A Pie for Mikey

There are some memories that will stay with me for the entirety of my life. Like everyone else, some are good and some we can care less for--but these memories help make up who we are and how we define life. 

I remember the day of my wedding, walking down the aisle and seeing my to-be-husband for the very first time that day. His eyes held mine, and I was unable to focus on anyone else on the crowd, on anything else that was happening. The look on his face is something I will cherish forever. 

This week, the online food community reaches out to Jennifer Perillo who had unexpectedly lost her husband Mikey.  He loved peanut butter cream pie and it was Jennifer's wish that people would make a pie and give it to someone they loved. 

"As I spend Friday reflecting on the love and life that was gone in an instant, I'd like to invite all of you to celebrate his life too. Mikey loved peanut butter cream pie. I haven't made it in a while, and I've had it on my to-do list for a while now.

I kept telling myself I would make it for him tomorrow. Time has suddenly stood still, though, and I'm waiting to wake up and learn to live a new kind of normal. For those asking what they can do to help my healing process, make a peanut butter pie this Friday and share it with someone you love. Then hug them like there's no tomorrow because today is the only guarantee we can count on."

Comic Con and Kjøttkaker

Kjøttkaker...

This stuff is amazing and delicious!
A Norwegian meatball, this is complimented with potatoes and cranberries.

My friend from Norway gave me this recipe:

1lb ground beef
3 eggs
Salt and pepper
Loads of butter
Bit of milk

You mix the eggs, salt and pepper into the beef and make little balls as so:

When they're into little balls, go over them again with more salt and pepper. Pan fry the little meats with the milk and butter, and put the finished meat in a large pot with the leftover juices. This juice will become the gravy.

Add a liter of water with more milk and butter and let the meatballs sit for a few hours on simmer.

So it's a little late getting this up, but I'm finally doing it. COMIC CON! It was amazing and fun and I'll have a million more memories to add to my bank. Here's just a few glimpses into the wild week of awesome.

Man About Town

Over the weekend my grandparents (from my mom's side) gave me a set of beautiful Japanese china they had owned. Since I was little, I remember eating off this china whenever my grandma made any sort of Japanese dishes from her family. Wonderful memories are planted within each and every dish. It's special--almost magical, and it's hard to believe it now belongs to me.

Another important piece of china I have, is a dish my grandmother (from my dad's side) gave me at my bridal shower. This dish was given to my great-great grandmother as a wedding present, then given to my great grandmother for her wedding, then to my grandmother and then to me. Again, a crazy concept that it belongs to me.

Lamb Dinner

After six months without a Costco, the new store finally opened last Friday. Thank the gods.
We braved the grand opening, fighting our way through hoards of people, sampling the bison dogs and fancy cheeses. I love the store and the wide variety of foods they have. Much better than the other Costco.

One of the things I found was a boneless leg of lamb. I had been wanting to make this for a while now and was extremely pleased to find it. So off to home we went.

BBQ and the Fair

The fair—a place where you can go to enjoy the sun, pet farmyard animals, see the latest new contraption, and gouge yourself on fatty, fried foods. This years new rave was fried kool-aid which looked like a donut hole plastered in red food colouring. Instead of trying that, the husband tried the fried oreos. They came out as large, fried balls and despite the look, amid the deep fried batter, there was an oreo lodged inside. 

Other than the food, the fair was fun. I always enjoy seeing the 4H animals and wandering around aimlessly through the booths. We ran into family members--twice--even with this crazy hordes of people.  It's always nice to see the fam. 

When we got home, I started to work on our meal for the night (recipes bellow). We had a lot of catching up to do in the Game of Thrones, so I wanted to make something with that theme. In the end, it didn't have anything to do with GoT, but it came out great anyways. 

Pork Tenderloin with a Black Raspberry Serrano Chili Sauce

Oreo Log Cake

Les Miserables Dinner

One of my favorite things to do--and sadly I don't do it as often as I would like--is to throw a themed dinner party to go along with a movie. With a little wine and some french foods, Les Miserables was the theme of the night. Other than the movie skipping every once and a while, I'd say the night went great.

Chicken Adobo

Nothing is better than sticking something in the slow cooker and coming home from work to a house filled with delicious aromas. This is one of those dishes :) Though this would have tasted better with rice, the asparagus was cooked with spare adobo sauce and held the flavor well. Will definitely be making this one again!