The weirdest pizza you've ever had

Not only did it work, it was delicious!
I fried quartered bella mushrooms in some olive oil along with my favorite spices (basil, thyme), and poured some balsamic vinegar over it. Spread it on a pizza dough and slapped some ricotta on it. Sounds pretty safe, doesn't it? But...When it came out of the oven I put a fried egg on top of it... An egg fried in balsamic vinegar. Don't judge until you try it yourself.PS This isn't my weird and tasty invention, but it is borrowed from Ask Aida on the Food Network.

Going, going, gone...

Encouraged by the most beautiful weather outside (50 degrees) I went downtown to see the Red River flooding progress and to stop by one of my favorite stores, the Amazing Grains, a natural foods grocery store. Along with some spices needed for cooking Indian food, I purchased a vegetarian German sandwich for lunch. I wanted to take a photo of it, but it was so good I ate it too fast and this is what I have to show for it now...
Amazing Grains offers SNAG, or Saturday Night at the Grains, where the chefs cook a six course meal of usually ethnic foods. Embarrassed to admit, I have never been to SNAGS... But I just made a resolution to go to at least one before the summer is over, how does that sound?
Visit amazinggrains.org to see what they have planned for lunch! Cheap, interesting and delicious sandwiches are always on the menu!

Anna's Favorites List:

• Favorite food: The vegan "egg" salad sandwich. Have not had it for a while, may have to watch the menu online in case it comes up.
• Favorite spice: Whole cloves. There isn't a better smell than that. You should know that it is used a lot in Polish compotes, or dried fruit drinks.
  
• Favorite drink: The kefir. If you don't know what it is you're missing out, go and buy one now.

Pizza kick

I am definitely in the pizza stage of my life. Going through food stages is kind of fun, except other people think you're crazy for eating the same thing every day for a month or so (for example pancakes for lunch). I probably won't be eating pizza every day, but who knows - I just learned how to make some very interesting and delicious looking pizzas...
Not even 9 am yet and I have the Food Network channel on as my "noise background" while studying for the boards. Wish me luck with that exam as I will need it - the test book was suddenly put to the side when a pizza making tutorial came on. How lucky am I! Ask Aida's Aida Mollenkamp just showed me how to make a baby bella mushroom pizza with balsamic vinegar and... a fried balsamic egg on top, yes, I said balsamic egg. I will let you know how well this one works out, as I will be sure to make it; it is just too weird to pass up!
Meanwhile, I made a salmon pizza last night. The photos don't do it justice, but you be the judge. I didn't use any pizza sauce, but instead I used olive oil mixed with fresh garlic, salt, pepper and dried basil. Toppings consisted of baked salmon, capers, red onion, tomato, red pepper, mozzarella cheese and some queso fresco.Too bad I don't have any leftovers for lunch today. Might just have to make another one!

Scrumptiously Spanky Spinakopitas

I decided not to go anywhere for my last spring break of my life, so that I can study for the boards exam late this spring. To cheer me up, Jeffrey proposed a trip to nearby Fargo for change of scenery (just kidding!), some good ethnic food, as we are unfortunately lacking it here, and some shopping. After visiting an antiques store we remembered the real purpose of our trip and made our way to the Alladin's Cafe for delicious gyros and spinach and feta filled spinakopitas, which we decided would be a great snack later that night. They did not survive the ride home...

In a pickle

Every self-respecting Polish girl loves pickles. But do you know what is even better than a pickle? A fried, cheesy pickle! My new favorite at the local restaurant, The Toasted Frog. Now, I get it as an appetizer, dinner or dessert.
I just HAVE to have it.

The Ultimate Battle

After doing some research online the new addition of winter attire was chosen - the Slanket. Being the only blanket with sleeves on the market that offered camo coloring, the Slanket was beating the other brands. It finally won, after reading many reviews on its extended length - gotta keep those tootsies warm! - and huge sleeves. One drawback - it does not have a kangaroo pocket for the TV remote. I think I will survive, tho.
No Jackson, you may not have the blanket.
I can read a book and my shoulders will stay warm!


Jeffrey tried to steal it.

Jackson wants the summer back

I want pierogi and kielbasa

What brings into existence an angry, hungry Polish monster?
a) another night of pizza,
b) lack of Polish food supply in current living location,
c) looking through old traveling photos and seeing her parents enjoying good Polish food,
d) all of the above

The answer is clear.

Happy palak paneer and sushi!

I mean, Happy Valentine's Day! We celebrated it the Palmer style - Indian restaurant for lunch and sushi for dessert. And yes, it can be done...
Personal favorites today: the entire menu of Passage to India. It's always superb, but today it reached a new level. Especially enjoyed the cucumber salads! My favorite chicken tikka masala was more tomato-y than usual, which only showed to me that the meals are prepared from scratch - it's always different, yet delicious every time. Plus, I think I like the more-tomato-approach to the tikka masala.
Sushi - great, but not excellent. I am truly impressed with Sanders' sushi night and this meal did not compare. Good adventure, though!

Chinese New Year

On February 13th we attended the Chinese New Year party organized by UND Aerospace for the Air China students. We had delicious food, although I would have liked to celebrate it for 15 days, as they do in China. Favorites of the evening were the dumplings, jiao zi. Preparation of the dumplings is compared to packing good luck inside them.
I learned how to say happy new year in Chinese, but by now I forgot it all...

Blizzard Brett

As the blizzard passed through town, it left me with some memories:

• Getting my car stuck and paying a guy with a truck $50 to get it out of the snowbank;
• Walking my dog in the blizzard, as he will not calm down until he has his exercise;
• NOT going to school...

The highlight of the day included building a sleeping fort in the living room and watching movies!

Asian Dinner Party

Joe, you make the best pot stickers in the world (from scratch)! Also featured Asian beef salad with homemade dressing, chicken lettuce wraps and shrimp fried rice. I provided sushi, which is not pictured because you all know that I am a sushi pro! The feast was followed by laughs during a creative match of Catch Phrase; exam-cylinder-child is certainly the last resort hint for test-tube-baby...

Palmers' New Year Palooza

We welcomed 2010 in style by throwing a party at the Palmers' Palace. Good food, great company, and Jackson sure enjoyed being fed little smokies by everyone when I wasn't looking. It was little sad to say goodbye to 2009, as this was the year of many adventures and life changing events. But I can only hope the new year will bring even more surprises and good fortune. Happy 2010!

Noth Pole Dakota

After the long drive from Wyoming we came home to every North Dakotan's dream - snow shoveling. We do not own a snow blower, and our shovels were not up for this task. Fortunately, we are blessed with good friends and Mark showed up to help. Here are some photos commemorating this special day.

Avid knitters

Since picking up the skill of knitting from a friend, I hardly let the needles out of my hand. Melissa and I have been working on various projects; scarfs, headbands with flowers (check out my talents below!), booties for kids. Ufda, it is a lot of work!
PS Did I spell "ufda" correctly?