It's been quite some time since I've updated, for a few reasons. 1, I've been sick. As I write, it's the first time in five days that I've been dressed. (Not that I've been sitting around naked for days-- by "dressed" I mean jeans, socks, bra, etc. I've spent the past four or five days clad in what might best be described as "lounge wear") Now that I'm starting to feel better, it's time to start giving myself things to do, in little doses. While I was sick, I could only handle so much. Reading trashy magazines? Yes. I rediscovered Marie Claire when my local Walgreens was all out of Vogue and people I've never heard of were on the cover of "People". Studying for the GRE? Um, no. Doing the dishes? Yes, pretty much all you have to do is stand there, and the steam from the hot water was good for my congestion. Vacuuming, mopping, more labor intensive household chores? Hell, no.
The second reason I’ve been a bad blogger is that I'm quasi-employed again, which is always a positive thing. Sure, it's glorified babysitting, but that leaves me with more time to make stuff, work on my thinly veiled portrait of real people which is almost a novel or will be in 50,000 more words, and romp the Belly. I've also been tutoring for the past month or so, through an adult literacy program called Berkeley Reads. The guy I tutor is super sweet. He's old enough to be my grandpa, and prefers Louis L'Amour cowboy stories. Even though we have very little in common, working with him is natural and easy. I've enjoyed it a lot so far.
But mostly, I haven't been updating my little blog because I am very lazy.
Before I got sick, I'd been on something of a cooking spree. Particularly when it comes to sauces. My mom was here over Valentine's day so I cooked for her, K and me. I made a tri colore salad with buttermilk vinaigrette, whipped parsnips, and shrimp with roasted red pepper sauce (red, for Valentine's day you see) The shrimp turned out really bad, but the sauce was the best part of the meal, and I kept thinking of things to put it on for the next few days. Sometime before that, I made pesto, which is equally versatile and also quite pretty.
Most recently, I adapted a recipe I tried while out with my two-year-old buddy Oliver. This place called Booby G's in Berkeley has avocado goat cheese crostini-- Olivier absolutely loves it, and surprisingly, so did I. I attempted to make it at home, and was mostly pleased. K was not too enthused, but he loved the crostini. Recipes appear below.
I got the pattern/idea for the thank you bag from February's issue of Bust magazine. The embroidery took FOREVER and then I messed up a bunch stitching the bag's pieces together. Canvas frays a lot. Even though I pretty much finished all the seams, I still have more fraying than I'd like, but hopefully this will stop once the fabric frays up to the edge of the seams. That I could live with. It's lined, and fun to carry. I made a few variations on Bust's suggestions (subtle changes to the embroidery pattern, using canvas for a more durable bag, and not adding an inside pocket) which are not as comprehensive as they might be.
I also made this little stuffed dog for my godson-to-be. A good friend is pregnant (due in July), and this is the first of many things I plan to make for the baby. I haven't decided whether he's (the dog) done yet or not. I'm definitely going to add a ribbon collar, but I might also embellish the eyes more, or add spots. The pattern was definitely a bit of a challenge for me, and he's sewn entirely by hand in felt. The pattern is from the book Softies, though I adapted it to suit my needs.
Here are the recipes for roasted red pepper sauce, pesto, and avocado goat cheese crostini:
Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Ingredients:
2 or 3 red bell peppers
Olive Oil
Balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar
Sea salt
Black Pepper
Roast your red peppers using your preferred method. I roasted mine in the oven (about half an hour at 400) but you can also do them on the stove, which I do when I am impatient, which is almost always. My favorite method is outside on the grill, if you're so inclined.
Once you've roasted the peppers, put them in a paper bag and roll it down tight so the peppers can sweat. Once they cool, this makes it easier to remove their skins. I usually peel them off by hand, and leaving some charred bits adds nice flavor. Remove the stems and seeds, cut into pieces, and stick in the blender.
Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil (about 3 tablespoons) into the blender. Add half as much vinegar, salt to taste, and ground pepper. Blend until smooth, and adjust amounts of oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.
Serve over almost anything.
Simple Pesto
Pesto is yummy, pretty, keeps for a while in the fridge, and is so easy to make. It dresses up almost anything.
Ingredients:
2 cups (packed) fresh Basil leaves
1/2 cup Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (buy a hunk and grate it yourself)
1/3 of a cup of pine nuts, or similarly flavored nut
2-3 garlic cloves
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
Couldn't be easier: wash the basil leaves, grate your Parm, and put everything into a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. You probably won't have to add much salt, since Parmesan cheese is already pretty salty.
Avocado and Goat Cheese Crostini
Crostini:
1 loaf French bread, cut into slices
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Preheat over to 350 degrees. After slicing your loaf of bread into .5'' slices (approximately) brush both sides of the bread with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper Bake in the oven for about ten minutes, turning a couple times, until lightly browned on both sides. This makes good croutons, too.
Spread:
1 ripe avocado
4 oz. goat cheese.
Combine avocado and goat cheese in a bowl with a spoon or a fork, working together to mix. Using an egg beater, blend together until smooth and creamy. Mixture will be pretty thick, and light green in color. Looks a little odd, but is very delicious!
