Weekend Roundup: Frothy Milk and Menu Planning

Check out my new gadget!

Have you seen one of these before? It’s a milk frother, used for making that perfect frothed layer that adorns $4 coffee shop coffees. After my friend Jill made me an incredible decaf latte with an inexpensive frother, I decided to get my own. I’m starting with the cheapest one I can find, just to see if I like frothed milk consistently before springing for a more expensive model.  This one is from Ikea and costs $2.99 (or $6 from Amazon, which is where I had to buy it since we don’t have an Ikea near us.  Whomever decided to buy these in bulk and sell them on Amazon for double the price is a genius).

I started with about an inch and a half of milk and warmed it for 20 seconds in the microwave. This helps the milk to froth.

I had to move it to larger glass halfway through frothing because milk started splattering everywhere, including on Peter’s favorite hanging pots (sorry, Peter, who is reading this confession for the first time in this post).

Look at that froth!  This tripling in size took about 5 minutes of sustained, finger-numbing whipping.  The froth seemed to develop all at once.  It reminded me of that scene in Demolition Man when Sylvester Stallone’s car fills up with foam like some freakish airbag (you can watch that scene here).

I spooned the frothed milk on a cup of coffee and topped it with a little cinnamon.

Delicious!  I’ve used the milk frother a few times this week.  We’ll see how long it lasts.

Menu Planning is in the house!

Last week’s menu:

Day 1: Leftover gumbo
Day 2: Pasta with roasted broccoli and chicken meatballs
Day 3: Skillet cornbread with greens and leftover pulled pork (frozen)
Day 4: S ‘n’ S Shrimp Lomein (bumped from last week))
Day 5: Leftovers or FFA (free for all)
Day 6: Duck (because we have FOUR in our freezer)
Day 7: Leftovers

How’d we do this week?

Day 1: Leftover gumbo

(Pic from this post.)

Day 2: Pasta with roasted broccoli and chicken meatballs

Picture taken a day or two later. These chicken meatballs are so tasty, I must share the recipe with you later this week. I simply must.

Day 3: Leftovers or FFA (free for all) – moved from Day 5

Yep. Don’t remember what it was, but we ate something.

Day 4: S ‘n’ S Shrimp Lomein (bumped from last week)

Peter makes a darn good shrimp lomein. Enjoyed with whole grain noodles from Beachy’s in Arthur, IL.

Day 5: Leftovers

Nope. One of Peter’s colleagues invited us out for drinks, and we ended up having Papa Del’s pizza at another friend’s house. It was much tastier than this one!

While eating, our group discussed who, living or dead, we would want to invite for dinner. We decided Douglas Adams and Confucius would make excellent dinner companions.

Day 6: Duck

Recipe for Peter’s awesome roast duck can be found here.

Day 7: Skillet cornbread with greens and leftover pulled pork – moved from Day 3.

Nope! I forgot I’m due to sing Christmas carols at a local church tonight, so I’ll be away late afternoon/evening. I’ll probably enjoy some comforting oatmeal later tonight – I love breakfast food at dinner.

Final Score: 5/7. Not bad! I seem to get this score pretty much every week. I don’t mind not getting a 7/7. Perfection is overrated, after all.

Next week’s menu:

Day 1: Short ribs with veggies and mashed potatoes (Peter’s making this tonight to allow flavors to develop)
Day 2: Shrimp scampi with veggies (an oft-enjoyed favorite)
Day 3: Skillet cornbread with greens and leftover pulled pork (bumped from last week)
Day 4: Leftovers or FFA (free for all)
Day 5: Ravioli or dumpling soup
Day 6: Golden Harbor or FFA
Day 7: ? No idea yet. We usually shop on Saturdays, so perhaps I should move Sundays menu to the previous week.

Have a great rest of your Sunday, everyone!

Q: If you could invite anyone to dinner, living or dead, who would you invite?