what a fun weekend

On Thursday last week, E came over to make sugar cookies for St. Patty's day. She brought her mixer and we made about 65 sugar cookies. After the dough was made for the cookies, we made delicious but not green enough icing. We mixed dried egg whites (I think?) with confectioner sugar in the mixer and added 2-3 drops of green food coloring. That was just the beginning because by the end, we had added half of the food coloring to attain the deep forest green color, which we couldn't. To move the process along, we had an assembly line. I rolled out the dough, baked the cookies and E was in charge of icing and sprinkling them with sprinkles. It took few hours to make the cookies but they were totally worth it. They tasted really well. Hats off to Alton Brown for a great sugar cookie recipe. The husband, E & I all agreed that the sugar cookies weren't too sweet so that made them taste much better. For that matter, all of the Friday night guests said the same thing about the cookies. They were thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

The next day, we had a farewell party for NG and celebrated the Irish holiday. We invited about 12 people and they all showed. It's always good to have a full house at the party. Fortunately it was potluck therefore I didn't have a lot to make on my own. I made aloo tikki, deviled eggs for appetizers. N & S came early to help with early preparation and to hang out before it got too loud. N & I made pulao, which was succulent. Some friends brought chicken dow pyaza, mutter paneer & chicken tandoori. All very tasty. Although I had never heard of chicken dow pyaza, it was one of my favorite chicken dishes. Someone brought a huge bottle of Jack Daniels. One of our friends from Cleveland, AS brought beer, lots and lots of beer. I think he was under the assumption that the party was for the entire weekend. :) I must admit out of all of the husband's friends I enjoy AS' company the most. He really knows how to have a good time, makes jokes and appreciates life to the fullest.

That Saturday, it was a girls night out to celebrate my birthday. I was really excited to invite E, N, & B for the birthday dinner at Cactus Pear. Cactus Pear is one of my favorite southwestern/Mexican restaurant in the area we live in. It's owned by an Indian guy who also owns some Indian restaurant in the city. It has a modern flare but the food has the fusion kick. E & I shared portabella & Caribbean chicken fajitas. I liked the chicken but I loved the mushroom fajitas. We also ordered a pitcher of margaritas and everyone enjoyed them. Even N, who hasn't had a lot to drink in her life, had a glass. I think she said this was her second time drinking, ever. Not that I am a big alcoholic, but I couldn't imagine going so long without having a drink, or at least trying alcohol. I think this reflects her young years. She grew up with a very conservative family where even eggs are forbidden. B got me a plant that she had in her backyard. I have to plant it in mine to see what it is. I hope it isn't anything illegal. ;) E bought me a crockpot, which I've wanted for months. It'll be great to have especially now that I have a job so I can cook something all day just to have it ready when we both come home from work. N gave me an authentic Rajasthani (from Rajasthan, a state in India) necklace with earrings and a bracelet to wear with American clothes. I was really pleased with everyone's gifts. I am truly grateful to have good friends like them.

That Sunday, we went to N & S' place for lunch and then to J & B's (friends of E& D’s) place for our cooking club. Fortunately I didn't have to make anything for lunch so I had some time to prepare food for the evening. I made stuffed cabbage which I think was a hit. Everyone was pleased to know that I stuffed my cabbage with lamb, rice, onions, garlic, green peppers & celery. Since it was a Hungarian/ Eastern European dinner, I used lots and lots of Hungarian paprika. I also made browned onion kugels. E, one great cook that she is, prepared potato & cheese pierogies along with mushroom & lamb pierogies. She really put the time and effort into them, and it showed because they were simply delicious. B made chicken paprikash which was really good and had a little taste of Indian spices. The husband and I agreed that was really impressive, however we weren't as impressed with the dumplings that go with the paprikash. They were too doughy for us. As always T prepared yummy cookies and black forest cake that wasn't heavy. Heavy in the sense that it didn't make you feel full/stuffed after the first bite. The cake was rich in taste but very light, just how I think black forest cakes should be. T is a great cook but she's amazing when it comes to desserts. She has a niche for making impressive desserts. During dinner at J & B's place, we finalized that the next cooking club will be at our place since the theme is Indian food. Excited might be an understatement.

All in all, the entire weekend was great fun.

the 2 e's, exhausted and excited

So it's late on a Wednesday. I had my interview with Kroger today at 1:30. For the interview, I woke up fairly early, 9:45, ok that's early for me. I've gotten so used to sleeping at 1am and waking up after 10:30, I am going to regret staring work. After waking up, I had my favorite breakfast, milk & cereal (simple, just the way I like it). Thereafter I researched Kroger and its background so I could throw out some important information I learned during the interview. Prior to my interview with BP, I had to fill out a 20 page (or at least it seemed liked) application for the company. In my opinion, the questions were ridiculous. She asked me couple questions about my experience and why I left my previous job. Then the talking began.... She talked, talked, talked, and talked some more. She told me all the responsibilities for the position. It all sounded really well until she dropped the salary bomb. The number of responsibilities she listed, I would have hoped for a higher salary for this position. Some of the responsibilities include recruiting (which I love), training/orientation (I can handle), payroll (eh...) and signs. At this point I said to myself, signs? What does she mean signs? Before I could ask her to explain, she took it upon herself to explain. Every week, this person would have to post signs in different departments. i.e Sale on a pound of tomatoes or, sale on the Toilet Roles. interesting, I thought but certainly not impressive. But than again, every job comes with its pros and cons. By the end of the long interview, I wasn't sure if I was impressed with the position or the woman speaking with me. But who knows maybe she felt the same about me.

Since I had eaten breakfast and didn't have anything in my tummy, by the time I got home at 4 I had a giant headache. I was hoping after eating some food, the headache would go away but that wasn't the case. I ate chicken, chips and yogurt but nothing helped. Headache or no headache, I had to get some work done. This involved researching Hungarian/Eastern European recipes for this weekend's cooking club. The theme is Hungarian food because one of the hosts (J) is 3rd or 4th generation Hungarian. I hear he's very prideful about his culture and food when questioned. So I found the following recipes, which I hope everyone is as pleased with as I am. I've always wanted stuffed cabbage and through my research found that Hungarians love their stuffed cabbage. So here it is, Stuffed Cabbage Martha Stewart Style. Google rocks, because I found another gggggrreeat recipe for stuffed cabbage. It's by a hungarian woman (I think) and sounds authentic. So combining the two, stuffed cabbage will be my main dish for Sunday. The other two recipes I found were on epicurious. I'm impressed with the following recipes because they both look and sound very very appetizing. Brown Onion Kugels, for those of you that don't know (I didn't either), are a baked pudding of noodles or potatoes, eggs, and seasonings, traditionally eaten by Jews on the Sabbath. I'm really excited about the kugels because even the reviewers had positive ratings. Finally, I am making these delicious hazelnut cookies. That's tenative because I am not sure how tired I will be on Sunday. I've got a busy weekend ahead of me so, we'll see.

So after a long and busy (somewhat) day, I am exhausted but I am also very excited. Tomorrow's a fun filled day for me. E, a close friend, is coming over in the morning, so we can have lunch buffet at an Indian restaurant, shop at Jungle Jim's for all of our cooking needs AND come home to make St. Patrick's Day sugar cookies for Friday. March 17th as most of you know is St. Patty's day so everything must be green.

We're having a farewell party for one of our friends and celebrating St. Patty's day on Friday. It's not just a party, it's a Keg party. I never knew I'd say this but I'm married and having a keg party. I love it! ::big smirk::

For now, spending alone time with my one and only. Night

newBie

So, this is my first posting after getting a blogspot. I posted and reposted many blogs to find that none of my pages were being updated. The husband tried to find new ways to fix the problem but he couldn't resolve it either. Finally, he suggested to delete the cookies and cache, and it worked! Andddd my blog is finally up and running!

I am really excited, however it's late and I have to get to bed soon. I will certainly make the most of my blogspot but I always welcome reviews, critisms (constructive) and comments. A new person always benefits from suggestions on how something works. I am also open to meeting like minded bloggers.