Pasta with Pesto

and salad. Can't beat it.

Out of Season Sweater

Here a winter sweater, finished just in time for summer. I'll get to use it next week though, in the chill of the library archive where I'll be for a few days.

Teff

A loyal reader (thanks Naunihal!) informs me that teff is the grain used to make Injera. Google informs me that injera is that delicious fermented pancake-like bread one gets at Ethiopian restaurants. Google also says that it is the smallest known grain, and fairly bursting with good-for-you things. I may be trying my hand at some injera-making; stay tuned.

Skirt Steak

with brown rice and roasted cauliflower.

Meatballs

Made of ground buffalo, seasoned with ketchup and an egg. I sauteed them with turnips, carorts, and spring onions, and we ate them with pasta and pesto.

Hello Kitty Waffles

Daycare is closed today (!), so I am home with The Three. Eldest Child wanted waffles in her new Hello Kitty waffle maker, so that's what we did. Today's improvised recipe:

1 1/2C whole wheat flour (King Arthur's new "white whole wheat")
1/4 C teff flour (don't know what teff is; but if my local organic grocer sells it, I buy it)
1T sugar
1/2 t salt
2t baking powder
2 eggs
6T (more or less) coconut oil
1 3/4C milk

I have to say, Hello Kitty makes a nicely portioned, tasty waffle.

New Scarf

Voila, my latest, knit in a bamboo/silk blend suited to the heat of a southern summer. As ever, the colors (of both, thank goodness, my skin and the scarf) are not true, and are more vivid in real life.

Skirt Steak

marinated in soy sauce, with steamed brocco-flower (Frankenstein vegetable!), and leftover oat groats with parmesan. The steak leftovers became a treat for our god-dog, Rodney.

CSA Rapini

Sauteed with garlic, chopped up, and mixed with oat groats, parmesan, salt, and pepper. With salad mix. I wolfed mine and stole some of my spouse's.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I turned 39 yesterday, and celebrated with a little dessert party. Over the weekend my kind spouse brought home a dozen of Miss Sue's eggs (I'm on record as being crazy about those eggs). Naturally I was thrilled, but since we already had four dozen eggs in the house, I was also a little abashed about how they'd ever get eaten. Then it came to me: cake and ice cream. Specifically, Frank Stitt's strawberry ice cream (six yolks) and an angel food cake (twelve whites). Both were successful, very delicious. The angel food cake brought back childhood memories to me, since that was the last time I'd had angel food; it's very, very good. I made two batches of ice cream base, one of which worked, the other of which didn't (I overcooked the custard and ended up with scrambled eggs). I regretted the second batch, but the first was perfect so I suppose I don't need to ask for more.

Vegetable Pasta

Sauteed broccoli, yellow carrots, and spring onions, with a smidge of bacon, over sprouted-grain pasta. if the Ezekiel company makes it, we eat it.

Spring Salad

One of my favorite signs of spring (actually, it's a sign of late spring) is the appearance of sage flowers in the garden. I can take sage or leave it alone, for the most part, but I love how pretty its periwinkle flowers look in a salad. They taste mildly sage-y. For dinner we had the salad, rye berries, and the last two nights' leftovers (meatballs in soup).

Kamut Pasta

with sauteed greens and meatballs made of the following: ground pork, an egg, chopped fresh sage, grated apple, garlic, salt, and pepper.

Impromptu Soup

of sweet potatoes and kale, using a Christmas lima bean soup base. The Christmas lima beans were my first booty from ranchogordo.com, a website that will make you want to order beans. They were beautiful and delicious. So was the soup, which I served with a dollop of pesto, and toast with a spread I made with ricotta, plain yogurt, scallions, and dill.

Pork Chops

with rye berries and roasted brussels sprouts.

Grilled Mahi

with quinoa and the first turnips of spring.

Lamb Chops

with brown rice and sauteed red cabbage. The cabbage was particularly good, though I didn't do anything special: sliced it fine, and sauteed in olive oil. The key, in my opinion, is to brown it a little bit. This takes a while, but is worth it.

Violet Sock (Part I)

Half the pair done, and normally I'd wait to post until they both were, except that I'm so excited about how well the yardage worked out. See that little coil at the bottom, under the sole? That is the foot or two left from the skein. If you don't knit you will not maybe be as thrilled about this as a knitter would. Usually, you see, one either doesn't have enough in the skein or ends up with lots leftover; rarely does the Yardage Goddess smile and allow you exactly as much as you need for the project. (This sock, for example, used exactly one 135 yd. skein, so you can see how finely cut it was to have only a foot or two left.)

Sauteed Pollock

with rappini, and oat groats with parmesan and dill. I hoovered my plate clean.

Chicken with Preserved Lemon

This was my second attempt at this dish; this time I had the nigella seeds (thanks Mom!) the recipe calls for. They are also called black cumin, as well they might be, since that's what they taste like. I served it with rye berries and no vegetable, because I just couldn't get it together to make one. Very delish, and lots of leftovers for lunch.