Pasta Amazing.

First I cooked the garlic and anchovies and olive oil over low, low heat, until the anchovies dissolve and I had an amazingly brilliant flavored EVOO.

Then added the onions and mushrooms, cooking for a long time without stirring, letting all the juices collect.

Added some milk and butter, some salt and white pepper, a little bit of red pepper flakes.

Cooked for awhile. Added baby spinach until wilted.

Tossed in the fettucine.

Tossed in some chopped olives and chopped grape tomatoes.

Grated Parm...

So. Damn. Good.

Friends and friends!

John Ed and Angela came over tonight... after "The TALK"... It is very nice hanging out with them outside of work, since none of us really enjoys working. They are good friends to have, and I will miss them very much. Maybe one day we will all meet again!

We brought out chips and I made an impromptu salsa out of tomato, chipotle peppers in adobe sauce, corn, onion, etc. Tasty, surprising. Fresh veggies always taste good mixed together, and usually make good salsa if you just squirt a bit of lemon or lime juice on them (plus salt). Yum! We also had some frozen pizza with freshness on top.

AND some really good beer. There is a nice place in town that has the best beer variety I've seen in this area. The people working are always lovely (and a little drunk), willing to help and honest about what is new and fresh.. and what is old and skunked. It is better to buy from these local places who care about customers... rather than big chains who put bad stuff on sale to push inventory.

Now time to veg out.

Stuffed Tomatoes

I made these for dinner tonight. Next time I will put a grain in them to give it more... oomph. So it goes...

(I'm posting this because I am trying to practice my macro mode on my camera)

Honeybees

Honey prices will go up! Sad news for honey enthusiasts (such as kt). I bought a big jar today, which was not the wisest purchase since I have enough honey to get me through until the big adventure.... and I'm trying not to spend *ANY* money... but....

One of the HFH volunteers is a bee keeper! And he is the cutest funniest old guy... he talks in a drawl that is nearly impossible to understand unless no other noises are going on anywhere and you are entirely focused on his face/lips. I couldn't really understand the actual price he was selling quarts of his honey for until he repeated it the third time: $7. Not bad for a quart. Unfortunately, he does not accept food stamps! Heh. But most small jars of honey are selling for at least $5... I feel like he could get away with a little bump to the price. He is not really the type of guy that wants to sell things for more than they are worth... which I appreciate, almost more than the price itself.

Maybe Mom and Dad can have honey from a local Carolina bee farm. Hooray!

Swordfish!

I was at the grocery store today for yogurt and wandered over to the fish counter where there was a special on swordfish. Being as I get foodstamps and I have never cooked swordfish before, I decided to splurge and get something new! It tastes.. good! I made a fun little berry balsamic glaze, and cooked a little spinach and mushroom wheat bulgar salad to go with it.

The balsamic glaze is so easy! I take about a cup of vinegar to about a quarter of sugar, and simmer that sucker down until it is just a little bit thick. About fifteen minutes in, I added a handful or so of chopped up mixed berries. This simmers for maybe a half hour or so. I definitely would have made this ahead of time if time permitted, since cooking vinegar makes the whole kitchen smelly.

The salad was next. It can be served hot or cold or warm or whatever. I added warm water to a little bit of wheat bulgar and let that stuff get nice and tender (takes an hour) while I sauteed some onion. Add mushrooms and a splash of soy sauce, let that cook down, and then pop the spinach in until it is wilty but still green and pretty. Wheat bulgar is what I normally use in tabouli... it is nutritious, with lots of protein, which means when I make extra I can use it as a whole meal the next day!

Then... the fish! I marinated this stuff in lemon juice and a splash of balsamic for an hour before cooking. Salt and pepper one side, and put that side down flat on my pan (which has olive oil all heated up). I read online about how to cook a thick steak of swordfish, and I went for the recipe that suggested four minutes per side. This was perfect for me! But, I like semi-rare fish... so, if I were cooking for someone else I'd probably go with five-six minutes per side.

Then I put all the stuff on a plate, drizzled with balsamic, garnished with green onions, and WOW! Taste bud happy!

RIP Hand Blender

My hand blender broke about five minutes ago. It was making me hummus. It is the best kitchen tool ever, excepting the basic stuff. But I can't say I'd get another Braun... this is the second time the switch has stopped working for me.

OSFDJOISDFJOIJEWF.

Things fall apart...

Pesto!

Yesterday I used the fresh basil from Madison's Farmer's Market to make some homemade pesto. Yum! I used the recipe here. It turned out great! Heidi Swanson says to chop all the ingredients, adding more basil, pine nuts, cheese as you go. That way, the pesto is not one big blob of green. You can see all the ingredients, so the texture and visual components are different than normal. I can verify, this is very cool. It is pretty as well as tasty. It was very good stuff, with one minor problem...

When I added a bunch of it to hot pasta, all the pesto clumped together as the cheese melted, and all my chopping went out the window because the stuff resembled the green blob I was trying to avoid. Next time, I will add the pasta water to pesto before adding pesto to pasta. Pesto pasta pasta pesto, fun to say! This will thin the stuff out a bit, and it will combine better. Theoretically.

Anyway, I ate the stuff spread on a bagel this morning, and that was pretty awesome. I think basil is my current favorite herb.

Heidi Swanson's site is very nice. Good recipes, clear instructions.

Fat Attack

I recently started eliminating high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils from my diet. Totally shocked by all the foods that I can't eat anymore! Hmm. I shall go take a look in my parent's refrigerator to give good examples.

Ok. Back. My parents are healthy people- my Mom is sort of a nut about food like me. So, this is no typical American kitchen. And STILL there are poisons in their cupboards and refrigerator.

Foods in my parent's house that contain HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP POISON:
-Heinz Ketchup
-Kraft Honey BBQ Sauce
-Bloody Mary Mix
-Lemonade
-Cutsie Natural looking Marianade
-Wheat Thins (Nabisco)

High fructose corn syrup affects our brains chemically, making us think that we are not full after we drink a can of soda.... it also works inside our bodies to help us store more fat than we would otherwise. Man-made terrible poison nastiness. When will we live in a society that looks upon those who feed their children Coke and candy with the same disapproval given to parents who smoke?

Foods in my parent's house that contain HYDROGENATED OIL POISON:
-Jiff Peanut Butter (to my parent's credit, I noticed their next jar is Smucker's Natural PB)
-Pillsbury Chocolate cake mix
-Lipton Cup of Soup
-Bear Creek Soup mix
-IGA Hot cocoa mix

My mom has always been conscious of hydrogenated oils... As soon as research showed what the stuff does to us, she stopped buying margarine and started checking labels. It is pretty safe to assume that all processed food either contains HFCS or partially hydrogenated oils-- trans fats. Even with the new labeling rules, companies can put "0 grams trans fats" on their packaging when the product still contains hydrogenated oils.. WTF!

There is good fat (fish, nuts) which we *need* to survive! We must eat fatty things! Otherwise we would be so hungry and we would not have life. But these hydrogenated fats... they take the place in our bodies where the good fats want to hang out. So the good fats start hanging out in our waistlines rather than where they should be, and our bodies tell us that we are still hungry. Pass the potato chips!

Hydrogenated oils poison us. Literally! With no warning labels! Terrifying. This stuff that we eat-- man-made material. Our bodies can't process something that didn't even exist until the 70s. It's like eating plastic and expecting our digestive system to react normally. Right.

Well. I didn't expect to rant. It is just so freaking absurd to think about all of this... OF COURSE AMERICA IS GETTING FATTER! DUH!!!

*sigh*

My brother will be married in July! To Wendy and Allyssa and Hailey. Three women, lucky guy. The wedding will be here. Actually, that is where the reception will be. I wonder where the wedding is? Maybe there, too. Hmm...

It is good that I am home for the retirement party, because it gave me a chance to try on my dress and get it fitted. It's a little big, but better big than small. It is here.

I made this entry so I could link something. Ta-da.

Dad Retires!

At home, in Madison. Lovely to be back in this place... such a neat town! This morning I went to the Farmer's Market. Such an awesome Farmer's Market! http://www.madfarmmkt.org/ We got a lot of basil... I will make a pesto. And we got strawberries. We also bought strawberries later on at the Country Bumpkin's Market near Wisconsin Dells. Country Bumpkins! Ha! The berries are sweet, and we will make a pie.

Surprised my dad yesterday afternoon... He was impressed with my mom and I being able to keep that secret. I am, too! We pulled in the driveway and he did a double take. "What the...?"

Dad's retirement party was pretty amazing. Saw lots of people I have not seen in a long long while. Lots of memories talked about! Drank too much vino tinto. So it goes.

Mom and Dad made... jambalaya! And sandwiches with olive and mushrooms. And shrimp with sauce! Lots of good food! http://www.ruralroute1.com/ Rural Route has good popcorn. White chocolate with almonds! Delicious!

Must figure out how to do links. Hmm.

Summer Solstice

Say a chant and do a dance.

Or, be more productive with your daylight and stop writing in a blog. Yes. Okay.

Shit!

Going home tomorrow for Dad's retirement party. It's a surprise, so shhhh....

I'm going to be checking two very large bags full of my *stuff*, so much freakin' stuff. There are many reasons why this sucks, but the main reason is as follows: parking in Charlotte is fairly convenient but I will have to carry two very large bags, a full hiking backpack, and a purse across a parking lot all by myself. I am such a wuss. But my bags are heavy! Or, they will be, when I pack them.

This is the beginning of my move back to the midwest... which isn't really a move so much as an object relocation plan. ORP. ORP commences tomorrow, and will conclude around the end of July. And then I will sort, give away, throw away... reduce my possessions into something manageable. My parents are sick of me taking up so much of their basement space.

ORP is a pain in the ass! Must pack now! Now!!

Tahini Dressing

Today I made my tahini based dressing for the second time, and it is still very kick-ass. I think it is maybe similar to Annie's Goddess Dressing... but I have never tried Annie's Goddess Dressing (although I hear it is also very kick-ass), so I cannot confirm this. Here is what I do:

1. Chop up one clove of garlic and smoosh it together with some salt until it is pasty and not chunky, so that I do not have to bite into raw garlic while I eat my salad. Throw into bowl.

2. Chop up a big handful of parsley and two or three green onions. I chop this for what feels like *forever*, because I do not want big chunks of either of these ingredients in my dressing. A food processor would be handy for this step, but I do not like getting the machine out of the cupboard. And it is very loud. So, chop chop chop and throw into the bowl.

3. Chop a lemon in half and squeeze juices out of each half and into the bowl. Now I put away my knife, because the chopping is all done.

4. Add soy sauce to the bowl. Maybe a teaspoon or two. This, along with the salted garlic, makes the dressing plenty salty.

5. Add red wine vinegar to the bowl. I think two tablespoons. But again, I am not sure. I also think I could make this dressing with any vinegar, and it would still be ok.

5. Add a little bit of honey. I cannot remember if I did this the first time I made it or not. I tasted it today without adding honey and it wasn't quite right... enough sour, enough salty.... sweet! I think I maybe just used plain sugar the first time around, but honey is better. Au-natural. I think a heavy teaspoon is good.

6. Add tahini! This is the best step because it is the most important ingredient of all. I am not sure how much tahini I add to the bowl. I would guess maybe a quarter cup. After I add this I slosh everything together.

7. Add some water until the dressing is nice and runny. There is so much flavor in all the ingredients that water helps to make sure every flavor is spread to all my lettuce leaves in my salad. Yum!

This dressing is more kick-ass the second day. The ingredients like to hang out for awhile together before they reach optimal taste-bud satisfaction.

Ubuntu...

My friend helped me set up my computer to run Ubuntu instead of Windows. Unfortunately, internet connection took way too long to figure out so he did not finish and Ubuntu sits, waiting for me, somewhere in my laptop... but I cannot use it yet.

YET!

I do not like Windows very much. This is why I've wanted a Mac... I like the way Macs are easy to use and do not get viruses. Ubuntu will give me this! And more! And it is *free*! But sometimes difficult to set up. Which is why I need a helper. Which frustrates me because I want to use it now. Nownownow.

AGH!

My very first blog entry!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!