January 30, 2015

Good -n- pretty food; Indiana Jones

January 30, 2015/ Em-i-lis

Ooh me, blood oranges and gumbo. Because seasonal and cold as get-out here today.

This evening, the boys and I finished watching Raiders of the Lost Ark. Just prior to the part where the large German pilot gets minced in the propeller, I said, "Boys, this part is kind of gross. Should we fast forward it?"

"NO!" they proclaimed. The guy got pureed, they laughed hysterically, Jack asked "Why didn't they show more?" while Oliver averred, "Now that was an unfortunate death."

Ya think?

Towards the end as the French archeologist and German nuts prepped to open the ark, I said, "Boys, this part is kinda scary. Do you really want to watch it?"

"OH YES!" They proceeded to watch everyone get shot through with fiery lighting and the main dudes melt and then laugh hysterically, again, and say "That was AWESOME. Ooh, you know what we should do? We should get chocolate eyeballs and hook them to electrodes and then put those on ice sculptures that" (per Oliver) "wook wike that cweepy guy" and "then get a laser and shoot them all through and then they'll melt and their eyes will drop and melt...Mwah, hah, hah."

Little boys are SO NOT little girls. ~~~ I was so thankful and pleased by the MANY amazing responses I received after yesterday's post, "Three is not for me." Thank you, everyone!

January 25, 2015

Cinnamon rolls, laser tag and beans

January 25, 2015/ Em-i-lis

We started this morning with a platter of homemade cinnamon rolls which is always a magnificent way to start anything. Especially once you slather them with cream cheese glaze.

Then to laser tag for several hours, a Mexican-Salvadoran taqueria and finally home to spend a lazy'ish afternoon.

Tonight for dinner? Chile verde and some incredible stewed beans. I bought a bag of dried cicerchia, fava chickpeas, at an Italian spot in Easton, MD, last summer, and today before we left for laser tag had the foresight to put them up to soak. I think I knew I would not make it to the market later, even though I really need to go.

In any case, when I bought these, I loved both the look of them -like flat chickpea pebbles smoothed by years of waves washing over them- as well as the promise of cooking them slowly with lots of olive oil and herbs. Like a meatless cassoulet of sorts.

So this evening, I boiled them (with bay leaves, allspice berries and salt) until nearly tender and then drained them while my braiser of olive oil and lots of garlic heated gently on the stove. I poured the drained cicerchia and herbs into that warm oil, added more oil and some chicken broth, salt and pepper, a bit of fresh rosemary and sage and cooked it in a 350 oven for an hour or maybe more.

These were truly outstanding: creamy but not mushy, complexly flavored but subtly so, filling in a delightful, hearty way, and really just quite delicious.

January 24, 2015

Mio nipote e qui; dessert

January 24, 2015/ Em-i-lis

Aah, my darling nephew (mio nipote; and also my fabulous sister and her fabulous husband) arrived this afternoon. We are all so happy to see them, and they us. I made a scrumptious dinner of salad and that seemingly omnipresent caramelized shallot, cabbage and tasso tart; we have no leftovers so I'll take that as an affirmative that all was well-liked.

I also wanted to mention the random dessert I made last night which was both a result of a thorough freezer cleaning and delicious: warm biscuits with a sour cherry-currant compote all drizzled with cream. Outstanding!

Why the thorough freezer clean you might ask? Well because yesterday, while Ol was home sick and I was rummaging through the fridge looking for something that might constitute lunch, I discovered an insidious black mold in the way-back-bottom of our fridge. Dis-gusting. My Sherlockian suspicions believed this gnarly fur to have grown from a large maple spill that, when I discovered it, had become an intractable, crystalline shellac. When did that happen? I unloaded everything, shelf by shelf, and decided to spin the left turn to nowhere into a positive: how old was that teriyaki sauce? What was that now-gelatinous blob?

After a half-hour, I'd had no luck removing anything but the Styrofoam inserts I think were meant to be permanent. My pink, 1950s-housewife gloves got a hell of a workout, as did an array of toothbrushes, sponges, scrubby brushes and cleaners. I even called in the A-team troop known as bleach and later decided to move on to the freezer just because I'm that girl.

Later glad was I when, having thrown out all things freezer-burned or unrecognizable, I was left with sour cherries, currants and biscuits. Hence this dessert which I will most definitely replicate, purposefully, in the future. Lemons into lemonade, y'all.

Em-i-lis

Good -n- pretty food; Indiana Jones

Cinnamon rolls, laser tag and beans

Mio nipote e qui; dessert

Em-i-lis

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