invasion of the fruit fly

Okay, so I realize that fruit flies probably serve some larger purpose in life.  However, I do not like them.  I especially hate that once you get fruit flies they are nearly impossible to get rid of.  We are not dirty people.  Sure, sometimes we'll let the dishes sit over night before washing them and I haven't washed the windows since we moved in three years ago.  But, our trash is always taken out on a regular basis, we try to clean the shower, and we do wash the dishes regularly.

Why are we being invaded by fruit flies????? 

We've tried a couple different traps, but nothing seemed to work.  Our first traps consisted of bananas, cherries, raspberries, plastic bottles and electric tape.

Then, we tried balsamic vinegar, a jar and some cellophane.  

I was stressing out, thinking I need to get rid of these little monsters and fast. And then, Eureka! 

Seriously, Eureka.  

I set out some fruit and waited for the flies to congregate.  Then, I turned on my powerful fruit fly sucking trap.  They don't have a chance.  I do look absolutely ridiculous vacuuming fruit and chasing fruit flies around the house with a vacuum hose.  But, I think the fruit fly invasion of 2010 is almost over thanks to my trusty vacuum.

The incredible, edible egg and other delicious treats

Well, I'm so far behind that today calls for two posts...

These are some of my food adventures from the last 10 days...

 I went to the farmer's market and could not contain myself.  There was so much deliciousness in one place that I was inspired!

Veggies, hot sauce and mint jelly...

I made pork chops with a light mint jelly sauce, carrots marinated in ginger, mustard and cheese cauliflower and a salad with a homemade cherry vinaigrette. 

However, nothing was quite as good as the dessert:

Chocolate pots de creme - essentially egg yolk, heavy cream and chocolate.  

I was a little worried that they wouldn't turn out correctly because I only realized I did not have a mesh sieve as I was continuously stirring and my chocolate was melting.  However, I improvised and used a handy flour sifter...random, but it worked!

After such a successful dinner, I figured breakfast would be a piece of cake.  When Lily and Liz were in town, we had breakfast at Cafe Continental.  It was the first time I had Eggs Benedict; it was made with asparagus and crab cake instead of the more traditional Canadian bacon.  I liked it so much, I wanted to give it a try.  But, I didn't have the time until the last weekend in June.  It was a rainy morning, so I was more than happy to sip my coffee and figure out the recipe.  I had heard that hollandaise sauce was difficult and that poaching eggs was a bit tricky.  I guess I have a knack for making eggs benedict...or I was just lucky, because I didn't have any major problems.   My eggs poached quite well, though I did lose a bit of yolk on one of the eggs.

Eggs poaching.

English muffins, Canadian bacon, tomatoes and aspargus broiled.

Poached eggs added to the base...

Covered in hollandaise sauce.

 Taste test result: Success!

Daring woman, observant man

So, here I am blogging a month later again.  Eventually, I'll get faster at this and blog more often. Right. I can feel your faith in me slipping away as I continue to make these empty promises.  At least I have the excuse that I've been busy.  

June 12: Lily's Bachelorette Party
My friend Lily is getting married in September, but we had a bachelorette party for her in June.  Lily flew in from San Francisco and Liz, another friend, came in from Portland.  We had a great time and ate so much food that I was ready to burst.  I had Eggs Benedict for the first time ever and I loved them! See the next post for details... 

Lily had the classiest penis straw I have ever seen.  In fact, it was so fancy that the waiter commented that he liked her "crazy straw."  Once he approached the straw and realized that it was a penis, he blushed and said, "Oh! I didn't realize it was a penis." 

Lily and Liz both stayed at my place.  The three of us and Ann-Marie spent Saturday enjoying brunch and book stores before heading out for the night. We had drinks at the Dane, followed by dinner at The Haze.  It was an Asian and American BBQ place.  It was not the best BBQ I have ever had; nothing is better than Dad's bbq chicken, after all.  It was the best BBQ I've had in Madison, though.  Good portions and flavorful.
Then, we had fancy drinks at Opus...and that is when Ruby became integral to our party.  As I began to drink my second martini at Opus, Ruby ordered a chocolate and orange martini.  Ruby had three sips of her drink the whole night.  When we started to leave, she made a stop at the ladies restroom. 

She left her scarf on the chair outside the women's restroom; she was feeling the effects of her three sips at this point so I cannot vouch for what compelled her to do this.  When she came back out, her scarf was gone.  She did not realize this until she came back upstairs and someone asked, "Ruby, where's your scarf?"  She went back to the ladies room to see if she had just forgotten it.  Her scarf was gone. Now, a lesser woman might have just let this slide.  No doubt, I would have given the scarf up for lost and moved on.  Not Ruby.  The Opus is a pretty small place, but it was packed that Saturday night and Ruby was on a mission.  Ruby found her scarf.   I unfortunately did not witness her discovery, but the story occupied us for at least the next twenty minutes.  Therefore, I do not feel bad about recording it for posterity now.

Ruby: Hey, where did you get that scarf?  
Thief: Oh, I bought it at the store.
Ruby: Well, that looks like my scarf that I left outside the bathroom.
Thief: Bitch, it's my scarf!
Thief's Date: It is not.  You weren't wearing a scarf when we got here tonight.
Ruby:  I'll take my scarf now. (Thief hands over scarf in dismay.)

Thank goodness for a daring woman and observant man!  And, congrats to Lily & Josh!