April 9, 2008

On my kitchen windowsill, I have an aloe vera plant in a terracotta planter. Every kitchen should have one of these plants, so if you don't, go get one.

The gel inside the leaves is so wonderfully soothing for burns. I tend to get burned when I'm putting something inside the oven, or taking it out, because I am always in a hurry. I bump my hand (top, side–you know, where the skin is the most tender) against the edge of the pan or the oven.

The other thing on my kitchen windowsill is a sad little basil plant. I bought it from the grocery produce section a week or so ago, in optimism that I could actually keep it alive for more than one harvest of the leaves.

Not a chance.

It must be the way they sow the seeds. The plants grow so thickly, and they're not thinned out. Then I cut off leaves, and there's nothing left but stem. I've tried to cut so that the plant branches out, but no luck. It never works. I end up with a pot and a bunch of leafless stems.

Ahhh! My kingdom for a potted basil plant!

What's the trick to keeping the plant growing, producing leaves, in a pot? I'd sure like to know. Are the stems supposed to get woody, and then the leaves keep off-shooting? Any horticulturists out there who can help?

Okay, so what else is on my kitchen windowsill? A bit o'clutter, to be sure. Some vitamins, a little saucer. A penny. That's about it.

Lots of sunshine, too, late in the day, as my kitchen window faces west. Like the sunshine. That's why it's a great place for a basil plant.

Sigh. I'll probably buy another one in a few weeks and try again. Wish me luck.

April 7, 2008

Happy Monday to everyone!

What a weekend I had. I'm pretty much glad it's over, let me tell you.

Saturday, we were non-stop all day–two soccer games, a Pinewood Derby event, my husband at work and me preparing an appetizer and a drink for an Aphrodisiac-Themed Dinner, and then—

Yes, you read that right. An Aphrodisiac-Themed Dinner.

Crab, avocado, oysters (oh, the OYSTERS!), shrimp, arugula, quail eggs(!), passionfruit, nutmeg, cinnamon, chocolate, bananas, chilis…the list goes on and on.

We started our first course at about 8 and didn't finish till after midnight.

A couple who are friends of ours had six couples (for a total of twelve) over for dinner on Saturday night. Each couple was responsible for bringing one course for the meal, and one alcoholic beverage/drink. All had to contain food aphrodisiacs.

We agreed at the beginning of the evening that no one was to ask, "Hey, where did Colleen and Music Man go?" if we noticed someone was missing. And our hosts said if we needed to, we could bring A sleeping bag in case we needed to stay over. Only one, though.

LOL.

This group of people gets together every other month for an event like this (not an aphrodisiac dinner) and they call it Cooking With Friends. They all love to cook, and they all cook well, and each time they get together, there's a theme.

We're not a regular part of the group, but for some reason, we were invited to the Aphrodisiac themed dinner. Huh. Wonder why that was.

Anyway, the dish I made was fabulous and super super easy. So I thought I'd share it for anyone who's interested.

CRAB AVOCADO COCKTAIL 

Can of unsweetened coconut milk (use only one-third of the can for 8 oz of crab)

1 Tablespoon honey

Juice of one lime

1 serrano chili, chopped fine

2 Tablespoons red onion, sliced thin 

salt and pepper

8 oz lump crab meat 

Mix the coconut milk with the peppers, onion, honey, lime, salt and pepper and then fold in the crab. Let it marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes or so. 

Then fold in 1 diced avocado (or less if you like) and let sit for ten minutes. When you're ready to serve, scoop out the crab/avocado mixture with a slotted spoon and put it in a martini glass. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro, serve with a small fork.

Yum.

If I remember later, I'll share the recipe for the drink we made. Passionfruit Punch it was called. Lovely. Very strong. But lovely.

So what did ya'll do this weekend? Anyone see Leatherheads? I want to know if I should go see it. I don't really like Reneé Zellweger, but I love the premise of the movie. Let me know. I'm counting on you. 

Oh, yeah…and my good news that's been perking? Well, I can't tell you yet, but it has something to do with Victoria and a new location in Europe.

April 2, 2008

I hope you've all recovered from yesterday's naughty April Fool's joke.

(Although I'm certain more than a few of you are still considering the possibilities of a slash relationship with Max and Seb.)

And thank you to everyone who really thought that the books had been optioned for a movie…since they didn't, if you know a Hollywood bigwig who might be interested, please, do, feel free to send him/her a set. (Six degrees of separation and all that…right?) Heh.

I had a wonderfully witty, pithy blog topic ready for today when I first woke up, but between getting the kids out the door and off to school and preparing for a meeting I have in an hour, it's disappeared. My apologies.

Instead, let's talk vegetables. Why not? It's getting to be spring and that means planting/garden season.

It sort of follows. In a Colleen sort of way.

I'm a veggie lover. There are only two or three that I won't eat (but I'm willing to try them if anyone can share a good recipe). 

For example…lima beans. I know I've blogged before about how they're tasteless. I have yet to find eating them a pleasure. I'm thinking it might stem from years in my youth of eating Campbell's Vegetable soup, which seemed to be filled with lima beans.

I also, for all my love of Italian and Mediterranean food, don't care for eggplant. Even though it's incredibly gorgeous. I want to eat it. I want to like it. But…it's slimy. Help?

And those mixes of vegetables they serve in restaurants–zuchini zucchinni zuchinni zucchini, summer squash, carrots. Blah. I don't mind the carrots, but the squashes don't do it for me.

Now give me a plate of spinach, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, pretty much anything else, and I'm happy. As long as it isn't too mushy.

Okay, your turn. Good recipes for veggies? Ones you love and ones you love to hate? Whatcha gonna grow in your garden?

PS Does anyone know why eating asparagus makes your urine smell weird?

Just asking.

March 10, 2008

I was grocery shopping with my two daughters yesterday.

Somehow, when I asked the older one to go and grab something I'd forgotten three aisles earlier (God, I love that she's old enough to do that now!), not only did that item appear in the cart, but also something else that I would never have put in there.

Twinkies.

"Please Mom! Please?" she asked coyly.

All right, I figured. Why not. I'd loved Twinkies when I was her age–although I was more of a King Dons fan, to be honest (chocolate and all).

So the Twinkies made it home and became Sunday night dinner dessert. Yippee.

And so I took a bite of my Twinkie (my Music Man intelligently declined) and…ugh. Ugh!

It tasted so…fake. I ate one bite, then another smaller one to make sure my tastebuds weren't hallucinating, and they weren't. So. I pitched the rest of it.

I'll never have a Twinkie again. I vow.

Is it that the Twinkies got worse (ie, more processed) or my tastebuds matured?

So…what childhood treat have you eaten as an adult and went…"Ugh. Did I really eat that? Did I really looooove that?"

March 4, 2008

…but I've been loving me some McDonald's lately.

I know, I know!

But they have this great Asian chicken salad. It's sooo good, and pretty healthy, especially if you keep the sauce off it and use the non-fat dressing and get it with grilled chicken.

It's got veggies galore. Much better than most other Asian salads you get in sit-down chains. Edamame, roasted red peppers, peapods, almonds, mixed greens, oranges…yum.

And it's $5! You can't beat that.

So how do you eat healthy when you've got to eat on the go? Any fast-food suggestions?