Mandolin vs. Cara

I fought the mandolin and the mandolin won. 

Kyle got me a mandolin for Christmas since I've always wanted one and because he thought it would make my life easier.  The problems came when I decided not to read the safety instructions, throw caution to the wind and slice up some fingers, er, I mean, potatoes.  Mandolin: 1  Cara:  0

I wrapped my finger in some towel and finished my potato slicing (even though Kyle was totally freaking out telling me to bandage my hand and that dinner could wait!)  I finished slicing the potatoes and tossed them in the hot pan with spices and proceeded to bandage my blood-gushing finger.  Mandolin: 1  Cara: 1

Kyle and I had a talk about how I'm too anal about hand-washing things like pots and pans and things that are sharp, even though the directions clearly say that they are dishwasher-safe.  Hey, you can do what you want, but my last set of pots and pans lasted 11 years, and baby, they never saw a dishwasher, even though they could.

Regardless, I decided to be a good wife and give in to his whim.  I put a few pots and pans and my mandolin in the dishwasher.  (Can you see where this is going?)

A few hours later, I start emptying the dishwasher.  Laela yelped for mama, and as I went to pull out a large pot, you guessed it, the mandolin won.  And I had to re-run the dishwasher.  Mandolin: 2  Cara: 1

Moral of the story?  No, I am not going to be a hypocrite who tells you that safety comes first and not to get super excited about a new "toy".  Just don't put anything sharp in the damn dishwasher.  Sometimes your way is the right way!

I'll be back next week (when it isn't so painful to type) with a great peas and cream recipe, a special breakfast recipe, and a bunch of pictures of some awesome goodies I created over the last two weeks.

Donut French Toast

This morning, my little brother's holiday leave ended.  Farewells are never easy, but they're especially difficult when it's a loved one in the military leaving.  Even those with the safest jobs are putting themselves at risk, and I know that even though my brother minimizes his job, he's a part of a really important machine- his part matter as much as the next; his risk is as big as the next.

Since Navy food is notoriously terrible, I knew he'd be coming home wanting all his favorites (ginger cookies, good ol' eggs and bacon, hamburgers, hot dogs, fried chicken, etc. etc.).  I made sure we were fully stocked and ready to stuff him to the gills while he was home and send him back with plenty of goodies.  One of his favorites are donuts, so I decided to try Nigella Lawson's donut french toast recipe.  It's really simple, and my husband, his best friend Darin, and my brother swooned over it.

Ingredients

•  (2) eggs

•  (1/2) cup full fat milk

•  (4) teaspoons vanilla extract

•  (4) slices from a small white loaf or 2 slices from a large white loaf, each large slice cut in half
•  (1) ounce butter, plus a drop flavourless oil, for frying
•  (1/4) cup sugar

Directions

• Beat the eggs with the milk and vanilla in a wide shallow bowl.
• Soak the bread halves in the eggy mixture for 5 minutes a side.
• Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan/skillet, fry the egg-soaked bread until golden and scorched in parts on both sides.
• Put the sugar onto a plate and then dredge the cooked bread until coated like a sugared doughnut

Enjoy!