Food, May Massive Update.

Here's the deal: I have well over a month of food to post about... But, frankly, my memory isn't that good, and I apparently took very few pictures. SO. It's going to be quick and dirty. Also, breaking this into May-and-June and then July, lest I get bored and don't finish ;)

Tuesday 5/26/09: White sangria, empanadas with roasted red pepper sauce.

Okay, this one, I happen to a) have pictures of and b) want to write the recipes out because it was so frickin' good. Since this was so long ago now (whoops,) I've actually been talking about these and plan on making them again - TOMORROW! So, here we go:

White Sangria

I've experimented with sangria a bit this spring / summer. Honestly, it's kind of difficult to go wrong.

Whatever "white" fruit you can find (apples, mangoes, oranges, lemons, etc.)

3 oz. brandy

2 oz. Triple Sec

1 c. OJ

1/3 c. pineapple juice concentrate

[Combine the above. Let sit - in the refrigerator - overnight.]

Add 1 c. ginger ale and 1 bottle sparkling white wine shortly before serving. Enjoy!

Black Bean Empanadas

[GO MAKE THESE NOW.]

2 sheets, puff pastry (I use Pepperidge Farm...)

1 egg

1 T water

1/2 onion, diced (small) - I tend to use "red" onions.

3/4 c. corn

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 red pepper, diced (small)

1/2 c. tomato sauce

1 t cumin

1 T chili powder

1/2 t crushed red pepper

1/2 c. "Mexican" cheese

15 oz. black beans, rinsed, drained

2 T cilantro

1. Thaw pastry sheets (about 40 minutes.) Preheat oven to 375. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Stir egg and water together in small bowl.

2. Saute onion, corn, pepper, garlic until tender. Add tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder, red pepper; reduce heat to low, and cook for 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in cheese, black beans and cilantro.

3. Unfold pastry sheets on a lightly floured surface, and cut each sheet into six rectangles. Put ~1/2 c. filling, folder over, press edges with fork to seal, and brush with egg mix.

4. Bake 18 minutes, until golden. Serve with GUACAMOLE. And sour cream, if that's your thing. And salsa. And red pepper sauce [see below.]

[This recipe is something of a combination of this recipe, and a meal I had at Border Cafe.]

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Red pepper - Roast by cutting, seeding, and roasting at 450 for 30 minutes, turning once.

1. Place pepper in airtight container till cool; peel skin off.

2. Food process the heck out of the roasted pepper.

3. Add garlic, salt, pepper, cilantro, balsamic vinegar and cayenne pepper.

This was one of my favourite meals. Writing about it makes me SO EXCITED about tomorrow.

Sunday 5/31/09: Asparagus risotto, garlic bread, strawberry rhubarb pie.

If there are recipes to come, they're going to have to come from M3, as I have no idea. Particularly loved the rhubarb pie - my mom introduced me to this vegetable (fruit?) early, and I've (surprisingly) always liked it!

Sunday 6/7/09: Black bean burgers, potato salad, corn, guacamole.

M3 used the black bean burger recipe that I posted here (and we've used it a few more times since - a true keeper!) Otherwise, memory fails. M3: What potato salad recipe did you use??? (For those of you unaware, I hate mayonnaise, so I'm constantly trying to perfect a non-mayo potato salad recipe.) (HATE mayonnaise. Cannot emphasize this enough.)

Tuesday 6/14/09: Mimosas, stuffed French toast, hash browns.

Total repeat of this meal!

Sunday 6/21/09: Bruschetta, caesar salad, ravioli.

M3, was this the meal that you made that black bean sauce for??? (Clearly, can't remember. However, I can't hate anything that involves caesar salad.)

Tuesday 6/23/09: Bread with oils, garlic bread, pasta with roasted tomato sauce, panna cotta.

HA. I was looking for all these recipes - they've all been done before - and they actually all came from ONE post... A long one, but still!

Saturday 6/27/09: Red sangria.

Okay, this wasn't a meal, per say, but, as noted above, I've been playing with sangria this summer, and I think this one came out really well! (This was made for the pirate ship adventure, noted here.)

Red Sangria

Package of frozen mixed berries

Apple, sliced

2 c. Cran-Raspberry Cocktail

8 oz. Chambourd

2 oz. Triple Sec

2 T confectioner's sugar

[Combine the above. Let sit - in the refrigerator - overnight.]

Add 2 bottles red wine. Pour over ice. Enjoy! (And make sure to eat the fruit!)

Sunday 6/28/09: Garlic bread, pasta with sun-dried tomato / pesto sauce.

Fail memory. Mmmm, food.

Tuesday 6/30/09: Veggie lasagna, garlic bread, strawberry shortcake cake.

This was in celebration of UJ's half birthday! Lasagna was the first Tuesday dinner I made. However, this cake is truly amazing! It's so light and fluffy - I've made it a couple of times now, and I always feel like I could eat the whole thing myself... Luckily, this hasn't happened... YET. (And, I didn't change a thing!)

Okay. That's it for tonight. I've been watching Code and Lyle play all evening, and I may explode from the cuteness, so you can expect something on that soon!

Oh... And food from July! Goodness!

Lyle!

So, I believe that I've declared myself a dog person before here... And I'll hold to that.

However, my roommate recently got a cat. And he is SO FRICKIN' CUTE. Even though his new favourite game is to swipe at toes with his talons. SO FRICKIN' CUTE:

K named him Lionel. However, when she told me this, she threw out, "It's kind of like 'Lyle,'" which sealed that I would call him Lyle forever. See, one of my first memories of living with K was one evening, we were watching the Discovery Channel (we're cool, srsly,) and a show called "Walking with Dinosaurs" was on. In this show, we were introduced to the Liopleurodon, who was killed by some other giant, prehistoric sea monster. But, we called him "Lyle." We then proceeded to go to work the next day and try to find him online. Googling "Lylepleurodon" resulted in nothing, which clearly meant that I was going to figure out what this creature was called. Obviously, successful, and K and I sometimes still bring up our sea monster friend, Lyle.

Lyle, the prehistoric sea monster, Lyle, the kitten, whatevs.

He and CodeDog seem to be getting along okay. Sometimes Lyle hisses at Code, but it's all in good fun. This is my favourite picture of the two of them (so far):

Lyle: Too fast for the camera!

Ummm... Hello?

Riiight... Remember when I was proud of blogging for several days straight? That clearly went to hell. BUT, trying to get back into it. I only have a few moments right now (totally owe someone a letter of recommendation...) but, as I haven't blogged for, what?, well over a month, there's a decent amount that I can randomly spurt out in just a few sentences!

Therefore, I give you, notable parts of my past month-and-a-half:

1. First food. Wait, no, that'll get its own post. I'll summarize it by saying: I ate a lot.

2. 5/25/09. Memorial Day was spent in S'ville with S, M1 and UJ. Mojitos, tons of food and sitting on a deck.

3. 5/30/09. We finally had our Nostalgia Party. Between the awesome prom dresses (see below!) and the photo albums and home videos (featuring M1 at the zoo, M3 cheering, UJ singing "I'm a Little Teapot," etc.,) it was a hilarious evening!

4. 6/7/09. There was the Week of Baseball. M3 and I got work tickets to a Sunday afternoon game, then we went to the Tuesday night Yankees game (which we won,) and then we went to a Diamondbacks game in Phoenix on Friday! Loved each and every game.

5. 6/12/09. I went to Phoenix! First time in Arizona. M3 was going to visit her sister, and M1, M2 and I tagged along... You know, across the country... Was a weekend full of food, hanging out, playing with sister's dogs, baseball, tubing - lots of fun!

6. 6/19/09. I had dinner with a high school friend. Not that this is incredibly noteworthy, but I hadn't seen Meredith in, literally, years, so it was cool to catch up with her.

7. 6/20/09. Then came Movie Week. So, I saw two movies in a week, not that notable, but I don't see movies that often, and we went to Cambridge, 1 before both. (Love that place. Possibly I go to movies because of Cambridge, 1.) Saw The Hangover - hilarious - and My Sister's Keeper - total chick flick, exactly what I was hoping for.

8. 6/25/09. I got an iPhone! Turning into a true Mac-lover. Certainly love my new phone. At least till I dropped it and broke it. Luckily, the lovely people at Apple replaced it without question! Winner!

9. 6/27/09. Pirate Ship! Last year, for M1's birthday, she organized an outing involving a pirate ship. Basically, you bring the drinks / food / whatever, and this ship totes your around Boston. Despite the mist and chilly weather, I had a blast!

10. 6/29/09. NEWEST. BIGGEST. TATTOO. I'm getting a half sleeve. I had the first three hours done last week, and I'm so frickin' excited about it. I'm going to save pictures for later, as it, frankly, looks unfinished (I actually have had a couple of people say "It's not done yet, right?",) but it's going to be awesome. Next appointment is in less than two weeks.

11. 7/3/09. Movie Day / BBQ. It was discovered that UJ hadn't seen Step Up, and I hadn't seen The Departed. We remedied this all in one afternoon, and then headed to the N. End for a BBQ with some of UJ's friends. Lovely.

12. 7/4/09. Happy Birthday, USA! Per usual, we went down to the Esplanade, convened with the masses. After finding our nice little spot in the grass, we broke out the sangria and food, played Hearts for a few hours, and just enjoyed the weather and people-watching.

13. 7/5/09. Happy Birthday, M1! Three-cubed! Woo! To celebrate, we picniced in the Public Gardens. Again, fabulous weather! (Knock on wood.) Everyone brought food, and, once again, I stuff myself. It was awesome.

Okay, that's the quick and dirty. Lots of food to come, as well as (hopefully) some interesting stories... Till then, just know I'm alive!