This month's supper club theme was locally grown foods. Our hosts provided the main dish of grilled fish (fresh from the Gulf) and brisket chili. The rest of the group brough zucchini bread, a tomato and goat cheese salad, fried okra, fresh figs, and a peach and blueberry cobbler with bourbon laced ice cream.

I brought 2 side dishes as my contribution: a summer squash stir-fry and stuffed zucchini blossoms. I chose squash as my side dish since it's really easy to find at the farmer's market, and I love zucchini. It's a simple and easy vegetable to cook. I just sliced it up with some yellow squash, onion, and jalapenos; threw it into a pan with some oil; added some salt and pepper to taste; and sauted it until the vegetables were cooked. I capped it off with a splash of soy sauce to taste.

The zucchini blossoms, which I had never had before but wanted to try, were chosen because I figure if I didn't like it someone at the dinner would like it and it wouldn't go to waste. Zucchini blossoms are usually fried, but you can use them in salads or pastas or sauted with onions. There were also various batter recipes for the zucchini blossoms - flour and water/club soda, with and without egg, flour and beer. I chose the Epicurean recipe and tweaked it a bit to fit my taste. The original one called for a goat cheese and cream cheese filling. I think I'd have preferred a lighter batter (like a panko batter), but this was still tasty (and was a hit at dinner).

1. Dip the squash blossoms in cold water and drain them thoroughly on paper towels. Remove the stamens from the male blossoms.

2. Place cream cheese filling into a plastic sandwich bag; gather the filling towards one corner of the bag bottom and snip a corner off to make yourself a home-made pastry bag. Fill each squash blossom with about 2 teaspoons of filling. Slightly twist the tops of each blossom to "close" each blossom.

3. To make the batter, in a medium bowl, stir together the flour, club soda, milk, egg and cayenne pepper. Let sit for one hour in the fridge.

4. Fill a heavy saucepan or skillet with oil to a depth of 2 inches. Heat over medium heat to 375 degrees.

5. Dip a few squash blossoms into batter, covering entire blossom, and drop them into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, about 1 minute, turn over and fry on the other side for another minute (or until golden brown). Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining blossoms, being careful not to overcrowd the pan.

6. Add salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Here's an e-mail I received this morning that made me laugh out loud. I don't know who originally complied this, but these thoughts are so true! I'm glad I'm not the only on.

MUSINGS:

I'm having an awesome birthday this year. It all started last Friday with "Wicked" (yes, I started celebrating a week before my birthday), then a weekend with my sisters, and last night - dinner and Rock Band with my friends and family. And who wouldn't feel loved when they saw all the birthday greetings on their Facebook wall on their birthday?

I can't wait to use my birthday gifts (this year's theme seems to have been mugs - good thing I like to drink hot tea and chai) and gift cards! It's nice when the stores/restaurants you patronize actually acknowledge your birthday too - even if it's just an e-mail wishing you a happy birthday. I'm looking forward to using my Borders birthday discount I received this morning!

So, Happy Birthday fellow Leos! May your birthday (and the rest of the year) be as joyful as mine has been.

Delish!Shakes is having a grand opening this Saturday, August 22 (12:00 PM - 3:00 PM) at their new location on 2nd & Congress. According to their website, they serve premium milkshakes in speciality flavors made with premium Blue Bell ice cream, real fruit, and gourmet syrups. They also have dairy free and low fat (perfect for my sister who's lactose intolerant and likes to watch what she eats). They'll have free samples of their specialty shakes (orange creamsicle, purple cow, piña colada, cookies and cream, and chocolate raspberry), free burgers, and free t-shirts.

My sister got me tickets to the musical Wicked for my birthday (which isn't until next week but the show just arrived in town). I haven't read any of the books from this series, but I thought the premise was quite interesting - basically expanding on the Wizard of Oz story and providing the Wicked Witch's point of view.

My sister said the musical deviated a bit from the book, but we both enjoyed it a lot. This was the first time I'd been in Bass Concert Hall since it was renovated. The sound really is better; I think it has more levels now, and they've added a cafe on the 2nd floor. On the 5th floor is a bar for members only. I think they get a drink ticket to use at this special bar.

Marcie Dodd was wonderful as Elphaba a.k.a. the Wicked Witch. Helene Yorke was amazing as Glinda (and I loved her shoes in the school scene). The set was amazing, and I loved the "bubble" that Glinda traveled in. Choreography was quite entertaining. I definitely recommend checking this show out if it comes through your town.

Our current APA summer session is not going well. Our pool team was in first place last session, but we're currently in last place this session. The team has the same players save one change (a high ranked player that wasn't there for most of the session for a new low ranked player). It's just that we can't seem to close out our games. We're basically handing over the games to our opponents - some of our losses are due to scratching on the eight ball, forgetting to mark the pocket on the eight ball, or missing easy shots

I know I definitely need to pratice more. I lost my match last night - pretty much handed it to my opponent (who I've beaten before in my previous matches with him). Anyone have some advice on bank shots? I need help on those as well as draw backs. I haven't figured out how shooting with English works either - when do I want to use it and how do I figure out how much English to give it.

Twitter is down. What will I do at work now?!? How will I see what everyone's doing at this moment without Twitter? *sigh* Guess I'll go catch up on everyone's blog. They're probably talking about this Twitter outage too.

Yum. Jamba Juice has a buy one get one free offer going on from now until August 9. Here's the link to their coupon: Jamba Juice Coupon. I see that they also sell food now. Has anyone tried anything off their new menu?

I just love this e-mail about the difference between cats and dogs. No idea who wrote it and it's been floating around for a while now, but it's so true! It always makes me laugh.

The Difference between Cats and Dogs:

The Dog's Diary
8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Dinner! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!


The Cat's Diary
Day 983 of my captivity. My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates my capabilities. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. F#$%! There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow, but at the top of the stairs. I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released, and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird must be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now...

I went and saw "The Ugly Truth" with my sisters this afternoon. It's a cute, yet predictable, movie. I enjoyed it though. Pretty cast, some funny parts, and a great soundtrack. I really enjoyed the music in the movie. The dance scene near the end of the movie had music that made me want to dance along. That was a wonderful scene. And the end credit song had us dancing down the aisle as we left the theater.

I've enjoyed seeing Katherine Heigel in the movies. The only thing I didn't like about the movie was the camera work. I think some of the close ups were way too close for comfort and a bit distracting. Then, there's a scene in the hotel hallway that looked out of proportion - like they changed the size of the lens and changed the light filter while they were at it. I don't think this movie will be a big money maker - the theater we were in wasn't even half-full. The movie will probaby do better in DVD rentals/sales.

Afterwards, we had dinner at Chen's Noodle House. I'd read some good reviews about the place, and I've been wanting to try it. The owner makes handcut noodles fresh each day for the dishes on their small menu.

We each tried a different dish. I thought the stir fry noodle dish was so-so as well as the lamb noodle soup.

However, I enjoyed the black bean noodle dish I ordered. I think it's because I like the spaghetti like noodles that were in that dish versus the flat noodles in the other two dishes. I also like a lot of gravy on my entrees, and this was just right - and more flavorful.

We stopped by Cupprimo, a coffee and cupcake shop nearby, for dessert. We shared a strawberry cupcake and a peanut butter chocolate cupcake. Both buttercream topped cupcakes were great choices and a delicious end to our night.

However, my evening didn't end there. I returned home only to realize I couldn't find my housekeys. They weren't in my purse where I usually put them. I dumped out my purse looking for them. Got out of the car and felt under the seats in case they had dropped out of my purse. I even looked in the trunk because I had grabbed my sweater out of there for the movie theater. I ended up calling the theater thinking that the keys must have fallen out while I was in the theater. No luck. I finally called my sister to see if I could swing by and pick up her set of keys to my house. As I was driving I was trying to think of where I could have lost my keys. The restaurant and coffee shop had already closed so I couldn't call them to check to see if they had found a set of keys.

I continued feeling around the car for the keys as I drove to my sister's house. I opened the center console just to check and not expecting anything, but they were there! I don't remember putting the keys in there or why I would have opened the center console in the first place - I rarely use it. Isn't it typical? Keys are always in the last place you'd think to look.

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