Koolickles!

yep, koolickles. what are they? dill pickles soaked in cherry kool-aid. i found the item & recipe in alton brown's Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run, which i picked up for about $3. i had never heard of these things, but apparently they're popular in the delta region. alton was skeptical, but admitted that it worked: still tart & crisp & vinegar-y, but sweet, too, and hits the spot on a hot afternoon. he's right. these really aren't bad! they're a hit with the boys, too. i'm thinking of doing pickles for 2011...stay tuned!

Snapshots: The Skewp On Sierra's Secret Birthday Beau

Three sources close to video vixen Sierra Charles inform The Celebrity Skewp that the raven-haired temptress spent her 23rd birthday in the company of one of the stars of the ‘80s and ‘90s sitcom Growing Pains. Trouble is, each source claims it’s a different star!

“It’s Leonardo DiCaprio,” according to a long-time friend. “They met on an airplane. He was working on a crossword puzzle and asked her if she knew a 7-letter word for ‘a love affair.’ It was like love at first flight!”

A member of the crew of the video that Miss Charles is currently shooting for the band Linkin Park says otherwise. “It’s Kirk Cameron! They’ve gone down to Acapulco for cliff diving.” When reminded that the former teen heartthrob is now an evangelical minister who has been happily married for over 10 years and has six children, the crew member admitted that she may had been mistaken. “Wait...we’re talking about Kathy Griffin, right?”

Still, a family member who wished to remain anonymous insists that the starlet is stepping out with none other than Alan Thicke, who played the father on Growing Pains. “Sure, there’s an age gap (over 30 years!), but he’s very interesting. Did you know that he was once in a Fruit Of The Loom underwear commercial?”

So, one birthday but three different stories. Who is the mystery man in Sierra Charles’ life? When will she come out and tell the world who it is? It looks like pop culture’s latest D-list celebrity is going through some growing pains of her own!

Lemon Shortbread

so i had planned to make deb's peach shortbread from smitten kitchen (there is no cheaper cookbook than the internet, after all!), thinking that i had a couple of peaches. turns out that i didn't. i wasn't in the mood to go back to the store, so i found this easy shortbread recipe in How To Cook Everything and added some lemon zest to it to freshin them up. tasty, and a nice way to finish off the meal posted below. my only complaint is that they're just a little too tender & crumbly.

Carbonnade

carbonnade is a belgian dish of beef braised in beer & onions. not exactly seasonal, but the grocery store had a really good deal on blade steaks, which are suited perfectly for a braise, so i brought them home and found this carbonnade recipe from cheap cookbook How To Cook Everything by mark bittman. this is a very easy dish, cooks on the stove, and i think the fact that you cook it in beer rather than stock or wine keeps it light enough for late summer meal, and all those onions add just the right sweetness. some fresh corn, oven roasted potatoes, no-knead bread, and salad round it out. see the next post for dessert :)