Sunday, August 22, 2010
Dinner is Served
Sunday Cooking Adventure
So it seems my original hypothesis that "if I have a nicer kitchen then I would cook more" is partially true. Having the space conducive to cooking is only one piece of the puzzle. Having ingredients to cook with is the other major piece, if not the larger of the two.
My roommate has a farm share, and every week many green vegetables that I cannot identify show up in the fridge. I try to help make a few things here and there when I happen to know a recipe that will use those ingredients.
This has partially contributed to me not going grocery shopping in very many weeks. I actually would need to check my credit card bills to find out when it actually was that I had gone grocery shopping last.
This is certainly not a bad problem to have. I made a tasty soup that came from a need to use up some tomatoes from this week and corn from 2 weeks ago. I added in some fresh basil from my one and only edible plant on my porch (thanks Alisa!) and voila! Tomato, Corn and Basil Soup. It actually came out so well I wished I had more tomatoes and corn. There's only 2 small servings in that pot.
Though being an inexperienced cook does create some interesting results. It's ok, it's all in the name of science. Ok, maybe not really science, but at least it's always a learning experience. =P
So as I said, we have tomatoes this week. We also have banana peppers, which I figured I could use as a bell pepper substitute.
There's no cilantro this week, and I had already used up all my lime juice from the half a dozen batches I made before. So I decided to make do with other ingredients instead. The jar of store bought salsa in the pantry lists sugar, vinegar, and garlic as ingredients, so I added those to my salsa. My tomato dicing techniques were horrid, so the salsa was too chunky. But I don't have a food processor so I thought I would just have to live with the super chunky salsa.
Then I thought, why not use the blender to dice it down more? How much of a difference is there between a blender and a food processor anyway? Well, I tried it and learned what the difference was. The blender/smoothie maker I have is made to completely pulverize ice and fruit chunks, so the salsa ended up being accidentally pureed. Oops.
Unsatisfied with the results I tried again. This time I thought, how about I only pulverize the tomatoes and then throw in my regularly diced unions and banana peppers.
It achieved the desired consistency and I was able to put the properly chunky salsa in a jar. It looks almost professional! =D
And last but not least, we had some leftover pita bread, so for breakfast I made some scrambled eggs, and created breakfast burrito / pockets with eggs, salsa, and some store bought guacamole. The leftover pita bread was cut up and baked into pita chips, and now I can snack on the leftover guac and the ridiculous amount of salsa I have leftover.
8 tomatoes, 5 banana peppers, 6 eggs, 2 onions, 2 stalks of corn later, this Sunday's cooking adventure comes to an end with breakfast burritos/pockets, salsa, pita chips, and soup. No ingredients were wasted and my fridge is ready for another batch of alien greens next week. Not bad for an inexperienced cook. :-)
My roommate has a farm share, and every week many green vegetables that I cannot identify show up in the fridge. I try to help make a few things here and there when I happen to know a recipe that will use those ingredients.
This has partially contributed to me not going grocery shopping in very many weeks. I actually would need to check my credit card bills to find out when it actually was that I had gone grocery shopping last.
 |
| Creamy Tomato, Corn and Basil Soup (without any actual cream) |
Though being an inexperienced cook does create some interesting results. It's ok, it's all in the name of science. Ok, maybe not really science, but at least it's always a learning experience. =P
 |
| Accidentally Pureed Salsa |
There's no cilantro this week, and I had already used up all my lime juice from the half a dozen batches I made before. So I decided to make do with other ingredients instead. The jar of store bought salsa in the pantry lists sugar, vinegar, and garlic as ingredients, so I added those to my salsa. My tomato dicing techniques were horrid, so the salsa was too chunky. But I don't have a food processor so I thought I would just have to live with the super chunky salsa.
Then I thought, why not use the blender to dice it down more? How much of a difference is there between a blender and a food processor anyway? Well, I tried it and learned what the difference was. The blender/smoothie maker I have is made to completely pulverize ice and fruit chunks, so the salsa ended up being accidentally pureed. Oops.
 |
| Properly Chunky Salsa |
It achieved the desired consistency and I was able to put the properly chunky salsa in a jar. It looks almost professional! =D
And last but not least, we had some leftover pita bread, so for breakfast I made some scrambled eggs, and created breakfast burrito / pockets with eggs, salsa, and some store bought guacamole. The leftover pita bread was cut up and baked into pita chips, and now I can snack on the leftover guac and the ridiculous amount of salsa I have leftover.
8 tomatoes, 5 banana peppers, 6 eggs, 2 onions, 2 stalks of corn later, this Sunday's cooking adventure comes to an end with breakfast burritos/pockets, salsa, pita chips, and soup. No ingredients were wasted and my fridge is ready for another batch of alien greens next week. Not bad for an inexperienced cook. :-)
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Tiger, Fish, Crab, Oh My!
So I went to Newport Beach in Rhode Island for the first time with some friends. It was a very relaxing time - the weather was just right and the beach was moderately crowded with other sunbathers. The water was a good temp and I had great company.We drove in a jeep with the top down around the neighborhood and I got a glimpse at some of those famous mansions Newport is known for. At some point I'll make another trip to go tour those places, but probably not any time soon. I feel poor enough already.
One thing about this trip that stood out from just another beach trip, was this one park where there was so much wind kites could totally fly themselves. A kite vendor had set up shop and the sky was filled with wonders. I was enamored. I could have spent the whole day just watching all those creatures fly around if there was the time. But we had food to eat and places to be, so we only stopped for short while. But I was glad I snagged a shot of the giant flying crab and the puffer fish. I took several shots of the crab in fact, because I just loved the concept of a flying crab. Where else would I have seen such a sight? See more shots of the kites on flickr.
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