It's his birthday and he's going to be in denial

My dad is turning a year older and even though he seems to be somewhat in denial of this I am going to make him a cake. I'm aiming for a chocolate-peanut butter or banana-chocolate cake, with matching frosting. I want it to be a real nice cake and I have to do it without him knowing.

I think it's time to bring in a Ninja baker.

My after thanksgiving soup

On Thanksgiving, after we cleared the table, my son and I prepared our turkey stock. I got a bit inspired to add the bone from a shoulder picnic I made earlier in the month, I had read a tip to save the bones.

Following this recipe: Crock Pot Chicken or Turkey Stock from Recipezaar, with a very few modifications:
1 shoulder picnic bone, it was very large
all the turkey bones
4-5 carrots, unpeeled and cut up
3 onions, quartered and with the skin left on
1 bunch celery, leaves and all, cut up
1 shallot, quartered with the skin on
fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
boiling water to cover

I turned the crockpot to low and let it cook for 14-16 hours. Strained, cooled, removed the fat, and froze until needed


This morning I made the soup, following no recipe:
1 bunch of celery, chopped
5 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 onions, chopped
1 shallot, cut in half and sliced
2 parsnips, peeled and sliced
1 rutabaga, peeled and chopped
2 cans of white beans, rinsed and drained
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
fresh shiitake mushrooms, cut up
fresh basil, rosemary, thyme, parsley, and sage
2 cloves of garlic, minced
salt and freshly ground pepper
4 cups turkey-ham bone stock
1 cup chicken stock (homemade - same way as the turkey, but with only chicken bones)
3-4 cups left over turkey, cut into chunks

I put the celery, carrots, onions, shallot, parsnips, rutabaga, white beans and tomatoes in the crockpot. Topped with the seasonings and mushrooms. Then I heated the stock together until hot and poured it into the crock. I stirred it just a little to get it all mixed in.
Turned on low for 7-8 hours. Then I added the turkey and let it cook 40 to 50 minutes.

I served with cheese bread.

Waddle waddle

Today my family gathered at the dinner table and enjoyed a wonderful turkey dinner. I made a sausage-cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, and herbed corn. I was going to cook some sweet potatoes but since my dad won't eat them, my son won't eat them.

My son's favorite part was the pie. I did not make a traditional pumpkin pie, I made an ice cream pie! I also made gingerbread whipped cream. It was great!!

After dinner my son helped me sort through the turkey for bones. We put them in the crockpot along with some veggies and in 12 hrs we'll have some lovely turkey stock for our turkey minestrone. I am hoping to go to the store and purchase some lovely vegetables for said minestrone, I'm just not sure which to get.

I hope everyone out there had a fantastic turkey day!

Turkey Day

Thanksgiving is next month so I'm planning my dinner. I've been told I'm doing this considerably late, as most of my friends had there dinners planned as far back as August (or maybe she said April.) So far I have most of the meal planned with the exception of Dessert 2. One dessert will be Gingerbread flavored and the other will be pumpkin.
In December I will be braving the "homemade cakes" category. My dad hits a high note, birthday wise, and so I want to make him a cake I know he'll love. It'll have to be something peanut buttery or something with bananas. I saw a gorgeous cake at Smitten Kitchen that might be just what I'm looking for.

Smarter Choices

It started in my teens when my mom started buying this stuff. The bag always said pop for under 2 minutes but it usually took 3 minutes. Then my family would pour REAL butter on the butter flavored bits and sprinkle with salt.

Mmm microwaved popcorn. It's quick, easy and convenient. It's also full of nice, delicious, additives that decrease it's nutritional value and can potentially make you physically ill. After becoming more aware of how unhealthy it really is I put a permanent ban on the stuff.

In September I caught an episode of Good Eats that was on popcorn. Somehow when a attractive man talks about stuff I listen very well. This month I bought an air popper that resembled the one my grandparents used in the 80's.

What I've learned in the past 12 days:
The convenience of microwave popcorn isn't enough to sacrifice the healthy properties of air popped. In my opinion the convenience is nonexistent. For my microwave, popcorn usually takes almost 3 minutes to pop. My air popper takes about 5. Cutting just over 2 minutes isn't convenient.



Lets not forget the nutritional part*.

Servings (note, 1 serving of air popped is 4x as much as microwavable)
Air popped = ½ cup unpopped
Microwaved** = 2 tbsp unpopped

Calories*:
Air popped: 108
Microwaved**: 120-170 (sometimes as high as 210)

Sodium*:
Air popped: 3.5mg
Microwaved**: 310mg-380mg

I add unsalted butter and salt to our popcorn. Even with the additions, it's still healthier than microwavable.

*Air popped popcorn ... I could only find nutrition facts for 1 cup air popped. ½ cup unpopped is 1 serving according to the bag and it makes about 3 ½ cups.
**A popular microwavable popcorn brand

Learning

In the beginning when I started to learn to cook I would fail and give up. One example is my attempt to roast a chicken. It was overly dry and since then I've never made another. Over the years I've concluded one thing - this method produced zero improvement of my cooking skills.

My method has developed into: try, fail, figure out why, and try again. I'll keep going until I've figured it out. Same goes with trying new foods. If I try it and dislike it I try another method of preparation.

I attempted to make poached eggs and followed these instructions. My first attempt didn't go well because I didn't use enough water. My second attempt went better because I added enough water. Her suggestion to use vinegar was great and I used rice vinegar like she did.

Up next I'll be checking out the store link she provides in a recent post and hopefully get a bottle of Tahitian vanilla extra going.

Life and Death

I started reading the newspaper's website this year. I usually don't because news stories make me really really sad but 2008 hit and boom, I'm keeping track. One side of me thinks this is good to keep up with the news but the other side just wants me to block each site.

One tough thing has been deaths. People who I've known either recently or in the past have died and each time I've cried. I'm usually not one to break out the waterworks, I tend to hate crying.

Recently a guy I knew in middle school was in a construction accident and passed away. I don't know why this has hit me this hard but I'm in tears over it. I haven't seen him since then so maybe it's because I'm picturing the 7th grade him going through the accident?

I'm going to label this as ranting

Paint

My dad wants the house to be painted and I refuse to let him pick the colors. This means I have to pick them. Good yes, but this is quite a difficult task.

We have a fairly neutral colored rug and in the living room we'll be going with more neutral colors. Currently I am torn between coffee bean (a dark brown) and brown suede for one wall in the living room. I wish I had someone to ask.

For the kitchen I am going with sunny colors because the time I spend in there makes me a bit sunny. That's sort of cheesy but it's accurate. Some color names I'm considering are spring squash, lemon butter, pineapple cream, orange ice and peach frenzy.

For the bathroom I'm thinking of either tropical blues, beach tones or a caribbean inspired color set. One problem is I want certain areas to pop out like archways and others I want a smooth look. I've realized how much of a picky perfectionist I am.

I've divorced coffee.

Since my early teens I have loved coffee. I consumed more than my family combined on a regular basis. But in August I initiated a separation and this month I have divorced it. Not just coffee, I no longer rely on caffeine to get me going.

I'm not waking up tired for 1/2 the day, drinking coffee endlessly until eventually around 1 or 2 I'm bouncing off the walls. My family no longer fears the me before my morning cup. I am not the bitch from hell when I wake up and shoes aren't thrown at those who wake me.

Waking up int he morning takes about an hour, sometimes a little more. The hyperness my family once blamed on caffeine is actually my personality, though it's more a energetic me and less hyper crazy talkaholic.

So, to the bonehead who said I could never do this - AH HA! You were wrong!!! Who doubted I could do this? Me.

Iced Tea

My only experience with tea was watching my Nana or Mom drink tea. Nana loved Red Rose and my mom was a fan of Celestial Seasoning's Sleepy Time. Me on the other hand, closest thing I got to tea was Nestea, sweetened and straight from a can.

As an adult I'm experimenting more. Some of my favorites are Chai, Tazo's Passion Iced Tea and Zhena's Gypsy Mango Ginger White. Right now I'm experimenting with brands and hopefully, will get to sample some loose teas. I'm open to suggestions on brands, btw.

For now, I'm trying Pelandrone's current favorite. It's working in the iced tea maker and will be enjoyed before my son gets home. Which I should pick up something before he comes home and destroys my living room! Ah, kids eh?

Tiki VS Goats Cheese

The problem with asking other people if something is "good" is that everyone has different tastes. When vegemite peeked my curiosity all my online friends in the states said it was gross and that I wouldn't like it. But, I bought a pound jar and proceeded to finish it off in less than a month.

Vegemite was a learning experience. So when I opted to try goats cheese I didn't ask anyone if it was good. I did talk with friends about it and of course heard it was gross from a friend or two.

A few nights ago I bought some goat cheese and stuff to make pizza. The pizza I was aiming for was 6 cheese pesto pizza with heirloom tomatoes. Since my family might not like it, I sprinkled the goat cheese on only half the pizza and offered them think taste-test slices.

Results ... it was the only slice my son ate and my dad, who was leary, ate it first without realizing it at goat cheese - they really enjoyed it. I've been given the ok to try other recipes and I'm excited!!

The next few recipes will have different cheeses. What's in my fridge right now is Gorgonzola, Blue, Goats, Havarti and Cheddar. They will be mixed with fruit, on pizzas, or they will brave a chili.

Homemade Pizza Sauce

Why is it that something so simple such as pizza sauce can give such a feeling of success? Today I made my own pizza sauce, from scratch and it was pretty tasty! It got thumbs up from the males of the household.

I took Brown Eye Baker's pizza sauce and made it to suit my tastes. Since I'm decreasing the amount of salt in my diet I used less salt and then added a bit of smoked paprika. With the sauce I made Calzones!

The calzones were filled with a mixture of onion, mushroom, bacon, pizza sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

A Picnic and Microsoft - The weekend post

Oh sure, no one would THINK a picnic and microsoft would be associated with each other but guess what ... er well you're right. Two different topics, I'm just too lazy to make two separate posts. Ok so here we go.

Saturday we went to a lovely picnic at our church. There was food, people and a stage with live music. The most inviting part was the 250 lbs of pork, beef and poultry they had barbecued for the event. After the picnic loads of folks took home leftovers so they didn't get wasted, unfortunately I had left hours earlier.

Sunday my computer decided to install XP service pack 3. I've attempted to install this thing 6 times and each time resulted with my computer not starting up. So, when it started installing it on it's own, I did NOTHING, and prayed for the best. Of course I bet my dad it wouldn't load and fortunately I lost the bet.

VGT Omnivore's 100!

I saw this on a blog, Very Good Taste. Here are the instructions plus answers ^_^

Here’s what I want you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Food Tattoos, could you do it?

I was catching up on feeds and I caught this link at Apartment Therapy The Kitchn. Some of the tattoos are not something I'd personally get put on myself, but they are very nice. That's foodie dedication there!

I'm no stranger to tattoos, I have one currently. It's simple, it's a baby dragon and is a symbol of my son. I've considered getting a second tattoo that is hawaiian related. I've never thought of food items for a tattoo before. So after looking at those I thought to myself, what would I got for myself? Some ideas that came to mind are basil leaves, a pineapple, cupcake, or citrus slices. This is definitely something I'd have to work out on paper.

Feel free to comment with what you'd get.

The title says it all

I get feeds from far far too many blogs and on top of that, my feed reader is brief. If you've never used brief, it's an extension for firefox and has a habit of freezing Firefox 3. I've never had this problem before and I'm not sure what I should switch to.

On today's agenda we have laundry, laundry and of course Laundry. Possibly even a load of dishes. I'll also be arranging my pantry so that my dad can take the top shelf to the hardware store and have them cut a piece of wood the same size. This will add another shelf to the pantry and make Tiki very happy.

I've discovered a nifty door hanger system. You hang it on the door and there are loads of organization space to it. I'll look into it more into September when Mini Tiki is in school.

We are preparing Mini Tiki for the 1st grade. I'm not sure how I feel about him moving up but I suppose he'll be a happy camper. I have to get him some school clothing still and a back pack. Possibly even a few more school supply items.

Work Work Work

I woke up yesterday with a plan to blog but then I saw my kitchen. My dad hadn't taken out the garbage like I asked and the dishes had overtaken the countertops. So instead of blogging I did a bit of cleaning up. 1 load of laundry, 2 loads of dishes, walked the dog, and the garbage was taken out.

By the time I had sat down for computer time I totally forgot I was going to blog! It's ok, I might have ended up doing so but I didn't check. Oh well, here's what I was gonna type up yesterday.


We went to the beach Saturday and it was a pretty good day! There were loads of dogs, but almost all were on leashes. The two that weren't were heavily supervised by there owner and he get them distracted enough that we could walk by with no issues.

My dog was having a blast running in the water and sniffing every single rock. He loved sniffing the jelly fish, though one time he tried to eat one. He kept trying to go in the water but my dad didn't.

Towards the end my son and I ended up watch a family surf together. I was really impressed by them because lately I've just been seeing parents chatting while there little kids go into the surf. It's just nice to see families actually spending time together on the beach.

Eventually my dad pooped out and had headed back to the truck. A half later, after my feet had been cut up by rocks and whatever other sharp items had made their way into my shoes, I convinced my son we should look for "grandpoo". Then we ate and left.

It still hurts to walk so I'm keeping off my feet a bit more today. But now I'm doing laundry because today it is cool and windy!! I'm so happy for that!

Beach Trip Gone Wrong

Yesterday we went to the beach and heres a quick run down: Grayland, found beach glass, 3 dogs kept coming up to us and I probably was setting myself up to be mauled.

Basically we went at high tide so I could do a bit of beach combing. For the first time I found beach glass and I was beyond thrilled! It's a small, white but very nice!



We spotted some dogs off there leash and decided to travel some down the beach to stay away. After a while we decided to head back towards where we parked but sadly the dogs were still there and now they were interested in my dog. I was scared to death.

We have a couple of issues with big dogs coming up. First, I was mauled by a dog ... a large dog. Second, my son is scared to death of anything that moves, and a big dog is worse. Third, I have a dog that has nipped at other dogs who were larger than him.


Fierce isn't he?

Now it started with one dog coming over and trying to play with my dog. It was clearly in a playful mood. But my dog growled and he went away. But it came back with two buddies. The playful mood wasn't visible and I was scared.

The dogs wouldn't stay away and the owners didn't care. We ended up having to leave the beach and my son, who hates leaving the beach, ran to the car! Needless to say, it was a bummer.

Reggie and Betty

A few months ago I ordered an adorable lime and green octopus necklace from bunnyXproductions' etsy store. I have named him Reggie :) These octopus are very well made for wear or share! She has some nice onces right now, including an adorable octo zombie.



A package from my friends Talula and her husband Slacker arrived today for my birthday. They bought me the cutest Octo from the very store! I've named this lovely orange beauty Betty, because I like the name Betty! So now she and Reg are chilling on my printer away from children's grasp.

Turning 27 and Switching To Decaf

The month started with me buying decaf coffee. Then last week I mixed together decaf and half-caff. Now, today is the first official day of 100% decaf. I've had three cups so far, no headaches, it's great ... I'm tired as hell! But seriously, I feel great!

Tomorrow is my birthday and I'm kicking off age 27 with new bras. I was shocked to find I have lost weight and have gone down TWO cup sizes. When wearing a proper fitting bra, I can actually see my feet while standing!!

Compact Fluorescent Lighting Bulbs

In my attempts to "go green" there is one thing I'm not so sure about: CFLs. You may have heard the good stuff like that it saves energy, lasts longer, etc. But recently I've heard talks about the mercury, possibly causing migraines, and various other worries.

It was time to change my kitchen lights and my dad was gungho on switching to CFLs right now. During our arguement I realized - he doesn't know where to recycle these or the proper clean up procedures. This scared me so I put my foot down - NO.

I'm searching now and will make sure my dad follows them. For this family, safety is a must .. no ifs, ands or butts.

Yay! The Beach!!! Let's never go again ...

Yesterday we went to Long Beach which is in Washington. For us it's about a 3.5 hour drive there. I prefer the sandy beach because I can walk barefoot which is nice and the drive is also nice, especially now that my dad doesn't drive too fast lol.

On the way we saw several critters make a mad dash across the road. Each one made it, thankfully, but as we drove they started getting bigger. First was a mouse, then a squirrel, then a larger critter .. I pretty much figured that if this kept up we'd eventually have a bear "scamper" across.

The beach was fun but we won't be returning to that one for a while.

Tropical Monday

Yesterday my dad said we would go to the beach today. I made a point of going to bed early ... ok I didn't stay up past 11:30 ... so I'd be well rested. I woke up to find out that there was no beach trip.

So I decided to make a salad for Tropical Monday. It has ham, rice, pineapple, coconut, macadamia nuts, celery, red apples, green apples, water chestnuts, yogurt, mayonnaise, and salt. It's very simple but after tasting it, it is very good. The rice will be added when it's served so it doesn't get too mushy.

Tomorrow we have plans to go for a drive, though I'm not sure it'll happen. We'll see I guess and at least I'll have salad prepared for when we return.

Plan for later this month ... buy a counter top compost container.

Vampires beware ...

If there are any vampires wishing to meet me, I must apologize but today just isn't a good day. I have about 12 carrots and 3 bulbs of garlic roasting in my oven at this very moment and I don't think it's really "vamp friendly".

I discovered a blog called Cook (almost) Anything At Least Once and they have a recipe for Roasted Carrots. While I unfortunately do not have access to the colorful selection of carrots they use, I do have about 10 pounds of organic carrots that I really do not want to waste. And of course, being me, I had to try it the next day (today.)

I have just pulled them out and dished everyone's up. They taste fantastic! I might try adding an onion in with them next time as well.

Blogging and dinner tonight

I've been catching up on some blogs, especially foodie blogs, and I'm amazed at how nice blogs can be when you update lol. Maybe I should start doing that?

Some exciting blogs entries ...

Talula's Musings visited New York with Pelandrone and saw a rockin' Aussie band called Tripod perform.

Then Rare Bird Finds recently mentioned an intriguing item Handsome Devil's Bay Rum After Shave Stick. I know a few folks who might dig that for a gift.

Passionate About Baking has been posting so many delicious looking recipes that I've developed a desire to bake!

I've sat down with my dinner to catch up on a few more blogs this evening. Hopefully my Sausage Veggie Salad and Roasted Asparagus (thank you David Joachim!) will stop any drooling and tummy growling that may occur from reading food blogs lol.

Ow.

I have a problem every once in a while where I'm very sensitive to sound and in most cases it results in a migraine. I have a loud 6 year old, so usually the migraine comes. Today my migraine is thanks to the men working on my neighbors deck.

Originally I thought they would be working on the side of our condo, which admittedly scared me. The fellow who is in charge is an unlicensed contractor and was hired by us twice. After the second job he did we noticed some things ... like a board not nailed down on our deck.

For now, I'll just be thankful he's working on our neighbors deck and not the side of our building.

Let me confess my love ...

During the very late 90's my mother got into this idea that Susan's Summerize was right for me. We got the package, it came with an apron, and then the box sat under the sofa table until it had enough dust to kill someone with dust allergies. The only remaining item from that package to date is the apron.

I then discovered a lovely blog called Tie One On and my love for aprons grew! I have to say they are my favorite kitchen items. I've spent the weekend looking at Aprons over at Etsy and have made quite a wish list!!

The Lost Clothing

Ah, the joys of elementary school. The land of the lost hats. My son is speech and developmentally delayed so we have to rely on the teachers more than usual. So heres a quick run down of the lost clothing situation.

I'll send my son to school with a blue and red hat, he'll come back with no hat what so ever. So, the next day I will send him to school with a black hat, and send a note mentioning the blue and red hat.

He will again, come home with no hat. I will send him to school with a maroon hat, with a note mentioning the blue and red hat and the black hat.

He will come home with some hat we lost at the beginning of winter ... aside from the blue and red, black and maroon hats.

We keep going through this cycle. Even worse is I've noticed he'll come home with his hat, only to realize it's not his hat. It's his hats twin brother.

So I'm getting a new hat, but it'll be so different from his classmates hats that his teachers can keep better track of it.
First of all ... It'll be a dinosaur hat from Dino Haven. I'm going to customize it with colors, woo, that he absolutely loves. It'll be bright and noticeable. It will also have his initials on it .... with a cute twist of having it echoed in leet. Then, I will tell everyone in that damn school what to look for.

Twittered and Frozen

I've heard about twitter and have even seen Talula's twitter page, but I didn't really how cool it was. So now I'm hooked and have my own little page. So the link should be somewhere in the links to the right.

So, I'm sitting here typing this blog during my sons Spring Break. It's spring and I am cold, colder than I was last year. It is snowing outside. My son is doing spring themed activities at school, theres Spring themed kids shows out, and we are getting snow.

I actually want sun right now and I hate hot weather.

Spork??

It is March and I'm compiling a must get list for my family. Last year when we actually did stuff together we were completely unprepared and bought things along the way. This isn't so great when you need something and can't find it because they are sold out already.

Last year I know we spent too much money on fast food and coffee, so two things will be travel mug and containers for food. I bought three chill tupperwares that will provide enough room for a sandwich and two sides. And that means I'll have to buy utensils .... bwahahahaha ... perfect reasons to buy the beloved spork!

OK so I did a search for one and I found something perfect, but it's not a spork. OK technically it is a fork and a spoon together, but dammit, it's not a spork!! It's called Light My Fire Spork 4 Pack and it is perfect for what I want to use it for. But like the reviewer says - don't call it a spork.

As for travel mugs for coffee, I'm sure what we have will do but man, the temptation to have a frosting frappuccino will be strong. It's one reason I love going on trips.

Happy Easter

So today is Easter, the day of the wired up little kids. For easter my son got 3 small Dove rabbits, that's it for candy. Then he got two little egg toys and an elephant pez dispenser (which he doesn't realize has pez inside.)

There will be no easter egg hunt. No fancy dinner. No fancy dressing up for church. We will build sand castles in the dining room and eat left over casserole.

Simple and fun family time.

I got nothing to say

*glares over to book sitting on desk* So my organization skills are fairly ... ok I'm not gonna lie, they are fairly non-existent. So, I ordered a book to help me out and it just arrived today. When I ordered this book I expected a good sized book. I did not expect the 700+ page book I received.

This thing better be worth the bookshelf space it will inhabit or I'll have to find an alternative use.

Delicious ... Delectable ... Delightful .... Tiki?

Welcome to the wonderful and random world of Agent Tiki.

I'm not sure what exactly you'll find here in the future but I'm hoping to maintain two blogs .. a foodie blog and a slightly random one. (For those just tuning in, imagine several of my friends laughing at the words slightly and random used in the same sentence.)

I'm hoping to customize this soon so if you see it looking weird, bizarre or even down right ugly ... well, hope I'm working on it.