christmas dinner

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night! 
                                                          - Clement Moore

Every family that celebrates Christmas has some sort of tradition, I'm sure. In my family, that involves going to the candlelight service at church, followed by a Christmas dinner of oyster stew, then the opening of gifts with a hot mug of cranberry tea in hand. This year was no exception. The only thing that's changed over time is who makes the stew - a job that's fallen to my grandpa, brother and I as my grandma is in a nursing home. 


The recipe, like many of my grandparents', is simple and less a matter of exact measurements than taste. I kind of like that approach to cooking; it allows for variations based on what (and who) is in the kitchen. The only constant is good food on the table and a happy family.

holiday brekkie

“Hallo! Whoop! How are you! Merry Christmas!” 
                                                       - Ebenezer Scrooge 

I woke up this morning at a lovely late hour in the mood for a good breakfast. Then I realised it's Christmas Eve, and I especially wanted something nice. Lucky for me, I had on hand half a loaf of thick-sliced honey wheat bread and just enough bacon to feed my brother and me. French toast and bacon it was!

bon appetit

Finals week has a way of completely disrupting one's normal schedule. Not that my schedule could be called normal in the first place... nevertheless, I'm back after a week of craziness followed by a week of partying - er - recuperating. Until I get everything back in order, here's a taste of what my fabulous foodie friends and I have been up to... 

grated garlic cheese and sauteed chicken...

plus crepes and wine...

and some veggies for good measure...

equals one happy family!

when in ireland - part two

What I say is that, if a fellow really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow. - A. A. Milne

I'd bet that the first two things that pop into most people's minds when they think of Ireland's food is some variation on meat and potatoes. (I know that's what I always thought, but maybe it's just my Irish blood at work...) I had no clue until I actually got to Ireland just how prevalent these staples are. From shepherd's pie to Irish stew, almost every dish focuses on some kind of meat paired with some preparation of potatoes... even fish and chips, if you want a broad take on the idea. 

I'm going to digress for a moment to talk about chips and how to eat them.

soup and salad, virginian tavern style

What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child? - Lin Yutang

please focus on beautiful Mount Vernon, and not my hideous coat...

After writing yesterday about peanut butter and Christmas and childhood, I started thinking about peanut soup.  I can remember very distinctly one lovely December day 15 years ago (almost exactly to the day) spent at George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate, concluding with a candlelit dinner at the Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant. On the menu was Virginia peanut & chestnut soup. We ordered some at the recommendation of the waiter (and out of our curiosity - it runs in the family) and instantly fell in love. 

the perfect peanut butter cookie

If you can't control your peanut butter, you can't expect to control your life. - Bill Watterson


Peanut butter is practically the love of my life. It's seriously a magical food: sweet, salty, creamy, crunchy... I've used peanut butter in everything from cookies to soup. An obvious sandwich spread, I love peanut butter paired with jam, Nutella, or bananas (I call that last one a PB² sandwich. Yup, I'm a geek). I stir it into my ramen to add protein and flavour. And I make a killer peanut sauce that's perfect with Vietnamese spring rolls. Then there is, of course, the classic jar-and-spoon approach (talk about a really fast and portable breakfast... I've definitely taken a jar of peanut butter with me to an early class on more than one occasion).  Funny story: my brother and I used to make 'dessert mashed potatoes' by pouring honey over spoonfuls of peanut butter in a bowl. However overly sweet and ridiculous that sounds now, let me tell you... we enjoyed it immensely.

when in ireland - part one

Tea should be taken in solitude.  ~C.S. Lewis


*Resisting the urge to digress about C.S. Lewis...*
The subject at hand: tea and toast.

When travelling, the things I'm the most excited about are almost always food-related. I love checking out local food. There's a lot to be learned from a culture's culinary traits, and I find it incredibly interesting to experience this stuff... not to mention incredibly delicious at times!

good grief

The next to last week before finals - also known as hell week - has at long last come to an end. And all I have to say is...

...and thank God for caffeine.

Hoping to put up a real post in the next day or so!

es ist gut!

Altes Brot ist nicht hart, kein Brot, das ist hart. 
                                                             - German proverb
(Translation: Old bread isn't hard, no bread, that is hard.)


Some of the best things in life are really simple. When I think of food that's quick, easy and satisfying, it's often something I grew up on. One example: rinderwurst and corn bread. I can't even begin to count the number of times I've eaten this meal at my grandparents' house.

a few of my favourite things

When I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favourite things, and then I don't feel so bad. - “My Favourite Things”

Long before I knew “Black Friday” existed with its over-hyped deals and rabid shoppers, I looked forward to the day after Thanksgiving with an inordinate amount of excitement for one reason: all things Christmas were officially allowed. House rules declared that nothing Christmas-related could be displayed or indulged until “after Thanksgiving,” and given my penchant for technicalities, I lay in wait for 12 am Friday to strike just so I could listen to Mannheim Steamroller.

cottage pie

A handful of skill is better than a bagful of gold. - Irish Saying

My brother and I are at least 3/8 Irish, and that's something we've always been proud of. I like to think it makes us a little bit lucky. I know I'm definitely lucky to have my brother, because he's about the best lil bro anyone could ask for (awwww).

He's pretty handy to have around, too. Yesterday he treated me to homemade cottage pie for dinner – his special recipe. This dish is commonly referred to as shepherd's pie here in the States, but this summer when I spent a month in Ireland I learned that technically, shepherd's pie is made with lamb, while the same dish made with another kind of meat (typically beef) is called cottage pie.

ingenuity

A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something. 

- Frank Capra

Sometimes, my family likes to party like rock stars. Take yesterday for example: my mom decided to rent a hotel room just to have a place to crash and relax for the night. It was our little pre-Thanksgiving shindig, to include throwback gaming, movies, and my mom's famous shrimp dip.

This stuff is a staple at family functions. It's a good sized tray of dip, isn't expensive, and is super easy!

                            

community

Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and fat. - Alex Levine 

Coffee... one of those rare things that qualifies as both a pleasure and a necessity. I can barely remember life before coffee. My parents were wonderful people who allowed me to taste sips from their cups even as a child, eventually allowing me to lace hot cocoa with increasing amounts of java, then weaning me off the faux mochas until I would take my coffee no other way but black. These days – especially those mornings I work at 5 a.m. – I require at least a wake-up cup and an afternoon pick-me-up.

My current favourite brew? Community Coffee Dark Roast. Smooth, dark, wonderful. 

Again, I have my dad to thank for this gem. I first tried it when I spent Christmas with him three years ago, and has been nice enough to keep my supplied since then! In fact, about three weeks ago he mailed me two 32 oz bags – that's sixty-four ounces of coffee grounds. I'm already about halfway through the first bag and looking forward already to restocking when I visit Dad in January.

I'm not the only one who loves this coffee. It's been dubbed the state coffee of Louisiana. My advice to you:

Get some!

try pie, try!

When come back, bring pie! - Weebl

Yesterday I got a request from a family friend to make a cherry pie for her family's Thanksgiving dinner. While I was flattered that she trusts my baking skills, I also felt a stab of fear and guilt. It's true I love to bake. And it's true I love pie. But I'm afraid to say... with much chagrin... that I myself have never really baked a pie. 

Well, it's about time I learn.

one of those weekends

As one of my favourite chefs likes to say...

There's a time and a place for everything, and it's called college.

Okay, I admit, Chef isn't really a chef. Nevertheless, his statement is relevant. My diet this weekend (which ran over into Monday) consisted of chips, queso, black & tans, puppy chow, white Russians, pizza, Jager bombs, cookie dough, B-52s, and wings. The only thing my binge-mates and I were missing was the hot tub of bacon.

You read that right.

Behold the beautiful product of a beloved cast iron pan, three pounds of bacon, and a case of insatiable munchies!

brekkie

Never work before breakfast; if you have to work before breakfast, eat your breakfast first.  ~Josh Billings

There's only one obvious solution to having an hour of free time between work and classes: breakfast. And I definitely don't mean a bowl of cereal. Cereal is more usually for dinner... but that's a different story. I'm talking about a thick slice of bacon fried and married with an egg, cosied up together under a blanket of provolone between two halves of a quarter loaf of asiago focaccia liberally spread with mayo on one side and half an avocado on the other, the whole assemblage grilled in a bit of (okay, maybe quite a bit of) bacon grease.

Heck yes.

This baby was so delicious I didn't even take a picture before going to town on it. In my defence, I did have to get to class.

What I do have a picture of is the iced coffee I drank on my walk to campus - the most epic, Japanese canned coffee:

BLACK BOSS.

It is black. And it is boss. What more is there to say? I bought out the last of this stuff from one of my favourite Asian grocers in Iowa City, and my back-up plan in case they don't carry it any longer is buying it online at $2.50/can and flat rate shipping of $6.95 for orders under $99... not a terrible price. 

Then again, I'm only a little dedicated to these things.