Handwriting on the paper…

The Modern Letter Project has begun. Can you imagine the delight and anxiety that I felt when I looked in my inbox on Tuesday and there was an email from Corie and Younga, with my first addressee.

It was perfect timing because I had just bought some lovely stationary to compose my thoughts and then send them out in the world to a complete stranger. What was I going to say to someone whom I had never met? You know the whole “How much information is too much information?” popped into my head. Would that person think that I’m boring? Would my letter be too rambling? (Sorta like my posts. )

I couldn’t use my standard whit and charm that I’m known for in person, or more like I didn’t know how to translate it to paper. Yes, I know, I write on this blog but I can EDIT, EDIT, EDIT to my heart’s content. What if I get halfway through my vivacious letter and make a major faux pas? What if the person on the receiving end didn’t interpret my meaning as I intended it? WHAT IF THEY COULDN’T READ MY HANDWRITING?

I sat at my desk and thought about composing my letter in word and then write that down on the stationary. But, then I remembered when letter writing was an art people didn’t have Word to double check their sentences. They simply wrote about their lives and what they felt was important for the recipient. I didn’t scan the actual letter because I believe the content is for the intended but I will share with you how cathartic it was to write on a sheet of paper. I’ll let you try to decipher what you can from the photograph.

As I was writing, I remembered when I was taught what a letter was in the first grade. I recalled sitting at my parents coffee table composing a letter to my grandmother and how proud I felt when it was completed, in my own hand. I smiled at the thought of this other person, whom I never had met, receiving a pink envelope in the mail wondering what the contents held. I laughed, thinking at how long it had been since I had to buy stamps. I realized how dependent I had been on technology, using it for my bills now that I never had to go to the Post Office.

Now, I look forward to my first piece of correspondence from whoever got my address. I hope that they didn’t decide to opt out of this really important project. Thank you to Corie and Younga for being the masterminds behind this endeavor.

Tomato heaven…

I am flying solo this week, since B is off to training in San Antonio. I am trying to eat better, though I have a piece of cake beside me while I type this, and I have a man who does NOT LIKE tomatoes unless completely processed. So, with him being gone I had to make the Roasted Tomato Sauce that Deb talked about on her site. This dish got pushed to the top of the list, over the kale soup, past the roasted vegetables, and above the shrimp diablo recipe that I have on my list of dishes to make. This recipe came at the perfect time in my life, when B would be far away from the kitchen.

I set about the task by cutting up all those tomatoes…fun times, fun times. After the cutting everything went together pretty quickly and soon I could hear the sizzle of tomatoes in the oven and then the smell. Oh, the smell of the cheese bubbling and the tomatoes roasting. I thought I had died and gone to Italian heaven. Now, another thing I stole from Deb’s site (please don’t arrest me!) was the idea to put orecchiette pasta into the dish. I had been wanting to try these ‘little ears’ since I had put this post of Deb’s into my list of To Be Cooked. When I spotted them on the market shelf as I picked up the other ingredients, I knew that this supper was fated for me!

Oh, how right the reviews were! I was eating the sauce right out of the pan as I waited for the pasta to cook. I think I could have eaten the sauce solo but I was on standby for the orecchiette to finish cooking. As I put the two together and sat down to enjoy this creation, I really was in food paradise. Grazie Deb, per la ricetta meravigliosa!

Wild Menu Monday!

B is away this week in San Antonio for training until Friday, so I’m flying solo. If you’re interested in joining the menu planning process, go to Organizing Junkie and become part of the menu madness!

Monday: Roasted Tomato Sauce with pasta and a salad (Thanks Deb!)
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Chicken and Rice soup with cheese toast
Thursday: Wild Card Night
Friday: Beef Stew
Saturday: Date night

This menu will be kept flexible, depending on my mood since I only have to cook for one this week. If you guys have any suggestions for dinner for one, drop me a line!

Vacay…

Dear Five Readers,

I’m off to San Antonio for a mini vacation until Sunday. Ya’ll be good and behave. No wild parties or coming over to my place and cooking fabulous meals without me.

Also, when I return, I’m going to modify some of my eating habits so there will be a downward trend in the posting of desserts and an upward trend in titillating you with more wholesome foods.

I’ll miss you guys!

Nutcase 101

PS…Yes, I’m taking pictures while in San Antonio!

A Mari-Berry Night…

Happy Berry day to you all! What you didn’t know? If Nutcase 101 declares it Berry Day, so be it. I can do that. It’s part of my surname, I get to set precedence. I have been having a love affair with berries (all types: blue, black and raspberrie) for the last week now. I’ve been overly blessed with an abundance of berries at the market but how do you say no to something that looks so delicious?

Yesterday, I served them with vanilla bean ice cream. Today, they were my afternoon snack. Tonight, I berried OUT! As noted on my last post, I had some marscarpone cheese in the fridge. Oh, I could spout off my joy for marscarpone in another post. Anywhosewhatits. I knew those berries and the marscapone were meant to be…in a shortcake!

The shortcake was pretty easy but didn’t turn out exactly how I wanted. I just made a standard biscuit but added a tablespoon of sugar and replaced water with milk. For the marscarpone mixture, I mixed in 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, two tablespoons of powder sugar, two tablespoons of heavy cream to four ounces of marscarpone and stirred until creamy. I sprinkled a little less than a 1/4 of sugar on the berries, stirred and let it sit until I had THOUGHT that the sugar had dissolved. Assembly was easy with a splitting of the shortcake, a heaping spoonful of the marscarpone mixture and then the berries. Add other piece of shortcake.

Next time I think that I’m going to heat up the berries and make sure that the sugar is dissolved, I’m not a fan of feeling sugar grains against my teeth. Also, I think that it would be yummier with warmed berries on top of the cool marscarpone.

Ode to…

Whoorl. Today, on the wonderful blog of Whoorl, she posted a comparison of the contents of her purse pre- and post-Whoorlito. Well, I was inspired but not to post my purse. No, that would be too boring and uneventful. I have the typical single girl stuff: wallet, lip balm, make up, cell phones (yes, more than one – don’t ask) and the other stuff that takes up space in my handbag.

Everyone who reads this blog, my five lovely readers, know that I love FOOD! And, now that I have access to all the ingredients or food stuffs that I could ever desire I had to show you all my favorite container … MY FRIDGE!

Let the tour begin! Drink wise, we have a varied assortment of beverages. My wine fave is a nice Riesling used a lot in cooking especially sauces. The beer of choice is Shiner Dunkelweizen but usually I have Shiner Bock, we’re branching out a bit. That was bought for a beer based chili that has yet to happen. We found a Raspberry Cider and I’m going to test it out in berry sauce that I’m going to pair with the marscapone that is hiding on the bottom shelf. Ofcourse, all beverages are tested prior to use in any recipe for quality control . Also, I have a ton of diet soda, juice and milk. Oh and don’t forget the Orangina, a favorite of mine to drink at any given time. Don’t let the name put you off, it’s tasty!

Food wise, you’ll see that I don’t have a ton. I am lucky that I have three awesome markets within a six block radius of home so I visit them frequently to get fresh ingredients – I’m spoiled. But, back to the tour. I always three or four types of cheeses. Today’s selection is gruyere, parmesean reggiano and extra sharp cheddar. Eggs are a must have staple. My fruit fave to have on hand is berries, which are in the bowl and in the back. But the MUST HAVE is JELLO! Bill Cosby would be so proud.

So, let’s see your fridge’s people! You know you wanna show it off. I must confess there are few people’s fridges out there that I would love to get a sneak peak into…(Hint: Most them are listed in my blog list to the right!)

EDIT I just noticed that the pic of my fridge may or may not be showing up on your browser. I apologize because Flickr was down when I went to post last night and I utilized Picasa instead. I’ve corrected the situation and please let me know if you are unable to see the picture. Thanks!

Monday Menu…

I have really enjoyed posting my weekly menu on the Web for Laura’s Menu Monday. I may not always follow it but it gives me a framework of what I need to have on hand and I’ve branched out to try new recipes. Also, I’ve unpacked one of the cookbooks my Mom gave me at Christmas, her old “Joy of Cooking” from the 1960’s. It has the best patina of grease with Mom’s notes written on the pages. I think that gifts handed down are the most thoughtful and I cherish them. I can’t wait to incorporate the recipes into my menu!

I actually did well last week. Friday and Saturday night were the only nights that got turned around but that’s because we had more left overs than we thought we would. I took the steak that we had left over from Ruth’s Chris and made fajitas on Friday night. Saturday, I had a craving for hot dogs, so that took priority and the pork chops became Sunday dinner.

Sunday: Pork Chops with Warm Apple Compote and a spinach salad
Monday: White Bean Chili and Cheesy Corn Muffins
Tuesday: Chicken Tamales with chips and salsa
Wednesday: Steak and with Rosemary and Garlic potato wedges with a salad
Thursday: Buca Di Beppo The best chain Italian I’ve ever had!
Friday: Off to San Antonio until Sunday!

Also, I was adventurous and decided to make a warm apple compote for the pork instead of relying on apple sauce. Recipe to follow:

Warm Apple Compote (serves 3-4)
By Nutcase 101

2/3 cups water
1/3 cup sugar
1 Large Granny Smith Apple
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Zest of 1 small lemon
Juice of 1/2 small lemon
1/2 tablespoon of butter
Pepper to taste (optional)

1. Place water, sugar and cinnamon in a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer after first boil.
2. Peel, core and cut up apple into cubes. Place in sauce pan and raise heat until a second boil occurs. Turn down to simmer after boil. Add salt and lemon zest.
3. Watch pan for the apples to soften and sauce to reduce until syrupy
4. Once the apples are soften and syrupy, add lemon juice and butter. Remove from heat. Add pepper to your liking. I like it because it takes a little of the sweetness off.

I used this on top of the pork but it could easily be used as a side if you double it. I think next time I’m going to play up the savory aspect by adding onion and/or hearty nut.

Coincendentally…

Shortly after I signed up for The Modern Letter Project I received a phone call from my mother. My grandmother, who lives with my parents in Florida to escape the cold of New York had received an interesting phone call. A long lost cousin of mine was reaching out to make contact with her.

My cousin, Charity, hadn’t been in contact with the paternal side of her family since her mother left my uncle when she was very young. She said that she felt like something was missing, that she didn’t fit in with just her mother, sister and stepfather. She grew up disassociated from her father and all of his relatives and she decided that she wanted to know more. She wanted to know these people that were a part of her heritage. She wanted to know who were the people that came before her. She didn’t look like anyone on her mother’s side. She wanted to know where she got her coloring, her voice, her eyes.

Since Charity has made contact with our family, I’ve been emailing her with as much information that I can give her. Anything that I think was important that she may have missed out on. The words in her email mean as much to me as having a physical document because they give me insight into someone that I should have known for 28 years but haven’t. I’ve learned about where she grew up, how handsome her two boys are and how lucky she is to have found the man of her dreams. I’m passing on this information to my Grandmother because ,after a couple of strokes, it’s easier for me to be the relay.

I’m thankful for the internet for allowing Charity to track down my Grandmother. Now, Grandma has the opportunity to have this wonderful person and family in her life. And Charity, will get to know my Grandmother. They both may have missed out on witnessing the big events in each other’s lives but they’ll be able to share the stories and the feelings. Charity will get to know her past and Grandma will get to see another part of the future that she created.

V-Day 2007…

B and I spent the first 23 months of our relationship living in two separate states, being brought together by a chance meeting at a party. Most major holidays were celebrated weeks or a month prior to the date. I was really excited this year to be able to spend Valentine’s Day, with B, in the same state. He made reservations at a restaurant and I wasn’t allowed to know where but he knows that I’m a foodie so it had to be some place that would impress my taste buds.

You can only imagine, to my horror, that I woke up V-Day morning with some aching in my joints and a mild sore throat. I attributed it to the weather front that had passed through Houston the night before and got ready for work. But, by the time I got to work, lifting my laptop bag was like trying to move the rock of Gibraltar. Every part of my body hurt and I was looking around for the Mack truck that had just hit me. By the time I was at my office, I knew that I would be turning around and heading home. It just wasn’t fair, it’s OUR FIRST VALENTINE’S DAY in the same location.

I texted B with the news that I was ill. He being that the gentleman that he is inquired if I wanted him to cancel the reservations. I responded with a quick NO! I wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity come rain, shine, illness or loss of limb. Before heading home I stopped at a local pharmacy and stocked up on as much meds as I would think I would need to get through the day and dinner.

At home, I put on my Strawberry Shortcake PJs and laid in bed watching a Project Runway marathon, the one where Jay wins. Did I pick the right day to get sick or what? I actually slept through most of it and by the time B came over take care of me, I was feeling a little better. DayQuil was a miracle drug in my book.

I was able to get dressed and get in the car, excited about our date! B had selected Ruth’s Chris for our dinner and it was lovely. We had excellent service, steak and ambiance. It was on the pricey side for having to order everything independently. But, I had the best company of all, my best friend and love.

Oh What a Night…

Please forgive the spelling and the grammar. As I write this, I’m POOPED! But, I had to share my early V-day joy. B and I are going out (where I don’t know) tomorrow night for our first Valentine’s day in the same state. So, I decided that I would cook him a nice meal tonight. Also, we never celebrated our Anniversary on Sunday (we both kind of forgot it.) He told me that he wanted to give my gift early. By early he wanted to give it to me before dinner.

I screamed with joy when I saw the Sur La Table bag. There were two boxes, wrapped beautifully and accented with a Sur La Table ribbon. As I lifted the bag it felt VERY heavy. Could it be what I had been hoping for? Don’t tease me… Yes, it was LE CREUSET! I honestly thought I would not own a piece until we got hitched but he remembered me talking about it when I first saw and had been saving it for when I was going to cook a special meal. I’m now the proud owner of the 12″ skillet and 3.5 Quart French Oven in beautiful cobalt blue. What cooking minded girl wouldn’t just swoon?

I immediately peeled off labels and began cooking! Tonight’s menu was mushroom risotto (Thanks, Deb!) modified from the recipe. I just followed the parts about the mushrooms and left out the rest of the veggies, since the selection at the market wasn’t that appealing. Also, I cut most of the stuff in half because it was only going to serve the two of us. B said it turned out delish! The whole cooking process was fun when I finally had REALLY nice cooking equipment. I’m still cooking with the set that I had in college along with a few pieces that of calaphlon that I’ve recently acquired. But the mushrooms and risotto came out lovely. The chicken cooked a little faster than I was prepared for but it was my first time frying in a cast iron pan. You can see the old pan in the background. B was really pleased with his late anniversary (two years on Sunday) early Valentine’s dinner. He’s requested that we have it again as soon as possible.

So, now I have two pieces of my dream cookware and my dream man, what more could a girl ask for on Valentine’s day?