Martha & RATM

Well, it finally happened! All components of dinner were finally ready to be served at the same time! 


For me, this was as an absolute first. Why? Because often I find myself serving courses to my fiance when they are finished (rather than as a complete meal) because I somehow failed to calculate the cooking times of the dinner courses properly. Boy, grandmothers use to make it look so easy!


Although I intended to start cooking some of my MS Living recipes a few days ago, I delayed tackling some Martha's "What's for Dinner?" recipe section until last night. The results: Well, spectacular - of course! It was one of the best meals I have cooked in a long time and it got me out of my incessant cooking rut. 


It all started with my enlightening grocery store trip to Wegman's. Instead of purchasing the same six produce items, I finally had some variety in my cart - rhubarb, leeks, various peppers (and they weren't red or green), salmon and fresh mint, to name a few. In the past, if I even dared to purchase these items, they would just sit in the fridge until they "went bad" because I had NO CLUE what to do with them. Not this time! 


Armed with my recipes and ingredients, I was ready to take on dinner. Of course my execution was indeed, hilarious - for several reasons! However, the comedy in my execution first hit me when I when I was in my disaster of a kitchen, chopping fresh herbs in my 4" stiletto stacked heels with crimson lips, all while singing along to Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name Of." How very un-Martha of me! Nonetheless, the dinner turned out great. Next time, I will try a little harder to "fit the part" a little more!


The breakdown of the dinner and the recipes are as follows:

Bruschetta - w/ Tomato, Balsamic & Dill

Rating: 6

Garlic-Jalapeno Shrimp

Rating: 8

Tweaks: Substituted a Hungarian pepper for jalapeno

Comments: We loved this recipe!

Rice w/ Peas and Cilantro

Rating: 6

Tweaks: Substituted parsley for cilantro

Carmel Custards

Rating: 7

Comments: Reminded us of a creme brulee type of dessert - minus the crunchy top!

Drink - The Taurus

Rating: 2 (Holy crap! Strong tequila!)

More to come...


~ I