Bagels and Lox Inspired Stuffed Pepperoncinis

I love all the flavors involved in a good bagel and smoked salmon sandwich: delectible smoked salmon, the crunchy-heat from the red onion, pickled sourness of the capers, and the creamy-silken feel of the cream cheese.  MMMMM. 

Last night I made these terrific little appetizers that are all those things sans the bagel.  If your favorite part is the bagel you won't be satisfied with these pepperoncinis, but all the other flavors are present and accounted for.  I even added a little extra something to make them special.

First, I mixed a package of chèvre with cream cheese, finely diced capers and red onion.  Then, I cut the tops off the peppers, deseeded, and drained on a paper towel. 

 To stuff, I placed the mix in a baker's decorating bag, cut the end and squeezed into the pepper.  That step made the process so much easier and less mess.  I wrapped the salmon around the outside of the pepper, but thought after that you could chop and add in the stuffing if you were inclined.  To top the creation, I drizzeld (not shown in photo) homemade honey mustard on the top. The mix made about 16-20 stuffed pepperoncinis amount will depend on the size of peppers used.  They were perfect.  I had the left overs for brunch today.

How Hashtags Make Me Feel

I don't really understand hashtags.  I've only just begun to tweet around, and I'm fairly certain my 14 (almost 15) year old niece was laughing at me on twitter (instead of with me) the other day.  I have a vague idea of what they are for, and I get how the #cousinsoncall would use them to help people find their smoking hottness, but why would I use it?  Are there rules to this #?  I wish I could be like Joey and be blissfully ignorant, but I'm not.   Oh, Hashtag! why are you so #confusing?

Derby Day!

I've just spent 2 hours looking for leopard hot pants.  Not to be found in Billings, but that's okay.  I'm not sure my derby persona would wear them any way. Fuzzy tiger stripe pants yes!

I'm sitting here waiting on my lean protein, and pondering just who exactly Elbow Derek is.  Elbow Derek being my roller derby name for those of you who don't know. Does she wear fishnets?  Mmm. No.  War paint...no.

In general, I think we spend to much time trying to define ourselves and fit in; therefore I'm not gonna do that.  Elbow Derek is Me.  We favor the athletic side of derby over the drama.  I've never been into sparkles anyway.

My teammates with flair look so cute when they dress derby, but I've a feeling I would look ridiculous, and you know my saying: "If I don't look cool doing it, I don't do it." So I'll leave the glitz and hot pants to those who do it so well,and I'll stick with under armour yoga tights.

I know one thing, despite my lack of hot pants.  I will be confident tonight.  It doesn't matter that I don't wear fishnets, or paint my face.  What matters is that I show up.  I'm there and my team can rely on me. I love those ladies and look forward to kicking ass with them tonight.

French Onion Soup

I've always hated French Onion soup.  It is always over salted and makes me feel gross after eating, but I always think it should be good.  With such simple basic ingredients, how can so many people mess it up.

Years ago I stopped trying it, and I  have to admit I've never ordered it from a five star restaurant (who orders soup at a fabulous place???). 

Yesterday, I challenged myself to make it and Kevin was glad I did.  It turned out perfect.

Ingredients:
4 yellow onions
4 cloves of garlic minced
2 cans 14.5 oz Swanson chicken broth
1 26 oz can of Swanson beef broth
1 stick of Tillamook butter
A generous pour of Cabernet
A bit of gruyère cheese for topping

Process:
Melt butter and sautee onions (in a dutch oven or other pot that can go from stove top to oven) covered for 20 minutes.  Then place in a 400° oven for an hour stirring once about half way through to avoid sticking and burning.

Once out of the oven deglaze on medium heat using the red wine.  Scrape up all the tasty brown bits and reduce liquid to half.  Then add garlic and broths. Simmer for 40 minutes.  Place in bowls and add cheese.  You can place it under the broiler if you want to melt the cheese.

Some of you may be wondering where the crusty bread is.  I didn't use any but you can add it to the top of the soup before adding the cheese if you like.

I served the soup with Bell peppers stuffed with elk, onion and topped with swiss.

Poster Child

I'm on the poster for our (Billings Roller Derby Dames) first bout of the season.  Even though I'm road kill (on top of the dog pile - That's ME!) in the poster, I'm stoked just to be on it.  

I can't wait for Saturday.  Which will be my first home bout and only my second bout ever.  Here is a picture from my first bout in Casper.

 And a head shot of Elbow Derek #10.  I'll update the blog Monday with shots from our home bout.  Go ME!

  

Zebra Clinic

This weekend I, Elbow Derek, attended, as a skater, a ref clinic in Helena at the Hel'z Belles' practice space.  Sweet Tweet our head ref put on the clinic for area roller derby officials to come and disect the new WFTDA rules and have an opportunity to practice making calls with the new rules set.

I skated with a mix of Belles and ECRG girls.  I learned a few things about myself:

1)  I'm not fast enought to chase Blondie out of the engagment zone
2) I can be sneaky and successful as a jammer
3) I need more endurance training
4)  I love road trips (uh, I already new that)

I am glad I went to participate as I was getting nervous about our season opener, which is also my first home bout.  My friends and family have never seen me skate before, and I feel a little more confident after scrimmaging on Saturday.

Me + The Internet = Master Carpenter

The internet is a wonderful thing.  I don't have to leave my home here in the boonies to buy home decor anymore.  I can just make it.  You thought I was going to say order it online, but no!  I've been teaching myself the fine art of word working.  I've made 4 shelves and a bath-top desk.  

It all started when Kevin was bugging me about making the barndominium look like we actually live here. So it's been a year since we've moved in, and I've been a little busy what with getting married and being a roller derby queen and a house wife.  JEEZ.  

First, I started with these 1 foot barn beam shelves using some cedar we had in the barn. I got the idea from Ana White's blog.  

Below, you can see how the sides are a bit unfinished.  I need to sand and maybe use some wood filler to give it a more polished finished look.   

 I made them as floating shelves and was so impressed with myself. The pictures are of the unfinished shelves, but you can see how it was assembled to allow for the floating wall mount.

This empty space sandwiched betweent he top and bottom boards accommodates the wall cleat seen below.  Notice I messed up the screw hole and had to add another.  OPPS, oh well you can't see those when the shelf is up. 

I liked the 1ft barn beam shelves so much that I made a two footer for my guest bath.  This one I painted a barn wood grey (as shown) and then later distressed it and added a coat of Minwood Drift Wood stain.

 Because my shelves were so successful, I've a whole passle of projects I want to complete.  This bath-top desk is my latest creation.  It took seriously 20 minutes to put together and probably would have taken less time if I had measured properly.  When I was putting on the wood feet underneath, I measured from the insides of the feet instead of the outsides, so I had to move them in to get a proper bathtub fit. This was a pinterest project that I found @http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/diy-bathtub-shelf

(Look at Forrest, isn't he cute.  He likes to sit on the rug and protect the bathtub when I'm there.)  

My next project is to build a bench for my sister-in-law, Linda.  And then who knows what I'll make.  Come back and check up on my progress.