Hungry Times Two

On the first day of 2018, the scene is set.  The fireplace is blazing. Our dog Loretta is curled up on the love seat next to me. Candles on the mantle are flickering. My small-ish second glass of red wine blooms warmly with each sip. There's no Netflix on the TV.  No radio blaring the latest news.   Quiet. Gentle. Cozy.  I'll have a second and third helping of this in 2018, please and thank you. 

A vegetable garden in February is just so sad. Just ask actor Ethan Hawke, aka "Troy Dyer." For a while we had our raised bed of vibrant carrot tops -- the  Scarlet Nantes  variety. Scott and I kept checking in on them, occasionally pulling a small carrot or two, just to make sure they were growing. They have a 65-75 day maturity cycle, so since we planted them in late September...   Paging quality control.  ...in the third week of January, four inches of snow came and the green carrot tops became drab and shriveled-up. So Scott grabbed a hoe and turned up all the dirt in the raised bed. And we found the carrots waiting for us to rescue them before they became too woody to eat. Filthy carrots. Clean carrots. I'd like to make a pot roast or beef stew (naturally the lazy way, in the slow cooker) with these carrots but for now a quick way to use them is Mark Bittman's recipe for Curried Carrot Lentil Soup. I can't find it online but it...

Are you aware it 'tis this season to be jolly? Are your jingle bells sufficiently ringing or are they shakin' a little lacklusterly (I just invented that word) so far this December?  I'm not quite prepared in the sense that gifts are so low on my radar this year, and Scott and I decided to skip the Xmas tree purchasing and use the $40-ish dollars on our mountain trip this weekend. It feels a little weird to not have a tree in the house, with all the ornaments that bring back so much nostalgia and cheer. On the other hand, I heard weird rustling noises above my home office ceiling the other day. I'll be damned if I have to climb up our rickety fold-down attic stairs from 1951 and do battle with some mystery critter. No thanks, we'll just settle for the holly branches I foraged in the backyard, red candles on the mantle, last year's Amaryllis that could make a comeback if I can keep from overwatering it, and this Santa art from Scott's family that I just love...

Winter fail: only two mere inches of snow fell on us here in MD. So much for a much-needed snow day! Many of you dear readers have, in fact, tucked yourselves in, cozily at home this week for a day or two of snow break - lucky you! If you're looking for some fuel to stay warm and well-fed, we've got two recipes for some tasty chili.

In marriage, you can be honest, yes? Scott's always loved minestrone soup, but in past experience the recipe he followed turned out have more of a thick, stew- ish consistency that I don't really care for. He never has a problem telling me when something I make just isn't quite right. I usually know when 1) there's remnants of food on his plate, and 2) no " Mmmms " ever escape his lips. If it's not " Mmmm " worthy, just stop right there, rip up that recipe, and file a mental note never to make that again. Therefore, we set out on Thursday eve to make a Minestrone with the Mmmm factor. I'm happy to report that we succeeded - we cooked up a brothy , vegetable-laden soup that included beans (of which I used to be a naysayer. Now I love most of them!), and it's perfect for these fall days. Hello fall, we thought you'd never make it. Welcome! We took our lead from David Rosengarten's It's All American Food , the hardcover editio...

Once I thought I should maybe convert to Tumblr as it seemed like the cool blogging thing to do, then I realized I can get a little wordy now and then and Tumblr isn't exactly great for long form diatribes on the evils of Little Debbie snack cakes or the awful crab we had in Chinatown. So. No Tumblr , but that doesn't mean I can't give you teensy little blog posts on random stuff, as always. Today I present to you the little bites of this and that floating around in my mind. A - There are pretty pumpkins growing in my 'hoods communal garden, and I think roasted pumpkin seeds need to be on the agenda. It is October, the best of the autumnal months, n'est pas? B - I have an urge to make my own energy/granola bars, as my energy has been flagging now for a while and I like bars of all kinds (not just the drinky - drinky speakeasy kind, but these ). A recipe I have at home looks simple enough - we shall soon see! C - Soups. Though yesterday's weather of the 8...

After our sinful weekend splurge, I determined that this week I would drag out everything chillin ' in our crisper drawers and work on eating as fresh and healthy as possible. I also apparently decided to use a blender for virtually every meal, and with the aid of a new-to-me $2 cookbook I found at Diversity Thrift (fabulous gay-owned thrift store in Richmond), Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2003. Sunday eve I made Cocoa Fudge Cookies for Scott, so he won't have to go out and buy yucky dry boxed ones. These are somehow not that bad for you, so okay, I made them for me to occasionally enjoy as well. I subbed whole wheat flour for all purpose. Last night I made my usual Moosewood cottage cheese-blended-with-greens-and basil-and-garlic sauce on bow tie pasta, with steamed zucchini and cherry tomatoes. I chased it with a slice of seedless watermelon. Yums . I then got to work on blending some roasted red pepper gazpacho . The linked recipe is not the exact one I used, but similar....