Weekend Eating - part two

Saturday night, every ones favorite band, Cheenon played at The Camel. It also happened to be Rich's Birthday. Rich is married to my friend and two time roommate, Heather. It would not be rude (just accurate) to call her my old friend. I actually introduced them years ago and now they have two beautiful boys that I have talked about in previous posts. Rich is one of the only guys I know that I could honestly say loves food and cooking as much as I do. The last couple times I have been to their house I have noticed the Food Network on the TV- I pretty much keep the TV on that channel 24/7 on the weekends and also after work during the week. I was very excited to hear that Rich got a fancy new grill for his Birthday. I can't wait to come help him test that out. Happy Birthday Rich - I owe you and Heather a meal in the new house.


Rich playing at the after party.

Kristen and Mark chillin' out. Kristen is my sweet and funny friend who (like me) rarely leaves her house anymore. I was so happy she joined us for the Cheenon party. (You may recognize her from her fabulous Room Store commercials)

Sunday I went to brunch to say goodbye to my friend Keri. She is off to Edinburgh Scotland for the summer to work at the Fringe festival as she has done many times before. She is actually a citizen and has made Scotland home base for a while.
I was very excited to learn that she will return in the spring to teach theatre at Thomas Dale HS - so one day I might actually do some acting in this town again. (She likes to work with me for some reason.)
After brunch the rest of the afternoon consisted of me doing anything to put off doing my taxes and packing. I can get very creative while avoiding things and being in denial. I started off with putting a corned beef brisket in the oven. I always cook it with a can of beer for 5 hours at a very low heat. I don't actually cook the can - I pour a can of beer into the baking dish. Since I was planning ahead a few hours and since it is supposed to be Spring I decided to make a batch of Sangria. I threw fresh sliced fruit in a mixture of red wine and Ginger ale. I knew it would be better the longer it soaked so I didn't start drinking it right away, like I would have liked to.
After the brisket cooked for 3 hours I added baby carrots, sweet onion and mushrooms. Below are before and after pics because I love before and after pictures. Except the Sangria - that is just an after picture. One thing you won't see is a picture of is the beautiful Caesar Salad I made. I have a hand mixer I had never used. I made fresh dressing with Parm, anchovies, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, pepper and a few secret ingredients. I mixed the dressing with fresh hearts of romaine and ribbons of shaved Parmesan on top. It is my Kitty-Mom's much beloved recipe.
I also made another batch of the roasted red potatoes. I hadn't sufficiently waisted enough time so I looked up a recipe for biscuits. I tweaked it (as I will do) and added cheese. I was fairly pleased with the outcome - considering I had never tried anything like that before and it took a while and was quite tiring. After dinner I was pooped and couldn't possibly have been expected to do my taxes or any packing.


Sangria I was very excited about but had one sip of and got bad heartburn.


Brisket before

and after

Cheese biscuits before

and after