A Few Days Have Passed

Hi everyone! I apologize for the lack of posts over the past few days. There's a lot going on in the next few weeks, and I've been trying to get ready for many of these things, rather than cooking nightly meals. Let me tell you about everything, so you have some things to look forward to in the next few weeks of posts.

from Flickr - by Pedro J. Ferreira

Halloween is my favorite day of the entire year, and we throw an annual party! I love to try new, themed recipes for the occasion so I will definitely be writing about all the fun treats that I'll be making. I've already purchased a cookie tin which makes cookies in the shape of witch's fingers, and I found these really cool little sugar appliques, in the shape of knives. They can be added to the top of desserts, with some icing that looks like blood for a really cool murder-scene themed cupcake! The theme of this year's party is Zombies, too, so I'm going to try and do a bunch of appetizers with a play on zombies. I have a big cauldron that I mix drinks in as well, so stay tuned for this year's signature cocktail!

A few days after the party, we depart for a European vacation! I'm so excited about this trip, because we are going to three countries that I've never been to before: Belgium, Germany and the Czech Republic. My plan is to write each evening, in order to discuss all the food we ate each day. We're going to be in a different city almost every day, so it should make for some really diverse posts! I can't wait to see the sights and eat the food of three cultures that I have yet to really delve into! We're going to learn together!

from Flickr - by PDX Pipeline

A week or so after we return to the states and our daily lives, it will be Thanksgiving, and this year, I'm hosting! My family, and my husband's family, will convene at our place for a delicious feast. I've never hosted a dinner party this big before, but I'm really looking forward to it. I have some ideas for creative sides, and I might even make my own pies for the event! I'm sure there will be more than a few posts on the planning, the shopping, the prepping and the cooking that goes on the day of Thanksgiving! You all know how I love being host...and this one will be a doozy!

from Flickr - by bbic

Just a month after that comes the winter holidays, and while I usually celebrate Hanukkah with my family by going out for a nice meal, my husband's parents usually come visit for Christmas Eve and the day of...which means another couple of fancy celebratory meals! I really have my work cut out for me this holiday season, but you know that I'm enjoying every second of it, and this year will be even more special because I can share it all with you, my wonderful readers!

'Tis the season for eatin'!

A Menu of Menus

Hello there, and apologies for not writing the past few days. It's been a bit hectic with dinners out, working early and through lunch, and lots of other things in between, but I've finally gotten the next menu together! I sat down to go through my cookbooks, waiting for something to inspire me about this menu, and it finally hit me! A menu of menus!

A lot of cookbooks sort their recipes by meals the reader can cook, including appetizers, side dishes, and desserts...not just one entree dish. There are times when I like to take recipes from different places to make my own menus, but there are other times that a ready-made menu comes in very handy. I decided to feature full menus this time around, and you can check out the upcoming meals here! (Or, just click on the current menu tab at the top of the page!)

I don't think I'll be doing a huge shopping for everything at once since I know of quite a few days coming up where we won't be home for dinner, and I don't want to see all of those beautiful ingredients go bad. Having said that, I see a few smaller trips to the grocery store and farmers market in my near future. Bringing home the ingredients for one or two meals at a time can be useful when there are lots of intermittent plans and you want to limit the amount of waste in your kitchen!

Tonight, we'll be out at Masa for a birthday celebration, but tomorrow marks the start of the new menu. Which meal should I start with? Does anyone have a suggestion? They all look so good...I can't wait to start cooking!

Nobody eat the beef! The beef has gone bad!

Here I am, on my couch, alone on a Tuesday evening. It's just me, my laptop, a Law and Order: SVU rerun and a sushi takeout menu. I know, there's one more thing on my menu, but when I took the steak out of the fridge, I realized that it had frozen and then defrosted into a sickly grayish color that was just about the opposite of appetizing...it's probably not a good idea to eat it. Matt (my husband) is at dinner with some co-workers and I'm on my own here. I tossed the steak because...well, ew. Luckily, it was on super sale, and I had only purchased enough for 2 people exactly, so I only lost about 3 bucks. Maybe I can get to the store to pick up a replacement before the end of the week. Otherwise, we'll just chalk that up to fate and scratch the recipe from the old list, because tonight...tonight is menu-planning night!

Dinner's here!

We've decided that our new grocery shopping day is Friday night. H-Mart is relatively uncrowded on Friday nights - the only time I've ever seen it less than packed! They have a great food court inside, full of wonderful Asian delicacies so we catch dinner there and then do our shopping! I have gym classes on both Wednesday and Thursday nights after work so today's a better time than ever to get this list banged out.


Yesterday I asked you, my lovely faithful readers, what you wanted me to cook over the next few weeks. Alas, only one lonely reader responded. Thank you, Rachel, for suggesting Italian fare. The suggestion of such a vast cuisine couldn't have come at a better time, because today I came home to a delivery: Jamie's Italy by Jamie Oliver! I spoke to Rachel a bit more in depth about what she wanted to learn most about Italian cuisine. She mentioned specifically that she wanted to know how to make lasagna. What a great lesson! But I've decided, because Italian was the only suggestion I received, and because I always get obsessed with new cookbooks, that I will make this menu entirely from Jamie's Italy!

Once we've completed cooking all the recipes I choose for the menu, we'll have a better understanding of some of Italy's greatest dishes, provided of course, with Jamie's special twists. For any of you who decide to purchase the cookbook and follow me through this Italian journey, I'll provide the page numbers of each recipe I choose to use, and of course, how-to pictures!

Who's excited!?

Also, if you are now inspired to send recommendations for menus, I'm always open to them. I'll make a running list and work from it for future menus, so send me your ideas, your questions, and your recommendations!

I've got an idea!

I've got a crazy idea! It's time to make a new menu so we can go food shopping on Friday evening - our new night of choice for this task since the stores are empty! I started browsing through my recipes, preparing to start my list when I thought, wait a minute! Maybe my readers can help!

So, here's what I'm proposing...

• Is there an ingredient that you would like to learn more about in the coming weeks?
• Have you seen a cookbook that you'd like to hear more about?
• Do you have a recipe that you've been dying to try...but you're still just a little intimidated?
• Interested in learning a specific technique?

I would love to help! Comment on this post to leave me your ideas and I will try to incorporate them into my menu this time around. If it works out well, we'll do this from now on, and if I get too many requests (ooo, I hope that happens!!) then whatever I don't get to this time around will certainly roll over into the next list, I promise. And, I will definitely mention you in my post if it was your suggestion - I'm all about giving credit where credit is due. 

If you feel strange commenting on the post to let me know what you'd like to see on the menu, feel free to shoot me an email, instead. 

Contact me.