even though it was a vegetarian (non-garlic, too!) dinner...

... there was plenty of ham in the kitchen last night!



Martin and Carrie came to dinner last night.
Martin, you may recall, is the super-awesome conference roomie and friend about whom it's impossible for me to say the least thing bad. Rather the opposite. He may blush when he reads that, but ah well. Carrie is NOT his wife, nor mine. She is, however, not only a lovely person but also a real heavy-hitter in the world of libraries and intellectual freedom.

If only Gail and Bowie had made it over. We would then have had a full Moonbats contingent!

I didn't take a lot of photos last night beyond ones of us when Martin and Carrie arrived. In truth, it was an unusual evening in that Conrad was barely part of it. He's been not 100% since Wednesday night, and though he rallied enough yesterday morning to want to have our friends over for a casual meal, just before they arrived he was in bed, shivering, feeling horrid. Poor guy. He did make it out to sit and have dinner (he has his appetite) though no dessert. For the most part, it was the three of us, and with that slightly odd circumstance and all the ALA gossip to catch up on, photos weren't in the cards.

Martin is a recent convert to vegetarianism, and I thought it very sweet and considerate that he gave me a lot of warnings and escape possibilities. But really, I may eat meat (though a little less red meat these days), but I am capable with a vegetable or two in hand. There had been another guest coming, one allergic to garlic. She had to back out, but by that point I had most of dinner made. Ah well. No garlic is a little trickier if you stop and think of all the dishes we season somehow with it. Still, I'm always up for a challenge!

The two arrived a little after seven, and I whisked a plate of tortilla chips out of the oven and dolloped a generous amount of homemade guacamole in the center. We all shoveled it up and sipped cocktails or wine. Chat continued, and I got the empanadas in the oil. Two kinds: one had a cream cheese, toasted pecan, charred scallion, and chipotle powder mixture for a filling; the others were filled with yellow summer squash, zucchini, red pepper, and red chard. I passed re-fried beans around at the table along with more guacamole, a pico de gallo, and a simple romaine salad with a toasted pumpkinseed and cilantro dressing.

Not a bad dinner. We sipped more wine and water. Conrad went back to bed and was asleep when Carrie and Martin, stuffed from dinner and the cake that followed, headed out.

But friends, that ham was mighty good!

Cake

I suspect there are still people back home, people from my past, who shake their heads and wonder why I wasted such a brilliant high school career on several years of restaurant work after my undergrad. I didn't stop to analyze why I was doing it, I just did it and enjoyed it.

Besides, friends in Montreal, then Halifax, and now Chicago have no familiarity with Don Diego's beyond what they may have heard from me. That gives me the huge convenience of being able to resort to restaurant recipes from the old days - things I know how to cook (even if I do need a recipe) but are new to non-Terraceites. Makes for a relatively easy time for me.

The other thing that strikes me is that people don't make cake - well, layer cake - too often these days. It's an old-fashioned dessert, or a regional thing. But really, when was the last time you went to a restaurant or someone's home for dinner and a wedge of a layer cake came your way for dessert. It just doesn't happen often.

I love cake. Well, I love most any dessert, frankly - I have a sweet tooth, I cop to it. And while I'm guilty of foisting cookies/crisps/tarts/cheeses on my guests, once in a while I try and wheel out something a little more classic.

All of this is a long-winded way of saying: Black Magic Chocolate Cake!



It was always my step-father's favourite dessert at Don Diego's, and I rather like it, too. I prevailed on Helen a year or so ago to get the recipe to me so I could make it for my chocolate-loving husband, but it made for a good dessert for friends last night, too.

Of course, the thing about cake is you really do need enough people over to eat it. Three of us had a piece each last night (Conrad, sick since Thursday) dined briefly with us but went back to bed before dessert), and I took a fourth piece down to the doorman. That leaves 3/5 of a cake in the fridge awaiting our forks. Tough assignment ahead!

An Education

In honour of our first movie together at a theatre since some time in 2008 (and I can't recall what one it was we saw then, but I think it may have been the 3D U2 concert movie, on Navy Pier, with CG), I present you with my recent education.

(Oh, and An Education? Good movie. Good performances, lovely visually. Great soundtrack - I bought it when I got home late that night).

Things I learned this past weekend:

This is too much sushi for two people to eat. Thank goodness we didn't have wine with it.

Daniel and I have a real chemistry between us that must remain unrequited.

Brian is fun to hang out with in Vancouver AND in Chicago.

The mustards were the best thing on the cheese/salami plate at Firefly, but I was peckish, and it all went down well.

Urbanbelly makes some good noodles (ramen with slow roast pork, cilantro, and kim chi). We'll be back.

Tomato sauce scented with saffron kicks serious butt - cod at Yoshi's last night.

This man is so adorable, and I was so very glad when he got home Friday night. We now have a few weeks in town together, and that thrills me.

Even after the Olympics are over, this Team Canada sweater looks great on me. Or is it that I look great in it. Both.

popping in

Conrad is getting changed, and then we'll head to Yoshi's. Meanwhile, a shot from last night, post-movie. Brian and Conrad do convincing work at NOT posing for the camera while we were all (Daniel, too) at Firefly for drinks.



Thoughts on the movie and the weekend that was to come, but for now, it's off to Sunday dinner!

Austin shots

A dreary day out there. Fog, drizzle. Not yet spring, though I suppose we should be grateful for no snow and for a day wherein staying inside and doing the daunting amount of housework doesn't seem too too bad.

So we've done laundry, picked up many of the piles, dusted, vacuumed, swept, mopped, cleaned the bathrooms, thrown things away and recycled others. Time for a break. Until tomorrow. And while on pause, an opportunity to post some last photos from last weekend in Austin. No particular stories to tell, just shots of a great city to visit and a very very relaxing weekend.

vanity, part 387,296

Oh, I am vain. I know. But I cannot help it. I mean look. Just look:



Is that not a cute hoodie that I picked up at this store in Austin this past weekend? And wait until the weather is right for me to wear the short sleeve shirts I got. Size small, I will add. No longer being an enormous tub of goo is kind of nice.

(yes, yes, someone smack me for being so bloody self-involved)

a fine evening indeed

I met AJ on a plane a handful of years ago. We were on our way back from ALA Midwinter in Philadelphia, and he and a friend were connecting through Chicago. We struck up conversation over the poor weather anticipated and over the His Dark Materials trilogy AJ recommended to me.

Since then he and I have had meals together at conferences and in Austin, where he and his wife and children live. Holly was through Chicago last fall, in fact, and she, Conrad, and I had a very enjoyable lunch at the Art Institute.

Good people, and they like food. Our kind of people.

Conrad and I didn't have many set plans at all for this past weekend in Austin. We'd talked - not seriously - about an escape out to the Hill Country, but Austin is such an enjoyable city that I wanted to stay put in town. So we did, and the only thing we arranged was meeting up with AJ and Holly. How delightfully serendipitous that Holly's parents were in town, too, that weekend. Babysitters! We planned a full dinner night out.

We got off to an early start, happy hour at a place called Parkside. Cocktails (great choices, but I chose not too well, and while the first of my two cocktails was fine, it wasn't really what I thought it would be), ceviche, and some calamari. Pacing ourselves. Catching up on what's been going on, toasting all the good events in our lives. A fun start to the evening.




The main event was La Condesa. As soon as AJ suggested good Mexican, I was soooo there. I didn't even consult Conrad, just said yes, we're going.

The restaurant is a higher end Mexican with dishes all over the map. We could have opted for some great main courses (the description of the chiles rellenos was oh-so-seductive, but not quite seductive enough). Instead, we got a pitcher of margaritas and ordered two small plates each plus three vegetable sides. Sharing it all, we got a great taste of a wide range of very good food.

My favourites? The elote was a huge winner. One cob for each couple. We could have had only that, and we would have been more than thrilled. The huaraches with mushrooms including huitlacoche were also a hit. I will order that fungus whenever I can, I think. The pork belly (not pictured) stuffed with quail was also a small miracle.

And the dessert. I'm glad I left it up to AJ and Holly to decide because I generally don't bother with chocolate desserts in restaurants. I live chocolate, but often it bores me in restaurants. Oh, not this. A layer of caramel hidden under that dark chocolate, and the edge of sea salt to lift it all higher. Mmmmm. So good!



We had such an exceptional night. Somewhere around 10ish, well over 4 hours after we started out, we hopped in pedi-cabs to head back to the hotel (blurry, nighttime iPhone shots while en route).





The night came to and end, but it just means - I hope - that we have to make another visit back and dine out with AJ and Holly again!

cookie binge

After a long dormant period in the kitchen - laziness, travel, holidays - I am back!

Well, you knew that already. I have actually posted a few things. This post should not be a surprise. Still, are you sitting down?

I've been baking.

Yep.

I know.

Last week was a bit obscene, in fact. I overdid it, and it's a wonder I even want to go into my kitchen anymore. Still, TK needs his CotM supply, and if one conference roomie gets cookies, I cannot neglect the other. And the SF wondered where his cookies were, and I thought, "Gee, if I'm mailing cookies to Baltimore to two people, I can't forget one of my all-time favourite Smelts, Tim." And Jeph's birthday needed a batch of cookies, and Brian's birthday was just yesterday. Also, we had some goodies from Vancouver to send up to Conrad's sister.

How many people is that?

I made four different types, but in the interest of some element of surprise, I photographed but one batch, the thin, crispy, tasty double chocolate cookies. How sad that I had to hold back the misshapen ones. Mmmmm.

TK jokes about his friend Jamie being my arch-nemesis, meanwhile, but, in fact, I have met her, and she is quite lovely. And she's just got a new position starting Monday. So... back into the kitchen today to get some cookies for her to start off on a happy note. Biscotti this time (orange, milk chocolate and almond) - I whipped them up in between finishing a workday at home and heading for a short swim. I hope she likes them. I may concoct a few more for her, in fact. Stay tuned.

And come to think of it, I'm in town this Saturday morning. Scones for Smelts resumes. Huzzah!

favourite cuisine

If asked, I can answer easily. No, sorry, despite my recent (and ongoing even) outburst of patriotism, my favourite cuisine is not Canadian. Oh sure, I love me some good butter tarts and Nanaimo bars. But no.

If asked, I will always say Mexican. Hands down. Is it any wonder why I love being in Chicago, home of the Baylesses' restaurants?

Last weekend I indulged in Mexican a little closer to that country. Conrad and I were in Austin for the weekend (well, he was there longer). I have a longer post to write about our especially good dinner with AJ and Holly, but for now, a breakfast treat, huevos motuleños.



I had this dish for breakfast at Güero's Taco Bar on South Congress. Great, funky part of town (and I really do recommend a trip to Austin if you've never been). The breakfast was quite fine (and when I reminded the waitress of the side order of chorizo, it was even better). Still, I can't help but think a little wistfully of the days of Don Diego's when Dick would make this dish. His version had the bananas, and peas, for that matter. Really, I've never had a version so good. The quest, however, is delicious to undertake...

open letter (three days late)

Dear Jeph,

First of all, happy 41st. Plus 3 days now. Early happy 42nd? A blessed Easter to you? Oh, heck, happy birthday.



Thanks for being you. Thanks for being an awesome friend. Thanks for enabling my dirty habits by sending me comics that I don't buy for myself. Thanks for sending your great baking. Thanks for hosting us last summer and making the most gorgeous summer squash tart imaginable. Thanks for the near-daily (and multiple times daily) e-mails. Thanks for having a wickedly hot boyfriend and letting me make frequent inappropriate remarks about him. Thanks for nagging me gently on things like not getting enough sleep. Thanks for sending me links to cool things like Threadless and such. Thanks for answering the phone and offering advice on matters Web site and baking related. Thanks for four years of knowing each other and the friendship we've grown and maintained in that time.

Happy birthday - I hope the cookies and other gifts arrive with you tomorrow. May you enjoy them well.

Take care,
Peter

red meat

A confession: I love pig. We had ribs last night, and I get cranky when I get to Whole Foods too late on a Saturday morning to snare a bacon-studded breakfast burrito.

In fact, I love meat, period. All animals, most cuts (I can't think of one I've tried that I've not liked, not offhand. Yes, I like kidneys and liver). I cook it, I eat it. I am real about where it comes from.

Having said that, though, I recognize two things:

- my body honestly can't process it as well as I thought, or as well as it used to. A big bunch of red meat for dinner leaves me in a torpor later, and I recall a night in a hotel in Cleveland where the meat sweats set in. Of course, I usually have red wine with red meat, and perhaps the added effect of wine doesn't help. Red meat, pork aside, is not something we eat a lot in our home anymore.

- there is an increasing ethical and environmental consideration that I haven't given enough thought to. Where does the meat come from, how was it raised? Those questions and others are even more relevant nowadays (well, actually, they should never have been irrelevant), and I find myself thinking of them a little more now. It's funny, because I have thought that way about seafood for a longer time. Things I need to pursue and explore further.

Having said all that, it was a steak for me tonight. A New York strip loin. I refuse to feel guilty. As I said, red meat is a rare thing at home now - I haven't cooked lamb in weeks, in fact - so this once, it made for a nice dinner alone while Conrad was at a professional function.



Leftover pea puree, blanched rapini, a big piece of red meat. What you see on the plate is half the steak. I may just slice it cold for tomorrow and use in a salad for dinner. I seared the steak and finished it in a hot oven. I won't claim to be the best cook of chunks of red meat like that (braises are my thing, I think), but it fed me well indeed.

winning recipe

Credit where credit is due. I've only modestly dipped into the fantastic cookbook TK got me for Christmas (Vancouver Cooks 2), but ladies and gentlemen, we have a proven winner that I will return to time and again in years ahead:

curry salt-crusted halibut with pea puree

The downside to this recipe (and there is one, sorry), is that it is so magnificently fragrant that even with a homemade air freshener of orange peel, clove, and cinnamon sticks simmering on the stove, the apartment was still a little redolent of curry Monday morning. Curry is not necessarily a scent one wants to wake up to on a Sunday morning, I have to say.

Still, it is a winner. Conrad and I had a nice date night in planned for Saturday. Oh, not hugely, sickeningly romantic. No. Just the two of us, though, spending time together quietly and conversationally. Holding hands, watching some AbFab. Enjoying a bottle of a Cedar Creek Chardonnay, the fish, and each other.





Really, can anyone ask for more?