Ambivalent about Rain

Walked in heavy rain to the farmers market at Mill City Museum. Filled a pack with local produce: bacon brats for Sausage Saturday, tomatoes, green beans, and Indian eggplant. Today’s rain deterred shoppers while making a dent in the drought: farmers are always at the mercy of the weather.

Deconstructed, Reconstructed Eggplant Parmesan

Deconstructed eggplant Parmesan while retaining most of the ingredients. I enjoy this dish, but would prefer the breading not to be soggy. Breading: Mixture of panko and grated Parmesan Reggiano. Red sauce addition: Crumbles of Montamore Cheddar from Wisconsin, providing more of a taste punch than mozzarella. At the table, knives and forks assembled eggplant…… Continue reading Deconstructed, Reconstructed Eggplant Parmesan

Categorized as Cook

The Smear

Sometimes I feel we live in an alternate reality where “plate” is a culinary verb. Yesterday I made peanut-butter-flavored semifreddo. Tonight it was time to remove it from the freezer, plate it, then let it warm up a bit in the fridge. I had fun with The Smear, one method for plating a sauce. The…… Continue reading The Smear

Categorized as Cook

Veg-Forward

At the end of our walk, stopped in to Trader’s for enough fresh food to get us through the day. After 3 weeks of too much eating out, we’re craving veg-forward meals. Tonight: stir-fried veggies over brown rice.

Categorized as Cook

Ready for a Quick Getaway

Our backpacks wait near the front door for tomorrow’s trip. We’re strong proponents for traveling light, but we’re bringing a few extra clothes this time because we won’t be walking much more than a mile at a time with the packs. These 35-liter packs will still easily fit the overhead bins.

Lime Jell-O Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise

I’m anticipating some meals with interesting ingredient combinations: we’re running the freezer down before a trip next week. Cue the song, “Lime Jell-O Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise.”

Categorized as Cook

Winter is Officially Over

Came home to hats and gloves airing on the bed. Dwight had decided it was probably safe to launder and put away cold-weather gear until the Fall. As they say, back in the old country: “Dinnae cast a clout till May be oot.” In Minnesota, mid-June is safer.

The Hamshank Redemption

Used up some items in the fridge and freezer, cooked up multiple meals: Braised radish and turnip greens with baby turnips, apple, …and ham shank; Kidney beans, mirepoix, …and ham shank, with (to-be-revived) polenta. There’s still more ham shank in the freezer.

Categorized as Cook

Belt And Suspenders

Saved our files to two thumb drives. All our data is continuously backed up off-site, but about once a year I save an encrypted snapshot of the data to be retained indefinitely. At about $24 for 256GB, thumb drives are inexpensive insurance.

Categorized as IT

Time To Split

Thanked a cutting board for its long service then tossed it. I should’ve done this a long time ago when the cracks appeared, but we have a history together going back 50+ years. Two replacement boards, one plastic, one teak, maintained a respectful distance.

Categorized as Cook