Author Archives: Tasha

[50] Cooked Beans, the Quick Soak Way

How to Cook Everything, Revised Edition by Mark Bittman

Hooray! We’ve managed 50 recipes so far. I know we really could have been chugging along at a better pace, given when we started, but I’m still pretty pleased with 50 recipes. If nothing else, it means we’re still both dedicated to making this work.

Plus, it’s been a lot of fun.

So last night was one of those wonderful nights where we managed several recipes at once. In that case, it was three. It was looking like it’d just be two, but I realized I had never made dried beans before, and wanted to give it a go. Plus, this way, once the power goes out for three days this upcoming winter, we can eat the canned beans we have. It’s like we’re survivalists! We have canned food and a manual can opener.… Continue reading →

New Mexico

We’re in New Mexico again, visiting for my mother’s birthday (which has passed, but this was the weekend she wanted to celebrate).

As you can imagine, I’m not doing a lot of cooking right now. I have, however, decided that I’d like to get a jump start on menu planning for next week. This is somewhat augmented by the fact that I’d planned three meals for while Bill’s mother was in town, and then we did not eat at home. (Thankfully, I had not bought the ingredients for anything yet, so no money or food was wasted on those plans.)

Unfortunately, this planning is also hampered by not having my cookbooks with me, and not knowing what’s coming in our CSA. I have gotten a “sneak peek”, but planning around previous sneak peeks went poorly for us when we didn’t get any beets (among other planned for things).… Continue reading →

Quickie post

The worst part about teaching a pregnant woman who doesn’t speak English very well how to bake cookies is that you can’t chow down on cookie dough in front of her.

The best part, though, is much better. And that’s baking cookies with a new friend, and getting to chow down on them together, and watching her learn after she just put you through your paces on the piano. At least, that’s my best part.… Continue reading →

My feet are going to fall off.

Bill’s mother arrived Wednesday night, and we’ve been basically running around non-stop since she arrived. I’m not entirely convinced I won’t be walking on stubs by the time she leaves tomorrow afternoon.

Basically, we haven’t been home from about 9:00 am everyday until about 11:00 pm every night. In the interium, we’ve done a lot of cool stuff. Wednesday we took her to “Xoco,”:http://www.rickbayless.com/restaurants/xoco.html which everyone knows is Bill’s favorite. She said it was the best sandwich she’d ever eaten, so well done there, Mr. Bayless & Company.

Thursday I had a piano lesson, and then joined them for wandering Mag Mile. After lunch (Elephant and Castle on Lake & Wabash), we went to the Art Institute and nearly closed the place down. Then we ate at Uno, and wandered Mag Mile some more.… Continue reading →

[49] Maple Syrup Cookies

The Complete Book of Cookies, edited by Deborah Grey

These were “emergency cookies”. As in, I needed cookies or something, fast!

I recently had the opportunity to take free piano lessons within my apartment complex. Well, they don’t cost money, but the exchange was in conversation, as my new teacher is still learning English. I had my first lesson Monday, and when she found out I didn’t have a piano, she loaned me a keyboard to practice on. She and her husband came down late Monday evening to drop it off and chat a bit, and I wanted to be able to have little snacks on hand.

These fit the bill nicely because they only have five ingredients (all of which I had on hand and none of which are typical allergens), and the directions are short and simple.… Continue reading →