amazingly quick and easy, a heavenly ploof of ricotta magically appears from the ina garten -we call her jeffrey- ricotta recipe.

all in

last supper in elko. time to go "all in" with my hotel cache: 1/2 onion, 2 limp carrots, handful spinach, meaty bacon, 1 ripe banana, 2 eggs, container of milk, few tbs. butter, box of broth, a package of yeast, flour and salt 1. take a risk. bake bread in the crockpot. dough rises in ceramic insert. use cuticle scissors to cut aluminum dough cover to prevent lid condensation drip onto crust. bake 2 hours on high. peek under lid. no upper crust. peel off thin gooey sheet of filo-like dough. find baked bread beneath 2. turn out loaf. cool upside down on muffin tin 3. ask for divine bread-spread inspiration from food network. wish granted. 2 guys talk about peanut butter-banana-bacon sandwiches. find a jar of salted peanuts in the room. crush peanuts with bottom of salt jar, microwave pork strips,slice banana 4. elvis spotting in elko 5. onto the soup. blanch spinach in microwave. chop fine, then grind with bottom of olive oil jar 6. mix with flour, egg and salt to make noodle dough. use wine bottle as rolliing pin and flattened aluminum tray as board. watch flying flour migrate to floor, desk and computer. cut and dry. add to crockpot veggie-flavored chicken broth soup last few minutes of cooking
last supper menu: green noodle soup and viva el elko sandwich

time to leave my elko hotel room and head on home with a few new recipe cards up my sleeve.

elko dolce

ingredients on hand suggest a polenta pudding topped with citrus chocolate ganache 1 and 2. discover that setting up ingredients on hotel furniture is most enjoyable. contemplate the possibility of employment in this field 3.puddin's done. divide between 2 hotel bowls 4.mix chocolate bar, milk and zest from leftover travel cuties in glass bowl. microwave, stirring every 5 seconds until melted and smooth. no explosions. spread over top of pudding. forget that i am in a hotel room by concentrating my gaze at the paintings on the wall and immersing my senses in the creamy, chocolatey, orangey sapore of dolce elko

il viaggio al elko

get inspired by reading "il viaggio di vetri." pork and cabbage stew seem doable in crockpot 1.open wine with paring knife. admire hotel art 2. prepare side of herbed potatoes. butter explodes in the micro. steam potatoes in "melted" butter using scrap paper as cover for bowl. toss with a few snips of herbs borrowed from local home depot nursery 3. adjust stew recipe to available time and ingredients. buy Aidells chicken mango jalepeno sausages, boneless pork ribs and savoy cabbage. saute meats in crockpot with olive oil as much as possible. when pork appears sickly white add white wine to match. simmer for a while. add a small can of tomato sauce and a can of diced tomoatoes, save cans for crockpot bread baking. add chopped onion, garlic, celery and carrots. cook on high for about an hour. add chunked cabbage on top and cook for about another hour 4. eat it all and remember it's not what i eat it's who i eat it with

tourist celebrates local holiday

today I join in citywide festivities surrounding Elko's " Yellow Food Day" 1. buy Bob's Red Mill medium grind cornmeal from local "health food" store. microwave chicken stock and cormeal, 10 second intervals, stir between blasts. golden grains bubble like mt. vesuvius eventually resemble polenta 2. holiday table set in white with lemon accents 3. locate organics at unsung grocery store. stay with mellow yellow theme. carrots, potatoes, onions and corn join cut-up rotisserie chicken (remove excess application of basting brew with paper towels) and stock in crockpot 4.sun tea on hotel window sill. libation fit for the queen of the yellow food day parade
menu: mellow yellow stew, sunny yellow polenta, citrus yellow tea
HAPPY YELLOW FOOD DAY!

just another day in pair of dice

take a gamble on this one. chocolate sables in the micro
1. mise en place on ironing board with pierre hermé inspiration recipe 2. no wisk. knead butter by hand until smooth and creamy 3. fill plastic sandwich bag with dough 4.squeeze out poo poo platter 5. 3 minutes in micro. cookies stick to plate. use fork to eat in place

1/2 c. flour
1 2/3 TBS cocoa powder
2/3 stick room temp butter
1/4 c. powdered sugar
pinch salt
1 TBS beaten egg white

combine flour and cocoa
knead butter until smooth
add sugar and salt
add egg white
add combined flour and cocoa
squeeze poops out of plastic bag with corner cut open onto plate.(if poopsible line the plate with parchment paper)
micro 3 minutes
cool and sprinkle with confectioners sugar
eat off plate with fork

crackpot meets crockpot

PLAN C: buy crockpot from kmart. no smoke, no smell 1. ready to roll, so meatballs it is, smothered in onions, peppers, zucchini and tomato sauce 2. beef, egg, parmesan, cilantro 3. add stale trip bread soaked in milk. mix and shape your balls. plop into sauce, cover with veggies and cook for 4-5 hours 4. hotel love affair with microwave-cooked bacon
menu: meatballs subs with melted(not really????more like slumped?) string cheese and veggie topping, spinach salad with tomato, avocado, some very handsome bacon, olive oil and squeeze of lemon

completely crazy in Elko Hotel

BIG IDEA. cook in toaster oven in Elko, Nevada hotel, blog it, write recipes...1 and 2. filled cupboard for first night's pizza and chocolate sables 3. going great. happy yeast in hotel paper cup 4. plug in toaster oven. smokes like crazy, fan smoke out window, blast air conditioner, notice ceiling smoke alarms and multiple sprinkler heads. unplug toaster oven. notice imprint on toaster oven door...IF CONTENT IGNITES... 5. Switch to Plan B-microwave cooking 6. microwave melts plastic dish to pizza dough. conglomeration thrown out hotel window to avoid harmful fume inhalation 7. second try on hotel china. tasty topping-tooth crackin' dough 8. tonite's menu: feta and parmesan topped tomato-zucchini-onion-corn plato spiced with jalepeno, cilantro and lime 9. morning view outside hotel window. lookin' kinda good