Some Kind of Crazy

Meshugeneh and MSG, what do they have in common? Both a little crazy. Let me explain- Meshugeneh is a nickname I gave Scotty, Wendy's son, when he was born. I was reading a book by a Jewish author and she had sprinkled Yiddish throughout her vignettes. I was enamored by one specific word- meshugeneh- which means crazy person. When Scotty was born and I looked at him, right then and there I knew he was my little crazy person. Now for MSG. Not really sure where to start with that one except for it being a banned/fearful/crazy ingredient that no one would touch. But, there it was in my grandma's recipe. Yup, neatly typed on the index card- 1/2 tsp of MSG. How crazy?? As soon as I saw it, all these hand-scribbled signs posted in Chinese restaurants popped into my head! "NO MSG!" Needless to say, I got a bit concerned. How was I to get around this one? I always wanted to follow the recipe (well, except for when it calls for green peppers!) But, clearly, it was not an ingredient anybody was wanting. So, I figured, my grandma would forgive this one indiscretion. For sure. Okay, enough about all the crazy. Let's talk about the fun!

It was Meshug's (of course, Meshugeneh had to turn into a nickname! ha ha!!) birthday and he had set ideas about how to celebrate and Auntie Jodi wanted to give him everything he wanted, right down to the round cake with another smaller round cake on top with Mike and Ike's sprinkled on top of it. (It was pretty cute!) He also wanted a taco bar complete with Mexican rice. This is where Grandma comes in.

I found a recipe for Mexican rice and got started on my "mis en place." I toasted the rice. I think this is the best part of making rice. It has such a nutty aroma and you just want to stick your whole head in the pot to take it in! And, you gotta love a rice dish because you just let it do it's thing.

When it was done, I did add quite a bit of chili powder and cumin. I love cumin. It is so fragrant and can completely transform a dish. I think the rice is a great base and can be seasoned in any fashion you prefer, mild to spicy.

By the way, Scotty's birthday party was a hit! I had covered the dining room in 'glow in the dark' green webs and black ribbon, complete with sparkly purple pumpkins. It was a howling good time, even if I took a million photos of him to get "the shot" for the blog. His patience during all the photo mania was his "thank you" to me for the birthday bash.

Happy Birthday, Meshugeneh, my favorite crazy person! I love you!

as it stands~
guests- 3
emotions- 1
meltdowns- 0
mistakes- none
recipes- 1
recipes to date- 21

The Recipe

Mexican Rice

1/2 stick of butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove of garlic
2 tbsp chopped green pepper (I omitted, of course!)
1 3/4 cup tomato sauce (I used a can versus a jar.)
3 cups of chicken stock, hot (I used vegetable stock to keep it vegetarian.)
1/2 tsp MSG (see, I told you it was here!!! But, I don't think you should use it because it is a bit controversial.)
2 cups raw long grain rice (I just used white rice.)

In a large pan, heat half the butter and saute the onions, garlic and green pepper until golden. Heat the rest of the butter in the same pan, add rice and cook gently until rice is well coated. Add tomato sauce, heat and add chicken stock. Cover and cook 20 minutes over low heat. Season.