It's been hot!

for papa.....

Well, it really doesn't matter much......

Blues.....

Hmmmm....

Fog

It is so cold and drippy and grey here that we are all feeling the weight of a sunless summer.

This is what it looks like. ALL THE BLINKING TIME!!



It's so depressing that I've been playing lots of irish music, and I added lavender to my oatmeal this morning. It was so delicious. Along with a little bit of honey, it was almost as good as Lavender Shortbread.



Bet you didn't know I was an irish dancer many years ago. Trophy and everything. I'll have to try and find some photos.

5-minute It's an Emergency Dinners

These are the top go-to dinners when everyone is yelling about something and no one can wait 5 more minutes for dinner. Please add more suggestions as they occur to you.

The real question is: why have we been having dinner from this list so often lately?


Grilled Cheese: Enough said.

Crepes with Ham and Cheese: Make crepes. Roll up with ham and cheese slices while still hot.

Crepes with Spinach and Cheese: Make crepes. Roll up with cheese slices and washed spinach leaves while still hot.

Ham Steaks and Fried Eggs: Fry up some eggs. Fry up a ham steak to go along. Drink a beer if you're over 21.

Shrimp, Mushroom, and Cabbage Salad: Saute some sliced mushrooms in olive oil with one or two garlic cloves, not even chopped. Throw in a bunch of chopped cabbage (you know, like the kind that comes in the coleslaw bag!). In another skillet saute peeled shrimp in olive oil for 2-3 minutes. Serve on a big platter, mushrooms and cabbage on the bottom and shrimp over the top. My guys LOVE this. I can't figure out why.

Egg Drop Soup: Whatever broth-based soup you have on hand, bring it to a boil. Drop in one egg per person and let them boil right in the soup, for 5-7 minutes, or longer if you want a hard yolk. Serve one egg per person inside the bowl of soup. This turns the soup into a meal!

Cucumber Salad: This is a good tapa to quiet everyone down. Peel and slice a cucumber. Pour lots of vinegar over the top and a pinch of dill. Slice in a red onion if they'll wait. My guys call this pickle salad.

Antipasto Salad: Throw some salami and cheese slices on a big plate. Add some cherry tomatoes and some olives, and a big scoop out of a jar of giardiniera, if you have one. Celery and carrot sticks work well too. If you have ham, add that, and some fruit will work too, preferably melon or pears. Remember the idea is to get the food out! If you want something more civilized, try this.

Miso Soup: Try this one. Or this one, which I like best.

Corn and Spinach Pancakes: Make some pancakes. Stir some frozen corn and some chopped spinach (frozen or fresh) into the batter. Serve with butter (but no syrup!)

Zucchini Pancakes: Ditto, just add thinly sliced zucchini.


And now for some accompaniment...

15 minute Dinners

Chili
Pasta
Steak and Mashed Potatoes
Poached Fish
Thin-cut Pork Chops, Breaded
Meatloaf Sandwiches
Colcannon
Breaded Chicken
Jacques Pepin's Crab Cakes

If the kids are hungry, have them watch some cool videos...

Make Ahead Dinners

Okay, here are my best Make Ahead Dinners.

I consider a Make Ahead dinner anything that can be made and eaten later. So I might make two lasagnes at once and put one in the freezer for a week or two down the road, or I might make a pot of soup after dinner is done for the evening and keep it in the refrigerator for the following night. Or I might make a frittata in the middle of the day and serve it with soup or salad for dinner. Just as long as I don't have to do it "in the moment."

List and links:
Spinach Pie*
Lentils*
Vegetable Soup*
Lasagna*
Jacques Pepin's Crab Cakes
Chicken Pot Pie*
Shepherd's Pie -- I do it just like this, but with ground beef.
Whole Chicken
Beef Stew*
Beef Carbonnade*
Split Pea Soup*
Minestrone Soup*
Calzone*
Tortilla Espanhola
Zucchini Frittata


* = freezable

Of course, here's a little song for you:

Vegetarian Dinners

Here is a list of meatless dinners that my kids will eat, and a link to one of my favorite food sites.

Colcannon: we like this the traditional way, with potatoes and cabbage and lots of butter, but it also lends itself to some good variations, like using kale with the mashed potatoes instead of cabbage. Even further afield, but also delicious, is mixing sauteed chard with previously roasted potatoes. Saute the roasted potatoes in butter and smash them a bit with a spoon before stirring in the sauteed greens.

Falafel: I like to make this one in the Crock Pot and have it ready when we get home. Yogurt and cucumber salad is delicious alongside. We can serve it with pita bread or without. Fresh pico de gallo is also good.

Vegetable Soup: This is just your basic puree of vegetables with good stock, and can be mixed and matched in so many different ways. One way way to make an almost-cream based soup is to puree one vegetable (like broccoli)with a potato or two, and adding evaporated milk instead of cream.

Quinoa with vegetables: This one can also be done in 5 minutes if you make the quinoa earlier in the week, and just reheat and fluff before adding the vegetables. Don't forget to wash the quinoa well - with at least two changes of water. It should not taste bitter or strange at all. You'd be surprised how many people forget to rinse it.

Lentils: There are as many different versions of this as there are of lasagne. Our favorite lentils are the small green ones from Spain, but black lentils and french lentils are good too. Funny that the small green ones from Spain are cultivated in the US and imported to Spain. Can't find them here!

Barley Soup: I like to add barley to carrots and mushrooms sauteed in lots of butter.

Spinach Pie: This is based on delicious spanakopita filling, but uses a quick pre-made pie crust to get it in the oven in about 7 minutes.

101 Cookbooks


And a little song.

Crock Pot Dinners

Okay, for our first catageory of dinners, and because I am running so short on time these days, here is a list of lovely dinners to be made in the Crock Pot. I have a 5-quart Crock pot, and that is the perfect size to feed all of us, plus leave left overs for me to take to reheat for lunch.

Split Pea Soup
Falafel
Chicken Cacciatore
Chicken with Sage
Beef in Pomegranate Sauce
Pork Chops
Veal Shanks

If you want more Crock pot ideas, check out these sites:
A Year of Crock-potting
Just Slow Cooking

Also type in slow cooker on the Food Network.

And this is how you will feel when you get home and dinner is ready--

More on the Dinner-time Blues

I have decided to organize my recipes into categories before actually calendaring meals for a week or a month. I want to do this because:

1. Sometimes I don't want to eat what I said I would make;
2. sometimes other people don't want to eat what I said I would make;
3. sometimes there isn't enough time to make what I said I would make;
4. sometimes I forgot just ONE IMPORTANT INGREDIENT at the store, but that wrecks everything;
5. and sometimes the Crockpot doesn't cooperate.

So my recipes all fall into the following categories, with some overlap:

• Make-ahead Dinners
• Vegetarian Dinners
• Crockpot Dinners
• Protein-filled Dinners
• 30-minute Dinners
• 5-minute It's an Emergency Dinners
• Low Points (as in Weight Watchers) Dinners

What I plan to do is pick a dinner from each category, with the possibility of substituting another dinner from the same category if something or someone requires flexibility.

Next up on the list....organizing all of the categories and posting their recipes!
Stay tuned....and here's a little song....

Let Me Live My Way

The Feast of the Immaculada

A tuna is a group of university students that sings traditional songs. Each section of the university (Law, Medicine, History, Architecture) has its own group. On the night of December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the tunas meet in the plaza of the Virgen de los Reyes, between Seville's cathedral and alcazar, to sing and make offerings in praise of the Virgin Mary.

Afterward, the groups stroll through the old quarter, singing, stopping often for tapas and beer, and flirting with girls.



Don't miss the tambourine guy's antics at the end.

By the way, tuna in Spanish is atún.

Some favorites

Here are some favorites from this past week:

A lovely Ribera del Duero Tempranillo. Yes, it's called Ear Convent.

This Rioja was delicious, too.

And finally, a wonderful Amador County Zinfandel. I lost the photo. It was Moshin Vineyards, Bowman Zinfandel, Shenandoah Valley, 2005.

Oh, and our favorite song this week is:

Jubilate Deo

Title: Jubilate Deo

Number of voices: 4vv Voicing: SATB
Genre: Sacred, Motet

Language: Latin
Instruments: a cappella

Description: Music for the first Sunday after Epiphany, Offertory

Walk Like a Man

Click here for music.

Then come back and click here to watch the video.

Papa's Top Picks

These are Papa's favorite Flamenco pop songs:

Mari de chambao


Bonito

Ketama

Poppies

The golden poppy is the state flower of California, and they are in bloom everywhere right now.



Poppies are different-colored in different places. Scarlet poppies are the most common in Spain, France and Italy. And of course, in Flanders Fields.

There is a beautiful spanish song about a poppy.

Amapola, lindisima amapola,
Será siempre mi alma tuya sola.
Yo te quiero, amada niña mia,
Igual que ama la flor la luz del día.
Amapola, lindisima amapola,
No seas tan ingrata y ámame.
Amapola, amapola
Cómo puedes tú vivir tan sola?
Yo te quiero, amada niña mía.
Igual que ama la flor la luz del día.
Amapola, lindísima amapola,
No seas tan ingrata y ámame.
Amapola, amapola
Cómo puedes tú vivir tan sola?

A tuna is not a fish. What!? Are you sure?!?

A tuna is a group of university students that sings traditional songs. Each section of the university (Law, Medicine, History, Architecture) has its own group. On the night of December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the tunas meet in the plaza of the Virgen de los Reyes, between Seville's cathedral and alcazar, to sing and make offerings in praise of the Virgin Mary.

Afterward, the groups stroll through the old quarter, singing, stopping often for tapas and beer, and flirting with girls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh11CUStpb8

Don't miss the tambourine guy's antics at the end.

By the way, tuna in Spanish is atún.