Hungry Times Two

Reading Julia Child's book on kitchen wisdom last night, I realized there's many a food I have zero experience with. Here's a list of items - ingredients, products, dishes, etc - I have never worked with, in no particular order: Creme fraiche Fennel Watercress English Peas (no foolin ') Star Anise Turnips /parsnips/ rutabaga (those root vegetables) Quince Figs Kim- chee Tempeh Veal Herbes de Provence A whole Chicken Ribs Lobster Beets Homemade Mayo Capers Poached eggs Sushi Lychee Fingerling potatoes Cocktail bitters Baked beans And related to this, I don't own or have never used: A cast iron skillet (on my "To Obtain" list) An ice cream machine, crank or electric (I don't own one, but I did crank ice cream once) A food processor (I have a chef's knife, a blender, and a Pampered Chef food chopper ) A flour sieve A pastry/piping bag Cheesecloth Pasta machine Mandolin Mortar and Pestle Kitchen scale I think I have some work to do!

To the point: if you haven't tried Sriracha hot sauce, go forth and getchu some! Check out this article in the NYT by one of my fave writers John T. Edge on the amazing devotion surrounding this sauce. My favorite quote in the story: "It burns your body, not your tongue ." I first discovered it at Doc Chey's in Asheville , NC, and have smeared it on spring rolls, burritos, sushi, hot dogs, and anything else that needs a fiery punch now and then. I most recently had it on some sushi from Taki out in Hermitage and also on glazed tilapia from the Mustard Seed in Mount Pleasant, SC. If you like a little - scratch that - LOT of heat, I highly suggest this sizzling sauce.

Last week a co-worker and I discussed stainless steel fridges - he purchased a new fridge recently and was miffed that it isn't magnetized. For me, this is just reason one of many I'll never purchase any stainless steel appliance. My magnets are fantastic and a naked fridge would just look weird in my kitchen. Here's a photo of our current fridge "magnet configuration": We've collected travel magnets (Rocky Mtn. Nat. Park, Winston Churchill War Room Museum in London), freebies, ones gifted to us, and food-related (Five Star in Raleigh, Sweet Heaven - no longer in business in Asheville, NC - Doc Chey's Noodle in Hotlanta, amongst others) and I can't imagine making a beer run to the Frigidaire and find them all gone. I truly feel a fridge is blank slate upon which you opt to either share your little quirky magnets, photos, art and the like, or you just let it become this big dumb ugly box in the corner. Does anyone else have strong feelings on fridge dec...

Okay, cheesy bad blog title. I made a whopping three spreads/dips/what-have-you this weekend for Super Bowl fun times. First one: Curried Sweet Potato. Rather than hunt down the recipie, I'll just tell you what I did. 1) cut up 1 sweet potato into chunks, roasted it at 350 degrees for about 25 min. 2) meanwhile blanched 1/2 onion and two chopped carrots, drained water afterwards. 3) Blended the whole mix with 1/4 tsps. curry powder and cumin, salt and pep to taste. Verdict: Yum. Different, not your average white creamy spread thing. I served it with bagel chips and I quite enjoyed it. This went to Jenne's house. Second: Roasted Red Pepper and White Bean 1) Broiled one red pepper in oven for about five minutes, or until my fire alarm went off. Peeled skins off pepper. 2) Blended it and one drained can of white beans (big great white northern kind) with i tbsp. tahini, salt and pepper and 1 tsp. rosemary and a post-taste tsp. of red pepper flakes. Verdict: I want to love it, but ...

Trader Joe's, as we've raved before, is a great store. Here's a photo of the amaryllis we bought on a shopping trip over Thanksgiving, now coming into full bloom. It adds a great bit of COLOR to our living room, despite the cold temperatures and bare trees outside. Overall, a great investment of $10 or so.

I'm shouting this from the mountaintop: ( ok , actually just from under my red down bedspread littered with crumpled tissues, a notebook, two nutrition books and some magazines) - I hate being sick! No longer is the sick day a fun way to skip school or work. No longer do I enjoy perusing TV channels, lounging with mugs of tea or cocoa, reading and reading until my eyelids droop and drowsy dreams take over. No one to talk to, nothing to do that doesn't require significant exertion or concern, and no taste buds to enjoy anything I consume. It's enough to actually make me wish I was at work or had a class to even go to. Luckily, Scott came by for lunch and brought me hot tea and minestrone soup. I joked with him that we're getting far too good at this, as he was sick the better part of last week and I played nurse for him. As the weather turns colder, Scott's taking on a new role as "soup/stew/chili chef." He made minestrone last night and also introduced m...