November is nearly over and the daily temperatures in DC are still hovering around 65 degrees. You would think the mild weather would keep this Bostonian in t-shirts and short skirts all month long, but I boxed all the summertime clothes up months ago. This is mostly due to the fact that none of them fit me right now (more on that later), but also because I’m eager for fall to begin in earnest. I always love the change in seasons – regardless which season it is – but this year in particular, I’m ready for hot cocoa and chunky sweaters, the hiss and clang of radiators and bottomless batches of chocolate chip cookies. Continue reading
Tag Archives: vegetarian
My Friend’s Urban Farm Salad
Isn’t that a pretty plate of leftover veggie sides? On Sunday night, Matt and I finally hosted a game night. After months of procrastination and laziness, we invited a dozen friends over for dinner and games and we’ve been eating the remnants of the ridiculously large meal ever since. I would love to give you the recipe for the beautiful green salad at the bottom of the plate. It was the clear star, but sadly the recipe resides solely in my friend’s head. And even if she committed the recipe to paper, it wouldn’t do you any good because step one takes place two months earlier and requires that you turn your concrete parking pad into an urban farm complete with hand pollinated corn. Continue reading
Summer in Maine and Artichoke Salad
We had a wonderful time in Maine last month. The weather was hit or miss with some days of sun and some days of rain, but the dreary days were far nicer than anticipated. A good excuse to bake cookies, read books, and drive forty-five minutes to the closest movie theater. (Or at least the closest theater that shows movies released in the current decade.) Rangeley is a tiny Maine town. There’s one grocery store, one bookstore, an old stone library, one K – 12 school with a dozen students per grade, a handful of restaurants, sporting good shops, and antique stores. And of course a historical society with a dresser full of local bird eggs and a logging museum full of chainsaws and old photos of bearded men wearing plaid. There’s an ice cream stand that serves Gifford’s and bags of corn kernels to feed the ducks in the pond out back. There are four churches. (Needless to say, there’s no synagogue.) Or traffic lights or chain stores. It’s a little slice of heaven. Continue reading
Happy Memory Pie
The recipe I’m sharing with you today is strange. While it’s called a gratin, it’s really more of a vegetable pie in a couscous crust. I found it on the side of a jar of wheat germ seven or eight years ago, which is also strange. I mean, who buys wheat germ? And then there’s the fact that I still regularly buy wheat germ just to make this recipe that I’m not even that crazy about. So, why share it with you? It’s partly because Matt requested it this week, but mostly because it reminds me of another strangely delicious baked pasta dish that my grandma used to make for me: spaghetti pie. It was a little brown and crunchy-chewy around the edges and the bottom was dense with egg, topped with tomato sauce and a layer of melted cheese. I adored that spaghetti pie and I was always excited when I got to stay with grandma and grandpa because grandma would always make it for me. I liked it so much she shared the recipe with my mom, but it wasn’t quite the same if grandma didn’t make it. Continue reading
Return from Paradise
It’s been a full and happy month away from this little corner of the internet. It began with a beautiful wedding in the hills of Montecito, the Pacific stretched out below our feet, followed by a little visit to paradise. Ah, Hawaii! We visited Pearl Harbor, hiked Diamond Head and swam with the fishes in Hanauma Bay. But the highlight of the trip was on the Big Island, which we can now confidently confirm (after our second visit) is our favorite little place on earth. It wasn’t the steep climb down the winding trail to the floor of the Pololu Valley, its green cliffs receding above us as we inched closer and closer to the black sand beach. It wasn’t the climb over lava rock and through thorny brush to a secluded cove filled with sea turtles, basking on the shore and swimming just beyond our reach as we waded into the warm turquoise water. Continue reading
St. Patty’s Day Tofu and Salsa
Yesterday on my way to work, I saw my first crocus of the season. I nearly cried. And on this morning’s commute, NPR told me that the sun rose at 7:11 am and will set at 7:11 pm, a whole twelve hours of daylight (and more!) from now until June 21st. Ahhhh! Spring! But as I’m traipsing past flowers and basking in 68 degree weather, my friends and family back home just survived another snowfall. This makes 2014/2015 the snowiest winter in Boston since 1995/1996. To be honest, I have no specific recollection of that winter. I’m sure I had lots of snow days, home from school, helping my parents shovel, taking my sled to St. John’s Seminary and riding down the hill on the backside of the property. I can’t imagine I had any complaints. It’s funny how adulthood and all its accompanying commitments change our perspective on the piles (and piles) of snow that accumulate on our yards and roofs and sidewalks and streets. For someone like me, who has still not acquired all the trappings of a legitimate adult life (like a car or a driveway or high heels or a child or a commute that requires actual commuting), I still love winter. My walk to work takes 40 minutes rain, snow, or shine, so it really makes no difference to me. The cold and snow make being inside cozy and being outside refreshing. Seriously, I have no complaints. Continue reading
Veggies and Weddings
It’s been a while since I last posted. I have my reasons. First, the internet and I aren’t really getting along right now. There’s nothing like a Facebook hacking to sour me on the idea of sharing private information in a public forum. But don’t worry, the internet and I are working out our differences and rebuilding trust, we should be back on good terms very soon. Second, life got busy! I spent Saturday consuming a misguided combination of wine, champagne, and hard alcohol at a fabulous bachelorette party in Charlottesville. The bride-to-be is a dear friend, whose family owns the house next door to ours in Rangeley. She and her sister were my summertime best buddies. We swam and water-skied together. Took up old lady hobbies, like knitting and needle point. We camped out overnight on the boat and in a tent in the yard. We baked cookies and ate half the dough. We even cooked elaborate meals together with multi-course menus that we handed out to our parents before plating their food. Continue reading
Really Good Salad (Really)
I’m sure this is not the post that you expected after my rant about eating whatever the heck I want. You probably thought I would write about macaroni and cheese (again) or breaded, pan-fried chicken. I will eventually, don’t worry. But right now I have to talk to you about salad. You see, this weekend, I really wanted a salad. And when my body tells me it wants salad, I listen. I figure it’s a sign that I’m low on some essential vitamin or mineral and I need a whole bunch of green things to correct that. And sometimes I just want salad because it tastes good. Continue reading
The Matt Chronicles: Macaroni and Cheese
Ten years ago next month, Matt and I met in the Newark airport. Matt can tell you the exact date (and probably the exact time) because he has an uncanny knack for remembering scarily specific details. Speaking of details, we didn’t technically meet in the airport. I scowled at him from my seat at the gate, while he stood, arms crossed, weight on his heels, talking to a group of our Heathrow-bound peers. Matt has a knack for that, too. Being the one to introduce himself (formally and politely), to make new friends, and to start conversations. We didn’t actually meet until a week later, when I found myself in the dorm room next door to his and realized that I probably needed to acknowledge his existence. Given the impending anniversary of this momentous occasion, I feel compelled to share with you some of my favorite Matt stories and memories over the next several/very many posts. Continue reading
Bread Reincarnated
I was so excited to tell you about my successful bread baking last weekend that I completely neglected to tell you about my lovely Sunday. It was lovely because we did absolutely nothing (except eat bread and get back in bed at 11:00am). I left the house once to pick up our turkey, which Matt tells me the grocery store would have almost certainly sold out of by now. The rest of the day we were warm inside, listening to the steam gurgling in the radiators and the wind whipping leaves against our window panes. For dinner I made soup. Of course. Continue reading
Cooking For Sig 