Nephews
Sometimes poor Uncle Matthew feels like he is only good for one thing
but other times
Its nice to have nephews
4 comments July 31st, 2008
Archive for July, 2008
The Chutney Experiment
I never really liked to cook. Matthew seems to enjoy it for some reason so he became the dinner boss. Unfortunately el jefe now works late 3 nights a week so if there is any hope in me eating dinner before 10pm I have to make it myself. Ugh. I don’t really mind the cooking but I hate having to choose what to make. How do people do it every day? For years and years?
I started out really simple like…picking up a rotisserie chicken and making non-fancy sides (can of corn anyone!) I also made stir-frys and what I call 3 on a plate. You got your chicken/fish/meat, a veg side and rice side. Maybe some salad. Healthy? Yes. But nothing that includes a recipe. I got so bored of that I couldn’t stand it and forced myself to learn how to actually prepare something that required the chopping and measuring of food products. But no appliances. I have to put my foot down somewhere.
I now have a lovely rotation of about 15-20 dishes and like to try and make something new just about every week. Pork tenderloin with chutney is a favorite because its so quick but good chutney is expensive and has to be on the fruity side or its not quite right. While browsing the internet the other day I came across a recipe for Spicy Sweet Rhubarb Chutney and immediately thought “I can make that!” which doesn’t happen very often. It looked so easy and we love rhubarb over here. What do you mean its not naturally sweet?
The recipe could not be simpler:
1 lb rhubarb stalks, washed, trimmed and sliced into 1/2 inch pieces (about 3 cups)
1 medium yellow peach, diced
1/2 cup dried sour cherries
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp fresh minced ginger
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions:
Combine sugar, vinegar, ginger, garlic, cumin and cinnamon in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add rhubarb, peach, onion and dried cherries; increase heat to medium and cook until rhubarb is soft, about 5 minutes (B’s note: took alot longer than 5 minutes, just let it cook till it gets goopy). The mixture should be slightly thickened and chunky.
Its basically put stuff in a pot, add more stuff and stir. Right up my alley.
Now slather about half of that onto a pork loin:
Bake at 400 for about 20-25 min:
Open up a can of corn and call it done! Just kidding, I made it with rice pilaf and green beans.
The verdict: Just like out of a jar! but more work! It really wasn’t once everything was chopped and measured which will only take the normal chef about 5 minutes. It was pretty delicious and a complete success. Even an eye opener because I found out that I don’t really care for the cumin/cinnamon combo. It inspired me to make more chutney. You might like it! Matthew did.
4 comments July 30th, 2008
Just a trinket
I picked this up in Ballard at a great store called Camelion Design. I liked just about every single thing in there and highly recommend stopping in when you find yourself in town with money to burn and a desire to hand carry something on the plane ride home. It’s just down the street from Cupcake Royale so believe me, you will be nearby. I also wanted to buy a table and set of chairs but the logistics of getting THAT home seemed at the very least, not cost effective. My eyes went to this flowerpot set right away and when I asked Jess what she thought she said “I like it better than that rock” Sold!
It lives on the coffee table right now but hopefully one day I’ll have a window behind a sink and can actually plant something in it. Sigh.
and thanks to my assistant
who almost got killed during the making of this post.
2 comments July 29th, 2008
Seattle Day 2: Pike Place Market
On our second day in Seattle we went downtown to take part in a culinary walking tour of Pike Place Market with Savor Seattle Food Tours. I knew we wanted to do some kind of walking tour in Seattle and our hosts were definitely up for it. We did a bit of research (and recon – Jess saw the tour walking through the market one day) and found out that this company uses earphones so the guide doesn’t have to shout. I was slightly concerned at the geek factor but so excited to do it that I decided it didn’t really matter.
I don’t know what kind of insanity I was expecting but it was all very civilized. We met at a coffee place to pick up our headset thingies and headed out. The tour guide was adorable and funny but for some reason the rest of our tour didn’t seem to think so. Before we even walked into the market she made a crack at Mark (apple is not a vegetable) and I knew we would be friends. I think the rest of the group had zero sense of humor and were only in it for the food and because their wives made them go. I mean we were only in it for the food too but come on now, they made no effort to have even a little fun which was kind of a drag. Anyway, first stop – Donuts.
Watch as Matthew makes it look like he is paying attention so people don’t notice he is going in for donut #2 or maybe #3. I don’t blame him! They were tiny, hot and sugary. Deeeelicious!
Of course we saw the place where they throw fish. It was loud and there were tons of people there but we did try some smoked salmon. I didn’t take any pictures because there were 500 people there taking pictures.
One of the rare vacation photos of me and I’m jamming a peach into my mouth. Luckily the fruit was already cut up because I’m the messiest fruit cutter ever. I think it is because of the shape of fruit. I can’t imagine its me.
Jess and Mark perfecting the LWC – Listening while chewing. We had to do alot of that.
There was of course a ton more walking/eating. We had some outrageously good clam chowder and I never thought I would say that. I’m still shocked! I dislike clams AND creamy soup but I didn’t want to look like a loser in front of the losers on the tour so I tried it. I guess if you are going to try it for the first time, you might as well try award winning hall of fame chowder. It was great in a teeny sample cup but I don’t know if I could eat a whole bowl. Other highlights included piroshkys (meh), cheese (amazing), and this ridiculous cherry and peach salsa that we ended up going back for after the tour ended.
It was a beautiful day and the tour was fun and informative about the history of the market. I’d definitely do another tour with them, possibly the Downtown Seattle one that started 3 days after we left…grrr. The group (of deadbeats) was a little bigger than I like but hey, that’s what we get for doing something touristy on a Sunday morning.
1 comment July 28th, 2008
A Regular Nick Burns
About a week before we left for BC the wifi on Matthew’s 2 year old MacBook Pro decided to stop working. That’s not entirely true, it would work SOMETIMES which is ever so much more frustrating. When we were in Seattle our friend Mark (likes motorcycles, long walks on the beach, and is insanely smart about technology) diagnosed it with a hardware problem. Matthew frowned on the outside but was actually ridiculously excited and immediately started building a new computer at the apple store online while we were sitting in their living room trying to enjoy a “How I Met Your Mother: Season 1″ marathon. When he told me the computer of his dreams would be about $3,000 (Matthew+supa computer=true love 4E) I was ridiculously not excited. I mean REALLY, isn’t there another option. After a little google searching he came across this scam and put the necessary items in a cart. Again, I was all like “Come on! a teeny tiny screwdriver, its that really necessary”
The box of parts and supplies came this morning and he got to work.
Me: Did you back up your computer?
MP: Yes (no)
Me: Maybe you should move that coffee
MP: I will
I have nothing to say really because its been 2 hours and his computer is totally and completely repaired for $60 (including shipping) and about 8 minutes of work.
3 comments July 25th, 2008
Seattle Day 1: Burgers and Cupcakes
I was getting all crazy about my first post because why? I am pushing myself over the wall of crazy and just jumping in. I hope it doesn’t hurt too much.
Since everyone reading this knows us I am assuming it’s also known that we just got back from a 2 week trip to Vancouver. More on that later. While we were there we drove to Seattle for the weekend to see good friends Jessica and Mark. We stayed at their awesome house on the top of a mountain about 20 minutes from downtown and silently (okay vocally) wished we lived there about 72 times in the 2 days we stayed there. They have wifi and chocolate milk. We almost moved into their guest room.
We arrived Saturday around lunchtime ready to eat. Jess directed us to Lunchbox Laboratory in Ballard. Although I am not a huge burger fan Matthew is so it was pretty exciting stuff. When Jess brought it up he was sort of faking ambivalence but I knew inside he must have been all “OMG!OMGOMG!!TOTALLY!OMG!” Matthew and Mark both enjoyed their prime rib cheeseburgers and Jess and I split a regular burger and some fries. The place is adorable, tiny with mostly outdoor seating. I chatted for a few minutes with the owner who was astounded at how busy it has gotten but seriously, she cuckoo crazy cause its super awesome. Basically you choose your meat, then cheese and other toppings and sides. Then you um…choose your milkshake. Mark is obviously the smartest guy around because he ordered the nutella milkshake and choked back every last bit. I stuck with root beer because I knew where we were going after burgers and didn’t want to be too full. Very big mistake. I am still regretting that decision. NUTELLA! MILKSHAKE!
After we finished our burgers we had a bit of a back and forth about WHICH cupcake place to try. Jess recommended Trophy Cupcakes in Wallingford but I rallied for (and won) a visit to Cupcake Royale in Ballard which I had heard about a bazillion times. Ballard is a bit of a destination and is billed as the “Brooklyn of Seattle”. We walked around and window-shopped a bit and Jess talked me out of getting a green shellacked rock tea light holder as a souvenir of Fakewestcoast Brooklyn. As for Cupcake Royale…YUM! It definitely passes the delicious cupcake test. I was getting kind of worried about the West Coast after the Sprinkles debaucle of April ‘08 but they were really really delicious. I’m not usually down with such a tiny icing-to-cake ratio but meh, what can you do. I totally forgot to get a photo of the storefront, or inside, or the cute tshirts, or us in the shop but here are the cupcakes!
So although Ballard is no Brooklyn it is definitely cool and I can’t wait to go back. While walking around we stopped into one of the galleries and Jess went all nutty-nuts over some Cakespy display. Apparently Cakespy is a thing I have never heard about. I quickly fell in love with her little pictures of cupcakes out and about and Jess bought me one to replace the green rock disaster! More pics to come on that and the rest of our exciting weekend.
6 comments July 23rd, 2008