All You Need is Love

We also need food. That is why yesterday, on Valentine's Day (and also the Prophet's birthday, Allahu Akbar!) I made a bunch of food for the people I love: me and GP.

When I woke up yesterday I had totally forgotten it was February the fourteenth. I wished GP the usual nice things I wish him for his day, "Hope it's good, work hard, have fun, love you lots, etc." and then promptly went back to sleep for another half-hour, as unemployed people do. When I finally dragged my sweatpant-clad ass downstairs I was delighted to see the gorgeous bouquet of flowers GP had gotten me the night before with a sweet note in them. Immediately I felt guilty for forgetting what day it was. So I decided a simple three-course meal was the only way I could redeem myself.

We started with a terrine of beets and herbed goat cheese served with cucumbers and greens:
It was SO GOOD. Much better than the crappy photo would lead you to believe. I wish I could find the battery for my good camera. This blog should be called the Use-Your-Imagination blog because the photos are so untrue to real life. Anyhow, moving along...

Our entree was a sockeye fillet baked with wholegrain mustard, spring onions and thyme on top of smoky sauteed peas and beet greens with shallots.
Doesn't look like much, but I can assure you it was very yummy. The smokiness came from smoked paprika; no pigs were killed for this particular meal. I was originally going to do two whole trout stuffed with various herbs and spices and grilled, but there were none at the store. Besides, it was raining cats and dogs, so I'm kind of glad I had to change plans.

For dessert we were bad. Really REALLY bad. Tony Horton would not be pleased.
The above picture is of oranges caramelized in a cardamom-infused sugar syrup with Greek yogurt and it was every bit as good as it sounds. Actually, it was even better than it sounds. It was not, however, very light. I mean, the oranges were, as fruit should be, but the yogurt, well... That yogurt is like eating sweet butter, not that I'm complaining. We were kind of miserable after that, in the best way possible.

I hope your Valentine's Day was as tasty as ours and that the only kind of baby you made was a food baby. Unless, you know, you're in the market for a real one... I guess it would be okay then.

HOLY SHIT!

I just got a comment from a STRANGER! Not that my followers aren't totally awesome, but I never thought my blog would ever be read by anyone other than my circle of friends and my boyfriend's mum. (Again, nothing against you people; you are great and my life would be significantly worse if you weren't in it.) I really hope someone didn't make up a fake profile as a joke on me. If so, touché.

This meal I made is kind of Italian in that it's inspired by pizza and the sausage is "Italian" flavour, whatever that's supposed to mean. Local turkey sausage, caramelized shallots, chanterelle 'shrooms and Swiss cheese on a polenta-thyme base. We ate it with a fairly nondescript salad of local greens and other stuff. Absolutely scrumptious.

Anyway, GP just said "Think about how many strangers you'd have reading your blog if you actually wrote interesting stuff". Who the hell does he think he is? I can't think of anything more interesting than delicious food and my cat. If my blog has attracted 10 followers and one Italian vegetarian who hates Sarah Palin and his own corrupt government, that's good enough for me. In that spirit, here are some photos of food I've made recently. I still can't find the battery for my fancy camera, so you'll have to use your imagination and pretend the photos are good.
An authentic Thai green curry with not-so-authentic butternut squash, scallops, prawns, and salmon. It was so nice to have a spicy warm dish like this when it was so frigid and snowy. It's really supposed to be eaten on top of rice, but we bastardized it and ate it as a soup because we're "watching our figures" and we try to limit carb consumption to breakfast... 'Cause coconut milk is just so low in fat...
THE most AMAZING bran muffins ever. Even if you don't normally bake, you have to try this recipe. I scoured the internet for one that piqued my interest and promised other-worldly results. This recipe produces the shangri-la of bran muffins. And if, like me, you are concerned about keepin' regular, top-notch bran muffin recipes are important to you. Sure, the tops aren't perfect domes, but anyone who needs to eat perfect food is probably not going to eat bran muffins for the reasons I do anyway.

Last but not least, a simple fast, and easy meal. It's just a kale and crimini mushroom frittata with shallots, thyme and Swiss cheese melted until bubbly under the broiler. To go with that I made roasted carrots with balsamic vinegar (pet peeve: I don't like it when people just call it "balsamic". That's an adjective. Learn how to speak, you pricks), some grapeseed oil, thyme and S&P.

That's all I got for now. I don't want to overwhelm you with too much foodey goodness. Also, GP is making dinner tonight and I have to go make sure it doesn't burn.

PS, I handed in my LAST ENGLISH PAPER EVER last night. The trumpet sounds within-a my soul!

Ode to My Cat and Delicious Meals

**DISCLAIMER**

I already know I'm a crazy cat lady. Blog posts about my cat are the least of my psychoses, so no need to notify me of this.

A noble companion.

I am perpetually heartbroken at how cute and sweet Friskies is. She's here right now, laying on me and making squeaky snoring sounds. GP says cats don't feel love, but I disagree. I don't know why she would do some of the things she does if she didn't love me. For example, there have been times when I've been a sad inconsolable wreck of a person, sobbing uncontrollably (not lately, but definitely during my first year of uni, especially at Christmas time, for reasons Sarah knows) and Friskies would gently hop onto whatever surface I was sitting/laying on (bed, desk, or other) and start licking my face. She could tell I was sad and she wanted me to feel better. It wasn't because I was being noisy, either, she just wanted to be unselfishly lovey.

I'm also thankful I can have a cat because I'd go crazy (crazier?) if I didn't have someone to talk to or pay attention to during the day. Having a pet has made me more responsible and less selfish. I can't sleep in until noon anymore because she needs to be fed. I have to vacuum regularly now because otherwise our house would look like the inside of a wool muffler and GP's allergies would cripple him.

As much as I love my fluffy feline Friskies, I also love dogs. I don't, however, understand those people who prefer cats over dogs, or vice versa. Cats are independent; they don't want or need you to constantly pay attention to them. Friskies and I have a mutually beneficial relationship that seems to work really well: when I want cuddles, she capitulates as much as she wants and when she wants cuddles I capitulate as much as I want. When she wants food I capitulate as much as veterinary recommendations allow and when we both want cuddles at the same time, well, that's wonderful. I would love to have a dog. Dogs make it socially acceptable for you to go on walks and swims in the lake alone (not that I wouldn't do that anyway) and they are fun to train. Both dogs and cats are good company for TV-watching, but neither compare to GP in that arena. I guess what I'm trying to say is that my personality is sufficiently ying/yang that I'm overjoyed to have either a cat or a dog, or both. I fucking love animals.

Now, the title of this post also contains the words "delicious meals", and I don't intend to disappoint. Without further ado, I'll show you some photos of what we've been eating lately:





A few nights ago we had lemon/molasses roasted chicken thighs with grilled local crookneck squash and a salad of heirloom tomatoes and basil, lightly dressed with olive oil, balsamic reduction and some fleur de sel.


To the right you will notice some aromatics. The basil, onions, garlic and lemon zest were some of the flavour components in the mussel and prawn dish below.


















Instead of the pasta usually served with this kind of recipe, I substituted some steamed local streaky-purple runner beans. It was a good experiment but I think next time I'll split them in half length-wise to make them feel more pasta-esque.

As you may have noticed, I've become a bit obsessed with all the fresh fruit and veggies that are in season now and I've been buying most of our produce locally because it's so effing delicious and cheap. Both GP and I love eating nectarines with homemade yogurt and some toasted almonds as a slightly healthier dessert. It's so nice to have fresh juicy fruit to eat and it's really a lot of fun to cook with these different-looking veggies (the crookneck squash is a favourite). We've been using our BBQ for almost every meal because I find grilling veggies brings out so much of their flavour. In fact, below is a picture of GP grilling up a storm of local turkey sausage and a close-up of the purple runner beans I was talking about earlier:


Those beans are fantastic on the BBQ- way better than steamed. If you don't do anything else new in the way of veggies this summer, do this:

1. Trim and wash beans- big thick local runner beans, or normal ones if you can't get good ones, but if you can't get the big ones I'm not sure you should bother.
2. Toss with a dash or two of grapeseed oil, S and P and a bit of garlic (fresh or granulated, doesn't matter).
3. Throw 'em on the grill at medium heat for a few minutes (four minutes total?), or until they show slight grill marks.
4. Eat them all quickly, before someone else does.

Last but not least, here is the dish I made last night:

Courtesy of Nigella Lawson and her book Forever Summer (thanks again, Monsieur Andrews), it is a chicken and parsley salad with toasted almonds. Simple enough, with a lemon juice and olive oil dressing, it was just what the doctor ordered as GP wasn't home, I wasn't very hungry, there was leftover chicken in the fridge and I didn't have enough parsley for two people. I ate it outside in the sun because it seemed like that is where it would've been enjoyed best. I wasn't wrong.

Will the Real Healthy Foodie Please Stand Up?

I am of the opinion that food should be tasty, versatile, healthy and easy to make. I don't want to buy an ingredient at the store only to have to use it all up for one dish, I want to make it last for several different dishes that depart significantly in flavour from the dish I originally used the ingredient in. Not only does this help with creativity, it saves money. Since I'm living off my parents now (and, of course, because we're in "these economic times"), saving money is kind of a necessity.

I can't stand those fussy food blogs that encourage you to follow one million different steps that only add to the presentation of your dish and not the flavour. Sorry, but I refuse to blanch green onions so that I can braid them together and wrap my asparagus in them. Asparagus (or any other vegetable) does not need to be dressed up with dumb crap that you're not going to eat anyway. That's part of the reason I don't consider this a food blog, along with the fact that I seem to complain a whole lot about school and talk way too much about my cat on here. I don't have the patience to make a food blog and, even if I did, I don't think I care enough to give people my recipes. If there's one thing I hate it's giving people my recipes only to have them not follow them. Is that weird? Probably. I'm a weird person.

That is not to say that I don't value presentation. Hell, I won't post a photo of my food if it doesn't look like it could be at least a little bit tasty. However, I'm sure Gordon Ramsay agrees with me that taste should come before anything else.

Another thing that frustrates me is the lack of healthy recipes on food blogs. Don't get me wrong, I love a good cupcake as much as the next guy, but who can eat cupcakes every day and feel good about their body? Not me, though I don't think you have any idea how much I wish I could. Is there any food blogger who is concerned about taste AND nutrition? Because it sure doesn't seem like it. The vast majority of blogs I've come across are baking blogs and the cooking blogs that I have read have so many recipes for carb-laden dishes like pasta and pizza.

The dinners I make usually consist of a lean protein (usually chicken or [shell]fish because cows and pigs are too smart for me to eat) and one or two vegetable dishes. That is the only way I can figure out to limit our carbohydrate intake because GP and I usually have sammiches [sic.] for lunch. I am continually shocked when I go out to dinner and see dishes with no vegetables on the side, or even worse, pasta dishes with bread on the side. Excuse me, but what the hell?! Nobody needs that kind of carb. overload unless she is an elite athlete and from what I hear in the news about obesity most of us are not. Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say here is that if you find a blog (or are the writer of a blog) with lots of healthy ideas for chicken/fish, don't be selfish; share it with the class!

No Money, Same Number of Problems

I have about 10 dollars to my name right now and that's the least of my worries. In fact, I'm pretty lucky because I lead a mostly worry-free life. I did, however, do my fair share of worrying today over whether or not I'll be able to find a course to take this fall through distance ed. and whether or not it'll transfer. Here is what happened today in a nutshell: a runaround at UVic. A transcript of today's conversations with UVic officials, you ask? I'd be happy to oblige:

Me: Hi, I have a problem with my courses.

UVic official (UO): You'll have to wait in line.

Me: (Waits in line, with a smile, because she's generally cheerful) Hi, I have a problem.

UO: (Big Sigh) Ok, what is it?

Me: Blah blah blah. I've done this, this, this, this, and this to try to figure out whether or not my problem is solvable. Can you help me please?

UO: (Avoiding eye contact, and using uninterested tone of voice) Maybe. Let me look on the computer... Mmm, nope, I've done the same things you did at home to solve this problem and I don't know any more than you do. You should fill out a form, give me money and go talk to the English Department.

Me: Ok... (Gives money, walks over to Clearihue to try to talk to someone she's already emailed twice) Hi, (with a smile, because she's a fucking smiley person) I need to know if a course I might take elsewhere would transfer to UVic.

English Department Official (EDO): (Without making eye contact or smiling) Have you looked at the BC Transfer Guide?

Me: Yes. (Do I look stupid??)

EDO: You should talk to the guy who's in charge of that stuff.

Me: Yeah... I've already sent him two emails. This is urgent because I need to register in this course before August 20th and I know it takes time for you people to process things. Also, it's not even my fault I have to do this, it's YOUR fault because my class was cancelled two days before it was scheduled to start. (Why won't UVic admit they've made mistakes and try to squeeze in people who were adversely affected?! I'll tell you why: because they just don't give a fuck, they only want your money.)

EDO: Oh... Well he's at a conference. He'll be back tomorrow.

Neat-o. I went to Victoria for nothing that helps with the reason I went down there. On the plus side, I did get some books from the library for the course I may or may not take, depending on whether or not this guy who will email me tomorrow wants to accept it as transfer credit. I also spent an ungodly sum on textbooks I know I'll need in the Fall, which makes me kind of happy because it means I won't have to wade through a sticky Axe Body Spray and candy-smelling Uggs-wearing eye-rolling sea of awkward pubescent first-year students at the bookstore in September. A silver lining, I guess.

Anyway, to liven up this post here are some pictures of delicious things I've recently eaten:

Sweet and succulent local strawberries!

The following badly-lit photo is of almond-crusted filet of sole, pan-fried in garlic, with lemon and parsely, accompanied by grilled 8-ball squash (not lemon) and peas. I did get a good photo of it, but I accidentally deleted it. This dish looked a lot better in person. Oh, and the wine was a cheap and delicious Gewurtztraminer (I had to look up the spelling). Squash-grilling credit goes to GP.
Last but not least, here is a meal of roasted garlic and lemon chicken with steamed green beans that have been drizzled with a white wine reduction of the pan juices.

Damn, I'm good.

PS, I nearly forgot: I'm in the process of making yoghurt! Stay tuned for details.

When the Boyfriend's Away...

I will play! Today GP is doing some former-law-student thing down in Metchosin and I felt like I'd be a third leg (is that a thing?) if I went. So instead I stayed here and unfortunately none of my friends (you jerks) could come play with me, so I went solo for the day. No big deal, it turned out to be a lot of fun to be out on my own on a sunny day.

(Aside: Friskies just came and sat on my lap and now she's purring her head off. Ugh... SO EFFING CUUUUUUUTE) Here is a picture of me loving her:
GP and I went and looked around Cowichan Bay yesterday for a little bit, but we got there too late and all the shops were closed. So today I took it upon myself to go back and do my own little investigation. In particular, there was a cheese shop I had my eye on looking into and I sure am glad I did. I'm sure if you've ever been to Cowichan Bay you know the one I mean. It's called Hilary's Cheese Shop and Deli (or something like that) and it's got various gourmet delights. I could've bought the entire showcase but instead I bought some French Port Salut, my granny's favourite cheese (it's kind of a creamy cheddar), and some Spanish Valdeon, a very strong blue cheese with a crumbly yet creamy texture. Goodbye P90X diet...

On the subject of blue cheese, I am so very glad I'm one of those people who can stomach an exceedingly strong one. When I asked the woman in the shop what kind of cheese "that one" was she kind of hesitantly explained its origins and asked me if I'd like to try it. "Of course!" I said, thinking everyone who works in a cheese shop likes blue cheese. Apparently that's not so, but the taste was delicious. It's good there are people like her because if the world was only populated with blue cheese lovers we wouldn't be very special. She was almost reverent when I told her how much I liked it and kept going on about how it's the "strongest cheese we have in the shop!". I am such a freak that a co-worker of this lady came over and asked me if the cheese was a gift. Thinking back on it, I'm not really sure if that's a compliment. What a crappy gift to give someone, "Happy birthday, here's a six dollar wedge of cheese that smells like armpits." I guess it would be a good gift if it were given to someone like me... Hint hint.

I really wanted to visit some farms today, as I just found this website: http://www.islandfarmfresh.com/ via my friend Amy. It's a list of all the farms in Southern Vancouver Island, which is pretty cool. I think it would be more fun to do that with friends though. Any takers? Instead of visiting farms, I went to the Old Market just south of Duncan because I know they have tonnes of local strawberries right now. Needless to say I bought a basket and it's very hard not to run to the fridge right now to grab a couple. There really isn't anything like gulping down a juicy farm-fresh strawberry full of flavour but not sweet like anything else. In fact, I can't wait to have my own garden so that I can grow my very own strawberries and eat them warm from the sun. Failing that, I'll just have to find a neighbour with a prolific berry patch, like my brother and I used to do.

When I got home I cooked up a delicious meal for myself, which included a couple of these tasty morsels:
What are they, you ask? Well I'll tell you. They are feta cheese with lemon, mint, olive oil, and a little bit of spicy red pepper all wrapped up in a piece of grilled eggplant and they are SO IMPOSSIBLY GOOD. So fresh, so smoky, so slightly spicy and coolly creamy. I have to thank dear Adrian again for Nigella's Forever Summer because that was where the recipe for these came from. Let me tell you, this is a summer recipe if ever I've tasted one. Originally there were ten little babies, but I admit I uttered the phrase "You're too small, I have to eat you" to two runts. Later, two more (sadly for them, happily for me) found their way to my stomach, but there are six awaiting their end in the refrigerator because I couldn't bear to pass up the praise I know I'll get when GP tastes these. Plus, I have a feeling this is one of those recipes that profits greatly from a sit overnight if that's possible. You should buy Forever Summer or get a friend who is as great as Adrian and will buy it for you even if, like Adrian, his reason for buying it is because "she just looks so sultry on the cover, caressing those tomatoes".

I tried making protein bars today. All I can say about that is: dismal failure. I'll keep trying and post my successes (if any) here. I'm not so sure I'll be trying too often unless I find a foolproof one; protein powder is expensive and, therefore, screwing up is too.

Now it's very likely I'll knit, or keep reading The Vegetarian Myth. Who knows? The night is young!