The Pig and I

Ross actually reminded me, quite by mistake, that this post needed to be made. When we first got together, he had never (other than rolls for holidays, I believe, though anyone who knows about this should feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken) had home-made bread. Or maybe he'd tasted it but not so routinely that he remembered home-made bread as a thing separate from grocery store bread. As y'all know, I am not really an advocate of buying bread and have done so just a couple times in recent (last couple years) memory. And so when he wanted bread I would make a loaf. This started turning into a loaf a day, which is kind of a lot (in a good way!), and it occurred to me that if I taught him how to make bread, I wouldn't have to make it anymore. Now, that sounds a little bit like I don't like making bread, which is absolutely not the case. I love making bread. I just don't always have time to make a loaf every day. Mostly I can't commit to being home long e...

It's February. Y'all knew that though, so why am I telling you? I'm telling you because the bergamot, my favourite citrus and object of my undying devotion, is in season right now. These little guys have such a short season, but they're in my thoughts pretty much year round, as you also knew. Today, the FedEx guy came with a package. I was expecting this package, though I didn't know what was in it. Lisa, from Meadowood Designs , had gotten my address recently and said she was sending me something, but was delightfully silent about what this something was. I've spent several days waiting while I tried to ignore my insatiable curiosity, to find out what was coming. So while I sat waiting for the package, reading Kitzhaber for one of my classes, the FedEx guy has spent his day making the rounds of delivering treasures to people all over Houston. And finally, he arrived at my apartment. I heard the first knock and started making my way to the front door as the s...

This is one of my most clearly defined, early food memories. I was about five or six years old, and we had gone to dinner at some fancy-type restaurant for a business dinner with my father's colleagues. I sat next to a man who, by my memory, was not that much larger than me. He was short, I remember, and quite round. He had dark hair and a sort of reddish complexion, and eyes I never saw. I don't remember his name, though I do remember talking to him quite a bit. I do remember, however, that he was blind, and that he was very willing to answer all my questions about being blind. Until it came time to start thinking about dinner, which he was very much interested in. He told me he was planning to order, for his first course, the escargots. I didn't know what they were, and so I asked. I remember how severely my nose wrinkled up when he told me they were snails, and moreover, that snails are quite delicious. I didn't believe him for a moment, and so I quizzed him at len...

Well, as you know I didn't do the Saturday spending, because pretty much the only food I've been buying has been for the wedding. But I did save the receipts so y'all could see what was purchased. Normally I separate everything out by store, but I'm feeling lazy and have a lot of other stuff to do to get ready for Thanksgiving, so I'm just combining them into one long list. $8.69 - chickpeas $18.00 - pita (108 loaves that I didn't have time to make) $13.08 - 17 pounds onions $8.99 - 10 pounds basamati rice $5.29 - 8 ounces shelled pistachios $4.99 - 1 pound raw almonds $6.59 - 1 pound shelled walnuts $6.89 - 10-can arabic pickles $8.49 - 4 pounds nabulsi olives $4.58 - 2 28-ounce cans tomato puree $27.16 - 8 kilos dolma (yeah, I was too busy to make these) $17.99 - 2 kilos kalamata olives $3.99 - ras el hanout $4.78 - fillo dough (2 pounds) $6.87 - 1 1/2 pounds peeled whole garlic $17.98 - 2 kilos tzatziki (this was more efficient than me makin...

So I've mentioned to y'all that I'm doing the catering for my wedding, but I haven't actually said anything else about it. I thought I might do that, since I don't have time right now to type up new recipes. Mainly because as I'm making them up, I scrawl little notes to myself, most of which are barely legible (on a good day I usually need help reading my writing; perhaps I ought to have become a doctor), and have so little detail that I have to extrapolate from pretty limited data what I actually did. Anyway, I thought y'all might like to know what I'm up to for the wedding food. As well as the shortcuts I'm taking to make this manageable while I'm in the middle of crunch time in my semester. So here it is: The Menu: Braised lamb shanks and vegetables (onions, carrots and celery) (meat) Dill rice (vegan) Tabouleh (vegan) Dolma (vegan) Hummus (vegan) Pita (vegan) Pickles, olives and feta (vegan/vegetarian) Mast-o-khiar (vegetatian) ...

I promised to tell you guys about what I ate in Chicago, but then I got caught up with homework and I totally forgot. So now I'll do so, though probably with less detail than if I'd done it immediately. I will, however, make sure to give you links to all the restaurants we ate at, where available. When I first got there, my flight had been delayed several (yes, several) hours, so we went and dropped off my things then went to have Thai food at Star of Siam . The Mee Krob was amazing, the sauce being lighter than normal. I also had the #16, which was delicious and had just the right amount of spice. P had the #32, I believe, and it was also quite delicious, though it needed a touch more spice. Later, we swung by iCream and got custom-made ice creams. P had the green-tea and pear, with blackberries and blueberries in it, and I had the mango sorbet with blackberries and gummy bears. Their set-up is pretty neat, because you basically decide what you want, then using liquid nitro...

I neglected to tell you all, but I ate my first tomato. I actually ended up picking it a day after it would've been perfect, but it was still just delicious and wonderful. I sliced it and ate it with just salt and pepper.

This isn't a "real" post, in that there aren't any recipes in it. Though later this week or early next, look forward to a baklava post. Anyway, I recently put in a tiny tomato plant. It grew quickly, has several tomatoes growing on it already, and about a billion new blooms. So even though it's not cooking, it is about food. Today, I wrestled on a tomato cage so it'd stop growing into my front yard and took some pictures for you all. I'm looking forward to a long season of freshly picked tomatoes. Whee! If I ever get some time, I'd like to put in an eggplant as well. The Plant: Growing Tomatoes:

I hope you all enjoyed your holidays! I had a great time during mine, visiting with friends and family. Food Waste Friday will, of course, resume this week for me. When I came home, P had purchased and set up a new pantry rack for me in place of where my other "main pantry" was (I have a second shelf for baking goods, dried fruit and the like). I was very excited and immediately set to work organising it. I love how the sides are both deep and open, since it allows me to have a perfect view of what canned goods I'm lacking, rather than estimating what's there before I head to the store. And now that the baskets are in place, it's extra organised so I can stay on top of everything (which should help me prevent even more food waste!).

I hope you all are having a great Thanksgiving! Over here, we're having a great time. This year I declined to cook (!!!) and we ordered a lovely tenderloin package from Whole Foods. The food was great, and since it's just the two of us this year we have plenty to snack on through the weekend. However, not doing the spread doesn't mean I ignored the kitchen completely. Instead of making dinner, I've spent the day baking various types of cookies to send to my mother for her holiday gift (we're doing only handmade gifts this year). Which brings me to the mesquite. The people at Casa de Fruta (which is one of my favourite places in the world, primarily because of how wonderful their olives, dried apples and sheet apricots are! Plus they make some really delightful wines; I stop there anytime I'm in northern California) sent me a bag of their mesquite flour. It tastes kind of carob-like, and is flour made from the beans of the mesquite tree. Doesn't really get m...

And the sixth and last letter: Ok, so you've had enough by now, I'm sure. Here's a little more: Homemade soft drinks: When you peel an apple, save the peel and the core. Combine 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water in a pan and bring it to a boil. Let it boil for one minute, then add the apple bits and remove from the heat. Let it hang out for an hour or two, then strain the apple bits out. You can mix this syrup w/ club soda to make apple soda. You can make these syrups from almost anything. In my fridge right now I have mint syrup, lemon-lime (homemade 7-up), kumquat, orange, apple, ginger ... and some other stuff I can't remember. Big treats: Homemade Oreo cookies (which you've already tasted, I believe), homemade biscotti, biscuits, bread, ding dongs, pies and all sorts of other treats. I have a lot of recipes for this kind of stuff, so just tell me what you want to make and I'll get you a recipe. This next section is deleted, as it just has a bunch of recipes ...

Here's the fifth letter: Are you tired yet? I am. We're almost done, though. So, here's the deal w/ produce. If it's really cheap, per pound, it's in season. If it's really expensive, it's not in season. You want to eat seasonally whenever possible. Mainly for two reasons. 1. It's a lot less expensive. 2. Your food will be fresher. In ethnic stores, you can also get dried fruits really cheaply, and they are great for snacks and also to add to foods you're cooking. Frozen vegetables: Corn Green beans Spinach Onion (optional) Frozen fruit: Pick out 2-5 kinds of fruits and berries you like, and keep a bag of them in the freezer. You can use them for pie, for ice cream toppings, for smoothies, all sorts of things. Also cobbler, clafoutis, etc. Frozen fruits are like the miracle product, because you can fruits that aren't in season super cheaply. Sometimes even fruits that ARE in season can be gotten cheaply this way, as well as exotic fruits you migh...

Here's the fourth letter in the series: This is going to be a long one (probably the longest). I'll try to remember to break it up into categories. The main reason this section is so important is because it will fill your baking needs, and also will help you to avoid appetite fatigue. Appetite fatigue is where a person is so tired of eating the same thing all the time they would rather not eat at all. It not uncommon in serious, long-lasting emergency situations for people to choose to die rather than to eat Beans. One. More. Day. (or whatever it is they're eating constantly) While I know you are not living in that kind of extreme poverty, it's still something you want to keep in mind when you're figuring out how to stock your kitchen. If you're not feeling appetite fatigue eating at home, you'll keep eating at home instead of eating out and spending tons of money that way. Keeping you out of restaurants is the only reason I mention appetite fatigue. :) Anyw...

Here's the third letter in the series: Ok, next is meat. I'm working w/ meat right now so it's on my mind. I forgot to tell you - at the store, bring a calculator (or do it in your head) and keep track of how much you're spending as you go. Only bring in as much cash as you're ok w/ spending that day. Canned Meat: 10-12 cans of tuna (important). Look for the cheapest brand, and get it packed in water. While the oil-packed tuna has a lot of flavour and nutritive value, it's not as versatile to cook w/. If you see this on sale, stock up on it. One advantage of buying the "off-brand" is that it will still generally come in a 6 ounce can. Most name brands have reduced the size of the can to 5 ounces but are still charging the same amount or more. Spam. I keep on hand the individual slice packets. These are stupidly expensive, but can be nice to have at the house for rare occasions when you get weird cravings or you have a house guest who likes the stuff. I...

Part two of the economical eating series: Ok... This one should be a little shorter than the last. Price book: Many people (I actually don't do this, because I do it in my head, but it helps most people) will get a notebook and pen, then go to the store. What they do is write down the types of things they buy, or plan to buy, for their family, and then they write down the cost of the item (also the unit price, which is price per ounce, or per whatever). They will typically go to a few different store and do this. So the book might have an entry like this: White rice, long-grain : HEB : 10 dollars for a 10 pound bag unit price: $1/pound Randalls : 8 dollars for a 10 pound bag And so on. Don't go to a store you wouldn't feel comfortable shopping at. Even if they're a little cheaper, you won't go there anyway, so it doens't matter. Do consider looking at places like ethnic store (hispanic, asian and middle eastern stores often sell staples MUCH cheaper than america...

A while back, I had a lengthy email exchange with a friend of mine. Like many of us, she was concerned about rising food costs and our troubled economy. Because I'd successfully done an experiment during the summer to see if I could eat for $9/week (with a previously well-stocked pantry), she was interested to know how my pantry was stocked and how I was able to eat so cheaply. This is pretty long email exchange, and since I am busy with lots of homework, I've decided to leave it in its original form (just my emails, her responses are not included for privacy reasons) with only minimal editing. I thought despite its length, that the information might be useful to some of you by introducing some new ways of reducing food cost, or just reminding you of some things you may have forgotten. In this email series, it first outlines how to stock the pantry well for minimal cost, how to stock your freezer, how to minimise food waste and then finally, the $9/week part (which is, admitted...

Hi. I just wanted to pop in and tell you guys I really haven't been cooking lately. Over spring break, P and I went to Dallas to visit our friend D, and we ate stupid amounts of meat. Since we've been home, I've been slammed with homework, preparing to be the dramaturg for a play on the 16th, getting things set up for my school transfer in the fall and baking. A lot. Usually, I make these ridiculous batches of bread dough, and I freeze most of the dough. But with Pesach coming along, I've been trying to bake it all so I don't have to throw it away. In terms of eating, I have to admit, we've been eating mostly foods I've canned before ( meat sauce mainly), simple pastas (though mostly w/ sauteed mushrooms and preserved lemons lately, as it's quicker). Or eating fast food. Oh, and I found some breaded chicken in the freezer, so we had "oven wings" and oven fries one day. Tomorrow I intend to make several salads (my parsley is bolting, so I ...

I was making those ever-so-popular fleur de sel caramels today when I learned that maybe one should do the dishes either before, or after the candy making. It's been a while since I made real candy, so I excuse the forgetfulness. As a result of my negligence, I let it boil 5 or so degrees higher than the recipe called for. Oops. It set up quicker than the recommended two hours, and did not have that lovely, creamy-sticky-soft mouth-feel. What happened instead was that the caramels turned into a lovely caramel-toffee cross. Initially, it feels like toffee, but then you chew it a bit and it becomes sticky and soft, but not like a real caramel. Delicious, but not what I wanted*. I am learning from the fail in three ways: 1) Watch the pot, not the cleaning 2) In case of a fail of #1, set the alarm on the candy thermometer 3) On fail days, open a can of homemade pasta sauce instead of chancing ruining dinner (this is preemptive learning since I have not ruined dinner yet, by choosing t...

Over at Chile Chews , they're doing a meme of what people have in their spice cabinets. I thought this seemed like a lot of fun, so I'm participating too. I have some spices that are not on this list, and the instructions say to just add them to the end. So if you want to continue the meme, you can either use the list I have, or refer back to the original post, linked above. I've cut and pasted her list, and put in bold the spices I have. The ingredients I've added to the end have been done in italics . She uses an asterisk for herbs she's grown herself, but I'm not doing that part because I have no herbs I grew myself that I don't also have that I didn't. I've got some duplicates, I guess. 1. Allspice, ground 2. Allspice, whole 3. Anardana, ground (dried pomegranate seeds) 4. Anardana, whole 5. Basil leaves 6. Bay leaf 7. Caraway seeds 8. Cardamom 9. Cayenne pepper 10. Celery seed 11. Chile pepper, New Mexico, ground (note: this is no...

Our fridge was delivered yesterday. It was missing a part. And it ... doesn't fit. I am happy to have it sitting in the middle of my kitchen. If it continues to live in the middle of the kitchen, fine by me. If it is somehow made able to fit, even better. But either way? I HAVE A FRIDGE!!!!!!!! While I was at school, P went down to Phoenicia without telling me and got some things I have missed. It was a great surprise when I got home (even better than the laundry being done, which I also got!)! Olives! Salami! Cheese! Brussels sprouts! All sorts of fun things! Then we went to the regular store and we got some other foods. I feel much better having food in the fridge. Today we came home and made sandwiches and are now happily snacking on olives (ok, and some lupini beans). Tomorrow I will be making dinner. I'm excited!