Now And Then

Apparently, we're still snowed in. The federal government is closed as are all the universities and schools. After a day of neighborhood shoveling, our street is free and clear, as are all the cars. Groups of neighbors (led by German girl and Tini) went from driveway to driveway laughing, talking, hugging hello and shoveling. Hell, even I joined in and I'm usually the one inside baking cookies. But German girl found a pair of ski pants for me last Sunday while we were thrifting, so for 5.00 and change I joined the party.

More snow is on the way Tuesday night into Wednesday. DC is the new Boston. Wish we were the new Australia.

We beat the snow from the boxwoods and shook it from the leyland cypress trees. I found a picture of our backyard on my neighbor's flicker file. This is Virginia? Here's a pic of my birdbath in better days and yesterday. Same with the backyard. A girl can dream, can't she?

A Valentine Reminder

The sun is up, the skies are blue, the heat is on, and everyone is sleeping quietly but me.

I'm sipping my constant iced skim latte and reading blogs. With Valentine's Day just a week away the theme is romance. Apparently Valentine's Day is everyone's favorite holiday. They are not florists. We are so busy working so many hours, doing so many arrangements to express your love, the most we can hope for at the end is a hot bath and a good night's sleep.

But then I thought of the love and care we designers show one another. We share our food, bringing extra snacks to get through the tired moments, fruit, cheese, nuts and a bite of dark chocolate. We carry each other's arrangements up or down the stairs when the other is tired. One of my coworkers always asks " May I do that for you?" We make each other laugh till we cry. We compliment one another's work and offer up flowers that might make that arrangement just that little bit better.

Love comes in all shapes, sizes and guises. Apparently my world is full of it, even in the most unlikely places.

Storm Update

We awoke to a very cold and quiet house. Our power went out at 1:30 a.m. I had made some espresso before bed last night ICE (in case of emergency), this was one. I iced mine up and crawled back into bed with my book. German girl donned ski gear and went out to shovel with her sister Tini and the labs. The dogs were in heaven, they thought they had awoken in Labrador itself. The power came back on at 8:49. Yippee! I bounced out of bed, threw in a load of laundry, turned on the computer and the oven .

The snow continues to fall and we continue to eat. Last night we ate the ginger fried rice from Smitten Kitchen and we're still talking about it. This morning German girl made corn muffins and I made the Shakshuka dish from Sunday Suppers. Tini started shoveling a path to our door at 8:00 a.m. in the hopes the power came back on and breakfast was served. And indeed it was. Tune in for the 5:oo Storm Update brought to you by caffeine , protein and carbohydrates.



.

Pre Flurry Fury

Let's all take a deep breath and relax. Northern Virginia is expecting a lot of snow this weekend. We have been advised to have 3 days worth of food in our homes. Check. I popped over to our local Safeway to get a box of golden raisins for my boss. She found a recipe in yesterday's newspaper she wanted to try, it involved cauliflower, curry and raisins. Guess everybody wanted to cook it too. When is a store ever sold out of cauliflower and golden raisins?


Upon entering the store I was checked by a shopping cart. Adjusting my basket I entered and exited almost as quickly. Carts were loaded for 30 days and 30 night worth of hibernation. People's eyes were wild and they were breathing heavily. It was a feral experience.

Here's my suggestions. Take what you need. Leave some for others. And maybe drop off a few
things for the Arlington Food Pantry. There's enough to go around.

More suggestions: let's all try and stay off the roads. Enjoy the snow and one another. Maybe bake a pie or start a blog!

Um, Sorry Martha.

When your morning starts out covered in snow, and your phone starts ringing with your co-workers telling you schools are closed, what do you do? If you're me , you tell them to bring the kids to work and start thinking about dinner. We often discuss this fascinating topic during work, preferably over our lunch of shared leftovers.

I bought the new Martha Stewart Living and glanced through. A recipe for a broccoli and pasta casserole caught my interest. When I got home I read it with serious intention and realized it was a healthy version of a richer dish. With 2 to 3 feet of snow called for this weekend, my body called out for more calories please. So I cooked a pound of fusilli as opposed to 8 ounces, I made a bechamel sauce with 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 tablespoons of flour and 2 cups of skim milk as opposed to the olive oil and 4 cups of skim the recipe called for. And then added the cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese and 1/4 cup of ricotta but threw in a 1/2 cup of gouda. The recipe asked for a cup of diced onion cooked in the bechamel, I sauteed the onion in a bit of butter and threw in 4 sliced mushrooms.

I seasoned the bechamel with paprika, nutmeg and a hint of cayanne pepper. All was combined into a bowl and then turned out if an 81/2 by 11 inch baking dish, sprinkled with bread crumbs and baked for 25 minutes at 400 degrees.

We ate this with a salad and mucho gusto. God, let it snow this weekend. I've got to work off my richer interpretation of a once healthy dish.

More Home Cooking

I know I'm a florist and you would think I would be posting pics of all the beautiful flowers we have at the shop and some of the arrangements we've been doing. But forget that. Right now I'm into what we've been eating or are going to eat.



Tonight is Katsu-don, pork cutlet over rice. I have shown this dish before but minus recipe. I have by my side, a little stained piece of paper torn from The New York Times magazine, sometime ago. It calls for 4 lean boneless pork chops pounded 1/4 of an inch thin, dipped into egg and coated with panko. Actually they want you to dust with flour first but I skip that step. Then I chill the meat cutlets and apparently write a blog entry.


When ready to eat, I put on a pot of sticky rice and in a medium skillet place a thinly sliced yellow onion in 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of mirin(japanese rice wine) and 1/2 cup of water and simmer until onion is wilted.



While this is happening I cook the pork cutlets in batches until golden. Then when there is a little liquid left in the onion pan, pour 3 lightly beaten eggs atop and poach on the onion/soy mixture (do not stir).



When the egg has set a bit, scatter a handful of cooked peas over the egg. Divide the omelet into 4 pieces, place on top of steamed rice , slice the cutlets into slices and pour the pan juices over all this goodness. The original recipe adds pickled red ginger and crumbled, toasted nori. Maybe yes, maybe no, all depends what I have in the house.

With or without the garnishes, this is a delish dish.

And The Winner Is

I have done nothing today. For some people on a day off this is not unusual. For little Ms.Busy (me) it's a rarity. I went to Anthropologie and bought a glass knob for 6.00 to go on the lid of a green glass canister we got at the Goodwill for 3.49. Hmmm. There was also some clothes shopping, lunching, coffee drinking and laughing. Now I'm catching up on blog reading and debating what to cook for dinner.

Yesterday was busy. We grocery shopped, went Goodwill hunting, did laundry and a modicum of cleaning. A friend invited himself over to watch football and eat pizza. " Why not make pizza?" I said to myself while changing the sheets. I had saved a recipe posted by Heather of A Day In The Country and had fresh mozzarella and a can of tomatoes to make a sauce. We never got to watch the game but the 2 pizzas we made were consumed with gusto by 6 people. As advertised the dough was foolproof and rose to alarming heights. I doubled the recipe and next time will split the dough in half and make thinner pizza. And yes Virginia, there will be another time. This recipe is a winner. Thanks Heather.