Well… kind of. A photograph that I took made it to NPR’s Talk of the Nation blog! See — it’s a photo I took of homemade baked mac & cheese. Neat!
Month: November 2007
Microwave Bacon Cooker Review
You all know that I have a weakness for kitchen gadgets, so when I was sent a microwave bacon cooker to use and review, I couldn’t wait to try it out! I often cook bacon in the microwave, just out of convenience, but one drawback is all the grease that soaks into the paper towels. Let’s face it — it’s really gross. The CrispyClean® Bacon Broiler solves this problem. It does an excellent job of cooking the bacon in the microwave 1) without burning it (a problem I often encounter when nuking bacon the regular way) and 2) by allowing all the grease to drip down to the bottom of the cooker so it’s not in the bacon.
The device was really easy to use. It came with instructions that were simple to follow. You can see all the basic steps in the image here. (By the way, if you want to view the images in details, just click on the mosaic and it will take you to my Flickr stream where you can view the individual photos.) I placed the bacon over the vanes, attatched the lid, lowered it into the cooker, secured the lid, and microwaved the unit for four minutes. The result? Absolutely perfect bacon, ready for my BLT! I think that because the bacon is almost “steamed” it keeps it from burning easily. Yet the result was still crispy! My husband and I were both amazed at how much grease was at the bottom of the container — of course, that was good and meant it wasn’t in the bacon. No other method of cooking that we’ve tried has rendered so much fat out of the bacon. It was pretty impressive.
I really liked this gadget, but I did have one concern. The plastic seemed to be a little “thin” for lack of a better word. I think the product could possibly benefit from a higher grade of plastic. I’m sure that would make it a bit more expensive, but I would be willing to pay for that if it meant higher quality. I’m not saying this was low-quality! Not at all. It’s just that with all that we hear about microwaving food in plastic containers, I’d rather use one that is a bit sturdier.
However, I think that the benefits outweigh this slight negative and this is a brand-new invention, so it might not even be a concern in the future. To my knowledge, it’s the only completely self-contained bacon cooker out there. There’s no grease splattered around the inside of your microwave, the bacon was incredibly tasty, and it was probably better for you than traditional cooking methods. The CrispyClean® Bacon Broiler retails for 14.95 plus $5.00 shipping and handling. Or you can purchase a twin pack for $24.95 plus $5.00 shipping and handling. Visit baconcleanlycooked.com for more info.
The wedding!!!
Finally, a real actual post about the wedding, complete with photos. So Friday morning I headed up to Massachusetts around 8:30. I got there and ended up having to go to Wal-Mart because I’d forgetton black dress socks for Jake (go me! I can never remember everything). Then I got back to my mom’s, ate a quick lunch and headed over to get a haircut. Came home, relaxed for a bit, then we all got ready for the rehearsal at church and the rehearsal dinner at The Federal. The priest was a little… erm, abrupt I guess you could say. He and Drew will be friends for life I am sure ::cough, cough::. Luckily he redeemed himself a bit by delivering a lovely sermon during the wedding Mass, but he stole some of Drew’s best lines for the toast. 😉 At any rate, rehearsal came and went and then we were off to dinner. The Federal was absolutely amazing. I would really love to go back there for dinner sometime. The buffet had so much food — pork tenderloin, salmon, chicken bolognese (which I am sure people are STILL talking about, LOL…), tons of antipasto stuff, prociutto (sorry, too lazy to spellcheck), salads… it was all wonderful. After that the guys slept at Mike’s, and Jenn (the matron of honor) and I went back to Kathy’s parents’ house for the night.
The girls who were doing our hair came at 6 AM sharp. I volunteered to go first because I’m a morning person (and used to getting up at the crack of dawn, like it or not.) The morning was a blur of getting ready, photos, all that good stuff. Jake did an awesome job as ring bearer. He took his position very seriously and he was very well-behaved at church as well. The Mass seemed to go by surprisingly quick and after some photos at the church we were off to Storrowton Tavern for the reception. Of course, with Hurricane Noel it was pretty windy and freezing. The weather could not have held off just one more day! Nevertheless we toughed it out for some outdoor photos. We froze our little buns off. Kathy’s mom had knit the girls all shawls to match our gowns, so we were so happy to have those to help us keep warm.
The reception was tons of fun! At least from my point of view, everything went absolutely perfect for their big day. If something was askew, I sure couldn’t tell! Drew’s toast was hysterical — random people he didn’t even know kept coming up to him and telling him how much they loved it! The food was fantastic. We are still talking about the bacon-wrapped scallops from the cocktail hour. Seriously, they might be the best I’ve ever had! So yummy. For dinner, Drew and I both had baked stuffed chicken breasts which came with twice-baked potato and mashed butternut squash — all delicious. The cake was a spice cake with cream cheese frosting and yummy as well. It was great seeing family and meeting Kathy’s relatives. The day passed very quickly, but by 5 we (especially the boys) were totally wiped out and ready to go home. They both fell asleep in the car within 15 minutes of starting on our way back home and barely even woke up to put their PJs on.
Now the happy couple is at The Equinox in Vermont, and they’re going on their real honeymoon in the Spring when they’ll be travelling to Italy and Scotland. Crazy how you plan and plan and in a blink — it’s over! But they did a great job and everyone we talked to had a fantastic time. I’ll leave you with a few photos from the day (it’s not easy snapping photos when you’re in the bridal party, so I will have to wait for the professional photos for good ones of Mike & Kathy). If you want to see more, you can check out the album on Flickr. (It’s friends & family only, but if you are a regular reader with a Flickr account, I will more than likely have no problem adding you.)
Because I’m sure you’re dying to know…
All of my posts about wedding gifts and what Mike & Kathy would be giving each other probably had you dying to know what they ended up giving each other as gifts right? Well, neither of them received a Vacheron Constantin watch, but Mike bought Kathy a beautiful diamond tennis bracelet and she bought him a new gold chain. Both are lovely pieces of jewelry! He gave her the bracelet before the rehearsal dinner so we all got to ooh and ahh over it at the wedding. I’m sure they’re both relieved it’s all over and hopefully they’re now having a great time on their pre-honeymoon in Vermont. (I’m calling it a pre-honeymoon because they’re taking the big trip next spring when they both have more vacation time).
Mr & Mrs. D’ski
This has to be quick, but the wedding was so great! The ceremony was beautiful, everyone looked gorgeous, and the reception was tons of fun. I have so many photos to upload, so I’ll be sure to share them later today or tomorrow. Hope you’re having a great weekend!
It’s Wedding Day!
Wishing Mike & Kathy lots of love and years of happiness today! I’m actually cheating with this post and wrote it yesterday because obviously I’ll be a little occupied this morning 😉 The magic of the “future publish” feature. Hopefully I’ll have a chance to post a few pictures tonight. Until then…
Ready to Go
I’m too lazy to strike out all of the items on yesterday’s list, but I did get most of them accomplished. I was too lazy (and cold) to put everything in the car last night, though. No big deal. So we’ll be leaving in an hour our so, and then at 1 I get my hair cut (yay!). I haven’t had a haircut since the end of January. Then we’ll be full on into the rehearsal, dinner, and all the other good stuff. Exciting!
Because I’ll Spill Coffee on a Notebook…
To Do TODAY:
– manicure/pedicure
– put together bridal “emergency kit”
– clear memory card
– charge camera battery
– video camera?
– Jake’s school photos
– charge cell phone
– wedding card/gift
– birthday card/gift
– figure out what perfume to wear
– vanilla vodka minis
– double-check clothes (do NOT forget underwear)
– load crap in car tonight
– make sure house is relatively clean
– take Santa Fe chicken out of freezer
Rabbit, Rabbit
It’s November 1st. November 1st!!! How did that happen? October didn’t seem so bad, but November… The end of the year suddenly seems so close and I am feeling completely overwhelmed right now because I feel like there is so much to be done. Yes, there’s everything I need to do today because I’m leaving for W. Mass. bright and early tomorrow. There is Thanksgiving, there is of course Christmas, and there are tons of projects that have gone unfinished for the past several months. Noah has been sleeping in a twin bed since the summer, yet his crib is still up and taking up space in the sitting area where we plan to move our office furniture. Months ago we bought paint for the hallways, and it’s still sitting in the garage. I’ve been meaning to call Salvation Army since July to come and pick up our garagefull of donations.
Ack!
It will all get done somehow, I know. But this whole year-end thing makes me feel like I need to finish it all up now.