The Pig and I

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) ...

A couple years back, P and I were camping with some friends. We'd split up meals, and one of the days our fellow camper, Sarah, grilled this onion soup. It was a delightful treat, so I asked her for the recipe. Today I share it with you. :) Hope you enjoy! 4 large onions (yellow or white), peeled, with the root end trimmed and the core hollowed out two thirds of the way down the onion 4 beef bouillon cubes (or veggie cubes, for you vegetarians out there) 4 tablespoons butter water as needed Insert a bouillon cube, a tablespoon of butter and water to fill into the cavity of each onion. Wrap in foil completely, then grill over high heat (with the grill closed) for one hour. This may also be done in the oven at 400-450F. Open bundles and sprinkle top of cavity with cheese (optional). Serves 4.

I feel like I should apologise to you guys for having been away so long. But I've already made that apology so many times I assume at this point y'all know I'm just a little flaky from time to time, and we'll leave it at that. And now when I disappear again for some odd reason, y'all won't be surprised in the least.  This particular disappearance was a pretty interesting one. I wrapped up my math degree, which is pretty exciting. Then I went on a two week road trip vacation. My main stops (where I've not lived before) were in Omaha, to visit my friend and adopted brother D, and just outside Dickson, TN, where I visited my friend C. I had an outstanding time, filled with nature, picking fruits from trees, cooking, baking (without internet to remind me how to do things I'd forgotten) and eating lots of foods I didn't make as well. I had the most incredible fish and chips (and fried pickles) I've ever eaten in Omaha at the Dundee Dell (where...

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...

Well, it seemed to me that cooking toward the end of the time I'd be here wouldn't be very sound. Mainly because it meant I'd be saddling the friend who's caring for my house and "kids" with some leftovers she may or may not want. Didn't seem fair. So instead, I cooked enough food on Monday to last a couple days and decided to rely on pita roll-ups for the remainder of my dietary needs. And so, that brings me to the purpose of this post. Since I obviously wasn't cooking anything, I really wasn't spending any money, either. Or was I? Well, as it turns out, I was. I was spending money stocking up on things for my friend! She didn't really want much; just some Dr. Pepper and pasta sauce. I felt like maybe that wasn't enough, so I got some other things too. A lot of other things. I also made sure that I got enough for more than just her, since she mentioned she might have her brother come over to play rough with Francis. Playing rough is hard w...

It occurred to me you guys might've wondered what we ate while we were camping. So I thought I'd post it today. Thursday: Seared scallops in a butter/white wine/lemon/caper sauce; grilled lemon halves were served on the side Shallot and Chanterelle risotto (similar to this , but with white wine as well, way more shallots and only chanterelles) Friday: Bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast Sandwiches for lunch (I was making a huge lunch for 50 other people, recipe posted below) Steaks, potatoes simmered with onion and rosemary in butter, Sarah's grilled onion soup (the onion soup I will be making again soon; it was so simple and amazingly delicious, so I'll post the recipe at that time) Saturday: Bacon and Matzot Brei (I'll post my recipe for this at some point too, if someone will remind me) for lunch (we woke up late) Hebrew National hotdogs with lemon onions (recipe follows) for dinner Sunday: Pasta and meat sauce for lunch Seared beef salad ...