Home Sweet Home, for now at least.....

I would like to spend the whole of my life traveling, if I could anywhere borrow another life to spend at home.

William Hazlitt

We made it. The long goodbyes, the tears, the uprooting of what was known, the layovers, the baggage claims......Phew. It was a journey. It was long, and I'm not just talking about the flights. I would like to think that we, the girls and I, behaved ourselves even when faced with the unexpected extended layover in San Francisco.

Me (to Juan the gate agent): Excuse me, it's time to board, where is the plane?

Juan: Um. Yeah, we don't know.

Me: Glad we could clear that up.

From door to door it was 29 hours. I hope you are feeling bad for me. I hope that translates into bottles of wine, ice cream, gift certificates for the spa. 

The first leg of the journey was filled with tears, emotional outbursts, and fits of complete irrational thoughts born from exhaustion. 

I should clarify that these came from the girls and not me. Someone had to be a grown up and by default that was me since Andy was on a different flight. (We were cashing in on frequent flyer miles)

The second leg of the journey was filled with acceptance, small glimmers of excitement, Benadryl induced sleep and the development of cankles the likes of which I have never seen before. Seriously, flopping over the edge of my flip flopped feet cankles. 

The third leg was bleary eyed resignation, bad judgement involving an airport meal, and Juan. 

Landing in Seattle was wonderful. Seeing my husband, mom, dad, and niece restored us a bit. Sleep and a shower did the rest.

The first week of the summer is a week spent getting things in place. We open up the house, dust, clean, get groceries, replace what was broken or misplaced by renters, and try to cobble together a bit of a routine. We really don't get around to the business of summer until about week 3. If you have heard anything about the weather in the Pacific Northwest this spring then you already know we have a few weeks to settle in until summer really begins anyway. Suffice it to say, we have the heat turned on.

There has been some sweetness in the past week.  We met friends at D'Anna's Cafe for dinner. I dream all year long of their Linguine with Fresh Clams.....I should probably figure out how to make it myself but I kind of like looking forward to it every year.  This morning we met A and M at Old Town Cafe for breakfast. It was M's first time and he enjoyed the Huevos Ranchero and the #9. There has also been Copper River Salmon, Woods Coffee, and a birthday. My youngest daughter turned 14 this week. We haven't gotten around to a birthday cake yet but I suspect she would rather have her cake made from Funfetti cake mix than something homemade. Seriously?!

This next week I am looking forward to getting a little more organized, putting some thought into menus and getting back to this blog.  Stay tuned.

My life in a snap shot

This is a brief snapshot into my life. The packers came to take the first shipment of things to send back home. It was mostly things that we no longer need but couldn't bear to get rid of; artwork and ceramic pieces the girls made in Elementary school, sports trophies, books, collectibles etc. Next week, they return to pack things up for the move to Tunisia.

We leave Singapore in 16 days.

I don't think that I'll be posting much until we get back home to Seattle for the summer, please bear with me.
You can spend the time looking forward to postings about the farms, local produce, and artisanal this and that's so stay tuned! A great summer lies ahead.

I'm so glad we've had this time together......

4 weeks and counting. In these 4 weeks we will have sent half of our belongings to the states, and put the other half in storage until it can be shipped to Tunisia. We will have moved out of our house and into a hotel. In 4 weeks we will have said goodbye to countless people we have loved, and goodbye to what has been "home" for the past 8 years. We will begin the transition from life in the tropics to making a "home" in North Africa.

I'm not sure what to feel. Wistful? Yes, a vague melancholy and nostalgic longing for certain. Guilt? Oh yes, especially as I watch our girls struggle to finish well. Fragile? Yep, I am given to spontaneous tears at inconvenient moments. Done? Yes, the stick a fork in me I'M DONE sort of feeling one gets during these life changing events.

The leaving and the goodbyes have become a reality.  Meeting friends here and there for dinners or coffee, catching up on life and then saying goodbye. Saying goodbye when I'm still here.  I don't like this one bit.

This week we had friends over for dinner who we met our very first day in Singapore. They were kind souls who would look after our kids while we spent many tedious hours with the housing agent looking for a place to live. They took our kids swimming and to movies and generally loved them to bits. It made our transition here so much easier. It was nice to see them this week, to watch them marvel at how our girls have grown, and share a meal together. My friend brought over some fruit to share, Pulusan which are in the same family as Rambutan and Lychee and some Mangosteens which are my favorite fruit EVER. Both are hard to find outside of SE Asia. They are as interesting to look at as to eat. The hairy looking one is the Pulusan and the one that looks like it's wearing a ruffled hat is the Mangosteen.

And now I must confess. I didn't cook. The lovely and talented Miss Gay, the keeper and guardian of all that is good in our house prepared the meal. I just happened to pick out a really good recipe. It was one that I made long ago and forgot about and that evening I kicked myself for not making this more often.

Grilled Chicken Chardonnay
from Nordstrom Friends and Family Cookbook
8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
¾ cup Chardonnay
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
3 cloves of garlic minced
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Place the chicken in a 1 gallon lock top plastic bag or in a shallow baking dish. In a bowl, combine the olive oil, wine, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, oregano, salt, and pepper, and whisk until thoroughly blended. Pour the marinade over the chicken coating all sides well. Squeeze all the air out of the bag and seal it or cover the dish. Refrigerate and marinate the chicken a minimum of 4 hours or for up to 24 hours. Turn the bag or the chicken breasts once to distribute the marinade. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator 30 minutes prior to grilling.

Prepare a medium fire in a charcoal grill, or preheat a gas grill on medium.

Remove the chicken from the marinade and drain the chicken of excess marinade. Brush the grill grate with vegetable oil. Place the chicken directly over the fire. Cover the grill and cook on one side for about 2 minutes. Turn the chicken 90 degrees to create attractive cross hatching and cook for another 2 minutes. Flip the chicken and grill until tender and the juices run clear when the meat is pierced with a knife, about 4 more minutes. Serve immediately.

Italian Grill Vegetables with Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette

1 pound large asparagus
3 zucchini sliced lengthwise into ½ inch slices
1 eggplant cut crosswise into ½ inch slices
3 summer squash sliced lengthwise into ½ inch slices
2 onions sliced crosswise into ½ inch slices
4 tomatoes halved, seeded and cored
1 large yellow bell pepper seeded, de-ribbed, and cut into ½ inch rings
1 large red bell pepper seeded, de-ribbed, and cut into ½ inch rings
4 Portobello mushrooms, stems and black gills removed then halved
½ cup olive oil
Kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper
1 cup Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette, recipe below

Prepare a medium hot fire in a charcoal grill or preheat a gas grill on medium high.

Snap off the woody bottom and end of each asparagus spear, then trim any ragged edges. Using a vegetable peeler lightly peel the bottom half of each spear removing only the thin fibrous outer layer.

Lay the asparagus and all the remaining vegetables in a single layer on 2 rimmed baking sheets. Brush on both sides with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Place the vegetables in a single layer directly over the medium hot fire. Grill the vegetables on one side just until marks appear, about 3 minutes. Turn and grill until tender but still firm, 2-3 minutes longer.

Remove the vegetables from the grill and arrange them attractively on a large serving platter. Stir the Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette to combine the streak it all over the grilled vegetables. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette

½ cup Sun Dried Tomato halves
2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

In a food processor fitted with the metal blade combine the tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil and process until the tomatoes are pureed and the mixture is well blended. Season the vinaigrette with the salt and pepper. Add the basil and pulse for a few seconds. Set aside.

Save the Ales

In the summer we like to visit the Boundary Bay Brewery in Bellingham Washington. They have great food, but more importantly to a certain family member, great beer. After living with only the likes of mediocre to poor Asian beers, or the occasional Carlsberg or Heineken, the return to the land of microbrews is more than welcome.

On a visit last summer I finally got around to trying their much talked about Yam Alechiladas. A sweet potato black bean enchilada with Mole Poblano.  Why had I spent any time ordering anything but this dish? It was exceptional, sweet, salty, creamy, spicy....good enough to make me ask the chef for the recipe. My request was denied (I have to go on record to say that I hate that) but I was given a list of the ingredients.

Gee thanks.

My thoughts of the enchiladas dropped off the radar, only every so slightly, until I spied a butternut squash lingering on our kitchen counter begging to be used. I have been trying to make a point of using up as many ingredients in our cupboard as I can since I really don't want to ship things and risk them spoiling as they sit in the hot African sun for a few months awaiting our arrival in Tunisia.

To go along with the squash I found some chipotle peppers, black beans, chicken broth and tortillas. A quick Internet search to review other similar recipes and I came up with this version.

I'll even share the recipe with you.  I'm just that kind of gal.

I used the butternut squash but I wrote the recipe with sweet potatoes in mind.  Use whichever you like, I think you'll find either is just delicious! How good were they?

There was a race to the last one.



Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas with Quick Mole Poblano


Serves 4-6
4 large Sweet Potatoes scrubbed clean, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 can of black beans drained and rinsed
½ teaspoon of cumin
1 medium onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic chopped
1, 4oz can of diced green chiles
1-2 chipotle peppers canned with adobo, finely chopped
1-2 tablespoons of chili powder
1 teaspoon of cumin
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1, 14 oz can of diced tomatoes drained
2 tablespoon peanut butter
2 cups of chicken broth
1 cup Ale of your choice
8 flour tortillas
1 ½ cups of grated Monterey Jack cheese
Garnish (optional): sliced avocado, cilantro, sour cream, sliced green onion

Preheat the oven to 400.

Place the sweet potato into a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with some olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Bake the sweet potatoes for 45min to 1 hour or until they are soft and caramelized. Remove from oven, transfer to a mixing bowl, and lightly mash. You want a slightly chunky mixture. Add the black beans and cumin. Gently mix together.

Reduce heat to 350.

Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add onion and sauté for 3 minutes. Add garlic and diced green chiles and sauté for 2 minutes. Add chipotle pepper, chili powder, and cumin, salt, cinnamon and cocoa powder. Sauté until fragrant about 1 minute and then add sugar, tomatoes and peanut butter. Stir quickly to melt the peanut butter. Add the chicken broth and Ale, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove mole from the heat and strain. Puree the solids in a food processor until very smooth. Return the pureed solids to the liquid, stir well to combine and taste for seasoning.

To assemble: Place ½ of mole in the bottom of a 9X13 baking dish. Divide the sweet potato mixture evenly among 8 tortillas, roll up and place in the baking dish. Pour 2 cups of mole over the enchiladas and sprinkle evenly with the cheese. Bake until the cheese is melted and the tortillas have lightly browned, about 35-40 minutes.

Serve with diced avocado, sour cream, cilantro, or green onions if desired.

*Note: My family isn’t big on a lot of heat so we used the lesser amount of chili powder and chipotle pepper and found this dish to be nicely spiced. You can also replace the sweet potato with butternut squash with good results.

Queen of Crazy Town

Queen of Crazy Town, Crazy McNutty Pants, She Who Scares the Living Daylights out of Small Children. Yep, that's me at the present.  I've had a few moments of extreme mood shifting related to our upcoming move and all the details involved in carrying this out. Thankfully they have mostly been private melt downs. Thankfully bathroom mirrors can't talk.

Really, awfully, grateful the mirror can't talk.

So what is a gal to do. Bake.

I made zucchini bread. We had one lonely, on the verge of starting to go dodgy, zucchini.  It happily obliged in making a very moist, nicely spiced loaf that my family devoured in less than a day. I even found my youngest, who had previously snubbed her nose at it, claiming the last slice as her own.

And now, I'm off to finish a conversation with the mirror.  Don't judge me.

Zucchini Bread

One 9 x 5-inch loaf
Adapted from The Joy of Cooking

You may also substitute 1 cup of pureed pumpkin for the zucchini.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.
1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1⁄2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1⁄4 teaspoon ground cloves
1⁄3 cup buttermilk
1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
2eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cups grated zucchini
Coarse sugar, optional for sprinkling on top before baking

Please don't be tempted to use an electric mixer with this, a mixing bowl, something to stir with and a good strong arm is all you need. In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves and set aside. In a small bowl mix together the buttermilk, vanilla, eggs, and vegetable oil until well combined. Pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Add the grated zucchini and then mix well until the batter is just combined.

Pour into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle liberally with coarse sugar. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 5 to 10 minutes before unmolding to cool completely on the rack.

Croque Star

Having out of town visitors is one of life's great joys.  Okay, let me rephrase that, sometimes having out of town visitors can be one of life's great joys. I know some people think that having a houseguest is nothing short of torture, and some houseguests can be tortuous, but by and large I think it's a lot of fun. If said houseguests happen to be good friends, are adventruous, like to laugh, and understand that you will nod off to sleep even mid sentence after 9pm, then you're all set for a really nice visit.

Friends of ours were here from Nepal. They came to the "big city" for a break from the daily adventure that is Kathmandu.  They marvelled at our ability to drink water from the tap, walk on sidewalks, and the orderliness of daily life.  They have only lived in Nepal for 9 months, and while I'm really proud of the way they have adjusted to their new jobs and life, I totally get their need for a break from it.

While they were here we treated them to all the things we think are great about our adopted home of Singapore.  Chinatown, Little India, the food, the shopping, Marina Bay Sands Resort, and Fish Spas.  Fish Spas you say?  What is a Fish Spa?  It's not a place to take your goldfish if it's got a sore fin.....Fish Spas are a place you go to for a very special pedicure. You place your feet in a tank of water filled with a gazillion little fish (or big fish if you want) and they swim around and eat all the gnarly bits off your feet. I know, I can hear the Ewwww coming from you now. They were really good sports.

We also went out to eat a lot.  Really a lot. It was great until I stepped on the scales.

Dang.

Our last morning together we met up with some other friends downtown at PS Cafe for breakfast. The restuarant had a great vibe, the goodies in the bakery case were beyond tempting and the coffee good. It was really hard to make a decision on what to order, Banana Pancakes, Eggs Benedict, or the Big English Breakfast to name a few.  I settled on the Croque Madame: Ham, Ementhal cheese, Bechamel Sauce toasted brown under the broiler with a fried egg on top for good measure.  The picture I took of the sandwich blows, but the taste was stellar!
 
Croque Madame for Croque Star Friends

Serves 4

Sandwiches
8 slices good quality bread such as Pain de Campagne
4 teaspoons of Dijon mustard
12 oz sliced ham
6 ounces of Ementhal cheese grated
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Béchamel Sauce
1 shallot minced
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 ½ cups milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper
4 large eggs
Room temperature butter and olive oil

Begin with the Béchamel sauce. In a medium sized saucepan melt the butter over medium high heat. When the butter begins to bubble add the minced shallot and sauté for 2 minutes to soften. Add the flour and stir for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk, bring to a boil and cook until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and season to taste with the salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Set aside.

Preheat your broiler, and then set aside a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Heat a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Working quickly butter one side of each slice of bread and sauté until lightly browned on one side. Remove the bread to the baking sheet placing it toasted side down. Spread one teaspoon of mustard on 4 slices of the bread, top each with 3 ounces of ham, and then divide the Ementhal cheese equally on top of the ham. Top the ham and cheese with the other slice of bread. Spoon the Béchamel sauce over the sandwiches, sprinkle evenly with the Parmesan cheese and place under the broiler until the cheese and the Béchamel sauce begins to bubble and brown, about 5-7 minutes.

Meanwhile in a sauté pan over medium high heat melt 1 tablespoon of butter and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil is hot crack the eggs into the pan and then season with salt and pepper. When the whites are opaque carefully flip the eggs and cook to your liking on the other side.

Remove the sandwiches from the oven and top with the fried egg before serving

Ouch

Gout sucks.  If America's enemies really wanted to take over they would find a way to inflict us all with a raging case of gout.  Gout is just plain mean.  If you've ever had it you understand, and if you haven't I hope you never do. That is unless you are the person who cut me off yesterday on the on ramp. You deserve a painful, aching big toe. It might improve your driving habits, or at the very least keep you off the road. Anyway.... My sweet husband has had a few flareups of late which has made us rethink our diet. The timing of this unfortunately corresponds with a delivery of 5 cases of fabulous wines from Margaret River Australia. Okay, before you start to think that I need a holiday at the Betty Ford Clinic, most of the wine is destined for our shipment to Tunisia. Some of it however is for sampling.  Sort of a quality control exercise.

Along with wine and beer being relegated to the sidelines there are a whole host of other foods that need to be shunned. Some are easy to avoid. Since we are not fans of offal, not eating brains, hearts and kidneys won't be a problem. My husband must also steer clear of partridge and grouse, which thankfully don't make up a huge part of our diet. Does anyone really eat grouse?  The boy does love lamb, pork, and salmon, which are all off limits. He can eat his fill however of Fettuccine Alfredo, followed by a cheese plate, and chocolate.

Since these diet modifications we have had to do without one of our family's favorites, Roasted Cauliflower with Parmesan. Cauliflower is on the naughty list. Now cauliflower has never been a favorite vegetable in our house but that all changed after a friend raved about this recipe. The first time I tasted it out right of the oven, I went mad for it and there was hardly enough left in the serving bowl for dinner. It has since then made a twice weekly appearance at the table, but not so anymore. So sad for us, but not for you. I just know you'll love it as much as we once did.....Incidentally, it goes really well with a Semillion Sauvingnon Blanc.  You know, in case you wondered.

Roasted Cauliflower with Parmesan

Adapted from Kayln’s kitchen

1 head cauliflower, core removed and the head broken down into florets. The florets should all relatively be the same size.
1-2 tablespoon of olive oil, more or less depending on the size of the cauliflower head
1 tablespoon of macadamia nut oil
kosher salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, more or less again depending on the size of your cauliflower head

Preheat oven to 400F Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl place the cauliflower florets and then toss with the olive oil, macadamia nut oil, salt and pepper. Make sure all the pieces are all lightly coated with the oils. Spread the cauliflower evenly on the parchment lined sheet and scatter the Parmesan over top.

Roast the cauliflower, turning it every 10 or 15 minutes, until the edges are nicely browned about 45-55 minutes.