Another picture post, this time with flashback to Nepal! 28 November 2007 10:17 am
Posted by Tracy in : Kathmandu, tea, nepal, travel, garden, pictures , add a commentI keep having these weird moments when I realize where I was one month ago — today it’s Mani Rimdu in Tengboche, for which my automagical post predicted. “Picture me taking notes furiously, till my hand cramps up with the effort” and was exactly right on. The masked dances alone take up pages 14-22 of the second paper journal I ended up filling on the trip (eventually I had to start a third) and then there’s three or four more pages of other writing for that day. It was a doozy.
So this morning as I bravely sipped my first cup of the milk tea I bought in Kathmandu (so strong it actually demands milk and even sugar), remembering Tengboche got me motivated to wrangle a few more Nepal trip photos, this time from the morning before we left on our trek, October 14. (more…)
Just a little more about my delicious long weekend (and more pictures!) 27 November 2007 12:06 pm
Posted by Tracy in : pictures, garden, baking, eugene, friends, eating, restaurants , 1 comment so farI know, I know, my Thanksgiving posts have been pretty gloatful, but this weekend’s culinary awesomeness neither began nor ended with Thanksgiving. I already mentioned our little éclair adventure, which for me got things started on Monday night, when I made pastry cream:
That’s a pint of half and half up there, woo! (more…)
Monkey Monday: post-Thanksgiving edition (with obligatory pictures) 26 November 2007 10:46 pm
Posted by Tracy in : seasonality, pictures, garden, local food, baking, dessert, friends, eating, CSA, cooking , add a commentThe very short version goes like this: we ate sooooo well last week! First, and completely unrelated to Thanksgiving, I feel obliged to brag about the fact that Peter and I made éclairs:
I made the pastry cream and chocolate glaze from recipes in The New Best Recipe; Peter made the pâte à choux from a recipe he found online, and cut a corner off a plastic bag to make an impromptu pastry-filling thingy (the backup plan was to use a turkey baster, but we’re really glad it didn’t come to that). The results? Delicious. Not unlike our awesome Thanksgiving dinner, which (being vegetarian) also did not involve a turkey baster in any way, as you’ll see if you click past the break: (more…)
Recipe: Green Tomatoes Parmesan 23 November 2007 7:43 am
Posted by Tracy in : seasonality, garden, recipes, vegetarian, eating, books, cooking , add a commentSo once upon a time, I think even before I saw its more famous movie cousin, I got a library copy of Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables, a book I do recommend and might even review around here someday (the movie is also quite charming and worthy of an entry all by itself). I did not cook many of the recipes in Farmer John’s Cookbook, but I was inspired by one little line: the claim that green tomatoes can be substituted for up to one quarter of the eggplant in any eggplant-using recipe. Neat! And of course, I was not about to let a good idea lie — if the substitution works a little, I thought, why not go whole hog? And so I broke out my favorite eggplant parmesan recipe, from The New Best Recipe, and started mucking around, and this is the result, and it is pretty delicious, if I do say so myself. (more…)
Happy (U.S.) Thanksgiving! 22 November 2007 12:11 am
Posted by Tracy in : seasonality, vegetarian, eating, friends, cooking , 1 comment so farHere is what I plan to cook today (in some case even with links to recipes):
Winter Squash Braised In Cider
— because if it turns out weird, I can squish this into a soup in about as much time as it takes to say “stick blender” really slowly.Curried Lentils With Sweet Potatoes and Swiss Chard
(I have decided to overcome my rage at the recipe’s lack of lentil specificity and use good ol’ brown ones)Shallot Mashed Potatoes
— from my beloved Moosewood Restaurant New Classics, albeit with my own favorite twist of arugula instead of basilSome kind of improvised wild rice-brown rice-mushroom-cranberry-walnut “stuffing”
(Tracy risotto, really)Roasted Turnips and Greens
— again from Moosewood New ClassicsMaybe Brussels Sprouts With Lemon Zest
or some other Brussels sprouts concoction if it got good and frosty last night and I can’t resist my garden and all of the above somehow isn’t enough food.
Rumor has it Peter will be making salad, and pumpkin pie, and I have it from very reliable sources that he has been kicking major cheesecake hiney since last night (which is to say a few hours ago, and the house smells great), oh yes. No doubt our guests will provide delicious contributions as well, and I look forward to sharing those, too.
Happy day, everyone (even if it’s not your Thanksgiving holiday, I hope you’ve got something to be grateful about).
Love,
-Tracy
