Flakey Tart

I Feel Faint

2011-11-25T10:47:00.001-05:00

I've had a couple of guys painting various areas of the interior of my house for nearly a week now. I had no idea this job would take 8 days. As usual, I underestimated what is required or, perhaps they really are moving slower than I think they should be. Everything we own that is in the way (which is everything) is in piles on furniture, stuffed into closets, put up into the attic temporarily, or as in one instance stacked the wrong way or upside down (a love seat in our bedroom, where it does not belong). We have a very small home, barely 1500 s.f. including the basement so finding places to store things as the work progresses room to room is extremely difficult if not, impossible.

In their defense, there's a large amount of trim work which is being done - mostly 23 interior window frames including a patio door. This house is filled to the brim with wood trim. Plus some minor carpentry (quarter round at the floors, ceiling molding; and some shelving that I think they all forgot I asked about *mental note: call Owner to discuss!*).

And of course, in the middle of all of this the house, as usual, pulls a sucker punch and we find out one of the windows (and when I say "window" I don't mean the glass, that's stable, I mean the entire casement, sill, the whole thing that sits in the wall to the exterior of the house) in the Master Bedroom is more or less ready to fall out of the opening. We had always noticed it sat like and inch or so from the wall but, like WTH? So, that had to be attended to. Thankfully, not a huge problem; the carpenter was able to fix it but the room had already been painted which meant more touch up work to come back to.

It's taking longer than we thought for the gel stain to completely dry on the stair railings. Do you know how hard it is to keep going up and down your stairs and not touch the railing? Crazy hard. I think it's because they applied too heavy a coat. I also keep noticing the applications are uneven in places but I also know pine doesn't take stain very well. But I have to point all of this out to the painters who already are on tenterhooks with me for leaving our front door unlocked the one day we couldn't be home. They swear they locked it ("I checked the knob 3 times! Yes, 3 times! Maybe something is wrong with your lock?"). Believe me, it was open and that lock set cost us a small fortune; there's nothing wrong with it. They forgot to lock it from the inside.

The poor cat has been totally uprooted; his litter box and food dishes scattered in other rooms as needed. Locked up for entire days so he wouldn't be underfoot or rub up against wet baseboards. He seems to be taking it rather well - he's a calm sort. But we feel bad about it nonetheless. Today, I've allowed him to roam free while they finish up the trim work and so far, all he's done is find a bed to sleep in and stay away from everyone. Maybe he won't have to be imprisoned today if we're lucky.

I believe they will start the kitchen tomorrow. I'm sure that's a two day job. If we're lucky they will be done Monday. But to me, at this moment, it's looking unlikely.

Overall, they have been doing a good job. It looks fan-freaking-tastic. I realize this house is rough to work with. Bad lighting, lots of flaws to deal with. Unforeseen problems crop up and they are dealing with old wood, with many layers of ancient paint. My agenda wasn't to make it look "new" again, it was to make it look better than it was. And, in that regard it's successful. I think if I didn't work in the design field, I wouldn't notice the sort of things I do. The pumpkin bedroom is now a muted blue. The office, a friendly green. The kitchen will be sort of a toned down rose color. Our small vestibule leading to the kitchen is an off-white. All the trim is now evenly matched in a dark almost black brown - all the dings, splotches and paint drippings from years gone by are history. The trim color works well with everything else, it's in character with the age of the house. Having the windows finally stained gives a cohesive feeling to the entire home. It all feels freshened up.

So, here I sit, a day off, stuck. Oh and I'm waiting for our heating and cooling guy to arrive too. We have one radiator that hasn't worked since day one of our arrival to this house. I figured it was about time to get that worked out before the winter sets in.

Home is Where the Heart Is

2011-11-13T11:45:00.001-05:00

I've been bitching and moaning for over a year about my home so I figure I'd give everyone a little glimpse of what I've been complaining about.

This, is my elderly Craftsman inspired American Foursquare. About 95 years old as far as we can tell; give or take. It also has some Victorian elements as evidenced by the bowed upper and lower windows in the dining room and master bedroom. Inside, there is a lot of original chestnut wood trim which has not been painted over downstairs (lucky for us); upstairs not so lucky. Many layers of paint have been applied through the years and it's impossible to get down to the original wood so we'll be painting over it shortly. At least, nobody went and bastardized the whole thing in white as was common in the 70's and 80's.

On the "American Bungalow" forum, an architect/preservationist who goes by the name of "LesAnimaux-rouz" had this to say about the house:

"As an architect who does restoration and preservation projects as well as researching house histories I must say I find this house quite unusual, You're right that it looks 4-square craftsman with a tad of Victorian given away the the two story bay window form. The river rock chimney is strongly bungalow without a doubt. There's a lovely entasis to the columns unless that's the photograph. There are some cement plaster/masonry houses with a half moon window near the ground plane that belong in the Prairie School movement."

I've been working in the field of architecture for over 30 years and even my old boss himself was puzzled over this house, as was my contractor. The house is constructed of terracotta block, not usual for New Jersey at all. There was a lot of issues in renovating certain areas; trying to figure out the best way to handle opening up the walls and what may even happen when we did. And as it goes with older homes in general, doorways and windows were not generically sized leading to their own problems in getting items into the home (cabinets and appliances barely making it in) and currently I'm finding ordering replacement doors to be more than twice as expensive as I anticipated due to all the masonry repairs needed for their installation.

Anyway here's some more photos. The "before" pictures are literally before we moved into the house. We had to have the kitchen gutted completely down to the studs, and reconfigure where the Powder Room entry was (had been in the kitchen; we gained several feet of space in that room by doing so). The kitchen renovation was done to keep the room feeling like it belonged to the house. It's not "perfect"; it still has flaws (and needs a backsplash) but it's 100% better than it was. The new landscaping added a much needed face lift to the home (neighbors are still thanking us) and we have exterior painting planned (colors picked) but other construction has held us up (you touch one thing, it impacts another and that meant the painting had to wait). Interior painting will be begin this Friday; which is very exciting. I can't wait to get rid of the pumpkin colored bedroom once and for all!

Here's the old kitchen. Dirty. Cramped. Cabinets falling apart. Mold growing behind the walls. Disgusting.

And, here is one view of the new kitchen. Much better space. Lots of cabinets. Great lighting. New sliding door. Awesome appliances. Yea!

Here's the sink area; before the lighting was completely finished.

And, the opposite wall; lots more storage. This shot was also before the room was completed as you can tell by my stove being in the middle of the room. The kitchen is scheduled to be repainted; once the tile went in I decided I didn't really like the color. Not sure yet what I'm picking.

Here's the living room/dining area. The fireplace has a French inspired plaster frieze inserted into it. Fireplace/chimney was just repaired to the tune of over $5,000. Yikes. The side door near the window in the living room leads to a porte cochere.

Another living room view. That ugly light fixture has been removed (it was actually plastic!) leaving behind an ugly stain. One more painting issue to deal with and, there isn't any electrical wiring up there either. $$$

A little bit of our "jungle" of a "backyard". We don't have a real backyard since we have a corner lot and it's a small lot as it is. This area was filled with weeds, trees that just popped up out of nowhere, a beautiful ancient hydrangea tree that needed attention, out-of-control Boston Ivy, bees nests, garbage that would blow in off the street, cracked concrete and cat poop. Sad.

What a difference! The jungle was ripped out and we had some base plantings put in (hydrangea, landscape roses, crepe myrtle, cypress). We also had more put in all around the house, including a dogwood and flowering plum. Next year, 10 rose bushes will be going in (bare root, on order, coming in the spring). The paver patio was done to perfection; and we got a lovely round table with 6 chairs and a lounger for the area (now in storage for the winter). The hydrangea tree is doing really well and flowered like crazy (we found out from a neighbor that a local florist used to come around and pay the prior owner to strip it of it's flowers every year - something I'd never allow).

Last for now, we also had a bed dug around the front walkway. I didn't have the landscaper put anything in. Our intention was to do this on our own this past summer, however, it was SO incredibly hot and rainy that we never got around to it. So, that's on the agenda for the spring. I think at least one of the roses will go around the lamp post. Between flowers being added and a new door/storm door and the painting I expect the front of the house to look entirely different next year.

One last picture and then I'll go. The main bathroom. I've mentioned this to many I know. A feast for the eyes and falling apart daily. I have no idea when it will be affordable to update it but at least the toilet flushes, the shower works (really well) and the sink has hot water :D

Ok, that's enough for now. Perhaps I'll be turning this blog into a food/home experience as time goes by. There sure is enough going on here to post updates on that front.

Where Have I Been?

2011-06-30T21:29:00.006-04:00

The past year has been a whirlwind of change and activity. We finally moved into our new home which is really a 95 year old Craftsman house (with touches of Victoriana, it is kind of a mish mash of styles). Things never go as planned and this was no different. We were held up with our construction schedule, and then held up by disasters at every turn. There were health issues and financial issues. And through it all, the only thing I wanted was a working kitchen. It seemed like we would never get there. For the longest time I had no running water in the room, and had to resort to just using an electric skillet, microwave and coffee pot to cook our meals; going into the basement or bathroom for whatever running water that was needed. The long desired Viking range sat in the living room for over a month, boxed up, taunting me. To say I was frustrated was putting it mildly.

Finally, around September if I remember correctly, all of the appliances were connected completely. I had severe anxiety each step of the way, convinced that none of them would fit or work (in fact, getting some of them INTO this house was a major accomplishment; what with the narrow openings and and nothing being plumb).

And, the kitchen wasn't quite done to my specifications either. I won't even dwell on that. I'll just say it could have been put together more professionally and call it a day. Then there was the roof leak during the winter, causing water to ruin a portion of the ceiling. I still haven't had that dealt with (thankfully, no major damage was done; it didn't get into the electrical or ruin any cabinets). Oh and I don't have a backsplash yet. Haven't been able to afford one yet, but since I haven't even found tile I like it hasn't been an issue. Soon, I keep telling myself.

And I have no kitchen table. So the old one which doesn't match is a repository for "stuff" at the moment. But, what I do have is a great working room. The way I designed it, works great for me. It's efficient, and has a lot of storage. The appliances are good (other than the ice maker which has been problematic).

Best of all is my Viking range. Truly, I love this stove. I had read mixed reviews on their gas open burner ranges but so far, so good. It is a bit tough to keep clean and now that we have a cat (having adopted him from a friend who could no longer keep him) it is particularly difficult (cat hair winds up everywhere, including the top of the stove). The power is amazing, it astonishes me still and I've been cooking on it for 10 months now. It has made a difference in my cooking and has made me a better cook. I always enjoyed the process of cooking but I find I love it even more now. And the more I do it, the better I get at it. And the better I get at it, the move I want to be in the kitchen. It's a win-win situation for me and my boyfriend, and anyone else lucky enough to pass our way.

Anyway, between all that and settling into my job (which was new as of my last writing) life just was keeping me too busy to keep up with writing here. I had been taking a lot of photos of what I'd been cooking. Some good, some - not so much. Most done with the app on my cellphone. I'll start posting the better ones here to give an idea of what I've been up to.

Anyway, if you find your way back to me, and I hope you do I hope I can keep you entertained with my stories and photos like the one of the Strawberry Napoleon with Vanilla Cream that I threw together a few weeks ago which is shown here. I'll get around to kitchen pix too, don't worry! I still intend to keep this sort of loose and might go off-track now and then, but will try and keep it food based as best as I can.

Lazing on A Sunday Afternoon

2010-05-30T10:24:00.010-04:00

Life has been rather hectic as of late. Some of you know I purchased a home a few weeks ago and to say it's been keeping me busy is putting it mildly. The house, is quite old (a very handsome Craftsman style home, built in 1915 as best as we can tell) and requires a lot of love and attention including completely gutting the kitchen and re-doing it from scratch (yea! new expensive range coming my way!). Even more so than it first appeared and my brain has been swimming with the rising costs of the repairs, let alone the coordination required to put this all together. Ghosty has been at the house daily overseeing the construction since I need to be at the office, and he too, is overwhelmed. To make matters worse - we had to shut down the job this week when I learned I'd been given incorrect information from one Building Department official several weeks ago on how to proceed. Seems that in my town they want all of the sub-contractors submit for their permits at the same time (and; this includes yours truly as I found out that new drywall needs a permit as well - but this was my fault for not finding this out).

So, I now need to have plans drawn up to present to the D.O.B. (thankfully, my prior boss will help with this), go to the Building Department, drop them off, get applications for everyone, get them signed, bring them back, and pray that everything looks good to the powers that be and I get my work order in, well, short order. They say "3 to 4 weeks" but the guy said usually it only takes about 5 days, but they say that long so they can "look like heroes" when it takes shorter. Whatever.

So, we are dead in the water and I am stressed and a bit concerned "someone" may find out about the work done to date (including having the air conditioning installed already). I will just have to keep my fingers crossed on all of this but, I haven't been led to believe anyone is going to be crawling around peeking in my windows either.

So, the reason for the tangent is frequently my impetus for cooking (other than my obvious love of it) is to do something special for Ghosty. And, since he's been working so hard at the house (aside from just being there for coordination purposes, he's been stripping the old woodwork, taking care of the lawn which is in dire need of attention, dealing with other landscaping problems, etc.) and not eating well frequently (both of us in fact, cooking dinners at night has been difficult) I wanted to make some special breakfasts for him, which I know is probably his favorite meal of the day.

Yesterday, it was soft boiled eggs, with toast points and artisan breakfast sausage which I had picked up at Union Square Market in NYC Pretty hard to follow up (I did, however, mess up the eggs on my first try - overcooked them - and had to start all over). Today, was the pretty picture you see above, a Vanilla Scented Brioche French Toast with fresh Strawberries - both of which also came from the Greenmarket. Those berries beat out anything from any local supermarket this time of year. Bursting with flavor, ripe as can be.

There is no real recipe - it's the same thing you all would do for French Toast. Batter is a couple of large eggs, milk (I didn't measure), and a touch of heavy cream in this case. I put in about 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (the real stuff). Beat it up, slice up the brioche in to appropriate sizes (I only used 3 for the 2 of us, I can't eat more than 1 piece myself of this heavy stuff). Used about 1-1/2 pints of the berries (rinsed) smushed up (yes, smushed is a technical cooking term) with a tablespoon of confectioner's sugar. Pan fried it in some vegetable oil and butter until nicely browned. Plated it, spooned the strawberry sauce equally over, cut up some extra berries and scattered over. Powdered sugar over the top. Yum.

Anyway, we did nothing yesterday. Today, so far, lazy again. I guess there are a few things we need to do but I have no inclination. I should get over to the house and have a look at things but lazing around sounds so much better. And it feels good. Besides, it is a holiday weekend. Right? I think?

I Iz Warming The Cockles of Yur Heart

2010-04-04T00:13:00.001-04:00

David Drake - Thanks for the Memories

2010-01-10T15:48:00.003-05:00

I just learned that my favorite restaurant in NJ is closing; Restaurant David Drake which is located in the town I currently live in - Rahway.

DD is a rather pricey and precious little mostly French inspired place located in an historic building across from the train station. The chef started his own place after being head chef from another restaurant; The Stage House in Scotch Plains several years ago. Stage House under his helm was fantastic - not so much anymore in my opinion.

I've had so many memorable meals in DD that I can not even begin to describe them. The first one I wrote up on Chowhound.com and it got back to Mr. Drake somehow. He had it linked to his website for the longest time. I was kind of blown away by that, it made me rather tickled that he would appreciate my point of view that much. I'd met him once - was invited to come into the kitchen for quick hello. Nice guy, very unassuming and quite focused on what he was doing.

One of my favorite things about the restaurant was they had a small patio out back. Lunches there were a particular treat. Eating outdoors in the spring and summer in the solitude of this private space was quite lovely and special, Rahway not being known for having these types of atmospheres for dining.

The wait staff were highly trained and I always hated using that term for them. Each of them seemed to know everything about the menu; could answer any question you had, knew every ingredient, knew the wine list back and forth and could make really good recommendations if you weren't sure what went with what. I never had a faulty choice given to me.

I'm really going to miss this place. It's unclear right now if they are closed temporarily or for good. Mr. Drake has left the question open for now, but it does sound like it could be the end for this truly charming venue. I hope that he can resurrect it again - or something similar, and hopefully in Rahway.

Thanks for all the memories Mr. Drake. More than you know.

I Love NY

2009-08-27T20:34:00.004-04:00

I love New York.

Being able to walk over to the Greenmarket in Bowling Green, is one of the joys I've discovered at my new job. While not as large as the one at Union Square at 14th Street, this small outpost is there twice a week and thus far, seems to do just fine for me filling in for groceries I forgot to purchase over the weekend; or were not up to my standards when there.
Today, was one of those bountiful days at the market. There was a lot of ripe fruit (blueberries, peaches of several varieties including those cute little white "donuts" I love), apples, plums, and unbearably sweet apricots (I always think of my mom when I eat them) - all of which were cut up for tasting. One vendor was selling fruit "stumps" - fresh juices made from their crops, barely filtered, amazing stuff.
A couple of people were selling various pastries, breads and homemade doughnuts (I bought 1/2 dozen of the apple cider to bring home, one of which did not make it because once I saw how crisp and greasy it was I had to have one with my lunch).
But, I was there mostly for veggies today, since I didn't have much of that in the house. Picked up some fresh corn, a few orange tomatoes similar to the ones I had grown (mine, have finally bitten the dust and the plants are now dead as doorknobs and must be discarded to the garbage heap), several small white potatoes, green beans with vines still attached, a bunch of fresh spearmint (again, mine on the way out). Last week they had zucchini blossoms which I stuffed with goat cheese and scallions, then battered and fried up - wish I'd remembered to photograph those.
When I returned to the office, I happened to look on Twitter to see what was up and there was an update from someone I follow with a link to a recipe for a kind of fresh corn polenta with salmon. I knew I didn't have everything it called for at home, not even with the shopping excursion I'd just been on (scallions for instance, none in the house, and they didn't have any at the market or I would probably have picked them up even without knowing I'd need them). However, I knew I could work with the basic structure of the recipe, had other flavors in mind I could use, could make it more Southern as opposed to Mediterranean. Called Ghosty and asked him to take out the jumbo shrimp I had in the freezer to defrost and figured I'd just wing it, as usual.
So, basically the recipe was this.
Stripped 2 ears of corn (3 ears would have been better but I only had 2), threw that in a small pot with about 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Salt and black pepper to taste. Began heating it up over medium heat, as I chopped up 1 shallot.
Sauteed the shallot in about 1 tablespoon butter until browned and added a dash of hot pepper flakes. Put shallot/pepper mixture into corn/cream mixture. Added a bit more cream at this point, as it seemed like it needed it, maybe 1/4 cup more. Let this boil and thicken, as I went about the rest of business. Finished "polenta" should be thick, but not "gloppy". Thin with a bit of cream, if needed.
Floured about 3/4 lb. peeled/deveined jumbo shrimp. Salt and peppered it heavily. Heated butter and peanut oil in fry pan - about 1 tablespoon of both, give or take (more give I bet). Place shrimp in pan, let brown on 1 side - took about 2 minutes probably. While cooking, chop up (1) good sized orange tomato. Turn shrimp and throw in tomatoes to cook while shrimp finishes off. Salt and pepper to taste if needed.
To plate, place corn "polenta" in bottom of shallow bowl, place shrimp and tomatoes on top.
Note: This may have been nice served with some warmed French bread, lightly toasted, to soak up juices - the tomatoes/butter/oil did make quite a bit of liquid which was rather tasty.
I'm pretty sure that's it. Once again, NOT a recipe per se. Just went into the kitchen, and worked some magic :)

It Sure Ain't Campbell's

2009-07-19T20:14:00.010-04:00

So, I have this bumper crop of tomatoes and basil. Found myself with a huge bowl of pumpkin orange beauties sitting on my countertop begging for use. Surfed over to the trusty Chowhound site to consult with my fellow 'hounds for tomato soup suggestions. Surprisingly, I've never made one from scratch. I've always thought of them as some sort of low-brow type of fare, and what automatically comes to mind are Andy Warholish visions of Campbell's soup cans lined up on supermarket shelves. Not, my idea of a tasty meal - although a decent piece of artwork.

Anyway, I posted a request for recipes "with a twist". A couple of people suggested adding in things like cheese or bacon to make the soup taste like a grilled cheese sandwich or a BLT. I was intrigued but not enough to tackle those. There were two which stuck out to me; one where you roasted the tomatoes first and the other more basic and to the point where you blanched the tomatoes first. I opted for the second, only because it incorporated milk into the recipe and I really wanted a creamy soup, not a light version.

For the most part, I followed the recipe which was posted, but made my own changes since a) it called for sherry and I had none in the house (this is not exactly a home with a bountiful cabinet full of various liqueurs - I need to do something about this, at least the ones I cook with); and b) I didn't have whole milk (rarely do), only 2% but had heavy cream so I used a combination of the two.

I also didn't measure things since the original recipe didn't have exact measurements either. I've mentioned before that at times, my cooking methods are somewhat haphazard, fluid, off-the-cuff. I know how to cook, can create things from my own head, and unless I am following a specific recipe from a cookbook, I do tend to wander off now and then.

The photograph above is the finished product. Even though it had heavy cream in it, it still managed to have a "light" feel on the mouth. Also, in spite of incorporating the cream, milk and some chicken stock (very little) it only tasted of tomatoes, enhanced by the seasonings I added (minimal, fresh basil, fresh garlic clove, sea salt, and fresh cracked black pepper). The use of orange tomatoes made it intensely sweet, more than I expected. This most certainly was NOT any tomato soup Ghosty nor I had ever had before - him especially. He was quite impressed with it. I have to mention, however, this recipe made very little soup. More like enough for about 4 small servings - like appetizer servings at that. As you can see from the picture, I served it in cocktail glasses (for effect). These were rather small, about 1 cups worth. I'd use this recipe if I were making a fancy dinner, as a nice lead in when serving several courses. Either that, or double, or triple up the recipe and have a serious sized bowlful with a gooey grilled cheese sandwich alongside it, same as any old tomato soup your mom would have served you. Just make it some ritzy cheese, instead of American to do justice to the soup ;)

FRESH ORANGE TOMATO SOUP WITH BASIL & GARLIC TOAST

5-6 medium to large Orange tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded

3 Tablespoons chopped onions

1/2 can chicken broth

1 Tablespoon Sherry (I left this out, and substituted 1 whole garlic clove simmering in the pot at the end for 5 minutes or so - I think it needed the Sherry, next time I'll use it)

I cup whole milk (I used 1/2 cup 2% milk + 1/2 cup heavy cream)

Fresh basil (I used 4 large leaves, julienned)

Butter or olive oil (about 2 tablespoons)

Nutmeg (fresh is much better)

Salt

Pepper

Blanch the tomatoes, cool and peel. Seed using a strainer. Cut up tomatoes.

Keep all juices as you work.

Saute onion in olive oil or butter until golden and soft.

Add tomatoes to onion, add a little of the chicken broth and blend with an immersion stick (I had used my hand to mash up the tomatoes prior to this, when they cooled so no immersion stick was needed).

Salt and pepper to taste

Add the rest of the broth, to taste.

Add the milk. Grate in a bit of nutmeg.

Add the Sherry - or garlic clove

Heat the soup through.

Salt, pepper, nutmeg to taste, adjust.

GARLIC TOAST

Cut up slices of French bread. Toast lightly. Rub with garlic clove. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

Voila! Simple. Serve with sammies!

Special thanks to Chef Chicklett from Chowhound :)

First Tomatoes

2009-07-19T16:51:00.002-04:00

Just some pictures of the tomatoes I've been growing on my deck. I'm about to post a soup recipe I made with them, but wanted a record of these beauties on the blog for posterity!

Ill Amici - Linden, NJ Lunch Review 07/09/09

2009-07-11T10:40:00.006-04:00

Where else do I write about food, you may wonder?

I've been writing meal reviews for a website called "Chowhound" for many years. If you click on the title of this post, I've linked it so that it will bring you to my recent review of a lunch Ghosty and I had the other day at a local Italian place, Ill Amici in Linden. It was quite lovely, and I recommend the restaurant highly if you enjoy authentic old style Italian cooking in an unpretentious atmosphere.

I used to post there under a different name, "Sivyaleah" (which is my Hebrew name) but recently changed it to "Elora" to protect the innocent hehe. One of my older reviews was for a restaurant in New Jersey; David Drake in Rahway, This review was so well received that the restaurant even noticed it and linked it to their website for a very long time. You may be able to find it on Chowhound if you were so inclined to search it out. Or you can just search and find other reviews I've done through the years although the search is kind of tedious on the site - I have to admit it doesn't work very efficiently as it should.

I also recommend Chowhound to those who love food, and discussing it with others. It not only provides a place to post reviews of where you've eaten, but has boards for a myriad of other food (and drink - there are wine and beer boards too) related subjects. It's a community of kind hearted people who go out of their way to help each other and unlike certain "other" boards some of us know of, everyone seems to respect each other and rarely is a moderator needed to step in for any reason.

Flickr

2009-06-30T16:48:00.001-04:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Easy As Pie

2009-06-26T19:44:00.004-04:00

Tonight was pizza pie night. I had purchased a couple of premade pizza crusts from Wegmans yesterday, along with a small container of pizza sauce (quite tasty!). They also carry fresh mozzerella made on the premises; that along with a few other ingredients and an easy dinner was in the works.

Ghosty enjoys Hawaiian pies. Me? Not so much. But that was easily solved by being able to grab some sliced pineapple and chopped ham off the salad bar. I wanted something more traditional and settled for a Margarita; cheese, some sweet sliced tomatoes and chopped up argula and basil (the basil from my deck garden).

About 15 minutes in the oven, simple, easy, quick and relatively inexpensive in comparison to calling it in, surprisingly. I'll be using a fresh dough next time, which I normally do. I tried this one to save a bit of time, we both agreed it was just "ok". I might even finally splurge on a pizza stone. I've been eyeing one at Williams Sonoma for a while :)

Dinner

2009-06-15T12:08:00.004-04:00

Turned out Ken was a she. Shells were frozen for eventual use in a bouillabaise. Dishes are Fiestaware, from my massive collection.

Ken on the Barbie

2009-06-15T12:03:00.003-04:00

Monster sized lobster, $4.99 a pound, we couldn't resist. Ghosty named him Ken, since he was going to be on the Barbie later on :P. We later found out, he was a she; and the grill was the wild side for her.

2009-05-15T22:03:00.002-04:00

If you don't like Baby Back Ribs, there is something seriously wrong with you, so just "x" out this web page right now and go somewhere else :P

I had a couple of pints of picture perfect blackberries left in my fridge after using the other pint to make a desert sauce for a throw away Bisquick cake I'd made the other night. Had some Baby Backs in the freezer and for some reason they seemed to go together. I've had fruit based BBQ sauces before; that Saucy Susan stuff growing up for instance and Asian cuisines use them frequently as well. Something about those berries and the pork seemed made for each other so I took a quick look on my favorite cooking web site, Epicurious, to see if I could find anything interesting using these ingredients together.

Sure enough, there was one BBQ pork recipe listed. It more or less gave me a basis to start with but essentially I disregarded it since a) I was using my crock pot to cook the ribs (I still don't have a grill here, working on it) and b) I know how to put together a decent Carolina style BBQ sauce already without needing a recipe.

I wound up making the sauce, which follows. Cooked it up in the crock pot and Ghosty termed them "Meat Candy" when he put the first bite into his mouth. The term "Meat Candy" is usually used for bacon, however, being that pork is from the same animal and that these ribs were equally as delectable as bacon, the moniker was appropriate.

They were literally falling off of the bone when I tried to get them out of the pot. Juicy, slightly sweet and aromatic, and a crisp layer had formed on many of the ribs from the sugar in the sauce. These ribs were as good as any we've paid for, maybe better. I served them with truffle scented herb roasted potatoes (I grow several types of herbs on my deck, cut them up and tossed it with some EVOO and truffle oil). If you have the inclination and time, give it a try. Making this from scratch is rather expensive compared to buying a bottle of prepared sauce since blackberries usually aren't cheap, nor are they always good (taste before purchasing if possible - they frequently are too tart and seedy; although you will be straining the seeds out). I got my berries at 3 pints for $10 which was a good price around here and, the ribs were on sale also or believe me, I never would have tried doing this.

Please note that amounts are approximations. I was not measuring as I went along, because cooking is like art, you don't really think about it that hard when you're in the flow of it, however, I'm rather good at eyeballing and pretty sure of the amounts I've written below. Taste it yourself, and adjust to your own liking. For instance, depending on the sweetness of the blackberries you may or may not need more brown sugar.

BABY BACK RIBS IN BLACKBERRY BBQ SAUCE
(Serves 2-4 depending on how much of a pig you are)

2 racks Baby Back Ribs
2 pints blackberries, rinsed
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 water
Salt to taste
Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste

Preheat broiler. Salt and pepper ribs, and place under broiler in ovenproof pan. Brown on both sides, approximately 20 minutes per side. Remove from broiler and set aside or place in crock pot to await sauce.

Place blackberries in medium sized cooking pot with 1/4 water. Begin heating on medium high. Add brown sugar as it begins to warm. Start mashing up blackberries with the back of a large spoon (wooden seems easiest). Add ketchup, apple cider vinegar, chili powder, salt and black pepper to taste. Continue cooking and bring to a boil, mashing up berries as best as possible. Taste to see if it needs anything, more sugar, more vinegar, salt, pepper, etc. Remember, it's your sauce, and some people prefer it tangier, sweeter, hotter, etc.

Cook about 5 minutes or so. Remove from heat.

Strain sauce through a fine sieve, pressing out liquid into a bowl and discard solids/seeds

If ribs are not in crock pot yet, place inside and pour sauce over ribs. Plug in pot, and turn onto High, for 6 hours.

After a couple of hours, check to see if it requires more liquid. I added about 1/4 cup of water at that point since crock pots are not always exactly air-tight. Also, about 4 hours into it, I moved the ribs around a bit just to have them evenly cook inside. I do not know if this was necessary or not; I just felt like perhaps I should do it since it seemed like the ribs on top needed some sauce to be spooned from the bottom of the pot to the ribs on top.

At 6 hours, the crock pot turned off and went into "Warm" mode. I had it there for about 1/2 an hour. I plated the ribs, which were falling apart, spooning the sauce in the pot over them. As already mentioned, they had formed a nice dark crust on them, just like you would get on a grill, quite amazing. I'm assuming this was from where they were touching the edges of the pot or laying at the bottom? I just don't know enough about this type of cooking but it makes some sense.

The sauce, was very tasty, not a thick BBQ sauce, more the thin vinegar based "mops" you get down in North Carolina, which I prefer. Ghosty and I both agreed this sauce was preferable in many ways to those gloppy, thick sauces since it didn't hide the meat which should be the star of the dish. The sauce complimented the meat, instead of overwhelming it. You could use the extra sauce to dip the meat in if you desire - we didn't, preferring it on the drier side (dry, being the wrong word, since they were about as succulent as they could get).

I'll make it again, and next time I'll measure everything out exactly so that I have a "real" recipe to keep and pass down. But, for now - just in case anyone wants a go at it, this should give you a decent start.

First Strawberries

2009-05-13T14:15:00.004-04:00

Something juicy to look at while I'm working on other things. These strawberries were grown on my deck, first of the season. I hope they taste as good as they look (I'm saving them to share with Ghosty this evening since there are so few).

Applebee's Asian Con

2009-04-21T20:46:00.004-04:00

I was surprised today when Ghosty called and told me he was coming home early but would be working this Saturday to make up the hours. We decided to make this a "freebie"day and catch up on some pre-vacation errands, mostly things which needed to be done for him (alteration of suits, purchasing of new sandals. My big pressing errand were Tassimo Latte refills which alas, were not available).

Prior to leaving the house we grabbed a bite at home; leftover Chinese food. Nothing spectacular, just decent take-out from around the corner. Problem was it barely hit the spot so we found ourselves rather ravenous at the tail end of our outing.

Ghosty mentioned he felt like having a salad, which surprised me. He's more the hamburger type of guy (although, as mentioned previously beef burgers are out these days, so it's turkey or garden burgers). He suggested going to Applebee's - NOT one of my favorites by any means. I'm not adverse to chain restaurants but this one is rather low on the totem pole of eateries in my world. Seems each time I go there I'm inevitably disappointed. The last time we wound up having a free desert giving to us because things went so poorly (I would have preferred they took money off the bill instead, we didn't want the desert and hardly touched it).

This time, I acquiesced since choices were slim where we happened to be. It was that; Chevy's (a poor excuse for Mexican as we were reminded recently), or eating stale popcorn inside the Target where the Tassimo coffee pods were on sale.

One of the things which creeps me out about Applebees is this over-graciousness which pervades the place the moment you step in the door; as if you've walked into a 5 star restaurant. They open the door for you. Inquire how your day is. Mention the weather. Try and talk you into appetizers and alcoholic drinks. Push "specials" at you. All with a false smile in which lies a hidden smirk. It bothers me. I am convinced that none of those people want to work there, even less than most in this industry.

So there we were and salads were on both of our minds. Ghosty ordered some kind of spinach salad with shrimp. I ordered the "Asian Chicken Salad". This was billed as being a "medley of Asian greens" with Chinese noodles, almonds and fried chicken with an Asian dressing. Sounded pretty good.

The waitress drops the bowls in front of us, and departs. Ghosty's is exactly as described and looks quite appealing. Mine, is another story. What I see before me is a bowl full of iceberg lettuce with the expected other items. Not an "Asian" green to be found. Mind you, I know what an Asian salad should be. Typically in Japanese restaurants for instance, you are served a mesclun mix, which is tender baby greens with Mizuna added in (an actual Asian green), and sometimes pea shoots. It is most certainly not iceberg lettuce!

I decided I wanted question the waitress about this,even though the salad itself did taste fine. The dressing was tasty, the chicken crisp and well cooked. It's just that I felt rooked, like I'd had a bait and switch done on me. The whole point of ordering this particular salad was because I wanted greens which had some nutritional value. I may as well have ordered a glass of water as far as Iceberg is concerned. I mean, had they run out of the "Asian greens"? Was it a mistake? An oversight? I needed to find out.

The waitress comes over and I ask her why the menu says "Asian greens" when it clearly is iceberg lettuce. She kind of gives me a sideways glance, like she is going to tell me a dark secret and indeed, she is. Seems she's well aware this description is not quite right. She eatsthis salad all the time herself, and admits it's incorrect. Seems other Applebee's get the lettuce mix correctly but for some reason? Their store has not been getting the mix with the right amount of the "Asian" part in it. With this, she picks up my knife and starts to pick at my salad, showing me tiny pieces of "Asian" lettuce mixed in amongst the iceberg. As if to prove to me just how "Asian" it realy is, even though she and I already are aware it's a sham.

I'm sort of amused by this - that she had the nerve to try and convince me there was something other than iceberg in there, and yet she was commiserating with me at the same time. Let alone, that she picked up my utensil to do this, which somehow I'm rather sure was not proper waitress etiquette. She asked if I wanted something else, I said no as it wasn't "bad" per se, just not as written on the menu.

With this, Ghosty jokingly mentions that I'll be writing this on my Blog. She kind of gives a small nervous laugh, and walks away. We start snapping pictures of the salad, laughing (see poorly lit and rather bad photo above).

The manager comes over, concerned. Also to reiterate the situation with the salad mix and *is* everything ok? I again say it's fine, that I just wanted to clarify the menu inconsistency. He seems rather relieved and walks off.

We finish, the check arrives. Frankly, I thought they were going to do "something" about the bill at that point, but nothing. I was disappointed. By coincidence there is a contest going on and if you save the receipt (which I did), and call within 2 days to their 800 number to let them know "how they are doing' you can possibly win $1000.

Well, I will be calling for sure now, just to at least let them know they should perhaps reword the menu and just called it a "Fried Chicken Salad". At least, no confusion comes out of it when you leave out what lettuce it's arriving on. I know I was making a mountain out of a molehill, I do that sometimes. Truly, let them use what they want, I could care less - just don't get me all excited for something I'm not going to be able to have and call it what it really is. I still would have probably gotten the darn thing anyway, but at least I wouldn't have been annoyed.

Tempting Ghosty

2009-03-21T21:19:00.002-04:00

I see I have your attention, but it isn't what you think. This is a food blog, not Second Life so get your mind out of the gutter! Plus, this isn't an ordinary food blog like you may have come across previously. I'm more about musing about food in my life, not necessary posting recipes haphazardly. A bit more esoteric, going off on a tangent now and then. So this brings me to recent events which have been happening lately, and very much on my mind.

Some of you out there are aware that the blogger known as Ghosty Kips and I, are a couple. For those who do, you'll know what I'm talking about at the beginning of this story. For those of you who do not, just make whatever assumption you need to so you can follow along. I promise there is a really good lasagna recipe at the end of this personal tale.

The past weeks have found Ghosty feeling poorly. Not worth going into the reasons behind this, as I don't want to bore anyone, but suffice it to say because of this, there have been times when his appetite has been on the fritz (and believe me, normally the boy can eat).

This lack of desire for good food became most evident a few weeks ago. I was on my way home from a rough personal meeting that had left me drained and needing something special myself. I stopped into a local mid-range Italian restaurant and picked up a ridiculous amount of mouth-watering dishes for dinner. Mozzarella en Carrozza, crab cakes, grilled vegetables, roasted sole with broccoli, chicken with arugula, linguine with tomato sauce. I laid this banquet out for us and Ghosty barely was able to make it through the appetizers while I plowed through the meal at a most un-ladylike pace.

It got so bad that I was rarely preparing meals from scratch for a while. No point trying to be creative if he was going to leave half of it on the plate, you know? We'd spent a lot of time picking around, eating leftovers for the most part or doing take-out. Nothing wrong with that, sometimes I enjoy the time off from the kitchen. But, even breakfasts were uneventful, and believe me, Ghosty lives for special breakfasts, waffles in particular. I was determined to figure out something which would entice him to eat. While at the grocery store, sans my dearest due to the sad state he was in, a lasagna popped into my head. I knew for sure, that this was one of those meals which he'd flip over.

See, when we first met, a lasagna was one of those first "couples" activities we did together. He had been the one to suggest it if I remember correctly and I was blown away that this man actually wanted to cook alongside me. This was a dream scenario for me. The fact that he felt comfortable enough in the kitchen, not to be intimidated by yours truly was remarkable. He already knew I could cook pretty well. so either he was hiding the fact that he was a decent cook himself, or he really wanted to spend time with me, doing anything just to be near me. I mean really. Who in their right mind wants to spend endless hours in the kitchen preparing a lasagna if you don't have to?

Turns out, it was a little of both. He did want to be near me. And then some. But, he also was pretty adept in the kitchen as he had some experience working in one years prior. He had half-way decent knife skills (albeit, I did fear for some digits watching him), knew that plain old supermarket mozzarella would melt better than expensive handmade; knew how to compose the lasagna, didn't get in my way (we managed to easily dance around each other in the small gallery kitchen with much bumping into each other) and best of all he understood when the sauce needed more of "something" to make it taste better; salt, pepper, basil, etc. I'd never had a man in my life that didn't drive me insane being near me as I cooked. It was a very good sign.

Since then, he's made me a few things on his own. He makes a very good strawberry shortcake and his own version of lasagna is quite good. I'm even more impressed that each time he cooks without me being around, the kitchen is clean as a whistle upon my return. If I wasn't in love yet, I'd be now anyway just from that alone! Of course, I have since learned some other things. For instance; I can't leave him near the toaster oven without him burning the croissants each and every time. But we've worked that out - he's allowed to toast bagels, but I handle all of the delicate French pastries.

Anyway - I digress. The point I'm trying to make is my hunny needed tempting. Lasagna seemed the perfect foil for his waning desire for food.. I went searching on Epicurious (a fantastic web site which culls recipes from gourmet magazines). Not like I don't know how to make a lasagna, I've been making these since I'm in my teens and could do it blindfolded, just wanted to do something a bit different.

I usually don't use meat in my lasagnas but I found a recipe for Sausage Lasagna which fit the bill. Ghosty has recently given up eating beef for religious reasons and I've joined him in support (kind of didn't feel right wolfing down a burger in his face and of all foods, beef is one I can easily live without anyway). As it turns out, for a basic recipe, this may be one of my favorites. It was fantastic, and just what the doctor ordered to get his appetite back in order. We stuffed ourselves silly on it, along with warmed, crusty semolina bread and had plenty of leftovers, including some which went into the freezer for "emergency" dinners.

Being who I am, I cheated a bit to save some time and for my own personal sense of tastes. I used a bottled sauce made with Italian San Manzano tomatoes instead of the canned tomatoes with peppers and onions they suggest. This cut back on prep time and the other reason is San Manzano tomatoes, for those who don't know, are a special type of tomato only grown in Italy and are far superior to any other type of tomato. If I'd seen this product with peppers and onions in it, I would have used it but alas, just does not come that way and I was a bit lazy to cook those up separately that day. Also, I only use very good quality Parmesan Reggiano (call me a snob, see if I care) but, again, it really makes a difference. Please don't use that stuff that you see on a shelf in your supermarket if you do nothing else, ok? I know you know which one I'm talking about. You may as well be using sawdust to flavor your pasta. Splurge a little, it goes a very long way.

Oh and by the way? I'd double up the sauce recipe next time I make this. Better to have too much than too little. If you don't need it for this meal, you'll certainly enjoy it enough to use another night on top of some other pasta or can always freeze it for down the road.

In fact, the memory of this dish was so good that as I started writing this last night, the last piece of the lasagna came out of the freezer and became our dinner. When I took it out to defrost, I happened to mention to Ghosty that I was going to use the recipe for my next blog post and it kicked off his memories of us cooking our first meal together. He's got plans for us to make yet another one soon now. You know, put on some music in the background, drink a little wine, have a kiss or two as we create our dinner, and while we simmer the sauce; we simmer each other *wink wink*

Sausage, Basil and Cheese Lasagna (courtesy of Epicurious)

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sausage-Cheese-and-Basil-Lasagna-103005

Memories

2009-03-10T09:31:00.005-04:00

Isn't this pretty? This photo was taken late November in Barcelona several years ago. I passed by a confectionery store and was struck by the Christmas arrangement in the window. The tree was made of sugar and lollipops. It was my 1st day in the City, it was snowing (the 1st time in 18 years, a remarkable occurrence). My my ex and I decided to go out, just start exploring without any destination in mind more to clear the jet lag out of our heads. I don't remember which camera I used at the time, I think it may be my digital Nikon APS. The original is M.I.A. and I'd scanned the printed photo which is why this is a bit cockeyed. I came across it in my computer the other day, and being it's food related, decided to give it a home here. It reminds me of the best vacation I'd ever taken, in a country full of wonderful feasts for the stomach, eyes and mind. My tidbit of the day as I'm working on other things.

Ode To An Egg

2009-03-05T19:16:00.003-05:00

I awoke this morning with a vague headache. This did not bode well in my universe. Unfortunately for me, I had to drag myself into NYC for my annual mammogram. I had no choice but to try and ignore this small annoyance.

I got onto the train, settled in and within moments felt as if I were in a sauna. The headache was coming on, and I hadn't thought to take any medication before I left since the pain wasn't too bad at that point. Took my coat off, my scarf, feeling like I might pass out. Off came the sweater. Pushed up the sleeves of my shirt. Closed my eyes and waited for sleep to overtake me.

When I arrived in Penn Station I realized several things. First, I needed to get an Imitrex into me like, pronto. Two, food was a priority. Eating usually helps my headaches to some degree. Luckily I had timed things to enable me to eat breakfast. I remembered somewhere near the radiologist's office was a restaurant I had enjoyed previously, a bakery for the most part which also had lighter fare. With destination in mind, I got onto the bus which heads down Seventh Avenue, scanning out the window for Le Pain Quotidien.

Now, I have to explain about LPQ. The first time there, I just had some pastry and coffee. I was very impressed with the quality of both. Didn't remember the name of the place, or even where it was specifically. The second time, I pretty much had the same, but took the time to read up about the restaurant because as it turns out; it's a chain.

Yes, a chain. I was stunned. This lovely little French inspired bakery/cafe is an imposter! But oh how i do not care! So, today, with headache a'callin I decided this quiet little place with classical music playing in the background, would be the perfect choice to relax until my appointment. But this time, with a new blog to post into, I suddenly was looking at it with new eyes.

Everything about LPQ is warm and friendly. When you enter, the array of bread and pastry is rather mind boggling. I was awestruck by several items, which looked professional enough to be in a cooking magazine. For the moment, I bypassed this counter and headed to the back area where they have waited tableservice. The menu includes sandwiches, fancy yogurts, salads, quiches (a favorite), etc. Sitting on each table is an assortment of preserves (apricot, mixed berry) and a jar of praline butter (similar to peanut butter in consistency). Grinders of fresh sea salt and black pepper are there as well. Sea salt? I'm in love with this place!

So here I am looking over the menu and I want something with some protein. I don't know about anyone else but when I have a headache, I crave things high in protein. I notice there is only one hot option on the menu. Soft Boiled Egg with an Assortment of Breads.

My eyes light up. It was exactly what I needed. I also realize I've never had a soft boiled egg. How can this be? I know why. See, all my life I've not cared for the whites of eggs. I made an assumption that the white of a soft boiled egg wouldn't be appealing. That it wouldn't be "set". So, I've shied from them all these years. But today, for some reason, it sounded so wonderful, that I ordered it. And, an iced latte (I'm addicted to them but that's a story for another day).

A few minutes later, the very efficient and friendly waiter brings me my latte and a nicely arranged plate of three types of their bread with butter (sourdough wheat, white, and raisin) with a brown egg in a cup. I touch the egg with my fingers. It is just out of the pot, so warm I nearly burn myself. I begin to tap the top open with my spoon.

I crack some salt and pepper over the egg. Dip one of the slices of bread into egg. Twirl it around, letting the yolk soak into the bread. Use the spoon to scoop out some of the white/yolk mixture and take it into my mouth. It's a revelation of egg. I don't know why. It's just an egg. As plain as an egg can get. But there is something so utterly perfect about this egg being in such a pristine state, needing nothing but a little salt and pepper. The white is perfectly cooked. For some reason I'm shocked by this. The yolk is runny and hot. I'm shocked further. I had thought at least some of it would have started to cook. It's clear I don't understand anything about a soft cooked egg. It was out of my food realm my whole life. I feel gypped somehow. My mom knew how much I loved runny yolks, she made me poached eggs all the time; so why not a soft boiled egg? It would have been so much easier. The waiter comes by to make sure I'm satisfied. I mention how much I enjoyed the egg and how I'm embarrassed to say I have no idea how to cook one. "5 minutes at a rolling boil, but make sure it goes in at the rolling boil" is his pleasant reply. I see egg cups being purchased in the near future.

I save some of the bread to test out the confitures and praline butter. Fantastic apricot jam, probably my favorite flavor of all. It reminds me of my mom who ate apricots to excess. The praline butter is something else I've never had. I thought about buying a jar of it, but was terrified that my boyfriend and I would consume the entire thing in one evening.

By the way, the latte was darn good too. I'm a fan of Starbucks for their espresso drinks, but the flavor of the coffee they're using here was preferable for me.

This little piece of breakfast nirvana cost me $10 with tip and tax. Well worth it for the entire experience. I brought home half a loaf of their sourdough wheatbread, which was huge - set me back $6.00, but this is artisan quality bread we're talking about here. My boyfriend prefers wheatbreads, and this one was probably one of the best I've had.

Besides, I love spoiling him with food, he enjoys it as much as I do. I can't wait to make him a soft boiled egg.

2009-03-05T02:00:00.000-05:00

Woohoo! Welcome to my nearly blank blog :p