tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-129043102012-02-16T00:24:01.527-08:00I'm a hungry grad student.Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.comBlogger2181100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-52958807120238916102011-07-10T23:19:00.001-07:002011-07-12T12:53:45.935-07:00

Well. 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-6691249221128663902010-12-25T11:37:00.001-08:002010-12-25T11:37:56.671-08:00

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-42525268095611168402010-12-24T12:04:00.001-08:002010-12-24T12:07:53.572-08:00

Gingerbread 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 like

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-30047585480723923882010-12-11T21:36:00.001-08:002010-12-11T22:22:40.257-08:00

Friends, 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-9238926402170928622010-04-26T22:10:00.001-07:002010-04-26T22:10:50.320-07:00

Last 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-67180432625384241722010-04-22T22:46:00.001-07:002010-04-22T22:46:30.600-07:00

I'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-88956376201346580192010-04-18T22:32:00.001-07:002010-04-19T07:48:34.623-07:00

Before 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-84495905669014915072010-03-22T23:22:00.001-07:002010-03-22T23:27:09.284-07:00

As 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-64815665477529490082010-03-15T18:44:00.001-07:002010-03-15T18:46:27.416-07:00

Please 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.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-41383008704278478142010-03-08T23:52:00.001-08:002010-03-22T23:28:14.793-07:00

Somewhere 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 digging

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-50281722127591078382010-03-03T21:48:00.001-08:002010-03-03T21:57:21.911-08:00

The 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-77399202534071261872010-03-02T09:35:00.001-08:002010-03-02T09:35:57.434-08:00

The 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-34525704838958017542010-02-06T14:43:00.001-08:002010-02-06T14:43:32.542-08:00

Dear, 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-23111508805291570482010-01-15T14:37:00.001-08:002010-01-15T14:37:09.763-08:00

I 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-16702080246861919892010-01-03T21:16:00.001-08:002010-01-03T21:16:03.475-08:00

A 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-6533890671314885612009-12-27T16:40:00.001-08:002009-12-27T16:50:53.912-08:00

Well. 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-54866577267875217022009-12-05T08:30:00.001-08:002009-12-05T08:30:51.516-08:00

That 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-31357857527833213302009-11-26T07:15:00.000-08:002009-11-26T07:21:11.237-08:00

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-34840253012731586872009-11-18T23:59:00.001-08:002009-11-19T00:00:22.958-08:00

Oh 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-13628988420889547672009-10-19T20:29:00.001-07:002009-10-19T20:29:02.077-07:00

It'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 crust

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-84324895823622828252009-10-12T22:12:00.001-07:002009-10-12T22:12:05.156-07:00

I 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.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-22543648826269699902009-10-08T23:50:00.000-07:002009-10-09T00:21:50.722-07:00

Tomorrow 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 the

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-82871413509469374422009-09-29T23:19:00.001-07:002009-10-01T11:31:32.918-07:00

Well, 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-83565868912417199562009-09-21T20:50:00.000-07:002009-09-22T08:51:36.589-07:00

Fall 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-48218058273634083192009-09-01T21:26:00.001-07:002009-09-01T21:27:48.166-07:00

Confession 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 particular

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-37456186856649931722009-08-27T09:09:00.001-07:002009-08-27T15:47:40.905-07:00

Remember a wee while back when I said I used to be a picky eater? Well, to be completely honest, I haven't outgrown all of my picky eater dislikes. I've gotten over the majority of them, but a few of them linger. Eggs are the biggest one, but not far behind them is eggplant.I won't go into all the reasons I dislike it--after all, this is a blog about liking food--I'll just say that overall, I try

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-48631628886092562442009-08-16T20:23:00.001-07:002009-08-19T09:55:37.596-07:00

It's on virtually every Italian restaurant's summer menu, and one of the star ingredients is overflowing on a farmer's market table near you. Insalata caprese, that iconic antipasto, takes the delight of a fresh tomato and does it one better by adding two of the tomato's most natural partners: basil and cheese. It's a classic that's taken firm hold in the States, or at least in this corner of my

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-65096263551832952272009-08-09T10:15:00.000-07:002009-08-10T10:17:34.872-07:00

I think it's tomato season:

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-48195099999536530572009-08-04T13:22:00.001-07:002010-02-15T12:59:16.089-08:00

Here's the problem with cooking: it ruins things. I don't mean the cup or two of almonds that I left under the broiler too long and toasted way past the point of being edible, and I don't mean the oven mitt that inadvertently got pressed up against--and badly seared by--the heating element when I tried to retrieve my oven thermometer from under the lower rack. (I guess it's not actually ruined,

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-56621961468242858112009-08-03T03:37:00.001-07:002009-08-03T03:38:17.762-07:00

Once upon a time*, in a land called California, there lived a young girl who didn't eat her vegetables. Oh, I suppose she ate some vegetables, but at most green things (and yellow, and red, and orange things, or at least vegetables in those colors) she wrinkled her nose and cried, "eww!" She was, to put it mildly, a very picky eater. The only vegetables that she would eat without a fuss were

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-18760891466614282012009-07-25T10:13:00.001-07:002009-07-25T10:13:02.792-07:00

Confession time: brown rice and I have never quite had what you'd call an amicable relationship. That's not to say that I don't like brown rice--I do. I like that it's nutty and slightly chewy. I like that it's more nutritious than its refined counterpart. But until recently, I couldn't for the life of me cook it properly. Inevitably it came out not just a disappointment, but shamefully bad: it

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-61581651227516657222009-07-20T22:34:00.001-07:002009-07-25T09:49:26.419-07:00

Talk about opportunism. It's not that I wasn't excited to have my youngest sister back in town for a few short weeks, and it's not that I didn't want her to know that we're glad to have her here. It's just that lately I might as well be spring loaded for the speed with which I launch into "bake like there's no tomorrow" mode. If there's an opportunity for me to don my apron and make a mess in the

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-20794933200932443762009-07-16T19:51:00.001-07:002009-07-16T19:55:00.996-07:00

I mentioned recently that I don't really feel like it's summer until the stone fruit appear in the market. That's true of all stone fruit: peaches, plums, nectarines, cherries, and so on. But the food that I most associate with summer, the food without which it cannot possibly be summer, is apricot pie. And not just any apricot pie, Blenheim apricot pie. Because I am an unapologetic apricot snob

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-33912302105210039332009-07-14T15:43:00.001-07:002009-07-14T15:43:18.309-07:00

I admit that my choice of desserts for my Fourth of July menu was a bit odd. (Yes, this post is several days overdue.) The rest of the menu was more or less standard fare: spicy buttered corn, pesto potato salad with green beans, and herbed grilled chicken. But the dessert... well, let's just say that the the humor in using a British dessert to celebrate the date associated with American's

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-58216392899255664932009-07-13T17:01:00.001-07:002009-07-13T17:01:25.570-07:00

I don't remember what it was that launched my recent search for a great English muffin recipe. I like English muffins, or "Eng muffs" as we referred to them when I was a child, but I haven't eaten (let alone bought) them in years. They are not exactly an obsession of mine. Yet something in the last couple of weeks put English muffins into my head, which tapped into eight or nine years' worth of

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-65823412267548680852009-07-08T19:47:00.001-07:002009-07-09T21:41:09.847-07:00

You're going to have to trust me on this one. It took me forever to get around to posting it because I had to get at least a couple of pictures of the rather more photogenic ingredients. I didn't want the only photographic representation of the dish to be a picture of the finished product, lest it drive you away entirely. You see, this dish isn't going to win any beauty pageants. Frankly, I was

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-63528561161490785212009-07-08T19:22:00.001-07:002009-07-08T19:23:33.258-07:00

What you see in that picture there is my new favorite summer dish. It is a dish for those evenings when it's too hot to cook something really warm, but when, after weeks of hot weather, you're growing tired of eating only chilled or room-temperature foods. The pasta has a bit of warmth to it, which takes the chill off the cheese and makes it melt ever so slightly; it gives an illusion of warmth

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-66724206647835264572009-07-06T21:20:00.001-07:002009-07-06T21:21:20.528-07:00

This won't come as a shock to many of you, but if there's a Hell, and if I wind up going there (in a handbasket or otherwise), it will almost certainly be for gluttony. Anyone who cooks and eats as much as I do is bound at least to be a candidate, if not a shoo-in, for the third circle. Accordingly, when I found myself with leftover pastry cream this weekend, there was only one thing to do about

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-27691715440617189492009-07-06T07:27:00.001-07:002009-07-06T07:27:30.498-07:00

Summer gets an early start with strawberries and raspberries, but I don't feel like the season truly hits its stride until the stone fruit start coming in. We had wild plum trees in our backyard when I was growing up, which made it easy to chart summer's progress, and also meant that come the end of June several of the trees in the yard were drooping with the weight of golf ball-sized plums. It

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-24705721185391498042009-07-04T19:28:00.001-07:002009-07-04T19:28:16.875-07:00

I hope that everyone has had a happy, safe, festive Fourth--and one full of good food, at that. I spent lunch with my extended family over in Santa Cruz--taking some brownies and chocolate crinkle cookies with me--and returned home to make another mess in the kitchen. First up, a berry tart, then some pesto potato salad with green beans, then some lemony herb chicken on the grill. We took the

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-43818779220284935892009-07-02T21:10:00.001-07:002009-07-02T21:10:20.267-07:00

It has long been a source of great shame for me that the best brownies I've ever made came from a box. The box in question (Ghirardelli's triple chocolate brownie mix) is no sloucher, mind. But I'm a firm believer in the virtues (and superiority) of baking from scratch, and my inability to craft a brownie that measured up to Ghirardelli's has been a thorn in my side for years. My quest to find

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-431131000967716362009-06-30T17:31:00.001-07:002009-06-30T18:46:39.587-07:00

There's something about air travel, particularly rather extended periods of air travel, that makes me crave fresh, clean, un-fussed-about-with food. It's not just the airline food (although I'm sure that has something to do with it), as I feel this way even after flights on which I've either eaten nothing or brought my own food. And it's not just the dehydration, although I'm sure that has

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-61752776254256312682009-06-21T00:09:00.001-07:002009-06-21T00:09:38.971-07:00

I had intended to space out the cats so that this series would end roughly about the same time that I returned to the kitchen. So much for that. Yesterday my advisor gave me the green light to go to another conference... next week... in Scotland. We got home from Denver rather late last night, and today has been a whirlwind of errands, laundry, and other activity in preparation for my next

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-90461777049878442822009-06-18T22:14:00.001-07:002009-06-18T22:14:32.391-07:00

Back to the little ones this evening. Via the blog, that is--I don't return in person until tomorrow. Meet Dusty:a.k.a. "Dustbuster," a.k.a. "Dusty bear," a.k.a "Purrface," a.k.a. "Purrball." He is Dizzy's major competition in the cuddle department. He is a very active cuddler, and a very vocal one as well. He typically walks all over one's lap in pursuit of the perfect cuddle position, finds it,

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-53250799453405950992009-06-16T23:44:00.001-07:002009-06-16T23:44:31.464-07:00

Tonight was going to be part the third in my ploy to keep you all entertained, but that's going to have to wait until tomorrow. Tonight we'll stay with the kitteh theme, but we'll go back a few generations on the family tree:This afternoon I took the Suitor on his (slightly delayed) birthday outing. The destination: Wild Animal Sanctuary, a several-hundred-acre facility that houses and cares for

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-43592025669643773402009-06-15T22:22:00.001-07:002009-06-15T22:22:13.904-07:00

Don't let the serious face fool you, Dizzy is our resident goofball. Also known as "Dizzy Bee," "Polly*," and "Psycho kitteh, qu'est-ce que c'est," she plays fetch with toy mice, has one of the loudest and most persistent motors I've ever heard, chatters and makes a very concerned face whenever I sneeze, and has been known to step into the bath with me if I don't come out as soon as she wants me

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-35153927463454808962009-06-14T21:51:00.001-07:002009-06-14T21:51:14.065-07:00

I know, I know. I don't write, I don't call. These last couple of weeks have been so hectic at work that the Beyond Ramen kitchen has gone virtually unused. It's a crying shame, but neither the code nor the poster was going to write itself, the lazy bums. Now the deadline is met and the 12-hour days are over, but I'm in Boulder for a conference. The cooking won't recommence until the end of this

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-36040041981274535442009-05-30T23:04:00.001-07:002009-05-30T23:06:37.787-07:00

I have what I admit is a limited concept of dumplings. I think of them as savory and filled, such as wontons, pierogi, and my personal favorite, potstickers*. When I'm feeling inclusive, I'll concede that various unfilled doughy concoctions are dumplings as well: matzoh balls, spaetzle, even gnocchi, and so on.Recently, however, I found a recipe for a "dumpling" that turns all my preconceptions

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-76732510507802742192009-05-27T23:13:00.001-07:002009-05-27T23:34:57.419-07:00

This week marks four years since the Suitor first came a-courtin'. Usually we don't do much to celebrate--or anything, really--but in a break with our non-observance of previous years, this year we decided to do something about it. Or rather, I did, and he went along with it. Which is not to say that the Suitor was entirely absent from the process, and in fact he was the one who suggested what we

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-50903979256985016532009-05-25T09:33:00.001-07:002009-05-25T09:33:36.432-07:00

They say that the first step in addressing your problem is admitting that you have a problem. Yesterday the Suitor implored me to take a day off. I was tired, I hadn't slept well, the farmer's market had been crowded and not bountiful in the ways I had hoped that it would be bountiful, and I was anxious about getting everything together for the meals I had planned for tonight and tomorrow night.

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-1835606579446150292009-05-24T12:06:00.001-07:002009-05-24T12:06:35.947-07:00

Biscotti fall into that invaluable category of baked goods that can be put together relatively easily and stored for days or even weeks. They're great to have on hand just in case you: fancy something to nibble on with your tea or coffee, find yourself with unexpected guests, need to crumble some dry cookies for a cheesecake crust, or just want something sweet for a small afternoon snack. There

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-16947228980858140312009-05-24T00:06:00.001-07:002009-05-24T00:14:02.423-07:00

If it's spring, it's artichoke season. Around here, forty minutes' drive from the "artichoke center of the world" (or at least the US), you can get artichokes more or less year-round. The plants that my parents had years ago would typically bear in late summer, and you can even find some slightly frost-nipped specimens in winter. Spring, however, is when they hit their peak, and when you'll find

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-30822365611537092562009-05-16T15:31:00.001-07:002009-05-16T16:16:21.409-07:00

There's been a trend recently in some of the things I've been cooking, and that is the seeming certainty of failure followed by the sudden realization that what you're cooking is just fine after all. Lemon curd, ginger lime curd, even a new tart pastry I tried: they look absolutely awful, and you're sure you've failed miserably, but then in the blink of an eye it all comes together. It's like

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-6954109658585145312009-05-13T22:03:00.001-07:002009-05-13T22:08:02.301-07:00

I will probably lose some foodie cred for this, but up until quite recently, I had never cooked with fava beans. I'm not sure that I had even tasted them. Part of what put me off, and I think I'm not alone in this, is the work involved: first the shelling, then the blanching, then the peeling. Or the peeling sans blanching, which I'm told is more difficult. As there are plenty of other delicious

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-81833956891994164192009-05-10T20:14:00.001-07:002009-05-11T12:25:01.592-07:00

I love a good excuse to make a mess in the kitchen, even more so if it's an excuse to make a really big mess in the kitchen. Mother's Day being the day when you show Mom how much you love her, and what with my penchant for using food to show people that I love them, I knew what I had to do: I had to bake a cake. But as sometimes happens with these projects, it sort of ran away with itself. It

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-63875539400353700182009-05-10T08:50:00.001-07:002009-05-10T08:50:27.923-07:00

To all the mothers out there, here's to a wonderful day for you!

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-9966511723993103262009-05-09T23:01:00.001-07:002009-05-09T23:01:19.816-07:00

The floor is in desperate need of a good mopping, I have damp towels hanging everywhere after all the hand- and dish-washing I've been doing, and I don't think that my kitchen's nooks and crannies will be free of confectioner's sugar ever again. But it's been so much fun. More to come. Fewer pictures than I'd like--it's a bit beyond my skills to wield a hand mixer and a camera simultaneously--but

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-89580620757562108042009-05-09T22:27:00.001-07:002009-05-09T22:29:33.680-07:00

Another week, another CSA box with an abundance of gorgeous strawberries. I'm really getting into my strawberry dessert groove over here. And I'm still in my baking groove. The kitchen abounds with cake and cake-related things (about which I'll say nothing at present--check back tomorrow afternoon), so I've felt the need for something fresh and light: not as rich-feeling as cake, but with a

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-32706163601398368972009-05-01T13:57:00.001-07:002009-05-03T10:07:40.455-07:00

Baking cakes to go with fresh berries is fun and delicious and all, but around the Beyond Ramen household we need more baked goods like we need a hole in the head. And since eating berries with cakes doesn't actually go through very many berries, I still had a couple of baskets in search of a purpose. Of course, I could (and will) just eat them out of hand, but why limit myself to that when I

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-85437144599983685692009-04-30T22:27:00.001-07:002009-05-03T10:05:53.331-07:00

Strawberry season is upon us! And a week early, at that. My CSA's "Extra Fruit" subscribers received word early this week that our extra fruit option, which normally starts in May, would be beginning this week instead. So, rather than getting two baskets of strawberries today, I got six! And they're beautiful, but there are a lot of them. I'm not quite prepared for jam-making and canning yet this

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-88941297661579224972009-04-27T19:01:00.001-07:002009-05-03T10:05:22.035-07:00

I don't know what it is with my family lately, but we're having a tough time keeping ourselves out of the hospital. So far one sister and I have escaped anything serious, but after two (scheduled) cancer surgeries, one case of food poisoning, one almost-tonsillectomy, and one emergency appendectomy in the family, Sister #1 and I are wondering which of the two of us is next. Meanwhile, I'm making

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-66823291304162798492009-04-27T13:56:00.001-07:002009-05-03T10:04:39.216-07:00

Until several months ago, the only biscuits I ever made were the rolled (or patted) ones from the Vegetarian Epicure. These biscuits, along with the pie crusts that were ubiquitous in our kitchen on summer evenings, instilled in me an early awareness of a mysterious thing called "gluten." I didn't know what it was, but I quickly learned that it was a Bad Thing. I was always anxious that with my

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-20331485538100235662009-04-22T10:23:00.001-07:002009-05-03T10:04:06.548-07:00

I am not a natural at yeasted doughs. The bread usually turns out tasty enough, but the dough is often heavy, dense, and almost pebbly. It is most definitely not the smooth, supple, stretchable dough that I see in professional bakers' pictures. I have tried reducing my flour-to-liquid ratio, using bread flour, letting the dough rest between bouts of kneading, and so on. Sometimes these tactics

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-12025155942783138092009-04-16T22:46:00.001-07:002009-05-03T10:03:30.255-07:00

In the last several months I've moved away from stir-fries containing meat. Most of the shift was due to a conscious effort to eat less meat (for environmental, ethical, and economical reasons), but in truth it was also because meaty stir-fries inevitably leave my nice, clean stovetop with a film of splattered oil. I don't have a nice, deep wok to help contain the spitting-hot oil, and even

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-50088480038678408122009-04-15T23:40:00.001-07:002009-05-03T10:03:09.025-07:00

Sister #2 has been feeling a bit at odds with the universe, which seems to be throwing everything it's got at her. To top it all off, this week she wound up in the hospital with a bad case of strep throat. She's on the mend, but a care package is in order, so today I put on my apron and got to baking. First up was a batch of lemon bread, a family favorite and something that keeps (and ships) well

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-19138826930867408922009-04-14T08:03:00.001-07:002009-04-14T08:03:35.781-07:00

Via the Columbia University Press (and that via Michael Ruhlman) comes this bit of wisdom on the connection between food and love:This brings us back, finally, to the question of love. Serving a meal is to give happiness to others, not to supply nutriments: fats, proteins, carbohydrates, and so on. Even the best soufflé, both in nutritional and artistic terms, will be bad if you don’t make your

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-74655943109623568942009-04-12T20:33:00.001-07:002009-04-15T23:41:53.356-07:00

(Updated below)Happy Easter to all you Easter-celebrating folks out there. The closest I got to anything Easter-like today was walking past the Catholic church on my way to and from the farmer's market this morning, and eating our family's traditional Easter dinner of ham, potatoes Anna, and asparagus. But as with Christmas, the fact that I'm no longer a practicing Christian doesn't mean I can't

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-23698321227501322572009-04-04T12:28:00.001-07:002009-04-04T12:28:05.602-07:00

Bee tagged me with the obsession meme and seeing as I have a near-obsessive (or compulsive?) penchant for these things, here I go--never mind the fact that my reply comes a week later. (Clearly--and unfortunately--punctuality in correspondence is not one of my obsessions.) Anyway, onward with my obsessive idiosyncrasies:1. Brushing my teeth in the morning. It's the first thing I do in the morning

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-71227723033949081372009-04-01T08:39:00.001-07:002009-04-01T08:39:31.829-07:00

This is hilarious. What does burnt fennel pollen even taste like, and what vegetables should I pair with it??Confused? Check the date...

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-32375234391278679942009-03-25T22:11:00.001-07:002009-03-25T22:11:59.335-07:00

I haven't been doing a ton of cooking lately. A nasty and persistent ear infection has made me frequently dizzy and queasy, which doesn't lend itself well to doing much of anything other than lying on the couch and watching mindless television. Dizzy can hardly believe her luck, and has spent nearly all day every day curled up in my lap. I like to think that all the purring I'm being exposed to

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-90670104487029182952009-03-07T18:41:00.001-08:002009-03-07T18:41:52.750-08:00

You know the point at which inventiveness goes from "wow, this is unexpectedly brilliant" to "wow, this is actually really gross?"I think that Heston Blumenthal has found that point.

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-45414710380214128542009-03-01T17:48:00.001-08:002009-03-01T17:56:06.888-08:00

Katie has been talking up the merits of St. Helena's Model Bakery, so I wanted to give it a try while we were up here. Feeling peckish, she, the Suitor, and I donned our raincoats this morning and made the quick jaunt over to St. Helena's main strip. Model Bakery was without a single empty chair when we got there, and the rain put a damper on any notion of a picnic breakfast, so we revised our

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-11518427394658196072009-03-01T17:24:00.001-08:002009-03-04T14:51:59.662-08:00

Greetings from St. Helena! We're up here in the Napa Valley for the weekend, both for enjoyment's sake and to cheer on the Suitor's sister, who did the Napa marathon this morning. The Suitor and I were going to do it, too, but through various complications our training became a lack of training, so we traded our running shoes for our heckling cheering voices. I'm disappointed that I wasn't toeing

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-68191011098561486212009-02-28T17:31:00.001-08:002009-02-28T17:31:54.621-08:00

I don't know what took me so long to try even a single cheese from Cowgirl Creamery. There's no excuse. And up until this afternoon, when Katie was hovering over the Cowgirl Creamery shelf of the cheese case at Sunshine Foods in St. Helena, I didn't know what I was missing. But now I know: I know that this cheese and I were made for each other. The cheese in question is Mt. Tam, which is Cowgirl

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-52338489291384812252009-02-26T22:55:00.001-08:002009-07-15T10:11:59.690-07:00

Rest assured, I'm a trained professional*.In comments on my recent post on lemon pudding, I claimed that any citrus would work in the pudding. Well, that wasn't entirely correct. What I should have said that any citrus will work provided you make some modifications to the recipe. This evening I tried making the recipe with blood oranges in the hope that the resulting pudding would be a vivid

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-43472138308643471762009-02-24T12:15:00.000-08:002009-02-24T12:26:52.172-08:00

And it's about time. This weekend I finally got around to the site redesign that I alluded to way back when I migrated to a new domain name. The redesign process was very educational: I learned a bit of xml and some of the nuts and bolts of designing a blog template, which should serve me well in future bloggy adventures. I'll probably still do some tweaking here and there with aesthetics, but

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-58371280091984386252009-02-18T22:20:00.001-08:002009-02-22T22:56:10.704-08:00

It's been a while since I last posted, let alone posted a recipe. Two months? Bad blogger! For various reasons, although I've been cooking, I haven't been trying many new recipes. Not many new recipes means that there's not much to blog, at least from a foodie perspective. But there's one recipe that I've been meaning for weeks to share with you all, as it's one of my favorite things to eat in

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-9059294534430957802009-01-31T22:50:00.001-08:002009-01-31T22:51:32.561-08:00

The poem below was included in this week's farm newsletter. The poet, Gary Nabham, read it aloud at the "Renewing America's Food Traditions" workshop at an eco-farm conference that the farmers attended recently, and the newsletter's editor thought to share it with us CSA members. Enjoy!A Terroir-ist's Manifesto for Eating in PlaceGary Nabhan, January 2007Know where your food has come fromthrough

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-56706658339307118692009-01-31T22:44:00.001-08:002009-01-31T22:44:08.540-08:00

Eventually I learned that, contrary to what one might think, it's easier to avoid falling (and when you do fall, it hurts less) when you let yourself move a bit more quickly. Until then, there was much falling, both forward and backward. I still have the bruises.

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-14089543769702760182009-01-24T06:14:00.001-08:002009-02-23T12:16:07.992-08:00

Q: What makes leftover Bisquick pancake batter palatable?A: Bananas.Q: What makes Bisquick-banana pancakes taste rather good, actually?A: Creme anglaise.

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-81995069798502015332009-01-21T20:19:00.001-08:002009-02-23T12:04:45.300-08:00

Things I've learned so far this week:- Baking at an altitude of 7,000+ feet isn't terribly difficult, provided that one takes a few precautions.- When shopping for vegetables in Big Sky, MT in the winter, frozen is definitely your best bet.- Cakes that are supposed to be baked in bundt pans don't necessarily translate well to 9x13" pans.- When cooking for a group of very active people, most of

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-5306210820205446472009-01-15T21:23:00.001-08:002009-02-22T13:52:30.706-08:00

It's not my birthday, or my half birthday, or my wedding, or graduation day or any of those other days on which one is traditionally the center of attention. In fact, I have no good reason to write up this post except that Bee extended the invitation, and I find it difficult to resist this sort of thing. So indulge me. The game is blogger interviews, and much like those interminable chain emails

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-23808786997789601512009-01-06T14:46:00.001-08:002009-01-06T14:47:07.831-08:00

One of the problems with liking good food is that I want there to be good food wherever I go. I realize that under certain circumstances my options are limited: e.g. when camping or staying in a hotel. But if I'm going to be in a house, with a kitchen and access to a grocery store, my inner foodie and control freak join forces and I feel the need to take charge and make sure that there's good

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-53597905586429138952009-01-05T22:01:00.001-08:002009-01-05T22:16:37.536-08:00

Happy new year! I'm a few days late with this post, but the sentiment remains: a new year, and hopefully a fresh start? As you might have guessed, one of my resolutions is to blog more regularly (and hopefully more frequently), but I'm off to a slow start. I haven't even gotten around to the aforementioned site redesign! The reason, however, is sound--at least if you ask me (and the Suitor). For

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-70327609334473898682008-12-26T14:34:00.001-08:002008-12-26T14:36:48.554-08:00

Sort of. As of a couple of hours ago, I started publishing at my new site: http://www.beyondramen.net. Hooray!The Suitor got me the ultimate blogging gift for Christmas: my very own domain. Katie (WINS) provided art and textile services (i.e. the shirt) so that I had something tangible to unwrap. I think her choice of font was spot-on.Logistics for readers: the old URL still works, it just

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-70417694441519607682008-12-26T13:37:00.001-08:002009-02-23T12:03:15.500-08:00

Last weekend, despite the fact that I had work to do and Christmas travel to prepare for, I baked. A lot. I had been tired and stressed out for weeks, with no time to do much of anything Christmassy, and damn it, I wanted some Christmas spirit! So I put on some nostalgia-rich holiday music and donned my apron, and set about making goodies for everyone and no one in particular. The Suitor took it

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-47376595172967134522008-12-26T12:47:00.001-08:002008-12-26T12:47:07.724-08:00

It's Boxing Day, but the spirit remains: here's hoping that everyone is having a healthy, peaceful, and merry holiday season. The Suitor and I are spending a few days with his family in the snowy Midwest, but before we left, I caught Dusty lazing about underneath the tree:More pictures to come shortly, but of a slightly different variety. Mmm, holiday baking...

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-79873210271958965862008-12-12T19:27:00.001-08:002008-12-26T22:18:49.201-08:00

Work has been terribly busy of late, so I've barely had time to cook dinner, let alone get started on holiday baking. But today I return at least to the idea of holiday baking. Bee has graciously invited me to join her virtual candy exchange for Christmas, and I am only too happy to participate. I've made truffles nearly every Christmas for several years now, and for most of those years I've

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-43757086225206803072008-11-22T10:10:00.001-08:002009-02-23T11:58:46.093-08:00

I've had a more-or-less finalized Thanksgiving menu for a few days now, but things have been so busy that I haven't had time to post on it. Fortunately I've received a stay of execution with respect to a deadline at work, so now I have more time and energy to focus on Thanksgiving.Spiced mixed nutsAssorted cheddar crisps (and maybe parmesan crisps)Crisp haricots verts* with pine nutsSpiced

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-92057211391225010302008-11-14T21:49:00.001-08:002009-02-23T12:13:50.105-08:00

We are in yet another heat wave here, so during the day, a meal of this sort feels untimely. Fortunately the heat fades with the sun, and by dinner time I'm ready for something warming. I found this recipe a few weeks ago in the chard section of the New York Times "Recipes for Health" collection, and finally got my act together to make it this evening. It is healthy and straightforward, if not

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-57399569867935058072008-11-13T09:48:00.001-08:002009-02-23T12:05:01.790-08:00

Good news! We found his family. Or rather, they found us. On Saturday (yes, this post is several days overdue) I got a call from someone who said that he was at a local shelter looking for his cat. He spoke with the shelter workers and asked if anyone had reported a found cat matching his little guy's description, and they gave him our phone number. An hour later little Bernie, as they call him,

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-28938934200842612072008-11-12T23:06:00.001-08:002009-02-23T12:13:50.106-08:00

Okay, so I didn't actually get to my Thanksgiving menu this evening. I was in desperate need of a workout, dinner took longer than I expected it to take, and I wanted some quality time with the Suitor. Tomorrow it's leftovers for dinner, so I should have more time for Turkey Day menu planning. I received a celery root in last week's box, and thanks to the magic of Epicurious, I didn't have much

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-76627048097332067152008-11-12T16:35:00.001-08:002008-11-12T16:38:22.063-08:00

While browsing Serious Eats, I came across this item. Which reminded me that I have not yet finalized my Thanksgiving menu, or even ordered my turkey! Let alone compiled a grocery list...But tonight! Tonight I will draft a menu and grocery list, and hopefully a schedule for what I'm going to make and when. Surely I can manage to stay at least somewhat organized about Thanksgiving while also

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-70041880684989155052008-11-12T12:54:00.001-08:002008-11-12T12:56:56.898-08:00

"Next Wednesday is a new dawn for the bendy cucumber and the amusingly shaped carrot." --Michael Mann, European Commission agriculture spokesman, on the commission's likely decision to eliminate some of the shape and size regulations for fruits and vegetables sold in the EU.

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-71842689786568747352008-11-07T20:40:00.001-08:002009-02-22T22:55:36.213-08:00

Back when I was growing up, with six in the family, we almost never had leftover bread. Now that I'm cooking for one, I often find myself struggling to use up a loaf of good crusty bread before it goes stale. I love homemade croutons, but I don't eat a lot of salads, so it seems like a the hassle outweighs the use I'd get out of them. (Of course, now that the weather is turning chillier, and

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-6972923702951884012008-11-02T10:27:00.000-08:002009-02-23T12:05:01.790-08:00

This little guy turned up in our front yard on Tuesday. He obviously has a family somewhere, as he has a collar, but he's not microchipped and he doesn't have a tag. He has the top half of an ID tube attached to his collar, but the bottom part (and the information inside) seems to have been lost. We're working on finding his family through neighborhood flyers and Craigslist postings, but until

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-80325796568313286782008-10-30T22:29:00.001-07:002009-02-23T12:10:24.449-08:00

I always feel a little silly posting my CSA roundup on Thursdays (that is, those weeks when I get around to it...*sheepish look*) given that I receive my weekly farm newsletter, and in it a list of what I can expect in my box, on Tuesdays. This week in particular I've been eager to write my CSA post because of the spectacular way in which my meal planning came together. There are exciting new

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-25566819402769392522008-10-25T16:27:00.001-07:002009-04-23T18:54:41.142-07:00

There's hot chocolate, and then there's hot chocolate. This is the latter: a thick, rich, velvety cup of chocolate that feels and tastes like the very essence of decadence. It takes more time and effort than your average cup of stir-milk-into-powder cocoa, but it's well worth it. On a day when the fog is creeping up the cliffs to envelop the house--I can now barely see the vegetable garden only

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-32580072671077312912008-10-25T15:33:00.002-07:002009-02-23T12:02:44.550-08:00

In the interest of both mental and physical health, I am, contrary to my gloomy prediction last weekend, taking a couple of days off. This week I started to come down with some sort of cold--sore throat, fuzzy head, general malaise, and so on. I decided that in the long run, a couple of days of rest and no work would do me more good than trying to push through the next several weeks continually

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12904310.post-57425807296767789142008-10-19T14:15:00.000-07:002009-02-23T12:05:12.722-08:00

It's Sunday afternoon, and I'm at work. Again. It's for a good cause, which I hope to explain soon (but not too soon, lest I jinx it), but I haven't had a weekend in a few weeks and probably won't have another one until Thanksgiving. Such is life. Fortunately the intertubes are full of cute animal videos, and although this one isn't new, it makes me laugh anew every time I watch it:

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338782102030629262noreply@blogger.com0