Spice it up

Thursday I couldn't get the Buffalo Chicken dip out of my head. I had to have it. So, I planned my meal around it. We had the "crack dip" as it is so fondly called, cheeseburgers, watermelon and cantaloupe. It was delicious. I don't have a grill (we live on the 6th floor of the apartment building...I suppose I could grill out on the fire escape, but I have a feeling that would be frowned upon), so I am still in the process of trying to make a good burger. They just aren't the same when cooked on the stove! However, Joe said these were the best I have done so far. I used some seasoned salt, onion flakes, garlic powder, a red and black pepper mixture, and liquid smoke. I'm hoping to eventually perfect the stove top burger, but it may take many more moons (I'm open to any suggestions!).

If you have not tried previously mentioned crack dip, you must. It is like gooey, cheesy, melty wings on chips. Mmmmm.

Buffalo Chicken "crack" dip

2 cans (10 oz.) chunk chicken

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I prefer sharp)

1 cup dressing (some use ranch, I use blue cheese)

2 (8oz) pkgs cream cheese

3/4 c. (or more depending on how spicy you like it) Franks Red hot sauce

Mix all ingredients together and bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Dip with tortilla chips, celery, pretzels. Also good spread on pizza dough if you have some left over. Or just with a spoon.

Yesterday on my lunch break at work, Alicja and I decided to go grab some Thai food. We ended up at Isle Thai. I had the Spicy Basil Noodle (drunken man noodle). It is one of my favorite Thai dishes and I have a hard time not trying it if it is on the menu. I have heard many reasons for the name "drunken noodle". One is that the dish is so spicy that you will have to drink a lot to combat the heat. Another is that it is an excellent hangover cure. I have also heard that it is so called because it is one of the only dishes you can find on the streets late at night in Thailand when everyone is out partying. I don't know the actual reasoning behind the name, I just know that it is tasty! And this particular version was no disappointment. It was very flavorful and spicy, but not so hot that I couldn't finish the dish. It was perfect.

Alicja had the eggplant sauteed with garlic and basil. It was great as well. And both of our dishes came with a choice of appetizer. We each had the green salad with the peanut dressing (which I have been craving like mad lately), but we could have also gotten a "caesar" salad, spring rolls, dumplings, shrimp and chicken fritters, or summer rolls. And the price was fabulous. We had our entrees, salads, one glass of wine (for me) and one beer (for her) for $26. Not too shabby.

The decor at the restaurant was great, too. If you look really closely at the picture you may be able to see the lightbulbs: they all had little metal wings and looked like they were birds. They were "flying" around the cages and the tree that they had at the bar. Some people are so creative.