Joe's, and they had an endcap display.  I know it's called an endcap because the Chef did some time at the Jewel as an employee in high school and college.  He always knows where to find stuff in grocery stores.

The endcap display had Lemon-Pepper Pappardelle, canned tuna in olive oil, jars of capers (which have been called pickle berries around here, and we all adore them!), and little neon squares of paper with this recipe on it.

Lemon-Pepper Pappardelle with Tuna and Capers (great title.)

one 8 oz. package of lemon pepper pappardelle, cooked according to package directions
two 7 oz. can of tuna in olive oil, undrained 
lots of capers

Mix all ingredients.
The end.

All you have to do is boil pasta.  Open one can (The olive oil gets dumped in too.) and one jar and your done!

I have made this in hotel rooms while on vacation.  It only serves 4 or 3 of my pasta-loving people, so I have to triple it.  You can only get lemon-pepper pappardelle at Trader Joe's, as far as I know.  The Chef has made it with regular pappardelle, a drained can of diced tomatoes, capers, olive oil and garlic and no tuna, because he's my pickiest eater.  He likes to complicate things.  I suppose you could complicate things too and add some fresh lemon juice and fresh Italian parsley.  But then, you'd have a bigger mess, too. 

--- 4 ---

We might be the worst dog owners in the world.  

Okay, probably not the worst, because I buy Mickey really good grain-free dog food.  We feed him, water him, and sometimes we walk him, and even wash him.

Remember yesterday, how I was whining about the loud drone of box fans and window unit air conditioners?  Well, besides having to make my own iced tea, there are even MORE bad effects.  We just have to get central air conditioning now.

Last night, at approximately 6:45pm, I was pulling out of the driveway to take Susan to get her physical for camp.  Yes, I know the forms were due on the 15th.  I saw Mickey in the back yard, and I thought, "I should call Lucy and Edmund and tell them to let the dog in.  I bet they can't hear him bark when he wants to come in."

But then I got distracted by Susan trying to fill out scads of paper work, hot out of my printer, and my sister from Houston calling to chat, all this while I was driving. 

Fast forward about four hours.  The Chef returns from a work event.  The kids and I finish watching Independence Day, which Lucy said was scarier than Signs.  rolls eyes.

The self-professed dog disliker, The Chef, of all people noticed that we had no dog, 

And the gate was open,

AND he had seen.....a skunk.

Long story short, Mickey had an adventure and spent the night three towns away at the county animal control facility which does not return animals until normal office hours.  And we stayed up til 1am worrying about him and then I got up and drove Edmund to swim team this morning.  ouch.

Longer story, this just in.  After driving to the county animal control facility,
it turns out our dog ISN'T THERE!

He's uninjured but at the county animal hospital.  doh.  

--- 5 ---

I AM SO EXCITED TO SEE BRAVE THIS WEEKEND!

Huzzah for Pixar!

Everytime, I go to the movies, I feel just like Annie, Daddy Warbucks, and Grace Farrell dancing through the streets of Manhattan singing, "Let's go to the movies..."  

Ridiculous, I know.  Keep reading.  It gets worse.

--- 6 ---

During my most recent trip to STL, my own Brave sister, Mary, did something for my girls that I should have done a long time ago.  She showed them the fabulous 80s cartoon, Jem on Netflix.

After Mary was done catching them up to speed on the over-arching plot, you know, how heiress Jerrica Benton has these special earrings that allow her to transform into Jem, the rock star, The Chef asked me, "Is that why you always introduced yourself as Jerrica at parties in college?"

Can I help it if I've always wanted to be truly, truly, truly outrageous?
   

--- 7 ---

So, if you have Netflix and you have kids, or share their taste in programs, some other hits to add to the queue are 

 

What have you found on Netflix worth watching?  And I'm not just asking about anime either.  

Speaking of anime, whatever happened to Belle and Sebastian anyway?  Did Sebastian ever find his mom?

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