2012, Week Twenty-Five

Last week was kind of exhausting. All-night road work and early summer heat conspired to ensure I wasn’t sleeping well, which meant that I was only half awake during waking hours, too. I wish I had more to say about the week than that, but let’s take a look, shall we?

Tacos
June 10 – Sunday night we made tacos. We grilled some Trader Joe’s steak and I mixed up a quick lime and cabbage salad. This was our dinner after a totally butt-kicking hike, which means all the short-cuts involved (pre-marinated meat, pre-made salsa) were so worth it.
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2012, Week Twenty-four

This was my first full week back at work in a little while. It felt so long! I don’t think my mere two days of weekend were enough to feel rejuvenating and ready to start all over again. But I’m here at my desk, anyway. It’s going to be another busy week.

It’s hard to believe that it was only last Sunday that we were saying goodbye to our beautiful beach campsite and driving back down to Oakland.

Beach at MacKerricher
June 3 – The beach at MacKerricher State Park in Mendocino.
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Building your Batterie de Cuisine: Part One

I think one of the biggest hindrances for people who are trying to learn to cook is not having the right tools for the job. Trying to prepare even the simplest recipe with dull knives or the wrong kind of pan makes cooking stressful and un-fun. But if you’re just starting out, how do you know what you need? Sure, there are all kinds of starter boxes out there that promise to give you every thing in one fell swoop (and I can be a total sucker for anything that comes in a kit). But most of the time the stuff in those boxes is crap quality, and using crappy cookware sucks. Plus you’ll have to replace it all soon anyway, when the handles start to fall off and the cheap aluminum warps.

I’m certainly not the first blogger to share my list of essential kitchen tools. Anyone who really gets into cooking becomes at least a little obsessed with gear. But I think most food bloggers are people who cook a lot and have tons of little speciality tools that they love and want to evangelize. And if you’re just starting out, that stuff can be kind of daunting. I don’t want you to be daunted. I want you to cook. So I came up with the bare bones list of things you really need to be successful in the kitchen.
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2012, Week Twenty-two

First Tinto of the summer
May 27 – It is summer, and it is on. I started things off right by enjoying my first Tinto of the year. This has been a signature summer drink for a few years now. I’ve you’ve never heard of Tinto de verano, it’s time to rectify the situation. Tinto is a Spanish drink, which is kind of like a poor man’s sangria. Just mix a little cheap red wine with sparkling lemonade and you’re set. Summer has been inaugurated.
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Dorie’s Cheese Souffle

My first cheese souffle

Whew. The last two weeks, nay, the past month has been crazy nuts. We have been BUSY. There’s been traveling, and hiking, and visiting with friends and family. There’s been working and more working. There has been stress, but thankfully, there has also been plenty of laughter to alleviate some of it, and there has also been some darn good food here and there along the way.

Like this souffle. I made this weeks ago, right before things got hectic, and I’ve been waiting, sometimes less than patiently, to share it with you. If you’ve ever thought of making a souffle, and pushed the idea aside thinking it’s too hard, think again. I, too, left my souffle dreams unfulfilled because I thought I wasn’t up to the task. They have a reputation as demanding and persnickety, and I’m not always good with persnickety. But this was surprisingly easy. And wow, delightful. It made an ordinary Sunday night dinner feel so special.
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2012, Week Twenty

Whew, week twenty. Week twenty was…hard. Thankfully, it ended with a three days in Santa Cruz, one of my favorite places on earth. The trip was relaxing and fun and full of nostalgia, laughter, and insane amounts of natural beauty. Just what I needed.

I’ll share my (many) Santa Cruz photos in a separate post. But here are some images from my week, and from Santa Cruz.

Last Sunday, May 13, we were driving back from a family weekend in Upland. My memories of driving from the Bay Area to Southern California were far more pleasant than my recent experiences have been. It is a LONG drive. But it was totally worth it to have brunch with my parents and aunts and uncles on Mother’s Day. No pictures, though. Oops.

Roasted Chicken Dinner
May 14 – I did make a roast chicken dinner on Monday night. Because I’m super traditional like that.
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Busy Bee

work work work

It would be pretty swell if I could spend my days cooking and baking, and writing and sharing it all here on this blog. Alas, food blogger is not my full time profession. And sometimes life gets in the way of me doing the things I really want to do. This week I’ve been so inspired to be in the kitchen, but life is getting in the way. This week is particularly nutso, and this weekend will be the second weekend in a row that we’re heading out of town (and away from my kitchen).

All this is to offer apologies for my absence, and sincere promises for some sweet treats and savory wonders coming next week. I might also have some great pictures to share of one of my favorite places on earth, as we’re heading to Santa Cruz this weekend for a little getaway/business trip.

To tide you over, here are a few things that have been inspiring the crap out of me this week:

Now that I’ve successfully produced my first souffle, I can’t wait to try another. Eggs on Sunday’s cheese, leek, and herb souffle is on the list.

I have been obsessing on New Orleans lately. Joy the Baker’s pictorial travelogue just took that up a notch.

These beautiful photos from The Yellow House, and the Marge Piercy poem selected to accompany them, are a great reminder for me to slow down and focus on the small, beautiful, and productive moments of my life.

Love & Lemon’s Green Enchiladas with Cashew Cream have to happen. I am counting down the days until I have time to make this happen.

Also, Joy the Baker’s chamomile cupcakes have inspired me to create a cookie in their image. I cannot stop daydreaming about these cookies that haven’t even been baked yet. The thought of them is keeping me going.

If you’ve never heard of Ernest Callenbach, I recommend you pick up a copy of his book,Ecotopia. It might be a little dated, but it was a life-changing book for me when I read it 15 years ago. Callenbach passed away last month, and Mark Bittman’s touching memorial is a reminder to me to focus on what really matters, and to always be hopeful that we can bring about change.

I hope your days are a little less manic than mine right now. Amidst the craziness, there are pockets of joyful things to look forward to: Dinner tonight with my brother, the aforementioned weekend in Santa Cruz, and those cookies. I’ll be back soon, and in the meantime, I’m sure the internet has no shortage of things to keep you occupied and inspired.

2012, Week Nineteen

We had a full and busy week that ended with a loooong drive down to San Bernardino county and back for a big fun family gathering. It made me so grateful to live here, to be able to attend things like graduations, to be able to see my mom on Mothers’ Day, to be able to be part of regular family life again, and to be able to get to know my aunts and uncles now, as adults. The traveling, and the hectic pace of the week leading up to the travel, do mean that I am tired.

Sadly, it also means that I missed three days of photos. I stupidly neglected to take any pictures during our trip, which makes me so sad. I am not that great at capturing images for posterity. At least I have a ton of awesome memories. And the week leading up to our mini-break was full and beautiful.

My first cheese souffle
May 6 – I made a cheese souffle! I was so nervous about this one, as I’ve heard that souffles are hard, and I’ve never worked with whipped egg whites before. But it was spectacular, and it turned out perfectly. Of course, I have to thank Dorie Greenspan for an excellent recipe. I’ll post my version here soon, promise.
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