Milestones

Today is the last day of NaBloPoMo. I am truly relieved. By some miracle, I managed to post all 30 days in November. While I considered (on multiple occasions) not following through on my commitment to myself to complete the whole month, I'm glad I did. As a matter of wrapping up the whole ordeal, here are a few thoughts on what I learned, what I enjoyed and what wasn't the best.

Family Secrets

My mom makes great soups. Potato soup, beef stew, clam chowder, chicken and rice soup.... lots of great soups. Of all of them, though, the only one I've learned to make is her chicken and rice. It's cold outside and we've eaten too much lately, so this sounded like the perfect meal for dinner. I won't share the actual recipe since it's not mine to share. I'm not sure if that's in line with or a deviation from food blog etiquette, but nonetheless...

Second Thoughts, Chicken Skewers and Smoke Detectors

Today marks the beginning of the second half of NaBloPoMo. I admit it. I'm over it. While I certainly appreciate the forced discipline of making a daily habit of writing, I've recently felt that even more than forcing a habit, it's forcing me to put insufficiently significant or relevant words out into the world. Perhaps NaBloPoMo is more appropriate for a general topic blog than for something as specific as this. Maybe B was right to say that it's impossible to be true to the spirit of Thursday Night Bites while posting every day. I haven't completely decided yet, but I committed to the whole month and that's what I intend to complete.

Moving on...

Foods I'm Afraid to Cook: Bratwurst Edition

There are a few simple foods out there that, for whatever reason, intimidate me when it comes to cooking them. Bratwursts are very near the top of that list. I didn't start out afraid of them, but after a couple of failed attempts, I've become increasingly more wary. When I say previous attempts failed, they were certainly edible enough, but always ended in a nightmare mess of a pan for not all that great a result. Last weekend during our Pike Place Market trip when B's eyes lit up at the sight of all the all the various options in the case at Uli's, I knew I was in for another attempt.

Forget to Eat? Who Me? Shocking, I Know...

Today is the first day of NaBloPoMo when I've actually had to think about what to write about. Granted, it's only November 5th so you shouldn't be impressed by that. It's Friday, though, at the end of a very long, very exhausting week and my creative juices aren't flowing in quite the way I wish they were. 

Perhaps I'm a bit malnourished. I worked from home today and that usually means I forget to eat. Maybe it's just that my routine is thrown off, but on days like today, it's not uncommon for me to realize it's 3PM and I haven't had a meal yet. So, what did I eat today? Kale chips. At some point today, I looked inside our refrigerator and realized I hadn't used the kale I bought last weekend at the Pike Place Market and it was just beginning to wilt a little. 

Potato Skins and Merlot: Placating My Inner Type A

Merlot and potato skins aren't exactly a match made in heaven, but that's what's on my menu tonight. First, the potato skins...

Potato skins are one of B's favorite foods (not that I'm likely to turn them down). They are notoriously unhealthy, but I never understood why they were so bad.  I know potatoes aren't the lowest calorie food in the world, nor are cheese and bacon, but still, they didn't seem that bad. When I thought about making them myself and searched for recipes online, though, I figured out the real problem. Maybe I'm just that ignorant, but I had no idea most restaurants deep fry the potato skin after baking the potato! Now I get it. I obviously see the problem with deep fried potato skins filled with bacon and full-fat cheese, dipped in full-fat sour cream and ranch dressing. I also see how easy it is to cut out huge portions of the fat and calories. Bake the skins, use less bacon and add ground turkey instead, use low fat cheese and fat free sour cream. So simple! I also added a little bit of Hatch green chile for spice. Maybe I'm a bit biased, but I think my healthier version tastes just as good. The cheese might not be quite as gooey, but it works!

Sunday Kitchen Adventures

So, here's the thing about me.  I love food and I love restaurants, but I don't particularly like cooking.  I'm not so much bad at it as reluctant to do it.  I cook because it would be ridiculous to eat out every night and because I generally like to know what goes into my food.  If I lived alone (and when I lived alone), I would eat mostly raw vegetables and fruit for dinner... less clean up.  Every once in awhile, though, I get an idea stuck in my head and I focus on it until I've seen it through.