Another important recipe I keep losing…
I keep losing this, so it’s going here:
Ingredients:
2 salmon filets (4 - 8 oz each)
1/2 tsp yummy oil
1 tbs yummy seasonings
1/8 cup yummy white wine
1/2 tbsp butter
Directions:
Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Brush both sides of salmon with oil. Cook salmon uncovered for 3-4 minutes, until browned. Be careful of sticking.
Turn salmon over & sprinkle with seasoning. Cover & reduce to medium heat. Cook for 2 minutes, then add wine & butter to pan. Cook uncovered for 1-2 more minutes, until fish is opaque & sauce is reduced. Drizzle pan sauce over fish & serve. 
Ingredients:
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1 med green Bell pepper
1 med onion
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can Rotel
2 cups cooked / canned chicken
2 cups cheddar cheese
12-18 corn tortillas
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Chop Bell pepper and onion. Sautee in butter/margarine.
3. Mix together in a large bowl: Bell pepper, onion, both cans of soup, Rotel.
4. Cut corn tortillas into strips. Cover the bottom of a casserole dish with strips of tortilla. Spread 1/3 of soup mixture on top of tortilla, then top with a layer of cheese. Repeat for 2 more layers.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until hot & bubbly. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
I love bad-for-me food. A lot. Butter, cheese, beer, pie — I could go on and on. I like a lot of good-for-me things too, but I have a much harder time actively choosing to eat them on a regular basis, especially when something yummy (and worse for me) is readily available. When I am actively training for a race, though, I actually start to crave healthy things. For example, lunch lately has been mostly plain, fat-free yogurt and fruit, and that’s all I want. Also, recently, when I get home for an evening run, I can’t wait to have a big, tangy salad with spinach and baby greens. Lately, my favorite is baby spinach, baby greens, tomatoes, feta cheese, black olives, and oil & vinegar. YUM! 
Also, I’ve discovered that this particular salad seems to go really well with a 2004 Dahlia Chardonnay that I picked up at the grocery store like a year ago based on absolutely nothing & finally decided I better drink. But, WOW, so good! (And not too terribly bad for me…)
Mmmm baby!
Especially when you have a good recipe, like this one:
1 1/2 cups flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 cups warm milk
1 egg, room-temperature
4 tablespoons melted butter
Mix the dry and wet ingredients separately, then whisk them together. Let the batter sit for 10 minutes before you make pancakes.
Enjoy!
…so I’ll just say it. Frozen strawberries are the BEST.
mmmmm so good….
“Ever notice that The Food Network is far more interesting when you’re hungry? I mean when you’re not hungry, it’s like, ‘This is stupid,’ but when you’re hungry, The Food Network is like porn. You’re like, ‘Ohhhhh yeah…Whip it up, baby…Make it for meee…’ ”
~ Jim Gaffigan, Beyond The Pale
Ralston & Alameda de las Pulgas, Belmont
I’ve driven past it many times, but today I was seized by a desire to try it. Avanti Pizza has a quaint little spot in a plaza facing Ralston, and though it might look a little seedy on the outside, it’s actually pretty nice inside (complete with plasma screen TV on the wall). The staff were very friendly and helpful (in spite of some customers that were being quite rude to them while I was there). Also, they have a decent selection of bottled & canned beverages, both alcoholic and non (including wine). Nothing fancy, but I’m willing to bet most people could probably find something they’re willing to drink with pizza.
You can get a 12″, 14″, 16″, or 18″ pie, and the list of toppings is pretty extensive. They have several house specials, or you can build your own for about the same price. I had a 12″ pizza with feta cheese, artichoke hearts, and basil — mmmmm! Really excellent. The crust was my favorite kind — not thick and crunchy and not the weenie thin crust where the grease soaks right through to your hands, but right in between: firm but soft, with a thick, bubbly circumference (you know, the topping-less crust on the outside). Also, the crust had just a hint of a buttery taste, which was absolutely delicious. I would definitely go there again.
131 W Santa Clara St , San Jose
We went here after a concert because it was close and cheap, and some people said they read all these *AMAZING* reviews about it. Not really sure what that was all about; it was a pretty mediocre burrito (a little better than Las Islatas, but not as good as Taco Jalapa). The rice was actually pretty tasty, but that’s about all I can say about it. Furthermore, there was no salsa. Let me repeat that: NO SALSA. Are you actually allowed to call yourself a taqueria if you don’t have ANY salsa, AT ALL??? Methinks probably not.
Alright; they do have the spicy orange sauce, which apparently people out there swear by. I guess it’s okay, if you like spicy, garlic-flavored mayonnaise (?). Absolutely no substitute whatsoever for even the lamest of salsas, though.
So go there, I guess, if it’s close & you’re hungry & you’ve got six bucks. But beware the bar stools; I fell off one and broke my shoe, and had to walk back barefoot.
WARNING.
Once one has spent the last three years enjoying authentic Bay Area burritos in various venues and then specifically spent a few weeks questing after the *best* burritos in the immediate area, one must never — EVER — go back to cafeteria burritos. I am ashamed to say that I know this because I did it yesterday, and it made me sadder than I have been in a very, very long time. Suddenly I was back in my sophomore dorm, and it was Thursday, and I was doing my best to enjoy what was sadly one of the most edible choices in Dascomb (da’ scum) Cafe.
The beans were salty. The rice tasted like overcooked Rice-a-Roni (”The San Francisco Treat” — O, how you blasphemy, Quaker Oats Company!) The cheese was cold. The guacamole tasted like it was made from a powder mix; the sour cream, as if it had come from a sick cow. The salsa tasted like Pace. (And yes, in fact, the people in San Antonio DO know what salsa’s supposed to taste like, but that doesn’t mean that’s what comes out of the giant factory.) And oh my dear sweet Jesus, the tortillla. Actually — no. I can’t talk about the tortilla. It’s too painful. And the crowning acheivement of the Dascomb / cafeteria burrito: olives.
IN A BURRITO! FREAKING OLIVES!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love democracy, but free speech only extends so far.