Not much of a post of consequence.  Just a few random things today.

Punted for dinner tonight.  I decided to make burritos but wanted something in addition to the beans, rice, onions, tomatoes, and cheese I was planning on putting on.  Lund's didn't have any tempeh, so I picked up some extra-firm tofu.  I really like the idea of cooking with tofu.  I know it can be really good, but I've only had what I would call successes with tofu a couple times.  But I thought I'd try again.  My thought was to use tofu instead of taco meat.  Here's what I did:

Squeeze as much water out of the tofu as you can
Shred it (thank you food processor.  I love you.)
Squeeze some more
Saute chopped onion and minced garlic in veggie oil until tender
Add tofu, chile powder, cumin, oregano, paprika, crushed red pepper, cayenne, and some of this sauce stuff Joe got me from Nicaragua
Saute, stirring ocassionally.
Add some oil now and then when things are looking a bit dry
~10 minutes later (maybe more, maybe less, I don't remember) it will start to crisp and brown

I have to say, the texture was decent, and it didn't taste half bad.  I was rather pleased with myself and will call this a tofu success story.

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I like my dentist.  I am not much of a fan of the poking, scraping, fiddling around, etc, but I do like my dentist.  Once he brought me into one of his back offices to show me a certificate of some conference he went to decades ago because he thought it illustrated a funny story pretty well.  It wasn't terribly funny, but he was amused.  I can identify with this.

His taste in music and art leave much to be desired, though.  I certainly don't mind classic rock from the late '70s and early '80s, but if I was his hygenist, I'd go nuts.  There's only so much Styx and Phil Collins a person can take.  I was surprised, this afternoon when I went in, that he had different music on... smooth jazz.  *hork*

So I'm in his waiting room, and then an exam room listening to some Kenny G wanna-be staring at these fantastic (not in the "Gee, that's fantastic!" sense) tropical landscapes.  We'll just say that whoever painted those paintings would be honored to have them at the starving artist sales at the Radisson in Roseville, let alone the Uptown "Art" Fair.

So, good guy though he may be, I can't help but be a little amused by the environment of his office.

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Got a prescription from him for a tooth issue I'm having.  I went to the pharmacy and did some grocery shopping.  I get back to the pharmacist, and he says that our insurance won't cover the drug, and that it would cost $200 if I wanted to pay for it out of pocket.  Holycrap!  Thanks, but no thanks.

Dear Health Insurance Industry,
Go away.
Sincerely,
Me

Simple pleasure - recording Burnell's old social studies VHS tapes to DVD
Peace

I got home after work today not knowing what to make for dinner.  Tabbouleh was definitely on the menu because we have a bunch of fresh parsley that needed to be used, but I wanted something else as well.  Then I decided to make pico de gallo since we also had some cilantro that needed to be used too.  I went to the Co-op (I love you, Mississippi Market), and spent most of my time in the produce section (I love you produce).  Tomorrow I will make vegetable pasties (I love you food that comes from our mining history), but first things first.

My recipe for pico de gallo
~6 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
2 halapenos, minced
1/2 can black beans, rinsed
1/2 can corn, rinsed
a whole bunch of finely chopped cilantro
~2  tablespoons of lemon juice
a few teaspoons of salt to taste
~1 teaspoon of Lizano Salsa
~1 tablespoon dry oregano
~1 teaspoon cumin

Mix it all up real good.  Adjust seasoning to taste.  Try not to eat too much all at once.  I'd be willing to bet that this will taste better after a night in the refridgerator.  Yum!

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I made an appointment to see a doctor tomorrow about my continually sore back.  It's a little worse today than it was the last couple days.  It's not as bad as it was a few weeks ago when I was hobbling around and almost forced to lay down, but it is keeping me from bending and moving naturally.  I think I am so tight that my posture is a little funny too.  It's been enough of a bother that I really havn't trained regularly in about a month.  Though my race schedule isn't super demanding this summer, I was intending on seriously competing in my races.  Not training is bad news.  So no, I am not incapacitated by this nagging soreness, but it is enough of a concern that I am ready to see a doctor.

I'm not sure what he'll tell me tomorrow, but I need something.  Maybe all I need is a core-strengthening program to follow.  Maybe there is more to it than that, but I need something.  Not training has really gotten frustrating.  5 days to my first oly of the season and though I know I'll be able to finish, I'm not happy with my overall fitness right now.

Simple pleasure - throwing a dish together without any guidance and having it turn out really well
Peace

Sarah is supposed to have a little more iron than we have probably been getting in our mostly veg. diets.  It's been a little while since I've made much of a dinner aside from quick and easy things.  Before a trip to the co-op for groceries this weekend, I flipped through Lynne Rossetto Kasper's How to Eat Supper for something fun to try.  I found two recipes that I wanted to try. 

( Chicken Curry With Gentle Spices and Scandinavian Spiced Meatballs With Caramelized Apples )

Both of these recipes were darn good.  Not that I doubted the quality of the recipes in this book, but I am absolutely sold on it now.  I can't wait to try some other recipes.  I also have to say that I am so happy we have a food processor now.  We use it even more than I anticipated we would.  In the realm of necessary things, it isn't there, but it sure is convenient for the amount of cooking we do. 

Now I am full... but not too full for a little dish of ice cream before bed.

Simple pleasure - recipe success!
Peace

Ok, so I can't say that there aren't better homemade cookies somewhere in Turkey, but we found some cookies while in Turkey that I just couldn't get enough of.  Hmmm... so maybe that's not saying much.  Let me put it this way, if Nabisco decided to make these cookies I would soon find myself investing in corporate food.


So these are kind of a shortbread cookie, but what makes them so great is the gooey chocolate filling inside (sadly the picture I took of a bitten cookie didn't turn out).  We brought several packages of these cookies home with us, but they only lasted a couple days, and that was with me being as judicious as possible.

I miss many things about Turkey, not least of which are these cookies.

Simple pleasure - cooking and cookies
Peace

There are a few problems with Thai restaurants here in the Twin Cities.  Take this from a Minnesotan who has never been anywhere remotely close to Thailand.  The first problem, and it's only a tiny problem, is that the food can be very hot.  I like hot.  I like hot quite a bit.  But as much as I like hot, even I have found a couple dishes that have been so hot that they're painful and one of those dishes was Thai. 

The second problem is that there isn't some universal scale for hotness on menus.  I suppose Scoville Units could be put on menus, but I don't see that happening soon.  I mean, you see them on some hot sauces, but are people really going to make good use out of a hot sauce that has a big ego because it's so high on the Scoville scale?  So when I'm at a Thai restaurant (or Vietnamese, etc.) I want to order my dish very spicy (or super spicy, or whatever they call it on the menu), but I am unsure just how spicy that will be... so I guess.  Usually it winds up not being quite spicy enough.

That would generally be the end of the second problem because I would know how spicy to order something for the next time.  But this leads to the third problem.  That is there are many Thai restaurants in the Twin Cities and I'm the kind of person that generally wants to go to a new restaurant instead of revisiting a place we've already been.  So I am back where I was previously... not knowing just how hot I should ask them to make my dish.

Life is hard sometimes.

Though, this green curry was decent but not as good as Chai's.  Maybe I'll go back there... after we try that new Thai place on West 7th.

Simple pleasure - a surprisingly good wheat bear left at our house that goes quite well with my curry.

I am a public radio addict and I'm not ashamed of it at all.  If the afternoon line-up hadn't changed recently, I'd be able to tell you what is playing on MPR at any hour of the day during the week and most of the weekend days too.  One of my favorite shows is The Splendid Table, hosted by Lynne Rossetto Kasper.  She's so over the top about food, but I don't care.  She's always got something interesting or insightful to say about food and cooking. 

Well, she was at Mississippi Market this afternoon signing copies of her new book How to Eat Supper.  We were there doing some shopping before she arrived and I was a little sad that we were going to miss her.  We eventually made it home and started to make chili when I realized that we were out of cumin... kind of necessary for chili.  This was a perfect excuse to go back to the co-op and meet my food hero.

I walked into the store and it didn't take long for me to hear her robust laugh.  I got my cumin and got in line to meet her.  I wasn't intending on buying the book, but I had to.  She grinned as she shook my hand when I introduced myself and told her how much I liked her show (as if she's not heard that a million times) and then we chatted for a couple minutes about different cook books, and she answered a few questions I had for her.  I'm not really one to be star struck, but I'm pretty sure I had a goofy smile on my face all the way home.  That absolutely made my day.

Now tomorrow, I'm going to take her advice and mix vanilla and cardamom and probably use them in scones.  I couldn't justify spending $16 on two vanilla beans, so extract will have to do, but it will be a fun little experiment.  For now though, I've got a bit of food reading to do.

Simple pleasure - the great smell of Mississippi Market
Peace

The recipe I used to make this bread made three pulla (pullae?).  It smelled so good in the house as the dough was raising and baking.  I love the smell of fresh bread, and I love the smell of cardamom, and the two together are wonderful.

While they're not as even and perfect looking as a Scandinavian grandmother would make, I think they still turned out pretty well.  I've also eaten half a loaf by myself tonight.  I'm glad there are still two whole loaves left.



These will be really good toasted with butter and honey.

Simple pleasure - slippers
Peace

Cool fall days make me want to bake.  After a more or less lazy morning, I went to the store to pick up a few things to make a braided Scandinavian cardamom bread.  It's kind of icky outside, so having a hot oven on and the scent of freshly ground cardamom in the house will be really nice.  Then we'll see if I'll be able to keep from eating the whole loaf before tomorrow.

Simple pleasure - opening cardamom pods
Peace

My soup is green, and white, and orange, and purple.  Guess what's in it. 

1, 2, 3, go!

I was getting kind of grumpy this afternoon feeling like I was being bombarded by politics everywhere I looked.  I thought about going for a walk.  I thought about cleaning bikes.  I ultimately decided to bake butterhorns!



I think I made the right decision.  Thank you for the recipe, oh goddess of Scandinavian Cooking Bea Ojakangas.

Simple pleasure - not watching the debate
Peace