La boda y el viaje

Back to reality after 10 days in Europe - Spain, France & Italy - I am still in a post-vacation fog.  But I offer these early observations:

Weddings are magical, particularly when they involve people you love dearly - like our niece Becca and her husband Kalle - and when they take place in a fantastically magical place, like a castle in Spain:

Cava is delicious.

as are these two new favorite summer drinks:

Spritz

The drink is prepared with prosecco (or champagne) wine, a dash of some bitter liqueur such as Aperol, Campari, Cynar, or, especially in Venice, with Select. The glass is then topped off with sparkling mineral water. It is usually served over ice in a lowball glass (or sometimes a martini glass or wine glass) and garnished with a slice of orange, or sometimes an olive, depending on the liqueur.

Tinto de Verano - Definitely the drink of the trip.

Put a few ice cubes in a wine glass and fill halfway with red wine.

Add either

-sprite, if you like it sweet

-a dash of lemonade/sprite then some sparkling water

-a little slice of orange to make it purdy and even more yum.

Everyone enjoyed tinto.

Spaniards never go to sleep.  The DJ started at midnight!

Collioure, in France, was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. 

 I wish we had stayed longer.

Driving across France and getting stuck for hours in a french traffic jam is sub-optimal.  Arles was lovely, but one should never ever try to navigate its old-city streets in a large BMW.  But you might see this scene as you're wandering through its streets,

and we had the best meal of the trip here.

Rome is so enchanting, such an intoxicating and delightful mix of appreciating the past and living in the moment.  Did you know that in addition to the fact the colliseum is a 60,000 seat, four-storied stadium built in the ancient world, it had a retractable cover?  For real!  And Rome was the one city with plentiful, free water spouts everywhere.  Why?  Because the Romans built aqueducts two thousand years ago.  Those Romans were geniuses.

Apollo and Daphne still make me weep. 

 The pantheon is, well, perfect.  And Trastevere is the best neighborhood.

Barcelona offers such a sensory wallop.  Gorgeous art, amazing architecture, fantastic food, delicious drinks and a totally jubilant vibe.

Gaudi's Sagrada Familia is stunning.

Tapas made me sigh with joy.

Tinto and sangria made me, well, you know.  

and My family made it perfect. 

one-two, plus three.

Busy summer (at last!) days, very little planning - what's a family to do? Figure out a meal that can stretch to two!  I looked in my freezer and found a few chicken breasts and off we went.....

Day ONE;  Chicken Burritos

Throw a few chicken breasts in the crock pot.  Add some taco seasoning if you have it. Cook it on low all day, then cut it up and throw it back in crock pot.
 

sidebar:
 I make my own taco seasoning and always have a tiny tupperware filled with it.
2 Tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1-1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp pepper

next/meanwhile:
Sautee up some peppers and onions in some garlic and olive oil.  Throw in a little cayenne or crushed red pepper if you want a little more heat.

 If your daughter is vegetarian, cook up something called "Mexican Crumbles."  I have no idea.

Cook up some rice.  I added some crushed tomatoes, salt & pepper

  I made a mini batch of pico de gallo. Why don't I make this all the time?

I combined: 

1 can drained, diced tomatoes (didn't have enough fresh but that would be better)

1 small diced onion

1 bunch cilantro, chopped fine

2 or so limes, squeezed

1/2 jalapeno, minced fine (more or less depending on how hot you like it)

salt - to taste.  I probably used 1/2 tsp

Heat up some tortillas, some beans if you have them, and put them out with some shredded cheddar and giant tortillas and you've got yourself a one-dish FEAST.

Clearly, I was too starving to photograph the actual end product, but you get the idea.

TWO: Chicken/pasta/broccoli/parmesan mash

We had a lot of leftover chicken.  So, on day two, here's what I did:
Cook up a lb of pasta, whichever shape floats your boat.

Steam up some broccoli  - or roast it or saute it - it's your party!  I had no time so threw the broccoli right in the pot with the water and it worked out swimmingly.  I also sauteed a little spinach I had leftover.

Drain the pasta (and broccoli if cooking on stovetop), rinse a bit under cold water, then throw the whole situation in a large bowl right on top of the leftover chicken, to heat it up a bit

  Add tons of S&P and parmesan and crushed red pepper. 

 I also threw in a little Italian salad dressing to give it some moisture.  Delish.

THREE:

Last night I finally planned a meal and we had one of my favorites:  Barefoot Contessa's Orzo with roasted shrimp and feta.  Recipe below.  It's a WINNER.

 

This is a damned fine meal, friends.  Enjoy.

Ingredients

• Kosher salt
• Good olive oil
• 3/4 pound orzo pasta (rice-shaped pasta)
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 pounds (16 to 18 count) shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 cup minced scallions, white and green parts
• 1 cup chopped fresh dill
• 1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and medium-diced
• 1/2 cup small-diced red onion
• 3/4 pound good feta cheese, large diced

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Fill a large pot with water, add 1 tablespoon of salt and a splash of oil, and bring the water to a boil. Add the orzo and simmer for 9 to 11 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it's cooked al dente. Drain and pour into a large bowl. Whisk together the lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Pour over the hot pasta and stir well.
Meanwhile, place the shrimp on a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to combine and spread out in a single layer. Roast for 5 to 6 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through. Don't overcook!
Add the shrimp to the orzo and then add the scallions, dill, parsley, cucumber, onion, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Toss well. Add the feta and stir carefully. Set aside at room temperature for 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend, or refrigerate overnight. If refrigerated, taste again for seasonings and bring back to room temperature before serving.

2006, Barefoot Contessa at Home, All Rights Reserved

25

April 25, 1992

How did we get so lucky?   I don't know why we're still ok.  It's really all a shocking mystery to me,  but all the love and congrats that have poured in this week have caused me to reflect. We are far from perfect, of course, but 25 is no guarantee and worth celebrating.  If this comes across as self-congratulatory, I apologize profusely.  Because who knows what allows a marriage to succeed, really.  But here are 25 theories on why Doug and I have been lucky enough to stay mostly happy in this marriage gig.

1. Luck.
2. Dumb luck.
3. Blind luck.
4. Great examples.  Our parents were both married in 1959.  My parents celebrated 51 years before my dad's sudden death.  Doug's parents just hit 58. Both are fantastic examples of partnership, loyalty, commitment.
5. Realistic expectations.  Neither of us relies on our marriage to answer all of our hopes and dreams.  It answers some.  Others it doesn't.
6. Humor. He still makes me laugh.   Doug busts out with horrible 1970's songs, with some regularity, at the most bizarre times.  Think "muskrat love" while rushing to make the train.
7. Adventure.  We take risks together.  Starting with moving to Mexico for six months before our first anniversary and right up to starting a band last year - we both like to scare ourselves a little bit.
8.  Music.  shared love, shared hobby.
9.  In the inimitable words of Rocky Balboa: gaps....we fill gaps.  He can't find anything.  I can find everything.  He's patient.  I'm impatient.
10. We have our own friends, in addition to shared friends.
11.   Faith.  It's not what brought us together, far from it, but it's been a mutual move toward it, and it's been a challenging, interesting, satisfying  journey to share.
12.  We're good at different things, parent-wise.  I'm better in the day to day. He's better in the big-picture/pulling-back-the-lens decisions and discussions.
13. I cook.  He stays out of my way.  He cleans.   I stay out of his way.
14. His family is fun.  We like to spend time with them.
15. My family is fun.  We like to spend time with them.
16.  I love that shorthand every couple and family develop over time.  Catchphrases, quoting things your kids said when they were 2, movie lines that have kept you laughing for 25 years.... 
17.  A similarly high need for exercise.  We're both a touch insane that way.
18.  We're both news junkies.
19.  Date night.  Even when we were broke, babysitter money was an essential budget item, not an optional one.
20. The same general attitude about money:  no debt except the mortgage, live within our means, save, but splurge sometimes.  Splurging is important.
21. He adheres to the "n-1" principal of number-of-bikes-I-must-own, "n" being the number of bikes  that would precipitate a divorce.  (See number 20.  And number 17.)
22.  We both love to eat.  And drink. And travel brings out the best in us.
23.  We both think our kids are, by far, the best thing our marriage has produced.
24.  Did I mention we're lucky?
25.   We're holding out for all the gold we'll get in 2042.

And speaking of movie lines that keep you laughing, 25 years later, I leave you with this.....

Mawwiage. Mawwiage is what bwings us togethew today. Mawwiage, that bwessed awwangement, that dweam within a dweam. And wove, twue wove, wiww fowwow you fowevah and evah… So tweasuwe youw wove

tweasuwe youw wove indeed.     Thanks for indulging me.  Onward, to FOOD!

On the actual anniversary last week, I made a ton of chicken piccata.  We ate with the boys, then they drifted off and Doug and I sat at the table for hours, drinking wine, eating, drinking, then, of course, watching The Americans. ( OBSESSED -we just started season three.)

Chicken Piccata

The above is Melissa D'Arabian's version, and it's killer, but I've never met a chicken piccata I didn't love.  All are variations on the following theme:

chicken cutlets or pounded breasts, rinse and dry.

dredge in flour, add salt & pepper.

cook in hot olive oil, about 6 minutes per side.  Remove chicken to tray.

To pan add  a package of sliced mushrooms and cook until soft, 5 min?

Add some white wine and lemon juice (1/4 cup each), stir up the yummy bits,

Add 2 tbsp capers and a couple tbsp butter, simmer a bit, pour over the chicken on a platter.  Voila. 

Breakfast Mini Quiche Muffins

I am also trying to get my son Noah to eat something before he leaves the house.  Noah is that rare and alien life form that forgets to eat.  I don't understand it at all, but it happens all the time.  So I decided to up my breakfast game and made some incredibly tasty heat-and-go-mini-breakfast-muffins:

Mix together 8 eggs, 1/4 cup cream and 1/4 cup milk (or 1/2 cup milk)

add some chopped up veggies (I shredded about a cup of spinach and chopped up 1/2 onion and 1/2 a red bell pepper.)  Add to the eggs with salt & pepper.  Mix in about 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar.

Cook up some bacon or sausage. I had some spicy jimmy deans and cooked it up and drained it. Then added to the egg mixture.

Grease up a muffin tin.  Add 1/4 cup of the mixture to each.

Top with a little more cheddar.

Cook at 350 for about 25 minutes, till eggs are set and cheese is melted.

Let cool.  Store in an  airtight container in fridge, then grab, heat and go!

To the next 25.....

winter's last gasp/spring is a-springing

I have been terribly remiss.   Not cooking, not blogging, not much of anything-ing, really, but spring she is a-coming and we here in Chicago are ready to toss the winter gear and the winter attitude back into the attic where they belong.  It was 70 and sunny this weekend and, as I do every year, I marvel at how much more I like my life, my city, my kids, my job, my everything when the sun is shining and the windows are open.

Of course, two days later it was freezing and rainy but that gave me an excuse to make one more round of comfort food.  Here goes.


Baked Ziti
Make some sauce.  Or buy it.  But, really, make it if you can 'cause it's soooo much better.

Cook up a package of ziti or mostaccioli.

 Add the following to a large bowl:

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1 small container cottage cheese (below is large size - I doubled recipe)

1 small container low fat ricotta cheese

2 eggs, slightly beaten

  Add to the pasta and stir well.

 I know, it looks disgusting, but looks, my friend, can be deceiving.

 Add 2-3 cups sauce and mix well.

 Coat the bottom of a 9x13 with sauce, toss the whole mixture in, add another cup or so of sauce

Sprinkle parmesan generously on top.

Cover with foil.

Bake for about 30 min at 350, remove foil and go for another few minutes

Serve with extra sauce and parmesan and crushed red pepper.

SOOOOOOO Yummy.

And this week I made a roast chicken.  I rarely make a roast chicken, but every time I do I wish I did it more, because a)it's easy, b)it's cheap and c)your whole house will smell amazing.  

Part of why I never make it, though, is that I find handling raw chicken to be, well, disgusting.  

First world problems.

Rinse and pat dry a roast chicken.  Don't forget to remove the gizzards.

 Chop up some fresh rosemary.  And thyme, too, if you've got it.  I didn't.  Add it to about 4 Tbsp softened butter and lots of salt and pepper.  Mix into a paste.

 Slather the boid with the paste.  Slide some under the skin, too, if you can stand it. 

 Tie up the legs with twine, and cook that sucker in a roasting pan for about an hour, depending on the bird's size, until the juices behind the drumstick run clear or a meat thermometer reads 165.

 Take it out and let it rest a good five or ten minutes, then slice up and serve. 

Bon appetit and happy spring!!