Tag: cooking

recipes

Recipe Friday

As I mentioned before, we are making some changes to the food intake here at home.  It’s been about two weeks, and although I am still 5’3″ and myopic, I have enjoyed the challenge that comes with preparing gluten free foods. Before going head first in to this dietary change, I considered trying the Mediterranean style of eating.  i distinctly remember there being a Mediterranean diet boom about 10 or 12 years ago.  It followed the surge in Atkins and low or no carbohydrate eating styles.  We had a book, I think it was eggplant colored with images of rolling Tuscan hills or something Mediterranean-esque on the cover.  I don’t think I made one single thing out of that book and subsequently donated it to the first used book sale I encountered.

Fast forward to 2014 and I’m thinking about lifetstyle, well, mainly I’m thinking I’d like to take a vacatin to the mediterranean and do some hands on research.  Seriously, I’ve plateaued with calorie counting and measuring and am ready to just eat without having to think about it.  The Mediterranean approach appeals because it has a lot of foods at its core that I like:

  • almonds, walnuts, pecans
  • asparagus
  • avocado
  • cilantro
  • brussel sprouts
  • hummus
  • legumes

I have fallen into a weekly meal rut because I know there are certain meals up my sleeve that I can make in a pinch and others that I can make with my eyes closed, I’ve done it so often.  Monday through Friday, the menu is the same for dinner, it just the order in which it’s presented that gets the shake up.  Standard dinner fare includes:

  • tacos or fajitas
  • chicken picata
  • spaghetti
  • breakfast for dinner
  • hot dogs, pizza, or chicken nuggets (that remains a Friday staple)

I’m not saying that I can’t stick to this routine now that we’re trying GF, but I’d rather branch out a bit and see what else I can incorporate into the rotation.  Aside from the Mediterranean cookbook I have, I also used the Epicurious app that I have on my iPad. I know, I was just decrying the prevalence of apps yesterday, but bear with me.   This app has been useful when I’ve got a handful of ingredients and I’m not sure how to put them together.  I’d never make it on that show “Chopped”, when they give you a picnic basket filled with random fridge ingredients and then you have to make a three course meal. I plug in what I’m working with and the app provides me with some recipes that include what I have. Sure I may have to sub a vegetable or a protein, but overall, there’s a deep sense of satisfaction that comes with preparing a new dish with what you have on hand and having it come out right.

The other night, I found some scallops in the freezer and some asparagus in the fridge. I  was tempted to just make breakfast for dinner, but wanting to capitalize on the new cookbook, I started thumbing through the index.  The recipes looked great, but either I was missing some key ingredients or the protein called for something other than scallops.  I fired up Epicurious, typed in what I had and bingo!  Scallops with Asparagus!  It’s very reminiscent of chicken picata, truth be told, it basically the same thing, minus the capers.  No matter, the buerre blanc was new and topping it with the asparagus made it aesthetically pleasing to my chefs in training, gathered around the table.  When I look as this photo, I should have garnished it with a lemon peel or something!  Lemon garnish or not, it was delicious and certainly something that can be done again.

Happy Friday, y’all!

Nailed it!

Scallops With Asparagus

Ingredients

  • 1 lb medium asparagus
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 lb large sea scallops, tough ligament removed from side of each if attached
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup dry white wine
  • 2 teaspoons white-wine vinegar
  • 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces

Preparation

  • Trim asparagus, then cut stems into 1/4-inch-thick diagonal slices, leaving tips whole.
  • Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté asparagus, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a plate, reserving skillet off heat (do not clean).
  • Pat scallops dry and sprinkle with pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add 1 tablespoon oil to skillet and heat over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté half of scallops, turning over once, until browned and just cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes total. Transfer scallops with tongs to another plate as cooked.
  • Wipe out skillet with paper towels, then add remaining tablespoon oil and heat until hot but not smoking. Sauté remaining scallops, turning over once, until browned and cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes total, transferring to plate. (Do not wipe out skillet after second batch.)
  • Carefully add wine and vinegar to skillet (mixture may spatter) and boil, scraping up brown bits, until liquid is reduced to about 2 tablespoons, about 1 minute. Add any scallop juices accumulated on plate and bring to a simmer.
  • Reduce heat to low and whisk in butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until incorporated.
  • Add asparagus and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.
  • Serve scallops topped with asparagus and sauce.
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IN: recipes ON: April 4, 2014 TAGS: , , , , , , BY: Hilary
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recipes

The Return of Recipe Friday

I haven’t posted any recipes in a while, partly because I’ve been the eating the same thing every day for the past several weeks, despite my desire to branch out in several gastronomic directions. The other reason is because I’m reading several different cookbooks in order to break out of my rut and just haven’t found anything that I really want to share.

The real reason why my daily menu is so repetitive? Summer bodies are made in tehw inter, right? Ugh. Yes, so I know what I have to eat in order to stay the course, and that’s pretty much what I’ve been eating. It’s so boring that if it were a book, it would 50 shades of Snooze.

Breakfast

  • Half an apple
  • Scrambled egg beaters
  • 2 slices of Turkey Bacon
  • 1 Cup of Tea
  • 1 slice of toast (occasionally)

Mid Morning Snack

Half an apple

Lunch

Option A:

  • Salad with 2-3oz. grilled chicken, 5 cherry tomatos, 1 slice of red onion, 1 tbs. salad dressing
  • 3 cups of popcorn
  • 2oz dark chocolate

Option B:

  • Chipotle Chicken bowl with white rice, fajita veggies, black beans, mild salsa and lettuce (my name is Hilary with One L and I am a Chipotle-a-holic).
  • 2oz. dark chocolate

Mid Afternoon Snack

  • A cup of tea
  • Some kind of nosh that doesn’t exceed 150 calories

Dinner

  • A couple of options usually involving chicken, vegetables and rice.
  • Gelato bar (gotta have my dessert).

And that’s the menu for me. Day in and day out.  If I do have a craving, it’s usually for a big ol’ piece of steak, not moo-ing, but pretty pink in the middle, along with some fries.  Mmmm, fries.  But, I’m trying to be a good role model for the kiddos and do everything in moderation.  Is there junk food in the house? Sure.  Recently, however, we’ve decided to see how we’d feel by cutting back (and eventually cutting out) gluten from our diet.  C was having some tummy troubles that just wouldn’t quit and after research, q&a with the doctor, and so forth, we modified the diet.  Let me tell you, there is SO much information out there about what causes tummy troubles.  Is it gluten? Is it wheat? Is it soy? Is it lactose? Is it some combination of those? You don’t know unless you start weeding things out and slowly re-introducing them back into the system.  I can’t even begin to list the articles I’ve read, the books I’ve paged through, the conversations I’ve had with people about what to eat, how much to eat, where to get it from.  I’ve been told to watch Food Inc., and Forks Over Knives — you know, in all my free time — and I’ll really get an idea of where my food is coming from and why I shouldn’t eat anything I don’t pull out of the ground myself or shoot down like Katniss Everdeen.

Dude. I thought I was doing okay.  Sure, I bought some Twinkies during the last snowstorm, but that was like a one time thing.  I limit the amount of sugar and dessert the kids have. Fast food is limited to Chipotle (duh) and maybe Panera if that even qualifies as fast food.  I cook dinner just about every night.   I buy organic when I can. I’m pushing fruits and veggies and water and lean meats. If we ate any more chicken, we’d all sprout feathers (and you know how I feel about feather covered chicken parts).

Last week-end, I did a clean sweep of the pantry, fridge and freezer, pulling out all things that were wheat heavy and potential tummy trouble-makers.  It was way more than I anticipated and I had no idea what I was going to do with these things.  Add to that, I had just gone to Trader Joe’s and had gotten my cookie butter!  But, we’re doing this for the greater good.  So, it went into storage — after I tried to pawn it off on my brother who reminded me, “Well, if you aren’t going to eat it because it’s bad for you, what makes you think I want it?!”  Touché, my good man, touché.

We made it through the week-end, but come the week, M had something to say. Namely, to her if C was the one having the issue, then C was the one who needed to make the dietary change. There was all manner of huffing, puffing, deep sighing, eye rolling and nostril flaring.  There was whining and “But, Mooooooom-ing”, too.  I suffered through these machinations for a few minutes before gently advising M to change her ‘tude before we got home.   M firmly dug in her heels, crossed her arms over her chest and said, “I’ll change my attitude when I can eat gluten again.”

Oh boy.

I’ve been working on my responses to behaviors that I deem chokeworthy undesirable, so I reached into my reserves and offered up a solution.  It had three options:

1. Eat the gluten-free food for this two week trial period and stop complaining.

2. Eat the gluten-free food for this two week trial period and calmly point out what you like and don’t like so that we can find some things that everyone enjoys.

3. Don’t eat anything and stop complaining.

She never really said what she was going to do because C piped up that she was all too happy to go gluten free, that everything tasted wonderful, that her tummy was happy and zippity-doo-dah, my, oh, my what a wonderful day! That did not do anything to quell M’s mood, quelle suprise.

Suffice it to say, when we got home, I emptied the pantry again and let them try all of the gluten free things that I had purchased.  If it got a thumbs up, it went into their lunches. If it got a thumbs down, I made a mental note not to purchase it again. When I recounted this story to the Hubs, he said he thought M might be going through gluten withdrawal and that’s why she was acting out.  Gluten withdrawal.  Is that really a thing? I don’t think my brain can handle any more gluten related information right now. I’m more focused on these cataloged benefits that are supposed to come my way.  One friends said that since she cut gluten, she’s sleeping better, she lost five pounds the first week, her lost dog came home, and she found the winning lottery ticket in the back pocket of her jeans.  It’s been a week and I should be five inches taller, my vision should be 20/20, my hair should be more lustrous, and I should be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.  Still waiting. . . .

In all seriousness though, I will say that by the end of the week, I didn’t feel as puffy as I normally do.  Ultimately, the only thing I replaced in my boring diet was the slice of toast I would sometimes have at breakfast with some gluten free bread.  Oh, and pancake Saturday (I’m heartbroken) had to be re-imagined.  I bought, upon the recommendation of a GF friend, some gluten free pancake mix.  Yeah. . .it wasn’t quite doing it for me.  I did hear that Bisquick makes some GF mix, so I’m going to have get up on that.

Basically, we’ve cut back on bread, pasta, and baked goods.  We’re upping the fruits and veggies, and including rice (which might not be that smart, but I’m still working out the logistics).  It’s a work in progress, but if C’s tummy is happy, M’s actively participating in this experiment, and the rest of us are getting some health benefits, too, well then, let’s keep at it.

While I haven’t found any GF recipes yet, I do have a recipe for some salsa that I have been making week after week.  There’s no gluten in it. No wheat, no soy, no animal by-products.  It’s actually a raw recipe, so I was able to share it with my friend Jessika at Oh My Goji (definitely visit her site to learn more about going raw). This salsa is great and you can put it on everything from scrambled eggs to fajitas and all of your Gluten Free favorites! I’ll keep you posted on how this trial period continues.

Salsa Fresca

I learned how to make it watching someone else, and they didn’t measure anything, so it may be trial and error until you get it where you want it to be with respect to taste. Usually, there are more tomatoes than onions and I eyeball the amount of cilantro I use.  Better to start with less and add more if you need it.
Ingredients
1. Kosher Salt
2. 6-8 roma tomatoes, diced
3. ½ red onion, diced
4. 1 bunch cilantro, chopped (or you can run it through an herb mill)
5. ½ lime

In a medium bowl, sprinkle salt to cover the bottom of the bowl.  Add diced tomatoes.  Add diced onion. Add chopped cilantro.  Squeeze half of lime over mixture.  Combine using a spatula until all ingredients are mixed well.  Add salt if needed.  Chill in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.

 Don’t forget the tortilla chips!  Enjoy!

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IN: recipes ON: March 28, 2014 TAGS: , , , , , , , BY: Hilary
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recipes

Recipe Friday

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Can it please be fall already? Officially, that first day of autumn was September 22nd of this year.  We are in the midst of the fall season and yet, the thermometer is steadily hanging out around the mid to upper 80s. 

This just won’t do! I don’t have any lightweight clothes in fall colors! I gleefully packed up my shorts, tank tops, short sleeve shirts and flirty dresses.  I have chunky sweaters and fall colored cords and thick heeled leather boots to wear while I go pick pumpkins and apples and drink #SCM.

I tried to bend the weather to my will, foolishly thinking that if I’m dressed for fall, fall will come.  However the fine sheen of sweat that covered me from head to foot handily dispensed with whatever cute fashion forward look I had going. 

This time last year, I was in a boot, but it was hardly the boot I wanted to be wearing. I physically couldn’t tackle the fall list of fun things to do, so you know I’ve been looking forward to this fall and being all about it.  I want to sit outside and feel a chill on my cheeks. I want to eat pumpkin flavored everything and hide the fact that the top button on my pants is open with a big sweater and a cozy vest. I want to get that tingle that comes when you inhale the sharp scent of the season and it invades your nose so thoroughly that all you can do is sigh with contentment. 

C’mon, fall!  Fall already!

Here’s to cooler temps! Happy Friday, y’all!

Meatloaf and Mashed Potato Cupcakes 
recipe found here.

Ingredients

Meatloaf
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
½ cup finely chopped carrot
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup ketchup, divided
1½ pounds ground beef, extra lean (raw)
1 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
Cooking spray    
Mashed Potatoes
4 cups cubed peeled Yukon gold potato (about 2 pounds)
¼ cup 2% reduced-fat milk
¼ cup low-fat sour cream
3 tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Garnish
3 tablespoons chopped chives
4 pieces of bacon cooked and them chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, chopped carrot, dried oregano, and minced garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Cool. Combine onion mixture, 1/2 cup ketchup, and the remaining ingredients except cooking spray in a large bowl. Spoon the meat mixture into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Top each with 2 teaspoons ketchup. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160°. Let stand for 5 minutes. While the meatloaf is cooking, make the mashed potatoes. Place potato in a saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until tender. Drain. Put potatoes into a ricer for best results. Return potato to pan. Add milk and remaining ingredients; stir with a spoon to desired consistency.  If they are not creamy enough for you, add up to 1/4 cup more milk – although they need to be stiff enough to pipe on top. Put the potatoes into a pastry bag with a wide star tip and pipe the mashed potatoes on top of the meatloaf.  Sprinkle with bacon crumbles and chopped chives.
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IN: recipes ON: October 4, 2013 TAGS: , , , , , , BY: Hilary
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Chicken Out

I am all over the place. I purposefully left the house to go work at the library so that I wouldn’t be distracted and yet, I still haven’t gotten anything done.  I mean, nothing that’s truly measureable.

I have answered emails. I’ve edited photos. I’ve made notes on this book on photographic lighting I’m trying to read, but it is SO boring. I need to get my hands on some lights and manipulate them.  Trying to do it through book work is just not getting it done.  I’ve got appointments set up from here to next Tuesday. I’m trying to build a website and then because I have no idea what the difference is between CSS, HTML and re-directing subdomains to main host servers.  I’m kind of making things up as I go along on the hosting sites that I use since they boast how user friendly they are.  Just don’t ask me how to do something twice. I reached out to someone who does website design, but hell if I know if I’m being taken for a ride. I just want to say, “Look, take this piece here and put it with that piece there like this!” I’m a tactile person. I want to reach into the computer and manipulate the pages so they do what I want.  I’m actually considering getting some index cards to represent each page and doing a little interactive skit with this designer so that they get what I’m talking about.  I don’t have the technical language to explain it.  It’s embarrassing. I sound like English is not at all my first language. There’s a lot of “uhhhh” and “wait, what did you call that?” going on.  Thankfully, the designer is patient (or there are major dolla, dolla, bills y’all that are to be had when this is all said and done). 

Anyway, I’m at the library, trying to put projects together. I’ve been marinating on a few ideas and there are never enough hours in the day to get things done.  I finally got around to taking some photos of Viv the other — first time in a long time, I know. 

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The good news was that I remembered how to use the camera.  The bad news was I only had about 20 minutes to get a few snaps off before we had to move onto the next thing — dinner, homework, bath, hair, bed. 

The phrase “Running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off,” keeps popping up in my brain.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a chicken without a head — I mean, still feathered and in one piece, like on a farm, just minus the head.  I thought you were supposed to wring a chickens’ neck.  I guess you could hack the head off with a swift blow of a hatchet like you’re Ned Stark or something.  My mom used to tell me this story of how she could remember watching her grandmother pluck a chicken for dinner.  I was like, “Okay, how old are you, really?”  My mother and her great-grandmother’s chicken skills actually came in handy several months ago when I mistakenly purchased some kosher chicken for a recipe.

Let me back this up by saying, all I wanted when I went grocery shopping was a whole chicken, cut up in pieces. I wanted to fry up some chicken for the Hubs, do a real Southern inspired meal.  I wanted a whole chicken, preferably one that I didn’t have to separate myself.  In the refrigerator case at the store, you’ve got your Purdue brand, your Nature’s Promise, your Giant Food and so on.  The whole chickens are either a) whole or b) in pieces but only 6 pieces.  I’m not math wizard, but I’m pretty sure with a chicken, you get 2 wings, 2 thighs, 2 breasts, and 2 legs.  2+2+2+2 is 4, right? Right.  Something was missing — usually the thighs — from the 6-packs.  Well, dang it! I wanted a whole chicken. This was getting ridiculous. I continue to cruise the aisle and I see this brand that I have never seen before — Empire Kosher. I’m not knocking them, I’m just giving you a head’s up.  Empire, thank heavens, has a whole chicken cut into 8 pieces.  All 8 pieces!  So I toss it in the cart, get the rest of my accoutrements and am on my merry way.

Comes time for dinner. . . .
I open the Empire Kosher package, take the pieces out and start to rinse them off.  The first piece has a string like thing on it that I try to brush off while running it under some water.  Nothing falls to the wayside.  So, I turn off the faucet, pat the piece dry and try to pinch whatever is off the skin of the chicken.  I pinch it, tug it and I shit you not,

a whole freakin’ feather comes out!!
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I know!  I know what you’re saying, “But Hilary with One L! You’re dealing with a chicken! Chickens have feathers!”  Yes, they do, but all chickens that I’ve ever dealt with heretofore have been devoid of feathers. All of them.  Naked.  Naked chickens.  Feathery chickens? I can’t abide that. 

So, after I placed the chicken back in the sink, I called my mom and gave her the rundown on what had transpired.  Her response?

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Suffice it to say, there wasn’t much I could do put pluck the chicken pieces and get on with my life.  Mom instructed me on the easiest and best way to de-feather the chicken.  Which is what I did, because that’s how I roll.  But, I will tell you that I didn’t eat any of that chicken when I served it up for dinner.  Truly, there wasn’t anything wrong with it, but me and that chicken has been a little to intimate for me to just tie a napkin ’round my neck and throw down.  Freakin’ feathers.  Blerg!

*sigh* now I’m hungry. . .

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IN: ON: October 1, 2013 TAGS: , , , BY: Hilary
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recipes

Just Writing

Yesterday, I was lamenting the fact that I don’t have time to write.  There’s always something to be done, somewhere to be, just a variety of minutiae that must be attended to.

There’s always another book in the Outland Series that I need to keep reading. Good Lord, this woman wrote like  twelve 1600+ page books!  And I Can’t.Stop.Reading.Them.

I need to, though. I mean, I’m not going to get any of my own words on the page if I’m busy gobbling up whatever it is Diana Gabaldon is putting down.  The books, the chores, the phone calls and emails to return — certainly, I could just toss it all over my shoulder and say, “Too bad! I’m going to take 30 minutes (or whatever) and just write.”

Yeah. I can’t seem to deprogram myself to do that.

I put V down for a nap and spread out my reams of papers, notebooks, and calendars.

Then I got on Pinterest.
And Tumblr.

In my defense (truly!), I was looking for a recipe for dinner tonight.  I made some White Bean and Sausage Soup with Collards, but I know the big girls aren’t going to eat that.  I needed a plan B, so I took to ol’ reliable — Pinterest.  The next thing I know, I’m clicking on outfits that I like, crafts I’ll never make and shoes I can’t afford. Then I stuck up on my tumblr so I can look at them again later.  Gah! They got me again!

Then I got hungry. So, I had to get something to eat. Who’s got two thumbs and can’t work on an empty stomach? This gal!

Lunch break, which was promptly consumed leaving me totally unsatisfied.  I pretty much the eat same thing for lunch every day.  Mixed field greens with tomatoes, onions, and grilled chicken.  If I’m feeling exceedingly peckish — which I usualy am — I have some crackers or pita chips on the side.  And, seeing as it is fall (yay!),  means my love affair with pumpkin is in full swing, I have traded in my Garlic Expressions salad dressing for this!

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Seeing as how I had to break up with the Pumpkin Spice K cups (so sad, so sad) and as how I can’t be all up in Starbucks for my #PSL fix. . .

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I went with some salad dressing.  Hey, it helps the greens go down in a most delightful way.  Plus,  and I’m almost embarassed to admit this, my first #PSL of the season was not that great.  I know, I know! I was pretty choked up about it, too.  Last Saturday was the 14th, right? On the radio, the DJ said, seeing as how the 13th is unlucky, the 14th should be lucky.  Taking it one step further, he challenged his listeners to treat themselves to something and thereby make it their lucky day. Well, who am I to argue with the DJ? The girls and I were already on our way to the mall.  We had a great time shopping. They amused themselves while I tried on shoes:

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They brought their own allowance and I let them run amok in the Sweet Shoppe candy store.  So, despite my purchases, turns out it was quite a lucky day for me), I had one more thing that I felt would make the whole day just complete. A #PSL.

We waited in this ridiculously long line, but the girls were troupers.  I wheeled the stroller through the throngs of people and out the door.  The mall is an outdoor mall and the weather was crisp as the sun shined overhead and throughout.  We passed a large fountain in one of the accoutred areas and I fished out some change for the girls to toss into wishes.  I should have wished for a better tasting coffee, but at the time, who knew?

In any event, because I’m dramatic like that, I waited until we were all back and buckled in the car before I pulled out the green coffee stopper and took my first sip.  That one was good.  The next one was, too.  But subsequent sips after that? Eh, not so much.  When we got home, I made the mistake of popping the lid off the cup to peer inside. Blerg! I won’t even tell you what it looked like so that you can continue to enjoy your #PSLs.  Suffice it to say, me and #PSL are taking a break.  Or as they say on FaceBook, “It’s Complicated.”  And no. . .#SCM has nothing to do with it.  Well, not entirely.

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In any event, it looks like I’ve written a little bit.  V, my sweet biscuit, never did fall asleep.  She’s been talking to herself and banging (what I hope is ) her hands against the crib.  Guess I’m being summoned, and for that, I’m pretty sure I can put all that minutiae I was talking about to the back burner.

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IN: recipes ON: September 17, 2013 TAGS: , , , , , , , , , BY: Hilary
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Milestones

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This upcoming week-end has been on my mind for a while.
Saturday will mark the one year anniversary of the great ankle debacle.
Sunday I’m turning 35.
I’m not really sure how I feel about either of these things.

It’s mixed emotions to be sure.  As far as the ankle goes, I’m going to bypass the negative and start with gratitude.  Grateful that I have had such a great recovery. Grateful that my team of docs, when faced with a bizarre injury such as my own, rose to the challenge to make sure that my mobility returned, but also that the lingering scar would be as minimal as possible.  Grateful for all of the help and support that was offered and that I had the common sense to accept.

My family and friends circled the wagons and enabled me to rest up while secure in the knowledge that everything else had been taken care of.  There were days when it was a one-man pity party going on over here, and there were days when it wasn’t so bad.  When faced with the option of an additional surgery to ameliorate some aching and release an ensnared tendon, I was kind of reluctant.  Surgery meant being off my feet, literally. Two weeks of the boot, crutches, not working out, relying on others.  That last one was the biggest impediment to my making a rush decision.  In the end, the chance for increased mobility outweighed anything else.  Sure, my career as a foot and leg model may be over — it never really got off the ground — but I’m walking.  I doubt I’ll ever take that for granted again.

As for the upcoming birthday, it’s significant for a few reasons. First of all, seeing as how my whole ankle thing happened the day before my birthday last year, I really need this one to be less traumatic.  Secondly, while 35 isn’t 40, it’s still kind of big deal.

My mom was 35 when she had me. Her mom was 35 she had her.  At 35, I’ve know the Hubs half of my life.  35, for me at least, feels like I’m firmly and irrevocably an adult.  My youth is pretty much behind me (that ain’t all that’s behind me). I know that I don’t look 35 — what’s that supposed to look like anyway? I don’t feel 35 — what’s that supposed to feel like? I’ll spare you the introspection of what I should have accomplished in my life thus far and the self congratulations of what I have already successfully achieved.  There are equal notches on both sides of that tally sheet. 

For the past six years, I’ve shared my birthday with Co; she was scheduled to be delivered on the 10th, but I went into labor (and denial) on the 7th around noon, holding out hope it was merely indigestion.  Come 1am, we were en route to the hospital and shortly thereafter, Co made her debut.  From that point on, September 8th has been “Co’s birthday”.

Suffice it to say that this year, I kind of don’t want to share. I mean, yeah, yeah, Happy Birthday, kiddo, but — and I’m going to be honest — I’m feeling a little selfish and would like to be fêted on my own.  Yes, I’d like for it to be all about me.  I know, that sounds like I’m turning 5 not 35, but nyah, nyah, nyah!

My dad asked me today what I’d like for my birthday and I about dropped the phone, I was so giddy with delight.  I can’t really recall when I was last asked that question.  In fact, I really had nothing to suggest by way of a gift.  Thankfully, Dad gave me some time to think about it before solidly retracting the offer.  I need to come up with something, pronto.  I hear the tick-tock of the gift clock running down and given the speed with which time is passing, I’ll be turning 36 before I get my hands on something to unwrap. 

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IN: recipes ON: September 4, 2013 TAGS: , , , , , , , , BY: Hilary
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Recipe Friday

Is it Friday already? Is it Friday already? What a difference intonation makes, right? In the summer, the days roll together like puppies playing in the grass.  I find myself checking the calendar as if there is some kind of special delineation between summer week-days and summer week-ends.  When there isn’t any activity planned, there’s no delineation whatsoever. 

Like I said before, we have finished shuttling to and fro between camps and activities this summer.  We are taking each day as it comes, making plans as it suits us.  Today, we hit the Y, the playground, came home for lunch and are just lounging about.  Ideally, I’d be in the hammock in the backyard, dozing as the girls played on the swing set, but seeing as we have neither a) hammock or b) swing set, I’m sitting here at the dining room table while the girls slog through their tutoring.  Yes, I’m the mom that makes her children do math over the summer.  That’s why my kids will be the boss and the others kids will be desk jockeys.  I kid. . .or do I?

The promise of some screen time (laptop, DS, TV, whatever) dangles in front of them, the fattened worm before their gulping guppy mouths.  I’m buying myself 30 minutes of solitude to catnap, read a bit, put more things in my Zappos shopping cart or any combination thereof.  I’ve tried to entice the girls with Popsicles and the sprinkler, but if it’s not a regulation sized, chlorine filled pool with accompanying snack bar, they want no parts of it.  Sure, we hit up the pool pretty regularly at the beginning of the summer and they’ve been fortunate enough to have had my brother take them just about every day during our visit to his house.  The downside is, now that we’re home and with really nothing to do but go to the pool,  I can’t do it.  I’m about a month post-tenolysis surgery and despite my speedy recovery, the doc gave me a no go on chlorine for the foreseeable future. 

This sucks for several reasons. 
1. Swimming laps twice a week was really becoming my jam and not being able to do it is frustrating.
2. The girls really want to be at the pool and swim. I want them to become better swimmer and being landlocked isn’t helping their skill-set.
3. While I could take them to the pool, who the devil wants sit and watch while roasting rotisserie style on the deck, unable to cool off?

4. Hiring a sitter to take them to the pool or to stay at home with V while I take them to the pool is both expensive and still, not a lot of fun (see #3).
5. While the beach is an option, it, too, has it’s fair share of con, not limited to, but include sand in the cracks and crevices of the baby’s legs and in my healing incision.  Not going to the Vineyard this year hasn’t been lost on the girls, either.  They’re quick to point it out whenever someone else mentions their plans for going to the beach.  I’m actually surprised as how much I’m missing the beach myself, long drive, ferry crossing and all. 

So, we’re here in the house, with me extolling the virtues of the sprinkler and them shooting it down at every turn.  They’ll consider the pop-jets at the mall, but only if they can have dinner out.   The negotiations that I endure just to make it from lunch time to dinner time alone are staggering.  We continue our back and forth, I dig up some water balloons. They’re promptly filled and thrown in the time it takes me to clean up the mess from filling them up in the first place. 

So, back to my bag of tricks.  Out come the crayons, paper, scissors, stamps and ink.  They cut and paste, color and doodle. They move onto the library bag and I find them with their limbs artfully draped over the back of the sofa and the arm of the chair.  The baby is sitting in the laundry basket surrounded by stuffed animals, her mouth furiously worrying her pacifier as she squishes a stuffed dog to her chest.  All of a sudden, everything is calm and simple.  Everything is quiet save for the turning of pages and the soft sucking on a plug. 

Is it Friday already? Is it Friday already? I hadn’t even noticed. 

Seeing as we aren’t beach bound this year, I thought I’d leave you with a very summery, beachy recipe.  Happy Friday, y’all!

(image)


Firehouse Crab Boil
recipe found here

 
Note: We used a 60-quart aluminum pot with a strainer insert and did this over a propane burner outdoors. You could probably get away with a pot slightly smaller, such as a 45- or 50-quart pot, as we had about six inches of headspace left in ours. This is definitely doable indoors, but you may need to do it in two large pots on the stove and it will probably take quite a while for the pots to boil.
 
Ingredients

3 to 4 cups crawfish, shrimp and crab boil seasoning (recommended: Zatarain’s powdered form, NOT liquid or bag versions)
3 lemons, halved
2 or 3 large onions, halved
5 heads garlic, cut in 1/2 crosswise
2 dozen live blue crabs
6 pounds new potatoes
4 ears fresh corn, shucked, silk removed and cut in 1/2
3 artichokes, stem end trimmed cut into halves or quarters
2 pounds smoked sausage
1 package hotdogs
1 pound mushrooms

Directions

One day before you plan to boil the crabs: If you have a heatproof, submersible vessel that will hold 1 or 2 gallons of water that may be frozen, fill these with water and freeze until frozen solid.

In a very large (40 to 60-quart) pot combine the crab boil, lemons, onions, garlic, and 6 gallons of water and heat over high heat, stirring, until the powdered seasoning has dissolved. Add the crabs, potatoes, corn, artichokes, smoked sausage and hotdogs. (Everything should be submerged in liquid – if not, add a bit more water to cover.) Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Cook at a rolling boil for 6 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the mushrooms. Cover the pot and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes.

Add the frozen vessels to the hot crab boil and stir occasionally very gently to facilitate even cooling. This will prevent the crabs from overcooking and will also force them to absorb the seasoning from the crab boil. Let the crabs sit in the water for at least 1 hour before serving. You can let the crabs sit until completely cool, if desired, or you can serve the crabs warm.

Using tongs or strainers, carefully remove the crabs from the pot along with the onions, garlic, potatoes, corn, artichokes, sausage, hotdogs, and mushrooms and spread out on large platters or on newspaper lined tables for folks to enjoy.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/firehouse-crab-boil-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

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IN: recipes ON: July 26, 2013 TAGS: , , , , , , BY: Hilary
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