Recently in Angela Category

J.P. loves fish.  Ok, I could write a novel about his love of fish.  The last time we went to Southern California, we had fish taco after fish taco and boy were they good.  Since then we have be trying them at random establishments around the country with very mixed results. 

So why haven't we made them at home before this weekend?  Burritos.  In addition to his love of fish, J.P. loves burritos and so I've always tried to combine the two.  Now, if you like burritos, you'll notice that there aren't too many fish burritos.  Shrimp, yes.  Pork, beef, veg, yes.  That just about mirrors my success with the concept.  So this weekend, we gave up on the big shell, the big wrapping, the over abundance of fillings and just went with the basics.  Small shells, mahi mahi, cabbage and peppers, cheese, guac, cilantro sour cream.  Nom nom nom.  It was such a success on Saturday night that we did it again tonight.

On.  Off.  On.  Off.  On.

Yup.  Back on the wagon again.  I would blame the Spawn but really, I just lost steam.  But I've hit my stride again so I'm picking by blog back up.  Whee!

It's been so exciting to start feeding Finn solid foods.  Well, solid is a bit misleading.  Smushy foods would be a better description.  We started out with rice cereal which he was very indifferent to.  He likes squash.  He likes sweet potatoes.  He loves avocado.  He LOVES peas.

God.  I HATE Internet Explorer.  Apparently I will need to fiddle around with this video to get it to display in bloody IE.  Yeah, it worked fine on my Mac...  in Firefox.  Sigh.

I hate to say it but damn, work gets in the way of eating well when you are still learning to juggle a kid.  This is not to say that we aren't eating well because that would be just silly but my brain power to write about it isn't quite there.  But in typical me fashion, the fits and spurt start again.  

Yesterday, J.P. scoured all the equipment and then set about to brew from the Rogue kit.  For the most part, everything went really well.  We had been concerned about the yeast because we forgot to refrigerate it when it arrived.  We smacked the Pacman yeast packet and popped the inner pouch and after a few hours, it had expanded to the point where we thought it was going to explode.

Beer?  Everybody like beer! 

Ok, that might not be entirely true but a good beer is really something people should like.  A number of years ago, we had the pleasure of going to visit my sister out in Portland, Oregon, otherwise known as Beer-vana.  While we were primarily interested in the wines of the area, we did take time to try out some of their fantastic beers.  And then my sister got us a set of various Rogue ales for Christmas and I was hooked. 

Luckily we can from time to time, get some of the Rogue beers out here in Boston.  This summer we tried the Hazelnut Brown Nectar which quickly became one of our favorite beers.  J.P. is a big fan of browns and this one was gorgeously balanced with a nice malty-nuttiness without being too fat and sloppy. 

It reminded us that it's been a while since we tried brewing our own beer.  Two weekends ago, J.P. went down the the basement to haul the 5-gallon carboys upstairs.  We need to get more tubing, a new filter, a wand and some airlocks but hopefully we should be in back in action in a few days.  We are wimping out with our first foray back into the brewing world by using a kit (gasp) but it is a kit for the Hazelnut Brown Nectar complete with Rogue's special Pacman yeast and we thought it would be better to start easy rather than diving in with grinding grains.  Wish us luck!

Whenever we travel, J.P. and I really like to find local foods and drinks, things we can't get at home.  That's how we discovered Cape Cod Beer.  We got a growler of the Harvest to go with our grill session at the cottage in PTown.  The Harvest is described as an Oktoberfest style beer.  It was delicious and very nicely balanced.  Very drinkable and perfect for a crisp fall evening.  We decided to hit their retail store in Hyannis on our way home to get a refill. 



We got there and discovered (to our great delight) that they do tastings!  We got 1-2oz tastes of all of the beers they currently have.  All the beers were so fresh and clean.  Some matched our tastes more than others but we were impressed with their knowledge of their craft and willingness to chat about it.  We ended up getting two growlers, one of the Dunkel and one of the Red.  Yum!

I have to admit that in the past, I've only mildly been interested in lobster rolls.  I am generally skeptical of anything that is bound together with mayonnaise (not particularly a favorite condiment of mine).  I've had them in the past where they were too mayonnaise-y, with too many filler items or too mangled to discern that I was actually paying for lobster and not some processed pink/red product.  I thought I might like the lobster rolls with butter instead but after trying that at Red's Eats in Maine, that was a bust as well.

But we were on the Cape this past weekend with Finn and I decided to give it another shot.  After browsing the web a bit, we gave the roll at Moby Dick's on Route 6 in Wellfleet a try.  We were pleasantly surprised when the waitress brought to our table, a beautifully buttered and griddled bun filled with lobster chunks only barely licked by mayonnaise and dusted with paprika and with one leaf of lettuce between the meat and the bun.  It was very tasty.  The lobster was still mostly in chunks and the mayo did not overwhelm it.

The next day we headed back to Boston.  On our way home, I wanted to try another lobster roll after the success at Moby Dick's.  We hit the Friendly Fisherman in Eastham.  Wow!  While I have limited experience, it was clearly the finest lobster roll I have ever eaten.  It was so filled with lobster that I could barely find the bun.  Again, the bun was beautifully buttered and griddled.  The lobster was just kissed by mayo, enough to lightly dress it and actually accentuate the lobster's sweetness.  The lobster meat itself was so fresh and succulent.  It was perfectly cooked, tender with a wonderful briny sweetness.  I could go on for days about how wonderful it was.  Oh, yes...  And they were actually really friendly there too.

   

Perhaps it's just an erroneous perception but zucchini seems like the most ridiculously productive veggie in any garden.  Ever year, people talk about how they have too many and they don't know what to do with them.  They offer to bring them into the office for co-workers.  They make it sounds like a plague.  For some reason, these folks with their mythical zucchini never seem to cross my path...  until the other week.  The Island Crew was up to visit Finn for the first time and J.P.'s brother brought up six enormous specimens.  Each one must have weighted over a pound.

It was like the gauntlet had been thrown down.  What to do with them...  They were older thus were a more fibrous and had large hard seeds.  I thought about it for a long time before copping out with the old reliable stand-by for older veggies:  soup.  I gutted the zucchini to get rid of the wooden seeds, sautéed some onions in a little butter, put in some garlic and thyme, chicken stock and whizzed it all up with the immersion blender.  A dollop of sour cream and ended up with a darn fine soup.

Modern pregnancy seems to be filled with so much deprivation.  There is a litany of things that you can't do and an even greater list of things that you can't eat.  I had this list of all of the items that I would be gobbling down as soon as Finn was out of me: sushi, coffee, wine, rare beef, soft cheeses and the list goes on.  But as karma would have it, I left the hospital with a sensitive stomach, which could hold about 10 bites of food before getting cramps.  Oh, and a crabby baby also makes getting a decent slow meal in a little more difficult.

The beef, wine and cheese have been the easiest to pull off so far.  We've had some fabulous steak and J.P. pulled a couple of bottle of wine up from the cellar.  The first night out of the hospital, we ate in the fading sun on the roof deck and I got my own glass of wine and it was delightful.  We've been trying to do that as often as possible, even dragging a squirming Finn up with us. 

Periodically, I like to just wipe the slate clean on my blog and start over again.  I've been on a hiatus from this blog for a few months due to my pregnancy.  Now with the arrival of my son, Finn, I'm taking my maternity leave to rethink my blog.  The changes are still up in the air and I'm not sure about the exact direction that I'm going to be moving it but I like the fact that there is some organic growth (pun not intended).  Bear with me. 

Probably until Summer time, I'll be writing primarily on my other blog.

Firstly, my apologies for letting my food blog die a little.  I'm my current state, I have not been cooking all that much and I've been very fixated on a finite list of food which aren't particularly interesting (hell, they include canned peaches with splenda).  And sadly, my nose is all messed up.  I made some soup the other day and I could smell the onions for almost a week.  I was opening the windows when it was freezing out in a vain effort to get rid of the onion smell.  It really puts a damper on cooking. 

Things to remind myself to write back later:
     Eating in Las Vegas
     The awesomeness of really good ricotta
     Cake
     Rice Krispie Treats
     Bibimbap - Chinese style
     Soft serve with strawberry sauce
     Country Ham
     Frosted Mini-Wheats

While I've been a pretty boring person food-wise over the last few months but it has not dulled my love of ice cream.  Recently I found the Haagen-Dazs Five flavors.  I've had the Brown Sugar and the Vanilla.  The Vanilla is out of this world.  So so vanilla-y but not in an obnoxious way.  It has such a clean pure flavor.  Really lovely.  I can't want to try the Passion Fruit and the Ginger, two things I love.

I have mixed feelings about root beer.  I like it as a concept but in practice, I don't have a history of being overly fond of it.  Perhaps it was a bad root beer barrell experience as a child but J.P. drinks it while I only have a sip or two.

Perhaps it's my new condition, but I've take a shine to the stuff recently.  And being as I live in an infinitely scientific household, J.P. has been conducting blind taste tests of different root beers both warm and cold to find out which we like.

In the first round of tests, we compared Main Street (Stop and Shop brand), A&W, Mug to see which we liked more.  Surprisingly, Main Street won!  Hurray for liking the most inexpensive one.

The next round put Main Street against IBC, Stewarts, and Weigh Watchers.  This time, the clear winner was IBC.  Drats!  Back to expensive tastes.  We think that Main Street might have consistancy issues but the IBC won both warm and cold for both of us. 

We still need to try it again Polar Classics which I really like but this has been one of those fun things that just tickles me. 

I've had this mad obsession recently with fruit.  Problem with this:  I live in New England and it's January.  If my house goes bankrupt, it will be because of my fruit habit.  And it's darn hard to get ripe fresh fruit this time of year.  You can get good fruit, but not that eye-rolling sinful stuff.

I've finally managed to come out of my New Year's food coma.  I know...  we are always excessive but this time, it felt even more so!  Before I get to the food, a couple of points for me to remember for next year:

1.  Going shopping at an Asian food mega-mart on two days before New Year is a bad idea.  Lots and lots of people.  Very slim pickings.

2.  When you go at that time, do not expect to be able to find good taro.  You will find old, sad taro that has been left over.  If you ask for more taro, people will laugh at you.

3.  Parking far away from the door was a great idea.  Safety was vastly improved.

4.  Five dishes for two people is a little much but left-overs have great potential.

But now to the meat of the matter, what we made!  J.P. made some fabulous braised short-ribs.  I made spicy peanut noodles, taro cake, sticky rice, and dumplings.  See?  That's why I was in a food coma. 

 

 

OMG!  It's finally gone!  I've had this baker's shelf in my kitchen acting as a pantry for the last couple of years...  ok, probably the last 7 years.  We don't have a lot of shelving and being as I like to cook, pantry items were missing a home.  But in my old age, I had gotten tired of the cluttered look of the shelf so we finally got a new sideboard/cabinet thingie.  It's beautiful and simple and holds a lot of stuff and it closes so I don't have to see ramen flavor packets overflowing onto the floor.  I'm so happy.  No, this isn't just the sugar talking.

Bad iPhone pic - but you get the idea

I had completely forgotten about two funny things until I downloaded the pics off my camera today.  Must remember to do that more often.  Hehehe.

Jen versus the 8.5lb lobster!

What a wonderful day!  Fat flakes of snow falling all day!  J.P. took me on a small jaunt to play in it and now...  cake!  I've had this cake craving for days and we went to the store in the snow to get supplies.  Result - a super bouncy me just from tasting the frosting and a cake.  Must calm down a little before I eat it otherwise my brain may explode. 

World's easiest and really pretty reliable frosting

1 8oz package of cream cheese, room temp
1 stick of room temp unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Whip the cream cheese and butter to mix and loosen them.  Add in sugar and vanilla.  Whip until fluffy.  Done.

Somehow, four inches of snow in Chicago managed vex United Airlines (wait, it snows in Chicago and people travel around Chrismas...  did anyone know about this) so J.P. and I spent Christmas in Boston.  In order to drown out my sorrow (this is only the second Christmas ever that I haven't been with my family), I decided to cook and cook and cook.  The last minute nature of the flight cancelation and the fact that our Mini had a huge crack in the windshield and snowy streets made me decide to take the bus to Whole Foods to get a couple of items for Christmas and Christmas Eve dinner.  J.P. went to James Hook and picked up a bevy of seafood, mussels, steamers, little necks, quohogs, and a giant lobster.  I was walking around Whole Foods picking up a roast and a couple of other bits and pieces.  Let me just say that it didn't look like it was that much stuff when it was in the cart but by the time I walked the 1/2 mile to the bus station, I think that I was about 3-inches shorter from the weight.

Christmas Eve Menu

Bouillabase with Rouille

Christmas Menu

3-rib roast
Yorkshire pudding
Sweet potatoes
Corn
Horseradish cream
Whiskey-red wine gravy
White chocolate-citrus parfait

New Years Eve Menu

Fried Chicken chicken wings
Stuffies 

Today I was the human cookie factory.  I wanted to send some cookies to people and I have a department lunch tomorrow so I figured I would make some cookies for that...  and I wouldn't want to bring things into my work place and not have something for J.P. to bring into his workplace so four types of cookes (and a whole heck of a lot of butter) later, I'm just dead and looking forward to something savory for dinner.  Hehehe.




Mexican Wedding Cookies

2 cups butter, room tempurature
1 cup powdered sugar plus 1 cup more for dusting
2 tablespoons vanilla
1 cup roasted almonds, finely chopped
3 1/3 cups cake flour
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Sift flours together. Cream the butter and 1 cup of powdered sugar until light and fluffy.  Mix in vanilla and almonds.  Gently mix in the flour mixture.  Using two spoons, shape about 1 tablespoon of the mixture into a nice quenelle (football shape).  Since the cookies don't spread, I was about to put about 25 per half-sheet.

Bake for 16 minutes or until the bottom of the cookies is starting to turn a little golden.  Let cool for 10 minutes and then roll in the remaining powdered sugar to coat.  The warmth of the cookie was help the sugar to adhere.




Chocolate Peppermint Buttercream Sandwich Cookies

Cookie part

3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder

Filling

3/4 cup of unsalted butter
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract

Also, about 1/2 cup of candy canes/mint candies smashed into tiny bits.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  For the cookies,  sift together the flour and the cocoa.  Cream the butter and the sugar.  Add in the flour mixture until well combined.  Chill the dough for 1 hour.

When the dough is chilled, scoop out about 1 teaspoon of dough and roll into a ball.  Place balls about 2 inches apart on the sheet tray.  Using the bottom of a glass (which has been dusted with flour), squash the balls flat.  You will get about a 1.5 inch round with crinkly edges.  Bake for 9-10 minutes.  Let cool on the sheet for a couple of minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

For the filling, whip the butter and sugar together until very light and very fluffy.  Whip in the extact.

To assemble:  find cookies that are roughly the same size.  Spread about 1 tablespoon of filling onto the bottom of one cookies and sandwich with it's buddy.  Using the filling on the edges as glue, roll in the crushed mints.

And the holiday sweet factory is once again open!  Today's experiment, Hawaiian Sea Salt Caramels.  Tomorrow, cookie day!

I've been thinking about caramels ever since we harvested our salt in October.  It just seemed like a wonderful vehicle for showing off the salt flavor. 

Hawaiian Sea Salt Caramels

1 cup heavy cream
5 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon Hawaiian Sea Salt
1.5 cups sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water

Prep a 8x8 pan by lining it with lightly oiled parchment paper.

Bring the cream, butter and salt to a boil in a small pot.  In a larger sauce pan, pour the sugar in a mound in the center.  Pour the syrup and the water over and place over medium heat.  Bring to a boil gently swirling the pot once in a while to dissolve all the sugar.  Cook until medium-amber.  Be careful because the color will go from clear to burnt in the blink of an eye.

Just when it's almost at the color you want, take it off the heat and pout in the cream mixture.  it will violently bubble up.  Just carefully stir it back.  When it's not so aggressive, put the mixture back over the heat and cook until you reach a temp of 248.  Pour in to the 8x8 pan and allow to cool fully.  Using an oiled pizza cutter, cut into 1 inch squares.  Use a mister to lightly mist with water and sprinkly extra salt on top.  Allow to dry before wrapping.

My name is Angela and I've been a bad blogger.

I'm not entirely sure where November went.  We got back from Hawaii and then poof!  massive time vacuum!  And all of a sudden it was Turkey Day and we were picking up my sister at the airport and then she was gone and now it's December.

I made a pretty tasty brussel sprout dish for Turkey Day.  Jen had mentioned that she liked bacon and brussel sprouts and chestnuts so I figured I would put them all together.  Worked out really well and actually reheated nicely too. 

Brussel Sprouts, Chestnuts, and Bacon

1/2 lbs of bacon
2 cups roasted and peeled chestnuts, halved
1.5 lbs of brussel sprouts

Cut the bacon into lardons and cook over slow heat to render the fat and crisp.  When crisp, remove the strips to a paper towel to drain and reserve the bacon dripping.

Trim the brussel sprouts to remove the outer leaves and using a paring knife, cut a small slit in the core/stem end.  Blanch the brussel spouts in boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes and then drain and rinse under cold water.  When the sprouts are cool enough to handle, cut then in half with the slit as a guide.

In a non-stick frying pan, heat up a pat of butter with a small dribble of the bacon dripping.  Place only as many brussel sprouts in as will fit in one layer, cut side down.  Cook until deeply browned and then move to a bowl.  Repeat this, rinsing the pan between batched until all the spouts and the chestnuts are browned.  Toss all items together with the bacon and season to taste.  They usually take more salt and pepper than one thinks.

 

We had Turkey Day II this weekend and I had a nice cranberry sauce.  I also completely dismembered the turkey before cooking. I froze the breasts, roasted the bones for stock which then enriched the gravy and made soup and brined and roasted the legs and thights separately.  Worked out really well.

But I will make an effort to be a better blogger in December if only because it's a great cooking month. 

I frequently tell people that J.P. and I have been together since the earth cooled and at least for our age, it does seem like it at times.  We started dating 15 years ago (almost 16 at this point).  It took us another 10 years to finally get married.  It has been almost half of my life which is pretty awesome.

So for our 5th wedding aniversary, he was super sneaky and got me out to Kauai.  All he told me was to pack for warm weather and bring casual clothing.  It wan't until we were boarding a plane in Atlanta that I saw the destination was Honolulu.  Hehehe.

We stayed at the Pono Kai in Kapaa.  It has the perfect location for going to anywhere on the island.  You can get to Hanalei or Poi'pu without too much worry.  We did so so much and yet nothing at all.  I suppose that's what makes a great vacation.

Pictures incoming later.

• Salt - we harvested our own salt at the Salt Ponds.
• Guava - we were hopping through the brush on the road to Waimea Canyon and filled a towel full of all sorts of guava including strawberry, white and common.  So so tasty.  Every day I would blend some up and have cocktails or juice.
• Plums - yes, we picked the last three plums off a tree when looking for guava.  They looked like big cherries and tasted fabulous.  I think they were wild methley plums.
• Kauai Kookie company. Yum.
• Barbeque Inn.  Ultra-yum.
• Wind surfing - J.P. took one lesson and even the guys who do it all the time were impressed how fast he picked it up.  I was lazy and sat in the shade reading.
• Fish - we ate fish every day.  We bought fish at the Foodland and grilled.  No, I'm not veg but there does seem to be a link between eating less meat and feeling better.  It's probably all just in my head.
• Beach - always remember to flip and go into the water when you get too warm.  And we found a new beach that we really like.  Not too crowded.
• Waves - wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!  Love them.
• Sun - yes, it is possible to get too much sun but a nice hat and some shade will solve that problem.  Oh, and 50 SPF sunscreen to avoid looking like a lobster
• Saimen - I wish they had that in Boston.
• Coffee tour - complete opposite of the Kona experience but some of their beans were very very good.  We drank enough samples to give us a good buzz.
• Chocolate tour - should have and could have been so good.  But it wasn't.  The botanical gardens' tour was infinitely superior.
• Snorkling - fish!
• Random swimming - turtles!
• Poke from Foodland - sigh...  I wish they had stuff that good in the supermarkets here.
• Farmers' Market - The fruits and veggies where insane!!!!!!  Exotic Rambutan, giant carambola, Dragonfruit, Cherimoya, Logan, citrus of all types, Sapodilla...  and the list goes on.

I'm sure I'm forgetting a ton of stuff so I'm sure I'll be adding stuff later.  I love Kauai. 

I'm been thinking a lot about this recently.  People have been chatting about it at ILTA and in the office.  Family has discovered Facebook and so on and so forth.

I finally broke down and started following some "professional" friends on Twitter.  While I like it..  I also don't.  I love being able to see what other people are doing and thinking but sometimes, people really take too much of a soapbox approach.  Yes, I do understand that it is basically personal marketing but if people are going to use it as such, they should learn something about marketing or perhaps really, they should learn something about subtlety.  I've had more eye-rolling in the last few weeks from twitter than ever before. 

Facebook is another tricky one.  Yes, I have a Facebook page but I'm too lazy or perhaps just not interested enough to update it.   I think that I might just have to learn to have more control over it and what gets put where....  maybe.  It's turned into more of a family thing but I just have my Twitter posts go there.   

Side note:  I hate the term tweets.  I know it's unreasonable but the term is just stupid.

LinkedIn, Plaxo...  oh the list goes on.  I know that one of these days I'm just going to have to focus and weed and prune.  I'm hoping that after my department has our resume party (because we're cool), it will get me in the mood to deal with it all.

 

Happy Halloween!  I was the bad blogger and haven't writting in a while.  In my own defense, work was INSANE and then, my lovely wonderful and completely awesome husband surprised me with a trip to Kauai.  So my apologies for the tardiness of some of these posts and for heaping them out there. 

We went to Drink last night with some friends.  It's the newest piece of Barbara Lynch's juggernaut and it's marvelous!  They had some of the best cocktails that I've had in a while.  While not inexpensive to say the least, I had three very fine drinks: The Left Bank, The Last Hand, and Bee's Knees.  All were superb.  They didn't have any drink menus so I loved being able to ask for bartender (who looked like someone out snazzy post-Prohibition bar) for certain flavors.  They were all very good but the Bee's Knees was the perfect night ender.  It was lemon, honey and vodka.  When it arrived in it's chilled glass, he had shaken it so hard that there were fabulous little tiny ice crystals that would dissolve on your tongue before you could even really tell that they were there. 

Let me first state that I do not eat chicken salad.  It's usually really mayo-ish and I don't do mayo.  But my co-worker was turning 50 and we were having an apple themed party as a cover for real party so I needed to make some food with apples.  We had gone picking on Sunday (hurray!) so I decided to make a squash and apple soup and chicken salad with apples.  The soup turned out pretty good.  Rich, thick and fall-like.  The chicken salad was a huge hit.  I don't know if it was what chicken salad was suppose to taste like but it worked.

Chicken Salad

4 lbs or so of chicken breast on the bone (I had split ones)
3 sweet-tart apples, medium dice
2-3 ribs of celery, finely diced
1/2 small red onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, minced
1/2 cup of mayo
1/3 cup of sour cream
Juice from one lemon
1/2 teaspoon of cayanne
1/2 teaspoon of paprika
1/2 teaspoon of celery salt
Salt and Black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400.  Aggressively season the chicken breasts, rub with olive oil and roast until the internal temp is about 165 degrees.  Let the chicken rest for 20 minutes or longer until cool enough to handle.  Remove skin and bones.  Dice into medium-large dice.

Mix mayo, sour cream, lemon, tarragon and spices.  Taste for seasonings.

Mix all the remaining ingedients in a large bowl and toss in dressing.  Taste for seasonings.

The other night, I used the same falafel recipe as before but this time I pan-fried them. 

v1 was deep fried and shaped into small balls.  Yummy.
v2 was baked and shaped into small balls.  Tasty.
v3 was pan-fried and shaped into small disks.  Super yummy!!!!

 

Uph!  Rolling out a new accounting program has just killed me for the last couple of weeks.  It just sucks the life out of me to be the force of cheerfulness all day.  I'm gloomy!  I'm the little black rain cloud!  It's not what I'm suppose to do.  :)

So some of these posts are out of chronological order and my writing abilities have turned to mush at this point so please forgive my wandering.

A childhood friend of J.P.'s and his wonderful girlfriend got married last weekend.  They went up to Vermont and had a justice of the peace do it.  We are so so so very happy for the two of them.  And yes, I liked Emma very much before she gave me grapes!  :P

Argent hasn't met Emma but he sure likes her carrots.

Well, we ended up with a TON of beach plum juice.  We had about 4.5 gallons of beach plums comes out to about 26 cups of juice.  We first popped them all into a lobster pot with a smidge of water and then it was time to squish them.  J.P. was such a honey for doing it for me.  He just reached right in there and started mashing them between his fingers.

Once we had a pulverized mash, we put it on the heat and simmered it for about 30 minutes to extract more juice.  We then took the mash mixture and ran it through a food mill in small batches to extract yet MORE flavor and juice.  Finally, we let the juice/pulp mixure drain overnight in linen bags.  The dense inky juice that resulted was amazing!  It made 4 batches of jelly (or about 32 cups total).  Fabulous stuff!  I know that I normaly don't know what to do with all my jelly but this stuff is getting eaten by me and if I'm feeling gracious and generous (ha!), I might give a few jars away. 

Beach Plum Jelly

6 cups of Beach Plum Juice
3 cups of sugar
1 package No-Sugar Sure-Jel Pectin

Mix the pectin with 1/4 cup of sugar in a small bowl.  In a pot, put all of the juice in and heat over medium heat.  Add in the sugar-pectin mixture.  Bring to a vigorous boil and then add the rest of the sugar.  Bring back to a hard boil and boil for 1 minute.  Ladle into jars and process in boiling water for 5 minutes. 

Yes, I know that there are purists who are against adding additional pectin but my beach plums were very ripe so I knew that I would need the additional pectin.  As it is, my jelly is pretty loose (the way I like it).

No, you silly goose!  Not the Pepe's in Key West.  We commented on the name as we were strolling down Commercial street and after a touch of shopping/browsing, I was tired and needed an afternoon drink.  At first I wanted to go to a wine bar but after being ignored at the first one we went to (yes, I just stood there waiting to give them money and they didn't want to seat us), we popped into Pepe's on the Wharf.  We managed to snag two seats at the bar.  I don't think that I've had that much fun people watching in a while.  We must have been there for a couple of hours just having beers and cocktails and watching the bartender, Danielle, run around like mad and interact with the wildest diversity of folks.  She had a gorgeous southern drawl and was just full of sass for some of the customers.  And let me just say that I could NEVER be a bartender because I would have killed some of these people for how annoying they were.  

We first went to Clem and Ursie's a number of years ago when J.P.'s family used to rent a house in North Truro for a couple of weeks each summer.  One time, we had an ENORMOUS lobster there and it was to die for.  Obviously, we had to try it again.  Now, Clem and Ursie's was never what one would call fine dining the the sense of decor or appearence of the diners but it was always excellent food.  We were a little concerned when we found out the they had changed to table service and had a hostess to boot!  Not exactly the "Calling Your Number Over the Speaker" system we had remembered.  But off we went after biking around all morning.  We got some Russian Oysters (with caviar and sour cream) which were fabulous,



some steamers which were probably the best I've had all season and a Crabby Patty which was pretty good though a bit heavy.  Good to know that the food is still yummy!

I love the picture below.  It's J.P. taking oysters to a Wagamama level.

Saturday morning-ish we got up and some a little breakfast at the Portuguese Bakery and then it off for a ride around the seashore.  It's a great little path.  Some of it is a little lumpy because of the tree roots but this time of year, it's not too packed with people.  It was overcast which is good since I didn't put any sunblock on J.P.  We were on our way to race point when J.P. made the most magnificent discovery, wild beach plums!!!!  I had never seen them before and he used to talk so listfully about beach plum jelly that he had as a kid.

Staying down a small walk-way from the Portuguese Bakery is dangerous when they fry Malassadas in the window.  I have to admit that I like the ones in Hawaii better but then again, those come with yummy fillings.

It was raining when we got to PTown and since we were beat, we decided that we would go for a drink and what could be more appropriate than having a Long Island Ice Tea at George's.  We were staying at the Moffet House so I literally could have tumbled own the door, down the path and ended up there...  Or in the fry vat at the Portuguese Bakery.

I was so happy that the ice teas were just as good as I remembered them to be (and just as wickedly powerful).  J.P.'s mum never really drank but whenever they would rent the Rat Trap in Truro, she would always have a Long Island Ice Tea (or two) at Georges.

While we were relaxing with our drinks, the smell of the pizza was making us crazy!  We left and natually went to Spiritus Pizza!  While I'm sure that they have good pizza, when you are little buzzed, it's just heaven on earth!  We were starving, or so we though and orded a whole pie...  with garlic, ricotta and anchovies.  Oh so offensive!  Glorious.  We ended up at a booth next to two groups of people that were in PTown for a friend's wedding . They were fun and friendly and one gentleman had a wonderful voice (and memory for lyrics).  J.P. bought some beers for them and it turned into a friendly chat-fest. 

After stuffing our faces and getting a damn fine brownie, we needed one more drink and then I was done for the night.  I wonder at times if J.P. ever believes me when I tell him that the only time I have a problem with pacing is when he's around because he's such an enabler for me.  LOL! 

J.P. is so good at being sneaky.  He's like a bloodly ninja when it comes to surprising me.  For my bday, he told me that I needed to pack for the weekend and to bike in to work on Friday.  And that's about all I knew.  I left work a little early and met up with him at his work place...  We headed south and made a pit stop at the 7-11 for a beverage.

J.P. - Let me test out to see if the drinks will be too sloshy in my badg (as he rides back the way we came from)
Angela - (Watching him with the big hiking pack ride back about a block and turn down around a corner)
J.P. - (Motions for me to follow)
Angela - (Scooting along to catch up, misses the HUGE sign for PTown Fast Ferries).

Yeah, I would make a terrible spy.  I'm too easily distracted.

We have a fabulous ride down.  It was suppose to be rough and at first, I was laughing at the calmness but by the time we got to PTown, the leaping over the swells.  I was laughing like I was on a roller coaster!

I broke down and bought one because lot of people seemed to indicate that it was pretty cool.  We looked around for a while for one and everyone was sold out...  and then one day I was walking through the Pru and there it was on the shelf at GameStop.  Woot!

First of all.  I am officially old and fat.  That's what it told me.  While I was traumatized that this fact for a while, I'm determined to get over myself (ha!). 

The Wii Fit itself is a ton of fun.  I am frequently qualified at "unbalanced" which makes me laugh every time.  But my balance is getting better and some of the exercises are really quite a work out...  for someone at my stage of life.  :)

And let me be the first to say that I am apparently a cougar because J.P. is not old and fat. 

For some unknown reason, I popped out of bed on Sunday with a ton of energy and took my first shot at making bagels.  I figured that I would start with the recipe on the back of the Sir Lancelot flour bag.  It was super easy though I didn't have any non-diastic malt power so I had to substitute brown sugar.  I think that I used some over-aggressive yeast because the bagels were a little flatter than expected when they came out of the oven.  Still, they were very tasty especially when combined with cream cheese and grape jelly.  Might try a different recipe next time to see if it makes a textural change.

We made soem bibimbap for dinner last night, or at least, our version of it.  J.P. found these fabulous stone bowls a while ago and I just love using them.  We heated the whole thing on the grill and it made the bottom rice crunchy!  Kimchee, seaweed salad, kinchee tuna, pan-fried anchovies, hot pickled radish, royal ferns with leeks, and of course, a fried egg made for wonderful picky toppings. 

Royal Ferns with Leeks

3 leeks, washed and sliced into half moons
1 package of boiled royal ferns, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon hot chili paste
1 tablespoon peppered bean paste
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

Heat the oil in a wide pan until almost smoking.  Add leeks and stir-fry until wilted.  Add in the rest of the ingredients except the sesame oil.  Saute until cooked through (only a couple of minutes).  Take off heat and stir in the sesame oil.

So I thought that I would give Grilled Tofu a try last night.  We have some yummy tofu from the 88.  I sliced it in half and pressed in it paper towels briefly to get out some of the water.  I then marinated it in some oyster sauce, sambal, honey and vinegar.  Heat grill to pretty damn hot.  Grill.  Flip.

Going pretty well...  Obviously I didn't stick to it when I was in Dallas because Texas = Beef and boy did I have some fine beef while down there.  But other that that, I've pretty much been veg.  J.P. has been more successful but that hardly surprises anyone.  :)

I did my first open water dives this weekend.  It was pretty fun though I'm not so keen on diving in these colder climates.  First of all, I had to wear a full 7mm suit with the thick gloves and the hood.  I had the mobility of the Michelin Man.  Then in order to have me sink, they put 30 pounds of lead in my BCD plus another 3 pounds on my ankles.  And then there was the BCD weight and the tank weigh...  and then the flippers really added to the gracefulness of the whole outfit.  J.P. estimates that I probably had about 75 pounds on my back.  I was feeling pretty wimpy until he commented that everyone else was bigger than me and had the same amount of weight...  I think I'm shorter now.  

My house right now smells like grape grape grape!  We went to Emma's place this weekend to go to dinner and see Waterfire and it turns out that she has a ton of concord grapes growing along a fence.  I picked some...  Ok, I have to admit that I thought that I was only picking a few but I picked a TON!  Got them home, de-stemmed them all with J.P.'s help and then had the ultimate pleasure of squishing them.  It was a little gross and a lot of fun.  I got about 13 cups of juice out if that gives you any sense of how many grapes I picked.  

5 cups of grape juice
6 cups of sugar
1 package of pectin

Went to Dallas for the ILTA conference.  I had a fabulous time but I don't think that Dallas is one of those places in world where I could live.  It was too flat and hot and hazy for my tastes.

It was tax-free weekend this past weekend and we figured that it would be a good time to get items that we needed but never went on sale.  We got a HUGE set of drawers from Ikea as well as two rugs.  One is a super fun rug for J.P.'s side of the bed.  A sheepskin.  It cracks me up that it's by the fireplace.  Rawr!  The other rug is for my side of the bed and and it's a off-white with bold orange designs.  I absolutely love it.  There is something very nice about rolling out of bed and the feeling of a nice wool rug on your toes.

I didn't particularly appreciate asparagus when I was a child but it's now up there with broccoli as one of my favorite veggies.  J.P. bought me a bunch last night (and a lovely bouquet of flowers) and it was so so tasty.

Lemon Butter Asparagus

1 bunch asparagus
1 small pat of butter
Salt & Pepper to taste
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Prep the asparagus by removing the woody bottoms and cutting into 1-2" pieces (green lincoln logs as someone in my house calls them).  Melt the butter in a saute pan and add salt.  Add the asparagus and reduce heat to med-low and cover.  Cook until almost done and remove lid to get rid of the excess steam.  Squeeze in the lemon juice and season to taste!

Dinner:  Congee with broccoli and a side of mushrooms and eggplant in a spicy sauce with chinese pickles.  All good.  

It's August and it's cold.  This is just wrong.  I haven't even been to the beach yet this year and from the looks of the weekends, I'm not going to go anytime soon.  So sad.  Already this month I have made a pumpkin soup and a steamy rice paella like dish with chicken and scallops.  Not exactly caprese salad foods. 

All my tomatoes are dying because of the rain.  Most of the fruit has split and the plants themselves are rotting.  With this much rain, I should be able to start using the roof deck as a dock and charging mooring fees.

On the bright side, the watermelon is rocking!  Go watermelon!

One of the glories of summer is stonefruit.  I love plums and peaches and nectarines!  We went picking this weekend for some peaches and while they were pretty good, the rain is killing everything.  The nectarines were explosively juicy but the flavor had really been watered down.  The peaches seem OK for now but it's still raining out so we'll have to see.  So sad.

Well, mostly finished.  We've now moved the computers into the new study and got me a new small little desk to better fit in the area.  And most importantly, Argent has been set up in the new room so the move is now official!  I just need to work on the clutter yet some more and perhaps have J.P. put some pictures up.  Yeah!!!

Warning!!!  This is a TLDNR entry!

The past weekend, we went to Vermont for a long weekend.  It was soooooo fun!!!  A couple of weeks ago, I had this crazy idea about biking around the Woodstock area and J.P. was a sport and humored me.  We stayed at a little B&B called The Farmhouse Inn at Robinson Farm.  It was a very cute little place!  The innkeeper, Tory was extremely friendly and accomedating and the breakfasts she made held us over until dinner!  I don't think I ate lunch any day I was in Vermont.  Hehehe.  It's a little odd...  when you live in the city, you really get use to the constant amount of light.  The first night in the inn, I noticed how absolutely dark it was.  It was very nice.  But living in the city, you also get use to how little noise there is at night.  We were fairly close to Route 4 so the sounds of the cars and trucks was so weird for me.  I felt like the strange city-bumpkin!!  But they had pocket doors to the bathroom and I LOVE pocket doors.  Don't ask why...  it makes no sense at all but they are just the best!

Day 1:  We left Boston around 10am and were off and running.  When we got to Vermont, we decided to do a little cheese exploration before heading to the inn.  J.P. had put together a great Google map for us based on some research and the Vermont Cheese Train map.  Our first stop was Taylor Farm Cheese.  It was a little farther away than I thought...  I should have taken that as a sign that the Nuvi was confused by Vermont but I didn't realize that until later.  It was a nice little farm but definitely not in-season.  We were the only people there and there was one person who was sort-of manning the register.  But they had small samples and I really liked select and maple-smoked cheese.  We got a natural rind slice and a smoked and then they also had a boursin which we got for the canoe ride the next day.  We decided to hit a couple of other places her there since they were kind of far away.  According to the Cheese map, Woodcock Farm was suppose to be open to the public.  Now it is entirely possible that they are in fact open to the public but just weren't home.  It was a small operation but they had some nice collies that decided to follow us when we were looking for people and cheese. 

At this point, we had been on the road for a good amount of time and it was time to head to the Inn.  We went through the backroads to get there and it was a very nice drive.  We arrived, unpacked everything and then decided that Long Trail Brewery was pretty close to us (about 3 miles) so we hopped on our bikes headed there.  We were hoping to get dinner but it turns out that they stop serving food at 5pm and stop serving drinks at 6pm.  Crazy talk!!  We figured that a pint would still be nice.  When we got there, I was sadly a little winded (yes, bad sign for upcoming days) so the beer really hit the spot.  Beer at the brewery is ALWAYS a billion times better than what you get at the store.  We started with their Blackberry Wheat and their Belgian White.  Both excellent though the Blackberry really stood out.  We then split a Long Trail.  Sometimes just that little bit of beer is enough to relax you.  It was an, "Aahhh...  welcome to vacation" moment.

So we biked back and we had made reservations for The Prince & The Pauper restaurant for dinner.  We were a little early so it gave us time to walk around town a bit (and move my legs) and have a drink at the bar before being seated.  Having a glass of wine or a cocktail before being seated is just something I love.  It sets the pace for the evening and it also helps ease you into dinner.  An elegant transition.  They had a prix fixe menu which we tend to like.  For starters, we ordered the tomato soup and the Thai mussels.  The soup was outstanding and the mussels were also quite good.  We had a very nice Pinot from Dundee, Oregon.  I can't remember the name though I thought that it was Fox something.  It was very yummy and perfect for a warm/cool night.  For entrees I had a lamb wellington that was pretty good and J.P. had a seared tuna with killer peanut noodles.  It was like an Italian was taking an Asian flavor through his own eyes.  Very good.  I was very full but that never stops me from dessert.  I had the chocolate bread pudding which very rich and J.P. and an apple-blackberry crisp.  Went back to the inn.  Collapsed.

Day 2:  We decided to go canoeing on Friday since there was a better shot of there being fewer people on the river.  Tory made us an ENORMOUS breakfast and after picking up a load of bread at the Woodstock Farmer's Market we drove to Cornish NH to the canoe rental place.  This is where our Nuvi failed us again.  We knew were needed to be in Cornish and it took us to Plainsville.  I know, it's not perfect but it was probably about 10 miles off and we ended up in some poor confused old guy's driveway.  But after a little searching we got the Northstar Canoes.  First of all, they told us to be there at 9am and while we were late, it turns out that they don't actually have a shuttle leaving until 10:30.  We selected the full day trip from Surly Boy #1 and after driving around for 30 minutes to kill time, we came back to the barn where they run things and Surly Boy #2 told us to get into a short-bus and drove us to the dropoff point.  It took about 30 minutes to get there so I had assumed we were quite a bit up stream.  We started off and it was lovely!  The river was moving at a decent rate and we got to see some ducks and herons.  It rained off and on all morning and everytime it would start coming down hard, I would start to giggle at all the bubbles on the surface of the water.  It was faboo!  After a little while of paddling, we figured it was time for cheese!  We had the boursin from Taylor Farm Cheese.  It was out of this world.  So good.  Wonderfully balanced but intense.  I was ripping off hunks of bread and smearing it into the tub with abandon.  After eating, we spent the last part of the trip just happily floating down the river.  We put the paddles away and became dragonfly landing pads as we sprawled out with our feet dangling in the water.  The current would slowly turn us this way and that and it was so very soothing...  and then Poof!  We were at the exit point...  Hhhmmm..  How is it that a "full day trip" leaving at 10:30am with a 30 minute drive has us at the exit point at 1:30?  Two and a half hours hardly seems full day to me and if it is, damn!  I want it as a work day!!!

But my fabulous husband turned it back again and made it cheese day number two!  We were Plymouth Cheese which also was the location for Frog City Cheese.  It was pretty good.  We got the Hunter since we liked there aged stuff and the hunter was suppose to be more intense.  We'll have to see how it it when we open it up.  The shop was small and I was hoping that they would actually have been making cheese but no such luck.

We hopped back to the inn for a shower (river water + sunscreen + rain + mud = eewwww) and went off to Woodstock Water Buffalo (or apparently Bufala di Vermont as they are now known).  At first we were thinking about riding our bikes but it looked like it might be overly hilly so we drove.  Thank goodness!!!  First of all, the Nuvi hates Vermont and got us lost again.  Secondly, holy hills Batman!!!  Up and down and up and down and whhhheeeeee! over the dirt roads.  We finally found the place (thank you iPhone) and it was very very cool!  I know that it makes me sound that the ignorant city-bumpkin again but water buffalo are HUGE!!!  I knew they were bigger than cows but not my that much!  There was one person there and basically you got a pamphlet and it was a self-guilded tour but we got to see the girls in the barn and pet some of the calves.  Their hair is so course and stringy compared with the hide of a cow.  We also saw some in a pasture but when we got close to the fence, the buffalo inside weren't too happy to see us.  One was pawing the ground and being the giant chicken that I am, I told J.P. that it was time to go.   We bought a small container of raspberry yogurt, a fresh moz, and pressed, slightly aged cheese called Ravello.  Since we still had to bread in the car, we cut off a slice of moz right way to eat.  It was very good though since we didn't have any salt in the car, it was a little flat. 

As if that wasn't enough food for the day, we went to Simon Pearce for dinner.  We had an early dinner reservation.  We got there a little early and wanted to have a drink at the bar.  Apparently, 6pm is the first seating of the night so we wandered around the store instead.  Bad idea.  I love glass.  I love pottery.  Yes, I'm picky about it but I really do adore it.  I drooled about for a little bit before we went in for dinner.  We got a nice table overlooking the falls.  While we weren't on the patio, it was still a great view.  I had a Pimm's Cup to start and they make an excellent redition of it.  It's more orange than other version I've tried but it still had that nice cucumber flavor throughout.  For a starter, I got the cucumber soup (very me) and J.P. got the crab cake (yum!).  We split a caprese salad (with buffalo moz of course!) and for our entress, J.P. had a pork tenderloin and I had a roast duckling.  The pork was a little dry and under seasoned but they nailed the duck.  Crispy skin and tender juicy meat.  It was marvelous!  After dinner, we went down to look at the hydro turbine and look at the pottery and glass studios before we headed back to the inn to collapse again.  On the way back, we drove up to Sugarbush farms to see how uphill it was.  It was uphill.

Day 3:  Biking day!  We got up and skipped breakfast.  We hopped on the bikes and off we went.  We had decided that we would go down and follow River Road into Quechee.  We stopped off at the Woodstock Farmer's Market again to pick up a little caffeine and that's when we say it... a banana plant!!!  I was so excited that I told J.P. that we would have to come back to buy it later.  We zipped through town and back onto River Road, the indicated bike route...  and then it turned into a dirt road.  We were a little confused and had to check the map to be sure we weren't lost but sure enough, it was correct.  It must have been all the little bumps which addled my mind but we saw a sign for Sugarbush farms and I said, "Let's do it!"  Obviously, brain injury.  Ok, despite my weak and whiny state, it was actually not a deathmarch and J,P, was a fabulous sport about encouraging me onward when I was ready to curl up on the grass and wait for him to come back. 

Sugarbush Farms was very pleasant.  While they don't make their own cheese, they did have a very nice selection to taste and they had a ton of other Vermont produced foods.  I particularly liked the pepperoni and the venison sausage.  They also had Grade B maple syrup.  I know people like the light stuff but I love the dark amber and the B because it just has so much more maple flavor.  It's assertive without being cloyingly sweet. 

The ride the Quechee was very nice (read: downhill) and in no time at all, we were in Quechee.  We stopped for a lemonade and then it was back to Woodstock.  We took a slightly different and shorter route back and we stopped off at Simon Pearce so that I could watch some glass blowing and some pottery making.  Hurray! 

On slight problem with the ride back...  Between Woodstock and the Inn, we decided to use the bike route instead of Route 4.  It was suppose to be more scenic and with less traffic.  I should have realized from the previous road conditions that the bike route might not be the best course of action.  We hopped over a little steel grate bridge and again, the pavement thing just ended...  and hills popped up... and the river/stream disappeared.  I must have had a look of horror on my face because J.P. was joking that we would end up at Long Trail.  Twists, turns, more hills...  All bad.  When we finally saw the river and a covered bridge, I was so thrilled!!  We were almost back...  but not.  Tory had mentioned that this restaurant, Mangowood, was about a mile from the inn....  but in reality, it's about 2.5 miles.  That was the longest mile I have ever ridden.  LOL!  But we got back and showered and I didn't die.  All good!

Oh, I forgot to mention that we did also stop off for some ice cream on the way back.  We went to Mountain Creamery and got the BEST waffle cone ever and some wonderful brownie ice cream.  It is a well documented fact that I love ice cream and can be a little particular about it abut this was some of the best I've ever eaten.  The ice cream itself was rich and smooth with great chunks of brownie in vanilla ice cream.  Nicely balanced with not too much "stuff" all over the place.  The cone was heavenly.  It was obviously fresh made and just a touch chewy but crunchy.  It wasn't too sweet and you could taste a touch of salt from the butter.

Dinner that night.  We were tired.  We made a mistake.  No need to discuss it.  But we did make a pit stop at Long Trail again.  Their Hef is faboo!

Day 4:  Time to go home.  Tory once again make a great breakfast.  She made a fruit salad with maple buffalo yogurt and banana bread.  Just awesome and so so so filling.  Thank goodness we did some exercise because her breakfasts along would have made me exceed the weight limit of the second floor!  We stopped off at King Arthur to get some flour so that I can make bagels and then it was the long drive home. 

It was such a great long weekend.  It's amazing how restorative something as short as 4 days can be.  But J.P. is just the best vacation partner in the world!  We're obsessive about research but never mind winging it either.  And of course we usually eat and drink well too. 

I really love the new room set up.  The new bedroom is so so wonderful and relaxing.  There is something fantastic about how open it is and the peach color works so well in all of the funky light.  The bedroom closet has been moved it and now I just need to get off my butt and finish cleaning out the old bedroom in preparation for the computer desk moves.  We had shabu-shabu in the old bedroom the other night and after J.P. cleared out a space for us, It really looked fantastic.  Just more stuff to parse through.  So-much-stuff...  This is again what I get for being a bloody pack-rat for all of these years.  Even though I recycle as much as I can and donate as much as I can, it's still a little disturbing how much is going out in the trash.

We had wings on the grill on Monday night and that was great!  Our grill does a fantastic job holding a fairly low temp and so we can basically let them fry in their own fat.  The outside ends up being crisp while the inside is just tender and juicy!  We did something similar with drumsticks last night and it also rocked. 

Oh!  All of the plants are really starting to come into their own now.  The tomatoes are starting to ripen.  I have at least 3 eggplants coming in (1 purple, 2 white).  The peppers are popping out all over the place.  The blueberries are ripening.  The basil is booming and...  we actually have decent sized watermelons!!!  Ok, right now one is about the size of a softball and the other is the size of a tennis ball but it's still pretty impressive and cool.

Well, on Monday, my bike was all set and J.P. and I rode home from Back Bay.  Not too far and really not that bad of a ride.  I have to say that I was a little worried about ridding around in the city because people drive like nut-cases and the people walking around are just as dangerous  but it wasn't like Mr. Toad's wild ride at all.  And I rode in today (in a skirt too!) and that was really a nice ride.  Now we just have to figure out what to do with the bikes when we get home since we don't really have anyplave to put them and it's a pain to get them up and down stairs.  Hehehe.

I'm super excited for our trip this weekend.  Vermont here we come.  Of course, by Sunday, I probably won't be able to walk anymore from all the biking and my arms will be completely shot from the canoeing but there's going to be lots of cheese involved.  I told J.P. this morning that I feel a bit like Wallace before going to the moon.  "Don't forget the crackers!"

This weekend I started my scuba classes!  Hurray!!!  All I can say is that it was so so fun.  I used the Boston Harbor Diving Company and they were great!  There were 5 people in my class, including myself and we have a fantastic instructor, Jim Hicks.  As someone who use to train (though badly), I always find it impressive when I meet someone who is good at it.  He was really able to peg all of our personalities and learning styles very quickly and really gave us as much hand holding/pushing as we needed.  It really rocked.

The classroom portion was...  the classroom portion.  I know that it's really important and there was a lot of good information but until you get out into the water, it's sometime hard to fully appreciate what they are trying to describe.  The safety info was obviously very useful...  the equipment chapters, a little less so.

The pool part was the best.  Heck, I sometimes forgot that I hate pools (the chlorine kills me).  But we got to do all of the set up and practice all of the various skills.  It's funny but I have to say that even if I don't end up diving all the time, the class both made me a better swimmer and a snorklers too.  It was great!  I wish that I was better at it but it was so tiring.  I had a fantastic time but both Saturday and Sunday night I slept like the dead.  Hehehe.  Apparently I should go to the gym more.

I can't wait to do my first open water dives.  It's a little intimedating but I'm such a sucker for sea life that I'll completely forget my worries at the first fish I see.  That's what always happens. 

I've always made fun of J.P. for his ability to break various systems.  He can walk into a computer convention and somehow take down half of their machines.  It's nothing malicious either...  He'll open up a programs and poof!  everything is down.  I use to giggle at it.

Now it seems that karma is getting be back for laughing.  This weekend was the big computer-killing-spree.

First, my MacBook Pro died.  Just croaked!  I went to play WoW and it was chunky so I figured that I would reboot it.  Apparently, that was the last straw.  I got the folder with the big "?" and that was it.  Luckily, J.P. is a resourceful man and after much poking and prodding, he mananged to somewhat revive it... sort of.  I wanted to get as much data off of it as possible but that didn't work so well and after a couple of days, we gave up, popped new drive in and started over again from point A.  Note to self:  don't be a boob and backup you data.

While the laptop was trying to fix the dead-ish drive, J.P. set up my old Mac Mini so that I wouldn't be completely lost.  Despite it's S-L-O-W performance, I figured I would install some games and play around a bit...  No problem, right?  I mean, J.P. had been installing stuff all afternoon on it...  but no.  The minute I try to put a CD in, the drive will not suck them in.  I was thinking that perhaps there was already a disk in there but that wasn't it.  We tried using the terminal window to force eject,  We held down every possible key combination recommended to try and reset it and finally, J.P. had to crack the box open in order to fix it. 

See, bad karma.

Went to the farmers market today near Government Center and bought some zucchini, broccoli, corn and...  PLUMS!  I love fresh picked plums.  J.P.'s summer stone-fruit of choice is peaches and mine is plums.  :)

Hhmmm...  my grape plants seems to be ninja masters at escaping death.  Whenever I threaten to chop them down for lack of production, they surprising sprout something new.  I think that perhaps I should threaten them every day...

Oh, this weekend we ate our first tomatoes from the garden.  There were two yellow pear tomatoes ready and they were uber tasty.  Now if only the rest of them would speed up a little.  Go Mr. Tomato Plants, Go!

I so so so so love it!!!  Obviously, J.P. and I needed a bigger space for our bedroom stuff.  It's no longer so crowded and there is actually room to move and get dressed and all that good stuff.  It's just the best. 

Yes yes...  I still need to get off my lazy bum and get the pics of my camera and tonight I might tackle...  the closets!  Oh, the horror!!!

Ok, normally I'm not all about desserts.  I like them.  I like the idea of them but I'd usually rather just have cheese or something savory.  But we were going out for Wii night so I thought I would try out a milk chocolate mousse recipe.  Worked out really well.

Milk Chocolate Mousse

3 egg yolk
2/3 cup of milk
12 oz milk chocolate
1 tablespoon espresso
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 pint raspberries

Beat the yolks until light and fluffy.  Heat the milk until just simmering.  Slowly temper the yolks with the hot milk then return to the pot.  Heat until thick but not boiling.  Remove from head and add chocolate.  Whisk until the chocolate is melted.  Add in espresso.  Allow to cool.

Beat 3/4 cup of heavy cream until stiff peaks.  Fold into chocolate mixture and refridgerate for at leave 2 hours.  Beat the remaining cream (with a touch of sugar if you want) until stiff and dollap on top of the mousse.  Garnish with raspberries

I bought a real sewing maching.  It's the Brother XL3150 and it's really pretty cool.  I haven't used one since Home Ec class back in the day but even I could figure this one out.  A few snafus in the beginning but then I was cruising along.  I'm making backs and seats for the director's chairs we have upstairs and while hardly perfect, they are working out pretty well.  One done, three more to go.  I'm not fast.  I'm not exact.  But it's fun.

J.P. has the patience of a saint.  And that is a really good thing for me.  :)

He had this idea the other day that we should switch the rooms around in the house.  He casually mentioned it to me and I latched onto it like a hungry blood-sucking leach.  Yes, it because my newest obession.  I kept talking about it, thinking about it, researching it.  A little pathetic, I will admit but that has never stopped me.

First on the To-Do list:  Repaint the living room which will now be refered to as the new bedroom.  The problem with the new bedroom is the lighting.  It has some extremes because of the way the windows are located and the way that the room is shaped.  We had originally picked a great green color but it turned out to not work so well at different times of the day.  This time, we went with a great peach color.  It's the prettiest in the morning but even in the yellow late afternoon sun, it's lovely.  Too bad peach on top of green equals lots of coats.  Three rolled coats and five coats of trim.  But it's done and I'm so very happy with it.

Second on the To-Do list:  Throw some stuff away.  J.P. put it best when he said, "We are information horders and our medium has become obsolete."  No, it's not really obsolete but it's certainly not practical or up-to-date so we are paring down a little.  We donated three boxes of books and we probably donate another three or four by the time we are done.  We have also horded lot of "stuff" that I'm attempting to go through.  Again, thankfully, J.P. is patient.  And thankfully, it's trash day tonight.  I hope my neighbors don't hate me.

Third on the To-Do list:  Move furniture.  Yes, our bathroom is currently considered swing space.  It's funny.  Tonight we will see if the couch will make it out of the living room.  The doorway is a little tight.

We went to Trader Joe's and J.P. found my new favorite shape in pasta, the O!  Yes, it's exactly what you are imagining.  It's just like a spagetti-o O, except that you don't have to overcook it and you can make an adult red sauce for it.  It was just too fun to eat.  Next time, I'm going to have to pair it with meatballs.

I somehow missed them growing up but I had never had fresh peas before...  or at least not at home.  Tasty!  I overcooked them a little and we didn't eat them right away but it was a good starting point.  Will have to try again another day.

Aaahh...  the PSMO - a beautiful thing!  So we needed some tenderloin for Wii night and went to Costco to find some.  We were looking at a smaller piece when we stumbled upon the PSMO.  It was about $2 dollars cheaper per pound and OMG, we are so getting them again in the future.  It was fabulous!!!  Turned it into dinner for 4 people for Wii night, and 2 nights of steaks on the grill for us.  So so tasty.  Some of the best tenderloin I've ever eaten.  I rather like mine bloody so it was a quick sear on the grill with a lot of salt and poof.  done.  It was so decedant and yummy and for the first one, I even added a spot of Roquefort for J.P.  That and some nice red wine made for two extraodinary days on the roof deck.

So so busy!  I have no idea what happened but suddenly, J.P. and I are the busiest people in the world.  We're busy at work.  We're socially busy.  We're busy around the house.  It's a little crazy but fun none the less.  So I apologize for the bulk postings.  I'm a little behind.  Heck, I haven't even taken the pics off my camera in weeks.  So bad of me!!!

We're going to Jenn and Andrew's house this weekend for a little Wii action.  Fun times!!!  Now, I haven't used my Wii in a little bit so I will probably get my butt handed to me but I'm in charge of food.  I was thinking about what Wii foods would be like and at first I was thinking of a lot of hand/picky foods.  But then upon further reflection, it seemed that the idea of making your hands dirty and then holding a Wii controller might not be such a smart idea.  So as of today (and it will probably change tomorrow), I'm going to make:

Antipasto plate - who doesn't like cured meats and cheeses
Filet Beef Bourguignon
Brussel Sprout Gratin
Crusty bread
Some sort of dessert.

The main problem with this weather is that it really kills all energy when I get home.  The lounge chair on the roof deck, a book, and a nice cold drink is about all I can muster.  Not that it's really a bad thing but at some point, chores will need to get done.  On the bright side, I had hummus and veggies last night. 

Hummus

1 can of chick peas
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablepoon or more lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
A heavy pinch of cayenne
A couple of grinds of black pepper
Water to smooth it out

Chuck it all in a blender and whiz it about until you reach the desired consistancy.

Well, it's Monday and I've finally been revived out of my food coma.  Yes, we made less food than normal but it really sent me for a loop. 

4th of July roundup:

The food was excellent.  I really like the corn and truffle combo.  There is something super yummy about the earthiness of the truffles and the sweetness of the corn.  I couldn't find fresh truffles since I didn't have a lot of time but white truffle oil really did the trick just perfectly.  The clod was great as well and in fact, it actually got better the second and third days.  Nice smokiness to really bring out the uber-beefy flavors.  Rice salad is always a reliable choice.  The banana cream biscuits were OK.  For some reason, my pastry cream came out a little gritty.  I think that I didn't cook the eggs enough.  The caramel was to die for though and the biscuits themselves were fantastic as always.  It's funny...  J.P. always says that he can make them better and I have to say that I'm really comfortable eating his attempts.  All in all, another success.

Creamed Corn with Truffle oil

5 ears of corn
1 tablespoon butter
2 scallions, diced
3 tablespoons cream
1 tablespoon white truffle oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cut the corn off the cob.  I find that it's easier to do it onto a clean dish towel so that the kernels down bounce all over your kitchen.  Using the back of your knife, scrape the milk off the cobs into a small bowl.

In a skillet, saute the scallions in the butter until slightly wilted.  Add the corn and saute for a few minutes then add the cream and the corn milk.  Simmer for 5 minutes and take off the heat.  Add the truffle oil and taste for seasoning.

 

Rice Salad

3 cups of cooked sushi rice
9 tomitillos
10 leaves of basil
1 scallion
1 jar of salsa
1 can of black beans
1 cup of sour cream
Salt
2 teaspoons corriander
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Green Salsa:
Dice the tomatillos.  Mix with a little salt and half of the basil, roughly chopped.  You could also use cilantro.

Beans:
Drain and rinse the beans.  Mix with garlic power, corriander and a little salt.

Assembly:
In a medium glass bowl, put about 1/2-3/4 cup of rice in the bottom of the bowl.  Put the green salsa on top.  Layer with about 1 cup of rice.  Spread the sour cream over the rice.  Top with the bean mixture in an even layer.  Layer with the remaining rice.  Top with the jar of salsa and the remaining basil, either shredded or roughly torn.

 

It was the perfect morning for puttering in the kitchen.  We got a call from Chick letting us know that she was off-island and would be stopping by and that helped to shake out the sleepy-cobwebs and the feast prep began.  I had a grand time just plowing through the cooking.  The rice was started.  Tuna was chopped.  Seaweed was soaked.  Meat was prepped.  Gas was bought.  We were crushing all tasks.  Raawwwrrr!  And now we are in full relaxing mode.  Hehehe.  I wish it was a little warmer out but all in all, another fabulous 4th!  Yet another demonstration on how it is a superior holiday!

I know that it sounds ridiculous but there are time when I forget that with quality ingredients, simplicity is so often the best concept.  In the last two days, that point was really been brought out with two dishes, steak and poke.  Both really tasty and great honest flavors.

Steak

1 well-marbled porterhouse steak
Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon veggie oil

Salt the steak heavily.  Yes, you are going to think it's too much.  It's not.  Let rest at room temp for 30 minutes.  The salt will have drawn juices to the surface and will be pretty wet.  Dry off the steak with a paper towel and then rub with oil.  Re-salt.  Not as heavily as the first time but still a good amount.

Heat the grill to nuclear.  Drop the steak on for 2-3 minutes, turn to make attractive marks.  Flip, repeat.  Let rest for 10 minutes.  Cut the meat off the bone and slice.


Poke

1 lb sashimi-grade tuna, diced
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons minced green onion
1/2 cup seaweed, shredded
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
Sprinkling of red Hawaiian salt

Mix.  Let sit for 2 hours then serve.

Oh, dear...  I didn't think about beverages.  Work Brain, Work!

Living on the top/third floor and not having any AC to speak of (Ok, we have it for Argent but not for us piddly humans), I have grown to love the idea of picnics and picnic foods during the summer.  My kitchen gets very oppressive and cold dishes, grilled dishes, heck, anything that doesn't require my stove/oven is just awesome. 

It tickled me that there was this article in the NYTimes today about picnic foods.  Not all of them are things I would try or appreciate but, I do love the thought.

I laughed.  I cried.  I think that it was probably one of the best movies I have seen in such a long time.  It wasn't preachy.  It wasn't too sugary.  Just a lovely thought-provoking story with wonderful characters.  I may need to see it again.

4th grocery list

 

Veggies/Fruit

1. Artichoke hearts

2. Ripe bananas

3. Guava puree

4. Carrots

5. Red peppers

6. Broccoli

7. tomatillos

8. Black Truffle - if possible

9. Fancy mushrooms

10. Green onions

11. Limu kohou (red-brown seaweed)

Fish/Meat

1. Tuna

2. Clod

3. Crab meat

Dairy

1. Sour cream

2. Cream cheese

3. Butter

4. Milk

5. Heavy cream

6. Cheese

7. Sweetened condensed milk

Other

1. Salsa

2. Black beans - 1 can

3. Vanilla

4. Butter-flavored shortening

5. Taro Chips

6. Flour

7. Kosher salt

8. Mac nuts

 

We love the 4th.  Probably one of our favorite holidays for a number of reasons.  First, we get to see at least 6 different fireworks shows from our deck.  Second, a hot day of cooking glorious goodies upstairs is never a bad thing.  Thirdly, we get a full view of the Boston fireworks and we always have the radio going too.  Perfect!!  This year, I think that we are making the following though it is always subject to change depending on what we see in the stores.

Pupu

1.      Poke

2.      Taro Chips

3.      Hawaiian crab and artichoke dip

4.      Cheese

5.      Veggies

Main

1.      Clod

2.      Rice salad

3.   Corn and truffles

Dessert

1.      Banana cream shortcakes

Oh yes, the fruit is starting to appear.  I probably picked about 2 handfuls of raspberries this weekend and guickly gobbled them up and my tomatoes are slowly growing.  So so exciting.  I'm a little worried about the deluge of rain we've been getting since some of the leaves are turning yellow but since there isn't too much I can do about it, I suppose I shouldn't over-worry.

We went to Chefs in Shorts on Friday night and it was so much fun!  We went with Sue and Sharon and I'm so glad that they came!!  It's one of those events where the more people you have, the more fun it is. 

Chefs in Shorts is a charity event to benefit that Greater Boston Food Bank.  There were chefs from all over the area grilling up great bites for everyone to try.  The portions were enormous and it was packed but fun.  I wish that I had paided more attention to the different restaurants but I can't for the life of me remember some of them...  Ones that I do remember:

Pork loin with corn and truffles from Gargoyles on the Square

Scallops from Oceanaire?

Jalepano margarita from Sushi-Teq

Sauces for the sausages from Sel De La Terre

Crab burger from ??

Tuna burger from ??

Really, there was so much good food.  I ate and ate and ate and ate and ate and ate and ate and felt a tab ill by the time I plopped into the cab to go home but it was really a marvelous time with marvelous company!!

Well, I've finally gotten off my butt and gone back to my Munny's.  I've sanded them and last night, J.P. helped me to prime them.  They look sexy grey now.  J.P. did the spraying, and I did the holding.  As a result, I have a scary grey hand when we were done.  After failed attempts to scrape it off with a dish scrubbie, I pulled out the naptha.  That stuff rocks.  Melted the primer (and some layers of skin) right off.  This weekend, painting will begin!  I'm very excited.

Falafel is a good thing!  How could one not like it?  Yes, I've had bad falafel but I put a couple of recipes that I saw online together into a mash and came up with one that's pretty decent.  I've sure it's not "genuine" but I think it's kind of tasty.  I'm trying baking today rather than frying.  It's not that I am against frying per se but it is swimsuit season and frying makes the house smell funny and I've had a problem with funny smells recently.

Falafel

1 bag of dried chickpeas
1 small onion
8 cloves of garlic
A small handful of parsley or cilanto or a combination
1-2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons baking powder
8 tablespoons flour (you may need a little more/less)

Soak the chickpeas overnight in cold water.  In a food processor, chop the chickpeas until they are tiny pieces but not a pureed mush.  Do the same with the rest of the ingredients except the flour and baking powder.  I do it in stages to make sure that it's fairly even.  Mix everything together with the baking powder and add enough flour to make things stick together.  It won't be extremely sticky but it should hold together in a ball.  Make into ball or pattys (I like them small to maximize the crunch to inside ratio) and fry in oil at 360 degrees until deep golden brown or bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes then pop the heat up to brown.

The other day, a co-worker of mine sent this this link.  Then other co-workers suggested that we kill him off so that Argent could take the title.  Too funny.  But if their calculations are correct, that makes Arg about 125 years old in human terms.  I hope I have as good of a disposition as he does at that age. 

I love marinated veggies but as is true so often, I have a hard time finding commercial ones that I like so I've taken to making them at home and it really turns out pretty well and I get to control the flavors and what types of veggies go in.

Marinated Veggies

2 cups of chicken stock
1/3 cup of lemon juice
1/3 cup of cider vinegar
6-10 whole peppercorns
1 teaspoon dried herbs (I like thyme and a little oregano)
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon corriander seeds
6-10 cloves garlic, peeled but whole
Salt to taste (depends on your stock really)
Veggies...  I like items like 1 lb button mushrooms (halved if large), 4 stalks celery, 2 leeks halved, 1 cup fresh favas.

Put all the ingredients except the veggies into a medium stockpot and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 5 minutes to bring the flavors out.  Add veggies and simmer until cooked.  I know that this is a vague set of directions but it depends on what veggies you use.  I tend to put longer cooking items in first, etc so that they all finish at the same time.  Some people may prefer to cook the items one at a time.  When all the veggies are done, put then in an airtight container.  Take the remaining liquid and reduce by 1/2 to 2/3.  Strain and pour over the veggies.  Taste for salt.  Let sit overnight for best flavor.

We went to RI on Saturday to pick up my bridesmaid dress and since we were south of the city (which in essence is like being in another country), J.P. took me to Sid Wainer's.  I have to say that I love Sid's.  It's just so much fun to browse around and touch and taste everything.  They are small and expensive but some of the items that they have are spectacular.  And they always have some items for tasting which their chef prepares and often times, it's really interesting.

This time, they had a fabulous brussel sprout dish which I will be re-creating for Turkey Day.  It was a casserole with truffles and this yummy cheese.  So tasty and decadent!  Perfect for a holiday meal.

They have expanded their cheese section as well.  I just love refridgerated rooms.  It's like when we were in London at Paxton and Whitfield's.  Expect the cheese was just all out there and so gloriously ripe with odors.  I loved it!!!   At Sid's, the cheese was on large wooden shelves and for American sanitation, they are all wrapped but it was still lovely!

We got a couple of cheeses, some veggies, some pate and this wonderful bread!  It was shaped sort of like a cottage loaf but instead of being two boules on top of each other, it was more like a smaller side was folded up ontop of the larger half.  It was so chewy and airy and after a brief spell in the oven to warm it up, the outside was so crisp that when you bit into it, the whole thing exploded. I made an horrible mess all over the study but it was so marvelous.  If it weren't for the fact that it's summer right now, I would so have to try making it at home.

Not yet but one day, I will be putting up this sign...

 

 

OMG!  Two raspberries are turning pink.  I'm not obessing.  You can't prove it.

The glories of the summer season are such that we are dining al fresco.  We need to get better chairs because the elements have ravaged ours but I simply love being able lounge and nibble and grill and happily fret about my plants.  We had shabu-shabu last night on the deck and it was perfect!  No steaminess, kept us a warm as the sun went down and then poof!  we were done.  Oh, and the electrical outlet upstairs just rocks.  Now if only we had water...  just kidding.  We have such bad water karma in the house that I'm sure that somehow the entire house will fill up with water and then explode.

No, I don't think that it's something that most people ever want to do but we were on the Vineyard over Memorial day weekend and telling people about the Douglas Fir Eau de Vie when we looked over and there were a bunch of firs all with new growth popping out and we though, hey, why don't we try steeping it in vodka.  So after about three hours of picking these tiny little growths and dropping them directly into vodka, we made two mason jars, each a different species of fir.  We'll have to see how they turn out.  :)

I love bees.  There is something just terribly cool about them.  I mean, they make honey and everybody loves honey.  In recent year, there has been a crisis in bee populations.  There has been talk about it viruses, immune disorders and hive collapse.  No one seems have to a definitive answer but as a gardener and a lover of foods, it's both sad and scary. 

So the other day I stumbled upon this site by Haagen-Dazs.  Yes, there is that bit of cynicism because it's a giant corporation and such but I think that anything that brings the bee plight to people's attention can't be all bad.  So I've been buying Haagen-Dazs ice cream from time to time now and on a purely taste note, they have some good flavors! 

Yes, the plants are taking off.  I'm very excited because so many plants are doing so well.  I would venture to say that everyone except for the grape plants are thriving.  The blueberry bushes have fruit on them and are just waiting to ripen.  Same with the raspberries.  The tomatoes all have flowers and the basil is kicking!  In fact, we bought yet more basil plants this weekend so that we won't run out and we got some Thai basil as well which I love for it's slighly spicy characteristics.  Oh, and J.P. got me some watermelon plants!  They are Black Diamonds and I have no idea at all if they will grow or not but heck, it'll be fun to try.  The recent heat has made everyone happy.  I'll have to remember to take more pictures.  Even the hen-and-chicks are flowering.  I just love it.  There is something so theraputic about going upstairs and sitting amongst the lush green plants and now I also have pink and orange too (yeah, I'm predictable about colors).

I hate pollen.  I hate allergies.  I'm tired of sneezing.  :)

I love beef.  I don't think that I could ever go veg because I love beef...  and pork...  and chicken...  It's a little sad that I'm the big carnivore in the house.  It's not to say that I don't like veggies because I do but...  I need a big honkin' piece of meat sometimes.

J.P. is good in the he really humors me.  He bought a huge hunk of brisket on Saturday and turned it into a magical glorious smoked brisket on Sunday.  So so good.  He thought it was too dry because we used the flat instead of the point.  I loved it.  I made it into sandwiches with mustard and it was so ghastly good.  But then again, I like dry.  Oh, though I do have to admit that I did pick off some of the heavenly candy while it was resting.

I like BBQ sauce.  I just don't like it on things.  I like it really as a dipping sauce for various BBQ'd foods.  I like taking a bit of rib mean that I'm slipped the bone off of and just so lightly tapping it on the surface of the blob of sauce.  Same with clod.  I like dry foods. 

General All-purpose BBQ Sauce

2 cups of minced onions or shallots
1/2 cup of minced green pepper
1/2 cup of minced celery
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon (or more) cayanne
1 teaspoons dry mustard
1 tablespoon cumin
2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup worchester sauce
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 beer
1/2 cup bourbon divided in half (I like Maker's for this because it's a little rougher which works out well when cooked down in the sauce.  Something like Woodman's is a little too subtle)
2 tablespoons molassas
1/4 cup brown sugar

Heat the oil in a sauce pan over medium heat.  Add the onions, peppers and celery.  Gently sautee for 10-15 minutes until very soft.  Add all of the dry spices and stir for one minute.  Add beer and simmer while gathering up the rest of the ingredients.  Add the 1/4 cup of bourbon (reserving the rest).  Add the rest of the ingredients.  Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer and let gently bubble for 40 minutes.  Add the rest of the bourbon and cook for another 20 minutes. 

This is one of those epic battles.  There are many people who like baby back ribs.  They are leaner and easier to eat and faster cooking.  And then there are the people who like spare ribs and think that they have more flavor and are a truer measure of a pit master.

I've stated before and I will continue to state the J.P. is a BBQ genius.  And yes, by BBQ I do mean 10+ hours of slow smoking a primal hunk-o-meat and obsessing about the flavors that different woods and wood blends bring.  Smoke ring?  He's a master of the smoke ring! 

Being as it was hot this weekend, we decided to start the BBQ season.  We went to the Danvers butchery and got a huge brisket for Sunday and then decided to try out some baby back ribs for Saturday.  We rubbed them and smoked them with cherry wood for a number of hours. 

They were good.  Probably the best baby backs I've ever eaten but we discovered that we really enjoyed the fattier pieces...  you know, the ones more like spare ribs.  But it was a great experiene and I will no longer shun baby backs as only for people who eat at places like Applebees.  I'm a spare rib girl but I will now admit that baby backs do in fact have their place in the universe.

 

Last summer, we were growing basil on the deck and I decided to make pesto.  I have to admit that I'm not normally a huge fan of pesto.  I tend to find it too oily and sometime a little acrid.  But I have a good amount of basil and I had to find something to do with it so I figured that I would tweak the recipe a little.  Note, I call it pesto but purists should not be horrified by my additions and omissions.

Pesto

1 bunch of basil leaves
1 bunch of chives
2 small cloves of garlic
Juice from 1/3 of a lemon
1 teaspoons mayonaise
Medium cube of romano cheese
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 cup water
Salt and Pepper to taste

Place all in blender and zip until smooth.  Done.

Yes, there are no nuts (J.P. isn't a huge nut fan).  Yes, mayonaise is weird.  Yes, the chives are not normal.  But it's really good and since it's green, I call it pesto.  Now if only we could make our chives and basil grow faster because it's killer on pasta salads.

I'm not a food snob but I've never been a fan of hot dogs.  There is something odd about them.  I love them at the ball park with brown mustard but at home, there has always been something missing.

We bought some Maple Leaf dogs from the deli this weekend and wow!  they were really good.  The brand was J.P.'s mom's favorites and they are really so good.  I love the snap of it and the flavor wasn't mushy!  So tasty!

Crabs

J.P. was a honey and got me six soft shell crabs for dinner on Friday.  I love soft shell crabs.  I feel a little bad gobbling they up but they are really tasty.  I lightly floured then and pan-fried then.  I then created a garlic ginger sauce and it was really yummy on some brown rice.  Oh so tasty.

I love having J.P. in town.  We met up for lunch today and it was such a treat.  We went to Pho Pasteur and got some bun.  I have to learn to make it at home.  It seems like it would be relatively easy but it always seems to go haywire when I try.  But that's never stopped me in the past and it won't stop me now!  Hehehe.

I love comfort foods.  I suppose that everyone really does.  For me, it's congee.  Something about the warmth of it that is just perfect.  And I love that you can doctor it up any way you want to suit your tastes.  I like mine with lots of black pepper.  J.P. likes hot sauce.  I love these strange pickle things dropped on top.  It's all good.

Must eat cheese.  Cheese so good.  Probably my favorite nibbling cheese.  Stomach in so much pain but must eat more cheese.  

A stomach bug.  For goodness sakes, this blog is mainly about food and nothing is staying in the system.  Watermellon makes me ill.  Salad makes me ill.  So far, the only thing that doesn't cause immediate pain is bread and oddly enough, cheese sticks.  Pudding last night nearly caused me to pass out.  So so terribly sad.

Well, I wanted pita the other day and figured that since we were already using the grill, I would just grill it instead.  What a lovely little accident.  Apparently, pita dough makes better grilled pizzas than pizza dough.  Who knew?

Pita dough

1 1/2 cups of warm water
1 package of dry yeast
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons olive oil

Combine the water and yeast with a pinch of sugar and let sit for about 10 minutes.  Mix in the whole wheat flour and let sit for 10 minutes. Add in salt, honey and oil.  Mix in the all-purpose flour and knead until springy.  Depending on the day, you may been a little more or less AP flour.  Let rise until doubled.

When the dough is fully risen, divide into 12 pieces.  Heat the grill to med-hot.  Roll each piece into a round and place on grill.  Turn after 2 minutes or so.  They don't puff as reliably as when you do it in the oven but it's darn tasty with the toasting of the outside.  Of course you could do it the traditional way on a pizza stone in the oven.  Also tasty!

I really like lentils.  I like dals, I like whole lentils.  Luckily, J.P. is very indulgent with me about them.  I made a lentil salad the other day that was pretty good..

Lentil Salad

1 cup green lentils
1/2 hot-house cucumber seeded and chopped
1 red pepper, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 crumbled feta
2 red onions, grilled and chopped
1 eggplant, sliced, grilled and chopped
Juice from 2 lemons
2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
2 cloves of garlic crushed
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Pick through the lentils and put them in a pot with the garlic powder and thyme.  Cover by one inch with water and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat a simmer and cook until the lentils are just tender but not mushy, maybe 30 minutes.  Drain when done.

Whisk the lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, mustard and salt together.  Gently stir in the still warm lentils.  Let sit for few minutes to cool down and then stir in the rest of the ingredients.  Add salt and lemon juice to taste.  Serve at room temp though it's better the next day.

After the packed weekend and return, I just had a wonderful quiet evening at home.  Sometime it's nice to be boring. 

It was chilly.  It was sprinkling off and on.  It must be baseball in May!  Yes, we got tickets today for our first Red Sox game of the season.  What fun!  There is just something so fun about being in Fenway park.  It doesn't matter that a beer is $7.75 (that's what they have ATMs for).  For some unknown reason and perhaps an unhealthy reason, the hot dogs always taste better from the guy walking around in the ball park.  I didn't get my cotton candy because it started getting late and wet out but that will be for next time.  And the Sox won.  How great!

Dinner 4:  For graduation night, I wanted to get a reservation at someplace a little special.  People seem to talk about three places when they speak of Portland food, Wildwood, Higgin's and Paley's Place.  Like with the other places, I had a read a lot of all of them but something about Paley's rang a good karma chord with me.  I'm so happy we went there!

We started out with some simple appetizers.  Jen and I shared a plate of oysters as did my parents.  J.P. got the Escargot à la Bordelaise, Roast Marrow Bones & Garlic which was fantastic!  I adore roasted marrow bones so needless to say, I ate those.  They were huge and fatty and just so good on bread.  

For entrees, I got the Black Trumpet-Crusted Halibut a la Plancha, Spring Vegetables & Mushroom Broth.  J.P. got the Bacon-Crusted Razor Clams, Spring Nettle, Potato & Bacon Hash, Sauce Gribiche.  Jen got the Quail en Salmis, Morel Mushrooms & Spätzle.  Mom got the Emmer Farro, Wild Mushrooms, Asparagus & Chervil Butter and Dad for the special fish of the day which was a pan-seared black cod.  All the dishes were outstanding!  We had a bottle of 2006 Patricia Green Cellars, Croft Vineyard with dinner which was also fantastic.  The two dishes that stood out the most were probably the quail and the farro.  Both had wonderful complex flavors without being overly heavy or overly subtle. 

For dessert, I had the Rosewater Panna Cotta, Rhubarb Soup & Strawberry Chips which was so light and sinful.  The rhubarb soup in particular was out of this world!  Jen got the Paley's Crème Brulée which was excellent and J.P. got a selection of cheeses: a Garrotxa from Spain, the other two were from Oregon and I can't remember their names.  This time though, one of the cheese just sang!   One of the Oregon cheeses had a great bloomy rind but a wonderful rich ripe flavor.  I believe that it was a goat cheese...  I'll have to find the sheet in my bags at home.

So after lunch, we decided that we needed some "kids" time and ditched the parents to go the the Rogue Pub for some brews.  Jen got us a mixed pack for Christmas which was outstanding.  We can occasionally get their beers out here it's hard and sometimes they aren't as fresh as one would like but the tasting we got there was fabulous.  We two tastings of four beers each.  My two favorites where the Honey Orange and the Brutal Bitter.  J.P. really liked the Honey Orange and the Chocolate Stout.  There was also a chipotle beer which was very...  smokey and...  chipotle like.  A little strange for my tastes.

After graduation, Jen wanted to escape a little so we went to the Hedge House for lunch.  The beers were outstanding!  J.P. got the tasting flight which had eight beers to taste!  I got a pint of the C-note Imperial and Jen got the Proletariat Red.  But get this...  my mom got a pint of the Condor Pale Ale and actually finished it.  Nap time for her!  I don't think that in all my years, I've ever seen her drink in the daytime before!  It was a little crazy!  We also got some apps which were enormous and tasty. 

May 19th 2008, Jennifer Pan graduated from Reed College.

Woot!  Graduation day for some is a fun celebration.  For others, is a day of trauma where you have to be paraded around.  J.P. and Jen both fall into the later category.  I think that my sister was dreading this more than anything else.  She was done with the thesis and sucessfully defended and in her mind, that was the completion point.  Graduation itself was just a series of silly steps.

Reed had a wonderful ceremony.  The president of the college gave each student the diploma and being a creative school, there were many unique constumes gags.  He kept a smile up for all of them (including the gold glitter) and it was a very nice ceremony.

As Jen's older sister, I just loved it!  She did a great job of keeping a smile on throughout the proceeding and she didn't get get horrified when I stopped the processional to give her a hug and a kiss.  I am so very proud that she graduated from Reed which no one would claim is an easy school.  I'm sure I was the embarassing gushing sibling but heck, that's my right!   

Yes, I made J.P. get up early so that once again, I could sit in the lobby of the Ace Hotel and drink coffee.  How it got better than the first day, I don't know...  but it actually was.

Dinner 3:  The folks arrived from Boise in the afternoon and we all met up at the hotel to before going to Le Pigeon for dinner.  I had read a bit about it before we selected it and it was another place that Jen said that she was interested in.  I was very excited to be going but I was a little worried that it might be a little too... advant-guarde for my parents.  Turns out, it was just fabulous!!!  I had told them that it was really based on local ingredients and they liked to push the envelope a little and be creative.  They still had beautiful pairings of flavors and everything was done perfectly.  We had a great time just sitting and chatting.  It was also wonderful because everyone ordered something different and we got to try a bit of everything!

For starters, Dad and I got the scallops ontop of this pool of bright green mashed potatoes.  The scallops were perfectly done and the potatoes were very yummy!  J.P. got the snails with garlic noodles.  The snails were OK but the noodles were amazing.  I would refer to them as vampire-proof noodles.  Jen got the foie gras with "trail mix" and it was ghastly rich and perfectly seared and the trail mix was the perfect sweet/tart contrast to it.  Mom got the lamb belly which again was so decedant but meltingly tender.

For entrees, I had to skate with pork belly, orzo and cauliflower.  The skate was lightly floured fried.  The pork belly was roasted until it was almost cracklins and tossed with the orzo and roasted cauliflower.  Delicious!  J.P. got the halibut which again, was perfectly cooked and just so moist.  I have to admit that my favorite part of his dish were the super crisp fried kale fronds on top of the dish.  It was like the kale version of nori.  Jen got the duck (yum).  Dad got the lam (yum) and Mom got the mushroom tart (upber yum).

Dessert...  yes, we actually ate dessert.  J.P. and I split the cheese plate.  It was suppose to be three raw goats cheese but we found it a little underwhelming after the previous courses.  Jen got a chocolate souffle with port-cherry ice cream which was so heavenly.  Mom and Dad split the creme brule which came with a coffee pot-de-creme.  Also excellent.  I was so painfully full after dinner!

Day 3, vineyard 5:  Ok, we sound like lushes now but we really didn't taste all that many wines.  We were leaving Domaine Druihin and we asked the super nice tasting lady where she recommended that we go.  She told us about White Rose Vineyard, right across the road.  It's a great small little place and we had a tasting of 4 pinot noirs.  They were all very nice and we ended up getting a bottle of their Dragon pinot.  Happy end to the wine tours of the day!

Day 3, vineyard 4:  I was getting grumpy.  Day 1 had SakeOne...  outstanding.  Day 2 had Clear Creek and Patricia Green...  outstanding.  I know that I sound petulant but I needed something outstanding today.  We were looking that the winery map and saw Domaine Drouhin.  Jenn had been there before and mentioned that she liked their wines so off we went.

 

The tasting room was very nice.  Big and probably more Napa/Sonoma like most places in Oregon.  I was a little worried since that is usually a sign that the tasting will either be pretentious or again, meh.  We got one tasting to split and it was really very good.  The rose they made was nice and dry with a good  tropical nose.  The chardonnay...  well, I am so untrained in chardonnay I can't really say.  Their 2006 Pinot Noir was really very good. 

 

And then, for some reason, the lady giving us the tasting poured us a little bit of the 2005 Pinot Noir.  It was great!  It was that happiness moment when you find something new!  I wonder why she gave us the extra pour.  We only moderately liked the others but perhaps we sounded like we knew what we were talking about.  Any which way, I am so glad she did.  We were about to buy a bottle of the 2005 when she said that she had one more pour for us...  the 2002 Pinot Noir.  Again, wow!  So fantastic!  My outstanding wine moment had arrived.

Day 3, vineyard 3:  We went in.  We samples two Pinot Noirs.  Meh.  We left.

Day 3, vinyard 2:  We went in.  I got freaked out by the people there.  We left.

At the Beaux Freres tasting, they had a huge platter of cheese chunks.  We had a taste and it was outstanding!!  It was a cheddar but it was nutty and so flavorful.  The chunks had the distinctive crystals that one gets from good aged parms and I so rarely see it in a cheddar.  Turns out it was Cougar Gold Cheddar from Washington State University.  I'm going to need to find some of that in Boston or order it online   help me I am a bug.

Day 3, vineyard 1:  When I was in Florida a couple of years ago, I had a bottle of Beaux Freres Upper Terrace Pinot Noir.   I was so ghastly good.  It was like sin in a bottle.  So when I found out that they were having an open house, I was all over that!  We arrived a little after 11 and it was pretty quiet. There were some guys playing ping-pong and a couple of puppies rolling around with each other.  I know that everyone is going to make fun of me for this but I so want a puppy!  There was a little brown one that I would have snuck into my coat if I didn't think that Argent was be so angry at me.  Just an absolute honey!

 

Ok, back to the wine.  Like Patricia Green, they were mostly tasting 2007 futures.  We had really high hopes for them because of my past experience and because their vineyards are located right near the ones from Patty Green that we loved.  The wines were good.  I know that it sounds like we didn't like them but it isn't true.  We did like them but for their price, we decided that we would just get more of the Patty Green.  Great time at the tasting though.  Really nice people and nice atmosphere.

Yes, I've been all about ice cream and so I had to go get some while in Portland and people on some boards had mentioned Cool Moon.  I didn't get a milkshake/frappe since I was really full from Pok Pok and you never know if it's a good representation of their ice cream.  I got the Caramel with Cocoa nibs.  J.P. got the Indonesian Vanilla and Jen got the Sweet Cream.  They were pretty good but nothing overly stellar.  I wonder if it's because the shop is new.  I thought that the flavors were a little uneven. 

Dinner 2:  We had initially planned to take Jen and Frank out to dinner but Frank's parents were in town so it was just the three of us.  We decided to go to Pok Pok on Division.  Jen had been there before and I had read about it online.  It was mostly Thai food, good mix of flavors available.  I wasn't nearly aggressive enough in my ordering selections but we got a whole fish with ginger and chillies and garlic and some charcoal roasted chicken and garlicy water spinach.  A very good combination and I think that the next time we go, I'll go for some more "challenging" food items.

A few years back, J.P. and I were in northern California driving down to San Diego when we passed fields and fields of wild calla lilies.  They were enormous and so very beautiful.  At one point, J.P. hopped out of the car, bounded over some shrubbery and picked me one that was almost as big as me.  I'm a sucker for flowers.

 

As the trip progressed, he developed a rash on his legs and we were sure where it came from.  We tried all sorts of topical creams and they didn't really help.  Around that time, he also developed a cold with a fever.  This continued even when we got back to Boston so we went to the doctor.  Turns out he had touched some poisonous plant while getting me the calla and it had turned into blood poisoning.  The doctor actually told me that next time he get in the mood to give me a demonstration of his love, he should just write something down.  Hehehe.

 

While at Rex Hill, he again bounded about and picked me the most perfect vivid orange cosmo.  No blood poisoning this time.

Day 2, vineyard 2:  We had a little time before we were going to meet up with Jen for dinner so we popped into Rex Hill's tasting room on the way back to Portland.  We had been there about two years ago and really liked some of their wines, especially for their price point.  It turns out that A-to-Z has purchased Rex Hill and while they say that nothing has changes, we were completely un-impressed by this particular tasting of wines.  They were all just ok.  It certainly wasn't bad but after tasting at Patricia Green, it was a bit forgettable.

 Day 2, vineyard 1:  Jenn Steele went to Oregon for Thanksgiving last year and came back raving about Patricia Green.  She and Andrew have wonderful tastes in wine so I really wanted to go.  Lucky for us, they were having a pre-Memorial Day open house to take the 2007 futures so we popped down to Newberg after dropping my sister off for graduation rehersal.

They started us off with tasting two whites.  They were good but I think that we were both really interested in the pinot noirs.  The tasting was divided up by soil type.  There were three tastings of a volcanic soil and three of a marine.  We started with the volcanic and while they were tasty, none of them really stood out.  We moved over to the marine table and after the first sip, you could see both of our eyes pop!  I'm not sure what she did but OMG, they were fantastic!!!  The flavor just sang and while you could tell that they were still overly young, they just had ghastly amounts of potential. We just swirling and smelling and sipping and were so happy.  We bought a half a case and it was the first time we had ever bought wine futures

Day 2, Distillery 1:  I had read about Clear Creek Distillery in various  magazines because of their eau de vie.  Having a small distillery of our own (and by small I mean we can distill about 2-4 tablespoons over a 4 hour period) and having had a great tour of the Cold Spring Vodka distillery, I had high hopes for this one.  They make a number of types of eau de vie from various fruits including pear and blue plum.  They also make grappas, brandy, and scotch (they were sadly sold out).  While the tour wasn't nearly as indepth as the SakeOne tour, we did learn a great deal about their processes and the tasting was very good also.  I loved seeing the copper stills.  They were so much smaller than the ones in Maine and because they are dealing with a fermented fruit mash, it seemed more labor intensive.  We also saw their aging room.  Most of the oak is either cognac barrels or new oak from Oregon.

 

Very nice product line.  They even had a Douglas fir eau de vie which was good but slightly too...  tree-like for me.  The brandy was very good as were the fruit eau de vies.  The grappa range was really impressive.  They had a baby grappa which was almost sweet in taste to something more like the traditional Italian grappa burn.  They also had some fruit liquers but I wasn't so into them.  I thought that the other items were much more impressive and complex.

I hope that somewhere, someone in Portland realizes how good they have it with Stumptown.  I have to say that it was some of the best coffee that I've ever had.  It was just so ghastly good!!!  Smooth and rich and deep in complex tastes.  I was watching them make my espresso and I'm going to have to start work on my new technique as soon as I get back.  Note to self, my espresso is coming out way too fast.  Need finer grind and better tamping.

Dinner 1:  We took Jen and her friend Neima to Simpatica Dining Hall for dinner on Friday night.  It was sweltering all day long so we were all looking forward to it.  Simpatica has a communal atmostphere with long tables and some dishes served family style.  The fixed menu for that night included a meze platter, a chickpea and grilled squid salad and a grilled chicken over an orzo and cardoon risotto.  It was all really tasty!  The flatbread with the meze was so decedant.  It was thinner on the outside occasionally would bubble and crisp.  It was nicely salty and perfect with the tzaziki sauce.  The salad was also tasty and they were kind enough to leave the squid out of J.P.'s.  Lastly, the chicken....  Oh, so so juicy!  Getting chicken breast that moist on a grill (which was located on the sidewalk, I might add) was really grand!  The risotto underneath provided a creamish decedance without being overly rich.  Just a wonderful and fun dinner!  We also had a very nice J Christopher Pinot Noir and a light and refreshing rose from the Cote de Provence.  I really like the whole attitude of the place.  While some might complain that it's overly hip, I found it to be super relaxing and perfect for just chatting with friends.  There is something about being that close to perfect strangers also that makes people behave better.  I think that perhaps you lose that sense that you are the only ones in the restaurant and that sense of entitlement.

And clearly, we were all overly full.

I can't remember the name of the cake place/café in Ladd's addition but we were there for a bit to eat and their cakes rocked!!  Jen got a Cocomut Cream cake which was so light and fluffy and I got a White Ginger tea cake which was dense but not heavy.  Both were pretty darn yummy!

 

Update:  Ok, the place is called Palio's!!

Day 1, Distillery 1:  We drove out to Forest Grove to visit SakeOne.  It's one of the only true sake breweries in the US and the only one in Oregon.  When we showed up, we were the only ones in the tasting room though they were clearly waiting for someone important.  We got a six-tasting flight and it was really pretty good.  They had some sake that they made, some that they imported and some fruit-infused ones.  Of the ones that they made, the G was my favorite.  Not as subtle as some of the fine Japanese sakes but very very tasty.  The fruit infused ones were good but really mixers rather than ones that stood out. 

 

I got a call from my sister and went outside while J.P. arranged for a tour...  and what a tour!  Apparently the important folks that they were all waiting for were some brewers from Japan.  The very nice tasting lady tried to convince J.P. to go on a different tour but we managed to sneak in with them.  The tour was given by the master brewer of SakeOne himself, Greg Lorenz, and it was grand!!  We asked a billion questions about yeast types, milling process and rice shape to temperature control during mold inoculation.  He had us tasted the inoculated rice and smell the yeast starter slurry (the alcohol there could have knocked out an elephant) and then smell the nearly finished brew (bananas everywhere in the aroma there).  So wonderful.  And since he was the master brewer, he didn't mind our annoying process questions either like pasteurization processes (flash) and filtering.

We just got back from Portland and had a grand time!  Got my see Jen graduate and meet some of her friends, tasted some great wines and sake and beer and ate and ate and ate and ate and ate.  Just fabulous.  I started it off as a Word doc on the plane but am moving it all as I go now.  Pics will be appearing when I get them off the camera.

I think that I may have caught the bird that is killing my plants in the act!  I went upstairs early this morning to water and there was this black/brown bird pecking at the raspberry bush.  I popped outside and scared it.  Who knows for how long.... 

If I didn't have J.P., I sometimes think that I would never move into the modern age.  It's certainly not that I'm not interested in new things but he has this bloody compulsion about it in everything ranging from food to technology.

Sadly, today I learned about Twitter.  It's one of those things that everyone knows about except me but I'm mildly moving into the modern age.  I'll probably be quizzing J.P. on the plane today...  if I'm not napping. 

Oh, and he added his Twitter to his blog which I really liked and may need to steal if I find that I like using it.

Hurray!  Only two more days until we leave for Portland!  I'm so excited!!  I've put together a tentative plan:

Friday:

SakeOne

Widmer tour at 3PM

Dinner with at Simpatica at 7:30PM

 Saturday:

Clear Creek Distillery

Jen - mandatory 2PM rehersal

Patricia Green winery while she's there

Dinner with someplace veg friendly

Sunday:

Beaux Freres

Dinner with the folks at Le Pigeon at 6:15PM

Monday:

Graduation!!  11AM

Dinner with the folks at Paley's Place at 6PM 

J.P. loves hot wings.  As a result, I've been tinkering around with different blue cheese dressing recipes to find one that I like.  This is what I've come up with:

Blue Cheese Dressing

1/4 cup of blue cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup mayonaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon worchester sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar
Pepper to taste

Mix, squish, mash.  Done.

Yesterday was just the PERFECT spring day.  Got up and planted some jalapenos...  playing with dirt is always a good start.  J.P. got up and I bullied him upstairs to see my handy work which is when we discovered that I had a horrible plant mother!!!  I thought that three of my grape plants were dead but after closer inspection, they are still alive.  They are just much slower on the growing scale than the fourth one.  But I had already sacked their pots for other plants so they were sitting with naked roots on the deck.  We hustled out to the despot to get some more pots at which point, J.P. saw these great little orange flowers sitting next to begonias so I had to buy them and more pots.  So so exciting.

We went to Danvers (hurray for riding in the car on sunny days) and got some great steak tips and bacon and grilled up some Hungry Herb worthy sandwiches and had some sparkling rose and sat upstairs.  Then it was nap time and then it was relaxing time.  I was really so spoiled!  Pics incoming when I get home.

Yes, this weekend, we got our first two strawberries.  I know that it sounds kind of pathetic but there really is something wonderful about being able to eat something from your own garden...  even if it's just a small garden on the roof deck. 

I love picky food.  There is something really fun about things that come in small bites.  Dim Sum, Tapas, Apps...  I love that you can get an assortment of items or in this case, make an assortment of items.  I made tuna melt stuffed mushrooms.  So strangely good, hot and gooey.  I also roasted some shrimp with Old Bay and made a cocktail sauce with fresh horseradish...  and roasted some early corn.  All in all, quite good, fun, and tactile.

Brighams' extra thick coffee frappe with malt.  Oh, it was so deliciously malty.  Not the thickest frappe and very drinkable with a straw but the flavor was great.  Good coffee malt balance and so tasty.  So far I would say that the score is:

Beals
Brigham's
Christina's

There is something just wrong about getting up to get to work at 7am.  But that could just be my overwhelming wimpiness!  :)

We went out to dinner with Auntie Sue and Sharon last night and it was just faboo!  We've decided that we need to do a dinner club with them.  All the kids and Billy came too and it was just a great time sitting around chatting.  I was babbling so much they probably think that I'm a looney chatter-box...  which is true.  It's funny...  I say that kids but the "baby" Shane is already 23.  I think I'm getting old.  Hehehe!

I left work a little early yesterday since I've been early-in girl all week and after taking a small nap in the sun (hurray!), I decided to plant the rest of the Burpee shipment.  J.P. got me a mega bag of dirt on Wednesday.  There I was...  standing in the kitchen trying to figure out how in the world I was going to get the dirt to the deck.  After wrestling to get the bag upright, I shimmied it over to the fridge to stand it up and found an old office waste bin to transfer smaller amount into.  There is no way that I could have gotten that upstairs.  J.P. could have because he's strong and cunning.  I'm small and not so cunning.  He would have come up with me and the dirt wedged in the spiral staircase.

But drama aside, there were no additional deaths yesterday which I was pretty happy about.  I put in the rest of the alyssum since the sunflowers and cosmos are all gone and the rest of the tomatos went in as well.  I think that if it's nice this weekend, I'll put the jalapenos upstairs.  No idea if the habenaros will make it.  The eggplant might be ready to go upstairs too.  Hurray plants!

Or at least headless plants.  So the head removal continues on my deck.  I'm not so certain that it's squirrels anymore.  A lady at work suggested that it might be crows.  Either way, they are killing my plants and it's making me angry and sad.  One of my beautiful new tomatos was completely de-leafed.  Same with some basil.  One pepper plant is nearly headless and all the new cosmos are once again gone.  As of this morning I had:

Figs - 3 varieties
Niagra grapes - 4 2 1 4 plants
Raspberries - 2 varieties
Blueberries - 2 high bushes
Tomatoes - 3 2 yellow pear, 3 black krim, 3 super sweet 100s, 1 Mr. Stripey
Basil - regular and summer sweet
Habenaro peppers
Jalepeno peppers
Biker Billy Peppers - 2.25 plants
Chives
Eggplants - 4 varieties
Sunflowers
Cosmos - 2 varieties
Coneflowers
Columbine
Daisies
Alyssum
Hen & Chicks

 

Yes, that's what J.P. bought for me today as a treat.  I was so giddy!  I love both and their season is just too short.  You would think that it would be easier to find them but it's so hard to get fresh favas from anywhere but a farmer's market and the same is true with fiddleheads.

I shelled, blanched and peeled the favas and then sauted them and the fiddleheads with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and some balsamic vinegar.  Tasty!

J.P.'s friend Steve is from Buffalo and knowing that J.P. is a HUGE wings fan, he brought him back a boat-load of Suicide wings from the Anchor Bar.  I have to admit that they were actually hot.  I had already cut up my tongue with pineapple before so I had to stop after one.  I felt like such a wimp.  Resorted to cheese and crackers.  Ok, that's not a bad thing but it really makes me sound like a baby.

So I finally got some new water bottle.  One is from SIGG and the other is from Camelbak.  After 10 million people told me I would die from using the Nalgene with BPA, I broke down and bought these.  Below is Luis' comment at hearing they arrived:

"Good thing - before you grew a third arm."

While it sounds dorky, I have to say that I'm really liking this new blog.  It's so easy to use and I don't feel obligated to make long painful entries which should have meaning and weight...  I just write about what I think is cool and that rocks.  But J.P. made the mistake of telling me that he can change things that I think of.  Muhahaha.  So looking at the blog this morning, I'm thinking that perhaps on the right side, we should get rid of Recent Comments.  Too distracting.  Also get rid of the Pages section....  Tag Clouds.  I suppose I should google what those are before I make a decision and if possible, perhaps add a permanent Links section for items that are just too us not to link to.

I suppose that I should also think about categories a little more.  While it's great that I can make everything mine (did that sound narcissistic?), it might be more useful in the long run to put things into more specialized bins...  Will think more on that today.

Update:  Categories v2.0 have been implemented.  We'll have to see how this works out.

Oh, what a wonderful package day it was today!!  Not only did get I get dress from JCrew and some new water bottles (one was orange!) but all of my plants from Burpee came in too!!  Woot!  I do have to admit that I made a small calculation snafu when I was ordering them.  I selected a quantity of one thinking that it was one plant...  not one order of three plants.  So I have more tomatoes that I had previously though of but regardless, they are all here and most of them are in pots.  I ran out of dirt so that cut short today's planting play.  I have also started putting some of the seedlings into pots.  I planted some sunflowers on Sunday in the rain and when I got upstairs today, all of their head of had been bitten off!  Clean off.  I think that it was squirrels.  Damn those squirrels!!  That hate my house!  Fair disclosure:  I had a squirrel issue a couple of years ago with sunflowers also.  One day I went upstairs and all of the heads of the plants where eaten off then too.  Some of the cosmos got eaten too but I figure that it's just the price of planting in the city.

Ok, this is probably one of the funniest comics I've seen in a while.  I've decided that if for some reason I decide to spawn, that is so going up as a mural on the wall.  Nothing like starting your kids off on the right foot to be social outcasts forever.  LOL!

J.P. sent this to me today also.  So wrong but so right....

Normally, I'm just not that into movies.  I have a hard time sitting down and focusing on one thing for long.  I like going to the drive in because you are in your own little universe and we always pack good picnics and wine.  The movie theater though always has that bad popcorn smell and well....  movie-goers!

But I had to see Iron Man.  EVERYBODY and their dog seems to have gone this weekend to see it and they all told us we HAD to see it even if only so that they could talk about it with each other. 

So J.P. and I had date night last night and I have to say that I really did like it.  It was very entertaining and I thought that Robert Downey Jr. did a great job.  The effects were great and there were a bunch of small quirks that I really liked.  I wish that some of the supporting cast was a little deeper...  poor Terrance Howard was a bit flat but still, it was a good movie and actually kept my attention for the whole thing.

And...  there was no unnecessary kissing and stupidness which I hate in action films.  :)

And... there were some decent previews.  I will need to see this summer:

Indiana Jones
War Inc.
The Dark Knight
Incredible Hulk
Wall-E

And really...  I never go to movies!

Having grown up in a Chinese household, I didn't really ever eat casseroles.  As a result, I'm slightly overly fascinated by things like casseroles and meatloaf.  I find them really interesting and as a concept, pretty cool.   This has been a casserole weekend.  Friday I made a casserole with chicken, broccoli, tomato, shells and goat cheese.  Today I made a tuna noodle casserole with broccoli.  It was really good.  Cheesy but good.

Ok, we went to Christina's today for a frappe since I'm currently obsessed with them and I got a extra thick coconut butterfinger frappe with malt.  It was pretty good.  Not as good as Beals but still pretty yummy.  I found it a little sweet but that could have been the flavor that I picked. 

I know that Cinco de Mayo isn't a real holiday but I really like any reason to celebrate.  And being as the 5th is a Monday, I thought I would make something today.  First thought, fish tacos.  But it's cold out today so we thought that something braised might be better.  I made a marinate/braising liquid of chipotle peppers in adobe sauce, garlic, cumin, coriander, brown sugar, grapefruit juice, salt and pepper.  There was maybe 1/2 cup total.  I then browned the country ribs and then added the liquid.  Stuck it in the oven at 250 degrees for an hour and a half.  It came out all tender and unctuous.  I skimmed off as much fat as I could (and boy was there a lot of it) and reduced the remaining liquid until it was thick.  Shredded the meat by hand and then tossed it back in. 

I also made some beans to go with it.  Soaked some black beans and then pressure-cooked them with garlic, onion and bay leaves.  Then I sauted some garlic in some oil and tossed the cooked beans in.  I put in about a cup of chicken stock and heavily seasoned with salt and coriander.  A glug of hot sauce to clean it up.  

Cheese is a superior food.  Heck, it is THE superior food.  J.P. was wonderful today and took me to the Whole Foods on River Street in Cambridge to get some.  There was a fabulous guy at the cheese counter, Higgins, who was just so nice to me and let me taste and ask questions and told me fabulous stories about the cheeses.  I was thrilled!!  I got a lovely goat cheese from the Loire that is so fresh and clean and rubbed with ash.  A very ripe Epoisses.  An artisanal Carles Roquefort.  And they had a some Hannahbells!  I was talking to Higgins about the Hannahbells since I had heard of them but they only had flavored ones in the case.  He was kind enough to go back and grab me a "sample" container which he gave me for free.  They are great little cheeses and would be perfect for a wine party.  I can't wait to eat them!

The best roast chicken recipe ever.  Juicy and just so so chicken-y.

Dutch-oven roast chicken

4-5 lb chicken
2 teaspoons olive oil
Salt
1 medium onion
2 stalks of celery
6-8 cloves of garlic
2-3 bay leaves
15 peppercorns
Herbage if desired

Pre-heat the oven to 250 degrees and put the rack on the lowest setting.  Dry the chicken and liberally salt inside and out with salt.  Heat the oven-safe dutch oven over medium heat until the oil starts smoking.  Put the chicken in, breast side down until golden brown (perhaps 4 minutes).  Flip the chicken and add the veggies and spices. Brown (another 4 minutes).  Put the lid on and stick it in the oven.  Cook for 90 minutes or until done.  If you like au jus with your chicken, just strain, skim off the fat and add a little lemon juice. 

In keeping with the animal trend of posts recently, I'm going to the gym today and going to attempt to run again....  I went on Wednesday and decided that if I was ever in the woods being chased by a hungry bear, I should just give up and let it eat me because I can't run worth beans!  I was on the treadmill next to some zero-body fat leggy thing and I really felt like the big clodding hippo.  Rawr!  But, on the bright side...  I didn't fall off the treadmill so I'm happy about that. 

Yes, I'm crabby and petulant today.  But then I went back to the Weebls site and watched the crab video.  Too funny!  It's really hard to be grumpy when watching it.  I love this site.  The crabs...  Magical Trevor... Pork.  Simply wonderful.

If a bird pooping on you is suppose to good luck, what is it when a squirrel does it?  I made J.P. buy a lottery ticket today just in case it means we are the luckiest people on the earth. 

Oh, and I'm a bad person.  I think that I laughed all day about seeing that squirrel in the tree still in the position...  Heck, I'm chuckling now just thinking about it. 

Silly silly plant...

"Oh, we are little seedlings and so delicate...  the sun burns us so...."

Muhahahaha!  If you are not hardy, you do not deserve to live in this house!  Yes, the bigger plants are going upstairs this weekend whether they like it or not!

That's what we call "This American Life."  Great radio show but it's one of those things that really makes me uncomfortable.  I'm probably pretty pathetic of me but the show has an uncanny ability to make me squirm.

Well, I was surfing around about a month ago when I saw it...  Ad advert for This American Life movie/event.  One night.  One show broadcast live from NYC to theaters around the country.  It was really too exciting to pass up so I got us tickets and I have to say, I just loved it.  Yes, it can be criticized for being a bit of a commercial for their second TV season and yes, there were times when it felt like it was baiting you more than it usually does but it was actually really really funny.  It was funny to watch Ira Glass' mannerisms and to see some of the the outtakes.  I really enjoyed the evening.  I was calling it Date Night. 

I saw this Penny Arcade today and it's just so true.  I had the best frappe I've had in years this weekend.  It was from Beals in Portland, ME.  I ordered a thick malted grapenut frappe and it was to die for.  It reminded me of the frappes at Buzzy's way back in the day when it was still a hole in the wall.  Oh so delicious!  I may need to go back again in a couple of months for another one.  Or perhaps find someone closer who can make good ones as well.  Dangerous.

Sculpey is fun.  It's a little softer than I thought it would be but pretty cool none the less.  I've started putting sculpey on my Munnys and I baked them too.  This week's task, sanding and priming.

Homemade pizza is great!  Now I'm not saying that there isn't a place in the world for take-out pizza but it's always surprising how many people don't even try it at home.  Homemade pizza gives you the ability to pick your own topping and I do mean anything.  J.P. once put ramen on a pizza. 



But today was simple day.  Bacon, three types of sausages, cheese.  Yum.

Pizza Dough

3 1/4 cups flour
1.5 cups of warm water
1 package of yeast (about 2.5 teaspoons)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 glugs good olive oil

Mix the yeast, water and sugar.  Mix in flour, salt and olive oil.  Mix for a few minutes and then rest for 15 minutes.  Kneed for 10 minutes in the mixer.  Allow to rise.  Punch down and refridgerate.  Take out of fridge about 1-2 hours before using. 

When I was a kid, I wasn't really into peanut butter.  It was ok but I was never all about it.  But in the last few months, I've become obsessed with it.  Here in the Boston area, we have this peanut butter called Teddys.  It's so so good.  It's all natural.  So we bought some Teddys today and some cheap Skippys too for cookies.

Peanut Butter Cookies

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup peanut butter
2 sticks butter, room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 bag peanut butter chips

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Sift together the dry ingredients.  Cream the butter, sugars and peanut butter until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs and flour mixture alternately.  Stir in peanut butter chips.  Make into tablespoon sized balls and squash with a fork in a hatch pattern.  Bake for 12-14 minutes.

It's all Luis' fault.  Or perhaps I should call him Alex (the name he uses when the Starbuck's people ask).  I had greyhounds before but with my new citrus kick, I've been ordering them everywhere and sadly, too many places do not squeeze the grapefruits themselves...  And what does it say about me if I like pink grapefruit juice better?  Is that a pinkhound?

Must get super sculpey...  auto primer...  sanding products.  Munny building starting this weekend!  :)

Oh, yes!  My munnys have arrived!  I'm so so excited.  J.P. finds them disturbing and my extreme obession with them probably isn't helping that at all but what can I do.  It's a new toy and I love new toys.  It all started because I was looking for avatars for this site and well, there aren't a lot of good ones out there and drawing isn't my strong suit...  so I though, "Hey!  Why don't we make munny avatars!"  Model painting, and sculpting are things that are much easier for me.  I don't have much artistic talent so I have to use what I'm marginal in.  It will surely be a s-l-o-w process to make them since I've just started sketching my blueprints.  I hope they come out well.  I'll be posting pics as I go since well, it should be tons of fun!  

Dumplings, potstickers, ravioli, wontons...  whatever they are called, I have this love of stuffed pastas.  Made some pork and chive dumplings tonight a a rich stock with tons of ginger.  Filling, light and perfect Asian cold relief. 

Potstickers...  i have to just say right now that they should really only be made with homemade dough.  Much better texture and thickness control.  For boiled or steamed, regular wrappers from any Asian mart will be fine.  I'm a wrapper snob.  I admit it.

Anyone who has ever read any John McPhee knows that he as a way with nature and words.  He once wrote a book called The Founding Fish.  A little long but in it, he talks about shad and the wonders of shad fishing and naturally, shad roe.  It's not exactly something that you see in the grocery stored in Boston so when Carl had some this weekend, I jumped at the chance to get some.  Of course, I had no idea how to prepare it but heck, that's never stopped me from buying strange items before. 

Lightly floured it and pan-fried.  Made a light sauce with butter, onions, garlic and lemon.  So so yummy!!!  Very very me.  J.P. wasn't such a big fan.  It has a slight livery taste which is so not him.  But I loved it.  A definite treat though I think that I killed about a million potential shad in one dinner and I looked up the nutritional content of it...  not so healthy.  Do not eat before a potentional cholesterol test.

It was a little cold out for it, but we had soft server today from Dairy Maid!!  Shared a small vanilla with strawberry sauce.  Perfect!  

Everyone loves cookies.  Ok, not everyone but certainly most people.  I've made these biscotti twice now.  Once for a care package for my sister and then again today.  Pretty tasty and not overly hard.

White Chocolate and Cranberry Biscotti

2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter (at room temperature)
3/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs (at room temperature)
3/4 cups dried cranberries
3/4 cups white chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time.  Mix in lemon zest and vanilla.  Slowly add in flour mixture until combined.  Stir in cranberries and chips.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide in half.  Roll each half out into a 15-inch log and place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until very lightly golden.  Cool for at least 30 minutes.  Using a serrated knife, cut on the diagonal into 1/2-3/4 inch slices.  Put the slices back on the sheet pan (I stand them up) and re-bake for about 15 minutes.

I love sushi.  I love making sushi at home.  Ok, I can't even pretend that it's as balances or attractive as what you get but the fish from Carl's is as good as anything that you'll find in Boston.  And everyone at New Deal is so so nice.  I just adore Maria.  She is always friendly and upbeat no matter how crazed it is in there.

So today I made a bunch of maki with salmon, mackrel and unagi.  I attempted to make a catepillar roll but my avocado wasn't quite ripe enough so it just at on top rather than wrapping nicely.  It was kind of funny.  We also had some salmon skin and tamagoyaki.  All good!

Day one of outdoor exposure for my sprouts... 1 hour of morning sun.  Happy to report, no deaths yet. 

Well, I'm going out to the Apple store today to get 10.5!  I'm so excited to be upgrading my beloved MacBook Pro.  I really never thought of myself as a laptop person until J.P. got it for me for my b-day and now, I don't know if I'll ever go back.  And J.P. just bought me a bigger hard drive so he's going to crack the box tonight and put it in (I, needless to say, will be hiding in the kitchen because I'll be too scared that something will go wrong).  So so exiciting.

Update:  New harddrive is in!  It's so snappy!!!  I love my new faster drive and drinking helped the terror of watching my machine cracked.

Ok, I have to admit that secretly, baking banana bread is the bane of my existance!  Here's the problem... my mother-in-law was an awesome banana bread baker which naturally means that I'm completely snake-bitten when it comes to making it.  It's always too tough or not fluffy enough or worst...  dry.  But I keep trying... 

Shabu-shabu is one of our favorite meals.  It's so fun and flexible.  There is just something delightful about a meal that you have to participate in.  It's eating and entertainment all at once.  I especially love it in the winter because J.P. always lets me sit near the fire.  Heat from fire + bubble cauldron of stock + chili paste in the dipping sauce = runaway nose.  It's just the best.  Our recent favorite addition to shabu-shabu:  broccoli, tofu, shrimp, fish, daikon.  And we've changed up our dipping sauces as well.  I do the traditional garlic-ginger-soy combo while J.P. has a ripping chili paste, garlic, fish sauce, bbq sauce combo.  Just rocks!

Buddy.  Buddy-licious.  Boo-bear.  Boo-a-licious.  It's no wonder that he's never learned his name since I keep changing what I call him.  The poor thing has had 11 years of me making up nicknames which change every couple of months.  But he's the best rabbit in the world!  There are days when he's tired and cranky but most of the time, you would think he was just a baby!  He's all excited about his oats in the morning and loves to play.  Funny thing...  J.P. makes Argent the best toys.  Whether it's the cardboard box and tubes or more recently, an old pair of pants and Arge loves to run in and out of...  he has an uncanny ability to know how to amuse a bunny.

We have this running joke where J.P. accuses me of making chili whenever he isn't at home.  It happened ONCE!  That's it...

Went out for a drink after work at McCormick and Schmidts and happily remembered that they have happy hour.  Happy hour at a seafood place can be cool.  We has some oyster shooters and some mussels.  Pretty yummy with a greyhound and beer. 

Then I decided to go home and make chili.  I'm sure purists would cringe at the idea of using turkey instead of pork and while I'm all for a long, slow cooked true chili, let's be honest...  it's Wednesday and I've been drinking.  That means that I have the patience of a 2 year old.  Sauted the turkey, some onions, some garlic, a ton of spices, some tomato paste, a can of diced tomatoes, salt, pepper, some beans, some corn and poof!  yummy chili-like hot goo.  Pretty good on top of egg noodles with sour cream and homemade guac.

By the way, I'm a minimalist when it comes to guac...  avocados, salt, pepper, cayenne, fresh lime juice, maybe a little garlic...  that's it.  No onions.  No tomatoes.  No other stuff. 

Spring finally is beginning to feel like it's here.  All over the city, the trees are trying to bud and bloom and that means that it's planting time once again.  I'm not really sure why I like playing in the dirt so much but growing things on the roof deck is just a blast!  I've stared some seedlings inside and I've ordered some things from Burpee so hopefully, it will be a green roof deck filled summer.  Last summer was lovely but there weren't enough flowers.  Once I figure out how to upload pictures, I'll post the spout.  Here's what we'll have growing upstairs this year

Figs - 3 varieties
Niagra grapes - 4 plants
Raspberries - 2 varieties
Blueberries - 2 high bushes
Tomatoes - don't remember what I ordered
Basil
Habenaro peppers
Jalepeno peppers
Chives
Eggplants - 4 varieties
Sunflowers
Cosmos - 2 varieties
Coneflowers
Columbine
Daisies
Alyssum
Hen & Chicks

Yeah....  it's a lot.  I have four flats of sprouts right now.  Wheeeee!

Just got home from the Bruins game and wanted something hot and creamy for dinner so I made a cauliflower soup.

Cauliflower Soup

1 head of cauliflower
1 1/2 cups of milk
1 cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon butter
1 medium onion roughly chopped
3 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
Lots of black pepper
Tabasco
Salt to taste

Saute the onion in the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.  When the onions are translucent, add the garlic and stir for another 30 seconds.  Add the milk, stock and cauliflower and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender.  Use a blender or immersion blender to puree.  Grind in lots of pepper (I probably use almost a tablespoon of it) and about 10 dashes of Tabasco.  Salt to taste. 

I love crackers.  Yet another one of those things that for some unknown reason, people never make.  I think they should.  How else do you get the flavors you want?

Crackers

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups warm water
Heavy pinch of salt
Assorted toppings.  I like romano cheese, garlic powder and cayenne or black pepper.

Spritz bottle with water

Preheat over to 450 degrees.  Mix all the ingredients together and knead briefly.  Let rest for at least 30 minutes.  Divide the dough into eight pieces and keep seven covered while you roll out the first.  Roll the dough out so that it will barely fit inside of a baking sheet.  Sprinkle with your toppings then cut into smaller pieces with a pizza cutter.  Spritz with water to dampen.  Bake for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown (or slightly past golden if you are me).

I cool mine in a colander since it lets the steam out without the bottoms ones getting soft.  Repeat for the rest of the dough.  I usually use two sheets and just cycle in them in and out of the oven.

I hate that phrase.  It makes me crazy!  I admit, I like to cook.  It's very relaxing for me.  It's great change up from my work.  It's something tactile and creative.  Why do people feel the need to tell me that I can buy those things at a store?  And it's for the strangest things...  No one ever says it when I say I make cookies but if I tell them I made granola or crackers, they think I have six heads.

Honey-Vanilla Granola

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup sliced or slivered almonds
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
Heavy pinch of salt
Heavy pinch cinnamon
Dried fruit

Pre-heat your over to 300 degrees and line a sheet pan with foil.  Lightly oil the foil.  Mix the oats, almonds, vanilla, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Melt the butter, sugar, honey and salt in a small sauce pan until bubbly then pour over the oat mixture.  Stir to combine then spread onto the sheet pan.  With damp fingers, press down on the mixture to pack it down.  Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden.  Allow to cool then break into bite size pieces and combine with dried fruit.

The recipe is really flexible.  I've made it with an additional cup of shredded coconut and some dried mangos for a more tropical and chewy flavor.  Pretty much anything goes.

Ok, so I'm attempting to get back on track with my blog.  I have to admit that I over-thought it last time and felt this need to write War And Peace every time I wrote anything...  which resulted in me writing nothing.  Yeah...  not really sucessful.  So this time I'm taking the approach of bits and chunks.  I'm still working on Categories and the like but we'll see how this goes.  Wish me luck!