Frenzied, Frazzled - but Fabulous!

First [and foremost], indeed WTF Friday's repulsive reveal is that of a cheezy meatloaf. Made in a blender, mind you, from Better Homes and Garden's Blender Cook Book. As if meat processing wasn't unsettling enough, some actually opted to blend their meat. Pulse it. Puree it. Oh my.

Secondly, if I seem sporatic - at best - with my posts this week, it's because this is one busy, busy, busy time for my fab little family. On top of Ben's kindergarten promotion, a baseball game, field day, a plucking appointment [ask me about my unibrow project later] and more than I could ever bore you with, we're packing like mules for a whirlwind vaca in CA.

Yep. We're going here.
And Oceanside, and Legoland. And that, my friends, makes for one helluva week for me.

So I've asked my new friend Mimi at The Retro WW Experiment to guest blog!! I am so excited to have this cat-eyed, va-va-va-voom and va-va-va-vile [per her recipes] gal over to wine and dine you at KitschenFeast. So if you're counting your calories, count on coming back for a very special Weight Watchers Wednesday!

See you tomorrow, for very tipsy Tuesday!

WTF?!? Friday: Under Cover

What [or who] is hiding under this blanket of cheese sauce?We'll play peek-a-eww this weekend!

Free-form Rhubarb Salad

As promised, here's one more rhubarb recipe for your pucker. A jello-salad that ain't meant to be molded, from my friend's mom's cousin's friend's aunt's granny's garden. Okay, maybe just my friend's mom's.

[don't fear the rhubarb salad - it's more afraid of you than you are of it]

Rhubarb Salad

3 c. rhubarb
1 c. water
1 c. sugar
Combine in sauce pan & cook till tender. Remove from heat and add 1 3-oz package of strawberry jello, plus 1- 8oz. can crushed pineapple. Stir until mixed, pour into bowl and refrigerate until cold.

Yum. Although I would NOT suggest using sugar-free jello like I did. WTF was I thinking? Rhubarb always needs a sweet balance. Learn from my mistake. I don't think saving the 30 calories is worth it when it comes to this dessert fit for any ladies' luncheon.

Alright. I have 3 cups of rhubarb left, so I am taking requests for the weekend. Post your favorite fam-friendly [or rude] rhubarb dish by Friday night, and I'll pick one to recreate, so I can see how it's done. Fun!

'Barb is my kind of gal

A good friend put these tarts in my hand earlier this week. Fresh from the garden, and pretty in pink.

It was my due diligence to transform these skinny girls and their pucker into something sweet. So I paid homage to her hometown and baked a batch of her mom's own... Rhubarb Butter Crunch

3 cups rhubarb
1 c. sugar
3 tbs. flour
Mix rhubarb, sugar & flour well. Place in a greased 8X8 baking dish and cover with topping of:

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup oatmeal
1 1/2 c. flour and 1/4 cup oleo [damn, I love that word, but my ass doesn't]
Combine the topping ingredients & sprinkle over rhubarb mixture. Bake at 370 for 40 min.Wow. I'd venture a guess that your fam has a recipe a lot like this, tattered and sticky [because it's so damn good] in the front of the recipe box. If it tastes this good [like a sweetart for adults] then I'm demanding you start stalking rhubarb at the farmer's market this weekend. I loved it [it brought back some titty pink memories, my granny had rhubarb bushes in the backyard and they did everything from pies to crisps to salads & jams] and the kids raved over it, too [I think the coolwhip helped, but a spoonful of fluff brings out the best in a dessert as far as Ben & Marge are concerned]. My only complaint? It was too small. I'd triple the batch!

Tomorrow I've got a rhubarb salad to share, so pucker up!

Tipsy Tuesday: I'll Take Manhattan

This classic cocktail can make even the couth-less, classy:

Manhattan
1 jigger bourbon
1/2 oz vermouth
dash of bitters

Stir [or shake it up] over ice, strain and serve with a cherry [what? no apple? the nerve of New Yorkers]!

[tomorrow I'll be back with a retro rhubarb recipe, so be sure to stalk me - har, rhubarb humor]

ps: vonlippi could you re-e me your addy? i deleted it dear!

Happy Mother's Day from the titty pink house

My mom was in my great granny & grandpa's town [honestly, considering the population hovers around 200 people, it's more of a village] just a matter of days ago, and she snapped a some pretty pictures of their little pink house. It's in fine form and even sports this sweet, simple birdhouse that 'old grandpa' [that's what we called him] built for the neighboring birds. Enjoy. And may many happy mother's day memories come your way today.

WTF?!? Aloha Asia

Here's the recipe for the funky, festive meat dish featured on Friday from Better Homes & Gardens Cooking With Herbs and Spices (c)'67:

Flank Steak Teriyaki
1 recipe Ginger Marinade [stay tuned]
4 to 6 flank steak pinwheels [I guess the butcher has these all swirled and dizzy at the meat counter?]
4 to 6 pineapple slices

Pour Ginger Marinade over meat and marinate 1 to 1 1/2 hours [you thought I was going to say 4 to 6, didn't you?]. Broil 4 to 5 [gotcha!] inches from heat 7 minutes, brushing once with marinade. Turn and broil 5 to 7 minutes longer, brushing once with marinade. Add pineapple slices to boiler during last 3 to 4 minutes; brush with marinade [man, this is the groundhog's day of marinades]. Serve with rice.

Ginger Marinade
Combine 1 tablespoon salad oil, 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons sherry [+ 1 for mama], 1 teaspoon ginger, 1 clove garlic (crushed), and 1/2 teaspoon monosodium glutamate [that delishy chemical combination of wtf ingredients created in a lab one night in the 40s].

This is one WTF?!? that sounds pretty Fing good! ;)