last party in Virginia

Immediately prior to my move down to NC, my mom decided that we should throw a party. I can only assume that this is because she was so excited I was leaving town. I jest, I jest. It was nice to see old family friends before I started off on the new step. And, of course, having a party at the height of summer is always fabulous because there are so many magnificent fresh produce options to put on the menu.

I made some old favorites, as you’ll see below, but I also tried some new ones. I excitedly read the Smitten Kitchen recipe for Peach and Pecan Sandy crumble.

The farmer’s market peaches were gorgeous.

And the topping, raw, was so good that I had to make more of it because I ate too much… oops!

 

The finished stuff was good but mostly tasted like peach crumble… the pecan lusciousness got lost a bit.

This recipe was an unequivocal hit. The absence of my cilantro-averse sister meant we could make these Green beans with eggs, chiles and cilantro.

WOW. These were really good! Someone said the best green beans they’d ever tasted.

Tons of flavor, and very very fresh tasting. And a very inventive combination that I’d never have thought of on my own.

 

This may look like a simple herb and tomato and onion salad. Because it is.

But, it is the topping for this fabulous falafel stuffed eggplant.

It, and the luuuuuuuuuuuuscious tahini sauce also included in the recipe, rounded out the flavor of the eggplant beautifully and (necessarily) gave it some color and made it considerably less homely. 

I didn’t get any action shots but the meal also included this FABULOUS sweet and spicy watermelon from Edible Perspective, a blog upon which I have been hardcore crushin’.

Basically any time I have people over in the summer, I’m going to make these corn and basil cakes because they are SO EASY and SO DELICIOUS and just taste of summer like nothing else.

 

Plus my mom made another classic, her signature Greek-style potato salad, which gets most of its fabulous flavor from fresh oregano and lots of olive oil.

Plus, my sweet boyfriend (who at the time of this party had already moved down to North Carolina but came back to have fun with us and also help move some of my stuff down like a CHAMP!) also brought something. Witness the most beautiful bread in the history of bread, purchased at the epic Carrboro farmer’s market down here.

It was also SOOOOOOO delicious- wonderfully wheaty and chewy and crisp-crusted.

We had QUITE the feast. Colorful, well-rounded and, somewhat incidentally, completely vegetarian.

  

And let’s not forget the appetizer department, which included yummy eggplant dip (which I threw together from the eggplant “meat” scooped out of the stuffed eggplant, as well as some of the chipotle peppers I put in the watermelon salad); lots of cheese (cause we’re us); unpictured grapes; and some of my leftover homemade tomato focaccia.

   

And the big ol’ feast of a dinner. I was SO pleased with this. There’s something about stuffed vegetables (well, stuffed anything) that instantly makes a meal seem fancier. In truth, these were not difficult. (Well. I say that. I roasted the eggplant and made the sauce and salad toppers, but my mom did the filling and the actual stuffing of the eggplant. So I guess you’d have to consult with her. It seemed not difficult!)

And garnishes impart beauty!

 

My perfect plate. What a scrumptious meal for entertaining. I recommend all of these things!

suffering cookies

Every year we hold a post-Christmas party for family, church friends, work friends, significant others, neighbors, random strangers… lots of people. This year that party proved Murphy’s Law.

Let’s start with these cookies, which have been dubbed “Heartache cookies”, “$60 Cookies”, and “Suffering cookies” at different intervals.

They are a great big pain in the ass!

It started with the Washington Post cookie special in the Food section. They do it every year. This year ALL the recipes looked like a pain in the ass. Weird ingredients, complicated methodologies, general sense of fussiness. However, my mom thought the Oaxacan Chocolate Cookies, from Jaleo, Jose Andres’ original restaurant in D.C., sounded sufficiently interesting that they were worth the fuss.

Well, let’s recount what happened:

- The recipe called for 2 teaspoons of mezcal. Mezcal, for those of you who do not know (as I did not until relatively recently), mezcal might be considered the Scotch of tequila. It’s agave liquor, aged. Wonderfully smoky and delicious. But we only needed 2 teaspoons. And the smallest amount the liquor store carried was a fifth. For $28.

- Then we needed 10 1/2 ounces of very high cacao percentage dark chocolate. My sister was kind enough to donate two chocolate bars she got for Christmas to the cause. We needed one more and opted to get Mexican chocolate, as the recipe called for. A bar of Taza chocolate (which is delicious, and direct trade, admittedly) was $9, without tax. Absurdly expensive ingredient #2. And let’s not forget the massive amount of butter going into this, too.

- The methodology was bizarre, and instructed the cookie maker (my mom, at this phase in the process) to quit using a mixer and fold, by hand, an enormous amount of flour into wet ingredients that were not all that wet and did not particularly care for that process. It took forever, and resulted in dough with the consistency of gravel.

- Then that gravel was supposed to be formed into logs. Yeah. Right. When my mom finally succeeded (seemingly) in forming one log, she wrapped it in wax paper and went to, per the recipe’s instructions, chill it in the fridge. When the log promptly collapsed, causing a very very large amount of dough to scatter all over the kitchen floor. Awe. some.

- Lest you think the suffering was complete, after the lengthy chilling time we then had to follow absurd instructions that involved baking for seven minutes, rotating sheets, baking another seven minutes, brushing the cookies with egg and salt (which I made the executive decision to change to sugar, spiked with salt to make flavors pop, because the cookies were barely sweet at all)

The cookies were good, but NOT WORTH THE SUFFERING.

   

Along with suffering cookies, however, I completed a fun and emotionally satisfying baking project: vasilopita. Also known as Saint Basil’s bread, it’s a Greek tradition: every New Years Day (which is the Saint’s Day of Saint Basil a major saint in the Greek Orthodox church) this bread is made. Inside is hidden a coin. Whoever gets the slice with that coin supposedly has good luck for a year.

This was a recipe from Flavors of Greece, truly the only Greek cookbook you will ever need. It has the perfect, Platonic (get it? get it?!) recipes for all of the Greek standards, as well as some creative unexpected recipes. This vasilopita was quiiiiiite decadent, with lotsa butter, honey, sugar, etc. But what gives it its signature va-va-va-voom is a flavorful combination of anise and orange. SO good.

Furthermore, we very sadly lost my dear great aunt Rose, very unexpectedly, a few weeks before I made this. She made delicious traditional Greek specialties, and her vasilopita was always gorgeous and tasty.

So this was also a bit of a tribute to her.

Also, it was ENORMOUS.

 

Also on the list of things made by me was gluten-free shortbread. Our choir director’s wife Betty, who sings soprano with me, has Celiac disease.. and her husband just got diagnosed too! Guys, is it contagious?! If so, I NEED TO STAY AWAY FROM THEM.

But at least I know how to make good gluten-free shortbread. This recipe, using all-purpose gf flour and rice flour, pleased everyone, including those of us who can (thank God) process gluten.

 

I wasn’t around these parts for Thanksgiving this year, but according to multiple sources, the White House recipe for thyme-roasted turkey, which my aunt Jeanie made for that holiday, was “the best turkey ever”.

So my sister nominated it for our party.

Hint: butter.

 

(Go Redskins! Or Seahawks?! Both Washingtons are in a certain sense my home! Eek!)

My sister also made bacon-wrapped dates. SO good.

 

And deviled eggs with caviar on top, which people ate in like thirty seconds.

ANOTHER Murphy’s law story: we had a container of caviar in the kitchen, which my mom said she had bought for deviled eggs in the past. But the not-too-distant past. But there was no expiration date.

So, we called the company, gave them the serial number on the jar, and they said the caviar didn’t expire until March 2013. Awesome. Oh, but… “We see there are some black spots in the caviar. Is that anything to worry about?” “… We’ll call you back.”

Well, fortunately they did, because it turns out that the kind of caviar we’d bought had been discontinued in 2011. Furthermore, the serial numbers apparently repeat (?!) in canned goods and as a result the jar could’ve been from 2003 or 2006. SO IT’S GOOD WE CHECKED HUH?

Let the record state, my family doesn’t buy caviar regularly. (Clearly!)

Also present at the party were dips: lotsa dips.

Our “secret family recipe” for artichoke dip (artichoke hearts from a can, mayo, garlic, and cheese), made by my mom. A white bean dip I made.

 

From the Greek store, labneh (white) and taramosalata (pink).

My favorite project, a new recipe. The Washington Post food section (attempting to redeem themselves in my eyes for those cookies? I’m sure) did a special section on vegetable pates. The carrot ginger pate caught my eye, as I anticipated great flavor and beautiful color. It delivered on both fronts. Make it! It’s a keeper!

The bacon wrapped dates and, in the other category of stuff-wrapped-in-meat, cantaloupe wrapped in prosciutto.

More Murphy’s Law: my mom brought fruit salad to Christmas Eve. We went to H-Mart a few days prior, which can usually be counted on to have beautiful produce that’s exceedingly ripe. We got mangos, pineapple, and cantaloupe. And… Christmas Eve, none of it was ripe. The other stuff got used, but I figured out-of-season melon would be best served with something else.

It was good with the prosciutto. My grandma made that, back in the day.

Took ANOTHER trip to the delightful Red, White, and Bleu, my new favorite cheese shop, because my mother had bought the Groupon too!

This was a delicious selection that disappeared almost immediately.

Unpictured are the finished meats, but in addition to the turkey (which was good but not earth-shattering, in my opinion) we also had a ham. People went NUTS for the ham, which is funny since I spent a total of 20 seconds making the glaze for it (you’ll see why below)- dumped mustard, brown sugar, and cider vinegar in a bowl, tasted it, went “yeah okay”.

For making little sandwiches, we bought an assortment of rolls. They all looked similar, so you were playing “roll-ette” (HAHAHA!)

Anyway, here’s a photo conveying the general scene.

 

The reason there are fewer pictures, and perhaps they’re a bit blurred, was the state of UTTER CHAOS in our house prior to the party.

I have two words for you: plumbing emergency.

I’m not shedding details, but suffice it to say that while it wasn’t fun running out for a last minute emergency errand to buy scented candles, praying the plumber would be there by the time I returned, it was really nice getting out of a very stressful house.

Anyway. It all worked out. The cookies were good.

 

new attitude

My life has brought a lot of (awesome) changes in the past few months. More a new attitude more than anything else, but wow do a new set of (rosier colored) glasses change everything about your life.

Last weekend found me happily frying falafel. That was great.

 

A few weekends before that- sitting in on a master’s level communications course at the MPH/RD combined program at UNC (for those of you not as well-versed in nonsensical acronyms, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has a program that allows you to simultaneously earn a master’s in public health and complete the coursework and internships necessary to sit for the exam to become a registered dietitian. It’s BOSS.) I also ended up on a private tour of Duke Lemur Center (it’s a long, awesome story and was one of the best experiences of my life).

 

A few weekends before that- enjoying the beautiful sights of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia with my awesome boyfriend, who’s just been extra awesome lately. Our first day involved a great deal of torrential rain which was absolutely positively NO PROBLEM, because it allowed me to vegetate in the incredible claw-foot bathtub.

 

My end of summer days have also involved great times with families, a work situation that finally, finally, at moments, seems to be defusing, and other good things.

 

But really? Here’s what happened:

It all started with me feeling totally panicky at how I was looking and how much weight I was packing on due to being a big ball of stress. I think it was a pick-your-poison kind of thing- for me, when my head is a mess all of the symptoms will manifest themselves at my body. For other people, maybe they drink/yell/smoke/gamble/sleep/sleep around too much.

And fortunately, due to my own wherewithal (something for which I have given myself too little credit in the past), along with the help/love of the awesome people in my life, I dealt with it. And dealt with it meaning actually started looking at my emotions, and the patterns in my head, and my coping skills, and my support system, and all the stuff that actually matters (and uh, p.s., in a rational world where it’s supposed to be what’s on the inside that counts, how much you weight dooooooesnt matter!).

So I feel like a gazillion times better. Like, holy amazing, SO MUCH BETTER. So much kinder to myself, so much more pragmatic when dealing with other people who stress me out, so much less anxious in making decisions about the future, and so much more confident in my own intelligence/capability/compassion.

So hurray for that.

Also, my cells are kicking ass too- I will in fact be giving some of them to someone with leukemia. Next month! On October 6 (the day before my 24th birthday!) I’ll get my first injection of filgrastim, a drug that’ll make my body start making extra stem cells in my bone marrow and then, once my bones get too crowded, release them out into my veins. Five days of those injections, and on day five they’ll take out my blood, spin it through a centrifuge, and give it back to me sans stem cells (and a few platelets to keep them company on their journey to the recipient in EUROPE).

So many things about the process amaze me- the fact that I am one of the 1 in 540 that’s a match for an unrelated donor; the fact that that person is outside of the United States even though my totally mutt genes (7/16ths Greek, 1/16 Irish, 1/4 English, 1/4 South African) seem like something that only could’ve come together in the US. Thinking about my cells going into someone’s body, then (God willing- and it’s a scary and dangerous process and I pray for the recipient) going through their body and knowing to find their way to this woman’s bone marrow, then growing her a new immune system. If she and I have unrelated blood types, if my cells successfully transplant, her blood type will become my blood type. Crazy! So crazy!

I definitely have big plans for the not-too-distant future related to what my everyday life will look like. It could mean more blogging… or not.

But in the meantime, I am just enjoying life a lot more. I am not perfect, nor will I ever be. My life is not perfect, nor will it ever be (and I am struggling to figure out what are realistic expectations for a career, since unfortunately my current “dream job” hasn’t necessarily panned out the way I would’ve envisioned). But life is really, really good.

As was this falafel!

 

Made it for some friends/families we had over for a get together last weekend. Just cause I’d always wanted to make it (and cause we had a mix! It incorporated both powdered chickpeas AND fava beans. Just delish!).

Appetizers began with homemade tortilla chips (tortillas sprayed with cooking spray; sprinkled with garlic salt, paprika and cumin; and baked til crispy) and hummus (that I made too lemony, agh!)

 

Then awesome Steve arrived with amazing cheese from Cheesetique, basically my favorite place in the world; and wine to match from a shop in Adams Morgan. Appetizers WON.

For the main course, along with the falafel was lamb (which I overcooked grrr. I was so delighted to find out that the lamb from Lebanese Butcher is not only halal and organic, it is also LOCAL, from Warrenton, Virginia, probably less than thirty miles away. AND I OVERCOOKED IT AGH.). The pink things are pickled turnips, which are divine.

 

Made my favorite summer squash recipe- Indian spiced grilled baby squash from Cooking Light- which I couldn’t actually grill due to the tornado warnings outside but was nonetheless delightful made under the broiler.

Annnnd my mom made  a great couscous salad.

 

Dessert was farmer’s market ice cream (strawberry shortcake and blackberry Cabernet from Sinplicity Ice Cream- so great!) and my mom’s homemade peach cobbler.

All were wonderful, all went unphotographed, but I’d say this is a rather long enough post, eh?

so you’d like to host a tea party

Someday, I’d like to host a Mad tea party. But this was just a regular (and very nice) tea party, and in my opinion, tea parties are one of the most underrated of social gatherings.

Much like brunch is an excuse to drink alcohol in the morning, tea is an excuse to eat sweets in the afternoon.

Moreover, as anyone who has seen my bucket/mugs of tea (muckets? Doesn’t that sound like it should be a bad word in England? Maybe it is…) can attest, I love drinking tea.

And my mother and I love to entertain, and overfeed (such is the way of Greek women), the result of which was this quantity of food for what ended up being four people:

 

So it is: the ritual of slathering the mini bread with butter is so pleasurable one wants to repeat it as many times as possible.

And so, a series of tea sandwiches.

My mother’s brainchild: butter whirred up in the food processor with watercress as a base; cucumber atop (those little yummy Persian cucumbers). On white bread. GREAT tea sandwich.

  

A delicious farmer’s market shortcut: smoked bluefish spread (rich- more than a subtle hint of delicious fatty cream cheese!) but celebrating the smoky oily fishy goodness.

On wheat bread, with a toe in the frame. Feet could not stay out of the frame in this post.

 

Also from the farmer’s market, we have tomatoes looking way better than they have any right to in March. Greenhouses and global warming. Go figure.

 

Put together sandwiches by thinly slicing the tomatoes, buttering the bread… but I tried to amp them up the tiniest subtlest bit. Any guesses what’s on that bread?

Curry powder! I love curry and tomato :D

And finally, more white bread, more herby butter (for this round my mom threw in chives, too), and hardboiled eggs.

SO delicious!

 

Sandwiches stacked, semi-artistically. My sister is better at these things, but she’s off studying in England… probably having tea with the queen.

I sort of believe one cannot have tea without scones, or at least some kind of baked good. Traditional scones (the dry crumbly ones) are an amazing vehicle for amazing condiments (devonshire cream and jam, drool!) but I wanted scones with a flavor all their own.

And, uh, might have had crate upon crate of apples to use up. Again!

Thus, Whole Wheat Apple Scones. Made a few tweaks (cardamom!) but more or less stuck to the methodology. They were easy to make, baked all clumped together:

 

And very very very delicious!

Sweet, buttery, flavorful, nicely spiced. I would make these again!

 

And the table was laid!

 

(There is someone waving at you in that picture. Hi, friends!)

Indoor flowers and outdoor flowers, via window. Loving on spring!

 

Apparently sherry is traditional at teatime? I tried a single sip (after all the guests left, no one seemed real interested) and it didn’t do it for me. But adorable glasses!

The highlight for me of this tea party was discovering, just a day after Saint Patrick’s Day, that we have a clover-shaped spoon. This is fantastic.