No Surprises

Today I'm going to show you one of my favorite recipes, with a surprise ingredient:

Don't click away at the thought of anchovies! I promise you will never know they are in this dish. Plus notice that there is some garlicky goodness behind the can. You put some oil in your pan and heat it up and them dump them in and saute them down until you can't even tell they are anchovies anymore. See:


Anchovies? What anchovies? None here! ;) Today we are making Pasta Puttanesca, a recipe my parents used to make all the time. There are lots of variations on ingredients that you can include. Usually I make mine with shrimp and artichokes, but we went with mushrooms and asparagus because that's what we had in our fridge. I love recipes where you can swap out ingredients like this, especially when it saves me a trip to the store!

Ingredients:
1 lb of pasta of your choice (I used penne)
3oz can of anchovies
6 cloves of garlic sliced
1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil
1 pint of grape tomatoes
1 pint of sliced portabella mushrooms
3 oz jar of capers
6 oz can of sliced black olives
1/2 bunch of asparagus, sliced
1/4 cup white wine
Grated Romano for garnish

Instructions:
Fill a pot with water and a splash or two of olive oil and bring to a boil for pasta. In a large sauce pan heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Add the whole can of anchovies (and oil) to your sauce pan and saute until your anchovies cook down to look like picture above. Throw in your garlic and saute. Add olives and juice, mushrooms, asparagus, tomatoes and wine. Cook covered at a low simmer until vegetables have softened (I like my tomatoes to burst open just a bit). Add capers and pasta to the sauce and mix. Let it sit for a few minutes before serving so flavors can blend, and garnish with cheese.

Yum! This is one of Kraut's favorite dishes, and if you can get past our little surprise ingredient it will soon be one of yours! In honor of today's unexpected ingredient today's song on the soundtrack of life is Radiohead's No Surprises.

Yesterday

Here is my gumbo I made a couple weeks ago. What do you think? Better than my pic last time in Gumbo Season? I know, I didn't make the potato salad this time, but it still tasted delicious. Or maybe this pic looks more appetizing....


You can see that I used okra in it this time. I don't always do that, but was in the mood for it that day.

A lot has been going on since I wrote to you about Mardi Gras. Lent started and I gave up bread and desserts. Dessert really isn't hard for me because I don't keep a lot of sweets in the house, so its only really tempting when someone brings them in the office. Bread on the other hand has been a challenge! Think about it. No sandwiches, bagels, muffins, biscuits, rolls, or PIZZA! Pizza is my comfort food and will probably be the first bread I eat once Easter gets here. Although, breakfast is the first meal of the day so maybe I'll have a bagel first, or maybe I'll hold out for a big piece of garlic buttered french bread....mmmm. Sorry, I've been deprived!

Enough of my inner dialogue about food. I went wedding dress shopping with my younger sister recently. I took several pictures while we were there. I learned that shooting pictures of white dresses in fluorescent lighting is difficult. I had a hard time getting my white balance just right. Here are some pics I took (none of these dresses were the "one", I can't post those, duh!).


Ok so in this one I'm sure you can see what I meant about bad lighting. The store had huge windows and that icky artificial lighting battling it out, so its kind of turning part of the dress a little blue. Anyway, thats not the point....when I see this picture I think Baby Got Back! "Oh my God Becky...." yeah you know you are singing along in your head now! My soundtrack of life is rubbing off!



I spy a photographer in the picture above! Oops! The next few were taken at a different shop and I had a little bit easier time with the lighting:



I thought it would be fun to try a couple black and white photos and play with the contrast for a little different effect:



She looked so pretty in all the dresses, and it was fun to go watch her play dress up. It made me reminisce a little about my wedding.




Speaking of reminiscing....


My mom's birthday was this week. In her honor, I thought I'd share this sweet photo of her and me. Also, since she is such a big Beatles fan I think its appropriate that the song of day should be Yesterday.


~Crawfish

Mardi Gras Mambo

Happy Mardi Gras! The picture above is me at Mardi Gras in 2007. I grew up in Southern LA and every year around this time I miss it so much! No one in Memphis celebrates Mardi Gras, but I always like to do something special. Tonight I'm planning to make a pot of gumbo! Since I've already shared my recipe with you, I'll have to take a picture so we can do another comparison of my improved photog skills.

For those of you who didn't grow up in Louisiana, when you think of Mardi Gras you probably just think of a raucous celebration with thousands of partiers fighting over plastic beads. And while you wouldn't be completely wrong, there is soooo much more to Mardi Gras than a bunch of crazy Cajuns and drunk tourists looking to let loose.

You may be aware that Mardi= Tuesday and Gras= Fat, aka Fat Tuesday. The season begins on January 6th (Epiphany or Twelfth Night) and ends with Ash Wednesday which falls anywhere from February 3rd to March 9th. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII made it a Christian holiday held before the liturgical season of Lent. He put it before Ash Wednesday so that the debauchery would be finished when it came time to fast and pray.

The First Mardi Gras in America was under French Rule when King Louis XIV sent Iberville and Bienville LeMoyne from France to defend their territories in AL, LA, and MS. They sailed up the MS River until they landed at the perfect place to build a colony and deemed it: Point du Mardi Gras.

The most well known Mardi Gras traditions include parades and king cakes. "Krewes" (named for the Greek god of revelry) are formed to organize the chaos of Mardi Gras, and each Krewe has their own parade. The king of the parade is known as the "Rex" and the "Flambeaux” are torch carriers who light the way of the themed floats and costumed riders. While parades are fun, my favorite tradition is the King Cake! Originally baked on Epiphany Eve (today its served all through Epiphany season), the king cake was baked in honor of the magi. A figure of a baby is placed inside to represent the Christ child, and the person who finds it was expected to make a contribution to a worthy cause (now they have to buy the next cake). Traditionally the king cake is similar to a brioche and adorned with colored sugar. Yum!


Mardi Gras is such a fun festive time that is about all kinds people coming together and celebrating under the common interest of enjoying each other and having a great time. Hope you enjoyed learning a little about it. Time to go cook some gumbo..... so here is today's song on the soundtrack of life the Mardi Gras Mambo.

~Crawfish

Weekend Wars

My photography classes ended about 2 weeks ago. Taking the class was sooo incredibly helpful. I've been envisioning how I wanted my pictures to look for a while, but I was never getting the end results I really wanted. Take for example these two pictures I took of Kraut cooking hot wings last summer (which by the way...he has THE BEST recipe). The pictures are just OK:



He recently made them again and I took this picture below. Its a completely different setting, but I am so much happier with this image:



Mmmm....same awesome wings but upgraded marketing. I want to share some of the other photos that I've recently taken that I think have come out well. You can be the real judge of my progress......






















I think I'm getting better, and I tried to pass along some of the things I learned in class to Kraut. He has been doing a little experimenting himself, and while I was teaching him an MGMT song came on our stereo and he took the picture below and asked that I make "Weekend Wars" my next song on the "Soundtrack of Life." Since I kicked his booty in Monopoly right afterwards I was more than happy to oblige...

"Weekend Wars" MGMT

~Crawfish

I Can't Stand the Rain

Today's ditty on the soundtrack of life is Ann Peebles "I Can't Stand the Rain". There are a couple of reasons. First off its just a great song that makes me want to belt out like I had an amazing voice. Secondly, last night we had some crazy thunderstorms. Very LOUD thunderstorms. Thunderstorms that kept me from falling asleep at a decent hour last night. Thunderstorms that have me too tired to write the blog that I intended to write tonight.

This morning Kraut had to get up uber early to catch a flight to Dallas for work, and inadvertently woke me up in the process. So not only did I go to sleep late, I got up early. Then I went to work, and got a billion calls that had my head spinning. Then I came home and took J.J. for a much needed walk (for both of us) and then ran like 5 errands, cooked myself some dinner, and finished my homework for photography class. Now I think its bedtime and I need to say good night. Thanks for understanding!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5Rjo_imHDE

Crawfish

2012 Resolutions

Since ringing in the New Year, I have been doing a little reflecting on what Kraut and I accomplished and didn't accomplish in 2011. Kraut and I made a list in January of 2011 of house projects we wanted to complete before the year was up, and though it was a photo finish at the end we managed to get our list done just in time. I don't think I've shared with you yet that right before Thanksgiving we began to paint the hallway, master bedroom, and master bath. Then after Thanksgiving we ripped up carpet and had the floors refinished, we painted trim, and then we moved in new bedroom furniture. Its amazing how much better it looks when everything matches! There were several other projects mixed in as well, but that was the big one. Check out the before and after:

Hallway midway through priming

Hallway midway through painting....you can see the pretty new color. Its called porpoise!

Here is the big change. Notice the hideous mustard color on the wall and the ugly Berber carpet that was stained and very messed up thanks to J.J.

Yay! The after! We painted three walls a very light color called snow ballet and the back wall is just a tad darker shade called hyacinth tint. We used the hyacinth tint in the bathroom as well. Before Kraut and I each had a night stand but neither matched each other or the bed and we didn't have bedside lamps. Also, check out the pretty floors. Why in the world would someone cover that with Berber?

I took a picture with the lamps off so you could see them too. We picked them out on Overstock, but my parents bought them for us for Christmas. We love them (my parents and the lamps)!

Here is the new dresser we got at a close out sale at Samuel's along with the night stands. We have so much more space now! Also, check out the new TV we got on black Friday. Before we had an old tube TV mounted on one of those wall stands you would see at a hospital. ick! We are so happy to have a much more adult room.

Anyway, so its the start of 2012 and we are all looking forward to a clean slate and a fresh start. I've made a mental list of some resolutions I have this year. It occurred to me that maybe I should share them with the online community to keep me honest! Here is my list:

1- Take more pictures- I love to have pictures of all the fun people we've hung out with, places we've been, and food we've eaten, but a lot of times I bring my camera places and never even take it out of the case.

2-Learn to use my camera better- I realize that maybe these two items seem as though they should be in reverse, but here is why it's #2 instead of #1. Kraut just got me my first digital SLR for Christmas. I'm very excited to be leaving the old point and shoot behind because now I can post better pictures for you to look at. I've even enrolled in a photography class at the Memphis College of Art, so I'll be sure to give you some updates on my progress with this new baby:

3-Blog MORE- Kraut and I started this blog with the intention of sharing lots of our adventures with you, but we have missed out on a lot of opportunities to share some fun stories. I made good on my goal to jump in and get started, now its time for me to be more consistent.

4- Send birthday cards- This has been a resolution on my list for the past 2 years. I've done OK, but I still need to do better. If you are reading this and are thinking, how come I didn't get a card on my birthday? Please don't hold it against me, I've only done OK, that's why this continues to be on my list of resolutions for the 3rd year in a row.

5- Send 2012 Christmas cards- In 2010 I was on the ball and sent out some cards (again please don't hold it against me if you didn't get one, I started small and sent a few). In 2011 I sent zero Christmas cards. This goes back to #1, take more pictures. Despite all of our travels, I really didn't have a picture this year that I was crazy enough about to put on a card. Also, as I mentioned, we had home projects going in November and December, which killed a lot of my aspirations for Christmastime projects like baking, card writing, and blogging about all the good food!

6- Toning up- Now I know everyone and their brother makes a goal to lose weight. I would like to clarify that this is NOT a weight loss goal. This a very specific goal of building up arm strength (side note: I typed improving arm strength and then realized I had none so switched to building up). I started doing some circuit training in October. My goal is to be able to do 30 real push ups. Right now I can only do girly push ups and I think its high time I graduated to grown up push ups.

7-Get up 15 minutes earlier on work days. I feel like I'm always rushing around like a crazy person in the mornings. I'm a morning person in that I do my best work in the morning once I'm at the office, but its that whole getting out of bed thing that is a daily struggle.

8-Read more- This is on my list every year. I think I could read 50 books in a year and still feel like I needed to do better. I think reading makes us all more well rounded. I need to come up with a good list of books to tackle this year, any suggestions are definitely appreciated!

Happy 2012!!!!
Crawfish

Soup and a Song

I have a new kitchen toy. Its fantastic, and I have my mom and dad to thank for it! My parents came to visit Kraut and I back in October, and I cooked a comforting fall meal for us. I made a celery, pear bisque (from Bon Appetit magazine) and also some spaghetti squash with bolognese sauce. When I made the soup, I sauteed all the veggies until soft and then put them in the blender to puree them. My parents commented that I needed an immersion blender and I agreed, but its one of those things I've just not gone out and purchased. A few days after they left, I got a surprise package from Amazon containing my new Cuisinart stick blender. Kraut and I tried it right away and made some potato leek soup.

Today in Memphis it is rainy and cold, and I wasn't really feeling up to visiting the gym like I'd planned. It seemed more like a comfort food kind of night. Soup is my favorite comfort food....well aside from pizza, oh and lasagna, or a big bowl of pasta, or a loaf of french bread (did I say loaf?), or...oh never mind! Soup is probably on the top 10 list of comfort foods for me. On nights like tonight when its cold, soup just seems to warm me from the inside out. It also seemed like a perfect opportunity to utilize my stick blender.

Quick Side Note: For those of you who read my post where I explained the soundtrack of life, tonight's feature is a throwback to 1990. Anyone remember Snap!, "The Power"???? If desired you can listen to it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rO1n8-SuNM

Tonight I was thinking of all my favorite pureed soups but eventually decided on curried carrot soup. I often like to read several recipes looking for new twists or ideas, and tonight was no exception. A quick Google search led me to curried carrot and sweet potato soup. Honestly, I didn't read the recipe, only the title and I liked the sound of adding sweet potatoes to curried carrot soup. Plus I could use my blender (cue "I got the power"). I figured I'd just throw some stuff together and see what I got. Here is the finished product and the run down on how I prepared it:

Spicy Curry Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup:

2 large sweet potatoes, cubed (skin on)
6 or 7 carrots, cut in chunks (mine were size of baby carrots)
1 quart unsalted vegetable stock
2 cups water
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1.5 tablespoons sweet curry powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon

After you've sliced your carrots and sweet potatoes, let them simmer in a pot with water, vegetable stock, and spices until soft, about 20-3o minutes. Then you use your stick blender to puree until smooth. You could add salt, cream, ginger, or whatever else floats your boat, but it was good as is. Also, if your mom hasn't gotten you a stick blender yet, you can settle for a regular blender. Either way you can still jam out to today's song on the soundtrack of life!

~Crawfish