Monday, March 23, 2009

Monday Morning Staff Meeting

Good morning everyone! I hope everyone is feeling well and rested after the weekend.

Our dinner party was a great success and I'll be busy processing the photos this morning.

Before we tackle the agenda, we're going to grab something to eat. Last Thursday was St. Joseph's Day and although I'm not Italian, I was raised in an Italian neighborhood which meant that I enjoyed many St. Joseph Day feasts. One treat I remember vividly was the Zeppole, a type of Italian cream puff. The local Italian market had some beautiful Zeppole on sale and I picked up a boxful for us.

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They are similar to a French doughnut but they are filled, usually with some cannoli type filling.

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This is a cannoli Zeppole. Oh yeah!!!! Dig in. Don't worry about the calories. When fried, the dough is filled with holes. It's nothing but air. Oh yeah, I forgot they fill that air with cannoli filing.

Here's a recipe for Zeppole:

Recipe for Zeppole

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I forgot to draw for the recipients of the Blue Spruce seeds and Poisonwood BIble. I was supposed to do that last Thursday but the week got away from me. Better late than never.

The SEEDS go to: Amber

The book, POISONWOOD BIBLE, goes to 1 in College, 1 in Diapers.

Yikes, just the title of her blog makes me nervous.

Ladies - Contact me with your mailing addresses and I'll get these into the mail.

My e-mail address is: Abscissa63@aol.com

You can always find that address if you click on my complete profile on my sidebar. BJ - you had specifically asked about the e-mail address, so there you have it!

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I don't normally drink until the sun goes over the yardarm (an old Navy term) but you've asked for the recipes for Texas Tea and Hurricanes. Texas Tea is a version of Long Island Ice Tea and therefore it's one of those "tastes-good-but-really-sneaks-up-on-you" drinks. It was a big hit at the Texas barbecue party we hosted several years ago.

TEXAS TEA

2 oz. tequila
2 oz. rum
2 oz. vodka
2 oz. gin
2 oz. triple sec
2 oz. sweet sour mix
Coke

Fill a 1 gallon pitcher with ice. Pour in all the ingredients except Coke into the pitcher. Add enough Coke for color and taste. Stir. Pour into a glass filled with ice.

Hurricanes are the signature drink at Pat O'Brien's in New Orleans. It's served in a tall tulip shaped glass. It taste like fruit juice but beware, it's not called a hurricane for nothing.

HURRICANE

2 oz. rum
1 oz. vodka
1/2 oz. grenadine
3 oz. orange juice
3 oz. pineapple juice
crushed ice

Mix all together. Serve in a Hurricane glass. Garnish with orange slice and a cherry.

Here's a quick way to upscale a drink recipe for a crowd. Whatever the ounces, that's the proportion. For example, 2 oz. would be 2 parts, a part can be say, a cup. It would be 2 cups of rum, 1 cup of vodka, 1/2 cup of grenadine...etc.

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One year ago yesterday I was shoveling a snowdrift.....

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out of my car!! Read about it here.

That's all for today. The dishes are all done but now the all need to be put away. Oh, my kingdom for a butler's pantry. I may just carve one out in the garage.

You're on deck. What's on your mind today?

14 comments:

Brenda said...

I can't sleep here in San Diego because I'm up with a cold and cough. I was so glad that Monday morning staff meeting was already posted (4am our time) so I had something to do. It brought a smile to my face.

Anonymous said...

I'm thinking that Texas Tea sounds pretty good on a hot summer evening sitting on the porch swing.... Oh ya.....

Di
The Blue Ridge Gal

chocolatechic said...

I just finished my bowl of oatmeal.

Now on to the day.

Schooling, laundry, and baking.

That is all.

oops...I also have to feed the cats.

Vee said...

What is the green stuff on top of the zeppole?

Was that a year ago? The snow in car? Hmmmm... Let's hope that spring is not so hard on us this year.

On my mind? About zip and that's scary.

Have a fun day, Suzanne.

Suzanne said...

Brenda - Omigosh, I had streak of not sleeping last week. Not being able to sleep due to a cough is even worse. I usually write my posts the night before and schedule it to publish at 2 a.m. That's why my writings sometimes get the tenses confused.

Di - Texas Tea is swell......that's all I can say. The time I served it to a large crowd people kept coming back for more and more. It kinda sneaks up on you though.

Chocolatechic - You are my hero. I could never imagine home schooling my kids. Baking....baking?? What are you making now? I simply gain weight by reading your blog.

Vee - You know, when I looked at the photo I said to myself, "That looks like chives on top of the Zeppole". It's chopped pistachios which is what they dip the ends of a cannoli into. Yes, a year ago we had a big snow in March. Years ago we had a terrible blizzard on April 2nd. It was almost a bad April Fools joke.

Thanks everyone for visiting my place today. I appreciate your company.

Anonymous said...

So many new goodies here to try, including the Texas Tea. And thank you for the Hurricane recipe. You brought back memories of a magazine story I did on B&B inns of New Orleans. The photo crew and I absolutely HAD to sample the Hurricane's at O'Brien's at the end of a day, and of course, we paid with not-so-festive hangovers the next morning.

Anonymous said...

Today's item for thought is raised bed veggie garden construction. The two 3x8 ft. cedar boxes are in place but need to come up with an inexpensive, nice looking way to keep dogs and cat out, but let gardener in. Rabbit fencing with hardware cloth and 2x2s? Twigs and net cover? Fresh soil will be purchased soon and the seeds are almost all ready. Any advice/suggestions welcome.

Bella Della said...

Good morning. I am wondering where the heck my weekend went. And I am thinking if I ever win the lottery the first thing I do is hire someone to do my yardwork! Hope you have a great day!

BittersweetPunkin said...

I am having grapefruit this morning...I started a diet (again). I did make a cake last night and it keeps looking at me from the kitchen counter...lol.

Jill said...

My husband's favorite dessert ever is a cannoli. He grew up in CT - and we can't pass any Italian deli... anywhere ... without going in and buying a cannoli.

It sounds like you had a great party!!

Michelle said...

I am a little late for the meeting, but the Cannoli looks great. The Texas Tea will be served at one of my gatherings this summer. Thanks for the recipe.

life in red shoes said...

The italian donuts look yummy.
And after reading the recipe I can see how that Texas Tea could prove lethal!
Glad you had a good time, can I help with those dishes?

Louise said...

With you on the Butler's Pantry!

Louise said...

I don't know HOW you didn't bring that sweet little lamb home!