Ka-POW!

This is a blog post in five acts. Why so many? You know the answer -- I have been remiss and a lot has happened since I last posted. Furthermore, I am completely skipping two momentous events, namely my first snow shoeing excursion and a trip back to Texas for the holidays. Some One took the memory card with those pictures to the dark land of the Arctic, so those posts will be POST-poned for a bit. 

Act 1: Hot and Sour Soup

Upon returning to Seattle after the holidays, my first order of business was to make hot and sour soup from my new cookbook. 

I've never attempted this type of soup and was sad to have missed getting some from Thai Kitchen while I was in Austin (despite the fact that they are not Chinese, they really do make the best hot and sour soup in town). My friend's Amanda and Adam have long pursued a good recipe for this soup and either I got extremely lucky or my tastes are not quite as discerning as theirs. Katzen's recipe yielded amazing results. It helped having an excellent Asian grocery store (Hau Hau Market) a few blocks away. I was able to stock up on a few staples and get all the ingredients I needed for a mere $11!

Clockwise from top left: Sriracha, Soy Sauce, Bamboo shoots, Chinese black mushrooms, cornstarch, tofu, scallions, my favorite knife and chopped Chinese black mushrooms. (Not an exhaustive list of ingredients and some of these were unused in the recipe.)

Apologies for no picture of the final product. While it was delectable, the pictures are so unappetizing I can't stand posting them. 

Act 2: Queso

At a New Year's Eve party I had the distinct pleasure of introducing a group of new friends to Queso. To the uninitated, this is a Texas standard, made my melting Velveeta "cheese" with RO*TEL tomatoes and green chilies. Usually, I am the kid hovering over the bowl with elbows out to dissuade competition, but this time I was content to watch my Northern friends inhale their new favorite snack at break-neck speed. I swear the party migrated from the living room to the dining room table when I set the queso down, no one willing to move more than an arm's length away from the bowl. Proud.

Photo Credit: http://ballparkbiz.wordpress.com

Act 3: Birthday Feast

Since my birthday falls ambiguously betwixt two days, Dec. 31 and Jan 1, I get to choose how to celebrate. Heretofore I have not enjoyed competing with New Year's Eve, a holiday too fancy for my tastes, so this year I decided that I wasn't going to compete. I moved my birthday solidly into New Year's Day and threw myself a dinner party, inspired by none other than the aforementioned cookbook. Ever ambitious, I planned to make seven brand new recipes -- a robust Greek Mezza. 

Menu: 

Stuffed Grape Leaves (Dolmas)

Felafel (mashed chickpea patties)

Bulgur and Lentil Salad

Balkan Cucumber Salad

Wicked Garlic Dip 

Vegetable Walnut Pate ("It really does taste like chopped liver." -MK)

Pita Bread

The day broke beautifully and Seattle gave me shadows in the shower for my birthday. I know I am acclimating to living in Seattle because my heart smiles when I see shadows - evidence that Mr. Golden Sun is out in full effect.

I donned clothes, covered them in an apron (Thanks, Ma!) and scuttled into the kitchen. The day was full of cooking, hot tea and friends - much better than sparkles, champagne and fireworks.

Pita bread dough rising in the oven. Thanks to Ma and Martha for contributing to this endeavor!

Shannon and Nicole rolling dolmas.

Grape leaves taste like pickles if you ask me. These are full of rice, sunflower seeds, onion, celery, mint, parsley and lemon juice (Thanks for the lemon squeezer, Ma - it works like a champ!).

The pita was truly a group effort. I started the dough, Shannon kneaded and Ben finished them off.

Here is Nicole's bulgur and lentil salad. The fresh herbs, feta and olives made this dish sing.

The one low point in the menu. I didn't cook the chickpeas long enough, making their mashing damn near impossible and their texture too crunchy.

 

  We finished off the meal with a game of Cranium, which brings me to my next act...

 

Act 4: It wouldn't be a good birthday if it didn't make you feel old.

During Cranium, I had the distinct pleasure of having to impersonate a character that my teammates then had to guess - similar to charades, except that I could talk. My character was easy enough - or so I thought. I confidently stood up and started fake punching bad guys, saying "Ka-Pow! Ka-Blammo! Splat!" My wine addled brain got stuck on this one clue, so I failed at redirecting and simply had to continue fake punching bad guys and uttering onomatopoetic exclamations with increasing urgency and exasperation. Who was I? 

After two excruciatingly long minutes, no one had any idea who I was. Ben (who was not playing) had a giant grin on his face and as the sand finished falling he exclaimed, "It's before their time!" Alas, my new friends are much younger than I.  

Act 5: Future Blogging Plans

My time off was filled with cooking, my Christmas presents were full of cooking implements, my first adventure back in Seattle was to cook a new soup from a new cookbook, my birthday present to myself was a day of cooking. I think it is time to stop pretending that this blog can be anything but a record of my adventures in the kitchen. Amusingly enough, the night after I privately resolved to jump with both feet into cooking blog territory, Robert sent me the following email:

http://lunch.thecanalhouse.com/

I think I want to start a blog like this when I am home but of course not as often as them.

<his reference is to a cooking blog> 

So here goes: You can expect one post each week, every Tuesday (like clockwork). You can expect each post to include an anecdote, a recipe from the past week, at least one original photograph and a dinner journal. Possible additions to the regular format include restaurant reviews, guest bloggers (anyone have a recipe to share? can you keep a dinner journal for a week?), and archives that collect the best recipes we use again and again. That is where we are now. We will see how it develops. Finally, Robert and I are collecting recipes and pictures for a homegrown cookbook due out six months from now - let's call it Robert's birthday. 

As a show of good faith, here is my first dinner journal:

Tuesday: Buckwheat Noodle Soup

Wednesday: Black Bean Nachos, Queso + Cumin Lentils, Guacamole, UT Football

Friday: San Choy Greens and Rice

Saturday: Queso and Champagne (Happy New Year!)

Sunday: Greek Mezza

Monday: Queso Compuesto + Greek Leftovers

(Yes, friends, I had queso three nights this week. Don't judge.)