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Thinking of Japan
The pictures from Japan are so horrifying, they boggle the mind. I mean, when it was Haiti a few years ago, the pictures were unimaginable and tragic, but Haiti is such a poor, destitute country, that somehow it gave me a false impression of security. But Japan, Japan is a wealthy industrialized country, one where large earthquakes are expected and planned for. But an 8.9…that’s impossible to plan for. By comparison, the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake was 6.9, and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake was 7.9. (To read more about the Richter magnitude scale, and learn the difference between a 6.9, a 7.9, and an 8.9, click here) And of…
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Best Broccoli EVER
Last weekend was Ted’s brother’s birthday, and we celebrated with a steak and potato dinner. Ted’s mom brought this delicious broccoli, ala’ Barefoot Contessa, that was SO GOOD I had to make it again on Tuesday, and actually, I think I’m going to make some more tonight, to go with ‘leftover Friday’. I think I ate about twice as much broccoli as I normally do. So I went online to get the recipe, and I decided to make the meal that she made on the episode. It was a mustard roasted fish, dill fingerling potatoes, and of course, broccoli. Results? The broccoli was kick-ass. The potatoes were yummy, and maybe…
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Cutting for Stone
I will not cut for stone, even for patients in whom the disease is manifest; I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners, specialists in this art. ~ From the Hippocratic Oath Cutting for Stone begins with the pregnancy and birth of slightly conjoined and separated twins, Marion and Shiva Stone, orphaned at birth with the death of their mother, Sister Mary Joseph Praise, and the disappearance of their father, Dr. Thomas Stone. Marion and Shiva are raised at the Ethiopian hospital where they are born, by two Indian doctors, who love them as their own. They grow up amid political upheaval, though they are mostly insulated from…
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Eggplant and Zucchini Pizza with Basil and Cherry Tomatoes
Back when I worked at a certain big hotel in San Francisco, one of my coworkers was a big fan of a local pizza place, Vicolo. She raved about it, and I’m sorry to say we never got around to trying it, because we were big fans of North Beach Pizza and Mozzarella Di Bufala, and rarely ventured elsewhere. I think what they were famous for was their cornmeal crusts. I assume that because last week at my local grocery store, I saw these Vicolo pre-made cornmeal crusts in the refrigerated section. It made me think of a recipe from The Greens Cookbook that we like. We usually eat it…
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Dieting Sucks
It’s interesting to me that at the same time more and more information comes out about how diets simply do. not. work., we seem to be just as obsessed with trying the next and newest, in our attempts to control our bodies and our weight. Think about it. Have you ever known anyone who went on a diet, lost weight, and then moved on with their life, never to need to diet again? I haven’t. Dieting messes with your metabolism, and sometimes your mind. For a small percentage of us, it triggers eating disorders, like anorexia and bulimia. For most of us, it means that we can gain more weight…
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Instant Beef Tenderloin Stew
If you’re ever looking for a beef stew that you can make quickly, perhaps within 1/2 an hour, rather than the several hours most stews take, here’s your recipe. I found it in my new Fast Food My Way cookbook, by Jacques Pepin. The secret is that while most stews take a tough or slightly tough slice of meat and stew it for a few hours to make it tender, this recipe takes a tenderloin of beef (aka, Fillet Mignon, aka, $$$) and browns it quickly, maintaining the tenderness of the meat. You use a combination of fresh and frozen vegetables, also hastening the process. Know what? I had a…
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Wordless Wednesday
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If there weren’t any bad news, maybe there wouldn’t be any news at all…
Don’t you sometimes find that some days are just too much? I mean, personally, my own life is fine. My family is healthy, we have jobs, no real problems for us. But leave that circle just slightly, and it gets so much worse that it’s hard to bear. In our own little town, two students at Maya’s high school died this weekend when they decided to take a raft trip down a raging waterway. Such things should be safe, shouldn’t they? People go whitewater rafting all of the time. But in our local city, these waterways, this creek is not natural, it’s man-made. Back in the 60s there were floods…
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Spring Gardening
Winter has finally returned. While most of you lovely people were suffering mightily with huge snowfall and bitter cold weather, we were enjoying temperatures closing in on 80 degrees. One should not complain of such things, 80 degrees in January, but still, here in California, land of the drought, there is always a bit of worry that accompanies such weather. Drought. We had a very wet December, so our snow pack (our source of water) is pretty high, so we’re not too worried. But still, we’re somewhat worried at such a dry and warm January. Enter February, and thankfully, things have cooled off a bit, and we’re having some rain…
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Caveat Emptor
A few weeks ago, several of my Facebook friends mentioned a great LivingSocial deal, where you could get a $20 Amazon gift card, for only $10. These friends weren’t the type to get suckered into fake deals, so even though I wasn’t familiar with LivingSocial, I decided to give it a try. Everything worked out perfectly, I got my $20 gift card, and spent it on a cookbook I had been eying. Which I haven’t used yet, but am looking forward to checking out. A few days later, after receiving and redeeming my Amazon card, LivingSocial had a deal that sounded pretty darned good…a home tooth whitening kit, valued at…
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Revolution in Egypt!
Like so many, we’ve been watching the events in Egypt unfold these last few weeks. What the future holds for the region, it’s too soon to say. For now, I say, we all celebrate the power of the people to bring down a dictator, and the hope of more freedom and democracy in the Middle East. Look at the joy on the faces in this picture, cribbed from the AP. And, on a more personal level, and in honor of the amazing revolution currently occurring in Egypt, (and the overthrow of the dictator in Tunisia a few weeks ago) I decided to change our dinner plans tonight from burgers and…
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Butternut Squash Sauté
The other day, I was watching Jacques Pepin and his daughter, Claudine, make some gorgeous mini savory cheesecakes on arugula (link to the video and recipe), which I vow that I must try…but haven’t yet. On the same episode, they made a butternut squash sauté, where they cooked the squash with butter, apple cider, onions, and a bit of vinegar. It looked and sounded SO good to me, and we’re all big fans of butternut squash, so a few nights later, I decided to make it, and serve it with chicken and roast potatoes. I wish I had taken a picture of it, but unfortunately, I didn’t. I was too…
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The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
But the day was darkening outside, and as I finished that first bite, as that first impression faded, I felt a subtle shift inside, an unexpected reaction. As if a sensor, so far buried deep inside me, raised its scope to scan around, alerting my mouth to something new. Because the goodness of the ingredients – the fine chocolate, the freshest lemons – seemed like a cover over something larger and darker, and the taste of what was underneath was beginning to push up from the bite. I could absolutely taste the chocolate, but in drifts and traces, in an unfurling, or an opening, it seemed that my mouth was…
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Wordless Wednesday – Look what came in the mail?
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Jefferson’s Macaroni and Cheese
The other day, Ted mentioned that it might be fun to try the original Macaroni and Cheese, the kind that Thomas Jefferson brought to America from France. I’m a big fan of Mac & Cheese. I even like the Kraft stuff, though my favorite is the White Cheddar box. I tried to make homemade Mac & Cheese once before, and it was a disaster. The problem was that I didn’t use a recipe, and I didn’t understand the dynamics of M&C, so I just cooked some noodles, melted some cheese, and mixed. Gloppy, disgusting mess. Luckily, my audience that time was 7 year olds, and they didn’t care. So this…