How gorgeous and springy are these wedding flowers? Sigh... My friend Kathie made these bouquets, for our friend Mary Heintz's son John's wedding. The talents of my friends just blow me away. Kathie is a fundraiser in her "real" job, but you can tell that her heart lies in the realm of plants, outside and in. If you're needing a gorgeous, affordable bouquet for a wedding or event, let me know (via comments, below). I know she'd do it for you. (And she's gonna kill me for putting this on here, but I can't help it, access to beautiful, affordable flowers is such a treat - one of life's small pleasures, and that's what we're all about here at the moderate epicurean - and she doesn't have a website. Yet. Ha.)

Speaking of Kathie, she, Mary Pappas, and I had lunch with Jim Toscano today. We took him to Lucia's, our favorite ladies' lunch spot, and it was fabulous, as always. We all four had polenta, and DAMN was it good. Soft interior, browned crusty top (I very much admire and appreciate that technique), garnished with olives and paired with a saute of the beautiful vegetables Lucia's does so well. It is always a pleasure to eat there.

And always a pleasure to see Kathie, Mary, and Jim. We presented him with a case of gorgeous, big, Italian red wines, a collective gift from several of his (now) former Park Nicollet Institute employees. I worked with Mark at I Nonni (therefore my trip over, yesterday) to select them and I know Jim and his wife Sharon, and their kids, will all enjoy them. Salute, Jim! (And sorry I made you all late getting back to the office! Put a quarter in me, I'll go for hours... Put a cup of caffeinated coffee in me, which I had this morning, and LOOK OUT! Flyin' arms, shrieking laugh, gab, gab, gab. Yeah. That's me. Thank god for the sake of Park Nicollet's productivity that none of you share an office with me anymore, woops!)

Hmmm...what should I have for dinner? Don't feel much like cooking, not starving but a little hungry...oh! I know! Polenta! Yes, I did make polenta, even after having a hearty portion for my Lucia's Lunch; turns out that lunch just whetted my Polenta Appetite. I'm basically dorkin' out on polenta - who knew it could be done? I had it straight - nothin' but polenta, baby, with a touch of Hope Creamery butter and a sprinkle of coarse salt. Oh, and a teeny little sprinkle of pecorino, parsley, and black pepper, but that was really just garnish. It was all about the polentahhhhh. Was I moderate in my consumption? Surprisingly, yes. Just enough to be 80% full - that's supposedly the trick. So that's my goal. It's not easy to achieve 80% full with polenta, but apparently it can be done. Even by me. How moderate!

Good night, friends. And Nathan. And Baby Cooper. And good-bye March, in like a lion, out like a...OMG, I should have made lamb for dinner! Rack of lamb... With polenta! Ah, well, lamb in April does not suck. Again, good. Night.

Buon Giorno! I've been there - to the restaurant, Buon Giorno, also home of I Nonni where we had our lovely dinner this past Saturday - and back, had a blast buying wine with the fabulous input of Mark, their wine buyer. Don't want to, but I'll have to wait until tonight to have a taste...

...because it would put me right out, ohhhhh, I stayed up far too late last night, yes, once again gabbing with the girls and recording a two-part episode of Feminine Hijinx. We had a fabulous guest, three-time women's hockey Olympian and medalist Tricia Dunn-Luoma. She's awesome! Funny, smart, beautiful and of course in amazing shape, she chatted with us about the Olympic experience but also participated in our all-out-naughty-talk-silliness and shared the story of her first kiss. Woo hoo for Tricia! (By the way, those medals are heavy! And gorgeous, she brought them to show us, all quite distinctive in shape, size, and weight. Can you imagine winning an Olympic medal? It blows my mind...)

Hey, I just realized I've chatted with an arctic explorer (Ann Bancroft) and Olympic medalist (Tricia) in the same week! What a week! Grrrrrrrls rule! And they're hip, fun and cool, on top of being amazing athletes, so grrrrrrrls rock too!

Grrrrrsputter...I'm a tired grrrrrl tonight, people (as Suz would say, I love that), not much inspired to cook dinner. There's a smidge of tonnato (tuna spread) in the fridge, and another smidge of leftover chicken from last night. Some cheese. Fresh fruit. Definitely enough to get us through... I'm so tired I'm not even hungry - NO! Not me. But yes, it appears to be true. I have to forego our neighborhood women's association meeting tonight, I just don't have it in me, and I almost always have it in me for chick-chat and wine. Need. Sleep. (I feel guilty writing that, knowing how tired my little sis Stacey is, with Baby Cooper; now THAT'S tired. My tired does not compare, poor Pooh.) Goodnight people!

Happy 14th Birthday Sigmund Louis Siggy Sigs Roo Rufus Levy!

Fourteen! For a gordon setter, that's amazing. He's feeling pretty damn good for an old man, little arthritis, little quiet, but he can still run around and play a bit, has a good appetite, still enjoys a good glass of wine (just kidding, obviously). Can't hear a thing but enjoys a nap in the sun to warm the ol' joints. Loves a thin, crisp raw-hide treat after doing his business outside. Can still sniff out chipmunks and - very briefly - give chase. Particularly enjoys his anti-inflammatory and vitamin E pills, they must be some kind of delicious that I just don't understand. He really enjoys attention from the kids, from his little sister and now from Nathan too. He started life with John and his first wife Amy in St. Louis Park. Then he was a high-rise apartment dweller for many years, in the style of John's childhood dog, George. Now he's finishing off his life in this home, with a big yard to run around in, and someone (me) hanging around with and talking to him all day, which he really does enjoy (even if he can't much hear me). And Fridays, when Marty comes, OMG, he's to the moon happy, he LOVES Marty. It's been a good dog life these last 14 years. Here's to your health and as many more good years as you can possibly eek out, you sweet old dog - ROO!

We had a fun birthday celebration, for both Sigmund and to celebrate A's 13th (she was away for her actual birthday last week). Little chocolate cake for us people, little doggy "donut" from Lulu & Luigi's in St. Louis Park for Sigs. Rufus could hardly believe his luck when the kids held the donut out for him - he so politely looked at it, and then at John and me, back at the donut, again at John and me, incredulous that he was being offered food on a plate (we don't feed him people food, despite his ever-hopeful efforts to convince us to). Hilarious!

For our dinner, I made simple roasted chicken, rice, and a delicious combination of sliced leek, fennel, red pepper, and tomatoes sauteed over low heat in olive oil with a bit of curry until soft. Gorgeous with the salty, crispy chicken.

Feminine Hijinx is the featured podcast on Digital Podcast this week - woo hoo! We knew they had asked us to be featured, and filled out the interview form they sent, but didn't know when/if they'd put us up. But there we are! Very exciting, I'll be curious to see what it does for our numbers. We just reached 1,000 subscribers a couple of days ago (also reason to celebrate!) so we'll have a good benchmark to start from! Now if we could be featured on iTunes... (Vote for us on iTunes if you're so inclined, it helps grab their attention...)

Soooo good to see the sun today! Should make short work of the remaining snow and, just perhaps, this will be the end of snow for the season. I'm ready to throw open the windows, eat on the deck, wake to birdsong. I'm ready.

I have a no-brainer lunch today - quiche and a salad. Nice, huh? The quiche was delicious and I would say didn't even need cheese (I didn't put much in anyhow). The leeks, tomatoes, and herbs were rich and flavorful on their own. I'm going to make note of how good they were, in fact, and serve sauteed leeks and tomatoes as a vegetable dish to stand on its own one of these nights. With fish, it would be a knockout.

Oooh, just had a scary thing happen. Had a doctor's appointment today, and a four-vial blood draw. Came home, decided to do a pilates video tape, half-way through the workout, major, sudden headache and nausea. My first thought was, oh no, aneurysm, here I go, good-bye world. And then I remembered the blood draw. Woops! (Dramatic? Not me!)

For dinner tonight, one of Nathan's favorites. Basically, a collection of little Greek-inspired tasties from Byerly's. Toasted pita, eggplant spread, lemon-pepper rotisserie chicken, olives. I make a Greek salad to complete the meal, and it's really the only prep work I do, other than toast pita.

Mmmmm...this wasn't even real Greek food, but I loved it anyhow, especially the seriously goat-y imported feta I bought. I'm such a sucker for big cheeses, prrrr... I used to share an office with my Greek friend Mary Pappas and we used to joke about how I was really Greek somewhere in my family. She had her Yaya D and mother-in-law Kathy make all the food for the (Nathan) baby shower she hosted for me. Total blast and OMG, so delicious. Spanikopita, meatballs, Greek salad, rice pudding, baklava. I was in heaven, we all were. John and I had our groom's dinner at Gardens of Salonica, a feast of platter upon platter of gyro meat, spanikopita, moussaka, pita, Greek fries, salad, eggplant/tsatsiki/tirima spreads, marinated vegetables, olives, and cheeses... Greek wine a-flowin'. Ice-cold Greek beer a-pourin'. On and on and on and on. It was incredible. We were like over-stuffed, plump little dolmades when we rolled out across the Hennepin Avenue Bridge toward home. Opa!

Just got this pic from this past Friday, Jim Toscano's retirement open house. Here we are, the former ranks of PNI Admin, together again, in Dwan B/C no less. (L-R seated: Jim Toscano, Mary Heitz. L-R standing: Laura Olevitch, Ruth Spellmon-Hayes, Kathie Radcliffe, Mary Pappas, moi, Sonya Painschab. Not pictured, but we wish they had been: Stu Hanson, Sherry Ruh, and Rebecca Swanson). Woo hoo for PNI Admin!

Whew, busy day, I've been running around all over the place. I've decided we're having quiche tonight, and a spinach salad. I think a little tomato-leek-gruyere action, mmm... I have lots of fresh herbs in the fridge and want to use them up. I threw a chopped handful into a simple pasta dish last night (just angel hair tossed with olive oil, sliced garlic, and red pepper). Tonight, the quiche (recipe posted in comments, below).

My boys are home! Both John and Nathan made their way back to me yesterday, it was so nice to sleep with them under the same roof again. Everyone right where they belong, safe and sound.

Guanciale! My cheeky way of saying good morning in Italian. Guanciale was an ingredient in two of my (delicious!) courses at I Nonni last evening and I hadn't a clue what it was. Neither did Stu or Debbie, but we floated several interesting possibilities. None of us guessed cured pig cheeks, although I was thisclose by thinking it was perhaps some sort of green. Woops! More like a sort of pink. It's used the way pancetta, bacon, or other cured pork is used to flavor a dish, as in, delightfully. I'm on for more guanciale next trip to I Nonni.

I'm also on for more beef carpaccio showered with chopped arugula, shaved Parmigiano Reggiano, and lemon. More warm, crusty, fragrant bread. More mache salad with paper thin slices of potato. More pasta with fennel sausage, black truffle, and a hint of cream. More rosy, crispy roast duck breast, accompanied by delicious caramelized Brussels sprouts that I could only just taste (my body stopped digesting Brussels sometime in 2004; very disappointing, I love Brussels). And definitely more of any of the wines that I Nonni's Mark suggests, the wine selection is fabulous and his recommendations were lovely. We opened with a glass of a delicious and moderately priced Falanghina, a white grape I confess I'd not heard of before. We then shared a bottle of a 2003 Gallina Barbera D'Alba, mmmm... I am most certainly heading back to I Nonni this week to purchase both wines, and others, as well as thoroughly raid the Buon Giorno deli...can't wait!

From I Nonni we raced over to The Fitzgerald Theater for the Survival of the Fittest presentation with explorer Ann Bancroft, one of the Stage Session series presented by Minnesota Public Radio and hosted by the hilarious and irrepressible Heather McElhatton. Heather is a force of a personality and presence, with her curtain of red hair and clear voice and humor that sneaks up on you. Ann shared a couple of riveting stories and chatted with Heather and together they "received" other performers and essayists, including our friend Rudy Maxa, who has an incredible stage presence. He's got a golden voice, which any of you who've heard him on the radio already know. But he's also very relaxed and engaging in front of a crowd, comfortably chatting about a wide variety of subjects ranging from travel, of course, to Britney Spears, and it was hilarious. Ann and Rudy were but two of a large and eclectic mix of incredibly talented musicians, writers, and speakers, whose performances loosely hung on the theme of "survival." As a moderate epicurean, check out explorer Dan Buettner's concept of Blue Zones. And have a listen to the whole show tonight on MPR, from 6-8 p.m.

And then...there's more!...after the show, we chatted in the lobby with Rudy and Ana, and met Ana's parents. And Stu and I introduced ourselves to Ann Bancroft, and greeted her for John (who was in Vail for the last several days skiing, hi John! See you tonight!), who has proudly done some legal work for Ann, he thinks of the world of her. It's not hard to see why. Not only is she obviously bright and brave, she is delightful. Tough and tiny, funny, engaging, I suppose you're not supposed to say this about an explorer, but she is adorable! And she's a fantastic storyteller, with a great voice, it's fun to listen to her. So, at around oh, 12:30ish, we made our way home. Still full from our 6 p.m. dinner, sleepy from the wine, and laughed and entertained out, I rolled into my bed sometime after 1 a.m. No insomnia last night, I don't think even caffeine could have hampered my slumber (although I'm glad I didn't test it).

So Nathan and John come home today, my little mini-vacation at home alone is just about over. I think I'll sneak in a little nap, the last hurrahhhh... Before I snap back to it and figure out what I'm making for dinner. Until then!

Big night tonight! I am so excited! I'll open with dinner at I Nonni with Debbie and Stu Williams...that means great wine! Great food! And a guaranteed good time! Woo hoo! From there we head over to the Fitzgerald Theater for Minnesota Public Radio's A Stage Session with Ann Bancroft: Survival of the Fittest. We were invited to attend by Rudy Maxa, "who will recount his harrowing tales from the Pacific Rim" as part of the presentation. Afterward we plan on having a chance to catch up with Rudy and Ana Scofield. Should be a lovely evening.

So today, today, hmmm... A walk. Party planning. Perhaps I'll pick up the drill, oooh. Never a dull moment in this household! (And honestly, I'll most likely end up reading for awhile, I'm just in that frame of mind lately. Productive procrastination, reading. Love it.)

Such fun today, seeing all my friends from Park Nicollet at Jim Toscano's retirement open house. It was like a family reunion, lots of hugs and laughs and insanely trying to catch up with everyone in not nearly enough time. Everything has changed and yet nothing has changed, it was great to reconnect. I loved my job at PNI, and everyone that I worked with - how I got so lucky to land there, at age 24, I have no idea. It is an honor to say I've worked for Jim Toscano, he's just...awesome.

From PN, I dashed home, whipped together a quick lasagna (I'll post the recipe tomorrow; too tired tonight!), and headed for Stacey's to have dinner with her and to visit Baby Cooper Cuteness. He napped through dinner, which was nice for Stace, as in she got to eat! Kitty Co even got a tasty - I brought the white bean/tuna mixture (from yesterday) and prepared a little toast for Stace. Forgot to cover it up, left the room, came back to find Co playing with a bean on the floor (licked quite clean of tuna). Hilarious!

After dinner it appeared that she and Coop were going to catch some sleep as I left (I hope, I hope! She's pretty wiped...). Bowen was on his way in as I left, hopefully it's a restful night for everyone...

Including me! I'm off! Until tomorrow...

I'm messing around with a few recipes in preparation for the cocktail party we're having at the beginning of April. I adapted a white bean/sardine toast recipe from Jacques Pepin Fast Food my Way and made it a white bean and tuna toast recipe. Absolutely delicious, pretty, and nutritious too (although at a cocktail party, that's not sooo important. Recipe is posted in comments, below.) Would make a lovely dinner alongside a bowl of soup or a salad, with a nice glass of red. Yummy and oh-so-moderate! Woo hoo!

Spent 2.5 hours at the car dealership this morning waiting for a few minor repairs. Not a good use of time, sigh. Luckily I was prepared and brought a book, so the time passed relatively quickly. This afternoon I worked briefly at the book fair at school and of course took the opportunity to pick up some cool books for Nathan and Cooper.

So I have two leftover pork chops and two leftover lamb chops...hmmm...had a pork chop for lunch, so I'm not in for chops for dinner, too. I'm thinking perhaps I'll create a hash of sorts, chop the chops and saute with diced potatoes and mushrooms until it's all crispy. Not a bad idea, right? Would make a nice meal with a simple salad. Rustic. Warm. And most important, delicious!

Oops, I did it again - threw caution to the wind...and drank caffeinated coffee yesterday at Susie's. That's why I'm posting before 7:00 a.m., definitely not my usual. I figure I've been up since around 2:30 a.m., perhaps I dozed a bit in there before I finallly just got up around 5:00. Oh lord, will I regret it today. Damn me! I got some good desk work done, however, and before I got up I did lots of planning for the big party on April 8. At least I was productive.

In my tired punchiness, I realized that Stacey now has two Mini Coopers - a car, and a son. Hilarious! At least to me, this morning. I'll probably delete that thought at some future date because it's so dorky. (Sorry Stace...although I know she'll forgive me tired punchiness, some of our best dork-out moments have been fueled by tired punchiness...)

Happy Birthday Mary Pappas!

Well, I achieved a lovely nap this afternoon since Nathan is in Florida. After a long, hot, late-afternoon shower, I feel refreshed and ready-to-cook. I've poured myself a glass of St. Innocent Pinot Gris and am about to saute pork chops (I actually prefer the thinner, bone-in cut) and create a pan sauce (using some of the 50 lbs. of caramelized onions I have in my fridge, ha), to serve with polenta (yay! Polenta! Haven't visited this particular friend for awhile...) and quickly braised baby bok choy (darling little cabbages I bought on a whim at Byerly's yesterday, they were too cute to resist; I'm thinking of keeping them simple with a bit of olive oil and a shower of fresh herbs). I realize it's a little weird to have chops two nights in a row - lamb last night, pork tonight. Guess I was feeling choppy at the store yesterday? I shopped completely creatively, sans list, which I do like to do occasionally. I end up with things like baby bok choy.

And like this marvelously delicious cheese I also picked up, called Abondance, a "mellow raw cow's milk" cheese. Prrrrr, it is lovely. Kinda sexy. Earthy, a little buttery, a little nutty. Very French. Firm, but soft (semi-hard, I guess, ha), with a few air holes. Not bitter like gruyere. Damn.

Oh. My. Ohmyohmyohmy. The polenta, with the wild mushroom/caramelized onion pan sauce. Man, screw the pork chops and bok choy (which I did thoroughly enjoy, quite a bit), give me polenta with a meat-y pan sauce and I am done. DONE! Lordy it's good stuff, ahhhhh. I am so full, I'm not moderate in my polenta consumption. (I'll post recipes below, in comments, so you too can founder yourself - my dad's line - on po..len..tahhhhh...) And yes, I am aware of how similar this photo, and dinner, are to last night's creation. Like I said, I guess I was in a choppy mood. As well as a dark leafy greens and soft, warm, slightly-decadent side mood. I'll bust out tomorrow with something totally different (or not, because as usual, I do have quite a bit of leftover food). Perhaps Friday night. Stay tuned! Always something new - or shockingly similar - at the moderate epicurean...

OK, my polenta-filled stomach and I are bed-bound. Good night Nathan Cutestuff Tinskers in Florida! Good night Super Duper Peanut Cooper in St. Paul!

(And, a nice little article about spring veggies - you can't eat too many delicious, nutritious veggies...)

Busy day! And fun! I was Picture Person at school this morning, chatting up SE Asian art for 4th graders - I so enjoy talking with the kids. From there I ran a few errands that I've been putting off forever ('cuz that's the way I do things...procrastinate, then kick 'er into gear; what can I say?), picked up some tasties for dinner, took Nathan to the airport (he's visiting his grandparents, in Florida), and stopped by Suz's for some chat, coffee, and apple bread pudding, mmmm... Marvelous way to spend the afternoon, ahhhh, I feel great. (I have to confess, my witty conversation did not have Susie laughing this hard today, I stole this picture from our night of hilhairity last week; love it though, this photo sums up how fun it is to hang out with my minxes!) Now it's time to make dinner, or at least think about it. I picked up some loin lamb chops and celery root. Hmmm...I'm thinking broiled chops. Simple celery root gratin (with a bit of cheese in the gratin, I don't need a pan sauce for the chops). Basic spinach salad with a tart mustard vinaigrette to balance out the richness.

OMG, how much do I love lamb? It's out of control, the chops were delicious. Just coarse salt, pepper, and dried rosemary, broiled in the oven - heavenly. Celery root gratin is delicious, but a little too much liquid in the pan, so I need to revise that recipe before I post it. I'll just say that in a nod to moderation, I've worked out a moderate way to use cream in several different recipes. Forget fat-free half-n-half, or skim evaporated milk. The trick is to use just a bit of the real deal, along with some chicken broth - I use the technique with pasta as well as when creating a vegetable gratin.

Just listened to episode 5 of Feminine Hijinx with John - fun, as usual. We laughed our asses off! It's turned out to be the highlight of our week, when John and I are alone together - I make a little dinner, we listen to a little Hijinx and howl with laughter. Fabulous.

Big birthday day in the Meyer-Levy family, my mom Kris' *%th birthday, and A's 13th, Happy Birthday Mom and A!

Alright, it's time for an early bedtime, ahhhh, love that. Snuggle into my softy (baby Nathan's word, softy) sheets, watch a little TV, fall blissfully, soundly asleep. 'Night! (And goodnight Dreamy Cooper! Let your mom get a little sleep between feedings! At the same time, nurse away and grow, grow, grow!)

Saw Noah! Saw Cooper! Cute little kid day - woo hoo! I met Rishia and Noah Zimmern, and as a bonus also got to see Carol Mack, at lunch at D'Amico & Sons on Grand Avenue in St. Paul. I'm kicking myself that I didn't bring my camera to take pictures (this is a pic I snapped a month ago), especially of Noah's unbelievable blue eyes - they're truly stunning. He did an amazing job for a 1-year old, sitting and "chatting" with us, trying various tasties from our lunches, taking it all in. Sigh. He's a little slice of baby heaven, dimples and all.

As is Super Duper Cooper, as his mom calls him, a little mini-bundle of snuggly cuteness. He had his first pediatrician appointment today and has gained 1/2 lb. since his birth - on my calculation, that's like a 100 lb. person gaining more than 8 lbs. in one week. Go Coop! I got to sneak in a little visit, since I was in St. Paul, and hold him for a bit. LOVE IT! He squeaks while he sleeps, sigh. More baby heaven. And I also delivered to Stace a batch of homemade iced sugar cookies from Suz, who arranged them all on a brand-spankin'-new potty training seat. Hilarious, and delicious.

Nailed down episode 5 of Feminine Hijinx last night - our usual laughfest! Susie baked up an incredible bread pudding for us as a treat when we were done, OMG, mmmm....(recipe posted in comments, below). Wish I had a piece right now...warm, caramel-y, yumminess.

But what I have now is instead a quick pasta I whipped up for dinner. It's a busy night, since I have to prepare for Picture Person at school tomorrow morning. I had leftover veggies from the other night and decided to turn them into a sort of pasta primavera. Sauteed a little sliced garlic in a bit of butter, added the veggies, chicken broth, a few tablespoons of cream, some chopped fresh herbs, pinch of nutmeg and heated until warmed through. Tossed with Colavita fettucine, grated Parmesan, salt and pepper, voila, dinner. Nathan LOVED it, so much so that I made a little bit more sauce to toss with the plain pasta I'd set aside for him - that's lunch for tomorrow. S-weet!

Just have to a say a quick good morning to Cooper (what else is a blog for if not for posting cute pics of Cooper??? That's Stacey, taking in the cuteness of his full little lips...)

After my heavy shepherd's pie/beer/soda bread dinner last night - whew, I am still full - I'm thinking a light, brothy soup is in order for dinner this evening. With a veggie first course, not sure yet what it will be. I'll think about it for a bit and check back in. I wish I'd thought it through yesterday, so I could have picked up a few more things while I was at the store, but I wasn't that organized this week. I do usually create a meal plan for the week and map out at least a few dishes so I'm not at the store every damn day. The shepherd's pie idea was impulsive, however, and I made the mistake of shopping just for that. So...I'm quite sure I'm taking another trip down the aisle(s of Byerly's) today. Anyone need anything?

Here's another picture I took yesterday, he is a little squeaker, isn't he? I got some good shots, the sunlight streaming in the windows was truly lovely...

Enhanced by all that snow, I suppose. Hmmph. I'm still not going to like the snow. I like being a bitch sometimes, it's my legacy, and I claim it. I've spent my whole life trying to be a nice girl and you know what? Turns out it's not always such a good idea, you get taken for granted and taken advantage of, not always, but sometimes, and I've decided that sometimes is too often. You also get damn mad about it, understandably. So, once again, all things in moderation are good - including being nice. Hello, 40! Hello, half-way through my life! Hello, being judged isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be! Hello, freedom!

Well, whew, pardon the cry for freedom, back to more Saturday concerns. Time for me to hang a bit with Johnny. And oh, I apologize for my blog being inaccessible or doing weird things (double posts, broken links, etc.). Blogger is having some sort of problem with one of its servers, clearly the one that my blog is on, and even this morning it's partially unresolved. It's been days! Irritating! And sorry!

OK. Onion soup, that's what we're having for dinner. Definitely some substance, what with the cheese and crouton (it's worth noting, there's no need to overdo the cheese, it can be quite moderate), but brothy and lovely under it. We'll figure out some kill wine to partner. And a first course of sauteed baby carrots and fennel, with dill. (I'm somewhat inspired by the Barbara Kafka interview I heard on MPR this a.m., marvelous woman, chatting about her new vegetable cookbook, Vegetable Love - which I am all over - while she prepared and talked up baby carrots. Great quote/paraphrase: she shared that women approach her and say, but my kids just don't like vegetables, to which she says something along the lines of, "Then my dear, you should learn how to cook." Force of a woman, a charming bitch, as it were, perhaps that's why I'm in the mood I'm in...heh, heh, heh...) So, back to onion soup. I usually prepare a pretty simple version, to rave reviews by John, but today I'm doing a Thomas Keller a la Bouchon cookbook version. What he has to say about onion soup, it's pretty fabulous. I'll post it in comments, since it's lengthy, but if you're interested in such things, check it out.

I may be learning a lesson in moderation just this afternoon. This Bouchon onion soup? I've perhaps bitten off more than I can chew, so to speak. Slicing 8 lbs. of onions wasn't so bad (because I sliced "only" 5.5 lbs., or one bag of large yellow onions). But cooking them for a total of about, oh, 6 hours will be! Someone didn't read through the recipe very carefully... Shit. At 5:15 p.m., I'm 45 minutes into the 1 hour pre-saute. I'm then to crank the heat a bit and saute them for 4 hours until caramelized. Add stock or water and simmer for another hour. That means we'll eat at...10:30 p.m. Right. Time to innovate a bit, and borrow some techniques from my quicker recipe, like putting a lid on the onions to speed up the caramelization. I'll see where that gets me and check back.

OMG, hilarious, it's 8:11 p.m. and we just ate - I had to cut it short. So I didn't caramelize the onions as much as I should have. And I have no idea - frankly - why the recipe calls for 8 lbs. of onions, thank goodness I only did 5.5 lbs. And that was way too much, since the recipe calls for only 1.5 cups of caramelized onions at the end (they cook down a lot, but not that much). It just didn't work for me in so many ways, given what can be done MUCH more easily with the Julia Child Mastering the Art of French Cooking recipe, which uses 1.5 lbs. and takes a total of 2 hours. Sigh. Oh well, it wasn't a lot of work, really, just a lot of time. (I'll save you the headache and post the Julia Child recipe in comments, below; it's delicious.)

And, oh, by the way, I prepared the baby carrots, fennel - sliced julienne - and added (dried, reconstituted) chopped morel mushrooms. Chopped fresh herbs (didn't do dill, since I still had chervil and tarragon in the fridge), little Hope Creamery butter after steaming them. Unbelievably good. We sort of snacked on them while waiting for the monster of all onion soup gratinees to be ready. In the end: all delicious, and healthy, and worth the effort, since it's Saturday.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I'm thinking about making a shepherd's pie for dinner, Irish soda bread, pick up some Killian's Red. That all sounds great! At least to me...we'll see what John thinks, ha. He'll be flexible, I think, because we had a version of chicken & rice last night. A will be here for dinner, and of course there's no way she (or most any other kid) is going to eat shepherd's pie for dinner, so it may be a pasta or soup night for her. Usually she and John go out for dinner on their Fridays together, but a Friday/St. Patty's combo is probably not a good night to take a child out for dinner. Do you think the restaurants and bars will be hopping with people (most of them decidedly un-Irish) drinking green beer (and martinis, and god knows what else) by 3 p.m.?? Hell yes! By dinner time - eek, not even a leprechaun should venture out into that crowd. So tonight, we eat-in. Cheers!

I had a GREAT day, visiting Stacey, Bowen, and Baby Cooper, and Stacey's neighbor and angel-friend Caroline, who made Stacey the most beautiful scrap book of her pregnancy. Unbelievable. And Cooper! So adorable, slept the whole time, until it was time to eat. But hey, that's what brand-new babies do, of course - sleep and eat. And poop, he pooped too. He's right on track and settling into his new, sunny home, full of Stacey's beautiful paintings.

I pulled off the shepherd's pie for dinner (recipe posted in comments, below), delicious (with tons of leftovers for the freezer), and soda bread, and Killian's Red. Mmmm...and filling. Not very moderate I guess, kinda heavy, I am stuffed. No dessert needed after that dinner, not even a cup of coffee. I should go for a long walk, whew. Hope you're having a good St. Patty's Day! I know little Cooper is, and even though he's not Irish, he could almost pass for Irish with that amazing, adorable red hair. He's a little doll. G'night Coop!

Snow, snow, go away, come again some other day (as in, Christmas 2006!). Sheesh. Enough already! I'm trying to convince myself that it's pretty, but it's not working, not after our recent glimpses of (almost) green. The only good part of it all is watching how much fun Nathan is having playing outside every day after school. My boy is a Minnesotan through and through. Yah. He'd play out there with no jacket on if I'd let him! He comes in wanting a cup of hot cocoa, oh fer cute!

I'm picking up the drill again today, took a little break what with the excitement of the arrival of Baby Cooper (who went home today, he's home!), but it's time to get back to my projects, ya know! (Sorry, I'll stop that MN thing now... Or at least the obvious MN thing, I'm sure plenty of it sneaks in otherwise...)

Tonight will be just John and me for dinner - rather than go out, I think we'll stay in, where it's cozy and warm (while we have electricity anyhow, eek). I bought a rotisserie chicken yesterday thinking I'd make a quick coconut curry dish tonight. Chicken, veggies, Thai curry paste, coconut milk, over jasmine rice (recipe posted in comments below). Mmmm... It's a simple dish, on the table in 30, and really yummy on a cold snowy day. In March. (Fuck March.)

Ooh, good curry, so colorful and delicious. Salty, sour, spicy, sweet, just like it's supposed to be. I added broccoli this time, and green pepper and raisins, and had some fresh basil so tossed that in also. Damn! It's a great recipe because it's flexible - the base of coconut milk, onion, garlic, curry paste, curry powder, fish sauce, brown sugar, lime juice and basil allows for endless variation. Shrimp, fish, chicken or no meat/fish at all. Broccoli, mushrooms, peppers, tomato, raisins, nuts, peas - any or all of those. Delicious with jasmine rice, regular long-grain rice, or tossed with angel hair pasta. Variations on a Theme, that's my mantra. Enjoy!

If you enjoy articles about nutrients and health, this is a good one, about the importance of fish oil/omega 3 fatty acids (I take four ZoneLabs fish oil capsules/day; hey, it's worth a try...), check this out: Eat This, Cheat Death.

Another quiet day (I'm feeling quiet lately, tired). Baby Cooper's doing great (I can hardly bear how adorable that red hair is!!) and so are Stacey and Bowen. Nathan and A are here, doing their homework, I'm about to make dinner. Steak (broiled flank), crispy oven roasted potatoes (unanimous request; how could I refuse?), and a Caesar salad. Just a nice, classic dinner. I'll have to track down a big red to complete the picture. Feel like I should have a gorgeous martini with olives beforehand - love they way they look, sadly don't like the way they taste - and Baked Alaska for dessert! I've never made it, by the way, although it would probably be fun to give it a go. Someday...

Here's a curious aside from our trip to the hospital to see Cooper. There's a painting of my old house - still my ex's house - that hung in the front entry of the hospital for a few years, but since the hospital's recent remodel, now hangs by the main elevator bank. I've known about it for quite awhile - my friend Polly first noticed it and told me about it when she was bringing her daughter Ellie home from the hospital. At the time, I contacted the hospital administration to get the scoop on how our house happened to be painted (it clearly represented the home during our ownership - our paint scheme, landscaping, even me standing at the base of the driveway and our now-deceased elderly neighbor Mary spying through her window at me, a very truthful rendering, hilarious). The hospital had commissioned paintings of local neighborhood scenes and somehow, some way, our little domestic scene was chosen. The painting is not for sale (darn), and the artist's sketches were already sold, so we'll just have to enjoy it at the hospital, hopefully on happy occasions like the birth of Baby Cooper!

So today...hoping for another little Cooper fix later on in the day. A run over to the store. Laundry. I'll be cooking something for dinner...still celebrating the miracle of electricity...not sure yet what it will be.

Nathan's having a blast in the snow and I'm glad for that (even if I'm not liking it much myself). Since John had a dinner meeting, Nathan and I decided to order in. So a relaxing night for me! Other than whipping over to register for little league, but that was easy. We didn't get our Cooper fix today, Stacey is understandably (!) wiped out, so perhaps tomorrow. She and Bowen report that Cooper's doing great! He hung out with them all day today and they were happy to have lots of quiet time to absorb his cuteness.

Cooper Meyer Howard

He's so unbelievably adorable - his hair is actually red! How cute is that??? He's perfect, since he was delivered cesarean, none of that bruising labor for him. He's a little squeaker, just shy of 6 lbs., but healthy and doing well. I got to change one of his itty bitty diapers in the nursery, that was fun. And hold him a bit before his mom fed him. Just sweet, sweet, sweet. We're so glad he's here! Nathan's first cousin, he was pretty blown away today, Cooper is the first newborn baby he's ever seen. He was totally charmed, like we were, by his red hair, tiny hands, little snorts, and baby sneezes.

How cute are Stacey and Bowen, the proud new mommy and daddy? They're totally smitten with Cooper, it's so sweet!

Crazy day of no electricity, just came on at about 7 pm tonight. Hate that - ugh! Very uncomfortable and frustrating. No computer, heat, lights, nothin'. With 8+ inches of snow - gag me. Luckily there's Cooper to cheer us all up! I couldn't WAIT to take some pictures of him and write about him!

So now John and I are home, trying to decide what on earth we're having for dinner. Time to innovate! Thank goodness all my hard work yesterday, cooking for Stace and Bowen, stayed very frozen - I wouldn't let anyone touch that freezer while the electricity was off. Whew. I'll check back in when I figure something out!

Oh man, I love looking at those pictures of Cooper, he's so marvelously cute. Fun!

And I'm so grateful for electricity! It's like being sick, not having electricity, when you're feeling "normal," or the power's back on, you feel like celebrating. It was great to listen to Feminine Hijinx (our new Monday routine) and have a simple pasta dish, angel hair tossed with a quick saute of olive oil, thinly sliced garlic, red pepper flakes, and a bit of pasta cooking liquid. Little grating of Pecorino Romano, fresh pepper, and sprinkle of coarse sea salt. Delicious, comforting, simple, just hit the spot in every way. I'm sure I'll sleep much better tonight - last night between thinking about new baby Cooper, Stacey, the snow storm, and losing our electricity, I hardly slept at all. I'm wiped (although not like Stace is wiped, of course). Have a good night, everyone.

Baby Boom Boom is soon to have a new, real name, he's on his way! Stacey and Bowen are at the hospital as I write this. Oh, a baby, a beautiful little boy, everyone is so excited. A baby. Soon to be called, by his mommy, a Cuteness and a Fruitzer, two very Stacey words for little cutie pies. He's pretty much guaranteed, via both his mommy and daddy, big hazel-brown eyes, curly hair, and a wiry, athletic frame. Good cheek bones. Full lips. Smarts. Wit. An artistic eye. Iconoclast urgings. Ants in his pants. Gentleness. In other words, he'll be - is - awesome! Can't wait to meet him!

Update: Boom Boom is going to be delivered via cesarean at some point this afternoon, no word yet if he's arrived... I'm freaking out a little bit, which surprises me, so I went to the store and am making healthy food to freeze and take over to Stace when she goes home. Blueberry muffins, banana walnut bread, vegetable soup, empanadas (I'm making those for us for dinner, doubling the recipe, freezing some for her). I bought everything organic, I kept picturing that teeny little baby (since Stace will nurse him, he'll eat what she eats), no chemicals for Boom Boom! I'm so excited!!!

HE'S BORN! Cooper Meyer Howard, March 12, 2006, 12:25 pm, 5 lbs, 15 oz!!! He's healthy, adorable, blonde hair and eyebrows, and totally asleep right now (all this via Stace, I haven't seen him yet, of course). Welcome to the world, Cooper - a new little peanut! Stacey is doing well, resting, and so is Bowen. We have to wait until tomorrow to visit - darn. But I'll posts some pics of the little cuteness as soon as I can...

Well, adventures in empanada making tonight. (As I look at the empanadas in the oven, I'm giggling that I chose to make them - they not-so-subtly resemble a pregnant woman's round tummy; little Freudian action there, ha.) They're in the oven baking, and I think will taste fine, but there were definitely a few bumps (nice pun! What's my problem?) along the way. I clipped the recipe out of this past Thursday's StarTribune. First of all, the measurement for one of the seasonings, adobo, is way too much - 2 tablespoons. I foolishly did not taste the seasoning first - pure salt, I basically dumped 2 tablespoons of powdered salt into one pound of hamburger. Hey, no one likes salty tasties more than me, but this was inedible. I actually rinsed the cooked ground beef with hot water to try to remove some of the salt. I also quickly diced and boiled two potatoes and stirred them in, also to dilute the saltiness. The two steps helped, enough to make it edible, but oh my am I going to be a puff ball tomorrow. Damn. Then, it says to pull the dough into 20 tennis ball-size pieces (to make 20 empanadas). I could see pretty quickly that there wasn't nearly enough dough for 20 tennis-ball size pieces, in fact, the recipe made 11 large ping-pong ball size pieces. Which matched up pretty well to the filling, and made what I would call normal-size empanadas, so I guess it's just a mistake in the description. But irritating! So I'll post the heavily revised recipe, and check back in with a conclusion on their flavor...

OK: the crust is wrong, wrong, wrong. Too hard. Not enough fat in it (which made it incredibly easy to work with, I should have known), so very hard and brittle. I think I'll have to pass on posting this recipe - sorry! I'll work on it a bit more and post it at a later date. Damn! We'll eat them anyhow, they're tasty, they're just not quite right...

I guess for pure dramatic effect I begin with the spider legs, although they hardly represent the insane amount of fun I had last night. They did however, sort of kick off the night - I went downstairs to grab a bottle of wine for us to sip while recording Feminine Hijinx (we always have wine, and discuss it). Reached to turn out the light...and noticed these spider legs nastily poking out from under the plate cover. Good god, I hate spiders, and this is the second time this same switch plate has had a spider crouching under it. Same spot, last year, our friend Marty disposed of the alive one for me. This time, John got tagged. I ran out the door before I had to hear about how it would go. (And, if you're wondering, I got the whole story this a.m. - not one, not two, but three, albeit dead, spiders there, he took the plate cover off when he couldn't just tug the first one out. Shiver, shiver, cringe, shiver, UGH! John is a hero for spider hunting, thanks honey!)

So, onto MUCH more fun, hanging with Suz and Kim, and their hubbies Coreman and Brian, and our first Feminine Hijinx guest Kyle McNary, for our fourth recording. Kyle was a fabulous guest, what a seriously cool, smart, and hilarious guy, and author, check out his website. We made the mistake of not allowing him enough time to talk - gee, what a shocker. I actually got the giggles this time, the real deal, could not stop myself. An appetizer for what was to come - total, knock down, drag out hilarity. POST-recording hijinx, it turns out...

Kyle had left and the girls and their boys and I were eating chips, fabulous Suz-baked lemon bars (served with a classic 1950s apron, rooster, red checks and all...recipe in comments, below), and gabbing. I was playing with my hair and noticed this big chunk of loose hair - kinda freaked out, I pulled it and ended up with a huge clump of hair in my hand. I held it up, thinking, OMG, I'm going bald, when Cory said, the drill. Of course! The drill that I almost accidentally killed myself with, and had bragged just moments before on FH that I only lost two hairs to (oops), had ripped this ball of hair right out of my head. I don't know how the hell I didn't notice earlier, or maybe it came completely loose only just last night, but whatever, there we had a big clump of hair. Garbage to anyone else, but not to Kim and Suz, who seized the clump and began a process of devising various clever uses for it. First up, Suz, who declared it was a merkin, and placed it on me in its intended place, and that's all I'm going to say (if you listened to episode three of FH, you know what a merkin is). We died laughing, gasping, choking, crying laughter. From there, a mustache, armpit hair, toe hair (modeled by Suz over her lovely lemon bars, with an Elvis candle in the background and glass of St. Innocent Pinot Gris in the foreground), butt hair, and ear hair. By the time we were done, I was toast, absolutely spent and exhausted and hurting. And it was GREAT. Truly one of the most fun nights of my life. (And PS, even though it doesn't look or sound like it, these shenanigans had nothing to do with alcohol - Brian, Cory, Kyle had water, Suz her usual three sips of wine, Kim and I, well, OK Kim and I had wine. And a beer. But nothing over the top. No, my friends - and I! - are just plain crazy, all on our own. I heart my friends!)

What the hell do I do today that could possibly compare to all the hilarity? I guess I shouldn't try and will just enjoy a lovely, quiet Saturday at home. Fix a little din, ooh, maybe a little brunch, I didn't really eat breakfast and am feeling a bit hungry. Hmmm...we'll see what John's up for. He's working today, and doesn't like to eat while working because it makes him too tired, so I may be on my own for a light lunch instead. How can I think about food in the presence of all this hair? Pure class, that's what you'll find here at the moderate epicurean! I'm going for a high/low brow kind of contrast you know... Stay tuned...

Brunch! We did have brunch. And oh boy was it delicious. It was a what-do-I-have-available meal, love those. Over-easy eggs on whole-grain toast. Salad of chopped romaine, parsley, and tarragon. And the star, crispy potatoes. Started out with chopped bacon, sauteed, then removed from the pan (and added to the salad). Diced potatoes went into the hot fat until crisp on one side, then sliced mushrooms, diced green pepper, and sliced onions went on top. Few turns of the spatula, little more browning, sprinkle of salt and pepper, voila. Here's the dilemma: do you eat the salad with the egg/toast (that's my fav, I think greens cut the rich yolk beautifully) or with the crispy potatoes? Or, the crispy potatoes with the egg? You decide. I washed mine down with a light, crisp glass of Carpene Molvolti Prosecco di Conegliano. And now I'm done.