Holy Guacamole!

My landlord recently had a party in which one of the attendees gave her avocados from her yard. Unfortunately my landlord can't eat them. So she gave them to me.

Behold: the most giant avocado I've ever had:

It weighed in at 1 pound, 3.5 ounces.  I was super excited about cutting this giant fruit open.

Slightly disappointing, to see how big that pit was.  I thought it would be much smaller, meaning much more avocado yummyness.

The thing was huge!  All by itself, the pit weighed nearly 5 ounces.

As of right now it is still sitting on my counter.  I'm debating planting it.

Mmm. Guacamole!  Just under 2 cups, all from one avocado.  It took much restraint, but I managed to get the container in the fridge after only two chip dips to check for flavor.  Then I made peanut butter ice cream.  Now I'm thinking I'll head back into the kitchen to make some strawberry frozen yogurt.

Onion Bacon Bread

So really, there was no bacon.  But I have a nearly full jar of bacon grease in the fridge just begging to being used.  And I figured, if the recipe called for butter or margarine, bacon fat would work just fine.  Turns out I was almost right.  The bread ball was a little on the dry side, and I ended up adding a bit more water to help pull it all together.  Here is what came out of the machine when it gave the "all done" beep:

This was actually the first loaf that didn't over rise.

Nice even texture on the inside, and the loaf didn't try to collapse from the sides when I cut it up.

Mmmm, bread.  Here is my recipe:

Onion bread:
1 cup water (plus a bit on the side to add in if necessary)
2 T bacon grease (room temperature)
1 T onion flakes
1 t sugar
1 T paprika (next time I will leave this out)
1 1/2 t salt
3 cups of all-purpose flour
2 1/4 t yeast

Throw it all in the bread machine, put on white, 1 1/2 lb loaf, medium crust, and let it go.  I checked after it had been running for 5 minutes to see if it needed more water or flour, and it needed about 1 t more water.  I think using dried onion flakes and the paprika made for a drier dough.  Next time I'll skip the paprika though, it didn't add a noticeable flavor.  Neither did the bacon grease, but it did smell nice.  Garlic powder on the other hand might be an improvement.

Little Kid Dinner

One day at Costco, my inner 9 year-old was really loud.  It lead to the purchase of Yummy Dino Buddies, or chicken nuggets in the shape of dinosaurs.  They cook up crispy and tasty on my small stoneware pan.

One day at Target, Doug's inner 9 year-old was really loud.  He found Toy Story Macaroni and Cheese (kinda hard to make out the shapes, but it was Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Buzz's Spaceship, and Aliens):

Together they make a fantastic Little Kid Dinner:

Stoneware and Coffee

Really, these two have little to do with each other.  Except for maybe they make me reminisce my kitchen in Colorado and the availability of dark coffee.

I was very excited about shipping my belongings from Seattle to Hawaii.  Even more so for the kitchen stuff.  In college when I'd get money for gifts or manage to save a bit, I splurged on kitchen things.  Some of my favorites were my stoneware pans.

Yesterday I found out that the two bigger pieces don't fit.  My oven is too small.  I wondered about the bar pan a few weeks ago when I got it unpacked.  Last night I thought oven fries would make an excellent side dish.  Good thing I checked on the size situation before I started cutting potatoes.  Sure, I have a regular cookie sheet, but oven fries are just better off of stone.  So is bread and pizza.

And since I'm already in the mood for pouting over my oven's inability to use my stoneware, may as well continue on with my desire for decent coffee.  When I first arrived in Hawaii, I thought the Kona coffee was pretty cool.  Something different, something neat.  Then the novelty wore off.  And I noticed that for the most part, "Kona" coffee is typically a blend, with only 10% of the beans actually being Kona.  And it is mass produced.  So who knows how long ago it was actually made and ground before it made it to the shelf.  That, and the fact that I can never get it to brew as dark as I would like, make me miss the coffee roasters in my college town.  Too bad neither of the companies I shopped the most ship.