Innie or Outie

If you've ever clicked on one of the pics on this site, then you already know about Flickr. I recently added two new groups to the site that allow for pools of foodies with similar foodies. One, Leftover ReCreations, is about the recreations of leftover food into new edibles. The other group, Hubby Made This is for pics (food and other) of those creative projects of those ever so lovable men in our lives that help brighten up the day. If you get a chance, check the sites out.

I upgraded to WordPress 2.0.2 today. If you find any bugs please let me know. Also, several of the link pages have been updated.

Several of the foodie pages have been updated and two new pages, Other Culinary Info Sites and Other Specialty Food Sites, have been added to the blog.

Sometimes when I create new dishes and come up with names to try and describe the dishes, I notice that not all basic food terms are understood equally by all. This may be because in most areas an original dish is slightly altered to match the local population’s taste buds. Limited food term recognization also probably has a small hand in the conflicting images of what each item represents. Since I grew up in Texas, I use many ethnic terms in the construction of the names of new Tex-Mex based dishes I create. To help clarify exactly what the original food terms refer to, I have composed a very brief dictionary-based glossary of the most commonly used Tex-Mex food terms:

bur·ri·to – A flour tortilla wrapped around a filling, as of beef, beans, or cheese.
cha·lu·pa – Corn tortilla dough fried in a boat shape and filled with shredded meat, vegetables, or cheese.*
chi·la·qui·les – Fried softened tortilla chips covered with salsa or mole and cheese and broiled.
chim·i·chan·ga – A deep-fried burrito.
em·pa·na·da – A turnover with a flaky crust and a spicy or sweet filling.
en·chi·la·da – A tortilla rolled and stuffed usually with a mixture containing meat or cheese and served with a sauce spiced with chili.
fa·ji·ta – A dish consisting of strips of marinated meat, poultry, or vegetables that are grilled over an open fire and served in a tortilla, usually with spicy condiments.
flau·ta – A corn tortilla rolled around a filling, such as beef, chicken, or cheese, into a thin cylinder and sometimes deep-fried.
na·cho – A small, often triangular piece of tortilla topped with cheese or chili-pepper sauce and broiled.
que·sa·dil·la – A flour tortilla folded in half around a savory filling, as of cheese or beans, then fried or toasted.
ta·co – A corn tortilla folded around a filling such as ground meat or cheese.
ta·ma·le – A Mexican dish made of chopped meat and crushed peppers, highly seasoned, wrapped in cornhusks spread with masa, and steamed.
tos·ta·da or tos·ta·do – A tortilla or tortilla chip deep-fried until crisp.

*NOTE: Where I was raised in Texas, a chalupa was basically the same as a flat deep fried open-faced taco topped with all the fillings (beans, beef, lettuce, tomato, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, black olives) in other words – like a miniture Tex-Mex pizza.

For those who are interested in trying some homemade Tex-Mex recipes, this site has an extensive selection from which to choose.

Although hubby and I have been married for over 30 years, and he knows it’s not necessary to shower me with “special little somethings” on V-Day, he just loves to surprise me with different chocolate goodies anyway. This year he found a chocolate liqueur to help wash down the chocolate covered cherries.

(Click on image to view large size)

Here I am, hunting down more original and artistic ideas (preferably with pix) of unique Valentine’s Day edibles. Only problem is, I think most people have forgotten that the holiday was about creating a “romantic” atmosphere for that special someone in their life. Admittedly, everyone has a different idea of what is romantic. But, have you ever looked up the phrase “romantic food” in the image search engines (including Flickr). It seems the idea of romantic has turned into “fancy” or “expensive”. Personally, I feel being creative with that special one’s favorite foods is more romantic. Sure the traditional heart shape is almost a prerequisite, but there are ways to deal with that (such as the pancakes, pizza, and waffles featured earlier). I bet one could take pasta (or just about any food item) and place or form it into a heart-shaped mold with very little difficulty.

My research wasn’t a total loss though. While looking at the numerous images, I ran across this picture of a retro foodie V-Day card. It reminded me of the “caveman” days when we would be all psyched-up about the holiday in elementary school. If fact, I’m pretty sure I saw that particular card passed out (may have done it myself) several times during those very sensitive and vulnerable years!

I’ve added even more foodie pages to help those who are looking for that inspiration for their perfect edible idea. This time the pages are in the categories of recipe mega sites, TV/celebrity chef sites, and e-magazine/newspaper foodie sites. Happy Hunting!!!

Today I had a little time to update some of the foodie listing pages. I also added new listing pages in several categories of blogs and sites that involve brand name recipes, foodie pictures only, and (for those of you who prefer not to view images) recipes only.  Happy Surfing!!!

I upgraded to the new WordPress 2.0.1 release today. I’m sorry if the upgrade caused any complications for you. If you run into any bugs, please let me know. Thanks

When it comes to food, almost anything goes as long as it’s not too gross. You name it, fast food, retro food, ethnic food, gourmet food, and so on and so on…

I love food!!! Maybe that’s where living in an environment that didn’t lend itself to copying cookbook recipes easily has been a BIG plus. Instead of imitating other works of culinary art, I’m always trying to create my own dishes. Of course, this particular technique doesn’t always work out. However, in those situations when the texture isn’t quite right, or some other less than perfect malfunction occurs, the creation is usually edible at least. Now-a-days, when an over abundance of culinary information is so easily and quickly at my fingertips, there really is no need to repeat any single meal ever again.

Some of the sites that I run across in my daily research for ideas turn-up unexpected responses on my part. Sometimes there seems to be an uncanny brain wave of similarity on cooking projects between some of the sites and my self. And other times the posts present something that is a total surprise. For instance, take this post by Sarah Gim for Slashfood that led to this find. I can see why so many people felt compelled to respond to the “what the heck is it” inquiry. Although the caption suggestion portion of the site is closed, I have to put in my thought on this look back to the ’70s. So here it goes :

There’s no mystery here, any and every one who ever saw “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” knows that this is a picture of a rejected prop for Richard Dreyfuss of the Devil’s Tower!!!