I started writing this post while sitting in the cheap 2nd run theater waiting for Quartet to begin. The first of two movies this weekend. Last week, Mon – Thurs., was the Teaching Academy Summer Institute – I was a co-chair, and I think it went pretty well if I do say so myself. I was going to work Friday, but the only meeting I had got postponed to Monday, so I had Friday pretty much off, and I left this weekend open as well.
Good thing I did leave Friday open – I was toast. I got up and walked with Ann, came home and had a big breakfast of beans & toast with an egg. I biked to my office to return the loaner laptop from the undergraduate library, and inter-d a remote and a book back to someone, and planned to bike to the East side Willy St. to do a little grocery shopping. The corner of Park & Langdon, where my office is located (Helen C. White hall), is surrounded by construction – there’s a hole to China with a small bike lane, and as I was wending my way through the construction, I realized I forgot to wear my helmet. Fortunately I made it to the co-op and back home again without mishap.
I made this grape salad. I’m still on a quest to use up my extra Costco fruit – I froze the apricots & strawberries to make strawberry-apricot pie, for Debbie Cardinal’s annual pie party in August. This salad would be perfect Wisconsin potluck fare, where the table of “salads” might not include a single leaf of lettuce and instead feature marshmallows, whipped topping and jello.
Saturday we slept in, but I got the Smitten Kitchen big crumb coffee cake into the oven, so we could eat it when we got back from the market. It’s very good, but needs more rhubarb, or fruit. And I do like the sour cream cake part, a lot. I put the grape salad out, and I tried a bit of it – incredibly sweet – Mark wouldn’t even have a bite. This was one of those times when I have a little glitch in my thinking – I successfully use up some ingredients in a recipe, but the resulting dish is never eaten – so not so successful afterall. The grape salad went into the compost, after making a reappearance at Sunday breakfast, and again no one taking any.
I got my 2nd CSA box on Thursday, and it was one of those times where I already had some of a lot of the things I got, either exactly or sort of. Like I got cilantro, and I had a bunch of cilantro; I got romaine lettuce and I already had 2 bunches of softer lettuces, leaf & butter; I got spinach and bok choy and already had mustard greens. So, Saturday night I made spinach enchiladas with cilantro cream sauce. There were quite a few versions on the web – I used the one with bread crumbs in the filling, and mushrooms, from a kind of junior league of Dallas-type cookbook. The sauce was supposed to be heavy cream thickened with corn starch and cilantro and garlic powder or seasoned salt; I used half & half, and fresh garlic. I think these will get eaten.
Spinach enchiladas
Sunday morning I made breakfast pizza, my edits to the the Big Sur Bakery recipe – like I just bake it on parchment – I don’t have a pizza peel.
Breakfast pizza with bacon & eggs
Before the pizza, I walked with Rachael. After, took the clean laundry over to E. Wash, bought a new lawn mower, and saw What Maisie Knew.
Next up, finish the crumb cake, with ice cream and some extra rhubarb sauce, and season finale, Game of Thrones.
Big crumb rhubarb cake
