Early Thanksgiving Dinner

Barrett won't be around for my favoritist (shut up, it is so a word!) holiday of the year, Thanksgiving. He'll be on a much-deserved vacation to Miami Beach and the Bahamas next week. So I decided to make a Thanksgiving dinner this weekend just for us. I've never made a Thanksgiving dinner in my life--it turned out pretty well, I must say!

My first pumpkin pie ever. With a pre-made crust, it was a snap.


From left to right: that green bean casserole with the onion crunchies on top (not one of my faves but Barrett loves it, so it made the cut); garlic mashed potatoes (Barrett made these); wine; turkey; cornbread dressing; and pie. Cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, and gravy were not featured in our dinner since they are our least favorite traditional dishes. Don't get me wrong--if gravy's on the table, I'll indulge! But I wasn't interested in making it. Also, please note remote controls on the couch all poised and ready to play the next episode of "Battlestar Galactica."


Here's the dinner with Colin, a.k.a. "McLovin'," doing his kneady-pillow thing in the background. I included this photo because when he is McLovin', he is beyond hilarious.


Here's Trixie and Colin, hanging out in the kitchen, waiting for their own dinner which did not include any turkey, stuffing, or pie whatsoever.

Apologies for the lagtime

Hello! I feel the need to apologize for the lack of posts in the past month. For one thing, our camera sort of sucks lately and then it went AWOL for a bit--it turned out to be in the garage. But also, I just not been in a write-y sort of mood. Election jitters? Rainy day blues? Who knows.

I have been cooking, though! I can at least list (and link, if I can) some of the recipes I've made:

1. Mushroom-Shallot Quiche: holy hell, bookmark this one immediately! I made this for the Election Night party I attended and it was out of this world. Melting Gruyere cheese with butter-sauted crimini mushrooms and fresh thyme. . . mmmmm! It was a big hit. I'm heading downstairs to make it again for lunch today.

2. Curried Honey Dijon Roasted Chicken: I made this last night. So good, so easy! I served it with a side of Sauteed Swiss Chard. Love that Swiss chard!

3. Roasted Butternut Squash with Carmelized Onion Pizza: the hits just keep coming from Kevin at Closet Cooking! This was more ambitious, to be sure, but worth it. I did NOT make my own crust, but had dough from Trader Joe's. I also didn't use butternut squash since I already had a whole roasted acorn squash in the fridge from the night before that I needed to use. And I've never fried sage leaves before, so that was fun.

4. Mainly, though, I've been cooking straight from the Cooking With All Things Trader Joe's cookbook. I've been having fun with my continuing exploration of these recipes; getting to shop at Trader Joe's is an added bonus! I can't possibly type out all of the recipes that I've used, but I will list them here. I promise to make them all again and dedicate a post for each. So far, I've made:
- Stuffed Red Peppers
- Italian Wedding Soup
- Black Bean and Ricotta-Stuffed Portabellas
- Tortellini and Chicken Sausage Soup
- California Fish Tacos
- Penne Pepperonata with Shrimp and Asparagus
- Corny-Copia Bean and Veggie Casserole (huge household fave)
- Spicy Szechuan Tofu
- Saag Paneer Lasagna
- Red Curry Halibut
- Okey-Gnocchi with Peas and Pancetta
- Chickety Chinese Chicken Salad
- Curried Chicken Pitas (this is gonna become a lunch staple, methinks)

On board for this coming week:
- Soyaki Broiled Salmon
- Vegetable Tikka Masala
- Italian Wedding Soup, again
- California Fish Tacos, again, because yum!

Oh, and I have a story to relate about the Corny-Copia Bean Veg Casserole. This is a dish that contains cumin-sauteed onions & garlic with kidney beans, plain yogurt, a jar of oil-based mixed vegetable bruschetta, and cornbread on top. Guess who decided that this casserole would be a perfect dessert to his bowl of kibble? Yep, Colin. That stupid cat ate the onion/kidney bean/bruschetta mixture underneath the cornbread (he left a hollowed-out portion), sat around feeling nauseous for an hour or so, then promptly, well, upchucked it ALL OVER THE BASEMENT CARPET. What on earth in this recipe is attractive to cats? The cumin-y onions? The beans? The bruschetta mixture? What a wierd cat.

Chicken Chili and Sick Kitty

Hola. It's a worrisome day here in the household, as Colin is sick. We fed him his usual can of wet food at 9am, whereupon he ate half of it and pretty immediately regurgitated it. He's been lethargic and punky ever since, and was even hiding under the bed for awhile. He's now been asleep on top of the towel shelf in the bathroom for a few hours. We squirted some water into his mouth in case he's getting dehydrated--I'll continue to do that for the rest of the evening. I'm concerned about him and hope the little shaver feels better by morning.

Because of his lethargic state, Trixie has actually dared to lay next to him on the towels! This is nothing short of a miracle and proves how out of it he is, because normally he'd be nipping at her feet while holding her in a headlock. She's curious about his lack of interest in her. I got it on camera! You'll never see the likes of this again:


Here's a tranquil photo that Barrett took earlier this week of Trixie sitting in the kitchen window with some houseplants, soaking in the September sunshine:


Okay, since this is supposed to be mainly a food blog, I will throw you all a bone. Or rather, a pot of Chicken & White Bean Chili. I saw this on Crazy Aunt Purl's blog today and knew that that is what I wanted for dinner. The weather turned chilly and rainy overnight; nothing else would do. Here's a crappy overlit photo of it, as proof:


'T'was yum. I added an extra cup of veggie broth to mellow out the scalding three tablespoons of chili powder it calls for. This is a four-alarm chili, my friends!!

Purslane Salad with Garlic-Yogurt Sauce

Every summer, one of my garden beds is taken over by this weed. I pull it up but it keeps coming back. It grows at an alarming rate.


It looks like this up close.


Here, it is fighting for acreage with our strawberry plants, which also grow at an alarming rate. The lavender just tries to mind its own business.


So imagine my shock when I saw a recipe using this, this, WEED on the Almost Turkish Recipes blog. This WEED has a name: purslane. Or pigweed. Or verdolaga, if you please. And, not only is it an edible cousin to spinach, it's very nutritious--high in Omega 3 fatty acids. It's the salmon of the vegetable world! Except that salmon is expensive and this stuff is free and in my backyard. The author of Almost Turkish recipes, as well as other food blogs I've read, seem to have a difficult time finding this and when they do, it's priced rather dearly. My fellow food bloggers, you are more than welcome to come and raid my backyard! Please, I beg you. I'm drowning in purslane.

Thanks to the dismally cold and wet Seattle summer, none of my vegetables save the snap peas flourished. I am determined to harvest something, dammit! Tonight, it was the WEED. I made a Purslane Salad with Garlic-Yogurt Sauce. Here's the bunches of WEED that I yanked out, washed off, and cut up.


I sauteed a minced onion with garlic, added lemon juice & water, somesalt, some rice, and let that simmer. At the last minute, I chopped up some tomatoes and tossed them in for color. I mixed minced garlic into some plain yogurt and black pepper as a sauce to dollop on the salad. We had the WEED rice salad with tofu dogs and homemade raspberry iced tea, because that's how we roll in this house--random combinations of food that we dare to call dinner!


The verdict? Barrett was a bit hesitant on it. He liked it alright, but acknowledged its "different" flavor and said he simply wasn't used to it. I can see where he's coming from. It's bright and almost lemony, very hearty, but with a decided earth-y overtone. You can taste that this grew in soil, more than most other greens I've eaten. I understand people not taking to it. I like it. I want to try other recipes with it, like the purslane salsa recipe I spotted somewhere.

And thus ends the story of the WEED.

Postscript: we recently acquired a very very very fuzzy couch pillow that Colin absolutely adores. He adores it so much, he drools on it while kneading it. His new nickname when he is kneading on this pillow? McLovin'.

Sher's Scallion Ginger Chicken Linguini

I first started blogging in December 2005 when I was unemployed and bored. I pretty immediately turned to looking up recipes online, to feed my new-found craving for cooking from scratch. The first food blog I fell in love with was Chocolate & Zucchini. The next was What Did You Eat? I don't remember how I stumbled upon Sher's blog in February 2006, but I fell in love instantly. My recipe bookmark folder filled up with her recipes. She didn't have much at that time, as she had only been blogging a few months herself, but enough to make me realize I'd found a kindred spirit in tastes. Later, I followed her into Weekend Cat Blogging and Colin, my new upstart kitten, became the star of my old blog.

It's 2 1/2 years and many posts/comments/emails later, and Sher has passed on. She died less than a week ago. I found out today after I clicked on her blog to see if she'd posted anything new. When five days had passed and nothing, I was concerned. I knew she was in ill health and the last time she let so much time pass without blogging, she was in the hospital. No, it was the unthinkable. There's a big hole in my heart. My kitchen is feeling that big without her.

I emailed my husband Barrett the news and his reply was, "Is there a tribute meal you wanna do together tonight?" He knows me so well.

A small part of me thinks that I should make this, since she created this recipe with me (and Anne) specifically in mind. And I will make this soon. But I truly feel there's only one tribute meal I can do to honor Sher tonight and that's the first recipe of hers I made: her Scallion Ginger Chicken Linguini. Whenever I make it, and the smell of the scallions and ginger fills the air, my kitchen doesn't feel so big after all. She's right there with me.

"What's for dinner, guys?!"


The meat inspector checks for bacteria and deliciousness.


The chopping of the greens. I adore chopping scallions.


Sher suggested one cup of scallions, but I can't resist--I have to throw in more. And yeah, jarred ginger. So sue me! I loathe peeling and chopping up roots. Besides, the pureed ginger works really well in the "sauce."


The chicken is all ready to go.


In go the green onions and ginger . . .


And then the linguini, soy sauce, sesame oil, etc.


And the final touch, one of Sher's most favorite flavorings, THE CILANTRO!


The inspector sniffs the final result and approves, despite the distinct lack of tuna in this dish.


Here's to you, Sher, you fantastic lady. You will never be forgotten. And just in case there was any doubt, check out all the tributes to you over at your dear friend Glenna's.