curry rice with kale

green peppers, jalapenos, onions, garlic sauteed. kale steamed in salty water. rice blend hydrated. almonds toasted. mixed it all together using the kale water to juice things up. seasoned with lots of curry powder and paprika.

the next night (in an effort to get excited about these leftovers) i made a quesadilla out of this mess. used pepper jack cheese and a tomatillo salsa and a mound of the rice. turned out tasting similar to a dilla from the comet with curry salsa. so not bad at all.

grilled cheese

there are a few things that i boast about being good at. one is rollerskating/blading and the other is making grilled cheese. you are probably better at everything else in the world. i'll let you have that.

having soup and grilled cheese on a cold day is the best. the soup has onions, leeks, garlic, shallots softened in butter, thickened with a bit of flour. add lots of water and potatoes and salt and cook till everything is soft. then i add a touch of cream.

the secret to the grilled cheese is BUTTER!

and i am starting to feel selfconscious about my winter eating habits. so i'm going to stop there.

turkey stock

this picture cracks me up, didn't get a good one from this batch with all the steam. i guess it is a shout out to my neighbor across the hall who reports "phantoms" in our building...

used the carcass from the holiday to make a really great stock. all the bones, carrots, onions, celery and garlic. with some random herbs. simmered on the stove for a few hours and strained. chilled overnight, actually over a few nights- then strained off the layer of fat that hardened over the top. used the stock to make soup. carrots, celery, leeks, potatoes, pine nuts and the really thick tongue coating stock. i used lots of basil, thyme and pepper.

curry

been cooking in december, i promise. i know it doesn't look like it on here- but its true. resulting from this past month's life shake-up, i have become a proud city dweller. i figured if i was going to stay put in these parts, i needed to be in my own space. i hadn't really expected to land in OTR, but have been loving being downtown. and you would think that i would be missing my mom's kitchen, but i have been pleasantly surprised by the workability of my kitchen. open storage, gas stove and a dishwasher! with the centerpiece being the butcher's block table that alaina helped me salvage from findlay market.

a huge part of the equation for having an apartment while not being fully employed has been trying to cook on a budget and to eat all my damn leftovers! i have always cooked for an army and not always been too keen on eating the same thing, day after day. but it is funny how being in my place and knowing if i heat up this curry again, i'll be able to pay my rent!

over jasmine rice (with peas mixed in, heavy on the peas!). onions, garlic, jalapenos sauteed in a hearty bit of butter. while steaming red potatoes, cauliflower, brussels, and carrots. tossed it all together with coconut milk, thai red curry paste, chili sauce, tons of hot curry powder salt and pepper. and more peas!

not about food. at all.

this might give you my drift... a great photo of the view in my favorite park. in walla. had an amazing trip in a town full of friends and fun and memories. started imagining myself back in that place. and just got carried away with that. came home and had a few days of realizing that i need to be here.

as hard as things are here right now, i am coming to see that it is such a special time to spend with jenna and the rest of my family. this is the time that makes what it means to be a family so special. the closeness and the support and the trust. i find myself enjoying a lot of this time lately, especially with jenna. knowing that i can make her laugh and that she can trust me and that we stimulate eachother and challenge eachother. a lot of this year has put a bit of a strain on our connection and the easy way that we have had with eachother. since i have returned from my trip, it is connection central. talking and laughing and daydreaming and lots of love.

i feel like i have been on a bit of a ride the past month or so, since discovering that jenna had relapsed. since starting to doubt my abilities to hang here, to be such a witness to all the pain and the scary parts. scary because she is my bestie, my sister: so many things that i can't imagine... then trying out the possibility of moving back across the country to a place where i remember being able to choose what i participated in with my family. coming back and quitting my job and realizing that i have the time and energy to be a really great friend and caregiver to the girl, and support staff for the parentals. also, there are finally great friends here now too, people who are right there, ready to hear all about it and to just be with me. a ride and a half.

i have been visualizing lots lately. for my own sanity and i also do some with jenna outloud. for a few days i have been giggling at the visual of watching myself on a rollercoaster like the RACER, just watching myself go up and down the hills and around the turns, moving at a great speed, with all the jerky, awkward movements that slam you around on that ride. it is kinda in a fun way, since that is such a rush, how can you not smile, knowing that it will be over and the feeling in your stomache will be still when you get back on the ground.

i guess in the meantime, i am going to try to send all the love out and try to get some in and just be a little more still and listen to what will bring me that grounding. here with this FAMILY.

and i have turkey stock from thanksgiving. something is going to happen on that stove tomorrow.

in a jiffy!

i have a fondness for all things JIFFY. growing up, dad would make dinner with us every night. us girls usually got some kitchen practice with the JIFFY. measuring the eggs, milk, oil- whatever goes in those mixes. we were cracking up the other night about how we would eat the sweet ones with savory dinner- blueberry, apple cinnamon, etc. with pop's interpretations of chop suey, lazy chicken, etc.

the last night in walla we went out to the farm for a big fire, some hot chili and cornbread. i cooked bacon in the cast iron skillet. chopped jalapenos, red onions, bell peppers. chopped bacon into bits and stirred all that goodness into the JIFFY cornbread batter. got rid of some of that bacon fat in the skillet and baked the mess right in there. good.

a soup

this is a good one from the walla trip. started like a french onion soup-ish. lots of onions, leeks, garlic, shallots. in butter. deglazed with some red wine. added beef stock. cooked carrots, sweet potatoes, mushrooms and chard. so hot and hearty and ate with a big chunk of wheat bread and some goat cheese. don't you love that spoon?