19 posts tagged “food”

What's the best advice you've ever gotten or given on how to make a relationship last?

"Keep him fed!"

At the lovely bridal shower my mother-in-law's sweet friends threw for me, all the guests added kind wishes and some scrap of marriage advice to a tiny notebook for me to take home. That particular jewel showed up over and over, the distilled wisdom of decades of collective experience with husbands. It may be clichéd to note that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but happiness at the dinner table does have a wonderful way of radiating into other areas of life. Conversely, I've never known anyone who was super pleasant to be around when he or she was hungry, so I do my best to cook healthy (most of the time) and delicious (I hope all of the time!) meals for us to enjoy together.

Oh! Oh oh oh. I can't believe I forgot one very awesome thing in my post of Awesome Things yesterday. My husband and I went out for dinner and a movie on Saturday night, which we almost never do. M's schedule is such that we're often lucky enough to be able to go out on weekdays, when the masses are at work/school/whatever and the crowds, lines, and waits are therefore nonexistent. Sometimes, though, we just have to shake things up and play the game along with everyone else. I had forgotten how many more people flood restaurants and movie theaters on a more standard date night, but we survived with a minimum of irritation at the "damn kids" (because, y'know, we're so much older than most of our fellow restaurant- and movie-goers... but what we don't have in age, we more than make up for in curmudgeonliness).

We dined at California Pizza Kitchen after about a fifteen-minute wait, which the hostess had told us would be half an hour. Maybe it's just me, but I hate it when hosts pad their wait-time estimates. I understand the reasoning behind the practice--that it's far better to surprise people with a shorter wait than a longer one--but I would prefer getting more a more accurate range of seating times so I can make an informed decision on whether to stick it out or try someplace else. The hostess can go ahead and pad that estimate by five or ten minutes, but doubling it seems excessive.

In any case, we got to our table more quickly than anticipated, which wasn't too bad. Since this was a date night and we were shaking things up, I did something I almost never do: I ordered a pink, fruity, girly drink. My inclination normally runs more towards Guinness, a dry martini, or a Manhattan, but I was feeling the strawberry daiquiri love. That was the extent of our adventurous spirit for the meal; we ordered our usual hummus-and-flatbread appetizer and split our standard roasted pepper and goat cheese pizza. One of these days, we're going to have to take advantage of CPK's "Menu Adventure Guarantee," where you order something you haven't tried before, and if you don't like it, they'll replace it with your usual favorite. Gotta ask about the fine print there; it sounds too good to be true.

With dinner accomplished, we walked over to the theater that was showing a movie to which I had been looking forward for a long time: Coraline. Our reasons for seeing it opening weekend included not only that long-built anticipation, but the fact that we would only have the opportuntity to see it in 3D for a couple of weeks, after which there's some Jonas Brothers ridiculousness coming out that will take over the 3D screens at most cinemas.

Please note: If you want to see Coraline in 3D, go now before it's too late. Also be aware that when you're looking for showtimes, "Coraline 3D" is distinct from just "Coraline," so choose your search terms accordingly.

With extravagantly expensive popcorn and conveniently recyclable 3D glasses in hand, we took our seats. There was a gaggle of teenagers one row ahead that reminded us eerily of our friends from high school. As I put it to M, "I don't know these kids, but I know these kids." With their clever remarks to one another and hair in every color of the rainbow and their excitement at seeing the late showing of a slightly dark-weird-wonderful film, we would have fit right in about ten years ago. Good to know that some things don't change.

I loved the movie. The atmosphere was as delightfully creepy as that of the book, and all the filmmakers' painstaking stop-motion efforts yielded a smooth, evocative, detailed world in which we could get lost along with the nine-year-old protagonist. There were plenty of laughs--They Might Be Giants singing the "Other Father's Song" comes to mind--but there were some scenes that would have bothered me a lot when I was a kid, but added to the delicious chill for me now.

As for the 3D experience, it's worth it. The cheese factor can get out of hand in some films whose creators were a little too enamored of the gimmick of making things "jump out" at the audience, but I found the use of the technique in Coraline felt natural (even when portraying very unnatural things). If you're at all inclined to see the movie, I would highly recommend finding a showing in 3D before it disappears.

Dear readers, do go see this movie. You may never look at buttons or Scottie dogs in the same way again, but you will have had a movie-watching experience that stands out amidst the legions of Hollywood sameness.

Warm Weather: I don't care what Punxsutawney Phil said about six more weeks of winter--spring is definitely in the air. This past weekend was sunny and glorious with highs in the low 70s. I helped M wash the car, so we've been enjoying the shiny blue brilliance over the past few days. We also tried out a new sushi place with a fantastic "bento box" lunch deal and spent some time at a local park. That place was hoppin': teenagers tearing it up at the skate park, young kiddoes screaming gleefully at the playground, kite-flyers flying kites of all colors at the top of the hill, and walkers, joggers, dog-walkers, and stroller-pushers making the circuit around the lake. I love that this park used to be a landfill, and now it's the place to be for all the locals who want to soak up a little outdoor fun.

Star Trek: For the first time in a while, M and I remembered that SciFi shows Star Trek: The Next Generation on Monday nights. So, we watched four hours' worth of my beloved TNG last night. Four hours. It was decadent, even if I did refrain from having any "Tea, Earl Grey, hot."

Hangar Dance: M and I are going back in time for Valentine's Day this year by attending a 1940s-themed "hangar dance" at a military aviation museum. What could be better than listening to a live big band and dancing amongst all manner of really awesome airplanes (the vast majority of which are restored and still flyable)? M is going to look classically snazzy in his Service Dress Blues, and I'm wearing a vintage 1940s suit from my grandmother--with bright red lipstick. I found out about the dance through a fellow Civil Air Patrol member who also happens to volunteer at the museum, so I knew there would be at least a few acquaintances there, but I just found out that a buddy of ours is also going. He'll be wearing the eminently historical Aviation Working Greens, which he has been campaigning hard to save from the Navy's scrap heap. I can't wait to see what the other dance-goers come up with.

I have been shockingly lazy about updating my Vox with anything related to actual recent events in my life. I have meant to, you understand, but I get it into my head that this-and-such deserves a detailed, well-thought-out entry, and I never quite catch hold of the motivation to crank one out. Then it feels like too great an amount of time has passed and I give up all hope of getting caught up. This go 'round, though, I am telling myself that it is still only January and that's in plenty of time to catch myself up on the year today. So, in abstract form for possible future entries in greater detail, what we've been up to in the year to date:

The Commissioning of the USS George H.W. Bush: Thanks to a father-in-law who ensured that we received an invitation, M and I had the privilege of witnessing our country's newest aircraft carrier come to life. I can't compare the experience to anything else I've ever seen, except to say that it definitely ranks up there as one of the coolest.

Z's Bar Mitzvah: Almost exactly thirteen years after M's own bar mitzvah (memorable for a massive blizzard that snowed everyone in and made his family leery of all wintertime events forevermore), his cousin Z celebrated his ascension to religious adulthood. Not only did this young man do a fantastic job with the intricacies of leading a Shabbat morning service, but he spoke with grace, humor, and insight about growing up African American in his adoptive Jewish family. The service and the celebration that followed recognized the multitude of cultural influences that have shaped him into the person he is--an intelligent, loving young man whom I am glad to call my cousin.

The Inevitable Bit About Civil Air Patrol: Yep, I'm back in the swing of CAP things after the holiday break. Last week, my squadronmates and I were guests of another local squadron for some Urban Direction Finding training. We learned the theory of how to use radio equipment to locate emergency beacons in non-wilderness areas. Around here, the practical application of this skill usually involves going to one of the local military bases to find and deactivate ELTs that have been set off accidentally. Next weekend we're going to do a short exercise with practice beacons to show that we know how to use the locator equipment. Mission Observer (aircrew) training is still in the offing, but it's nice to get an idea of the bigger picture of the emergency services CAP provides. It ain't all about the airplanes all the time.

All right, even if I never actually get around to writing another word on the above subjects, I can at least consider myself caught up for having mentioned them! In fact, I'm caught up enough to talk about today. It's actually off to a pretty good start for a Monday: dinner's already in the slow cooker, I've run the dishwasher, and my friend Annie is coming over for coffee or tea and perhaps even rum cake modified from this Pioneer Woman recipe, if I'm feeling motivated. Even though I'm still lazing about in my PJs, I feel like I could get motivated enough for cake.

I saw this recipe for a five-minute microwave chocolate cake on a military spouse blog, so I had to try it. I did tweak the recipe to be dairy-free and more inclusive of Kahlua and cinnamon, and I drizzled the finished product with chocolate syrup. The verdict: M and I found it delicious, and it certainly doesn't get much easier than a batter you mix up in a coffee mug and nuke for a few minutes.

A curious event recently befell me, one that made me briefly wonder if I had warped into some sort of mirror universe: I came home from flying to find that my husband had dinner already cooking. Considering that I can't even count the number of times I've gotten dinner started while waiting for M to get back from an evening flight, that kind turned my world on its head right there. That is not to say that I object to this turn of events--quite to the contrary, I feel I could easily get used to it.

Long story short: Pending the right person's signature on the paperwork, I have completed all the requirements to become a qualified Mission Scanner. That means I can participate in Civil Air Patrol missions as a member of the aircrew.

Long story long: I finally got to go flying, and it was as awesome as I could hope for. Training flight #1 had me sitting in the back left seat of a Cessna 182T, looking out the window and keeping a log--the duties of a scanner, in a nutshell. Our pilot (a retired Tomcat backseater--go Navy!) took us through the procedures of getting out to a grid and flying a parallel search pattern and a route search. This flight was nominally part of a larger search and rescue exercise, but the way things worked out we didn't actually get much practice coordinating with the other participants. I was still thrilled just to be up there; this was my first time in a small plane of any kind, unless we're counting my "Taxi FAM" in the T-45 (I don't, as we stayed firmly planted on the ground). The weather got iffy later in the day, so we postponed the second training flight a few days.

The second flight was just as successful. This time I was in the front seat, so I had a much better view of the extremely slick Garmin G1000. I'll get to play with that more when I start my Mission Observer training. (Bonus feature: it gives me an excellent opportunity to tease M that my plane is nicer than his; I reckon the COD is as likely to see a glass cockpit in the near future as I am to sprout feathers.) We went through an expanding square search and a creeping line search. We didn't get to do too much with the Becker direction finder, but that one seems pretty self-explanatory. Oh well, I bet we can go practice ELT-hunting in one of the observer training flights.

With the completion of the two flights and a short course on CRM (Crew Resource Management, a topic with which I was already familiar from helping M study back in T-44 land), I became the first of the "new crop" of people in my squadron to finish the requirements for the Mission Scanner qual. The only trouble with being first is that now I have to wait until more people finish before we start the ground school portion of Mission Observer training. It's likely to be quite a while before I get to go flying again, but I'm already excited.

This mirror universe isn't so bad. I didn't even have to grow a goatee.

What’s your “signature dish” and when do you usually make it? (Bonus points if you share the recipe with the rest of us!)
Sponsored by Blogs.com.

I've never really thought of myself as having a "signature dish," but it might be my baked macaroni and goat cheese. I am unable to eat dairy products made from cow's milk, which excised the good old mac-'n'-cheese from the blue box from my diet around age seven. It wasn't until I was grown that the confluence of such elements as the availability of good goat cheese in my (as Alton Brown would say) local megamart and an increasing interest in cooking led me to try making my own cow-product-free version of macaroni and cheese from scratch. I say this with no pretense at modesty: it is awfully good.

My recipe is adapted from the cow version found in The Joy of Cooking, so if things look familiar to you, that's probably why.

Elisheva Chana's Extravagant Baked Macaroni and Goat Cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Cook up two cups of your favorite small pasta shape (I like tiny shells) to al dente in some well-salted water. Drain and set aside.
3. Melt a couple tablespoons of margarine in a pot over medium-low heat, then add a couple tablespoons of AP flour. Whisk constantly for about three minutes. It's going to look ugly during that time, but don't worry, it's all just part of making the roux that will help thicken our sauce.
4. When you have your lovely roux, slowly whisk in two cups of goat milk. (You can use plain soymilk if you can't find goat milk, but it might smell kind of funky and bean-y.) Bring it up to a simmer and add your own special blend of herbs and spices. I am lazy, so pretty much everything I cook that calls for "herbs" gets a healthy shake from my mysterious bottle of "Italian Seasoning." I also like to throw in a dash of ground chipotle powder, as the smokiness plays extra nice with the cheese I'll add later.
5. Simmer your herbed-and-spiced soon-to-be sauce for a good fifteen minutes, stirring frequently.
6. While the sauce is simmering, I take the opportunity (between those frequent stirs, of course) to grate up four ounces of smoked Jack goat cheese. I also get a four-ounce log of chevre (soft goat cheese) out of the fridge to start coming up to room temperature for ease of future incorporation.
7. Take the proto-sauce off the heat. Then, whisk in your grated Jack cheese and the soft chevre. Add kosher salt to taste.
8. Remember the tiny pasta you cooked up earlier? Mix it up with your delicious sauce and pour the whole mixture into a 2.5 quart deep-ish casserole. Cackle maniacally as your disparate parts really start to look like something yummy. Cover the top with panko breadcrumbs, sprinkle with kosher salt, drizzle with olive oil, and stick it into your preheated oven for an agonizing half an hour while the top browns.
9. Cool for five minutes after your dish o' deliciousness comes out of the oven, then devour. Try to save some for breakfast, but that might be a tall order once you dig into this stuff.

I've gotten a lot of mileage out of this stuff. We don't make it every week or anything, as the cost of ingredients really does make this a much more extravagant venture than one is wont to think of mac-'n'-cheese as being, but it is one of our favorite comfort food dishes. Yes, I said "our"--take heart, those of you who may fear things goaty, because this stuff has been a hit even with those who were initially suspicious (but too polite to say anything until after they were shocked to find that they liked it). I busted it out for my parents over Labor Day weekend, and it was M's specially requested dinner on the night he finished his last flight prior to becoming a winged Naval Aviator. We also make it when, y'know, we feel like it. 'S yummy.

What's your favorite type of cheese? Or, if you don't like cheese, why not?
Submitted by Draegon Scribe.

 I love chèvre, a soft, creamy goat's milk cheese. I'm allergic to cow's milk products, so I have learned to love alternative dairy products. Soft goat cheese is quite versatile, I've found; I make a fantastic macaroni and goat cheese casserole, if I do say myself.

I'm baking challah for tonight, and it smells divine. I just walked outside for the express purpose of experiencing a wave of bready goodness upon walking back in the door.

Shabbat shalom, y'all.

What's on your to-do list for today?

1. Grocery shopping: Check! We made a major stock-up run to the commissary, and were for once highly successful. They even had goat brie! Bonus dose of surreality of the day: the bagger was smiling, laughing, and carrying on about how the only thing anyone has to worry about is the devil.
2. Washing machine and dryer installation: All the DIY sites I've consulted on the subject assure me that this is an easy task that anyone with the mechanical skill of a monkey can accomplish. I have some hope, therefore, that we two reasonably technically-minded individuals can do this without flooding or burning down the house.
3. Laundry: This one is dependent upon the successful completion of #2 above. I think we (more likely I; though M is extremely helpful about jumping in on the laundry duties, the fact is that I'll be the one home more) have a solid week's worth of loads to plow through.
4. Cooing Cooking (thanks, Uncle S) a tasty dinner: With our newly replenished larder, we have so many options!
   

To close, a random thought from M: "You are a Voxin' Vixen; you know that, right?"

Well, now I do. Hee.