What Was Missing

Walked out of the apartment this morning into air like a damp dishrag, and nearly missed the bus--I am not yet used to the fact that waking up ten minutes later may actually impact my morning. A single cricket serenaded my hasty progress.

But it was a lovely weekend. Saturday began with a trip to the Union Square farmer's market, where I bought--oh, lots and lots of things, and felt ludicrously happy and very much an urban dweller. L asked for a snack, was offered a ground cherry by a man working at the stand we were in line for; she wouldn't try it, so I did, and found it surprisingly sweet. I bought her a stalk of broccoli, which she nibbled at for the remainder of our stay at the market (yes, she likes raw broccoli, at least as much as she likes anything that resembles real food). There was South American flute music, and lots of people had dogs, and some of the eggs I bought are green, not to mention huge. Lunch was a caprese salad and slices from the cutest little watermelon ever. I wish I'd written down the name of the tomatoes I got, because I actually found them okay.

In the afternoon we headed over to the Mystic River Reservation--which is a lot bigger than I realized, looking at it on this map. Maybe next summer I can start running again. The background sound was a strange, constant meld of traffic and cicadas.

On Sunday my sister-in-law and her husband joined us for lunch. I had promised L cookies, so after putting the dough in to chill, I made a corn chowder that looked reasonably good, and indeed it was so. Any excuse to use my belated birthday present:

For some reason, most of what I've bought for the new kitchen is red, I don't know why, though a straightforward interpretation would suggest energizing change.

After lunch the kids dragged everyone else upstairs--I heard a fair amount of LEGO clatter--while I cleaned up a bit and got the dough out. L ventured downstairs while I was rolling out the first bit, and very soon everyone was back in the kitchen, wielding cookie cutters shaped like dinosaurs and decorating the results as soon as they had cooled off.

It was exactly what I have spent the past few years feeling that we've been missing from our lives--casual, minimally planned social contact, in which people can come over on short notice and feel free to linger, because they don't face an hour-plus drive home from our place, and I can relax and putter and feed the people I love without making into a laboriously planned Event.

The place is still coming together--I don't think we'll be fully sorted out for another month, but we unpacked a bit more, hung up the shower curtain I like so much instead of the ugly one the previous tenants left, shoved some out of season stuff into the storage zones, and Freecyled a ton of moving boxes and packing material. We have filled another box with books we might be able to part with. There's a lot left to do, but every incremental improvement in the entropy level does good things to my stress levels as well.

In the late afternoon on Sunday, the kids watched a video while I sat at the kitchen table and leafed through old cooking magazines, cutting down the stack (am I ever going to make that? what was I thinking when I turned down that corner? do I like this entire issue enough to keep it, or can I pull out a few pages and recycle the rest?). It was pleasant and restful and productive at the same time, even if reading about fall recipes makes me want to hurry the seasons forward even more.

Supper was an adaption of a pork and bok choy stir fry I found after a brief online search. I had a ton of bok choy, beautiful little plants from the market, so didn't use any other greens. I also found that I didn't have any cornstarch or hoisin sauce--I have some restocking to do. It was good anyway.

And now it is Monday, and it's going to be 90 degrees again.

Three New Ones from Fine Cooking

After a dry spell, last week saw a burst of energy in which I tried three new recipes from the latest issue of Fine Cooking, a magazine of which I am increasingly fond:

•  Tilapia with Scallions and Black Bean Sauce -- Instant keeper. We loved this one, and it was quick and easy to make. I don't really like tilapia all that much, but this is a good use for an increasingly common and popular fish.
• Chicken Noodle Soup with Lemongrass -- I still haven't found lemongrass around here, but even without it, this is a good soup. I'd make this one again.
• Chinese Egg Noodles with Five-Spice Pork -- The dud of the week's efforts, alas, this was okay, but not something I'd make again -- at least not without significant tweaks, the first of which would be to eliminate the bacon. This turned out on the greasy side.

I don't know if this blog is having an identity crisis or what. I don't seem to have the time to make a proper go of it--work, kids, writing, reading, to which will soon be added apartment-hunting and moving. Too many hobbies, not enough hours. I hate to abandon it, though. I suppose if nothing else I can keep it as a record of the few new things I try these days.

This next week is going to be full of veggies after a weekend that's been mainly carbs, but they're tried and true ones for us. I want spring!

New Recipes for the First Week of June

Having finally been inspired to put together a nearly-full slate of new recipes for the week, I have not been organized enough to blog about them individually, so here's a catch-up post. After the crap we ate on the road Saturday, I felt a serious urge to make good things that at least nodded in the direction of healthfulness. (I have also been working out every day this week, have traded in my beloved bagels for yogurt and fruit, and my supper glass of wine for milk--though that last is at least partially because I have a cold, and one does not mix wine and NyQuil).

• Monday - Spicy Orange Chicken Stir-Fry. This one is a definite keeper. I've tried orange sauces before and always been put off by them, but this strikes the right balance between the sweet and other notes for my taste.
  

• Tuesday - Orecchiette with Caramelized Onions, Sugar Snap Peas, and Ricotta Cheese. Reserving judgment. There was no fresh basil at the store, and I think that would have made a big difference. The onions turned out nicely, but the dish as a whole was on the bland side. We'll try this one again before deciding if we really like it. Also had to use frozen sugar snaps, which I'm sure didn't help.
• Thursday -Pasta with Goat Cheese, Lemon, and Asparagus. I made this with fresh local asparagus from the farmers market, and it was very good and easy to put together. No tarragon at hand, so I used some herbes de Provence, which provided a nice flavor, if not quite what the recipe developer had in mind. A good one to keep in the spur-of-the-moment file, since most of the ingredients are things one usually has on hand. My only regret was not having bought even more asparagus than I did!
  
• Friday -Hoisin Pork Tenderloin with Asian Carrot Salad. Lest you think that we've gone vegetarian over here. My store was out of pork tenderloin. Which was supposed to be on sale this week--a buying error, the butcher explained a bit sheepishly, and gave me some pork loin at a markdown to apologize. It worked reasonably well. This is another simple one, hard to go wrong. For the dressing I used Newman's Own low-fat sesame-ginger, which is okay for a bottled dressing (why do they all have so much sugar? the fabled American sweet tooth at work?).

Also on Friday, my birthday presents from D arrived: a copy of The Omnivore's Dilemma, and Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet. I have started reading the former, and am learning fascinating things about corn sex.

Vietnamese-Spiced Pork Chops

I'm a little behind with blogging this week, but I have been working hard to get new recipes back into our weekly planning. This one made the cut because it was quick and easy, requiring no unusual ingredients. Which is actually part of the problem, I think--what on earth about this ingredient list is supposed to be Vietnamese? The bigger problem is that all the sugar in the spice rub smoked the place up something awful.

I thought it was pretty good, D's judgement was "meh." So, probably not something I'll make again.

Vietnamese-Spiced Pork Chops

Fennel-Rubbed Pork with Shallot-Pomegranate Reduction

This may be the first legitimate "OMG" recipe of the year. The unique zing of the fennel, the pungency of the cracked pepper, and the sweetness of the pomegranate all come together and you close your eyes and hum.

It's that good. And just to ice the cake, it's easy.

Fennel-Rubbed Pork with Shallot-Pomegranate Reduction

The only question is, what to serve with it. We had a spinach salad, which was fine, and a simple rice pilaf (I didn't make the walnut couscous the link suggests), which was "meh." Maybe the couscous would have been better.

The reduction does tend to run all over the plate, which makes presentation a tad tricky. I'd love to make this for a dinner party someday, and if I did, I think I'd serve in courses, give this the messy run of the plate and maybe have a little risotto or something separately (ooh, an excuse to make lemon risotto again!).

A Busy Kitchen Weekend

Of all the times to misplace my camera.

To start the weekend properly, on Friday... it was a long week. So on Friday night I made a chocolate cake. On Saturday morning I iced it, but impatience got the better of me -- the butter wasn't soft enough, and did not mix in entirely with everything else, so my cake has eensy blobs of butter in the frosting, and I wouldn't have taken a picture of it anyway. It was the same cake I made for L's last birthday.

Speaking of L, she got her first haircut on Saturday! Apparently it went reasonably well. Afterwards her dad took her to Barnes and Noble, where Winnie the Pooh was making an appearance, and she got a new Thomas the Tank Engine train. Quite a good day from her point of view.

While they were out, I went to the grocery store. I didn't have much of a list yet, but I figured I might as well go ahead and get the things that I knew I needed. For once, the store was looking pretty good. I bought some bright bell peppers, which didn't even look as if they had been hurled with force from the back of a truck at some point, some salad fixings, and a grab bag of protein-type things, including a 4+ pound pork loin roast. I have never cooked a loin roast before, but I knew I had seen recipes for them that looked tasty.

I got back, put everything away, and decided that I ought to make a batch of marinara sauce for later this week. I have a training class to attend, which means I'll be home pretty late two days, which means that the menu has to be D-friendly (pasta and tacos). The recipe that I use is one that makes the rounds of the Cooking Light bulletin boards and is known simply as "Lindrussos". Some day I might pass this recipe to my kids and they will wonder who Lindrusso might be. The recipe starts by caramelizing onions, and for once I was not impatient, and I did not singe the onions, and I did not make the mistake of turning the heat up too high later on, and my marinara turned out wonderfully, without the bitter undernote it had last time, which D loyally denied being able to taste.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
3-4 medium onions, chopped
1/2 cup cup dry red wine
6 cloves garlic, crushed with the blade of a knife
3 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes (or 2 28-ounce cans crushed and 2 14-ounce cans diced if you want a bit more chunkiness)
2 (6-ounce) cans tomato paste
2 teaspoons oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
pinch of crushed red pepper or more to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Heat oil in a Dutch Oven over medium heat. Add chopped onions and 1 tablespoon sugar. Sauté onions for 30-45 minutes, or until sweet and caramelized. As the pan dries while onions are cooking, add red wine as needed. Once onions are done, continue to add the rest of the ingredients. Stir until well-combined. Simmer over low heat for 4-6 hours (you can simmer for less, but I would simmer for at least 1-2 hours). Stir often to keep the sauce from burning or getting overcooked. Makes about 9 cups of sauce.

In the afternoon, while JJ napped and the sauce simmered, I played with L. We even went outside and made a little snowman. It was unseasonably warm, a wonderful feeling after the seriously harsh winter we've been having, and the snow was slumping and easy to work with. I made snowballs, and she threw chunks of ice into the puddles to see them start melting.

In the course of his nap, JJ developed a lovely, though fortunately mild, croupy cough. So we called the pediatrician's office, and D went out to buy a humidifier.

There was still dinner, and that pork loin. I did a few recipe searches and came up with Chinese Red-Cooked Pork. Considerably easier than making pie, and almost as rewarding. I will say two things about the recipe, though: My loin took about thirty minutes longer than stated to get to the fork-tender stage, and it would have benefited from more, since it wasn't quite shreddable. But there's that impatience thing... and I was hungry. Second, they include instructions to "brown" the roast.

Umm... in what? A roast is not going to brown in a bath of wine and sugar. So next time I make this I may fiddle with it a bit and see if browning it represents an improvement. I still have half of my loin roast tucked in the freezer, after all. With the pork I made rice, and sliced up some of the peppers and a cucumber. L ate copious amounts of both vegetables, astonishingly, but didn't touch anything else. Perhaps I should include a crudite plate with all meals? Slices of cake made a splendid dessert.

Sunday was supper club, and just as busy a day if not more so....

Dinner for a Frazzled Weekend

The frazzling began late Saturday night, when out of nowhere JJ started throwing up. Now, this child spits up right and left, but had never out and out vomited before, so we checked all of our books, and when he did it a few more times called his doctor. After which, of course, he settled down and didn't do it again, sparing us a trip to the emergency room at midnight. But the damage to his hapless parents was done. D got next to no sleep all night, leaving him borderline ill himself the next day, when we were expecting his sister and her husband to be staying the night with us on Sunday.

We managed to get the place cleaned up, and I finished up the grocery shopping. On the way home, the ginger ale's cardboard case gave way, scattering cans hither and yon through the the parking lot. I gathered up those that hadn't sprung a leak and soldiered on. When we got home, I found that the bottle of spray cleaner hadn't been tightly closed, so most of one bag smelled rather strongly of citrus and half of its contents had to be thrown out.

In the afternoon, wonder of wonders, both kids took a nap, so I took myself to my freshly cleaned kitchen and started to mess it up again, making sandwich bread and a cake to go along with the taco dinner I had planned. The latter I have made before, and we love the recipe in the summer, though the tacos tend to be a little bit unwieldy, with bits of veggies and pork juices falling everywhere. The previously untried lemon cake was okay, but I've definitely had better. I may give up on Cooking Light for dessert recipes; they have some standouts, but the whole impulse to be low-fat about things has led to some less than outstanding results. Though it may not seem like it to read this blog, I don't make desserts all that often, and if I'm going to the effort I want something that tastes really, really good. Like Lisa Yockelson's blueberry tea cake, reported on here by a fellow blogger (and commented on by Ms. Yockelson herself!).

By the time we finished dinner, I could feel the scratchiness starting in my throat. JJ got us up no less than three times in the night, and every time he did, my throat felt worse. So here it is, Monday morning, I am coming down with a cold, I have a ton of work to do this week, and I left my headphones at home.

The week should get better from here.

Pork, Cashew, and Green Bean Stir-Fry

Car shopping is exhausting, and strangely unrewarding. We started the day with a list of dealerships that seem to have a car we'd like to see. The first one was to take a second look at a car we like, but have reservations about. We still have them. The dealer shrugged patiently.

The second place we didn't even end up driving the car because the guy only had one plate, and it was out with someone else. We waited for fifteen minutes and gave up; he never even came out to the lot. Guess he thought we were poor prospects.

The third was one of the big name dealerships, and I think we learned our lesson about never going to those places. It was a fascinating textbook display of hard sell tactics, and he put on a thoroughly astonished expression when we informed him rather bluntly that we were not planning to buy a car then and there no matter what he said (they did give L a balloon, so we got that out the day...). In fact, we have no intention of ever buying any car from these guys.

Six hours of driving around the state and looking at cars ate up way more energy than it seems like it should have. The kids were reasonably well behaved throughout all of this; there was a distinct "I want to go home" vibe by the time we got to the third place, and I felt some of it myself. I was tempted to go the takeout route again, but instead made Pork, Cashew and Green Bean Stir-Fry (with sugar snap peas instead of green beans). It's hard to go too far wrong with tenderloin, and this is a good, no-frills recipe, perfect for nights when you're dead on your feet.

Today, I hope, we're going to make up our minds. Next time we'll try to time the whole thing better; the pressure of either getting it done now or it waits until after vacation is not making this any more pleasant. And maybe we won't wait until the car is on its last leg before we start looking.