So there was this pork shoulder in the freezer. It had been there for a very long time (properly vacuum-sealed, don’t worry) and the warm, burgeoning gorgeousness all around- plus the fact that the smoker is right next to my studio, so I see it 20 times a day- inspired me to thaw it and do things to it. To begin, the espresso-based rub, and then a bit of time to sit while I lit…
Month: April 2008
We were in the city for the weekend (eating a variety of Asian takeout, plus a good brunch at my favorite Williamsburg Italian place) so tonight’s dinner was a study in the intersection between fast and delicious, using available staples. Eggs can often mean the difference between good and great, so since we had some I made pasta (no flavors, just basic) and pulled a jar of our strained yellow cherry tomato purée from the…
The temperature dropped pretty precipitously overnight, and today (though it did eventually warm to balmy-adjacent, as a realtor might put it) was one of those raw English days where you just can’t seem to get warm. That, combined with the fairly empty fridge, suggested a simple, hearty dinner with an appropriate balance between clean vernal goodness and rich carnal pleasure. So I soaked beans. Most of life’s problems can be either solved or comfortably postponed…
I got home this evening after a quick round trip to Boston, which was productive but involved far too much driving in too short a time. Fortunately we had some good stuff in the fridge, and I did manage to get a piece of fish on the way home. I combined the rest of the turnip soup with some kale Christine puréed with ricotta while I was gone to make a good green sauce. I…
We finally had a chance to get together with Chris & Sirkka after much too long; between his touring schedule and both our kids getting colds, it has been a while since we got to have dinner together. I had already roasted beets and made blue potato gnocchi, and there was kabocha purée, so I defrosted our last venison steaks that our neighbor Kenny had given us last fall after he and his brother killed…
Today was our warmest yet this year, which was to be expected since I spent most of it hunched over the pile of tax-related paperwork that helps keep Spring from being too completely pleasant. Dinner was to be super simple- rice, greens, chicken, and salad- but when I ran outside to take a much needed break in the garden, I realized that by cooking and eating outside we could make a mundane meal into something…
Milo and decided to go to Vermont on a whim; he rightly pointed out that we hadn’t been there yet this year, and since Mommy was away I had all the dizzying power of an unchecked Unitary Executive. So naturally I abused it. There is still a ton of snow up there, which was fun, but I’m so smitten with Spring fever that it did feel like a great leap backward to have to deal…
I’ve got the boy to myself this weekend, so I made him shepherd’s pie- one of his favorite dinners. It conveniently helped use up a bunch of leftovers and remnants to make some room in the fridge. I made a broth from the chicken and lamb bones plus some veggie scraps, then got a roux going while some blue potatoes baked. After I whisked the broth into the roux, I added leftover braised cabbage, carrots,…
Shopping with a kid can be a fun random-vegetable generator for the home menu. It can also involve many pleading lunges for the infinite variety of ghastly sugared crap all conveniently arrayed about three feet off the floor for maximum grabability. For the most part, though, it’s enjoyable, and we end up bringing home things I wouldn’t normally get, like eggplant in April. They were too big and shiny to resist, and it’s hard to…
Today was not as warm, but the sun was out, and there was a nice breeze, and after a morning spent cleaning the studio (including scraping tons of rock-hard paint off the glass tabletop that I use as a palette) I was fed up and ran outside to get some exercise. This involved turning all the lovely composted manure into those beds which were to have hardier things planted in them. Pre-turning, I dug up…