Damn fine pie

Here is a link to my Damn Fine Sweet Potato Pie recipe. Enjoy! And leave a comment if you give it a try. I lurve this pie soooo much, I’m gaining weight just imagining its silky goodness.

They turn the world on with their smiles...

We took the light rail to downtown Minneapolis with 10 teen girls and shopped and took photos, ending up at the Melting Pot for chocolate fondue (three types of chocolate FTW). Now they are all in the living room, eating junk and playing Just Dance 2 with Katie.

Katie, Jesse and Allie celebrate at The Roasted Pear

We continue to celebrate Jesse’s Sweet 16 birthday. Opened presents on Tuesday, followed by dinner at Taco Bell (Jesse’s favorite). Then we had a family dinner on Friday at the Roasted Pear in Burnsville. Jesse wanted to wait for Katie to get home from college for her big celebration and also invited our “third daughter,” Allie to dinner. Saturday, we’re taking 10 teens by train to downtown Minneapolis for shopping and chocolate fondue at the Melting Pot, followed by a sleepover.

Columbus? New World? I got your new world right here...

We went to the Renaissance Festival this afternoon in Shakopee. Jesse really wanted to visit the annual festival — it’s the one thing she wants to be sure to do each summer. We chose today because we got deep discounts on the tickets for Freemasons day at the festival (appropriate, given the history of freemasonry in the Renaissance, but I digress). We ate our way around the festival grounds, though several booths were sold out of our favorites (what? no Scotch eggs?) Jesse plowed through roasted corn, Italian ice and about a half-pound of fudge. Laurie and I mostly shared some sweets, though Laurie broke down and got some wild rice soup in a bread bowl. Jesse also looked for ideas for Renaissance clothing that she plans to make for herself to wear next year. Should be a hoot. Think I’ll dress up with her. All I need is a pair of tights and a long t-shirt and I’m golden. Below are some of the pix we took today:

Getting ready to chop some bhut jolokia peppers

This is the start of a pot of chili I am making for my office chili cook-off. I am going in with a traditional “bowl of red,” the original beanless chili, with peppers and meat. I am using ghost peppers and a handful of habaneros that I grew in the garden, along with some poblanos and anaheims. I will be using a mixture of lean beef and bison. It’s making me hungry just writing about this. I am calling the chili anitsasgili ugama, Cherokee for ghost soup. Seems appropriate. Let that be a warning to the cook-off judges…

But, I have to say, “Chicken tender. Yeah.”

The grill looks really old in this shot

Inspired by my buddy Sank, author of Cookin wit da Fat Man, I made chicken, onion and pepper kebabs tonight for our last supper at the beach. Chopped a bunch of peppers and sweet onions this morning and then trimmed the chicken. Also cut up a couple of habs and jalapenos for Dave and me. Put the whole shebang on soaked bamboo skewers and marinaded them in a teriyaki sauce of my own concoction. Threw the kebabs on the grill about four and basked in the sun on the deck.

The recipe follows:

STEP ONE: Buy expensive knives

STEP TWO: Cut up a shitload of Bell peppers

STEP THREE: Cut up four or five sweet onions. SWEET onions, y'all

STEP FOUR: Cut up some hot chilies for yourself

STEP FIVE: Cut chicken breasts into honking big hunks

STEP SIX: Put it all on bamboo skewers that you have soaked in water

STEP SEVEN: Marinade the whole shebang. I made up a garlic-teriyaki marinade for ours