What Did You Eat?

Food Bloggers For Dinner Meme

Ages ago I was tagged by CookieCrumb of I'm Mad And I eat and Julie at Kitchenography with this meme created by Angelika of The Flying Apple.   Angelika asks Which Menu Would You Serve Blogging Friends For A Welcome Dinner Upon Their First Visit to Your Home? This is not about choosing a favorite meal or dish (at least that is my take on it) meme. Rather, it asks us to describe a sort of signature menu revealing our personal cooking style and culinary preferences.  This set me to thinking for several days and I realized that I don't have a cooking style or preference.  If other people can spot one, please let me know.   I grew up watching my mother prepare meals from a variety of cookbooks containing recipes from around the world.  She tried to master them all and her efforts gave me a broad appreciation of food.  I realized that when I cook, I do a lot of it by whim, by what appeals to me at the moment.  And a lot of things appeal to me.   

When I prepare a meal for a dinner party, I first consider my guests. Will there be people there with diet restrictions?  Do they enjoy a particular cuisine?  Once that's settled in my mind, I scan a zillion cookbooks and annoy my friends with endless discussions about possible recipes.   Finally, it all comes together.   I didn't scan any cookbooks this time, or discuss it with friends.  This is what feels right at the moment. 

WCB: Happy Halloween

I can't believe these lame last minute attempts to fashion me a Halloween costume.  Where's the planning?  I'm supposed to be Johnny Depp in Pirates Of The Caribbean. PUHLEESE!

Separated at birth? Give me a break!

Well, Linda at Kayaksoup is hosting Weekend Cat Blogging and she will have better costumed cats, I'm sure. I feel like a fraud!!!  Go to Linda's site and see what organized cat parents can do!

Weekend Herb Blogging: Meatballs In Chipotle Sauce With Cilantro

Yesterday Glenna and I drove to the Napa Valley and visited a variety of places, including Mustards Grill.  We both had a wonderful lunch and, afterwards, we wandered through the restaurant's garden which was filled with raised beds bursting with herbs, peppers, chard, arugula and baby sweet peas.  When I saw all the herbs in the garden I thought of Weekend Herb Blogging, the brainchild of the lovely Kalyn.  This week WHB is being hosted by Fiber at 28 Cooks.  But, I thought I'd share a few more pictures from Mustards before I reveal my WHB entry.   

Company's Coming!

This is where I'll be tomorrow, Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe.  Glenna of A Fridge Full Of Food, But Nothing To Eat  is coming to visit me.  So, I'll be driving to pick her and Gene up in Reno and we'll see the sights before coming to my house. People from this area know that Emerald Bay is a traditional Must See for company. After we come back here, we'll see the Wine Country.  Of course, company means that I have to clean my house. I waited for the elves to show up in the night to clean, but they oviously don't do that anymore.  I started cleaning yesterday and promptly broke my mop. Hmm......a message there maybe?

I think Mustards Grill is a given, don't you?

Photo courtesy of http://www.pbase.com/pxpan/lake_tahoe

WCB: My Autumn Garden

Well, the tomato plants are gone!  Pulled up. Cast aside after all their service. Just like that.  Kinda scary!

Jelly over at I Got Two Shoes is hosting Weekend Cat Blogging this week. She lives with that big stud Kamikaze. Meow!  Stop by and see how Jelly is doing. She's been a little under the weather.

Fall Feast-ival: Butternut Squash Soup

It's Fall Feast-ival all this month at Fit Fare.  When I saw the beautiful butternut squash at the grocery store, I knew I had to make soup with it.  This recipe tastes very good and may be one of the healthiest soups I've ever eaten.  It starts off as a nearly fat free, pureed butternut squash base.  Then, collard greens, bell pepper, corn and carrots are added to make a great tasting soup low in calories but high in fiber, vitamins A and C, and antioxidants.   It was also quite filling, due to the fiber, I suspect.

World's Worst Apple Muffin and Squirrel Report

It looks fairly tasty, but here you see the worst muffin I've ever made.  The recipe seemed good, but the batter was dryer than normal and I wondered about that.  But, since it had a grated apple in it, I assumed that would provide some moisture. Wrong! Tasteless and tough.

In contrast here's a delicious pear muffin that I made for an article in Fit Fare. It was moist and full of great taste.  You can get the recipe for it  here.  It contains four chopped pears in the batter, making it moist and flavorful. And since pears are full of fiber, these little gems are good for you too.

Off the subject of muffins, I have to mention that I talked to the marvelous Christine of Christine Cooks on Monday. She's back from her trip and picking blackberries in her backyard, no doubt.  I'm looking forward to seeing the photos from her most excellant adventure.   Christine asked how the squirrels were doing, and since I've had the same question asked by a few other bloggers, I thought it was time for a progress report.

WHB: Red Snapper With Warm Tomato-Saffron Vinaigrette

It finally happened, tomato season is officially over.   My tomato plants were pulled up this weekend after I harvested a tiny crop of small but intensely flavored tomatoes.  It was tempting to make one last tomato sandwich, but I saw a recipe in Food & Wine magazine that used cherry tomatoes in a sauce served over salt baked fish.  I decided my small tomatoes would be perfect for the sauce, served over pan grilled red snapper.  I didn't feel like coating a fish with salt paste and baking it. Some other time perhaps.  This was an incredibly easy dish to make, taking around 15 minutes in total to make.  I've made sauces similar to this before, but this illustrates how different a recipe can be by adding a different herb.  In this case it's saffron (in truth a spice, don't tell anyone), which gave the sauce a beautiful yellow color, and distinctive honey flavor.  It's the perfect dish for Weekend Herb Blogging, the brainchild of Kalyn, but hosted this week by Patl at Up A Creek Without A Patl. 

Weekend Herb Blogging # 54 Roundup

Well, here it is: My very first Roundup of any kind.  It was quite a bit of fun, but of course I had a technical problem. I ALWAYS have technical problems when I do anything. You'll notice that the spacing is a tad inconsistant in this post.  Try as I may, I couldn't get it to do what I wanted.   But, you'll learn more about that later.   

For this week we had 22 submissions from around the world. (I hope I didn't leave anyone out.)   As always, the recipes were wonderful and show again that Weekend Herb Bloggers are quite a talented lot. 

Next weekend hosting duties will be handled by Patl at Up A Creek Without A Patl.  Send the e-mail to pat DOT langille AT gmail DOT com. 

That said, let's look at them.                            

Paula Deen's Sweet Potato Biscuits with Rosemary

Missouri, USA

Glenna, at A Fridge Full Of Food And Nothing To Eat forgets to put baking powder in her rosemary flavored biscuits, but they still manage to look great. Isn't it nice when that happens?  Besides adding flavor, the moist sweet potatoes replaced most of the fat in the biscuits.

Braised Cauliflower With Curry & Yogurt

Missouri, USA

Alanna Kellogg of A Veggie Venture, fresh from organizing a fabulous seminar for bloggers, has done it again with Braised Cauliflower with Curry & Yogurt.  This delicious heart healthy dish also features Weekend Herb Blogging's Favorite herb, cilantro.

Orange & Poppy Seed Cake

Sydney, Australia

Anna from Morsels & Musings writes an informative post that settles any questions about the long standing belief that poppy seeds affect drug tests results.  She also prepared a marvelous cake made from these colorful and delicious seeds.  Just don't eat it before you have a drug test!

Eggplant and Potatoes With Basil And Sesame Seeds

Pistoia, Tuscany, Italy

Ilva at Lucullian Delights once again features gorgeous photos of eggplant, transforming them into works of art.   Her delightful recipe of eggplant and potatoes features basil, which was the runner-up in the WHB favorite herb contest.

Tomato & Cilantro Soup
Utah, USA

Our fearless leader, the indefatigable Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen  has just returned from the seminar in St Louis and is full of stories and pictures. But, she did have time to prepare a beautiful Tomato & Cilantro Soup. Of course, we all know about the romance Kalyn has with cilantro!  It's one for the ages.

Fall Garden Revue

Central Pennsylvania, USA   

Visit Kenny at Veggie Gardening Tips and you'll see the vegetables and herbs of your dreams.  In particular, I noticed one of my favorite ornamental herbs, Mexican sage.  I'm certainly inspired to go work in my garden soon.


Roasted Tilapia, Tomato Wings & Asparagus

Toronto, Canada 

Ruth at Once Upon A Feast--Every Kitchen Tells A Story offers us a delicious meal full of herbs.  Ruth's family always eats well, and here they feasted on Roasted Tilapia dusted with coriander, cumin and fresh oregano.  That was paired with Tomato Wings, coated with lots of basil and parsley. 

Chicken Salad With Rosemary

Virginia,   USA

A deliciously different take on chicken salad can be found over at Coffee & Cornbread.  Coffeepot uses many of the traditional ingredients and then adds rosemary to the mix.  Since I love chicken salad and rosemary, I intend to make this

Salmoriglio

Melbourne, Australia   

I have oregano growing in my garden and thanks to Haalo at Cook (almost) Everything At Least Once, I now have a wonderful recipe for it.   She shows how Salmoriglio can be easily prepared to give a fabulous taste to meat and fish.  I also learned that oregano is a member of the mint family, which makes perfect sense if you notice the similar appearance and tenacious growing habit of mint and oregano.

Walnut Decorated Mini Coffee Cakes

Kronshagen, Germany   

Ulrike at Küchenlatein has the perfect recipe if you're in the need for something divinely sweet.  Her Walnut Decorated Mini Coffee Cakes will satisfy your need. And she was lucky enough to have freshly picked walnuts, a taste treat to be sure.


Pinakbet Tagalog

North Carolina, USA

JMom at In Our Kitchen shares her recipe for Pinakbet Tagalog, a vegetable stew with pork.  This charmingly named dish melds together a rich mix of veggies including eggplant and okra with ginger and garlic.   I always look for new eggplant recipes, so this is a keeper for me.

Muscadine Grapes

North Carolina, USA

At What's Cooking In Carolina, Swank Catering features a food near and dear to my heart, Muscadine grapes.  My grandparents had these delicous fruits growing on their land and they put other grapes to shame.  I'm glad to see the word being spread about Muscadines

Slow Cooked Pork, With Apple Reduction

Iowa, USA

The Inadvertent Gardener features a recipe with succulent pork and apples, flavored with sage and garlic.  You'll swear you can smell the wonderful aroma of this dish as you gaze at the pictures. And it's easily made in a slow cooker!

 
Potato Salad Alaturka (Patates Salatası)

Bloomington, USA

Almost Turkish Recipes features parsley in one of the prettiest potato salads I've ever seen. It also contains lots of dill and mint, so it's sure to be full of good flavors.  Serve this and say goodbye to bland looking potato salad!

Sweet Potato Boats With A Pesto of Rose and Pecan Nuts

Nantes, France

<>

Virginie at Absolutely Green prepares delicious and healthy vegan recipes.  Here she stuffs sweet potatoes with pecans, dried apricots, and rose petals. One can only imagine how lovely that smells!
 

Drying Herbs For The Winter

California, USA

Strata Chalup at  My Bay Area Garden is back with arm loads of herbs and helpful information on harvesting, pruning and drying them.  I'm amazed at the amount of herbs that Strata grows and harvests. Her yard must smell like heaven.

Purple Kohlrabi

Missouri, USA

Over at In My Kitchen Garden the hard working Farmgirl discovers that purple kohlrabi is darn near impossible to kill!  Neither frost, weeds nor Cary can discourage this admirable and beautiful plant.

 
Rye Ravioli with Sage Roasted Pumpkin in Sage Butter Sauce

California, USA

Surfindave at Serendipitous Chef roasts some pumpkin, couples it with rye flour pasta dough, sage butter sauce, and invents rye ravioli!.  Since we adore rye bread in our house, I think this is pure genius!

Fried Green Tomatoes

Connecticut, USA

Brace yourself, fried green tomato fans. Cucina Bella has made a big plate of these, so enticing they will make you weep in frustration, particularly since tomato season is almost over.

Citrus And Basil Salad

Katerina at Daily Adventures In Cooking features a refreshing salad made with oranges and basil.  I wish I had this while I was sick with my cold. But, I certainly don't need to be sick to enjoy it!

<>

Smoked Ham and Jarlsberg Cheese Sandwiches With Basil Mayonnaise And Tomato And Apricot Chutney
California, USA

And here are my sandwiches from What Did You Eat?  I highly recommend the tomato chutney, which is full of fresh ginger root, even if you don't make the sandwiches.  It can transform many things into something special.

Now, there is one last entry--from the wonderful Gattina.  No matter what I tried, Typepad would not allow me to properly include a picture of her dish along with the other entrants.  When I did, her picture was displayed askew from the others.  I'm pretty sure it's due to my limited abilities with a computer--but I prefer to blame Typepad.  I finally decided to give up and give Gattina her own special spot. Scroll down and you will see Gattina's picture in all it's glory.  So there, Typepad!

Mussels With Swiss Chard And Italian Parsley

New Jersey, USA

Gattina has done it again. Here she shows a delicious dish of parsley and swiss chard stuffed into mussels and cooked to perfection.  I always feel that the food in Gattina's beautiful photos is right in front of me, ready to enjoy.

WCB: When Travel Plans Go Awry.

I packed my bags and had my passport ready to fly to Switzerland, to visit Rosa, Fridolin, and Maruschka.  Then I found out that Rosa is hosting Weekend Cat Blogging and I can only visit her at Rosa's Yummy Yums.  Oh well, one can still dream.  Things are pretty boring here and I could use a nice vacation.  Here I am with the Mexican sage that's growing in the backyard.

It doesn't do much for me--no jolt to the system like catnip.  I need something to mellow me out. We now have 4 squirrels in the house.  It never ends.  Where's the tequila?

Go over to Rosa's blog and see what's happening there!