Back to Bacon

Today was a relaxed day at work, glad to have my office mate back! Had mid morning oatmeal and lentil soup for lunch - I took the rest of the baby lentils and added broth, swiss chard and parmesan- very tasty. Was given a wild blueberry coconut muffin late afternoon and wished I hadn't eaten it as it wasn't that great. 


Came home and finished cooking the boeuf bourguignon - mushrooms and onions. Let it simmer for another hour and had it over some plain mashed potatoes. I was afraid the bacon was going to overpower it but it wasn't too salty or smokey. It was pretty good, but I think the meat could have cooked longer - it was tender, just not meltingly so. I think I cooked it for about 4 hours. The flavor was very nice - never cooked with a whole bottle of wine before. 


Dermatology appt. today  had a few spots burned (frozen?) off my left hand and right elbow. Hate that!  Have to keep an eye on mark on my neck.  


HB rating 1

Winding Down the Weekend

More snow on Saturday.  Spent all day in the house, cleaning up the bedroom, reorganizing closets and dressers. Bags and bags of goodwill stuff so no excuses for not putting current clothes away! Didn't really have an actual meal all day - made a juice blend of beet, apple, fennel, cranberry kale and ginger. nibbled a bit, went to the 12th night revelry and had some cheese and grilled veg, a few pieces of salami, a glass of wine and two beers.  Had a bit of a tummy ache before going out but felt great for the rest of the night. Maybe the alcohol was medicinal? 

This morning I started taking down the tree, but I have so much trouble finishing things, it still has about 10 ornaments and all the lights, maybe tomorrow. Made an egg sandwich before I went in to work for the opening today - which was very well attended. Snacked a bit on some crackers and nuts. A trip to Giant to pick up some meat to make  Boeuf Bourguignon A La Julia Child Recipe - Food.com - 148007  which will be tomorrow nights dinner. Came home and made a rosemary martini while preparing Butternut Squash Lasagna both of which were fantastic. Cocktail was Bulldog gin, dry vermouth a sprig of fresh rosemary (beginning of the plant trifecta) served up with a lemon peel and onion. Sauteed cubed squash in some olive oil and garlic then added a few fresh sage leaves (cute plant saves the day again) a splash of water and covered and cooked until tender. Mashed it up with a fork, salt and pepper. Made a tasty bechamel with nutmeg, bay leaf and a shake of red pepper flakes.  Layered it up with some fresh thyme (little plant, I love you!) and lots of reggiano parm. Served with a salad it was perfect for a frigid night. Not to mention the delicious smell of boeuf bourguignon wafting from the oven while we ate. If only I had used some of the parsley I had in the fridge - I feel a song coming on.

HB Rating 0 -Yay!  

Woke up to some snow - just enough to make it feel all wintery and wishing I were in San Diego but not too much to hamper travel or other plans. Made it up the hill to work with no problem  Quiet day today, a little clean up, a little reorganization, some preparations for the opening on Sunday - all in all a pleasant day.   Had a juice drink before leaving for work - 1 pear, 1 cucumber,  a half of a clementine, a small (SMALL!) piece of ginger, a handful of cranberries and a little kale. Very tasty and felt like I was drinking something good for me. Looking forward to more experiments.  

Didn't have lunch or oatmeal today!  Just a few almonds.  Felt great all day. 

Happy hour tonight - had a Manhattan with those incredible cherries. Then had another. yum. love the weekend. 

Made some of those tiny lentils with mirepoix, bay leaf, served with shaved parm and drizzle of olive oil.  Roasted fingerling potatoes with rosemary and roasted broccoli with some red pepper flakes.  Very satisfying. Now we wait to see if more snow arrives tomorrow.

HB rating 0 

Something's fishy

Finally had a few minutes of calm today at work.  Lots of phone calls but nothing off the wall. Had time for oatmeal around 11 and then had the rest of the sweet potato/root vegetable bisque around 1:30 . I think I have uncovered one of the culprits of my discomfort. Red peppers. At least I think that's what caused my late afternoon misery. Came home and chewed a handful of tums - I really don't think they do a thing, but it was worth a try. I need to go back to the apple cider vinegar cure. 

By later this evening I was feeling better and seared some fresh cod, sauteed some more swiss chard and cooked some brown rice in the rice cooker. A glass and a half of white wine and all was well. 

Looking forward to happy hour tomorrow.  Maybe not looking forward to the snow we are supposed to get though.

HB rating - 7 this afternoon 2 this evening. 

Get out of the kitchen

Well, it's Wednesday and I guess that means it's pizza and beer night. Had to make amends for not having a birthday dinner last night for the birthday  boy.  Something about a Pinocchio's salad that I just can't explain. Iceberg lettuce, a few chunks of cucumber, an olive or two, a few slices of onion and a cherry tomato cut in half. I love it. It's always a marvel of crispyness and delicious dressing. I'm sure the house dressing comes in giant vats, but it's so tasty.  The four of us (A, B, C and D)  shared a large pizza.  Again, it's such a love hate thing - the dough is so tasteless, but the first bite is crisp (only the first bite though) and the sauce is perfectly bland - in a good way - but the cheese becomes rubberized by the second slice, so I hurry to eat as much as possible before it cools off.  Anyway - the beer is always good.  That's the real reason we go. If they ever got their food groove going... watch out!  Had a Spring House "Two Front Teeth" that was brewed with cherries, and a Twin Lakes Tavern Stout that was very tasty.  

Third day back to work after Christmas and it is finally starting to calm down a bit. Did manage to find time to fix my mid morning oatmeal.  We sent out for lunch and I had a small cup of soup and a little salad. Still working my way through the cookies on the desk....   

All in all, too early to tell the effects of the pizza, but for now all is well.

HB rating 1

Beet it

Another non-stop day at work today - was offered and accepted a small cup of chili for lunch, especially appreciated because I didn't even have time to run into the kitchen to microwave some oatmeal. Also was treated to a tall chai latte mid afternoon - just what I needed! 

My Breville Compact Juicer came today and I couldn't wait to give it a spin. I got to the store just before closing and loaded up on fresh veg--- golden beets, red beets, celery, cucumber, fennel, kale, parsley, swiss chard.  Maybe a few more things - I already had apples and pears. I don't want to get hooked on sweet fruit juices, but rather want to create tasty green drinks. So I went to work and assembled the machine, washed a few carrots, a golden beet, some parsley and a hunk of fresh ginger. Into the chute they went.  Well, lets just say a little ginger goes a long way. And I went a little too far with this drink. I managed to down the whole thing but I will use a lot less next time!

I was on my own for dinner tonight but had a craving for some curry - this was before I had the ginger explosion - so I sauteed a few chicken thighs with shallots and garlic until a little browned, then added a teaspoon (maybe more) of hot curry from Penzey's let it cook up a bit and dumped in the half a can of coconut milk I had in the fridge. Covered and let it simmer while I threw some swiss chard in a pan with oil and garlic until it was nicely coated then splashed on some water, lots of salt and covered it until it and the chicken and chard were done.

Two glasses of white wine.  Maybe a taste of the tiramisu before I check out.

HB rating - 0

Put an egg in it

Today was totally insane at work. First day back after a two week break and me in the office by myself.  Hardly had a moment to breathe, good thing Solvieg left some tasty cookies on my desk - they served as breakfast and mostly lunch. Managed to heat up a small cup of leftover sweet potato bisque around 2pm.  

Dinner was Buttermilk Spoon Bread from Herbivoracious - it was ok, I think I over-cooked it since I went over to the V's for a quick visit to drop off Elliott. Maybe because I used whole milk with lemon juice in place of buttermilk.  At any rate, it was tasty, just not as soft and souffle-like as I had hoped. A simple mixed green standard salad and a few pieces of the kid's Christmas Brie. Washed it down with a glass of Dogfish Head Pangea.  

So far, HB rating 1.