It’s almost time!

That’s right, the end of May is here and it’s time for my trek home to Louisiana.  I will gorge myself on seafood and daquiris.  I will swim in my parents’ pool and play with the dog.  I will go to the store to buy Blue Plate mayonnaise and grits to bring home. Oh baby. It will be good.

A is coming to Slidell from Lafayette to see me, which makes me very happy.  I haven’t seen her in almost 1 1/2 years, which is just bad and wrong.

And what might be the best part, my mother is cleaning out her tub.

No, really, that’s a bigger deal than you might think.  My parents have this big old garden tub, which makes me jealous because the tub at our apartment is just . . . it hurts my feelings.  I love baths but the discomfort of our tiny tub just isn’t worth it.  Baths become anti-relaxing in it and cause more stress than I was trying to relieve in the first place.  It’s even worse that my parents have this fantastic tub and don’t even use it.  Ever.  To the point that it is filled with boxes and random junk.  I called my mother a month ago and requested that the tub be cleaned out so I can take a real bath, please oh please, that can be my birthday present.  And she might be doing it tonight.  I also requested before and after pictures because I think it might be hard for some of you to believe the state of this tub.  I want proof.

What else . . . H found the infamous silver flip flop serving tray and threatened to give it to me as a birthday present.   I told her I would laugh hysterically and then whap her soundly about the head with it.  I do want to see it though, and perhaps it would be fun to serve food on it while I’m in town.

We have a cat-sitter lined up, M’s boyfriend has graciously agreed to come and check on Maya while we’re gone and let us know if any weird notices from the apartment get posted on our door.  Because, seriously, we’ve received things like “‘We will be working on the parking lot tomorrow. If your car isn’t moved elsewhere by 7 am, we will have it towed.”  Thank for the warning, jackasses!  That makes me nervous about going out of town, coming home to find a missing car.

Two days after we get home, C is flying to Florida to see her brother and his family.  As usual, I will miss her terribly when she’s gone, but here’s hoping I can find a mild form of trouble/entertainment in her absence.

Also, I will be bringing crawfish home again this year, which results in a pot of corn and crawfish bisque.  Any Austin folk who want to share in this are more than welcome.  But it might have to wait until C gets back from Florida, lest she kill me for making something that good and not leaving any.

Upcoming events/menus

I have decided upon my Valentine’s Day menu. Finally!

Lemon-Sage Roasted Chicken
Roasted Carrots
Haricotes Verte
Orange-Chocolate Cookies (aka the Nookie Cookies)

Also, the following day has been dubbed “Mimosa Sunday” by M and me.  One of the best Sundays we ever spent together involved sitting on her porch for hours drinking mimosas.  I would like a repeat of that, but it seemed prudent to include some food with all that champagne.  We decided to do a brunch thing which includes the breakfast casserole and a fresh fruit salad.

Which means that I’m currently writing out a shopping list, doing dishes, and cleaning out the fridge.  I threw out SO MUCH!  Leftovers that had been shoved behind jars and forgotten, vegetables I bought with good intentions that were left to rot.  I actually had to pull out the produce drawer and clean it.  I’m not proud of this.  But at least it’s done now.

Customer Service

I have a new favorite restaurant in town, El Greco.  I unabashedly love it.  C and I go there, M and I go there, sometimes all three of us, I brought my parents there while they were in town over Thanksgiving.  It’s great.

And because I love them, I give them good reviews on yelp.  They deserve it!  I hope they stay in business.

Anyway, last night I was there with C and M, and ran up to the counter to get dessert and coffee.  As I was paying, the guy who always asks after us (I think he’s the owner) caught my eye and said “You! You wrote those very nice reviews online.  I wanted to say thank you.”  And then an older woman walks out (his mother? I’ve seen her around) he whispers something to her, looks at me, and then SHE thanks me.

I say something like “Oh please, I love this place! I even brought my parents here when they were in town.”  And the owner remembered what day we were in and what my mother had ordered.

Take note, other businesses.  This is customer service done right.  Start with great product, but then make a point to talk with your customers.  If someone says something nice about you, thank them.  Not that hard.  I already thought the restaurant was great, but now I’m kind of in love with them.  And good on them for reading customer reviews online–not enough restaurants do that.  Which is weird, given the numerous places for people to post their opinions.  Plus, their gyro is one of the best.

New food blog is up!

Molly and I finally got off our asses and started our collaborative food blog.  Go check us out!!

Fixin’ to Eat

Thinking about it

Last night was yet another brilliant dinner with M. I had recently sent her a slew of recipes from my copies of Everyday Food and was rewarded by being invited to dinner.

Check it out: Sage and Pancetta Encrusted Pork Loin served alongside Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Goat Cheese.

It was awesome and kind of mind-blowing. We tweaked the recipes a bit, making a lemon vinaigrette instead of balsamic and agreeing that the pork needed to be salted underneath the sage. All in all, though, it was a stupendous meal. There are some pictures below, courtesy of M. She takes much better pictures than I do.

Which brings me to my next point. We were vaguely kicking around the idea of starting a new collaborative cooking blog. We love to cook, always talk about cooking, and like to cook new things. Also, M is always taking pictures of food anyway. This is my question: Any ideas for names? Something catchy like Two Fat Ladies—which might have worked except 1) it’s taken already 2) M isn’t fat and 3) I’m no lady. Maybe Fancy Cookin’ on a Budget! or Stop Eating Out and Make This Instead! Anyway, if you have a suggestion, send it my way via the comments page. If we use your suggestion, well, there’s no prize I guess. Just the knowledge that you are cool.

Prepped pork loin, ready to cook

Pork and Salad pretty on a plate

Kale and sausage soup

Tonight I went to M’s and she made this soup that was just completely amazing. So good, you would just die. It involved italian sausage, kale, onion, garlic, tomato, red pepper, chicken broth, and cream. Just think about all that for a second.

M took a picture of it and when she posts it, I’ll put it up here. This is HER recipe, but I was present for the kale stemming and helpful input, so I’m posting it here. Besides, she doesn’t have a recipe blog so I know she won’t mind. No toes being stepped on, no sir.

Anyway, chop one onion and 2-3 cloves of garlic. Sauté the onion and garlic in a soup pot in a bit of olive oil. Add salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and marjoram (I think. I was sitting over at the bar for this). Add the sausage. She took it out of the casing and broke it up into chunks in the pot. Cook the sausage through. This ended up letting off a LOT of grease, so she drained it lest we die of coronary blockage up in her kitchen. Add the kale to the pot and let it wilt down a little bit. Add the chicken broth (I would say 3-4 cups, we needed a bit more than we had, I think) and diced tomatoes with the liquid. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes. Turn the heat down and add a bit of whipping cream, probably less than 1/4 cup. Heat through and serve with some grated parmesan on top.

So good!!! This soup was hearty and spicy and tasted a little like a tomato bisque with yummy chunky things in it. Totally a meal unto itself. I even got sent home with some and I’m looking forward to lunch tomorrow.

Revision: M informed that I neglected to mention that white wine also went into this, a healthy splash.  Duly noted, and thank you.

Also, here’s a picture of the soup!

Sausage and Kale Soup

Don’t know where she puts it

While C is working graveyard shift, I get to see firsthand how hungry she is when she wakes up.  My god, it’s kind of amazing.  She has prepared and is currently sitting in the living room eating the following:

a bowl of cereal
a bowl of oatmeal
fresh pineapple
2 pieces of cheese toast
2 pieces of cinnamon toast
a glass of orange juice

When she’s done with all that, she’ll still be hungry and might make some eggs.  This is amazing to me for a few reasons.

1) No matter what time I wake up, I can’t eat for at least an hour or two without feeling sick
2) I could never eat that much food in one sitting
3) She is so freaking skinny

I was going to cook something for myself this evening but realized that she would be downstairs shortly.  I wisely exited the kitchen for fear of being run over or glared at.  You don’t mess with C when she’s hungry and recently awoken.  I might venture in there while she’s distracted by eating and see if she’s left any bread.  I kind of doubt it, though.

Dinner parties

I keep having ideas for dinner party themes and, I think M will back me up on this, they’re great.  Maybe a bit unusual, but great.

First, I want to have a white trash dinner party.  The main course will probably be a casserole that features cream of something condensed soup.  Odds are tuna will also be prominently featured, and maybe some potato chips as a topping.  Something else will be floated in jello.  Sweet tea will abound.  For dessert I will actually make white trash (Golden Grahams cereal and peanuts coated in white chocolate).  I need more ideas, though.

Also, I want to make a fairly southern meal.  Contrary to popular belief, this is NOT the same as the white trash dinner.  Just so you know.  So far the menu includes smothered pork chops, collard greens with hamhock, okra and tomatoes, cornbread, and sweet potato pie.  That feels pretty damn southern to me.  Oh, and there will also be white rice to pour the gravy on.

I really want to make gyoza dumplings, which almost requires that I have a party since it’s not even possible to make less than 50 at a time.  A classmate showed me how to make them and I’ve been itching to try it.  But C won’t eat them so I need to have people over.

In fact, C won’t eat much at the southern dinner either.  God, she’s picky.

Also, I wish lump crabmeat wasn’t so expensive because I’ve really been wanting to try seafood cannelloni (crab and cheese inside crepes with a bechemel sauce over the whole thing).  But it is.  And even if I COULD get good crabs here, I hate picking crabs more than anything.

If anyone has any ideas about stuff I should cook, or dinner party themes, or anything at all, please comment.  I’m in a culinary rut or something and I’m getting really bored.

Part deux: Wherein Sharon is further spoiled

And this round was courtesy of G and K.  Now, I knew that anything cooked by K would be great.  But what I got was unexpected.  It was like a whirlwind of Sharon-tailored favorites.

Mini Beef Wellingtons with bernaise sauce.  A dish I had at their house in March and haven’t since stopped talking about.
Mini quiche.  I love these and they are also good dipped in bernaise sauce.
BLTs with the evil, sinful, delicious bacon that has been caramelized in brown sugar.  Oh my god.
Bananas sautéed in cinnamon, brown sugar, nutmeg, and some other stuff.  Served with vanilla ice cream and peach syrup.

Also!  I had VERY offhandedly mentioned over 3 days ago that I should buy some of the little popsicle molds to put apple or orange juice in.  I loved these as a kid and always mean to get some.  They gave me the molds!  And a jar of peach jalepeno jelly.  And chocolate!

And M trekked up to NW Austin for the party and I love hanging out with her.  And for once, C was available and she came to the party as well.  We played out our murder mystery and it was great fun and both C and I guessed the murderer (my character did it, with a corkscrew to the neck, ewwww, and it was a case of mistaken identity.  He meant to kill his wife and he killed her nearly identical sister instead.)

Great fun!  One of the best parties ever and the fact that it occurred on my actual birthday was even cooler.  Great food, amazing friends the lot of them, and . . . wow.  Turning 29 doesn’t suck at all now.  Thanks everyone!!!

I went a little crazy

As I mentioned, I went shopping at Central Market yesterday. That is just so dangerous. I went there originally to see if they had seafood stock for sale, since I was silly and didn’t boil the crawfish heads while I was in Louisiana and make my own stock. You see, I’m making crawfish and corn bisque tonight, and it calls for seafood stock. I asked my Dad what to do instead of seafood stock and he said use weak chicken stock, but doesn’t that seem counterintuitive? I mean, yes, I could do it if I had to, but I figured I’d go see if I could find some seafood stock first.

Well, I found it. Along with the happy goodness of their produce section. I love me some good, fresh produce. And they force you to walk all along it just to get to the other parts of the store. So I bought some haricot verts for tonight, along with Bing cherries, nectarines, and green apples. Check out my fruit bowls:

I also bought some lox, bagels, cream cheese, organic cherry tomatoes, paté, super crusty French bread, and some other good stuff. And so today I woke up, made an everything bagel with cream cheese, capers, tomato, and lox and a mini fruit salad with nectarine and cherry. And it was fantastic. Everyone should be jealous of me and my awesome breakfast. I might go eat some more cherries now. Or go eat some green apple slices with sharp cheddar cheese. Or do anything to avoid cleaning, which I MUST do because people are coming over tonight and I don’t want them to run away screaming.