Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘ethnic food’ Category

family visit

Posted in books, Buffalo, chocolate, church, ethnic food, Exercise, Family, God, House, Ice Cream, New York, school, teal, wings on July 9, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Mom and Josh are here visiting!

(So happy to have them here, but I swear!  I can’t catch a break this summer…it’s just one crazy day after another!  When am I supposed to have that ‘down time’ I’ve been waiting for?)

We picked them up at the airport at 9:30 and went straight to church, where we heard Jim and Jill Kelly talk about her new book and their struggles and faith–very neat to see them and loved hearing their testimonies.

Then we headed to Elmwood to get some Saigon Cafe Thai for lunch before walking around and popping into different shops.  Scored a major find at reimagine, a trendy consignment home-goods place–some small retro Pyrex/Corning saucers that match the teal-rimmed ones I found at Goodwill in Ohio!  We also started eyeing this amazing black-and-wood two-tone long table for our new house…

We (well, more like Josh and I) wanted some ice cream and after seeing the wait at Watson’s, Andrew announced that he was taking us to Condrell’s, a local long-established ice cream and chocolate shop.  We enjoyed sundaes and sodas before heading home to rescue the puppy (who’d been cooped up for 7 hours–thank you to Mom and Dad Layer for giving him a comfort break once during that time!) and start marinating dinner.

After a walk and a quick female-only trip to Target, we all settled in to watch This Means War (cute, but super predictable and a bit more risque than I anticipated), before turning in after midnight…

Andrew’s already off to work, I’ve been up since 5:30 working on an article and doing my morning thing, and our two visitors are still asleep!  Although Josh did open his eyes and speak coherently for a bit while I was up putzing in the kitchen.

We’re off to the gym later this morning, then meeting Andrew for lunch at the Bar Bill for wings, then seeing our new house (!), followed by an afternoon in East Aurora.  Sigh…I’m happy.

Read Full Post »

…and i’m DONE

Posted in Andrew, Date Night, ethnic food, House, Ice Cream, school, thai food, wine on May 15, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

(At least for the next two weeks before my online class starts…)

I’m taking it slow today; just trying to relax and enjoy tackling my GIANT to-do list (you know, the one with all the things I’ve put-off for the last two weeks…) piece-by-piece.  Up first: BLOGGING!

So, yesterday was the big day; my Chem 2 final.  I think I was more nervous for this one (despite my insane amount of studying) because I remembered how hard the Chem 1 final had been.  Plus, everyone in my class knew I’d done exceptionally well on the first one, so I felt all this unnecessary pressure to do just as well the second time around.  Only time will tell; I get my grade Thursday.

All in all, the test went well.  A bunch of us showed up early for a study session with the tutor–which really just turned into a pseudo-party with donuts that probably served as more of a stress-reliever than anything else.  I wish I could say that I walked out of the test a few minutes early knowing I’d done my absolute best and been able to feel incredible relief; instead I took every last moment and even then didn’t have a chance to go back and give the ones I’d had questions on a second look.  The ACS finals are just like that; you just never know how you did until you get your grade.  I’m not worried; the truth is that I studied hard, I’m a good student, I went into the exam with a 101% average in the class and the final is highly curved–if I don’t get an A, no one will.  What I’m really interested in is my raw score on the final…

I did, however, take one last look at ECC before I left–all finished there!

Abigail and I had a late lunch at Arriba, where I enjoyed a small margarita on the rocks with salt (my absolute favorite) and just relaxed outside enjoying the mild weather.  She just returned from a whirlwind week in Florida with her campus Christian fellowship from Penn State, so she was just as bushed as me.  It was so nice to be able to (finally!) be able to enjoy talking about summer plans, Carolyn’s shower details and birthdays coming up (our summer is full of them).

Afterward, we got our nails done :)  (Because that’s what girls do, of course, and that’s what THIS GIRL does to reward herself after a semester well-done.)

This is the color I fell in love with at J. Crew a few weeks ago, but hadn’t had time to actually paint on my nails.  It’s even brighter than this in person…  What can I say?  I wanted to CELEBRATE.

Abigail and I decided some iced coffee and Main Street-walking was in order after our nails were finished, so we ended our afternoon doing that. Oh, and trying on the HOT PINK HEELS Carolyn picked out for us for her wedding.  Oh, they are bright.  Oh, what an excuse to buy something I would NEVER buy myself in a million years.  :)  I just told Andrew he’s going to have to take me places one can wear hot pink heels (with black pants, perhaps) so I can get some use out of them.  Rick’s, I think?

Speaking of Rick’s…  We were supposed to go there to celebrate the end of my semester, but it was a bit overcast.  We love nothing more than sitting on their patio, every table full, on a beautiful night enjoying good food, good wine and good weather, and (unfortunately) it was just not that kind of night around here.  So, we opted for The King and I, a thai place a bit north of Buffalo.

Love this outfit, and LOVE those shoes :)  I wore them for my exam.

After starting with hot tea (for him), white wine (for me) and an order of spring rolls (Andrew’s absolute favorite), our dinners arrived.

Instead of pad thai, my normal dish, I ordered their house noodles, which was similar but with more crushed peanuts, less tamarind and more veggies.  YUM.

Andrew got a spicy stir-fry and gobbled it right up!

Don’t you love his shirt?  He knew I would.  It was a recent J.Crew purchase on super sale-$27.99!  LOVE IT.  He has these awesome light linen pants he’s always pairing with heavy or dark shirts/shoes/jacket, so this shirt will help give him something light and season-appropriate to wear with them.

We were both craving a little vanilla ice cream action, and Dairy Queen is Andrew’s favorite.  (I’m a Kone King kind of girl, myself, but DQ is good, too.  And it was way more convenient.)

Can you tell which one was mine?  Despite my outright OBSESSION with ice cream, I was a good girl and ordered a small, which was just right.  However, I’m already salivating over my next DQ treat: the ‘confetti cake’ blizzard they’re featuring this month.  A mini-version will definitely find its way into my mouth when Abigail and I go to the mall to run errands later this week…

I have LOTS to do today…  Up next: clean the house!  Between all the freshly mowed grass we’ve tracked in (grrr…), hair, dust and other things that have been ignored for the past couple days, it’s a MESS!

Read Full Post »

i miss ‘us’

Posted in bible study, breakfast, chocolate, Dayton/Ohio, East Aurora, ethnic food, Family, Friends, Ice Cream, peanut butter, Running, thai, trader joe's, traveling, trips on April 5, 2012 | 2 Comments »

That phrase was uttered by our good friend, Dave Diercks, this past weekend during our recent trip to Ohio.

And then it was seconded.  And thirded.  (Is that even a word?)

Anyway…  Here are some highlights from the trip!  (As usual, I didn’t take enough pictures…so I’ll do my best to describe how we used a door as a table, and my two-scoop ‘small’ sundae.

-We brought cupcakes!  I’m a huge fan of Firefly, the new artisan cupcake shop on Main Street here, and we wanted to gift Emily and Dan with goodies.  Since Emily and I are trying to be good and watch our calories, we decided we’d save our splurges for Graeter’s and Rita’s.  But, Dan and Andrew can indulge!  We brought a ‘chocolate-covered strawberry’ for Dan and a Vanilla Bean for Andrew.  The picture doesn’t do them justice…they’re packaged in their own little cellophane bags with the cute Firefly card on the front.

-As usual, we stopped at Chick-Fil-A in Erie for a late lunch.  I really had been craving CFA…I got a 2-strip kid’s meal with fries….

…and a small cookies and cream milkshake to drink!  I love them :)  Andrew actually did a decent number on the shake, so I probably ended up having only 3/4 or less of it anyway.

-While I was “setting up” my food in the car (I have a method), I realized it would make a perfect blog post.  ”On how I eat in the car” coming soon.

-OK, here’s where the pictures begin to fail me…

-We made another stop near Dublin (skipping Jeni’s! A travesty!) for a Starbucks run for me.  Using the blessed iPhone, we found not one but TWO in grocery stores just feet away from where we were after taking the wrong exit off the highway… thank you, Jesus!  AND, the nice lady behind the counter was offering samples of their vanilla scones.  LOVE samples.

-We got into the Wilhelms’ around 8 p.m. and bounded into welcoming arms.  Within moments we were perched on the couch, debating the age-old question, “To where will we go for dinner?”  Silly us, we thought maybe we could quickly come up with a place with little conversation…  One thing we’ve realized is, the six of us (particularly the four Wilhelms and Layers) are PARTICULAR about our food.  And not necessarily in a bad way; we just really want to enjoy our meals, especially those together.

-The Wilhelms had been anxiously awaiting our arrival so we could go out for a nice, long, drawn-out dinner, which they’ve dubbed a “Layer dinner,” in honor of yours’ truly.  A “Layer dinner” is one in which you order drinks, then appetizers…and then shoo your waiter away and don’t order dinner until you’ve eaten said appetizer, and then you might even stay for dessert or coffee afterward.  They are infamous and can last upwards of two hours if you do it right.  Truthfully, these dinners started for us on or first trip to Europe, where people have long dinners all the time (in fact, often you have to flag your waiter down to even order your food, and they wouldn’t dream of rushing you out the door).  Now, if we have the time, we make it a point to stretch out our meals as often as we can.

-We almost unanimously voted for Thai 9, one of our favorite places to eat downtown, and got as gussied-up as our packed-clothes would allow.  We started with drinks (Belgian wheat for me, hard cider for Dan, cocktail for Emily and I can’t remember what Andrew had….) and appetizers.  Andrew and Dan split the chicken spring rolls and Emily and I split the crab rangoon–my mouth is watering just recounting the details!

-I LOVE going out to eat with Emily.  Our tastes are so similar, so we typical end up splitting one or more dishes.  This is something I can RARELY (if ever) do with Andrew, and it makes it so nice for me so I can enjoy multiple things on the menu.  I hate having to choose!  Emily and I wanted exactly the same things–pad thai and sushi–and that’s exactly what we got.

-Unfortunately, we were all too full by the end of dinner to splurge on Thai 9′s homemade coconut ice cream topped with fried banana pieces and honey (if you live in Dayton, you must order that as soon as possible), but it felt great to say “no, thanks” and leave without being over-stuffed.

-Emily and I are also early birds and exercisers, so we enjoyed a light breakfast the next morning while doing the first DVD session of our Bible study, before hitting up the workout room at their apartment complex.  Thirty minutes on the treadmill flies by when you have someone to whom to talk!  (Ain’t that the truth, Susy?!)

-The primary reason for the trip to Dayton (although who needs a ‘reason’ to visit friends?), was to meet little Aiden, Dave and Jen’s little boy who was born in January.  We arranged to meet them at Panera for brunch.  Isn’t he a cutie??

-After we ate (I splurged and got a cinnamon crunch bagel with honey walnut cream cheese–haven’t had one of those in YEARS–and smartly ate the top half and forced the bottom on Dan to prevent myself from eating it), Dave headed to his track meet and Andrew and Dan took Aiden home while Jen joined us for some shopping.

-We MADE OUT at TJMaxx!  M philosophy is that a true workout-aholic can never have too many items of workout clothes, and that is the place to go for a bargain.  I scored tons of awesome stuff, although the terrible overhead lighting washes everything out.  All of those colors are so vibrant–I couldn’t resist any of them!

-After bagging our finds at TJMaxx, us girls headed home to pick up the ‘two men and a baby’ we left behind and raced over to Dave’s track meet at Cedarville University.  Dave throws the javelin and is competing for a chance to go to the Olympic trials this summer.  He ended up scoring a 68-meter throw at this meet, which is just 10 meters shy of qualifying for a spot at the trials, and the most he’s even thrown in a season-opening meet.  Go Dave!  Check out his facebook page for more information; he’s also involved with Athletes in Action (a Christian organization geared toward outreach in the field of athletics) and is partially sponsored by PowerBar!

-It was pretty chilly, so we scooted out of there as soon as he was finished and headed back to chez Diercks, or as it’s affectionately called in our circle, ‘the cave.’   Seriously, between their huge comfy couches and lack of natural light in the living room, it’s very ‘cave-like’ in the coziest way possible.

-Yet again, we foolishly thought we could pick our dinner option from a hat…literally.  We all threw in names of various local establishments from which we could get take-out, and after turning our nose up at Chinese (what were you thinking, Dan??), a small contingent of us strong-armed the others into City BBQ.  Dave did what he does best and placed our order online while I arranged who was going where to pick up food; Emily and me to City BBQ (don’t forget the sweet tea!) and Andrew and Dave to Kroger for a rotisserie chicken and Cadbury mini-eggs.

-Upon arriving back to the Diercks’ lair, we found a door (yes, a DOOR) being placed on their oversized ottoman and topped with a shower curtain/tablecloth.  Don’t mind the handle, Emily…  If only I’d snapped a photo…

-We were all enjoying our food family-style with Ghostbusters on the in background, when it hit me.  These people are FAMILY to me.  Like, seriously family.  I mean, with whom else can you just sit and do nothing for hours on end, and it be totally fine?  (Especially if you’re in the cave.)  The six (now seven) of us have formed a bond like I’ve never had with anyone before, in particular in couples.  There are others with whom Andrew and I share this relationship (Heather and Silas, for sure) and I think that’s why God brought us to Ohio.  To make these lifelong friends.  (And to be near Andrew’s grandparents, but that’s another story.)

-By 8 p.m. Emily and I were getting a little stir-crazy and ready to walk around after dinner, so we convinced Jen to join us on another shopping trip–this one to Goodwill!  Beavercreek has the best Goodwill…there are NO good Goodwills here in NY…sad.  So, we left ‘three men and a baby’ to go stretch our legs.  I scored a pair of Gap trouser-jeans!

-We ended our night on a sweet note with a trip to Graeter’s, where I convinced the manager to give me two SMALL scoops (instead of only one) in my small sundae so I could have two different flavors.  LOVE. THEIR. WHIPPED. CREAM.

-The next morning, we all met at First Watch (one of my absolute favorite places!) for breakfast before church.  Again, Emily and I did our usual and split an omelet with pancakes on the side.

-Upon walking to our cars, Andrew and I realized we’d been fished!  I know I’ve blogged about it before, but haven’t the slightest clue as to when or under what title…  The short story: Dave and Jen own a giant stuffed fish and they (along with Emily and Dan) once hid it in our bed while we lived in Ohio.  It’s been traded back and forth between us three couples ever since.  The orange shirt it’s wearing?  It says “East Aurora” and was how I dressed it when I shipped it back to the Diercks after we moved here.  Gotta brainstorm its next trip to Ohio…this time to surprise the Wilhelms!

-Trader Joe’s is just across from First Watch… $86 later, we were stocked-up on goodies!  Favorites? LOVE their chocolate-covered almonds, sunflower seed butter and a new find, chocolate-ship brownie bars with oats.

-Before heading out of town, Andrew and I stopped into the nearest Graeter’s to redeem our ‘Sweet Rewards’ points for a t-shirt.  He always lets me choose.  What a sweetie.  Outside the doors, we met an Easter bunny!

-After meticulously choosing my shirt–I even made the young man behind the counter climb up and check the size of the one tacked to the wall–I settled for a child’s extra large (which was surprisingly big)  hoping it would shrink.

-We resisted the urge for more ice cream (well, I had to resist; I think Andrew has willpower of steel!) in favor of a stop at Rita’s on our way out of town.  I made the mistake of trying their new chocolate peanut butter flavor… (Back story: I grew up with Rita’s in PA and LOVE IT.  Mango is my ultimate favorite.  I try different flavors all the time, but mango is where it’s at.)  Anyway, I LOVED chocolate peanut butter and all of a sudden couldn’t choose!  It’s not like I could get one, knowing I could come back any time for mango.  Thankfully, Andrew opted for a large mango, which allowed me to order a chocolate peanut butter gelati–which features their vanilla custard.  I was in sugar heaven.

-We got on the road and had an enjoyable trip back to NY, filled with menu-planning and grocery-list making for me, (no Jeni’s AGAIN–we were too full of Rita’s!), a Wendy’s stop (apple slices for me, nuggets for him and a tiny Frosty to share) and then things went downhill.  Emily HAD to remind me I’d forgotten to take some of the dark chocolate-covered raisins off her hands…which led to a crazy craving!  We stopped at a gas station and ended up stocking up on Doritos, Swedish Fish (my favorite) and Hot Fries and an energy drink for Andrew.  And I might have gotten into the cookies Susy sent home with me…

-We drove straight to Wegmans since I knew our house was devoid of food.  Well, at least the fridge was. As in, EMPTY.  No fruit.  No yogurt.  No bread.  No nothing.  If we didn’t shop now, we’d have nothing for breakfast the next morning, and since I had to pick up the dog IN ADDITION to my normal routine, there wasn’t going to be any ‘going out for breakfast’ for us.

-$123 dollars later…

-We’re all settled back in at home now (we should be, it’s THURSDAY) and I can’t believe this post took me so long…  Notes to self:

-take more pictures!

-post along the way!

Here’s to next time :)

Read Full Post »

And the first ‘best recipe’ of 2012 is…

Posted in cooking, curry, ethnic food, ginger, salad, soup/stew, thai, turkey, zucchini on January 8, 2012 | 1 Comment »

…Thai Curry Stew with Turkey and Zucchini!

I’d yanked this recipe out of November’s CL (I took A LOT of recipes from that one…  Must have been all that Thanksgiving yumminess) since it looked like something Andrew would like.  It was one of two ‘how to use turkey leftovers’ recipes from famed NYT columnist Mark Bittman, so I knew it would be good.

Despite zucchini being terribly out of season, I thought I’d give it a whirl anyway.  I was lucky enough to take home some of our leftover turkey from grandma’s and after measuring out the 3 cups I’d need, threw it promptly in the freezer until I had time to make the soup.

It’s fantastic!  It’s a bit hot; I used 1.5 of the 1 to 2 dried Thai chiles called for.  I don’t know that I’d use fewer chiles next time; I think my palate is becoming more and more tolerant of heat these days (must be eating too many wings…).  It’s also a little hands-on; you basically grind up your spices, chiles, coconut milk, garlic and cilantro in a food processor before adding them to your cooking onions and carrots.  Once you’ve done that, though, you’re pretty much done.  Throw in some of the zucchini, simmer for 45 minutes, blend (optional), then add the rest of the zucchini and the turkey.  It’s served over brown rice, but you could just have it as soup, too.

As I was getting everything ready, I realized it would be a fantastic time to try out another recipe I’d been hanging onto for awhile now: Carrot-Ginger Salad Dressing.  You know that dressing that comes on salads when you go to a Hibachi/Japanese Steakhouse?  THAT’S what I’m talking about.  I adore it and always try to savor the flavors in my mouth in hopes of recreating at home.  Real Simple featured a recipe and I yanked it as well, and have been holding onto it ever since.

Since I was making this on a whim, I had to look up a sub for miso (white soybean paste that adds a salty flavor) and I had a couple from which to choose: tahini (fresh out–darn), soy sauce (didn’t seem like it would really work since the textures are so different) and anchovy paste.  Of all the things to have on-hand, ANCHOVY PASTE was the winner!  Thank you, Heather, for your generous donation of tubed anchovy paste to my fridge during your move this summer.  It was a lifesaver!

It came out a bit intense on the salt/vinegar side, so I added a dash of lime juice to brighten it up.  All in all, I think it’s a great recipe, but it was pretty vinegar-y, so I made some notes to myself for next time.  Less vinegar/salt and add orange juice.  A friend told me she’d looked into the recipe and that OJ was an ingredient, which I think would add a bit of brightness and sweetness without adding to the tart/vinegar flavor it already has.

If you’re at all into Thai and/or curry flavors, the stew would be right up your alley.  I know I’ll be making this again–it’s the perfect ‘post’ post-Thanksgiving meal…  You know, after you’ve had a day or so to eat the actual Thanksgiving leftovers just like you did for the big day.

Read Full Post »

it was a german kind of night (a few nights ago…)

Posted in Andrew, Barefoot Contessa, cooking, Dessert, ethnic food, german food on December 13, 2011 | 1 Comment »

OK, so school has really taken a toll on blogging, among other things…  Admittedly, blogging (here and for the c0-op) is potentially the ONE area of my life that really can drop off a bit, so I had to let it.  Oh, it’s been hard.  There has been guilt.  There has been worry.  There have been myriad un-published posts swirling around in my head since September.  But drop it did.  Thankfully, with my new iPhone, blogging hasn’t completely disappeared; the short posts it allows me to upload have been my saving grace this semester.  I’m even toying with the idea of blogging with it primarily, instead of trying to make it to the computer all the time…

Anyway, here’s yet another post that was written long ago and is just now being finished and uploaded…(sigh).

I made sauerbraten and spaetzle Friday night.  Andrew and I traveled around Germany a year or so after we got married and have lots of happy memories of the country, the trip and the food.  We’re BIG foodies; WHERE we eat on trips is potentially the biggest part, at least for me.

Anyway, I saw a recipe for sauerbraten and homemade spaetzle in a Food Network magazine forever ago and ripped it out, knowing I would make it someday.  Well, that day came Friday.  Actually, it started Tuesday by marinating the roast in a mix of red wine, beef broth, red wine vinegar and onions with all sorts of spices, to include juniper berries.  Thank goodness Wegmans has juniper berries!  I’ve been known to go on wild-goose chases for ingredients, and I don’t have that kind of time right now.

Basically, sauerbraten is a roast with a bit of a vinegar-y flavor.  We both really like it.  It cooks in a similar way as well, so when I got home from school Friday, I took it out of the fridge and after a short “decompressing period” (not for the meat, for me) I started cooking.

The sauerbraten was PHENOMENAL.  Andrew announced it as a “top 10″ and couldn’t get enough.  The sauce was rich and thick with just the right “bite” to it.

I served it with the homemade spaetzle; the recipe for which was featured on the opposite side of the page.  I love doing that–making a whole ‘meal’ I find in a magazine, or making each component from scratch–it just feels better that way.

However…  Spaetzle, I have learned, is not for the weak.  And I’m not weak, so I’m not sure who it’s for.  Either that, or a spaetzle press is a mandatory accessory.  Basically, you make an egg-y dough and force it through the large holes of a colander, while holding it over boiling water.  Sounds OK, right?  WRONG.  The dough was so thick and springy that it was terribly difficult to get it through the holes, not to mention the awkward position of having to hold it over the stove.  It took about 45 minutes and I thought my forearms were going to fall off my body.  Never gain.  Next time, I’ll look for it at Wegmans.

I also made a “sweet hot” cabbage recipe Andrew loves.  It’s another Food Network magazine find and since he won’t eat sauerkraut, it’s my go-to cabbage dish for meals with pork and apples or sausages or something.  And anytime I make coleslaw I have to bring out all the cabbage recipes I can find; I refuse to buy pre-cut coleslaw mix, and cutting up those heads of cabbage yield SO MUCH.  After making some coleslaw and this recipe, I still have a ton left, so I’m trying a sauteed cabbage recipe in a couple nights.  Thankfully, other than drying out a bit, cabbage keeps for awhile in the fridge.

What a mess!  (Andrew did the dishes–hence the photo–what a sweetie!)

Streudel is such a German dish and Andrew loves it, so I thought I’d whip up an apple crostata with a pie dough I had in the freezer.  Well, things never go as planned for me (go figure…) and dinner was later than I had thought, so I actually ended up making this a couple nights later when Carolyn and Ben came over for a movie.  It actually worked out well; more people means fewer leftovers to tempt me!

Today is my day “off,” which I hope will be filled with chemistry and present-wrapping!

Read Full Post »

“homemade” homemade hummus

Posted in beans, cookbooks, ethnic food, hummus on September 27, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

(This one has been sitting in my “drafts” queue for awhile now; it’s high-time I got it out!  I actually still have some of the hummus left in the fridge…not sure how long it lasts, but it seems fine!)

How does ‘homemade’ hummus get even more ‘homemade?’

You start with dry beans, of course!

I did just that, for the first time, and I have to admit–I think I like the canned variety better!  Well, I take that back.  I think what I didn’t like was the flavor imparted by the vegetable broth and herbs I used to cook the beans; it gave the hummus a subtle ‘herby’ flavor I wasn’t used to.  I think next time I’ll start with dry beans and use just water.

The recipe I’ve been using is from Patricia Wells’ Salad as a Meal book.  I also have it here on my Recipe Stash page.  I LOVE the recipe–it’s light and bright and fresh–featuring lemon juice, garlic and cilantro.

After soaking and boiling the chickpeas with onion, parsley and bay leaves, I dumped it all into the blender.

Add the olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, garlic and cilantro.  You whir it around until it’s smooth and creamy, adding water (or some of the broth, if you saved it) as needed.  I think it’s the blender (my food processor is in storage…), but I have to add a lot of water to get it to the consistency it should be.

Half the recipe for the dried beans made double what 1 can typically makes, so I’ll have to keep that in mind for next time.  Since Andrew doesn’t eat it, I can’t make too much at once.

After blending, top with paprika and drizzle with olive oil.  Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

THREE homeruns in one day – score!

Posted in ethnic food, Food, Ice Cream, pineapples on August 6, 2011 | 1 Comment »

I pulled out all the stops today and made not one, but TWO new and different meals today.  For a lazy Saturday, I think that’s pretty outrageous, even for me.

Lunch was a stuffed tomato with leftover quinoa.

The beefsteak tomatoes cost me an arm and a leg ($3.50 for 2!), but it was worth it to hear Andrew approve.  The filling was a mix of diced, cooked chicken, pineapple and spinach, dressed with olive oil and dijon mustard.  It was a cinch to whip up and you could easily do just about anything with this…switch out the filling components and use ranch dressing or a balsamic vinaigrette, or you could always stuff a pepper.

After lunch we headed into EA; me to visit Abigail at Fowler’s and Andrew to spend some time at work prepping for a Monday telecon.  I “splurged” (not really since I ran THIRTEEN miles, but still) and got a scoop of Birthday Bash ice cream before leaving.  YUM.  It’s cake-flavored ice cream with swirls of blue icing.  Seriously amazing.

I picked up the mail at Andrew’s parents’ house and then he arrived from work and we left to run errands.  On the agenda:  buy Holly a new bathing suit.  This proved much harder than we thought it would be, seeing as it’s early August and pretty much everything that’s left is on the clearance rack.  And it’s either all tops or all bottoms.  How that happens, I don’t know…

After striking out at Target, Kohl’s, Swim City (it had a “For Lease” sign on the door…grrr) and TJ Maxx, we made a last-ditch effort and headed across the street to the mall.  SCORE!  JC Penney was loaded!  I was able to pick two different patterns to try on, and, thankfully, the one I loved from the moment I saw it totally worked.  It was meant to be.  And major bonus points to Andrew who was incredibly patient through all of this suit-shopping.

When we finally got back to the hotel, I hurriedly whipped dinner together.  Spicy Southwestern Tabbouleh, or, in this case, barley.  If you don’t know, tabbouleh is a classic Middle Eastern dish made with bulgar, parsley and mint.  I had just used up the last of my bulgar, so I substituted barley and cooked it earlier in the day.

It’s full of southwestern spices, like chili powder, paprika, cumin and allspice, and veggies akin to taco fillings: red onion, cilantro, tomatoes, yellow pepper and jalapeno.  I added avocado to mine and leftover diced chicken to Andrew’s.  It was a hit with both of us.  This is also a very versatile dish; you could use just about any grain here.  Brown rice would be a fantastic choice, and one most people have in their pantry.

I found these at Target today and thought I’d give them a try.

The coconut flavor caught my eye.  I’m obsessed with coconut-anything lately.  Not sure why…  A co-worked of mine a few years ago used to drink these all the time and I’ve been intrigued ever since.  I’m not a big mineral/sparkling water fan, but because I don’t like drinking sugary drinks, I thought these might be good.  Well…  I’m still not a sparkling water fan, and I think it’s a taste you have to get used to.  I’m also not sure coconut was the flavor to start with; they have other ones like lime or cran-raspberry, which might have gone down easier.  I am, however, willing to keep drinking them to see if I develop a taste for it.  It’s zero calories without an artificial sweetener, which is important to me.  Who knows?  I might be a convert in no time!

Tomorrow is our beach day with some of Andrew’s friends from work and Abigail!

Read Full Post »

treasures from afar

Posted in cookbooks, ethnic food, Food, gifts, pineapples, smoothies, Things I LOVE on August 3, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Last Friday Andrew came home bearing presents!  He stopped by his parents’ house to get the mail, filled with surprises :)

Grandma had a Coach coupon, so she gifted the granddaughters to some goodies of our choosing.  I HAD to get the pave pineapple key chain, and I loved the blue that this cosmetic bag came in.  Thank you grandma!

My latest Good Cook goodies:

Smoothies! (and more smoothies…)

I’m thinking of “cooking” my way through it, a la Julie and Julia.

Look!  A pineapple :)

I’m really excited to try some veggie smoothies.  Other than some carrots, I’ve never thrown vegetables into the blender for a smoothie.  I’m looking forward to trying avocado, kale, celery…  This is the book I’ve been using for my beet smoothies.  BTW, the addition of a (very) ripe banana definitely helped this morning’s version.  Not too bad!

I got this one because I thought Andrew would really like it.  He loves Turkish, Greek and Lebanese food.

YUM.

Doesn’t that look awesome?

And both of these????  I cannot wait.  I need a real kitchen.  SOON.

I’m making the mustard and orange roasted chicken tonight for dinner with a wheat berry salad (with all sorts of yummy goodies like pineapple, mint and cucumber) from Anna Pump’s Summer on a Plate, also a new cookbook this summer.  I’ll let you know how it goes!

And then yesterday, this came:

Ah!  Happiness :)

I don’t normally order from them unless I absolutely need something that I just cannot find anywhere else (they have EVERYTHING under the sun for baking, BTW), but I had a gift card and a coupon, so I finally threw together some treasures in my online shopping cart.  This order focused mostly on a specialty items.  I started with pumpernickel flour, which is relatively hard to come by in regular grocery stores…

…and Deli-Rye flavor to enhance my rye breads.  I had “rye-bread improver,” but this is even stronger, hence the “strong fumes” warning.  Yikes!

“Easy-Roll Dough Improver,” because anything I have to roll out scares the crud out of me (still!) and I need all the help I can get!

Never heard of these before, but they’re probably similar to rye flakes, which you can use in muesli and things like that.  Andrew REALLY likes rye bread, so anything to add to my rye-baking skills is a good thing.

And because I love my husband…everything bagel topping!  I have multiple recipes for bagels, so I’ll be trying one of those out one of these days.  You know, whenever we get a house…

Pie-Filling Enhancer…because I’m still trying to master pies.  Mostly the dough, but mine are always watery.

And lime juice powder.  I get the King Arthur Flour e-newsletter (a dangerous thing, that is) and it featured some “luscious lime” cookies a bit ago that seemed out of this world.  We’re both big lime fans, so it really piqued my interest.  It called for both lime juice powder and lime oil, neither of which I’d heard of before.  I got industrious and found lime oil at the local health foods’ store, which I picked up yesterday.  I think I’ll make a trip to Andrew’s mom’s to bake these babies soon!

Read Full Post »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 75 other followers