July 09, 2010

fixation friday: cucumbers


Fixation Friday is here - I bet you're all a bit shocked since I hadn't said if I was going to be posting anything while I was away. Well if you're reading this or any of my other posts from this week it's due to the magic of scheduled posting. I didn't think I'd have time to do this before I left town, but I did. Hopefully you've been entertained. If not, get off my back I'm on vacation damn it! *wink* {Let's hope the scheduled posting works or I'll be reposting this later}.

Today's fixation is CUCUMBERS. I love these suckers. Cool, green, yummy, healthy and tasty! Which honesty is an odd statement for me to make. For years as a kid I thought cucumbers were gross, slimy and vile. My mom used to try to slip them into salads and I would always gag. It's odd that a child would eat red cabbage raw by the fist full but not touch cucumbers or tomatoes don't you think? But that was me, lil miss spoiled pants. Honestly, I was spoiled but when it came to food my mother wasn't running a diner, I got what I got and I ate it or I starved - simple as that.

What turned me around and turned me on to cucumbers you ask? Well I'm glad you did, I'll tell you. It was as simple as a Buy 3 Get one Free deal at Victoria's Secret. While there I fell head over heels for a scent called Tranquil Breezes.

via google

I was obsessed with this scent. There is no telling how many bottles of it I went through before Victoria's Secret discontinued it. {BASTARDS!} I was so disappointed. Nothing since has filled the void left from this cucumber melon goodness. Cucumber Melon at Bath and Body Works is more melon, more sweet, The Breeze was more Cucumber and possibly jasmine. Just for the hell of it I did a search for this to see if I could find a smell that might be similar online and found nothing. What I did find were different listings on Ebay for this product for $80.00+!!!! Originally I think this scent was max $20.00 at the store back in the 90's. They are selling lotion for this price as well on ebay. Sure I'm desperate to find this scent again but honestly this stuff they are selling is from the 90's people - lotion has a shelf life, as does body spray or perfume. I'm pretty sure that 20 years is way past the "sell by date".

Anyripoff, through wearing this scent for so long I started to enjoy the smell of cucumbers and eventually in high school decided to give them a try. Oh what a glorious day - the OBSESSION STARTS!

via google
mmmmmm cucumbers

I love them! I always get excited when I go to Zaxby's for lunch and they actually have cucumbers in their Grilled Chicken House Zalads. Yes that's right Zalads, aren't they clever? Needless to say their Zalads are not really healthy once you add in the fried onion straws, cheese and side of Texas Toast but damn they are tasty. {If I were to eat one now I'd nix the items listed before and just eat the veggies and tasty chicken and CUCUMBERSSSS!}.

Mike doesn't like cucumbers, he doesn't like pickles, me I love them both! Thank goodness cucumbers are on the p90x menu or I'd be sunk!

I wanted to start something new that was actually a suggestion from Allyson @ Magnolias & Mimosas. I think it's a great idea and I will start by saying to her thank you, love! ox

Allyson suggested: As for the veggies, maybe you can post what you end up doing with them? I am in need of some yummy summer recipes that don't include mayonnaise (as much as I love those). AND...can you believe it...right when we move out of our house, we got huge bunches of grapes on our grapevine!! Oh well. Maybe the new owners will love them, too!

The more I thought about this the more I loved the idea! So I thought for my Fixation Friday all about Cucumbers I'd share with you my favorite summer cucumber salad recipe complete with a new graphic.


This recipe is from Martha Stewart. I can't take the credit but I can say this, it's delicious and mixing in some tomatoes would be amazing as well! Martha you are amazing. Enjoy!

Her's looks so much prettier than mine!

1 large red onion, peeled and very thinly sliced
2 large cucumbers, peeled if waxed, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons rice-wine vinegar (or more to taste)
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh dill, picked from thick stems, or more to taste

Directions:
  1. Place sliced onion and cucumbers in a serving bowl. Season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with rice-wine vinegar. Toss to combine, and transfer to refrigerator to chill, about 30 minutes.
  2. Just before serving, scatter dill over salad and toss well. (I don't do this step but it would be delicious).
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15 comments:

Lora said...

cucumbers are the business! i love them with all my heart.

I slice them in water, much like other people do with lemons. My hairdresser does this and it's genius. It's good if you put a little lime juice in the water too. Sweet sweet elixir.

Also, try them cut up in lemonade. And on the weekends, toss a shot or two of gin in there. Gin+lemonade+cukes=amazing.

cucumbers and cream cheese on a bagel. omgood.

also, save the juice from your pickle jar and toss a few slices in there for a day or two. So delish and fresh.

Salt said...

I'm not gonna lie...when I saw this as a fixation today I laughed out loud and my mind went to a very dirty, in the gutter kind of place.

But yes I love the scent of cucumbers, although I am not a fan of eating them. Unless they are pickles.

Aura said...

I love that little logo you made!
My family = cucumber fiends. We all grow them in our gardens and eat them like crazy. My favorite way to eat them is to cut them in half, length wise, with the skin still on. Sprinkle each half with salt & pepper, and take a spoon and shave down the length of them until they are down to the skin, which works as a bowl. Then you just eat spoon fulls of shaved cucumber with salt and pepper. Try it, it's amazing.
It's better if you have cucumbers with less seeds.

Day Old News said...

Cukes might be my favorite veggie. If English cukes weren't kinda pricey, I would buy armloads every week. Tabbouleh is my cucumber dish of choice.

Allyson said...

YAY for recipes. And I love, love, LOVE rice-wine vinegar. I make jasmine rice and just dump it in there. So, although I'm not a cuke fan, I think I could actually go for this. At the very least, I can give it a one-time try, yes? And that's a great snack for after our torture with Shaun T. I hope you're having a LOVELY vacation and I do like hearing from you even when you're away. Although it's hampering me catching up on your June posts. ;)

Anonymous said...

I have SERIOUS love for all things cucumbers! YUM!

foxy said...

Man, I love cucs with all my heart. They are so fresh and perfect. And because you love them so much, I'm going to send you an email that I've been keeping for a while now. You'll never believe how many uses there are EVERY DAY for cucumbers. I was amazed!

Sara said...

You're just that fancy, aren't you?

How did you write an entire post about cucumbers and not make a single joke in the cucumber/penis genre?

I'm in awe of your gift.

Anonymous said...

Cukes! Love them a whole lot too. I wish I had some slices right here right now. :)

Shana said...

I'm with Salt...my mind went to a very dirty place when I saw cucumbers. Bravo for not throwing in some penis jokes.

I love cucumbers. They are refreshingly delicious. When I was a kid, my mom used to peel one and give my brother and I a half each. We'd just gnaw on them while we watched TV. Delish.

Sami said...

Om nom cukes! I love them sliced with a little bit of salt on 'em. And cucumber water can't be beat either... wicked refreshing on a hot day. They irritate my reflux though, so I have to be careful with 'em. :(

Lisa@Pickles and Cheese said...

I love cucumbers too! And of course I love pickles but only the dill or sour kind. Last year when I first started blogging I posted a recipe for Asian Cucumber Salad. It's awesome and should be okay for your PX90. Here's a link to it if you're interested:
http://picklesandcheeseblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Asian%20Cucmber%20Salad

ConnieB said...

I gotta try that salad yum!

Kelly @ turned UP to ELEVEN! said...

HA! You ladies are dirty... I would be lying right now if when I clicked on this to read the comments my mind didn't just then think "OH CRAP, this could have gone SERIOUSLY wrong!!!"

carmen said...

The cucumber salad looks delicious. Here from the rosebud network.

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