More Latest Addictions

It's still officially winter here, though Austin's are notoriously short. The trees are starting to bloom, so hopefully I'll be out and about snapping new photos soon. In the meantime, I'm holed up with a flu, so this edition of Addictions will be homebody-related.

• Ru Paul's Drag Race - Tracy turned me on to this and I lurve it. I so miss the drag scene in San Francisco, and this show manages to be terribly campy while still kind of heartwarming and poingiant.
• Homemade Cough Syrup - this stuff works better than codeine. Recipe below.
• Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer in Sin - Drag-queen worthy, this stuff is a great highlighter, and if you wear it under your shadow and liner, nothing will budge for hours. Bellydancers, take note!
• Battlestar Galactica, Season 4 - The best show on TV, and one of the best sci-fi epics ever. I am such a nerd for this show.
• Soups and Stews (list below) - The best bet for dumping all my CSA veggies into something comforting and tasty.

Homeopathic Cough Syrup

2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp Cider Vinegar
4 Tbsp Water
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Simmer for a few minutes. Take by the teaspoonful. The ginger and honey is soothing, and the cayenne acts as an expectorant.

Soup and Stew Recipes

• Chicken Green Chili with White Beans - I use way more green chili than the recipe calls for.
• Tagine of Lamb and Apricots in Honey Sauce - David's favorite.
• Southwestern Pork Soup - super fast, sub canned hominy for beans for a faked up posole.
• Orange Saffron Shrimp and Snapper Stew

Holidays 2008

2008 was an eventful year. It was my first year of marriage. There were births and deaths. I started a company. We elected a president I actually like. It hasn't been the year of hell for me that it was for many people, but it certainly was intense. Overall, I'm a lot more comfortable in my skin than I was a year ago, and I attribute that mostly to the necessity of letting go of control that comes with starting a business, and to my marriage, which has been a tremendous blessing.

This year we flew to Los Angeles on Christmas Day, and drove to Santa Barbara. I love not having to take multiple flights. We had celebrated my birthday with friends the previous Saturday, and Christmas with the Quimby clan on Sunday:

On Christmas day we flew to California and spent a few days in Santa Barbara with family and friends. Meeting my new niece Saraphina was especially fun:

Isn't she a doll? Speaking of dolls, check out Miss Maxine, now approaching the ripe old age of two:

It was foodie bliss at my parents' house, as per usual:

Beef Wellington with Celery Root Mashers and Port Reduction

Hoshigaki White Chocolate Truffles

Tortilla soup with fried shrimp

Cajeta Ice cream with Mexican Cookies

And we found some time to get out and do some nature photography:

Shaun and I (mostly Shaun) cooked a dinner for our parents' 40th anniversary:

Then it was off to LA for a couple days of sightseeing and catching up with friends. We had lunch at a dumpling house in Arcadia with Rheia and Dave:

And dinner in Hollywood with Elender and Bergen, who treated us to the Amazing Cat Show:

The next day we did some sightseeing, ate at a fabulous restaurant in Glendale called Carousel, and it was back home again.

We're happy to be home, and happy to be spending time with our Austin friends and family again. Happy 2009!

1001 Uses for Squash

We're drowning in squash. A few months ago we decided to get a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) subscription. What this means is once I week I go pick up a big box of fresh veggies, and some fresh eggs. This has created all sorts of interesting culinary challenges. Mostly, how do two people eat several pounds of vegetables in one week? Here are our main survival tactics:

• Share it- there actually is a limit to the amount of arugula, kale, and okra (there's a very low limit for okra) that we can eat, so we spread the wealth.
• Pork and Cheese - everything can be cooked with some form of pork (bacon, prosciutto, ham) and cheese (feta, parmesan, cheddar).
• Stuff it - it turns out several food types can be adapted to different veggie and herb combinations. We've done crepes, fritatta, pasta, quiche...

This month's challenge is summer squash. Yellow, crookneck, pattypan, and zucchini are overflowing in the fridge, and I've had to find all sorts of interesting ways to use it. Turns out zucchini can be used in chocolate cake, for reals. Turns out it really sucks in chocolate chip cookies. I found some creative ways to use it in other stuff too. For example, if you grate it really fine, and press out most of the water, you can use it in pancakes! Seriously, it's really good. I also grate it coarser and put it in potato pancakes - using about half potatoes and half zuccini (squeezed out in cheese cloth), combined with chopped onion, fresh sage, a couple eggs and some flour. Then I pan fry it until golden and serve with low fat sour cream and smoked salmon. Yummy! Here are a few of my other favorite recipes so far:

Sauteed Baby Squash with Basil and Feta
Shrimp and Squash Penne
Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Stay tuned, next month we'll be swimming in sweet potatoes!