Why I Have This Blog

So, I've been doing this dinner blog for a couple of years now. And the idea came from a conversation with friends over dinner (Them: "We hate deciding what to cook." Me: "It's my favorite thing to think about!" Them: "Then just tell us what you're making!").

But the bigger idea of blogging in the first place? The willingness to put my too-full-of-dashes writing out there for anyone to see? That came from someplace else.

Four years ago, I joined the National Writing Project by taking part in Oakland Writing Project's summer institute. And everyone said it would change my life. And I pooh-poohed that, because, really, most life-altering events don't seem to take place in a conference room between the hours of 9 and 3.

But the thing about Writing Project is that it has a way of affirming the fact that the best kind of professional development is teachers learning from other teachers. That even though we haven't published books or spent time on the national speaking circuit, we still have lots and lots of valid and important things to say. And the whole process works in such a way that it's kind of this snowball effect: you're learning more about the world around you, and you're learning to express your thinking about it through stronger writing, and that pushes you to learn more and think differently and seek out new resources and better practices.

And it changes your life.

And so, while most of my Writing Project-related personality flourishes show up in my day job at school, I also came to embrace the idea that if I'm writing about LOTS of things I'm truly interested in, I'm going to be a stronger writing teacher. So this blog is my little non-education-related outlet for that.

So I'm sharing this, instead of this week's menu, because this weekend the National Writing Project is holding a Blog for NWP weekend. At first I wasn't going to participate -- most of the blogs are about smart things going on in classrooms. But when I thought about it, I realized that this silly dinner blog is here because of NWP too.

See, despite the evidence that NWP is a program that works, a program that raises achievement of students in classrooms of NWP teachers, funding has been eliminated at the federal level. And I understand the need to cut back and save money -- I do. But it makes no sense to me to remove funding for this program that offers such a HUGE bang for the buck simply for the sake of bragging about cutting earmarks. Doesn't it make more sense to invest in programs that have the best return on that investment? Huh...

So, anyway, this is my contribution to the weekend of blogs. I'll return to my regularly-scheduled dinner commentaries and recipes soon (trying a pad thai recipe tonight I'm excited about). But I wanted to get this out there. If you want to know more, www.nwp.org is a good resource. And it wouldn't hurt to let your legislators know your thoughts, either.

Have a good weekend!

Wishing for Spring...

We're sort of tired of winter food around here. At the same time, I'm feeling a need to do some spring cleaning, and when I went through the freezer, there was a LOT I had forgotten about. So the theme this week is "Getting rid of stuff that's been in the freezer for a while." So when the spring weather really DOES show up, we won't still be trying to use up soup bones and stuff like that.

Sunday

Chili. It's snowy, and blowy, and cold. This is our favorite chili recipe:

All American Chili

and we'll have some kind of bread for dipping.

Monday

Fried rice with veggies: Yummy, and per-er-er-er-fect for using up lots of odds and ends:

Saute veggies, one at a time (cook one, then add the next) in a bit of oil: onions, celery, mushroom, garlic, red pepper -- and whatever sort of makes sense from all those bags of frozen veggies hiding out (you know -- the ones with about a half cup of veggies left in the bottom). Add pre-cooked brown rice. Add some soy sauce and chili paste or sriracha. If we're feeling sassy, we'll scramble an egg right at the end and add it in.

Tuesday

Sort of inventing a recipe here, but it's based on pretty basic stuff:

Lamb and lentil soup

I'm thinking:

Brown lamb bones in a bit of oil, add to slow cooker. Add chopped carrots, celery, parsnip, onion, garlic. A jar of tomatoes, some water, some lentils. A few bay leaves. A bit of salt and pepper.

Cook all day.

That evening, pull the bones out, chop any lamb that needs chopping, and mix it all together. Season if necessary, and eat. I'm thinking it will be good.

Wednesday

Spaghetti squash with pesto and veggies and maybe scallops: saute veggies (whatever's around, but I'm sure onion and tomato and mushroom will be involved), add pre-cooked spaghetti squash (another thing from the freezer: cooked a bunch in the fall and froze it in 2-serving packages), some scallops, some pesto (again, from the freezer... starting to think I might have a hoarding issue) and mix it all together. Top with a bit of parmesan cheese.

Thursday

Grilled salmon with barbecue sauce

Roasted sweet potatoes

Sauteed green beans

And next weekend? Admire all the open space in our freezer...

Quick Dinner Week!

Not much cooking going on this week... Sunday night was leftover salad from Rachel's baby shower, and Monday we went out to the Union Woodshop in Clarkston. (Fabulous, by the way. You should go. And invite me to come along.)

So this is what I'm planning for this week:

Tuesday

I've got some barley cooking right now for Barley and Sweet Potato Salad, from Amy Pennington's Urban Pantry, a book that's right up my alley. It's a mix of recipes, good ingredients, preserving your own stuff and just being efficient in the kitchen. Here's the deal with the salad:

1. Toast a cup of uncooked barley in a dry pan for a few minutes, then add 3 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer for 50 - 60 minutes. Drain and cool.

2. Cube a sweet potato and saute in oil with a bit of salt and pepper.

3. Mix the potato, barley, and about a half cup of chopped fresh herbs. Dress with a bit of olive oil and champagne vinegar or lemon juice.

We'll have some green salad with this.

Thursday

Big salad with all the veggies still hanging out in the fridge (I'm especially excited about the roasted red pepper, cucumber, a little feta -- not a veggie, I know -- and mushrooms. I like to cook the mushrooms a bit before adding them to salad.)

Fry an egg and put it on top

Oven roasted potatoes on the side

So, a tiny little food week. But it should be good, nonetheless.

February 14 - 17

Happy Valentine's Day! We're cooking food we LOVE -- Pizza!

(Really, it's because we were gone this weekend, and haven't had a chance to go to the grocery store, and we can make pizza with pretty much anything around the house. But also we love it. So there's that.)

Monday

Pizza with homemade crust:

Make crust with my lovely KitchenAid mixer -- half white, half whole-wheat flour

Sauce it and top with whatever's available. I know we have half a red pepper and some onion. We also have half a ball of mozzarella, so that'll be yummy. And I bet we can find more stuff to put on it when we start searching.

Bake at 425 for about 20 minutes.

Tuesday

Stuffed portobello mushrooms (from The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen)

Saute chopped onions, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes. Mix with chopped parsley, basil, bread crumbs and keep cooking. Add half a cup of broth, stir and heat. Stuff into mushroom caps and drizzle a little more broth on top. Put in a baking dish, cover with foil and cook for 45 minutes on 400 degrees. Sprinkle with pine nuts.

I'm thinking I'll make a little pasta and serve this over pasta and tomato sauce.

Wednesday

Lentil soup -- I'm choosing between an old favorite recipe and a new one that sounds good. Will update when I decide.

Thursday

Grilled sole

Roasted veggies

Have a good week!

February 6 - 10

Happy Super Bowl! Phil and I have been batting dinner/snack options around for days, but, in the end, we're feeling a little uninspired, so we're going basic this year. But basic can be good, and we hardly ever make burgers, so it'll still be kind of a nice little treat.

Sunday

Burgers on the grill -- probably venison. Lots of good toppings -- sliced tomato, onion, maybe blue cheese or feta. Mmmmm.

Oven-baked sweet potato fries (slice sweet potatoes, coat with olive oil, chili powder, salt, and spread out on a cookie sheet. Bake at about 425 degrees for 20 minutes or so, depending on thickness of potatoes)

Coleslaw (shred cabbage, add diced onion, a little bit of tiny-chopped red bell pepper, then mix with some mayo, white wine vinegar, a tiny pinch of sugar and a little salt and pepper. Better if you make it and let it sit for a while in the fridge.)

And probably some good beer. I had a Founders Dirty Bastard last weekend, and really liked it, so I'll be looking for some of that today. Or we can just go with whatever's in the fridge.

Monday

Because I can never get enough sweet potato...

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili

with leftover coleslaw on the side!

Tuesday

Grilled salmon

Succotash-ish (I sort of make up my own -- I'll mix lima beans, corn, red pepper, red onion, saute it around a bit, maybe add some crumbled bacon. Season with red wine vinegar, salt and pepper)

Wednesday/Thursday

(I'll cook this on Wednesday, but we'll still be eating it on Thursday)

Broccoli-Meatball-Spaghetti: I copied this from a blog post just over a year ago. Like I said below, I crave it about once a year. Last year it was January 17, so I'm off a bit...

Meatball Broccoli Spaghetti: This was my favorite thing to cook in high school, and I usually crave it about once a year. This is the lucky day. I'm revamping a little bit so my arteries don't shriek, but here's my latest variation:

Sliced mushrooms

olive oil

2 c. broth (I'll probably use chicken, as I just made a bunch last week)

1 lb (or a little less, if I can find a small enough package in the freezer)ground venison or buffalo

1 c broken whole wheat spaghetti

3 c chopped broccoli

salt, pepper

parmesan cheese

1. Saute mushrooms in a bit of oil.

2. Add broth, bring to a boil. (This is rhyming so far!)

3. Make little meatballs with burger, salt, pepper. Drop in broth, simmer about 10 minutes.

4. Add spaghetti. Simmer 10 more minutes.

5. Add broccoli. Simmer 10 minutes, or maybe less -- depending on how done you like your broccoli.

6. Season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle some cheese on top.

January 15 - 20

I don't usually include weekend meals on this list (because, frankly, how much can one say about take-out pad thai?) but we had a lovely Saturday night dinner that we made ourselves, so I wanted to share. And also, the rest of the week's plan...

Saturday

So, another fun Christmas present: A beeeeeautiful, white, solid, tough, KitchenAid stand mixer. I've coveted one from afar for so so long. We've used it three times now, twice for making pizza dough. And it makes very good pizza dough. I've been avoiding making my own dough since our breadmaker finally bit the dust -- I tried mixing it in the Cuisinart, but the consistency was never good. And I'm not a patient kneader. But I'm in love with this dough hook. The dough is easy, and only takes an hour to be ready to bake (which was WAY faster than the stuff the breadmaker would do):

About 2 1/4 tsp. yeast, mixed with a cup of warm water and stirred until it dissolves.

Add 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp olive oil, and 2 1/2 cups of flour (I mix white with whole wheat).

Mix in the mixer for about 5 minutes (speed 2), adjusting flour or water to get the consistency right. Put in a greased bowl, spray top of dough ball with cooking spray, and cover to let rise (about an hour). Flatten (I'm still trying to toss it in the air like pizza guys, but I'm afraid I'll drop it or rip it) and lay out on a baking stone. Top (we used pizza sauce, red onion, marinated red pepper, mushrooms, pesto chicken sausage, some leftover asparagus, mozzerella) and bake at 450 for 15 - 25 minutes.

Sunday

Lamb shank and Cranberry bean soup (from Chez Panisse Cooking):

In olive oil, on low heat, slowly brown a lamb shank (ours is about a pound). The recipe says to cook it for 30 minutes, but it also calls for about two and a half pounds, so I think this whole meal will be more about "guessing" than "measuring".

Remove shank, pour off fat, then add some more olive oil to the pan and brown diced carrots, onions, and celery. (Again, measurements will be sort of random -- sorry, Alice Waters -- probably about 1 carrot, 1 onion, 1 celery stalk.)

In a little cheesecloth square that I'll tie into a bag, put about 1/4 cup of peeled garlic, 2 bay leaves, 2 sprigs parsley, some thyme, and tie up. Add it to the pot, along with a can of tomatoes, a tablespoon balsamic vinegar, and about 4 - 6 cups of water. Put the shank back in, and bring to a gentle boil, uncovered. The recipe says to let this cook for 2 hours. We'll see. Meanwhile, cook about a cup of shell beans (I'm using cranberry beans). When the lamb seems done, remove from pot, let cool, and remove meat. Turn the heat up on the soup to let it bubble gently for 15 minutes. Skim fat and orange-ish foam. Add meat back to the soup. Drain beans, add them to the soup.

Serve with a gremolata (mix chopped parsley, 1 very finely chopped garlic clove, and lemon zest) on top.

Monday

Got another new cookbook recently: The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen. We're trying some pasta from it tonight (though I can't promise the meal will stay vegan -- I imagine some grated Parmesan cheese might show up)...

Penne with Porcini Mushroom Sauce

Soak an ounce of dried mushrooms in a cup of hot water for 15 minutes. Chop the mushrooms after, but strain and keep the water.

Saute (in olive oil) a chopped onion, a bit of oregano, basil, and sage. Add 8 oz chopped fresh mushrooms, dried mushrooms, and 2 chopped cloves of garlic. Cook for a few minutes, then add the mushroom soaking liquid, a can of tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, a tiny pinch of sugar, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Boil, then reduce heat and simmer until thickened. Meanwhile, cook the pasta. Put it all together!

Tuesday

I'm wanting grilled salmon. It might snow. So we'll grill, if the weather is okay, or probably broil, if it's too yucky.

Runner's World had a recipe for brussels sprouts that we'll try for a side: (2 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tsp grainy mustard, salt: whisk together, slice sprouts in half, toss with the sauce, roast at 400 degrees for 20 minutes)

Wednesday

Beef stew (from the freezer: we froze leftovers in individual portions, so we'll use some of that today)

Thursday

Potato-spinach soup (another Runner's World recipe -- lots of good stuff this month!)

Saute a chopped onion, add 4 c broth, a box of frozen spinach, a chopped potato, a teaspoon cumin, salt, and pepper. Simmer until potato is tender. Puree in a blender or with a stick blender. Add lemon juice and half a cup of plain Greek yogurt.

Have a good week! Stay warm!

January 9 - 13

Phil is to thank for me keeping my cookbook-using resolution on week 2 of this attempt to cook more from cookbooks. Without his perusal, and finding of Sunday's dinner recipe, I'd be off the resolution train already! But he was looking through Scots Cooking, by Sue Lawrence -- I bought it during our second trip to Scotland -- and found this recipe:

Sunday

Roast Venison with Raspberry Sauce

(The real recipe is for black currant sauce -- but it gets that flavor mainly from 3 teaspoons of black currant jelly, and I didn't want to spend eight dollars on a jar of jelly that I might not use unless we made this recipe again -- and my mom gave us some lovely homemade raspberry jam, so we're using that instead.)

Melt 2 oz butter and 2 tsp jam in a pan. Add the venison roast (about 3 lbs) and brown in the butter/jam mixture. Season with salt and pepper, then put it in the oven at 425 degrees. Cook between 12 - 15 minutes per pound (so 36 - 45 minutes, if you have a 3 pound roast) -- closer to the 12 minute side for rare, closer to the 15 minute side for medium-rare. Take it out, cover with foil, and let rest for about 20 minutes.

Pour off most of the fat from the pan, then put it on the stovetop. Add 3 tablespoons red wine, 2 tablespoons sweet vinegar (the recipe suggests black currant or raspberry vinegar, but I think we'll use balsamic) and scrape up all the bits from the pan and bring to a boil. Add a teaspoon of jam and about 10 oz of hot beef stock and some thyme and simmer until it's a nice consistency.

We'll have boiled little redskin potatoes and peas with this. And bread.

Monday

Breakfast for dinner:

Banana and peanut butter pancakes

Scrambled eggs

Grapefruit

Tuesday

The halibut recipe from last Thursday -- we never had it. Both of us ended up having surprise meetings that night, so we pushed it back to this Tuesday.

Halibut with Lemon Herb sauce

Roasted cauliflower

Wednesday

Another copy from last week, but this one I actually tried:

Spinach baked potatoes

I absolutely loved, loved, loved this. I used a sweet potato instead of a baking potato, and added some mushrooms and tomatoes to the spinach viniagrette saute, and it was fa-a-a-a-a-abulous. So I'm doing it again.

Thursday

Pasta (probably whole grain fettucine) with artichokes, shrimp, spinach, and pesto: That's the basic recipe. Cook some pasta. In another pan, saute artichokes, shrimp, spinach. I'll probably add some onion, because I love onions. Some pesto at the end, when I add the pasta to the saute mixture. A little bit of the pasta water to help make a thick sauce, then simmer it all together in my big pan for a minute or so. Mmmmmmm.

Have a good week!