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February 2006

February 26, 2006

I have the *best* neighbors

subtitle: Support your local fishers!

subsubtitle: Wild salmon rocks (and farmed salmon sucks)!

I was just smearing today's version of a dry rub on a slab of ribs and thinking that dinner was going to be a bit late this evening — what with the slow-cooking that pork ribs require and my late start — when a car pulled into my driveway. This isn't a common occurence out here, it's not like there's a lot of "I was driving by and thought I'd stop"  when you live on a dead-end road.

SpringchinookWiping my hot-and-spicy hands on a towel, I opened the door to find my favorite fisherman standing there. He offered me the bag in his hand, saying, "Spring Chinook" with a warm smile. Oh my goddess! Spring Chinook delivered to my door! (In this case I truly didn't mind being left "holding the bag.") Barely off the boat, with a gorgeous color that farmed salmon would dye for, this is the best salmon. Ever. Period.

Fish this good needs little assistance to make an incredible meal. Tonight it will be a sprinkle of sea salt, a grinding of fresh pepper, and a side of basamati rice. Ribs can wait.

February 22, 2006

If I ran the Food Network...

Spuriouscake Let's talk. Pull up a chair, pour yourself some tea, perhaps you'd like a slice of cake?

I was over at eGullet, snickering at the (twitter) oh-so-awesome (flutter) project's ideas for some new Food Network shows
and it triggered this thought that has been floating around in my head ever since the last round of eating competitions hit my radar and left me ranting. Now, I realize that when it comes to thoughts on the Food Network I am a rank amateur compared to some people, but I do have a few ideas I'd like to put forward.

Continue reading "If I ran the Food Network..." »

February 17, 2006

Dangerous chocolate

Late one evening, you and several of your closest friends stare at the twelve shells in a circle in the middle of your dining room table. Each of you selects a shell in turn, wondering if this time, this one, will be it.

It all comes down to this: Are you feeling lucky?

Continue reading "Dangerous chocolate" »

February 16, 2006

More food. Less whine.

Whitelesswhineshirt By popular request (who knew?) and with Rand's generosity, I offer more shirts and stuff.

Having fought with Cafe Press's upload system (is resumable FTP really too much to ask for?) and a flaky satellite linkfor too many hours this evening, I'm now beat and must turn in before dawn, but I do have to say one thing: I put this on a toddler shirt and it sheds a whole new light on it. A whole new light. Because most parents of an active, growing, and eternally hungry toddler would agree: More food truly does often equal less whine.

February 14, 2006

eat, drink, blog...eat a cheese sandwich...shop

Shirt

I've got a little side project that seems highly appropriate to announce right about now; so much so that I made something special just for Kalyn, Catherine, and anyone else who is feeling slighted by some guy by the initials of PW (who is not getting more publicity from me).

Seriously, even the most dedicated foodist must venture out of the kitchen every once in a while, and since you've probably got flour on your sleeve or a drip of sauce on your shirt you need a new shirt. Check out these shirts. You can even order them with your blog name added (minimum order, drop me a note if you're interested).

February 11, 2006

a pound and a half of chocolate pastry filling

Cherryblossoms3 Those cherry blossoms were out in Seattle about two weeks ago. In January. In one of the rainiest Januaries in a really, really long time. I barely got the picture between squalls. It has little reason for being here, no attachment to the rest of the post, it's simply a lovely cntrast to the rest of what I've been looking at lately. Like the kitchen.

The kitchen is littered with brown golf balls. Puffy, irregular, cracked, chocolate golf balls. Looks like a chocolate Easter bunny played 9 holes before getting distracted and wandering off. A dozen or more — actually a lot more — discarded chocolate-espresso puffs, mostly torn to reveal gummy insides (gasp) cover much of the counter. What's left is either smeared with chocolate filling or dusted with chopped praline. Except for the pile of drying orange zest. I'd take a picture, but I'd just get the camera dirty.

When I made the big batch of the Mud Puffs yesterday, I guessed at the actual quantity of filling that would be needed. Apparently I guessed high. Quite a bit high. Leaving me with a pound or two of disgustingly rich chocolate orange pastry filling pressing need to make it go away to a place that doesn't make my jeans tighter.

What to do. What to do.

Continue reading "a pound and a half of chocolate pastry filling" »

February 05, 2006

mud puffs v.1

Mudpuffs031evenTinierTown's roads look a lot like the contents of the Cuisinart. Although it is notably missing the rocks and trees.

Today is the seventh day of the slides. Road-blocking, life-rearranging slides. The state's web site says "road closed until further notice," which doesn't sound all that bad, it's only one road, after all, you can always choose another route. From here, that involves a ferry, followed by an hour's drive through another state (on another road that has issues) and a bridge back across the river. Or I could drive "around," that being an extra three hours over roads that have had water over them at times for the last week or three. Because the hour and a half out of the way "around" is closed due to the road buckling a few weeks back. Unless it's like the other day when the road was closed in all directions within a couple of miles from my house.

But I digress.

Continue reading "mud puffs v.1" »

February 03, 2006

homemade sweet potato chips

Today was the day to go through the kitchen and use up odds and ends of food stuff, starting with a solitary sweet potato. Part of it went into a beef stew, because we're on day bazillion (or is it a bazillion and one?) of the rain and it cried for something to fill the air with the fragrant promise of slow cooked food.

Swpotatochips The other half of the sweet potato was peeled, sliced (with a 2mm Cusinart blade, but a mandoline or a sharp knife would do fine), parboiled for ~3 min, briefly plunged into ice water, dried on a paper towel, fried in just enough peanut oil to float them until lightly crispy, then sprinkled with salt mixed with a bit of very smoky spanish paprika.

It makes a very tasty bite, particularly if you get to them while they are still warm. I could see these being a hit at parties, especially if you have the kind of friends who would enjoy gathering around the stove to take turns frying small batches.

This was going to be a scientific experiment wherein I refrigerated some of the parboiled potatoes to determine how far ahead of serving you could effectively prep them. It was a great theory, but they sort of disappeared. Quickly.

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