Of Late

Besides being cranky, I have been up to....

- going on many walks and to the gym

- selling our old books on amazon.com

- reading The Help and watching Mad Men. My brain thinks it's the early 60s.

- cleaningcleaningcleaning

- cooking a little more than usual. I am not a big cooker. Elizabeth loves it like a Gwyneth. I am not there, maybe I never will be, but I am liking it more than I used to a couple of years ago, and know it's more or less one of my lots in life, so buck up, Merz. I had a drawer in our kitchen full of recipes I'd ripped out of magazines, emails I'd printed off from Elizabeth or Sarah or my Mom, and notecards I'd scribbled down at my mom's house. It's kind of a pain to dig through them, and if I make something that was simple enough for me to not screw up, but not too bland to have only come from cans and freezers, I want to hang on to it and have it accessible. That's a treasure.

So, I birthed another blog. www.merzyfood.blogspot.com It's not fancy or something I plan on taking anywhere -- just an easy way for me to organize and find tried and true menu items. Out of all the recipes crammed into that drawer in my kitchen, I've only posted 7. But I guess I'm sharing its existence because maybe you also have an ambiguous relationship with the art of cooking, and could benefit from a blog that currently only has recipes of a beginner to intermediate level of difficulty. I'm also a picky eater, so if I liked it, chances are reeeallly high most of the human race will like it too.

- I've been taking some pictures. I don't know what I'm doing with this either, but I got book from my awesome in-laws for Christmas (obviously Jeff was in kahoots with them about my present!), and with those tips I've snapped away. I think for my bday I'd like to sign up for an online class Elizabeth took (which is, incidentally, taught by a lady in my ward here in Ladera Land!), which Elizabeth said was totally awesome. Until then, here are some of my experimentals:

I took it, I swear!

The view from the hills behind our house. That's a chunk of the ocean!

Some of our lemons -- at this point, my photo subjects need to be close by otherwise I'm too lazy to get to them.

A flower by the driveway.

A sort of belly shot.

Bits

Would you believe me if I told you I made an entire meal and didn't want to fling myself from the Brooklyn Bridge at any point whatsoever?  

What what, y'all, I did!  

I'll go a step further.  I cooked a PORK LOIN WITH SAGE AND APPLES.  In a crock pot.  I suppose I always thought crock pots were cool, but now I'm a little bit in love with them.  It is just the baby step I was needing.  The unsightly guilt bricks of "As far as I can see I'll be cooking Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Chocolate Chip Cookies until I'm 90" have started to disintegrate.  

After some ginger brocc at Pei Wei on Friday we got back in time to catch 90% of The Beach on tv.  Remember that one?  Leo Dio when he still resembled Peter Pan?  This particular film was a little too much of a marijuana-infused Lord of the Flies for a minute, there, and the White Witch really needs to stretch herself and get out of the villainous "creepy steel eye looks" roles, but the best was the internet cafe al fin.  Our baked hero is back in civilization and sits down in front of a 50 lb., turquoise bubble-behind Mac Monitor, and then he logs into his EXCITE account, and THEN he downloads a picture from an email that takes 5 minutes to chonk out!  I thought it was funny and was partly and irrationally offended, since the movie was released around the time I was ordering my high school cap and gown and Elizabeth was returning home from London with the Felicity haircut.  It wasn't that long ago, was it?  

Just lie to me.

Is it Monday again?

It is.

a new year's resolution of mine was to cook something new every week.  basically i've been the stinkiest resolution keeper of all time.  when i get off work early, though, i try to conjure up something.  thursdee was such a day.

maybe you've already made something like this, but it was being sampled at trader joe's, it was remarkably inexpensive, yet still fresh and summery.  i added the chicken apple sausage to appease the carnivore.  

summer pasta salad du jour

1 1/3 cup sun dried tomatoes

balsamic vinaigrette dressing to taste

6 oz. pack wheat pasta (i used the little twisty ones)

3/4 cup crumbled feta

1/2 cup sliced black olives

4 links of broiled chicken apple sausage

2 cups chopped artichoke hearts

ta daaaa!

hum dee dum

hum dee dum #1: i was in a costa rican mood 2 weeks ago so i bought 4 plantains or "platenos" to whip up like them old days.  if plantains are cooked under-ripe they taste like potato chips, and i can eat those any time in the version called "ruffles," so i like to wait until they're over-ripe or "maduro."  then you can boil or fry them...is this more info than you bargained for?  anyway as i said i bought them 2 weeks ago, and they are just barely ripening up.  for a while i thought they were pre-petrified or something.  hard as rocks.  in costa rica those things would be mush in 3 days.  

hum dee dum #2: i voted for megan joy corkrey 60 times tonight from jeff's AT&T phone on american idol.  i didn't really plan to vote so many times but the more the judges threw the proverbial roses onto the stage for that idiot adam lambert, the fake fall out boy wannabe (he really wants to be a broadway star on rent or pirates of penzance), the more my resolve was stiffened that megan must stay in the competition.

hum dee dum #3: words of wisdom from a clever and adorable boy: "when life hands you lemons, get a couple of avocados and make guacamole."

Mommy, wow, I'm a big kid now!

I rattled and pranced about in the kitchen for a little while and out came 2 separate edibles!  I don't even think I uttered one single, solitary 4-letter word during the entire process!

#1: Feta Cheese Mashed Potatoes (for some reason I'm up to my eyeballs in Feta and was happy to have a recipe upon which to expend some of it).  

Below these spuds we come upon a Spinach Frittata (Spinach is to me as Sunglasses are to the Secret Service). 

Last Friday I also made Crepes with Spinach, Bacon, and Mushroom Filling.  Yo yo to all my fellow veggies: Just add the bacon for our dear carnivores after wrapping up a couple for yourself!

It's nice to see that compliance with New Year's Goals doesn't have to be filled with weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.  Despite myself, the kitchen and I are having a pretty good time!

3 things:

I actually try to make myself not look like a total twerp on this blog. However, today those efforts shall dribble fruitless, for I am directly or indirectly focusing on 3 areas of life in which I do not excel (I do, however, know how to use Microsoft Excel, if that gets me any sorts of points). These 3 areas are: Exercise, Cooking, and Navigation.

1. I went running. 3 days ago, and not once since, I went running. My annual run consisted of a whole 3 miles! Yes, there may have been a bit of walking, but 3 miles?! Anyway, the point of this picture is to show how neat it is when your running shorts, which you've had for 11 years (almost to the day, as they were a Christmas gift for the former sophomore-in-high school track runner), match the Prop 8 campaign shirt you wore to Costco one Saturday (and resiliently paid for it with a few dirty looks), and then these 2 things ALSO match the Christmas ornament that one apparently receives upon coming into money at Anthropologie (my gift certificate was stuck inside it. Rather cute).

2. I cooked. Twice! I am little by little becoming rather fond of cooking, and plan to try a few Miss Fancy Pants recipes soon. But in the McOmber family (especially the Palo Alto McMcs) there is a love for German Pancakes. Zee German Pancake ees unt lovely treat een zee Chreestmas time. I made it on Christmas morning, and for the first time, I was pleased with something I cooked first time around. Please ogle now at the poofy mountains and quite edible valleys of the finished product. For some reason, this is very good news for Zee German Pancake. It means you did a good job. And is it just me, or does my forehead look enormous in this picture?

The next day I made it again, and this time tried something new, and eet turn't aout even bettah! Please now ogle AND drool at the Mount Everest-ish poof and the even MORE edible valleys of the finished product. It must be my late Grandfazer McOmber, who served his mission in Deutschland, whispering into my novice ear the tricks of the trade that ultimately allowed for such a whoopingly successful pancake.

3. I got a GPSweeet for Christmas! My last name should be "Is-Lost." Meredith Is-Lost no more!!! I used this thing all day today and found fast and frilly routes, with traffic time projections and all. The only complaint I have: how is it that I can have this thing talk to me in a myriad of languages, but I only can have a raspy voiced woman communicating directions? Why is there no "Tall, Dark, and Handsome Male" option on the set-up menu??

my baby

i saw this recipe for a cake in better homes & gardens during a day of unemployment at mom and dad's internetly connected home. what attracted me to it were its looks (because i'm shallow) and the fact that there is pepper in it. PEPPER! pepper makes it a good cake because in the movie chocolat, featuring johnny depp and juliette binoche, some of the chocolate delights also feature pepper. what's good enough for johnny depp has always been good enough for me. since lindsey's bday was pulling into the station, and she is most deserving of a culinary energy expenditure, i decided i would bust out the big guinea pig guns and try this out for her.

it wasn't as tricky as i'd anticipated. i realized i was so anxious because the last time i tried to bake un cake from scratch it was a dismal failure, but that was also when i was 10. anyway it was still my baby, and as we drove over to macaroni grill with cake on platter, i clutched it close, fearing that the product of my blood, sweat, and tears would upend itself in a hasty slamming of the brakes, thus spreading its 615 calorie-per-slice self all over the sleek interior of one black audi. it made the trip successfully enough, and i'm happy to say this has been the catalyst for a kitchen enthusiasm renaissance. with the hollydays coming, no, HERE, i am about to kick martha stewart's booty. merry christmas, and a happy bday to linz.anderson.

Espeenach Esmoody

This is the infamous Spinach Smoothie. My darling friend Erin requested the recipe this morning, and I thought while I was writing it up, I might share the green lovin with everyone.

Step A: You must have a blender. This is not an option. If you have a clean blender on hand, you may proceed to Step B. If you have no blender, well then, as Wesley once said, "We are at an impasse."

Step B: Chuck into the clean blender:

• 2 handfuls of spinach (Which is why, for the love of all that is good on this earth, wash your hands before you start this.)


• 1 banana


• 1/2 cup to 1 cup fresh orange juice


• 1/8 cup coconut or soy milk (You get to choose! This smoothie is all about the free agency!)


• 1 handful of ice


• 1 cup water


• 2 tablespoons MILLED/GROUND/GRAINY/SAND-esque flax seed. Works wonders for your cardiovascular health, not to mention your skin will GLOW and SHIMMER upon consumption.


• After this, folks, you get to take creative control. You are the arteests. If you want to throw in some strawberries, room temperature or frozen, be my guest. If you like a good mango now and again, knock your socks off. go wild.

Step C: Guzzle, slurp, and bottoms up.

I promise, while this thing looks irrevocably green, it does not taste at all like spinach. It takes on more the flavor of the fruits and the orange juice. And it is THE BIZZLE, I assure you. This has been an Eaton Family Favorite since Christmas morning 2007 (see proof above), when it was taste tested and emphatically endorsed. I promise there was no double dipping involved.