When I think of dinner parties, I think of time I will be spending in the kitchen. My recent adventure actually left leisure time for relaxation and conversation BEFORE DINNER WAS SERVED. Shocker. There was exceptional kitchen help and there was also chicken adobo. Crowd pleaser. Leftover king. Low-key, accommodating, with some natural charisma and a lot of flavor.
12 Comments » Keep reading »This dead simple vinaigrette can dress up any savory salad that’s looking for a little sweetness. I’ve used it a lot to accompany spicy greens, onions, nuts, etc, and most recently in the butter lettuce salad with stewed apples, sorrel, red onion, Gruyere, and toasted walnuts.
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I recently raised the stakes for cooking, taking it from a purely pleasurable activity to one that will feed Matt and me daily and save about 200% in weekly food bills. Those in New York who cook are miles ahead of me, and those who don’t, I pity your restaurant and pizza tabs. I held out on cooking as a means because I hate the thought of even having the desire to buy things “pre-,” as in packaged, marinaded, etc. You have the right to slap me if I ever make a positive claim about how easy Whole Foods has made cooking. Feeling lazy when you eat out means going to your local. Feeling lazy when you cook for yourself means heading to the front of Whole Foods before the scary hour of 9 when the last buckets are dwindling at the trough.
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This means “I had a good birthday” in sleep speak.
We’re going to Jackson (Hole) and we’re taking Harvey with us. As a PI he’s accustomed to traveling in stealth.
And the jury says? It’s toasty and pillowy soft. It’s so smooth you almost don’t realize what your eating is cold. Matt ate his toasted marshmallow custard ice cream with his eyes half closed.
Just made toasted marshmallow ice cream w/ homemade marshmallows and an egg custard base. Wow. It reminds me of my first real egg custard in Maine.
Mom says if you’re going to make your own ice cream, you just *have* to do it up right with custard. Next up, sugar punkin’. Holiday cooking rules. And since I seem to have started off with one of the most complicated recipes possible, it’s all easy breezy from here on out. Two hours and I’ll be tucking into a big bowl a spoonful from Matt’s bowl, says he (after we licked the whole machine clean). Who doesn’t love ice cream in winter?
The snow storm on October 24th devastated Simsbury. My mom had around 100 trees down on the path around the property, including a couple of treacherous Old Maids (cracked but still attached branches that hang vertically). So we’ve been walking around the property as much as we can, pruning and clearing and macheting and chainsawing.
We can’t really fathom how a bunch of heavy snow can take down all these trees and limbs, but we’ve seen the results firsthand. It feels good to be out in the woods, breathing in the leave dust and feeling the chilly November air of New England. We can’t complain. It is good to be home.
