Wednesday: Feast Your Eyes

   On Wednesday the wet weather continued, so Mom stayed indoors while I was at work—and cleaned all the windows, the kitchen, the floors. WOW!!! (Pretty sure I've never cleaned the windows—inside or out—since I had them installed in 2005. Yikes! Extra props to Mom for tackling the biggest job in the house!)
   She worked up an appetite for sure. And so, Wednesday night, we ventured to Oklahoma Joe's. Kelly joined us because, well, I can't imagine Kelly NOT joining for barbecue! OK Joe's wasn't on Fieri's "dives" list, but I'm pretty sure it's the best barbecue out there! We enjoyed a feast of ribs, chicken, burnt ends, BBQ baked beans (which contained almost more meat than the meat did!), seasoned fries, Texas toast, and a pile of pickles. FOOD COMA.
   We came home and watched more Mad Men... getting there...

Feast Your Eyes

   I've been cooking for a couple of hours now and just sat down to catch up on Project Runway (I'm currently all three episodes behind!) and enjoy the feast that resulted from my ridiculously huge grocery run Friday night. (Well, some of it anyway.) Barbequed pork chops, and two new recipes: roasted root vegetables (sweet potatoes, red potatoes, and parsnips), and a Greek couscous salad.

   It seemed like kind of an odd combination at first, but there was actually good balance between the sweetness of the caramelized BBQ sauce and the garlicky roasted veggies; the lemon juice in both the veggies and the couscous, offset by the the veggies' natural sugars and the crisp cucumber in the salad, and the sourness of the feta. There was a good variety of textures too. And the plate looked like an artist's palette! (Crappy Blackberry photo aside)

   I've learned two things: 1) Parsnips are DELICIOUS. And thank goodness, because I had to buy a whole bag. They look like white carrots, and taste similar, but with a little more aromatic spiciness. Yum. Kristin said that parsnip puree is to die for. That may be up next.  And: 2) One SMALL box of couscous makes a LOT of couscous. If anyone is in the mood for Greek salad, please, for the love of God, don't make any. Help me eat mine!

Bourdain loves Oklahoma Joe's (who doesn't?!)

Anthony Bourdain named local BBQ joint "Oklahoma Joe's" one of his "13 places to eat before you die". So it was only fitting that I take Kelly there for his birthday...y'know, since he's from Oklahoma and all. Come to think of it, he should change his name to Joe. Oklahoma Joe Kelly BBQ Green! Unfortunately, Kelly's birthday is TODAY, and Oklahoma Joe's is CLOSED on Sundays. So we'll save that for later this week...