Special Request...

A dear friend of mine has been requesting this recipe from me since I had made it for her I think about a year ago. Well me being not one to rush into things, my dear Kathy here you are!!!

It's for Pan-Seared Scallops-I like the frozen one's from Trader Joe's the "Japanese Scallops". two things to take note of, the packages are 1lbs and the recipe is for 1 1/2 lbs and yes you do need to remove the tendons from the side of the scallop!

1 1/2 pounds sea scallops (about 30 per pound).
small tendons removed from the side
salt and pepper
1 1/2 Tblsp. unsalted butter

1. Sprinkle the scallops on both side with salt and pepper to taste. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat until hot, about 1 minutes. Add half the butter and swirl to coat the pan bottom. Continue to heat the pan until the butter begins to turn golden brown.
2. Add half the callops, one at a time, flat side down. Cook, adjusting the heat as necessary to prevent the fat from burning, until the scallops are well browned, 1 1/2 minutes to 2 minutes. Useing tound, turn the callops, one at a time. Cook to medium-rare (the dise have firmed up and all but the middle thrid of the scallop is opaque), 30 seconds to 1 1/2 minutes longer, depending on size. Transfer the scallops to a warm platter; cover with foil.. Repeat the cooking process using the remaining butter and scallops. Serve immediately.

Then when you want to really WOW someone try this...
Pan-Seared Scallops with Lemon, Shallots, and Capers
1 recipe Pan-Seared Scallops
1 medium shallot, minced
1 cup dry white wine (I have always used vermouth)
1 tsp. grated zest and 1 Tbsp juice from a small lemon
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley leaves (flat leaf ONLY)
1 Tbsp minced capers
salt and pepper

After searing the scallops adn transferring them to a warm platter (I just put them in a warm oven), pour off all but 1 Tbsp of the butter in the skillet and saute the shallot in the fat until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Addthe wine and lemon zest and simmer until treduced to about 1/3 cup, 6 to 7 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the butter, parsley, lemon juice, capers, and salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the sauce over the scallops and serve at once. I usually serve it w/bow tie pasta.

These are from Cook's Illustrated or aka America's Test Kitchen

I like to make this during the week only because I can do all my chopping/prep work during nap time and be able to make it really quick along w/some simple veggies and I call it DONE....I hope you enjoy it.

Evil is Thy Name

But you probably know it as High Fructose Corn Syrup! The basis for this rant you might ask?

Well have you seen those stupid commercials that really I found to be super insulting and the add in the magazines were no better. They tried their hardest to make it look like HFCS is "just the same as sugar". Well the only 1 thing that you mentioned was that they have the same calories as sugar and "in moderation it's ok for you to consume". I love how they left out the fact that when you consume HFCS you become addicted to it and you crave more of the product. And now HFCS has been linked to Fatty Livers Disease. What the hell? These commercials all by them self made me thrilled that we have TiVo!!!

So now that I have this off my chest, as a mom I took it apon myself to do my best to remove as much HFCS from the foods/drinks I give my family. Soda's-I try really hard not to have it in the house, but I have found Coke from Mexico uses sugar and it's sold at our local store and Jones Soda is made w/sugar, and same goes for Hansen's Soda. Juice-100% juice in the house or I will dump it out. Yes I loves me a COLD Vitamin Water but at least that is made w/sugar and really not that much. Now my mission was to look for "hidden" HFCS and I found it in the form of ketchup! There is TONS of it in ketchup so I found that Trader Joe's Organic Ketchup not only uses sugar it had a really nice zip to it, also the Heinz Organic Ketchup is safe. I also found that items sold under Safeway's "O" organic brand uses sugar instead of HFCS (I am not a huge fan of the organic items but that is another post). For some reason many makers of salad dressing seems to think we need tons of the HFCS in our dressings...you can make your own or just go w/the "O" brand again. Yogurts have a ton of sugar, read your labels and and find the brands that sweeten w/honey or sugar, the Greek yogurts are getting easier to find.

I urge everyone to read your labels in the foods you eat, educate yourself and demand the best for your family. When in doubt, make it yourself then and only then will you truly know what you are eating. I know it's not always possible, heck I love a cold cold fountain Coke every now in then but just watch yourself and be healthy.