Relish. Relish Friends. Relish Food. Relish Life.

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley arrived at my house about two days before my birthday last year, with a gift note saying Rick apologized if he missed my birthday, because he was pretty sure he had.

Obviously, he hadn’t. And I was floored, because I would never have expected a gift from Rick. And not only did I have one, it turned out to be a perfect gift. I didn’t know it at the time. My birthday is the day before Christmas. I sat down Christmas day and picked up this book. I picked up this book in that Christmas moment, after the major festivities are over, dinner’s still awhile away, there’s some sort of delightful, warm beverage in a holiday-themed mug on the coffee table, and all just feels right with the world.… Continue reading →

Visiting D.C. Jan 2014

Bill and I have been traveling again. 

Once a year, there’s a conference in Washington, D.C. that he always attends. We have friends in the area, particularly up in Baltimore, MD and so I usually accompany him. Typically, we land at BWI and he heads down to the con hotel and I head straight up to Baltimore for four days or so of putzing around with our friends up there before he joins me for about a week.

This year, it’s been different. A friend of mine has just moved to D.C. with her family. I have made numorous friends on Twitter, mostly (but not entirely) fellow beer bloggers. All of them wanted a chance to meet me, and I them. And staying in D.C., I had the chance to have a breakfast or dinner or two with Bill in those four days.… Continue reading →

Tasha’s (attempt at) Asparagus Risotto

Cover of How to Pick a Peach, by Russ Parsons

One of the first things I wanted to do upon arriving home to Chicago was find some asparagus. I love asparagus utterly, and could probably eat it until I turn into an asparagus spear.

Luckily for me, asparagus season isn’t that long.

“Asparagus season isn’t that long” was actually my biggest fear upon arriving home too. I was terrified that three weeks gone from home, and a couple weeks of not shopping prior to that meant I’d missed out completely. Which would have made me quite sad.

So, of course, it only makes utter sense that we would get in about 8:00 pm on a Friday, and I’d be prepared to go to a Saturday morning farmers’ market. Where, thankfully, I found asparagus. I also found a couple of tomato plants, an amazing tamale (that isn’t New Mexican style at all), and some eggs.… Continue reading →

[80] Mushroom Stroganoff with Pasta

Cover of The Complete Book of Italian Cooking, edited by Anne Hildyard

This is the only recipe out of this book I’d ever made before this challenge. I’ve held onto these books (this one and the similar looking cookie cookbook) out of a deep affection for the people who gave them to me more than out of a feeling that they’re fantastic cookbooks.

You know what, though? They’re growing on me as cookbooks as well. The cookie book has had a few good ones and some poor ones. The previous recipe on this blog from here was stellar, and this stroganoff recipe was even better than I remembered it being.

So, so good.

I don’t tend to think of stroganoff as an Italian dish. If someone asked me to guess, I’d guess German. I don’t actually know that either one of those perceptions is in any way correct, but there you have it.… Continue reading →

[71] Steak, Mushroom and Ale Pie

Cover of Farmer's Market Cookbook by Ysanne Spevack

I recently went to Elephant and Castle in Chicago with Grace.

Oh, wow. “Recently” wasn’t that recently at all. I just realized this would have been the week before Halloween. Huh.

Well, anyway, the point is that we went to Elephant and Castle after going to the farmers’ market. Grace wanted something that was not terribly expensive, but with plenty of space to sit down. I don’t know the area as well as I’d like, and the places that aren’t E&C I know down there are all basically fast food.

Once we got there, we settled in to order. What I got was clearly not very memorable, because I don’t remember it. Grace, however, got the steak and ale pie. When it came out, I couldn’t help but marvel at how pretty this miniature pie was, and how tasty it looked, especially with a nice green salad next to it.… Continue reading →