Summer Pasta

Every Saturday I make the weekly grocery list. I try to only go to the grocery store once a week, on Sunday mornings. I find that is the perfect time of the week to go to the grocery store (especially in my conservative neighborhood) because many people go to church that time of day. I've cut our grocery bills by quite a bit by limiting the number of times we go to the store. If I go to the store more often, I see more things I think we need and end up buying wasteful food that isn't necessary. Even if it might be yummy.

Whenever I make my weekly list I ask V if he has any requests. Usually he doesn't, or it's something silly that I ignore. But this week he requested fish. I don't like fish, it smells bad and has a weird consistency. But, V is normally willing to eat whatever I make so I figured I should make something he specifically requested. I looked online and found a recipe for slow-roasted salmon. You roast the salmon in the oven for 20 minutes with salt and pepper and a sprig of dill sitting on top to infuse the fish. However, that's not how he cooked it.

It's now Thursday and he just ate the darn salmon. Thankfully it didn't seem to get bad and I frozen the chicken I had purchased to make skewers this week. He just wanted grilled salmon. Fine with me. No mess and less heat in the house.

While I was wandering through the grocery store I found that it actually carries heirloom tomatoes. Not a bunch and they are hard to find but they are there! So I picked up some angel hair pasta and figured I'd make a light summer pasta to go beside the fish. I put 3 glugs of extra virgin olive oil in a skillet and heated it with one finely minced clove of garlic. Basically I wanted the garlic to cook because I was afraid the raw garlic would be overpowering. Then I took the skilled off the heat and tossed in the large-diced tomatoes with salt and pepper. I let that sit about 10 minutes. The salt and heat brought out some tomato juices. Then I tossed it with the pasta. It was pretty tasty but I felt like it was lacking something. It didn't quite satisfy me. Maybe the raw garlic would have been better? Or basil? I can't figure it out. But it was still pretty decent.

Summer Time

No post this weekend. Just chilling by the pool.

Beautiful Combinations

V and I have black thumbs. Well, maybe not black but definitely not green. Maybe brown, we do well with dirt. We are trying to slowly plant lots of pretty bushes around the house to brighten things up. He planted some lilacs in the backyard that are very pretty and I planted some hydrangeas and azaleas. None of them are flowering very much. I'm hoping they just need a year or two to get settled in to the ground before they start to flower. But this weekend V described my flower bed as looking like something from The Nightmare Before Christmas. That was not very nice.

Our neighbor, on the other hand, is a great gardener. They had about 50 tulips this spring lighting up the yard. She's thinking of planting some watermelons, and in her backyard they have a huge garden. I know she grows tomatoes and zucchini but I don't know what all else. This weekend she was working in her garden while V was outside working on the deck (the new stain looks nice but it shows dirt like crazy). She was nice enough to give him some of her tomatoes. I've been going to the farmer's market on Saturdays but the last few weekends I've been busy and couldn't make it. I used to think I didn't like tomatoes. It turn out I don't like the flavorless store bought ones. The farmer's market and our neighbor's tomatoes are all so yummy and flavorful.

I decided to have tomatoes for dinner tonight. I bought two mini baguettes, a ball of mozzarella, and a pork chop (for V) and we had 4 garden-fresh tomatoes. For V I put butt rub all over the pork chop about an hour before I wanted to cook it. Then I stuck it in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes. We could have grilled it but it seems like a waste of propane to heat up the entire grill for one little chop.

V's side was sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper. He didn't want much mozzarella so he just got two slices and a little bread. I made myself a tomato and mozzarella sandwich with balsamic vinegar. Yum balsamic. I saved the other mini baguette and I'm going to make a small panzanella in a few days with the last tomato, mozzarella and I think I have a cucumber in the fridge. I would highly recommend any of these as a yummy summer meal. Enjoy!

P.S. - I realize the photo is sideways. I don't know how to fix it on the blog.

Cooking Considerations

Today I was driving home from a hearing listening to NPR. One the show they were interviewing different writers about their writing process and such. One question was why they write. One lady said she felt like she had to write because if she didn't then it would bunch up and she would eventually explode. That kind of how I feel about cooking.

This weekend was the first time since June that I've been able to just relax on Friday night and bake because I want to bake. Not because I feel like I should or just simply don't have time to bake. It was very relaxing. I made a pan of cookies and then V and I went on a walk. Then Saturday afternoon I finished the batch. Nothing like warm cookies straight out of the oven. Yummy.

This weekend we went on two long walks to break in my new walking shoes to get ready for Disney. Saturday we just went along a walking trail for two hours. Sunday we decided to go to the zoo to switch things up. That was about 3 hours. The zoo was much more enjoyable. I get too bored just walking for walking's sake to do it for a long time. The zoo was nice because there were actually things to look at and enjoy while walking. My shoes (Merrell) are super comfy but all that walking gave me a few blisters anyway. But they do a good job of helping me last a good bit longer before my back starts to really hurt which is nice. I think they will do well at Disney.

Here's the recipe for the cookies I made. The Saturday batch was still cold when I put them in the oven and I don't think the consistency is quite as good. It made them cook funny I think. So if you can bring them to room temperature before baking, it's worth it. I splurged and used Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips. Their semi sweet is pretty bitter and V likes milk chocolate whenever possible. So I indulge him every now and then.

Buttermilk Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup cocoa powder

2 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup buttermilk

2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
Melt the butter.
In a large bowl, combine the melted butter with cocoa powder and whisk (I did this with my stand mixer and handy dandy scraping paddle). Whisk in sugar, vanilla extract and buttermilk. Gradually stir in the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Drop dough in 1-inch balls into prepared baking sheet, leaving about two inches between cookies to allow for spread.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are set around the edges. (I did ten because I like slightly undercooked cookies. When with chilled dough I should have done 11-12)

Enjoy!

Healthy Bites

V and I are going to Florida sometime in the next few months (not saying when so you freaky peeps don't come swimming in my pool while we are gone.) It's hot in Florida. We are more air conditioning people than heat people. If I liked to ski I would say we are snow people... but I don't. However, I do like sitting in comfy chairs drinking hot chocolate so V could ski and I could sit and cheer him on... but that's for another vacation.

Anyway, so, V and I are trying to spend more time outside (not in the pool... doesn't count) so the Florida heat doesn't make us melt like the Wicked Witch of the West. I'm not a morning person so that means we go on our walks in the evening. This is great and all, but it makes it really difficult to make dinner. We usually don't get back from our walks until 7:30-ish and by the time I shower and start on dinner it's at least 8. My baby sister constantly reminds me how important it is to stop eating at least two hours before bed time so this is messing up my schedule. So, now we are trying to find easy meals that don't take much time. This means lots of grilling for the most part. Which is yummy, but our grill is massive so it's kind of a waste of propane... but I'm not sure how it compares to the cost of heating up an oven and having it on for an hour. Probably evens out.

The other night I made a really tasty and health veggie dish to be my main and V's side to go with his grilled meat. It's from Amateur Gourmet and, as all of his recipes, it was amazing. I highly recommend it.

Zucchini and Almonds

However much zucchini you want - I did one big and two little

However many slivered almonds you want - I had a little 1/2 cup bag

Salt

Pepper

Julienne the zucchini. AG used his mandolin but I just did mine by hand. Have them fairly small so they cook quickly. Toast the almonds in a skillet (I used a non-stick skillet). After you can start to smell them toasting, add in the zucchini. Cook until warmed through (I think about 15 minutes. The almonds continue to toast during this time.) Add salt and pepper and serve. Enjoy!

Still here

July has been a whirlwind. V and I had guests for the first two weekends and then I've been home two of the last ten days. It's wonderful to have guests and see friends and family but four weekends in a row gets a little stressful. Especially since work has been really busy this month. So, sometimes when I'm stressed I like to look at my wedding pictures on my computer. Not for a long time but just skimming through them helps me zone out and get better situated. So, that's why I put a wedding pick up there.

The biggest problem with being so busy on the weekends is that it's much harder to cook. I end up using the beginning of the week to catch up on things I should have done the last weekend and then end of the week to do things I should do on the coming weekend. So, unfortunately, cooking and grocery store runs tend to be the easiest thing to put aside. V has been really great about going to the store when I'm gone on grocery day (Sunday) but it's hard to make a good grocery list when I don't know what I'm going to make for the least.

I feel listless when I can't cook or bake for several days at a time. Every now and then it's a nice break not to cook, and I definitely do not cook every day. However, whenever I am unable to cook when I feel like cooking, it's almost unbearable. I feel bored and it makes me snack a lot more because I think I won't have a good meal if I don't make something. (though V cooks most weekends and does a very good job - that's usually what I consider my break from cooking... but I still bake on the weekends.) I'm hoping one weekend soon I will be able to have a big baking spree. Maybe I'll make iced sugar cookies or something similar. Not so much to eat them (though they will be eaten) but because it helps me destress from the week. For now, however, it's back to organizing the bills in the office from the last month.

Holiday! Celebrate!

I haven't been blogging lately. It's been a busy few weeks and it's not going to slow down for a few more. Luckily, most of the business will be very fun as well as being busy. This weekend Hannah and Gary came down from Chicago to play in the pool. We ate lots of yummy food too! The first night we had marinated squash, marinated kebabs, and grilled peaches and apricots with sweet cream ice cream. The grilled apricots were actually really really good. They kept their firmness but were warmed through. After taking them off the grill I sprinkled brown sugar over them and let them sit for a few minutes so the sugar got a little caramelized and a little syrupy so it was good to mix with the ice cream.

On Friday we had Jack Stack BBQ for lunch. Then for dinner we had burgers with sauteed onions and garlic in them. We also added one egg and a few dried breadcrumbs, worchestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and cayenne. I had hot dogs instead but V said they were really really good. I made tzatziki sauce for snack on throughout the weekend and it was a big hit. It's nice to have around because I used light yogurt and sour cream so it's a healthier alternative to premade dips but its still really satisfying.

Saturday we had steaks, I had an Italian sausage, grilled asparagus, and heirloom tomatoes and basil from the farmer's market. Ooh, so much yummy food!

Sunday I forgot to plan a meal and most of the restaurants were closed. Holiday on a Sunday is a bad combo for eating out. So, we got some D'Bronx pizza which was tasty as always. V got me a chocolate cake and mint chocolate chip ice cream for my birthday so it was pretty much a perfect day! It was great having Hannah and Gary over and now it's time to relax before our next guests. The pool is definitely a party pool.