Grilled Eggplant Salad

I have never worked with eggplant before. I've eaten it (and loved it!), but I've never cooked with it. Mostly because it looks like some kind weird Dr. Seuss egg.

Well, a few weeks ago, Ike and I were getting groceries and decided to pick one new piece of produce that we've never really used in a recipe before. So, I decided to face my fears, and picked the eggplant.

These last few weeks have been absolutely gorgeous (especially for 'winter' in Kansas, hello 78 degrees!!!), so grilling seemed appropriate. And this is the wonderful (and incredibly easy, and incredibly healthy, AND incredibly delicious) recipe I found courtesy of the grill master himself, Bobby Flay.

Grilled Eggplant Salad

1 eggplant, cut into 1-inch thick slices

1 large red onion, cut into rounds

Canola oil

1 avocado, halved, pitted and flesh chopped

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon coarsely chopped oregano leaves

Honey

Olive Oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 lemon, zested

Parsley sprigs, for garnish

Brush the eggplant and red onions with canola oil and arrange on the grill. Cook the eggplant until soft and grill the onions until they have a slight char. Remove from the grill to a cutting board and let cool slightly. Once cool, roughly chop and add them to a serving bowl along with the avocado.

In a small bowl, whisk together the red wine vinegar, the Dijon, and oregano. Add honey and olive oil, to taste, and blend until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add dressing to the eggplant mixture and toss. Garnish with lemon zest and parsley sprigs.

See I told you, super easy! And really there isn't much better than grilled onions!

We ate this as our meal and between the two of us, ate it right up. The grilled eggplant had a nice meaty quality, so you won't miss any heartiness. (If you were serving it as a side it could probably serve four people.)

I grilled up some naan bread to go along with it (another grilling favorite).

Looking at the forecast for next week (high 70s and low 80s) it looks like more grilling will be in order! Here comes Spring!!!

Grin and Bear It

One of my favorite book series growing up (and still to this day) was/is The Berenstain Bears. We had dozens and dozens of them and I'm still collecting them today.

Each book was so simple and beautiful. There was always a nice moral to help children understand certain things about life (it might do many adults well to read some of them!):

When cubs start to twitch

or to scratch or to nibble

what they need is some help,

not a lecture or quibble.

-from "The Berenstain Bears and the Bad Habit"

One's sense of self-worth

is often undone

the first time one feels

left out of the fun

-from "The Berenstain Bears and the In-Crowd"

"Please" and "Thank you"

Help quite a lot

To make a polite bear

Out of one who is not.

-from "The Berenstain Bears Forget Their Manners"

When the TV is on

All day without rest,

Mama knows it's too much-

And Mama knows best.

-from "The Berenstain Bears and Too Much TV

When Bear Country's cubs

learn pollution's a fact,

they help grownups learn

to clean up their act.

-from "The Berenstain Bears Don't Pollute (Anymore)

Mama Bear was always so wise in how she helped the cubs find the answer to their problems. I really hope that this is a series that will stand the test of time.

As we mourn the loss this past week of The Berenstain Bears' creator, Jan Berenstain, make it a point to introduce a child in your life to the Berenstain Bears (I've started my niece reading The Spooky Old Tree, my personal favorite and she loves it!)

Thank you for your wonderful stories Jan!

The Corner Market...or Yay for Yi's

Ike and I have lived in this neighborhood for about 2 months and only this week have I finally made it down to our little corner market, Yi's Oriental Market.

It made me rather nostalgic for the past when each neighborhood had its own corner market; when towns were not overrun by Wal-Marts, Hy-Vees and other corporate chains. I can still remember the little grocery store in my rural hometown called Allison's Market. For some reason the meat counter stands out most in my memory (and the cereal aisle, mostly because we always wanted cereal, but the cereal there was too expensive for us to buy).

I know that I won't shop at Yi's every week because it is primarily food that we don't eat on a regular basis, but food we will definitely be eating more of. There are so many items that I've never heard of and would have no idea how to even incorporate them into a meal....but, I'm excited to learn...starting tonight.

I am starting out rather easy, buying only Miso soup, kimchi, and dumplings (all things I have eaten before and already know I adore.)

I also like how bright and colorful all of the packaging is. It really does entice you into buying more than you came in for (I went in the other day and only came out with some Jasmine tea, though I did want to sample their large selection of sweets....go figure!)

감사하십시오

ありがとう

谢谢

Thank you, Yi's!

Wood in the Hood

Look at all those varieties (Elm, Walnut, Hackberry, Mulberry & Cedar!)

First of all, forgive me for that lame post title. Second of all, Ike and I spent the afternoon cutting wood....Well, Ike cut (I am deathly afraid of the chainsaw), I carried the logs to the trailer and arranged them in a nice little heap.

It couldn't have been a more beautiful day. Hello, 60 degrees at the end of January?! It had to be spent outside. Pottawatomie County had taken down some trees outside of town, so we decided to go scavenge what was left to add to our growing wood pile. We are planning to get Ike's wood burning stove in before next winter, so we are stock piling now.

It's like fitting together pieces of a puzzle.

It was a lovely day (despite the fact that I threw a log into the trailer, which hit a smaller piece, which popped me in the eye. So, now I have a cut and swollen eyelid, but at least my eyeball is intact. I should also note that three weeks ago I fell down our stairs, bruising my tailbone, and two weeks ago I burned the crap out of my right hand. 2012 has started out as a dangerous year for me!) After cutting and piling the wood, we enjoyed a cup of tea on the porch swing.

Ah, Kansas living.

The little bench Ike made with found wood.

A coke bottle we found that was made here. It lives among the wood.

Winter Fiesta

Well, after being a lazy bum most of the week I decided to end my doldrums by cooking two new recipes (Mexican stuffed shells and Tomatillo Guacamole) last night for dinner.

And they turned out pretty darn good if I do say so myself!

Mexican Stuffed Shells

(found on Pintrest)

4 servings

1 lb ground beef

1 package taco seasoning

4 oz cream cheese

14-16 jumbo pasta shells

1 1/2 c. salsa

1 c. taco sauce

1 c. cheddar cheese

1 c. Monterey Jack cheese

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Brown ground beef, add taco seasoning and prepare according to the package
• Add cream cheese, cover and simmer until cheese is melted, blend well. Set aside and cool completely. (You may be tempted to eat what's in the pan, but wait, it gets better!)
• Cook pasta shells according to the directions on the package, drain. Set shells out separately so they don't stick together.
• Pour salsa on bottom of 13x9in baking dish. (make sure you have a really good salsa, as a lot of it soaks into the shells. I have yet to find a salsa at the grocery store, or even a recipe for one that I really love. And as much as I HATE corporate dining, Carlos O'Kelly's has the best salsa.)
• Stuff each shell with the meat mixture and place in pan, open side up.
• Cover shells with taco sauce (now, it says taco sauce, but I like enchilada sauce better, so I use that, and it still turned out to be delicious.)
• Cover with foil and bake for 30 min.
• Add cheeses and bake, uncovered 10-15 min
• Top with green onions, black olives, sour cream, more salsa, whatever your heart desires. We didn't top it with anything and it tasted wonderful.

Tomatillo Guacamole

(found in Skinny Dips)

Makes about 3 cups

Vegetarian

4 tamotillos, papery husks removed, halved lengthwise

2 large plum tomatoes, cored, halved lengthwise, and seeded

2 tsp. canola oil

2 large hass avocados, halved, pitted, and peeled

1/2 c. chopped cilantro or coriander leaves

1/4 c. diced red onion

3 serrano chilies, seeds and ribs removed, minced

2 tbsp. lime juice

1/2 tsp. kosher or sea salt

• Prepare medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill/barbecue, preheat a gas grill/barbecue on medium-high, or place a stovetop ridged grill pan over medium-high heat.
• Brush tomatillos and tomatoes with the oil. Place the tomatillos and tomatoes, cut side down, directly over the fire. Cover the grill and cook, turning once, until dark brown grill marks appear and they are tender, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into 1/2in dice. Set aside. (I didn't do any of that. Mostly because I'm lazy. I skipped right to the dicing of the tomato and tomatillos. It still turned out wonderfully, I just thought I would include these directions for the more ambitious ones out there!)
• In a medium bowl, mash the avocados until chunky. Add the grilled (or in my case, raw) tomatillos and tomatoes. Fold in the cilantro/coriander, onion, serrano chiles, lime juice and salt. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve immediately (definitely followed that part!)

Anyway, hope you enjoy. All in all, it only took me about an hour. I made the guac while the shells were cooking.

Hope you have a Merry New Year!!!!

ASOS Awesome!

A little while back I found this great british clothing website called ASOS (they now have a US version). It can be a little pricy, but they have great sales. Well, today, I found a little thing called ASOS Marketplace.

People (with great style!) SELL (and, like me) BUY vintage clothes through this marketplace. So, you get one-of-a-kind pieces at some really great prices (okay, so my examples aren't that cheap, but there are a lot of clothes that are inexpensive) (the only setback is the shipping, presumably because the clothes are shipped from all over the world). When buying make sure you translate the UK sizes to US sizes. Here are a few things that caught my eye (all photos from asos.com):

Vintage 1960s Maxi Dress $53

1970s Green Leather Clutch $48

Flecked Faux Fur Swing Coat $51

Lanvin 50s Classic Sunglasses $85

Vintage Swimsuit $13

Usually I like to keep these things to myself so I can selfishly keep all the good clothes just for me. But, seeing as it's the holiday season, I will share this amazing little marketplace with you, and wish you Happy Holidays and Merry Shopping!

Fa-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la

I love this time of year. And here is a list why:

1. I love that my house smells like a cedar tree (well, because Ike and I hiked 2 hours to find our cute, imperfect tree).

2. I love that it is now acceptable to watch all of my favorite Christmas movies (now for a sub-list of my top 5)

1. White Christmas (I LOVE to watch Vera Ellen dance!)

2. All the claymation movies (especially Rudolph!)

3. Miracle on 34th Street (the one with Maureen O'Hara)

4. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (mostly because of cousin Eddie)

5. The Family Stone (not a classic, but for some reason I love it! mostly because of Craig T. Nelson and Luke Wilson)

*Alternate: It's a Wonderful Life ( it really can't be left off)

3. I love finding the absolute perfect gift for my friends and family (or making them the perfect gift.)

4. Tis the season for parties!!!

5. There is pumpkin flavored everything! (just made a pumpkin roll Sunday night and it is practically gone!)

6. I can pull out my Bing Crosby Christmas CD.

7. I get to see my wonderful family.

8. Eggnog!

9. The fact that it is my niece, Kennedy's first Christmas!

10. Oh yeah, and this....

He proposed....while I was wearing sweatpants and only one sock and my glasses....he must really love me.

Happy Holidays!