Wow, the last few weeks leading up to the holidays have flown by. Winter is officially here, we've only had bits of snow, but I'm definitely in hibearnation mode. The joints are a bit achy, the thought of going out in the cold makes me shiver, and I can't seem to drink enough hot beverages.
OK, that's a really dramatic take on winter, but that's often how I feel about it. When I was younger, I loved the snow and all the great things it brought. These days, I see walks that need shoveled, difficult driving, the inversion that Salt Lake has become infamous for, and far too much time indoors in dry air. The gardens, if they haven't already, are rapidly dying and I am relegated to the markets for food.....
So yes, energy levels have been low and stress has unnecessarily built up. The good news, this holiday has me relaxed and back on track. 2 days of mostly sleeping and not doing anything with a splash of company thrown in, a day of mostly laziness but with dim sum at Hong Kong Tea House, a nice soak and sauna, and today, a bit of shopping that has me energized to keep making our home a place of wonderful food.
So let's dig in. This time around, I'm only going to talk about recipes for which I have pictures and unless I deviated wildly from the recipe, I'll leave only links.
Chicken Korma, comes to us from a college friend. Our history is really something, a couple of really good fights, but an enduring friendship that has stood the test of time. I'm lucky to have a great friend who also shares a love for wholesome meals with her family.
My dish isn't quite as pretty as the picture in the link, but the flavor was spot on. I think I just cooked it a bit too long. Despite my cooking prowess, I'm often one to leave the crockpot going for way too long and making some delicious sludge.
Moroccan Pot Roast with Dried Cherry Couscous, was another of those recipes that randomly flew by on Facebook and I had to hunt it down. This meal was delicious! My only complaint was that the flavors became a bit bitter when eaten as leftovers. This recipe also calls out for Ras el Hanout, as I talked about earlier, a properly stocked spice cabinet can make just about any one of these exotic sounding spice blends....here's an easy recipe from allrecipes.com.
Finally, in the "new" category this round, is a potato soup that kinda came out of nowhere. The boys went out on a goodwill mission to Laramie, Wyoming. Its one heck of a drive and our first real weather of the season was kicking in. With it being cold, I had absolutely no desire to leave the house, but I knew they'd be hungry when they got back. I figured a comforting bowl of soup with croutons and bread would fit the bill.
I cut up 5 potatoes and put them in the crock pot with 4 cups of water, 2 tomato and chicken bullion cubes, some powdered onion (I normally use fresh, but I didn't have one in the pantry), and garlic. I turned it on high and let that cook for several hours until the potatoes were boiled and I could mash it all up a bit. At that point, I threw in some celery and baby carrots, a sprinkle of thyme, and let that cook on low until they were about an hour out. When they were about an hour out, I added some cheese curds and mozzarella balls that were leftover from the symphony. While all this was going on, I decided to give breadmaking a shot. It wasn't perfect, but it still tasted good. We managed to get food in us and get them calmed down after a harrowing journey just in time to go out to the club and have the DJs no show. I can't say they no-showed; the show was supposed to start at 9:00pm, we left the club at 11:30pm, and through the modern luxury of Facebook, I learned the DJ showed about 12:30am....you know just in time for last call. A disappointing evening, but I did have a nice day of solitude in my kitchen.
I'm also excited to announce that I finally got a tiffin. It dawned on me that metal won't work in the microwave for warm dishes, so I'm on the hunt for a perfect sized plate to slip in there. In the interim, I have a shallow bowl that will work just lovely. The dual compartment also leaves me thinking I'll eat a bit more roughage this winter.....suddenly, a beet salad for a work lunch doesn't seem so impossible.
Its also cooler weather, so that means tea. I love a good strong cup or two of medium roast coffee in the morning, but coffee is not an all day thing for me. I think part of this is my continued battle with insomnia, which seems to get worse during the winter months. I also don't care for cocoa throughout to the day....as a nice treat here and there, I enjoy it, but its just too rich, heavy, and sweet for an all day sip. So along with the tiffin, I've been keeping my eye open for mugs with built in infusers.... I've had two gripes with the one's I've seen: a) plastic...tea is meant to be enjoyed with ritual from ceramic, I even shun glass when it comes to tea, b) price tag - I'd be OK with $20 for a good ceramic one, but for plastic with a metal strainer....yeah, um, NO! Today, while I was cruising Global Supermarket for tea, I decided to have a look at their kitchen supplies.....lo' and behold, I found my mug, a nice porcelain one for Husbear, and my tiffin....they also have a steamer set that I'm eyeing to start doing at home dimsum for easy weekend brunches.
I hope you all are keeping warm this winter. I've managed to warm myself up and keep my head screwed on....
3Day
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