I can’t believe it! It’s actually snowing right now…and sticking! It hardly ever snows where I live and certainly never in November. This is so great. I just put up my Christmas tree yesterday and, between that and the snow, I am completely in the holiday spirit. I’ve been thinking of things that I could do to maintain this cheerful mood throughout the month of December. Aside from the obvious family get togethers, work parties and gift giving, my holiday traditions include watching the movie Elf and all of the old TV specials (Peanuts, Rudolph, Grinch), going somewhere fancy for a holiday cocktail with Robert, and reading/listening to Santaland Diaries, preferably while sipping on some sort of hot chocolate or mulled wine. Another big tradition for me is taking a day off of work for shopping, lunch and Christmas dinner planning with my mom and sister. We always have lots of fun.  This year, my goals are to do a lot of baking and to try making homemade eggnog for the first time (the perilous alcohol and raw egg kind, not the teetotaling cooked custard variety).  What things do you all do to get yourselves into the holiday spirit?

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Ours was lots of fun and, as usual, the food turned out great. Here is the menu:

Roasted Turkey with Gravy
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes with Red Chili
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Butternut Squash Puree
Oven-Roasted Fennel, Cauliflower, Carrots and Shiitake Mushrooms
Green Salad with Red Pears, Pomegranate Seeds and Hazelnuts
Sauteed Brussels Sprout Leaves with Caraway
Sweet Potato Pie
Pear Galete with Almonds

Two of these dishes were new this year: the very yummy pear galete that my sister made and the sauteed brussels sprouts. The brussels sprouts recipe was from a Sunset magazine which basically just says to strip the leaves off of the sprouts and then saute them with butter, bacon, onion and caraway seeds. We skipped the bacon but it still turned out delicious. The little hint of caraway was great. The magazine also has a variation that calls for sauteeing the leaves with butter, shallot, ginger and lemon zest. I made that version last week and it was also good. The smell of the ginger and lemon zest when it hits the pan is amazing.

We sampled a number of good wines:

Brooks 2005 Amycas White (Oregon)
Dona Paula 2005 Chardonnay (Argentina)
2006 Pierre-Marie Chermette Beaujolais Vieilles Vignes Cuvee (France)
Erath 2005 Pinot Noir (Oregon)

All of the wines were very tasty but, if I had to pick a favorite, I think I would choose the Brooks White. It was similar to an Alsatian riesling or gewurtztraminer, a tiny bit sweet at first but with a nice, crisp finish.

Check the gross yet delicious eyeballs I made for my company’s Halloween potluck. I stuffed sweet cherry peppers with toasted hazelnuts and goat cheese and then I cut circles out of basil leaves for the irises and used flattened currants for the pupils. Everyone at the party was impressed. Some people were too freaked out to try them but, those that did, thought they tasted great!

Tomorrow is my birthday! Although I’m not particularly sentimental when it comes to my birthday, I do like to squeeze in as much celebration (in other words, eating) as possible. Why not, right? Robert refers to this as my birthday “week” and it officially kicked off last Wednesday when his gift to me arrived via UPS.

On Friday, my friend took me out for lunch at Tulio. We were given fresh foccacia bread and olive oil to snack on while we perused the menu. I had the springtime risotto which was made with fresh peas and baby carrots and topped with pea vines and saffron cream. It was buttery and delicious and I can’t believe I managed to eat the whole thing. My friend had the asparagus soup and the spicy orrechiette with sausage, rapini and tomato sauce. Then, because I apparently needed more to eat, we split the pistachio semifreddo for dessert! Semifreddo is a partially frozen cream. It was really, really good. I was pretty much useless at work after that.

Last night was the celebration with the family. I selected El Greco for the event. Robert and I love their brunch but had never been there for dinner. We started off with a bunch of appetizers: complimentary olives and bread, baked idiazabal cheese with crostini, pears and serrano ham (delicious!), grilled asparagus with a sauce that I didn’t catch (also delicious), grilled baby octopus (chewy but not horrible) and sweet potato fries (crisp and sweet!). They also gave us a free serving of that evening’s appetizer special which was a puff pastry with cheese and spiced strawberries. It seemed more like a dessert than an appetizer but it was tasty and I’ll eat anything with strawberries. I won’t describe each of the entrees but here is a quick rundown of what was ordered: my mom had the clam linguine, my dad had the daily risotto (which had meat but, since they make it to order, you can order it vegetarian or even ask for other vegetables – good to know for the future), my brother had the salmon special, my brother-in-law had the duck, Robert had the Greek lamb burger and my sister and I split the bread salad and the crispy penne. The crispy penne is comprised of penne that has been cooked and then fried until, well, crispy. It is topped with a spicy tomato sauce with eggplant, capers, olives and tons of garlic. A good helping of ricotta salata garnished the dish. It was a big hit. It’s no wonder the website calls the crispy penne a local favorite. After all that great food and a couple of glasses of pinot grigio, I was a happy camper!

Hi everybody. Well, our Christmas dinner was a great success! As usual, we starting making plans for next year’s dinner over breakfast. Could be a Greek theme or we’re even toying with the idea of Chinese although none of really cook Chinese food that often (but that would make it even more fun!)

One of my Christmas gifts this year was “Seattle Kitchen” by the famous Seattle chef, Tom Douglas. I’m really enjoying reading it. The recipes, of course, all look great. Perhaps a bit labor-intensive for the home cook but very inspiring and certainly adaptable to my style of cooking. It also completely nails down Seattle cuisine – what other cookbook has an entire chapter devoted to the art of bento and another all about crab? The best part about the book, though, is Tom’s guide to shopping in Seattle and all of the little asides about our fresh seafood and produce and wines and beers. It reminds me of why I love living here. Now, after reading through the book, I am dying to go to Mutual Fish for the freshest fish in Seattle and to seek out the little hidden places in Pike Place Market that I normally walk right on by. Just yesterday, thanks to this book, my friend and I went for pho at a little lunch counter neither one of us had ever noticed before. Perhaps next weekend, I will take a trip over to the Bainbridge Island winery for a wine tasting or maybe I’ll eat my way through the International District. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to cook with more fresh, local ingredients and this book will surely come in handy as my guide to Seattle’s great food!

Hi everybody! I’m over here at my parent’s house helping put together our Christmas Eve feast (actually, I guess you could say I’m avoiding helping by writing in my blog.) Our dinner theme this year is New Mexico! Everything seems to be running smoothly but, as usual, my mom is adding last minute dishes and throwing off our plans. Here is the menu as far as I know:

Appetizers:
Blue and Yellow Corn Chips with Salsa and Guacamole
Pickled Jalapenos and Vegetables
Pine Nut and Pumpkin Seed Crackers
Roasted Pine Nuts in the shell (from Robert’s aunt in New Mexico)

Main Dishes:
Sweet Potato and Chipotle Tamales with Red Chile Sauce
Carne Adovada with Flour Tortillas
Chicken Enchiladas with Green Chile Sauce
Spinach and Cheese Enchiladas with Green Chile Sauce
Anasazi Beans
Green Beans with Lime and Manchego Cheese
Green Salad with Oranges, Jicama and Pumpkin Seeds with Lime Vinaigrette

Our beverage selection includes Mexican beers, white sangria and red sangria. It should be a lovely dinner; I’ll be sure to let you know how it all turns out. Uh oh, it sounds like my absence from the kitchen has finally been noticed. Time for me to go. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

OK, so Thanksgiving was a couple of days ago and I’m just now getting around to writing about it. My bad! Anyway, this year was exciting because we celebrated Thanksgiving at my apartment for a change. This presented some logistical challenges, most notably having to rush the turkey straight from my mom’s oven over to my apartment before it cooled to the contamination point. I had a lot of cooking to do and, in typical fashion, stressed out way more than I needed to. I should have just trusted that dinner would be served 2 hours late, as it is every year, leaving me plenty of extra time to get organized. The menu:

Turkey with Gravy
Stuffing (cooked outside of the bird)
Mashed Potatoes with Red Chili
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Butternut Squash with Sage, Rosemary and Cider Glaze
Oven-Roasted Fennel, Brussels Sprouts, Carrots and Shiitake Mushrooms
Romaine and Radicchio Salad with Roasted Cauliflower and Hazelnuts
Pumpkin Pie (with a special Candied Ginger Layer)
Gewurztraminer and Red Zinfandel
Winter Beers

I think that covers it. Things that are important about this meal are that I made the red chili for the mashed potatoes and I didn’t mess it up (being from New Mexico, this task normally falls to Robert – the making it, not the messing it up) and that the butternut squash recipe was a new addition this year. It is actually a recipe meant for delicata squash and it comes from the Herbfarm, one of the Seattle area’s most expensive restaurants. Despite the problems associated with trying to split the cooking duties between two kitchens, it all worked out very well in the end. The meal was lovely. Robert was happy because he was able to drink more beers than normal since he didn’t have to drive anywhere. And, there was a ton of leftover stuffing which made me pleased (as though I can’t just make it any time I want.)

Next up, Christmas! I’m putting up my little tree today which will probably piss a bunch of people off because it isn’t even December yet. Scrooges! Speaking of red chili, our theme for Christmas dinner this year is New Mexican so I’m sure I’ll have lots to report on that in the coming weeks. Happy holidays!

Hi everyone. Christmas dinner was great this year (as always) and it was really easy too! Cajun/Southern USA was the theme. Let me break down what we served for you starting with the appetizers:

Pickled Okra
Shrimp with Spicy Remoulade
Meat & Cheese Platter
Mini Muffaletta Sandwiches
Cornmeal-Crusted Fried Oysters

All the appetizers were fantastic, including the oysters which I normally don’t like. We also had some marinated artichoke heats and really delicious sweet-hot peppers that we served on the meat & cheese platter. And now for the main dinner:

Chicken & Andouille Sausage Gumbo
Fried Red Snapper with Cajun Rub
Steamed White Rice
Spicy Red Beans
Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms
Seared Collard Greens
Cornbread
Green Salad with Candied Pecans

The gumbo cooked all day long so it was really thick and hearty. We kind of cheated with the crab-stuffed mushrooms; we bought prepared crab cakes at Central Market and stuffed the mushrooms with those (a great shortcut to remember!) I’m so sad that Christmas is over and I already can’t wait for next year – we may do New Mexican food. That will be two regional US themes in a row…interesting. That also means Robert has to help with the planning and cooking which make it even more fun. OK, I need to go recharge my brand new iPod now. Hope you all had a great holiday and I’ll talk to you soon!

Here’s an e-mail from one of my biggest fans! I thought it was very funny so I had to put it on my blog.

Happy Holidays!!
I had Thanksgiving w/ Andrea and her brother, his fiancee and a couple others. It was lots of fun and very relaxing. Everyone was supposed to make a side, there were originally going to be 9 of us. I’d planned to dazzle folks with my classic Midwest marshmallow fluff, featuring canned fruit coctail… but at the last minute 2 people dropped out and there was already WAY too much food. I knew then that only a light Asian appetizer would suffice. In a rural town w/ only a Fred Meyer and just a few hours before they closed I rustled up chutney(most employees did not know what it was), a whole fresh coconut (which was disected on the table saw), ginger, lime, peanuts and everything else except the big store was out of shallots. A smaller, seedier store in the next town had them in a 70′s style fishnet package. They played Christian rock which seemed a few weeks early but I decided it was better and more appropriate than death metal. For me personally the success of the dish lies in finding the most enormous spinach leaves. Regardless it was a hit and it moved. People kept coming back for more, asking about it and where they might find the recipe.
Thanks Ellie May!

M

I’ve been totally lacking in holiday spirit even though I told myself on December 1st that I was going to enjoy every day in December as though it was Christmas. Oh well, I blame it on being sick all of last week. I’m skipping work tomorrow and my mom, sister, and I are going out for our annual “non-shopping” day so that should help put me in more of a holiday mood. It used to be a shopping day but since none of us really like to shop, we usually just end up going to lunch and planning christmas dinner instead and that’s much more fun. I just learned that my sister has been baking cookies and listening to Christmas carols all weekend. That sounds so nice. I’m feeling the need to bake something now. Next weekend I will make biscochitos, the famous cookie of New Mexico (or possibly Spain…) They are made with anise seeds and are really flaky, although I don’t use lard like you are supposed too so mine are less flaky. But they will still make the apartment smell good and get me into the spirit of the holidays! -elliemay