Susie's Meanderings, Part 2

Dinner – Duck Confit

susietho — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 00:20:41 +0000

Breakfast was oatmeal ( very nice oatmeal with figs and apricots and a little splash of cream), but I forgot to take a picture before I devoured it.
Dinner was a result of absolute serendipity. I wandered into Savenor’s on Charles street, having noticed that I had just missed the T rumbling overhead, and they had duck! (also Wagyu beef hot dogs, but that just seemed silly…) So I got some nice fresh long island duck legs; having seen a recipe for quick duck confit that has been percolating at the back of my mind. (Once again, Simply Recipes, thank you for another excellent dinner). Let me just say, this turned out better than my wildest expectations. The crispiest skin imaginable, melting duck fat, tender meat. I utterly ignored the pleas of my cat and picked the bones clean. I also used a little of the duck fat to saute some cabbage with a little onion (and a splash of apple cider vinegar). Divine.

And dinner….Corned Beef

susietho — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:10:06 +0000

If you’re wondering why the corned beef isn’t pink, the only corned beef available at my store was nitrate free, which is a good thing, I guess, but I wasn’t sure how I was going to like beef corned without nitrates. I really think my corned beef should be pink. Or I used to. It turns out pink isn’t a flavor.

Inspired by one of my favorite food blogs (Simply Recipes), I cut my brisket in half and baked one half with a brown sugar/mustard rub, and cooked the other in my slow cooker (my usual habit). The baked one wins hands down. These two little pieces were all that was left of the pound and a half that went into the oven, and it took all my willpower not to eat them as they went into the refrigerator. I might have to learn how to corn my own beef, now that I know it doesn’t have to be pink.

Nitrate / Nitrite free corned beef

Lunch – English Muffin Pizzas

susietho — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:13:14 +0000

After my robust breakfast, I found I wasn’t hungry for much lunch, so I went with simple: English Muffin Pizzas with fresh mozarella, chorizo and kalamata olives. I think a little bit of red pepper would have gone well on it, but I didn’t have any.

Fresh mozarella, kalamata olives and chorizo

Breakfast- Ricotta and mixed berry pancakes

susietho — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 14:54:53 +0000

I love breakfast. Today I was in the mood for something a little different, so after pondering the options in my fridge, I decided on these. I usually make my pancakes with a little mashed banana for sweetness, and today I added a little ricotta too for interest. I’m not a big fan of maple syrup, so I decided on a nice fruit syrup made from frozen berries and orange juice, (over high heat until it reduced). Since the ricotta was out anyway, looking so fluffy and nice, I mixed a little with the tiniest drizzle of honey, and filled my pancakes with it. Verdict: very tasty.

Ricotta pancakes with mixed berry compote

Cambridge adventures

susietho — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:07:22 +0000

After a solid month of rain (during which, I’d like to point out, it’s been sunny in Seattle) the sun finally came out for the 4th, which meant that if I pulled my comfy couch up to my living room window, I could see the fireworks show from the comfort of home. First of all, what a treat to have the weather so warm that I didn’t need a fleece jacket and six blankets and a child on my lap just to keep warm. I had all the windows open and was sitting on my couch in a tank top eating ice cream. And I had an unfettered, perfect view of the fireworks, which were spectacular.

Today has been dedicated to house cleaning, so I loaded up an old rolling suitcase with things to take to Goodwill, which is just over half a mile down the road, and got there just at noon, when they purported to open. I had no idea that it was such a popular spot, but there were already ten people waiting impatiently at the door, peering in anxiously, and everybody eyed my donation suitcase with speculation and hope. (One barely used Fry Daddy, a similarly barely used cappucino maker and lots of winter clothes). When someone did arrive to open, she just laughed at us all and locked the door behind her. You would have thought there was a fire sale the way people pushed and shoved to get in the door. But it’s done now, and I have closet space again. Hurrah.

5 months & 30 seconds to change a showerhead

susietho — Sun, 24 May 2009 18:03:45 +0000

When I moved here in January, I bought a new showerhead for my shower. I had learned how easy they were to change out by watching my roommate do it in our last apartment, just screw the old one off, and put the new one on. Well, it’s that easy if you’re 6″ something and all muscle, which I definitively am not. I tried to budge it, but no luck. My one pair of pliers was too small, and I suspected all I needed was the right sized wrench, but I’d go to the hardware store and get intimidated by the giant wrenches and run away. Today I took myself in hand and walked into my lovely neighborhood hardware store and looked appropriately lost until the nice man behind the counter asked if he could help me, I described what I needed and he took me right to the pipe wrenches (imagine, wrenches just for pipes) where a lone little dainty one that was just my size sat on the bottom shelf. I scooped it up and with some trepidation took it home and fitted it to the joint where the shower head met the pipe. Two gentle turns made a mockery of all my frustration and swearing in January. In less than 30 seconds I had the old shower head off and the new, glorious, multispeed one in its place. Now why did that take me so long?

First run of the season

susietho — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 15:24:53 +0000

Being that it’s a glorious sunny day outside, and I was feeling a bit ansty, I decided to try my first run around Cambridge today. I was pretty sure it would be cake, because I’ve been walking to and from work pretty frequently, carrying a heavy backpack, so how much more effort could a run really be? Quite a bit, as it turns out. I never appreciated how hilly my neighborhood was until today. I also completely forgot it was Easter, and so had to spend part of my run threading my way through the multitudes dressed up for church. I felt like a terrible heathen. Still cold air aside, it was a lovely run, or will have been once I recover.

Colonial Boston

susietho — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 20:21:08 +0000

So I signed up for a four, no five, week course which is designed to train “Boston by Foot” guides. I’m just auditing, which means I can go to the lectures and tours, with no responsibility to ever become a guide. I figured it would be a great way to meet people and learn about Boston all at once. And I think it will be all those things, though it turns out to be more about architecture and less about history than I originally anticipated, it’s still very interesting. And I’m exceptionally glad that I’m only auditing, because if it’s as cold next week as it was today, I’m skipping the tour. 90 full minutes of standing on corners in the driving rain while I hear about pilasters and hipped roofs is more than even I can do.

Tulips in the compost

susietho — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:34:08 +0000

Tulips in the compost

Originally uploaded by SusieQ36

Have finally gotten around to uploading some pictures from my weekend in Oregon. I had one glorious hour of sunshine after the rain, so I got some nice pictures of water droplets on flowers and leaves. Today was the first day to really feel like Spring in Boston, and it seemed like all the spring flowers bloomed all at once today.

A room with a view

susietho — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 15:31:25 +0000

Boston 1.2009 (1)

Originally uploaded by SusieQ36

Hooray! I have pictures back on my blog. …This is the sunrise I get to see every day from my living room. I liked how the crane looked sort of like a giant dragon poised to fly. More to follow.