Three Cheers for Pots and Pans!

Arg, my kitchen is SO white! That's why I am so happy that we got our pot rack hung today. It's like art on all it's own - the light reflecting from the stainless and the contrasts it creates against the black rack - I thoroughly enjoy it. We had to get a little creative with it because there wasn't a great place to hang it from the ceiling, and if you know me, anything that hangs, sticks out, runs along the floor, or is sharp is a possible hazard. I just knew if those pots were hanging out in the open my head would meet them sooner or later.

Plus, my p&p's and I have too good of a friendship to stick them in a dark cabinet next to the arrogant onions and the moody potatoes. They deserve to be recognized! Good job, guys. Or girls. Or both?

a sunday morning mini-photo-journal

I had the house to myself this morning while Andy opened at the coffee shop. I decided to make pumpkin pancakes with TJ's gluten-free pancake mix and my pumpkin puree. Unfortunately I threw the bag away that the mix came in when I transferred it to its special container. So I don't really know what the ratios are. This was the result - brown and almost burned on the outside, crepe-like, and completely raw on the inside. Ew! On to plan B.

But first, I consoled myself by admiring these beautiful gerbers that my husband brought me (The kids are jealous once again) The cruddy pancakes are forgotten! If only life was that easy - "I've had the worst day ever! Oh look, these flowers are so beautiful that I have completely forgotten about whatever was causing me pain! Oh joy!"

I usually trim the stems down, but the sturdy bright green was just too enjoyable.

Now I've got zero options for breakfast. I don't want cornflakes! Those are for crispy chicken. Plan B is a delicious smoothie - frozen mango chunks and mixed berries, coconut milk, a little bit of rice milk and OJ, and a splash of Aloe Vera juice. And the last 1/2 of a chocolattey soy mocha from Black Rock in one of my favorite mugs. Not microwaved, but warmed up in a pan so it doesn't taste wonky. YUM-E.
Have a restful, relaxing, rejuvenating Lord's Day.

octopus-man, deux choses avec une citrouille, and a Bizarre Occurence.

I have a number of interesting things to share. First of all, I've been cooking a lot but somehow always forget to take pictures until after it's all eaten up.

Andy's cousin is an art major at PSU and gets to make all sorts of fun things. She knitted this octopus for one of her classes and brought it over to show. It was insanely good and the yarn was amazing!


I bought a pumpkin at the Farmer's Market and cooked it for the first time. I was/am determined to use fresh pumpkin because although canned pumpkin is incredibly convenient and wonderful, I wanted to know what REAL pumpkin tasted like.

So, every Wednesday we have a chili party at our house with Andy's cousin and another one of our friends dropped by today. None of the canned chili junk. I made a colorful, festive pumpkin chili that was very tasty! Honestly, I just threw it together like I always do but here's kind of what I did.

1. Saute your chopped onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes in the ovoo. What's the surprise? PUMPKIN! Yes, I chopped up about a 1/2 cup-ish fresh pumpkin and threw it in the pot with the o, g, and rpf's. After soft and fragrant, add a tablespoon of cocoa powder and stir.

2. Add 2 cans of diced tomatoes in juice, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, add 2 cans of whatever beans you like. I used red kidney beans and black beans. Add some chili powder, maybe some paprika. I also throw in a few frozen cubes of homemade chicken broth, just to give it a flavor and health boost. I added some frozen sweet corn in the last 5 minutes.

3. Simmer till delicious. Season to taste. Eat with cheese, sour cream, and frito chips.

What else did I make? Gluten-free pumpkin oatmeal muffins. They were OK, nothing a little irish butter can't improve :).

The weirdest thing yet! How did these tongs get jammed onto this spatula? Neither Andy or I can get it off, no matter how we try to maneuver it or pull on it. It's on there tight! I just really don't know how to explain this phenomenon. And it's my favorite spatula...so it sits on our table until we can figure out a way to pull it off without breaking something.

Christmas in October and the Attack of the 80's Muscle Man

AT THE LAST MINUTE we decided to be brave and attend a Halloween potluck where we knew NO ONE. What better way to make friends? Let me tell you, fake muscles and a big box are a great way to break the ice, all for under $20 courtesy of a frantic visit to Freddy's. We've been wanting to get involved with a home community through our church and this just happened to be the one we could go to. Most likely no one will recognize us in our "normal" clothes next week.

Thanks to my creative hubby who helped me put together my costume. I loved it! Everytime I sat down the box went up to my chin, it was pretty funny.

Envy, Courtesy Williams-Sonoma

Enjoy the above photograph of the gorgeous hand-hammered copper soup pot from Williams-Sonoma, made in Italy "especially for them"...I had the pleasure of watching it used this morning for the first and only time in my life, because the day I can afford the Ruffoni Hammered Copper Stockpot with Acorn Lid is the day my wildest dreams have come true, and that means the world has probably ended and eternity has begun.

I signed up for my local Williams-Sonoma cooking technique class and the subject was Fall Soups. There is nothing better than soup! It's the perfect food. Our culinary expert/chef who led the class demonstrated how to make two soups: Pasta e Fagioli and Creamy Butternut Squash. I learned some good, practical tips from the class that I will most definitely use. Here's a few that stood out in my mind.

1. When you are making a bean-based or cheese-based soup/stew, add the rind of a wedge of Parmigiano-Reggiano and let it work like a bay leaf. It will impart a superior flavor into the soup and you just remove it when done cooking. Genius! They sell it by the pound at Whole Foods so a small piece of rind shouldn't be too spendy.

2. You can infuse flavors into homemade chicken stock. For the butternut squash recipe, he used the WS mulling spices, put them in an infuser-ball, and let them simmer in the stock until he got the flavor that he wanted. The subtle flavoring in the soup was delicious and you couldn't quite put your finger on why.

3. Another stock tip. Instead of finely slicing your onion, cut it in 1/2 and stud it with a clove on each 1/2. Another way to impart more complex flavors!

4. My favorite tip of all. "Recipes are merely a suggestion, unless you're baking, and then it is a formula". Ok, well, I passed college math sheerly by the grace of my teacher. In chemistry, frankly I just wasn't interested in chemical reactions of any kind. Maybe that's why I don't take to baking like I do to cooking. Lit'l bit o'dis, lit'l bit o'dat, and tada, you have a wonderful and palate pleasing meal!

I can't wait to use these tips next time I have the hankering for soup. As I look out the window and see the leaves changing colors and feel a distinct chill in the wind, I know I will be looking forward to a steaming bowl of homemade soup quite often.

Gelatoooooh!

So, yum. Mia Gelato in the Pearl - chocolate coffee gelato and coconut gelato! We went to dinner with Tiff and Ry at Henry's Tavern and had delicious food - california roll that was surprisingly SO GOOD, and a scrumptious bacon cheeseburger and criss-cut fries. Ahhh. We were so happy to see our friends because it had been almost a month, and especially glad to see their little boy Jericho who we had really missed. Bonus: I kept the little gelato cups to use as prep or condiment bowls. Yes!

One Year and Six Months

It was our one year and six month anniversary this week! Andy surprised me and took me out to dinner to this downtown Greek restaurant that we had been wanting to try. We got a new printer at Costco and he's a little print happy - he made a sign that covered the door that said "Will you go on a date with me? Check yes or no". Of course I checked yes because I knew food was involved...He also gifted me with a lily blossom stem with two HUGE blossoms on it. They're so huge it's almost a little creepy - too many movies about man-eating plants I guess. They are gorgeous and our house smells so good! We both had lamb at the restaurant - he roasted lamb and I lamb in a phyllo dough with veggies. OOPA!

Side Note...

I made a roasted tomato basil soup that was out of this world...using fresh-off-the-vine tomatoes from a friend's garden, my homemade chicken stock, and delicious fresh basil and onion. My camera was/is dead so I did not get to document it, which is tragic. I will just have to make it again because it is the best soup in the world!

On another note, I have the best husband in the world. Who else would let me lounge and watch Sex & the City after dinner while he washes the pile of dishes I left in the kitchen? As far as I know, no one! I'm so blessed :)

It is pizza, and it is good!

OK, before I get started on my Francais assignment I needed to share with you our pizza experience. We had a hankering so we bought ready-made garlic & herb pizza dough at Trader Joe's and made an absolutely fabulous pie considering the very few materials we had on hand. Our fridge is B-A-R-E right now but using what we had - the herbed dough, TJ's basic marinara sauce (from our last spaghetti night), the 3-cheese Italian mix, 1 red bell pepper, a few slices of Andy's dry salami, 1/2 a fresh white onion (from the Farmer's Market on Chx stock day) and voila! I can only imagine what combinations we will come up with after we do some actual grocery shopping :)

Beauty & The Stockpot

Finally, I made it down to the Saturday Farmer's Market on the PSU campus. I grabbed my produce bag and my hot soy choccy and set out on foot to gather items for my assignment of the day: chicken stock. Have you ever had homemade chicken stock? Not only is it so incredibly nutritious (the Jewish penicillin?) but it is so much more delicious than anything you buy in a can or box. I learned how to make it when I lived in England and just started to make it for our use recently. My favorite recipe is from Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions book - once you read this book you will NEVER look at your food the same. The recipe I use follows the lovely pictures below.

There's nothing like the fall harvest...
PEACHES for me!

The most beautiful flowers, a delight for the home.

Yum.

Artichokes for a buck! Why oh why did I not buy one?

Peppers Galore!
Have you ever seen so many carrots?
Mushrooms...ahhhh.....
Gourds & Squashes to your hearts content.

**

Chicken Stock

Adapted from Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions

1 whole free-range chicken or 2-3 pounds bony chicken parts*

gizzards & feet (optional)

4 quarts cold filtered water

2 tablespoons vinegar

1 large onion, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

3 celery sticks, chopped*

1 bunch parsley

* I couldn't afford the farmer's market celery today so I substituted zucchini, which has great adrenal support properties.

* Free-range is important - battery-raised chickens will not produce stock that gels

Cut chicken into parts, place in large stainless steel pot with water, vinegar, and all veggies except the parsley. Let sit for 30 minutes to an hour. Bring to a boil and remove scum that comes to the top. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 6 to 24 hours. The longer you cook the stock that richer it will be. 10 minutes before finishing the stock, add the parsley. Remove chicken pieces with a slotted spoon and reserve meat for other uses. Strain stock into large bowl and cool in fridge until fat rises to the top and congeals. Skim this off and reserve stock in containers in the fridge or freezer.

Personally, I freeze some stock in ice cube trays to plop in with rice, potatoes, etc. to give it a super flavor. I also fill some quart-sized freezer bags to use for soup.