Owner: Kate in the Kitchen URL:http://cooknkate.wordpress.com Join Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2007 10:05:43 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Food and wine explorations, delicious ramblings and the evocative fare of a passionate cook. Recipe makeovers, cooking from the heart, for my family and for my health. Wine explorations and food talk and everyday fare. Site statistics:Click here
Are you well fed?? 2007-02-14 16:35:52 The Well Fed Network, primarily for their site A Nice Cuppa, which covers all things coffee and tea related. My first post is up today. Go check it out!
Marriage and a Cuppa Joe with my Valentine
Sweets for my sweet 2007-02-14 06:46:05
This is my entry for the Well Fed Networks Love Bites- A Valentine Blogging Event.
Read more:Sweets
Red Rice and Sausage 2007-02-13 16:00:11
Inspired by a similar dish on {rachel’s bite}, I made up this wonderful rice dish last night that was just loaded with texture and flavors. Rachel’s original recipe called for chorizo, but as much as I love chorizo, I couldn’t find it anywhere in the market I was in so I picked up a package of artisan andouille sausage instead. I am so glad I did because that sausage was out of this world good! I may have to go back and get some more!
This seemed to me to be very similar to Jambalaya which is a family favorite for us. Following some of the same procedures on the original, I created this recipe.
Red Rice and Sausage
2 T. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced (i was out of onion and used shallot)
2 cloves garlic, minced
8-14-oz spicy sausage, diced (I used andouille)
1 1/2 c. long grain rice
1 1/2 c. crushed canned tomato
1 1/2 c. water or broth of choice
1 14-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 c. frozen corn
In a heavy skillet with tight fitting lid, saute onion
Well worth a read….. 2007-02-12 22:49:25 “Bourdain socks it to the Food Network”
However…..should you be a big fan of the Food Network and it’s most popular chefs, you may want to avoid it as it is written in true Bourdain style.
Tagged again. 2007-02-12 17:34:03
Yeah, I like memes, it’s no secret. It’s like getting notes in school. When I was a youngster, it was ‘the thing’ to write notes to your friends and pass them in the hallways between classes. If you didn’t have the time to stop and gossip, you wrote a note. Notes were cool. I got lotsa notes. I felt cool.
Now when I get tagged for a meme, I feel cool. In a food blogging way, y’know? Like I’m cookin’ with the big dudes. ‘Husband’ of My Husband Cooks tagged me for a 5 Things About Me meme. If you haven’t seen this blog, what is your problem?? (just kidding…. maybe I should have skipped that third cup of coffee) But do yourself a favor and put them in your reading rotation. The photos are unbelievable, the recipes terrific, and they’ re going to have a new taste tester in a few months! How cool is that??
5 Things About Me
1. My laugh is totally obnoxious. Our whole family inherited a shrieking, gut busting, rib Read more:Tagged
WCB- It's SO cold! 2007-02-10 17:46:26
Bustopher goes stir-crazy, races all over the house, meows to go out and then recoils when the cold air hits him (time after time after time we do this…..”It’s sunny!!! It MUST BE WARM!!! Why can’t you make it warm out???!?!”) and then wants to play at his scratching post forever. With you. FOR. EVER.
Some days we just pray that the weather will warm up enough so he can go back outside. Even for just 10 minutes. We need a break.
Weekend Cat Blogging is being hosted this weekend by the cats at CatSynth. Go visit Amar and Luna and see what all the cool cats have been up to!
Tasting summer amidst bitter cold 2007-02-09 15:09:45
I had a bag of organic spinach, a red and yellow pepper, fresh basil, snow pea pods, a baby eggplant, some scallions (which I ended up not using) and a wedge of fresh goat cheese.
I cubed the eggplant and sauteed it in olive oil seasoned with some szechuan peppercorns, just to give it a little flavor. Then I seared the peppers, added some garlic and a few shreds of basil and tossed all that together until they were tender. Then the snow peas had their turn, and finally I sauteed the spinach- not too much though, I still like to have some texture in my spinach when I eat it, that delicious toothsome bite. Overcooked fresh spinach is a travesty.
Once all the veggies were sauteed, I put them back in the skillet and added about a fourth of the goat cheese to the pan, mashing, tossing and stirring the veggies until the cheese melted and coated them slightly, then I squeezed in the juice of half a lemon and added some sea salt and fresh ground pepper. More shredded basil went in too, and I
Chili Blanco 2007-02-19 02:37:53
I’ll post the picture first to keep everyone reading. This recipe, modified from one I have in a magazine, was stellar with a capitol ‘S’. Mike slurped from his bowl to get every last drop. Twice. I don’t know about you, but to me, that is an enthusiastic two thumbs up! He had asked me to make this (and his mom was looking for a good recipe too) so I searched my cookbook cupboard to find something to use. I was glad to have some motivation for a meal. Lately I have just felt like a slug in the cooking department. I haven’t felt adventurous, or excited or eager to do much. I think it’s the February slump. Other bloggers have mentioned it too.
The original recipe, from a Better Homes and Gardens All Time Favorite Soups and Stews magazine from late 2003, called for ground chicken or turkey and ground pork. I wasn’t really thrilled about using those meats. Yeah they might have been fine, but I wanted big chunks of chicken, so I settled on using b Read more:Chili
Update on "The Big Plan' 2007-02-21 00:08:36 a plan in the works to lose some weight. My initial goal was to lose 10 pounds by my birthday, which is a week from Thursday. It hasn’t happened. Not that I have slacked, but I am discovering that it is harder than I anticipated. But no flogging, no gorging on cookies or cake and no turning from the goal will be going on here. I talked about making it realistic and not sweating it if it doesn’t happen like I want. I plan to stick with that.
It didn’t help that I was sick for nearly three weeks. During that time I dropped 5 pounds because I simply had no appetite, but it’s back. That’s fine. My exercise goals obviously took a back seat during that time, and I was really bummed out about it because I was feeling a lot of momentum and getting into a really good routine and that all got shot to heck. The weather has turned gloriously beautiful this week with temps in the 40’s, which should continue through the coming weekend and I have been getting out p Read more:Update
What do you do with….. 2007-02-22 00:43:50
I had some on sourdough toast this morning and it was delicious, but almost too delicious to be using on toast. Toast is for peanut butter, sometimes honey or a little butter, but not for gorgeous chunky fruit preserves that your husband lovingly brings home to you because he thinks of you when he sees them.
Mike bought this from an Italian deli last week, likely overlooking it’s hefty price tag simply because he thought it would be something I would love. He does this for me, a lot. While some husbands bring their wives shiny trinkets, flowers or a maybe new wiper blades, mine brings me food stuffs. (he did bring me wiper blades once. i totally needed them too)
Sometimes he is motivated by an intense desire to consume the product himself, like when he bought me the cute little tin of Tagine spices from Williams-Sonoma and asked me to make him Tagine Chicken. I did, and it was delish. But this…..this is amazing stuff. It’s super dark cherry color is lovely and itR
Wheatberry Lentil Soup 2007-02-21 20:13:26
I wish you could be here to share this wonderful soup with me, it’s so delicious. And Mike is out visiting clients so I don’t even have my best taste tester here to sample it and affirm that it is, truly, one of the best soups to be created in my kitchen this year. Thankfully, it doesn’t have that much competition yet.
This utterly outstanding soup is courtesy of the current issue of Eating Well magazine. There is an very nice article about wheat berries in it, along with some very tempting recipes. We have enjoyed wheat berries before but I wasn’t 100% sure of how to cook them and so they disappeared from our meals. The magazine lists a method too. Of course, you could make this soup without the wheat berries and it would still likely be quite good. The berries add a certain earthy-ness to it though. Wheat berries are the whole, unprocessed wheat kernel, they are loaded with B vitamins, iron, magnesium, zinc and fiber and because they aren’t refined, all Read more:Lentil
A very pleasing sight…. 2007-02-21 16:39:42
In the shade on the North side of the house at 9:00am, February 21st. On the south side, the snow has melted and the sun is so warm and lovely.
It’s little things like this that make me break out in a huge goofy grin. I’m going power-walking.
It's about time….. 2007-02-22 23:02:25 HERE
Yes, I have been slacking, even with several items on the list languishing on my kitchen counter.
WCB- Here's the happy hosts 2007-02-23 14:54:40
Play Hide and Seek
Maybe practise some tricks
And if anyone wants to, we can go outside to romp in the snow that is expected this weekend.
WHATTTTTT?????? Outside……in THE SNOWWW????
And of course, because we love yummy food as much as anyone, we’ll be sure to make some great snacks to share.
So join us, will you please?? We’re excited to host Weekend Cat Blogging again. Last time was so much FUN having friends over and we look forward to another weekend of furry hi-jinks and hair-flyin’ fun. Leave your link here, or email me kate4797 at hotmail dot com.
Taboo has come early, ready for lots of fun. Look how excited she seems with those BIG eyes at Jelly Pizza!
Feliz (also called Blue Cat) has come over and shared his wonderful story of love and happiness now that he has a new human to love. For his story and photos, check out Gato Azul/Chat Bleu
Despite a dental visit, Lyra came over and has mesmerized the boys with her gorgeous green eyes.
Riley and Ti
Asian Barbecue Pork 2007-02-25 02:08:14
Sometimes I come across a recipe that sounds so wonderful that I just can’t wait to make it, but requires a whole other food stuff as an ingredient before I can even consider it. I can’t open my vastly stuffed pantry and whip it together right then and there, so it gets shelved and sits taunting me in it’s delicious-ness. I turn to it time and again in longing. It’s cruel in it’s temptation.
Such was the case of the Pork Fried Rice recipe on the F&W 100 list. I love a good fried rice, with the deeply aromatic scent of the hot wok, the crsipy texture of the rice and all the subtle flavors involved. A good fried rice could be an entire meal for me, until I am thoroughly satiated by every nuance of it’s golden grains. It’s not rocket science either; the best rice to use is cold and pre-cooked and you can use just about any veggie you wish. This recipe called for asian bbq pork, those deeply red chunks of flavored meat you can find casually to Read more:Asian
, Barbecue
A Mango in Winter 2007-02-26 17:26:39
You just have to mention the words "winter in Minnesota" and most people think mountainous snow drifts that cover your house around screaming cold winds for 8 months of the year. I assure you this is not true and while I sympathize with Upstate New Yorkers who had to unearth their homes from under 10 feet of snow recently, I have to tell you that in 43 years of living in Minnesota, I have yet to wake up inside a snowy tomb. I have seen many snowy winters though. When I was a senior in high school, we got 98" of snow in one season; our yearly average is generally in the 40-50" range, so this was a big deal. But fast forward to this year, and our snowfall wasn't even reaching 15". Until this past weekend.
The snow came, over and again, coating the state in white, starting Friday evening and lingering on through Sunday night, dropping nearly 15 inches before it blew on to ravage another part of the country. It's a peaceful thing for me to watch snow falling, obviously born Read more:Mango
Turkey Bean Burritos 2007-02-26 15:26:33
As burritos go, we’ve tended towards pretty basic fixin’s. Meat, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, rice etc…. so when I saw this recipe for Turkey
Bean Burritos
I thought “What the heck!” and gave it a whirl. I bought a 3.5# bone-in turkey breast to cook up for the meat, and today I seasoned it with salt, pepper, cumin and chili powder, placed it on a roasting rack with a quart of vegetable broth in the bottom of the pan, set the oven to 325 and went out for a nice long walk. When I got home nearly an hour later, I was a little concerned as I didn’t smell any turkey cooking. Since I had covered the roasting pan with foil to prevent the moisture from escaping, it was holding back the wonderful scent of the meat too, so as soon as I pulled back the foil, there was the glorious smell.
When the temp of the turkey was high enough, I pulled it out and let it cool, then pulled the meat apart. I had kept the breast covered the whole time it was cooking and the
Show us your fridge! 2007-02-27 17:01:06 Kristen’s site, and she was following Jenifer’s prompt from Nutcase 101. I proudly threw open my fridge doors and snapped away. Then I looked at the contents and felt….well, shocked. My fridge is really stuffed.
But I did just recently shop for our bi-monthly stock up, so there may be more here than, say next week. But here ya go for all interested.
Top shelf: beverages on the left- soy milk, soy chai (i like) and regular chai (i don’t like) and chocolate silk soy (i LUV!!). There is also kefir in two flavors (this is awesome, pro-biotic stuff and helps gassy stomachs and indigestion) There is natural apple juice, maple syrup and a lone bottle of cream soda that I think has been ignored for too long and needs to go away. On the right side is yogurt galore, all Stonyfield Farms good stuff. There is salsa (one of three jars in there), a big container of grated italian cheese, pickle slices for burgers, two kinds of applesauce (chunky and unsweetened), jarred jal
Mother Nature’s birthday present to me 2007-03-02 19:03:53 18″ and counting since Wednesday night, most of it came yesterday to celebrate my birthday.
This is my garden. Check out the drifts on the roofs. The dark stripe in the snow back by the door is one of my compost bins. Between the houses, the drifts are thigh high on me.
This view is to the right of the photo above, my neighbor’s shed. The drift here gets bigger. I don’t want to venture into it. I may not come out. The bush to the right of the birdbath stands waist high on me.
Our mailboxes on the street are nearly buried and the mounds next to our driveways are almost 6 feet high. Since Sunday, we have had more than 30″ of snow in our neck of the woods. More snow has fallen this week than all of last winter.
Best of all?? Next week, the forecast is predicting rain.
God I love Minnesota!!!
Just a tiny little bit of announcing……. 2007-03-01 14:47:11
Yep&hellip
;.it’s my birthday. Wanna have some cake???
Provided the second foot of snow in a week doesn’t prevent us from celebrating, we’re going to a local BBQ place tonight for dinner. I will take the camera and snap some photos, so check back for a meal update at a later date.
Read more:little
WCB- Harmon El Gato 2007-03-03 06:21:05 Harmon is in the spotlight today. Bustopher tends to grab a lot of attention because he is really needy and tells you that all the time, but Harmon is so laid back and easy going, he tends to get lost in the shuffle. He will be 14 this year and has had some health issues, the worst being that his back is not so good due to his weight. I have had to consider, as his age advances, what it will be like when he leaves me, and the thought is unbearable. I have had him since he was 4 months old and we have been through the ringer and back many times. He’s the best lap cat, jumping in to settle down with me no matter what I am doing, and purrs like a jet engine if you even just look at him and say his name. He is unconditional love wrapped thickly in exquisitely beautiful fur that I just love to stroke, smooth and tickle. I adore him and the feeling is clearly mutual. When he turns his big fuzzy tummy up to me for a scratch, I am a goner.
If Harmon was human, he would be a total chow
An indulgent weekend 2007-03-05 08:58:08 I had a rare and beautiful thing happen this past weekend. I was alone without the guys. The snow was cleared for the most part except for the last nuisance inch, and I had 48 hours of “me” time. It happens maybe twice a year when the guys go on a church retreat. I miss them a little, but mostly, it’s my time. It passes quickly enough and then life is normal again.
Sometimes when I have these weekends free, I will spend some time watching movies I know the guys would never go for, y’know….chick flicks. This weekend I finished catching up on the second season of Grey’s Anatomy so I am now well informed on all the history. I have hunkered down with some books (Peter Mayle’s Provence series) taken a quiet and undisturbed nap covered in cats and relished in the quiet peace of my snow covered world.
After our massive snowfall, the weather cleared, the sun came out and the weekend was spent in blinding pure white sunlight. Running errands on Saturday required many moments to pa
Banana Facts, Jack 2007-03-09 02:29:49 I write a market report for a local produce company that I used to work at full time prior to attending culinary school. It’s a quick job that takes me a couple of hours on Wednesday afternoons and pays me just enough to keep me from feeling like a total slacker. I get first-hand knowledge of all things produce related from the guys in the company buying office, sometimes including free samples of things. One of the buyers, Mark, sent me this article about the nutritional power of the Banana, and I loved it. You must read it too, if only for the funny part at the end about the monkeys. Thanks Mark! I do want some of that organic chevre too!
Facts About Bananas
Never, put your banana in the refrigerator!!!
This is interesting. After reading this, you’ll never look at a banana in the same way again.Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of
Make salad dressing YOUR way 2007-03-08 16:46:30 I love a good salad….mmmmm, fresh lettuces, spinach, cut up peppers, avocado (oh YEAH!), maybe some chopped apple or jicama, and some crushed almonds or sunflower seeds too, y’know…for nutty crunch. Then there is the dressing. Most people’s fridge has a wealth of them in the door. You purchase a bottle thinking it looks delicious, has a good nutrition label (PLEASE read them on salad dressings!) and then once you open it, ehh….maybe it’s not so hot. But you keep it anyway. Yeah, me too. I don’t fault you. Salad dressings in a bottle are way better now than they were even a few short years ago, with all organic and natural varieties available. With some detailed investigation, you should be able to have some healthful selections on hand.
Still, salad dressings from scratch are scary simple, and you don’t need any special equipment to make them. A fork, some oil and vinegar (any kind, don’t think you need those fancy ones) and a me
Wow…bananas ARE amazing! 2007-03-10 01:23:53 That banana post made it onto the Health page of the Reuters news website, Friday March 9th, apparently through Blogburst.
According to Mike, this is a big deal. A very big deal, so big a deal that he made a copy of the page for posterity.
He’s so cute.
I’m a little stoked about it.
A little.
Read more:hellip
, bananas
I’m thinking of becoming a vegetarian 2007-03-11 00:46:50 Well, maybe….. except for bacon. And the occasional steak.
But if I could eat the kind of food available at one of our local Indian restaurants called ‘The Vegetarian’ on a regular basis, I would seriously consider giving up bacon.
Seriously.
Mike and I love adventurous eating, and we love Indian food. Our previous favorite place changed ownership recently, and the food hasn’t been the same since. We also didn’t care for the multiple plasma screen TV’s that got installed which we found highly distracting. But in our quest for another great Indian vegetarian experience, we came across this tiny little spot that has me filled with delight. I dream of going back almost the moment I walk out the door. And it’s one of those places, being 7:15 on a Friday night, was empty when we walked in. Not a happy sign for such an awesome place. Thankfully, several other diners came in after us to indulge and savor last night after we arrived.
We started with Read more:thinking
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