cleanse, day 26

Oh so close to the end of this self-imposed diet, and funnily enough, I don't crave things. Oh, I wouldn't mind being able to have a sweet treat, and I think a glass of wine would be good, definitely. On the other hand, I doubt that, come Wednesday, I'll settle down to a big piece of red meat topped with cheese and served with a big wedge of cake for dessert and a martini to wash it all down.

Oh, wait, maybe I should give that a try...

Yesterday was a simple meal as usual, a one pan dish. Sort of a black bean chili, but I decided on a milder approach. I sauteed some cumin, oregano, salt, and chipotle powder to take some of the rawness out of the spices, then added chopped onion and carrot. Once I'd sweated that a little, I added two cans of black beans (mostly drained of their liquid), stirred, then added in some leftover roasted tomatillo sauce from the night before when I'd had our neighbour Jeff up for dinner. After letting this simmer a while, I added some chopped yellow squash and corn cut from a cob. Some water to thin it, some salt to season it, and I let it simmer until the vegetables were tender.

And then Conrad and I went for a walk to enjoy a fine (and finally!) spring late afternoon.




Once home, I set to work setting up dinner. Bowls heated. A simple salad of arugula tossed together with a dressing of olive oil, gently browned garlic, salt, and sherry vinegar. I chopped an avocado up for garnish on the stew, and we were soon eating. Best of all? Leftovers that will be great for lunch on Monday!

cleanse, day 24

Wow, am I really embarking on my last week of this? Can I lose another pound or two? Can I move from this effort into a sustained, healthier way of eating? So many questions.

One thing is clear: the cleanse has not affected how fundamentally lazy I can be when it comes to preparing meals for myself. Salad tonight. Sorry: "salad".

I do this often when Conrad isn't home (he won't be back until tomorrow night, and he has more work travel next week). Usually eggs aren't involved, but often smoked salmon or some other similar protein is. Just so long as I don't need to cook, or barely cook anything. I've been known to make a big salad in a stainless steel bowl and just sit, eating out of that same bowl. Yes, I am bad.



A few veggies and the eggs tonight, drizzled with a little truffle oil (yes, mock me for that - it was a gift, and it tastes good!), seasoned with salt and pepper. Nothing too major. Besides, I'm still reeling from last night's abysmal effort at cookies (I salvaged some of the second type, but I'm not happy with them).

Last week of the cleanse, then. I'm saving the tofu for the end meal. ;-)

I am five

Happy birthday to blog!

A short post, but one I was loathe not to write even if I'm only just in the door from a weekend in LA (and yes, I intend to blog that trip in days ahead). I had the realization earlier this month that I'd been at this blog since 2006, and in looking back, I saw that the anniversary was fast approaching. My first entry was April 24 (or did I misremember what I'd looked up? Ah well, no matter if I did!), and five years later and almost 1000 posts in, I'm still at it. Irregularly at times, but I'm still here, and so is the blog.

Who reads it? I've never really known too well, and it's never been a concern. Life has unrolled in ways unexpected and in many ways quite nicely. Perhaps in 2016 I can report the same.

More to come on LA and such. For now, a quick comparison of me from about the time I started the blog to what I am today (well, yesterday)....

Josh reads

Look, it's a little after the fact, I know. I tried to prod some interest in hearing a young, gay author speaking about his latest book. Ah well. Maybe next time. Just the same, if you are in the mood for a GLBT mystery (or a series of them), check out Josh's books, please. He did a terrific job of reading and speaking at Gerber Hart on Sunday afternoon. Here's hoping he comes back.



I especially hope that so I can give him a better batch of cookies - sorry Josh. At least I did manage to feed you a not-awful meal on Friday!

Again, check out his books, and when he comes back this way, go give him a listen.

cleanse, day 14

Sitting here on Monday evening, writing this halfway through this self-imposed cleanse, I realize that the toughest part of this process is not relinquishing the many foods (and wine) I love. No, the toughest part is the burden I feel it places on others to accommodate me, indulge me, humour me, enjoy a meal with me.

Frank invited us to dinner yesterday, and it took a lot of negotiation to set up. Poor Frank. I am sure he thought he could share a good chicken pie with us as he has before. No, no. I had to make it tricky. Ultimately we agreed that he would provide a salad and some berries for dessert (with ice cream for Conrad) and even some cold poached salmon to go on the salad in case he and Conrad wanted something more. Yes, I am eating fish, but I opted not to last night. Instead, I brought along a main course for all of us - they'd partake as they saw fit.

I actually spent much of a sunny and cold Sunday in the kitchen. I'd downloaded the most recent Harry Potter film and set to work on cookies for Josh (more on that in another post - Josh, that is, not the cookies, which were NOT my best batch ever) and dinner for me. I'd had some barley with black cod the night before at Sola, and that made me think to make a barley risotto and then fashion it into cakes for frying.

I infused vegetable broth with dried morel and porcini mushrooms and kept that on a low heat, close at hand. The barley I sauteed some with a bit of shallot in olive oil, then began stirring in the broth. At the end of the process, when the barley was tender but had bite and was in its own thick, starchy sauce, I added in diced trumpet mushrooms and more shallots that I'd sauteed and seasoned together.

Now then, people who know me well will know that I have a rule of mushrooms: the more expensive the mushroom, the better it tastes. Button mushrooms revolt me. Few other foods do. The mushroom broth and trumpet mushrooms yesterday? Added depth and meatiness to the barley. Yum!

I let the barley chill and firm up, then stirred in some coarse grain cornmeal to help bind it. I coated the cakes in more cornmeal, then sauteed them in olive oil. I think flour (not permitted on the cleanse, at least not white flour) and egg may have helped bind them more, but I wasn't displeased with the result.

I debated a sauce, but still really needed a protein. I had also considered adding fava beans to the risotto (none available at Whole Foods) or peas, but settled on a pea puree to act as a sauce and protein both. That was easily prepared, and two parts were done. The last bit, some fat asparagus spears, I brought to Frank's, and he cooked them for all of us. He cooks his more than I usually cook mine, to be honest, but I still like asparagus in any case.

Puree down on the plate first, the cakes atop, the asparagus atop/between. I thought it was pretty satisfying.



Best of all? leftovers for a convenient dinner tonight. I popped two cakes on some puree in the toaster oven to reheat gently and partnered them with some broccoli. In all likelihood, tomorrow dinner will be the same!

cleanse, day 11

I am sure that there is little that a Moroccan would recognize or consider authentic about this one-dish meal, but the inspiration for it does come from that corner of the world somewhat. Not that I've ever been to Morocco - ah, to have gone to World Masters there in 1998... - but it does draw on the recollection of a vegetarian couscous I ate in London in 1994 and, more directly, on a recent browse through a Paula Wolfert cookbook. Our meal was a stew of chickpeas, cauliflower, carrots, and rutabaga with Moroccan spices, almonds, and apricots.



I was working at home Thursday, so after lunch I was able to get this cooking fairly easily and let it gently simmer a good while until the vegetables were tender. Here's the outline of the dish:

I sauteed a mix of paprika, true cinnamon stick, saffron, cumin, salt, and pepper to remove some of the rawness of the spices. To this I added diced white onion, then some slivered almonds and sliced unsulphured dried apricot. Next came the chickpeas and large chunks of cauliflower, carrot, and rutabaga. These were coated in the spice mix, then I added a can of diced tomato and some water. I brought the mix to a low boil then reduced to a low simmer, covered, and ignored for a while. Every do often I'd come back and stir and bit, but that was about it. The sauce picked up real sweetness from the apricots, so close to serving, I adjusted the seasoning with salt and pepper. The crowning touch was a bit of fresh cilantro chopped up and sprinkled on top of the bowls of stew.

It made for good leftovers for lunch on Friday, and there's enough left for one more lunch this weekend some time.

a last word about Baltimore

Was it really a week and a half ago that I was in Baltimore? Philadelphia seems so long ago. At least I have now had a glimpse of Delaware, thanks to the MegaBus trip down to Maryland.

I wish I had taken photos at Charleston, but it did make for a good meal not having to pause everyone while I snapped. Alas, without photos, I shan't blog the meal. Just know that it ranks among the best meals I've ever had, and I hope to get Conrad there one day - with or without our Baltimorean friends. And thanks again to Michael for the very generous treat of dinner there.

I can't say much good about the brunch food the next day, but I can say that it was a treat to see Dale - at long last - in Baltimore. And an additional treat to see Michael. Good company, very much so.





Let me wrap up that visit by saying that brief as it was, it was good, special, and meaningful. Any chance I get to see my best friend, Todd,

is welcome - we've had conference time together in San Diego and, in June, we'll have New Orleans. It's so much better, though, to have no programs or committee meetings to attend, to just be able to hang out. What did we do that was so great? Watched NCAA basketball together, walked the dogs, went on a coffee run, rummaged through the clothes in his closet, strolled a bit in the Inner Harbor. And really, aren't those the sweet little building blocks of friendship?

I'll remember a short spring visit to Baltimore for a lot of reasons, and smile when I do.

bridezilla

One thing I especially love about Conrad's office (and they know I love them by the baked treats I send in to work with him) is the happy, gently-teasing camaraderie. It's a good place to visit.

Apparently it's a tradition in his office for whoever has a wedding coming up to get the honour of hosting Bridezilla. And now it's Conrad's turn.

I won't comment on whether or not he's a bride (or, rather, groom) zilla. I do know that people generally assume that I am. Jump to your own conclusions. Just know that I don't have a similar guest sitting in my office at the Library.

;-)

cleanse, day 9

It may not come as a surprise to people, but I spend a lot of time thinking about food. There was I, swimming a good 3.5 miles this morning, and keeping me company were thoughts of what to make for dinner. Throughout the day I thought of it from time to time, and on the bus ride home, I was still undecided. All I knew was I wanted to use what I had in the fridge, not buy more stuff.

Well, mission accomplished. A few disparate ideas pulled together, and I ended up serving us a fairly simple meal of four things that worked well together, or so I thought.



I got home and set to work. A can of cannelini beans, opened and drained. Four large garlic cloves, skins on, charred on each side in a hot, dry pan. Rosemary chopped. Put it all in a food processor, and a smooth puree was ready to anchor the plate.

I had some nice little grape tomatoes, so I tossed them with a little olive oil and salt, put them in a pie dish, and let them rest a bit in the toaster oven. Once they'd hit a certain point, I turned down the heat a good bit so as not to char them.

Half a cauliflower and a shallot went into a pan with some olive oil, salt, and pepper to caramelize lightly.

I washed a bunch of red chard, de-stemmed it, and tore it into large pieces. Close to time for plating, I put the still-wet chard into a hot pan and covered it with the lid to steam to tenderness.

I think the flavours worked well together. I also liked the variety on the plate and that I didn't resort to a curry or some vaguely East Asian stir-fry. We ate, pleasurably, and watched an episode of Coupling. When the dinner was done, I had a nice ripe mango for us to share. And so the cleanse continues....

proud to swim

Well, ok: proud to coach. And swim - just not at meets, thank you.

Yesterday was the concluding day of the 2011 Illinois Masters State Meet, and friends, the Smelts did very well. Very well indeed. Fourth place overall with Lauren and Heidi taking high points in their age groups.

Conrad and I went out to the suburban high school (wow, they build high schools big here!) where the meet was held to support the team for the morning session. I had offered to coach, and that was very sweet and flattering to be asked, truly. To be honest, though, the Smelts did not need a coach. Oh, an encouraging word or more doesn't go amiss, I know. I also took splits for most of them in some of the races. Mostly, though, it's too late to tinker with their stroke, to give them technique to fret over. They've trained well and hard, and they can get the races done quite nicely. Which, definitely, they proceeded to do. And so, at noon(ish), Conrad and I packed up and drove back into the city, content that our team was in its own, collective good hands.

And if only - and I will stop whining about this, I promise - I weren't on this cleanse. That pizza at North End smelled so good come dinner time, and a good beer on an 80 degree day (yes, it was a warm early April here yesterday) would have gone down well.

The team has undergone many changes even in my mere 11 years swimming with it. The long-timers will have seen so much more. No matter. It's enjoyable to go for brunch or to organized social functions and chat with them all. It's encouraging how much the newer swimmers have embraced the team as a whole and put forward great effort in the water and on the deck cheering. It's terrific that we can so ably include straight and gay (men and women, though I do wish we had a few more lesbians) on the team because we all just like swimming. The team are good people.

Smelts, I am proud of you. And yet, as I sit typing this under an hour before Monday practice, I can assure you that I have not intentionally drawn up an easy practice for tonight. See you at Gill Park!

(photos up on Flickr!)

cleanse, day 6

A day on which I allowed myself fish.

All along I'd said that I would permit fish in the cleanse. I suppose I could be more rigorous, but I'm giving up quite enough, and really, how on earth do vegetarians not tire of the beaniness of it all? I'd had some fish as part of my meal earlier in the week at a benefit dinner at Yoshi's anyway, so last night wasn't a step too far.

In fact, it was a light meal, and one to revisit with some tweaking. I marinated halibut with miso, and it was the addition of a scant amount of sesame oil to the marinade that accounted for most of the added fat to the meal beyond what the ingredients might have. Come time to cook the fish, I lined a steamer basket with some Napa cabbage leaves and placed the fish atop the leaves with some broccoli and sliced shitake mushrooms alongside. I thought that sauteing or roasting the mushrooms might make them too strong, hence the steaming.

While those steamed I was reducing balsamic vinegar. Here's the other thing I miss on this cleanse - sweetness. It's a tough thing to incorporate sometimes, especially if I don't want the other flavours of fruits or things that might lend food the sugars I seek. Reducing the vinegar to syrup, I smeared each plate with a streak, then plated the fish atop along the with the broccoli, the mushrooms, and some crispy onion bits. A simple meal.



If I do this again - I should - I think I'd do two things differently. First, I'd start the broccoli before the fish. It was still a little crunchy. Healthier that way, perhaps, but some greater tenderness would have been good. I also might have poached the mushrooms in a miso broth for evennness of cooking. The fish, though, flaked apart delightfully yet wasn't overcooked. A reasonably successful idea, and one to revisit for sure.

conference folk

Leaving aside most anything else about the recent ACRL conference (I don't usually comment on work/library matters on this blog, after all), one of the best things about a smaller conference like that is how easy it is to see people, whether meeting up as planned or meeting up impromptu or crossing paths en route from points A to B.

First day there and I hit a goldmine: coffee with Courtney that led to further chitchat with Trevor, Lee, and Aaron. Sitting in the Marriott lobby with Courtney, we were able to call over to passersby we knew and waylay them for at least a hello. Back at the hotel, I was soon joined by regular conference roomie/dear friend Martin. He and I each had separate dinner plans, but we caught up on things as he ironed. Pre-dinner came drinks at the Marriott with Marisa and Susan. We had hoped Dan or Jake might be able to join us, but alas, no. And then on to a very good meal of vegetarian (theme of my conference dining!) tapas with Michael - not a librarian, but we all need a break from librarians sometimes!

I have no day two photos of encounters, though there were several including familiar faces like Dan, Michael, Jules, and Lisa at cocktails for GLBTRT members attending ACRL. Well, I do have photos of Martin, certainly, and vanity shots of me trying on clothes at H&M, but now I'm just being silly.

Day three I got to sit down with CG, whom I'd bumped into a few times. In the end, it was a short conference, and planning dinners together with her became impossible (darn it!), so we had to be glad of at least time together in the morning. CG looks as lovely as when she left Chicago, and Conrad and I miss her immensely.

So many other people I saw and didn't snap photos of. Brief conversations, all too brief: Kathryn, Missy, Josh, Adam, Scott, Eric, Mark, Dan.... I begin to forget them all already. Forgive me.

A good conference for seeing people, catching up with them, and meeting new people as well. And a good conference - I've been less pleased with the content offered at ACRL in the past, and I think they're getting better at appealing to a broader range of academic librarians. End of commentary on that, and now I'll look forward to the familiar faces I'll see in New Orleans in June!

cleanse, day 5

Backtracking a quick moment (is there a non-quick moment? I suppose there is when I start rambling), I should note that cleanse day 3 was a benefit dinner at Yoshi's that I may yet blog. I behaved as best I could. Cleanse day 4 was leftover eggplant and green pea curry - for lunch and dinner. On to Friday!

Cool, grey, wet outside, and the notion of soup was most appealing. I'd made the Greek lentil soup recipe from the Rebar cookbook. Ah, Rebar - I miss Victoria.

Anyway, it's a fairly easy soup to make and carries a nice little punch of chile flake and some zing from lemon zest and juice. The asparagus was unnecessary, and in hindsight I think it detracts from the purity of the bowl. On the other hand, I really do love asparagus, and I thought it a nice way to add extra green to the meal.

Conrad and I sat in the kitchen enjoying our bowls along with a simple salad and some fresh berries. Out of season, I know, and they tasted it - especially the blueberries. Ah well.

Tomorrow night I will make us some fish!

vegan dinners in Philadelphia

Pre-cleanse, there I was in Philadelphia for conference, rooming with Martin and dining out with him. It was almost as if the cleanse had started early. Smack me if I run on too much about the cleanse, by the way. Anyway, two nights last week I enjoyed a couple of meals that I might aspire to while cooking at home. Give me some good produce and let me see what I can do.

Thursday night we dropped by a casual social for our fellow gays then headed over to Mi Lah. I found it through a quick Open Table search, and it turned out to be a good choice. When we arrived and were seated, and after I got back to the table from washing my hands, I found Martin chatting with the man at the next table. They'd crossed paths earlier that day at a conference session, it seems, and we ended up pushing tables together, enjoying food (until the guy, Jeff, left), and talking conference stuff. Good conversation throughout the evening. Oh, and BYO! Always a nice thing.

Mi Lah was interesting. The name suggested Asian cuisine, and the staff appeared to be Asian, too (Chinese? I regret not knowing better). The food, however, ranged about globally. There were a number of tasty-sounding options on the occasionally comically-spelled menu (cauliflower stake? dinner for Buffy?), and picking was not easy.

Appetizers: yucca tarts for Martin and sweet potato "pattie" for me. Substantial appetizers, and tasty.

Entrees: grilled seitan for Martin and African peanut stew for me. I couldn't finish the large portion, though it wasn't for lack of enjoyment.

We finished the wine, declined dessert, and headed back to the comfort of the hotel for a good night of sleep.

The next night was a more refined meal at a restaurant Martin had found out about, Horizons. We sat upstairs, Martin enjoyed a cocktail and I, a glass of wine. A tough menu - I wanted everything. Truly. Not a hint of meat or fish or cheese, but goodness it all sounded good. As much as I liked Mi Lah, Horizons was a better choice still.

Appetizers:
Martin's ramen bowl with grilled baby bok choy, pickled shiitakes, menma, pho broth.

My salt-roasted golden beets served chilled with smoked tofu, avocado, capers, house baked pumpernickel, cucumber dill sauce.

Entrees:
Martin's Pacific Rim grilled tofu with spicy gochujang, edamame pureé, royal trumpets, yu choy, smoked miso dashi.

My cauliflower and smoked eggplant braciole with roasted olives, english peas, grilled garbanzos, sicilian salsa verde.

Again we declined dessert, though given the sophistication of the two courses we ate, I am curious to know what the desserts would have been like. Perhaps another visit to Philadelphia. Contented, we enjoyed the cool night walk back to the hotel.