I didn’t burn anything down…

…This time.

But it wasn’t for lack of trying!

Today while I was heating oil in our frying pan for my signature seared salmon recipe (if I may take a moment to boast, I make a mean seared salmon), I flicked some water into the pan to see how hot it was — and a tower of flames leaped up. It roared merrily for about 5 seconds while I frantically looked for the lid, which I’d left in a location blocked by the flames. Finally I got smart and turned off the burner, the flames died down, and I finished making dinner. No problem! Nothing to see here! Everything’s fine! Continue Reading >>

And the Moral of the Story?

Day’s Verse:
You are always righteous, O LORD,
when I bring a case before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all the faithless live at ease?

Jeremiah 12:1

Cooking involves cleaning up. I know because the Seattle Times told me so. Actually, I thought this was interesting: Chefs at fancy restaurants see cleaning up as part of the job. The meal isn’t prepared until your cooking area is clean and ready to prepare another meal. I suppose a person could extrapolate this to a principle that applies to life: Finish what you start, you’re not done until you’ve covered every detail, follow through on your commitments, etc.

I doubt this knowledge will actually change my cooking habits — I’m happy letting the non-cooker do the post-dinner cleanup — but I have high hopes that I’ll be practicing my cooking and baking in our own home very soon. Yesterday Ian and I went to an open house at this town home; tonight we meet with to a real estate agent for the first time. Right now we have a goal of finding a home by April 30th, to squeeze in the first-time home buyers tax credit.

And honestly, April 30th doesn’t look that far away right now. Not far at all. I’m excited and apprehensive all at once.

We’re open to any and all home-buying advice, as long as it’s constructive. We already know to avoid homes infested with carpenter ants, homes on cliff-sides, and homes in Renton.

Garlic Queen

Day’s Verse:
“In that day,” declares the LORD,
“the king and the officials will lose heart,
the priests will be horrified,
and the prophets will be appalled.”

Jeremiah 4:9

On Saturday morning I made pitas. By Sunday, our lack of hummus had become painfully apparent, so I decided to finally try making hummus from scratch. After making pesto last summer, I figured hummus couldn’t be that difficult. Sure enough, the recipe proved quite simple, although I never did find tahnini at Safeway; honestly, I never even knew if I was looking for a liquid or something in a box.

I did, however, find some pretty delicious-looking cloves of garlic.

You can probably foresee where this is going, huh?

Sure enough, I made the hummus with no trouble — amazing what a blender can achieve in a few moments — and the consistency turned out beautiful. When I sampled it, though, holy moly! The garlic flavor nearly knocked me over. Adding lemon juice helped some, but the garlic smell remains so overpowering I think I’ll be naturally bug (and person) repellent for days. I doubt my taste buds will ever register anything beyond GARLIC possibly ever.

Whew.

The sad part is that I didn’t even solve the hummus shortage problem, since nobody besides me will come within 15 feet of my power-garlic concoction.