about the choco-sabbath
This is my day with J, and although we started it way too early together (teeth?), it was a good day. I’ve been doing the time management trick of not checking e-mail first thing in the morning (especially work e-mail). Instead I decide the night before what needs to be done the following […]

The Zen Habits blog (in connection with the guy’s book that just came out) is sponsoring a New Year’s Challenge, in which people sign up to work on forming a new habit by spending just 10 minutes a day on something, for 30 days.
I like the 10 minute time limit (everyone has 10 minutes, right?) […]

Heat water/milk.
Spoon Swiss Miss/Hoity-Toity Cocoa into separate mug.
Add liquid and stir with Care Bears spoon, as it is the only clean one available.
Add marshmallows.
Moisten them by tamping them down into the cocoa with the spoon.
Microwave an additional 20 seconds.
Enjoy the fluff-like texture.

Green Salad
Roast Turkey (Cook’s Illustrated 11/04 p11)
Ham (courtesy of guests)
Gravy (Cooks Illustrated 11/04 p16)
Carrot Souffle (guests)
Kraft Mac & Cheese (for the kids)
Stir-Fried Sweet Potatoes with Brown Butter and Sage (MaDear)
Potatoes Mousseline (MaDear)
Spiked Cranberry Relish (MaDear)
Green beans (some kind of hazelnut thing)
Dessert
Cookies (guests)
Pumpkin Pecan Pie & Whipped Cream
We decided against the Turbaconducken.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Our first box of Community-Supported Agriculture arrived today:
-strawberries
-a basil plant
-spring onions
-asparagus
-kale (you knew there had to be kale)
Exciting!
(Photo is from a CSA website)

R has a new job as of several weeks ago. He closed his consulting business in order to go work for a former client who made him an offer he couldn’t refuse—namely, more money, paid vacation, and the chance to have his evenings back. I told him awhile back that he ought to do something […]

On Food:
Last night I sampled the brie truffle. Yes, you read that right. The inside of the truffle was dark chocolate with brie invisibly mixed in, and the whole thing covered in black sesame seeds. I didn’t taste the brie until taking a whiff before the second bite. And then, wow.
Hmm. I wouldn’t eat a […]

The Rose Truffle
The brochure doesn’t have an official description of the rose truffle because it’s a seasonal special, but it’s a dark chocolate truffle brushed with a rosy powder and topped with a bud of pink sugar.
The other day I was listening to The Splendid Table and the guest was talking about tasting chocolate. She […]

I’m not a big Valentine’s Day person, but R and I did have lunch together today (with a mostly cooperative SBJ). Afterwards we stopped by this place where I picked out a sampler of truffles. This place has amazing stuff, like lavender pistachio and chipotle cinnamon. In keeping with my plan to work on portion […]

Several years ago some friends and I visited a new restaurant that had been getting some good buzz. We were the only ones there. As we left the owner said, “Thanks for being here. This is our last night. Tomorrow we go out of business.” This poem is just a recollection of something that happened […]

One of my favorite topics:
1. Favorite cookie/candy/baked good without which, it’s just not Christmas.
Our pralines, although we’ve had two botched batches so far this year. I don’t get what we’re doing wrong… I mean, it’s really humid today, but we used to make them in Houston!
2. Do you do a fancy dinner on Christmas Eve, […]

Take it from a couple of wanna-be foodies… When you’re at a wonderful restaurant and can’t decide among the menu items, and the chef offers a tasting menu, get it.
…splash of onion soup with a thimble-sized parmesan biscuit
…homemade sourdough with roasted garlic and olive tapenade
…crab salad on couscous with marinated julienne cucumbers
…caramelized scallop with homemade […]

Nobody knew,
that sunny December breakfast in our home
was our last supper with you:
scrambled eggs pulled, runny, off the stove,
they popped and sizzled on the way to our plates;
biscuits, dropped by careful spoonfuls
onto a sheet of parchment,
then drenched with honey and jam;
and clementine oranges.
You praised the way they peeled,
so easy, no mess,
and I felt a child’s […]

We had a very nice birthday celebration. M and I made a donut run early this morning, and we had a junk food breakfast with mimosas. Heh. I had gotten the day off from work, so I found myself at the grocery store at 11:30 a.m. and the place was hopping. Who knew?R spent the […]