the xs files

so for thanksgiving this year

I think I’m making
whipped cranberry goat cheese sweet potatoes
and
acorn squash pecans wild rice stuffing
and maybe
mushroom onion gravy
….but I want to make something with pumpkin too
(not soup or pie)
whatever shall it be?
…. maybe those cookies I was talking about earlier? or some sort of savory pumpkin pastry?
anyone have any good pumpkin recipes??

someone just advised me to make my own vanilla extract using rum

and I had to be like why in the world would I do that if there is whiskey or scotch available? what a truly comparatively terrible idea.

what I’m trying to say is, obviously all of my friends are getting a dozen of vanilla whiskey pumpkin spice oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for Christmas. congratulations.

stir fry #72

sautee about 4 cups of whatever wild Asian mushrooms you can get your hands on- shitake, oyster etc- in garlic, wok oil, soy sauce and chilli paste. when the mushrooms begin to soften and brown, add in steamed broccoli and carrots. serve over brown rice, top with slivered almonds and fresh chives.

here is a good idea for a pizza:

smear lots of goat cheese on one of those pre-made crusts you can get at the grocery store, top with cherry tomatoes, drizzle with honey and season with black pepper and lavender. thank me later.

Indian fried rice:

prepare jasmine rice according to package directions but add the juice of a lime or two and a few bay leaves for aroma.
in a large skillet, sautee onions and garlic in plenty of ghee (clarified butter) stir in a can of lentils or chickpeas, whichever you happen to have on hand. combine all ingredients, season with black pepper and hot chilli paste to taste. serve with crushed cashews.

Indian cooking for white girls

in pan sautee roughly chopped onions and garlic in butter with chilli pepper. if desired, at this point I would add carrots. stir in 1 small can of tomato paste with the tiniest container of heavy cream and a teaspoon each of coriander, Tumeric and gram masala. then add one can each lentils, chick peas and kidney beans.
in a larger separate pot, prepare 2 packages saffron rice according to directions with a few bay leaves and lemon peel slices.
when both parts are ready, serve beans over rice, topped with crushed Cashews.

I just noticed that I never really use cups or tablespoons anymore.

my mother always cooked like that and I never thought I’d be able to but its easy really. you measure enough tablespoons, eventualy you don’t have to. I know what a tablespoon looks like. now when I’m trying to write down recipes I just use phrases like ‘some’, ‘plenty’ and ‘enough’.

a lovely summer dinner

in a pan sautee sliced seasonal mushrooms with shallots, olive oil and herbs of choice. toss with orchette pasta, salt and peppered to taste. top with slivered almonds and paremsan.
serve as a side a salad of arugula, cherry tomatoes and lemon champagne vinagrette.

one of my all time favourite things to do on a weekday

is make poor people pasta* and drink the better part of a bottle of very cheap red wine and watch office reruns in silk pajamas because i am ridiculous

*for my new readers- 1st of all hi, how are you? 2nd of all- poor people pasta is dry spaghetti tossed with whatever cooking oil you might have on hand and seasoned to budget**. when you are less poor i highly recommend freshly grated romano cheese, truffle oil and herbs de provence. it is delicious

**here is a good tip for the kind of low budget fashionista like myself who spends all her moneys on clothes and jewelry and shoes and alcohol and rarely has anything left over for feeding herself with: when you 1st get paid, buy the largest possible bottle of extra virgin olive oil and all the seasonings you think you might need and plenty of canned goods and rice and what not. that way when you run out of money you still have stuff at home to make dinner with. and if you are truly bad with money, never ever buy more than one days worth of fresh perishable foods because if you forget to eat them they will spoil.

happy tuesday y’all
XOXOXXXS