Annie de la Dolce

Crack den peanutty noodles.

I've messed around with the name of this "dish" over the past few years. I'm not even sure I can call it a "dish"... but it's damn good, and that's all that really matters. I mean, one of the ingredients is peanut butter. I love peanut butter.

So far there's been:

• Crack Den Peanutty Noodles
• Snowed-in and/or It's the Apocolypse peanutty noodles
• The Economy is in the Shitter Peanutty Noodles
• Dorm-life Peanutty Noodles
• Sandra-Lee Style Peanutty Noodles (on 2nd thought though, I think this recipe is a little too refined for her "style")
• Ming Tsai Would Cry If He Knew Peanutty Noodles.

So far, Crack Den seems to be the most popular.

There are only a few ingredients. Most are available at the local convenience store/corner-shop.

It's kind of like... have you ever seen episodes of Top Chef where they take the cheftestants into a gas station and give them 5 bucks to make a gourmet meal? Well, this is in that vein.

I came up with it while I was snowed-in a few years ago... and the only place I could get to was a United Dairy Farmers that was down the street. I brought home ramen noodles and a few pizzas. Now, up until this point (at twenty-blah years old), I had never really made ramen before... so I tried to look up some cool stuff to make with it. I came across some dude's recipe for Divorced & Homeless Ramen Noodles and thought... hell, I have peanut butter. I'LL MAKE IT!

I loved it! I FLOVED it... and I've made it more often than I'd like to admit (being a frequent shopper of Whole Foods n all).

I've added a couple of things along the way.

What you need is:

• A package of ramen noodles (I like to use the beef flavor, but really... I don't think it matters... just don't use the "seafood" ones... that would probably be gross).
• The "seasoning packet". Just... don't think about what is in there. You probably don't want to know.
• A plop of peanut butter. I use crunchy, but I'm sure the creamy stuff works too.
• Some frozen peas. (A wee can of peas&carrots works well too).
• A teeeeeny drop of sesame oil.
• A healthy squirt of honey.
• Chopped peanuts.

Start off with your ramen. I like to break mine up a bit because the noodles are like, a mile long.

Start boiling some water. I like to just add the frozen peas in the beginning so that they'll defrost and blanch. A healthy handful of them.

When everything comes to a nice boil, add the ramen and let it roll for just a few minutes. Like, 2 or 3.

Drain the little saucepan and transfer the noodles/peas to a nice medium-sized bowl. You want to leave a small amount of cooking liquid though, because that will blend with the peanut butter to make a nice silky, creamy sauce.

Now for the other ingredients. Peanut butter and the seasoning packet are what is essential, but I believe that each little addition really makes this extra addicting.

While everything is still hot, plop in a few spoonfuls of peanut butter. Add in the seasoning packet. Squirt in a few tablespoons of honey. Start with less honey, keep tasting... if you want it a little sweeter, add in some more until it's to your taste. Then add just a few drops of sesame oil. This stuff is POTENT. A little goes a long way, so don't start shaking this stuff on like it's tobasco sauce. Sesame oil is YUM, it's not totally necessary, but I highly recommend keeping some in the fridge. It really brings things up a notch or two.

Stir it all around... be gennnntle.

For a little extra ooomph, I like to add some chopped peanuts to remind me a bit of Pad Thai. I found these delightful honey-roasted peanuts at the Walgreens.

Sprinkle a few on a bowlful of yummy peanutty, creamy, rameny goodness.  The whole lot will yield 2 or 3 servings, so you can save some for later. It's still great heated up, or hell... even cold.

YummmMMM. It's totally awesome.

And cheap.

And easy.

Howcoolisthat.

Transcending the material...

Some "Halloween" art ;-)

Fiber artist Ben Cuevas knitted this amazing meditating skeleton for his installation piece, Transcending the Material. I'd definitely say he was successful in that. Jeebus, the detail! It's quite amazing.

Like... wow. This is cool.

I suppose the whole point is to take some kind of "craft", maybe a "hobby" that people do... and turn it into something greater. It would sound pretty pretentious to me actually... if it wasn't so cool.

Lots of peeps knit now; Hipsters. Nerds (my people). Moms. Grannys. People who are bored and want to start doing productive things while they watch Dancing with the Stars and American Idol. Peeps who wish they could grow beards...

So he took something that up until a few years ago, only old ladies did... something that is kind of pedestrian (cause now that people other than grannys and ironic hipsters are doing it, it's not authentic anymore)... and turned it into art. He transcended the material. Nice.

But next I'd like to see him transcend scrapbooking. Transcend THAT, mofo!

Found: A job in the Quarter.

"Delivery/Prep Person.

Need basket (on your bicycle).

Able to operate a bar of soap.

No recent relationship difficulties.

Not afraid of large amounts of dough or kitchen instruments."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The place is on Royal. It's called Mona Lisa's. They have amazing bruschetta. And breakfast pizza.

I think I might go there for lunch today.

I can't work there though... cause I don't have a basket on MY bike.

And I tend to become frightened of large amounts of dough.

It's a good thing I went to art shool and became a designer.

It's on...

This is what "Deadline" does to me...

We've been in "Deadline" at work for the past... oh, I don't know... MONTH. But this week is like, the official really real deadline... and I'm about ready to crack.

So for the past two days or so I've been taking little breaks looking up these f'ing hilarious memes.

It might be the sleep dep, but some of these have been reducing me to tears... of laughter. FITS of laughter, I tell you.

There's what started it all... the Jezebel post that announced that Keanu Reeves was sad no more.

This led me to... Sad Keanu, Happy Keanu... Strutting Leo... and even Prancing Cera.

So... without any further ado, here is my addition to the cannon. Ohio State Buckeye style:

BUCKEYES ARE NUMBER 1 (that's ONE, UNO en espanol) BITCHES!!!!!!! EAT IT, S.E.C.!!

BEAT MICH(AGAIN!!)

 

Recipes galore!

So I moved ya'll! I totally love my new house. Not so sure that I love my boyfriend's 300 shirts cramming up our closet... but what are ya gonna do. Moving & work craziness has rendered me pretty damn busy... but that's no excuse for blog-neglect. Hopefully soon I can post about the yummy food that I've made in my beautiful new kitchen... and some of the 100 or so home DIY ideas I have floating around my brain. Like something inspired by this.

But for now I have to organize the tons of awesome recipes I have built up that I want to try.

Here's my latest yummy recipe round-up:

Warm Fig, Mozzarella & Prosciutto Sandwich from Serious Eats.

Looks very simple. Not many ingredients, but that's totally cool because they're all heavenly. 

 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Tart also from Serious Eats.

I'm sure that kids would love this. And really... I'm just a big kid.

 

Cinnamon & Sugar Tortilla Roll-ups from the Kitchn.

Blast from my past. My mom used to make these for us when we were little... when my grandma would make her homemade flour tortillas. Homemade is best (of course)... but if you've got a few left in the package in the fridge, it's a great snack. Also great with peanut butter! I'm a peanut butter FREAK! (Hello, did ya'll read about the peanut butter BURGER?!

 

Pad Thai from Mark Bittman (NY Times).

I am totally in love with Pad Thai. And Mark Bittman is apparently some kind of culinary god. He's got a relatively uber-popular book called How to Cook Everything. And awhile back he made people's minds explode with his recipe for No-Knead Bread. Seriously, people went BONKERS over it. People are silly.

And I'm pretty silly too... cause a few times a year I have a little Pad Thai ritual... it started several years ago when I watched the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice for the first time. I had just happened to order take-out that night, and I had some Pad Thai while I watched my most favorite of stories. So the memory of falling in love with Mr. Darcy is forever linked to Pad Thai. See? Food inspires serious memories people! So... when I have a nice weekend to chill, I like to order some Pad Thai and watch me some Colin Firth/Mr. Darcy. I'm a total and complete dork. I know this. And for my next Pride&Pred session, I'd like to make the Pad Thai myself. I think this is a good place to start... because... It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single chic in possession of a Colin Firth DVD, must be in want of a good recipe for Pad Thai.

Autumn-Scented Popcorn! (Maple Butter Spiced Popcorn) from the Kitchn. 

October is my fave. Autumn is my fave (GAWD I MISS THE OHIO FALL!). And autumn-spiced food is like... my weakness. Next to peanut butter. And Colin Firth.

 

Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes from Tracy's Culinary Adventure's.

You've seen those mini no-bake cheesecakes at church potlucks? The ones with the vanilla wafer at the bottom? Yeah? Me too... well... these look a lot awesomer because instead of a 'nilla wafer... there's an oreo cookie. Howcoolisthat!

Now... my new kitchen beckons! Food posts to come! Blog-neglect no more!

 

But first... it's time to pay homage to The Firth.

 

 

Sunday night nicotene fix...

I haven't smoked regularly since college.

But even during the days of dorm-life, when smoking on the stoop was a social necessity/study break excuse... I was never a big smoker. It was never really on my brain... unless I was STRESSED the F OUT. That only happened during finals... but it was always a bad idea to smoke around oil paint and linseed oil.

These days the idea of smoking is pretty revolting.

Except on Sunday nights that is.

I'd hate to see what a typical Sunday night could do to someone who is really trying to quit... or who really still craves a nice long drag off of a cancer stick.

For the past few weeks... after True Blood has gone on hiatus (major sad face), I've been watching Boardwalk Empire. Awesome show btw.

1st in the smoking block. And then of course, Mad Men... where one of the hottest dudes on the planet, Mr. Don Draper... lights up at least eleventy-hundred times an episode.

And so do the cool office chics/desperate housewives.

By the end of the Smoking Block of Awesome Television... I'm about ready to walk down to the cornershop for a pack of Camel Lights.

And I'm totally not a smoker.

I feel sorry for people who are trying to quit... yet still love to watch good television.

I mean, I applaud these shows for being all "true to the era" and all... and good for you Don Draper, for saying NO to "big tobacco" last night (while you smoke your eleventy-hundred cigarettes)... but, hotdamn.

It's a good thing that I have impeccable self-control ;-)