Before & After

So I tried to post a weight loss simulation of me losing 28.4 pounds, but all I could get to post was my "current" look. See below.

I don't know how accurate this is. I mean, it looks somewhat like my body, if I were a Barbie doll, with fully-molded vinyl and all that.

And my goal weight image? Well, that Fleagirl just looks anorexic. What's WRONG with her? No boobs, no curves. Considering I've been nothing but curves since I was ten, I can't picture that. It's got to be wrong.

Then again, I haven't been 143 since I was in 9th grade....

So little time

I haven't been blogging. I've been knitting, reading, swimming, writing, bike-riding, walking, playing with my kids, watching "The Closer", and so on. I haven't been cooking much either.

I'm looking for the ultimate Greek Salad. One from my youth, that I remember having after spending a day at the Acropolis. Crisp, cold iceberg. Red, ripe tomatoes. Salty, pungent feta. Warm, soft kalamata olives. Oregano, lemon juice, olive oil. Salt. Pepper. Was it really that simple?

I'm back!

After a 20-day hiatus from blogging, I'm back. It's been a busy July. No real post for now, but I've had some inquiries, along the line of...all okay? Yes, all is fine. Yesterday we celebrated the Baby's first birthday. How fast a year goes!

Fires and Ice Cream

There's a large wild fire burning out of control near my house. The Bug and I saw the smoke right after it started yesterday. We were out at the local produce shack and the Bug said, look--it looks like a volcano! And it did. I realized as we were driving home that it was on the ridge line about five miles from our house. Right now the region is in voluntary evacuations, so we're packing up the stuff we need and love so we can be ready at a moment's notice.

Since it's so smoky, we can't enjoy the nice weather outside. I think we'll watch movies and I'm going to make vanilla bean ice cream. We had steak and eggs and grilled vegetables for brunch--something I *never* do. I figured if we had to evacuate, at least we'd have a hearty meal under our belts.

Blackbird's right

Okay. Quick post as I'm supposed to be at work, pushing paper around my desk. As I prepped The Baby's bottle at 2:32am I realized Blackbird is right. I hate my blog. I don't like the design; the dark background; the fact that it looks the same as everyone else who Bloggers. I looked at my photos and realize I'll never win awards, and seriously, I need to stop letting The Bug take the pictures...or at least I need to clean up the plates before the pictures are taken.

And I need to get back on my diet. I don't know when I fell off it, but I've been eating like Paula Deen cooks. I have five kinds of cheese in my fridge, three kinds of butter, and at least four items that have pork in them. I am bursting out of my clothes and will look the same in my bathing suit this summer as I did last...when I was pregnant.

I must stop dreaming of visions of pork fat and think spring: farmers' markets, local produce, and fresh fresh fresh!

Blackbird's Kvetching

Blackbird is kvetching about boring, confusing blogs that blend too much into everyone else's blogs. She said that some blogs are about what the blogger is making/buying/cooking (or something to that effect) and how it gets boring, because they're *always* making/buying/cooking.

That's me! Is it time to blend all my little blogs into one? I'm too busy to actually make a real go at the other ones. The Customer Service blog is intended to be all about excellent and awful experiences in customer service...as this is a huge peeve for me. No pet about it. And Motherhood and Apple Pie started as a place to put all the stuff that was rolling around my head as I commuted...but I really haven't done anything at all with it lately. An 11-year old, an infant, a lonely full-time-dad husband and a 50-hour a week job just kind of fills my days, you know?

But then I remembered that this is a food blog. It's okay to be narrow-minded. People come here to read about what I'm cooking and the lessons I've learned. So maybe I don't have twenty-thousand regular readers. That's okay. I get a LOT of people who what to know how to cook rice noodles. Or find out if sugar goes bad. And how to make cream cheese wontons.

Next post? How to make a killer Spinach-Artichoke Dip. The secret? BACON!

Heady Scents

We live in a small '63 ranch house. Pure California. Designed by people who don't cook onions. Or garlic. Or fish, or seared pork, or yummy high-heat shrimp...get the picture? Juiceboy just walked into our bedroom, which he'd closed the door to when I started the onion fry. It was our last bastion of non-smelly house. Or so I thought.

"It smells in there. But a different onion smell. I realized the rest of the house smells better. Guess I didn't close the door fast enough...?"

How do you get food smells out of the house?

Sourdough Starter

I had the most delicious bread in Washington DC. It was at a little bistro near my hotel (read more about the dinner here) and that bread was the highlight of my stay. Well, outside of seeing an old friend, but the two don't really compare, now would they...?

This bread had a hard, chewy crust. Sweet, thick center, with bite and resistance. It was lovely. And I've been craving it ever since.

I took a luxurious nap this afternoon (sleep when the baby sleeps, and all that). During my nap, I dreamed of bread. So when I awoke, I decided I should bake bread. But the stuff I make in the bread maker has disappointed me lately. The crust is okay, but the heart of the stuff was like Wonder Bread--all air holes and flavorless.

I remembered the year I spent making simple loaves of bread by scratch. They weren't pretty, but they tasted good.

So out came the good old Joy of Cooking. Did I really want standard white bread? No. I wanted that bistro bread. What was it that separated great bread from standard bread? Is great, bistro bread made with a sponge or a starter? Maybe. Maybe.

So I've started a sourdough starter. I can't help remember Jeffrey Steingarten's tales of woe in making starter in Manhatten. Will the fact that I live two stone's thows from a vineyard help? Will all the grape yeast be flying around the air, even if it's winter?

We'll see. It's day one. I'll post as things progress (or don't!).

An Itch I Can't Scratch

I've had a craving for something, but I don't know what it is. I know that seems like an oxymoron. Maybe I've lost my palate for food? I feel like I'm craving pho, or orange beef, or beets, or salty/crunchy, or grapefruit...and when I have some, some of whatever it is, and it's perfectly good, I'm just not satisfied. Not that I want more. Just that I really didn't want that. And I'm still craving.

It's like getting your back scratched. It feels really nice, and there's an itchy part right there under your shoulder blade, oh yeah, there...no, actually to the left, an inch and a half above your bra line....oh, no, now down by that freckle near your spine...yes...no...to the right and up....

Does any of this make sense?

Maybe what I'm craving is sex. Maybe I should go see.

Too busy to eat?

A friend mentioned the lack of posts on my blog saying, "Wow, you must be losing a ton of weight. You're too busy to eat!"

No, just too busy to write about it. I type with the baby on my lap trying tp eat the keyboard. One handed typing goes slowly.

We're eating a lot of chicken, steamed bveggies (like brocolli and snow peas) and whole grains or brown rice. This is in anticipation of the feasting that will begin with tonight, our Winter Solstice celebration.

The Bug and I have fallen in love with Saigon #1--the boy enjoying Bun, no imperial rolls, and me munching on the "small" pho. In fact, we'll probably hit it today to celebrate a GREAT report card.

The 26-pound Coconut has now hit too many keys--must publish or perish.

Bits and Pieces

I'm playing catch-up. I'm back to work (started right after Labor Day), working from home two days a week, and running around like mad the rest of the time. The baby is fat--today is the last day for his 0-3 months onsies, even though he's just two months. I think he'll weigh in at about 14.5 pounds at his appointment with the doctor. It's all that good, healthy mothers milk. Everytime I think I'm done with the breastfeeding/pumping routine, I remind myself that this kid is doing good on it.

And *I'm* still losing weight, though not working hard to do so. I'm down 22.5 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. Hooray! I had a baby two months ago and have lost a total of 39.5 pounds!

So here's some of what's going on:

1) I can cook rice again. And ooohhhh, is it good!
2) I have a good recipe for Faux Pho. I'll post it in the next day. No pictures though, sorry.
3) The heirloom tomatos at our local farm, Parker Farms, are beautiful and delicious. But even better is the yellow watermellon. It is sweet and unbelievably juicy. I asked the ladies at the stand what kind of watermellon it was, and they looked at me funny and said, "....yellow?"
4) Buying local and fresh is the way to go. I made a tomato salad that looked delicious. I layered tomatoes, cucumbers and "fresh" mozzarella (not the rubbery stuff but the more expensive kind packed in water). I seasoned with salt and pepper. I drizzled olive oil on it. It looked great but had absolutely no flavor. Why? Because the vegetables HAD NO FLAVOR. I bought them at Safeway. They were probably two weeks old by the time we got them on our plate. Blech.
5) We saved money on Juiceboy's birthday. Instead of going out to a steakhouse, I turned our house into one. I bought NY Strip Steaks from Costco (I've never paid $30 for three steaks...unless I'm at a steak house, and then I'm paying that much for one). I was very careful in how I cooked them, and they came out perfectly (I'll post the recipe here later). And with these gigantic brontosaurus steaks we had big baked potatoes and steamed cauliflower. Of course, there was bacon and chives and (light) sour cream for the potatoes. For desert? Ghirradeli brownies. We're not big cake people....

Must dash. The baby is about to do this:

Time is Flying!

Thanks everyone for all the kind notes. May has been a busy month for me, and I seem to want to do nothing but sleep. My goal for today is to stay awake all day and stay up until 9:30 tonight. What a goal, huh?

Actually, I have a number of things I want to do, including baking some bread (we're completely out), get my oil changed, pick up paint chips for the Bug's room (we're switching rooms in anticipation of a squalling kid mid-July), and cooking a very inexpensive roast--pork, of course.

I also intend to write up some of the bits and pieces I've successfully thrown together this month. It hasn't been much, that's for sure.

Now that spring is here, what are you craving? What are you enjoying? Strawberries are unusually sweet and juicy this year. I'm hoping to stop by the U-Pick cherry stand today--but I only have $4 allotted. I wonder how many I can pick for that little?

Not a 50s Cocktail Party!

I have to come up with appetizers for an early 1950s cocktail party. Something that says elegant yet retro. Swank yet edible. My old cookbooks are filled with things like rumaki and tomato aspic. Stuff I really, really don't want to make. Last time I had to cook for this type of cocktail party I included "Angels on Horseback" which is a take on rumaki: smoked oysters wrapped in bacon & broiled.

Any suggestions?

Why I'm Not Cooking

I haven't been cooking lately. Nor have I been going to fantastic restaurants. Here's some clues as to why:

1) I'm taking new vitamins
2) I'm drinking a lot more OJ and water than I normally do
3) I've been very, very tired lately
4) Certain smells just put me off.

Any ideas...?

So I Like Warm Food

I realized from this weekend's experiment that I like my food cooked and warm in the winter. Heated through. Bio-chemically altered by heat. Mmmmmm. I like things that are processed, like bread and sauted onions.

I am *not* a raw foods girl.

Going Raw

Juiceboy and I are going to do a "Raw Foods Flush" for three days starting Friday...adding beans on Monday and seeing how we feel. Any suggestions? Recipes?

I eat so much meat, cheese, and dairy that I just always skip foods in their natural state. I really feel like I need to "reset."

As always, I'll be blogging it.

Pulling it all togeter

1) I have a crappy Kodakshare digital camera, so my pictures are not good. Also, I have no skill at photography, whatsoever. So I apologize for my crappy pictures.

2) I'm spending a lot of time planning this dinner so that I don't serve it at 9pm. (Remember, Juiceboy suggested this blog be called "Hours Later")

Here's my plan.

Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing
11:30am Bake Joy of Cooking's Southern Corn Bread at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Cook in iron skillet. Let cool.
5:45pm Bake stuffing (my recipe, which is a mix of my mom's, Emerill's, and Joy's) at 350 degrees in white baking dish.

Turkey
2:00pm It's 15+ pounds and I want to serve it at 6:30ish. Plan for it to cook for 3.5 hours at 350 degrees. I'm eschewing high heat, wine-soaked cheeseclothes, and stuffing a duck inside it. Notice the time lag "If it goes in at 2, cooks for 3.5 hours (because I'll be opening the oven to baste three times), then it's out at 5:30, which is an HOUR to sit??". Lord knows I won't really get that sucker in at 2pm.

Bubble and Squeak
3:00pm Make the mashed potatoes
5:45pm Fry onions, cabbage and bacon with the mashed potatoes, put in baking dish, cover with grated cheese and fried onions, warm in oven until dinner is ready.

Salad
Noon: Put beets in a 350 degree oven to roast. Wait. Cornbread is in one at 450. Can I roast beets at 450? And should I peel them or shouldn't I? I'm not going to peel them and I'll cook in tin foil at 400 for about an hour. No added liquids. oh lordy will this work?
5:00 Make dressing and allow to sit.
6:15 Throw together salad. Toss with dressing at last minute.

Corn
5:50 Put seasoned water on to boil
6:25 Toss in boiling seasoned water for 4 minutes.

Dessert
12:30 Bake cake at 350. Oh--guess I could have done the beets at 350. Well, better to have the two in separate ovens anyway. When cool soak with coffee liqueur.
4:00 Put Cool Whip in fridge to thaw. Yeah, I know. But my egg beaters are broken. No fresh whipped cream.
4:30 Make sauce

Hmm. I was thinking about making corn popovers, too. The'd be in muffin tins (do I own any?) at 425 starting at 6:00pm.

GRAVY! I forgot to plan for gravy. Oh crap. It's 11:25. I'm supposed to be putting cornbread in the oven in 5 minutes. Maybe blogging and cooking don't mix.

It's THANKSGIVING!!!!

You know how little kids wake up on the morning of their birthday, open their eyes and kind of pop up with this "IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!" crazed-look of joy on their faces? I think that's what foodies must do on Thanksgiving. "Yey. It's THANKSGIVING!!!"

Since we decided to not go camping due to The Bug's cold/flu (and yes, $60 later we are certain it's a virus and not strep throat), I'm doing the dinner *on* Thanksgiving for the three of us, instead of on Sunday.

I'm going to post as I go along (I know all the other foodie bloggers will too....). I'm KNOWN for my big-meal kitchen fiascos. And even more so for Thanksgiving. As this will be our first TG at home by ourselves, the chances that I screw up royally are good, if not great.

The first year Juicboy and I were together I was assigned the "relish plate." What the hell is a relish plate? It turned out to be veggies and dip. I went over the TOP, which is hard when you're a nanny, have no platters, no real knives, and are trying to make a great impression on your fiance's family. I freaked out, Juiceboy and I argued, we got there nearly an hour late and everyone was pretty much done with appetizers.

The next year I was assigned the lowly rolls. I bought about ten different kinds and had about 5 for everyone. Another year I was elevated to potatoes, which in our British/Irish/Scottish family is a key dish. Thank god my sisters in law also assigned potatoes to their mom as a back-up, because I burnt mine.

So I got busted down to appetizers after that and I showed them. I brought a KILLER artichoke cheese spread in a bread bowl with sourdough dippers, and about six other great appetizers. Everyone filled up before the actual dinner and didn't really eat the dinner food. Hostess/sister-in-law was not happy for some reason, and the next year I was demoted again to rolls. Which I forgot.

So we'll see what happens with my home-cooked TG dinner. Now is the time when karma will come into play, because I also secretly sniggle to myself about one SIL who puts her turkey into the oven at 9am, steam roasts it with a lid on for about six hours until it's falling off the bone dry, and then says, "Isn't this tender and delicious???"

Today's Menu
Roast Turkey (no brining or dry salting--as there wasn't time with my turkey still thawing)
Cornbread sausage stuffing
Bubble and squeak (Juiceboy's request for potatoes)
Corn on the cob
Organic greens with roasted beets and goat cheese
Chocolate toffee trifle (Paula Deen's recipe)

Do Baking Products Go Stale?

Lots of you are finding this blog because you're trying to find out if your baking products (sugar, baking powder, molasses, etc.) go stale. It's the night before Thanksgiving and there's a lot of baking going on.

Here's my post on that: http://fleagirlsfleas.blogspot.com/2006/10/can-sugar-go-bad.html

Last minute changes

This year we planned on camping over Thanksgiving. But The Bug has been hit by a nasty bit of something, giving him a terrible headache and sore throat. There's no way I'm taking him up to a 32-degree cabin in three days.

So it looks like Thanksgiving at home--meaning last minute shopping on the worst grocery-shopping day of the season. The Sunday before.

My trials and tribulations to be posted tonight. If I live.