the remaking of a kitchen

last monday night was edesia at barnes and noble; edesia being the roman goddess of food preparation. each month for over a year, bn has hosted this event where community cooks or chefs, cookbook authors or other food industry people discuss their fave cookbooks on a certain subject. this past one was on chicken....and the guest speaker has authored several books on this subject. but i digress.....the deal is i googled the recipe and made spanish chicken salad which was in a cooks illustrated book and was our tasting treat made by kim ode.
i decided we would have a few salads for our evening meal, and prepared sweet potato salad yesterday and the chicken salad today. i also made the dakota bread rolls, and i can tell that as i get more experienced, this bread making thing is going ever so much easier!! the bottom of the rolls do not look wrinkled and deformed.....smooth and carefully tucked in is definitely more appealing. the dough reacted better.....it was elastic and it raised much more quickly. i think i didn't mention that i purchased a LARGE amount of yeast at cosco, then wasn't sure how to store it. i called red star, and the woman suggested i put it in freezer bags and then keep it in the freezer until i wanted to use it. worked perfectly!!
the chicken salad was easy.....a little fussy on the deets, but really went together well and is tasty!!
now i have to go eat! yummmmmmm

Labels: dakota bread, salads, spanish chicken, sweet potato

rain all day yesterday, enough to use windshield wipers and the defroster in the car. gloomy to the max. today well, it's snowing! a reminder that we cannot forget winter is going to remain for a number of weeks, possibly months!
yesterday i met up with friends for lunch at the st paul grill. lovely atmosphere, seating at a round table by the window looking out on rice park. a delightful visit with friends, some new found, others i have known for some years. it's lovely to get to know them better and value them for all that. 5 of us are artists, the other is certainly a supporter and appreciator of all things art. it's a treat to meet each month for lunch and then to sit and visit for another couple of hours.
i believe i forgot to mention that the food was delicious and the service attentive but not intrusive. a glass of prosecco and a chocolate dessert may have helped!!

Labels: friendship, lunch, rain, snow, st paul grill

when i returned home from cosco this morning these flowers were waiting on the dining room table. lucky me. :)

Labels: st paddy's flowers

st paddy's is always a good day for us; we met in 1962 on that day! we talked about corned beef and cabbage, mentioned reubens, and then remembered that we had been thinking about italian sausage sandwiches.
it's possible i went over the edge, but i'd been thinking about making the dakota bread recipe into rolls ever since judy told me she'd had them at cafe latte'. so, i made them, roasted green peppers, made the tomato sauce, added the peppers and the sausage. oh yeah, i made the crushed italian olives with garlic and celery too.
i guess it's just about time to EAT!

Labels: corned beef and cabbage, dakota bread, olives, reubens, roasted green peppers, st paddy's

every time we have a warmish day after the cold of winter there is a melt by the shed in garden.....lake washburn. this year, it has appeared several times and strangely did not disappear after a day or so. in the last few days it's been warm again and the lake is HUGE. it is all around the shed up into the grass and almost to the blue spruce nearest the building. i have been out wandering in the yard and outside the gate and i am concerned. it appears to me the grading that occurred with the path and plantings may have created a problem for us. the water seems to be running under the gate as well as through the south garden, then it continues over the stepping stones and through the hosta glade to the shed. rats. tomorrow, i'm going to call the city engineer who gave me his cell number last fall. i don't know if he can help, but he needs to know that unusual things are happening on our side of the fence!

Labels: asphalt path, hosta glade, lake washburn, shed, stepping stones

i looked through my rather jumbled recipe box and found the treasured recipes from an old italian family. the actual italian sausage sandwich recipe wasn't there, but i found the name of the italian grocery where the best sausages are found. there were directions for making ravioli, crushed olives, tomato sauce and roasting peppers. all the necessary stuff! someday soon. last night i made the sort-of version of lacasa pizza. the dough recipe calls for baking powder as the leavening agent, and i am not totally satisfied with the taste and texture. the rest of the flavor and layering is spot on....it's unusual in that it's the sauce, the cheese and then the ground beef! most pizzas are layered in the opposite order. go figure. it does taste good and certainly makes us feel nostalgic! the next time i will make a yeast dough and see if that doesn't make it all perfect!

Labels: italian recipes, lacasa, nostalgia

we had lunch at amore victoria in uptown today. it was pretty tasty....a little disorganized in the service area, but still good. this is restaurant week in minneapolis in conjunction with open table, so we decided to try a new place. we did look across the street to barbette a little wistfully, but honestly, change can be good for us! :) really!
don had a pasta with italian sausage and roasted (maybe) red peppers. there seemed to be more green than red peppers and maybe sauteed rather than roasted, but it was approved anyway. i had a yummy salad and a ravioli containing shrimp, lobster and scallops with fennel in a tomatoey sauce. very yummy. don's choice reminded both of us that it's been a long time since i made the sausage and peppers recipe we were given from an old italian family in omaha. best to try and find that. soon.
my other big deal would be collecting on my "birthday treat" from aveda and choosing a new cellphone. woot woot! now i need to figure out any new bells and whistles on the phone, but it appears to be pretty similar to the old one, except maybe smaller! yay.
pretty exciting stuff around here!

Labels: amore victoria, aveda, barbette, cellphone, lunch