by Christine | Blog Appearances, Observations
Just wanted to let you know – I’ll be at Rochelle Weber’s website all this week. As well, tomorrow I’ll be over at Castles and Guns with another interview.
Plus…I’m finally getting the blog up to speed, based upon a class I took in Blogging by Kristen Lamb (now, don’t laugh! Some of us need more help than normal, lol!). In a week or two I plan to be blogging at least twice a week – Gardening and Cooking on Mondays, and All About Affordable Wines on Fridays.
Hope you come back soon and check it out!
by Christine | Cooking, Observations
It’s been awhile since I cooked something adventurous. Since we’re always looking for flavorful vegetarian dishes, I decided to work with eggplant (totally forgetting that by itself, it’s just not flavorful). Last night, I tackled a recipe from Food & Wine Magazine, one that didn’t look complicated (just work-intensive, like so many of their recipes). The recipe is in a section of the magazine that highlighted the “new” red wines.
I made Mushroom Stuffed Eggplant from their April 2011 issue (pg 134). This recipe apparently pairs well with Xinomavro which was compared to Oregon Pinot Noir (but the Xino tends to be more tannic, and goes best with hearty dishes), but not having a plane available to hop to Greece for a bottle or two (and not wanting to go wine hunting after a grueling yoga class), I settled for a solid Pinot Noir that I know and like a lot, from Blackstone. I can usually get it for under $6 on sale at Vons. (But the whole wine thing is another blog post!)
Well, I made the stuffed part – I did what I was told, cut the meat of the eggplant out (which is NOT easy -I needed to drink a full 4 oz of wine to get through it) leaving a 1/4″ thick shell. Then I salted it and let it sweat for 30 minutes (while preparing the stuffing – dry baguette cut into cubes and mixed with red wine; cut mushrooms and sauteed them on the stove; sauteed the cut up eggplant on the stove; sauteed a yellow onion with garlic and a bit of cumin on the stove, mixed those three together. Then I wiped out the eggplant shells, rubbed them all over with olive oil, put them cut side down in a pan with 1/4 cup of water, covered them with foil, and baked for 45 minutes.
Yeah. 45 minutes. By the time that was done baking, in happy anticipation I lifted off the foil and prepared to turn the eggplant over to stuff them.
Except, the eggplants were flat. And soggy. And burned to the pan. All three, which kind of blew my mind. WTF? I downed a short glass of wine to think this out. Quickly ditching the whole “stuffed” thing, I got out my trusty 8×8 pan, sprayed it with cooking spray, and then mixed the stuffing together – bread cubes, mushrooms, eggplant, onions and garlic. Checking the recipe, I noticed it called for “young” pecorino.
Um. Excuse me? “Young” pecorino? Not only not knowing what that is, nor where I would be able to purchase it, I tossed in the scant handful left of Trader Joe’s shaved cheese mix (parmesean, romano, and asiago cheese) plus another half cup of mozzarella. A teaspoon of salt and pepper each, and then into the oven it went.
The recipe wanted me to up the oven temp to 425. I saw that as a waste, so kept it at 350 for 15 minutes, then put it under the broiler 4″ away from the flame for 4 minutes. It came out crispy on top, tender inside, and nicely cheesy.
I did make substitutions along the way – the recipe called for a red onion, which I forgot to buy, so I subbed a yellow onion. It also called for a full pound of mushrooms – I knew I had an 8 oz package in the fridge, so thought I was set. It wanted a day-old baguette – um, sorry, baguettes NEVER last more than one meal at my house – so I bought a fresh one, cut it up, and toasted the cubes in a dry pan on the stove on really high heat for about five minutes. Oh, and it also wanted a full teaspoon of cumin added. We’re not big cumin fans at my house, so I only added 1/4 tsp.
Recipe upshot?
Taste-wise, it gets a solid B (and maybe that was because I didn’t “follow” the recipe). Overall it was bland except for hints of the cumin and of course the terrific cheese I’d sprinkled in (though on second thought, perhaps a sharper cheese like feta would have been better). Prep-wise, it gets a definite D. I think I could take this recipe and modify it for people who actually work and don’t have a year to spend in the kitchen making dinner. This might be a really great stuffing for bell peppers; the recipe itself wanted more of a punch taste-wise (perhaps that was the cumin’s job?), and bell pepper would certainly add that. Even browned spiced ground beef or turkey (not too much, maybe a scant cup) would give it the extra oomph it needs.
But – yeah, overall kind of bland and that definitely could have been my fault. But it makes me think – why did the F&W folks pair a wine that goes best with hearty dishes with THIS dish? O.o
I don’t think I’ll be doing much with eggplant in the future. As my hubby says, eggplants are just not worth the effort. Except for Eggplant Parmigiana, but I prefer to order that one out!
by Christine | Cooking, Life, Observations
My mother was the Holiday Ho while I grew up. Not that I mean that in a bad way! She was always there with valentines and candy, green cupcakes at St. Paddy’s day, Easter baskets, amazing 4th of July desserts, Halloween treats, Thanksgiving feasts, and the best Christmas presents. The thing is, she was ALWAYS THERE for every single holiday.
Me? Not so much. Oh, I show my love. I remembered yesterday to buy the valentine cookies at the grocery store. I was stumbling around at 6:00am, looking for coffee beans because I had a ton of pages to edit still and needed COFFEE. The valentine cookies were a side benefit. However, they did the trick this morning – I put one in a baggie for my 17 y/o son, and two in a baggie for his girlfriend. He grinned at me – I’m sure he completely forgot Valentine’s Day. It’s his first girlfriend – if she can’t train him, then she’ll at least get a couple of heart shaped cookies.
I will have you know that I did make the evening meal special. Don’t laugh, I did! I made my favorite turkey with fresh sage meatloaf, shaped into individual heart-shaped servings. Add a terrific cider-onion gravy and voila, love (and dinner) from the heart. Hand-dipped chocolate strawberries are for dessert.
As I’ve been writing this, though, the smoke alarm has gone off three times because of the meatloaf; the potatoes won’t mash right; and the broccoli looks funny.
But hey – it’s the thought that counts, right? Happy Valentine’s Day!
by Christine | Observations, Thursday Thirteen
Every month has something special about it. Today I’m highlighting January’s gifts and chores…oh and remember, I’m in Southern California. There are things on this list that others in snowbound places can’t even contemplate until Spring.
- First hangover of the year on January 1st! (That’s if you drink. Or eat waaay too much at the party the night before.)
- If you haven’t yet, it’s time to prune the rosebushes. No pain, no roses.
- Clean out summer’s vegetable garden and prep the soil for this year’s garden.
- Enjoy the rain. Likewise, if it’s been raining and you get a cloud-free day, enjoy the sun!
- Chop up the Christmas tree for firewood. Place in big garden bags so the branches stay dry.
- Go hiking. Especially a couple of days after a rainstorm. The hills will be green, everything will be cool, and it’s a different hiking world than it is in summer.
- Hit up the beach. Wear your heavy duty sweats and watch the waves (wind depending, of course). Make sure you stop at one of those tiny roadside places and pick up some New England clam chowder to go. Enjoy while snuggling with loved one. Best part of the beach in winter? No one expects you to get into a bikini.
- If you must, plan out your yearly goals. Feel free to adjust them – remember, they’re more like guidelines for your year, rather than strict rules.
- Reach out to folks you didn’t get to talk to during the hustle and bustle of the Holiday season. Drop them a line or give them a call – you’ll be surprised at how relaxed people are at this time of year.
- Pare down your living space. Get rid of stuff you haven’t looked at properly in over a year. If you’re not seeing it anymore, it doesn’t belong in your life. Or maybe it just needs to be moved to a different room. This is aimed mostly at art, any and all collectibles gathering dust, and family photos.
- Have a portrait taken of yourself. Just you. No family. Either get a talented friend to take it, or go to the mall and get it done, but do invest. Everyone needs at least one good portrait taken each decade of their lives.
- Nurture yourself. Whether by regular meditation sessions, reading poetry or other thought-expanding literature, or purchasing a really good skin cream, take this time while the world has slowed down to be good to yourself. If you aren’t, who will be?
- Count your blessings. Keep an attitude of gratitude, and be open to the wonders that are sure to come your way.
I’m sure there are more gifts and chores available in January – what are the things that you do this month that you don’t tend to do in any other month? I’d love to know!
And if you’re interested in playing, go here to Thursday Thirteen and get the scoop! Let me know if you are, so I can track back to you.
Cheers!
by Christine | Life, Observations, Writing
In my house, we have always had a live Christmas tree. Tall, piney, sometimes lopsided and wobbly, I can never remember not having a live tree.
The year my hubby and I celebrated our “first married” Christmas, we were in Seattle. He was on tour, I came out to visit for a couple of weeks, and we got a tiny, Charlie Brown-type tree. That year we also put on two special ornaments that we got from the shops in the area, plus lights and tinsel and tartan bows. Neither one of us wanted to deal with breakable ornaments, so we went soft.
Ever since then, though, wherever we go through out the year, we look for an ornament to put on our tree. Now when we decorate, we can remember our trips – Seattle, Vancouver, Paris, London, Amsterdam…even the LA County Museum of Art has provided us with an interesting ornament.
In my Demon series, the Caine men remember their childhood tree filled with angel ornaments that their late, beloved mother had collected. Every one was special; every one had a story, but most of those Angel stories have been forgotten. Or have they? I’m working on a Christmas Novella for the Caine men and the Angels their mother left behind.
What kind of Holiday Tree traditions do you carry on, year after year? If you’re a writer, do you have holiday traditions for your main characters, whether you have a holiday story or not?
by Christine | Observations, Writing
Now listen up, folks. This is a lesson for everyone who uses email for important communications. What I am about to tell you is imperative for you to assimilate and REMEMBER. The remembering part is the really important part.
Are you ready to be enlightened? Okay, here we go…ahem.
When you are doing any kind of business via email, it is imperative to double check to WHOM you are sending said email. Otherwise, such business could a) go to the entire company; b) go to everyone but the person you had expected it to go to; c) go to YOURSELF because you were stupid enough to have replied to your own email.
So. Guess which one happened to me, when I sent the REQUESTED FULL to the editor who was anxiously waiting to receive it? Yes. I sent it to myself. MYSELF. (Palm to forehead sound here.) Thank goodness said editor is lovely and patient and sweetly enquired today if I were still interested in sending it to her, or if I had planned to shop it around instead?
So I, completely boggled, sent it immediately to her (thank goodness I remembered the flash drive with the novel on it!) and told her I’d send her another follow-up email, just in case my messages weren’t connecting for some reason. So I sent it off and did my research of my “send” box.
I was so embarrassed to find I’d sent the novel to myself. In my defense, I will say I was up at 4am that morning and had been doing taxes (and that’s another story and not my fault), because I didn’t want it to seem like I was nerdy and needy and anxious to get the file to her. And because I wasn’t fully awake (only on my second cup of coffee, for goodness’ sakes), I sent the stupid novel to myself and have been biting my fingernails (figuratively – I had a manicure last week) ever since, waiting for her reaction.
So then I had to follow up with a, gee, I goofed, I sent it to myself email. I just hope she believes me because, darn it, it’s the truth, as stupid as it may be.
Now I think I will go to sleep. When I took off my eye makeup, that stuff got in my eyes and they’re all blurry now…
…and that’s the end of the lesson.
