Tag: Food

Last week’s recipes

~ meh ~ 4 Comments

My first week of cooking was….less than exciting.  (And it was cut short by a weekend wedding in Texas.)   I was a little bit disappointed by my creativity, I tend to gravitate towards recipes I know and like as opposed to the Kentucky Proud site.  And the theme this week was apparently turkey.

Sunday:

Turkey loaf, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and Green Salad

The turkey loaf was surprisingly healthy comfort food that I had never thought of making before.  Mashed potatoes and salad were fine.  Off to a good start.

Monday:

Tacos (with the leftover turkey from the turkey loaf.)  Boring.  But still tasty.

Tuesday:

My most favorite turkey chili recipe ever.  It is super easy to make and there are lots of leftovers.   I add a little extra chipotle (careful, it’s super hot…and P.S. no one in Kentucky knows what en adobo means…I had to go to three stores to find it), corn, and use plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream.  If you have avocados it’s even better.  Super delish.  (My colleague told me that to maximize the scrumptiousness of any chili, corn and chipotle are a must.  So true.)

Wednesday

Leftover chili

Thursday

Beef Stroganoff (per Paul’s request)

A few changes to make it a little bit healthier: wheat noodles instead of egg (makes a huge difference in the amount of cholesterol), fake soy meat instead of ground beef (a bag of it stolen from Paul’s parents’ house), and again plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.  Wasn’t a huge fan of the recipe, tasted like it was missing something…maybe meat.  Though I’ve made beef stroganoff before with fake meat and it tasted just fine.  Probably won’t use this recipe again.

Friday-Sunday

Tacos at 3am at taqueria Taco Cabana in Austin.

Here’s to a better 2nd week of cooking.

Letting go of the past…in the kitchen

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Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in, forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day, you shall begin it well and serenely…

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Paul's Birthday Banana Bread--final presentation

 

The cookies that came out like scones because there was a little mix up between baking soda and baking powder, almost burning everyone’s eyes out because you accidentally substituted 3 tablespoons of cayenne for what should have been paprika in the frying pan…those days are in the past.  Nowhere to go but up.

…and as fate would have it, I came across this site the other day.  What better way to start a new chapter in the kitchen than by following Kentucky Proud Recipes.  Because I am in Kentucky.  And I am proud.

Cook, Pray, Run

~ meh ~ 2 Comments

Being new in town and unemployed, where the one person I do know well is attempting to survive the first year of med school, while living in a small apartment with very little furniture (our living room is 2 chairs), no internet, no TV, and few working appliances…I need to get out, find ways to maximize my enjoyment during this rare period of time off.

And so, in the spirit of productivity and enjoying my (hopefully) short-lived freedom, my days have been (and will continue to be) devoted to three central activities:

  • Cook:  I am not a good cook.  But I am going to be.  I have been trying to make sure Paul has dinner every night when he gets home (because, well, I am a lady that lunches, and that is what we do).  For both his and my own sake, I am committing myself to improving my technique…through practice.  I am cooking a different meal (that requires more than throwing bread and cheese or something frozen in the toaster oven) at least 5 nights a week.
  • Pray: for a job.
  • Run: I have that half marathon in December.  Instead of just trying to finish it (which was my original goal, considering I didn’t exercise at all for over 3 months), I have decided I am going to try to PR it…which may not be as impressive as it sounds, considering the only other half-marathons I’ve ran were 1.) with a friend who walked part of it, and 2.) the day after Halloween in San Francisco.

And coaching (but that messes up my title, and it’s a job, so I left that out.) Not a bad way to spend your day.   Anyone who’s around is welcome to join in the trifecta.

Oktuckyfest

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Lexington held its own Oktoberfest in a church parking lot downtown (which I’m guessing was basically the same as Molly’s experience in Munich).  There was awesome beer and some pretty fantastic (though not exactly German) music.

Dr. Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Country Boys played a free concert the night we were there.  (You’d probably recognize some of their music from the Oh Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack, for which Dr. Stanley won a Grammy.)   Dr. Stanley is a legend in the bluegrass community…literally.  He was awarded the Living Legend  Award by the Library of Congress in 2000.

The performance had dueling banjos and fiddles (which I had never seen live before, it’s pretty cool), and the crowd was huge.  People were going crazy.

Some additional info on Dr. Ralph Stanley, who told the crowd he has “been sangin’ for about 64 years now”,  and why he is amazing.

  • When asked by the New York Times where he grew up, he told them “in a little town called McClure at a place called Big Spraddle, just up the holler”
  • He has called himself Doctor ever since being awarded an honorary degree from Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee in 1976 (he has a high school diploma)
  • He is 82 and despite having hands that are totally gnarled from arthritis, still plays live
  • He plays a banjo with his face painted on the back

*Photo courtesy of the New York Times

This is the house that Jimmy built

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Gonna get me a whole big bunch of grapes off a bush, or whatever, an’ I’m gonna squash ’em on my face an’ let ’em run offen my chin.

~John Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath

This is Uncle Jimmy:

This is the porch of the house that Jimmy built:

This is the wine from the vineyards you can see from the porch of the house that Jimmy built:

This is the pizza oven that Jimmy built for a friend well, just, because:

This is totally awesome, the life that Jimmy built.

Next stop: Santa Barbara

Note: Pictures for this post were all taken with my Droid, I was too lazy to deal with lighting settings on my phone, which is why they’re kind of crappy.