Month: September 2008

September 29, 2008

One of the great joys of parenting is that it’s like having a VIP preview to all of the season’s latest must-have microbes. Milo got a cold on Friday, and of course inevitably I got it a couple of days later. Since it was just the two of us this weekend, I made a big vat of minestrone with a chicken carcass, lots of roots and herbs from the garden, alphabet pasta, and heirloom cranberry…

September 27, 2008

Another week in the city got me across the goal line; I won’t be back for much more than schmoozing and food-related activities for a while. It’s ironic, because all of a sudden our old neighborhood is hipster central, with an embarassment of culinary and commercial riches that we could not have imagined only a few years ago when we lived there. So it’s sad to return, but the pangs of regret are mitigated some…

September 19, 2008

About 14 years ago my Mom took me scuba diving in Belize. The national dish there- as I remember it- is rice and beans cooked in coconut milk, garnished with onions and habañero peppers pickled in vinegar. It’s a great combination; the rice and beans are rich, creamy, and thick, and the pickles are crunchy, sharp, and fiercely hot. Since we still have an excess of habañeros, I made 2 quarts of the hot onion…

September 18, 2008

For tonight’s dinner the pork shoulder steak I bought at the farmers’ market yesterday gave me something to focus on, and I had it pretty well figured out by dinner time; a few last details inspired by fridge and garden rounded it out into an excellent season-spanning meal. I brined the meat in kimchi juice, then cooked it sous-vide at 65˚ C for two hours. Meanwhile, I took a jar of the most recent kimchi,…

September 17, 2008

OK, I’m still using the old camera, so the picture is not exactly flattering. The ancient beast is near-useless in subpar light, and loves the flash like Sarah Palin loves a meth-dusted mooseburger. (Or like the ancient beast loves Sarah Palin.) But the salad, the salad- my Mom used to eat like this most of the time- perfect greens tossed with a few choice proteins, or pasta tossed with a panoply of vegetables was her…

September 16, 2008

Yesterday was Milo’s fourth birthday, so we let him choose dinner. “Pizza” was the verdict. So I made pizza dough and tomato sauce, and pulled other ingredients from the fridge. The pizzas were well received. True story. Today, in between trying to keep an eye on him while he tear-assed around the driveway on his new bike ($10 from the used bike guy in town, and the best ratio of glee to expense I have…

September 15, 2008

Finally, after much schlepping, I get to be home for a week. Then, after about 5 days back in the city, I’ll be home for a good long chunk of time and get to return to the normal pace of life. I can’t wait. Meanwhile, this week will be taken up with much canning and pickling since everything’s finishing up for the season. I have three or four beds planted with winter crops, ready for…

September 15, 2008

After a few tries over the last several months, Brooklynguy and I were finally able to meet for dinner in Park Slope. We went to Al Di La‘s wine bar, where you can eat their food without having to wait in the inevitable line for the restaurant part. We wandered vinously through Italy, the Loire valley, and Champagne while enjoying seafood soup, octopus & chick pea salad, and two different pastas- a beet and ricotta…

September 11, 2008

I’m still in the city, and it’s OK, but I miss family and garden with increasing intensity each day. The other night I was invited to Kris and Ken’s place for dinner, and Mary came straight from the airport to join us; she’s back from France to gather her stuff before moving back there for good. Kris made a simple yet elegant dinner, and we had superlative wines to accompany each course. First, his crab…

September 4, 2008

I’m off to the city tomorrow, for an unknown period of time (probably a week) so this will be the last post for a bit since the laptop is kaput. I do have a couple of nice things scheduled, so if I can I’ll post them while I’m there. Tonight’s dinner is unremarkable to look at, for sure- but to taste, well, that was another matter. It began with some ground (local, organic) turkey. Now…