Heart and soul

As I was hot-gluing scraps of coffee sack burlap onto an old binder I use as my planner, my sister-in-law texted me this link to Passion Planner.

Oh. Em. Gee. How did this lady break into my brain, heart and soul?

Can you have a planner crush on someone?

Gimme gimme gimme, I need, I need, I need.

Anyway, full disclosure, I am sharing this on the blog in order to hopefully win a free PDF of the 2015 Planner, but it also just looks like an amazing project and I would be remiss to not share it.

So go check it out!

You can even download a free print-out of the weekly layout here.

Call us overachievers

I apologize for the hiatus. We've been really busy over here, having early Thanksgivings both in California and here at home in Seattle.

You could call us overachievers.

This year we experimented with having Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday night. I once overheard a co-worker say that his family did it that way. It seemed brilliant to me - get all the hard work done on a day everyone is working anyway, and then enjoy all of Thursday off, when everyone is home from work and school.

So we tried it this year. Knowing that I would have an almost 11-month old on my hands (and under my feet), I started preparing almost a week in advance.

A new rug I couldn't resist getting to spruce up the place for the holiday. My father-in-law called it Theo's magic carpet.

So last week my friend Karen came over for dinner* and we hashed out menu plans and decorations. I told her that I'm not into the "newfangled stuff" - I love brussels sprouts (not being sarcastic), but in my opinion they do not belong on a Thanksgiving table.

We agreed on a classic menu of turkey, gravy (two boats, just being realistic here), mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, peas, and rolls.

Sketching out which serving dishes I plan to use helps ensure I'm not stressing about it at the last minute.

Karen offered to bring appetizers (spanakopita (!) and eggrolls) as well as Connie's Corn Casserole, which turned out to be the most amazing thing we had ever had. At the table, Kenny dubbed it "corn butter."

"Corn butter" on the bottom right. David generously offered for it to be placed next to him.

With everyone at work/school and a baby who doesn't nap very much anymore, I knew I needed to plan ahead as much as a could, down to the details.

David and I broke down the cleaning and set-up tasks and spread them out over the days before The Dinner. When we finished an item we got to move the post-it note to the back. (Ah!)

This was by no means the complete list.

And I didn't stop there. I also made an Excel spreadsheet. Yes, you heard that right.

I totally nerded out and it was awesome.

Planning ahead allowed me to develop shortcuts that made the day of so easy. Here are the things I would do again next year in a heartbeat, whether or not Thanksgiving was on Wednesday or Thursday or in the middle of November:

• prepare all the vegetables for the stuffing the day before. When I cooked the stuffing, it was like a cooking show as I dumped already chopped veggies into the pan. (BTW, Mom, everyone loved your stuffing recipe.)
• start the stock for gravy and stuffing in a crockpot the night before. David also set the turkey in the roasting pan and in the fridge the night before so all I had to do was pull it out.
• make the mashed potatoes a couple hours before dinner and keep them warm in a crockpot. (Karen lent me hers so I had two to work with.)

Also, next year I'm definitely asking my sister-in-law to bring dessert again. She made the most amazing pumpkin cheesecake ever!

Diana thought she made a mistake and put "too much" sugar in the crust, but we just proclaimed that PAULA DEEN MADE A MISTAKE when writing the recipe and didn't include the amount Diana used.

We had a lovely dinner with way too much laughter. I asked Kenny to serve the mashed potatoes. He kept trying to give people HUGE portions. By the end of the meal, we were calling Kenny a "potato pusher." Karen caught David "trying to go horizontal" after the meal. We ended the evening with drawing names for our gift exchange and sharing what we were thankful for. (Kenny was - you guessed it - thankful for potatoes.)

I called my parents this morning. They were on the road driving somewhere for breakfast, and because my mom and I had hosted our Thanksgiving there two weeks ago, my dad named us the two most relaxed moms on Thanksgiving day.

Karen said it best when she said that having our dinner last night was like "getting our homework done before it's even Saturday."

I'm looking forward to this day lounging with family and eating leftovers. On the menu so far is turkey pho for lunch (!!!) and turkey enchiladas for dinner (!!!!).

My mom got these cute animal placecard holders on a missions trip to Africa.

So I heartily commend to you having Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday nights. 

Happy Thanksgiving all!

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* We had a true Dave Ramsey dinner, beans and rice and torn-in-half napkins. Actually, truth be told, Karen tore off and used the "less used" portion (her words, not mine) of a paper towel David brought back from the hospital cafeteria. I tried not to feel too embarrassed, but in actuality I have to love the shared frugality Karen and I have. 

Safely say

We really did it: a whole week of Mexican food. Caldo de pollo, carne asada tacos, lots of beans and tortillas. 

I even did a copycat of my favorite dish from a local Mexican restaurant. I'm not sure I should call it my favorite dish, because technically, I've never actually ordered it before. As I reached over to pick off of my sister-in-law's plate (on my birthday, I should add), I told my friend Coleen, "This is a dish I feel too guilty ordering, but not too guilty stealing off of someone else's plate."

Pollo ala crema

But aside from all those yummies, I was most surprised and delighted by a simple recipe from Liana Krisoff's Vegetarian for a New Generation. Her chipotle potato tacos were easy to make, full of flavor, and very satisfying (to the belly and the wallet as well).

Purple potatoes from our CSA box

It's actually very economical to eat one type of cuisine for a whole week because you don't waste ingredients. In the past we have thrown away bags of tortillas, wilted (let's be honest, rotted) cilantro (it's the worst), and other such odds and ends. But this week, nothing was for naught. Our Mexican week ended (or has it? Kenny wonders) with homemade tostadas and refried beans.

I can safely say we consumed almost 100 corn tortillas this week.

Can I blame Theo? Actually, this picture was from the summer, when Kathy made flour tortillas from scratch. The recipe is a good one.

At some point I want to tell you about the BEST SHREDDED BEEF TACOS EVER but I think that will have to be a post of its own. So for now, you'll have to be content with potato tacos. (Carbs on carbs is always a good thing.)



Chipotle Potato Tacos
adapated from Liana Krissoff's Vegetarian

I kept calling these "chorizo potato tacos" because "chipotle" and "potato" was such a tongue twister for me. But of course David laughed when I started to tell him, "I really want to make this recipe from the Vegetarian cookbook, these chorizo potato tacos..."

2 large russet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1 inch cubes
3 T oil
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 t ground cumin
1/2 t Mexican oregano
2-3 T minced canned chipotle peppers*
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
sour cream, for garnish
optional garnishes: cherry tomatoes, queso fresco, limes
corn tortillas

Par-boil potato chunks: cover potatoes with cold water (I added salt) and bring to a boil. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, until just tender.

Heat up 2 T oil in a pan, then add onions and a pinch of salt. Saute until onion is nicely browned. Then add cumin, oregano, garlic, potatoes and last tablespoon of oil. Cook until they are hot and as crispy as you would like them. Finally, stir in chipotle and taste for salt.

Garnish with lots of cilantro and serve with tortillas and sour cream


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* Liana's trick to pre-mince a whole can of those chipotle peppers at once and store them in a glass jar in your fridge is brilliant. Can you imagine how delicious they would be on eggs for breakfast?

Not supposed to

I've always loved eating "strange" food. I was that child who willingly ate - sometimes even requested - ginger, pig's feet, bitter melon, intestines. Even with stuff I wasn't sure about at first, like cilantro, I would keep eating it, because if it was something my mom liked - and she has great taste - I wanted to like it too.

(Fortunately for me, I married someone whose favorite bowl of pho contains ONLY TENDON.)

Sometime around late elementary or early middle school, our family went to a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant in Sunnyvale, CA. We ordered menudo, and at that time, I don't think that my parents explained that we were eating tripe. Or it could have been that I didn't know what tripe was, anyway.

Either way, I distinctly remember having this feeling that I am enjoying something I am not supposed to like.

After recently sharing a bowl of birria (goat stew) with a friend at a tortilleria that also serves menudo, I was inspired to try making it myself.

I had trouble finding a recipe that looked solid at first glance. After all, most abuelitas aren't sitting around blogging; they are making tamales. So I had to read a variety of sites, gleaning the best aspects of each and trying to figure out the overall concept of what makes menudo menudo.

Fortunately for us, it turned out well. Piping hot, spicy, and flavorful, we enjoyed bowl after bowl with fresh corn tortillas from the tortilleria where I originally had the birria. As we scooped minced onion and cilantro into our bowls and squeezed in limes, we laughed and called it Mexican pho.

(Now you have make this, right?)

So, if you are so bold, I heartily recommend this to you.


Menudo, or "Mexican pho"
loosely adapted from The Domestic Man

Using a pressure cooker is a great way to make this happen faster, but of course if you don't have one, just use a regular pot or dutch oven, and plan for it to take a whole afternoon. Better yet, make it the night before and let the flavors marry.

3-4 lbs beef marrow bones (some recipes combine beef bones with pork neckbones)
1 lb honeycomb tripe, cut into 1" pieces (you can definitely use a lot more, but it is surprisingly expensive considering they are innards!)
4-5 dried guajillo peppers*
1 1/2 white onion, divided (one chopped into large pieces; half diced for garnish)
4 cloves garlic
1-2 cans white hominy, drained
1 T oregano, Mexican preferred, plus more for serving
cilantro, minced, for garnish
lime, for garnish

Bring beef bones to a boil in a large pot. Let boil for about 10 minutes, skimming off any fat and scum that rises to the surface. Then cover and simmer for 2-3 hours, or 45 minutes if using a pressure cooker.

Add tripe and cook for another hour or two (less with a pressure cooker).

While the meat is cooking, destem the peppers and cover with about half a cup of boiling water. Let stand for 30 minutes to soften. Then blend with the chopped onion and garlic.

Add chile sauce and oregano and continue to simmer. (You can also add the cilantro stems, but be sure to fish them out before serving.) About an hour before serving, add drained hominy and simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with warmed corn tortillas, cilantro, onion, and lime.

We had some shredded cabbage from tacos so we threw it in the soup as well. Not as essential (like the cilantro/onion/lime is) but it helps bulk it up and add some greens. (Stephie, if you slice up your tortillas into "noodles", you will essentially have Mexican jjampong!)

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* I had previously been intimidated** about cooking authentic Mexican because of all the different kind of chiles, but I decided to be an adult and learn a little bit. I'm sure there's a million other sources for this kind of information, but after simply reading this one post, I felt quite a bit more sure of myself. Guajillos are fruity, and mild: in fact they were so mild, that I had to add more chiles - including a chipotle - to get more of that spicy flavor I was going for. I really think you could use any combination of chiles for a great flavor, but if you already know you want it mild, start with guajillos.

** Now that I know EVERYTHING ABOUT MEXICAN COOKING my family is going to be stuck eating it for a week straight.*** The last time I went crazy like this was after we visited Little Saigon in San Jose. For a week our house was filled with grilled meats, spring rolls, egg custard, pandan waffles... you get the drift. This time I think I'm going to try pozole, caldo de pollo and probably a lot of these recipes.

*** I already have all the Mexican cookbooks they carry at the library on hold. This train has left the station..

The most whimsical thing

Yesterday my friend Chelsey called me last-minute to see if we wanted to join them at The Farm in Snohomish.

I am a homebody to the core and normally do not love to go out, especially at the last minute, but I'm so glad we decided to go.

There were piglets. (!!)

We shared the most delicious apple pie, and overheard some girls talking about xiao long bao. I had a "squirrel moment" and turned around and asked, "Did you just say xiao long bao?" Haha. 

On our way there we drove past a literal (i.e., not-yet-picked) pumpkin patch. The picture below doesn't quite capture it - we were driving - but it was the most whimsical thing I had seen in a long time.

Best of all, we got to take home some pumpkins.

Thanks, Chens! We had a wonderful time with you. :)

Took the plunge

Today's post isn't really about food. (Crazy, huh?)

Well, not entirely at least, because it is about something necessary for food to happen.

After two years of putting up with our nice but really annoying sink (#firstworldproblems), David finally put a stake in the ground and ordered us a new one.

You can see in the photo below how the lip is really high, so that instead of the water draining into the sink, it would run around the back. Water would drip onto the floor, and worse yet, cause the particle board under our laminate counters to bubble up. 

Of course, one day when we pay off our home we'd love to change the countertops to something solid and to something lighter in color and warmer in tone. (In a dream world I would have wood countertops and a magic fairy who would keep them clean and dry and beautiful for me when I cook and make a big mess.)

But in the meantime, we decided to do a (relatively) cheap fix that would give us a lot of satisfaction for the price. We could afford to consider doing this only because Kenny is super handy and David has learned a lot from him in the last three years. (I can't believe how time has passed!)

Believe it or not, we bought the sink on Amazon, for less than $150. With Prime, this bad boy arrived on our door step two days later.



Yup, we took the plunge and became a one-bowl family. So controversial, I know.* But we don't regret it one bit.



Even though this wasn't that expensive in the grand scheme of kitchen remodels, if you know how we live, you know that we like to run a very tight ship with finances. So for the rest of that week, we ate a lot of beans and rice.

Literally.

It's been a couple weeks now, and I still love it. At first, I was worried about it seeming like a downgrade because it's stainless and one-bowl, but now I can't imagine going back. It's amazing.

Someone has even laundered money in it. 

Literally, again. 

Are you confused by that picture? Well, let that be a cliff-hanger for a future post.

(You may now return from the edge of your seats...)

Well, that was that! First post that wasn't completely about food. Aren't you impressed?

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* Even in this authoritative article about double-bowl sinks, almost all the commenters** say they prefer their one-bowl.

** Chrome is having a spell-check issue with my usage of the word "commenters." So what are these people called?

Blame the food

As promised, I'm here to tell you about ratatouille.

It's terrible, I know, that I don't have a picture of the final product, but that's mostly because it doesn't last very long on the table.

I'm blaming the ratatouille.

I'm not even going to post the recipe here, because the original is perfect as written. Francis Lam (it's Lam, right?) is a hilarious recipe writer. I once heard someone say that it's like he's standing right there in the kitchen with you.

(Wouldn't we all like our moms to be there while we cook? "How much of [ingredient of choice] should I use-- like, is this enough?)

So check it out.

However, if I were to dare add anything to his perfect recipe, I would say that if you can get your hands on Chinese eggplant, use that instead. 

I also dared to say I would make it with eggplant only-- "I don't care for zucchini or summer squash," I said at the dining table, but then I got a look from one of our guests. I'm an anomaly, I guess, but, if you are weird like me, too, just know that everything - even zucchini - gets an amazing lift when roasted at 450 degrees. 

Yes, I ate a few of them right off the roasting pan, like chips. But in my defense, they do shrink a lot when roasted. (All that evaporation is what concentrates that delicious flavor.) 

That's my excuse, at least. 'Cause it's so much easier to blame food than to take responsibility.

Do we do anything around here other than eat?

Nope. Now, stay away from my bottle.