30 Jun 2007: Something from Nothing
Do you know what's even more satisfying than whipping up a good meal? Whipping up a good meal when you've spent the previous half hour bemoaning the fact that there's nothing to eat in the house. I don't know which cupboards I was looking in, because I obviously missed the fact that I had ingredients for Matar Aloo:
Well, I assume it could be called Matar Aloo. It's Matar (or Mutter) Paneer, but with potatoes instead of paneer. Knowing I had fresh peas on hand, I decided to check out my favourite Indian foodie blog, Mahanandi, and what was at the top of the page? Matar Paneer! A sign, obviously.
I don't often cook my own Indian dishes as A) they're much better at my favourite restaurants and B) I don't usually want the leftovers the next day, so it's wasteful. Looking at that recipe, though, I figured I could scale it down -- I quartered it, since I had only one sad tomato in the fridge. I made changes, substituting with the things I had on hand; obviously, I traded potatoes for paneer, but I also cheated a bit on the spices.
I have no doubt that my dish would instantly be recognized as a fraud if put to the test, but on the other hand, I would not have been disappointed if this had been put in front of me at a restaurant. And I love that it's not a heavy, cream-based dish -- in fact, the bulk of the fat (which is low in the first place) comes from the ground cashews. It was just filling and fresh and delicious. Yum.
I didn't keep track of what I put in (honestly, it's like I have a wish to never repeat my successes. Annoying!), but follow that link above to the recipe on Mahanandi, which is nearly the same and even better, I'm sure!
28 Jun 2007: More Bits and Pieces
Well! I had sort of written off the last post as a dud, because -- you know -- it was all about cheese. But apparently you people have many opinions about cheese! It does seem to be one of the small foodie pleasures of (a non-vegan's) life: simple, but so good when done right. I was trying to think of other foods like this. Tea, definitely.* What else, though? A perfectly ripe peach? A sublime jam? If I drank more than one glass of wine a year, I'm sure that would make the list.
Moving on! There were a lot of perennials in my yard when I moved in. Loads of hostas and lilies. I generally turn up my nose at these; they're so common -- literally, that is -- almost every house in my neighbourhood seems to have these. But they look nice when cut:
The little bird is a cylindrical, carved box that Mo gave me a while back. It's carved from a piece of cinnamon wood and smells amazing. I don't keep anything in it; just open it in passing every now and then and take a whiff. Yum.
Despite loudly and frequently saying that I'm off baked goods for the time, I had to make some banana cranberry bread yesterday:
A break in the heat + overripe bananas + this post made me do it. I didn't actually follow that recipe, obviously, though it looks pretty darn good. I managed to use up those bananas and have had a couple of pieces, but now I'm left staring at the rest of loaf, still not feeling in the mood for sugary-flouriness. Oh well.
Just a quick cat update: Both Booty and Beany are on antibiotics now for a sneeze that Beany brought home with her. And I had to rush Booty to the vet yesterday when he suddenly started limping and growling at imaginary attackers. I'm slightly embarrassed at how I overreacted (but he IS fourteen and the last of my childhood pets, and I had visions of his final moments passing through my head); he's got a three-day course of anti-inflammatories for his knee, and he's already doing much better.
*Speaking of tea: I want to try a decaf (probably herbal) tea that I can have later at night. I drink so many cups of tea every day, even in the heat, but the caffeine affects my sleep if I have it after 7pm. So, armed with the knowledge that I've never met an herbal tea that I like, can you suggest something really nice? Anybody who can source a (good) decaf peach green tea wins. . . something.
27 Jun 2007: Afternoon Tea
I went to the supermarket yesterday (the locally-owned Kowalski's) to pick up a few basics. Annoyingly, I only really needed two things, and I forgot to get one of them. Ah well. There are a million things about which I'm not a snob (eg, I love thrift shops and have a general disregard for brand name items), but I definitely prefer posh supermarkets.
And I definitely have high standards when it comes to cheese. The thing is that when you're in Britain (perhaps all of Europe), even bog standard cheese is fairly good. A packet of own-brand mature cheddar slices will still make pretty tasty cheese on toast. But to shop in the main cheese aisle of a supermarket in America is to shudder. I've even been caught out in the 'fancy cheese' section, when an American-made, overprocessed cheddar has somehow slipped into the pack. Yesterday, I found a Double Gloucester with chives that really hits the spot -- very sharp, but also creamy and chive-y and generally delicious.
The very best cheese I ever had was in Ireland, from a sample toothpick in a shop. It was a cheddar or similar, but laced with cinnamon and apple. The sweet and savoury combination is magic. I've never run across cinnamon apple cheese again, but I've paired my Double Gloucester with a new jar of fig and orange spread, and the effect is just as nice. I thought cheese+chives+fig+orange might be over doing it, but it's just right in small quantities.
This is the spread in question. It's just the sort of thing I wouldn't have allowed myself to splurge on (I should mentioned that I did NOT spend $8 on it, though!) in the past, but it's a perk of the no-shopping month. It's really lovely -- not as tart as marmalade, but with a nice oranginess, and the fig flavour is a welcome departure from the jams I typically buy.
I didn't mean for this post to become all about cheeses and cheese accessories! What are your cheese recommendations?
26 Jun 2007: Things to Make Me Happy
Warning: The following photo is liable to make Rob angry.
He accuses me of only ever making baked goods he didn't like when we lived together (mainly things involving bananas) and now cooking all his favourite dishes, since there's an ocean in the middle. People who know Rob know that he has a great fondness for sickly sweet things. If ever you're in the position to pick up a treat for him, think to yourself, 'Hmmm, which of these things would make me physically ill due to its sugar content?' That's the one for him!
For example: apple crumble -- not good enough. Apple crumble with a layer of toffee/caramel, drowned in custard? That's the ticket! I finally had a go at making homemade custard yesterday. I'd been really put off by all the talk of curdling, etc, but it was simple in the end. I think it helps that this recipe (what I'm going to call the Magic Nigel Slater Formula) produces a thinner custard -- better for pouring over things than spreading between layers of a cake.
Nigel's recipe calls for five egg yolks, but I scaled it down and used: 300ml milk, 3 egg yolks, and 3Tbsp sugar (plus some vanilla and a tsp of cornstarch for good measure). I think you can see the magic formula there -- easily scalable. If it makes you feel better, Rob, I later poured most of it over bananas.
These gorgeous books arrived yesterday:
We put out our own edition of A.A. Milne's The Sunny Side in the UK last year. Some time back, I received an e-mail from Harper Collins in the US, who owned the American rights and were planning on reprinting. They bought both our typeset files and the illustrations I had done for our edition, and now the book's been printed and should be available in shops.
It's very exciting to see these, for some reason. I would have expected to have been more excited about our own edition, since I did all the work for it, but it's actually quite fun to have somebody take elements of my work and produce something unexpected (and beautiful!) with it. And having a third party (especially Harper Collins) wanting to use my illustrations is very pleasing indeed.
24 Jun 2007: Weekend Report
Having a lovely weekend. Actually, I've been having one good day after another since I returned a week ago. I think it's that pleasant combination of hard work + new project + little grey cat. I went to the farmer's market yesterday and came away with lots of goodies.
Five days into the shopping moratorium, and it's going smashingly well. I did have an hour or two yesterday where I couldn't decide what I wanted to do, because what I felt like doing was going to the shops. Two revelations so far:
-- Shopping has become an obligation. I feel like a ought to get out of the house, and so I ought to go shopping. It's not always a 'pleasure' thing; sometimes it just feels like one's (ridiculous) duty. By taking shopping out of the equation, I'm left feeling much more free! I was floating around the house on Thursday, playing with the cats and tidying things up, and I realized it felt like the weekend. All my time is my own, to do useful things like sewing and walking; I don't owe any of my time to the shops. Does that make sense?
-- I'm not really doing this experiment to save money. It would be nice to have more money to squirrel away in savings, but I don't feel like I need to scrape together my pennies. That said, I will be saving money by doing this. I was at the co-op on Friday, and I realized that not spending my money on 'manufactured needs' (new clothes, gadgets, etc, etc) means that I can instead spend it on quality food. Fresh mozzarella, fancy olives -- things that I really will enjoy but usually do without. To me, this is a huge bonus -- and makes me think I'll have to continue my experiment for much longer than one month!
Look, look -- my first harvest! One head of broccoli, plus four broccoli-coloured caterpillars. I will have this broccoli with my lunch; the caterpillars went back outside. I hope they turn into lovely butterflies and not, er. . . . bees.
I expected to feel very triumphant about my first garden feast, but it wasn't enough of an effort! I just put the plants in the ground and watered them every day -- they did all the work. Here it is still in the garden. You can also see a soon-to-be-red (but currently green) pepper, if you know it's there. Maybe when I'm under a pile of homegrown tomatoes, zucchini, eggplants, etc, etc, I'll feel properly satisfied.
One last photo -- the cats keeping an eye on the neighbourhood squirrels. Apart from an occasional hiss when they startle each other, Booty and Beany have really been getting along. What's more, they appear to be playing together. Lots of galloping around the house (at five in the morning) and games of under-the-table-on-top-of-the-table. That was my great hope when I got a second cat: that Booty would have somebody to play with -- so it warms my heart. Beany has even cuddled up to Minnie a few times now, which seems to make Minnie slightly uncomfortable -- she knows that this one has pins and isn't to be trusted!
22 Jun 2007: Beany
Wondering how to keep yourself entertained whilst taking a month off from shopping? Adopt a cat! Meet Beany:
Okay, no, it wouldn't actually be acceptable to run out and adopt a cat just for a month of amusement. I've been contemplating adding a second cat to the clan for many months now, and a month with no shopping diversions seems like a good time to make the adjustment. So a few days ago, I went to the humane society, thinking I'd get a calico kitten, and came back with a nine-month-old grey tabby instead.
I've called her Beany thanks to a comment left by Tara ages ago, wherein she said that her grandparents used to have cats named Booty and Beany. I decided then that if I ever had another cat, it would have to be called Beany. Make it so!
I adopted Minnie when she was nine months as well, and I think it's a good age for animals. Young enough that they can adapt easily and unlearn any bad behaviours, but old enough to be over a lot of the annoying puppy/kitty traits. Beany is still only about half the size of Booty (who is a small cat to begin with), but people overlook the 'young adult' animals in their search for the cute babies.
I cannot believe how well she's adjusting to the new house and the other animals. I think it's because she's decided she's the boss of everybody; there's a bit of growling and hissing (and trying to pounce on Booty), but no hiding under beds.
While I was eating my lunch today, I watched her cross the kitchen with Minnie patiently trailing behind -- something Minnie likes to do to Booty as well, which drives him absolutely crazy -- but Beany seemed to take no notice. My ultimate hope is for Booty and Beany to become pals and cuddle up together -- a tall order for a fourteen-year-old former Youngest Cat. That's probably not going to happen any time soon, but at least their already deigning to sit next to each other to look out the window. That's progress, for cats!
19 Jun 2007: Summer Projects
Hey, it's nearly officially summer! I'm back in Minnesota now, and somebody accidentally turned the temperature up while I was away. Today is actually rather nice, but the forecast is grim. Temperatures in the high 80s and 90s, topped with high humidity. I suppose there's always somebody who's got it worse, though...
That's my new makeshift nightstand in the craft room. I've set up 'summer camp' in there, as it's the coolest room in the house (only one window, facing north). The temperatures are still going down in the evening, but I don't really get the benefit of that in the back bedroom, for some reason.
As you can see, I've been reading Benjamin Barber's Consumed, about the way markets target children and infantilize adults. I agree so much with the things he says, and it's making me really think about my own shopping habits. I think I'm probably already miles ahead of other people my age (as far as these things go) -- I've got no credit card debt, for a start. But I've realized that I'm guilty of treating shopping as a hobby, and I'm really unsatisfied with that.
So, as of tomorrow, I'm beginning a month of nothing new. No shopping for new things, and food will come from either the farmer's market or locally owned supermarkets. I'm a big believer in letting good habits sneak up on oneself, and I think the popular belief is that it takes twenty-one days to form a habit. Deciding to give up shopping 'forever' would be very daunting, but I'm pretty sure I can make it through a month, and I'm hoping to develop some new buying habits in that time.
The moratorium on shopping will also force me to get out and enjoy the Twin Cities in ways I haven't previously gotten around to. Because I work very early hours, I wind up with most of my afternoons to myself, and I keep thinking I ought to do something interesting, like visit the Como Park Conservatory, but I often wind up driving to the shops, having thought of something new that I 'need'. In the same way that I don't feel that watching hours of television is an acceptable use of one's time, I'm also uncomfortable with the idea of shopping being on the list of one's favourite activities.
I've sort of left it to the last minute here, but if anybody else in the bloggy world would like to join me in my month of no-shopping, do feel welcome, and let me know, so that I can read about your experiences. Or just start with a week and see how it goes! It's the perfect time of year to try to break the habit of mindless consumerism (gah, that's such a strident phrase) -- there's so much to get out and do while the sun is shining!
(P.S. -- Also on the nightstand: Why have I only just now got around to reading the Jeeves and Wooster books? Why? And the little book on top was made for me by the lovely Cally. She's so nice.)
14 Jun 2007: New Purse
Just dashing off to get on the train (I'm in London -- did I forget to mention?), but here's a photo of the purse I made before flying over.
The best part is the matching wallet, actually, but I didn't finish that until I was at the airport, so I haven't got a photo yet. Left over velveteen from my Big Green Bag, Liberty cotton lawn, silk, and other cotton prints. It's the perfect size for everything I need when I don't need everything, and it's a messenger bag style, so it keeps my arms free. Hooray!
07 Jun 2007: Morning Photos II
Just a couple of morning-type photos that I've had sitting around for a few days:
My typical breakfast these days -- a serving of multi-grain Cheerios and cocoa made with Almond Breeze. A good dose of vitamins and minerals to start the day (though I'm very skeptical of all those 100% DRVs listed on the Cheerios. I wonder how much of that one's body can actually absorb.).
Cantaloupe carcasses. Just liked the light. By the way, all that fruit I bought on Saturday? Nearly gone. Delicious.
03 Jun 2007: Healthy Pie?
Oh, why does it have to be grey and overcast this evening, the evening on which I've made the cutest pie ever? I had to sidle right up to the window to photograph it:
It's the Wholemeal Apricot Pie from Apples for Jam, and it's ever so sweet to look at. I halved the original recipe and baked it in my 6" two-piece cake pan. The crust is really nice -- I was skeptical about using only wholewheat flour, thinking it would be a bit too gritty, but it's not at all. It's definitely wholemeal, but it's sweet and tender enough that one doesn't mind. And I love the way you fold it over the filling; it's such a rustic-y look.
I followed the recipe pretty much to the letter; the only difference was using half the called for butter in both the apple puree base and to top. Annoyingly, I had to make the apple puree twice, as I managed to burn the first batch (I love my gas hob, but I must remember that when a recipe says 'medium burner', that equals Really Quite Low on my stove). So that was one apple wasted -- bah.
It's a lovely little pie, I'm happy to report. The apricots are very tart, but both the apple sauce and the crust are nicely sweet, so it's a perfect balance. In Apples for Jam, she says something along the lines of liking to have something healthy to serve the children when they come home from school. I'm not sure I could ever consider pie to be healthy, wholemeal or no -- but if it's possible, then this might be the one! Yum.
And one last picture of the peonies, to finish. They must be one of my favourite flowers -- I haven't taken the time to make a list, so I can't be sure. But I'm amazed at the way they've opened up since I brought them home -- they were still closed at the market!
02 Jun 2007: Bounteous Bounty
I went to the Lyndale farmers' market this morning, and I think I got a little. . . oh, what's the word. . . over-excited. Carried away, even.
I mean, I got a pineapple; if that's not extravagance, I don't know what is. I'd been to the market before, on a weekday, which was alright, but it was nothing compared to today's offering. Obviously, not much of this is locally grown -- it's still too early in the season for this part of the country, and I don't think Minnesota's ever going to be a major producer of oranges. But the prices are so very right. I got everything (minus the honey and the flowers) for $15.
It's an awful lot of food to eat in one week, but I'm a fruit-n-veggisaurus, so I think I can do it. I'm planning to poach the apricots, I think. Or bake them. Or make the apricot slice from a recentish Donna Hay, although I'm not really wanting baked goods lately. The tomatoes and red pepper are becoming tomato soup as I type.
Most of the produce stands sell their fruit and veg in punnets, and the going rate seems to be $2 each, or three for $5. Despite the huge amount of food I hauled home, I really did restrain myself. I love fruit -- I can't actually imagine how anybody could dislike this food group -- so every raspberry and melon was very tempting indeed. But I tried to buy only what I thought I could eat before it goes bad. And maybe some extra treats.
Because pineapple is really nice.
02 Jun 2007: Getting Out
Not much to report around here. I did get a nice bunch of peaches:
I got them from the farmers' market on the Nicollet Mall; I was downtown after having gone to see/hear the Minnesota Orchestra play Beethoven's Sixth, which was lovely. Most of my Wednesday was spent feeling decidedly lackluster and a bit sorry for myself (lord knows why), so I decided I was going to the orchestra the next day. And it helped!
Today I got a nice Pyrex bowl for $3.75, from the clearance corner of my favourite antiques shop in Hopkins (Auntie M's). I'll have to take a photo of it tomorrow -- it's not a pattern I'm familiar with, but it's a turquoise print, so it belongs in my kitchen.
I've got a batch of no-knead bread doing its thing in the kitchen overnight; tomorrow I'll restock the fruit bowl; the weekend is go!