Halloween weekend is upon us once again. The weekend where my friends and I dress up in ridiculous outfits, gather to take outrageous photos, make insane memories and drink like we are still in college.

I can’t freaking wait.

And as usual, I have procrastinated and will be running around tomorrow trying to throw my costume together.

But I have a clear vision of what it will look like.

I’ll give you a super obvious hint.

I will be making this face all night and cartwheels might be involved…

In preparation for my skintight costume, I tried to eat healthy this week.

Kind of failed when I added steak and blue cheese to my salad. But it was damn tasty and totally worth it.

You will need…

½ lbs flank steak (no thicker then 1 ½ inches)

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon fresh black pepper

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 head romaine lettuce, chopped in to bite sized pieces

3 cups arugula

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

½ red onion, thinly sliced

¼ cup crumbled blue cheese

½ cup olive oil plus 1 tablespoon for the oil or grill pan

¼ cup red wine vinegar

½ lemon, juiced

1 teaspoon honey

Salt and pepper to taste

Start by lightly oiling your grill and turning it to a high heat if you are using your outdoor grill. If you are using a grill pan inside, skip this step.

Then, combine the Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 tablespoon black pepper and the garlic powder in a small bowl.

Lay your meat on a plate or platter and rub the Worcestershire sauce mixture into your meat so that it is all lightly coated and set it aside.

Combine the romaine, arugula, tomato, red onion and blue cheese in a large salad bowl and set aside.

By now your grill should be heated. If you are using your grill pan over the stove, heat the oil in the grill pan over medium high heat.

If you are cooking the steak on the outdoor grill. Cook the meat about 4 minutes on one side so that you get really good grill marks. Flip the meat and cook an additional 8 to 10 minutes on the second side. Just until the meat is cooked to medium rare.

Now if you are cooking it indoors on the grill pan it will take a little longer.

Cook the meat on one side for about 8 minutes and then flip. Continue cooking for an additional 8 to 12 minutes until the meat is cooked to medium rare.

Remove the steak from the heat, cover with aluminum foil and let it rest for 10 minutes.

While the steak is resting. Combine the remaining olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, honey, and salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl or mason jar.

Whisk or shake the vinaigrette until it is completely combined.

Drizzle the salad with the dressing and toss well.

Once your meat has rested, slice it very thinly against the grain.

Top the salad with the meat, toss and serve.

Love and Beer Floats

Angela  

Classic Steak Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette

½ lbs flank steak (no thicker then 1 ½ inches)

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon fresh black pepper

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 head romaine lettuce, chopped in to bite sized pieces

3 cups arugula

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

½ red onion, thinly sliced

¼ cup crumbled blue cheese

½ cup olive oil plus 1 tablespoon for the oil or grill pan

¼ cup red wine vinegar

½ lemon, juiced

1 teaspoon honey

Salt and pepper to taste

Start by lightly oiling your grill and turning it to a high heat if you are using your outdoor grill. If you are using a grill pan inside, skip this step.

Then, combine the Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 tablespoon black pepper and the garlic powder in a small bowl.

Lay your meat on a plate or platter and rub the Worcestershire sauce mixture into your meat so that it is all lightly coated and set it aside.

Combine the romaine, arugula, tomato, red onion and blue cheese in a large salad bowl and set aside.

By now your grill should be heated. If you are using your grill pan over the stove, heat the oil in the grill pan over medium high heat.

If you are cooking the steak on the outdoor grill. Cook the meat about 4 minutes on one side so that you get really good grill marks.

Flip the meat and cook an additional 8 to 10 minutes on the second side. Just until the meat is cooked to medium rare.

Now if you are cooking it indoors on the grill pan it will take a little longer.

Cook the meat on one side for about 8 minutes and then flip. Continue cooking for an additional 8 to 12 minutes until the meat is cooked to medium rare.

Remove the steak from the heat, cover with aluminum foil and let it rest for 10 minutes.

While the steak is resting. Combine the remaining olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, honey, and salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl or mason jar.

Whisk or shake the vinaigrette until it is completely combined.

Drizzle the salad with the dressing and toss well.

Once your meat has rested, slice it very thinly against the grain.

Top the salad with the meat, toss and serve. 

Since I was out of work yesterday being a great citizen, my work today was slightly hectic. And by slightly I mean I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

My friends and I often send each other, photos, videos or articles of things we find funny, interesting or heartwarming.

Most of the time, I take a gander but sometimes I’m crazed at work and forget to take a gander.

At the end of the workday today, my good friend Morgan sent me the link to a website about a bird name Alex.

Normally, at the end of a frantic day I would just ignore the link and never bring it up again. But for some reason, I decided I wanted to read this little story about a linguistics research bird so I forwarded myself the link.

While waiting for Albert to finish cooking dinner (I really do most of my cooking on Tuesdayz) I read all about this amazing parrot.

Why am I telling you this? Because it was freaking awesome. See for yourself here.

It just goes to show you that there is so much out there we don’t know about the world and everything.

But with everything we read, or experience, or cook we learn a little more.

You will need…

2 lbs pork tenderloin

3 bosc pears, halved

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon thyme, finely chopped plus a few extra springs for roasting

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

3 tablespoon balsamic vinegar plus ¼ cup for roasting

Salt and pepper to taste

Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees F.

In a small bowl combine the garlic, thyme, mustard, balsamic and salt and pepper. Mix the ingredients well.

Rub half of the mixture all over the pork.

Then, heat the olive oil in a large oven safe pan over high heat.

When the oil is very hot, add the pork to the pan and sear until the pork is golden on all sides. About 8 minutes.

After the pork has been seared use a spoon to drizzle the pork with the remaining mustard and vinegar mixture.

Add the pears, remaining thyme and balsamic to the pan and pop it in the preheated oven. (Do not do what I did and use an aluminum foil roasting pan. It will mess up your cook time.)

Cook until the pork has reach 137 degrees F. About 15 minutes.

Remove the pork from the pan, cover it with aluminum foil and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Slice the pork into ¾ inch slices.

Place a couple of slices of pork and a pear on the plate.

Drizzle the pork with the pan juices and serve.

Love and Beer Floats

Angela 

Balsamic Roasted Pork Tenderloin and Pears

2 lbs pork tenderloin

3 bosc pears, halved

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon thyme, finely chopped plus a few extra springs for roasting

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

3 tablespoon balsamic vinegar plus ¼ cup for roasting

Salt and pepper to taste

Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees F.

In a small bowl combine the garlic, thyme, mustard, balsamic and salt and pepper. Mix the ingredients well.

Rub half of the mixture all over the pork.

Then, heat the olive oil in a large oven safe pan over high heat.

When the oil is very hot, add the pork to the pan and sear until the pork is golden on all sides. About 8 minutes.

After the pork has been seared use a spoon to drizzle the pork with the remaining mustard and vinegar mixture.

Add the pears, remaining thyme and balsamic to the pan and pop it in the preheated oven.

Cook until the pork has reach 137 degrees F. About 15 minutes.

Remove the pork from the pan, cover it with aluminum foil and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Slice the pork into ¾ inch slices.

Place a couple of slices of pork and a pear on the plate.

Drizzle the pork with the pan juices and serve.