A new year, a new lentil

Happy New Year Everyone! Did you all eat your black-eyed peas for good luck? I didn't, but I always aspire to and my grandmother does each year. I'm glad January is here. The holiday season for me is always mostly wonderful and very complicated. I'm still figuring out how to best enjoy and savor the holidays. This year I had so many good intentions and made many good mental notes, but had such little follow-through. I never got my daughters a new ornament in order to mark each year of their childhood. And I never did throw that super-low key and super-amazing Christmas party. I did however make an oyster stew for Christmas eve. That was pretty much the highlight of what happened in my kitchen -that, and the fact that Naomi and I survived several rounds of cookie baking together. If you ever need to work on your patience and perseverance, bake something with a two-year old. But, hurrah for January! I've given up trying to stop shopping at Whole Foods Market. And instead I just try to make tiny little trips, buying merely bananas and french lentils and superior olive oil at half price, for example. That is what I got today and I'm so excited. If there is anything that will get me back in the kitchen it is this.

The Girl Who Cried

Has anyone ever staged a comeback comeback? I'm sure they have, but have they been successful? Probably not. There's gotta be a first, right? And what is success, anyway? Success for me looks like making one post in the year 2012. It's something. So, I'm not asking you to stay with me just yet. You should and must call my bluff. All excuses aside, here's to life as it looks like right now. Busy, but in the most uninteresting way -unless you consider changing diapers, squatting while singing "the more we get together" while your first-born sits on the potty and various other child-rearing activities interesting. Maybe you do. I grossly underestimated the amount of time I would spend squatting while parenting. I can't get through one day without someone admiring my daughter's boots, which I proudly got at a thrift store, but those laces might be the end of me. And my latest most wonderful discovery in the kitchen? Flageolet beans. They are wonderful. Try them if you haven't already, especially if you are in a bean rut. Introduced to me by the lovely, Louisa Weiss, in, My Berlin Kitchen, and now I see that Barefoot Contessa has incorporated them into her latest cookbook, Foolproof. All three of them, the beans, the memoir and the cookbook, are on my Christmas list. :)

Brooklyn BBQ

On Friday night, a must-know, must-love bosom friend of mine had a 30th birthday bash at Mable's Smokehouse in Brooklyn, NY. It was one of those last minute decisions to go when afterward you say "was there ever any doubt that I would be there?". If you can't go there with Anslee, at least get yourself some pulled pork and collard greens. Also awesome - Dad's Cough Syrup -whiskey and Dr. Pepper.



http://www.mablessmokehouse.com/index.html

Blueberry Bay

Paradise, an oasis, heavenly is Blueberry Bay. It's in Stratham, New Hampshire. If you can't get to it this summer then know that I enjoyed it to the fullest on your behalf. They have blueberries to pick and flowers to cut and it's one of the more perfect places on earth.



http://www.blueberrybayfarm.com/

And we're back.

After moving from Lancaster, Pennsylvania to Somerville, Massachusetts, having one baby girl, and consuming many meals not blog-worthy (and some that were), We Are Back. I didn't know what would get us rolling again until last Saturday night. Now it is clear that I was waiting for Russ Parsons' Lamb-Stuffed Cabbage Rolls. I'm not sure who this man is but he has a gift. I found the recipe on Wednesday Chef, which if I remember correctly is exactly where I first found inspiration a year and a half ago when this blog began. Now the Wednesday Chef is living in Berlin with a book contract and I'm sitting in my living room with my black-eyed peas soaking and a baby asleep in the next room.

But back to Saturday night when a craving for meat led us on a recipe hunt which then led us on a walk to Savenor's where the nicest butcher in the neighborhood ground us some fresh lamb. When he reemerged from the back and held out the meat, I knew it was going to be a good night. And it was. The dish turned out better than we could have hoped and I'm still thinking about it, and definitely still talking about it.

Lemon Soda

I had a lemon soda in New York City this past weekend. Had I watched the guy make it I could tell you more about it. But I didn't, so all I can do is tell you how perfectly delicious, fizzy, and tart it was, and then tell you where to find it.

156 Tenth Avenue at 20th Street. Cookshop restaurant and bar. Go there on a really hot day. On the sidewalk, there will be a wooden cart with a yellow umbrella and a chalkboard sign with "Lemon Soda" written on it.



In accordance with this citrus memory, I'm making Middle Eastern Lentil Soup tonight. The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. I may end up adding more than that in a vain attempt to recreate my lemon soda experience by way of lentils. I think you might know how this will all turn out. But I'm rolling with it because a meal will be made, which is something.

On Blogging and Sodium

I am starting to realize that in the world of blogging sometimes it is necessary to ignore the long-endured principle: "If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all." I know that the blogosphere is a world unto itself operating by a totally different set of rules than regular life, but it still takes some getting used to.

Because the blogging world will not wait for you to have a pretty thought or craft the perfect sentence or cook the perfect meal. Nope. The bus blows right on by, leaving you with arms waving to run with all your crap to catch it at the next stop. When you beat it there you are grateful, but you wonder if it was worth it. Well, it is always worth it, but the sprint in between isn't much fun.

That was a digression in its purest form.

There have been several things that I have cooked since I last wrote. Some of them noteworthy, some of them not. The Ramen Noodles (Oriental flavor) are worth a brief mention only because I enjoyed them so much and feel compelled to remind my audience that sodium is an electrolyte that plays a crucial role in maintaining blood pressure (insert footnote here).

The Fettuccine Alfredo that we made recently is definitely worth a mention because it was so good. I know that this dish is on the heart healthy watchdog list, but it is worth enjoying every so often, especially when every so often means every other year or so. Giada adds lemon juice which was my favorite element in this dish. And the Parmesan cheese:



1 1/2 cups heavy cream (I used half and half.)
1/4 fresh lemon juice (from about 1 lemon)
6 tablespoons of butter (check)
1 to 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (from about 1 lemon)
Pinch of nutmeg
Salt
9 ounces fresh fettuccine (I used dried.)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

In a large, heavy skillet, stir 1 cup of the cream and the lemon juice to blend. Add the butter and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, just until the butter melts, about 3 minutes. Stir in the lemon zest and nutmeg. Remove from heat. (My liquid seemed to curdle. I thought about starting over, but forged ahead and everything turned out okay.)

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the fettuccine and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but still firm to the bite, about 4 minutes. Drain. Add the pasta, the remaining 1/2 cup of cream, the Parmesan, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper to the cream sauce in the skillet. Toss over low heat until the sauce thickens slightly, about 1 minute. Season with more salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the pasta to wide, shallow serving bowls (if you want) and serve immediately.