Happy Mother's Day!

My mother is an amazing lady.




She's raised 6 kids. Actually, more like "is raising" 6 kids, since she can't seem to shake some of us. (Hopefully she won't change the locks.)


She is a very good person and an excellent role model.


She is very smart.


She is an awesome cook.


She is thoughtful and patient.


She loves us no matter what (and there have been some serious "no matter whats").


When I look back at my childhood, I cannot think of a time when my mother was not there when I needed her.


I'll be lucky if I can be half as good a mother as she was.




Happy Mother's Day, to my Mom, my future mother-in-law Elaine, and all the other mothers I know!  You should get to wear a superhero cape (or at least the really awesome boots).  Thanks for all the amazing things that you do.

Date Night

"There are three possible parts to a date, of which at least two must be offered: entertainment, food, and affection. It is customary to begin a series of dates with a great deal of entertainment, a moderate amount of food, and the merest suggestion of affection. As the amount of affection increases, the entertainment can be reduced proportionately. When the affection IS the entertainment, we no longer call it dating. Under no circumstances can the food be omitted." --Judith Martin, "Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, Freshly Updated"

This year, for Valentine's day, we decided to forgo the usual plans - things we'd done in years past, which typically involved going to a new restaurant, dinner with another couple, etc. I'm not sure who suggested that we just do dinner at home, but it was a good idea. We made our favorite foods.


It was nice to have an evening in.




90 minute Ceviche - based on Mark Bittman's Mock Ceviche

I made something like this for Christmas Eve and it was great. Just the other night we'd watched Anthony Bourdain scarf down ceviche in Ecuador and I got the craving again... so when I saw Frank's had scallops and shrimp, I decided to go for it - I wanted the fresh taste of seafood and the sharp tang of citrus.

This really could serve 4-6 people. Yeah... we ate it all. >.>

• 1/2 pound shrimp
• 1/2 pound scallops
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1/2 roma tomato, seeded, finely chopped
• 3 limes, juiced
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1-2 pinches red pepper flakes
• 1-2 pinches salt
• handful flat leaf parsley, chopped roughly
• 2-3 spring onions (green only) finely sliced

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and lightly salt. Ready a bowl of ice water beside it. Plunge the shrimp in the boiling water for 2 minutes, then transfer to ice water. Repeat with scallops, ~90 seconds. Adjust time based on size - seafood should be undercooked*, will cook in the citrus. 
2. Peel and devein shrimp (slice in half if more than 30 ct.). Slice scallops into uniform pieces. If you remember, toss with a splash of EVOO. I forgot. No harm.
3. In a non-reactive bowl, combine lime and lemon juice, shallot, tomato, pepper flakes, and salt. Add seafood and mix. Refrigerate, stirring every 15 minutes or so, for 60 minutes.
4. Add parsley, spring onion. Marinate another 30 minutes. 
5. Taste, adjust seasoning.
6. Divide among chilled glasses, drizzle with a little marinade, and serve.

Ceviche with incredibly fresh seafood from Frank's.

Soy-Ginger Mussels


This is sort of an amalgam of recipes - I wandered google for a while and didn't find one I really liked. But it is most closely based on this one.


I think of mussels as our special dinner - they're fresh, inexpensive, and very easy to make. This was a departure from the normal way I make them, but it was with flavors we use a lot - and it worked really well. This would still be good with bread. I also liked spooning the sauce into the half-shell and slurping it with the mussel. It would be awesome spooned over a bed of rice. This was... really, really good.


If you need help on how to clean mussels, watch the video here**.

I liked this wine way more
than I thought I would.

• 2 lbs mussels, sorted, scrubbed and de-bearded
• a few squirts of canola oil
• a splash of toasted sesame oil
• a bunch of spring onions, most chopped in 2" pieces - thinly slice 1-2 onions, green part only
• 1-2 T grated ginger
• 1-2 T mashed garlic (finely mince/grind with a few pinches of salt)
• 1/4 c soy sauce, reduced sodium
• 1 c wine
• 1 splash fish sauce
• ~1 c water
• 2-3 T butter (unsalted)

1. heat the oils in a vessel large enough to cook the mussels; when hot, add the spring onion and cook 3-4 minutes, until soft and browning slightly
2. add ginger and garlic and cook for ~60 seconds (adjust amount, time to taste)
3. add white wine (I used sauvignon blanc), soy sauce, and fish sauce. Bring to a boil, boil for ~5 minutes.
4. don't forget to pour yourself a glass of wine!
5. add 1 cup of water, return to a boil, then add the mussels. Stir and then clap the lid on the pot for four minutes.
6. Remove the lid and pull out opened mussels to a large bowl; discard any mussels that don't open within another minute or two.
7. Boil the remaining liquid for another 2-3 minutes (reducing by about a third). Add the butter, and stir/swirl it in as the liquid boils. This is really important - adding the fat to the boiling liquid changes it, almost makes it look shiny.
8. Pour the broth over the mussels, garnish with thinly sliced spring onion and parsley. 

Before butter.

After butter. Can you SEE it?!?! 

(Final swirl of the pan)

This was a freakin' awesome bag of mussels. 

As if that wasn't enough food.... we still had:




Taco Rice


Believe it or not, this is a real thing.


I used to tease Matt about this, but I don't anymore (much). It reminds him of Okinawa. And... it's pretty tasty. I could eat sushi rice by the pound, and the addition of taco meat and cheese? It's good. Trust me.


You need...

• Ground meat of choice (beef or turkey - but don't go for the lean turkey here, you don't want it to be dry)
• Taco seasoning packet
• Water (per seasoning packet instructions)
• Shredded Cheese
• Sushi Rice
• Secret Fixins***

1. Make the sushi rice. 
2. Cook the meat according to the instructions on the packet. Jab at it while it simmers to break it into a really fine ground.
3. Spread the sushi rice into the vessel of your choice (ours is a small oblong pyrex glass dish)
4. Top with taco meat, then cheese. Let the cheese melt.
5. Serve with tabasco.

"Purist" taco rice.

"Abomination" taco rice.

In the end, it's more than just food (a lot of food). It's about showing people that you care through food, about bringing them in to an experience with you. This is what I love about food, and cooking, no matter who it's for. 

*   Yes, I know ceviche should start with raw fish. If you have +90 minutes, go nuts. I like to marinate mine 6+ hours (no more than 24), but I decided to make it sorta last minute.

**  Broken mussels go with the territory, don't be afraid to toss them. I dump the bag into a bowl, and then scrub/debeard, placing the cleaned ones in a colander. When I'm done, I give them a final rinse, and then keep them in the colander beneath ice until ready to use. If there are some that are open, tap them, set them aside, and check them when you've gone through the others. If they're not closed by then, toss. Usually you see them tighten/close up, which is pretty cool. Don't forget to thank them for being a delicious dinner.

*** Secret fixins include salsa, chopped tomato, cucumber, and lettuce. Shh, don't tell.

What do you cook for the people you care about - or at least, mostly sorta like? :)  Tell me in the comments below!

Happy Valentine's Day

Because everyone needs a reason to smile....

Happy Valentine's Day!

Well, hello 2011.

The last few days have been great.  


I ended 2010 with a chilly nine-ish mile run with some of the group.  The end was rough, but (or because?) we held a good pace for the first few miles.  Especially the first mile, gah.  Afterwards, showered, changed, and still shivering, I met Matt at Frank's Diner. After breakfast, I crashed for a midday nap.  Awesome. 


We celebrated at my family's house (Happy Birthday Dad!) and then headed out to the Hamilton's for a quiet and fun NYE - great food, wonderful people.

Photo: Mike Upton

Oh yeah, and some really good drinks, including a St.- Germaine's Cocktail (var: lemon twist) and a (new-to-me) beer from Dogfish Head.


For a very detailed New Yorker article on Sah'Tea, go here.


I scored my bottle of Sah'Tea from the Dirty Santa party.  Since it said chai, I was expecting a darker brew with some strong spice.


Instead, it really reminded me of a Belgian wit or hefeweizen or something of that sort in appearance and smell, only it tasted stronger.  The beer had a nice golden color and an interesting smell - I got a lot of juniper, though it took me a while to place it.  We split the bottle between five or six people.  I don't know that I would want to drink more than the small glass I had, but it was pretty good.  


We didn't stay out too much later than midnight and had a lazy morning.  A lazy morning that included pancakes with real maple syrup from Trader Joe's.  Pancakes were thick, fluffy, and really tasty.

This look says "I have not yet had coffee. But I do have a spatula.
Back off with the camera."

We filled the rest of the day with quiet time and family.  It was a great way to start off 2011.

I'll be back to regularly scheduled blogging this week, hope you all had a safe and happy start to the new year!

Holidays + Zombie Apocolypse = ....

I had originally intended to continue the look forward to 2011 (literally. Time travel will work. I found how on the Internets.), but then I discovered some vital information on Slice of the Blog Pie.


Good thing, too, because I have some cooking and baking left to do this holiday season.  I would have been woefully unprepared without this instructional video.  I'm reposting it here, so you can learn too. And remember - knowing is half the battle.

Year In Review...

"You don't know where you're going if you don't know where you've been."

I looked for the original source for this quote, and came up with the following: cliche, 'old saying', 'they', and even Will Smith as 'Hitch' (though, unfortunately, I couldn't verify that).

Like crop circles or the origin of that plate of cookies in the conference room... just because I don't know where it comes from, doesn't make it less relevant/interesting/delicious.

Accumulation of food in said conference room.  Winter, 2010.

Cliche or not... this time of year, it makes sense to look back at what I've accomplished before I sit down and decide where I want to go.

One fish.. two fish... seven fish??

Don't be fooled by the Irish name; my mother's side of the family is Italian.  Extremely Italian.  Italian enough that I wish I remembered my grandparents, because I'm sure I would have loved them. 

Periodically I try to get in touch with my Italian roots.  I took an Italian class at HCC, but one evening a week after work is a really difficult way to learn a language.  I sometimes cook Italian - not just pasta and sauce, but regional favorites that usually end up just... amazing.  

And my family has some Italian traditions.

One of those is the Feast of the Seven Fishes, on Christmas Eve.

Flash + Mob = Fun

Really.


There was a flash mob at the Columbia Mall tonight.


And who was there?  This girl.


And about three hundred other people. 


All of whom were enthusiastic, energetic, and really nice. What a great community. (hocoblogs@@@)


The Flash Mob's already hit the airwaves courtesy of HoCoMoJo (who in part organized the event), HoCoRising, A Tale of Two Cities, and Columbia Patch. (Full Disclosure... I wrote the account for the Columbia Patch. David caught the great video)

I'll add in more links as they come out, to the bottom of the post.

To my surprise, I found out this was not the first time Columbia had been flash mobbed. How had I missed the Michael Jackson tributes of 2009??

I do have to say, the experience was pretty awesome. Thank you so much to Erinn at Something Else to Distract Me for spreading the word, I had a great time with her and Cindy at Thoughts From a Swimmer! 

And of course, thanks to the organizers of this event - Pam Land and and Sally Livingston from HCPSS, and the Bittners from HoCoMoJo.

Cindy, Erinn, and Mo at the rehearsal for the Flash Mob Event of 2010.

HoCoMoJo's Video of the flash mob

Updated links (12/24):

• Check out the preview post on Something Else to Distract Me. And here's her full recap - great breakdown of the whole event.
• HoCoRising does a nice recap post along with Thursday Links.
• Conversation about the flash mob with a bystander (and Queen Anne's Pretzels) on Tale of Two Cities.

Did you see the flash mob? Did you participate? Tell me about it in the comments below!

Be Jolly By Golly Blogfest

A holiday post inspired by Erinn at Something Else to Distract Me.  Blogfest brought to you by Unedited and Through the Looking Glass!


The Rules:

1. Blog Post to be posted on December 20th (whatever time you desire)
2. Show pictures of your decorations, holiday lights & Christmas tree!
3. Share your favorite treat (Recipe included, chance for others to steal the yumminess!)
4. Share your favorite drink (Recipe included, chance for others to steal the alcohol – or non)
5. Last but not least… visit others!!! Take part in their holiday cheer!

A White Elephant Christmas

I do like the holidays, even if it sometimes means stress.  I like the lights and the decorations, I like getting together with my family and the smell of food.  Now that I'm older, I love that the friends that have dispersed across the country drift back through town.


And I like parties.


One popular activity is a white elephant gift exchange, which combines the joy of gift-giving with ruthless, cutthroat strategy and stealing.


Of course, I'm only joking.  Sort of.


This year, the HoCoBoCo (Books and Cooks) club did a comfort food potluck (which was amazing, but not part of this post) and an exchange.  My contribution was a picnic cheese board which slid open to reveal cheese-carving-implements.  And I attached the gift receipt, so at worst, the recipient got a trip to the exchange line at BB&B.

I picked number 13.  Each person who went before me selected a new gift, took great care in opening it, and was excited about their gift.  And they were all very gracious.  Paraphrasing slightly, it went something like this...

Cold winter days, Colds, and... yeah.

I can't quite deal with the cold.

It's always like this.  I'm not a winter person, even though I like snow.  It's not actually the driving, I can handle my car in the snow. It's not the shoveling.  

It's the cold, the feeling that I'm not going to be warm again until May.

My strategy for dealing with the cold has evolved and grown.  I used to layer.  I still layer. For the last week at work, I've taken to wearing fingerless gloves (for the sitting at the computer part, not the Science part), a scarf, and even a poofy vest (thanks Target).  At home, things get more intricate.

For example, I own a Slanket.

Full Disclosure: I ceaselessly mock the Snuggie commercials.  I do this for two reasons.  The one time I wore a Snuggie, I didn't really want to move.  The material was so cheap I was convinced a spark of static would ignite the fabric and turn me into the human torch.  But mostly, I mock the Snuggie for the commercials and spinoff products.

My Slanket is a nice, heavy fleece.  I like to wrap myself up in it, and then crawl beneath another blanket.  That's item number two, a down throw blanket from Target.  I twist around until I've got a personal cocoon.

Other items in my anti-winter arsenal include down socks (sorta like these - they're amazing) and an electric blanket.

I am a native Marylander, by the way.  

For all these things, though, the most effective way to combat the cold this week has been through food.  I don't mean prepping to hibernate.  I mean good, cold weather food.  It's been a really busy few days and I wasn't feeling well for most of them.  Last week, Matt threw together some crockpot chili.  It was awesome to walk in the door after a long day and smell slow-cooked chili.  He did a great job.

To the right, chili with sour cream and cheese, over rice. To the left, bulldog that wants to know where his chili is.

Caramel Cream ale - Homebrew, courtesy of our dwindling stores.  Look how clear it is!

Oooo. Shiny.

And of course, I can't forget the baking.  There are big plans in the works to do a day of cookies this weekend, but tonight I couldn't resist starting pumpkin bread with chocolate chips.  Here's a picture through the oven door, about half-way through.

The whole house smells like pumpkin bread!

How are you staying warm?  Or are you glad the cold is here?  Tell me all about it in the comments below.

If ninjas played multisport...

They might play cycleball.  What's that you say?  Yes, Ninjas ride bikes.  


Of course, they don't wear tube socks.  Or shortie bike shorts.  And you'd never be able to see them, which would make spectating difficult.  


So maybe not.

Heard of cycleball?  Me neither!  Watch this fun video and get more information here, courtesy of wired.com.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Week in Review: 11-21-10

Yeah.  I know.  It's the 22nd.  Better late than never?  :\  To be honest, I'm going to be glad when November is over.  Or at least, for a chance to sleep over the holiday weekend.


Here are some highlights from the last week:


Plans are in the works for a new Holiday Blog Segment: Holiday Coffee Deathmatch.  See the first face-off on Friday, November 28...


...which is also Black Friday.  Cindy, Bridget, and I typically get up (or stay up all night) and go shopping.  Last year, the deals at the Columbia Mall were lackluster, but the people watching was awesome.  This year, I think I'm going just for the pancakes.  We're looking for suggestions for a place to start.  


Arundel Mills opens at midnight (Friday morning), but hanging around outside that Best Buy will be slightly scary.


Matt and I caught the new Harry Potter movie with the Sixes on Sunday.  I know I read the book, but I apparently forgot most (ok, nearly all) of the details.  The effects were cool, but this stage of the story translated into long, drawn out periods of inaction on screen.  I felt 'Meh', though I'm looking forward to the finale.  I might have to go back and re-read the series...


...once I'm done Jessica Z. by Shawn Klomparens.  I'm enjoying the book so far, even though I'm going through it at a crawl.  Why so slow you ask?  Well, I have to ration my time because...


...NaNoWriMo is still going on.  I'm well over 50K and finishing my book.  I'm also realizing that January will not be editing.  It will be a rewrite.  There are lots of things I need to go back and add in, but I won't be doing it this week.  Instead.... 


I got the crazy fabulous idea to start another one and try to finish it in seven days.  Not just any book.  Per the twitter vote, I will be tackling crazy mashup of historical fiction and a fairy tale.


Is it possible to write historical fiction with approximately 6 hours of research behind it?  Because thats about how long I can spare to research the history of female incarceration in the US, the glam-gangster age of the 1930s, and Grimm's fairy tales. Anyone have suggestions for good resources?



Finally, the BBC released the new Doctor Who Christmas special trailer.  Yay!


That's all for now.  Tune in tomorrow for the Tuesday NaNoWriMo update.

Happy birthday to you...

US Marine Corps.  You turn 235 today.


Thank you for everything that you do.