Fresh Tart

Nice day! A sensualist's delight, and not just the weather (which is nothing short of perfect, rarrr...). I opened by breakfasting with my lovely aunt Marge at the Good Earth/Galleria. Love their yummy, spa-like, healthy breakfasts. I skipped the wheat grass (!) and went for steel cut oats with fresh berries, and an over-easy egg, washed down with lots of good (albeit decaf) coffee. Kill.

Afterward I bopped home just long enough to change into walking clothes - then I was off to Elm Creek Park Reserve for a long hike. Just me and my iPod, taking in the sunshine, cool breezes, and spectacular views for 1.5 hours of escape-to-nature paradise. Ah, September Saturdays. They do not suck...

Oh, and to top off this gorgeous day, Marge brought me four caramel apples as a treat. When Nathan laid eyes on 'em he screamed woo hoo and dug right in - nothing like a little caramel apple appetizer to kick off the dinner hour - because of course, they're incredible. A crunchy-sweet bite of fall, those babies. (And in the name of moderating my calories, that's all I had - a bite. But I thoroughly enjoyed it!)

This squash, delicata, was new to me in my CSA veggie share last week. I had to look it up - from whatscookingamerica.net:

Delicata squash is also called sweet potato, peanut squash, and bohemian squash. This is one of the tastier winter squashes, with creamy pulp that tastes a bit like sweet potatoes. Size may range from 5 to 10 inches in length. The squash can be baked or steamed. The skin is also edible.

The delicata squash is actually an heirloom variety, a fairly recent reentry into the culinary world. It was originally introduced by the Peter Henderson Company of New York City in 1894, and was popular through the 1920s. Then it fell into obscurity for about seventy-five years, possibly because of its thinner, more tender skin, which isn't suited to transportation over thousands of miles and storage over months.

It's absolutely delicious! I love squash, to me it's a treat worthy of dessert status, so I tend to save it for the end of a meal. I baked this one, cut side down, until tender, then pureed it with a bit of butter and brown sugar (and topped it with a drizzle of maple syrup and a few chopped walnuts to make a pretty pic). My neighbor Lindsay was going to puree it with granny-smith apple to make a lovely-sounding soup - it's a good soup squash, very creamy and smooth. If you see it at the store, definitely give it a try.

And Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law Valerie!!!

Oooh, I just picked up my veggies for this week. Lookin' good, baby! I decided to cook several different things right now so that I'll have healthy, tasty bites all weekend. There's a big bunch of flat-leaf parsley so I'm soaking bulgur wheat for tabbouleh salad (I still have cukes, onions, and tomatoes from past weeks). Then I cut up the turnips, rutabaga, carrots, and a few potatoes, threw them into a pot of boiling water with a couple of cloves of garlic, to turn into a simple root vegetable puree. If I have a hankering for soup, I could thin some of the puree with broth and a splash of cream, float a crouton on top, and call it lunch. And last, I'm roasting an eggplant, halved, with some garlic and onion. When it's all tender I'll mash it together, add more of that flat-leaf parsley, olive oil, and some lemon juice, and have myself a nice spread for toasted pita.

Why the picture of my nephew Cooper being smooched by his mommy, my sister Stacey? Becauses it's so damn CUTE! Have a good weekend!

Happy Birthday Polly!

OK, today is not lovely Polly's actual birthday. Nor was yesterday. August 7, in fact, was the big day, but we just got around to celebrating it last night (!), with a typically fabulous dinner at Lucia's. Great wine (they make a terrific daily red and white suggestion, to suit the day's menu), perfect food, gorgeous lighting, impeccable service...it is my favorite restaurant, there's not an occasion I don't look forward to celebrating there. As Polly and I were saying, they treat food so respectfully - that sounds odd, I know, but the presentation is simple and clean, without sacrificing flavor or interest. The food isn't tortured into anything silly or over-the-top. I appreciate a straight-shooter; in fact, don't we all? Hell yeah! I'm going for my own 40th, in some way, shape, or form, fo sho. (I have a few months before that momentous occasion, but just a few...ack!)

Anyone else have a birthday to celebrate? Anyone?

Happy Birthday Rudy!

I sadly had to miss Rudy's dim sum birthday celebration yesterday for Nathan's baseball game, which was...chilly. Brrr... No need to ice my sore piriformis sitting on those bleachers, damn! And worse, some fan sitting near me was rocking so much heavy perfume that my eyes and nose were stinging and watering. As you know, I love love love fragrances, and usually appreciate them on others, but to be overwhelmed while outside, at a Little League baseball game no less, is a bit much, non? (Not as bad as the blast of a woman sitting somewhere near me at the Guthrie last week, that was unbearable - as was the play - but it was close.) Moderation, ladies! Luckily I'd stashed A Soldier of a Great War (what a book, it is breathtaking; well, almost, ha) in my handbag and was able to bury my nose in it, between Nathan's at-bats and plays, and the whole thing flew by pretty quickly.

So! John partook of dim sum and had a blast in my stead. Then we were all back here for a quiet night, warm and snug and into bed fabulously early, ahhh.

And now it's Monday, sigh. MONDAY. A sunny one, that helps. We were all up and at 'em extra-early thanks to our early retiring, that helps too. After I figure out a nice little sauce - raw tomato perhaps? - for the spaghetti squash I steamed yesterday, I'll post the recipe. Until then, I wish you a good start to your week!

Just have to quickly say how much I appreciate walking in the city of Minneapolis. I snapped this quick pic with my phone today because I was blown away by how beautiful, quiet, and secluded my walk was - in the middle of the city (I was walking around Cedar Lake)! Equally quiet walks are to be found along Minnehaha Creek and on many of the bike paths. Who knew? Mineapolis, City of Sensual Delights.

I (or technically, John) remembered to pick up my CSA veggie share this week - I really missed what I forgot last week! The treasure this week included lovely new potatoes and spinach, so I made a warm potato-spinach salad, with sweet onions and mustard vinaigrette. Made a tasty snack/dinner. I plan on having it cold tomorrow for lunch, topped with a bit of tuna - a Nicoise-esque sort of thing, mmmm. (Recipe posted in comments, below.)

I have a new hot date each week! Friday Morning Coffee with Suz, it's a lovely way to go into the weekend because let's face it, in this day and age weekends aren't quite the break they're meant to be. For us, and for everyone else I know, it's run, run, run! Baseball, basketball, Sunday school, homework, guitar, errands, haircuts, dentist, cooking, laundry...you know your version of the drill. It's nice to take a deep breath, and enjoy a few wicked laughs, before diving in!

The leftover black bean soup did indeed make a satisfying lunch, along with some simple tuna on crackers. As I said about soups, below, it's worth taking a minute to add some pretty, tasty extras to something so simple and light - I seriously enjoyed consuming this. And it was nothing more than canned tuna (Genoa - the best), with a bit of mustard vinaigrette stirred in, atop a couple of Ak-Mak whole wheat crackers, garnished with a dab of salty olive tapenade (I buy it premade at the store), sweet cherry tomato halves, and the crunch and bite of raw onion. As Baby Nathan used to say, tooooolicious.

For my "sninner" (snack-dinner) later? Perhaps mesquite-smoked turkey, wrapped up with more of those killer tomatoes, as well as chopped cabbage, in a small tortilla smeared with mustard. I'm more satisfied by foods that hit several notes - chewy, crunchy, salty, smoky, sweet. Rarrr... Then a movie with John - he's himself wanting to drop a few by cutting back on dinners, so he suggested we get the heck out of here at dinner time and make our date a 'vie. Lemons to lemonade, my friends, lemons to lemonade...

Or to strawberry smoothie! I'm a smoothie purist, as it were, forget protein powder (ick), flavorings, ice, etc. To me, all you need is a bit of fruit, a splash of milk, a splash of water, and perhaps a bit of sugar if the fruit isn't at its seasonal peak (like strawberries in September, for instance). This baby is nothing more than 5 strawberries, 1 tsp. sugar, and 1/4 c. each of skim milk and cold water. Blend until frothy...done. A surprisingly filling and creamy essence of fresh strawbery. Makes a nice desserty thing, or a snacky thing, whenever something sweet would fit the bill. Yum. Also great with (1/2) banana or other berries or pineapple in place of strawberries (as a purist, I don't mix fruits, but feel free to, of course, that's just me). Nice little antioxidant kick to boot, all for around, oh, 55 calories.

Have a good weekend!

As promised - soup! Here are a couple of recipes for quick, light, AND satisfying soups. The classic Greek avgolemono (egg-lemon). And a quick black bean. Either are ready in twenty, with very few ingredients. Keep in mind that a lovely garnish - dollop of sour cream, sprinkle of toasted nuts, chopped raw onion or scallions, chopped fresh tomato, minced fresh herbs, sprinkle of cheese, etc. - can make the most basic soups prettier, healthier, and best of all...tastier! Enjoy either of these soups hot or cold. (Recipes posted in comments, below.)

I made the black bean today, mmm, Nathan loved it too. I still have a few garden tomatoes, they made a perfect garnish. And there's just enough soup left for my lunch tomorrow - NICE.

(As an aside, and for a good laugh, check out this food photo from Planet Dan's blog. Mmmmm...!?! Man he cracks me up.)

Another gorgeous September day and I will take it! Makes long walks positively delightful. Along with my iPod - I've had one, technically John's old one, for just about a year and only organized and put my music on it last week! Who knows what the hell I was waiting for...that's such typical, nonsensical, Stephanie-procrastination I can hardly stand it. Ridiculous. But now it's in action, woo hoo! In fact, yesterday I listened to one of my own Feminine Hijinx podcasts and laughed so much and had such a big grin on my face that strangers were smiling at and greeting me. How sweet! Just goes to show that people most certainly respond to your aura...

...which will continue to be full of good energy tonight when I get together with Kim and Suz to record a new FH. It's been a few weeks and we're chomping at the bit, ready to talk naughty and cackle and gossip. Yeah baby!

For dinner tonight? Well, as I said, I'm gently applying the brakes to the speed with which I've been cranking tasties out of my kitchen since starting this blog - who knew a blog could be so fattening? Ack. Love my blog, love cooking and writing about it, love eating the food, of course...do not love the gaining weight part. It's clearly out of balance, and therefore not moderate.

So. As I mentioned below, I've figured out that for me, dinner is the main culprit. I eat pretty lightly during the day, even when blogging, ha. As you can tell from my recipes, I'm a vegetable lover. And not a much of a sweets eater. In fact, I tend to prefer lighter, healthier foods in general. The problem is that I am starving at around 4:30, no matter what I've eaten during the day, no matter how I've spent the day. That is just hungry-time for me, period, always has been. Everyone's different of course.

My previous strategy was to have a snack, to hold out for dinner... But what really ends up happening is that I have the equivalent of two dinners - the (big!) snack, plus the real dinner (and did I mention the tasties while I'm cooking? Those add up fast, and oh how I love them). With wine. Nope! That doesn't work for me. I did a little research first by tracking my calories for three weeks, down to every last bite and sip, on a great (free!) website, FitDay.com. Eating as I normally do, I consume, and have gained weight, eating on average less than 2,000 calories a day. UGH, that sucks. Not a lot of wiggle room there. So much for being able to eat a bit more since I'm 5'11" - it's never been true for me and apparently still isn't (in fact, as I approach the big 4-0, it's of course less true - neato). An hour or more of exercise per day, and between 12-1500 calories, and I weigh what I should. Not easy to maintain, especially when one loves to cook, eat, and drink as much as I do! And when the work I do for most of the day is at my computer (aka on my ass, like most of us). But hey, it is what it is. Time to get more creative! You work with what you've got, sista. And without question my evening - and getting a bit carried away with my passion for food and cooking - offers the most room for paring some cals.

So, I've put the family on alert that full-on dinners are going to be fewer and farther between and most nights we'll stick to lighter, a la carte choices that offer more flexibility for those of us trying to, ahem, lighten up. Nathan and I can still eat together on our nights, since we usually eat before John's home anyhow (he's a go-in-late, stay-late guy). And of course John and I can still have a nice dinner once in awhile, either here or out. But day-to-day, we'll be moderating the full-on dinner experience. However...

...that doesn't mean I'm still not needing and eating delicious and healthy food! I refuse to eat energy bars and drink diet drinks and other fake foods, YUCK, I hate them. Especially anything with artificial sweetener in it, tastes like chemical disgustingness to me. I'm still all about fresh, delicious foods. (With lots more walking and Russian kettlebells for dessert, ha.)

Yesterday, spicy beans and rice made up my snack/dinner. Tonight, crunchy cabbage salad. Tomorrow, perhaps I'll make some soup. Stay tuned...

A very quiet weekend, not much fun to report, actually. Damn! And no cooking either! Didn't feel much like it, in fact, I'm going to dial down the number of full-on dinners I make each week - it's just not moderate enough, for me. I do much better consumption-wise if I just have a hearty snack for din, earlier in the evening when I'm hungriest. Trying to hold out to eat at 7 p.m. kills me, I've been trying to do it since John and I got married - nice for John, not so nice for me. I basically end up eating twice because as you might guess, I'm not the sort to sit plateless with others while they happily devour whatever tasties I've prepared for them. I'm neither disciplined nor magnanimous enough for such charity, ha. I figure I'll cook on the days both kids are here and once in awhile on the nights John and I are alone - those are my most experimental nights, when I really get the creative juices flowing. I'll definitely keep posting recipes for the blog, just not daily. Keep checking back!

And get this, I completely spaced picking up my CSA veggie share on Friday! Man, someone has moved out of the summer mode... Dorkin' out, completely. I had to buy some lettuce at the store today for the first time in months.

Hope you had a good weekend!