thursday things

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We survived the 2012 solar eclipse, and even though some sensational news outlets felt the need to plaster giant headlines like “DARKNESS DESCENDS OVER PHOENIX”, this is what it actually looked like. (If you forgot to buy eclipse glasses, like some of us). You can see how my camera was super confused and projected the actual eclipse image below the sun… to the naked eye (not that I would EVER try to stare at the sun) it just seemed like the sun was extra super bright, brighter than usual. Having never observing an eclipse (except through a pinhole in a box when I was a kid), I didn’t realize that you couldn’t actually even see an eclipse at all without the glasses if you’re not in its direct path, you just see an ultra-super-bright sun… I’ll have to get better seats for 2017.

Oh, and don’t worry, I took this picture with my back to the sun to protect my beautiful eyes.

Work is still crazy, leaving me not a lot of time to write new posts, but I am still baking away, just not really finding the time to actually type new posts. Maybe I’ll just do some posts that are straight recipes, no babble. In my younger days I used to scroll through all the babble anyway. “ALL I WANT IS THE RECIPE WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE TALKING SO MUCH?!” … Maybe it’s not such a bad thing to have some recipe-only posts?

Moving on… Somehow, I ended up in Wal Mart the other day and stumbled across these beautiful things…

Unfortunately, I didn’t buy them, because I’m not 10 and it’s not OK for me to buy (or eat) that stuff anymore. I will say that if I worked at Hostess, these double chocolate donuts would’ve been around a long time ago…. it would NOT have taken until 2012 to get them on the shelves.

How does one get a job like that anyway? I would be the perfect person to sit on a board of members and come up with new flavors for things (Like, how does peanut butter pudding not exist yet? Why is this not a thing? Come on, Jell-O, get on that!) We do have a Cold Stone Creamery building out here, wonder if they create new flavors there… gotta sneak my way into that…

I got some coupon for a new burger place and dragged BF across town to try it last Friday. Of course they neglected to mention the sign was basically a banner that said “BURGERS” and it was located in a super shady strip mall, but I’m glad we went. It was super yummy.

 I got their regular cheeseburger which comes with cucumbers, pickled onions, cheddar, and thousand island… of course sweet potato tots as a side. I know cucumber on a burger sounds weird, but it’s actually pretty good. You can’t really taste the cucumber but it gives the burger a nice crunch. I liked that they did two super thin patties instead of one giant one. I know there are two deeply passionate camps on burgers, thin v thick patties, but I really enjoyed having two thin patties… just sayin’.  

Boyfriend got the beach house burger which had green chile and pico … also delicious. And super cheap. If you’re in the Phoenix area be sure to check it out. My only complaint is that they over-season their fries. I’m pretty sure the sweet potato tots were just frozen tots, nothing to write home about.

After making pizza a few weeks ago, I found myself with an abundance of pizza sauce to use. Since BF wanted a snack and I had pizza fixins and a ton of tortillas to use, I made him a tortilla pizza. I can’t believe he never had one before… Anyway, I probably shouldn’t have done that because it quickly became a go-to snack.

The first one was all fancy, because we had a lot of fancy ingredients, but as I worked my way through the large tortillas, prosciutto, basil, and ricotta they turned into tiny pepperoni pizzas. Perfect for “second dinner” 🙂 Here’s the “recipe” (if you can really call it that). Super easy.

Tortilla “Pizzas”

  • Tortillas
  • Cheese
  • Pizza Sauce
  • Toppings (this one has turkey pepperoni, but use whatever you like)

1. Heat pan over medium-high heat. Warm tortilla until lightly browned and crisp on one side.

2. Flip tortilla and add toppings. Continue to cook until heated through – the cheese will be melted and tortilla will be crisp.

* I actually like to heat my broiler on low and finish it in the oven to make sure the top cheese gets nice and bubbly and I make sure the pizza is extra crisp – but the oven is certainly not required.

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