Alright, kids. I have the weirdest New Years resolutions ever. I haven't made an actual list or anything (contrary to my usual nature), they are all just kind of floating around in my head. They are probably things a lot of folks just do, without having to make a big fat deal about it. They aren't even resolutions, even, just stuff I want to do.
I have never been much of a cook. At all. I remember once in college I decided to add a packet of Ramen noodles to a can of Campbell's chicken and stars soup and thinking I was pretty awesome. I even ate it out of the pot to keep myself from having to wash a dish. I'm not dumb though, and I love food, so I married a man who cooks like whoa. I've never had to learn how to cook at all. Kyle is a vegetarian, so when he isn't home to cook dinner Henry and I declare it 'Meat Night' and go out for hamburgers. When Henry was 4 he scoffed at a neighbor who had dared to ask him about my cooking and replied "Mommies don't cook", an unspoken 'duh' trailing behind the statement. So this year I am going to try to branch out a little and get more comfortable in the kitchen. I figure that if I am learning to shoot guns in the name of competency I should at least be able to take the time to learn how to cook a little.
Enter: Pinterest. I always laughed at how my friends on Pinterest pin things that can be divided into just a few groups, the main ones being Things That You Should Cook, Things You Should Do To Be Skinny, and Ridiculously Complicated Things You Should Do To Your Hair That Make It Look Like You Aren't Actually Trying At All. Now I find myself looking at Pinterest food and actually contemplating trying to cook it. So far I have scratch made soft pretzels and candied almonds (both which went over damn well with the fam) and today I roasted brussel sprouts with almonds. Since I am the only one that will eat brussel sprouts in this house, I will have to rely on my own opinion of how they turned out. They wouldn't be confused with the killer fried ones at The Admiral or anything, but damn. They were good! You can tell that I'm new to this game because there are no artfully shot photos of the finished products of things in vintage Fiestaware or Ball jars with ribbons or something involving chalkboard paint. Just you wait--by mid-March I will be Instagraming the hell out of some fancy pants dishes. While doing squat lunges and sporting a 'messy double herringbone mermaid braid bun updo' or some such...
Saturday, January 05, 2013
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
Have you listened to We Think We're People lately?
John & Ben Robinson, of the past podcast Supertalk (which you probably never heard of) on the late, lamented URradio (which you probably never listened to), are back with the fantastic new podcast, We Think We're People. No topic is too extreme, no recording equipment is too low-tech. For guests, we have comedians, sex columnists, maybe even you! (Seriously, we could use some more guests. If you're interested, drop us a line.) We Think We're People- the strange and funny podcast for people on the edge.Listen to the latest episode here!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
A New Asheville Podcast
From the wild and crazy guys who brought you Supertalk, a new podcast: We Think We're People.
Share and enjoy.
Share and enjoy.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Tony Kiss at the Asheville Citizen-Times writes "The world's best-known vampire, Dracula, has a way of rising from the grave. And now the same thing is happening for a Halloween production of “Dracula” at Asheville's historic Masonic Temple.
The new Dauntless Productions theater group will perform the Halloween classic Oct. 22-24 and 29-30 at the landmark temple, 80 Broadway St. The Dauntless group includes some members of the Montford Park Players ensemble..."
Read the rest of the article
Sounds like a great event! Hope to see you there!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Annual Vance Mum Sale!
Tomorrow, Oct.1, Vance Elementary will be having our annual Mum sale! First Step Farms will be dropping off gorgeous mums, daisies and asters at 9am and we will be selling them out in front of the Vance Elementary marquee on Sulphur Springs Rd. in WAVL until 4pm! Support Vance! Support First Step Farm! Get amazing fall gorgeousness!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Local Asian/Mexican fusion: Hickory Nut Gap chorizo with mung bean noodles
We're going for getting all our meats and produce either out of our own backyard or local farms. This year we started buying meats at Hickory Nut Gap Farm which is only 10 miles from our home in Oakley. It's wonderful to drive there and pick our own meats and eggs.
I also recently bought some mung bean noodles at a local asian market. I don't know the name of the market but it's on Tunnel Road. Mung bean noodles are a wonderful alternative to pasta and they are free of grains which some people are allergic to.
I cook by thinking of what is on my shelves and in my fridge and go from there. This recipe was born out of staring at a package of loose chorizo sausage.
Ingredients:
I first cooked the sausage until crumbly and lightly browned. I removed the meat and used the juices to cook the sliced onion and cabbage. Once it was cooked to a tender consistency I added the meat back in. I used some tamari to keep the cabbage cooking nicely ala stir fy.
I prepared about 3 oz of the mung beans. I put them in water in a pot on the stove. They do not need to come to a boil. They cook very quickly. When they are softened I simply put them in a collander and cut them up with scissors. They are infinitely long so if you don't cut them up they will be very difficult to eat.
I plopped the cooked mung beans into the veggie and meat mixture and mixed them all up. The noodles grow A WHOLE LOT. This was a first time experiment for me so I will be perfecting the experiment and if you use this idea play with it as thought it's an experiement too. The noodles are deceptive when cooked before you add the veggies. They expand! So I suggest not having too many expectations and just having fun.
Fresh green onions added at the last minute was a nice touch as well.
Below is essentially what it looked like, though I forgot to take a photo so I snagged this off of google images. This photo looks like perhaps there is no meat in it.
Also published at Cucina Naturale
I also recently bought some mung bean noodles at a local asian market. I don't know the name of the market but it's on Tunnel Road. Mung bean noodles are a wonderful alternative to pasta and they are free of grains which some people are allergic to.
I cook by thinking of what is on my shelves and in my fridge and go from there. This recipe was born out of staring at a package of loose chorizo sausage.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 lb chorizo loose sausage (the delicous sausage I used was from Hickory Nut Gap)
- 1 small cabbage shredded, I used a food processor so that it was very fine
- 1/2 onion sliced fine
- 1 bunch green onions
- Tamari and red chili flakes to taste
- 2 bunches (about 3 oz) mung bean noodles (purchase at any Asian market)
I first cooked the sausage until crumbly and lightly browned. I removed the meat and used the juices to cook the sliced onion and cabbage. Once it was cooked to a tender consistency I added the meat back in. I used some tamari to keep the cabbage cooking nicely ala stir fy.
I prepared about 3 oz of the mung beans. I put them in water in a pot on the stove. They do not need to come to a boil. They cook very quickly. When they are softened I simply put them in a collander and cut them up with scissors. They are infinitely long so if you don't cut them up they will be very difficult to eat.I plopped the cooked mung beans into the veggie and meat mixture and mixed them all up. The noodles grow A WHOLE LOT. This was a first time experiment for me so I will be perfecting the experiment and if you use this idea play with it as thought it's an experiement too. The noodles are deceptive when cooked before you add the veggies. They expand! So I suggest not having too many expectations and just having fun.
Fresh green onions added at the last minute was a nice touch as well.
Below is essentially what it looked like, though I forgot to take a photo so I snagged this off of google images. This photo looks like perhaps there is no meat in it.
Also published at Cucina Naturale
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Intro 1 - Lexington Avenue Arts & Fun Festival #LAAFF 2010 Asheville
Lexington Avenue in Asheville is about to explode this Sunday with LAAFF taking over the streets. Watch the video and we will see you there!
Thursday, July 08, 2010
BlogAsheville has moved to BlogAsheville.com
Thanks to Ty Hallock and Top Floor Studio for setting up our domain name
Thanks to Eric Sopp and InsideDesign for designing our NEW site (top-down redesign with Twitter and Facebook functionality, plus a NEW and updated listing of all the local blogs...)
Thanks to YOU for reading!
Thanks to Eric Sopp and InsideDesign for designing our NEW site (top-down redesign with Twitter and Facebook functionality, plus a NEW and updated listing of all the local blogs...)
Thanks to YOU for reading!
If you are a BlogAsheville contributor, you need a new login for our new WordPress site. Just send email to jennifer (dot) freelance (at) geemail daht cahm. Except spell Gmail right...
See you on the internets on our NEW HOME at BlogAsheville.com
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