Arugula, Kale and Chard, Oh My!

The Farmer's Market has had a lot of greens these last couple of weeks. I bought and used Arugula for the first time. I made salads with shaved parm cheese or chevere, cooked it up like stir-fry. I made a gratin out of the chard and also used it as a filling in a quiche, where I also made the piecrust! Lastly, the kale was used in a Mushroom, Barley and Kale soup recipe that I saw in the NYTs.

This has been very good for me overall. I've enjoyed using foods that I have never really eaten before, let alone cooked before. I'm trying to use and cook food that I only buy at the Farmer's market. So, to that end, I've bought some yeast and this weekend will try my hand at baking bread again.
I'm wondering if I should try joining a CSA -- it is kind of like the organic veggie box I use to get working at KQED -- except back then, I wasn't as adventurous food-wise, as I am now.

My Year of Veggies

As of midnight on 1 Jan 2009, I have not eaten any meat. No grass-fed beef, no chicken, no pork, no game, nothing. I've eaten fish and that's it. It's been hard -- much harder -- than I thought it would be. I crave a hamburger or bolognese sauce on my pasta, but this has allowed me a chance to broaden my vegetable horizon. Still, I thought I would share my New Year's Eve dinner -- spaghetti Bolognese sauce made from scratch (thanks to an Nigel Slater's recipe from The Kitchen Diaries) and using grass-fed beef -- YUM!

Of course, no meal would be complete without chocolate! These pots de choclate also come courtesy of The Kitchen Diaries.

I have to say, I have really enjoyed the recipes I've used from Slater's book -- my favorite being a yummy and filing Dal and Pumpkin soup that I made with my friend ME. It's a shame I won't be able to have it again until the fall.

Eating, Drinking, Running?

I went to the Power Hour at the Corcoran Gallery this evening with ML and some of his friends. Basically, it is two glasses of wine, along with a combination cheese and hors d'oeuvres platter, and admission to the museum which had a Richard Avedon: Portraits of Power exhibit. The food, wine and company were great. The exhibit was interesting. It was weird seeing all these people from the 1970s who were in power then and who are still around in one capacity or another now. I wonder if they knew back then of the road they were embarking on. What was also interesting was he took a photo of then-state senator Barack Obama circa 2004. Talk about wondering about the road he was about to embark on....

Well, I'm headed to Texas to run a half. Hopefully I'll finish under 2:25:00 but I'm not convinced considering I haven't run in two weeks. This will be an interesting half.

Election Day!

It's election day. I voted. Hopefully, my candidate will win and then my presidential bad luck will finally end!!!!!