Funnel Cake

Donut holes, whatever. It was all deep fried deliciousness, and it disappeared faster than it took to make :)

For kicks, we covered both banana and persimmon slices in the batter and deep fried those too.. win-win-win all around!!

Miso Soup

So sinfully simple :)

Chicken with Steamed Broccoli

And yesterday's wild mushroom cream sauce. Yum, again!

Soba Noodles in a Wild Mushroom Cream Sauce

I love mushrooms, especially wild mushrooms. I picked up a package the other day at the grocery store, but didn't have a plan for them until I pulled out my Modern Sauces cookbook. The result was incredibly delicious; this cookbook has yet to fail me!

Asian-inspired, lettuce wrapped spare ribs

With sautéed shallot and green onion, and kimchi.

Suj's cooking was the inspiration for this dish. I went over yesterday while she was prepping dinner, and I asked her what kind of marinade she was using. She gave me her recipe for a Korean marinade (soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, garlic, green onion, sesame seeds) but she didn't give me proportions and I didn't taste her version, so today I just winged it and made my own. Whatevs :)

Pork ribs marinated for 3 hours, browned on a sautée pan, then into the oven for half an hour - perfect! The sautéed shallot added a subtle hint of sweetness, while the kimchi provided good acidity, spiciness, and crunch. Overall, it's definitely a meal to repeat!

WIP: Summer Sweater Sleeve

A few more hours over coffee this morning, and the right sleeve is done! I'm not convinced that I have enough yarn left for the second sleeve, fingers crossed. 

I'm also not thrilled with the hems on this sweater, I'm just hoping that they block out flat.

WIP: Summer Sweater Sleeve

After several fits and starts (and last night's 11 hour nap), I finally had enough time and energy to put a decent amount of work into this sleeve.

I have 3 more stripes left on the right sleeve, then the whole other sleeve, weave in ends, then done! Hopefully just in time for summer :)

Make the Bed

I've been saving this for a rainy day. Apparently that day is today. (I also fully assume that it will happen again.)

In any case, I made the bed and then I crawled immediately into it. Goodnight!

Make a Friend Feel Better

It's been a pretty crappy week. Wine, chips, and chocolate ice cream make it better.

Make Dessert Disappear

Had dinner with the crew tonight, partly as a going away for Habib, partly as a birthday celebration for Jeremy. Suzanne made a German chocolate hazelnut torte for dessert, and we made it disappear!! :)

Corn Bread Pudding

I have a tendency to batch cook and freeze what I don't immediately eat. I stopped cooking for a few years, but lately I've been cooking so much, that the layers in my pantry and freezer are starting to reveal themselves. It's like there's an archeological dig going on in my kitchen! 

The inspiration for today's post came from (homemade) cornbread I'd made a couple Thanksgiving's ago. (Yes, it's been in my freezer for over a year. Maybe two.)

In the end, cornbread (to me) has such a distinct flavor and texture, that I wasn't really a fan the moistness of the bread in pudding form. Oh well. It still tastes good!

Snow Angel

Haven't done this in about 20 years.. and what fun! :) Great way to capitalize on today's thundersnow (and burn off the stress of driving in it).

Breakfast Smoothie

Fresh fruit, milk, protein powder. Liquid breakfast in preparation for a homemade Indian lunch :)

French Toast

One of my favorite things about a lazy Saturday is making a hot breakfast. Today, it was sourdough French toast with cinnamon, maple syrup, strawberries, and four episodes of Breaking Bad :)

Chocolate Ice Cream

Happy Valentine's Day!

Beer Chicken

After nearly a week of travel (4 flights within 6 days), I'm finally home...which means I finally get to eat a home cooked meal :)

Tonight's dinner was a hodgepodge of flavors: beer chicken (the beer was a double IPA) with red currant jam, whole grain pilaf with Meyer lemon preserves, and kimchi (which I did not make). This all seems very random, and that's because it was - these were the only things I had in my fridge/freezer/pantry! Still, somehow, the flavors worked.

Beer chicken is one of my favorite ways to prepare chicken because it's so easy. I learned how to make in college, when I essentially didn't know how to cook anything. Beer chicken is as follows: heat a pan with a little bit of oil, season a chicken breast on both sides, brown the chicken for a couple minutes on either side, then dump in a bunch of beer into the pan, enough so the chicken starts to poach and cook in the beer. The liquid keeps the meat incredibly moist. Almost any type of beer will do; I tend to favor microbrews over macro brews (I don't think I would ever use a bud light!), because microbrews already tend to have more flavor and body built in. 

Make the Puppy Obey

And then give her a treat! :)

Juju is Nathan's new ridgeback, 13 weeks old, and unbelievably well behaved for a puppy.

Paper Airplanes

Traveling for work inevitably means that I work the entire time I'm away - what else is there to do? 

Cris and I met after our team dinner to discuss a few things, and it didn't occur to me that I hadn't yet made anything until quite late! She suggested paper airplanes and talked me through her tutorial. We did end up launching them across the bar - both flew well!

WIP: Summer Sweater

Another flight, another stripe, and I'm done. Not with the sweater, obviously, but with knitting it on a plane. 

The gauge on the last stripe seemed off the me. When I measured, it wasn't the stitch count, it was the row gauge. So I'll be ripping back in the near future (ugh). I think I'll have better luck finishing this at home, on the couch, where I have the room to spread out. I love knitting on a plane, I think it's a great use of time, but this project is simply too big to finish comfortably in the middle seat of a completely full flight.

Make Someone Laugh

We haven't stopped giggling since we met up on Friday. While waiting at the airport, I commanded "start laughing" and the crew was immediately burst out! :) 

It turned out to be a great weekend, both on the water and off, and we scored second overall for the regatta - not too shabby :)

Rum Drinks on the Dock

Today, we kicked off the 2014 sailing season with the Zhik Winter Series on Lake Lanier in Georgia. Lake Lanier is beautiful to sail on, and the yacht club has done a great job hosting this regatta. Cheers!

WIP: Summer Sweater

Last summer I started knitting a sweater, ideal as a light cover up for a cool summer day. I finished the body in August but then set it aside as other projects came up and summer wound down. 

I'm taking a break from winter for a few days, and I packed this to come with. All that's left are the sleeves; I got one stripe done on the plane, so there's still quite a bit to do, but it feels good to be working on this sweater again. It also feels good to be in a place where the lows are above freezing and there's no snow on the ground :)

Make Space: Kitchen Drawer

Since I started cooking again, it was becoming painfully obvious how misused my kitchen drawer was. This drawer holds all my utensils, but it was a disaster. I was really only using about 20-30% of everything in there, the rest was getting shoved to the back in a tangled mess. So tonight I dumped out the entire drawer and started over. I picked out only those utensils I use most often, and further subdivided them by cooking category (daily, baking, savory). Some things were ruined - those got tossed. Some I had never touched (I inherited a bunch of things from the previous tenent, a friend of mine); others I had duplicates of (5 sets of measuring spoons, 4 tea strainers, 3 potato mashers [I don't even like potatoes!]); some of those things will get donated. The bins on the counter will move into the pantry, where I can access them for special occasions.

I feel so much better now that this drawer is more organized. Clearing clutter creates the space for more to be created.

Carambola Flower

Went to the bookstore today to pick up an origami magazine - I needed some new inspiration! When I saw a photo of this flower, I immediately fell in love.

I have to admit, this was a bit tricky to make, and I can tell that my geometry was a bit off, but it was a fun challenge :)

The video tutorial is here.

Mini Snowman

I initially had more elaborate plans for this little guy, but the snow that's coming down tonight is powder, which isn't good for packing. The snowballs weren't sticking and I couldn't get anything to stick to them, either. Since I did actually spend a good half hour tearing apart my craft closet in search of the right buttons, I'll make another attempt at this when the snow is better.

At least with powder, it'll be easier to clean off my car in the morning!

Bread Pudding

I've been accumulating a few things in my fridge, including those pepper jack cheese biscuits and the nut & seed bread from a couple weeks ago. The biscuits went dry the day after I made them; I had enough leftover to make a good base for bread pudding. And I've been slowly chipping away at the nut and seed bread; there was just enough left to make a good filler.

The result? Better than each element separately - yum!

Asha's Cardi

Asha turns one today :)

It'd been too long since I'd seen either Amy or Marty, so I was super excited when they sent me an invite to Asha's first birthday party. Of course, I had to knit something!

Baby knits, besides being so adorable, are fun because they simply knit up so quickly. While I did get a bit frustrated with this project, having to rip back so many times, the finished product mitigates all of that. I'm really happy with the way this little sweater turned out. The sheep buttons might just be my favorite part!

Lamb | Mastic, Date, Rosmary Fragrance

It's been 3 years since I've made anything out of the Alinea cookbook. I wanted to make this dish for Christmas dinner, but the holidays ended up being so hectic that I didn't get a chance. Mom's birthday was this weekend, so we celebrated over this dish.

Both the mastic cream and the date compote came out perfectly, and can be paired with a variety of meats - lamb, chicken, pork would all pair well. Red cabbage is a Polish favorite of ours, and this version was one of the best we've ever had!