Brazil Grill - Our Tradition

Last year we decided to begin a tradition, which we continued tonight.  A few days before Christmas we travel to Portland to have a scrumptious dinner at Brazil Grill.  If you are a meat lover - you'll think you've died and gone to heaven! 

 

The meats are all served at your table by "roaming gauchos".  They wander around the restaurant with various cooked meats on swords and they carve the meat right at your table.  You begin at the salad bar (but why fill up on salad when a veritable meat feast awaits you!) and when you return to your table you turn what looks like a hockey puck from the red side to green.  Green let's the gauchos know you would like to be visited with the various meats.  When you want to "rest", turn the puck over to red.  Tonight we dined on: 

 

Marinated Prawns
Chili-Lime Pork Loin
Marinated Chicken Legs
Bacon-Wrapped Chicken 
Marinated Lamb
Linguicia Sausage
Beef Tri-Tip
Bacon Wrapped Beef Filet
Mustard Beef Sirloin
Beef Sirloin

 

And we ended with a sweet treat - which is AHHHH-MAZING!!!...Roasted Cinnamon Pineapple. 

 

Of course, we probably just HAD to partake of a Caipirinha - or two!  (Brazilian cocktail - think yummy - and kind of like a margarita but with sugar cane rum - and better!)

 

 Happy beginning of the Christmas weekend!

Brazil Grill

As our Christmas weekend began, we decided to have a small family celebration at "Brazil Grill" in Portland.  Brazil Grill is a Churrasco (shoo-rah-sko) which is a centuries old Brazilian traditional cooking method.  Their website says, "This unique way of roasting the meat on a special grill from Brazil conserves the natural flavor of each portion and leaves each cut full of its natural juices."

We feasted on all types of meat... to quote a friend - "the entire barnyard ended up on our table!"  There was chicken, and bacon wrapped chicken, shrimp, lamb, filet mignon wrapped in bacon, beef sirloin, sausage, tri-tip, and mustard beef sirloin.  There was also the MOST amazing grilled pineapple.  I had read about the pineapple in reviews from previous diners - and couldn't believe it could possibly be THAT good!  But, they were right... oh, so right!

In addition to all of the various grilled meats, there is also a wonderful salad bar - which contains much more than your typical salad bar items - and they also brought us a plate of amazing Beef Empanadas.  Oh My!  I really loved them.  John, however, referred to them as Brazilian Egg Rolls.  He's a funny boy!

We also had a Caipirinha cocktail which is Cachaca (Brazilian rum), sugar, and muddled lime.  It was extremely tasty!  We will definitely return to Brazil Grill in the future.  Our very carnivorous son was in 7th heaven... but then again - so were we all!  Click HERE to visit the restaurant website. 

Happy Christmas Eve!

Date Night

We had a fun impromptu date night when Richard picked me up from work tonight.  Started with a cocktail and some delicious Purple Peruvian Fries with Cumin Scented Ranch Dressing at Prudence Uncorked.  Both the drink and the food were delicious!

After our brief trip to see Prudence, we went to Salem Cinema to see the Italian film, "Mid-August Lunch".

What a delightful film!  We highly recommend it.  The original release date in Italy was 2008.  I believe it may be available on DVD.  It's a short (75 minutes) sweet and precious story about a man who takes care of his Mother - along with the Mother's of some of his friends.  Adorable!

More Canning Adventures

I don't know what has gotten into me, but I've been canning just about every weekend.  Last weekend I even got one of my "besties" and fellow YaYa Sister, Kathy involved. (Unfortunately we didn't think to take any pictures - so here is one of her from last Christmas!)

We canned Kathy's homemade salsa and we made pickled green beans together.  I just have to say - 12 pounds of green beans is A LOT!  We both couldn't believe how many there were.  They made 19 jars!

In my recent adventures I've made jam, and pickles, and the aforementioned pickled green beans, and salsa.  I guess I'm inspired because so far, everything that I've tried has turned out great!  Well, not sure yet about the green beans because they have to sit for a month before I can try them.  To quote Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - The waiting... is the hardest part!

"A Canning We Will Go"

I have been having SO much fun canning pickles over the past couple of weekends.  So far, I've made 2 dozen jars of Spicy Garlic Dill Pickles.  I had never canned pickles before, so I scoured the Internet to find a recipe that sounded good - Oh, and EASY too!  I think I found a great one.  Those that have tasted the pickles have said they are really good - and they think I'm fibbing when I say this was my first time making pickles.  It's been fun!

Because the pickle making has gone so well I decided to look at recipes for other things as well.  I found a yummy sounding recipe for Peach Almond Jam.  So, this morning I bought some peaches and made it.  I can't even describe how delicious this jam is.  Wonderfully sweet peaches combined with almond extract.  Summer in a jar!

Next weekend my friend Kathy and I are going to try spicy pickled green beans!  I'll let you know how they turn out!

Check out my GumboYaYa Blog for the recipes

Kitchen Disasters - Sentimental Sunday No. 32

photo from KingArthurFlour.com

I think people would say that I am a pretty good cook. My Mom was a really good cook too. She taught me a lot of what I know… and the rest I’ve learned from watching the Food Network! However, regardless of how well you can prepare a meal – there is still the occasional disaster.

I have already blogged about a particular birthday cake that my Mother made for me. Click here to read about it. I also remember, well I’ve been told, about my Mother being upset that I spilled spaghetti on the carpet after she had hand scrubbed the entire carpet on her hands and knees. She was so angry that she picked up the entire plate of spaghetti, threw it in the kitchen, it landed on the cabinets and we all watched as it slid down the face of the cabinets and onto the kitchen floor. OK, that might not be considered a kitchen disaster. That could be classified as an exhausted and frustrated Mom. Also, I don’t think we EVER had a family dinner where the rolls weren’t burnt – or pretty close to it. That is a tradition that I continue to this day – along with my sister in law! Every Thanksgiving and Christmas we swear this is the year we won’t have almost burnt rolls. Maybe this year!

I remember my first experience with gravy. My Mom had taught me her “secrets” and I had the whole family at my apartment for a special dinner. I was making the gravy and I looked at my Mom with tears in my eyes. It was WAY too thick… kind of like glue. My Mom sighed, looked at me and said, “Cindy Lynn. Gravy is gravy and wallpaper paste is wallpaper paste, and never the two shall meet.” She grabbed some beef broth and worked her magic. The meal was saved.

I’ve discovered that no matter how wonderful a chef I may be – baking is NOT my thing. I mean I can bake a cake, and cookies and brownies… but pie?? THAT is a different subject entirely. I’ve tried so many times to make crust. I follow my Mom’s recipe, I’ve followed Martha Stewart’s recipe, and I’ve decided that Marie Calendar’s is the only recipe that works for me! (That would be the frozen pie shells I can purchase at the grocery store.) And even though I do make a passable filing – pecan, pumpkin, lemon meringue, I still think I am missing the “pie gene”, which is why we REALLY don’t have pie very often.

But, my favorite story has to be the night I was making a meal for my friend that needed meals for her family. So, a group of us got together and picked a different night to make and bring the dinner to her. I made the MOST delicious Indian Chicken dish. It’s one that I make often, but this time was honestly the BEST I had ever made it. It was perfect. Well, I was in a hurry and I didn’t want her to have to worry about returning bowls and Tupperware, so I got the brilliant idea that I would use my food sealer (or as I call it – the “seal a meal”). I didn’t have any of the premade bags – but I have a long roll of the material that you can make your own bag out of. So, I cut off a long enough piece of the material, sealed the bottom of it, placed the food in the bag, picked it up and sealed the top. Job done, right? Well, as I picked up the bag the bottom of the bag fell out and all the food ran down the front of my kitchen cabinets, on the floor and onto my area rug. Needless to say I was a little less than enthusiastic.

Yes, kitchen disasters – they come in big and little sizes. I always feel it’s one of God’s ways of reminding us that we’re not really in charge – and that He has a really good sense of humor…. Even if WE sometimes don’t.

See's Candy - Sentimental Sunday No. 20

photo from See's.com

Cindy’s paternal grandmother, Julia, worked for See’s Candy in Los Angeles for many years. She worked at the plant and we were never in short supply of See’s at our house. Mom and Dad always got a 25 lb box of candy at Christmas and Cindy always received the MOST AMAZING Easter baskets. One of my favorite memories of her bringing candy to us was the bags of nuts that had fallen off the candy on the conveyor belt. The workers could bring those nuts home for free. We always had a white See’s Candy bag in our freezer that contained an assortment of nuts with bits of candy stuck to them. They were delicious. Click here to link to History Los Angeles blog story about See’s Candy.

One year my mom gave my Godmother, Ginger, a two pound box of See’s. Ginger really wasn’t supposed to eat much candy – so she would hide it from her family and would take a piece out of the box to savor, every now and then. One evening, when we all returned to my Godparents home after dinner, as we walked in their front door we noticed a trail of empty See’s Candy wrappers meandering through their living room. (You know, the little brown paper cups that each piece of candy sits in within the box.) We couldn’t imagine what had happened. But, my Godmother was quick to deduce that their German Shepherd, Silver, had found her candy hiding place and had eaten practically the entire box of candy. Amazing that Silver didn’t get sick. Of course, that dog ate A LOT of things that dogs shouldn’t eat and never got sick. For example, 10 pounds of modeling clay and wood turnings that my Dad and my Godfather had been working on in the garage. She was a wonderful dog – and always managed to amaze all of us.

See’s Candy is fabulous, but for me it’s always a walk down memory lane as I stand in front of the counter selecting pieces of my favorites. Some of mine are Marzipan, Butterscotch Squares, Walnut Squares, Peanut Crunch, Scotchmallow, Molasses Chips… well; the list could go on and on. What are your favorites?

Tomatoes - Sentimental Sunday No. 19

photo from i.ehow.com

Nothing tastes more like summer than home grown tomatoes. My father grew the most amazing tomatoes every summer. They were huge and juicy and full of flavor. Funny thing was that he didn’t eat tomatoes. He hated them. Would pick them out of salad, didn’t want them on hamburgers, and would never think of eating one by itself. But, he loved salsa, catsup, and spaghetti sauce. Mom and I were lucky that he liked growing them – and did so for us.

My Godfather, Orie, grew fantastic tomatoes too. After Dad had passed, Orie gave me some tomatoes one day when I was visiting him. They were so wonderful. I remember making a tomato and cheddar cheese sandwich. It was truly the best tasting sandwich I ever had. I can still recall the flavor of a warm summer day on bread. It was fantastic.

Dad and Orie both tended their tomato gardens with great care. And, Orie believed if the plants didn’t bear enough fruit you merely had to yell at them in Italian and threaten to cut them down… then they would bear fruit. Hey, it worked for him. He had a plum tree that didn’t bear fruit for YEARS. He finally got tired of it “just sitting there”. So, about the time the blossoms should have started to appear – he went out back and yelled at it… in Italian. He told it that if it didn’t bear fruit that year he was going to cut it down. That darned tree gave more plums than you have EVER seen. I think half of them ended up rotting because there just weren’t enough people in the family to take the plums. I made jar after jar of plum jam out of them. It was delicious.

Unfortunately, we don’t seem to have the “green thumb” when it comes to tomatoes. We attempt to grow them every year – and they just don’t want to give us much in the way of ripe delicious tomatoes. Hmm… maybe I need to learn Italian!

Breakfast Anyone? - Sentimental Sunday No. 12

My (Cindy’s) Mom and Dad were a couple of characters. Here is one of my favorite stories about them…

Mom and Dad were married in 1941. They were very much the typical husband & wife of the time… He worked; she stayed home and took care of the house and my sister. Dad had to be up very early for work each day, and he suggested to my Mom that it would sure be nice if she would get up with him, make him breakfast and spend some time with him before he left for work in the mornings. This wouldn’t have been an unusual request if it weren’t for the fact that he got up at 4am and had to be at work by 5am!

Mom was not what you would call “a morning person”, but she dutifully got up with my Dad the next morning to make him breakfast. While Dad was in the shower Mom cooked eggs, bacon and toast for him; sat down at the table and ATE IT! Then, she promptly went back to bed. By the time Dad got out of the shower Mom was sound asleep and there was nothing for him but the dirty dishes! She wasn’t being a smart aleck… she didn’t remember a thing about it. She basically “slept walked” her way through cooking breakfast; eating it and going back to bed.

Needless to say, Dad didn’t ask her to get up with him ever again!