Dude! I have cancer!

Turns out that weird scar thing on the side of my nose is not a weird scar thing at all - it's basal-cell skin cancer. I finally, finally went to the doctor to get it checked out and he took one look and said, "That's not a scar, that's cancer." Dude!

So they gave me a novocaine shot right there and sliced off a piece of my nose to send to the lab for a biopsy. I was in & out of the Dermatologist's office in 15 minutes flat. In two weeks when it comes back, they'll ship me off to get it removed and patch up my nose with a graft or something.

Damn, y'all. I sure wish I hadn't waited so long to get it checked out; I've had it for YEARS. Lesson learned: when you have a weird scar that keeps bleeding and then healing over, get it checked out. Even if you think it might be just an irritated scar because you blow your nose all the time. Get it checked out anyway.

Hopeful

It's not a word I use often in the springtime: hopeful. In fact, spring is downright miserable for me most years, with the hay fever a nearly constant presence in my life. When I'm not sniffling and sneezing and grumping around, I'm passed out in a Benadryl coma.

But yesterday I went to visit an allergy specialist and for the first time in my life, I'm hopeful that I might actually be able to spend a spring season conscious and enjoying it. I got a couple of new medications to try (Astelin, an antihistamine nasal spray, and Singular, for both the allergies and the hay fever-related asthma I'm suffering through), but what's really got me jazzed is the sinus rinse.

What you do, basically, is you put warm salty water in the bottle and then squeeze the solution into one nostril and let it drain out the other one. Gross, I know. In fact, really really gross, and I won't let Mr Wonderful watch me do it, because...ewww. But the way I feel afterwards is heavenly. My sinuses feel clear and clean and completely free of any mucus or swelling. If you've ever seen me in the springtime, you'd know that this is nothing short of miraculous. I did it three times yesterday while in the middle of a massive allergy attack and it made me feel immensely better, immediately. It takes a few tries to get the hang of it though, and I wasn't doing a very good job yesterday, so it certainly didn't clear me up totally. But I did it again this morning and managed to use all of the saline solution to clear out my sinuses. And I can BREATHE. In the SPRINGTIME.

I feel like a whole new person.

25 things

I could write a wrap-up of the Stitches West conference I went to on Saturday, but I can sum it up in one word: Malabrigo. Malabrigo Silky (half silk, half merino, in lustrous Burgundy), Malabrigo Merino Worsted (a sweater's worth in Olive!), Malabrigo Lace (lovely cobwebby baby-soft dark blue/green Vaa), and best of all, a FREE skein of Malabrigo Sock yarn, not yet released for public purchase (or even mentioned on their official website!), in the most amazing blue/green/purple colorway. I am so drooling over this stuff, y'all. I went to the Malabrigo booth and asked the vendor when the sock yarn was going to be released, and when I mentioned that I was a member of the Malabrigo Junkies group on Ravelry, he pulled out a FREE skein, all for me! Big enough for a pair of socks! Superwash merino! The colorway doesn't even have a name yet, it's just called "Test Sample" but ooooooh, all the glorious jade, turquoise, sapphire, and amethyst colors....

Anyhoo, that's not what I wanted to write about. What I really wanted to write about is a meme I saw on Keckler's blog, The Grub Report, which is really just a list: 25 things I never get tired of.

So, without further ado, here's my 25, in no particular order:

1. Spring bulbs, pushing up through the cold gray days
2. The smell of the earth when it rains for the first time after a long dry spell
3. Fresh salty sea breeze on my face
4. Cowgirl Creamery cheese
5. Mr Wonderful's whistling. He is a master whistler. He whistles along with songs, or just when he's walking or driving or whatever, and can do these amazing Disney-animated-bird trilling noises.
6. Throwing a bunch of stuff together randomly and coming up with a great new meal that everyone in the family enjoys
7. The smell of lilacs
8. Rugrat, falling asleep while leaning up against me, going all boneless and limp, and drooling just a little bit
   
9. The "aha!" moment, when a puzzling programming issue at work suddenly becomes clear
10. A buttery, melt-in-your-mouth filet mignon from Ruth's Chris Steak House
11. That moment when you just finish a wonderful book
12. The smell of a wood fire, especially when you're camping
13. Right after the cleaning ladies leave, when the house is perfectly clean (before the kids get here and mess it all up again...)
14. Hot buttered popcorn at the movie theater; I can't seem to watch a movie in the theater without it
15. Climbing into bed every night with Mr Wonderful
16. Exploring a new city, especially if it's somewhere that requires the use of a passport
    
17. Walking through the redwoods
18. Finishing a knitting project
19. Heirloom tomatoes, still warm from the sun, with fresh mozzarella, basil, olive oil, sea salt and cracked black pepper
20. Road trip!
21. Dancing with friends at a club until we're exhausted and dripping sweat
22. Hearing a great new song on the radio
    
23. Sleeping until I wake up naturally, without an alarm clock
24. Getting a pedicure: it's a fairly cheap indulgence, and it lasts for a month!
    
25. Kisses
    

Knitting fun!

This weekend I get to go to Stitches West, which is like a super-conference for knitters. I may attend one of the little one-hour classes (depending on what's still open when I go), but my main reason for wanting to go is the yarn...all the fabulous, wonderful yarn that will be on sale in the Market. It's like the vendor's hall at a regular conference. Only, instead of selling software or whatever, they're selling YARN. Glorious, fabulous, luxurious yarn. There will be Malabrigo Silky there, I just know it! I've been looking around for this yarn for a while. It's on a limited release, so you can't just pick it up anywhere. It's a blend of merino and silk, and let me tell you, that Malabrigo merino is the softest damn wool I've ever laid my hands on.

Mmmm...Malabrigo...

And laceweight yarn! There will be lots of laceweight yarn. (I have a special lace project in mind but I'm keeping it under wraps for now.)

And sock yarn. (I don't need more sock yarn, I have enough to make four pairs of socks and I haven't even started a single pair yet!)

Ooooh, and SeaSilk! Yes, I want some of that too.

Um...yeah. So, I will be leaving my credit card at home just in case I am overly tempted. I have a bad habit of showing very little self-restraint in the face of beautiful yarn.

Corn & Black Bean Salad

A fresh, light vegetarian dish that works well as either a side dish or as a healthier alternative to guacamole. Scoop it up with chips, add it to your tacos, spoon it over an enchilada...the possibilities are endless. This veggie-filled dish is a natural for Sweetnicks' ARF/5-a-day roundup.

Corn & Black Bean Salad
1/2 red onion, diced
1 can sweet corn, drained
1 can black beans, rinsed & drained
1 basket grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 c chopped cilantro
2 avocados, cut into 1/2" dice
3 limes
1/4 c EVOO
2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chile powder
1 tsp sugar
6-10 shakes Tabasco, any flavor (optional)
salt & pepper

Mix the first five ingredients together in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, combine the juice from the limes, the olive oil, the cumin, chile powder, sugar and Tabasco sauce, if using (I'd use the Chipotle flavor...mmmm...). Whisk vigorously until very well combined and the dressing begins to emulsify. Add the diced avocado to the dressing, and turn gently to coat all the sides (this will prevent the avocado from browning). Pour over the veggies, then salt & pepper the salad liberally and stir thoroughly but gently, to avoid crushing the avocado. Allow the salad to stand at room temperature for at least a half hour so the flavors can blend.

Herbed Chicken with Asparagus and Bowties

I had some chicken cutlets and asparagus that really needed to be used up, so I threw together this quick and healthy pasta dish for Mr Wonderful and I. It's super-simple but quite tasty. If you can't find pencil-thin asparagus, you can use thicker stalks, but add them earlier in the cooking process, or steam them for a few minutes before adding to the pan.

Herbed Chicken with Bowties
3 Tbsp EVOO, divided
1/2 onion, diced
2 thin-sliced chicken breasts (cutlets), sliced into 1" strips
1 1/2 Tbsp mixed herb rub (the one I used came via my wine club; it's a mix of dries garlic, onion, rosemary, thyme, sea salt, pepper...and probably some other stuff too)
1/2 bunch very thin asparagus spears, tough ends removed, sliced into 2" pieces
1/2 lb (half a box) bowtie pasta, cooked according to package directions
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley

Heat 2 Tbsp of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the onions for about 5-6 minutes, until they've softened and become translucent. Add the chicken strips and season with the herb rub (or any mix of herbs & spices that sounds good to you - be sure to use salt & pepper if your mix doesn't contain it already). Once the chicken is no longer showing any pink (it will still be slightly undercooked), throw in the asparagus spears and cover the pan. Cook for about 2-3 minutes, until the asparagus is tender but still has a little "bite." Toss the cooked pasta into the skillet and stir everything together with the last Tbsp of olive oil. Top with the parsley and serve immediately, to rave reviews. You don't need to tell everyone that it only took you about 10 minutes to make. :)

Spicy Indian Roast Chicken

I've done roast chicken before, but this one has a bit of a twist: I coated the chicken with a spicy mustard sauce before popping it in the oven. I'm submitting this one for Sweetnicks' ARF/5-a-day roundup.

Spicy Indian Roast Chicken
1 whole chicken, 4-5 pounds, giblets removed, rinsed and patted dry
1 onion
1 lemon
4 carrots
3-4 medium white potatoes
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp Sriracha (garlic-chili sauce)
1/4 c EVOO
salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 400.

Cut the lemon in half and then one of the halves into quarters. Slice ends off the onion, and then slice it in half lengthwise. Cut the onion halves in wedges (6-8 total). Peel the carrots and slice them into 1 - 1 1/2" long pieces, and slice or dice the potatoes into about 3/4" pieces. Season the interior of the chicken with salt and pepper, then stuff it with the lemon quarters (reserving the lemon half) and a couple of the onion wedges. Tie up the legs with kitchen twine and tuck the wings underneath the breast. Place the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan and surround the chicken with the carrots, potatoes, and remaining onion wedges.

In a small bowl, combine the mustard, juice from the reserved half lemon, the olive oil, curry powder, and Sriracha. Whisk the ingredients together until they are well mixed and make a fairly thin sauce. If the sauce is too thick, add more olive oil. Spread the sauce over the chicken with a basting brush, and then toss the remaining sauce with the vegetables. Season the chicken and vegetables well with salt & pepper, and roast in the oven for an hour to an hour and a half, until the chicken measures between 165 and 170 degrees. Be sure to let the chicken rest for ten minutes before carving, to allow the juices to redistribute in the meat.

You could easily make a lovely sauce with the pan drippings, a little flour, and some chicken stock (maybe throw in a little parsley or cilantro for extra color and flavor), and serve the whole thing over rice, but I opted to just serve it as-is. The way the chicken smelled while it was cooking was heavenly, and I couldn't wait another minute to dig in.

Yes we can!

I am convinced that Barack Obama is the only candidate who can inspire enough people to bring about a meaningful change in our country. If you haven't watched this video yet, please take a look.

Chicken Mexi-Casserole

This is another one of those simple casseroles with a generic base of noodles and chicken and canned soup. Mr Wonderful loves these, and the kids don't complain about it too much, so I generally consider it a success. ;-) This casserole would also be good with rice instead of pasta. And if our super-picky kids weren't eating it, I would have thrown in a can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes for a bit more color & flavor.

Chicken Mexi-Casserole
2 Tbsp EVOO
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 lb chicken breast cutlets, sliced into strips about 1" wide
1 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 lb pasta (I used tri-color rotini), cooked according to package directions
1 can sweet corn
1 small can sliced olives
1 c shredded cheese (I used Mexican mix, but plain Jack or Cheddar would work too)
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the onions until translucent (maybe 5 minutes). Add the chicken strips and season with cumin, garlic powder, smoked paprika and salt & pepper. Cook just until there's no more pink showing (the chicken will still be undercooked inside). Add the soups, the cooked & drained pasta, the corn, olives and about 3/4 of the cheese. Mix well. Transfer to a large casserole dish (spray with non-stick spray for easy cleanup) and top with the rest of the cheese. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the casserole is bubbly. You can broil it for a few minutes to make the casserole golden brown on top, if you like.

Monterey Aquarium

I still don't have time to do the recap, but I wanted to post the pics from our trip the Monterey Aquarium about a week ago. Enjoy!


Sleeping otter



Sunfish (with random people)



Jellyfish closeup



Hammerhead shark

Pan-fried Veal Cutlets with Pinot-Mushroom Reduction Sauce

Whew, sounds complicated, right? Well, not really. And the sauce REALLY turned out well. In fact, it was the very best part of the meal.

Pan-fried Veal Cutlets with Pinot-Mushroom Reduction Sauce
EVOO (lots)
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 c sliced cremini (baby portobella) mushrooms
1/2 c Pinot Noir wine (I used Blackstone, it was on sale)
1/2 c chicken stock4 veal cutlets
1 egg, beaten lightly
1 c breadcrumbs (Italian season flavor, if you've got it, otherwise throw in some Mrs Dash or whatever with the plain breadcrumbs)
1/4 c freshly grated parmesan
salt & pepper

Turn on oven to the lowest setting.

Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat with a couple of tablespoons of the olive oil. When the butter is all melted and beginning to bubble, add the diced onion and mushrooms. Saute for about 6-7 minutes, until the veggies are soft and begin to caramelize slightly. Season with salt and pepper, saute for a minute more, and then remove the veggies from the pan and add a little more olive oil.

In the meantime, mix up the breadcrumbs and parmesan in a large shallow bowl. Season the cutlets with salt and pepper, then dip them first in the beaten egg and then in the breadcrumb mixture, pressing the breadcrumbs into the meat so that they adhere better. Saute the cutlets in batches, adding more olive oil as needed to ensure that they don't stick, and being sure not to crowd the pan (you can probably fit two at a time in a 12" pan). Cook the meat for about 2-3 minutes per side, until they are golden brown and crispy on the outside. Transfer the cutlets to a baking sheet and put them in the oven to stay warm.

When all the cutlets have been cooked, return the mushrooms and onions to the pan and add the wine, scraping up any browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Allow the wine to cook out for a minute, then add the chicken stock, and turn up the heat to medium-high. Boil vigorously for a few minutes, until the sauce is reduced by at least half.

Serve the cutlets immediately, topped with the sauce. This would go great with buttered noodles, but I made garlic mashed potatoes this time.

Dashing!

I finished my first Mmmmalabrigo Dashing fingerless glove yesterday. W00t! I am really loving it. The color is so rich, the yarn is SO soft, and it's super-fantastically cozy.

Veg-tastic Spaghetti

Spaghetti
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister

I had a bag of mushrooms and a red bell pepper that really needed to get used up before we went to Monterey for the weekend, so I threw together a sweet, spicy, smokey spaghetti sauce (how's that for alliteration?) the other night. It's got some unusual ingredients, but it all blended well together, and Mr Wonderful gave this two thumbs up. The high veggie content makes this a natural choice for Sweetnicks' ARF/5-a-day roundup.

Veg-tastic Spaghetti
2 Tbsp EVOO
1/2 onion, diced
2 c chopped mushrooms
1 red bell pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (35 oz/2 lb) whole, peeled tomatoes - I chopped them up fairly small but you could puree it in the food processor or just crush them with your wooden spoon; however you like the consistency of your spaghetti sauce
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried tarragon
1/2 tsp dried or fresh thyme
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 lb spaghetti or angel hair pasta (half a box)
salt & pepper
parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Throw in the onion, mushrooms, and bell pepper and saute until veggies are soft and mushrooms begin to brown, about 6 minutes. Add the minced garlic and saute for just a minute more; don't let the garlic burn! Season with salt & pepper, then add the tomatoes and any juice from the can. Add all the herbs and spices, and let the sauce simmer for at least fifteen minutes, until all the flavors blend together.

Boil the pasta according to the package directions, drain, and serve with the spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle freshly grated parmesan cheese on top, if you like.

Superbowl

Yesterday, Mr Wonderful and I got home from our Monterey trip just in time to watch the halftime show of the Superbowl. I've never seen a Superbowl before. Ever. I was never involved with anyone who was a football fan, because as I think I've mentioned about a hundred and fifty million times, Mr Wonderful is "not my type."

So I was pleasantly surprised to find that as I sat there knitting my Dashings in yummy yummy Malabrigo, I was actually interested in what was happening on the TV. In fact, towards the end there, I was hollering at the players like any good red-blooded American football fan. Not that I actually cared who won or lost, but that was a darn good game, and it really all came down to the last five minutes or so on the clock (which you already know if you watched the game). Very tense, y'all.

I'll have to post more about the Monterey trip later in the week, but until then, here's a shot of the jellyfish at the aquarium to tide you over. Get it? Tide? Oh, I crack myself up sometimes....

Crispy Chicken

Crispy Chicken
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister

This is a simple oven "fried" chicken, made with a coating of fried onion strings (OMG, yum!) and romano cheese. Even our picky kids liked this!

Crispy Chicken
4 thin chicken breast cutlets
1 beaten egg
3/4 c crispy onion strings (I used French's French Fried Onions - you know, the stuff that comes in a can, and you put it on top of the green bean casserole at Thanksgiving)
1/4 c grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
pepper


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Crumble the crispy onion strings and combine with the cheese in a large shallow bowl, seasoning with a few fresh grinds of pepper. Dip each cutlet first in the beaten egg and then in the onion/cheese mixture, pressing the coating into the chicken to help it adhere better. Bake on a cookie sheet for about 20 minutes, turning halfway through to ensure both sides get crispy.

Miscellaneous tidbits

This weekend, the company I work for is having its long-overdue "holiday party". We're all heading down to Monterey for the weekend, with a Saturday night stay at a B&B in Pacific Grove, and a kayaking trip if the weather cooperates, which...it doesn't look like it's going to do. Mr Wonderful and I are extending the trip a little bit; his day off this week falls on Friday (unusual, but very welcome!) so I took the day off as well and we'll be going down there a day early, staying Friday night at the same B&B. Nice, huh? I'm looking forward to spending a lovely long weekend eating great seafood, going to the aquarium, and snuggling with my man. It certainly sounds like more fun than sitting at home watching the Superbowl. Heh.

The other day Tomboy asked me how much I liked her daddy, on a scale from one to ten. I told her "Eleven." Her eyes bugged out a little, and she asked me if Mr Wonderful and I were going to get married. What could I say? Mr Wonderful hasn't really talked to her about it yet, but she's a smart girl; she sees where things are going. I told her that we would probably get married "someday." Her reaction was predictable: "Ewww, then HE [Rugrat] will be my brother?" And of course there was the inevitable question about babies, which I told her wasn't in the cards. She actually seemed disappointed about that, but...no. Not happening.

Mr Wonderful is planning a trip in April...on a weekend that we have the kids. He has this "once in a lifetime opportunity" to go to a free, very intensive GUN TRAINING class in Nevada. Yes. Gun training. How did I end up with a guy who thinks that spending a weekend in Pahrump running around shooting paper targets with SWAT team members is fun? Totally opposite of my "type," and yet...apparently this is my type. Anyhoo, this means that I will have the kids, all by myself, all weekend. Can I just say that I am really, really not looking forward to this? Tomboy is warming up to me, finally, but I have a feeling that this is going to be a watershed moment for us. I remember very clearly how awful I was to my stepmother when my dad took his first business trip away after she moved in. I was a raging bitch, honestly. And I am not looking forward to this karmic payback, nope, not at all.

I finished my So Called Scarf! First FO of the new year. Now I'm back on track with the Spider-man Sweater; I've picked up the stitches again at the (newly expanded) second armhole and am really motivated to get the damn thing done, finally. Once it's done, I can move on to new, fun projects, like my shrug, and my first pair of socks, and Tomboy's shrug that I'm planning to make with some gorgeous hand-dyed cotton, and my stripey top-down raglan v-neck sweater, and so on...

Ribollita

Ribollita
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister

Ribollita, for those of you unaware, is a lovely Tuscan veggie soup thickened with stale bread. Delicious and very healthy! The best part about ribollita is that it can be made with a wide variety of veggies; pretty much anything you've got wasting away in your crisper drawer can go in. Leafy greens like kale are a traditional addition to the soup, but they aren't required in the recipe below. The high veggie content means this will be my "get back on the horse" submission to Sweetnicks' ARF/5-a-day roundup this week.

Ribollita (adapted from this Rachael Ray recipe)
3 Tbsp EVOO, divided
1 diced medium onion
2 diced carrots
2 diced celery stalks
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf (dried or fresh)
1 Tbsp chopped rosemary leaves
1 can (15 oz) tomatoes, diced or small diced or crushed; whatever you've got in the cupboard
2 cans small white beans (smaller than cannellini beans)
6 c chicken stock (use vegetable stock for a vegetarian soup)
3 c stale bread, without the crust, torn into small pieces (Italian or sourdough bread is best for this)
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
salt & pepper

Heat 2 Tbsp EVOO over medium heat in a large, heavy pot. Take a small handful of the diced onion, chop it very finely, and set it aside for later. Add the rest of the diced onion to the pot, along with the carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaf and rosemary. Season the veggies with salt & pepper, and saute for about 5 minutes, letting the veggies soften. Once the veggies are soft but not browned, add the tomatoes and beans (I drained one can of beans but put all the liquid from the second can in). Add the chicken stock, and raise the heat to medium-high. When it boils, add the torn bread. Simmer the soup (adjusting the heat as necessary) for 10 minutes or so, until the bread breaks down completely and thickens the soup. The soup can be as thick or thin as you like; add more bread for a thicker soup or more stock to thin it out. Just before serving, stir in the parsley and check your seasonings, adding more salt or pepper as desired.

To serve, put a couple of ladles of soup in a wide bowl, drizzle with the reserved EVOO, sprinkle with fresh grated parmesan cheese and the reserved finely chopped onion.

Shuffly goodness

Mr Wonderful got me a fabulous new iPod shuffle for Christmas. One that holds a whole gigabyte of data, which translates to 238 songs, or over 15 hours. FIFTEEN HOURS of music, y'all. On this little bitty metallic green thing the size of a postage stamp! I really love technology. And also? The new shuffle works great because I haven't spilled any meat juice on it (yet). So it actually, you know, shuffles the songs instead of just playing the same ten over and over until I want to scream.

Note to self: do not set down the cutting board with meat fresh from the oven on top of the new shuffle. You will regret it.

Risotto Review

OK, I know it's been a while. I was sick right after New Year's and we had Rugrat's birthday to deal with. But honestly, I just haven't been cooking much, and what I have cooked has been pretty basic, run-of-the-mill stuff (or stuff I've already posted about; Mr Wonderful is asking about the Yum Yum Chicken Enchilada casserole again, so I'll have to throw that together one of these days). However, Mr Wonderful and I did go out to dinner at a "new" (to us, anyway) restaurant here in Antioch, called Risotto.

The restaurant has actually been around for about a year, and I was surprised to hear that because I would have thought they'd have improved after being in business for so long. From the top:

We both ordered the prix fixe meal, as we were there on a Thursday night at around 6:15 PM. It's four courses for about $22, if you're there Sun-Thurs before 7 PM. We both got different dishes for each course, so I think we got a pretty good overview of their menu.

First up was soup: I had butternut squash/apple soup and he had the roasted portobello mushroom soup. They were both fantastic; the only quibble we had is that the mushroom soup had no garnish whatsoever and it looked like a bowl of mud. It could have used a little swirl of creme fraiche or sour cream, and maybe a bit of parsley. But the flavor of both soups was outstanding.

Next came the salad course. My salad was a wine country standard, with candied walnuts, bleu cheese crumbles, baby greens and a balsamic vinaigrette. Nice, but standard. Nothing to write home about. His salad was Greek-style, with olives, feta, tomatoes and a slightly lemony dressing (with maybe a little dill or oregano in it). Again, perfectly serviceable but nothing outstanding.

Third course was our pasta, and this is where things started to fall apart. My tortellini with prosciutto and peas was quite nice, except that the tortellini was overcooked a little. I did appreciate that they didn't drown the pasta in the alfredo sauce; there was just enough sauce without it being overwhelming. Mr Wonderful's pasta was pretty bad, though. His mostaccioli (large tube-shaped pasta) was undercooked, but the chicken in his dish was quite overcooked, to the point that it was dry and almost tough. The sauce was horribly underseasoned as well; it didn't taste like much of anything, which is pretty difficult to do with a tomato-based sauce. The sauce desperately needed salt, onions, garlic, sausage...something! It was completely bland. On the plus side, the dishes were nicely presented. We would have preferred that they grated the parmesan over our dishes at the table, instead of sprinkling pre-grated cheese with a spoon, but that was a minor quibble overall.

To wrap things up, I opted for the apple galette while he stuck with his favorite - tiramisu. My apple tart was nearly inedible. The apples were bland beyond measure, unpeeled and again, horribly underseasoned, with a nearly rubbery bit of pastry on top. Mr Wonderful's tiramisu was a disappointment as well: the plating was disastrous, with little chunks of the tiramisu scattered around the main portion, and the texture was all wrong; the ladyfingers were soggy and had no body whatsoever.

All in all, it was an uneven meal. We'll keep it in our rotation, but probably just order soup to go rather than risk another pasta dish. And the desserts should be taken off their menu altogether; if you can't do the pastry right, just serve ice cream.

Risotto

OK, I know it's been a while. I was sick right after New Year's and we had Rugrat's birthday to deal with. But honestly, I just haven't been cooking much, and what I have cooked has been pretty basic, run-of-the-mill stuff (or stuff I've already posted about; Mr Wonderful is asking about the Yum Yum Chicken Enchilada casserole again, so I'll have to throw that together one of these days). However, Mr Wonderful and I did go out to dinner at a "new" (to us, anyway) restaurant here in Antioch, called Risotto.

The restaurant has actually been around for about a year, and I was surprised to hear that because I would have thought they'd have improved after being in business for so long. From the top:

We both ordered the prix fixe meal, as we were there on a Thursday night at around 6:15 PM. It's four courses for about $22, if you're there Sun-Thurs before 7 PM. We both got different dishes for each course, so I think we got a pretty good overview of their menu.

First up was soup: I had butternut squash/apple soup and he had the roasted portobello mushroom soup. They were both fantastic; the only quibble we had is that the mushroom soup had no garnish whatsoever and it looked like a bowl of mud. It could have used a little swirl of creme fraiche or sour cream, and maybe a bit of parsley. But the flavor of both soups was outstanding.

Next came the salad course. My salad was a wine country standard, with candied walnuts, bleu cheese crumbles, baby greens and a balsamic vinaigrette. Nice, but standard. Nothing to write home about. His salad was Greek-style, with olives, feta, tomatoes and a slightly lemony dressing (with maybe a little dill or oregano in it). Again, perfectly serviceable but nothing outstanding.

Third course was our pasta, and this is where things started to fall apart. My tortellini with prosciutto and peas was quite nice, except that the tortellini was overcooked a little. I did appreciate that they didn't drown the pasta in the alfredo sauce; there was just enough sauce without it being overwhelming. Mr Wonderful's pasta was pretty bad, though. His mostaccioli (large tube-shaped pasta) was undercooked, but the chicken in his dish was quite overcooked, to the point that it was dry and almost tough. The sauce was horribly underseasoned as well; it didn't taste like much of anything, which is pretty difficult to do with a tomato-based sauce. The sauce desperately needed salt, onions, garlic, sausage...something! It was completely bland. On the plus side, the dishes were nicely presented. We would have preferred that they grated the parmesan over our dishes at the table, instead of sprinkling pre-grated cheese with a spoon, but that was a minor quibble overall.

To wrap things up, I opted for the apple galette while he stuck with his favorite - tiramisu. My apple tart was nearly inedible. The apples were bland beyond measure, unpeeled and again, horribly underseasoned, with a nearly rubbery bit of pastry on top. Mr Wonderful's tiramisu was a disappointment as well: the plating was disastrous, with little chunks of the tiramisu scattered around the main portion, and the texture was all wrong; the ladyfingers were soggy and had no body whatsoever.

All in all, it was an uneven meal. We'll keep it in our rotation, but probably just order soup to go rather than risk another pasta dish. And the desserts should be taken off their menu altogether; if you can't do the pastry right, just serve ice cream.