Birthday Lessons and Links

My birthday was on Tuesday, and while I was checking Twitter on my phone, I happened to click on a link over to a post at Food 52. The tweet mentioned something about why there is basically no future for hopeful food writers. Ack! I'm not even starting on my career yet, and apparently it's over. Amanda Hesser kind of bummed me out (on my birthday!) about how and why food writing, at least as the 90s and 00s knew it, is dead. But then! She got inspirational. It doesn't mean you can't write about food-- in fact, food writing will always exist, since people will always eat (and enjoy it) and always write. But building a career around food writing period is the issue. There are so many other things to do to be involved with food, and writing about those experiences can be a by-product. It overwhelms me, honestly. It takes innovation and dedication and creativity, and aren't we all terrified we lack those things? In her advice, she said to never eat the same meal twice, and I laughed. I feel perpetually stuck in a rut of the same stir fry, the same pizza, the same curry, the same pasta every single week. I've started to feel like all I ever do anymore on this blog are post links, but I guess it means I'm doing different things in the kitchen, and that's important. So I may not be creating yet-- merely imitating-- but I hope that's a step.

Successes from this week: 
Barbecue Bean Tacos from Cheeky Kitchen. Simple, vegan, positively delish. (I used anasazi beans!)

Chopped Miso Salad from 101 Cookbooks. I found this recipe when I bought miso paste for the first time last fall. It seemed to simple to fill me up, and, I'll admit maybe boring? But I made it for lunch today and wanted more, more, more.

Sushi Bowls from 101 Cookbooks. Actually, a theme with this food blog could be me seeing the recipe and thinking, too simple? But then I am always, inevitably wowed. This made a delightful dinner that really tasted like a deconstructed California roll-- I might even add cucumber next time.

Try This Tuesday: Thursday Edition

One thing I've been known to do is open up approximately four million tabs in firefox with every righteous intention of "getting back" to whatever it is: articles, new blogs, amazon links, and, particularly, recipes. There's a chance this drives Sam batty. I've been trying to cut back-- deal with tabs within the same computer session in which they were opened. I've noticed a big difference; Sam has not. Truth be told, I have six tabs of recipes open right now, all waiting to be scheduled into our weekly menu plan. This is, apparently, a good way to use Pinterest-- to keep track of all these things without having to actually deal with them right away. But I'll admit I'm just not that into Pinterest. I get the appeal, and I have pinned a dozen or so things, but I just find the whole thing overwhelming. Plus my world is too small, in that I see the same thing pinned over and over and over (and not even just within the same social circle). So, I'm still figuring this out. How do you keep track of recipes and things you want to try?

I have tried some new things lately (though none from any tabs left open for days or weeks on end). Nothing in my dinner repertoire was sounding tasty last week, and among the several things I tried, this pasta with hashed brussels sprouts and pine nuts became the ultimate fighting champion. I read some recipe recently that bemoaned the now-outdated trend of hashed brussels sprouts, and I felt a bit silly, having never even tried it. But this recipe changed all that! It's a very simple and easy recipe, and Sam immediately declared it a necessary staple in the dinner rotation (Bria also ate three heaping helpings). I've made it multiple times in the last 10 days, and will continue to do so until the very last sprout disappears (I'm surprised to still be finding them at Trader Joe's). Do take note, the recipe says to hash them in a food processor, but I did mine by hand, which just takes a little extra time, but is nonetheless effective.

For pie day, I decided a banoffee pie would be the best piedea, but it came to late. After boiling the cans of sweetened condensed milk the requisite 3+ hours, it was already 8pm. Sam had a Irish-themed potluck at work the next day, and I ran out of time to make my original idea, so I sent the pie with him. Luckily I had a bit of filling and crust leftover, so I made a couple mini pies in our muffin tin for me and Bria. They didn't turn out as beautiful as the big pie, but they were just as tasty. It's so worth the work of boiling those cans.

I sampled Trader Joe's Dubliner cheese last week and was smitten. Nestled into a warm slice of their take-and-bake baguettes, it's just the perfect afternoon snack.

We babysat Sam's niece and nephews this weekend, which is always an adventure. They love the food I make for them, but their youngest is an especially picky eater, so I have to rack my brains for things that are either simple or easily adapted. Quesadillas fit the bill for both, and cooking them on the panini grill just made it a little more exciting. The picky kids ate plain cheese, and the rest of us ate ones filled with sauteed peppers and onions, shredded rotisserie chicken, and the cowboy caviar from costco. Served next to avocado with lime squeezed on top and a heaping pile of cilantro, I hardly think you can call this dressed up thing a quesadilla. I foresee this being a recurring cast member this summer.

Try This Tuesday, Or: To Thine Own Self Be True

I habitually hit a kitchen rut every January, this year being no exception. Once Sam went back to work after the holidays, the only kitchen motivation I had was buttering toast, but I soldiered through! I tried five new recipes in the last two weeks, and there were a lot of busts, actually. Here is a weird truth, no matter how much I try (and try!), I just can't get on board with butternut squash. It's related to the whole not-liking-cooked-fruit thing. I suppose I don't like sweet things to be warm, and butternut squash is too sweet. This also goes for sweet potatoes. So the new recipes included a vegan mac 'n' cheese (butternut squash based), and a sweet potato chili. Entire dinners in the trash (wah wah). So the lesson learned is that if you don't like something, don't make it for dinner. Know yourself, know your tastes, and to thine own self be true. Amidst the gross stuff I also found some goodies! Here's a list of things to try.

Quinoa "meat"balls. My dear friend's sister-in-law runs this vegan and allergy-friendly blog, and I thought this dinner was amazing. I often crave spaghetti and meatballs, but just cannot stomach red meat anymore. Problem solved! I ate these meatballs for days on end. Perfect texture (crisp on the outside!) and a great depth of flavor. (Though Sam wasn't as wild about them as I was and kept telling me I shouldn't call them meatballs, because it was deceiving.) The kale featured in this post was pretty cool. I think I just don't like kale though (too bitter), but the coconut/maple/orange flavor was awesome.

Apparently I'm on a quinoa kick, but I fell head over heels for this Thai Fried Quinoa. I tried both of these recipes because it seems all the popular quinoa recipes are for mexican style dishes (tossed with onion, bell peppers, cilantro, and lime), which gets boring. But this Thai fried quinoa was so good, I could have eaten the entire pan in one sitting, no joke. All that coconut milk probably means it isn't the world's healthiest recipe, but it's so good you won't even care. Seriously, make this today.

Of course winter means I want to eat soup every day, and this carrot ginger miso soup really hit the spot. Unfortunately not even Bria liked this soup, which is suspicious, but I loved it. Miso makes my heart sing. (And, just so you don't have to make multiple trips to Whole Foods like I did, I'll tell you that miso is located in the refrigerated section, near all the other vegan stuff.)

And lastly, we met up with Hannah and Rob on Saturday night for sandwiches at Brabo's the butcher block. Not a great place to stay and eat (we brought the sandwiches back to our place), but the sandwiches were fantastic. Right near the king street metro, I definitely recommend it for a quality, gourmet sandwich (and I really want to go back for a cheese plate). (also note they stop making sandwiches at 7pm.)

try this tuesday: the passing of time edition

Ready to hear something everyone else is saying today?

I can't believe it's November.

Like, wasn't it just July? or March, for that matter? Ah, the passing of time. I remember being in Kindergarten and thinking (very distinctly): "I have been in Kindergarten for.ev.er." And when I was a Sophomore in high school realizing I was not yet half way through high school, and it really bummed me out (I didn't enjoy high school). Two+ years seemed like eternity to me at age 15, and now it's practically the blink of an eye. (We've now been in Virginia for two years.) And now here I am wondering what the next two years will bring, and . . . I've come full circle to my last post. I spend a lot of mental energy on the passing of time. Can you tell?
Um. Anyway. I've been out of town a lot lately, which is making me feel slightly disconnected from the real world, but it's also really fun. Sam and I are headed to NYC this weekend, and a handful of weeks later, Bria and I are headed to Utah for a week. This year is practically over, and it's freaking me out. In the meantime, I have food to keep me grounded. or something. This is the food I'm obsessed with lately:

This salad will knock your socks off. I keep making it expecting the novelty to wear off, and it has yet to do anything but please me to no end.

Whole Foods brand crumbled blue cheese. In a salad, on slices of fresh pear, or just snitched from the fridge-- I just can't get enough.

This bbq sauce is . . . interesting. Sam and Bria l.o.v.e. it, but I am not wild about the Asian undertones (perhaps I'll omit or reduce the hoisin sauce next time?). It does however, make dinner a cinch. My freezer is packed full of small portions of the sauce, and my favorite quick dinner lately is a slew of oven roasted veggies, black beans, brown rice, and a scoop of this sauce all mixed together.

And because I know you just want more sugary things the day after Halloween on the brink of the holiday season: I dare you to make this carmel sauce and not attempt to drink it straight.

Try This Tuesday/ Back from the Dead

I promise to return shortly with so many posts about all the crazy indulgent foods I've been eating this summer, which is why I have one very key recipe to share with you. For dinner last night (ok, and leftovers for dinner tonight, too), we ate vegan stuffed shells. It's all been a little much-- the burgers, the pies, the hot dogs, the cheesesteaks, the ice cream-- and a wholesome, vegan meal was so incredibly necessary. If anyone else can relate to my summertime gluttony then please let me know-- the buddy system may be in order to finding equilibrium again. The No Red Meat policy is back in full effect, and for the first time, I'm thinking of taking a break from dairy. I would cry if it weren't for those shells that tasted really cheesy. Actually, no. I will probably still cry.

Try This Tuesday

And we're back! I've overcome the intimidation of photo file organization on our computer. I uploaded 200 photos today, and I'm ready to start sharing some incredible things we've eaten in the last two weeks. So, in the sometimes-recurring series, Try This Tuesday is here to save the day.

I think I've perfected the Hawaiian pizza. This crust (add 1T olive oil to the dough); Trader Joe's pizza sauce, canned pineapple chunks, and canadian bacon; and Safeway mozzarella cheese (Lucerne brand, the mozzarella log that is not water packed).

My friend Erica has some great recipes, and this Mexican Tortilla Bake is one of them. It's easy to freeze ahead of time, and adding some homemade pico de gallo on top turns it into a fresh, filling meal. Funny enough, I made this meal during National Vegetarian Week-- along with four other meat-centered dishes that week. We usually average less than one meat dish a week, so the strange carnivorous menu was delightfully ironic.

I just discovered the dreamy 101 cookbooks blog. Do you know it? The photography is delightful, and most of the recipes have me reaching for a pen and my shopping list. This Pappardelle with Spiced Butter was delicious. Warm, earthy, and complex. It was fun to make, though I think I need to steer clear of recipes that require to me to buy ingredients I'll never use again (I'm looking at you, wilting and dead mint plant sitting on my counter). I'm all for branching out and trying new things, but sometimes it's not very economical. It's a delicate balance though, because I'd love to make a permanent leap into new food territories-- one where scary new ingredients become familiar friends-- but it's a long process to create familiarity.

Do you read Cup of Jo? Because you really should. Last week she posted about Greek Yogurt and Berry popsicles and Avocado popsicles. I know, right? So we made them this weekend. They were just as she described them-- the avocado were surprisingly sweet and the yogurt were tart and creamy (we used raspberries). I will be making both again and again (especially the avocado!).

It's no surprise my favorite food blogger continues to be Molly Wizenberg. I can never get enough of Orangette. We tried her Baked Pasta with Homemade Tomato Sauce and Fresh Mozzarella for dinner on Sunday and were absolutely smitten. If I had to commit to one cheese and forsake all others, might I choose fresh mozzarella? I can't say for certain, but it's a definite possibility.

More on this later, but I made a batch of granola for my dear sister Lindsay, who just had a baby (darling, precious Chloe Eve!). Smitten Kitchen's is my favorite granola because it results in a crunchy, clustery granola. Also, pepitas? Yowza. Those things are TASTY when they are all baked up in sugar and honey.

Are you still reading? Wow. You're a trooper. Well, I appreciate it. I also promise more (and shorter!) posts to come in the following days. Now I'm off to frolic in the gorgeous weather (not quite 80 and no humidity!)-- a rare, but greatly appreciated late-spring gift from Mother Nature.

Try This Tuesday

Quick! Before it's too hot to use your stove for dinner, make this soup. Even though we're more than half way through May, I promise it won't taste too heavy. Plus, it's beautiful (red lentils!):
It should be noted that I had no Aleppo pepper, so I just skipped it. And I only had plain old paprika, so I used that. And the whole thing was very reminiscent of this soup, but infinitely more simple, which, if you're going to make soup in late May, is kind of a requisite.