Saturday, March 31, 2012
Library Haul
I figured out how to make a photo collage today using MS Paint. (thanks ehow.com!) I know out there, there is a big scary (and extremely expensive program) called PHOTOSHOP, but for now, for today, I only have the strength to deal with Paint. Some day Photoshop....some day, your time will come and I will conquer you. Probably with a Dummies Guide and an Idiots Guide beside me. Also, Google.
I'll write a post about the books from my library haul as I get through them but for now I'm going to try this new thing where I borrow a cookbook and actually cook something from. it. Novel concept eh? No pressure, minimum 1 new recipe a week. I should be able to do that as long as I don't borrow more than say 5 cookbooks at a time. I usually salivate over the photos in the library, dreaming big dreams and struggle home with a heavy armful (they're not light, cookbooks), then I pile the cookboos in a corner of my room where they usually stay until they're due and sometimes long after.
So from Foodies of the World, I like the look of:
Salted Caramel and Toasted Walnut Shortbread Bars (page 17)
Bobotie (page 33)
Spaghettini with Tomatoes, Lemon, Feta and Pinenuts (page 42)
Senate Bean Soup (page 45)
Lemon and Garlic Rack of Lamb with Fresh Mint Sauce (page 52)
Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms on Quinoa (page 61)
Best Cornbread Ever (page 69)
Morning Glory Oat Muffins (page 74)
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (page 97)
Raspberry and Lemon Frangipane Slice (page 105)
Tom Yom Goong (page 112)
Curry Laksa (page 150)
Warm Butter Beans with Rosemary and Garlic (page 166)
Eetch (page 177)
Baked Eggs (page 224)
Now I have to pick ONE!
I'm tempted by the Lemon Garlic Lamb because it's 5 pm and I'm thinking of dinner. Also, this recipe wins because it doesn't require a scale not like the Salted Caramel and Toasted Walnut Shortbread Bars which was my first choice. Will my dinner look like this?
Unfortunately, I give the Lemon and Garlic Rack of Lamb with Fresh Mint Sauce recipe the thumbs down.
Here's why:
The 1/4 c of olive oil was way too much and pooled around the bottom, add that to the amount of fat that comes off a lamb and the meat was just sitting in a cringe-worthy amount of oil and fat. It would have been better to just mix the lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper, and add just enough oil to make a liquidy paste and rub it over the lamb.
The picture of the lamb rack shows that the fat was scored (I think). No mention of scoring the fat in the recipe. I don't know it's just basic cooks knowledge that that's what you do but I don't know this kind of stuff.
The mint sauce was a disappointment. Made according to the recipe, the 'sauce' was basically a sweet liquid. I simmered it longer to thicken but then the mint flavour seemed to disappear as well as any tartness from the vinegar.
Other than that, well, I roasted chunks of Kent pumpkin and broccoli tossed with some of the lemon oil mix, made a nice green salad with some brilliant tomatoes from Victoria Market and dinner was alright in the end.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Oh yarn, if I didn't love you so much....
I'd take you behind the woodshed and give you a good whipping.
a new, happier blog
New blogs are like New Years resolutions, easy to start, nigh impossible to keep.
With the alcohol infused optimistic spirit of New Years though, here's to a new blog! ( I know it's March.)
Now, where's the fizz?
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