Monthly Archives: January 2012
How to Make Spaetzle
Making homemade spaetzle is not particularly difficult and well worth a small investment of time. The irregular little dumplings are also called little sparrows, as they are shaped somewhat like a little bird, with a pointy end resembling a beak, from where the dough drops into boiling water to cook. They are excellent served simply with browned butter, salt and pepper, but also serve as an ideal stand in for rice or pasta as a base for a sauce. Continue reading
Filed under Food, Recipes, Restaurants
Roasted Delicata Squash and Tofu with Broccoli
We had a snow week last week, here in Seattle. For those of you who live elsewhere, let me explain. Mostly it just rains here in the winter. Chilly and dark to be sure, but not exactly extreme. We might get the occasional dusting of snow, but once every year or two it just keeps going and really snows, often with some freezing rain for good measure, and the city grinds to a stop for a time. We’re just not equipped for this and it can quickly turn from fun to a real drag if you actually have to leave the house. Continue reading
Spaghetti Bolognese
We are seated in the back room of the Swingside Café, a sort of a candlelit sun porch used on busy weekends that is reached by scooting sideways past the kitchen and out the back door, dodging wait staff laden with plates, then down a few steps into the glassed-in annex. It is more obvious back here that these Fremont Avenue restaurants are a thin layer of converted houses, just a step from a neighborhood of actual lived-in houses.
We sip glasses of Zinfandel and dredge fresh focaccia through saucers of olive oil. As I savor my plate of Farfalle with Wild Boar and Venison Bolognese Sauce, the same scene is enacted over and over outside the rain-dotted window. Continue reading
Filed under Food, Recipes, Restaurants
The Sauerkraut Project: Phase One
I didn’t know I wanted to make sauerkraut until I unwrapped the giant box my Sissy gave me for Christmas and found a ten liter stone crock for making sauerkraut. Ten liters! I knew this was going to be great. I love fermented foods, and I love playing pioneer. Salting down a ton of cabbage in a stone crock falls squarely into both categories of goodness. Continue reading
Filed under Food
Give in Gracefully
It started snowing Saturday afternoon. The fat flakes were just enough to derange traffic and disrupt my plans to meet up with a friend for coffee. Instead, I spent the afternoon making marmalade, filling the house with steamy warmth and the scent of oranges.
The snow continued Sunday morning, a thin blanket over rooftops and cars, obscuring the view of the lake, and stilling the sounds of the city. Continue reading
Such Richness
I don’t have a recipe for you today. I meant to update you on the sauerkraut project, but that will have to wait a few days.
I went to a funeral this morning. I actually go to a fair number of funerals, as a member of Saint Vincent de Paul. It’s an elderly bunch. And I’ve learned a lot from watching my older friends navigate these funerals with an enviable circumspection about the realities of life. They mourn their dead and enjoy seeing all their old friends on the same occasion. They dab away heartfelt tears, then laugh and tell stories through the funeral lunch. Continue reading
2012 Food Goals
I’ve been dreaming up all sorts of fun goals for 2012, and I thought I’d share some of the food-related ones I’m particularly excited about right now. Continue reading
Filed under Food
Without Irony
There seem to be two types of New Year’s food blog posts: with or without irony. Those with irony note the ubiquity of healthful recipes in January and make a few wry comments about the fleeting nature of resolutions before offering up a vegetable-based recipe. The sans-irony ones just go straight for the healthful recipe without apology.
While I assure you that I have a fully developed sense of irony, I must admit that I prefer my January blog posts without it. Continue reading
Crunchy Garbanzo Beans
The holidays are over. It’s time to head back to work. And time to head back to reality—you know, normal life? The life that doesn’t involve twinkly lights, Christmas carols, sleeping late, reading all day, and eating chocolate by the truckload?
It’s been fun, all of the ham and turkey and paella and Chinese food, the wine, the dinners out, the pancakes and sausage…and yes, it was fun to overdose on chocolate. Continue reading
