Ice Chest

Over the Veteran's Day weekend we took a trip up to my parents cabin in Northern Wisconsin. We try to get up atleast once a season and this was our last chance before the snow set in.... or so we thought.

Thursday was sunny and windy. Friday was filled with Antiquing and clouds. We had decided to take the plunge and get the beautiful Antique turn of the century Ice Chest we had seen in Hayward area (a 30 min drive north) on our last trip to the cabin. We would get up early, walk the dog, drive up and *hopefully* it would still be there, purchase it if we could get the right price, and make it back in time for the Iowa Football game.... or so we thought.

Saturday morning it snowed.

A big snow storm that left us wondering if making the slippery trip north, which would take us much more than 30 minutes, was worth it.

I have to say I think it was :) I'm super excited to have my Ice Chest! Yes the roads were slippery, we almost went off a few times. Yeah, we missed some of the Iowa game, but they were horrible this week and ESPN went out because of the snow anyway.

But we now have this!

The chest was built in Eau Clarie, WI some time before 1910. It has the original hardware, kick board on the bottom, inserts, and was refinished by the Antique dealer we bought it from after he purchased it in an auction in Northern Wisconsin. He said he drug it out of an old basement where it had been sitting for who knows how long.

It's in our 4 seasons porch right now. I'm planning on storing serving platters and other kitchen items in it after I finish cleaning the inside and airing it out a bit.

I read that coffee will help remove any of the musyness from the wood. Hopefully it helps a little bit. I think it must have sat in that basement for awhile!

Indian Yum!

We've been eating more and more Indian dishes in our house. The spices are so wonderful; heat, sweetness, savory, spicey, tart, salty.... it just goes on and on with layered flavors.

Layers are a big peice to an indian dish called Biryani.

A biryani is a dish where rice and meat (or veggies) are cooked separately with spices and then brought together in a dish by layering and given one final bake. The final baking gives the rice a rich aroma of flavor, while still maintaining it's consistency and flavor.

I've fallen in love with the below mixtures, especially served with the cooling spinach and yogert or the heat of spicey fried bread. I'm hoping to try this for my family the night before thanksgiving as a really different meal going into a week where there will be tons of gravy, turkey, and potatoes :)

Biryani: Beef, rice, spices (cinnamon, bay leaves, cumin seeds, tumeric, cardamom), golden rasins, cashews

Spinach Yogert: Heat 1 tbsp mustard seeds and 2 thai chillies in olive oil till brown. Mix in 2 cups chopped spinach till wilted. Mix into 1 cup of Greek Yogert and 1 tsp salt. Serve room temp.

Spicey Grilled Bread: Mix together red onions, cilantro, garlic, tumeric, thai chilli peppers, flour, water, salt.

Grill in Olive Oil, butter mixture till fried. Serve warm.

Beef, rice, phyllo covered Biryani w/spinach yogert

Squash-a-roo Part II

I know it is a little late coming, but here are some pictures of the squash from the previous post.

Homemade crust, par-baked.

Melty cheese and tart ginger :)

Leaf cutouts are from Williams Sonoma a few years back.

YUM!