Nana Kentucky

(Nana and Megan at Christmas)

This weekend, my parents, brother, and sister in law drove up to Springfield, Illinois to help pack up and move my grandma down here to Louisville. When Papa died 3 years ago, Nana moved from their condo to a retired living community. It was hard on her (as all of us) to lose Papa, but she still had family close by to visit. However, my cousins Missy and Alison moved to Wisconsin and Chicago, so visiting became less frequent. But she still had her daughter (my aunt Sharon) and her husband Gary just a few miles down the road. Tragically this past summer, Sharon was killed in a freak accident while on vacation, and it has been so hard on everyone to recover from. Nana especially, as Sharon would come to visit 2 or 3 times a week. Nana has been worried about what would happen to her as she ages and if any health issues arise. So, it only seemed natural that she would move down here to be close to my dad and all of our family. Dad and mom found a really cute little retired living facility about 5 miles down the road from all of us (we all live within 5-10 miles of each other) so as of today, Nana is officially a KY resident. Megan and I went over this afternoon to help her unpack. All my life, we have only been able to visit my dad's side of the family a few times a year, so now it is so exciting to think that my Nana Illinois is now going to be Nana Kentucky! I can be at her place in 10 minutes! I am looking forward to a wonderful new chapter in our lives where we can see Nana all the time.

Nana, Leslie (sis in law), Wes (brother), and Jason (cousin) at Christmas

Valentines Dinner

Scott and I celebrated Valentines Day on Thursday, Feb 11th. We had made reservations for a 5 course French tasting and wine dinner, which was on the 11th, so we just made that day our Valentines Day. Our meal was so good- it exceeded all expectations. It was at the English Grill in the Brown Hotel. Here is the menu for the night:

Each course was paired with a wine from the Vidal Fleury winery. Also, the wine maker from the winery was there as well, and before each course he talked about how he made the wine, and how it should compliment the food for the paired tasting.

1st tasting: Crawfish a la Nage- Trout Mousseline Tomato Fumet.

Accompanied by Cote du Rhone Blanc 2008

This was a fluffy trout mousse in a creamy tomato bisque-like sauce. Trout mousse sounds kind of weird and French, but it had a sweet, non fishy taste, and had a smooth velvety texture. It was divine! (No, I did not eat the Crawfish scavenger on top). My brother in law Ben always asks us to rate things on a 1-10 scale, so I would rate this dish a 9.

2nd tasting: Sauteed Quail- Glace de Volaille Artichoke Provencale.

Accompanied by Cote du Rhone Pigeonnier 2007

This was literally the best quail I have ever had. It was perfectly seasoned but not overly salty; and the artichoke provencale reminded me of a moist Thanksgiving dressing, with artichokes. It was my favorite dish of the evening. On a 1-10 scale, I would rate this dish a 10.

3rd tasting: Roasted Beef Loin Strip- Pont Neuf Potatoes, Zucchini Tian Daube Sauce.

Accompanied by Crozes-Hermitage 2006.

This dish, while delicious, was not my favorite. The flavor of the beef was amazing, but it was over cooked for my taste. I like a nice rare to med rare temp- this beef loin was definitely a solid medium. When it's over cooked like this, it just tastes dry and chewy to me. The Zucchini Tian Daube- whatever that means- was definitely the star of this dish. It was like a little zucchini french toast stick... it was so good! I made sure to sop up all that delicious sauce with it (yes, I live in KY. We say sop here). I'd rate this dish a 7 on the 1-10 scale.

4th tasting:Warm Goat Cheese- Micro Mesclun Verjus Vinaigrette.

Accompanied by Chateaneuf-du-Pape 2006.

This isn't a great picture, but if you look under the micro greens you can see a little bit of the goat cheese. It had a fluffy, cheesecake like texture and was goaty and delicious. I'd rate it a 10- I absolutely love goat cheese. My mother's standing joke when any reference to goat cheese or goat milk is made- "It's not too baaaaaaaaaaa-d".

That was for you, Mom.

5th tasting: Almond Cake with Figs, Lavender Ice Cream.

Accompanied by Muscat Beaumes de Venise 2007

This was a different dessert than what I would normally get. Mainly because it's not dessert if it's not chocolate in my opinion, so I would never have know what this tasted like if I had been able to choose my own dessert. However, since I was not able to choose my own, this one was extremely good. The lavender ice cream had a distinct yet delicate lavender flavor- it was truly delicious. There are two reasons I am rating this an 8 on the 1-10 scale. 1, because the almond cake was just a tiny bit dry, and 2, there was no chocolate drizzle on the plate. Which would definitely have MADE this dessert!

All in all, Scott and I had a wonderful evening and would rate the whole experience a 10 out of 10.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Megan and Ben's Dinner Party

My sister Megan and my brother in law Ben had Scott and I over for a delicious dinner about a month ago. We had bought her and Ben a wine for every month of the year, and paired the wines with recipes to go with the wine. The January wine was a Champagne, and the recipe was a pan seared white fish, with rutabaga and mashed potatoes, and roasted cherry tomatoes and asparagus in a dill butter sauce.

Three words describe this meal: Oh. My. Goodness.

The fish was perfectly cooked and light. The rutabaga mashed potatoes were fluffy and delicious. And you just can't go wrong with asparagus in a dill butter sauce- c'est magnifique!

A picture is worth a thousand words, so here are a few thousand words worth of deliciousness:

The January Wine: Cava Champagne

How cute is this place setting! I love it! So fresh and chic!

I know I already put a picture of this in the beginning, but how beautiful is this tablescape? I just had to show it again :-)

Here's my talented sister!

And her fabulous new kitchen where she is making our delicious dinner! Get ready to drool:

MMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Valentines Decor

Roses are Red. Violets are Blue. I decorated with gift bags. Does that make me cuckoo?

Ramblings of a Foodie...

I'm the first to admit it... I am a food snob. Luckily, so is my husband; otherwise we would have major issues! He actually is the one who began my obsession, by forcing me to do all our grocery shopping at Whole Foods. Before we met, he read a book called "The Maker's Diet" (no, not a diet of Maker's Mark; rather THE Maker- as in God!) and developed a desire to eat healthy, organic, natural foods that God said for us to eat. So, after reading this book myself, I believed in the message as well. Quite simply, God our Maker tells us in Leviticus which foods we should put into our bodies:

Leviticus 11:3-12 "You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud.... The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you. Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams, you may eat any that have fins and scales. But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins or scales- whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water- you are to detest. And since you are to detest them, you must not eat their meat and you must detest their carcasses. Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be detestable to you."

Even though we know that when Jesus died for our sins he made all things "clean", there is still a message to be taken from Leviticus. God knew that certain animals were not good for us to eat. The animals and sea creatures that he tells us to avoid are those that eat dead and decomposing organisms, feces, and even their own offspring. When we eat these animals that have a diet of other dead animals, we essentially are eating what they ate before they were killed. A pig, for example, metabolizes what it eats within just 4 hours of eating it. If that pig is slaughtered after it's just eaten slop, feces, other dead things, etc (a pig will eat literally anything it can find), it has already metabolized that and it's in it's meat, which we eat! The phrase "you are what you eat" has a lot of truth behind it!

Regarding shellfish- scientists actually gauge the contaminate levels of our oceans, bays, rivers, and lakes by measuring the mercury and biological toxin levels in the flesh of crabs, clams, oysters and lobsters. I love the taste of lobster and crab, but not enough to eat it when obviously it holds toxic levels in it's flesh. Yuck.

You may be saying, "Yeah, but those were in Bible times. Things have changed by now in the way we preserve food and the foods we eat. What about organic pork?" That's true, modern science has enabled us to preserve and treat food differently. But, also in Leviticus, along with not eating pigs, God also tells us not to eat camels, horses, rats, skunks, dogs, cats, squirrels, and possums (they don't chew cud and don't have split hooves). Why does society say it's ok to eat pigs but it's not ok to eat horses or rats? What makes pigs different? For food purposes, they are not different according to God. God knows what He's talking about. He made it all! So I choose to believe in His word and follow the directions He's given us about what and what not to eat.

So, back to my food snobbery. Is it really snobbery if its Biblically based? Not that the Bible talks directly about organic food.. but eating organically just makes sense. Who wants to eat food that has been sprayed with pesticides? If the purpose of pesticides is to kill bugs, what is that doing to our bodies when we eat those pesticides? It can't be good. So, because Whole Foods has the most selection of organic produce and foods, that is where I do my shopping. They also carry many delicious lines of turkey bacon, chicken sausage, and other "pork substitutes" type foods.

No, I do not work for Whole Foods. But check out these yummy snacks I bought there last night:

From left to right: Blue cheese wrapped in a chestnut leaf, brie, olive tapenade mix, green and kalamata olives, sea salt and rosemary crostinis, red wine, and sun dried tomatoes.

Mmm, mmm! Were these ever good! If you've never had sun dried tomatoes like that, you need to get some! They are chewy, salty, and delicious!

Thank you God, for having Whole Foods available here in Louisville!

Portuguese Kale Soup

Rachael Ray, I love your recipes. They are so easy to follow, and most of the time I have all the ingredients on hand. I always alter the recipe to my liking though, such as every time a recipe calls for onions, I automatically omit those and use garlic instead. And every time a pork product is called for, I omit that and substitute instead a similar non-pork item. So for bacon or pancetta I always sub turkey bacon. Or for sausage or andouille, I sub chicken sausage (Whole Foods has a huge variety of delicious chicken sausages; I get the ones that are either in a lamb casing or skinless). For ground pork I sub ground beef, lamb, or turkey, depending on what would work best for that recipe. And usually I will add a pinch (or two or three) of red chili flakes to most recipes- everything is better with a little heat!

For Rachael Ray's Portuguese Kale Soup recipe, I followed the recipe pretty closely and added my alterations when necessary. Here is the recipe:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup diced onions (OMIT- SUB MORE GARLIC!)
• 1/2 diced turnips
• 1/2 cup diced carrots
• 1 bunch kale, stemmed and roughly chopped
• 6 ounces chopped chourico (spicy Portuguese sausage), or chorizo (OMIT- SUB BLUE CHEESE CHICKEN SAUSAGE)
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 6 cups beef stock
• 1 cup kidney beans
• 6 ounces diced tomatoes
• 10 ounces diced potatoes (OMIT- I WANTED A LESS STARCHY DISH)
• (ADD 1 TSP OF HOT CHILI FLAKES)

Directions

In a large stock pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onions, turnips and carrots and cook for 5 minutes. Add the kale, chourico, bay leaves, parsley and thyme and mix well. Add the beef stock, beans and tomatoes. Bring the soup to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, bring salted water to a boil and add the diced potatoes. Cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes and add them to the soup.

Remove the bay leaves and serve hot.

This soup turned out DELICIOUS! Here are pictures of it along the way, Pioneer Woman style :-)

If you don't know who the Pioneer Woman is, you are missing out, my friend. She has the most fabulous blog. She is my role model- right up there with Martha Stewart. Martha is fancy schmancy fabulous where as Pioneer Woman is more normal, every day fabulous.

Here are the carrots, turnips, and garlic cut up and in the stock pot with olive oil.

Here is the fresh kale, cut up and de stemmed. Isn't this a beautiful vegetable? And even better because it's in season right now. It is SO fresh, tender, and good!

Here is the blue cheese chicken sausage. Just cut it all up and throw it in the pot.

Here is what it looks like with the bay leaves, thyme, and parsley.

Here is the next step, with the tomatoes, beans, kale, and beef broth. Mmm, mmm!

Lastly, here is the final product, after 30 minutes of simmering.

Talk about comfort food in a bowl! Yum! Go out and make this tonight!

Set It...And Forget It! Again!

Today for lunch I used my wonderful Rotisserie Chicken Cooker again. I used a half chicken and put it in the rotisserie basket. For the spices, I used kosher salt, ginger, all spice, bourbon smoked paprika, garlic powder, and pepper. After I set it and forgot it (ha- the name makes this cooker even better), I used my Mandolin to chop up some veggies. Ok, I actually made Scott chop them up (I'm still a little scared of using it!). He sliced up some green cabbage and carrots, while I chopped bok choy, dried red chilies, and garlic. I sautéed the garlic and chilies in a large skillet with sesame oil. Then I added the bok choy and also some mushrooms. Next came the cabbage, carrots, and water chestnuts. The only other seasoning I used in the stir fry was Tamari (original Japanese soy sauce- has a richer taste than traditional soy sauce). After cooking on high for a couple of minutes, I spooned the stir fry mixture into bowls, and then topped with the chicken. It was really good! My "Lose It" app on my iphone said this meal only had 150 calories- even better!

Tips from me:

Get a rotisserie cooker- you'll thank me later.

Eat veggies- they are healthy and delicious and so easy to make into a meal!

Try Tamari next time you run out of soy sauce. If the delicious taste of Tamari won't make you switch forever, maybe Wikipedia's info on Tamari Soy Sauce and regular soy sauce will:

Many cheaper brands of soy sauces are made from hydrolyzed soy protein instead of brewed from natural bacterial and fungal cultures. These soy sauces do not have the natural color of authentic soy sauces and are typically colored with caramel coloring, and are popular in Southeast Asia and China, and are exported to Asian markets around the globe. They are derogatorily called Chemical Soy Sauce ("化學醬油" in Chinese), but despite this name are the most widely used type because they are cheap. Similar products are also sold as "liquid aminos" in the US and Canada.

Some artificial soy sauces pose potential health risks due to their content of the carcinogenic chloropropanols 3-MCPD (3-chloro-1,2-propanediol) and all artificial soy sauces came under scrutiny for possible health risks due to the unregulated 1,3-DCP (1,3-dichloro-2-propanol) which are minor byproducts of the hydrochloric acid hydrolysis ^[9]

Tamari (たまり^?): Produced mainly in the Chūbu region of Japan, tamari is darker in appearance and richer in flavour. It contains little or no wheat; wheat-free tamari is popular among people eating a wheat free diet. It is the "original" Japanese soy sauce, as its recipe is closest to the soy sauce originally introduced to Japan from China

Um- no brainer! Tamari wins! Get it at Whole Foods.