Feb 13
Every Rom-Com, every book, every platitude says when you meet “The One,” you’ll just know. We didn’t lock eyes in a crowded airport terminal or pass each other on a train platform or have an awkward conversation about the weather in biology lab. We met on the Internet. And it’s like….magic. I have fallen completely, utterly and irrevocably in love. We are M-F-E-O (made for each other). My husband? What? No, I met him in a bar. I’m talking about the Baking Steel.
Jan 24
Anything shaped in a patty has a homey feel to it, doesn’t it? A hamburger, Salisbury steak, mashed potato cakes, they’re either home food, or diner fare. And for the most part, they’re fast. Mix this and that together, form a disk and fry it up in a hot pan. But the thing is, you don’t have to limit your notion of a patty to meat. You can sit down to a delicious dinner in 20-25 minutes if you’ve got a can of beans (and a reasonably stocked pantry).
This recipe germinated in my mind as a chicken meatball, but my pantry dictated. “Beans,” it said. “It will be Great Northern beans.” It’ll do that on a Wednesday when you don’t have time to go the market. And so, Spinach and White Bean Burgers.
Jan 6
Sliding in to the second week of January, it’s so-far-so-good on getting more exercise, eating more vegetables and whole grains and less meat and butter. Of course, while the new year always feels like a good time for a fresh start, I had the “benefit” of a blood test in late November that reminded me I needed to get moving and pay more attention to my cholesterol. So yeah, even if you feel like you’re doing (most) of the right things, you really should have it checked every five years. Everything is documented in a food diary, and I’ll tell you, soup has been a savior as a vehicle for extra veg, beans and grains, whether its vegetarian chili, chicken tortilla, or this minestrone.
It’s Tuesday night. The gorgeous Asian pears are gone, except for a half, the blueberry muffin from Craftsman and Wolves but a memory, the husband is sick and watching Corner Gas somewhere he can’t infect the rest of the household, and I had my dad’s Sloppy Joes for dinner. It involves Campbell’s Chicken Gumbo soup. Don’t judge. It’s back to real life. It’s a relief. Being on the road, dining out for every meal, sounds glam, but it is tiresome. I’m not 25 anymore.
But believe me, it’s not a complaint. I had a fantastic time in San Francisco, catching up with folks I see once a year. Italian and Cal-Italian dominated our restaurant choices over the course of the week and Tim, the friend we hung out with at the market, and I chatted about lavender biscotti, so naturally I’m diving back into posting with these little Italian cookies on the brain. So, Rosemary, Cornmeal and Pine Nut biscotti.
Sep 14
Hold on, the headline says pig roast. Why am I looking at soup? Because a pig roast, while delicious, is ugly gorgeous. As the sunny season winds down at Cafe Juanita in Kirkland, Washington, this soup is one of the things I’ve been looking forward to all summer. Pappa al pomodoro. You know this soup? Tomatoes, hand crushed. Garlic, basil, cayenne, olive oil, balsamic, sherry vinegar, bread. Served at room temp, it is the essence of summer. At Sunday night’s Pig Roast, pappa al pomodoro was a pre-dinner summer sipper.
This is perhaps the one Cafe Juanita recipe that gets shared the most, but I’ve never actually made it. Why? It’s a destination dish. I’ll just say, it’s worked out really well that we got married in late summer. If I plan it right, I can have it at the restaurant. If you can’t, the recipe is here. So what about that pig roast?
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