Million Dollar Baby Sucker Punch
Mix 1 bottle champagne, 1 bottle raspberry pucker liqueur, and a 2 ltr. bottle Sprite.
The Aviator Wings
Deep Fry 5 lbs. of frozen chicken wings in butter flavored Crisco for approximately 20 minutes. Remove and saturate in a mixture of 1 Cup chosen Cayenne Pepper sauce and 2/3 Cup of melted butter. Place in broiler pan and broil for approximately 5 minutes. Drizzle with some extra hot sauce and serve.
Ray Mess Arounds * Winner Best appetizer!
(Ev'rybody Mess Around...)
Brown Bread sliced into melba toast sized rounds
1 container Lloyd's pulled BBQ pork
1 Sweet potato, diced
Shake & Bake BBQ glaze
Melted Butter
Cinnamon
Brush bread rounds with melted butter & cinnamon and toast. Combine diced potato with small amount of BBQ glaze and bake in 400 degree oven until softened, approximately 20 minutes. Combine potatoes and pork and place small dollop on toasted rounds. Bake at 400 degrees until heated through, about 5 minutes.
Finding Neverland Boys n' Barrie Parfait
1 16-ounce bag frozen boysenberries or blackberries, thawed
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon crème de cassis or other berry-flavored liqueur
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
6 large egg yolks
3 ounces imported white chocolate (such as Lindt), chopped, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups chilled whipping cream
Sauce
1 16-ounce bag frozen boysenberries or blackberries, thawed
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons crème de cassis or other berry-flavored liqueur
Fresh boysenberries, blackberries or strawberries
Fresh mint sprigs
Line 9x5-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap. Puree berries and 1/4 cup sugar in blender until just smooth. Strain. Measure 1 1/3 cups puree and place in heavy small saucepan. (Reserve any remaining puree for sauce.) Simmer 1 1/3 cups puree over medium heat until reduced to scant 1 cup, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Transfer to bowl and chill 30 minutes. Stir in cassis and lemon juice. Refrigerate reduced puree until ready to use.
Combine 3/4 cup sugar, water and yolks in medium metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water. Using hand-held electric mixer, beat yolk mixture until it registers 140°F on candy thermometer, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, about 5 minutes. Continue cooking 3 minutes, beating constantly. Remove from over water. Add warm melted chocolate and vanilla extract and beat until cool. Beat whipping cream in another large bowl to stiff peaks. Gently mix 1/4 of whipped cream into chocolate mixture. Fold in remaining whipped cream.
Transfer 1 1/3 cups chocolate mixture to medium bowl. Fold in reduced berry puree. Fill prepared loaf pan with 1/3 of remaining chocolate mixture. Cover with berry-chocolate mixture. Top with remaining chocolate mixture. Smooth top. Freeze parfait overnight. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead.)
For Sauce:
Puree frozen boysenberries, sugar and crème de cassis in blender or processor until smooth. Strain. Add any berry puree reserved from parfait.
Unmold frozen parfait. Peel off plastic wrap. Slice into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Drizzle with sauce. Garnish with berries and fresh mint sprigs.
Sideways Sour Grapes
| 1/8 cup of oil 1 1/2 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds 3 cloves 1 star anise Curry & onion powder to taste 2 1/2 cups red seedless grapes, halved 1 tablespoon raisins 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely minced 1 teaspoon pomegranate, ground coarsely 1/3 cup white grape juice 1/3 cup red wine vinegar 1 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted and chopped Salt, to taste In a saucepan, place mustard seeds in oil and cook until they pop. Add whole cloves, star anise, curry & onion powder. Cook until fragrant (about 1 minute). Next, add grapes, raisins, jalapeno pepper and pomegranate seeds. Stir ingredients to mix, then add grape juice and vinegar. Cover and simmer slowly over low heat until grapes soften, but hold their shape. Finish with the pine nuts and salt to taste. |
Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events (A perfect description of this year's Oscars!) Venerable Fiesta Dip
As usual, layer from the bottom up in a 9x9 glass dish: 2 packages Cream Cheese, 1 can of Hormel Chili (without beans), taco sauce or salsa, Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese, Shredded Cheddar Cheese, Jalapenos, & black olives (if desired). Heat until warm and gooey. So good, you'll want to make it every year!
Notables:
Best Acceptance Speech: Jorge Drexler who showed us how his winning song from The Motorcycle Diaries should have sounded when he sang his acceptance speech and blew Antonio Banderas & Carlos Santana out of the water!
Best Moment: Morgan Freeman clutching his Oscar in his seat looking into the camera and whispering, "Mine!"
Worst Moment: Sooooooo many to choose from... "Just a girl from a trailer park with a dream," "You can't cut me off, I haven't thanked Clint yet!," Barbara Streisand "forgetting" her glasses before announcing Best Picture, Barbara Streisand being on stage, "I'm so glad I can give this to you again, Clint!," all the stupid "beauty pageant" awards staging... they were all awful, but how can I not select the look on Marty Scorsese's face when he was once again passed over for a lesser director. To paraphrase Bart Simpson... "If you look really closely, you can see the exact moment when his heart explodes!"
Running Gag: Were the producers tripping over themselves to get a close up shot of every black person in the audience, or was it just me? This from oscarwatch.com, "Okay, enough is enough already. We get it, WE GET IT, you're not racists, YOU'RE NOT RACISTS, you don't have to invite every black musician who ever sang at the Grammys to prove your point."
Also, bad hair was running rampant between Annette Benning, Mike Myers, Sean Penn and countless others!
Don't Worry, we only stayed up four hours to find out... No extended clips from the best picture nominees sprinkled throughout the night? While your at it, why not just cut the award???
Two People I'd Never think I'd see in the same room: Sean "P. Diddy/ Puff Daddy" Combs & Mickey Rooney
Biggest (unexpected) disappointment of the night: Jamie Foxx's re-tread of a speech. I know he's been winning every award there is (and a few invented just for a reason to give him more, I'm sure) but don't you think a black man who's short career includes "Toys," "The Great White Hype," "Any Given Sunday," and "Booty Call" that is being honored with the greatest award given in his field should be slightly shocked and moved by the implications? He actually got on the stage and said, "OK, here we go..." Like it was so damn boring...!
The Pool:
And the Oscar Cup goes to ....
John with 15 out of 24!
His first win ever!!! (And the first man to win the coveted Oscar Cup!)
And the rest of us looked like this:
Jami - 14
Tom, Gianna - 12
Carol, Tracy - 10
Joe, Sean - 9
Susan, Anne, Daisy, Kristin, Jodi, Gabrielle - 8
Schelle'y , Ed, Sam, Jen, Vickie Jo - 7
Stacey, Mary - 6
Natasia, Heidi, Mike, Sal - 5
Johnny, Jason - 4
