Day 311: Mmmmmm...Taqueria Mixteca...

A tasty family lunch:

My tasty torta al pastor. I ate it in quite a greedy manner. And was quite satisfied.

Day 310: Playing with Spelt

I also purchased some lovely stone-ground spelt flour from End of the Road Farm, and have started to experiment a bit. I made this batch of quick bread using solely spelt flour, instead of mixing it with AP to increase the gluten content. The results were pretty decent, and much more edible than my dumb muffins.

Spelt quick bread with pomegranate, carrot, and lemon.

I did underbake it a bit though. Maybe I should have just stayed out of the kitchen altogether that day.

Day 309: Stupid Muffin Fail

Sometimes we just need to be humbled. I am fortunate to have enough kitchen experience at this point in my life that most of my attempts turn out pretty ok. This was not one of those times. I've made muffins plenty of times, and they really aren't the most challenging of undertakings.

Didn't seem to matter, as I just couldn't seem to pay enough attention to what I was doing to make these turn out even remotely tasty, at least for my nit-picky standards.

Oatmeal apple pie muffins, with spelt flour. Crap. And now compost.

Day 308: Cold Weather Brings Warm Soup

It has finally been cold enough for me to not only crave soup, but also to want to make a big pot of it. I picked up a beautiful bag of Red Pontiac potatoes and carrots from End of the Road Farm, and put them to happy and warming use.

Potato soup with house made chicken stock, Benton's ham ends, peas, onion, celery carrots, and parsley.

Day 307: Good for Breakfast Too

I always seem to run out of buns for my leftover hamburgers, but no matter. They really aren't always necessary.

Hamburger and egg with simple greens and sweet potato fries

Day 306: My Favoritest Hamburger

Sure, you could say that I'm partial to the hamburger beef from Innisfree on the Stillwater (the farm of my brother and SIL), and you would be right. But my partiality is due so much more to the simple fact that they are offering a superior product.

One of my favorite dishes, the hamburger. Here dressed with cheddar cheese, lettuce, ketchup, and mustard, served on a pretzel bun, with (slightly burned) sweet potato fries.

Day 305: Cereal Bars

I've been experimenting with a lot of new treats lately, both to sell and to have on hand here at home.  One thing I'm always looking to have on hand is portable, but nourishing, breakfast items. There are mornings where we are headed out to run errands or go on a field trip, or I just want some variety for DH's work day, where a portable option is the best option for food.

My first stab at a cereal bar. Rice and corn cereal paired with peanut butter, honey, and dried fruits and peanuts. They didn't hold their shape well, but they were tasty and filling. 

Day 304: Feed the Blerch (Sometimes)

There are days when I am so famished from riding that I could well imagine myself eating squirrels out in the backyard, raw and wriggling, Gollum style. Thankfully, I am never too far removed from more socially-acceptable sustenance, and our backyard critters live to see another day.

There are alot f things I like about Trader Joe's and some that I don't, but my do they have some tasty frozen snackies to feed that nasty little hunger monster and keep it quiet and satiated, at least for a little while.

Yes. Mozzarella sticks, potato skins, kale and spinach thingies, some pickles. We also had some mini chicken pot pies, but they were still baking when I shot this.

Day 303: Playing with Decadence

We eat pretty cleanly at our house, trying to minimize the processed slop that is repackaged 1000 different ways on grocery shelves. That does not mean we do not like to splurge and enjoy ourselves. It does mean, though, that even our splurges are made from happy wholesome things. 

A lot of the items I prepare for market trend towards the "healthy" side of food, but I never forget to include a few items that are good for your emotional health and happiness as well. Last market, I offered these babies:

Fudgy, dark chocolate brownies studded with pretzel chunks, peanut butter frosting. Delicious.

Day 302: Fun with Fusion, Again

And also the Asian burrito!

Day 301: Fun with Fusion

Nerdy food people like to poke fun at the (fusions) craze that hit the food scene a few decades ago. But in reality, all cuisine is fusion, a historical evolution on a plate. Unless you live in some remote corner of the Amazon, at one time or another the food of your region was influenced by the food of another. 

Not that this occurrence is anything to bemoan, however. Some of the best loved dishes of today are a happy amalgam of flavors and techniques from very different corners of the globe.  

One of my favorite fusions to play with at home is Asian/Mexican. The flavors and ingredients used is Chinese, Thai, and Korean dishes often blend in quite easily with the vibrant flavors of Mexico. 

Asian quesadillas: Rice, chicken, scallion, carrot, hoisin sauce, cheese, flour tortilla, served with Sriracha and creme fraiche.

Day 300: Riceberg! Dead Ahead! Or...Play with Your Food

 I love rice. It's such a great food. It plays so well with other flavors, and it's not too pricey. And you can be really immature whilst cooking with it.

Big rule for making fried rice: use day old cold rice, or it will turn to mush. I just couldn't resist the pun when I threw the cold rice into the pan. "Riceberg! Dead ahead!"

Day 299: Big Pancakes and a Goofy Girl

My daughter and I rode our bikes down to Victoria Theater the other day to see Doktor Kaboom! perfomr cool science-y things. Afterward, naturally, we were rather hungry, and stopped by one of our regular spots for a quick meal.  

Hannah's giant buttermilk pancakes and side of turkey sausage at Butter Cafe. Best enjoyed with a side of silliness.

Day 298: Throwbacks

A much-needed afternoon pick-me-up in the form of real sugar soda. A Pepsi (which I can't stand. Blech) for DH and an RC  for me. Nostalgic and tasty.

Day 297: Ice Cider!

Yes, this is a terrible picture. Maybe due to the fact that the contents of this bottle was rapidly disappearing???

I had had the pleasure of trying ice cider a few years back and have been looking for it locally ever since. I had seen some bottles over the past few years, but none at a price point I was willing to pay for casual drinking.

Ice cider is pretty much made like ice wine, except with apples. The apples are either pressed and the juice is allowed to freeze, or the fruit is left on the trees to freeze and then harvested some time in January. The freezing increases the sugar content and flavor, akin to a dessert wine. To me, it's like drinking apple pie syrup. So delicious. And so dangerous. You can pick up this gem at Arrow Wine.

Day 296: Bike Breakfast

My daughter and I spend quite a lot of time on the saddle these days, both for "pleasure" riding and to run errands.  Often we find ourselves out and about at mealtime, or we realize our tanks are empty from eating too little before we headed out. Fortunately we live within east biking distance of a good many eateries, and some we frequent quite regularly. One such stop is Bagel Cafe, across the street from Town&Country on Far Hills Ave.  The sandwiches are pretty good, service is quick, and the atmosphere is comfortable for two girls wearing helmets and an abundance of Spandex.

Breakfast bagels. The Ay Carumba on salt and Piggly Wiggly on plain, respectively.

Day 295: Birthday Eats

My husband's birthday falls on Halloween, which usually means he spends it trudging from house to house in inclement weather so our daughter can score a bag of crappy candy. This year was no exception. And to make the day particularly celebratory, I had a dress rehearsal, so he had to man the trick-or-treat duties alone (Although they did in fact team up with our dear friends. Still, the weather was very, very crummy.).  To assuage my conscience and assure him that I did in fact care about not being home to commemorate his oldness, I decided we should head out for a birthday dinner the night before. He chose to go to The Hawthorn Grill, one of our favorite local spots.

In honor of his big day, I chose not to harass him for a picture of his meal before eating, an annoyance he patiently obliges on too often a basis. I can tell you that he ordered the chicken, shrimp, and grits, and enjoyed it thoroughly.

My half-rack of ribs with mixed baked beans and slaw. Half of it went home for tasty leftovers for next day's lunch.

 Hannah loves a good pork chop, and this one was no exception. Here is was accompanied by beans, fried spaetzle, and frizzled onions. She had a tasty leftover lunch the next day as well.

Day 294: Put An Egg On It!

Seriously. A really good egg makes so many dishes so much better. Even this leftover hash. Which now has a face.