The Martini

I don't really drink Martinis, too strong for me. One time, I had a severe head cold, was out with friends and they convinced me to have 3 martinis-the next time my head cold was gone. The alcohol was so...strong, it killed all the cold germs in me.

There is something about a Martini,
A tingle remarkably pleasant;
A yellow, a mellow Martini;
I wish that I had one at present.
There is something about a Martini,
Ere the dining and dancing begin,
And to tell you the truth,
It is not the vermouth-
I think that perhaps it's the gin--Collected Verse From 1929 On, Ogden Nash

Last night, after my blog, I think I had the best "box" pizza I have ever had! All Natural French Pastry Pizza Singles-goat cheese & onion. Vegetarian, no trans fats. It is put out by Alex & Liz, founders of Olive Street Table LLC in Santa Barbara, CA or www.tfppc.com. The pastry was actually a light fluffy pie crust. Honestly, it was the best pie crust (or pizza crust), I have ever had, so rich, buttery-perfect.

Today, I spent some time and money at the Palazzo in Las Vegas. It is beautiful, but I'm trying to figure out what the big deal is about it. Very understated, in an elegant way. The marble tiles in the bathroom were good. And unfortunately, I don't have the monetary budget for their shopping arcade. By the looks of the lack of traffic in the stores, neither does anyone else. I did win and lose hundreds of dollars for a couple of hours and ended up breaking even-thank goodness.

I got my bi-monthly pedicure and then went on to the shop next door to get my hair layered. The hair-raisers shop is at Jones & Flamingos in the Smith shopping Center. My hair dresser, Debbie, a former showgirl, now in her 40's, proceeded to give me a teased, big bouffant hair from somewhere in the 1960's. Is she kidding me or what! Plus the sign, said haircuts, $13.99. My bill came to $35.00, plus tip-needless to say, her tip may been bigger, but not when she charges me more than double the price, plus an out-of-date hairdo, shes lucky she got any tip at all. Being the nice person I am, I left without saying anything, went to my car and flattened out my hair. Luckily, I have good hair, that responds to just about anything.

Tonight, I made this great easy chicken recipe that you need to follow exactly:

Burnt Mushroom Chicken

1 to 2 tbsp. lemon juice, 2 to 3 tbsp. butter or margarine, 4 oz. can sliced mushrooms, 4 to 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

Melt butter and lemon juice. Saute' chicken breasts and mushrooms on medium heat. Remove chicken when done (3 to 4 minutes per side, or until no longer pink inside). Continuing saute'ing mushrooms until crispy (burnt). Serve with mushrooms on side or top of chicken.

I used no salt or pepper, and this was wonderful. I will definetly use this in the future.

Now, a plug for my ebay cookbooks website-Valerie2901. 3 books that have not sold in a long time and they should have. "Quick from Scratch-PASTA" by Food & Wine Books. Easy pasta, tasty menus, little time. Another Pasta book-"Great Meals in Minutes-Pasta Menus". Pasta is just not in these days and I don't know why not. The third book is "Classic Recipes For Everyday Cooking" by Better Homes & Gardens-a great starter book for the new cook in your family. All have great, easy recipes, some simple, some elegant-all wonderful. Pasta does not sell easily. I love cooking pasta, in fact I have made many pasta recipes from the Food Network with Giada-great cook, easy recipes. My thing with pasta is easy, a few ingredients, not too greasy, even light if possible.

Tonight, I also went to a show at the Southpoint Htl & Casino to see Ronn Lucas, a ventroliquist. I have seen him many times on cruise ships and always enjoy his show. He will be playing there for the next 5-6 weeks on Thursday night at 7:30pm, well worth the small fee of $20 per person. Maybe the best and least expensive show in town right now.

Cookbook Val