2012

I rang in the New Year with a heavenly plate of Dungeness crab, accompanied with fresh Meyer lemons from our yard. A very good start to the year. - Posted from my iPhone

MFEO

Made for each other.

mexican chicken

I'm a big fan of John Irving, even though his works can be rightfully judged for the repetitive themes creeping up in practically all of them, i.e. circus bears, anything Viennese, unconventional relationships... For the record, my favorite is Hotel New Hampshire.  While reading, I remember thinking it was too twisted for me, but by the time I was finished, I was overwhelmed by the power of what is a really great book, about family and just how important it is.

Anyway, a few nights ago as I set out to make dinner, one of my favorite and most comforting dishes, I thought of a John Irving quote, this one from The World According to Garp.  "If you are careful," Garp wrote, "if you use good ingredients, and you don't take any shortcuts, then you can usually cook something very good.  Sometimes it is the only worthwhile product you can salvage from a day: what you make to eat." Granted, ever since the arrival of baby A, my days are a mixture of wonder and delight, so I wasn't feeling sorry for myself as I sorted a brightly colored pile of vegetables atop my cutting board.  I was, however, dwelling on the happy thought of our dinner, a simple, homely meal that I first learned about from a dear former colleague, Teresa.

I was especially close to Teresa because in addition to working with her every day, she was also the mother of one of my favorite students.  We spent many hours discussing her daughter and how to best help her succeed, but we also bonded over a love for good food.  Teresa's family is large and Irish-Catholic, three boys and one girl.  It's not difficult to picture her bustling household.  Despite being in a constant state of busy-ness, Teresa always made sure to have the family sit down together for a home-cooked dinner.  I know those words are tossed around a bit casually these days, but the sad thing is a routine like that is something families tend to aspire towards rather than insist upon.

In addition to making sure her family spent quality time together at the dinner table, Teresa also made an effort to making birthdays and holidays, even the smallish ones, really special.  For Valentine's Day, she set the table with vases of red roses and her best china and crystal, and the kids drank out of wine glasses. For her son's fifteenth birthday party, she draped a sheet on the side of the house in the backyard and rented a projector-surprisingly, the angst-y teens had an amazing time watching the relatively tame When a Stranger Calls while devouring party treats.  When her nephew turned 21, the entire family, minors included, met at an Irish pub to share in a first pint.  Teresa's special attention to details that don't even require a lot of cash or time always made an impression on me.  She would get along famously with my mother-in-law, who also works to make every occasion exactly that, an occasion, with a real reason for celebrating.  Now that I have baby A, I often think about what kind of home I want ours to be.  More often than not, Teresa's (and my MIL's) come to mind.

Mexican Chicken (serves 4)
(the amounts listed can easily be tweaked or adjusted to suit your purposes-I often double up on the vegetables because it makes me feel virtuous)

1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts or tenders
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
2 carrots
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 jalepeno
1/4 cup sliced green olives (I don't love olives, so I don't include them)
1 4 ounce can of diced green chiles
1 14 oz can of chickpeas, drained
1 large tomato, chopped

1. Brown the chicken in a large skillet or pot.  The dish seems to work best for me if I've sliced the chicken into bite-size pieces or strips first.  Once the chicken is browned, add the garlic and onion to the pan and continue to sauté until lightly browned.
2. Add the remaining ingredients, one at a time, sprinkling them one on top of the other.  It works best if you go in order of ingredients, with the juicy tomato last.
3. Simmer on low heat for two hours.  Do not stir!  It will be tempting, but this way the chicken stays especially moist and tender.
4. Serve with rice.  If I'm feeling especially healthy, I'll make a batch of brown rice, though it's not SH's favorite.  I might compromise with half white, half brown, which is very conveniently done in my rice cooker.

Again, this dish is extremely simple and unfussy.  It is also delicious.  At Teresa's suggestion, I make extra  for the next day.  I dish out spoonfuls onto single tortillas, then top with grated cheese (cheddar or Monterey jack, but it's totally a matter of preference) and a second tortilla.  I crank up the oven and let the tortillas sit until the cheese is oozing out of the sides in a delectable-looking manner.  Then I serve my oven-baked quesadillas with a bottle of Cholula and a cold drink.  Yum.

First shoe

- Posted from my iPhone

i know this sun will set to rise

I sat poised over my laptop at exactly 9:58 yesterday morning, two minutes before the presale for Coldplay tickets began.  As is usual in these situations, my back was tensed and ramrod straight.  My credit card number clearly memorized.  My mind plotting the diagram of the stage and which side had the best view.  I would not be defeated this time, Ticketmaster/LiveNation/supplier of concert tickets.

The good news is that I did manage to obtain tickets.  It's tough, obviously, to get great seats when buying for group, even a small one like ours, but the alternative of not sitting together is dreadful.  It looks like I'm going to have to use my "wait a few months" strategy to improve upon our otherwise fairly forlorn seats.  Take note, Coldplay.  This is what happens when you wait a veritable ETERNITY to return to the US for a tour.

For the record, Mylo Xyloto isn't my favorite album (that would be Viva la Vida), but I'm warming to it day by day.  Besides "Paradise," I'm really loving "Hurts like Heaven" and "UFO."  I should also say that I'm still rattled every time I hear Rihanna's voice on "Princess of China."  Something wrong about that.



P.S.  I feel that there was some illegal substances involved in the production/conception of this video.

bittersweet chocolate and pear cake

You can't possibly begin to imagine the sense of accomplishment I feel in merely titling this post.  I haven't written about food in so long that it causes me a bit of physical pain.  Clearly, I have a serious problem when it comes to time management, because HOW DO MOM BLOGGERS DO IT?  Posting day after day, even though many of them have multiple small children running about?  I only have ONE wee baby, and it's a struggle to shower every day, much less keep up with household chores and all  sundry items that need to be taken care of.

I'm just going to come right out there and say that I am exceedingly proud of myself for the construction of the piece of deliciousness you see pictured above.  I made it when sweet baby A was only 2 months old (yes, that's right, almost THREE MONTHS AGO).  Yes, it is true that newborn babies tend to sleep more, leaving us new moms with slightly more down time than we have when they're older and nonstop awake and rolling all over the floor like there's a fire in the house.  By no means is it easy, however, to prepare food for yourself with an infant, no matter the age.  Hence the pride.

Strangely enough, when I was pregnant I didn't want much to do with sweets at all.  It wasn't exactly a pregnancy aversion, because I'm not the hugest dessert person, but it was weird for me to avoid things that were traditionally my favorites, like dark chocolate, cinnamon doughnuts, and lemon bars.  I kept up a steady diet of cheeses and savory items, from which baby A clearly benefitted (see entry on ginormous nature of my newborn babe).  The pendulum rapidly swung upon his birth, however, and all I wanted (and still want) are sweet things.  Vanilla meringues and chocolate chip cookie dunkers from Trader Joe's.  Salted caramel cupcakes.  Every new Ben and Jerry's flavor in the freezer.  Yes, even brown sugar cinnamon Pop Tarts (I'm capable of sinking quite low).

It is because of my unquenchable craving for sweets that I opted to take a whole bunch of pears from a delicious gift basket and swiftly turn them into the opposite of healthy, this bittersweet chocolate and pear cake.  I have probably mentioned this before, but I'm not a fruit person.  I know I need to eat it, and I do, but I don't like it! A giant bowl of freshly sliced pineapple will make me happy, and maybe some delicate raspberries or really juicy strawberries, but the rest of the general fruit population I could probably live without (in my defense, I've never met a vegetable I didn't like).

Needless to say, as I looked at those pears one summer day, a little memory crept into my mind, that of reading about Deb's recipe for a pear and chocolate cake.  Two things particularly stood out, the shards of dark chocolate and the lightly whipped cream.  Side note: I would eat anything, I think, if accompanied by lightly whipped cream.

Conveniently, I had two bars of bittersweet chocolate in my pantry (saved for making these, also a heavenly treat I enjoyed this summer) and a container of heavy cream in the fridge.  Feeling virtuous about the fact that I was indeed going to put the pears to good use, I set about making the cake.

The cake is a wonderful piece of heaven.  I know that it really is especially good because my pears were rather forlorn and old-ish, so the fact that it tasted so good in spite of that fact is a testament to the success of the recipe.  It's also not that difficult, because I made most of it while baby A sat cheerfully in his bouncer right next to me, and even though he is very good-natured, he has an extremely short attention span.  You should make it immediately.  DO NOT FORGET THE CREAM.

P.S. I don't know if I have ever been more excited about a food blogger's upcoming cookbook than I am about Smitten Kitchen's.  I can't plug her site enough.

the best so far

My first movie outing was a resounding success.  I shan't spend much time dwelling on the lovely appropriate-ness of our movie selection, my most delicious guilty pleasure of all (and we know I have many, MANY of these). It will suffice to say that my beautiful and hilarious sister and I, along with my wonderful sister-in-law, cozied up in a theater that had more than enough available seats (movie anxiety YET AGAIN UNWARRANTED) and giggled and whispered throughout what is undeniably the glossiest, highest quality Twilight film thus far.  Granted, the original movie has quite a bit of charm, so I'm not sure I can call The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 my favorite.  Let it be known that I feel even more ridiculous typing out that long title than I do admitting that I loved watching it and can't wait to see it again.

P.S. Minus the elaborate back, the dress was heinous.  It matches the ring.

P.P.S. I aspire to post more than movie trailers in the month of December.