Spring Cleaning

I've been horribly remiss in updating ye olde blog. Mea culpa! At first it was because nothing at all worth mentioning was happening, and then because life got a little too busy. In the future I will attempt to keep this place a little fresher.

First order of business: I've added a few new Bad Vanity Plates to the sidebar, although not nearly as many as I've seen lately. There have been a rash of first names, for people who apparently suffer from amnesia but at least can remember where they parked the car. What's my name? Hold on, let me check my plates. Oh yes: Otis. 

Most exciting update: Mike and I signed up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Midlands. It was originally Mike's idea, as with so many of our life improvements (see: vegetarianism), after he was inspired by President Obama's call to public service. When Mike went to his orientation session, he learned that we could be a Big Couple, so I signed up as well. I just completed my orientation last week, and we can't wait to get a Little Brother. We were told that because there are so many boys awaiting mentors and not enough Bigs for them, we should get a match soon. For girls, the opposite is true: Big Sisters go on a 6-9 month waiting list. So I am happy to help out a little boy who is waiting to find a friend. Out of respect for our Little's privacy, I will probably keep any future blogging about this experience to very limited & general updates, but we are so looking foward to this new adventure.

In more recent news, we had another excellent restaurant meal last night. We went out with friends to Stokes Grill & Bar in the Old Market. It is a Southwest spot that we've been meaning to try for ages, but which I always seem to forget about when we're deciding where to eat; finally, we made it down there. I had somewhat low expectations, and this is probably unfair, mainly because it looks cool and the ambience is well put together. Sometimes restaurants that focus so much on appearances fall apart on the food, but this is not the case at all for Stokes.

I'll mention the one downside up front: not a whole lot of choices for the vege-pesca-tarian. There were only one veggie and two seafood entrees for us to choose from; however, there were also four salads and eleven appetizers that could easily combine to make a meal. The four of us started out by sharing nachos with cowboy beans and some crab rangoons. The rangoons were good, nothing spectacular, but tasty and crispy as they should be; the sauce was a little on the sweet side for me. The nachos were great, with blue & yellow corn chips and plenty of topping.

I ordered fish tacos for my entree: grilled tilapia in two flour tacos served with beans and rice. I usually don't like tilapia all that much, because it has little flavor of its own and is often badly prepared. However, the fish tacos were very good! The tilapia were cut in nice little filets, neatly blackened and well seasoned. The soft tacos seemed fresh and were just a little toasted. Best of all, the beans and rice were absolutely delicious. I have had many Mexican meals since moving to Omaha, and in pretty much every instance the bean & rice sides have been travesties: cold, dry and completely and utterly without flavor. At Stokes, they were hot, seasoned, and zesty. I almost would have been happy just to eat the sides, and that's saying a lot when it comes to beans & rice. Mike ordered the Twisted Garlic Shrimp Pasta: radiatore pasta with Southwest spices, tomato, avocado, and shrimp. He thought it was also very good. I stole a few bites of his pasta and it was tasty: kind of like a Southwest-style mac and cheese. 

One other minor complaint: I ordered a margarita, and, while pleasingly large, it was weak and off-the-charts sweet, with a pretty artificial-tasting lime flavor. Like a limeade with a couple extra teaspoons of sugar. Probably would not order again, but it didn't take anything away from the meal.

Today we have been busy doing some much-needed but much-dreaded housecleaning, including washing the curtains and table linens, and doing poop patrol in the backyard. Of course, two hours after mopping all the floors, it all looks crap again because Russell has dragged in two tons of dry leaves. Lesson for next fall: RAKE.

Sundried tomatoes are the vegetarian's bacon.

This is an improvised recipe I threw together last night. It was wonderfully delicious and may be something I bring to holiday dinners in the future. It's seasonal, comforting, yummy, and a full meal by itself, though it would make a nice side dish as well. Bonus: it's super easy to make.

Autumn Roasted Vegetables

About 1/2 lb whole fingerling potatoes

About a dozen brussells sprouts

One carrot, chopped into big chunks

One tomato, chopped into big chunks

About a fourth of a butternut squash, chopped into big chunks

About a fourth of a red onion, chopped into big chunks

Three or four (or more) whole cloves of garlic

About an ounce of tempeh, crumbled (you could substitute beans if you don't like tempeh, but if you don't like tempeh, you are crazy)

One sundried tomato, cut into tiny slivers (I like to use the vacuum-sealed ones rather than the ones floating in oil - they are cheaper and healthier! Bonus tip: use kitchen shears to cut them up small)

Combine all ingredients in a big bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Add dried herbs - I had tarragon, sage, and thyme - and some salt and pepper. Mix well until all veggies are nicely oiled up and dump into a baking dish (about 9x9). I then threw a pat of butter (about 2 tablespoons) in there for good measure. I had preheated the oven to 425, then turned it down to 400, put the veggies in, and cooked for an hour. About halfway through I stirred the veggies so nothing would dry out on top.

This recipe makes two decent but not overly generous portions. We were satisfied but probably could have gone for seconds if there were any!

I almost forgot the best part... I topped each of our bowls with a little shredded Gouda. I know it is a sin to ever forget about Gouda.

Nebraska Food Cooperative

While in our local health food store buying dog food for a certain spoiled cocker spaniel, I recently spied a business card for the Nebrasaka Food Cooperative.  To my surprise, this was exactly what I had spent hours googling and never found... a local CSA (community supported agriculture) group that would enable us to buy local food and goods year-round and support family farms in the area.

Mike and I are big fans of the Farmer's Market that takes place downtown, but it only runs during the summer and early fall months, and of course there is the added downside that if we are too lazy to make it downtown by noon on a Saturday morning, we miss our weekly opportunity to buy the beautiful, delicious, and inexpensive produce they have to offer.

The NFC seems to have all the variety of the Farmer's Market and more, with a wonderful selection of produce, dairy, baked goods, handmade gifts, and even (were we so inclined) local, sustainably-raised meat products... and the best part is, it goes all year round. This particular CSA group operates on a monthly basis (many are weekly) and all orders are delivered to Jane's Health Market in Omaha, which (lucky us!) just happens to be right in our neighborhood.

NFC membership gratifies two of our pet passions at once: supporting local businesses, and eating local, healthy, environmentally friendly food products. Most of the items available through their catalog are organic or produced with minimal chemicals, and are farmer-friendly. They even sell a large variety of fair trade coffees for the same prices we already pay at Whole Foods.

More information on CSAs can be found online at Local Harvest.

We Love Tomato Sauce

My tomaters are in! We have them coming out the wazoo now and are eating many variations of tomato-based sauces and salads. Tomatoes out of the garden taste soooo much better than the ones at the store, it's crazy. I especially like them fresh picked just seconds before... there's something almost magical about feeling the warmth of the sun still on their skins. Or maybe I just miss eating dead animals, har de har.

My tomato plants totally outgrew the original plot so I spent a couple hours on Sunday ripping out grass and digging a bigger plot to accomodate them. There were some seriously weird bugs in there. And my shoulders are still sore. But the plants responded by seeming to explode even bigger than ever, and greener, and with more and more new fruits.

I'm finding that gardening is pretty intuitive. I was apprehensive at first to try something about which I knew absolutely nothing. But for instance, when I see tomatoes sprawling all over the ground and being swallowed up into the shade, I can figure out pretty quickly that I need to stake them up a little better. Not saying my garden's going to win any beauty contests, but it's growing like mad so I must be doing something right. Or not terribly wrong.

And let's not forget the basil of course. I have two like this, and it's all I can do to keep them pinched back so they keep getting fuller and not spindly and tall. I'm really pleased with the health of them too. I obviously have a few critters out there, and some bug bite marks, but nothing really out of control at all.

There is this weird tomato though. It's had this dead, flat white patch since it was green, and now getting the brown spots. I think what happened was the stem was twisted around and half of the tomato wasn't getting any nutrients as it grew. I guess I should have tossed it long ago, but I'm curious about what's going to happen to it. Eventually I want to pick it and cut it open and investigate. Gross, right?

A wider shot of the yard. The shadow is from the garage at left. In the evenings Mike and I stand in the shady area there to hit wiffle balls out to Russell.

This is the facial expression we have to endure from the moment we get home from work until we go out and play, and then once he's caught his breath, again all the way until bedtime. Please play ball with me, please please oh please play ball come on please I'll be soooooooo sad if you don't play ball with me. Dogs are truly wonders of evolution. They don't have opposable thumbs but they have mastered the art of emotionally manipulating humans with great subtlety.

Pinkney Garden

When the previous owners of our house moved out, they removed their children's swingset from the backyard and left behind a small square patch of dirt & mulch in the lawn. I immediately decided it was the perfect place to plant a little garden. Only problem is, I know nothing about gardening and have had a poor history with houseplants. In college I used to name them as an added incentive to keep them alive, but alas even Esau the wandering Jew and Julius Caesar the mystery fern did not survive my haphazard nurturing.

But I was determined to at least try to grow a garden, so I read up on gardening in some dusty old library books and hit up the farmer's market. I purchased two basil plants and two varieties of tomato. I bought topsoil, natural fertilizer, and a basic set of tools, and planted my garden.



It rained for most of June, and yet there was plenty of sun as well. I hear that's what plants are made of. And mine shot up like weeds. The basil is Genovese, a strong, spicy variety that is the preferred kind for traditional Genovese pesto. I learned that one should begin to pinch off top leaves once the plants grow past six inches or so, to help them grow bushy and full. In the last few weeks I have so much basil out there that I've made pesto two weekends in a row and it just keeps coming.




I have two kinds of tomatoes, one determinate and one semi-determinate. Lest you think me a smarty-panty, this was explained to me by the farmer who sold me the plants. Determinate means it puts out one batch of tomatoes and that's it for the season; semi or indeterminate means it will keep putting out tomatoes until the season is over. The tomato above is my semi-determinate, I believe it was Super Sioux. The tomatoes are medium-sized and the plant is quite large, already almost three feet high and sprawled all over the place. It completely outgrew the cage and is staked up in three or four places. The tomatoes are heavy but still light green.

This would be my Siletz, an early-maturing determinate. This little tomato huddled in the center of the plant is just beginning to ripen. The tomatoes here are also medium-sized but a slightly darker green and the bigger ones are a little striped. It's smaller than the Sioux but still quite proliferate and healthy looking.

I haven't had any pest problems, or, surprisingly given how many rabbits run around the yard, varmint problems yet. But if I do I'll have to research some natural non-chemical ways to combat such things. I'm so pleased with my bounty thus far that I'm definitely planning to expand next year. I'd love to plant things that we already love to eat - cucumbers, a squash or two, peppers, perhaps even some lettuce. I also have three window boxes, one with a miniature rose and the other two idle, that I would like to turn into herb gardens for next year.

Weekend Update.

We closed on the house on Friday! We were on tenterhooks until the last minute. Our real estate agent called as almost as we were walking out the door to tell us that the roofer still wasn't finished putting on the new roof (!) and we couldn't close until that was done and the house was reassessed, hopefully that afternoon. Then we got a call at 1:15 from our loan officer who said, "Oh, closing's at 1:30, didn't you know that?" So we raced to the bank and signed forty bajillion scary documents and the house is officially ours.

Our agent, Kit, gave us a thank you card that included a membership to Passport (like a diner's club) and promised to stop by the house in a week or so with a bottle of wine to toast to our new home. We loved working with Kit, who was fun and helpful and attentive all the way through the process, so if you want to join us in the joys of Omaha homeownership, we highly recommend Kit Pflaum of CBSHome.

That evening we relaxed at home with a Whole Foods pizza that we got for free. Oh, the Whole Foods pizza... I have to tell the story behind it. So two weeks ago we decided to order a pizza from the grill at Whole Foods while we were doing our regular shopping, and we went to the counter to place an order. The employee there told us that because they'd just gotten a fresh shipment, ALL the pizza dough was totally frozen and it would be at least a 45 minute wait. We said never mind and continued to shop for groceries. Not two minutes later we spotted him making a pie for someone else and were somewhat annoyed but said nothing.

So this week we called ahead for a pie and were told over the phone it would be a 45 minute wait. We arrived at Whole Foods 45 minutes later and the same employee as last time told us he hadn't started our pizza and it would be at least 10 more minutes. We were both irritated by this and wandered off to the wine section to debate canceling the order. I said I'd rather wait the 10 minutes than have to call one in elsewhere and wait 45 more, but Mike wanted to cancel on principle, so that's what we did. Somewhere between the pizza counter and the exit our outrage grew until Mike decided to complain to a manager. We explained to the manager about the two pizza incidents with the same employee. He was sympathetic and apologetic and wanted to give us a free pizza. Mike said that wasn't necessary but I felt it would make the manager feel better to send us away satisfied - and, plus, ummmm free pizza - so we accepted.

The worst part was the pizza was delicious. Spinach mushroom gorgonzola and it was really really good (if a little undercooked, and who could blame them at that point). But we can never order there again, because the same guy works every weekend night shift, and we will always be the jerks who complained to the manager.

Moving right along, on Saturday we decided to celebrate our closing by going to a restaurant I'd been dying to try - Espana, right in downtown Benson. We goofed by not making a reservation, since this is one of the few restaurants in Omaha where one is recommended... but even so we were quickly seated at a table for two. We were immediately pleasantly surprised by the ambience in Espana, which was cozy and relaxing. Most of the places we've gone to eat in town have been harshly lit like fast food joints, even at establishments that were otherwise aiming at a high quality atmosphere. Espana managed to feel both private and romantic, and social and fun. The older lady who was acting as hostess was also visiting some tables and taking ostentatious shots of sangria straight from the bottle to entertain the larger groups of diners. A ten year old kid followed his dad, presumably the owner, around as he ran the show.

Espana has a menu of about 100 hot and cold tapas, plus a selection of paellas that require a 45 minute wait. I was familiar with tapas style eating from a high school exchange trip to Spain, but the waiter also gave us a rundown on how to order. In Spain, tapas are kind of like bar food, but better. Usually a group of friends will go to a tapas bar, order a bunch of food and drinks, and share everything. Tapas are all appetizer-sized dishes; our waiter recommended we order at least 3-4 per person, but we found that 6 total was more than enough to fill us up. Out of such a large menu, I will admit that our choices were rather limited by the need to avoid meat, but even so we had enough good options to make a meal.

We started with a grilled shrimp dish that was full of garlicky flavor. Next came a plate of diver scallop and shrimp ceviche, which was light and tangy with a bit of orange sweetness, served with plaintain chips; crusty bread soaked in olive oil with a plump fresh olive on the side; diced potatoes with spicy tomato sauce that tasted authentically Spanish to me (I remember a kind of tangier ketchup-like sauce that was ubiquitious in Spanish fare). When we were about midway through that selection we got our breaded fried calamari with lemon (good, if not standout), and breaded grilled portabello mushroom with spicy tomato sauce - I used the sauce for calamari as it was quite hot and I felt it smothered the lovely flavors of the mushroom. We also ordered margaritas - admittedly not a truly Spanish drink, but made more so by the substitution of orange juice for lime. All of the food was quite simple, but delicious, and at least going by my decade+ year old memories of Castellon, authentic Spanish cuisine. Two thumb up and we will surely go back again, next time for paella!

We finally took ownership of the house today after giving the sellers the weekend to move out. Mike stopped by before he went to work, and I went in with Russell after my work day was done. I brought over some paint samples and put them up... unfortunately it's a dark rainy day in Omaha and I couldn't see the colors well, but we'll decide another day. The house is... awesome. A little dirty. Needs a good mopping. But it's a great house. Russell ran around sniffing and panting happily, and christened the master bedroom with a puddle of pee, god bless him. The sellers left behind an entertainment center in the basement that I think will do as a temporary unit until we find (and can afford) something we love. We got back some money at closing and are planning a trip to Twin Cities, MN to go to Ikea in two weeks (yes, we are dorks enough to drive 400 miles to hit an Ikea). Aside from repainting most of the interior, we're planning on focusing on one room at a time beginning with the bedroom. Currently we have no bed frame, end tables, or dressers so those are top priorities. Exciting stuff.

Save the Cows: Eat Beets

USDA recalls 143 million pounds of beef.

After I watched the beef recall story on the news this morning I left a note for my slumbering husband: "Thank you for turning us vegetarian!"

In June of 2006, Mike was in trucker school to get his commercial drivers license. At the time we were living a blissful life full of barbeque ribs, roasted chicken breasts, herbed sausages, and ham and egg sandwiches. I doubt that either of us had ever went a single day without a bite of meat. But one night Mike came home from trucker school and said he didn't think he wanted to eat meat anymore, simple as that. It wasn't because he wanted to get healthy or lose weight, though we both ultimately did both, but because he wanted to stop eating animals. (Yes we are THOSE awful kinds of vegetarians, the kinds that even some other vegetarians hate, who want to spare the fuzzy wuzzy little cows from being turned into hamburger.)

Since I love to cook and also to seize any opportunity to delve into some new research and development project (dog training went fairly well, knitting not so much), I volunteered not only to join his meat boycott, but to find out everything we needed to know about what to eat and how to eat without eating meat.

Nearly two years later, we've found vegetarianism to be not only much easier than we might have thought, but also much more delicious. Being a newbie vegetarian (and not even a strict one - we eat cheese, eggs, and occasionally seafood) I'm not going to pretend that a grilled sirloin looks disgusting to me, but I will say that stepping off the Chicken Every Night carousel has been a relief in a variety of ways. As a cook my horizons have broadened: once you remove meat as the heart and soul of your cuisine, you're forced to be more creative about proportions and flavors. We've eaten and enjoyed vegetables that previously were entirely unbeknownst to me: burdock roots, daikons, golden beets, collard greens, and my personal favorite, Swiss chard. We feel better, we look better, we eat better. And we can watch 143 million pounds of beef being recalled and feel good about what we're putting into our bodies every day.

Here's one of my favorite dinner recipes, from The Flexitarian Table by Peter Berley (paraphrased for brevity):

Penne with Beets, Beet Greens, Goat Cheese, & Walnuts
You'll need to buy about 2 lbs of beets with the greens still attached - make sure the greens look healthy and appetizing! I've made this with red and golden beets. Both are good, the red have a stronger flavor but tend to turn everything in the kitchen pink, at least when I'm cooking.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and roast beets in foil for about 45 min.
Wash and drain beet greens, cut into 1/2-inch wide ribbons.
Unwrap beets and cool under running water. Remove skins, trim ends, and slice into 1/2-inch wide sticks.
Bring water to boil and cook 8 oz whole wheat penne until al dente.
Meanwhile, saute garlic (4 sliced cloves), 1 TB fresh tarragon (I usually skip it or use thyme bc who buys fresh tarragon??), and a pinch of red pepper flakes for a couple of minutes. Add beets and greens and cook until greens wilt, about 1-2 minutes.
Drain pasta and add to pan. Stir in 4 oz goat cheese and 1/4 c cream (I use soy cream/milk) and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper, serve sprinkled with chopped walnuts.