Dinner for Two - $7.50

So back in Santa Barbara I must confess that Costco was an old stand-by for a quick cheap meal. I mean you can't really beat $1.50 for a hot dog and soda or $1.99 for a huge slice of pizza.

When we moved to Wisconsin we knew that we were moving to a place void of Costco. However within 2 years of moving here, one was built. However much to our dismay we learned that the food court would be built indoors behind the membership check at the front door.  So we figured that only Costco members could get to the food court. (An indoor food court totally makes sense given our cold winters.)

To our great surprise, this past week we learned that you can still get to the food court without a membership! So this past Saturday after a long afternoon of Christmas shopping, we headed over to Costco. Timidly approached the lady at the entrance and sheepishly asked if we could go get food at the food court. She said, of course. And we were in. A Costco hotdog never tasted so good.

Moose

Can You Find The Moose?

So we rented a cabin over Thanksgiving to host my family for a week (we decided that our 2 bedroom apartment probably wouldn't cut it for 6 grown adults for 7 nights).

The cabin was great but the decorations were a bit quirky. Moose decorations were kind of the theme and according to the cabin guest book, a bored kid back in 2008, or something like that, counted around 375 individual moose in the cabin (I don't remember the exact number, dad you can correct me if I'm wrong).

Anyhow, the moose decorations lead to a discussion about what movies exist that have a real live moose in them (none of this moose head stuff). And Rocky and Bullwinkle didn't count. We were stumped and couldn't come up with any. We left convinced that moose are under represented in Hollywood.

However, after some indepth research and scientific polling...we have discovered there are movies with moose in them. So for your useless knowledge enjoyment, here are some movies with an actual live moose.

Can you add to the list?

1. Brother Bear: Rutt and Took were brother moose in the film (ok...these were animated)
2. Morris the Midget Moose: a short animated Disney film (also animated)
3. Grumpy Old Men: has a scene with a TV broadcast showing a recovered injured moose
4. Salt Water Moose: about two children on an island with a lonely moose
5. Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle: ok, I had to add it...my list was pathetic. 

Big list, isn't it? There are a lot more instances where a moose is somehow referenced...mostly as an animal head on a wall.

So I guess maybe moose actually are underrepresented in Hollywood. Which begs the question, why? Are they not scary enough? Are they hard to work with? Are they camera shy? Do they ask for to much pay? Do they refuse to do their own stunts? Are they not beautiful enough? Hmmmm...the mystery continues.

Christmas Cooking

Started out the holiday backing with Nutty Biscotti. I made this a few years ago from a Better Homes and Garden recipe and liked it well enough to keep the it in my recipe box. However, I decided I'd tweak the recipe a bit this time to see if I could make it more tasty. I was pleased with the result:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice (start with 1 and add more if dough is not sticky enough
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup coarsely chopped lightly salted pistachio nuts
1/2 cup of dried cranberries

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Beat butter with mixer on medium to high speed 30 seconds. Add sugar, soda, baking powder, and salt; beat until combined. Add eggs, lemon peel and juice. Beat until combined. Add flour; beat until combined. Add in more lemon juice if to dry. Stir in nuts and cranberries. Divide dough in half. Shape each into a 12-inch roll. Place at least 3 inches apart on baking sheet. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until beginning to brown (logs will spread). Cool completely on a rack. Use a serrated knife to cut each roll into 3/4-inch slices. Place, cut sides down, on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in 350 degree F oven for 5 minutes. Turn slices over; bake 5 minutes more or until dry and crisp.

Cool on rack. Dip 1 end of biscotti into white chocolate; sprinkle with nuts. Dry completely. Makes 36 biscotti.