Dinner May 27th – Brief Pause in Our Asparagus Consumption for a Birthday
Zucchini-Basil Soup
Grilled Cheese Two Ways
– The Italian Stallion (aka Tomato-Basil-Cheddar Grilled Cheese)
– The Hot Brit (aka Chutney-Cheddar Grilled Cheese)
Salad with Rhubarb Vinaigrette
(Pea)nut Chocolate Bourbon Pie
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I am a self-confessed list maker. I’d say that the first step is admitting you have a problem, but I don’t actually think that my list-making habits are problematic. Possibly this makes me a functional list maker? I have lists of books I want to read – cross referenced by whether I’ve managed to put a reserve on it in the library system. I have lists of future Dinner menus (which should not be confused with my pinboard account which is essentially a list of all recipes I have made or recipes I want to make). I have lists of places I want to eat in cities I plan to visit sometime in the next year (currently indexing for Austin and Portland if anyone has suggestions they want to send me). Suffice it to say, I’m a girl who likes a list. Read the rest of this entry ?
I asked my aunt about my mother’s strange aversion to grits. I wanted to know if it was something that my mother had inherited from my grandmother, or whether it was her very own personal (baffling) quirk. My aunt confirmed that it’s an idiosyncrasy entirely personal to my mother; and that in fact my aunt makes a mean shrimp and grits. She did add that despite living in Virginia that it wasn’t something they grew up eating much because in the South it’s traditionally a breakfast food and breakfast wasn’t something my grandmother typically spent much time preparing. Read the rest of this entry ?
Apparently we’ve just grown the first hamburger in a lab. And by this I mean, it’s the first hamburger that is technically meat, but has nothing to do with an actual animal. PETA must be plotzing.
It was shaped and fried up (with the addition of lots of butter – which, to me, somewhat defeats the purpose of a lab grown hamburger patty – because surely part of the reason to do this is to get away from the ethical concerns of animal husbandry and while dairy cows aren’t slaughtered for hamburgers, I don’t think their living conditions are any better than the average meat cow, so unless the butter was also lab grown I don’t think you’ve achieved independence from the commercial meat industry) earlier this week in London. Read the rest of this entry ?
A couple of weeks ago I said I was feeling excessively negative and wanted to get happy, but that I’d do a grousing post some time soon. This is that time.
Firstly, the term ‘flavor forward’ needs to be taken out to the woodshed and put out of its misery. What does that even mean?
More seriously, can we talk about the most recent spate of idiotic diets that are being touted. Read the rest of this entry ?
On Tuesday, April 30, 2013 an era ended. After 33 years on the throne, her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands stepped down in favor of her son, Crown Prince Willem Alexander. It was the end of her reign, and it also marked the end of 123 years of women at the helm of the Netherlands. Read the rest of this entry ?
End of Birthday Season 2012 – Dinner, November 27th
Pumpkin Chili
Creamed Corn Cornbread
Salad
Goat Cheesecake with Pistachio Crust Read the rest of this entry ?
We had an Election Night Party on November , partly because Election Night happened to be the same as Dinner Night, and partly because we figured moral support as the returns came in was a good idea.
(side note – the pumpkins are from Halloween carving the week before)
I have a new entry on my list of ‘national foods which I have only had good examples of outside of the country of origin’. That list needs a snappier name.
Included on it, are: Read the rest of this entry ?
I have to preface this post by saying that custard is very much my culinary bête noir – everyone’s got one (or more), and nobody should be discouraged from making this ice cream based on how much I’m about to whine.
Or, let me put it another way, there’s a catch phrase in our house that nothing is serious until James Earl Jones says, ‘mother-of-god’*. When I tasted the ice cream base on Saturday afternoon I paused, stared down at the pot in awe, and did my very best James Earl Jones impression (which since I’m a 5’ nothing WASP is distinctly underwhelming, but the sentiment was heartfelt). This is seriously good ice cream, y’all. The Effort here is entirely commensurate with the payoff, my issues with custard notwithstanding. Read the rest of this entry ?
Monday Night Dinner 