Have I mentioned?

I am in love with Sriracha. It is the asian garlic-chili sauce that comes in a plastic squeeze bottle with a rooster on the front. And it turns out, as well-publicized on the show Top Chef, it really does go well with everything (except ice cream).

It adds a spicy, vinegary kick to just about anything. I love the way it brightened up the mac & cheese. It was indispensable in Mr Wonderful's Comfort Stew. It's fabulous to add to those bland, child-approved casseroles and pasta dishes. I am telling you, I would marry this stuff if I could, I love it that much.

Mr Wonderful's Comfort Stew

A cross between a stew and a chili...I wanted to pamper Mr Wonderful a little bit at the end of a long, busy weekend, so I set out some chips & salsa and a cold beer for him to snack on while I finished making this "comfort stew" - a rib-sticking Mexican-inspired dish. With the healthy beans, potatoes and tomatoes, this stew will be my contribution to Sweetnicks' ARF/5-a-day roundup this week.

Mr Wonderful's Comfort Stew
2 Tbsp EVOO
1 diced onion
1 pkg kielbasa (four sausages), sliced lengthwise and then cut into 1/2" slices
2 russet potatoes, cut into about 1 1/2" dice
1 can black beans, drained
1 can white (navy or cannelini) beans, drained
1 can diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 c pork broth (use chicken if you can't find pork)
1 Tbsp Sriracha
1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 c thinly sliced green onion
salt & pepper
Shredded cheese, for serving (cheddar, jack, or similar) -- optional
Sour cream, for serving -- optional

In a large soup pot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Saute the onions until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the kielbasa and saute until it gets a little golden brown. Add the diced potatoes, season liberally with salt & pepper, and saute for about 5 minutes, until they start to turn golden brown. Add the two cans of beans, the can of tomatoes, the cumin, garlic powder (or fresh garlic; I was just being lazy), the cup of broth and the Sriracha. Add enough water just to cover the stew, and raise the heat up to medium high. When the stew just starts to boil, reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the stew has thickened. Taste for seasonings & adjust as needed. Add the cilantro and green onion at the very end.

Ladle into bowls, topping each bowl with cheese and/or sour cream if you like (we added a little dollop of sour cream to each bowl and the cool creamy goodness was the perfect counterpoint to the spicy stew).

Mac & Cheese

Made from scratch, with four different kinds of cheese and a buttery breadcrumb topping...this was decadent and delicious.

Mac 'N' Cheese
1 pound cooked pasta (penne, macaroni, or similar)
6 Tbsp butter, divided
1/4 c flour
2 1/2 c milk
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
4 oz Gruyere, shredded
4 oz white Cheddar, shredded
4 oz Brie, diced (rind removed)
1 1/2 c fresh breadcrumbs
2 tsp Sriracha (optional)
2 Tbsp freshly shredded Parmesan
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

Melt 4 Tbsp butter in a saucepot over medium heat. When the butter starts to bubble slightly, add the flour and cook for a minute or two. Add a little salt and some pepper (go easy on the salt because the cheese is salty). Add the milk and stir immediately to blend everything without lumps. Raise the heat a little bit, and cook, stirring constantly, until the bechamel sauce thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. Add the nutmeg. Take the sauce off the heat and add 3/4 of the Gruyere, Cheddar and Brie cheeses. Stir until cheeses are melted and completely incorporated. Add the cheese sauce to the pasta and pour into a large casserole dish. If you want, at this point you can drizzle some Sriracha on the mac 'n' cheese. It adds a tiny bit of kick and brightens up the dish. Top with the rest of the Gruyere, Cheddar and Brie.

In a saucepan, melt the remaining 2 Tbsp butter and add the breadcrumbs. Cook, stirring gently, for a couple of minutes, until the crumbs are pretty evenly coated with melted butter. Spread the breadcrumbs evenly on the casserole and sprinkle with the shredded Parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes, until the casserole is bubbly and the topping is golden brown.

New favorite show

Pushing Daisies. I love it. I love the bright colors, the narrator guy (the same guy who read the Harry Potter books in the audio versions!), the silliness and the characters spontaneously breaking into song (OK, maybe only Olive, but OMG awesome!). I love the dry humor and the plot point that will keep Ned & Chuck from ever getting jiggy. I love the flashbacks. I love Ned's partner, who has freaking AWESOME lines and who KNITS and has to get reward money to fuel his yarn habit. Totally, totally cool. I love Chuck's hair, and I covet her stylist, because I have curly/wavy hair that's very fine & prone to flyaways just like hers, but her hair looks GORGEOUS every week. And I love, love, love Olive. She dresses like a Brady Bunch tart, and throws herself at Ned every chance she gets, and did I mention the singing? Yeah, like when she started singing Hopelessly Devoted To You in the pie shop. Or this week, when she busted out with They Might Be Giants in the car. God, how can you resist? Throw in a bedazzled resurrected pigeon, and you've got comedy gold, folks.

I'm sorry, what??

"[So and so] [did something] propissively."

Me: Huh? WTF is propissively? Is that like permissively? Propitiously?

Turns out: "on purpose." The word you're looking for there is "purposely." Or "purposefully." I know I am a total fucking English grammar nazi, but...propissively?? And he uses it All. The. Time.

Help. How do I gently, non-confrontationally, non-aggressively tell my significant other that he is regularly using a "word" that doesn't actually exist in the English language?

Fire

If you haven't been living under a rock the past few days, you know about the wildfires raging down in Southern California right now. I've got quite a lot of family down there - mom & stepdad, aunt & uncle, stepsister & her hubby & twin boys, and cousins all living in the San Diego area. None of them have been evacuated yet (or at least as of 8 AM today, when I talked to mom). But there are fires burning within just a few miles of all their homes. It's not looking good; the fires down there are not even close to being contained - they're totally raging out of control. I have friends in the LA area too, and I haven't heard from them yet.

Scary, y'all.

Knitwit

I'm so excited. I bought two new knitting books online, ones I've been looking at for several months, and they came yesterday. So very, very soon I will be starting my first sweater from the Fitted Knits book.

But first I need to finish Rugrat's Spiderman sweater....which is actually coming along quite well now. I'm up to the point where I think I can add in the spider, so it will at least be interesting for 30 rows or so, while I'm doing the two-color knitting. Then back to plain boring blue stockinette. I'm hoping to get it done by Christmas, so I really need to just bang it out.

I am also in the midst of making a pair of felted wool slippers. The original idea was that I would find a felted slipper pattern in order to try making a pair of socks in an overlarge size and big needles, so they'll knit up quickly, and since they're felted they won't show any mistakes. But it turns out that the pattern I selected is not really a standard sock pattern; there's no short rows and turning the heel and stuff, so the original reason for doing this is kind of lost. But it will still be nice to have a new set of slippers. :)

In other news, Mr Wonderful has moved in. He's been spending every night here for a couple of weeks now, ever since he brought over his cat. And almost all of his stuff is moved out of his old house (and into my garage, LOL). It's great going to bed with him every night, and now that the weather is getting colder the snuggling is awesome. But the commute is brutal, and it's really taking a toll on him. He's commuting 3-4 hours a day, and the worst is Tuesdays: Monday he works 9am - 6pm, then goes to Aikido class afterwards. He doesn't get home until 9:15 at the earliest on Monday nights, and then they always schedule him to work at 6am on Tuesdays, so he's gotta be out the door by 4:30am at the latest. So you can imagine that Tuesday mornings are tough on him. I hate that it's so brutal, and I wish I could make things easier on him. But it's just something we'll have to live with until his transfer goes through and he's able to work closer to home.

And the furniture project is nearly done. Babydaddy needs to come out and do some finishing work on the pieces (trim and stuff), but I've got the desk painted, and two other pieces patched, sanded and primed. Once those are painted and ready to go, I'll move them in and move the other two pieces (which are currently in the house, holding stuff temporarily) out to the garage where they will get the patch/sand/prime/paint treatment.

Birthday surprise!

My 34th birthday, on Monday, arrived with a bit of a surprise: a trip to the ER! Let me explain...

Saturday, after a quick shopping trip to buy Tomboy a new twin-size mattress, I started sanding & priming some of the furniture Babydaddy is making for me. I thought I'd be clever and buy some spray-on primer, figuring that would save me a bunch of time, and I'd have the desk all finished with a couple of coats of paint by Sunday night. So I made a trip to Home Depot, picked up the supplies I needed, and headed home. I sanded, wiped off, and laid on the first coat of primer. I laid on a second coat of primer. I did all this in my well-ventilated garage with the door wide open. I did not use a mask, not even a cheap one, but I did take several breaks to walk out and breathe fresh air, and pulled my t-shirt up over my nose & mouth. I took a shower and made dinner (beef stew) for everyone, and we settled in for the night.

Sunday morning I awoke thinking, "Gee, my face itches. I wonder if I have a rash?" Sure enough, not only did I have a lovely red rash all over my face, but my face was all swollen and I looked like the Pillsbury dough boy with a sunburn. Greeeeeaaaat. I figured it was probably due to the primer, but I really wanted to get that desk finished so I went out to the garage, lightly sanded the desk, wiped it down again, and laid on one more thin coat of primer. Perfect, now it was ready for paint.

But my face was swelling up even more. I washed my face & hands and decided to take some Benadryl to counteract the swelling/allergic reaction. I ran out to Cost Plus, bought and picked up a new dining room table & chairs, and then came back home and crashed out for several hours, thanks to the Benadryl coma. I got up around four and made dinner (Chicken and Brown Rice Casserole, yum!) and celebrated my birthday with Mr Wonderful and the kids. I got some lovely flowers on Saturday from Mr Wonderful, and a big new electric griddle for making big family breakfasts on the weekends. I also received a new alarm clock (desperately needed), a couple of circular knitting needles, and a knitting book. Dad sent me an amazing genealogy report which goes back to the 1700's! Anyhoo, I got some great stuff and we had a tasty cheesecake for dessert (mmm, my fave!).

Mr Wonderful took Tomboy to her mom's house and I got Rugrat ready for bed. The Benadryl had worn off and my face was swollen and itchy again, so I took a shower and popped some Benadryl before vegging out on the couch with Mr Wonderful in front of the TV set. But I started coughing in the shower, and Mr Wonderful got all concerned about my breathing, telling me that I should go to the hospital. When we finally laid down to bed, I felt like there was a weight on my chest and I kept coughing. Finally I gave in, and around 10:30 we decided it would be best for me to go to the ER. I woke up Rugrat, popped him in some footy pajamas, and we all bundled into the car for the long drive out to WC (the local Kaiser hospital doesn't open here for another month). We were luckily able to catch Babydaddy at home, so we dropped Rugrat off there to sleep rather than drag him with us to the hospital.

We got to the hospital shortly before midnight, and after being triaged we were sent to the ER waiting room. The triage nurse had checked my vitals, and my oxygen level was just fine. We discovered, after being there for a couple of hours, that the wait was going to be several hours more...it would likely have taken longer for me to see the ER doc and get a bed in the ER than it would have for me to just go see a doctor in the morning at urgent care. So we figured that since my oxygen level was fine, we could just as easily (and more comfortably!) sleep at home as we could in the waiting room, and we left with stern instructions from the triage nurse to call for an urgent care appointment first thing in the morning. Happy birthday to me! It was 2 hours into my birthday at that point.

Monday morning, we awoke around 8:30 am and I promptly made the appointment to see a doctor later that morning. When I got there, she checked me over, gave me a prescription for Predisone (a steroid to reduce swelling) and Atarax (which she described as high-dose Benadryl, for the itching), and sent me home. I crashed out for most of the day after taking the meds, so my actual birthday was pretty uneventful.

Now the swelling is down, and my face is chapped beyond belief. The rash is peeling and itchy, which the Atarax doesn't help with all that much. But even with all this weirdness and hospital visits and everything, I still think I had a pretty darn nice birthday. It was so lovely to have all of us together this weekend, working on building our home together. And Mr Wonderful and I are both still feeling very blessed to have found each other; it's just so nice to have someone else to pick up the slack sometimes, and to support you when you need it. It's wonderful to have a partner.

Chicken and Brown Rice Casserole

The photo is a bit overexposed, but this dinner turned out really well, using frozen Trader Joe's brown rice, topped with cheese and some sliced green onions. But the best thing was when I added a little Sriracha to it. OMG, fantastic!

This is my submission to Sweetnicks' ARF/5-a-day roundup this week, thanks to the mushrooms and onions and the uber-healthy brown rice (even if it's not technically an ARF).

Chicken and Brown Rice Casserole
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced small
1 cup crimini (baby portobello) mushrooms, cut into quarters
Four thin-cut chicken breasts, sliced into 1" strips (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can Cream of Celery soup (can use two cans of Cream of Mushroom instead, but I only had one can of that)
2 bags frozen Trader Joe's brown rice
1 cup shredded cheese - jack, cheddar, mexican mix, whatever you have on hand
2 green onions, white & green parts - sliced
2 Tbsp (or more) Sriracha sauce (optional) - this is an Asian hot garlic-chili sauce, it comes in a plastic squirt bottle with a rooster on the front
Salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a large casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Over medium heat, warm olive oil in a large saute pan. Sautee yellow onions and mushrooms until onions are translucent and mushrooms are golden brown, about five minutes. Salt & pepper the veggies. Raise the heat a little and add the chicken strips, throwing a little salt & pepper on them once they're in the pan. As soon as the chicken strips aren't showing any pink on the outside (they will still be undercooked inside), add the canned soup and decrease the heat to low.

Microwave the rice bags for three minutes (cut a little slit in each bag first). They might still be a little cold when you pull them out, but that's ok. Mix the rice into the soup/chicken mixture and add the Sriracha, if using. Pour everything into the prepared casserole dish. Top with shredded cheese and bake for about 30 minutes, until everything is bubbly. If the cheese isn't slightly browned after 30 minutes, broil it for a couple of minutes until it is. Top with sliced green onions and serve immediately.

When I made this, it was originally a dish for the whole family so I intentionally made it rather plain. About halfway through my dinner I looked at Mr Wonderful and said, "You know what this could use?" and he replied, "Yeah - jalepenos." My thoughts exactly. But then I thought, what about Sriracha? It is glorious on lots of stuff, and could easily be added to just the parents' servings after being dished out. So we tried it...and it was fabulous.

Beef Stew

A traditional beef stew with red wine, carrots, potatoes, celery, rosemary, garlic, etc.

Recipe coming soon.

Fettucine a la Jen

Fettucine with bacon, peas, and mushrooms, in a sort of chicken gravy. Mmmm...quick, easy and tasty - the kids liked this one too!

Fettucine a la Jen
1 box (1 lb) fettucine
4 slices bacon, chopped into 1/4 - 1/2 inch bits
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup diced onions
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 Tbsp chopped garlic
3 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup chopped parsley
Salt & pepper

Boil a pot of water, throw in some salt, and add the fettucine to it. Cook according to package directions.

In the meantime, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp in a large saute pan. Remove bacon from pan, and remove all but 2 Tbsp of the rendered bacon fat. Add the olive oil, then add the onions and mushrooms, cooking over medium heat until onions are translucent and mushrooms are golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, then add the garlic and cook for a minute. Add the flour, and cook for another minute. Stir in chicken stock and raise the heat a little until the gravy bubbles and thickens a little. Add the red wine vinegar, the frozen peas and the chopped parsley. Stir until the peas are heated through, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss the sauce with the cooked fettucine, top with the cooked bacon, and serve immediately.

Ewwww

I loved Sex and the City. LOVED it. I still watch reruns on TBS, even though they are chopped to bits and have all the cursing and references to dicks and blowjobs cut out. And I am very, very happy that they are finally making a full-length feature movie to sort of tie up the series (even though I thought they resolved everything quite nicely in the series finale).

But.

I just saw photos on TheSuperficial.com that are a huge spoiler. And while I am not surprised at what happens, I will say that I think it's kind of superfluous for Carrie. And also? The FEATHERS. Dear God, no. I know SJP is all about the wacky fashion hijinx, but seriously. It's just beyond fugly. I'm not going to spoil you here, but if you go to that link, you'll see what I'm talking about.

Nothing to do with food...everything to do with awesome

Sars over at Tomato Nation is rocking the house with her Donors Choose Challenge. Over $27,000 raised in less than TWO DAYS. That is unbelievable.

The power of the blog...it is amazing.

Six months

Last night as I was laying in bed, chatting with Mr Wonderful, I realized that it was my six-month anniversary. Yes, it's really and truly been six months since I had a cigarette. I am so proud!

Oh, and I'm knitting a hat, with stranded two-color knitting. I wanted to test the stranded two-color knitting on a small project before I did it on Rugrat's Spider-man sweater, which is coming along so slowly (thanks to size 5 needles and teeny tiny yarn) that by the time I finish it he'll probably be too big to wear it. Heh. The big brown & orange sweater I started last year is still unfinished, because I goofed up one of the shoulders pretty badly and I'm not sure how to fix it. I may just rip it all back anyway, because the yarn is nice but the sweater is pretty much sized for a linebacker, and I could use that yarn for a much nicer project.

The custom furniture project with Babydaddy is coming along, albeit a bit more slowly than I'd hoped. I was sick all weekend, so I didn't get a chance to do any work on it (I have a few of the pieces here now and I need to putty, sand, prime & paint them). And this coming weekend we have the kids, so we're talking about a trip to San Francisco on Saturday, and then on Sunday I've got a book club meeting...although they haven't sent out details on where that's being held so maybe it's not still on. Things are getting even more hectic around here. In fact, I just looked at my calendar, and I think we have stuff going on every single weekend from Halloween to Christmas. Not necessarily meaning that we have events scheduled, but between holidays and vacation and weekends with the kids, the only weekend I've got "off" is Dec 8-9, and I'm hosting a holiday party for the book club on the 9th. So I guess I better get my Christmas shopping done soon, huh?

And one final note: Sars over at Tomato Nation is rocking the house with her Donors Choose Challenge. Over $27,000 raised in less than TWO DAYS. That is unbelievable.