It's a thing of beauty, isn't it?
That, friends, is the All-Clad d5 Stainless Steel 4-qt Saute Pan after which I have been lusting for the better part of 18 months (at least). I've had a longing in my heart for All-Clad cookware since I was planning my wedding (you'd better believe they bought full-page ads in every bridal magazine published in the Northeastern part of the USA). That yearning only grew more intense as I watched my mother-in-law preparing sauces and roasts and whatnot with her All-Clad cookware - now I could see how beautiful it is in real life and what a pleasurable cooking experience it appeared to offer.
If you clicked the link, you know that All-Clad is definitely not a bargain brand. One of my favorite past-times has become asking Mister if he'll buy me a $4,000 27-piece set of All-Clad for Christmas, my birthday, Valentine's Day, or Tuesday. (Hurry! It's on sale! Only $2,800!) I've made comments, half-joking to Mister, my mother, my father, Angst, and anyone else who will pretend to listen to me, just so everyone possible is aware that I would be eternally grateful if anyone ever felt like blessing me with at least a piece of this cookware. That's right - just one item, because that would be enough to know if the "hype" is true.
If you've been reading for a while, you've had the privilege of seeing multiple snide remarks directed toward my faithful but insufficient CuisinArt 3-qt Saute pan, which has helped me make dinner since I got it for our wedding 4 years ago. Actually, it was piece of a cookware set that I got on sale and I got what I paid for, so 4 years later, we're down to about half the original set and I've been replacing pieces bit by bit as needed. I shared my initial dilemma here, where I was trying to decide whether to dig a deeper hole of debt to get a nice cookware set or just buy nice pieces as I was able. Actually, looking up that post made me realize I've been complaining about my 3-qt saute pan for over two years. On with the show!
For Christmas this year, Mister got me.....
Not All-Clad. But he did get me a new cookbook, which is awesome, since I'd run out of creativity with my old ones (one of the many reasons I've been so neglectful in my posting). I've been cooking from it all week, but tonight's meal was particularly colorful and attractive: Vegetables Provencal on basmati rice.
Why am I posting this after completely ignoring pretty much all month that I cook and eat dinner on a nightly basis?
The answer is very simple and even more gratifying.
My mother reads my blog. On Christmas, she asked me what my inaugural meal would be...
in the All-Clad 4-qt saute pan she got me for Christmas...
I am a happy and very blessed lady.
The pan is a lot heavier than my "old" saute pan and I'm having trouble figuring out exactly where it's going to live. It was so easy to cook with and it's so beautiful it makes me smile involuntarily. I knew the real test would be washing it. I haven't had stainless steel cookware since my generations-old RevereWare bit the dust, but I remembered that being a huge pain in my butt to scrub clean. Since we have nonstick cookware, we don't have a scrubby thing. I accidentally got too wrapped up checking Facebook and looking at happy pictures and let the pot sit on the stove with leftover tomato-based sauce for about an hour.
Washing it felt like petting satin.
So, ask and ye shall receive, eh? My 1-qt sauce pot is starting to show its age....
I truly don't know how these things happen. I thought I was finally finished my food shopping when I walked out of Trader Joe's this evening, only to get home and start making Granada Paella from The Urban Vegan and discover that I was short a red bell pepper. I don't know how many times Mister has gone out after I started making dinner to get something I was missing (tortilla chips, refried beans, spinach, to name a few) but we can add Red Bell Pepper to the list.
He came back with a brown paper bag and my spidey-sense* told me the red pepper was not alone. Indeed, after Mister pulled out the pepper, he smiled and reached back into the bag and gave me chocolate, "because you ran out." What a sweetheart! because I did eat my last mini-chocolate bar from the halloween candy last night. I thought it was sweet that he wanted to be as vigilant about my dark chocolate supply as I am about his bread supply.
*spidey-sense: the magical ability of wives to know beyond any shadow of doubt that their husbands will return home with at least 1 item more than they were sent out to get. I inherited mine from my mother and that's why my dad isn't allowed to go to Pepperidge Farm unchaperoned.
Anyway, I recognized that Mister was probably about to be even more helpful as I was cooking dinner.
I love this recipe - truly I do - but I keep forgetting how now that I make it correctly, it burns my face off. This is normally how dinner goes when I make this:
Bite 1: mmmm....tasty, but hey, that's a little spicy!
Bite 2: umm.....
Bite 3: chokecough
water break
get a few more bites in: face starts to feel a little hot around the ears, eyes, and nose
water break
few more bites: nose starts running
wipe nose
water break
few more bites: now my tongue and lips are burning at a steady rate, almost ignorable
few more bites: can't quite feel my tongue
Time for 2nds! (can't help it - it tastes so good it's worth the pain)
grand finale: my nose is red, my ears are red, my nose is sniffly, my lips are burning and my tongue is nearly numb... and my husband, who by now has plowed through three bowls without blinking or taking more than two sips of water, is laughing at me.
As I've learned previously, the best way to treat these "symptoms" is with dark chocolate.
Thank you, Mister
Although Angst initially showed some interest in dinner, it didn't take long for him to decide he wasn't terribly interested in whatever was making his Lady disintegrate, so he found something else to be far more interesting than our dinner time talk about dubstep. [By the way - if you want to see something incredible, click here and prepare to hold your breath for about 6 minutes.]
Inside that large Williams-Sonoma bag live some other, smaller paper bags. Just before we sat down, Mister added the little brown sack from Essene to that bag, but Angst really wanted it. This is the last in a series of pictures of him climbing into the larger bag to snuffle at and try to retrieve "his" bag.
It almost seems inevitable that I would take a few days off after MoFo. I love MoFo, but there is something about "obligatory" blogging that wears me out a bit. Obviously, I chose the obligation, and there weren't really any rules about blogging every single day, but when there's such a good chance new eyes will find your posts, you don't really want to skip a night. So anyway, sorry about all that. I'm back!
Fortunately, some fun and exciting things (as well as self-deprecating moments of wallowing in near existential crisis) have been happening in my absence. Why don't we pick up where I left off - Wednesday.
Wednesday, if I recall, became quite cold by the lightless hours. This only helped me appreciate more the lovely present awaiting me on the kitchen table when I returned home from work that night: my brand new, 3rd of the limited run, Audrey coat from Vaute Couture! I don't know if I ever mentioned that I ordered it (back in August, which got me the coat at a 45% discount), but I have been anxiously awaiting it, especially as October drew to a close and I began to anticipate and experience the bone-chilling winds of November.
This picture actually shows the Hepburn coat (big difference, I know). The huge difference between the two is probably about 6 inches. While the Hepburn is more similar to the coat I replaced - a wool pea-coat that stopped just above my knees - the Audrey travels to mid-calf. This will result in an increase of warmth I probably can't even fully recognize just yet.
I haven't worn my new coat out yet because it's been quite temperate since it arrived (go figure), but it has some serious lining, so I'm sure it will live up to the claims of being wind-proof. This was one of the deciding factors - I think the coats are gorgeous, and it's almost a rite of passage for the underground diva in me to own a couture coat, but truly, I'm just tired of shivering through a wool coat in a Philadelphia winter.
I was supposed to attend a Dia de los Muertos party Wednesday night and I spent a decent bit of time preparing for it by daydreaming about the sugar skull make-up I wanted to try for it. Unfortunately, I forgot I was old until after I'd made, eaten, and cleaned up dinner. By then it was 10pm, it was cold, and I had grown just enough common sense to recognize that it was too late to safely ride the El to West Philly and back. I think the only reason Mister did not expressly forbid me to go was that he isn't my father.
Because I am a nice person, to use the words of a new boss, I agreed to work the later shift at work last night so another colleague could work early and attend an event after work last night. As such, there were no fun dinner stories, aside from Mister and I taking turns heating up leftovers. We ended up sitting at the table together, though, and discussing Occupy Philly, theology, and race relations until almost midnight. He drank coffee, I drank champagne, and together we put a small dent in the bag of Halloween candy my father gave me on my way to work.
Today, after sleeping past noon and taking our time waking up, Mister and I were happily ensconced in our Day Off Routine of drinking coffee and playing on the internet when there were two short buzzes from the "doorbell." Ordinarily, we ignore the doorbell since it's right on the street and sometimes hoodlums walking down the street think it's funny to ring a doorbell as they walk past. Today, though, I yelled to Mister (who was fully dressed already), "Hurry, it's my present!"
Mister jumped up and ran out the door - Philly mailmen don't leave packages and don't wait more than a few seconds before deciding you aren't there even though they know full well you probably have to unlock two locks, run down two flights of stairs to unlock two more locks and run down the small alley to the street... Regardless, because my former athlete still has it, he returned a few moments later (albeit a bit winded), smiling and holding a perfect white box with my name on it.
I hope I'm not the only woman who buys herself presents. Maybe I should start following my dad's lead and saying they're from Santa to me.
"Santa" sent me an early Christmas gift (because I'm a really good girl) - a shipment of e.l.f. cosmetics:
a palette of 100 shades of eyeshadow
12 cosmetic brushes
eyelid primer (just in case these colors don't have the pigment or staying power to match MAC)
"porcelain" foundation
a 4-shade "shimmer" palette
two eyeliner pencils and a pen (Mister said I should save money and just use a Sharpie - he doesn't realize it costs less than a Sharpie)
make-up remover wipes (we'll see how they stand up to my Neutrogena wipes)
That was all the provocation I needed to finally get in the shower and start my day - I couldn't wait to paint my face up with all that PETA-approved, cruelty-free makeup.
this is kinda what Heaven looks like to me
I hardly knew where to begin. Look at all those gorgeous colors! I watched a couple online makeup tutorials for color inspiration and got to work. I started with some black, mainly to test the intensity of pigment I was working with and I was absolutely astonished at how dark it went on with only a little dab on my new brush. Oh, that's another thing - I have been working with the same 3-4 shapes of MAC brushes for the last 10 years (and also, all the make-up I got today costed the same as one blush brush from MAC). It amazed me what a difference some of these new brushes made.
In the end, I was feeling like a pretty, pretty princess, so I went with a violet-fuschia shade with carbon black in the crease and some silvery-white highlighting just beneath the eyebrows. I had a bit more trouble than I anticipated filling in my eyebrows, which made me wish I had gone ahead and included the brow pencil in my order. There's always next time.
You can believe there will be a "next time." Probably a lot of them. I'll be honest - I was not expecting the quality I've seen so far. Do me a favor - head back up to that first shot of all the items I got. You back? Good - now, all that stuff? It was $36. Last time I went to MAC I spent a little more than twice that amount and came away with 2 eyeshadows, blush, lipstick and liner. If I had replaced my blush brush like I needed to, I would have taken that total over $100, which is actually all too standard for me.
Totally worth it. I can barely wait to wake up tomorrow and do it all over again.
You may be thinking, "Um, yeah, so this is great, but what about the food?" Patience, dearies - here we go!
After discovering that it was quite cold and windy outside during our trip to Whole Foods, I couldn't think of a better way to warm our innards than with a big pot of slow-simmer stew. Good thing the last item left of the menu was Vegetable Lentil Stew from Vegan on the Cheap!
It was every bit as savory as I remembered it and it went well with the rustic, sour Pain de Campagne from Whole Foods I served alongside.
Wednesday night's dinner was fun and special, but this nonsense has gone on long enough, so you'll have to wait until tomorrow for that. Let's look at what's coming up this week!
1. Pasta E Fagioli from Veganomicon, AKA My Favorite Pasta e Fagioli recipe so far.
2. Savoury Shepherd's Pie from How It All Vegan, AKA Mister's Favorite Winter Dinner. It has been far too long since I've made this and Mister was mourning that there are no good vegan imitations of Pub Food when we were looking at a menu at an Irish Pub/Restaurant the other day. Eventually, this will result in me trying to make a vegan version of Bangers and Mash, because that is what he truly wanted, but when I told him I put this on the menu, he was pretty darn excited.
3. Pasta Con Broccoli from Appetite for Reduction, because apparently I want to use all my cookbooks in this week's menu. Also, because broccoli is awesome.
4. Moroccan Chickpeas and Zucchini, also from Appetite for Reduction.
5. Mediterranean Bowl from the Construct Your Own Bowl chapter of Appetite for Reduction. As we know, I love bowls, so it was only a matter of time before I decided to try one of these. Since they're so simple (not really a structured recipe), I have skipped these and the Sammiches/Wraps section, but we're gonna give it a go (and now you have Lady Marmalade stuck in your head. You're welcome.).
6. Tanya's Asian Delight from The Garden of Vegan. I feel sorry for this cookbook. I never use it. It looks brand new. I just can't get into a lot of the recipes these two crazy Canadians come up with in it (really, WHY would you put diced pickles - AKA relish - in Sloppy Joes? WHY???). One thing that I find completely charming in that "not gonna serve it to anyone I want to impress" kind of way is how quirky and down-homey the names of most of their recipes are.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to YouTube - magical videos of makeup applications and Evanescence/P!nk are calling me.
...for tomorrow, we die. Or go back to work. Same thing.
All kidding aside (who's kidding?), I had such a delightful weekend, I am both dwelling on each moment and regretting that it all ends when I go to sleep tonight. Each day has adventures of its own, so we'll keep a positive outlook, shall we? Probably the best way to guide you through my fabulous weekend is another picture parade, with me popping in from time to time to share a fun story. Let the good times commence!
There has been a lot of good eating going on lately. I snapped the above picture while having a surprise lunch with my dad. I surprised him by being in center city mid-day on Thursday, so we went to Farmicia for a nice little lunch. Although I was tempted by the Hummus and Avocado Sandwich, I ended up getting the Tres Tamales, which was three (no, really?) perfectly sized tamales, stuffed with their vegan chorizo and "vegetables" (which appeared to actually just be diced chili peppers). I love how the tamales came in a Tv Dinner-like tray-plate. In the leftmost top were scrumptious refried black beans. In the middle was a very spicy salsa roja, and on the right was a pickled cactus salad. Being an adult, I tried the pickled cactus, even though every cell in my body was saying, "No...I don't think that's a good idea..." It wasn't, but I chewed up one piece and swallowed, satisfying my need to be adult and classy. Then I chased it with a nice swig from my celebratory peach fizz (peach nectar + cava). Dad enjoyed a Crab Cake on Brioche that was thick enough he decided it would be in better taste and manners to make it a fork-n-knife sandwich, rather than trying to unsacrimoniously shovel it all into his mouth.
This bit of my breakfast was part of a super-awesome discovery just before I left the produce section of Whole Foods last week: Mango Nectarines. Interesting flavor - they look like a champagne mango with their yellow-pale green skin, but they taste more like a nectarine.
Speaking of Whole Foods, I think I'm falling in love with Trader Joe's. We'll recall that the logistics of my first journey out there were probably not ideal for making me put it on my list of places that I regularly shop. However, yesterday, I got done teaching a bit later than I wanted to and in order to redeem the day (because teaching someone how to make music isn't fulfilling enough :P), I decided to get off the train at Suburban Station instead of Market East. Trader Joe's is just a few short blocks from the stairway from subterranean to the city surface, so I decided to take my chances on the buses running more frequently on a Saturday (they do).
I got all these veggies for only $19.95:
2 zucchini
a cucumber
3 shallots
2 garlics
2 limes
1 lb bag of lemons
7oz arugula
a bag of snow peas
a bag of broccoli florets
a bag of shredded cabbage
a red pepper
an orange pepper
and a quart of vegetable broth
as a result, I saved about $15 total for this week's grocery bill, which is pretty significant considering this menu has seven dinners, not 5 or 6 like normal. Also, this came in handy when I went to Superfresh and discovered that ThePowersThatBe have decided that consumers were getting their canned beans for a steal, so in the one week between the last time I shopped there and yesterday, they felt justified in increasing the price of beans 32 cents.
When you're talking about beans, that's a serious number. I mean, really - $1.19 for a 15oz can of chickpeas? I guess it could be worse... they're still 80 cents more expensive than that at Whole Foods.
Anyway, I ended up making the least expensive meal last night, primarily because I wanted to use up my Tofurky sausage and leftover Coconut Rice before something bad conspired between them in the fridge. The only thing I needed to buy for Stewed Lentils with Soy Sausage fromVegan Express was a can of tomatoes.
I heated up the leftover Coconut Rice from our Jerk Seitan the other night, but there really wasn't quite enough leftover to match the volume of the stewed lentils. In the future, I think we'll need twice as much rice and I probably could have used more than 1 cup of diced tomatoes, too. The 2 sausages instead of four, though, was right on.
After dinner, since it was Saturday and all, I made myself a little cocktail:
Pineapple Malibu Rum + 100% Papaya nectar + Lime Perrier
Speaking of fruity cocktails, Mister and I had brunch with my parents today (this appears to be turning into a monthly event) and while Mister and Mom stuck to French press coffee, Dad and I decided to celebrate the true nature of brunch: an excuse to drink frilly cocktails way too early in the day.
Closer to the camera is my beverage, April in Paris (st. germaine elderflower liquer + white wine + champagne). I felt a little silly ordering it, with all that flowery name and whatnot, but I needn't have felt that way since my dad followed up by ordering a Ruby Slipper (absolut ruby red vodka + lime juice + triple sec + cranberry juice + champagne) which is the pretty pink drink further from the camera (and close to my father).
The menu at Valanni is pretty diverse and full of tasty-looking things beyond their fruitilicious cocktails (now might be a good - or damning - moment to point out that Valanni is a fabulously trendy hotspot in the heart of Philadelphia's "gayborhood"). I decided to get Cinnamon French Toast with a citrus glaze and vanilla-maple syrup, sprinkled with pecans and dried curants. I had no idea how thick the bread would be!
For my savory side, I also ordered Roasted Potatoes which required me to ask our [very nice] server for salt - apparently the cook isn't a fan. Roasted anything should always involve salt. I guess you have to play it safe, though, when you're cooking for a bunch of strangers who may or may not have hypertension.
The purpose of my parents' visit was to bring me gifts from afar - Arizona, to be more specific. The last time we had brunch with them was right before they left to visit my sister, so today was the "now we're home and we have presents" phase of brunch. Oh, and also because we love each other.
Anyway, there were two big special presents that provoked the visit. The first is this amazing handmade bowl:
The creator is Michael Nowack, a now-local artisan. To my surprise, it is both microwave- and dishwasher-safe! Add that to gorgeous and we have a winner!
Because my parents love my husband more than me, they also gave us two hot sauces and a grill spice mix that contains not just one kind of hot pepper - no, there are five chilies in that mix. The pain they are clearly trying to inflict upon me, though, was balanced out by the sweetness of the other special gift.
This is Mesquite Flour. I saw some in Essene yesterday, so it's comforting to know where I can get more if I need it, but this is "special" mesquite flour. My sister, apparently an earth mother, plucked the pods from her very own mesquite tree and pounded them into this flour all by herself.
You know what they say: You can take the girl out of Africa, but you can't take Africa out of the girl.
Once we'd digested brunch and finished up any last-minute errands that needed running on the weekend, I made dinner.
This image just brings joy to my heart in that welling-over kind of way. Doesn't that look tasty? Hearty? Savory? It doesn't hurt that it's also an attractive color combination, but anticipating the taste makes me want to drool even now.
I served up Pasta E Fagioli from Veganomicon with a delightful mixture of olives and the last of my Apothic Red. I'm finishing the wine with a few squares of my dark Belgian chocolate from Trader Joe's (and kicking myself a little for not picking up another three bar set while I was there yesterday).
But really - let's compare: Christmas/Chanukkah? People more or less "expect" presents. Gifts are part and parcel with family-oriented holidays...and birthdays...and anniversaries. If a date on a calendar could possibly mean anything then a gift is probably warranted.
[Amusing sidenote: last Christmas, my sister gave us a Peace Corps calendar marking every holiday observed in every country ever, so every single day is a holiday somewhere. I'd like to take this opportunity to wish Estonians everywhere a Happy Rebirth Day!]
Monday, on the other hand? No gifts required, much less expected (as much as anyone should really expect a freely given token of love). So, then, if an amazing husband were to surprise his wife with gifts upon her return home from work one Monday, wouldn't they mean that much more?
Our anniversary was three weeks ago. My birthday is still two months away. Though malls everywhere may protest, it is not, in fact, Christmastime yet. We aren't in the habit of celebrating Estonian holidays, as neither of us has Estonian blood. So why did I get presents after my greeting hug & kisses?
sweet, sweet love...
I was absolutely ecstatic about the Endangered Species Chocolate bar. I have seen it all over blogs and magazines lately and I can't find anything to hate about a chocolate company that donates 10% of its earnings to protecting wildlife, while proving that life without Godiva may be worth living after all. Now that I have happily savored one of the three little squares of 70% cocoa dark chocolate hiding beneath that very dignified wrapper, I can happily proclaim my love for this bar. Who knew vegan chocolate could be quite this good? Also, I have never had dried blueberries in my candy before. That made me ever-so-slightly wary, but it was awesome! The tartness of those tiny wild blueberries actually enhanced the bittersweetness of the dark chocolate.
I haven't had the Maple Candy yet...to be honest, looking at it makes my teeth hurt. It's absolutely gorgeous - the little maple sugar crystals glisten and sparkle like any maple-leaf-shaped ornament ready to decorate a Douglas Fir, but the idea of putting it in my mouth is a little daunting. My plan is to break into it on some lazy day that I can pawn the uneaten parts off on my coffee or oatmeal. I like the story behind the Coombs Family Farm, though.
Me, though? I'm going to dwell on what a great husband I have.
If ever there was a segue into something I meant to cover last night, that was it. I alluded to the holiday season when I began my ramblings about what it means to me to slowly become vegan, but I ran out of words and steam before remembering. It's been on my mind again especially since I came home to unexpected presents after a day of feeling built up by some colleagues.
Her enthusiasm and joy are contagious apparently (and I'll take that over the Swine Flu any day). Between her good humor about damn near everything and a surprisingly thought-provoking article I read in the November Reader's Digest, I'm in a mood to count my blessings.
The season of Advent is a special time for me...Christmastime. It is a time for reflections, sometimes an opportunity to start over, sometimes a moment to wander the streets of Nostalgia and wonder when things got so damn complicated. I'm not going to pretend that if we all just embrace the holiday season with the innocence of children that we will magically transport ourselves to a simpler time, but why not take a step back anyway?
I have decided that from Thanksgiving until Christmas, I will take time each day to count my blessings. At the very least, I will find four things about each Today that make me happy. I don't have any spiffy graphics because I'm art-retarded, especially when it comes to computers, but I hereby dub that time Operation Gratitude Attitude and will do my best to blog every day, even if only a few words to record what I am grateful for that day. I would love it if you would all play along - I know there are a decent number of people (maybe even more than I realize) who read this blog regularly but have never commented or do so only rarely. I want you to share what you are grateful for with me! Let's do this together - I will tell you four things each day that I feel blessed to be/have/see/taste/etc and all you have to do is leave me a comment with just one of your blessings. Do we have a deal?
I'll start: I am grateful for my loving, faithful, generous, kind, and compassionate husband. (I could keep going, too.) I am grateful that my parents are still alive and still married...to each other - December 6th will be their 40th wedding anniversary! I am grateful to be the sister of a woman who can climb mountains, leap from cliffs, and save lives...all in one day. I am grateful that I love my in-laws and they love me.
