Notes from the road

I know I made I Haz a Choo Choo Train Problem to keep my train nerdery out of this blog, but as I'm on a train nerdery adventure, it might be fun to follow along there or on my twitter :)

Whitney Houston: is it really necessary?

Today was Whitney Houston's funeral. Because of this, I have largely ignored Twitter for the day.

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a celebrity gossip addict and that I read Perez Hilton's site religiously. However, I don't get why we need to livestream and livetweet a funeral. Yes, Whitney was talented. Yes, her life should be celebrated - as should anyone's upon their demise (People like Hitler, Kim Jong Il, ect excepted), however there is absolutely no reason why this event should be a media fiasco and live streamed. Do you walk in off the street to some random person's funeral? No? Because live streaming a celebrity funeral is the virtual equivalent.

You didn't personally know Whitney, cut the shit. Honestly, I'm a little disgusted that this is an apparently acceptable practice now.

Anyway...that concludes today's rant.

KITTY!

Hi, my name is Nibbler and I'm an adorable little kitten who will be sucking up Heather's attention for a while!

DIY Microwave Popcorn

I realize this is probably a little late, considering everyone is watching the football game and stuffing their faces with other snack foods - however the consumption of snack foods in my house is what led tho this post. I could really give two shits about football, however for the sake of household harmony, go Patriots, so I'm sitting in the other room wasting my evening on Pinterest.

A few weeks ago, I popped loose popcorn kernels in a paper lunch bag in a microwave for the boyfriend - he was amazed and had no idea you could do such a thing. In case you fall into that category, let me enlighten you. You probably won't want crappy bagged microwave popcorn ever again.


What You Need:
1 Paper Lunch Bag
1 Tablespoon of Oil - I used canola, olive or vegetable also would work
1/3 - 1/2 cup of popcorn kernels


What To Do:
Measure out the kernels and dump them in a bowl. Pour the oil and mix. You can skip this step and throw everything in the bag, but the bottom of the bag gets way oilier and you'll have a puddle in your microwave. Once you've mixed the oil up into the kernels pretty well, dump it into the lunch bag. Sprinkle some salt in and fold the bag twice to close. There's no need to secure the bag closed beyond this. Put the bag in the microwave. I start with 2 minutes and go from there. Here you can use the standard microwave popcorn gauge: when popping slows to 1-2 seconds between pops, your popcorn is done. One day it took 2 and a half minutes, today it took almost 4.


When it's done, take your popcorn out and salt/butter/season to your liking. I find the popcorn is a little drier than regular microwave but SO much better. I have some buffalo popcorn seasoning from Target and with a little salt and a little melted butter...om nom.


There ya go, do it yourself microwave popcorn.

Finished product: Orange is the buffalo seasoning.

Wordless Wednesday

<3

Music Monday: Bangarang - Skrillex

I blame the boyfriend's Philly friend Chris and his girlfriend for getting me into Skrillex. They played a bunch of it when we were down there in August.

As such, this song has been pretty much on repeat for me for the last week and a half.


Seriously...this beat will be stuck in your head 20 minutes from now. You're welcome :)

Pasta with Mushroom Gorgonzola Sauce

Step 2: Mushrooms chillin in a pot

I made this for dinner tonight. Based on the contents, this is obviously pretty bad for you - and I substituted light cream for the heavy cream the original recipe called for. (The original recipe was in a random cookbook I found at TJMaxx that I took a picture of - because honestly, the rest of the cookbook sucked and was definitely not worth buying.) However, despite the fact that it's pretty terribad for you, it was so freakin good.

Pasta with Mushroom Gorgonzola Sauce - Made to Serve 4.


You Will Need:
12 Ounces of Pasta (I used rotini, the original recipe called for fusilli. It all tastes the same and fusilli and rotini are the same shape...ish)
3 tablespoons of olive oil
12 ounces of sliced mushrooms (I used baby bellas.)
1 finely chopped clove of garlic (I used minced.)
14 ounces/1-3/4 cups light cream
9 ounces of crumbled gorgonzola cheese
Salt and Pepper
2 tablespoons of chopped parsley for garnish

Step 3: Shrooms & Cream

What To Do:
1. Boil your pasta according to the directions on the box. If it finishes before the sauce, drain and set aside.
2. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a medium sauce pan. Add the mushrooms and cook on low for 5 minutes stirring frequently. Add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes. Keep stirring.
3. Pour in the cream. Bring the mushroom/garlic/cream sauce to a boil and let it cook for a minute until it thickens a little bit.
4. Turn the heat down to low and stir in the gorgonzola. Let it cook until it's all melted. Don't let the sauce boil once you add the cheese.
5. Let it cook for a few more minutes until it thickens up a little more. Add some salt and pepper to taste.
6. Pour the sauce over the pasta and mix well.
7. Dole it out on plates and garnish with parsley.

Finished product. Om nom.