Finger Lickin' Good

My ongoing recipe book project isn't squelching my desire to talk about food on the blog quite the way I had hoped.

Front Cover, Recipe Journal

I have a few posts patiently waiting to be published (about circuit training, a race coming up, dorm room decorating, and a very special find at the farmer's market), yet I continue to churn out new posts about our meals every morning.

Fancy filet mignon. Char-grilled red pepper, eggplant, and zucchini. Trottole pasta (shaped like spinning tops). Just-picked native strawberries and just-in-time pineapple wedges for dessert.

How can I resist?!

Dinner At Home

I love it when we have restaurant-esque meals. More often than not, we defrost some chicken around lunchtime and what's for dinner doesn't truly take shape until 5:30pm (as we coerce anyone who walks through the kitchen to pick up a knife and start slicing or light the grill and keep an eye on the flames).

Brother #3's Assignment

With my recent conversion to fish (specifically cod, halibut, tilapia, haddock, and mahi mahi), I'd sort of forgotten about steak. Filet mignon used to be my very favorite cut...and my memory served me well.

Cooking Steak

Inside, I waited an inordinate amount of time for water to boil so we could try out our new pasta (USDA Organic Authentic Bronze-cut Trottole) by Culinary Circle. The spiral-shaped noodles were a fun change (even though they weren't whole wheat - gasp!). A little bit of butter, pepper, and sweet basil went a long way with these. 

Partially Shaded Trotolle

While the veggies and steaks were being flipped one last time, I set to work cutting up some of the strawberries we had picked earlier...and the overripe pineapple that was on the verge of becoming a countertop ornament. Although most of it was salvageable, the yellow slices didn't make the cut for picture-taking.  

Strawberries & Sugar (Another Gasp!) 



Sliced Strawberries


Sidenote: Brother #3 was too hungry to let me take a picture of his plate for comparison tonight. Next time I'll have to feed him some crackers and nuts before we start cooking!

A Work in Progress

Unlike many bloggers, I haven't dedicated alot of space to an extensive "About Me" or "FAQ" tab. It's not because I don't love talking about myself (you're lying if you don't, too - especially if you have a blog of your own!)...It's because:

1). I don't actually know how to create new a new tab
2). I'm avoiding posting a picture of myself on the blog (and "About Me" sections always seem to be prefaced by a candid of the author's smiling face)
3). I'm convinced that my sub par pictures of food, flowers, clothes, etc. hold your attention better than my ramblings do
4). I have confidence that my posts give you more than enough ammunition to piece together an accurate portrayal of me
5). Let's be honest - I don't receive enough questions to warrant a Q&A page
6). My real-life "About Me" is a work in progress and I'm not wild about all the bullet points that falls under that category at the moment (case in point)
7). I've been cautioned against sharing too many specifics about where I live, how old I am, where I go to college, which running routes I favor, etc. (paranoia at its finest)

But I love lists! And somehow, making a list about life-as-it-is-right-now feels significantly less intimidating than attempting to sum up all of my good parts and bad parts into something coherent that won't have you clicking "delete this file from favorites."

Life From Where I'm Sitting:

• Hardest workout this summer: Quite possibly the circuit I'll be doing today...(also known as Brother #2 induced agony, the circuit is an utterly exhausting combination of burpees, squat thrusts, lunges, high knees, frog jumps, suicides, push-ups, sideways jumps, etc. with "5 laps jog" in between each set)  

• Last snack: Peaches and raspberries 

90% of My Diet = Produce

• Listening to: Runaround Sue by Dion and the Belmonts

• Just played: California King Bed by Rihanna

• On deck: Take A Back Road by Rodney Atkins

• In my vase: White peonies 

Peonies, Dining Room Table

• Best lunch this week: Dry garden salad, fruit salad, a turkey+yellow pepper+pea shoots+salsa wrap

Colorful Post-Run Lunch

Toasted Joseph's 90 Cal Organic Flax and Whole Wheat Flour Wrap

• Current book: Skimming What to Eat by Marion Nestle (bye bye Light n' Fit yogurts...I knew that was coming), reading Cold Pursuit by Carla Neggers  

• Favorite dinner menu of late: Grammy's cajun chicken kabobs, grilled veggies, baked stuffed shells with low fat low fat mozzarella and broccoli, more salad

Summertime Grilling

Spicy Cajun Chicken & Grilled Veggies

          Recipe for Grammy's cajun marinade (for 2 1/2 lbs of chicken):
          4 tablespoons of chili sauce
          2 teaspoons of worcestershire sauce
          2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
          1/2 teaspoon of crushed garlic
          1/4 teaspoon of red hot pepper
          Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
          Dash of cayenne

• #1 worry: A 3-way tie between the possibility of a rain shower soaking all my laundry hanging outside, the realization that I'm about due for an increase in my tempo runs, and the thought of not getting all my French papers off of my laptop and onto a zip drive before I get the black screen of death  

• On the coffee table: A few issues of "Bon Appetit", a copy of Every Day with Rachel Ray (with an incredible looking hamburger on the cover), The 10 Best of Everything National Parks book, the Bose remote

Easy Reads

Coffee Table Staples

• Weekend plans: The 22nd Annual Bethel Art Fair (artisan jewelry, anyone?), possibly a 4th of July party in CT

• Recent new foods I've loved: Cabot's hot habanero cheddar cheese, Swiss chard (sauteed with garlic & onion), jicama (sliced up thin in salad), kiwi, garlic scapes, cherry tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, blueberry scone 

Jicama! (A Homely Root Vegetable With Lots of Vitamin C)

• Recent new foods I have hated haven't been wild about: Mustard, shrimp, arugula, Goji berries, mushrooms, Stonyfield organic 0 fat yogurt with no artificial sweeteners (I think I'm destined to give up yogurts since the sugary ones are bad news and I just can't make myself convert to Greek)  

Failed Compromise Between Light n' Fits and Greek Yogurt



• What I'm craving: Chocolate chip cookie dough brownies

• What's out the window: Momma Fox and Baby Fox!

• Coming up soon: A visit to Bradbury Mountain to scope out the 9 mile trail race course for the Breaker in August, a lunch out at The Green Elephant (a vegetarian bistro with rave reviews)

Breakfast for Lunch

I managed to convince Brother #3 into running 9.6 miles with me in the rain and into making omelets for lunch afterwards. I'm glad to see my begging, bribing, and guilt tripping skills are still intact (they tend to get a little rusty with a summer away from Boyfriend).

My newfound love for omelets is no longer quite as new (see here and here)...but today I did something unheard of. You see, in the world of Hannah breakfast foods are eaten at breakfast (preferably by 7 am). Lunch foods are eaten at lunch (as close to noon as possible) and dinner foods are eaten at dinner (at 6 o'clock on the nose). As you may have guessed, "brunch" (that odd mix of breakfast and lunch options offered during the lull in between 7 am and 12 pm) throws a total wrench in my plans.

I wish I could tell you that I overcame my fear of brunch and ate a breakfast/lunch at 10am like the rest of the college population...but that would be a lie. However, I did eat a breakfast food for lunch (a little bit after 12pm)!

Brother #3 and I were too lazy to go buy cold cuts for lunch after our run so we started hunting through the cabinets and rifling through the refridgerator. What could we make with garlic and herb cheese, red pepper, onion, salsa, chives, parsley, eggs, and bread? Enter the omelet sandwich. 

Omelet Prep

Cooking Omelet (Thanks Brother #3)

While Brother #3 manned the stove, I dug out my favorite plate (a gift from Grandma) and cut up a mini fruit salad (a section of juicy cantelope, a handful of blueberries, and a sliced Cameo apple).

"Love" Heart-shaped Plate

Quick Fruit Salad

I popped our pieces of toast (3 seed bread from a local favorite) in the toaster oven and took a quick shot...

Omelet Sandwich

...Before digging right in!

Somewhat Hidden Thumb & Cross-section of Breakfast for Lunch

Signs of Summer

Nothing says summer around here quite like:

-A stubborn sock tan
-A handful of Cape Cod barbeque chips
-A thin blanket of pollen on everything
-A holiday weekend in Cape Cod
-A morning entirely devoted to working out
-A slice of Brother #3's pizza
-A smoking grill
-A broken flip flop (grr Jack Rogers!)
-A slice of strawberry shortcake
-A trip to the bakery to buy 3 seed bread
-An empty Poland Springs bottle
-A pair of chapped lips
-A brightly colored manicure and pedicure
-A pair of white jeans
-A tall glass of lemonade
-A lilac bush everywhere you look
-A juicy watermelon still on the rind
-A trip up Route 1
-A freshly mowed backyard
-A skewer of Grandma's chicken kabobs
-A 5k around the Back Cove
-A trip to the grocery store every other day
-An inordinate amount of time on I-95
-A stack of beach reads
-A pair of flip flops
-A congo bar on a bed of coffee ice cream
-A run on the beach (and sandy running shoes)
-An afternoon at the ocean
-A sailboat race between family and friends
-A long wait for high tide
-A country concert
-A very fat groundhog
-A lookout for said groundhog (who is very interested in Mom's garden)
-An enormous fruit salad
-A whiff of low tide
-A chilly night by the lake
-A fireworks display
-A smattering of poison ivy
-A walk around Pineland Farms
-An unofficial and ongoing birdwatch
-A million purple lupines dotting the landscape
-A photography session as the sun is setting
-A day hike with a picnic
-A farmer's market
-A bottle of bug spray
-A big fluffy beach towel
-A game of frisbee
-A daily inspiration from TasteSpotting
-An oldies soundtrack accompanied by off-key singing
-A car with traces of sand in every crease
-A few grumblings about who is going to mow the lawn
-A messy lobster roll
-A mid-morning tennis match (all in good fun)
-A post-lunch tee time
-An agonizing new bikini search
-A blur of weekends and weekdays
-A seafood (read: white fish) entree 4 nights out of 7
-A trip to Connecticut (hello Boyfriend!)
-A nightly salad full of garden produce
-A pint of raspberries
-An afternoon of baking

Pineapple, Mini Fork

Basket of Oranges

Mesh Grill Pan, Full of Veggies

Summer Nights - Lights & Brights

What reminds you of summer?