High Five

My kids get High Five Magazine in the mail every month, thanks to my in-laws.  I love this magazine, and we read it a lot together.  Yesterday we made a "cookbook" of all the recipes from their back issues.  It's a copy of each recipe page, three hole punched and put in a three ring binder.  They think it's the best thing ever.  The only thing I had all the ingredients for right away was this:

The kids liked it.  (no comment from the peanut gallery - not all recipes are created equal. 

I went shopping for other ingredients today.)

The Peanut Gallery.

Oh, honey, you really do go on everything.

I'm working on an all honey menu.  I have the great fortune of knowing some lovely people who keep bees and share their honey with me, so it seems only natural to try all kinds of delicious things with their amazing honey.  I recently cooked up some of this and tossed it with some olive oil:

What does that have to do with honey, you ask?  Well, I'll tell you.  First I heated a bowl of water in the microwave, spilled out the water and ended up with a warm bowl.  In it I put some blobs of goat cheese.  I also crumbled up some walnuts and put them in.  I then placed my olive oil tossed lemon pepper pappardelle on top, and mixed it together.  The goat cheese becomes a rich sauce when it melts on the warm pasta in the warm bowl.  The best part is next: I drizzled it with a little honey and tossed in the tiniest bit of fresh thyme.  

This is my new favorite pasta dish.  Creamy, crunchy, nutty, citrusy, sweet.  Perfection.  I must get myself to Trader Joe's post haste, as I've eaten all the pasta I had.

Happy Birthday, Blog!

My day in food: Fried egg over orzo with broccoli rabe and feta, tuna
melt, chicken pot pie, vanilla frozen custard (made from the custard
of...), creme brulee. Now drinking a Russian Mule and watching Glee.
Yes. Yes, I did have two desserts. It's my blog's birthday.

See you tomorrow, my loves.

Sent from my iPhone - please forgive typos.

The Eve.

On the eve of my first blogging anniversary I went to my first food blogging event.  I was nervous.  I was excited.  I went and had a great time and met some really interesting people.  Now I'm home and I feel like this:

Happy.

Happy First Anniversary Eve, blog.  I don't really know what to do to commemorate the day tomorrow, but I kinda can't wait to see what I come up with.

xoxo,
V

Loppet or Lump it.

This weekend I went snowshoeing on frozen Lake of the Isles with a bunch of friends for a birthday party.

There were ice luminaries all around the lake - it was really beautiful. There were also people juggling fire. Always a good time.  It's not something I would have done, or even known about, really, without these awesome friends, as I live in the suburbs and my fate is more directed toward carpools and soccer and chain-store shopping. After typing that I have made a vow to myself to get out more.

Ahem..  Anyway, after walking on water, we went to Amazing Thailand in uptown.  I had the Duck Curry and now I want to eat nothing but that forever.   

Photo From Yelp via B

I've made a few curries before, but nothing like this. It was perfection: meat, tomatoes, pineapple, grapes, basil, lots of sauce, the perfect spice.  Looks like I need some curry recipes. Got any?

Obligatory Super Bowl Food

We're having Leftovers Shmorgesboard Night. But I thought I'd at
least throw some drummies in the oven. (For the record: Packers! Woooo!) Sent from my iPhone. Please forgive typos.

Transformations.

Twice last week I had beautiful pans of vegetables that started out looking like this:

Turn into garbage down the disposal that looked like this:

Because my oven went to 550 on its own accord. And filled the house with smoke.  Twice.

The second time, dinner turned from whole pork tenderloin with roasted vegetables into pork medallions with mustard sauce, creamed spinach and Trader Joe's frozen brown rice:

Happily, yesterday my oven turned from this:

Into this:

Best.  Landlord.  Ever.