Life

It's true. I haven't blogged for awhile. First, I was too pissed off about what's been going on Wisconsin (and Michigan, and Ohio). You don't even want to get me started. Then I was too shocked and saddened about what's been happening in Japan. Then I got busy weaving again. And I still don't know what to say. But I'll try. Honest I will.

I Am a Risotto Master

Risotto Bianco - pg. 105

No kidding. I am a risotto master. I knocked off risotto bianco tonight, along with a loaf of no-knead walnut and raisin bread. Of course, I can't resist screwing around with recipes these days, I'm getting so cocky in the kitchen. So, I added chopped brown mushrooms to the onions at the beginning and tossed in a few fresh shrimp toward the end. It wasn't very "bianco," but it sure was good. (Roxanne W. Furrperson got a cooked, chopped shrimp after our dinner. She loves shrimp.)

I've decided that (1) risotto is easy, and (2) risotto is my new meat loaf. (1) I didn't even bother measuring anything to make the risotto bianco since you judge everything as you go along by taste and texture anyway. How easy is that! (2) Like meat loaf, you can put any weird stuff you have in the frig into risotto. Whatever odds and ends of cooked veggies, meat, cheese you happen to have on hand. Just toss it in. I certainly wasn't sure about combining mushrooms and shrimp, but it was delicious.

I'm so into this risotto thing that I just ordered Vialone Nano rice and Carnaroli rice from igourmet. It would be fun to have a dinner party comparing risottos made from these 2 rices with some made with Arborio (which is easy to find locally; the other 2 are not).

Otherwise, as we wait for massive explosions and/or meltdowns and radiation releases from 6 (count them: SIX) stricken nuclear reactors in Japan, I tied on my red chenille warp. Tomorrow I weave! Yeah!

96 recipes completed; a mere 209 yet to make

Big Week for Cooking

Moroccan Carrot Salad with Ginger - pg. 246

Earlier this week we hosted our neighborhood foodies for a north-African themed dinner. This involved days of menu planning, shopping, and cooking. I loved every minute of it.

I made bread, a total of 4 loaves so guests could take some home, too. Served simply, family style, were lamb tagine, curried cous cous, and carrot salad with ginger. Numerous bottles of wine and sparkling water littered the table.

For desert I made red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and chocolate cupcakes filled with chocolate ganache and frosted with Mexican chocolate frosting. Tom brought a nice dry champagne to go with.

As you might imagine, everyone went home with cupcakes as well as bread; and we've been eating leftovers ever since. What a way to go!

95 recipes conquered (more or less) and 210 left to tackle

It's All About Japan Right Now

Apparently I'm the only person who has had trouble tearing herself away from the TV and what's been going on in Japan and around the Pacific Rim. We are one earth. These things impact all of us. I remember 3-Mile Island. Southern California is way overdue for a Big One. The question is not "if". The only question is WHEN. Are we paying attention? Are we learning anything at all from Japan's experience?

A Day of Round Two-its

Oh, you know what I mean. All those little niddling tasks that pile up all over the place. The ones you don't want to do right now. So, you'll do them some time when you get a round to it. Today, I did a lot of round two-its.

Boxed up stuff in the garage that will be donated somewhere. It's all in boxes in the car, which is 90% of the battle. First donation drop-off I pass gets it.

Cleaned and slightly reorganized several drawers in the kitchen. As I'm getting more and more into cooking and baking, where things should be stored is becoming more obvious.

Resolved a bunch of pending projects in my closet. (Where should this go? Where should that go? Fix broken earring? Nah, toss it. Put jewelry back in appropriate places. Dust -- that would be a verb, not a noun. Etc.)

Put stuff away in my studio. (There is always stuff in my studio that needs to be put away.)

How on god's green earth can this stuff take all day? I haven't a clue, but it does.

Rice Again

Plain Rice: Absorption Method One - pg. 100

I tell ya, I've just about got this rice thing under my belt! Tonight I poured Trader Joe's green curry tuna over short-grain rice, prepared by Alice's first absorption method. I can also make pilaf and risotto, so as soon as I make "boiled and baked long-grain rice" and risotto blanco (I always make gussied-up risottos), I'll have this whole rice conundrum conquered. No small achievement for a girl who was brought up on Minute Rice. Heck, that was the only kind I made for decades. I mean, decades.

Otherwise, we shopped today for our neighborhood foodies dinner next week. I made a shopping list in the morning. We went to farmers market, lunch, our new favorite winery, Trader Joe's, and Home Depot for blocks to extend our upper retaining wall. Farmers market yielded red-leaf lettuce, strawberries, green onions, fennel, cilantro, and flat-leaf parsley. We found a nice organic cauliflower where we had a not-so-impressive lunch. Mostly I wanted the cauliflower for the Blue Bunny label....

Our new favorite winery is Dubost on the west side out of Paso Robles. We bought Reserve Syrah and Zinfandel after tasting a variety of red wines and one chardonay. I'm feeling sad tonight, though, since I've learned that the family's 34-year-old son and head winemaker was killed in a vehicular accident just 6 months ago. What a terrible loss for many people.

Well, life goes on and so did we. To Trader Joe's for most of the rest of what I need, and to Joebella for coffee. Truthfully, I almost always get chai lattes these days. They are especially good at Joebella.

We picked up our blocks, came home. Randy placed the blocks. I made dinner. And here we are. Basically, that was the day. A good day to be alive and a beautiful day on the Central Coast.

P.S. I also made glazed carrots for dinner. Randy, who is not a big carrot fan on the best of days, said they were the best carrots ever. Yeah!

94 recipes down and 211 to go, more or less

Boy, Am I Steamed

Steamed Sole - pg. 331

Yeah, well, besides the bullshit that's going on in Wisconsin and Ohio.... Don't even get me started.

Other than going to yoga and the grocery store, I literally spent the day in the kitchen. I'm searching for a good lavender cupcake. Tried 2 different batches today, although neither one was the lavender cupcake of my dreams. Topped them both with a lemoncello frosting which seemed a good complement for the lavender flavor. ...Not to mention that I washed all those same dishes 3 times!

And I finished and baked my second no-knead rye loaf. This one came out much better than the first rye loaf. I just let that sucker ferment away for a full 48 hours! Nice to know you can mix the dough and just ignore it.

For dinner, I tacked steaming fish, dover sole in this case. This was somewhat difficult since I don't really have whatever appropriate equipment you're supposed to use to steam fish, but it was still okay. And quick. And seems pretty fool-proof. Served with oven roasted butternut squash and potatoes. And the rye bread, of course.

Whew. I'm pooped.

93 recipes down; 212 recipes to go (100 recipes down or bust!)

Carcass. I Love That Word. Carcass.

Turkey Soup with Kale - pg. 254

The first ingredient in this recipe is "1 roasted turkey carcass." Alice says this is "a good soup to make the day after Thanksgiving." Alice, apparently, thinks I make turkey for Thanksgiving. Alice is wrong. What I make for Thanksgiving is reservations. For which I then proceed to give thanks. However, I happen to have a meaty chicken carcass left from the recent French Chicken in a Pot. More importantly, I have everything else I need, so Poultry Soup with Kale it is.

I can't say this is the most exciting thing I've ever made or eaten. Alice seems to have a fondness for thin, light soups. I have a fondness for soups you eat with a fork and knife (almost). But, it's in the book and I've made it and I can now check this recipe off the list.

92 recipes completed with a mere 213 recipes to go

Tuesday was Shopping Day

I don't often get in the mood to shop. But it hit me yesterday. Must be that first-of-the-month thing when I'm feeling flush.

#1 Petsmart for cat food, kitty litter and pill pockets.

#2 Costco for assorted groceries and a memory foam contoured pillow since I've taken to stealing Randy's when he's out of bed before me in the mornings.

#3 New Frontiers for bulk rye flour and whole wheat flour. And organic lavender. I want to make lavender cupcakes.

#4 Two black T-shirts from the sale rack at Chico's. My uniform of choice these days on top of black jeans. Or blue jeans.

Topped with a movie and dinner with my dear friend Laurel. We laughed out loud all the way through "My Dog Tulip". Ya gotta love British humor. Dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant, Thai Palace.

This morning it's back to the gym since I ditched yoga yesterday for shopping. A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. Although I did start another loaf of no-knead rye bread before I left home yesterday morning. That counts for something, doesn't it?