Friday, November 30, 2012

Ode to Bacon, or More Proof that Bacon makes everything Better!

 
It starts with something simple. Like arborio rice. Or flowering kale.

Aaah, but then, then you add bacon, and voila! Perfection!

Two recipes this week, tried and true, made better by bacon.

First, a simple risotto. One small onion diced and a clove of crushed garlic, sauteed with 4 pieces of cooked bacon. Add a cup of arborio rice to saute briefly in the pan, add two cups of chicken stock, then cover. Cook for about 20 minutes, until done. Add mounds and mounds of fresh grated Parmesan. Yum!!!

Dinner number two, inspired by some lovely purple skinned potatoes and flowering kale from my CSA. Cut up potatoes in large chunks and salt them. Cover with a paper towel and microwave them for 5 minutes to "pre-cook" them.



Meanwhile, saute thinly sliced red onion and a clove of chopped garlic in some olive oil in a cast iron pan. Add sliced kale to the pan, with a few slices of chopped bacon, and a generous additions of salt and pepper. Add the cooked potatoes, and cook until they just start to brown. Add a couple tablespoons of butter to melt, with some more salt, and a little crushed red pepper.  Mmmmm. Enjoy with a nice glass of red wine.



Monday, November 5, 2012

Halloweeny catch-up and other miscelaneousness


OK, so I feel like it's been forever since my last post, but what can I say. Life has been busy, and for over a week I was nowhere near a computer, except at work, where I actually feel like I need to work vs. update my blog. 

And seeing as how I finally found my cord so I could download the pictures I've been gathering in my camera, I figured I'd just post them with little captions instead of writing very clever narratives about what I've been up to. (That'll give me more time to work on figuring out teleportation, which is something I'm trying to invent in the rest of my valuable and rare spare time.) So without further adieu...

Anoka parade 5 K. Paul Bunyan and babe had actual race numbers...





You can't really see her in the picture, but my friend Ramona is running in the race. She's the one wearing a cowboy hat.

 

Monkeys jumping on a bed. This was my almost favorite set of racers. Until...



Tetris blocks! How clever was that?

Pretty awesome racing costumes!

Toppings for bahn mi sandwiches- pulled pork braised in coconut milk

Seriously... do you really need a caption for this one?

Katie and Ramona at the post parade party

Real live cauldron, at Tammy's party in Whalan

Awesome decorations. They made these ghouls!

Cause doesn't every good party have a mini-horse in a garage?! I thought you knew that.
 
Auntie Sue and Marcus, hanging out during the party..
 
Caldo verde- Portuguese kale soup with sausage. This was my dinner tonight. And now you are caught up. Well kind of. Except for the best parts, which I intentionally leave out.