2010 So Far, Pt One: Food! Yay!

Thought some thematic posts might be a fun way to kick-start my '10 blogging. So in the next few posts I'll catch you up on various activities and interests--movies, musics, exciting new leisure developments, maybe more professional updates.

Politics? No, not for a little while. Ugh.

So, coming next time: Movies we've seen--and thanks to the online database E created for the two of us, 2010 should be a great year for keeping track of what we see and what we think!

Hey, speaking of Emily, the website she's been working on for the upcoming Western Roundup, an archives meeting in Seattle this spring, involving all sorts of groups (Conference of Inter-Mountain Archivists, Northwest Archivists, Society of California Archivists, and Society of Rocky Mountain Archivists) is up and running!

Looks great, no? I love that flyer!


So, now to talk food.
One recent highlight was a winter vegetable chili that Emily made, using a recipe from Food and Wine magazine.

Parsnips, carrots, hominy, even chipotle: what a great combination of flavors and textures! Definitely a keeper! (Food and Wine, you ask? Well, back before we knew how fun flying first class could be, we spent some frequent flyer miles on some magazine experiments. This recipe? Worth at least one round-trip upgrade!)

One thing I'd gladly pay lots and lots of my hard-earned money to read is the New York Times. Recently Mark Bittman did a story on lentils and other legumes, and I made the lentils with curried tarka: it was amazing.

Now, granted, it had half a stick of butter in a recipe that served four, so the odds were in our favor. But wow, for something that took like 20 minutes to make, this was super tasty.

Finally, a week or so ago I did a wing-it kind of thing with some butternut squash that we had leftover from the farmers market (returns in May, just 4 months from now! can't wait!). We consulted and then adapted and then transcended (?) this Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto recipe from epicurious.com (originally in the, alas, now-defunct Gourmet magazine).
No photo, but here's a rough account of how we made it:

• Cut 2 small butternut squashes (?) into one-inch cubes and bake until tender at say 450º (this should take something like 30-40 minutes)
• Heat a few cups of chicken broth, preferably home made from what was left over last time you cooked a Stokesberry Farm chicken
• Chop one medium onion and sauté in butter in a relatively big sauce pan until soft
• Add one and one-half cups arborio rice and a teaspoon or so of cumin; stir for a minute or two
• Pour in one quarter cup of dry white wine, stir for two or three minutes
• Add one cup of chicken broth at a time, stirring regularly until absorbed
• After 20-25 minutes, you should have some tender and delicious risotto
• Add a quarter cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, the squash, and some salt and pepper
• Yummy!