simple pleasures

I've been cooking quite a lot these days. Plenty of soup, of course, because it's the time of year that makes me yearn for a big bowl of hearty soup. Many repeats from last year--I made the cauliflower red lentil soup I wrote about last winter and it was better than I remembered it! This time I also took a couple of pictures.

If you weren't already aware, cauliflower is actually a very nutritious vegetable. I have, in the past, thought of it as one of those things that I just enjoy eating that has no special benefit to my health, but I was wrong. It's high in dietary fiber, folate, and vitamin C, and comes in other colors besides white (orange! purple!). It is part of the same family as broccoli, kale, brussels sprouts, and cabbage! Basically, it is delicious and good for you, and so are its bretheren. That is the end of my "cauliflower is wonderful!" lecture. The recipe for this soup can be found here: http://thingswinonahaseaten.blogspot.com/2009/03/la-dolce-vegan.html

Sometime last year, I discovered that I did not, in fact, know how to successfully make an omelette. Every time I tried, I got impatient (hunger will do that to you) and it ended up being a scramble. I like a good scramble, but there is something so satisfying to me about food that is actually wrapped in other food (dumplings, burritos, pie.... you get the picture) and besides, omelettes that have been properly executed are such a pretty thing to have for breakfast! I had a small amount of exceptionally tasty gruyere in my fridge recently that I wanted to put on or in something, and remembering my successful foray into omelette making, I whipped up a simple 2-egg omelette with the remainder of the cheese. Basically, the "secret" to making omelettes is patience, and a large enough (and well buttered) pan. Gruyere is a great cheese for omelettes, as it melts well and is flavorful. I didn't have any fresh veggies to toss in, but cheese and eggs are delicious enough on their own, I think!

Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. It is my favorite fall holiday, as it incorporates cooking, eating, drinking, and spending time with loved ones, but without the near-obligatory gift giving of Christmas. I like giving and recieving presents, but don't like the idea that one has to buy many and often pricey gifts to show their love. Bake me a nice pie instead.

Anyway, this year I was able to get off work, but my relatives were all out of town except my Mom, who was terribly ill and not up to getting together. Love and togetherness prevailed, and I spent my Thanksgiving with friends, who got together to eat, drink, cook, and play Super Mario for Nintendo Wii. Alice's excellent idea was to roast two chickens which had been first stuffed with herbs, kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, lemons, shallots, and garlic--butter stuffed under the skin of the breast, fresh chopped herbs sprinkled over the bird, and lastly, the entire thing covered with pancetta. It was pretty amazing, and the resulting chickens were delicious and tasted faintly of bacon.

In addition, we had a green salad with chevre, orange bell pepper, anjou pear, spicy/sweet roasted pecans, and a sesame vinagrette dressing. Carbohydrates were not lacking. Jon made sweet potatoes mashed lightly with pumpkin spice soy milk, which made the potatoes taste faintly of christmas. I used a recipe recently featured on my friend Aubrey's blog for sage and garlic mashed potatoes, and they were smooth, creamy, and flavorful. The recipe can be found at the following link, along with some beautiful pictures.

http://drumbeets.blogspot.com/2009/11/sage-and-garlic-mashed-potatoes.html

Of course, there was a pumpkin pie with plenty of freshly grated ginger and my dad's famous pie crust recipe--all of which disappeared by the end of the evening.

(Pictures from friends' iphones)

Roasted

I have been eating so many tasty things.

It is winter now, and I have been craving veggies! Yesterday I roasted a bunch of organic beets in the oven with olive oil and salt, then ate them with much lip-smacking delight.

Today I cut up two small yams, french fry style, and again, roasted with olive oil and salt. Both vegetables are sweet enough that it felt almost as though I was eating dessert.

Things I love: prosciutto.

This week has kind of turned into a "can I put prosciutto on that?" sort of week. This is something that I am very happy about. I ate a pizza with prosciutto, fig, and basil (delicious), but perhaps the most exciting was yesterday's prosciutto extravaganza. Is there anything that isn't improved by being wrapped in prosciutto? Probably not. After buying 1/4 pound of prosciutto di Parma at Whole Foods, my partner in the appreciation of cured Italian meats and I proceeded to pair it with not one, but two delicious cheeses: mimolette (which caught my eye because of its bright orange color), a semi-hard, aged French cheese, and Mt. Townsend Creamery's trailhead tomme, which was softer than the mimolette, mild, and tasty. Also, there was a perfectly ripened plum and pear, half a loaf of Campagne bread, and a 74% cacao Theo chocolate bar. We tried every configuration of these items, all while enjoying a surprisingly good bottle of rose (Belleruche cotes-du-rhone m. chaputier rose, 2007) that we had chilled previously. It was probably the best snack I have had in weeks, not only because of the excellent food, but because of the delightful company.

Huckleberry

I feel like I blog about cupcakes with some regularity. I guess it is because I really like cupcakes, and because Cupcake Royale has a cupcake of the month that is particularly delicious pretty much every month--and every month my hajj is not to Mecca, but to Ballard, where I drink coffee and savor the newest offering at my favorite cupcake place. Today, after what felt like ages of anticipation, I finally had the huckleberry cupcake, the deliciousness of which was matched by its beauty. The frosting was a gorgeous fuschia/purple with bits of huckleberry in it, and the vanilla cupcake had bits of huckleberry in it as well, lending a dull purple color that was very pleasant and tasty (and moist!). The frosting was sweet, with just enough tartness added by the berries. I savored it for a long time, eating half of it, drinking my latte, then finishing the cupcake--smacking my lips with relish. If you want one... you have until the end of September to acquire one. I highly recommend you do.

Exploring Trader Joe's

I recently moved, and have been, as a result, poor. I don't like being poor. I like spending money on things like food, going out, clothes, travel... the usual!
However, I am taking it all in stride and experimenting with cheaper eats. Today I tried Trader Joe's pasta shells in white cheddar sauce--aka, Mac n cheese in a box. I found it to be less tasty than Annie's white cheddar sauce with bunny shaped pasta, but perhaps that is just nostalgia. I did like the way the small pasta shells clung to my wooden spoon like limpets on a rock, though.

it's been a while...

Rest assured, I have been living the lifestyle of a foodie all summer, per usual. Just haven't had time/energy to write about all the delicious things I have been eating... Because I have been spending so much time eating those things.

Last night's dinner party was really lovely. We started with Mt. Townsend Creamery camembert with campagne bread (from le panier, natch) and fresh sliced peaches and a bottle of delicious Malbec, then had moist, delicious roasted chicken, lemony roasted veggies (I used lemon juice and lemon zest), asparagus, and couscous with a (sweet) late harvest Riesling.