To Read More Books

It's the new year.  2012.  Ouch...just realized that exactly a decade ago I started counting the days until high school graduation.  I still remember the surprise on my AP English teacher's face the first day back after Christmas break when I announced that we only had 142 days until freedom.  Oh, those were the good old days.

Every year, about this time, we all look at the year ahead with the hope of a fresh start and go about making our new year's resolutions.  I don't think I've ever managed to keep one of mine and every year I think, 'This is the year I will succeed!'  But by the time March rolls around, they usually fall by the wayside.  Let's take, for instance, 2011.  I decided to keep track every day of something I learned, something for which I was thankful, and something beautiful I saw that day.  I think I made it until the 12th of January before I got too far behind to catch up.

Regardless, I'm not making resolutions this year.  I'm going to think of them more as guidelines.  I want to read more, worry less, drink more wine and less coke, try new recipes, do less laundry, waste less produce, volunteer more, keep my nails painted, sit on the porch and look at the stars, learn to like tomatoes, do jigsaw puzzles regularly, actually use the kayak I bought myself, visit more museums, do more people watching, finish writing the book I started two years ago, plant a garden (or at least some flowers out front!), laugh more, blog more, love more, and just try to keep it all together.

So far I'm doing pretty well on some: I'm in the middle of my third book of the year already and I just repainted my nails from dark brown to a bright fuschia-ish color with sparkles!  Unfortunately, I did have to throw away a zucchini and a yellow squash today because they had gone bad since Christmas.  That put me in a foul mood because I had planned on using them for dinner, but it was nothing a little stir fry couldn't save.  

But hey, if this is the year we're all gonna die anyway, I'm probably not going to try too hard.  Except on the book thing...so many to read before doomsday!

An Ode to Fungus

It's the holidays.  I would like to spend my money on holiday-like things.  So in an effort to be more financially conscious, I am making it a point to make more meals at home.  On tonight's menu is Kung-Pao Crab Stir-Fry.  Super easy and SUPER delicious.  (fry up a pack of Uncle Ben's instant Jasmine rice, 2 eggs, peanuts, shredded carrots, cabbage, soybeans, mushrooms, bean sprouts, chopped red onion, whatever meat you've got, and whatever else you like with a little olive oil and the stir fry sauce of your choosing...tonight I used Panda Express's Kung Pao sauce).

Anyway, as I was standing over the wok, tossing in obscene amounts of mushrooms, I thought to myself, "Is this too many mushrooms?"  To which I quickly responded, "No such thing."  But it got me thinking about shrooms and just how incredibly delicious they actually are. I realize and appreciate that not everyone loves to eat fungus, but I was so into thinking about how much I liked them, I did a little research and learned that they're actually delicious AND interesting!!

The average American eats four pounds of mushrooms per year (good to know I'm well above average) while the average Japanese person consumes 26 pounds per year.

Ancient Egyptians called mushrooms the "plant of immortality" and commoners were prohibited from even handling them.

Mushrooms, unlike most plants, consume oxygen during digestion and metabolization and produce carbon dioxide waste (like humans!!!)

There is an estimated 1.5-2 million species of fungus on the planet, but only approximately 80,000 are properly identified.

Some South American Amazon tribes use the same word for mushrooms as they do for meat, as they believe they have the same nutritional value.

All of this mushroom talk reminded me of a great book by Elinor Lipman called The Inn at Lake Devine.  I think I may  have actually blogged about the book before.  But mushrooms play a surprisingly big role in the book...which only makes me want to eat them more!!!

What's the Secret?

I like to think that I'm pretty decent in the kitchen.  I cook and bake and nobody ever complains.  I try fun new recipes, I make the classics.  And I get the feeling that people genuinely enjoy the food I make for them.

So why is it that when I go to recreate my favorite dishes from home, that they just aren't quite as good?

Today was a perfect example.  My sister came to my house this weekend to help me get it all organized before we have the big family Christmas here.  I keep telling her she should go into business as a personal organizer.  In a matter of about four hours, the kitchen, dining room, living room, and pantry were perfect.  The Christmas trees I bought last weekend were set up, plugged in, and decorated.  Furniture was moved and I had started on the colossal task of sorting out my own room.  In the process of sorting and organizing the pantry, Emily proclaimed that I wasn't allowed to go grocery shopping again until I needed perishable items.  Apparently I have to many jars of red plum jam in there.  

So this afternoon when I started to get hungry, I looked at what I had and thought about what I could make.  I realized that I had all the ingredients for Chuck Wagon Round-Up, one of my all time favorite dishes from when I was a kid.  It's basically a beenie-weenie pie with a sort of cornbread-ish crust.  I know, it sounds kind of awful.  But it's beans and hot dogs and cheese and sour cream: what else could you possibly want?!  It was so delicious tonight, but not as good as I remember.

Another recipe that does this to me is Creamed Beef Cheesy...probably my all-time favorite dish.  It's a cheese sauce with chipped beef served over hot biscuits. Amazing.  But every time I try to make it, I somehow ruin the sauce and end up eating biscuits with butter and jelly.

And then I realized why.  It's because no matter how I try, I will never be able to make anything that will taste as good as when Mom makes it.  

Barefoot Bolognese

Dad and I were watching Barefoot Contessa yesterday while waiting for Mom and Em to get ready to head to the Harvest Festival out at Coyote Moon Vineyards.  Long story short, we decided to try stealing one of Ina's recipes and making it for dinner tonight.  Even though Em didn't think she'd like it because of the tomatoes in it, we went ahead with our plan.  

It actually turned out to be absolutely fantastic, so I thought I'd share with all two of you who read this, in case you're looking for something new to spice up your recipe arsenal.  We made three small changes to the original recipe and managed not to ruin it.  It was quick and easy to prepare, taking only about 30 minutes from start to finish.  Hope you enjoy:

Ingredients:

-2 tablespoons of good olive oil (plus another splash to cook the pasta)

-1 pound lean ground sirloin (we used regular ground beef)

-4 teaspoons minced garlic (or 4 fresh minced cloves)

-1 tablespoon dried oregano (I substituted a couple shakes of ground cumin)

-1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I added more to make it a bit spicier)

-1 1/4 cups dry red wine (we used Chianti)

-1 can crushed tomatoes (we used a jar of diced tomatoes, canned by a friend)

-2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste

-salt & pepper

-1 box pasta (we used bowties, the recipe called for orecchiette)

-1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

-1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

-1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus some for serving

What to do:

Heat olive oil in a skillet and brown the beef, crumbling it well.  Once most of the pink is gone, add garlic, oregano (or cumin), and red pepper flakes.  Add one cup of wine and stir well.  Then add the tomatoes, tomato paste, one tablespoon of salt, and 1-2 teaspoons of pepper (depending on taste).  Stir until all is combined then bring to a boil.  Let it simmer for 6-8 minutes, add nutmeg, cream, 1/4 cup wine (more or less....), and basil.  Keep it at a bubbling simmer for another 5 minutes, then stir in grated Parmesan, pour over the pasta and stir.

Then devour!  :)

A Hint of Wasabi

Today was a fun day spent at the Town of LaPlata's annual chili cook off. We had a team entered in the contest from work and since it involved cooking of any sort, I volunteered to be the ringleader. There is, after all, this one kind of chili that I really love to make because it is so easy and appealing to people of all levels of moral eating standards. So I insisted we register for the vegetarian category, thinking that there would be less competition and maybe we would FINALLY win one of these town contests.

The great thing about this chili is that is is incredibly easy to make. You throw a bunch of stuff into a slow cooker and let it simmer overnight. Then you've got this fantastic chili that you don't have to worry so much about [temperature-wise] because it doesn't have meat in it that will quickly go bad. It smells really spicy, but only has a little kick to your mouth. Give it a try sometime:

Chipotle Black Bean Chili

Ingredients:

-2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed

-2 cans diced tomatoes w/peppers and onions

-2 cups salsa (your choice)

-1/2 white onion, finely chopped

-1 Tbsp chili powder

-1 tsp minced garlic

-1 tsp ground chipotle pepper powder

-1 tsp ground cumin

Directions:

Toss it all in and simmer on low for 8-10 hours.

But then I read the rules for this particular chili cook-off and realized that I was potentially doomed. The rules stated that because all chilis had to be made from scratch, the only canned item we could use was beans. Fast forward to last night, and I (along with two other staff) found myself chopping a 20-pound case of tomatoes, an entire flat of cherry tomatoes, fresh peppers, onions, and jalapenos. When we decided that we had enough (which in the end was far too much) chili in the pot and needed to let it simmer, I was concerned.

It just didn't look or smell quite right. But we left it on the stove and just let it be for a while. I went back to check it around midnight and felt a little better about it. But it wasn't until my 3:30am check that I knew it was going to be okay. The smell of it took me back to Indiana, to my little one-bedroom-off-campus-campus apartment, to the first time I ever made it...

You see, I had been assigned to make potato salad for a potluck back in grad school. And since I'm grossly unskilled at estimating how much food a crowd will eat, I bought approximately 40 pounds of potatoes. Of course, I only ended up needing about 10, and then had 30 pounds of potatoes on my hands and nobody to feed. So I made a facebook event called "Leftover Potatoes" and invited everyone over. And then realized that Inga, my vegan friend, would be attending and I had animal products in just about everything on the menu.

I did a quick google search for vegan crockpot recipes and this was the first thing that came up. I was so delightfully surprised by its heartiness despite its lack of meat that it became a regular staple of my apartment. I almost always had some in the crockpot. I made it for my parents when I was visiting on a Friday during Lent. I've entered it in numerous chili cookoffs, and each time altering the ingredients just a little to find perfection.

And today I think I finally did. You see, I've also been known to make what's called "The Double Burner" - because it burns on the way in and on the way out. The first time I made that I was on a mission to make the eaters of it sweat and cry. I went to the grocery store and grabbed every spicy thing I could find. Wasabi included. And then, this morning, just before we packed up to head to the Town Hall, I dropped in a teaspoon of wasabi.

We got a lot of good reviews, and a lot of thankful smiles from the vegans who had been dragged to the event by friends and family. We didn't even place when it came time to announce winners. Of course we're slightly disappointed, but overall it was a good day. I got to spend it feeding people, and that's what I love!

I'm eating a bowl of the leftover chili as I type this. It's cooled to almost room temperature, and the only utensil I could find is a fork. But I'm making it work.