Category: dinner

right.  Karin wanted to know what I do while I make dinner.   I don’t think I have an absolute answer for that as weeknights and Sundays couldn’t be further apart.  Last night during the stewing part of the bourguignon I variously mowed the lawn & showered, cleaned the kitchen, started to think about how to decorate my supercute new kitchen island/bar/table thingy and got some downtime.  She was disappointed there was not a gin & tonic in that picture.  Can’t win ’em all. Tonight while I made burgers it was pretty much moving from one thing to the next to get it done.  I did manage to make a delicious gimlet while I cooked and it looked funny alongside my cuted up tray of dinner and giant glass of water.  I am pretty much the luckiest girl ever because right this minute Z is doing the dishes.  Anyway, tonight’s offering was pimiento cheese burgers with mini tator tots.  Can I tell you how I feel about pimiento cheese-there aren’t words.

‘I’m Julia Child’ echoed out of Z’s laptop as I started to make dinner this afternoon.  Why?  In two words, boeuf bourguignon.  A big meaty fall stew with a whole bottle of red wine would be ours in only three short hours.  Anyway.  I didn’t use Julia’s recipe but rather more or less of Ina Garten’s recipe available here on foodnetwork.com.  My only omission was the tomato paste that we didn’t have.  I’m not sure this was classic as it had bacon in it but it sure tasted good.  I served it over a pile of mashed potatoes and we threw in some garlic bread as the stew reduced and thickened for the last ten minutes and also alongside some home pickled lemony cauliflower.  The acid in the pickled cauliflower brings a bright note to a super hearty dinner.  This isn’t a thirty minute meal by any stretch and we would only do it when we would have the afternoon and evening without any defined plans but it is homey and takes me back a little to cool fall days and falling leaves that I miss here.  Bon appetit!

I don’t think I ever had calzones before I got married.  I can’t really ever remember eating one or eating one in a restaurant either.  I’m not sure why.  I think they taste good.  Our version is pretty easy and pretty tasty too.  They take a bit of prep and elbow grease rolling out the dough – but I shortcut the dough by buying pre-made from the deli. 

so, long week and a quick shopping trip (Z is the ‘mayor’ of West Elm) for an addition to my Urban Pantry necessitated dinner out at our favorite quick Chinese, Pei Wei.  My favorite is Mandarin Kung Pao sub broccoli for snap peas and carrots.  I get the combo for it’s half size serving and side of a spring roll with a giant glass of water, no ice. A quick run by Menchie’s (Z is also the ‘mayor’ of that) so he could get the magical color changing* Halloween spoon and we’re home.

*he got purple