Saturday, February 14, 2009

Psst...

Amoray
Like a big pizza pie.....that's amoray.  Love is in the air and yours truly is on cloud nine.  This cute little low wattage thing from the little Italian place around the corner has taken a shine to me.  I'd still be with her but once again Claudia has disappeared and left all the work to me.  What is it with her and holidays.  I've got a reputation to uphold.  If word gets out that I left her Marsala when she was just starting to get all hot and flicker, Ill be ruined.  What was I thinking.  Oh my god, I've got to go back!

Alright, let's make this quick people.  There's still a chance.  Here's the deal.  I'm supposed to make sure that you wrap up some unfinished business then I can go wrap up some of my own.

First:  Recipes for the cookbook.  Not just any recipe.  Not some random Wednesday night throw it one pot and be thankful there isn't a big mess to clean up recipe.  But something with spirit.  In fact the Spirit of 218.  What recipes have special meaning?  What's the story behind it and why is it worthy?  You know like Julie's Championchip bake off cake.  That cake would not have tasted nearly so good had it not been so carefully mixed, baked and decorated then placed in a box, tossed about like a frisbee, kicked by the mailman, sniffed by the dog, shaken by curious kids and then finally poured lovingly into a bowl and served.  Capture that in a recipe.

Last:  Tell us what your Valentines plans are.  I think you know where I'm headed.  What are you up to?

Amoray Out.

19 comments:

lindsaymarie said...

I'm not much of a cook.... at all.... so I don't have a recipe to share. but! for valentine's day, i woke up at 3:30 this morning and headed into manhattan to help tie hundreds of red heart balloons along broadway in soho, in time for the sunrise. (don't worry, they're biodegradable!) it was FREEZING cold, but a lot of fun to spread a little love to one of my favorite parts of the city. now i'm heading back to bed for a bit, though, 3:30 is earlyyyy.
happy valentine's day, amoray! (and the rest of the HLA family of course <3)

Peggy said...

Cute, adorable Ray!

I can't say I have a meaning behind any of my recipes. I have found a lot of good ones searching on line, love the Kopy Kat recipes, because the rich creamy food tastes like what I get in the restaurant. After I see a few more posts, maybe I'll post my Chipotle's Lemon Rice recipe, my family "loves" it.

My dh got me a great gift... tickets to Blue Man Group in Chicago for the 28th. We'll ride the train, go for a late lunch, then go to the show... all with
NO KIDS!!!!!! I can't wait!!!

Tonight is a playoff game for hockey, I think it's part of the state finals... so we'll be in the stands cheering on my son's high school team!!

Kat said...

I'll have to think of a recipe. I make lots of things that are yummy, but I'll have to choose one that is troop #218 worthy!

Our plans are iffy at this point. My mom is driving down for the weekend with my sister. They are going to watch Max while we go do something. We didn't make any plans, so it will be either really fun or really average. What matters most though is that I get alone time with my husband!

Cheryl Houston said...

For Valentine's day I will be hanging out with boys and later shuffling one to a friends house while the other waits patiently for his friend to arrive later. JB has requested that he and Austin eat pizza and make brownies- neither on my fitness program plan.

As for the recipes, think about it for a couple of days. I'm not a cook but I'm sure I can come up with a recipe that has a story behind it. I don't cook but I used to. I'm not so sure the recipe is as important as the story.

Peggy! I love the Blue Man group! You're going to have fun. Wear white!

And on baby shower news, my cousin in Houston had her baby today!! I love it. A Valentine Baby! I'll be able to remember his birthday.

Kristen Giger said...

First things first:

Yesterday: I was wondering where my sugar ray cookies might be...I'll be looking forward to getting them after Krysten's sweet 16! Hope it is a fun party!

Amoray: Glad to hear somebody woke up on the RIGHT side of the bed on this lovely love day :)

Peggy: Hope your son's team wins tonight!

My plans for V-day: SLEEP! Jennifer showed her undying love for us last night by staying up most of the night (she has a nasty cold). I ended up sleeping with her on a twin bed...I learned that a 10 month old has the ability to be a wiggly bed hog!!!

I have a few recipies worthy of an HLA cookbook. Let's play a game: I will list a few of them along with their significance...then you, the HLA readers, tell me which one(s) you want:

1) Apple Crisp: A delightful alternative to apple pie. Mom made it alot in the fall and it was always a big hit. Oh so yummy.

2) Dump Cake: I shared this one already...even the most Betty Crocker challenged can make this one :)

3) Eggless Chocolate cake. Yes, eggless. My dad is allergic to eggs, so this is an age old chocolate cake recipe that is by far the best chocolate cake ever. It has been a birthday cake for many birthdays in the Schnepp household.

4) Molasses Cookies: Takes awhile to make, but boy are they good. Another eggless recipe as well. We used to make them evey first day of deer season and again at christmas.

5) Bananna bread: Another recipe from grandma's collection. this one is pretty simple and makes wonderful bananna bread (of the eggless variety as well).

6) Gourmet chocolate chip cookies: I have this recipe in my possession because somebody by the last name of Cipriani (very Italian) traded her meatball recipe...it's pretty much that good.

Kristen Giger said...

sorry for the length of that post!

Julie said...

Oh Amoray! What would I do without you to remind me of my infamous chocolate chip cookie cake story!

RECIPE: I don't have it in my apt now, but its the cookie recipe that is on the back of a bag of Nestle Chocolate Chips. BUT, instead of making a single batch of cookies I doubled the recipe, TWICE! And then I attempted to make a cookie cake.

I use the term "cake" here because that is indeed what I ended up with. My vision was something that looked like a "cookie cake" you can buy in the bakery department at your grocery store. What I got rivaled the texture and height of a birthday cake. I used two 9 x 13 x 2" aluminum, disposable cake pans with lids. (I should have used 4!!)

After baking this "cake" until the toothpick came out clean, I let it cool before decorating it - with the help of my sister!

This was my Olympic Event Bake Off Entry ... so we wanted it to not only taste good, but look good as well. We took a container of white frosting and frosted the top of our "cake." Then, using small dishes, food coloring, and toothpicks, we proceeded to mix small amounts of frosting in 5 colors - the five colors of the Olympic symbol. We created a large Olympic ring symbol on the top, and then wrote some words, of which I can't recall right now. After taking a picture of our creation, we put the lid on it and I headed to the post office! Kristen, being the intelligent one that she was, let me walk into the post office with just a cake, and didn't say anything - BUT she didn't follow me either!

Into the post office I go, with a cake in hand, and I stand in line. When it's my turn, I walk up to the counter and here's the conversation I had with the man behind the counter:

MAN: Can I help you, ma'am?

ME: Yes. I'd like to mail this. (Set cake pan, with lid, onto counter.)

MAN: Are you serious? (smirk on his face)

ME: Yes. (not picking up on his smirk)

MAN: What is it?

ME: A cake.

MAN: Where do you want to send it?

ME: Texas (from PA) (I answered as though he always got requests from people trying to send a cake from PA to TX in an aluminum pan)

MAN: Do you have a box to put it in?

ME: Nope. That's why I'm here.

MAN: Let me see what I can find. (Disappears into back room, I'm sure to laugh more than anything)

ME: Ok .... (Waiting ... while being laughed at)

MAN: Let's see if this fits (returns with large priority box)

ME: Ok.

MAN: Let's see ... (slides cake pan perfectly)

ME: Thanks!

MAN: I can't guarantee what condition it will look like when it gets there.

ME: That's ok.

MAN: Do you want delivery confirmation or insurance on it?

ME: No! She'll let me know when it gets there.

I paid and left. I have no doubt that the man laughed the rest of the day about me!!!!!

Kristen Giger said...

Julie: Why don't you also tell your story about trying to mail a bottle of alcohol for a snack throw down competition??

Katie said...

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

I will be spending my day today playing games, watching movies, and eating food...just enjoy each other's company!

Our plans for the day include a FULL game of Monopoly where no one will be quitting until it's done, watching the movie Newsies, having dinner (turkey meatloaf) cooked by a friend of ours, and then driving to Staunton (a town about 30 minutes away) to see The Reader. I'm very excited to spend a day celebrating our friendship!!!

As for the recipes, I'll flip through my index cards of recipes and get back to that one later!

Brian K. Root said...

Kristen,

I think you should share "all of the above."

-Brian



One of my fave recipes is for sweet potato casserole. It was passed on to me while I was in college, and now my family uses it every year at the holidays. It's soooo good.

Julie said...

As long as we're on "sharing stupid Julie moments at the post office" ... I learned that you can't mail a bottle of liquor - at least you can't tell the person behind the counter that you plan on mailing alcohol. I had this problem where I do not pre-package things before walking into the post office. I've since rectified this problem. I had to have the Struble's purchase their own alcohol to go along with my super bowl snack throw down! Needless to say, I acquired a bottle of my favorite liquor that day!

Katie said...

I failed to mention who I would be celebrating with- 3 of my other Hall Director friends. One of them has a boyfriend but he is currently studying abroad in South Africa, so we are occupying her mind today!

Claudia @ Highlowaha said...

Calling all HLA readers... I am trying to mail the last of our HLA invitations, in preparation of next week's celebratory events.

Please send me an email with the names and addresses of anyone you know who you think might enjoy our community... neighbors, co-workers, relatives, old college friends, people in your moms groups, etc....

Cheryl, Heather, Katie, Robin, and Kristen, thank you for the addresses you sent.

Claudia @ Highlowaha said...

P.S. My email address is cbeeny@lslog.com

Anonymous said...

Happy Vday everyone!

Last night Treye came home with a sweet card, chocolate covered strawberries & champagne. It was a nice surprise because I asked him to get me some ice cream on the way home. Little did I know what he had in store...needless to say, the ice cream is still in the fridge.

Tonight I'm cooking Treye a yummy dinner and dessert!

Have a great day everyone!

Brian K. Root said...

Claudia - I just sent you a name and address.


.....

Not doin' too much for V-Day... Went to 2 basketball games, worked out, and now I think I'll go spend some money at JC Penny. Later tonight, I have to bake some cookies for a bake sale my students are holding tomorrow as a fundraiser.

Anonymous said...

Happy Valentine's Day HLA! No hot date for me tonight. The hubby worked all day but I got to spend the day with my sweet girls. We made special Valentine deliveries to Nana & Poppi and Pa. Robert and I are planning that date another night, sooner than later I hope. We are way over due! As far as the recipe, I would love to give up the Potato Soup recipe...but that is classified info. HEHE

Although, I do have a great recipe for a salad. A friend of the family made this for us years ago. As soon as I took a bite I said " I have to have this recipe". That is the reaction I get from most that I make it for. Here goes...

Ann Marie Salad

1/2 cup sliced almonds
3 Tbl sugar

In a metal pan w/ metal spoon heat until sugar melts & coves almonds stirring-once done place on plate to cool.

1/2 iceburg lettuce(bibb or boston)
1 Romaine lettuce
1 cup chopped celery
bunch green onions sliced
1-11oz mandarin oranges-drained

Dressing

1 tsp salt
dash Tabasco
dash pepper
2 Tbl chopped parsley
4 Tbl sugar
4 Tbl vinager
1/2 cup veg oil

So good!!!

Anonymous said...

Not sure about a recipe... I'll have to think on that. However, I spent the better part of my Valentine's Day supporting a client and her husband while she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl!! I'm a doula, and I have to say that spending the evening watching a new life come into the world was pretty much the greatest gift ever. It was made especially sweet by the fact that this was the first birth I've been to as a doula since before my own son was born, AND I was there for this baby's big brother's birth, too. Definitely a HIGH!

Claudia @ Highlowaha said...

Wow, Stacie. Hard to top that one! It's great having you on the site again. I've missed your energy and humor!