A Moment of Apology

For my 12 or so loyal readers out there (and I love you all), I apologize. For being such a flaky blogger. Life has had a lot of changes for me lately -- all good! -- and they have put the blog on the back burner.

Long story short, whcih you'll hear more about later, the big changes are that my husband and I are moving to Eugene, Oregon at the end of July. And I am keeping my job -- I'll be working remotely from Eugene. Which is all fantastic!

And I hope that once we are settled in Eugene that I will not only have more time and mental bandwidth to blog, but that I will also be able to explore Eugene's culinary delights and share them with you. And I am looking forward to cooking even more seasonally than I do now!

Thank you for your faithfulness and for your interest. More to come soon!

Meal Planning Monday

Wow it's been a while since I posted a menu plan, no? Suffice it to say life has been busy of late. It's been hard enough to get the menu plan together, much less to post it online and blog about it.

But this past weekend I felt myself come up for air, and I'm back to my weekly menu plan posting. At least for now. There are busy times up ahead, too, but I'll tell you more about those later.

And now, let's get to it:

• Sunday (aka last night): Robin Salad -- in hot weather, a big salad (a la Elaine) with the most delicious dressing ever is called for.


• Monday: Arugula Salad with Flank Steak


• Tuesday: Asian Stirfry with homemade peanut sauce


• Wednesday: Hubby's Favorite Dinner


• Thursday: Homemade Indian Takeout #2: tandoori-ish chicken with roasted spiced cauliflower, peas, and spinach


• Friday: Take-out


• Saturday: Date night!

And what are you eating this week?

Proud...and Hungry

Omigosh so 3 of the James Beard awards went to Bay Area foodies this year! I am so proud to live in this truly rich culinary hotbed. And now, after reading the article about them, I am huuuungry.

Mazel tov to all the winners!

And now, to scheme about how to get the hubby to take me to Delfina...and to get a coworker to bring Tartine delights in tomorrow...and to get my hands on some Maytag blue cheese! YUM!

Also, if you're into this kind of thing, I find the nominee list a fascinating read. Dan Barber! Mario Batali! The Slanted Door! So many restaurants that were already on my To Eat At Someday list are now even more so. (I've eaten at The Slanted Door several times, and each time has been absolutely heavenly. That restaurant is on my To Eat At Again & Again list.)

Deal Breakers

There is a great article in today's New York Times about "recipe deal breakers." You know, those directions, ingredients, or called-for utensils in a recipe that make you think, "What? Forget it," and skip to the next recipe.

I had a giggle reading this article because I realized I am mostly pretty lazy when it comes to recipes. I have a lot of deal breakers. And I'm okay with that, because I cook a lot and find I still have a whole stack of recipes in my file that I haven't gotten to yet. And I also do sometimes push past a deal breaker to make a recipe that seems overly fussy, often for special occasions or because it just sounds too yummy to forego. Those are recipes I save for Sundays, when you can take all afternoon if you need to.

So what are my deal breakers? Well, it's slightly embarassing because really, you will read this list and go Dena what the heck? What is deal-breaking about THAT? And my friends, I cannot explain it to you, but these things just usually aren't worth it to me.

• Deep-frying



• Use of a food processor (I just don't have one, so...unless I can replicate it by hand, that recipe's getting skipped)



• Too many steps -- if it looks complicated on the page, then I know I will not enjoy doing it in the kitchen



• Candy thermometer



• Too many ingredients that are one-time use only -- I will happily buy new ingredients for a dish, but if it calls for some strange flour which I can only buy in a 5-lb. bag of which I will only be using 1 cup and will likely only use once a year, then forget it.



• Any pot or pan that is outside the standard cook's set -- I don't really have any specialty pots or pans, and I'm okay with that. If I can replicate the desired effect (like a double boiler for melting chocolate or a butter-melting pan), then I'll stick with it.



• Rare cuts of meat that require work at home-- I *hate* trimming and cutting meat. I'll do it with standard chicken and beef cuts, but if I have to do more than is required for that, forget it. It just grosses me out.



• Chicken breast cutlets -- I know, I know, this is my weirdest one. It's so easy to turn a breast into a cutlet: just pound it! But I hate doing it. And I always botch it. So I stay away from it.

And now, I want to hear from you. What are yours? I'm dying to know.