A resort, a wedding, and a bear

Normally, at the end of a vacation, I don't want to come home. But this time, I was very happy to be returning.

It was a long week. I missed my husband (and his mom). It was good to see my family again, but I'm not used to the noise and bustle of small children. The high school reunion was a little surreal. My best friend's wedding was beautiful, but I ended up stage-managing a lot of it at the last minute, so it wasn't exactly relaxing. Also, she and the friend I was staying with were on the outs; so there was that to deal with.

Pluses: The resort was beautiful. I got to drive part of the Blue Ridge Parkway, which I hadn't done in years (and saw a bear cub!). When the kids weren't being a handful, they were super-cute. I discovered I'm a fairly competent emergency florist. I paid off another credit card. I'm glad to be home, and ready to work all the time and make a lot of money between now and the holidays.

In blog news, I know it's been a bit boring, and recipe-free, lately. I'm going to take a bit of a break for the time being and do a retool; I want to redesign this thing, and take it in a slightly different direction. (I also feel guilty when I'm not posting all the time; if I remove that expectation, I won't be quite so stressed about it.) So stay tuned!

In memoriam, for my mother-in-law

It's been an eventful few days. I had a great time seeing my friends and old coworkers in Boston--and now I feel no need to ever go back to Boston. I flew into Raleigh, having gotten an hour of sleep the night before, and discovered almost immediately that my mother-in-law had passed away after a long battle with cancer.

I put my husband on a plane and sent him out to Missouri to deal with family stuff. She was cremated quickly, and there will be a memorial service at some point, but no one's sure when or where yet. So I'm awaiting further instruction.

Then, of course, my twentieth high school reunion, which was ultimately fun if a bit surreal. I didn't recognize at least half the people. I did win a $50 gift card for having traveled the farthest to be there.

After that, my family went to Primland, in the wilds of southern Virginia, to celebrate my parents' fortieth wedding anniversary. We're currently in a big house on the side of the mountain, getting ready to go to the spa later in the day for massages. The restaurant here has a drool-worthy wine list, and the views from everywhere are just incredible. I'm sorry my husband has to miss it.

For a lot of reasons, of course. I'll miss my mother-in-law. She was really awesome.

A trip down memory lane

The backyard I grew up in

Tonight, I will be visiting old friends and co-workers at Craigie on Main in Boston, where I used to work. Tomorrow, I'll be in Raleigh visiting my sister. Saturday, I'll be in Virginia at my twentieth high school reunion.

Needless to say, it'll be a trippy few days.

I'll update from the road as best I can...

Because it's that day

As I go into my annual full media hibernation on this day, I think it's only fair to repost my 9/11 story, originally published after Bin Laden's death.

I say it again: I can't believe it's been twelve years.

A high school reunion

It's been an unusually lucrative couple of weeks at work. Add that to the credit cards that have just been paid off, and I'm starting to think I might actually one day be debt free, even with losing ten days of income this month.

Next week I'm off to the East Coast--I'll see my old friends and coworkers in Boston for a night, then spend the rest of my time in Virginia, dealing with my best friend's wedding, my parents' fortieth wedding anniversary, and my twentieth high school reunion.

Naturally all I've been able to think about is the reunion.

20 years. TWENTY.

High school was the longest four years of my life, and I wasn't even there for one of those years, and yet it seems like 20 years have gone by like nothing.

I had a great time at the ten-year reunion, though I wasn't expecting to (largely because I was single and got laid, but that's another story). Most likely I'll have fun at this one, too; people are bound to have changed in 20 years. And even if not, there'll be booze and it'll be a Saturday night off work.

Nevertheless, I'm still thinking about it all the time.

High school was, hands down, the single worst experience of my life. (Second worst? Middle school.) Death, divorce, and car accidents pale in comparison. Getting hospitalized for three days for excruciating stomach pain no one could diagnose? Not as bad as high school. Being stood up, and fired, on my birthday? Not as bad as high school. Dating a guy who wanted to pimp me out on Craigslist? Still, not as bad as high school.

I was teased, bullied, and made to feel unwelcome by pretty much everyone. You name it, it happened at some point--tripped in the hallway, spit on, laughed about in the locker room, pelted with food in the cafeteria, pelted with volleyballs in gym class. If I said anything in class, someone in the back snickered. If I said hello, I usually got, "Why are you talking to me? I'm not your friend." If I didn't say hello, I got, "Why are you such a stuck-up bitch?" I was told that boys would never ask me out because I was a frigid lesbian, and they would rather get AIDS than be seen with me in public. It was a relentless campaign of ostracism; even some of the teachers were in on it. ("You'd make more friends if you just tried a little harder.")

Eventually I stopped trying. I made friends outside the school, starting dating older boys, got involved with theater so that I could hang out with other social pariahs. Midway through my junior year, I realized that if I had to put up with another year, I'd probably become a tower killer, so I exploited some loopholes and left home at 16 to start college a year early. Which was awesome--if high school was the worst four years of my life, college was definitely one of the best four.

And then 20 years went by. There are still some psychic scars--I have dreams about being forced to go back to high school to finish that missing year. I can't walk into a room full of people without mentally cringing, waiting for someone in the back to snicker. I avoid gyms, and locker rooms, like the plague. I see those people on Facebook now, living perfectly normal lives, and part of me wonders, "Do they remember?"

Will this be like walking into the lion's den, again?

No, of course not. We've all changed since then, and it'll be a fun evening of talking to people I never really got to know back then. With booze. Possibly also cool music. I hope.

I paid off some credit cards!

Sorry for the radio silence the last couple of days. My stepson went home on Tuesday, so it's been pretty quiet around here. Just eating leftovers and working. In a week, I'll be back on the East Coast for ten days, so I'm just trying to empty out the fridge and not buy anything new.

In other news, we've paid off some credit cards, which is very exciting. I'm not stressing so much about being the primary breadwinner, because we'll have several fewer bills every month. This ten-day vacation is ten days of earning no money, across two weekends, so that's essentially a third of the monthly income lost. Nevertheless, we'll be okay this month. It felt good, looking at those zero balances.

The next week will be one of omelets, baked pasta, and bean soup--all pantry staples. I won't be cooking anything exciting, but I'll endeavor to find some recipes for you.

Vancouver redux

The last of the day trips with the boy this summer!

The last time hubs and I went to Vancouver, it was rainy and foggy and we didn't do much other than walk around a bit and eat. This time, it was bright and sunny and you could actually see Vancouver's spectacular scenery. It made me want to hop right back in the car and drive to the Canadian Rockies.

Instead, we walked around Granville Island and Stanley Park. We took in the aquarium (expensive, but they had beluga whales), ate at Salt Tasting Room again, and wandered around downtown.

It was a magnificent day, and I think the next order of business, vacation-wise, will be to head up the British Columbian coast to see what else we can find.

Spaghetti with parsley pesto

From Bon Appetit:

1 pound spaghetti
Kosher salt
1/2 cup unsalted, roasted almonds
4 cups (packed) fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
3/4 cup chopped fresh chives
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
Freshly ground black pepper

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain, reserving 2 cups pasta cooking liquid. Meanwhile, pulse almonds in a food processor until smooth. Add parsley, chives, oil, and Parmesan; process until smooth. Season pesto with salt and pepper. Toss pasta and pesto in a large bowl, adding pasta cooking liquid by 1/4-cupfuls until saucy. Season with salt and pepper.
DO AHEAD: Pesto can be made 5 days ahead. Cover surface directly; chill.

Keep your bananas in the fridge

I realized recently I could keep bananas indefinitely--in the fridge.

I don't know about you, but I like my bananas at a very specific stage of ripeness--almost ripe, but still a little green and firm. The problem is that all the bananas in the bunch get there at the same time, meaning that I either have to eat an entire bunch of bananas in a day or two or have to eat some mushy, overripe bananas.

Then I discovered that I could keep the entire bunch of bananas at that perfect stage of ripeness--by sticking them in the fridge as soon as they hit perfection.

Refrigeration keeps things from ripening further (which is why you should never put tomatoes in the fridge). The peel of the banana will turn black after a few days, but the banana inside will still be perfect. And cold, which can be a plus this time of year.

White bean and chard soup

Perhaps this is not the most summery dish, but an excellent way to use up a head of beautiful red chard, nonetheless. (Plus a lot of homemade broth.)

1 bag white beans, pre-soaked and drained
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
olive oil
1 head of chard (or other leafy green), destemmed and chopped
Seasonings: salt, pepper, red chili flakes, cumin, parsley, Italian seasoning
broth

Saute the onion, carrots and celery in olive oil until soft. Add the beans and enough broth to float it all; simmer covered on low until the beans are tender. Add chard and seasonings to taste. Simmer another five minutes and serve, possibly with parmesan sprinkled on top.

Plum cake

This cake might end up a little mushy, but that's because of all the delicious plum juice leaking into it. The cornmeal/semolina gives it a really nice grainy snap that contrasts well with the plums. Another treat too awesome not to share with everyone at work.

From epicurious:

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons finely ground cornmeal or semolina flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of kosher salt
13 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 plums, cut in half and pitted
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Grease and lightly flour an 8 x 2-inch round cake pan or an 8-inch springform pan, tapping out any excess flour. Set aside. In a small bowl, toss the cornmeal, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar together with an electric mixer, until pale yellow and creamy, about 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the whole eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Mix in the lemon zest and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and blend until just combined.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Place the plum halves, skin side down, at even intervals on top of the batter. Sprinkle the brown sugar on top of the fruit and batter. Bake until the cake is golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.

The Captain's Blood

Today's rum drink. Sort of like a rum Manhattan.

1 1/2 oz dark rum
1/4 oz lime
1/4 simple
Angostura bitters

Shake and strain. Garnish with a lemon peel.

Nectarine-goat cheese galette

I ended up taking this in to work yesterday, because it was too pretty not to share with a bunch of people.

And delicious! And simple. It's really just crust, nectarines, and goat cheese. It would be even more delicious with, say, some arugula and chopped nuts sprinkled over the top; or some prosciutto; or a lemon juice-butter-herb sauce; or really anything. It's more of a savory tart, so it's easy to throw some salad or prosciutto on top and call it a meal.

From Spicie Foodie:

Olive oil pastry:
2 cups all purpose flour
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil, or a light tasting one of your choice
⅓ cup cold water, plus extra if needed
pinch salt
½ tsp sugar

Filling:
whole milk or egg wash for brushing
Nectarines cut into thin wedges, I used 5 large
1 large log of goat cheese

Pastry Instructions:
Mix the flour,salt and sugar until well combined. Make a well in center and add olive oil and water. Mix and knead into a smooth dough. Use your hands to gather the dough into a ball. Wrap with plastic wrap or place inside a plastic bag. Leave to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

After the 30 minutes of resting, preheat the oven to 375F, roll out dough to a large circle and to your desired thickness. Crumble and spread goat cheese around center, but leave about 1 inch or 2.5 cm of outer dough to be folded over later. Next arrange the nectarines on top of goat cheese, use as many as you like. Fold the extra outer dough over the toppings, like you see in the finished images. Brush the dough with a little whole milk or egg wash. Bake in center of oven for 20-25 minutes or until the dough feels crispy and is golden brown.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes.

Zucchini-leek frittata

It's been a while since I made a frittata! This has two leeks and two chopped zucchini, very similar to the zucchini-potato frittata (but, you know, without potatoes).

Same recipe, but with parsley added and with a combination of mozzarella and parmesan cheese instead of cheddar. I fried up the leeks and the zucchini until the leeks started to caramelize and the zucchini was soft, then added the egg mixture.

Baked apples with oatmeal crumb topping

I've made baked apples before, but these are apple halves with essentially an oatmeal cookie crumble topping. Two of these make a lovely breakfast.

From skinnytaste.com:

2 large apples, cut in half
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp flour
4 tbsp quick oats
pinch of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350º. Cut apples in half and remove core and seeds with a small pairing knife or spoon.

In a small bowl combine butter, brown sugar, flour, oats and cinnamon. Spoon on top of the apple halves and sprinkle with cinnamon. Place on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Tangy cucumber salad

Going through my refrigerator yesterday, I discovered an English cucumber I'd forgotten about. Voila! Cucumber salad.

From inspiredtaste.net:

2 hot house or seedless cucumbers (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Kosher salt
2 to 3 teaspoons granulated sugar, depending on how sweet you like the salad
1/4 cup (60 ml) cider vinegar, or distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced (optional)

Slice cucumbers into 1/16-inch (1.5 mm) slices, toss with 2 teaspoons of salt then add to a colander. Drain for 30 minutes. Rinse cucumbers then squeeze excess water from them. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 teaspoons of sugar, vinegar and mustard. Taste then add the additional teaspoon of sugar if needed. Add cucumbers and red onion then toss. Refrigerate salad at least 1 hour and up to a day before serving.

Mt. St. Helens, WA

Another day, another day trip. Yesterday we took the boy to both Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier. Mt. Rainier was clouded over--you couldn't see the summit--and there were far too many people there for my liking (even on a Monday).

Mt. St. Helens, though, was an unexpected treat. I guess because it's not a national park, and because it's relatively remote, there were very few people there. The drive up to the Windy Ridge viewpoint was gorgeous--twisty, overgrown mountain roads, lush vegetation, we even saw a wolf. (Beware, though--because the roads are closed during the winter, they're not as maintained as they should be. There are a lot of potholes and frost heaves.) Nevertheless, the driving was fun, and I'd highly recommend committing a full day and seeing both sides, as there is no one road that goes all the way through.

Nectarine and blueberry slump

Are you sensing a theme with the nectarines?

A slump is like a cobbler, but cooked in a skillet on the stovetop as opposed to the oven.

From chow.com, reprinted below:

For the dumplings:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal (fine or medium ground)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup half-and-half
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

For the filling:
5 medium nectarines, pitted and cut into eighths (about 4 cups)
3 cups blueberries (about 1 1/2 pints)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
For serving
Heavy cream

Stir together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, and ginger in a large mixing bowl to combine and break up any lumps. Mix the half-and-half and melted butter together in a small bowl until evenly combined. Pour the half-and-half mixture over the flour mixture and stir until just combined (the dough will resemble a cornbread batter). Set aside.

In another large bowl, gently fold the nectarines, blueberries, sugar, and lemon juice together, then transfer the mixture to a large straight-sided skillet. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the fruit starts to release some of its juice, about 6 minutes.

Drop 8 large dollops of the dumpling batter over the fruit mixture and reduce the heat to medium low. Simmer, covered, until the dumplings are cooked through and the juices are bubbling, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Remove the lid and continue cooking until the dumplings are springy to the touch and no longer sticky, about 5 minutes more. Serve warm, drizzled with heavy cream.

Snoqualmie Falls, WA

The first of several day trips with the boy over the next couple of weeks. Tomorrow we hope to take him to Mt. Rainier!

The Bajito

The Bajito is a mojito with dark rum and with basil in addition to mint. It's more complex than a mojito; the dark rum gives it caramel and brown sugar flavors, and the basil makes it a little spicy.

It's also a great way to use up dark rum when you're out of ginger beer.

4 basil leaves
4 mint leaves
5 slices lime
1 tablespoon simple syrup
3 oz dark rum

Muddle the lime, basil and mint together with the simple syrup. Add rum, shake, and serve over ice.