The Republic of T.

"Special-T" of the House

A while back I asked:

If a sandwich were to be named after you, and could be made of anything you wanted, what would it be made of?

And I described mine:

Mine would be made of: sliced portobello mushrooms, marinated in herbs and balsalmic vinegar; black olive tapenade; sun-dried tomato pesto; fresh basil; and smoked mozzeralla cheese. Served warm, on focaccia bread.

Today I made it for lunch. And reading the Amatuer Gourmet inspired me to blog about the experience. Care to join me? (Warning: You can click on the pictures, but the full sized versions are pretty big.)

The Sandwich

The response to the "Make Me A Sandwich" post has been so intersting that I think I'm going to borrow a page from the Amatuer Gourmet. Cooking is one of my hobbies, but I've never really blogged abot it. So, in my time off this Friday, I think I'm going to actually make the sandwich I proposed in the post, and use the opportunity to do a little food blogging, complete with pictures.

Bleah

I have not written a thing about the current cicada craze taking place here in D.C. These insects basically burrow into the ground, come out every 13 to 17 years, mate, and then die. Their offspring go back underground and bid their time before starting the whole cycle over again. People in D.C. have been anticipating and talking about them for what seems like months.

Well, they're here. I honestly haven't seen that many of them, but that may be because I live in the district, and there isn't that much unpaved ground for them to dig into or out of. I have seen a few; one live one on the outskirts of DC, and the bodies of a few that have already expired litter the sidewalk I take on my way home from work.

But what inspired me to post was this video, found via the Amateur Gourmet of this guy harvesting and cooking cicadas. I qualifies as the strangest thing I've seen in some time. It was almost funny, until the guy dumps the still living cicadas into a pan and fries them in butter. But then I have to avert my eyes from cooking shows when someone drops a live lobster in boiling water, or something equally likely to make my skin crawl.

Oh well, at least they're "Atkins friendly," and once this madness is over, we won't have it again for another 17 years.

Mid-Morning Decadence

We made brunch this morning for our houseguests and another friend visiting from out of town. My contribution has usually been french toast. But earlier this week we were watching the Food Network and saw a recipe on "Paula's Home Cooking" that sounded even better: Baked French Toast Casserole with Maple Syrup.

What made it better was the fact that it was assembled the night before, and baked in the morning. Plus, it doesn't smoke up the house like the stovetop version does (at least when I make it). I wasn't entirely sure how it would turn out, but it was fantastic. (Of course, eight eggs, two cups of half and half, two sticks of butter and a cup of brown sugar helps a lot.)

Anyway, I highly recommend it.

Cookies for Kerry

I don't know that I've mentioned this before, but cooking is one my big hobbies; particularly baking. Desserts are a specialty of mine. I don't get to do it as often as I'd like to lately, between work, parenting, and everything else. It's even rarer that I get to combine my love of cooking and baking with another interest of mine: politics. But thanks to the folks at MoveOn.Org, I'm getting the chance to do just that.

This Saturday, MoveOn.Org is asking people to hold a Bake Sale for Democracy, to raise money to take back the White House from George W. Bush. Proceeds will support MoveOn PAC and John Kerry. Well, I'm contributing my version of Chocolate Chunk Caramel Cookies, which have been well received every time I've made them.

I guess when Parker starts school, I'm all set to be the "Dad who makes the best cookies." PTA bakesale, here I come!

Belligerent Bovines

Todays e-newsletter from Compassion Over Killing contains links to two editorials on Mad Cow Disease that are particularly informative in terms of how the disease is spread through factory farming and in slaughterhouses, as well as what our government is not doing about it.