tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-129043102024-03-06T22:55:03.264-08:00Beyond RamenI'm a hungry grad student.Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.comBlogger218125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-52958807120238916102011-07-10T23:19:00.001-07:002011-07-12T12:53:45.935-07:00Welcome backWell. It's been a while, hasn't it. Much to my surprise, life after graduate school does not, in fact, automatically come with more free time. On the contrary, along with my shiny new job came a shiny new commute, and part of me feels a perverse longing for the "free" time I had a year ago. Finding the time and energy to cook dinner with any kind of regularity has been a challenge, let alone Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-6691249221128663902010-12-25T11:37:00.001-08:002010-12-25T11:37:56.671-08:00Merry Christmas!We're having a quiet Christmas this year. S had hip surgery #2 on Monday, and so far things are going splendidly, but we're keeping the activity level to a minimum. I'll take the pup to the dog park while S blows up Nazi zombies from the comfort of a recliner (and underneath a pile of cats). Today's menu is traditional for our family: popovers, fruit, and homemade jam for breakfast (above), Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-42525268095611168402010-12-24T12:04:00.001-08:002010-12-24T12:07:53.572-08:00A different kind of gingerbread houseGingerbread houses: the baking, the building, the decorating. Ordinarily I'd say, what's not to love? The thing is, there is something not to love, and that's the gingerbread. Frankly, I'm not all that fond of the sturdy (ahem) gingerbread that's typically used in gingerbread houses. Perhaps some people are content with the only fun part being the decorating, and perhaps some people actually likeAnnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-30047585480723923882010-12-11T21:36:00.001-08:002010-12-11T22:22:40.257-08:00The Doctor Is InFriends, you've been so patient. It has been quite the year at the Beyond Ramen household. From a chest full of pulmonary embolisms to the long slog toward the end of graduate school, my time and energy have not quite been my own, and that means a sad state of neglect here at the blog.Although for parts of the summer I had a few minutes here and there to bake something--and even to take some Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-9238926402170928622010-04-26T22:10:00.001-07:002010-04-26T22:10:50.320-07:00Green risotto for a green dayLast week I posted various links with information on how you can get more green in your life. Today I'm going to post about getting more green in your diet. I don't mean the sustainability kind of green (though of course it can be that, too); I mean the crisp, lively, juicy spring green that's so welcome when you're starting to have had your fill of root vegetables. The look of my local farmer's Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-67180432625384241722010-04-22T22:46:00.001-07:002010-04-22T22:46:30.600-07:00Earth Day link farmI'll have a lovely, spring-green recipe coming your way soon, but in the meantime, let's take a quick look at a different kind of green. In celebration of Earth Day, here are some links to help you get your earth love on. Happy browsing!KQED's Bay Area Bites has a list of things you can do to make your kitchen a little less wasteful and a little more environmentally friendly. If you're already Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-88956376201346580192010-04-18T22:32:00.001-07:002010-04-19T07:48:34.623-07:00Preserving the best of winterBefore we begin, I must beg your pardon. I've waited so very long to share this recipe with you that at this point, I fear you'll have some difficulty in obtaining the ingredients. But it would be a shame to have to wait until next winter to make this marmalade, so I'm going to post it anyway. I hope very much that, what with California often being on the leading edge of the change in the Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-84495905669014915072010-03-22T23:22:00.001-07:002010-03-22T23:27:09.284-07:00SprungAs of this past weekend, it's official. Whether or not it looks like it outside, the calendar and the laws of celestial mechanics tell us that spring is here.Here at the Beyond Ramen household we have hopes that the coming months will be ones of repair, renewal, and a return to what we left behind last year. There are encouraging signs, but like the seasons, these things won't be rushed. Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-64815665477529490082010-03-15T18:44:00.001-07:002010-03-15T18:46:27.416-07:00Chocolate cream pies for Pi DayPlease allow me to brighten up this historically ill-fated day for you. Chocolate! Cream! Pie! Pi! Wait, what? Yesterday* was 3/14, Pi Day, that under-appreciated holiday on which we gather together to eat pie and give thanks for our ability to calculate the area of a pie plate. Well, maybe you don't. But even if you don't care much about the math, I think we can all agree that an excuse to eat Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-41383008704278478142010-03-08T23:52:00.001-08:002010-03-22T23:28:14.793-07:00How I learned to love sweet potatoesSomewhere in my past, I got off to a bad start with sweet potatoes. This is no great surprise: after all, I got off to a bad start with a lot of vegetables. But unlike with most other vegetables, I only overcame that bad start recently--as in, a few months ago rather than a few years ago.And it's silly, isn't it? I don't know if I ever actually tried many sweet potato dishes before before diggingAnnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-50281722127591078382010-03-03T21:48:00.001-08:002010-03-03T21:57:21.911-08:00A different kind of post-op puddingThe last time we visited pudding, it was in preparation for a liquid diet after having a couple of wisdom teeth yanked. I'm happy to say that this post has nothing to do with wisdom teeth, and in fact nothing to do with oral surgery. What I'm not so happy to report is that it does have something to do with surgery, at least in some tangential way. The Suitor, you see, is like a German Shepherd-Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-77399202534071261872010-03-02T09:35:00.001-08:002010-03-02T09:35:57.434-08:00And for ChileThe earthquake in Haiti is barely out of the news, and now we have another, larger quake in the news: the one in Chile. I cannot even begin to fathom what a magnitude 8.8 earthquake feels like. Fortunately, although my heart goes out to the friends and family of those who lost loved ones in the Chile quake, so far it appears that Chile was spared the massive loss of life that Haiti suffered. Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-34525704838958017542010-02-06T14:43:00.001-08:002010-02-06T14:43:32.542-08:00Promises, promisesDear, patient readers, I know it's been a while. I'm hoping to get back into regular blogging soon. (Regular cooking would be a good start.) Meanwhile, I'll leave you with the promise of delicious things to come, both verbally and photographically. These quince blossoms brightened my day, as I hope they do yours.Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-23111508805291570482010-01-15T14:37:00.001-08:002010-01-15T14:37:09.763-08:00Blogging for HaitiI was going to write up a post for some photos that have been waiting in the wings for a while, but writing about food--a fancy-sounding tart, no less--feels all kinds of wrong. Having grown up in earthquake country, I know a bit about feeling the earth rumbling beneath one's feet. Last October, the Bay Area marked the 20th anniversary of our own 7.0 temblor, the Loma Prieta earthquake. But my Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-16702080246861919892010-01-03T21:16:00.001-08:002010-01-03T21:16:03.475-08:00Starting off on the right footA year, much like a day, ought to begin on solid footing, don't you think? Even if you don't subscribe to the view that a new year is a clean slate, there's something heartening about getting a new calendar year off to a good start. We can define "good" in various ways, of course; but since this is the season of new gym memberships and diet resolutions, let's play along and go for something Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-6533890671314885612009-12-27T16:40:00.001-08:002009-12-27T16:50:53.912-08:00Not your typical holiday postWell. This is not the holiday post that I was planning to write. I had intended to post on home-baked gifts, Big Sur Bakery stollen, Christmas cookies, wishing everyone a peaceful and joyous holiday, and so on; but none of that happened. Instead, I wound up under the care of the good people at Stanford hospital. Twice. A few weeks ago, I started experiencing some mild shortness of breath and Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-54866577267875217022009-12-05T08:30:00.001-08:002009-12-05T08:30:51.516-08:00Tea and Cake or DeathThat title probably needs an explanation, doesn't it? I can't possibly do the line justice, so I'll just refer you to this Eddie Izzard clip (or rather, the Lego version thereof). If you're not an Eddie Izzard fan or can't watch the video, just trust me that no one died, or was even mildly injured, in the making of this cake. Or bread--we refer to it as bread, and in fact it is a quickbread, but Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-31357857527833213302009-11-26T07:15:00.000-08:002009-11-26T07:21:11.237-08:00Happy Thanksgiving!I'm spending Thanksgiving on the road this year, and not in a way that's conducive to cooking. I'm afraid I don't have any tantalizing hints about what I'm bringing to my holiday table. Nevertheless, from the Beyond Ramen household to yours--wherever that might be--have a very happy Thanksgiving. May your table be full of good food and surrounded by good friends!Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-34840253012731586872009-11-18T23:59:00.001-08:002009-11-19T00:00:22.958-08:00Welcoming fall--for real this timeOh dear. It's been a while, hasn't it? What with a crashed laptop hard drive, the end of daylight savings time (which has relegated any and all picture-taking to the weekends, when I'm actually home for the daylight hours), and my spending half of those weekends at work, I'm afraid my camera and blogging software haven't been getting as much love as I would like. In the meantime, we've gone Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-13628988420889547672009-10-19T20:29:00.001-07:002009-10-19T20:29:02.077-07:00Game-Changing Pizza DoughIt's official: I am now turning to Michelle for all of my yeasty dough endeavors. You might recall that it was Michelle's recipe that restored my faith in homemade hamburger buns. Now she's done it again, and this time it's pizza dough. I've posted a recipe before--it's not worth linking to it now--but my feelings about it were lukewarm at best. What I really wanted was a chewy, substantial crustAnnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-84324895823622828252009-10-12T22:12:00.001-07:002009-10-12T22:12:05.156-07:00Almost-healthy Apple MuffinsI mentioned recently that one of my strategies for using up a bunch of apples is to make muffins. Well, I have a confession to make: it's not actually a very good strategy, namely because making muffins doesn't really get you through that many apples. After all, there's only so much apple that you can pack into muffins without your muffins falling apart.Yet this notion persists in my head (and Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-22543648826269699902009-10-08T23:50:00.000-07:002009-10-09T00:21:50.722-07:00Post-op PuddingTomorrow morning I will finally face the music. I've been listening to it (or rather feeling it) growing louder: six months ago it was pianissimo, but in the last week or so it ramped up to forte. I thought I was done with this particular concerto; but as it turns out, dentists are not infallible, and the two wisdom teeth my dentist said would never even descend did in fact come in. I suppose theAnnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-82871413509469374422009-09-29T23:19:00.001-07:002009-10-01T11:31:32.918-07:00Finally feeling fall-ishWell, it's about time. After more than a week of temperatures that felt better suited to the dog days of August than the first few days of fall, on Monday we finally got our first breath of fresh fall air. Stepping out of the office into a pleasant 70F afternoon, the air felt almost brisk. Well, brisk compared with the 90F days we've had recently. This morning, even more so: the skies were Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-83565868912417199562009-09-21T20:50:00.000-07:002009-09-22T08:51:36.589-07:00Summer goes out with a bangFall might be just around the corner, but looking at the weather forecast around here, you wouldn't know it. Far from giving up without a fight, summer is hanging on like a bulldog with a juicy bone in what I can only hope is the last heat wave of the summer. Like many of you, I'm sure, I'm ready to trade in breezy skirts for wool trousers, and sleeveless tops for snug overcoats; but Mother Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-48218058273634083192009-09-01T21:26:00.001-07:002009-09-01T21:27:48.166-07:00Big Sur Burger BunsConfession time: I like meat. Despite my awareness of the ethical and environmental problems of producing it, despite my efforts to eat less of it (largely successful, photographic evidence to the contrary notwithstanding), and despite my budget's plaintive pleas for me to get my protein from dirt-cheap beans rather than organic, sustainably and humanely raised animals, I like meat. In particularAnnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com9