2 nectarines

1 lb berry melody (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries)

.25 lbs strawberries

“Simple Sugar”

1 ¾ cup honey

3 pts water

½ cups lime juice

½ cup Southern Comfort

1¼  generous cups of Burnetts Vodka

A week after patching together a “sorbet” my 21-plus-years-old roommate decided that rather than salvage the cloying concoction he would instead turn it into mixed drink fodder. It wasn’t going to start tasting any worse, and at least we could have some fun toying with it.

First I added the lime juice thinking, Strawberries and lime? Why not! I simply stirred the juice in and taste-tested it until I thought I could add no more. Then we added more strawberries to dilute the honey flavor. The process was lengthy, and since we didn’t have a food processor or a proper blender (he had a small “Magic Bullet Blender”) we could only process small parts of the mixture at a time. The lime and strawberries helped to neutralize the honey, but it wasn’t enough to save the mélange.

So, he added the vodka and Southern Comfort (a.k.a. So Co), which my parent’s inform me is so like college kids. Miraculously even these were killed by the overwhelming amount of sugars in the concoction. The same way Fabreze kills the smell of wet dog, the berry syrup/puree killed the spirits when added together.

Thus our collaboration had created what we latter coined as Danger Drink.

For now I’ll consider it a mildly successful venture, one that I will hopefully tackle more successfully in the future that actually results in some delicious, fruity sorbet!!

Hunan Chicken

Veggie Deluxe Chow Fun

Chen’s Appetizer Platter

Cost: 30.15

July 11 was a special day in Oregon this year. Until this year state records had shown no measurable precipitation ever recorded in the Willamette Valley. So naturally, it poured buckets.

It was a Sunday and my father was driving me back into Eugene from a weekend getaway to my hometown. We were feeling famished and unsure of what to eat when we finally pulled into town. Eventually we pulled into a Chinese restaurant at 8:40 PM called House of Chen because not much else was open so late on a Sunday (which I think is ridiculous; people who frequently eat out late at night do so every day of the week) and it was nearby the campus.

We split the Hunan Chicken, Veggie Deluxe Chow Fun and Chen’s Appetizer Platter, and walked away pretty happy with what we got. All in all the House of Chen is a “good average” kind of restaurant. The food was tasty when received, but the veggies didn’t do so well as leftovers. I must say though, the BBQ Pork on the appetizer platter was especially delicious!

The decorations were pretty and the service was good. The menu was huge and full of variety, but lacked a kind of signature from what I could tell.

For $30 I’m not sure yet if I’ll go back. For its location and variety it may be a better option than China Blue, which is just off of 13^th on the adjacent side of campus, and is just as good for fewer monies. In all the best Chinese I’ve found in Eugene has been at Jade Palace off of 7^th and Blair. If you can get there from campus you’re privy to a constantly refreshed buffet to which you have endless access to for only $9 (including a soft drink!).

Tip: If you don’t like soft leftover sauced chicken avoid microwaving at all costs. Broil on a low heat the chicken over a tin-foiled cookie sheet in either an oven or microwave oven.

My boyfriend has recently taken a serious interest in learning how to cook. To many this may seem like ho-hum news, but for those with significant others who don’t cook – ever – think of my accomplishment as a symbol of hope.

Our first collaboration, wherein I teach and he listens, was Seafood Alfredo; the kind you pay 15 dollars a plate for at Olive Garden. However, if you shop smart you can significantly reduce that cost and still cook everything from raw ingredients.

We were able to purchase what we needed from Fred Meyers (a branch of Krogers) for less than $9, but to buy everything from scratch would cost much (upwards of 50%) more. Anyways, we’ll get to that nitty-gritty later, here are the three parts to Seafood Alfredo in the order they should be prepared:

Tonight I watched “Bill Cosby, Himself” with my roommate. Having always associated Cosby with Jell-O and not necessarily good comedy, my roommate felt it necessary to watch the DVD while cooking dinner. Sufficed to say I was pleasantly surprised when he finished his bit about feeding his kids chocolate cake for breakfast, and I was laughing so hard I thought I was going to wet myself.

If you have not seen this, please indulge.

For dinner this evening I decided to break out the skillet and fry up a Boca burger.

There are several different ways to cook a Boca burger, but it’s important to not treat Boca like beef. Boca burgers are very soft when thawed and somewhat wet. The simplest way to cook one is to put it into a toaster and toast it like you would a bagel on the highest heat setting. You will probably have to heat it twice depending on the strength of your toaster.

Or, you can do as I did this evening and pan fry the patty with mushrooms, onion, jalapenos*, and garlic.

Why fry it? Boca Burgers absorb flavors pretty well, and for fewer calories.

It is now July; hot, sweltering, sweaty July. For those without the convenience of an air conditioner there are few escapes from the heat. With the exception of perhaps a bug-free swimming pool, sorbets, ice creams and popsicles are my favorite way to take a break from nature.

So, recently my roommate and I decided it would be an excellent idea to make sorbet. It was late one night and humid, so we decided to do something with the berries in our freezer and the nectarines about to go bad sitting in our fruit bowl. Having never made sorbet before, we searched online for a general community consensus on the easiest way to make it. Normally the process is a simple one provided you know how to mix fruit flavors, and you know the consistency of a home-made syrup.