Crab Cakes

with spinach and coconut rice. I made the latter by making brown rice in the rice maker as usual, adding a dollop of "coconut concentrate" (basically, what's left of the coconut after oil is pressed from it). I thought it was delicious, but the texture could have been improved in a few ways, starting with less coconut (and hence, less slight graininess).

Speaking of delicious though in need of improvement: I tried, two nights ago, to make chicken, potatoes, and sprouts in my tagine. The first time I tried it I used too little water and ended up with raw vegetables. This time I used too much water and boiled it into mush. Said mush, however, was incredibly tasty, as I have just re-confirmed by having its leftovers for lunch.

Beans, Beans the Magical Fruit

Will I in fact do anything the food section of the NYT Sunday Magazine tells me to? All signs point to "yes." Today I ordered five different kinds of heirloom beans from a grower in Napa Valley for no better reason than the NYTSM made it seem like a good idea. More than that: I became instantly certain that beans are my future, my new staple of choice, the Answer to Everything. Never mind that I'm the only one in my family who likes beans, that I've had them before, that they are in fact just *beans*. The food section of the NYTSM has spoken; I have obeyed.

Meatballs (An Underrated Comestible)

I made them with ketchup, garlic, salt, and an egg. We had them with brown rice, and roasted brussels sprouts and shiitakes.

Chicken Sausage

with rappini and oats with pesto.

Home Again

After a trip to NYC. Celebrated with sauteed perch with dill, spinach, and oat groats with parmesan.

Chicken sausage with feta and spinach

with brown rice and broccoli rappini.

Grilled Mahi

with brown rice and roasted brussels sprouts.

Pasta

with pesto and spinach. I'm assuming it was delicious.

Placeholder Post

I have not actually been able to taste anything for about four days now, which has cut into my food-posting energy. I can say that I made a banana-orange-walnut spice loaf this weekend that smelled so good it made me unable to stand still (from The Best Recipe, a favorite of mine). I'll let you know if it tasted as good as it smelled as soon as I'm in a position to say.

Nina Ricci

In case anyone was wondering, the very next time I'm invited to walk and be photographed on a red carpet, this is what I'll be wearing.

Cap-Sleeve Vaila

The short-sleeved sweater: a garment I love. Doesn't feel bulky under a coat, yet keeps one warm; offers endless color and textural possibilities through the magic of layering; is much faster to knit than long-sleeved varieties. This pattern is called "Vaila," and worked out pretty much just as I'd hoped. Sweaters can change a lot in the wearing, but so far so good.

Lamb Chops

with fried potatoes and Aerogarden-grown green beans. It was all good, but those last were succulent and crisp and sweet.

Whole Wheat Egg Noodles

with rappini and parmesan. Sometimes I make a meal as simple as this because I'm tired and have no better options, but last night it was because I had a massive craving for it. Bitter vegetables must have some compound I need, because honestly, my mouth watered at the very thought.

Pork Butt

again! But with wonderful sides: roasted fennel, carrots, and shiitakes, and rye berries. The last is the newest addition to my whole grain stable, and it's a good one: mild flavor, texture much like barley. Said to be a good hot breakfast cereal too, but I made mine on the "brown rice" setting on my rice maker.

Grilled Mahi

with roasted brussels sprouts and barley with Aerogarden dill.

Leftover Pork Butt

with barley and roasted cauliflower.

Oscar Night Dinner

Every year we have people over for dinner on the night of the Academy Awards. We also collect ballots, and award a small plastic hippo to the person with the most correct votes. The small hippo is just an effigy of the slightly more substantial plastic hippo that stays at our house, adorned with the initials of each year's winner. Why a hippo? The reasons are receding into myth, but a hippo it is and ever shall be. This year we served barbecued pork butt, homemade onion rings, coleslaw, and potato salad. The first two dishes were made by my spouse, and were exemplary in their kinds. I made a carrot cake and decorated it as shown at the last minute, in a fit of inspiration. "Who drew that Thurber-esque hippo?" my mother asks; I did!

Whole Wheat Egg Noodles

with sauteed shiitakes, chopped-up parboiled rapini, and parmesan.

Trout

with brown rice and shredded sauteed brussels sprouts.

Purple Cardigan

Everyone around me is bemoaning the continuing cold weather. I am bemoaning the approaching warm weather and the attendant close of wool-knitting season in the south. Once the mercury hits 70 degrees it's nothing but cotton, linen, and hemp until next winter. Thus, I'm blowing through my wool projects as quickly as I can; I just finished this one a couple of days ago. I'm very happy with it, as it shows my advancing knitterly skills (in detailed ways that no non-knitter would even believe could matter to a sane person) and my increasing ability to pick projects I'll actually want to wear when they're done.