Spinach, Honey, and Stevie Nicks.

Work ended a bit early, today, in honor of Halloween. I think this is somewhat silly, truth be told, because I was never all that into Halloween. True enough, I enjoyed getting candy as much as the next kid, but it didn't keep me up nights dreaming and wishing the way, say, Christmas might have.

Anyway...

I got home and realized all I really wanted to do was...brace yourselves...go buy my weight in secondhand books and LPs.

So by golly, I did.

Currently, Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" (50 cents!!) is crooning from the phonograph in the corner and I'm a happy, spoiled little gal. Four LPs and at least five or six new books. Plus I stopped at Jo-Ann's and got myself a new stitch counter (to replace the one the fairies stole) and a new circular knitting needle. Rawr, life is good!

But I got home at 8:30 and realized I hadn't eaten a thing. My, my...what to do? Experiment? Forsooth!

Sautee three diced cloves of garlic in some olive oil, add a box of Trader Joe's chicken stock (how I love it so), season with salt, black pepper, and red pepper, then once it's boiling nicely add in a lot of frozen spinach, mixed tricolor kidney beans, and a beaten egg.

Dinner of champions. Especially with a glass of sweet Riesling and some whole wheat crackers slathered with sunflower seed butter. Gosh, I'm still experiencing the joy.

For the record (ha, get it?), I'm a bit in awe of the fact that I've recognized every song so far on Rumours' A-side. This doesn't usually happen to me. I follow a pretty strict "Do not buy the record unless you know and love at least two songs on said record", and I've toed the line quite a bit on a few purchases. But this one is in no danger, on that front.

Have a great weekend, y'all. I fully intend to.

-The GLS
(NaNoWriMo starts in a few days!! AHHHHHH!!)

Teddy Oggin.

I guess I'm never really all that happy about my blog unless I blog about food. Plus, I watched Julie & Julia again tonight and it always puts me in a bloggy mood.

Luckily, I can offer you not only food...but PHOTOS of food, which is always exciting!

So, on we go...



This, for the uninitiated, is a pasty. Pronounced not as "pay-stee", but as "pah-stee"...at least in my family.

According to popular tradition, pasties come from the British Isles where miners would take them as lunches. They were filled with a stew-like mix of meat, veggies, potatoes, and a gravy, and packed into tough pastry that was rolled into turnovers. This made them easy to hold and transport, kept the hands warm, and kept the coal dust out of the food. Common tales insist that miners would discard the pastry after eating the stuff inside, mostly because it was dirty from their coal-covered hands but also as a sort of offering to the mean little sprites living underground that might lead an unsuspecting miner to danger. Apparently, mean little underground sprites like coal-dust-covered, second-hand pastry. Who knew?

My parents made a delicious pork roast the other night, swimming in onions and pepper and other such delights. With the leftover pork, my mom requested pasties. (And yes, for those playing along at home, it is NOT a REAL pasty if the ingredients are pre-cooked before going into the pastry. Thank you for pointing that out. Next time remind me not to link back to Wikipedia.)

I had never made pasties before. I made little venison pies a few weeks ago, which turned out alright but not perfect, so I was a little hesitant.

But digging in my Irish cookbooks I found a recipe for pastry dough that knocked my Connemara wool socks off (flour, butter, AND heavy cream.....what?!) and suddenly I had to try it.

Pork, peas, garlic (from the farmer's market), a gigantic fingerling potato (also farm-fresh), a carrot, some leek, canned mushrooms (we can't have everything we want, now can we?) and a whole lot of cooking sherry. My very first roux (!!) thickened it up nicely, and some dried thyme and black pepper gave it a little zip.

Granted, by the end it was not the desired consistency. I was hoping for more distinct pieces in a sort of gravy, but I added the pork meat WAY too early and it turned into carnita-like shreds by the time I was ready to stuff the pastry.

Boo and bother, it didn't matter one bit. Because they were DELICIOUS. Especially with some HP Sauce and some of my mom's famous salad.

Before:



And...after:



Notice that the HP Sauce has not moved much...but the pasty, broccoli, and tomatoes (in the salad) have all mysteriously vanished. It's uncanny, really.

In the end, I am full of goodness. Happily sipping chamomile tea while I surf the Internet for things I will probably never buy but enjoy looking at anyway.

Incidentally, this is cute.

-The GLS

Meow!

I love it when Colin Mochrie has to finish the Irish Drinking Song all by himself because everyone else is cracking up from his last verse.

It happens surprisingly often.

Classic.

In other news...

What do you do when you have ground venison in the freezer* and some time to kill?

Make experimental wee pasty-pies in your antique graniteware muffin tin, of course! Onions, fresh rosemary, peas, brown rice, and a pie crust made almost exclusively of butter. Side of ketchup, we're in business.

Could I get any more hobbity?

(I'll post pics and possibly the recipe soonwise.)

-The GLS

*Thanks for the venison, Papa Park! Good shootin'!

Catching Up.

I don't know how this happens! I head off to vacation, turn off my computer, and Blogger's issues magically heal themselves.

Here's the cake I made:





Don't I look proud?

And here's the birthday gift to myself from Anthropologie:



Measuring spoons! They're hefty, they're awesome. I love them.

Oh, and thanks to vacay time, this is my new favorite author.

Okay, I think that's it. Now I need to get back to 3:10 To Yuma, because the odds just got unbeatable, and I can't help but love a Western with unbeatable odds.

Mmmm...Christian Bale. And mmmmm...Russell Crowe creepiness. And mmmmmmmmm...unbeatable odds.

-The GLS

Salmon Rillette: A Love Story.

I'm really full.

No, seriously.

My parents and I spent the day exploring an island north and across the channel from where we live. It was a beautiful day, and I may have fallen in love with the idea of living on an island (in dreamspeak, not necessarily in a practical sense). The water was gorgeous, the views spectacular, and there was enough antique architecture to keep me whipping my head back and forth, trying to catch every house as we drove past. Rolling hills and lush forests...gah! What a place.

But the FOOD. So much delicious FOOD. We stopped for lunch on the north-ish part of the island in an adorable little town (who am I kidding, the whole island is full of cute little towns...but I digress...) and went to lunch at a family-run bakery there. I ordered a turkey and cranberry cream cheese sandwich with lettuce on homemade whole wheat bread...with a side of African peanut soup.

Holy cow. African peanut soup is a revelation! The sandwich was almost forgettable next to a bowl of that luscious stuff! Sweet with curry-like spice and full of tomatoes, rice, peanuts (of course), and green peppers. Rawr...so good.

After driving around for a few more hours, we got hungry again, so we stopped at ANOTHER cute little town and realized that their bistro was in the middle of happy hour. So we ordered wine (I got rose...which was quite nice) and then proceeded to go crazy with the happy hour menu.

I need to get this off my chest. We ordered...

-Salmon rillette (a salmon spread with capers and served with crackers)
-Pork rillette (same diff...but with pork)
-Cashel blue cheese (Irish cheese, and it makes you want to cry...it's like butter)
-Burrata (Caprese salad, basically...tomato slices with basil, fresh mozzarella, and olive oil/vinegar)
-Green salad
-Warm marinated olives
-Bread and butter

Seriously. It was bad. There was THREE OF US AT THE TABLE. We left there feeling a bit...stuffed?

BUT, get this: Though I'm not a huge fan of olives, the BEST part about the olive plate was that the little things were served in the tiniest green Le Creuset I have ever seen! It was probably 3.5 inches in diameter! I squealed when it came to the table, I had never seen anything so wonderful! And now I need one.

Oh, I shouldn't even admit this. But we also ordered molten chocolate cake for dessert. What is our collective problem? And why do I not feel as guilty as I probably should?

Because it was delicious, that's why.

Off to research the prices for tiny Le Creuset. Excuse.

-The GLS

Pretzel M&Ms.

No, seriously. Pretzel M&Ms exist. And they're...worth 89 cents? I don't know. They weren't necessarily fantastic. How's that for a glowing review?

But HERE'S a glowing review: ABOUT SCHMIDT starring Jack Nicholson. Quirky, sad, stark, and wonderful. GREAT film. Not for everyone, but a very honest look at what a life well lived might look like. Scared of growing old? Might want to skip this one. It'll make you run screaming for the hills. Also: please do not view if you are frightened of the prospect of a nude Kathy Bates. I don't know about you, but that last idea almost frightened me out of giving the film a go. But it's okay. It's only for a half-second.

In other news, I just dragged my old camp journal out of mothballs. I figure it's about time to look it over. Two summers worth of camp memories are in it, and I thought maybe I'd add this summer too, even though I'm not at camp. No sense letting good paper go to waste! And just because I'm not at camp, doesn't mean I can't do a little journaling. We'll see how that goes.

You'll have to excuse me. I've got a lot of catching up to do, journaling wise...

-The GLS

Feelin' Cheesy...and Cheap.

Hey, GLS...what are you up to?

Oh, nothing. Just eating what is quite possibly the weirdest dinner of all time. And loving it.

Yeah, as I was heading home from church I realized: I haven't eaten dinner. And it's almost 10:00pm. This is a problem. So I stopped in to QFC and wandered around trying to find something yummy AND filling. I wasn't into the deli sandwiches which had been sitting out all day (besides, I wanted a bagel with cream cheese, but they were fresh out). I wasn't about to buy something like a bag of chips, which is unneccessarily fatty and doesn't make you feel any fuller.

I kind of wanted soup, but I knew I wouldn't have access to the kitchen when I got home (parents would be sleeping), so all I would have at my disposal was my electric kettle.

To make a moderate story longer than neccessary and then summarize it: I followed my cravings to a roll of crusty bread, a sample-size wedge of Stilton cheese (yuuuummm), and...a Cup O'Noodle. That's right, we're going with the whole spectrum of foodiness, here.

So here I am, munching away on Stilton and bread and noodles and feeling just grand.

(Did I mention the whole thing cost me $3? Yeah.)

But also lazy, because I really ought to upload a picture of my great-great-grandmother's rocking chair FINALLY at home in my room, but I can't be arsed. Sorry.

Cheese. Bread. Noodles. $3. Win.

-The GLS

Wild, Wild Night.

(Joanna Newsom is crooning "Swansea" in the background.)

Ah, what a day!

First of all...Happy Mother's Day to all of you who happen to be mothers!

It was a fine day. We took a drive up to La Conner, which is an adorable town on a channel about an hour and a half north of home. Lots of antiquing ensued. And YES...there were more housewares than I thought humanly possible. But I spent NO MONEY at all today, which I am pretty proud of myself for.

We ate at a bistro called Seeds, which serves all organic (and freakishly delicious) fare. I had an avacado pepper burger and a cup of curried carrot soup, and I was so full afterward that I thought I wouldn't be able to move.

I also attempted to finish my mom's Mother's Day scarf in the backseat of the car without her noticing. She didn't notice, but I didn't finish. Poo. So, that'll be an ongoing project. It's almost done.

When we got home I was bitten by the cooking bug, so I made whole-wheat soda bread (according to Paul Hollywood's recipe, which I've never done before) and a veggie soup with whatever I could find in the pantry. Both turned out quite tasty, I might add. The veggie soup was basically carrots, onions, garlic, white kidney beans, and french-cut green beans. Before serving I pureed part of it to give it a little more thickness. Add some black pepper and Tobasco, and bam! Tasty.

La Conner kind of made me want to own an acreage. A small one. With a goat.

An early work day for me, tomorrow, so time to say goodnight.

-The GLS
PS: I found this fantastic book called The Country Cooking of Ireland at one of the little shops in La Conner. It was like an encyclopedia of delicious! But it was also $50, so I'm going to take it upon myself to find it cheaper somewhere else. Cross your fingers.

Iambic Parathas.

So much silliness! And gutsiness! Ish!

Fun Fact #1: The Elf Hat of ye long ago is nearly finished. Thank goodness! I actually had to email the original creator of the pattern to ask her a clarifying question, which she promptly responded to. Now I have the answers! I will post pictures when it's ACTUALLY finished, and perhaps when it's on a cute little elfin noggin. That would make the pictures even better, yeah?

Fun Fact #2: I did better than I thought I would on my Logic exam! Huzzah!

Fun Fact #3: I DID try a recipe from my lovely new "100 Great Breads" book this evening. In fact, I tried the "easiest" one (meaning the one that required the least ingredients...and the exclusion of yeast). The recipe was for a sort of Indian flatbread known as a paratha.

First you mix the dough, let it sit for 20 minutes, then roll it into pancake-shaped rounds:



Then you fry the rounds in a cast-iron skillet with some veggie oil until they're golden brown:



You lay them aside to cool:



And finally, you enjoy them with butter, Pav Bhaji (courtesy of Trader Joe's), and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" starring Stanley Tucci:



Mmmmmm...Stanley Tucci.



-The GLS

Home & Pasta Genovese

Best song of the day: "Home" by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. Loved it so much I broke my new "rule" and went ahead and bought it on iTunes (I've been unofficially sworn off of iTunes, realizing that my money could probably be better spent elsewhere...but this song was worth breaking the rules).

In fact, go check out Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros anyway. They are SO epic. Ten-piece band, and the above song has sort of a "Johnny Cash with full orchestral backing" sound to it. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll pump it loud in your car. Wonderful stuff.

I'm currently six pages into my screenplay.

And I tried pasta Genovese for the first time ever tonight! Gosh, it was amazing. Pesto, pine nuts, parmesan, spaghettini, and fresh basil. Yes!

Okay. I gotta go write a screenplay with an Edward Sharpe & Co. soundtrack.

Toodles!

-The GLS

Temptation & Healing

Tonight, I did something truly gutsy. Something I probably should not have attempted, but I was growing desperate. Since it's been almost a week since my debilitating (har har har) run-in with stomach upset, I thought perhaps it was time to step up to the plate and be brave.

This evening...I ate a small cupful of chocolate chips.

.....

Alright, yeah, I know. THAT'S my big gutsy thing for the day? Chocolate chips?

Let's put this in proper perspective. My stomach has been sensitive for a few days, now. I only just allowed myself to have a small amount of milk today, trying to steer clear of dairy products which are not so great on an upset tummy. I've been working up from broth and rice, little by little, so as not to shock the system. I was fine with leaving sugary treats by the wayside. It's good not to overdo it, right? I left the donuts in the breakroom completely alone today (go me!) and didn't feel tempted to buy anything ridiculous at 7-11 on my lunch break. I was feeling on top of the world.

But let's be honest: I've been craving chocolate ever since it became clear that it was the last thing I should have on a sensitive stomach. So tonight was a big step forward into a new and better tomorrow.

...or something like that.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. And I'm glad. Because I really, really missed chocolate.

-The GLS

Twisted Germans & Vinaigrette

Technically it's already tomorrow, again, but that's because I'm working on a knitting project I can't talk about.

Shhhhhh.

But don't worry...as soon as I can I'll illuminate this project here on the gutsy blog. Because it's the gutsiest thing...knitting-wise...I've ever done.

However! I will talk about ONE aspect of the project that I learned how to do that is incredibly fun. Look out for some knitting nerdiness (but all you non-knitters can skip to the paragraph after if you'd like).

Knitting Nerdiness: The Twisted German cast-on is the best thing since sliced bread. It's a stretchier cast-on than the normal knitted one, and thus it's perfect for any hems that need to stretch. Besides that, it's actually REALLY fun to do! For some reason, once you get the rhythm down, you feel like the coolest knitter in the world once you get it. Awesome. I seriously felt disappointed once I'd cast-on the necessary 60 stitches because I wanted to keep going. It's that fun.

Anyway.

Welcome back, non-knitters! My second gutsiness of the day involves salad dressing.

Here's the story...

We went out for lunch at Claim Jumper for my brother's (we'll call him Brother Bear) birthday, and all of us ordered fairly conservatively, knowing well how large the portions at CJ can be.

However, there was a snafu with my sister-in-law's (we'll call her Sister Bear...are you seeing a pattern, here?) order, and she ended up with a side salad BEFORE her meal and also WITH her meal. Not wanting to waste food--and knowing that I hadn't ordered a salad--she offered her second one to me.

I was grateful, but hesitant. I trust Sister Bear completely, of course. But there was something else...another element to consider, if you will.

You see...I have a strange relationship with salad dressings. Milk-based dressings...like ranch, caesar, and especially blue cheese--are totally fine with me. The closer they taste to cheese sauce the better.

But the dressing on Sister Bear's plate was not milk-based. It was balsamic vinaigrette...and what's the root in vinaigrette? Vinegar. My arch nemesis since my days cleaning tables at my first job, where it seemed like I would go home smelling like vinegar every day. It got to the point where I couldn't even look at vinegar without getting nauseated.

It's amazing how much doing a blog creates strange little catch-22s you didn't expect. Like knowing that balsamic vinaigrette angers me, but being powerless against it, because my own claim to gutsiness forbids that I quibble over such trivial things. Plus, I hated the idea of a whole salad going uneaten. My mother has taught me well.

So I took the salad, and I ate it. And you know what? The darn stuff was delicious. I couldn't believe it.

If you need me, I'll be over in the corner with egg on my face, munching on humble pie with a side of crow.

Okay. Maybe that was a bit melodramatic. But just a bit.

-The GLS

Green Beans & Plans

Picture this:
It was lunchtime. Around 11:50am, and nearly time for me to leave my workplace (at a local daycare) and head for my Intro to Mass Media class.

I was sitting down to a meal of chicken nuggets, orange slices, and green beans with the kids I work with, just making 5-year-old conversation and simultaneously pondering a few things that were bothering me about this project.

Now, understand...I had no plans to do anything gutsy until I got home, and I didn't really have anything in mind. In fact, I was a little fearful that I wouldn't have anything to blog about at all, today. This is the way a lot of my plans tend to work out, sadly. A lot of them seem to fizzle early on. Especially blogs.

Sitting there, nibbling a nugget, I started to panic. Is this it, I thought? Four posts and then it's over? Really? I can't do any better than that?

And then she said it. The child to my right...we'll call her Pigtails...loudly announced to the table that dipping your green beans in your ketchup was good eating (or words to that effect).

My table went quiet, though there were a few, "Ewwws" of disgust. Dipping steamed green beans in ketchup? Most of the 5-year-old sages around the table shook their heads, no. Inadvisable. Gross.

But a few brave souls gave it a try, and faces lit up...though I couldn't tell if they were just trying to give a show of enthusiasm for the sake of humor or not.

Pigtails turned to me, expectantly, a green bean poised over her own puddle of ketchup. An invitation.

Fleetingly, I gave brief thought to the innocence of youth, and how much things have changed since I was 5. I visualized a few grand lectures on "when I was your age" or "back in my day". I even tried to imagine what it might taste like. But when it all came down to it, and a few pairs of very wise--if very wide and young--eyes were upon me, I did the only thing I could possibly do in that situation and come away with any semblance of dignity.

I dipped a green bean in the ketchup...and ate it.

Frankly, it was no culinary revelation, but I guess that really isn't the point. I started thinking about all the food-related adventures I used to have when I was a kid. I had a friend who swore by pretzels dipped in Trix yogurt. Another who would mix ketchup, peas, and white rice into a frenzy before he would eat it. It's all about perspective, I suppose. One man's gross is another man's gourmet? Maybe it doesn't matter what mixes with what, just so long as you're mixing at all. Is that right?

I didn't have time to pose this to Pigtails and her ilk. It was noon, and I had to leave, and by that time an intense discussion about Disney princesses had commenced to which I was not invited. But I think my little sages would agree with me.

On the way to class, KEXP gave me the Los Campesinos! latest unreleased single to sing along to and enjoy: "The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future". Lovely. A good day all around, I'd say.

May your plans always get a jumpstart from an unexpected source.
And may you always have ketchup for your green beans.

-The GLS

Ranchy Eggs & Novel Ideas

This morning began with great potential for gutsiness. Clear skies, the mountains looming over Puget Sound outside my window. Perfect.

I drove to pick up my good friend Indefish, whose blog can be found here, so we could head off to Greenlake for church, all the while planning what sorts of gutsiness we could get up to. The plan became to go to a restaurant I had never tried before, called the Honey Hole, in a location downtown that I don't often frequent (Capitol Hill). Perfect gutsiness!

But by the time church got out and we noted the rain that had crept up on us from behind and was now shouting "BOO" in a very self-satisfied rainy-sounding voice, we decided that a drive downtown was not in the cards. And since the project was meant to be mine, I didn't want to guilt Indefish into driving in the name of gutsiness. It wouldn't be fair.

Instead we went to place in our hometown that we love, called Red Twig. It's an adorable little cafe that serves coffee and pastries but also has a decent lunch and breakfast menu. Every time I go to Red Twig I get the same thing: a pesto crepe with turkey, fresh tomatoes, and mozzarella. Absolutely divine.

But, in the spirit of gutsiness, I decided it was time to try something different. So instead of my favorite crepe I ordered their huevos rancheros from the breakfast menu along with a vanilla latte (though I tend to avoid coffee as a general rule, I do enjoy it once and awhile as a treat). The huevos rancheros include steamed eggs, black beans, rancho sauce, pepperjack and cheddar cheeses all served on a flour tortilla with a small cup of salsa.

Review: I give two thumbs up to the huevos rancheros. Very tasty and the perfect size, not an incredibly large serving. The salsa--which I presume is homemade--is fairly spicy and a nice complement to the meal. The rancho sauce has a nice blend of spices.

So, all in all, not a bad decision. Something new, if not the gutsiest thing ever. And the Honey Hole will still be waiting for me on another day, I'm sure.

In other news, though I feel bad dropping another random link in here, I would like to highlight NaNoWriMo, which is a novel-writing "contest" that happens in November. It's a fantastic time, and a really great exercise if you enjoy writing.

I enjoyed NaNoWriMo so much last year that I've decided to do another one starting on February 1st. Indefish will be keeping me accountable, and you can too! I'll be keeping a wordcount here on the blog; I need to reach 50,000 words by midnight on February 28th (it is NOT a leap year), or Indefish will punish me in a terribly inhumane way. I shudder to think.

Anyway! Tomorrow is the first Gutsy Monday. I wonder what sort of treasures it will hold?

-The GLS