Commenting and Combating

So first things first - it sounds like some of you have been having a tad bit of trouble posting your candy house selections in our comment box.  (That and most people have real lives and don't have as much time as me to squander fooling around on the interweb.) 

Anyway, due to that lack of enthusiasm we haven't gotten a peep out of our Judge Dickie Boy, so until you all get your voting on, the owner of each candy house side and this year's competition winner will be kept in secrecy.  (Come on guys!  You're cutting into my year of glory - I need to be crowned ASAP!)

First: click here to get the post.

Then, scroll to the bottom until you see this box:

Next, type your comment in the box and where it says Comment as select the Name/URL or Anonymous option.

Finally, click Post Comment to submit!  HOORAY! 



In other news, I just bid adieu to Stefan as he heads off to Swiss military duty for the month of December. 

Yes, you read that correctly. 
Despite its seemingly peaceful nature, Switzerland DOES have a fully functioning military. 
And yes, being a country of only ~8 million, every male citizen MUST serve. 
And no, serving does NOT just entail waving a white flag with a Swiss army knife in pocket; they have real guns with real bullets that they keep hidden away in their little Swiss huts waiting for target testing each year.
 
And yes, my 31-year-old boyfriend is required to fulfill his Swiss obligation 3-4 weeks every single year.

So since he'll be eating 5000-calorie chocolate bars and nothing else for the next month (except for perhaps that pizza he'll find while "lost" driving the equipment truck from barrack to barrack),

 

1

I figured I'd cook him one last good one with some of his favorites.

So I brainstormed a list of all the things he loves to devour:

Horseradish, Gummy Bears, Salmon

Cheese, Paprika, Fine Wine

And then I thought about some things I adore:

Stone Ground Mustard, Brussels Sprouts, Pickles, Anything sweet



So for dinner, I did a mini-combo of all of the above:

A delicious bottle of Ridge Zinfandel from Paso Robles

paired with a cheese, meat, pear, and pickle plate to start

Some fresh, steamed Brussels sprouts...

...tossed in a creamy horseradish and bacon

sauce as a side

(steam the sprouts and then mix them with sour cream,

prepared horseradish, chopped bacon bits (or in this case, extra dry coppa from your cheese and meat plate), salt and pepper)

And then some smoky maple-mustard

salmon as the main

(simply mix pure maple syrup, smoked paprika,

stone ground mustard, salt and pepper,

then spread a thick layer over the fillet,

and broil it at 450 for 7-8 minutes: D - lish!)

And finally, some gummy bears for dessert!

It was a delicious, but doleful, dinner. 

Good luck my soldier!  Don't forget to bring me back some of that chocolate (and more importantly, comment on my previous post)!

xoxo

KK