The Pig and I

We bought a fridge today, but it won't be delivered until next week. I'm glad to know we'll have a fridge soon, but bummed to know my savings are all gone now. I cooked a rice/beans/tomatoes thing (all day, I came home between classes to tend it), but we ultimately decided not to eat it today (P was really craving meat, and we can't have that in the house right now, because meat should actually be refrigerated). It's in the oven hanging out. We'll eat it for breakfast. No fussing - it'll be fine unrefrigerated, as long as we don't let it sit too too long. I had no time for baking today, so I exercised a small feeling of traditionalism by eating cut up apples drizzled with honey, and forcing a bite into P's mouth. They were really delicious, and I think I might cut more. Shana Tova, guys.

This is the first meal we're having now that we're back home. Our landlord brought us some pears from his brother's tree, and I really wanted to eat some. However, they're actually a little harder than even I like them, so I decided to chop a few into little bites and roast with some vegetables. I hope you like this. 1 cup rice 1 can broth (vegetable or chicken) salt to taste 1 tablespoon lime ends (the ends of ten key limes, in this instance) 1 teaspoon lemon ends (the ends of three lemons - this is the remainder of the preserving citrus) 1 ear sweet corn, kernels cut off cob 6 large brussels sprouts, washed, trimmed and cut into quarters 1 small white onion, cut into half-moons 3 small pears (1 large pear from the store), cut into bite-sized chunks 1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 1 teaspoon orange blossom water 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 tablespoon olive oil salt and pepper to taste 1 tablespoon dried sage, rubbed Preheat oven to 400F. Place c

We finally got to go home last night. It was a bittersweet experience. On one hand, we enjoyed living with J so much it was sad to leave, on the other hand, we are back in our own home. It's a mess. We cleaned out the living room, taking all our stuff off the couch and hooking up the electronics. Initially, the cable didn't work, but then it started (after I made a service appointment, of course). P built our new TV table (the former one died in the flood). We slept on the couch last night. The desk that probably no longer will house the desktop (since it also got flooded) is fine, but has tons of stuff all over it. I'm ignoring that part of the cleaning right now. The house is full of mosquitoes. I never get bitten typically, but they're even interested in me. I guess P doesn't have enough blood to sustain them all. I've killed a couple so far, as has P. Aleister, naturally, refuses to do his part in the pest control arena. I just moved all the dishes that requ

Ok, so this is the last update I think I'll need to post before I can go back home. We are still staying w/ our friend J here in Houston. Aleister has not only adjusted well to his new home, he is hamming it up and seeking all the attentions he can get. At our house, the landlord seems to have already done a lot of work. The sheet rock hasn't been done yet, but as much as we are enjoying staying where we are, we are anxious to go home and regain some normalcy in our lives. Once the power is back on (who knows when that'll be), we'll likely go back home at that time. I think we will need a new cable box, since ours drowned in the water. Right now we're at P's school in the library, doing homework. I am obviously cheating and taking a little break. The internets here are fast. My laptop bag also drowned in the water, and smells ... bad. I don't want to describe it. We went and got me another bag, but I think we're going to have to take it back. I have to b

We came back to Houston last night. Our house still has standing water in it, though not much. We are staying w/ a friend here. She's been really great.  School starts back on Monday. I haven't decided yet if I'll be doing any work the rest of the week, though it turns out I'll be able to.  Aleister is truckin' along, like nothing ever happened. Thankfully, he adjusts to new things very, very well. Our landlord is working on fixing our house, and also the house we'll probably be living in while ours is being repaired. That's about it. Thanks again, to all who have emailed to express concern and offers for help, as well as all the other people who've kept us in their thoughts, provided a place to stay, have arranged things for us, and so many other things you've done. We cannot express how grateful we are and how lucky we feel.

It's looking like we'll be heading back to Houston tomorrow at some point. A friend of ours has power and has offered us a place in her home, so we will stock up on food and supplies here and transport them back. P's school is open already, and mine probably will be by Thursday. I've emailed my professors in an effort to keep up on my studies while I'm not attending. I am hopeful that the financial aid department at my school will process my disbursement soon. It'll be a huge help, since I can't work right now, and am not sure when I'll be able to. I'm not too worried about this, though. It's completely out of my hands, and I'm choosing to focus more on things I do have some control over. Our landlord is coming into town to survey his other properties in hopes of finding us a place to live while our home is being repaired. We've filed a claim with FEMA. We'll see how that goes. Thus far, it doesn't seem like they've handled th

We weathered Ike without incident. We were mainly just bored, because we had no power or running water, and P doesn't enjoy playing cards while powerless, as I do. :) Even the cat was just bored, instead of freaking out. He had this perpetual expression that clearly read, "Mama, can we turn the TV on now, please? I'm bored and my mice aren't exciting anymore." He likes to watch TV. Saturday night we went to bed. It was raining (apparently there was a non-Ike related storm), and the rain was hard enough to wake us periodically. In the morning, P woke up to the sound of Aleister splashing around our room, and a rushing noise. I woke up to the rushing noise. We got up and were pretty groggy, mainly confused about why there was six inches of dirty water in the floor. Aleister should've been unhappy about the water, seeing as he's a cat, but it seemed fun to him somehow. Then we realised the water was rising, and we were not groggy anymore. We splashed throug

It's my first hurricane, and I am very excited. I have waited, and waited, and waited, and finally I get my reward. To commemorate this exciting event, I've been baking a lot. P and I have been eating up some left-overs, though I made another fried rice for breakfast today (truffle-infused rice I found in my fridge and cooked last night for this, ham, savoy cabbage, zucchini, tomato, palm heart, egg, mirepoix, lemon, salt, pepper, sesame and veggie oil, soy sauce, coconut vinegar and a touch of rice cooking wine). So here's what I've done so far: Chocolate Chip and Cherry Cookies - just use the Tollhouse recipe, but w/ milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet, and throw in several handfuls of dried, pitted cherries Cranberry-Ginger Biscotti - you guys already know all about me making these, except this time I used crystalised ginger I made myself. Which is easy to do - make a simple 1:1 syrup, toss in slices of fresh peeled ginger, simmer or let steep for a few

Ok... I'll bite. This is everywhere now, so I hesitated to do it as well. But I feel like crap today, so I thought I'd do this instead of making food you haven't seen from me yet. Andrew Wheeler at Very Good Taste put out his personal list called The Omnivore’s One Hundred and asked of people the following : 1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions. 2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten. (edit - I just realised how difficult it is to see what I've put in bold, so it will all be changed now to blue ) 3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating (Mine are in red ). 4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results. Here are my responses and following it is a list of other potential omnivore delicacies compiled in response: 1. Venison 2. Nettle tea 3. Huevos rancheros 4. Steak tartare 5. Crocodile (can I count alligator?) 6. Black pudding 7. Cheese fondue 8. Carp 9. Borscht 10. Bab

For those of you who know me well, I'll try not to wax poetic for too long about chili. I know you've heard it all before. But for those of you who don't? I love chili. I love it to a degree that's probably illegal outside of Texas. I love every regions variation (ok... I'll tell the truth. I'm not a fan of Cincinnati-style, though I do love my chili on pasta) of chili. My favourite, though? Surprisingly, for someone as exceptionally anal-retentive about proper chili cooking methods, it's not the traditional Texas chili. It's the Southwestern style. I love putting corn in my chili. And you really can't do that unless you make a Southwestern. Somehow, it's wrong. This is for cooking on the weekend, unless you're unemployed. It takes all day. This, however, has stepped away from the traditional Southwestern and has become some kind of bizarre creation that almost shouldn't be called chili anymore. It is, however, delicious. P and I are

I've been busy reading all the end of summer, "I'm canning this and that and getting my winter stores ready" posts in people's blogs. Despite my childhood dislike of canning, I've become jealous of all of you with functional gardens (unlike my parsley and chive garden). So as a result, I decided to make a huge batch of meat sauce and tomorrow when it's done and we've had dinner, I'll can the remainder (turns out, btw, the recipe makes somewhere in the 6-7 quart range; sometimes more when I don't use the slow cooker). I also made another large bottle of preserved lemons, and next week I am seriously considering a large batch of Southestern-style chili to can as well. If I'm not sick of canning by then, it will appear I've overcome my distaste for all the work of canning. I might not complain about that, since it'll keep leftover soups out of the freezer in the future. I found out, however, that despite the ridiculously increasing fo