Oct
3
I am developing a love affair with La Tartine Gourmande. Reading this beautiful website reminds me that the parts of life that I tend to summarily dismiss as being appealing yet unavailable to me—the rich, delicious, simple pleasures I sort of associate with rural living, destroyed by city commutes and the brain-buzzing confusion of balancing work and home—are in fact always there, if only I make room for them. If I take the time to slow down and appreciate the moments as they come. If I elevate, instead of minimize.
Food is such a lovely thing. I hate that I so often make it a convenience, a something to stuff in the mouth without thought.
Speaking of food, I had an insanely good meal with my friend Ashley tonight. JB’s out of town and it seemed like a great time to call on our beloved babysitter, smack dab in the midst of a long solo-parenting weekend and all, so Luciana came over and I went pelting out the door at top speed to meet Ashley for dinner at Boom Noodle. Boom! Oh, it was SO GOOD. My plate of udon came with these crazy paperthin shavings of dried fish bits—what they describe as “dancing bonito flake”—and they curled and waved on the heat of the noodles like a living thing. Deliciously creepy, a salty little zombiefied carpet of yum. And it was such a wonderful mental cache-dump to be out and about with a good friend, no kids in tow, just bullshitting and peoplewatching and relishing our freedom.
The weekend is chugging along. It’s hard being on my own with the kids, but there’s a part of me that sort of craves hogging all those boysnuggles to myself. (When Daddy’s gone, I get to wear that gold medal for a little while. Silver’s not so bad, you know, but everyone loves being number one.) I feel like today was a little too heavy on the TV side of things; tomorrow I’ll try and . . . you know, elevate. Find something bigger to do.
The boys are asleep right now and the only sound is the dog half-snoring nearby and the muted click of my fingers, type type typing to you. It’s nice, and man, this is why those 6 AM wakeup calls are KILLING me—because I can’t stand to go to bed early instead of enjoying this time.
So hey. Let’s talk about food. Tell me, what’s the most wonderful thing you’ve eaten recently?
Warm Cardomom bread…..
Candy corn…….
Anthing at Mother’s Bistro in Portland. I plan entire trips to the city around it….Yummy breakfasts!!!!
Fair food!!!
Bacon cheeseburger on a glazed donut. Thats right. Its a salty/sweet overload. And was it ever good.
Oh, and then we had chocolate covered bacon.
And then slabs of beef jerky. Peppered and Sweet and Spicy. And then sausage, peppers and onions. And then pumpkin ice cream, and then cotton candy. And then kettle corn. It was a glorious day.
And I am pregnant, so that made everything taste So. Much. Better.
butternut squash soup
also: really crushing on rosemary and tarragon.
Pumpkin brownies, got the recipe from Whrool. Devine…
It’s spring down this end of the world which, naturally, means crappy weather at the drop of a hat. So my boy and I decided to flag going out in the bucketing rain for our “dinner-date” in exchange for a comfy (warm) dinner in. Whitebait fritters for starter (v.simple and plain – don’t want to detract from the whitebait) with a nice Wairarapa Chardonnay, followed by seared venison on a Beetroot and feta risotto with sauted mushrooms and spinach on the side and a glass (ok, a couple of glasses) of a Te Kairanga Pinot Noir. Delicious.
Still, I will rate a meal I had in a small hotel on the shores of Lake Como in Italy as one of the best meals ever – osso buco on a mushroom risotto. I still dream about that meal. .
My parents-in-law were in town this weekend, so I’ve been eating very well. Persian food last night, fresh picked apples this afternoon, and gelato tonight!
This weekend alone: Duck Confit nachos, homemade fettucine with asparagus wine cream and shrimp, jicama and seafood sopas, Tiramisu, Homemade biscuits with roasted red pepper butter, crab mashed potatoes and pan fried filet of sole, a moscow mule, flourless chocolate cake, lamb meatballs with tsatsiki dip, Foccaccia bread. But I live in the Bay Area so I am spoiled. AAANd seeing all listed like that, I will be eating salad all week!
Ok, yes, I’m going to second the earlier fair food post.
I mean really, can you FIND a better corn dog… I mean Krusty Pup… anywhere other than the fair? Fresh out of the fryerand crunchy hot! And let’s not forget the funnel cakes, elephant ears, roasted corn on the cob, good lord the scones fresh and hot while oozing butter and jelly….do I need to go on?
Yes, it’s fatty and not great for you, but it’s once a bloomin’ year! And it’s the fair ambience that adds so much to the enjoyment of them!
I find that there are certain foods that just taste better at certain times of the year, and there are definitely things I will only bake in the fall, like a good pumpkin spice cake, or gingerbread. That’s a fall food for sure. The one time I made it in the spring, it just didn’t feel right! And have you ever tried eating candycorn at any other time other than October? Huge fail! lol ;}
We haven’t eaten out in a while, but the last place we went was Sullivan’s Irish Pub in Lakewood, OH. I had a Monte Cristo that was to DIE for – I think it was made on puff pastry rather than bread. YUM. At home, we’re overloaded with tomatoes and acorn squash from our garden, so homemade salsa is a regular snack and we’ve made baked squash stuffed with italian sausage and brown sugar for dinner at least once a week. Melt in your mouth spicy sweet buttery yummmmm.
We don’t eat out, we pay for day care instead, but I made a pound cake with pumpkin cream cheese swirl last night. OMG.
My husband made homemade chicken noodle soup last night, with thick chewy noodles. Heaven in a bowl.
I am going to whine for a minute, please forgive me. I can’t eat much since I am 8 1/2 months pregnant with gestational diabetes (meats, cheeses, anyone?!). But as soon as I possibly can? I’m going to order Tom Kah Gai & Gai Kah Prow with Jasmine Rice from a local Thai Restaurant. And, I have already told my husband as soon as that baby is out? He has to run to Costco to get that “Death by Chocolate Cake” and a whole gallon of milk for me.
Pumpkin Bread. I LOVE fall. My mom used to make two loaves a day in the fall when we were growing up (side note: Who has time to do that? I mean, reall); I’m amazingly proud of myself if I manage two a season. BUT OH MY WORD IT IS SO GOOD. I have it on tap to cook tonight …
(Sorry. I really meant to involve the world “Cromulent” in my earlier comment, but I hit ‘submit’ too quickly. But just know that I’m giving your post title a mental hat tip!)
Make the super easy muffin recipe on the back of the Zante Currants box. The yellow box that’s in there with the golden raisins and other raisin-y whatnot. We put in golden raisins in our recipe too – they’re DELICIOUS and taste like autumn from stem to stern.
Pioneer Woman’s lasagna, holy shit, it’s good!
Keepin’ it simple!
The dandelion green-pistachio salad at Tavolata.
Homemade butternut squash soup (squash, chicken broth, onions, zucchini) plus homemade zucchini cranberry nut bread with butter.
So much better than studying!
The most amazing thing I’ve tasted this year was a ridiculously easy, yet impressive dessert: chocolate spiced cabernet cakes. They’re individual little lava cakes and pure chocolate decadence, in about 15 minutes. Swoon! http://www.mccormickgourmet.com/gcrecipedetail.cfm?id=11322