The Week in Food

While it was generally an uneventful week, there was FOOD.  Which makes anything and everything better.

Sunday, February 1st

Happy Super Bowl!  Or, as I like to call it, "FRIED Day."  S and I are fans of fried food.  We have been known to eat plates of it for dinner (and then regret it a little later.  But it just tasted so good!)  The Super Bowl is a wonderful excuse to eat fried.

On a Target excursion the day before, I may have talked S into buying a Fry Daddy.  What can I say?  We ended up in the kitchen appliances aisles and happened upon deep friers.  After S declared that she couldn't spend $40 on one, we turned to leave.  And then I saw it.  "S, this one's only $25..."  And the rest is history.

We fried zucchini, we fried mozzarella, mushrooms and asparagus, we fried sweet potatoes, and we made hush puppies and carb wontons.  And by "we," I mostly mean S.  There was also guacamole and 7-layer dip and raspberry pinwheel cookies and chocolate chip cookies.  It was all wonderful!

And, I'll be honest, I didn't really care who won.  I had to be rooting for the underdog, but it really didn't affect my life either way.

Tuesday, February 3rd

An early Thanksgiving!  Roasted Vegetables, Sweet Potato Casserole.  The thought process going into this was simple.  M3 has been away (in Mexico, insert jealousy here,) and many of her "No" foods are very much "YES" foods for me.  So, while she was gone, I wanted to do a meal packed with things she wouldn't want to eat.

My first thought was sweet potatoes.  (Who doesn't like sweet potatoes?  M3, that's who!)  During Thanksgiving last year, I made this lovely ("yummy") sweet potato casserole.  From there, more Thanksgiving-y thing: roasted vegetables.  I roasted potatoes (white and sweet,) parsnips, Brussels sprouts, carrots and asparagus.

I'm a huge fan of all these vegetables.  Growing up, my parents made steamed Brussels sprouts, which are probably healthier.  But roasted ones are surprisingly delicious.  A friend, J, joined us for dinner.  He declared Brussels sprouts on his very short "No" list, but agreed to try one...  And then he loved them!  (Or, at least, he said he did.  I thought they were wonderful, so I'll assume he wasn't just humouring me!)

Thursday, February 5th

Salad, Pesto Gnocchi, Garlic Bread.  Finally, I got a picture of M1's food!

There were many (good) interesting things about this meal.  Well, mainly having to do with the salad.  First of all, I tried turnips, which I really can't remember having before.  They're lovely little vegetables - nice and crispy!  (Also making an appearance in the salad: mushrooms, tomatoes and lettuce.  Turnips were the celebrities, though.)  The second interesting thing was the dressing - we made it ourselves!  M1 was worried about the dressings she had in her fridge, and I'm pretty picky about salad dressing...  But she had olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and garlic - Abracadabra!  Dressing!

The pasta and garlic bread were great, too.  M1 bought this pre-made garlic bread, one that you stick in the oven.  But, there was real diced garlic on it and tons of butter.  And it was delicious.

(M3!  Note the plates!)

All this talking about these has got me thinking about this coming week...  I have no thoughts yet on what I'll make.  Suggestions?  (Kelly???)