"Ladybugs, Katherine. Lots and lots of ladybugs."

So, my parents are flying to Rome tomorrow. How fantastic is that?! Its a Wedding Anniversary/Dad's Giving a Paper at a Conference Thing. So to celebrate I've made myself a delectable dinner, lit the candles, poured the wine and am watching Under the Tuscan Sun. Though to be fair this dinner, with the level of butter it calls for, is really more French than Italian...which makes me think of Julia Child...and her simply wonderful love with Paul...which makes me think of my parents...which makes my choice in dish just fine!

I spotted it on Smitten a few weeks ago, Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms. I know, right.

I like mushrooms almost as much as hobbits so it was a no brainer to add to my bookmark bar. I hadn't planned to make this dish, but I just happened to put a carton of mushrooms in my basket when grocery shopping yesterday and all the other ingredients are pantry staples. I love it when that happens! Now that I'm eating it, it's a little indulgent. That's what butter is...all three tablespoons of it. I can't honestly eat all of it in one sitting, I'm not that French! But as it happens I also bought some rolls at the grocery so looks like I'm eating mushroom garlic toasts tomorrow! Hurrah! And I know Caitlin will hate me for saying it, but they really will go great with steak!

I also happen to be on an accidental (??) food/love lore kick. It's sick really. A few months ago I went into one of my local bookshops and left with no books but a whole list of food book recommendations. One of them was Cooking for Mr Latte, and in a moment of curiosity I put in on hold from the library. I picked it up Thursday. And returned it Friday. It was just that horrible. But it wasn't the writing that was that terrible! I mean come on it was a romance I lowered my expectations a little bit but holy shit the author (autobiographer) is a total food bitch! Seriously! The whole book is about a guy she belittles on every single page because of his poor, no "incorrect" choices when it comes to eating. And yet they stay together. Why?? It's not why did she stay with a man who ordered a latte after dinner and sweetened it with Splenda (oh the inhumanity of it!!) as she tries to sell it as. No. It's why would a man stay with a woman who writes an ENTIRE BOOK about how she judges how he chooses to eat. I actually chucked the book across the room it made me so mad. Food is such a positive and vital thing to me I was actually upset to see it used as a nasty bitch weapon.

So instead I came back from the library on Friday with I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti and Eat, Memory. Im only a few chapters into the Spaghetti book but it's lovely, the recipes look tasty, and I haven't had the urge to chuck it across the room yet. I'm hoping Eat, Memory is like Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant, one of my favorite food essay books. Food is memory, food is love, food is tasty as hell.

Now if we're getting into movies I indulged in TWO today. No Reservations happened to be on the tv this morning, which sent me squeeing into a chair to curl up and watch with my breakfast and tea this morning. I have yet to see the film it was based off of, Mostly Martha, but I've put it on hold and will report back! Any of you seen it? Or either really...I wonder if Aaron Eckhart's character in Mostly Martha sings opera while he cooks. It's my favorite part...Aaron Eckhart, food, AND opera? Dear God.

And at this moment it's Under the Tuscan Sun. Someone gave it to my mom who then re-gifted it to me and with me it will stay. I haven't read the book, most likely will someday. Just like I read Eat, Pray, Love so will most likely see the movie someday. And I adore this movie. Its just absurd enough to not make all the sentimentality nauseating. AND they name the baby Alexandra which is such a good choice. Though its not really that much about food, just Italy and personal growth. It has a great line though, someone gives Francis a statue of San Laurenzo, the patron saint of chefs, and tells her "I think if you pray to him, you will find someone to cook for". I think that's just lovely. And get this! San Lorenzo, or St Lawrence, was martyred on a gridiron and allegedly said "I'm done on this side! Turn me over!". And they bring his burnt head out for show on his feast day at the Vatican. Fantastic!

I wonder if they make tamata for someone to cook for. I know they make stomach ones but I think that's for stomach disease which isn't quite the same thing...

As it is I have lots of people to cook for (I fed Miss Kate roast cauliflower and Carrot Parsnip soup last night, while she made gluten free chocolate chip cookies) and even more to chatter on to about what I feed myself and other people! Hello people! I have the feeling my cooking may take an Italian turn soon...and I'm now officially in love with the Spaghetti book, there's a recipe for "Fuck-You Cakes" and "Orthopedic Cod". I don't even know how to begin on that awesomeness. I'll just eat it instead.

L'Hiver

I was in a very wintery mood on Friday. Not only because it was a lovely 1 degree outside, but I had just read this post on Decor*8 about embracing winter instead of grumping for months. And as strange as it sounds considering that I live in the land of XXExtreme WinterXX its not really a hard thing for me to do. I kind of love winter.

First of all there's the snow. I'm twenty-four and I still curl up in a chair to watch the first snow fall. For like hours. Snow at night is the best. The world gets sooo quiet. Hushed. I take a Long Walk most Thursdays from the bus to the library, and I love it in winter. Mostly because I'm not a sweaty hot mess after walking for an hour... But also because I can think my thoughts walking along as the snow falls down. Illuminated by street lamps as my feet crunch along the sidewalk while I'm humming to 'white winter hymnal'. It's magical.

And then there are layers and blankets and scarves! I'm a nester, the more layers the better. As a kid I was the princess and the pea of blankets. I guess that makes me the pea under the pile of blankets...or something. And I just want to live in the Toast catalogues. Shrouded in blankets and sweaters and thick socks. I even bought fuzzy faux fur boots this year and I'm so okay with it. Things just seem to slow down this time of year, the holidays are over and we go into a hibernation mode. Its time for contemplation and simple pleasures. Like slippers. And hand balms.

So Friday after work I made this hot chocolate, got in my pjs, curled up on the couch and listened to Band of Horses. Don't they sound just like winter?! So does Feist, Fleet Foxes and Nora Jones's new album (just in case you, like me, make seasonal playlists...). It was a beautiful winter sky and tiny flakes fell down from time to time. And the best thing? When I got hungry, I knew exactly what to make for a lovely winter dinner. Kale with sausage tortellini.

I totally ripped this off Alice Waters's recipe fusilli with greens and sausage. I've just simplified it and reduced the number of dishes used (because I'm lazy but have high standards). First thing you do is put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta (I like Buitoni's sweet Italian sausage tortelloni for this). Then chop up your kale and some onion. Heat up some oil and garlic in a frying pan. Add the onions to cook for a few minutes then add the kale with a dash of white wine (thanks Mo!) and a bit of water. Cook until it's just turning from the bright green stage to the darker green (and call me crazy but it starts to smell a little different too). Around this time the water should boil so cook your pasta. Once done mix it all together in the pan and transfer to a bowl for consumption. A little shredded cheese serves as a nice garnish but I can take it or leave it.

Then return to your chair by the window, turn off the lights, light some candles and watch the snow. See! Winter is not that bad!

They kind of look like tiny brains...

It's true. All I could think about when I was slicing up the wee Brussels sprouts was how much they look like tiny brains. An excellent thing to keep in mind for a zombie theme party...make a nice glaze and add some red food coloring or beet juice...watch Sean of the Dead...find some Cornettos and munchies to make it complete. Guests could bring their own weapons! Blunt ones! Oh the possibilities!!

But seriously, Brussels sprouts. Both the lovely Lizbeth and my Aunties M &D wrote back encouraging me to roast the little fuckers, and as it's my favorite hobby I did. The first time they were a bit dry, melting butter helped a lot but I felt they had more to offer. After some searching I found Smitten Kitchen made a dish that involved a balsamic glaze which sounded fantastic. But of course this afternoon when it came time to make a late lunch I took a look at the recipe, noted all the steps and ingredients, did some calculations and decided I didn't feel

like it. Not today at least. Perhaps some other time when I was less hungry and lazy.

So I decided to give roasting another go. I've gotten even lazier in my roasting process if you can believe it. I was already a fan of putting down aluminum foil as it both eliminates cleanup AND lessens the chance you're going to ruin your pan like I'm in the habit of doing. Now I've gone a step further and instead of tossing the veggies, oil and S&P in a bowl I do it straight on the foil. I know. As long as you're generous in your oil glugs and use a wooden spoon so you don't tear the foil rolling the veg around you'll be just fine. Even better then fine as you'll have no bowl to wash! Hurrah!

Now just in case it was a repeat of last time and they were too dry I did find a less complicated recipe for a balsamic glaze in the America's Test Kitchen cookbook:

Whisk 6 tbs olive oil, 2 tbs balsamic vinegar, 1 tbs maple syrup, 1 minced shallot, and 1/4 tsp dry mustard in a large bowl. Season with S&P then toss in the veggies. Serves 4.

I put the oil, vinegar and maple syrup in a saucepan with some minced garlic and let it reduce a bit before adding the mustard etc and it was quite tasty. Though I only did it on half the sprouts because somehow this time they were absolutely delicious just roasted. It might be that I used more salt, or that I left them in for only 15 minutes and did not stir at all (I was showering) so they got nice and brown while maintaining a moist center. Or something.

I am going to eat the roast ones as a side for supper with my newest favorite thing to do with pasta:

Cook 3 cups farfalle pasta, saving some of the cooking water before draining. Cut up two wedges of Laughing Cow Original cheese and melt over the pasta, stirring and adding pasta water if needed for nice even coverage. Then add some arugula to wilt if you so desire, S&P and the most important part is throwing in a few handfuls of chopped walnuts. Serves 2 or 1 for dinner and lunch the next day. It's a very fall/winter sort of recipe. When tomatoes no longer seem appropriate and nuts are.

Speaking of which when was the last time you cracked some nuts? Seriously! While at home the lovely Lizbeth and I hunkered down over a bowl of mixed nuts and went to town with a nutcracker (not the creepy wooden kind, the scary I Mean Business metal kind). It was a lot more fun than I had anticipated, even though you have to work for your food. A cloth towel and nut pick add to the ease of the process. Fewer nuts shattering all over the table (and floor) and forks work ok for getting into the crevices but a pick most likely is much easier... If small children come to your house this seems like an excellent activity to make them do. As long as they don't hurt themselves or choke to death of course.

With lots of couch snuggling, snow watching and copious cups of tea this has been a perfect winter Sunday and I hope you are having as much fun on this extra long weekend as I am! Go eat some sprouts!

I protest!

Non-seedless grapes are stupid. The only thing stupider is trying to eat them.

That is all.

Friends=Food

I missed my darling Lizbeth today and decided to console myself by trying my hand at a dish she made while we visited over the holidays: roasted sweet potato, apple and onion. The apple bakes down into a magical slush that co-mingles with the sauteed onions and tender sweet potatoes. It's simply divine. It tastes like winter. And friendship!

Now she's one of those obnoxiously talented people who when you ask for a recipe say "oh i just threw some things together and a little while later I got this magically divine dish that tastes like what angels eat". Lovely. I have control issues! Just because I'm not going to follow the recipe doesn't mean I don't need one!! Gah! She also cans. CANS! That mystical thing people in the olden days did. She keeps telling me its not scary but I don't believe her. (I'm working on it though.)

But back to the food.

She said she "chopped up some sweet potatoes, apples and onions. Sauteed the onions then stuck it all in her Le Creuset dutch oven with some butter and cooked it in the oven for a while." Or something like that. So today at the Jewel I bought three sweet potatoes, four apples and one onion. Came home, peeled all the potatoes and realized I really only had space for one in my non Le Creuset baking dish. Damn! So peeled only TWO apples which was perfect and chopped up HALF the onion. I stuck the potatoes and apples in the dish with some butter in a 400 degree oven, sauteed the onion and added it a bit later. Then I tried to be all "relaxed" and "free form" and not set a timer. To just organically let the apples and potatoes cook down, occasionally peering in to watch the beautiful process, really feeling when they were ready...all that hippy cook shit.

I lasted approximately ten minutes until I freaked and set the timer for 20 min. So I'd say it took about 30 min to bake...makes enough to feed two as a side...it tastes as good as it smells. Delicious. Happy memories of a wee kitchen and dear friend ran through my brain, not as good as the real thing but hey, I'll take it. And eat it too.

I was slightly nervous the whole time, wondering if I had forgotten something, messed up the ratios, should be stirring it more?? etc etc. Hopefully the next time I make this dish I'll be less twitchy about going sans recipe...free ballin' it? Is that too much?? Cooking from the gut? Being the Neil Armstrong of chefs? Something like that. I'm not terribly good at being off script in my life so I suppose I'm not surprised it extends into my cooking style, it's certainly something to work on. And comes with tasty rewards!

At the Jewel I also bought some brussels sprouts. They're apparently a winter thing so I've been planning on using some for a while. They looked very fresh today so in a moment of Alice Waters style "being open" I bought a hand-full. I have no idea what I want to do with them other than eat them. So if you people have any suggestions I'd love to hear them. And they'll be a very healthy start to 2011 if you, like me, are beginning a veggie binge after eating the Holidays.

P.S. If you've never checked out what a brussels sprout plant looks like DO. It's freakish and Belgian. Like Poirot.

Giving Thanks Sandin Style

In the world of retail the holiday of Thanksgiving seems barely a blip. After the Halloween displays come down it jumps straight to Christmas, which makes me sad. Mainly because we Chicagoans have a really loooong winter ahead of us, and while the holiday season is lovely, fall needs to be fall as long as possible!! But really it's because Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

First there's all the political incorrectness. It's just so fun! Small pox blanket anyone??

Second, there's being full of Thanks. I've got a lot to be thankful for, especially around this time of year as it's my anniversary with Chicago. Two years and we're still in love! And isn't the idea of a holiday completely devoted to counting your blessings a lovely thought?

Thirdly I could count all the crazy sales, but as I do not partake in Black Friday I wont.

So thirdly, and most importantly, it's about the food.

Duh.

Sandins are traditionally un-traditional, but for our Thanksgiving fare we actually pretend to be normal. Of course things end up a bit funny...take our turkey this year for instance. My parents ordered a 15 to 20 lbs turkey from the IGA and ended up with a whopping 27 lb bird! Twenty Seven Pounds of Meat. By my father's calculations (double checked by Mom I'm sure) it would take 8 and a half hours to roast. Almost two bags of stuffing were shoved up its cavity. It took up the whole of the oven. It was as big as my head.

We all came to the table with hearty appetites and barely managed to eat half of it. Though having a 19 yr old male to feed certainly helped!

Our post feast entertainment was watching Dr Karl bemusedly de-meat the bird.

But that didn't take too long so D and I had to entertain ourselves by doing finger tip/dead hangs from the grip tape he put above the door moulding. It's a climbing thing. Of course I am barely tall enough to reach with one hand while D...well, not much of a challenge for him. Do your family members climb doors? Oh, apparently the proper term is 'header moulding'. We have grip tape above our header moulding. Hah.

And then there's the left-overs. Turkey Sammitches. I love it. I never buy lunch meat so its really the only time of year that I'm going to eat a turkey sammitch. And I do it with bells on.

First there's the issue of bread. For some reason we've latched onto sourdough for turkey leftovers, I think there's a story there but I'm not sure what. I like mine toasted, because toast is amazing. Mayo on one piece, cranberry relish on the other. The middle consists of turkey (dark meat), mashed potatoes and perhaps a piece of lettuce. Because you probably need some lettuce by that point...or stuffing if you're not ready to be responsible yet. We take our sammitches seriously, especially Dr K. A remnant of his days lurking in Jersey hoagie shops. You should see him terrorizing the staff at Subway, it's hysterical.

This is his Serious Face.

This is Serious Business.

Ok now it might be 'lintel moulding'. The proper use of architectural terms is also Serious Business. Lintel moulding is both architecturally and structurally correct, we (Dr K) is still searching for the proper vernacular carpentry term. He has books in his office you see...

And on that note I'm declaring an end to the Thanksgiving post. It's after Boxing Day. And my father is reminding me of my duty to the blog reading public. That means you. Are you thank-full??!!

Eating Trees

Eating seasonally is something I'm trying to do more (along with drinking more water and eating better chocolate). Having to try to eat seasonally is kind of funny when you think about it. We have come so far in our ability to get food out of season that we forget that we used to be bound to the earth for when we could eat things. Eating strawberries in winter doesn't even make us blink. You can't cheer an unhappy Margaret with the prospect of strawberries from Col Brandon's greenhouses any more! No! But are they really worth it? Forced into ripeness can they really be as good as the first strawberry of summer? After all, anticipation is an important part of eating...thoughts, thoughts, thoughts.

Well, eating seasonally in winter means Cauliflower.

I have never been anti-cauliflower, just not particularly fond of it. Other than eating it raw with ranch dip I've never really known what to do with it...steamed cauliflower is ok just not...y'know...enough to make me want to eat it. While I was home in the fall my Mom had a copy of Donna Hay's magazine. Cauliflower was a featured item of that issue with recipes that got me thinking. White cauliflower pizza? Cauliflower puree? Hmmm.

However it wasn't until I was home for Thanksgiving that I actually got around to doing anything about it. It was after dinner that Friday, my parents and I decided to make a quick Dessert Run to the IGA and you have to pass through the produce section to get to the ice cream. That was where we saw it. The biggest head of cauliflower I've ever seen in my life. It was massive. Still encased in their leaves there were three of them taking up a whole stand. "Can we get one??!!" "Oh yeah." Ignoring the basket my Dad just carried it around like a baby while we made our ice cream selections. Once we were home we just stared at it for a while. I took pictures with a pint glass to show its size.

"What are we going to do to it??" The plan was to make a side dish for the dinner we were going to the next day. Recipe books and boxes were brought out, I consulted my Fearless Leaders of Food (Orangette and Smitten), but it was the recipe for braised cauliflower from that Donna Hay Magazine that won out.

I didn't end up making the dish at all (Bad Bear!). Mom made it while I went on a mission to Beverage Source with Dad so I'll post the actual recipe once I get it...but I did eat it! We had it with a delicious shepherds pie, greedily pouring the buttery juices over the braised vegetable and scraping our places. Even the small child ate all her vegetables! I officially love cauliflower.

I'm going to try my hand at this braising thing soon...but one of my favorite things to do in life is roast things. Anything really. You already know I roast beets and pumpkins but there's Tomatoes with coriander, eggplant for a sauce, asparagus, whatever.

I'm currently eating half a cauliflower that I've roasted to deliciousness. It's salty and savory and buttery. This is what I love about roasting. The ratio of effort to delicious is completely in your favor.

Turn your oven to 400 degrees. Grab a vegetable, chop, cover with olive oil and some salt and pepper. Place on a greased cookie sheet, or do as I do and put it on tin foil in a toaster oven (this is the way to go in summer or if you're just cooking for one). Set your timer for 10-20 min depending on what you're roasting and then walk away. Walk away! Clean up the kitchen, prep the rest of your meal, smells will soon begin to emerge and fill the room. Now is the time to peep at it once in a while, give a few stirs, and once you've reached your desired level of golden brown take it out and eat it. Soon you'll be like me, blinking sadly into an empty bowl and coming to the stunned realization that you just ate half a head of cauliflower.

Now I know that I promised Thanksgiving but eating that bowl of white awesomeness I just had to gush about it! Besides Thanksgiving is turning into a multi post monster so just hold your horses! So until next week, go stuff your faces! Oh and I put up two photos from the Beet Episode, check out the horror.