Monday, January 12, 2009

Something's Missing...

When we first woke up Sunday morning we were happy to see that we only got a few inches of snow during the night, as opposed to the 6 to 8" or snow/freezing rain/rain.  I'd say at best we got 4 inches of light, fluffy pretty snow.  Then, as hubby snow-blowed the driveway, something caught his eye.  Or should I say, the absence of something caught his eye...



I was reminded of a line from "A Christmas Story":

" My father wove a tapestry of obscenity that as far as we know is still hanging over ..."  

In this case, my driveway!  Someone had rubbed the number off my husband's license plate....No, that's not it.  Actually, some LOSER SCUMBAG stole the tailgate off my husband's pick up truck Saturday night!  And the man was none too pleased about it.  Police were called, report filled out, neighbors popped over to offer their sympathy and possible leads (yes, leads.  These morons apparently forgot to don their invisibility cloaks) and little by little, my dear husband's blood pressure began to descend into something vaguely resembling normalcy.  He later recalled hearing a conversation that occurred that very day, where someone commented "Hey! There's a black F-350!" as if they were scouting around, looking for parts.  Cops know about it, and if per chance you are lost and found your way here, your boss knows about it, too.  You can run, but you cannot hide....

Well, it's really hubby that you should be worried about, because to cheer myself up (and to celebrate the fact that we had recently removed the $3,000 worth of firefighting gear that had been in the bed of the truck, and stowed it in a safe, secure, secret location) I treated myself to a couple of these yummy treats...

Espresso Biscotti, from my friend JM over on Grouprecipes.


Yummy, espresso-flavored biscotti, dipped in chocolate.  Just what I needed as a little pick-me-up!   I told myself I would bring these into the office Monday...oops. I forgot.  Maybe Tuesday...ok, Wednesday.  If there are any left.

To further comfort myself, I channeled that calm, soothing, foodie soul, Ina Garten and made this yummy fruit crumble, not crisp. Ina calls them crumbles...but they're the same thing as crisps.  I needed to channel Ina because after the theft of a beloved tailgate and a dose of espresso with a third cup of coffee, my only other alternative was to channel that Billy Mays dude who does the OxyClean commercials....I like Ina better.

So this is what I was working on...Blueberry-Pear Crumble


 Pear, blueberries topped with an oat and almond brown sugar crust.  All good, except I used steel cut oats, and I'm not sure if it's because I'm just not used to them or maybe they need more cooking time, but they are a little too hard for this.  Maybe I just need to acquire a taste for them.  And even though I used a minimal amount of sugar, this is still quite sweet.  Maybe I can get away with using even less.

So, I'm tweaking this one and hopefully by the time we have a new tailgate, I'll have a new recipe to share!  Meanwhile, go make those biscotti and be on the lookout for a black Ford F-350 tailgate! :)

9 comments:

Raoulysgirl said...

OH NO! How terrible! People really will stop at nothing, will they? Thank goodness they just took the tailgate and not the whole truck!

ChristineM said...

I know, can you believe it? Oh well, embrace it and let it go, I always say...could've been much worse! :)

L.B. said...

Remember that exchange between Vincent Vega and his drug dealer friend in Pulp Fiction, when Vincent talks about someone keying his car?

... some d***less piece of sh-- f-ed with it... Boy I wish I could've caught him doing it. I'd have given anything to catch that a-hole doing it. It'd been worth him doing it just so I could have caught him doing it... What's more chickensh-- that f-ing with a man's automobile? I mean, don't f with another man's vehicle. It's just against the rules.

thamesarino said...

yay to the crumble!
but not the tailgate...sorry about that!
and steel cut oats do take a lot longer to cook(than rolled)... I've never made them into a crumble or a crisp for that matter, but for oatmeal, they take about 20 minutes, of active cooking so baking I imagine would take a bit of time....
good luck! : )
it looks really good so it's probably worth it to fiddle..I'll make it if you do, and post it!! : )

ChristineM said...

HA! LB, my husband mentioned that scene! Our lives DO revolve around movie quotes.. ;)

Thamesarino, I think you're right - the leftover, reheated topping is actually pretty good, so I think I need to tweak the cooking time a bit. I had even tossed in some wheat germ and flaxmeal, and it still tastes "desserty". Definitely and experiment worth continuing!

thanks all!

Anonymous said...

Oh my word. I can't believe the freaking idiots in this world.

Glad you had some yummy diversions though.

Willoughby said...

Sorry about your tailgate, Christine! We had some guys break into our vehicles and our garage a little over a year ago. The neighbor saw them and called the police, we slept through it.

Lissaloo said...

Did you get the tailgate back? That is really obnoxious, some people are just too much. I am going to have to go add that biscotti recipe to my saved ones it looks really good :)

ChristineM said...

No, Lissa...but after a $500 deductible we have a shiny new tailgate! One that will remain locked! ;)