Vacation

Posted on July 3, 2008 by chatty

Today is the first day of my week+ vacation. Even though I am not going anywhere (the husband and I will be spending the next 10 days building a new deck!) today I decided to eat like I was on vacation.

Breakfast. I asked the husband if he wanted to go out for breakfast, but we were waiting for our deck wood delivery so it wasn’t really a possibility. Instead I made pancakes! Yum. Just your standard Bisquick pancake. I split one tiny pat of butter amongst the stack, then drizzled some pure maple syrup over the top. On the side you’ll see some white-flesh peach slices. Juicy, sweet, but not mushy. I love summer fruit!

Lunch. Thunderstorms greeted us throughout the night and into the morning. By 11:30 it was still raining on and off, with an occasionally sound of rolling thunder from far far away. It reminded me of growing up on the East Coast, back where thunder and lightening was the norm, not the exception. Home, of course, reminds me of great comforts food. Among the greatest comfort foods, ramen. I made myself a bowl of ramen, and added some snap peas (courtesy of the aforementioned CSA goodie box), an egg and sliced green onions. Definitely hit the spot.

Dinner: As I was on vacation, I decided to forego the husband’s menu for dinner. He had salad and leftover quiche. I made myself a new Seattle Classic (for me, anyway). Walla Walla onions are in season. They are sweeter than any other onion I’ve tried. They show up in stores in July and one of my favorite Walla Walla onion dishes is a simple grilled cheese sandwich, with a nice strong cheese, a nice artisan bread and some fresh, raw WWOs right in the middle. On this occasion I chose English Cheddar and Walnut Bread from Essential Bakery. The cheese at first didn’t appear to melt all that great, but the sandwich sat for a few minutes as I prepped the rest of the meal (simply potato chips and some more of those snap peas that I enjoyed at lunch), and soon enough the cheese was as gooey as it needed to be.

Mmmmm …. vacation …

Father’s Day

Posted on June 17, 2008 by chatty

I talked to my pop on Father’s Day as we were driving home from the husband’s parents’ house on the Eastside. My dad was watching Game 5 of the Celtics/Lakers finals, so we cut the call sorta short. When I was growing up in Hartford Dad and I watched LOTS of Celtics games. Man, that was a good time to be a Celtics fan. I had a near life-sized poster of Kevin McHale hanging on my wall that freaked my mom out if it was sorta dark. Back in the day, it was all about Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, DJ, Chief, and my favorite (for some strange reason), Danny Ainge. The husband is puzzled as to why I liked Danny Ainge so much. Well, so am I, but he and DJ were my favorites.

Back in the day, the Celtics played 4 games in Hartford every season. One exhibition and three regular season games. I didn’t know it, but as I was watching an aging Larry Bird, I was also getting an opportunity to watch an up and coming Michael Jordan. Who knew? I loved going to those games! I’ll admit, I was much more eager to attend them when I was younger … middle school or maybe even younger. As I grew older, went to high school, and started doing high-school stuff, the games became less of a priority.

I left for college in the fall of ’93, and was heading to a new city with a fresh team. In Chicago, there was a bigger, better sheriff in town, and his name was Air. After growing up in the 80s with a string of Celtics championships, I was about to embark on another dynasty. 70-win seasons, three-peats, it was another great time to be a basketball fan!

I stopped watching basketball 10 years ago when I moved out here to Seattle. The Sonics are in a sorry state right now, with Clay Bennett trying to ship them to Oklahoma City. It’s a sad, sorry thing. While I don’t want them to leave, I certainly don’t feel like paying 100 bucks a ticket to see them play, either.

So, it’s with great pleasure that I can become a fan this time, of my old team, the Celtics. For real. Dad, thanks for taking me to those games. Those are days I won’t soon forget.

Go Celtics!

By the way, here’s a little sampling of what we had for dinner at the in-laws. At the in-laws it was all about Tiger and the U.S. Open. The husband’s father, at some point, deserted us in the dining room and pulled up a chair to the television in the kitchen to watch the last few holes. Then we all ran in to watch the replay of the 18th hole. Father’s Day was a good day for fathers all over.

The hors d’oeuvre: Melon wrapped in prosciutto; pearl onions with salami and cream cheese; a soft cheese with light crackers, and, my favorites, Cool ranch Doritos, Fritos, and guacamole. When has anyone ever called Doritos an hors d’oeuvre?

The Dinner: Grilled Salmon marinated in a ginger/sesame sauce with a pesto aioli; boiled potatoes and breaded zucchinni.

The dessert: Homemade apple pie (yes, as a matter of fact the mother-in-law and I did compare pie-crust experiences), with vanilla ice cream (not in the pic):

Way to go. A great meal.

Leftovers

Posted on May 11, 2008 by chatty

One night we had a rotisseire chicken and with the leftovers I made a simple chicken salad. Eggless mayo (some day, I can tell you how it came about that we have eggless mayo in our refridgerator), celery, grapes and of course chicken chunks. I used a leftover flour tortilla (the husband had prepared quesadillas a few nights earlier), and served it with some leftover brown rice on the side. It’s always nice to go the extra step and enjoy leftovers with a slight twist.

yum

Health kick

Posted on May 11, 2008 by chatty

The household is on a health kick (at least during the work week). The husband has been cutting down on carbs and upping the salad/vegetable ante. I’m still eating some carbs, but not as much as before. Here are a couple of Japanese-inspired meals that we had this week.

First, marinated seared tuna, alongside some California rolls. The Calif rolls were store-bought, but the tuna is a husband specialty:

A nice, light dinner is all you need, though many of us are accustomed to having a heavy meal late in the day.

Here, the husband whipped up the remaining buckwheat soba noodles we had in the house, and combined it with some stir fry vegetables. It was simply cooked in chicken broth. Again, nice a simple.

Tyler Florence Classic

Posted on April 28, 2008 by chatty

Picture this. January 2003. Winter in Chicago, my second quarter in graduate school. Living in a tiny studio, with a cruddy Internet connection. With freezing cold winter days and the husband (at that point, the fiance) in a different time zone, it is no wonder that my best friend was cable television (as seen through a 13-inch VCR/TV Combo). Winter 2003 is when I discovered the Food Network. My favorite show, the one I taped if I was at school, and watched every day, sometimes twice a day, was Food 911 with Tyler Florence. This recipe, from an episode when he was helping some housewife learn how to cook with tofu, became a staple when I was in school. This, and a chick pea/tomato/spinach curry dish over rice. Hmm. I’ll have to re-create that one at some point, too.

Panko-breaded tofu, pan-fried, served atop soba noodles in a spicy ginger soup. In this instance I used buckwheat noodles, but you get the idea. The soup is a hot and sour type of broth, made with a mixture of soy, oyster sauce, rice wine vinegar, sambal sauce and thinly sliced ginger coins.

BTW, it was in grad school that I also loved watching reruns of NYPD Blue. I watched five or more seasons of the show throughout the spring/summer (LOVED not having class until 1PM!)

Dinner delight

Posted on March 19, 2008 by chatty

A rich treat for us tonight. The husband pulled out the dutch oven! Only good things can come from a dutch oven. Tonight he offered up beef bourguignon: tender chunks of meat; carrots, pearl onions and potatoes; a red-wine based sauce over fresh, wide, buttery pappardelle pasta. Crumbled bacon topped this dish off.

(the dutch oven of goodness)

Spring has (almost) sprung

Posted on March 16, 2008 by chatty

It is beginning to smell like spring around here. We’ve got our rhodies beginning to bloom in the front yard, and we’ve cut some of the hyacinths that recently blossomed in our yard as well.

What better dish to celebrate spring than Pasta Primavera?

The husband treated us with this light pasta dish for dinner tonight. Whole-wheat rotini tossed with olive oil, peppers, broccoli and garlic.

I had a splitting headache, from what I believe was missing my coffee/caffeine fix this morning. So I stopped by the MM for a short latte and came home with dessert, a chocolate-dipped macaroon.

Couscous, yum yum

Posted on March 8, 2008 by chatty

Couscous via chattycha on flickr

The protein: A little chicken, a little lamb, and even some pancetta thrown in as a surprise.

The carb: Couscous cooked in chicken stock

The vegetable: Red peppers, shallots, green onions

Plus, a ginger/teriyaki marinade and pineapple chunks provide a sweet and sour tang to this one-dish meal.

Thanks, hon.

I’ll meet you anywhere you want, in our Italian restaurant

Posted on March 5, 2008 by chatty

The husband and I were watching Tyler’s Ultimate when he declared Tyler’s sauce wasn’t anything to write home about … he could do better.

And he did! Two different kinds of meats; San Marzano tomatoes; onions and red wine. Reduced to a rich, heavenly sauce. This was served over some whole wheat penne. This was last night. We had leftovers tonight. And will probably have the same tomorrow. No complaints here.

Kickin’ Chicken

Posted on March 3, 2008 by chatty

A fine chicken salad for dinner, with some toasted ciabatta bread lightly drizzled with olive oil. The dressing is Newman’s Own Light Honey Mustard. The chicken is marinated in Yoshida’s Teriyaki sauce. Surprisingly light, yet filling. Just what I needed for a cold and wet Monday evening.

Chatty Cha

dessert first

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