"End of the Month" Casserole

So once again the month is not quite over yet the Dibbles have completely expended their allotted food budget. (What can I say? We love food) It is about this time every month that creative juices start to flow and culinary masterpieces and disasterpieces are created.

This one is a real winner, we'll call it "Kitchen Sink" Tuna Delight. We've got Swiss Chard, left over stale bread from a restaurant we went to almost a month ago, tuna, cheese, broccoli, peas, Cajun seasoning, elbow mac, milk, cheese and the casserole requisite - cream of mushroom soup. Yup, if that isn't a recipe for deliciousness I don't know what is. What better way to celebrate Pioneer Day week than with a random casserole and a healthy dose of frugality?

The question is, will the Dibble eat it? Only time can tell, pictures and Dave's reaction to follow...

It was a resounding success! The casserole was quite tasty and Dave enjoyed it thoroughly. OK, he still picked around the Swiss Chard a bit but at least I tried to get some leafy greens into him. I don't know if I will be able to quite re-create it, but we will enjoy it while it lasts (which may be awhile with only two of us eating it.)

The Cox Family Takes Manhattan

Good times were had by all as Ellen, Tyler, Cierra, Josie, and Jensen visited the Big Apple for the first time. They summarily fell in love with our neighbor Susan and all things New York. We had ambitious plans and didn't quite squeeze in everything we wanted to but definitely gave it the old college try. We started at the Staten Island Ferry, walked to Trinity Church, visited Ground Zero, walked through China Town, had lunch at "Excellent Dumpling House" (you betcha there were some pork buns involved), roamed Times Square, sauntered through Central Park, and took a stroll down 5th Avenue. We probably walked a good 6 miles in the scorching heat, all on what little sleep was achieved as the entire Cox family huddled on our bedroom floor. Truly it was a delightful day, full of smiles, photo ops, and even some silly band purchases. Now if we could only convince them to move here permanently...

Pork Bun Fun

It has been my post-graduation mission to seek out the best steamed pork bun in NYC Chinatown. It has been a harrowing assignment, but for the good of mankind I perservered :). After almost every audition, I head to Chinatown to purchase one of these tasty treats. I've had an affinity for them ever since my wee days in San Francisco. I've been to 5 different bakeries and thus far the winner is...

Fay da bakery! This is a small chain, the one I went to is at 83 Mott St., near Canal St. The bun had a great filling to bun ration and the innards were sweet and tasty, with shredded pork as opposed to gelatinous cubes. Really, they are quite delightful.

Pick up a coconut custard bun while you are there as well, yum.

And who says I'm not being productive with my post-graduation time....

http://www.fayda.com/breads/steambuns.shtml