shepherd's pie

It's been a few evenings (and even a bunch of this weekend) now with work to be done, brought home from the Library, and not much opportunity to do fun stuff like cook nicely or blog. Snivel snivel moan moan. Poor me.

So, permit me to get back on track now that I've cleared a bunch of work off my plate for the day (though back at it tomorrow morning). Back we go to Tuesday night. I should have made cookies for Wednesday at work, but I was not in a baking mood. I was in the mood for comforting food, made just for me while Conrad was in Honolulu.

So, Coupling, Season 3 streaming on the laptop, I started to work. Ground lamb, leeks, some seasoning. That went in the bottom of each of four ramekins. Atop that went a puree of parsnips and more leek. Potatoes are not often found in our house, and honestly, I think that a potato topping is often bland. Ramekins ready, I popped them into the oven on a baking sheet. Let them go for a while. Pulled them out and put a dollop of butter and a sprinkling of coarse salt on each. This made for a nicely golden crust on each. They bubbled up their juices, and I pulled them out.



Alongside? Simply some Brussels sprouts. A glass of wine. I should have let the pie cool a little - I dug in greedily and burnt the roof of my mouth. Piggish of me. Still, it did make for a cozy dinner to enjoy by myself.

hot spicy nuts

How is THAT for a title that will get some traffic my way from Google?

;-)

In fact a simple post for this, my 600th (yes!) blog entry. Not too shabby. More than my journal entries for the awkward coming-out years. And more delicious, too.

Sunday night I joined a number of teammates in watching the Oscars, and the mixed nuts shown above were my simple contribution, along with a bottle of red wine. It's a nice, easy recipe that fits well into a lot of parties. Mixed nuts toasted gently, tossed while hot with a mix of butter, cayenne, salt, chopped fresh rosemary, and brown sugar. Serve warm and enjoy. The recipe comes from the Union Square Cafe cookbook, which I rather like.

I also made some ribs that afternoon with the intention of taking them to the party. With Conrad out of town, however, I spent the better part of the afternoon wrestling with how anti-social I felt. Ultimately I went. The ribs, on the other hand, stayed home. Good for a couple of lunches and a dinner.

I'm glad I did go. I didn't win the pool (16 out of 24), but Dan (the host) and Lee (the social director) put together a fun evening for about two-dozen of us. Nice. I'm glad that the Smelts are getting back into events like this.

playing with the new camera

Any excuse for dinner at Yoshi's, right?

Yesterday brought together the happy confluence of me being utterly worn out (5.68 miles of swimming that morning) and Conrad wanting to check out more of the functions of the new camera we bought. Also, he's off to Hawaii in about, oh, half an hour, so no Sunday night at Yoshi's for us.

I'm posting four of the better photos from last night, though I admit there's some graininess to them that we're still trying to account for. Hmmm. Had I really wanted to bore you all, I would have posted the 15 photos of the place mats - Conrad spent many minutes happily geeking out, trying to capture the wood grain of the mats.

He really is adorable, you know.

Dinner? Good as always. A busy night at Yoshi's, and no one we knew with us at the bar. We're shifting to New Zealand wines as the countdown to that vacation gets under five weeks. I didn't like any of the entree shots (salmon for us each) that I took, but the radicchio salad looked fine enough, as did the edamame.

winter frickin' wonderland

Yes, yes, yes: I know that it IS only February. Still, I'm spoiled by the blooms I saw in BC just two weeks ago - was it only two weeks ago?



I am not pleased. Make it go away.



37 more days until New Zealand. [deep breath]
37 more days until New Zealand. [deep breath]
37 more days until New Zealand. [deep breath]

gin, salmon, pineapple

We haven't entertained much lately for a variety of reasons, not least of which is the hectic travel schedule we're each keeping up. In fact, Conrad is in Fort Collins tonight and tomorrow night. Some quiet time at home for me to fill with blogging.

Last Saturday we spent much of the afternoon in Evanston. For the Canadistanis reading this, that's the suburb immediately north of Chicago. Reasonably affluent, a good size, the home of Northwestern University. Some good shopping up that way, too, and in among our purchases was a new digital camera for our upcoming vacation. Having Rachel over for dinner on Sunday night was a good way for Conrad (all photos by hime, except the one of him that Rachel took) to play with a shiny new toy. I can't blame him.

He'd also wanted to serve up mai tais for dinner. Sadly for him, it looked to be pretty involved for a casual kitchen dinner for just three of us. No matter - he'll be in Honolulu next Sunday. Instead, we looked up a basic martini recipe (no, really - we simply don't make/drink cocktails at home) and ended up with a concoction called a Nick and Nora martini. Gin and vermouth in a 3:1 ratio.
I poured big ones, used a whole bunch of olives (which taste really good marinated in martini, I'd forgotten), and rather than mouth-puckeringly dry booze to go with our pre-dinner snacks, we had some smoooooooth bevvies.



Smoooooooth and boozy! Oooo, and look: pretty Fiestaware in scarlet, peacock, and sunflower.

Fotunately, we used up the gin on the first round, and Conrad and I turned to our house wine for sipping with the salmon.

The salmon was a standby recipe I like - top filets with slices of tomato, some oregano, salt, pepper, and chopped garlic; drizzle with olive oil; roast in a hot oven. To go alongside there was some roasted asparagus and some cauliflower puree. Good stuff.



And dessert? Simpler this time. Pineapples were a good price at Whole Foods, and I found a reasonably ripe one among them. Peeled, sliced, and roasted under a broiler. I served slices with a ginger creme anglaise and some chopped crystallized ginger.
A light dessert, and a nice evening all around.

Valentine's comes early

6+ years of work in restaurants, and subsequent years of dining, have taught me some important things:

• waitstaff are people and deserve politeness from me.
• problems in the kitchen should not be blamed on the front of the house, and the reverse is true.
• complaining about a problem a week later does not give the restaurant an opportunity to address it.
• a good attitude on my part goes a long way to making a meal good.

But the most important thing I've learned is this:

Avoid restaurants on Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. The two worst days of the year for dining out. All the cheap you-know-whats show up and want everything at the lowest price possible. Restaurants, apprising the opportunities at making money, usually produce uninspired food designed at getting as much table turnover as possible. Our dinner at Bin 36 last Valentine's - when we were living in a downtown hotel because of the fire in our building - that left us disinclined to return there for a meal; we've been back only once since then.

We spent yesterday shopping in Evanston and then came home to do laundry and have a quiet night in. I made up thin cut pork chops, we ate quickly and simply. We were content, however, in having had an exceptional night on Friday the 13th, dining at Yoshi's. Picture it: the two of us at a back table instead of the bar. Looking pretty. A bit of champagne, then a bottle of a Minervois. Oysters, a starter course each, steak au poivre each, then a shared dessert. Another glass of red wine each. We left the camera at home because you can't hold hands while fiddling with camera settings. A fine night, a leisurely dinner of terrific food and wine, and we're ever so glad we missed the Saturday Valentine's crush.

As for photos, our friend Gil, dining at the bar with his wife Rakhael, kindly snapped some shots and sent them our way. See? We look hot! And happy. Because, you know, we are (yes, I'm a smug married). Valentine's Day came early for us, but over 7 years after we started dating, we think we're doing a good job of keeping the Valentine's spirit constant.

sunny winter morning, downtown

Thursday morning I spent downtown at a workshop on copyright - I know, it sounds like a thrill a minute. In fact, it was a useful and engaging three hours.

I actually started my morning a little earlier. Conrad also had a workshop that day downtown, so we shared a cab, and I got out where it dropped him in Streeterville. From there it was a moderately brisk stroll toward the Santa Fe Building. Walking along Michigan Avenue, with gorgeous blue skies overhead, I was struck yet again by what a jewel of a city Chicago can be. And, of course, I took photos...

I didn't investigate what this public art
was all about in the plaza between the Tribune Tower and the river. Doubtless connected to the work American Gothic, housed at the Art Institute. Advertising? I don't know.

The creamy, beautiful Wrigley Building.
Oddly, I like the juxtaposition of this iconic structure and the almost-complete Trump Tower nearby.

A favourite of mine, the deep green Carbide and Carbon Building. Now the Hard Rock Hotel, of all things.

Morning traffic rushed past. I stopped time and again. The old public library, now the Chicago Cultural Center, is a handsome sight.

In Millennium Park I looked back north at some other landmarks. The Smurfit-Stone Building is notable for its truncation and cleft. When I first came to Chicago, I was told that it was designed by a woman in response to the skyscraper as phallus metaphor. I've never bothered to learn the truth - it makes for a funny thing to tell visitors in any case.

Taller buildings: the Prudential Plaza buildings and, looming on the right, the second tallest in Chicago, the Aon Center. The Trump Tower will overtake it for second when it is complete.

Finally, the lovely little Santa Fe Building, little being a relative thing. The rounded windows of the top floor distinguish it.

There's a lot more to be said about the city's architecture - and Conrad certainly could add a whole lot more. No matter. Sometimes it's sufficient just to enjoy the views.

Sunshine Coast, return trip

A final post from the recent BC trip, and once again, little narrative attached. On Friday I was on the 12:20 ferry from Langdale to Horseshoe Bay. Patches of blue sky poked through ominous clouds (it had rained in the wee hours that morning), but the sea was calm, and the crossing otherwise uneventful.

Some images from the start of the sailing:









I really do love those Wheatberries locations, though - early mornings in Sechelt, after my swim, I'd sit and eat, drink coffee, and surf the Net there.