Synopsis 2...

...

So, of course Thanksgiving yielded delicious leftovers. The turkey wing that I gnawed on for lunch on Saturday will stay with me for a long time: salty, crispy, briny, juicy, amazzzzzinnnngggg.

4)

::pause:: I just realized these will post out of order. If you are confused by the placement of the number 4, read the last post first. Ok. Unpause::

4, again) Secret Ingredients 1, at my house.

Actually, this one deserves its own post with pictures and tons of description, so I will hold off.

Basic idea: underground kitchen. people pay to eat, chefs get to experiment, and everyone goes home happy. more later.

5) Now at AP, there is a crazy amount of work with college applications. This is fine and expected. Last year I was at the office until 10 for two whole weeks. This time I've barely done it at all! So, that being said, I haven't done a lot of cooking. . . which is kind of ok. Sarah and I have gone shopping to stock up, so that we don't have to buy food out this next week before winter break. Some of our concoctions so far have been:

- super tomato and onion-y pasta sauce with fettucini and parm

- lots of salads with spinach, endive, lettuce, and other various veggies

- free pizza (both from an odd-job on Sunday, and from my school. hooray for parent night)

- Indian food (thanks, rob!)

-- ok, so those last two weren't concoctions. but they were free! --

- chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies.

p.s. we watched the movie Taken the other night and it gave everyone the heebie jeebies. We were all so scared, and chewed on roughly 20 cookies between the 3 of us, and lots of milk.

We also bought the fixins' for chili, white bean and kale stew, sandwiches (thank goodness I can eat sandwiches again), and lots of rice chex and fruit for healthy breakfasts. The only thing we are lacking is tea. Our tea has been seriously depleted.

6) Team Farell and friends potluck.

This was actually just last night! My supervisor from last year invited her current team and past team members over for a potluck. This was a seriously good potluck - everyone got it right! This potluck included:

- a soft St. Andre-esque cheese and apples

- a salad with homemade balsamic dressing

- arroz con pollo

- yams with andouille sausage

- baked little sausages inside of dough with cheddar cheese and apple (don't know the name of them)

- pecan pie

- berry pie

- wine and beer galore

- elephant ears

- a big fat bunny that ran around the house all night. this was not on the menu - just a pet.

I also played my first game of Settlers of Catan. Surprisingly fun. Now I can truly say I went to Macalester I guess.

7) Tomorrow night I am hosting another potluck at chez moi for Macalester friends who I have not seen for quite a while. Our dearest Kelly is leaving, so we need to see her before then! More on this later, since I don't yet know what people will bring.

....

And thus is my month synopsized. (word?)

More on the Secret Ingredients later on. And fingers crossed for a more regular updating of this here bloggity blog.

Synopsis...

...

1) Ben's Thanksgiving. Where I broke my gluten free experiment (thus ending the first monthly theme). Amazing turkey, vegetables, wine, stuffing, mac and cheese, pies, soup, yams, salads, cranberry sauce, etc... quite a feast, and we were all rolling out of the house on 2x4s.

2) Casey's potluck chez moi. Casey turned 25, and since he lives with his madre, he asked if we could host at our house. Gladly! we thought. It was a great chance to meet some of his local friends, and reconnect with AP friends. Unfortunately, this was the unluckiest potluck I've ever had. Food included: a tray of lasagna that Casey himself made. A cake that Casey's mom made. A cheese platter that Sarah and I put out. That was about it. Now, don't get me wrong. The company was great. We had a great time. Casey got sufficiently intoxicated for his birthday. But let's get a few things straight about potlucks:

- you cannot show up with only wine, unless the host asked, "oh, we're running short on booze, could you actually pick some up?"

- it is good practice to actually prepare something ahead of time. Lacking the resources to do so, at least buy something that could be assembled, so that it is still fresh and with some love in it.

- at the very least, bring something prepared that is still yummy.

Let's be clear, though. All of us have broken this formula at least once. That is ok. That just means you end up with an unlucky potluck.

At our potluck, though, the lasagna was amazing, and Sarah and I melted some brie and enjoyed it with a fresh boule from the co-op, and some fig spread. It was quite decadent. I think its delights were lost on our crowd, unfortunately. However there were no qualms about it. Also, everyone gobbled up the lasagna. And I was told a few times that the chocolate cake was the best cake anyone there had ever had. We then ate gummy bears and I got a stomach ache. Fin.

3) Actual Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My favorite holiday of the year, except for my own / other's birthdays, because those are good excuses to do really fun things. Anyway. The big holiday was at my house this year. Since I flew home on a Thursday, we didn't host until Friday, which is mildly disconcerting if you are used to celebrating on a Thursday every year.

At least I was in the country this year! (Sorry Mom and Dad).

Highlights of this meal included: a deliciously brined turkey. Really. The best one we've ever made. Stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce. I recreated the squash and corn pudding, which I made wayyyy too many. Oops. Leftovers! There was some yummy "wait, that's not gluten-free bread?" bread, which one of my dad's cousins brought, thinking she was being very clever, but it turned out to just be bread. It's the thought that counts, right?

I was recovering from a bad flu/cold at this point, and so at approximately 5 pm I left the table and took a nap on the couch for 45 minutes. Ha! It was the best nap ever.

In terms of communal eating, Thanksgiving was actually fabulous. We had some of the easiest family personalities to work with, and everyone got along great! The main topics of conversation were: my dad's cousin being a new grandpa, (congrats!), jury dury, Twitter, surgery, immigration, and some people asking me about Somalia and if that's where all the pirates are. Oh, geographical separation. I love it.

Embarrassing

Ok folks, so it has officially been almost a month since my last update. Embarrassing. That means that many people have probably stopped reading altogether. It also means that I have neglected this past month's theme: which was communal cooking/eating/potlucks. There have been many, and they were kicked off by Ben Pierson's friend Thanksgiving, about halfway through November...

I think the reason I've put off writing is that once you are behind, a blogger is faced with a tricky scenario: catch up, or just keep going.

I'm going to try a bit of both.

Instead of elaborating on all of the month's cooking adventures (which there have been many), I am going to give just a brief, tiny synopsis. And hopefully I'll get around to uploading pictures, too. I will also try and stay much more on track so I don't have this dilemma again!!

Checking in on the food experiment

It has officially been a month with the gluten free diet. As a refresher, I began this experiment because my mood had been a little shaky, and apparently gluten intolerance runs in my family. So, I gave it a shot.

Everyone has been asking about it, and now I feel like I have a conclusion.

Mentally, I do feel pretty great. My mood is fairly stable. I find happiness and peace and fulfillment from most things. I have not been getting stressed very easily. I've been really good at leaving work at work (although this is difficult when you live with people from work). I've been going to a lot of yoga, and trying to be more mindful in life. Little confidence issues that I had been experiencing have not been rearing their heads as much.

Now, in terms of physical health. Can't exactly say I noticed a difference at the end of the day. To get really gritty: I was expecting different digestive and bowel patterns... but didn't notice anything there. I was thinking I'd have a lot more energy, which is kind of true. But no matter the day, I always crash at 2 pm in the office. I also thought I might lose some weight, because this happened for my dad (don't worry folks, this wasn't a goal, just though it would probably happen), but I don't think that really happened.

Here's what I did notice: I didn't really miss the wheat products. I was eating more vegetables, other grains, a lot of eggs, and I was getting more adventurous with cooking. I've made a lot of new dishes that I really enjoyed. I had to get more creative. Sure, I didn't eat sandwiches. That meant I cooked more dinners and had more leftovers. And, so I never went hungry, sometimes I ate frozen things from Amy's or Trader Joe's.

As any good experiment goes, now I will have a control: I am going back to a normal diet for at least a week. No restrictions, no limitations. I won't think, "oh, that has gluten, maybe I shouldn't." Nope. I am just going to eat as I normally would, this time last year, perhaps. This time I will be paying careful attention to my digestion, mood, and energy level. I would think that I would notice something this time, if in fact I should be living gluten free.

And the way I kicked it all off? Thanksgiving dinner at Ben's house. Stuffing, noodles, pie... the works! It was exactly one month on Sunday the 15th, and so I indulged, and felt terrible. But, honestly, I felt terrible because I ate 3 pounds of food and drank a lot of wine, not because of wheat.... or at least I assume.

Well, since I have so much catching up to do, I'll brainstorm my next few posts:

1) recipes I've tried recently

2) places I've eaten

3) This month's theme!!

4) Other social gatherings and food related items.

I can't wait for Thanksgiving. I'll give you all a hint about this coming month's theme:

Communal Eating!

More to come...

2 weeks?? Oops!

Wow, folks.

I start off with an apology: I am deeply sorry for how much my life has been consumed by work, because it means I've not been doing a lot of things I like to do. For one, I haven't written in this blog for almost 2 weeks. Also, I haven't knit anything since I finished my adored hat. I have not seen my college friends, even though they are amazing and everywhere. I haven't even seen that many work friends, although I have, because when I'm not working, I've been going to the bar with work friends.

So, some highlights since November the 4th (which was election day last year!!!)

My dear friend Ellie came to Minnesota from Barcelona, Spain, to attend a community arts conference. She was a lovely guest on our couch, and unfortunately was jetlagged and recovering from the Swine Flu, (and she is not a going-out-to-the-bar kind of lady), and so we had many nights in. I did finally watch Up! As it turns out, there were three people left in the state of Minnesota, aka my group of friends and family, who had not seen Up. These three people were me, Ellie, and my friend Anthony. We all happened to be in the same place, after going out for Vietnamese food (yum, as always). So, we rented Up. I cried a lot. Made some jokes about the cone of shame, and Doug the dog. And that crazy bird. And aging. And life long love. Awww shucks, what a movie.

Other movies of the weekend were Rachel Getting Married, (loved it, but what was with the Indian wedding? Just because they are a rich Connecticut family, and Tunde from TV on the Radio is in it, they get to appropriate Indian culture?! Bah!) Also, Babe! Sarah and Zach and I watched Babe, and we just had a hoot.

In other news, I have begun a Thursday is the New Friday tradition with work friends, since we don't go to school on Friday. What. A. Good. Idea. It makes Thursday feel so much more final, and very refreshing. A trip to the bar, some fried food, and board games? You can't really go wrong there.

Only one week until Thanksgiving! Fabulous!

This post has not been about food at all. Dammit.

November is Writing Month

At work, one of my friends just suggested the idea of forming a creative writing group. Poems, prose, fiction, non-fiction, prompted, un-prompted. Everything.

Included in this group is the idea that November is "write a novel" month.

Yeah. Right.

However! We've adapted this so that everyone is encouraged to write something, anything, every day in the month of November. We are a bit delayed, though, and I started today. I can't remember the last time I wrote a poem. Perhaps if any of them seem worthing of leaving my computer, I might post them.

I am very excited to be writing again. It feels like right now in life everything that I always tell myself I want to do, I am finally doing. Knitting like crazy, writing, cooking, going to yoga, seeing friends (well, I'm not doing enough of that). It is time to reclaim mySELF, and I am very excited about it. As Annie said, "this is your last year there. enjoy your friends, and avoid drama." And that, friends, is what I intend to do. I get a little emotional even thinking about it.

Enchiladas for lunch, dinner, lunch

November is officially here, and with November, it means that October is over. I used to love October, but with this job, October is killer. It is not fun. It is too many hours, too many days, too many RSVPs and deadlines.

But November! Hooray! My office mate told me that I was being very vocal yesterday, which I was, but it was mostly to counteract the incredibly dreary, downtrodden nature in the office. Part of my cheerful nature involved singing little tunes about November.

"Nooooovember! it's novemmmmber! It's not Octooooober!"

And many such things as that.

Yesterday evening I left work relatively early. I meant to go to yoga, but that morning I got my annual flu shot, so my arm was basically paralyzed all day. Unable to lift my arm above my shoulder, I concluded that yoga was not a good idea (downward dog with a dead arm? no thanks). Instead, I came home and made a whopping tray of enchiladas. I did them in a style I learned from a dear friend of mine, Liz, but with consultation from Asa (thanks, Asa!!).

The result was fabulous. bell peppers, zucchini, black beans, corn, carrots, diced tomatoes, and tons and tons of good spices. topped off with some delicious corn tortillas, enchilada sauce, and cheddar cheese. The smells were divine, and the colors were even better. I don't think I've ever had such success improvising the seasonings for a dish. A confidence booster for sure.

Oh! I just got a call from my Dad that the Yankees won the World Series! Goooo New York! Although, to be frank, I haven't been following baseball at all since the Yanks beat the Twins. I had some real Minnesota pride this year. Gooooo Twins!

Anyway, enchiladas. Delicious. I was very impressed with the chance of the whole matter. It was also nice to just have some therapeutic downtime. After a day of worrying about 33 other people (ah, lovely students), it is so nice to decompress at home with a glass of wine (wine is gf!!), and some tunes, and some snacks while you cook. ::sigh:: this is the good life. Can't wait until that is every single evening next year with AO.

The night concluded with a trip to the Tavern on France with Sarah and some of her friends from college. Not exactly my place, but they had a mean happy hour. I was bitter, because there was nothing on the menu for me to eat other than chips and french fries... boo. UNTIL. The waitress saw my frustration and asked, "are you gluten free?"

"Yes," I mumbled, pissed off and grumpy.

"Well, our bartender has Celiac's, so we started a gluten free pizza, and it's really good! You should try it!"

"No, thanks, I already ate dinner. I just want some damn chicken."

"Well, if you change your mind, just let me know!"

Her chipperness was getting to me. I was feeling grumpy, and who was she to try and make me spend more money?

::ten minutes later::

Sarah says, "Elyse, are you crazy? How often will you get pizza?! Even if you don't want it now, just order it, bring it home, and enjoy it later."

So that is what I did. And it was quite good!! Grilled mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, and a completely edible crust! How do they do it?! I'm glad I was won over by the peer pressure.

On a non-food note: there is a scholarship going out right now for our students that have overcome the BIGGEST obstacles, and DAMN, this is a tough one to work on. Tearjerker every 5 seconds if you really stop to think about it. So I'm torn: best to not think about it? Or think about it deeply, reflect, and then feel really terrible about how easy my life has been?!

But I'm telling you, some of these kids. Wow. They have been through 100x harder experiences than I'm sure I'll ever even see. Makes getting hit by a car seem like eating a delicious piece of cheesecake. Speaking of cheesecake, I discovered that there is a traditional dessert I can enjoy: homemade rice crispy bars! Hooray!

I say Hooray! a lot.

"Do you feel any difference?"

The answer is... not really. No. But I'm still planning on giving it a full month. So far it's been 2.5 weeks. We shall continue to see!

I realize it's been about a week since I posted. The reason being: work! We had a huge deadline last week, and I was working long days, and needed to unwind with Arrested Development, tea, and little else.

However, on Tuesday I did finally make the squash and corn pudding dish. YUM. It was a huge success. The corn pudding was very light, but very flavorful. The squash was cooked perfectly: not too soft, not too hard, but enough texture to make each bite really substantial. There was not a lot of room in each acorn squash half, though, so I did have a considerable amount of corn filling left over, which I baked in a muffin tray!

Wednesday dinner was... nothing, actually. I had some snacks, because I was at the office until 10. That was kind of a bummer.

Thursday! A salad with chicken and goat cheese. Nothing special.

Ah, but Friday. Friday was a big day at the office, and ordered some Pad Thai, and then came home and made a scrumptious little pasta sauce and gf pasta. So good. And thank goodness, because there were leftovers, which were my only sustenance on Saturday at work. AP bought everyone pizza, but alas, my request for a food substitute went unanswered, and so I was very glad I had the pizza leftovers.

Last evening, Halloween, me and the roommates were hankering for some pho. So, it was off to Quang for a delicious beef pho. There is so much in the bowl that I brought it home and ate it for lunch today (lunch was at 3 - it was a late start to the day).

And, for dinner, I experimented with a new recipe. Braised lentils, kale, and a fried egg! Hm!

Mmmmore kale! The dish was really yummy, although I didn't think the flavor of the lentils really mixed that well with the garlic in the kale. However, the kale was scrumptious, and the fried egg on top left it feeling really tasty and rich. Delicious, and super healthy!

Lastly, I realize I am starting to miss the baked goods, etc. Sarah made biscuits this morning, and I was so bummed I couldn't eat them. I am missing the idea of bread as a base to put other things on. So, I shall need to find a substitute. On a positive note, most Halloween candies are still fair game!!

And, approaching midnight, it is time for bed, and to begin another long week. At least we don't have any more Saturday obligations for a while... other than the campus visits I signed myself up for. Darn!

Headache? Try ginger tea.

Tonight we went and saw Where the Wild Things Are after work. It was, magically, only $5, even though it was at one of the fanciest theaters around. Zach and I got home and had approximately 10 minutes to stuff our faces. Salami and cheese? Check. Spinach and basil and mozzarella egg scramble? Check. Yummy chocolate for dessert? Check. It wasn't that bad. I even scarfed down some homemade applesauce from Rob. Great! I did feel a little ill in the car due to the speed of my eating endeavor.

Now I am back at home. I usually do work on the weekends, as mentioned yesterday, to avoid working at home. However, with this movie, and with our impending deadlines, I have been forced to work at home tonight, but only for an hour. It wasn't too bad, I promise. I even downloaded the WtWTA soundtrack, and enjoyed the sweet sounds of Karen O.

So, tomorrow, I will do my new weekly yoga routine, (hooray, TaraNa), come home, and make dinner. I will finally make the squash and corn pudding dish, which has been on my to-do list for a while now. I have all of the ingredients, and will just listen to music and have a night to myself in the kitchen. I'm pretty excited.

Oh, scholarships. Oh early action deadlines. Oh tax forms. Will it all get done? Probs not. But, at the end of the day, you just have to sigh, close your eyes, and know you are doing the best you can. In the end, it's really up to the kids. Oh! One of my students went on a campus visit to NYC for free! Can't wait to hear how that went. They texted me today and said, "I'm walking around in Harlem!" Cool!

Ah, and as the title of this post suggests, I have a headache. I've had it for about two days. Which is strange. I am drinking a lot of tea, and I will make sure I don't (gasp) have coffee tomorrow. I will, however, need some form of jolt in the morning, because I've been very sleepy sitting in our jungle/sauna of an office. It's literally 10,000 degrees. Maybe this is leading to the dehydration... hmm.....

Ok, off to bed, and a heat pack, and some How I Met Your Mother, my new favorite show (other than Mad Men, Top Chef, and Project Runway of course).

This is from Annie, and it looks amazing

http://lavalake.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/grilled-top-round-of-lamb/

I can't wait for Seattle... we can cook like this all the time! (If we have money. Which we probably won't. Great.)

Public transit, families, and coffee shops

I've fallen into a routine of spending a considerable amount of time at coffee shops on the weekends getting ahead on work. A friend told me, "don't work too hard", and I explained that this is my way of not working too hard. If I can get ahead on the weekends, then I can go home at the end of the day feeling not feeling obligated to work past 7 pm. Which I am never a fan of, let's be honest.

So, I've spent the last three Saturday afternoons at one of my favorite Twin Cities spots, the May Day Cafe. The May Day is a wonderful spot, and is hard to describe. It is 1 part house, 3 parts community hang out spot, 2 parts kids play zone, 2 parts art gallery, and 4 parts delicious. Unfortunately for me this week, they are always producing and displaying the most decadent and scrumptious looking desserts. The May Day, while very welcoming to all people of all backgrounds (they are really quite intentional about this, and it's fabulous), has not made the foray into GF baked goods, which is understandable, obviously, but too bad for me! So, I go, I drink my coffee, watch the treats, and wait for the day that they make a cheesecake and I leave the crust behind.

With the onslaught of the Hini (we call the swine flu hini at work, because it is funnier), I feel like everyone around me is questioning their health. I sadly fall into this category - I've not felt 100% for a couple of days. Slightly dehydrated, slightly scratchy throat. Sarah had a cold, so maybe that's part of it. I am just hoping I can avoid the bug, and not get a debilitating sickness (although how nice would it be to knit all day!)

We ate some really terrible Mexican food at my job's fall gathering, but the atmosphere was lovely, and there were corn tortillas, so I was content. Late that night, after much boozing on my friends' parts (I was DD, thank you very much), we made a stop to the Uptown Diner for some late night breakfast. This was fabulous: hash browns, bacon, and eggs. How can you go wrong? Saturday morning, after catching up on sleep (also after being woken up by students texting me at 7:30 AM the morning of the ACT...), I went to Victor's Cafe for brunch with Rob. Corn tortillas, fried plantains, eggs over easy, and homefried potatoes. Yum yum YUM. I always feel like a million bucks when I leave Victor's. And, there are so many GF options - you can swap out the toast for corn tortillas, but you still get the guava jam. Rob had the Cajun Scrambler: plantains, black beans, 3 eggs scrambled, and cheese. Also, he got a side of chorizo, and we were both very full and happy.

All in all, the weekend has been a food success and also let down. I still haven't really cooked... maybe that will start tomorrow. But I have been eating lots of good food. My dear friend Asa is having a Monochromatic Meal of the Month tonight (orange), and I might have time to prepare something, but I will definitely at least stop by. I'm also going to a pumpkin carving party in a minute, and perhaps will get to eat some orange pumpkin. Perhaps I'll bring some with me.

This post is rambly rambly, (apologies), but I have been scattered all day anyway (read: I watched top chef, our plumbing got backed up so we couldn't shower, I took a crazy bus ride to get to St. Paul, which was unnecessary but very nice, have worked on AP stuff and grad school stuff, and a seriously disturbed fellow sat down across from me as I was working, and that threw me for a loop.)

Upcoming things to cook this week, for real:

The acorn squash and corn pudding, referenced earlier.

Coconut chicken noodle soup (with rice noodles instead of egg).

Also, people to cook with *you know who you are*, clear you schedules, because I want to have you at our house for dinner!!

- ah, fall -

One Week Anniversary on the GF Train

Today marks the official one week anniversary of my gluten free diet.

How. Exciting.

Last evening was just delightful: Sarah's brother and girlfriend, Caitlin, made us all dinner. Stir fried veggies, bread, cheese, and fruit. So good. I replaced the bread with apple slices, and indulged much on the cheese.

Did I mention that they bought us a case of wine? Yes. 12 bottles. We plowed through at least 4. This morning was not the happiest, but last night was wonderful! We played speed scrabble, and had numerous dance parties in and around the kitchen area. I also, happily, introduced the bag game to everyone. I think I was the only taker, this time.

So, the theme of this week is apparently that I'm not actually cooking. At all. Sarah made food the other day, Sarah's bro made food last night, and tonight everyone at my job was invited to Augsburg College for a free dinner and presentation. Too bad it was all Jimmy John's subs. So, I ate the innards. And went home kind of hungry, and ate a ton of cheese and fruit, again.

Now I am watching Arrested Development Season 1, before heading out for a late night happy hour. I'm quite enjoying myself, with a big cup of tea, and my knitting. I think I might cook this weekend with my friend Jon, who is quite a chef extraordinaire, so he says. And, I will try a few new recipes.

As of yet, I am still doing fine, and not really missing the gluten/bread. Mostly just at events when things are presented with bread and then I have to miss out. I just have to compromise more and plan ahead, I think.

AH, Thursday night. At Admission Possible, Thursday means Friday, because we don't see our students again until Monday. Fantastic!! Although I like them, and they are fun, and quite delightful.

So. until tomorrow.

::oops::

Ok.

Confession.

Sarah made bread pudding, and I tried a bite. It was really good, but my conscience was mad at me. No more trying things.

(it was only a bite, I promise. then I nibbled on the apples on top. mmm apples).

Followed up by a . . . PASSION PIT DANCE PARTY! If you haven't heard them, do it. It is amazing. So good for dancing. Especially in our extra-large, extra danceable kitchen.

In other news, things I need to do or use:

sage and butter sauce for something

lamb (thanks Annie)

apples (Sarah's friend Gillian just dropped off an entire bag of homegrown delicious apples)

Also, today was my first time back in the yoga studio after the bike accident. It felt good, but my body is tired, and out of practice. But the woman there was very accommodating. I will try and go back every Tuesday.

Dinner tonight was:

Asparagus, onion, mushroom, and pepper stir fry with brown rice and quinoa. Also, wine. Enjoyed on the couch with Arrested Development, which is always a favorite.

We are about to welcome Sarah's brother and girlfriend to the house for a few days - this will be very fun!! More later. If I don't get attacked by my angry bread-laden conscience (I swear, conscience, it was ONLY a bite!)

Success!

The stew was a great success, although it wasn't done until 9:30 PM, and the roommates and I all gnoshed on other food before it was done.

The recipe does not call for sausage, but Italian sausage is always a welcome addition to the delicious stew. Also, I just transplanted the sage from my garden into an indoor pot, so when the recipe called for sage, I just ran into the other room and picked some leaves. How lovely!

So, I also forgot to take photos, because we divvied the delicious stew into tupperwares for lunch before I could whip out my ancient camera (side note: dilemma. do I invest in a new camera, or save my money for traveling this year / to go to Ireland / to live off in Seattle next year???)

Other news: my office at Roosevelt has recently acquired a couch *huzzah*, and so I reclined in style in our wonderful little wood-floored office, on the couch, and ate my stew. It was absolutely scrumptious. The last of the season's kale, indoor sage, delicious chicken stock and sausage, and butternut squash and white beans. I'll type up the recipe as soon as I get a chance. It's a real delight.

Tonight Sarah is having a college friend over to cook, and then her brother is coming into town, so there should be some good opportunities to create in the kitchen.

That's all for now. Time to get ready for my afternoon session. Let's hope those little stinkers actually show up....

On kale, students, and recipe planning.

Day 2 of my Blogging adventure... I think I already have one follower (thanks, Steve).

All day I was thinking about fun things that I could include here. I think it will be a really great way to document new cooking attempts, and also as a reminder of things I'd like to make. Otherwise, they will sit with a star in my google reader, just waiting to be made, but forgotten about.

In other news, today I read one of my students papers, from last year, as he described his family's struggles in life, and how it has inspired him. I read it to my new students, to try and inspire them and show them how good these essays can be. It was a really powerful moment, when my students heard his story, and that he is now successfully at Augsburg. I think it sunk in. If only they would stop chatting and actually work.

So, here are some recipes I'm looking foward to this week or next:

Chicken and Peanut Sauce

Acorn Squash and Corn Pudding

Couscous and Feta and Veggies

22 Pasta Dishes to Try and GF Pasta

Broccoli and Quinoa

In other news, the only times I am missing the glutey gluten have been:

- inhaling delicious aromas of baking pizzas -

- sitting in the May Day cafe where they are making yummy loaves of bread -

- waking up to the smells of my roommate baking daily bran muffins -

- seeing delicious muffins and treats, for free, at work/campus visits/wherever -

Otherwise, I'm feeling pretty great! I made a successful transition to the gf pasta (trader joe's, heck yes). Also, I have stocked my cupboards with snacks so that I never feel like I have nothing to eat. Dinners have been very easy: either don't use gluten products, or find a substitute. I think this month will be the month of gf pasta, potatoes, and polenta or cous cous. And, I must say, that is fine with me.

On the menu tonight:

Kale, Squash, and White Bean Stew

- this is a recipe from the Farmer John cookbook (he made a documentary a few years ago. There are many fabulous recipes in the corresponding cookbook).

Basically, you get chicken stock, lots of greens, onions, squash, and white beans and garlic, and stew them all together. It is a pretty fabulous recipe, that my friend Ben improved by adding sausage. Sausage makes everything better, let's be real.

Bon appetit! Photos coming, hopefully.

Up and Running

Hello readers!

Upon many suggestions from friends, I have decided to start a food blog. I am an avid reader of such blogs, and thought it would be fun to chronicle my adventures with cooking.

While many such blogs already exist, I hope to use mine as a way to stay more disciplined about cooking, too. If I have to write it down, hopefully I'll try more things, too. Also, I want to try a few new projects each week or month, and perhaps along a theme. (Themes seem to make sense if cooking on a tight budget: stock up on a few things, make them go a long way, and reuse leftovers!)

Also, this is inspired currently because I recently began a month-long experiment with gluten free. Gluten intolerance runs in my family, and, after 2 autumns with seasonal affective 'fog', I've decided to try something new and see if it makes a difference.

So, without further ado, I shall begin my culinary adventures!