Another cheesy title

For another cheesy paiting. It's acrylic on canvas, with oil stick. 8 x 6". Greener Pastures. I mean, really.

E_to_the_M took me out Friday night for dinner, to Tilley's Cafe in downtown Burlington.

Is the fish that fresh? Just about. The food was delish and the company could not have been better. We had a great time.
Okay, maybe being single has it's perks.

Not-so-sound-bite

Deconstructed Beans & Rice
This was dinner last night. I was on my own, because my love was out working late with his students. Brown rice, crushed tomatoes with habanero sauce, EVOO, kosher salt and pepper. The beans portion: onions, garlic, fake meat, black beans, chopped spinach, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, oregano, apple cider vinegar, and a splash of Reisling. Not too shabby. The bread we bought, potato from Red Hen.

I'm into serious Christmas shopping now. Plus, put up lights at home, which I need to take a photo of. This evening I'm meeting mom after work for a bite to eat and hopefully a little mother-daughter shopping.

Catching Up

I love holiday weekends. First, I only worked for 2 ½ days, so it’s like having an entire week of vacation. Second, I got to catch up on house projects, and do lots of cooking. Third, I got to spend time with all of my family and friends that I love. Fourth, I get to blog! So, this entry is mainly about getting caught up on a lot of things that I never got to over the last week.

Cooking



I need to share the delicious recipe I used from Smitten Kitchen for one dinner last week. Stuffed Peppers with couscous and feta cheese. Fantastic! I won’t print the recipe here, you’ll have to go to the SK blog to find it, but it’s well worth the click. The only thing I would suggest is to bump up the amount of spices a bit. The stuffing on its own tastes perfect, great for a leftover lunch the next day. However, in the peppers it is a little weak. I would add some fresh parsley and lemon zest, more salt and fresh ground black pepper. For full photos, go here.

House




This is the big reveal; our new Living Room. We worked very hard, between playtimes, this weekend, and got the living room and the hallway primed and painted. The finished color is Edgecomb Grey from Benjamin Moore’s Historical collection. Turns out, Pottery Barn likes it too. We have excellent taste. For before and after photos, try this.

Thanksgiving



That’s Abu & Mom, with Jackie’s dog, Freddy. We had a wonderful time gathering with friends and family on Thursday at Jackie’s house; then met up with other friends on Friday for an early dinner at American Flatbread in downtown Burlington. There is much to be grateful for. My family, the man I love, my home, no major snow storms yet, good food, and always enough of it. My job, my friends, and the chance to spend time with people I love, to share laughter and warmth. Clean clothes, money to spend, a car to drive. Good health, both physically and mentally, for myself and my loved ones; all this and more.

My wish for you is a beautiful, loving, peaceful, bounteous season.

Little fishy in the brook...

I’m calling it Poor Woman’s Fish Stew, and I'm reeeeaaaallly sorry about the picture quality. Terrible lighting!

At any rate, I had some nice swai fillets that we had picked up two days ago and I needed to cook them. I sautéed up ½ a sliced small onion, 3 medium carrots, 1 medium zucchini, about 4 baby bella mushrooms, 1 clove garlic, fresh ground ginger. All of this in a saucepan with olive oil and curry oil over medium heat. I then added the zest of 1 lime, with the juice from ½ of it. I threw in salt and pepper, fresh thyme and chopped parsley. After that I added 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, some fake chicken stock, turmeric, and enough water to cover the vegetables. Let it simmer for a while. Finally, I added the swai and poached them on one side for 4 minutes, then flipped them and let cook for another three. I served all of this over brown rice.

It wasn’t half bad. But, not quite enough spice. Good amount of heat. I didn’t measure anything, of course. I’ll try it again and really measure out the spices this time and try to crank it up. I’d take some suggestions, of course!

OMG! I forgot to tell, I sold a piece from the Art Hop. I mean this to sound totally blasé. Did it sound totally blasé? Next round is on me!