Category Archives: Uncategorized

Wooing My Man

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Beef. Bacon. Wine. Cognac.

Brown the hell out of that beef. Crisp up that bacon. Deglaze the whole darn thing with cognac and then drown everything in wine and let it simmer. The aromas of browning bacon and beefy wine welcomed my husband home after 6 hours of shoveling snow yesterday.

wine going in

I was very much rewarded when he walked into the house and, before peeling off his wet gloves and boots, he took one huge whiff, grinned and said, “now that’s what I’m talking about! You are my darling, gorgeous, queen-of-all-things-wife who does no wrong and deserves an enormous 5-carat rock, which we shall go out and purchase toot sweet.” Ok, it’s possible I might be leaning heavily on some creative license here …

brown beef

Boeuf Bourguignon is my husband’s absolute favorite meal. So, while he was shoveling and shoveling and shoveling, I was having a grand time in my kitchen, flinging wine and bacon fat and singing along to the new Adele CD.

IMG_1075Happy husband, happy wife. 🙂

More to come on the wine we opened and decanted  —  A 2006 Saint-Julien Bordeaux.

Let It Snow

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There is something about a record snowfall that brings people together. Of course, it certainly helps that we all live in the city and are about 3 feet from one another, door to door. We did have friends, however, who trekked about a half mile to hunker down with us as we ordered up a pile of Indian take-out and raided our wine cellar.  What fun!

With Indian food on the brain, I whipped up some of my own Indian fare last night and, once again, neighbors came over to catch up and enjoy the food. I made Indian pepper chicken, which is one of my favorite, go-to dishes. It’s not overly spicy with heat, but warm and peppery with curry leaves, cumin and coconut milk. I like to serve it with toasted cashews, raisins and a shower of fresh chopped parsley. It’s not overly pretty to look at, but darn if it isn’t delicious. I probably make this dish once a month.

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Recipe adapted from Indian Home Cooking by Suvir Saran and Stephanie Lyness.

Lazy Days Ahead

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“Active individuals will not tolerate long periods of inactivity. It is mentally untenable.”

This sentence made me laugh out loud. It’s from one of my medical journals (I am a nurse practitioner by day) and I couldn’t agree more.

If you have been following my blog recently you know that I broke my foot. You know that it’s my own fault for running too much. You can extrapolate that I am an exerciser and if you are too, you understand how crazy-making it is to be forced out of your favorite activities and into a chair. I am just buzzing with energy that I cannot disperse. I have been at the gym cycling and weightlifting and even smacking around a punching bag, but nothing compares to a long-ass run. Or a wicked spin class.

That being said, I was delighted to find the above quote in reference to patients suffering from stress fractures. Too true!

So, what am I going to do? Well, I can stand, which means I can cook — bonus! Of course, I am supposed to be taking things easy, so I’ll be choosing simple recipes rather than menus that require excessive time on my feet.

And when I am not in the kitchen, I’ll be at the gym, pedaling to nowhere. Or at work, providing an extra dose of compassion to anyone with an injury. Or at home, trying to retain my sweet disposition so as not to drive my husband straight to the wine cellar. Hmmm, perhaps I should make a few of his favorites in the coming weeks …

 

 

Derailed Dinner Plans

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Last night I was supposed to make Italian-style stuffed peppers with roasted cauliflower.

Well, instead of a peaceful evening in my kitchen, glass of wine in hand, I was at the doctor’s office, getting fitted for a walking boot. UGH! I am the proud owner of a broken foot. Apparently, I run too much. It seems as if I upped my mileage too quickly and thus, cracked a bone in my foot.

Needless to say, there was no cooking for me last night. Instead, we went to Samos, one of our cozy, local spots for a casual Greek meal. It’s BYOB and they turn out a fabulous whole grilled fish. This time, however, I opted for the comfort of roast lemon chicken and vegetables while my husband hoovered up the lamb chops. And, of course, we cannot dine at Samos without first enjoying their Greek salad — feta, anchovies, olives, oh my!