Fall Harvest and Kitchen Obsessions

It's been forever since I posted, and I should be doing other things, so here I am! Currently in my oven, I am roasting vegetables for salsa. Red and green tomatoes (tomatillos would be good, but I've just got unripe tomatoes to use), red and green bell peppers, red and green jalapenos, onion, garlic. The soft veggies for about 30 min, the harder ones for about an hour, and then blend them up! I've blended the tomatoes, garlic, and a few bell peppers. At this point it could easily become italian with more garlic and some basil. I may hold on to some for just that purpose.

My little potted apartment garden hasn't been wildly successful, but I always have plenty of jalepenos. Last week I made my own crushed red pepper by dehydrating some in my oven at 200F and crunching them with a rolling pin. Delicious and oh so spicy.

I've been hashing over the purchase of a food processor/bread maker/mixer for a while. Kitchenaid? Bosch? Cuisinart? The basic model available now at Costco, or the customized, accessory laden perfect fit found online for twice the cost? One that fits my current needs, or one that might be better for the long term, that I should buy while I can? I have tentatively settled on a food processor with a dough hook for my current needs, though as I type it I'm questioning again. My salsa experiment worked fine in the blender, but for hummus (and mandoline-style slicing and julienning, and pesto, and. . ) it's not making the cut. But doughs? Egg whites? Batters? Cream? I need more! I know Bosch mixers have attachment options, but they seem small and possibly not as effective as a dedicated processor. (The answer, of course, is to get both, but, ooh, I'd be so spoiled!)

Arches

I just got back from Arches National Park. A small herd of us went down to enjoy the scenery and hike the Fiery Furnace. It was awesome! Ranger Joel, our geologist guide, was very dramatic and a tad cheesy as he took us through the Wonder of the Fins.

My favorite part of Saturday was floating in the muddy though refreshing Colorado River. It was HOT down there! And it felt great to take a dip. A few of us stayed an extra night, and this morning was the cream. It being Sunday, and raining, the park was almost deserted. Silent, cool desert, tourist-free and lovely. We did a loop from Sand Dune Arch through Broken Arch to Devil's Garden and then a gorgeous section back to the Sand Dune Trail. The rain made the green greener against the red rock and the bluey-purple sky.

Hazy Crazy Days

Lazily back to blogging, in the rainy summer months. I have recently:

Camped in the San Rafael Swell

Purchased one Dinosaur Quarry T-shirt, one pop-up tent, 2 pairs of Danskos, and a new serpentine belt for my car (luckily before the road trip began)

Finished an African drumming class through community ed

Started a sculling class on the Great Salt Lake.

Planted my container garden: Tomatoes, jalepenos, peas, radishes, and herbs

Read 4 of the books on my summer reading list

Hiked Frary Peak on Antelope Island

Gotten sunburned on Frary Peak on Antelope Island

Watched the US v UK World Cup match

Attended the Scottish festival

Baked a pie


Plans for the future include a hip hop class, bruschetta, more camping, and a water park if all goes well.

Ways to remember people

Moab was awesome. Hiking, off-roading, and rafting. Happy start to the summer.

Today I was cooking--I like to cook up a couple things at once--while listening to Debussy. Part of "Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faun" sounds a lot like the original theme to Star Trek.

The results of my cooking extravaganza were a pot of curry and an invented salad of veggies and garbanzo beans with tzatziki dressing. The thought occurred to me that I have collected a lot of recipes and been introduced to new foods by my roommates. I've previously thought about how different music sticks out in my memories of some of the houses I've lived in, so I thought I'd remember them here.

Andrea Pimentel made incredible alfredo, and listened to Moulin Rouge and Eric Clapton and Diana Krall.

At Tina's condo, punk in general, the Vandals, Bowling for Soup, Rob Thomas, Tina dabbling in Eminem, Amber and the Goo Goo Dolls, and one particular song by J Lo and LL Cool J. And the advent of Homestar Runner, though not musical, was significant in our apartment. Tina made fajitas and crepes, and Kristi raspberry balsamic chicken. This was also the place I lived when Cafe Rio opened in Provo.

At the Shanty, I remember ice cream cake and "I'm just a teenage dirtbag" playing on repeat.

And the glorious Random House. Lots of Ben Folds and Puccini, a little Modest Mouse. And, oh, the food. The whole ward over for brunch every other week. Sarah's triple chocolate cake. Amanda introduced me to the wonder of onions, how to make marinara from scratch, spanakopita, and fresh mozzarella. Kjerstin concocted curries, and showed me how the sweetness of a little pineapple or pear really fills out the perfect curry, and that fancy party food is totally worth it.

Skipping a few years of high roommate turnover and less delicious food, in the Beige Condo there was Erienne introducing me to lovely Japanese food.

With Marlena I discovered I wasn't a huge fan of Vietnamese food (sorry) and a big fan of delicious Marlena Chicken: In a crockpot, chicken, bell peppers, carrots, paprika, and a bay leaf. And the importance of a rice cooker.

From Tricia (lots of Country Music) I inherited Tricia Chicken, a mix of zucchini, tomatoes, and cream of celery soup, Bruschetta Chicken bake, gingerbread scones, and by way of Annie, white chili.

Through the years I've inherited recipes from people I babysat for, too, among other places, but the gals I've lived with have definitely changed my life, and cooking skills, for the better!

Good Things

Working until 3:30 am on a donor was bad. But organ donation in good!

Having a day off to rest after working all night

My African drumming community ed class. So fun to play with rhythm!

Finishing my history class. It was my marathon. But I read, wrote, and talked, and it gave me confidence about going to grad school if I want. I would rock the house! (But not next year)

Peruvian food at my professor's house on the last day of class

Finally finally finishing and posting pics on Picasa from my Middle East trip in the fall: http://picasaweb.google.com/lgolsen

Spending today scanning in my Grandpa Olsen's photos and documents from World War II. He was a Seabee, and there's a picture of a very suntanned Allan with his sailor's cap at a jaunty angle that always makes me want to sing "We got sunlight on the sand, we got moonlight on the sea. . ." from South Pacific

Scanning in photos while watching The Office season 2, which I've only seen parts of

Indian food every Wednesday at work. Truly. I believe mint chutney may be my favorite food of the year

We got a $200 amazon gift certificate from a vendor at work, so we split it up and got $18 each. And I got ramekins. The possibility of chocolate souffle in my future is good.

Imagining camping trips for this summer. Moab? Goblin Valley? Yes.

More good things to come, I'm sure.

Summer Reading List

Since the semester is almost over, I'm starting to collect titles for when I can read for fun again, and not because my professor tells me to. The list so far:

God: A Biography

On Zion's Mount: Mormons, Indians, and the American Landscape

Superfreakonomics

Turbulent Souls: A Catholic Son's Return to his Jewish Family
and/or
Choosing my Religion: A memoir of a family beyond belief(both by one of the authors of Superfreakonomics)

A History of White People (More normal than it sounds)

The Mysterious Benedict Society

I need some more fluff on this list. Maybe a Victoria Holt novel for the beach, at least.

Read any good books lately?

My Co-Workers are the Best Cooks in the World!

Not to rub it in, but I gotta tell you about the post-Easter potluck we had to day. We're all sort of foodies here, and the combination was inspirational.

First, because there always seems to be too much food, we spread assignments over both breakfast and lunch for a whole day of feasting. During our morning staff meeting, we ate strawberries, quiche, and lemon blueberry scones.

For lunch:

Garlic and olive oil drizzled crostini topped with chicken salad

Tortilla chips and southwestern dip: homemade fresh salsa with black beans, corn, cilantro, and a hint of pineapple

Spinach casserole with buttery Ritz cracker topping

Chicken Marbella, marinated with prunes, capers, and olives

Slow-cooked shredded beef sandwiches with provolone and horseradish

Oatmeal butterscotch cookies for dessert

Yes, it was a good day at work.




Do it yourself:
The crostini and chicken salad were both from Harmons grocery store

The scones, which I baked, can be found here: http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/bakingdesserts/r/lemonbluescones.htm

Here's a version of Chicken Marbella:
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chicken_marbella/

(Sorry for the long links. I'm having issues linking from a word. If anyone has Hyperlinking for Dummies tips, let me know)