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.

richmond nourishment

We took a little getaway to Richmond last weekend for a bit of a breather from real life. We were there for about 24 hours and enjoyed two main meals (and a ton of junk food).
So, first of all, it's funny what a difference it makes between DC and Richmond-- Richmond was the capitol of the Confederacy, but up in Alexandria I do not feel like we are a part of the south. And I just have no authority on what that ("the South") even means. Anyway. On our first day, we went to Buz and Ned's for barbecue. I'm not really into all the specifics surrounding "real" barbecue (I think there is a lot of talk surrounding weather or not the meat is served in the sauce?), but for this barbecue novice, I declare it tasty. Bria was very excited to "eat farm animals." And demanded that her dinner include "chicken from a pig." I kept telling her it was pork, and she just fought back saying she wanted to eat a pig. I'm not sure where these carnivorous tendencies are coming from. I enjoyed what little I ate of our pork-- the right amount of sauce and not too spicy. And the mac and cheese was flavorful and smooth. I probably could have eaten my weight in hush puppies-- again, not an expert on this southern gem, but I thought they were awesome. I think Sam was just so happy about his spare ribs because he never eats meat anymore. It just made up for all those vegan experiments I serve for dinner lately. So I feel like this is a real Southern experience. 

And ice cream at gelati celesti was the best way to end our first night. 

For lunch the next day, we ate at The Urban Farmhouse-- a completely different experience from the barbecue. This is my absolutely favorite type of place to go: a seasonal menu based on offerings from local farms. My ultimate dream is to open a place like this some day. After the barbecue and eating all sorts of junk for snacks, my light salad and sandwich was practically perfect in every way. The carrots that came with my meal were the freshest carrots I have ever eaten. They were so crisp-- not crunchy, actually, but crisp. I had no idea carrots could taste that way. This was the type of meal you eat and wonder why you ever eat anything unhealthy. When it's so fresh, tasty, and satisfying, why would you want to? Alas, I forget quickly (I am eating brownies made from a box right now.) Sam had a simple caesar salad and Virgil's real cola. We've long been fans of Virgil's root beer, but had never had the cola-- this is what a soda should taste like. You can taste the vanilla and cinnamon; it tastes like a drink concocted from real spices and ingredients as opposed to chemicals. So even if you're not a big soda drinker, it's definitely worth it to invest in tasting some high quality sodas on occasion. Or at least steal some sips from your soda-drinking husband.

all you need

Valentines this year was a culinary success. We started festivities the weekend before with a date to finally check out ShopHouse (the new Asian Chipotle). I am so glad we went! I had a tofu bowl with noodles, green beans, and their green curry sauce. It was worth the hype, but I have to tell you, it was so spicy! Like, my tongue was still burning even after we had frozen yogurt for dessert. And the green curry was the "mild" of their two curries. They do have another sauce I will try next time in an attempt to save my mouth from the fire. I am a total wimp when it comes to spice (I kept telling myself "this is what it takes to build your tolerance! buck up, McPhie!"), but even Sam concurred this was pretty intense. However, I can attest to the great flavor. I think such extreme spice often covers up flavor, but I was willing to endure the pain of the spice for such great depth of flavor.

On the actual day of love, we decided to make fondue. I could seriously eat that every day. But the thing I was most concerned about was dessert. I have been doing this health challenge thing with some friends, which means I'm limited to one day of sugar each week (which is maybe the normal healthy thing to do anyway) (but it's almost over! and I'm only one point behind the current leader!). So, the dessert was a big deal to me. I recently saw a link to this double chocolate raspberry pavlova and instantly knew this was The One. And it turned out beautifully.
And oh so deliciously! It's a new obsession really. I was so sad the rest of this week watching Sam eat the leftovers without me. This is my ultimate sacrifice in trying to WIN this challenge. But regardless of the victor, one thing's for sure: this will be the first thing I make when it's over.

Why'd You Have to Go and Make Things So Complicated?

Things I'm happy to have done in the last couple days include
1) Spending hours upon hours outside in the gorgeous spring-like weather.
2) Purging my google reader of blogs I feel guilty for not reading.
3) Making classic dishes I often forget are in my arsenal.

The last of these means I have a recipe to share! (um, it's been forever since I've posted a recipe.) One today and another later, perhaps. Whenever I make these two dishes I forget to take pictures, so I put off blogging about them, and then I realized today it was silly to wait any longer. A) these foods do not photograph well, and B) I may never remember. So because it's still winter (despite what the DC forecast may say), here is a soup for you. A hearty, vegan soup you will adore. I mean this earnestly because everyone in our family goes wild for this soup, including Sam, which is a tall order when it comes to vegan recipes. And as most soups do, it only gets better over time, so you can look forward to the leftovers this ginormous batch will yield.

Curried Lentil Sweet Potato* Soup
Adapted from Kayla Jones

1 large onion, diced
7 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup ginger, freshly grated
2 T curry powder
1 c carrots, diced
1 c red bell pepper, diced
5 c sweet potato, diced
2 cans coconut milk
2 c brown lentils, rinsed
6 c vegetable stock
1 t salt
1 lime, juiced

Saute onion, garlic, and ginger until onion starts to become translucent. Add the remaining ingredients, except lime juice, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 45 minutes, or up to a few hours, until the soup has become very thick and stew like. Add lime juice right before serving. Garnish with cilantro, if desired. 

(*also, you may note this recipe seems to go against what I said in my previous post about sweet potatoes. I guess they aren't really spotlight-hoggers in this soup, so I can get on board with it. What can I say? I'm a complicated woman.)

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.)

Steps

*I wrote this post back in the spring, but never published it. So here it is, getting published. I worked at that office job for exactly one day before realizing it was not right for me. Sometimes you have to get that far into something to really know that it's not going to work. The great resounding lesson of this experience was "to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven." Seems like that has been the theme of the last year.


The weather has continued to be lovely-- peppered with hot and humid days and weeks-- this is exactly the kind of spring I could endorse. I bought a pair of sandals for Bria that are too thick-soled, and they make her trip. This means we've had a lot of skinned knees around here. (Check out that mosquito bite too!)
I see my life echoed on a smaller scale in Bria. Growing can be tough. Bria and I try to make an adventure out of life, and some days we do a pretty good job. Some days the only adventure we have is traveling up the street to the Wendy's that smells like low-tide and indulging in a frosty.
Other days I decide to take steps in a new direction. This includes going to Target and buying a new outfit for a job interview. (Which I then take an awkward picture of to text my sister Whitney to get her fashion approval.) (hey, look! my hair has grown! but I'm still making the same faces.)
And those steps resulted in a new job-- the first office job I've had in over three years. It's a very new direction-- one that's scary, but exciting. But I'm hoping that by developing a side of myself that's laid dormant for those 3+ years, I'll be able to more fully enjoy and invest in my adventures with B. Because every moment with a girl like this one should be treasured.