Schwarma and Rammekins

What we ate, week two:

Spicy caramel corn (not good enough)
Mama's Lebanese Bakery
Butterscotch pots de creme
Penne with Rao's sauce (worth the $$)
Pita and store-bought hummus, drizzled with olive oil (makes all the difference)
Lots of pancakes (I always replace half the milk with plain full-fat yogurt or sour cream)
And
Coconut rice (inspired by Jeff's time in Madagascar):
Olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 C. Basmati or jasmine rice
1 C. Water
2 C. Full-fat coconut milk
1 tsp. salt

Heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, 4-6 minutes. Add the liquids and bring to a boil. Add the rice, return to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Sometimes I have to add a little more liquid. Check for salt ( I love salt). Serve with sautéed or roasted veggies, broiled fish (ha, I never cook fish but it sounded good), or just eat it plain, standing in the kitchen.

My parents fly in tomorrow, so I'm gearing up to eat at ALL the good restaurants.

a la holla

I took a break from social media this month. The first few weeks I plowed through a book every two days and was like some sort of ravenous beast, hungry for my next bookmeal. But then I needed something else. Something that took a little less brain power at 9 pm, when the boys were sleeping, the laundry lay cold and unfolded next to me on the couch, and another reurun of The Office just seemed like overkill See, I don't really care for alcohol, and I can only drink so much Tejava in one day, so I need something relaxing that doesn't require too much effort (like...mopping, for example).

It turns out baking is a good solution. Fresh lemon muffins were good. French yogurt cake with lemon glaze was better. Orangette's Dutch baby pancake in a cast iron skillet with powdered sugar. You get what I'm saying, right? See, lately, cooking and baking matter so much to me. It's something I like to do and there are just so many good feelings to be found with making something that makes your husband and your kids and your friends feel good. Cliche-ville!

Also I can do it all while watching Downton Abbey episodes so that's a plus.

What we ate last week:

Homemade pizza with mozzarella, arugula, lemon, and parm
Really spicy chili with avocado
Cranberry muffins
Papas loco with fried eggs
Caesar salad with homemade croutons
Extra slow roasted tomatoes with baguette and goat cheese (but skip the sugar!)
Yogurt pancakes with too much maple syrup (always grade B. Always.)