Anyways, last night was a different kind of party – a small drinks & snacks kind of thing at the dining club. It turned out to be almost a private party for about 4 couples, who’d coordinated. The wives are all teachers or principals (several retired) or other types of school administrators; the husbands occupations varied from lobbyist to contractor to doctor.

I had decided to make a variety of dishes – 3 desserts (but all tiny), 2 pâtés (1 meat, 1 vegetarian) and because it was a small group there was a good bit leftover – the only thing that got all the way eaten was the smoked salmon that I bought almost as an after thought. I wanted to try this potato spelt flat bread and thought the fish’d be good with it. I found the flatbread recipe by accident while looking for a plugin to put on my blog to make posts more printable, and liked the one that the blog with the potato bread uses, PrintFriendly. I made small batches of everything – no doubling any recipes – and halving others.

My favorites were the quesadillas, the goat cheese with sun-dried tomato, and the flatbread.

I also have to admit, Mark Bittman was right (sort of) about the crostini. I kind of have a hard time with Mark Bittman, because he’s such a know-it-all. And, I have a kind of a hard time with crostini too – getting them crisp instead of hard, but not too oily. I’ve tried olive oil sprays, softened butter, and Heidi has a nice method of tossing the bread slices in a large bowl with an oil/butter mix – but I think the time I tried it, I used a smaller baguette than Heidi had, because the oil to bread slice ratio was pretty high. The way Bittman was right is that in some interview or other, he was saying get rid of the cooking spray, even the fill it yourself olive oil spray, and go back to using a brush or your fingers. That’s what I did – put a little oil in a ramekin and brushed the bread. Worked better than all the other ways, and used less than the 1/3 cup of oil to 1 baguette in Heidi’s recipe. I didn’t measure exactly, but I’m sure I used 1/4 cup or less to one and a half baguettes.

So far, I’ve turned the leftover cupcakes into trifle, the sweet potato and edamame into a salad, with a dressing made of the parsley pesto that’s in the quesadillas, thinned with vinegar (but the edamame are still too crunchy; didn’t boil them enough) and gave a bunch of the vegetables and some peanut dip and some spelt bread to Rach. I’ve eaten too many malted milk balls, today, though, and feel kind of gross. Oh well, tomorrow’s another day to get back on the healthy eating program. Joëlle and I walked the CrazyLegs walk this morning, supposed to be two miles, but we Google mapped it, and it’s only two miles if you add on the additional distance to our house from the Stadium. We started on the Capitol Square by the Veteran’s Museum, and from there to Camp Randall Stadium only measures off to 1.6 miles. So not enough exercise to burn off all  the treats.

Finnish flatbread, not quartered

Finnish spelt & potato flatbread

Platter of flatbread quarters

Veggies to go with peanut dip

Lentil pate, chicken liver pate, goat cheese off in the distance

Goat cheese topped with sun-dried tomatoes

Sweet potato quesadillas

Sweet potato quesadillas

Basket of crostini

Coconut-lime baby cupcakes

Coconut-lime baby cupcakes

Leftover coconut-lime baby cupcakes - to be trifled

The last four hunks of flourless chocolate cake

Rhubarb streusel bars

Tuesday I came home a little early, because we wanted to take Al’s 10-speed to the bike shop for a tune up. Which we did, only to find out that it’s junk – he was in a two bike accident, and the frame got bent – he got a concussion. The bike shop didn’t even want it for their red bike program, where they take old bikes, paint them red, and leave them around town for people to pick up and use for free. So we came home, stuck it in the back of the garage, and I quickly layered up the Splendid Table tortilla casserole I’d been wanting to make. Stuck it in the oven, everyone else ate while I was web conferencing, and I had my slice while watching season 2, episode 3, Downton Abbey on DVD.

Last night I got home in time to make a chicken rice pilaf – cooked a chopped onion in butter & olive oil in one of my heavy Le Creuset Dutch ovens, added the chopped up meat from the 3 chicken thighs I had roasted on Passover – to have chicken thigh for the shank bone on the Seder plate – then put in 2 cups of short grain brown rice, and the last of the cleaned spinach – also chopped – about 3/4 of a bunch. Poured in the quart jar of turkey broth I had strained off the matzoh balls (and a little water – I had always heard that you need to add a little water when cooking rice in home made broth – it’s so gelatinous that the rice needs a little help to absorb it – and this broth was really gelled in the jar). Brought the whole mess to a boil, put the lid on, and stuck it in the 350°. Al got home from the gym an hour later and reported it was looking rice-y, not soupy, so I declared it done and he dug in. Between then and 8:30, when I took my portion, the 6 of us in the house ate it all. Even Rach, who’s on a no processed grains, no dairy, no sugar, regime right now would’ve been able to eat it, if we had left any.

So, pretty good for using up Passover leftovers, although today, trash day, I still threw out more stuff than I like to – I hate throwing away food – but I just didn’t know what to do with the last two matzoh balls, the dried out farfel stuffing, and the greasy purple onions that had flavored the brisket – so I binned it all, as the Brits would say. At least there were still pretty blossoms to look at when I went to walk, to make me feel better about throwing away all that stuff, not to mention the satisfaction of the neat & tidy looking, cleaned out refrigerator.

Splendid Table tortilla casserole

Empty Chicken & rice pilaf pot

Spring blossoms

Not to mention three banana muffins I made for Sunday breakfast, trying out a recipe from my new Sarabeth Baking book;  a vegetable drawer full of greens – spinach that I already washed, 2/3 a head of romaine, some watercress that is a pain to deal with and some arugula that has a few yellow leaves; one large serving of asparagus & shrimp pasta that I made on Sunday night and we ate in front of Game of Thrones, with a salad made from some of the greens; and two pears that are starting to look overripe. I keep changing my mind about what to do with it all.

Today in one of my several meetings, the person sitting next to me was eating a cheese & lettuce on matzoh sandwich for lunch – obviously a more observant Jew than I. We had briskit sandwiches for dinner tonight, on challah, that I baked especially for that purpose. During Passover. And there’s still enough meat that I could shred it and make enchiladas. On flour tortillas. During Passover. Or BBQ sandwiches. On hamburger buns. During Passover. The chicken meat could be enchiladas, too, and the turkey broth could be sauce for them – but I’d like to make this stacked tortilla casserole from Splendid Table – it would use up the spinach, and I’d make a salad to go with. Keeps me up at night, thinking …..

Passover dinner was delicious – although I made the meringues in state of fear and worry, right after I smashed the iPhone. I broke a wine glass while I was cleaning up after dinner, and a platter and a bowl also broke when the platter slipped out of my hands and landed on the bowl in the sink. And even after washing there’s a big red wine splotch on the stripey kitchen rug – or maybe it’s more like a red-wine shadow. I did a meat meal, so we had hummus and matzoh crackers and vegetables and olives to start, then briskit and roasted potatoes that Joëlle made, and farfel stuffing and asparagus salad that Molly brought. And of course matzoh ball soup, with a vegetarian broth. I made an almond cake – it had more ground nuts than matzoh meal and that’s what makes a good Passover cake, I think. I frosted it with seven-minute frosting – whipped egg whites. Jane brought the matzoh butter crunch. The only thing that got completely eaten was Joëlle’s potatoes – but the only leftover that I don’t think we’ll finish is the stuffing.

And, I guess – it’s just going to be about money – and time. $200 later, I have a new iPhone 4s in my pocket, and I spent another $90 ordering a faceplate fix-it kit, and a new sim card and phone service, so we can re-condition the smashed phone. It took me along time to get everything moved over to the new iPhone – and it was pretty terrifying in that computer upgrade way – you know, when you’re wondering, “Am I doing the right thing or am I actually wiping out all my stuff?” The new furnace is going to be in the $3,000 – $3,500 range – but the bills were pretty high, even during our weird mild winter, and maybe I’ll get some energy tax credits – so I’ll end up saving a little bit.

iPhone after bottle of Passover wine attack

Almond cakes with raspberry filling and 7-minute frosting

Passover cake

Stephen's plate

My plate, while waiting for the meat to be passed to me

My plate, still meatless but better view of the asparagus

My plate with meat and stuffing added

Mark's plate

Red wine ghost

Pecan and chocolate chunk meringue cookies

Multi-grain cereal

This is the multi-grain cereal I just had for breakfast at work – Heidi’s recipe, but I didn’t soak it over nigh this time, and I only used 2 cups of liquid (instead of 2 1/2): one cup water, one cup skim milk. And dates and apples. Joelle & I ate it on Saturday morning, and there was still this ample serving to reheat in the work kitchen microwave.

I also had a bit of an overstock of baked goods this weekend. I made long rise whole wheat bread and cranberry bars on Saturday, and cupcakes to take to a birthday party – of a Madison school teacher, who’s kids are the same ages as mine, so it seemed only right to use the Betty Crocker cocoa cupcake recipe I always sent to school with the kids for their birthdays. I put a little lump of cream cheese mixed with mini chocolate chips into the centers and frost them chocolate. This time I used this perfect chocolate frosting recipe I got from Smitten Kitchen. There was a lot of frosting left, and I have overripe bananas, so I see a chocolate-frosted banana cake in the future (to be leftover yet again??). Then on Sunday I made cinnamon scones. The bread had to go into the freezer, because we have enough other bread; the cupcakes came to work – the last 8 or so. We’re eating the scones – I had two yesterday, as did Mark, I think, and both he & Joelle took them for lunch today, and Al was eating one with his coffee when I left for work. So no need to share or freeze them.

Last three cimmy scones

Cupcakes packed to bring to work

Two cupcakes posing for closeup

Since today is Sunday of a three day weekend, we are being a little lazy. Waiting for it to warm up to pursue outdoor activities, and trying to activate an old iPhone for our student. Ethan got picked up at 8:00 to drive back to Minnesota and college with his mom. I folded laundry, and made cherry-stuffed French toast for breakfast. I’m going to have to do actual work work later today, setting up my online courses that will start on January 23rd while I am at the ALA conference. And of course, all Wisconsin is in anticipation for the Packers/Giants game this afternoon.

Beet & beef borscht - becoming less soup and more solid

Pumpkin-cranberry muffins

Streusel-topped apple pie - a little too much streusel

Breakfast leftovers: Cherry-stuffed French toast, 1 piece bacon, plain French toast

I made the last of the caramelized onions from the  galettes into onion dip with creme frâiche and sour cream – that was a success, and I made sure by tasting it on corn chips, honey wheat sticks, and wheat thins. (corn chips & wheat thins won).

I tried to use up more of the salad greens from Pie Palooza by making them into veggie broth – with squash and herbs, that woulda been good – but the greens turned the broth black, so in the morning I threw it out.

I made the leftover squash cubes, also from the galettes, into a gratin with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. It was really good, I ate a big bowl of it for supper – the crumb topping was perfectly crispy, almost like those Parmesan chips you can make, frico, I think they are – in contrast to the soft squash. But Mark didn’t want any, and although I packed a serving into a plastic container for work lunch, in the morning I ended up pitching that, too – although I did wash out and save the container.

I had a really pretty head of red cabbage and a pound of Brussels sprouts in the basement fridge, from a CSA box a few weeks ago, and I wanted to make this slaw, that I had made for a dinner last winter. It has too many steps and ingredients, but it’s really good – disappeared in a flash at that past dinner, anyways. Another success, with cashews instead of pine nuts, and Farmer John’s Asiago instead of Parmesan curls, and still good for lunch without any cheese added at all.

And I made a batch of hazelnut & chocolate meringues, to send on the plane with Rach – she’s going to have Thanksgiving in upstate New York with her no-gluten-eating fiancé, and the rest of her family – and to use up the toasted hazelnuts that had been sprinkled in the salad on Saturday night. I usually make these for passover – it’s 4 egg whites, and about a cup of sugar, and about a cup of chocolate, and or nuts. These were a lot more chocolate-y and nutty, because I had close to a cup of the hazelnuts, and I used some expresso chocolate chunks that were lurking in the bottom of the baking bin, plus part of a bag of milk chocolate chips. Another success.

And I never got around to making that pear cake – to use up the pears – maybe I’ll do that tonight. It’s got a bunch of steps – marinate dried fruit in brandy, caramelize pears, make the cake itself – and it has a caramel sauce, but I don’t need to make that, because I still have some caramel sauce from the pumpkin sticky pudding, to use up.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cabbage and Pine Nuts

Meringues

Meringues - the way the cookies reflect on the side of the plastic box is kind cool, I thought

Meringues

Pears and bananas

Pears with only a glimpse of the bananas

• Crostini with goat cheese, slow-roasted tomato, & pickled onion – homemade baguettes, and I used Heidi’s technique of pouring the oil (or butter) into a bowl and tossing the bread slices in and mixing it all up – more effective than brushing or spraying or drizzling the oil onto the bread – but I used a touch too much oil. Homemade slow-roasted tomatoes, too, and the pickled onions were a dark magenta hue I’d not seen before, tho it’s a recipe I’ve made many times. And I mixed the goat cheese with a dash of honey. I didn’t make the white bean crostini – so now I have a yogurt bucket of cooked white beans to use or freeze.
• Chicken salad with apples and walnuts – white meat chicken, toasted nuts and one giant, local Delicious apple. I didn’t make the crispy wonton cups to put the chicken in – it ended up being a chunky salad so it woulda been a pain to stuff into the cups. Instead, I made chicken salad canapes – the salad, mounded on buttered bread – and also put out a bowl of the chicken salad for people to eat however they wanted.
• I bought Carr Valley Mobay and Marieka Gouda with Fenugreek and Farmer John’s Asaiago and smoked Gouda – which was the crowd pleaser – more of that eaten than any of the others. I put the cheese out with crackers and fresh figs and pears and olive tapende (made by whirring up all old olives from the fridge with a small jar of purchased). There was also Jacque Pepin’s cheese spread – all the cheese ends, also whirred up in the processor, with butter. This one had some bleu, some cranberry cheddar, some orange cheddar, and some Parmesan.
• Vegetables and chips and dips. Dill dip, because I got a lovely bunch of fresh dill at the Wednesday market. Edamame hummus from the newest Martha, quite tasty – but a little pasty and thick because I cut back on the large amount of water called for, since, naturally, I thought it was one of those Martha tricks to insure that no one can make her food as good as her – but in fact somewheres in between the 1/3 cup I used and the 3/4 cup she said to use would be right. With blanched broccoli, beauty heart radishes, and carrot sticks. And a big bowl of these pickled veggies from Saveur – I left out the zucchini, and only used 1 jalapeno, but it was still a gigantic batch. I’ll be eating them for lunch all week.
• Cocktail meatballs & tofu balls – the standard Heinz chili sauce meatball recipe, using red currant jam and the last of a bottle of siracha along with the chili sauce, instead of the canned cranberry sauce or grape jelly (and packaged meatballs) specified in the original. The tofu balls are Mollie Katzen, from the Enchanted Broccoli Forest – I put them out with a bottled BBQ sauce, but, me, I preferred the fu balls dipped in the sauce from the meatballs.
• Sweets – mini pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, Heidi’s chocolate truffle cake made into cups which had to licked (or spooned out) and Dori’s jammers, a la me.

Goat cheese, tomato & pickled onion crostini

Last three of the chocolates

UN-color corrected radishes

Beaty Heart radishes

'Fu balls, trying to escape

"Fu balls contained

Jammers with American Spoon cherry jam

Pumpkin cupcakes

So, probably the funnest thing was Terese brought Janie, and these two women are my Ovens of Brittany cronies – friends from my years of restaurant work, 20+ years ago. Friday morning, I went for a walk with Rach, and she peeled off early, so I was doing the long last leg of the walk on my own. I ran into one of John’s friends from high school, Sam, unlocking his bike in front of his parents house – he has his own apartment, shared with a girlfriend downtown, but said he comes to his folks’s when he wants to study. Sam ate lunch at my house almost every day for four years in high school. So, anyways, Sam said he works at the Greenbush Bar, owned by another of my Ovens of Brittany pals, Anna. I said I used to work with his boss, Anna, and Sam replied, “oh yeah, the desserts at Greenbush are kinda like the stuff I used to eat at your house.”

On Saturday, I had scrambled eggs with tomatoes, onions & goat cheese from the crostini and broccoli, leftover from being a dip veggie.

Anyways, last night I made steak fajitas – I had a two-pound piece of flank steak that I marinated in cumin & garlic & lemon juice, and loads of peppers from my CSA – little orange ones, one reddish-orange bell, 1 long green frying pepper. Our student didn’t want to eat, so I cut the piece of steak in half, and froze one of the halfs. Then I broiled the rest under the broiler, and Mark and I ate it rolled up in flour tortillas with the peppers sauteed with some purple onion. With rice cooked in homemade veggie broth from Friday on the side. I was extra decadent and put a little butter on my rice.

Tonight I was going to make tomato tart, but again it seemed like I’d not have too many eaters, so instead I made some tabouli, using up the last few good leaves off a bunch of fresh mint that was lurking in the vegetable drawer, and a bunch of parsley I bought on Sunday when I had a vague notion of turning the flank steak into braciole. And one of the tomatoes that would’ve gone into the tart. And half a box of tofu, also found lurking the fridge, cut into little cubes and crisped up in a skillet in oil, and soy sauce and a sprinkle of brown sugar – Mark said the Italian girl wanted tofu, but I think he might’ve misunderstood. I ate the tabouli on a bed of greens, mostly a really peppery arugula, with a small roast beef sandwich on the side – even though it seems an odd side for tabouli – made from that too dry challah, and leftover flank steak.

Now I have a free form plum tart in the oven, made according to my own recipe for a peach version – pictures forthcoming.

Tabouli on a bed of argula

Roast beef sandwich on Rosh Hashanah challah

Plum tart