Produce Drawer Spaghetti!

Folks, the last year has been a journey.

I get "Photo Capsule" emails of my Flickr photostream via Photojojo. In the last email there were photos from an event at Regional Tasting Lounge that I went to with M last year. In an instant, our visit to r.tl last year seems like a long time ago, and at the same time it seems like it was only days / weeks ago. And a lot has changed.

Two weddings ago (Rs, and the Ms). One engagement ago (my cousins). A 10-10-10-10-10 baby (born at 10:10pm, on October 10th, 2010) ago. Three funerals ago. A job ago...

A mixture of emotions (good, bad, and ugly) have come and gone; a couple seasons have past...I've made a lot of new friends and there have been a hobby or two that I've picked up along the way. :)

I'm going to try to ease into this blogging thing again - tonight, it was produce drawer spaghetti. I believe that my new career (as in, career, something that I love versus a job where I just show up to work...) has changed some of my eating habits. As you may have remembered, I embarked on a self-imposed meat ban late last spring . . . it seems that that simple fact transitioned me into the company where I am now.

I am not vegan, nor even vegetarian at this point - but I am definitely living a more conscious, awakened lifestyle (or so I like to believe). I have even gone jogging a couple times this month already. Lets see where this everchanging journey takes me.

Tonight, it was produce drawer spaghetti. This is not vegan - I used butter and topped it with finely grated piave mezzano, a cows milk cheese that is aged within a range of 60-180 days. The taste is slightly sweet, with slight bitter "barnyard" flavours that are associated with a baby parmiggiano, but without the same intensity.

There are no real rules to this "recipe". Slice up some onion. Melt some butter over medium heat with a couple swigs of olive oil. Saute. Add sliced veggies (I used mushrooms, green beans, and leftover cauliflower - yes, I still love my cauliflower). Sprinkle with some salt, chili flakes, oregano, and fresh ground black pepper. Add some more oil or butter if you have to. Splash with something alcoholic (sake used here). Splash with leftover stock or leftover tomato puree from the fridge. Add cooked pasta, mix in sliced olives. Twirl around your tongs to transport to a shallow pasta dish; grate with piave and love yourself for going easy on a Monday evening.

<3 Jessica

Photo Teaser: BBQ Beef Ribs

A month ago, I was not a beef rib fan. The ones I had before were tough, sinewy, and flavourless.

After making them myself at home though, M and I contemplated keeping our new secret to ourselves - we discovered that this cheap cut of meat offered lots of flavour, and when prepared properly, they offered little resistance to our hungry selves.

We'll be bbqing up some for guests this weekend, so I'll leave you with this!



Have a sunny weekend!

Photo Teaser: Dessert For Dinner!

Dessert for Dinner? Why not?!

At Yum-O-Rama, anything is possible! :)



The boy was out and I happened have some dessert prepared - "hot" chocolate pudding / custard in the pretty ramekins from Gourmet Warehouse, and fresh fruit pavlovas made from the egg whites leftover from the pudding. What else are you doing to do with egg whites!!

I'll have the recipes up in a bit. Meanwhile, enjoy the photos!

Yummy, Dinner!

We went to Seri Malaysia and had a delicious lunch on the weekend. And, you know. Some goodies to go. (Malaysian food is SOOOOO good!)



From left to right, we have some steamed rice (M insists on making it - he made it a little soggy that night), beef rendang (and such a great deal! $11.50 for a large portion of meat stewed in delicious spices), and pepper sprouts (they were 99 cents for a large bag at Donald's Market, across the street from Seri Malaysia).

I sauteed the sprouts in a little bit of oil and half of a shallot, sliced. I also added some salt, pepper, and nutmeg.