Happy Trails

Soup's On!

There has been a lot of this going on here at Chez K. the last few weeks.

A few weeks ago on Columbus day, I made homemade Chicken Soup for the first time (using the FANTASTIC recipe out of Food to Live By) and it changed my life. While I have made many a batch of potato leek soup over the years, I've never been a big homemade soup fan. I always thought it took too long, and was a lot of work for something that never ended up being very satisfying. I have been converted.

All in all, it took about 4.5 hours from start to finish, and the house smelled tremendously good. The aroma brought back memories for me: late mornings on Saturday; Dad would be sitting at the kitchen table with his notebook--wearing jeans and a ratty old sweatshirt. His curly hair would be wiry and tousled, not having showered yet that day. He would watch cooking shows for hours, taking notes and writing out recipes (this was YEARS before the internet, food network, etc.). Meanwhile, a homemade soup would be simmering on the stove, with a lemony bunch of parsley from the garden sitting on the wooden cutting board, ready to be thrown in at the very end. I never really appreciated the hard work of it all until this month--or the quick comfort that can be achieved from a savory spoonful. That was one memory, and the other, my Granny. Nothing specific...just a home filled with earthy slow-cooked goodness. That was my Granny. Good things.

Last weekend I made up a batch of Mexican Albondigas soup (again, another recipe out of Food to Live By). I had made this previously last year (albondigas are mexican meatballs), but had used ground turkey. This go round I substituted ground sirloin, and the difference was marked. From now on, I'm going beef all the way with this soup. 

We shared this meal with a co-worker who stopped by to haul away that tree that busted our deck. Turns out, it made him very happy to have free firewood. The next day, we tried a new recipe out of Fine Cooking--French Onion Soup. It was time-consuming to caramelize the onions (and honestly, they could have steamed a bit longer), but the time and watery eyes were WELL worth the wait. Gorgeous.

Next up was Parker's Beef Stew out of one of Ina's cookbooks. Salmaan took the lead on this one, as he normally does whenever wine, beef, and potatoes are involved. This was an incredibly hearty stew, and although many of the same components were present, I felt it was totally different from the bourguignon we made a few weeks ago. The presence of the potatoes and peas were wonderful, and there was a richness to this dish that was completely different from the other.

And last, but definitely not least, we enjoyed this wonderful concoction this evening. Amy is often posting about dishes she's tried from Smitten Kitchen, and so I finally visited and checked it out. I will be back again, and again...and...well, you get the idea. This soup was excellent, and truly fit the bill for what was in the pantry. We used the acorn squash we purchased at the orchard a few weeks ago, and surprisingly, had just about everything else on hand. It's strange how your staples as a cook change as you evolve. Lately, mine have been butter, cream, french baguette, gruyere, and chicken stock. Perhaps this new trend would account for the extra pounds I have been carrying around the last few months. ;-)

At any rate, grab a great recipe, and get to simmering. It does a body (and soul) good. Soup's on!

Breaking Ground

This past weekend the parental units came down for a visit. Salmaan was in Chicago visiting his family while Mom and Dad and I tackled the task of creating a garden in our backyard. It was an exciting time, especially since Dad brought down my Granny's tiller, and used it to create our veggie patch. My Granny, Vivian, had a HUGE garden, and the most amazing ability to make things grow. The use of her tiller was a good omen, I think. At the very least it was emotionally significant for me. 

The first task was figuring out where a garden would have the most success, which was a little tricky since we've never seen the house in a season with leaves. However, I think we chose a good spot, although it wasn't one of the two that we had initially discussed. We made a quick and dirty border with some fencing, and Dad got right to work. 

It was hard work, and I'm grateful that my Dad was here to do it. He must have tilled that ground 7 times, not to mention how much work went into raking out the sod, and amending the soil. Mom and I made some trips to the home and garden center, and also did some sprucing up around the outside of the house.

This area was probably my favorite. These plants are called Phlox, and eventually they should creep over the entire space around the mailbox, which I think will look awesome.

It was a really great visit, and incredibly productive. In the end, we planted chives, radishes, scallions, and two different kinds of lettuce. Later there will be squash, zucchini, rosemary, basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, cilantro, green beans, beets, and of course, tomatoes. I am VERY excited. Here's the garden, nearly all done.

We also created a nice fenced out bed for some berry bushes: two raspberry and two blackberry. I learned a lot from Dad this weekend, from fertilizing to planting.

While coffin-like in appearance, I know that this bed will yield healthy, happy life in the future, and hopefully next year we'll realize some berries! The fencing has actually worked really well to keep River's prying paws out of the dirt, which is a blessing.

We started another new venture a couple of weeks back--a compost pile!!! I've been wanting to do this for AGES, and was incredibly excited when we finally got a composter. This was our yield after just a few days:

And a few weeks later, here we are:

As Dad noted, you can really observe from all of this that we cook. A lot. I love it. The fact that nothing goes to waste is awesome. 

I know it was hard work, Mom and Dad, but thank you! Hopefully you were well fed, and enjoyed your time here as much as I enjoyed having you!

Surprises

There have been a lot of them these past few weeks, and while I fancy myself someone who is becoming a bit jaded and therefore not often surprised, I have recently really enjoyed the unexpected, which includes but is not limited to the following laundry list of both little and big things.

I had a tooth extraction and bone graph this past week. Long story short, a root canal I had a couple of years ago didn't do the job, so the tooth had to come out and my jaw bone had to be prepared to take an implant. As my dentist so gleefully explained (as I became more and more nauseous), a titanium post substitutes as the "root" of the fake tooth--and titanium is the only metal that actually binds with bone--this was discovered during numerous tests on rats when scientists discovered they couldn't remove a bunch of rods they had stuck through those poor test animals. *Gag*--totally gross. Although, thanks to my unfortunate friend, Ratatouille, in about nine months I get a nice shiny fake tooth that will hopefully last me for the rest of my life. That's way cooler than a rodent that can make a vegan gourmet peasant dish, yeah? Anyways, the nice surprise was that it wasn't nearly as horrible as I had feared (I was seriously terrified) and hopefully pretty soon the pain I've become quite used to will become a distant memory. Oh yeah, and Valium before dental procedures? Definitely my new friend.

Salmaan and I finally took the plunge and committed to a vacation in Portland at the end of April to visit my best buddy, Mandy. It was a little scary to commit to such a big trip amidst budget cuts, but once the tickets were booked, we each got incredibly excited, and I think that feeling of anticipation hasn't subsided, despite it having been a few weeks since we committed. PDX, here we come!

On a related note, a wonderful surprise came along the day I had my surgery--through pain-killer haze I received a call from Mandy (yes, Portland Mandy) asking if she could crash at our place THAT NIGHT!!!!!! She had come into town just for a few days, and we were lucky enough to see her, which was really awesome. It was July since we saw her last, and while the visit was short, it just reaffirmed that she's one of the most strong, beautiful, intelligent, and courageous people I know, and we're lucky to know her.

We made apple pie for the first time ever. It was good.

 

We also made incredible Coq au vin, a new chili recipe, and there are more new recipes in the works, including some type of granola to be featured sometime soon.

My sister, brother-in-law, and Little Niece came for a visit this past weekend. In a word, it was awesome, and just seeing Avery so much bigger, and more developed in her speech and motor skills was incredible. Not to mention the fact that she's absolute PERFECTand beautiful. She seriously redefines the word Precious. I made her a new hat for her first visit to Auntie Lala and Uncle Sully's, and thank goodness it fit! (Baby Thorpe was quite the failed experience over Christmas, although Amy very sweetly stuffed it onto her head so that they could have a Mommy/Daughter Thorpe picture to share with me):

 

This is much improved, and quite adorable if I do say so myself:

 

We had a great visit, and it was really fun to share the new house with them, and of course, cousin Mardi (their boxer, who gets along really well with River). Here are some more shots from the visit.

 

Btw, this is a sneak peek at the kitchen, which is really pretty much finished. Salmaan and I spent about three days in HGTV HELL painting that room, as we discovered that the pale yellow we chose to cover up our initial choice of Eastern State (a mental hospital Salmaan worked in) grey, would take not two, not three, but FIVE FRIGGIN' coats to cover. Ouch. More pictures to come of that, and a couple of other rooms that are nearing completion!

 

 

Some sweetly surprising things about that visit were when Gary looked at Amy and tenderly said, "Avery looks like you today." and kissed her head. And when Avery laid her head down on Amy's shoulder, needing comfort as she was sleepy and it was time for her nap, and watching Amy melt as Gary dove for the camera to capture the moment. Parenthood suits them, really well.

And lastly, the most recent surprise was a Snow Day on Monday. We got 8-10 inches, and I got the day off! I haven't had a snow day since HIGH SCHOOL, so it was a pretty big deal. AND, I got some more knitting done, which will be posted just as soon as it is blocked....Adios--hope you've had some pleasant surprises lately as well!

Nearly a Celebrity!

A while back on a beautiful spring day in May, Little Niece was born. As we traveled to Northern Virginia to see her, I knit her a Birth Day Hat, and she wore it that day, just hours after she came into the world. A few weeks later, my sister and brother-in-law took her in for her first portrait session, and were kind enough to ask the photographer to take some shots of her in the hat her Lala made for her.

The photographer decided to use this photo to advertise her business in the greater Washington D.C. area. Little Niece, the perfect model--and dare I say it--me, nearly a celebrity? Isn't she beautiful?

Columbus Day Weekend

Friday Salmaan and I headed home to visit my parents for the weekend. It was great to spend some time with them, and also to enjoy this beautiful fall weather in the mountains. Saturday Salmaan went to VMI (it was parent's weekend there), and enjoyed catching up with some of his favorite professors and classmates. Mom and I spent the day at Orchardside Yarn Shop and had a good time. We packed a picnic lunch, and bought her some yarn and needles for a few more projects. I also taught her to knit in the round.

 

She's making Jared Flood's Turn a Square hat for her first hat project. She's using Cascade 220 for the base color, and a really nice shade of Noro Silk Garden for the contrasting stripes. Making this hat she will learn M1, striping, wrapping yarn, raglan decreases, and knitting on dpns. Not bad, eh?

I worked on my Knitting Pure and Simple Malabrigo sweater.

 

I've almost completed the body--maybe by the end of today, even!

Of course, anytime we're at home we enjoy Dad's amazing cooking. Friday night we enjoyed shrimp pesto with farfalle, along with a wonderful salad with homemade ranch dressing. Saturday night we had these marinated and grilled Cornish Hens, with homemade jalapeno cornbread and a side of basmati with black beans and freshly chopped vidallias and cilantro.

 

Sunday brunch was a delightful combination of homemade banana bread, a fruit medley of pineapple, mango, oranges and grapes, as well as a delicious homemade tomato basil quiche.

 

 

I think River enjoyed herself as well. While she didn't get to partake in any of the delicious meals, she sure got a lot of extra loving.

 

The whole experience left her plumb tuckered.

 

I had today off from work (AWESOME!) so I used the morning to go check out more homes with our real estate agent. Sadly, no serious options, but it feels good to be looking. We're starting to narrow our search down to certain areas, but haven't totally shut out the possibility of living within the city limits, either. I just can't wait to find THE ONE--it's going to feel so good to have a place to call our own! We're not in any kind of rush, but it would be nice if it happened sooner rather than later--please keep your fingers crossed for us! I'm off to repot plants, write thank-you notes, and of course, knit. I might also have a go at making some of that wonderful banana bread we enjoyed this weekend....Happy Columbus Day!

Pesto & A Very Pleasant Surprise

A couple of weekends ago I went home. A  good college friend was having her baby shower in the Roanoke area, and I hadn't seen her for at least two years. It was also the first weekend that Salmaan and I have been apart since we got married--it was a little weird, but good for both of us, I think. I had a wonderful time. Seeing Julia again was pretty fantastic--it's so nice when you realize you have friends that love you no matter what, and who are easy to be around. She's a cute pregnant mommy--it just looks like she has a basketball stuffed under her shirt--other than that she looks exactly the same! After the shower we were sitting around her parents' dinner table, just talking and visiting, and she kept grabbing my hand to feel the baby move. It was incredible.

Another nice part about the weekend was the garden bounty I brought home from Mom and Dad's garden. They're always so generous. Along with a ton of tomatoes and other herbs, there was this incredible bouquet of fresh, fragrant basil.

Now, my man LOVES pesto. He had it for the first time at my parents' house after we started dating, and ever since then it's been one of his favorite meals. I, on the other hand, have never been a huge fan, so we don't have it very much. However, when I brought this basil home I knew we had to whip up a batch. He was so excited, and dove right into making it with me.

 

We had about 1 Tbs of pine nuts in the pantry--not enough to make a batch without going to the store first. Pine nuts are EXPENSIVE, so I looked to see what else we had on hand. Last time we were in Chicagovisiting Salmaan's family, his friend Fareed Ali gave us a TON of nuts from his Middle Eastern Market--among those were a large bag of almonds which I had been storing in the freezer. We used them as a substitute.

 

They worked WONDERFULLY, and made a gorgeously thick, fragrant pesto paste.

 

We used it twice that week--once with farfalle pasta and shredded rotisserie chicken (SO YUM, although the photo I took of it wasn't great, and thus, is not included here). We also used it as a base for a pesto and goat cheese pizza that we whipped up when our friend Amanda came over one night. Note the beautiful yellow and red heirloom tomatoes. I have to say that I LOVED this pesto, and I think it's because we subbed the almonds for the pine nuts. I'll never make it with pine nuts again. You could also sub walnuts, but I haven't tried that, yet.

 

There is only one more meal left out of the batch we made that weekend *sad face*. However, yesterday when I was spending some time in the yard, I realized that my basil had survived the enormously long dry spell and water restrictions, and had in fact seeded all over its corner of the flower bed. There was a mess of it--just enough to make one more large batch of homemade pesto. Salmaan and I whipped it up this morning, and it has settled into the freezer, expectantly waiting to reemerge on some cold winter day when the taste of summer will be a welcome repast.

Here's our recipe (note, we doubled this each time):

Combine in a food processor and process to a rough paste the following:

• 2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan (I can't emphasize enough what a difference FRESHLY grated parmesan makes tothe store-bought grated parmesan...)
• 1/3 cup almonds
• 2 medium garlic cloves, peeled

With the machine running. slowly add 1/2 cup of olive oil, or as needed. If the pesto seems dry (it should be a thick paste), add a little more olive oil. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. If you aren't using it immediately, you can cover it with a thin film of olive oil, and refrigerate it for up to a week. Or, you can freeze it for up to 3 months. If you're using it for a pasta meal, reserve some of the pasta water (1/2 cup) to thin it out when you mix it up with the pasta. You've got to try this recipe. As Salmaan says, "Pesto is one of the sexiest meals there is..."

Another incredible surprise from that weekend was my Mom. I taught her to knit a couple of summers ago, but it didn't really take. She made a couple of scarves, but not knowing what I was doing (I taught her the same day I taught myself), I started her off on long, clicky aluminum needles, and some pretty nasty acrylic bumpy yarn. When we went to the Orchardside Yarn Shop recently, I think she was surprised at how passionate I am about my knitting, and started to see the craft in a different light.

We sat down at the table together on Friday night, and I brought out the different projects I had with me to show her. She touched my Malabrigo tenderly, and asked again, "Do you think I can do this?" At that point I got serious, and started in on how I think that everyone (especially women) need to be self-reliant enough to teach themselves how to do things (I feel very strongly about this), and that while I would help her, I wouldn't be able to teach her step-by-step given that I don't live in town. As I gave this speech, she kept laughing, harder and harder, until the tears came. Which of course, absolutely incensed me, given that I feel so intensely about the subject (both knitting, and self-reliance). Finally, she couldn't take it any longer. She ran downstairs and came back up with these:

 

Two sets of the most uniform beginner dishcloths I've ever seen.

 

She had gone back to Orchardside by herself, and got a quick tutorial (as well as some nice, 10" bamboo needles), and had been making these for me as a surprise for Christmas. I couldn't have been more thrilled. She HAD taught herself, and not only that, she's got the bug. She takes her knitting with her everywhere, she does it before bed instead of reading, and she's starting to search for new patterns to expand her skill-set. I am so PROUD of her, and not only that, I'm also selfishly quite thrilled for me. Knitting has become such a passionate aspect of my identity, and now I have that in common with my Mother: I get to share that with her. We're really different people, so for me? This is huge. Not only that, but she's GOOD at it--these were her first tries, on her OWN, and look how uniform those stitches are!

You won't be surprised that I took her right to the computer and ordered some chunky Malabrigo for her first real scarf. She's received it in the mail, and loves it. Like daughter like mother....;-) I'm proud of you, Mom.

A Day For Pink

May 3, 2008. I'm usually not very good about remembering birthdays (hence the need for DBA applications), but I have a feeling that this one will never slip my mind because I was there for it. Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous--the sun was shining, it was warm but not hot, there was a beautiful breeze, and the world was green, green, green. And pink.

We left early, packed an overnight bag just in case, and headed north. After a few hours in the car, as Hubster pulled into the hospital parking lot, I excitedly announced, "Holy crap, it's finished!" And it was adorable. Thank you, Kim Hamlin. This was exactly what I wanted. A perfect little pink Birth Day Hat, for my perfect little niece.

She was born at 3:13 p.m. and I held her for the very first time at 6:45 p.m. She has Benavitch lips, and Alleva eyes. She hardly cried at all, even at delivery. The Zen baby. Here she is.

Avery Carmella Alleva. Welcome to the World little niece. Your auntie Lala loves you, and is looking forward to making many more birthday hats in the future.

   

Chicago--In Review

Hubster and I made the annual pilgrimage to Chicago a couple of weeks ago.

I use the word pilgrimage carefully and purposefully--for a number of reasons.

While the goal of our trip was to simply visit Hubster's family (which sadly, is never simple)--we both experienced a very strong resistance to the obligatory visit that I found quite analogous to how I felt about so many of the religious requirements of my youth.

This analogy is probably particularly strong for Hubster, who grew up in a strict Muslim household. Hubster also experienced a family system that was greatly affected by the death of his brother, which occured while they were on Hadj--the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.

(Sidebar: There was a lot of emotional build-up to this trip--for both of us. Of course, it's always harder for Hubster, and his feelings on the issue are naturally much more complicated than mine will ever be. While I can't blog for him, a lot of this post is written with the respectful intention of truthfully summarizing the experience of this trip for the both of us--while at the same time acknowledging the complete impossibility of that goal. A girl can try, right? With that said, I can only analogize those things that are in my own experience, but hopefully what I'm trying to say will translate into something that will ring true for him as well.)

Growing up, even if I never particularly believed in the religious requirements of my parent's faith, I knew that I would be better off just dipping my finger in the holy water, attending the CCD class, or crossing my forehead at the appropriate time. And yet, there was always that inner struggle between doing what was expected, and listening to and acting on that strong inner voice that kept shouting, "Don't do it! You hate all of this, and no part of you believes in it--why are you so complicit? Why do you continually put me into this position--how many times are we going to have this conversation?!?!" (Me and my inner voice are pretty tight. It always calls me out on everything. Is it weird that my inner voice is totally androgenous? "What, is there something wrong with that?" What? Hey, go away, I wasn't talking to you....)

Going to Chicago to visit Hubster's family really feels like that. We know we should. Part of us feels like we have to. Part of us knows that we have to. The other part is pissed off about it for different reasons, and also totally hesitant to put us into the myriad of uncomfortable situations that go with the territory. It isn't an easy place to be. And quite frankly it's just sad, and there is very little to be done about it.

All that being said--it went pretty well.

The best parts of the trip included visiting the Shedd Aquarium with Hubster's Dad,

and also visiting with Hubster's brother and sister-in-law, and just seeing how amazing their family is--and how healthy their relationships are with one another.

While this loving and nurturing environment is unfortunately in stark contrast to how Hubster grew up, I think it's really nice for him to be able to enjoy it now, as well as see his brother creating that for himself and his family.

While the resounding theme of the trip (while spent at his parent's house) for me personally was, "I just don't understand," this visit helped us lay some ground rules to help make future visits more comfortable as well as more valuable--hopefully for everyone.

I guess the reality of the situation is that, sometimes? Reality bites. We're just lucky that we only have to bite back and deal with it once or twice a year. And the wonderful thing is that while part of the visit might be uncomfortable--it will always be tempered with the amazing kindness and generosity of my brother and sister-in-law, and their beautiful children--including this guy--TOO ADORABLE!

And hopefully each time, I'll get a little stronger, a little more patient, and a little wiser--and finally be the supporting wife that Hubster needs and deserves. I hope.