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!
There is so much to write about, and some how I've managed to wait until it was tomorrow, again. It's too late to write anything properly. This past week has been a blur of food and visitors and my trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up. I still don't have an answer for that, but I do know some new things about food.
1) Country-style ribs from Safeway are not ribs. They are pork shoulder cut into rib-shaped slabs. They are, however very tasty barbequed, and don't take nearly the same amount of long, slow cooking as regular ribs. I don't know why though. Maybe if they were cooked long and slow they'd be even better?
2) Cooking country-style ribs in the oven wrapped in foil with braising liquid for a long, slow period isn't nearly as good as grilling them outside, over hickory chips.
3) S'mores are just as good made in the microwave as over the 'que. And faster.
4) Dim sum is normally a brunch thing. Don't show up at 4pm in Chinatown expecting dim sum to be served...anywhere.
5) Duck is very tasty. Duck five ways is even better.
6) Babies like duck broth.
7) Husbands like a never-ending supply of chocolate-chip cookies.
8) Homemade vanilla ice cream is not appreciated by four-year olds.
9) Barilla Plus is a great pasta to feed to kids--fiber, protein and omega-3s.
10) The Bug knows that he likes calamari with tentacles. Seriously! I still won't touch the stuff.
Oh. I'm tired. Should that be the title of my blog? Seriously....
The lovely young family is here to stay! They showed up Tuesday night, then swept the Bug away for a wonderful trip to Monterey, arriving back very late Thursday night. The kids were all so exhausted they fell to bed fully dressed, teeth unbrushed. And were up again at the crack of dawn--and will be up again that early tomorrow, so I must type fast.
I'd forgotten what little littles were like. Those who can voice what they want but are still all over the place with knowing what they like and want. An average conversation in our kitchen is now:
"Want Teddy Grahams!"
"There's none left. Would you like Nilla Wafers?"
"Want Teddy Grahams!"
"I'm sorry, they're all gone. Would you like Nilla Wafers?"
"Want yogurt!"
"Okay, Strawberry or Blueberry?"
"Esss."
"Yes Blueberry?
"Okay, hold on. Dardar, strawberry or blueberry?"
"Esss."
"I WANT STRAWBERRY!"
And so forth.
So I wondered how dinner would go and if I should bother making something. We've been eating more croissants and danish than anyone should. And one of the children has a never-ending bowl of spaghetti leftovers from some restaurant.
I made hamburgers, cooked them on the barbeque, and was very excited that they didn't turn out like hard hockey pucks. Us adults had tomatoes and avocado and red onion on our burgers and boy, were they yummy. And on the side we had a nice fennel salad with orange and red onion. Have I posted that yet? It's very nice. Suddenly very tired. Late night. Much red wine.
I love having house guests too. And tonight I had the pleasure of a sneak preview of a lovely young family who'll be spending four glorious nights--Saturday through Wednesday. My old friend from college and her two little ones: Nana and Dardar. Nana is four and a half, Dardar is two. They are so adorable and loving and energetic and funny and elastic and fudgety and persnickety and precocious and tenacious....it's wonderful.
We have a lemon tree. And they, being from Virginia, do not have a lemon tree. So everyone, from grandmother down to baby, was wowed by the load of fresh lemons. Nana proceeded to pick a dozen lemons off the tree and line them up on the counter, wanting to know when we'd make lemonade.
Since they'd just arrived and everyone was buzzing in different directions and all the children wanted attention and us two who brought this group together just wanted to SIT and NATTER...I really didn't want to make lemonade.
Enter the eleven-year old. Wow. When is a Bug not a bug? When he's eleven and standing about 87-feet taller than the littles around him. He cut lemons, showed how to press them, added sugar and water, and filled sippy cups. Call him the lemon king.
So what one thing *didn't* he do? Clean up, of course.
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.
I've been wondering lately how people without much money are handling the rise in...everything. The rising price of gas, of milk, of bread, of cereal, of rice, of bell peppers, of onions even. It seems my food costs have gone up about 20% in the past six months. I've been crabbing and kvetching...but no more.
Last night I threw away a produce drawer full of food. A drawer...you know the one I mean, the one at the bottom of my fridge. I'd gone to the Farmers' Market two Fridays in a row. And bought way too much stuff. Even I knew that at the time. And then I went to Whole Foods. And then I went to WinCo. And after that I did my necessity trips to Safeway for milk and baby food and red wine (which are much cheaper than at other stores...).
In the end, produce never got eaten. It was as though everyone was overwhelmed by the bounty, and when they opened the fridge just thought, Oh. There's nothing in here to eat because I just see a forest of food.
Too bad there aren't any trees.
And so, when the trees began to smell, I finally tossed them.
I made a new rule yesterday. The cupboards and fridge can only be 1/3 full at any given time. I'll do the disaster stash someplace else. I think we don't force ourselves to eat what we have. From now on, I only replenish when we're absolutely empty.
Today for lunch I made carrot soup with all the carrots that made it out of the forest. They were still needing to be eaten, and I had bags and bags of them in baby version, sliced, and shredded (remember, the Bug has two false front teeth and can't bite into his favorite veggie). So I browned some red onion, two cloves of garlic, and a whole mess of carrots with salt, pepper, and a little curry powder. Then I threw in a box of generic chicken broth, a little extra water, and simmered till they were soft. I blended it with an immersion blender (a fantastic baby present!), added about two cups of shredded carrots, let it reduce another 15 minutes, and gave a quick whir again.
After adjusting seasonings, we enjoyed it topped with some plain yogurt left over from our Greek dinner. The Bug, the Baby and I all quite liked it (the Bug and I added more curry powder and I added some red pepper flakes), and then I fed it to my mother-in-law when she arrived mid-afternoon. She wasn't sure about the yogurt, until she had it. I'm pretty sure she enjoyed it, too.
I wouldn't have made it today...had I not seen the carrots waiting patiently. I probably would have just opted for a quick canned soup. I'm glad I saw them!
This afternoon I had the perfect moment. It was about 5:00pm and I was sitting in my backyard, reading a book. The Bug, who at eleven is nearly too old to be called a Bug any more, was splashing around in the pool, today being the first real pool day of the summer. The baby was in bed for the night, and Juiceboy was readying supplies for an upcoming camping trip.
I'd just put some lamb chops on the grill. Delicious, fatty smoke was pouring out of the vents, billowing first, then carried away in great wafts by breeze. The sun was beginning its evening slide behind the hills, and I scooted my chair into the shade of the tall evergreen. I had a glass of cool red (nothing nicer than a slightly cooled Cabernet on a hot summer day) and my new Lee Child. Yogurt and grated cucumber were draining in the kitchen for tzatziki; pencil thin, organic asparagus was ready to be quickly cooked in a drizzle of hot olive oil. And we had leftover sourdough baguette to sop up some lovely balsamic vinegar floating in olive oil--which the Bug calls "special sauce."
Birds were trilling. Everything was bright and alive and in bloom. The lemon tree was fragrant. I was cool and tired from an earlier swim, and anticipating a good dinner. My family was happy. I was perfectly relaxed and wishing it could last for hours.
Here's a lovely, garlicky tzatziki recipe for you to share with those you love a lot. It goes great with lamb, gyro meat (WinCo sells great pre-sliced, packaged gyro meat for veritable PENNIES!), as a dip, etc.
Tzatziki
Cheesecloth--this is a mesh fabric sold with cooking supplies. My Safeway carries it with the pots and pans.
2 cups lowfat or full-fat (but NOT non-fat) plain yogurt
Half-to-a-whole large cucumber, seeded
One clove garlic
Salt
Fresh lemon juice, to taste
You'll need a wire mesh strainer--one with a lip on one end and a long handle on the other works wonderfully. Line this with about a foot of doubled cheesecloth. Place the strainer in a bowl deep enough so the strainer doesn't touch the bottom. Add the yogurt and let stand at least 1.5 hours. If you have more time, up to 24 hours, place plastic wrap over the bowls and refrigerate.
After 1.5 hours a fair amount of liquid should strain out of your yogurt. Put the yogurt in a small bowl; mash garlic with a press into the yogurt and stir. With the big holes of a grater, grate one half to a whole cucumber; place in the strainer (minus the cheesecloth). Salt generously and leave for 20-30 minutes to drain.
Add cucumber to yogurt. Add salt and lemon juice as needed. Enjoy!
Sigh. Where has the time gone? Here it is, June already. Here it is, almost summer. I had planned to grown many herbs this summer, rather than spending too much at farmer's markets only to have the herbs shrivel and die in my kitchen.
However, I didn't grow any from seeds and so must rely on nurseries. And right now I'm relying on Home Depot (don't all of you throw rotten tomatoes at me) because my nursery is closed before I can ever get to it.
Today the Bug and I recycled baby formula cans, spray painted them sun yellow, and left them to dry in the driveway. Tomorrow we'll punch holes in the bottoms, fill them with dirt, and plant cilantro and basil in them. We also planted pepper plants in big planters in the backyard--poblanos and anaheims. 70 days to maturity! I'm hoping that we haven't over crowded these plants. They seem fine now, but I think they might want more space as they grow, if memory serves me right.
I haven't mentioned the lovely herb stall at the Oakland farmer's market, with the most enthusiastic man selling not just mint but spearmint (yum!), and lovely Thai basil and perfect tarragon and some really interesting cumin leaves. I stuck them in water and wrapped them in a damp tea towel all week. The Bug kept snagging mint leaves (both types) all week long. I realized they'd gone round the bend when I smelled basil on his breath instead last night.
Here it is, almost midnight, and I should be in bed, snoozing. I'll be crabby in the morning.
I have the kind of job where I can work from home a day or two a week, as long as I don't have meetings, etc.; I try very hard to work from home on Fridays, on account of the terrible Friday evening traffic in the Bay Area. Unfortunately, that means that I miss the Old Oakland Farmers' Market, which is on...yes, Fridays.
What I like about this market is that it's geared towards the locals. It's a stone's throw from Chinatown and the produce offered matches the neighbors. Lots of greens, daikon, kohlrabi, etc. at this last market on Friday. The prices were all reasonable--for $8 I got two lovely bunches of beets, two beautiful bright fennel bulbs, and three leeks. These were lovely, fresh, and fragrant. Yes, even the beets smelled lovely and dirty.
As you might guess, I had to work on Friday. And I was lucky enough that a fire drill drove me out of my office in the morning and it was a gorgeous day. I bought the produce mentioned above, a $4 loaf of pugliese that was delicious from a french bakery, fougasse with garlic and cheese for my lunch from the same bakery for $2.50--delicious!, and then spent way too much ($12) on boulani and cilantro pesto...but oh, it's good.
I got home with my "trees" as Juiceboy calls the fennel, and didn't really know what I wanted to do with everything. I sliced fennel up into slices, wrapped them in prosciutto and drizzled olive oil on them for a light appetizer. Wonderful! While I munched on that, I soaked the leeks and drained/dried them, to have them to cook tonight.
As it was, I got home late and the guys ate leftover pizza. What would I cook that was quick, easy, and just for me? Leeks and an omelet. I'd read somewhere that braised leeks were a lovely omelet filing. I thought I'd try to perfect the two, separately, yet eat them together. Because honestly, I'm not the best cook. I can easily screw one thing up...and if I serve it *in* something else, I've messed up the whole dish.
I melted a tablespoon of butter in a non-stick pan over medium heat, till it was bubbling, then added about 2.5 cups of the leeks. I had cut them into 1-inch slices before I washed them last night.
Then I added a teaspoon of kosher salt and turned the heat up just a tad. I cooked the leeks, shaking the pan every now and then, for about five minutes, until they were brown, then I stirred them, and cooked for another five minutes. Then, I added about a quarter cup of decent white wine. I turned the heat to medium low and let the wine cook down. Then, I added about 1/4 teaspoon savory and fresh pepper to taste.
I removed the leeks to my dinner plate.
Then, I added another 1/4 tablespoon of butter to the pan, let it melt to bubbling, and added two eggs that I'd salted and peppered, and added two teaspoons of water to, stirring well. I tipped the pan to quickly coat the bottom with egg, then used a spatula to move the eggs to the side, tipping the pan once more. I used light, gentle movements and barely let the eggs touch heat. I have an electric range and used a wide pan...and the eggs spent no longer than two or three minutes in it.
I ate it with a slice of the bread from the market--it was on day three and was a little tough, but a touch of olive oil or red wine fixed any problems.
So how were the leeks and eggs? Delicious! The leeks were remarkably sweet, and the eggs...I've never had such soft, tender eggs. They just simply melted in my mouth. It was an amazingly simple dinner, and fast, and I plan to have more like it.
It being Mother's Day today, I was talking to my mother. She mentioned that she'd made some lemon bread that completely fell apart when she de-panned it. She'd swapped butter for the shortening and "sour cream" for the milk, since her milk is skim. What did she do wrong?
Her sour cream was actually whipped cream, that she'd made of cream and whipped--without sugar--that had gone a bit passed its date...and was, therefore, sour. I don't know if this type of sour cream has the same density as regular sour cream, but I'm not certain it would be a good substitute for milk.
Since I didn't know, I needed to figure out if butter is a good substitute for shortening. I read lots of statements that said that butter is always better...in terms of health and flavor, that is. But when it comes down to the science of it, butter is NOT always better. At least, not if you do a one-to-one substitution.
Why is that? Well, shortening is pretty much 100% fat. And butter is fat, water and sometimes salt. If your recipe requires half a cup of shortening and you put in half a cup of water...you won't have enough fat. But you will have extra liquid. So, what I've read is that you need to have 1.2 times the amount of butter as the recipe calls for shortening.
What really crushed her is that she had special butter from Trader Joes that she said is better in baking...but she didn't use it. It likely has less water and salt in it. I never did ask her why she didn't.
So...can you substitute butter for shortening? Yes, but adjust your recipe accordingly.
I had a Greek upbringing. I drool at the thought of skordalia, lucanico and pastitsio. I will drive many hours for good Greek Festivals (in churches, with dancing...not convention centers and long lines and hip hop over the loud speaker).
Wait, you say. You're an Irish/British/Canadian born on Long Island. How could you have been raised Greek? As my husband pointed out, neither the Canadians, nor the Irish and British are known for their love of Greek cooking. Where does the Greek come into play?
My dad was an airline pilot, and when I was five, we went to Greece. We stayed mostly in Athens, though we did take a bus trip that was very long, and very boring, and two Australian kids named Alistair and Fiona and my sister and I all became bus sick and threw up out the window on a herd of very affronted sheep. After that the tour leaders realized us kids needed fresh air, so they took us to Olympia, where we were made to run around a giant dirt track, where the first Olympics were held. I was the youngest, and I came in last.
During the bus tour we dined at simple, open-air restaurants. We seemed to always have lamb stew and watermelon. At five I didn't see the endless fascination with lamb stew, night after night, so I would wander from table to table, collecting the large wedges of watermelon the adults pressed on me. It seemed they were sick of the endless parade of watermelon wedges.
When we arrived back home, my parents made deep fried zucchini and skordalia. We never had anything deep fried, so I did my best, even though I despised zucchini, and still do. I tried getting the thin coating off the zucchini slices and dipping it into the thick, yet airy, garlic-potato dip that was swirled with olive oil. I ended up worrying down more zucchini than I like to remember, just to get to have the skordalia.
Then, my parents discovered Zorba the Greek's restaurant. It was a little hole-in-the wall on the main street of Smithtown. It probably had ten tables. I recall plastic gingham tableclothes and pictures of the Acropolis and the Aegean on the walls. I can still remember the layout of the menu, though we got to know it so well we never had to look at it. We always ordered the same thing: a large Greek salad, a large plate of french fries, three gyros for my family and the lucanico for me. I never liked the lookes of the gyros with the yogurt sauce and all those onions...and now? Now I dream of tzatziki and lovely sauteed onions and pressed Greek meats on a spit.
Just today I bought a jar of dolmas (stuffed grape leaves) at Whole Foods. My local supermarket doesn't carry them, so I stock up when I wander into the WF. I didn't bother buying "Greek yogurt" because I make my own, with a special yogurt strainer my mother gave me for Christmas a few years back.
And when I make items for potlucks, what do I make? Most usually my awesome pastitsio--which is a cross between macaroni and cheese and lasagna, Greek-style--with bechamel, ground lamb, and a hint of cinnamon. There's never a smidge left in the pan. I swear, people would lick it if they thought they could get away with it.
My absolute love of Greek food has caused me to wonder hard about living in the Bay Area. There are no good Greek hole-in-the-wall spots. A pizza/gyro place on Polk Street in SF with a fake bird chirping over the doorway, and that's about it. Everything else is Middle Eastern, and/or four star. A great Greek place is going to be listed under the "Cheap Eats" column in the weekly newspaper.
I suppose it was also my love of Greek food that made me make Greek Meatballs for a recent cocktail party. Ground lamb and pork, feta cheese, oregano and dill went into the traditional recipe (with egg and breadcrumbs, etc.), then I baked them in the oven instead of pan frying. Delicious! But I didn't keep track of the proportions, so I don't have a recipe to post, yet.
What's your favorite Greek dish?
This is one of the dishes I served at the cocktail party. It started out to be low-fat and vegetarian, and now is neither. It's recipes like this that keep me fat and my guests happy.
Bacon Spinach-Artichoke SpreadServe with toasted, sliced French bread.
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1.5 packages of softened cream cheese or neufchatel...but not that horrid fat-free cream cheese
1 can artichoke hearts, drained
Two cloves garlic
1/4 cup chopped onion
One package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2/3 cup shredded Parmesan, divided
Six slices thick-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled (remove the big chunks of fat that remain after cooking)
Dash of Worcestershire
Dash of lemon
Salt & pepper to taste
Blend mayo and cream cheese in a mixing bowl until well blended. In food processor chop artichokes, garlic and onion, mix into cheese. Add in remaining ingrediants; season to taste. Spray a round baking dish with cooking spray and spread the dip. Sprinkle with remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees; broil 2 minutes until top browns slightly.
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!
Snow-Pea Salad.
Mid-Week Sunday Gravy
Tortilla EggsBlackbird 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!
Oh, I'm so tired. I need a day off tomorrow to recover from the cocktail party. I began cooking at 10am and didn't stop until 5pm. When one of my guests said, "it must have taken you all day" I just said, oh, no, not at all. I'm glad they saw that nothing came from the freezer section at Costco. But would they have cared?
Here's what I ended up making:
Brooklyn Cheese PuffsAs usual, the pigs in blanket were the biggest winners, but the Brooklyn Cheese Puffs from the America's Test Kitchen "lost recipes" cookbook went surprisingly fast. I found them to be bland and uninspiring. Only with a good scattering of salt did they perk up.
Bacon Spinach-Artichoke Spread on toasted French bread
Greek meatballs with a garlic dip
Carrot chips (good with the garlic dip)
Pigs in a blanket--yes, this crew of people love these. Served with a variety of mustards and ketchup.
Pork Shoulder sandwiches with tomato marmalade from the Top Chef cookbook
Three semi/soft cheeses--Port Salut, Herbed Chevre, and a brie with assorted crackers from Trader Joe's
We're having people in for cocktails tomorrow. Not many. Not including me and Juiceboy there will be seven. Enough to have to think about food. Because these folks expect cocktails and dinner, not just a drink and a handshake and you're on your way....
So I'm working out my menu tonight. Here's what I'm thinking of:
Three semi/soft cheeses--Port Salut, Herbed Chevre, and a brieWill it be enough? Will I have enough time? I'll be cleaning and tending to the giant baby at the same time...ack! Will try to take photos to record the horrible mistakes I made. Did I mention the Pork Shoulder will take 8 hours to braise in the oven?
Spinach-Artichoke Spread on French bread
Snow-pea wrapped shrimp
Greek meatballs
Crudite and dip (don't know what kind yet...whatever I have left!)
Pigs in a blanket--yes, this crew of people love these. Served with a variety of mustards and ketchup
Pork Shoulder sandwiches with tomato marmalade from the Top Chef cookbook
I realized at 2:30am that I haven't talked about the main food the baby ingests: formula. I stopped breastfeeding about two weeks after I returned to work--I learned that Juiceboy found it much easier to make a bottle of formula than b-milk and was letting it go bad. After all that pumping!
We started out using Similac, simply because they sent us free cans. That stuff is AWFUL and here's why:
1) It smells putrid.
2) It smells even worse when it's burped up.
3) Many babies are fussy on it, even the Sensitive or Soy formulas (including mine...who managed to eat that crazy lunch and ask for more!)
4) It's SUPER expensive. Try $28 for a regular-sized can at Safeway, or $30+ for the big cans at Costco.
One day I decided that the baby was so fussy, gassy, and spit-uppy that changing to a cheaper, store-brand formula couldn't hurt. And it didn't. The kid is 8.5 months and growing out of his 18-month clothing. He's 29 pounds and long, long, long. He's bright and curious and doing just great. When you do the side-by-side comparisons, you'll see the store brands stack up to the expensive brands, in every area but price. That's because of the FDA standards.
My recommendations on formula:
#1 TARGET--the store brand is about $13 a can.
#2 SAFEWAY--the store brand is off the shelves right now but I've been told by customer service that it returns April 18th with a new name: Mom-to-Mom. It used to be $11-$13.
Here's a Consumer Reports article on formula.
Okay, so they aren't really just spinach tacos. But that's the only thing I could think to call it. I had leftover chicken thighs from the White Chicken Chili in the fridge, so Juiceboy cooked four of them up as I braved Bay Area Traffic.
When I arrived home it turned out that neither of us was super hungry and The Bug was happy playing on the computer. The Baby had just spit up all over himself, so I grabbed the opportunity to give him a bath (which is something I rarely do). As I dried him I tried to think of things to go with the chicken, and realized I don't really like thigh meat, unless it's all cut up and part of something else, and I was completely not interested in dinner.
"Hey, how about if I cook up some spinach and we just have a little light meal of tacos? No beans or cheese or anything...."
Sounded good to Juiceboy. I pulled out the sad little bowl of caramelized onions, and we had a great, simple dinner of onions, chicken and spinach tacos. I had corn tortillas and the guys chose flour. I think I made the better choice.
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?
