The Hell?
2008-02-06, 11:15 a.m.

Day 1264

Bad news.

Got this in the mail yesterday:
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For those of you with eyes as old (or older even!) than mine, the upsetting part is this:

I would like to make the argument that I�m waaaayyyy too young for this kind of treatment. I mean geeze, my birthday isn�t even till December. Can�t they wait till the month before? I thought I might enjoy my last year in my 40�s, but this just hastens things along. Nice reminder. Thanks AARP.

This next bit is specifically for the bundle of energy also known as Pennyjar. PJ was recently extolling the virtues of the lowly Brussels Sprout and how she and her daughter (and the hubz) have learned to enjoy the baby Brrrrrrrussels.

Up here in the land of ice & snow (mostly ice & freezing rain today � ugh!) our local grocer has turned us on to a new way of doing up the lowly sprout. If everybody else already knows about this, I�m sorry to be repeating it. The cold & snow has dulled our response rate up here and consequently sometimes we�re a little behind the times.

Roasted Sprouts! With sweet potatoes included if�n you wish.

Here�s the basics.

Preheat oven to 425.

You�ll need:
1 lb sprouts
1 lb sweet potatoes (yams, what ever)
2 � 3 Tbsp olive oil (more or less � just enough to get the bits coated nicely)
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp parsley
� tsp garlic powder (more or less to taste)
salt, pepper to taste

Wash your sprouts. If they�re much larger than an inch or so, slice them in half.
Peel a sweet tater, chunk it up so the pieces are roughly the same size as your sprouts.
Spread them out on a cookie sheet
Drizzle with the olive oil
Sprinkle the herbs & seasonings over everything
Stir everything up so it�s all coated evenly
Roast for ~30 minutes or till sweet potatoes are done. The sprouts may get a little toasted & dark brownish, but that�s ok � they�re caramelized a bit and so suhweet!

We do them up like this once every couple of months � more in the spring & summer when the local sprouts are available. We also make pretty big batches. The leftovers are nice nuked the next day for lunch.

Locally we can use Wegmans Basting Oil. but they�re asking something like $7 for a 12 or 16 oz bottle. Bought one, tried it, now we make our own version that�s reasonably close and not near as dear.

If you search on Wegmans, you�ll no doubt find their stores site. Check out some of their recipes too. They go heavy on their own label ingredients, but you can easily substitute. We do. Why buy their 8 oz bag of Mirepoix when I can chop up onion, carrot & celery in a couple of minutes?

Still no word from the countertop gal. Mizz Rowena is seriously bumming me out. I even emailed their corporate site, politely asked WTF was up with the estimate. I�ll call again today, but I�m starting to wonder if they really want to do business. Can they be THAT busy that it takes 3 days to do a rough estimate?

I gotta go make some contacts . . .

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