Hungry Times Two

T to the G to the I to the F, y'all. Such a long week and lots of funky vibes & feelings. It's brutal. Kind of like these stabby-looking beauties: We acquired these rustic knives as Scott's dad's side of the family preps for the settling of two family estates. They may have survived Hurricane Hugo in 1989 down at the family's "Goat House" on Sullivan's Island, SC. Rather than tuck the tough old things into a drawer, we thought maybe they could add some interest to our kitchen walls. So, that's something. If you think it's more Fatal Attraction than Shabby Chic, please say the word. We don't want to be those weirdo folks taking a false stab (how puntastic!) at decorating. The only thing saving this deadly week: killer cookbooks borrowed from my local library . - Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi - Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights by Sophie Dahl The first has tons of delicious Mediterranean & Middle Eastern-influenced dish...

Just pulled up the collards and some baby spinach, cilantro and parsley for tonight's dinner of frittata and salad. Loretta helped. It's so chilly and damp - hard to believe its nearly time to plant for spring. Then again, it was nearly 80 on Saturday! We're not sure if we will keep the garden up if we move by late June. I'd love to continue with the salad greens and herbs for now. A $250 investment for a little bit of green stuff? Well, it's worth the education at least. Happy Monday evening, y'all.

It's Friday. Let's make this short, sweet and fantastic. Yesterday I posted about my new-found love of eggs. Then last night I read in Barbara Kingsolver's Animal Vegetable Miracle (rereading it, as I now have a vaguely deeper understanding of how damn hard it is to grow your own food) about her family's favorite Eggs in a Nest dish. And what's in my email this morning? A friend sharing Eggs in Purgatory , which looks like something we need to cook NOW. I love it. File this under "Well, that was something": Last weekend while visiting good high school friends in the Raleigh area, we stumbled upon this at Harris Teeter: Gjetost, a cube of brown Norwegian cheese. A quick Google search indicated it's commonly called "fudge cheese," something the Norwegians like to fuel up on before they hit the slopes. Somehow I thought I'd be ok with that. My friends liked it; I thought it tasted like caramelized Play-doh. Next up: I need to fin...

I'm on a doctor-sanctioned "diet," though I'd rather call it a "nutrition plan" or "Erin eats more healthy food now" or something else, anything, rather than that four-letter word. The doctor suggested I restrict carbs to around just 60 grams per day, so boo on that. Do you ever count them? You shouldn't -- it's depressing as hell. But just to give you an idea: a bowl of healthy-ish non-sugar laden cereal is around 30 grams. So I'm learning not to blow all my carbs in one meal. And no more toast for breakfast. Oh toast. I miss you like crazy. What do I eat instead? Greek yogurt like it's going out of style (it probably is), moderate amounts of raw almonds, cottage cheese, beans instead of meat in lots of entrees, and vegetables are my new BFFs. I thought I ate "a lot" of veggies before I started this path to hell plan, but it's amazing when you keep a food journal to discover what you really eat. (And no cheati...

I've had a cold the last week, and no sleep. I'm aiming for total sleep tonight, so it's a Hot Toddy with a chaser of nighttime cold medicine. And yes, that decanter is full of the original sleep aide/cold medicine - BOURBON.

What a coincidence. The very weekend my post on honey and its many cure-alls hits the DC-based  blog We The Eaters , the cold crud hits our house. Scott's got a sore throat and I'm feeling achy and slightly off-kilter. Yay. My contribution lists five ways to use the sweet stuff --  methinks Number 1, the hot toddy,  will be indispensable this week. Bourbon and honey -- now that's comforting.

You know when you own too much of something and you make a promise you won't buy any more of it? Some women do this with shoes or scarves or pretty sparkly jewelry. My problem purchases: pottery. So it's no real surprise that when I traveled to Seagrove, NC on my day off on Monday with my lovely mother -- who's no shopping slouch herself -- that I would return with goodies. It had to happen. Conditions were perfect. Seagrove, located in the Middle of Nowhere, NC, or south of Asheboro (yup, out in B.F.E.), is a pottery mecca.   Only 228 people live there (according to the 2010 Census) yet it's home to over 100 potteries, many of whom date back eight or nine generations. It's really beautiful stuff for the most part -- maybe the exception is the popular face jug. Below is a practical pottery item I just had to have: a bowl handy for soup, large cups of coffee, etc. It's made with Yuengling Beer bottles by Lantern Hill Pottery . Check out this adorable ...