29 September 2010

Sprout stealer.

The madness has begun. Those evil marketing geniuses sucking me in with their Halloween versions of regular old products.


 Note: The "color-changing thrills" are white eyes that turn blue. Weak.

Thus inspired by my grocery store find, I pulled out the Halloween boxes, which, I might add, are not buried in the basement... Rather, they are upstairs in our giant random storage closet with disco carpet. I also decided to take it easy this year. Don't want to scare the neighbors, and we're still getting the house settled normal. I also re-created my Halloween playlist so I can start rocking out to my horror soundtracks as desired.


Like it was meant to be.... There were already two hooks for my skeletons!


Don't look in her eyes!


Grr. Argh.


Fresh brains.

In non-Halloween house news, the tub reglazer finally came this week (he had it "coming out both ends" last week and had to reschedule). Our bathrooms have the original 1937 tubs, and they're awesome, but they are old, and old leaks corroded them both pretty bad in the drain area, too. It's hard to tell in the pictures, but what a difference. I cannot wait to take my first shower in our shiny new tub! Just hope I don't slip and crack my skull.


 Before and after. Oh la la!

In food news, Brad and I are officially now huge sprout fans. I've had them a handful of times and have always liked them, but I found a new, creamy way to prepare them that made Brad exclaim, "These are f****** good!" Swoon. I didn't have any idea what to do with them, so I whipped out Vegetable Love and was inspired by her creamy Brussels sprouts recipe, even though I didn't have mini onions as called for. I had about a cup of sprouts, so I dropped them and a few chunks of regular onion in the steamer and steamed them for about 12 minutes (probably could have used a few more minutes here). Meanwhile, I created the super easy "cream" -- melted some butter, added some flour, let that cook for about five minutes. Then I whisked in some milk, a pinch of cayenne, some salt and pepper (the recipe didn't call for pepper but I got a new grinder so of course I had to grind in a ton, making it extra peppery and perfect). Once the milk thickens up, you add the sprouts back in and heat them through. Then you dump them on your plate to devour.



I served them with leftover fish sandwiches (still delicious). Toward the end of the meal, Brad reached over and swiped one of my sprouts! A vegetable stealer?! These MUST be good!!! I'll definitely be making these again, and soon.

4 comments:

Lady Lisa said...

dammit. You just made me so hungry for klumpkies (cabbage rolls). The craving is something fierce. Damn you foul Temptress! And also, I had to SKIP the halloween aisle at Target yesterday. I knew I couldn't walk through and not buy something. :-)

Birgles McGee said...

I hated Brussel sprouts my ENTIRE life. Sprouts were just about the only food that snagged me at the dinner table (until I finished my plate) long after everyone else was watching Beverly Barfers. But this recipe totally turned me into a sprout fanatic! I HIGHLY recommend trying it. I've cooked it a half dozen times now and it's delicious every single time.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/fried-brussels-sprouts-with-walnuts-and-capers-recipe/index.html

Birgles McGee said...

P.S. I've had it without the garlic and it was STILL scrumdiddlyumptious. I know the combo of ingredients sounds bizarre, but trust me...MMM.

Stephanie said...

Oooo sounds yummy!! I love capers!

Do you use real anchovies, or would anchovy paste work?