Eff This Heat

I like how the weather forecast for my area is accurate that I can really plan my week: expect temperatures in the mid to high 90s with a chance of thunderstorms every day. Today we actually had a storm that lasted about 15 minutes and then went straight back to being sunny and muggy again. About three hours later we had another rain squall that lasted another 15 minutes and then disappeared. The combination of heat and the threat of thunderstorms has made it impossible to plan anything that involves being outside so I'm getting a little stir crazy. I don't want to waste my vacation inside and I hate the treadmill! Luckily, I'll be heading to the UK in two weeks to visit my family for a much-needed 2 week long English vacation complete with ice cream, cider, and lots and lots of fish and chips.

The food front here has been pretty typical. I'm really trying to get as much of our food eaten as I possibly can before we go out of town. I got rid of some cans in the pantry and some of the tomatoes my parents neighbors have been bestowing on them by the pound by making a nice homemade chili. It was really good and I put every vegetable in it that I figured would agree with it, but it's so hot out that chili isn't really the most appetizing meal on 90+ degree days. The cornbread didn't disappoint since I added my secret ingredient: creamed corn! It was sooooo good I nearly ate it all by myself.

I also experimented with a new recipe my friend and co-worker Kimmy discovered at Trader Joe's. They conveniently displayed mozzarella cheese sticks next to the pizza dough and proposed the idea of stuffed-crust pizza. Kimmy tried it and liked it, so I decided to give it a whirl. It was awesome. I tried to counteract the fat-assedness by making it an all veggie pizza but after eating......4 slices.....I felt like I was impregnated with a food baby that did not really go away until 10am the next day. WAAAAAYY too much cheese for me in one dish. I may have felt like I ate 6 pounds of cement mix, but the pizza was awesome. The veggies were crunchy as well as the crust and it really was a success.

Yesterday (which was Sunday), I was out of my mind bored. I had cleaned the whole apartment Thursday and Friday and had nothing to do. Brian was enjoying a new video game and it was way too hot to even take a short walk. Instead I went to the grocery store and picked out everything we needed for an awesome dinner which included and big juicy steak for Brian covered in mushrooms with garlic french beans, an herb salad and rosemary olive oil bread. I had the same thing except substitute the steak for a fillet of Alaskan Salmon. It had been sooo long since I'd had a really good piece of fish. I always seem to overcook it and Brian isn't much of a fish fan. I'd seen a recipe on PBS the day before where the guest chef pan seared the salmon fillet for a few minutes and then slow cooked it in the over at 300 degrees for a few minutes. Oh my god, I'll never make salmon another way again. It was easily the best fish I'd ever made and since I got a giant slab-o-salmon I made another fillet tonight on top of a bed of kale with an ear of corn. Another awesome food fact I learned was that cooking corn in the microwave with the husks on (1 1/2 minutes per side on high) makes the easiest and most tender corn EVAR! I didn't even butter it because it was sooo good!

Right now I'm just counting down the days until I'm off to the motherland. I've got a cute new carry-on that Brian lovingly got for me and I'm ready to see all of my family! I'm sure a lot of people think I'm really weird for wanting to be around my family so much, but being an only child with almost NO family living close to you it got really lonely sometimes. It was pretty much my parents and my cats...that's it, so I really enjoy seeing everyone when I go to England to visit. I'll definitely be updating while I'm there with all of my delicious findings. Until next time, have some good eats!