DeeAnn's BDay Weekend (Norm's view)

Well, I reviewed DeeAnn's posts, and at least it would appear that she enjoyed dinner. (yes, for those of you who noticed, I commented on her grammatical and spelling gaffs - I'm pretty sure she does it on purpose to see me get all exasperated - as if I needed any more stress after the marathon cooking session.)

Anyway. . . my one comment is that I will be adjusting DeeAnn's workout schedule in order to (and this was probably obvious to you) make sure she does NOT have time to shop.

But. . . on to the weekend. It's been fun so far - minimal workouts, lots of time hanging out. And way too much food. For those that really care, following is what we had tonight:















- Mushroom, Bacon, and Swiss Burgers
- Sweet Potato Fries
- Almond Gremolata Stuffed Tomatoes
- and momentarily, two layer cake ;)

For those that really want the recipes, read on (they're relatively simple - and actually mostly healthy - well, except the cake )

Mushroom Bacon Swiss Burger
- Bacon's bacon - cook it
- ditto with the burger, I grilled it with miscellaneous spices (I'd specify, but it was mostly whatever I found - don't forget salt & pepper. Also Worcestershire sauce is a nice touch)
- The mushrooms (baby portobellos) I sauteed in the bacon grease (mmmm) with some sage and garlic.
- DeeAnn just reminded me that I grilled the buns - just trying to keep up with Emeril dontcha know.
If you really need instructions on assembly I'd rather you not read our blog anymore, but just in case: bun, burger, cheese, bacon, mushrooms, bun - yes, you could vary the order to your taste.

Fries
- Step one is actually getting the sweet potatoes - remember that in the states they're called YAMS!
- peel 'em, cut them into strips ~1/2" x 1/2" (the length of the potato/yam)
- toss them in some olive oil, pepper, salt, and chili powder just trying to coat them evenly
- bake them for ~30 minutes at 400F, turn them halfway through to make sure they cook evenly. Also try to leave some separation between them so they don't stick and get somewhat crisp

Tomato "thing"
- This is a bit trickier; the tomato is easy, cut off the top, scoop out the insides ("gut it" DeeAnn says)
- Take the following and chop it somewhat finely in a food processor:
- 1 cup parsley
- 2 cloves garlic
- zest of 2 lemons
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 3 sprigs of rosemary (just the leaves)
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- a bit of salt
- a bit of pepper
- scoop the above out of the processor and jam it into the empty tomato.
- Garnish as desired

Cake
- Yeah, we haven't eaten this yet, so I can't spoil what flavors it is, but a secret (shhhhh). . . . . they were from a box! (I feel NO guilt, DeeAnn typically uses boxed cake mixes. At least as far as I remember - been a while since there has actually been a cake day )

Okay, I'm off to eat cake. Tomorrow is DeeAnn's actual birthday, but alas, it's a school day :( But there is leftover bacon (and DeeAnn says there will be leftover cake - you think that by now she'd know me ), so I might give making bacon a second chance and make her bacon wrapped bacon for breakfast!