Recipes
-
Thanksgiving Recipes
Likely no one needs another Thanksgiving recipe, but here is my menu and my recipes nonetheless. We are hosting this year, there will be 6 of us, 2 vegetarians (well, pescatarians, they eat fish). I will do as much as I can tomorrow afternoon, assuming I get off of work early. Appetizers Wine I have 3 bottles of wine this year, which is too much for 6 people I suspect, but at least we’re prepared. I have a Cabernet Franc, a Cabernet Sauvignon, and a Chardonnay. Main Course Dessert Do you celebrate Thanksgiving? Any mashed potato tricks for me? I have some sour cream I might add…
-
Soup Weather
Back in July, Tobia hosted the Cool Bloggers Summer Salad Challenge, in which she challenged herself (and us) to eat more salads. It was fun to see people sharing salad recipes on their blogs, and also fun to try some of them for myself. Now that we’re easing into soup weather, and it’s feeling like Fall in the northern hemisphere, I thought we could have a Cool Bloggers Autumn Soup Challenge, and share some favorite soup recipes. I think Winter Soup Challenge has a better ring to it somehow, but Winter is 2 months away. I don’t have any new soup recipes for you, but instead will share some of…
-
Dinners this Week
Sunday I went to the Farmers’ Market, and this was my haul. Yes, I spent $30 on berries alone, but I have been known to do that before. Actually, I have spent quite a bit more in the past. I regret nothing. We eat a lot of berries, so that’s not a problem. Same with the cantaloupe, grapes, and nectarines. More of an issue is the tomatoes. (Also the fruit flies! Damn them.) So, without further ado, here are my plans for dinners this week. I think it’s time to post my corn salad recipe, because it’s delicious and so easy. Probably I should have posted it a month ago…
-
Green Bean, Olive, and Goat Cheese Salad
It’s been a week. I don’t talk about work much here, but this week was a tough one. I work in the IT industry, and my company did layoffs this week, including my boss. With no warning, as is the general practice. So I’m stressed out. In better news, I made Engie’s green bean and olive salad. (This was Engie’s contribution for Tobia’s Cool Bloggers Summer Salad Challenge) It’s a winner, though Maya said it hasn’t changed her mind about green beans (she’s not a fan). Because I’m stressed out and can’t think of any content for you, I’ll copy the recipe here for you (and for me, I come…
-
Miscellaneous Monday
This is going to be one of those random posts, just things I’m thinking about. (I mean, that is the name of my blog, right?) First I will dip my toes into politics a bit, and say that I am feeling MUCH more hopeful about the possibility of no Trump presidency than I was a couple of weeks ago. Ever since Biden’s horrible debate, I’ve been so stressed out. I think he’s been a very good President, and doesn’t get enough credit for his accomplishments. I honestly doubt that he could put in another 4 years, though, it’s a hell of a job. But we have a whole system set…
-
Lemon Pistachio Cake
This last weekend, we celebrated the birthdays of Ted’s mom and uncle, who are one day short of 15 years apart in age. We had a Mexican theme, with lamb birria tacos, grilled shrimp salsa, guacamole and so on, but I’m here today to tell you about the cake. Ted’s cousin Sewdaye made a beautiful Lemon Pistachio Cake, and frosted it with a lemon ricotta whipped cream frosting. I am generally not a big fan of cake, I’m much more team pie or ice cream, but this cake was amazing and has absolutely changed my mind. Of course, we did serve it with ice cream – pistachio gelato, lemon marionberry,…
-
Bastille Day Randomness
Happy Bastille Day everyone! Bastille Day holds a special place in my heart, as my first full day in Paris on my honeymoon 31 years ago was on Bastille Day. I fell in love with France that day, and have been fortunate enough to go back twice since then. When Engie asked me to help her celebrate her 20 years of blogging (WOW!), and told me my day would be July 14th, I decided to write about France (again). So I’m her guest today! I’m sorry, I know I’ve written about my 2022 trip a LOT, and my 2018 trip less but still a lot, so likely you will not…
-
Summer Salad Challenge
I was going to write about politics today, about how genuinely afraid I am for our democracy since last week’s Supreme Court ruling. About how I fear that Biden’s age is going to be a real issue in the election this fall, and how I wish he had decided not to run for a second term, and yet I worry that if he drops out now, it will be too late and again, Trump wins and we are all well and truly screwed. About how I thought the insurrection on January 6th was the end of Trump’s political career, that there was no way folks would support him after that.…
-
Blood Orange, Fennel, Avocado, and Arugula Salad
Maya took me out for a lovely lunch on Saturday to celebrate Mother’s Day. We ordered a few items and shared them. We had a salad, some calamari, and tuna tartare. Maya doesn’t eat meat, but she does occasionally have seafood, and tuna tartare and calamari are definitely favorites. The salad was blood oranges, fennel, arugula, and feta cheese. Everything was delicious, but the salad was our favorite item. To drink, I had a lovely crisp Sauvignon Blanc, and she had her drink of choice, gin and tonic. I liked the salad enough that I decided to make it at home last night, and because everything is better with avocados,…
-
Dinners This Week
I’m not a big planner when it comes to meals. Generally I decide what I am going to make for dinner on my morning walk, go to the grocery store on my lunch break, and start cooking between 4:30 and 5:01, depending on my work day. Not good for the environment, I guess, driving every day instead of once or twice a week. At least it’s not far, we have a couple of grocery stores within a mile or two. This week, though, I have a couple of ideas, so I will share them with you now. Whether they end up getting made, or whether I veer off course and…
-
Monday Meme
I know, a cartoon and a meme are not the same thing, but I liked this cartoon and decided to share it. Want to get caught up? This sign is on one of our local walks. There’s construction ahead, and somehow, they think it’s important for us to know that the sidewalk is close. Very close. Maybe a foot and a half? (I did terribly on the spacial section of the ASVAB way back when, so don’t really ask me about distances, and if you need help packing your moving truck, I’m probably not your gal.) Do you make wishes? I sometimes do. I make a wish if I blow…
-
Miscellaneous Monday
Lest you worry about my whereabouts, I decided to post something today. But what? How about some randomness? I noticed the sign above on one of my morning walks recently. In the unlikely event that you’re unfamiliar with the Monty Python skit, you can watch it here. This is my favorite tulip tree in our area. This house has a much bigger one in the front yard, with darker colored blossoms, but this one charms me. I love the way they keep it shaped. One of our local public art pieces, nicknamed ‘Fountain Head’ was taken away for restoration the other day. Not my picture, I saw it on our…
-
Salad with Avocado and Pickled Onions
I was scrolling through Facebook the other day, and Smitten Kitchen posted a recipe for a salad that looked really good. I decided I wanted to give it a try, so I made it for dinner last night. I made a few changes. I used romaine hearts instead of iceberg, I used feta cheese instead of cotija, and I used more pickled onions because I love pickled onions. I served it with a roasted chicken for Ted and myself, and with fake chicken for Maya. Delicious. You can find the recipe and her beautiful photos, here. Smitten Kitchen’s Baby Wedge Salad with Avocados and Pickled Onions Pickle your onions: Combine…
-
Blustery Weather – Crab, Grapefruit, and Avocado Salad
California was recently walloped by some fierce weather, especially down south. Our neighborhood got some rain, and some gale force winds. The winds knocked down some trees in our neighborhood, which always makes me sad for a life cut short. In better news, the wind also knocked a bunch of grapefruit down from a tree on one of my morning walks, and I grabbed as many firm ones as I could carry (3). I still had some leftover crab in the fridge, but not enough to make crab cakes*, so I decided to make a first course for our dinner instead. The result was a delicious and refreshing dish, above,…
-
Dinners Last Week
I have some catching up to do around here, mostly on books that I’ve been reading, which is why I am late to my Monday post, and why I haven’t been to many blogs to comment lately. Hoping to come around more this week and catch up at your place. In the meantime, if you’re looking for meal inspiration, here is what we had for dinner last week, and some thoughts on what we will have this week. Monday – Black Bean Chili – This is an old favorite around here, I’ve been making it for decades, since I received the Greens cookbook back in the early 90s. It’s tasty,…
