The Constant Craver

I said earlier in the week that I would get all of the recipes up that I promised by Thursday...but then... I GOT A COLD...in the middle of Arizona...in 100+ degree weather, I went and got sick! Just so everyone is aware though, I totally blame the freckled one. The one that comes home saying...ugghh...I feel sick, and then puts the air conditioner down to 78 degrees, which is freezing in my opinion. But anyways, thats another story =0) So where do I start? I guess I should start with last weekend's Piña Colada. I wanted to put a twist on my ALL TIME FAVORITE DRINK, so I decided we should do a strawberry swirl. When I first moved to Phoenix I drank Piña Coladas on a regular basis as a way to cool down, I've outgrown in mind was that I loved mixing it with Stawberry Daiquiri mix, so I figured we should try to make it fancier for the purposes of picture taking. Boy...if I knew how difficult it would be to swirl the dang thing I would have just called it a standard Strawberry Piña...

So... I have definitely been slacking in the blogging department. I think my problem started when I figured out you could make fan pages on facebook , in an effort to become fully versed on the facebook edition, I have neglected the thing that started this all. There are sooo many steps in making everything look good and presentable. It is just like having another full time job. The lighting has to be perfect, the angles right, the food h as to be as appealing as possible (in my opinion) so that people will venture and try to make the dishes I am presenting to them. This is what this is truly about, trying to share my knowledge with the people I know and love, especially so they don't call me a million times trying to figure out my recipe :o) So here is an IOU blog. I will post the recipes to: Pescado en Escabeche , Habichuelas Guisada , Strawberry Mango Swirl Pina Colada , Stuffed Peppers, Sopa de Pollo con Fideos and Tropical Guava & Cheese Pastries no later than...

For the last few weeks I have been dying to get my hands on some perfectly ripened peaches, you know, the ones that you can smell as soon as you walk into the produce section...unfortunately for me all of the fruit in Phoenix seem to be lacking..until today that is! As I was browsing the weekly sale ad's I noticed that Safeway had peaches on sale for 39cents a pound!!! At 39cents who cares if they are perfectly ripened, I could always make a compote or something. As I strolled down the aisle towards the produce section, a sweet ripe stone fruit scent hit me and I knew I would at least get a good peach or two. I started thinking of what flavors I wanted to get out of this wonderful piece of fruit. I definitely wanted to keep it fresh and and bright. As I was walking around in circles looking for onions I stumbled upon perfectly vine ripened orange, gold and red tomatoes! My heart did a loopty loop! I've been on the look out for tomatoes that would help me replicate the heirlo...

As I lay watching TV I got a sudden craving for Apple Pie...I often get these cravings out of thin air. I ran thru a quick inventory of what I knew we had for sure, and knew a) there were no apples and b) I hate making pie crusts. When the freckled one came in to ruin my thinking time, I had a bright idea to send her to to store to get 2 apples( 1 red and 1 green). After much pouting and borderline tantruming on my part, as if in tune with my cravings, Good Eats came on with an Apple Pie episode. She turned, gave me a wtf look, and I knew I had won! Cravings one Freckled one zero. I was left with another problem...no pie crust, then it came to me...left over wonton skins! I've only used wonton skins for rangoons , wontons and as a quick ravioli, so I wasn't sure if it was going to work, but my mind was already in overdrive thinking of how to make my pie. I knew I would have to dice my apples(i ended up with a med julienne), I knew we had sugar, cinnamon, ginger,but no lem...

OK So last nights dinner turned out to be more complicated than anticipated. The freckled one and I had our game faces on....ready to rock and roll...we chopped, diced and sliced everything we needed, but since we decided to record a lot of the stuff we were doing it ended up taking about an hour and a half more, by the time we actually ate dinner we were starving, and I can't really say if the food was as good as I thought it was, or it my taste buds were taken over by the hunger pains. I found these recipes on about.com, under Chinese food, but of course I altered them to my liking. http://chinesefood.about.com/od/crabrangoon/r/crabrangoon.htm Mary's "Crab" Rangoon 8 oz imitation Crab (the freckled one is allergic to shellfish) 8 oz Cream Cheese 1 Garlic Clove, finely minced 1/4 teaspoon ginger paste 3 scallions finely sliced 3 Shakes Worcestershire sauce 2 Shakes Maggi Seasoning Sauce Salt, optional 1 Pkg Wonton skins oil for frying Combine all ingredients in a...

SO...I've been dreaming of Crab Rangoon ....literally! I woke up with a...you guessed it...CRAVING for Crab Rangoon /Crab Puffs..... They are sooo ...you guessed again...TASTY! I love them! Funny story time... I had a friend in high school who always ate them, I of course was too good for something named a crab rangoon , so every time he ordered them I would cringe and look at him with disgust as he savored each and every gooey creamy bite. Some time last year the freckled one and I went to a Chinese buffet, as I scanned the items I was not thrilled at the choices but I was really hungry, I filled my plate with "fried" rice, wings and those chicken sticks that seem to be at every Chinese buffet across the US...upon my first bite of wing, I was in heaven...it tasted just like an NYC Chinese spot opened to 2am chicken wing...as I said I was in heaven, people don't understand when I say that I miss NYC just for the food, I mean just that, I MISS NYC FOOD!!! My ADD i...

I've done it!!! I've given in! After many pushes and shoves by the freckled one, I have decided to start a blog. Maybe it was Julie and Julia...maybe it was the constant nagging from my shorter half, something has definitely possessed me to start this blog...so here we go... When thinking of what to write about the choice was obvious...FOOD!! I live for and die for...well my cravings...sweet, salty, chocolaty ...and most of all TASTY!!! I do this annoying " winey " thing where I suck in a little air and click my tongue to see what it will ask for...more often than not, its something "tasty" My employees, co-workers and shorter half are my chosen lab rats...when I have a craving everyone knows it...they see me run around, do this or that and voila...my craving, or a version of it has come to life. Here's to many more blogging adventures...with actual recipes and not just rants and raves :)