Poco-Cocoa

Things & Stuff

  • Comfort food

    One of my favorite things is stewed potatoes and tomatoes. I rarely remember to make this mixture, but when I do, I love it. I think it reminds me of my mom’s soups and stews when I was younger…always with plenty of soft, earthy potatoes and canned diced tomatoes.

    I think that’s why I love this dish so much. I was worried that it would be boring and bland…I was wrong. The chickpeas become soft and have the same texture as the potatoes, and you get a bit of sweetness from the carrots and a little kick from the red chiles. Note to self: Make this again!

    Ms. Madison says this is a Lebanese stew that’s good served cold, garnished with lemon wedges and black olives, as well as warm.

    Chickpeas with Potatoes and Tomatoes

    • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    • 1 large yellow onion, chopped
    • 3 red potatoes, diced
    • 4 carrots, sliced
    • 2 small dried red chiles
    • 2 garlic cloves, minced
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
    • 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
    • 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
    • 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
    • Salt and freshly ground pepper
    • 1 (14 1/2-ounces) can vegetable broth
    • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
    • 1/2 cup chopped parsley

    Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until it’s lightly colored, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Add the potatoes, carrots, chile, garlic and coriander and cook 5 minutes more. Add the tomatoes and chickpeas, season with salt and pepper, and add the broth. Cover and simmer gently until the potatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the chiles and discard; taste for salt and stir in the fresh herbs.

    Makes 4 to 6 servings.

    Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison.

    July 18, 2006
    Recipes
  • A sandwich for you

    But not for me. This is one of Justin’s favorite lunches, and every so often I pinch my nose and prepare it for him. It’s in times like these that I wish I liked olives…the sandwich just isn’t the same without the olive paste. Alas, to me, they stink.

    Tomato Sandwich with Olive Paste, Mozzarella, and Arugula

    • 1 cup olives, such as Nicoise, kalamata, or green, pitted
    • 1/4 cup capers, rinsed
    • 2 small garlic cloves
    • 2 teaspoon chopped thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried
    • 1 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    • Freshly milled pepper
    • Fresh lemon juice
    • Ciabatta, country, or sourdough bread, sliced
    • Fresh mozzarella
    • Thick-sliced tomato
    • Arugula or baby spinach leaves

    In a food processor, make a smooth paste of the olives, capers, garlic and thyme if using dried. Add the olive oil while the machine is running. Season with pepper and add lemon juice and thyme if using fresh.

    Spread olive paste onto bread slices. Cover with overlapping layers of fresh mozzarella and thick-sliced tomato. Add a pinch of salt and plenty of arugula leaves, then top with another slice of bread and serve.

    Makes enough olive paste for four sandwiches.

    Source: Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison.

    July 17, 2006
    Recipes
  • Apron Swap!

    Hooray for swaps! I signed up for this apron swap a while back, and this weekend we all received our goodies. We were to research our partners a little and design an apron for them. Also included in the swap were three recipe cards with a few of our favorite dishes.

    Cate drew my name, and designed this fabulous apron for me. Look at the buttons! The scalloped bottom! The beautiful colors! And what’s even better? It’s reversible.


    Isn’t that pretty? I almost don’t want to wear it to work for fear that I’ll get it dirty. Is that weird?

    She also included some yummy-sounding recipes for a salad, chicken pot pie, and chocolate cookies. And if you look at the top photo, you can see the skein of alpaca yarn she included in the mix. It is so soft…I’m scheming up something wonderful to knit or crochet with it. Thanks so much, Cate…I love it all!

    I drew Sarah (I was a little intimidated since she was the swap organizer…yikes!), who, I found out, has a yellow, turquoise, and blue kitchen. I made her this apron so she could flit about her kitchen and match her surroundings…


    I decided to go with a Mexican theme (don’t those colors remind you of Mexico?), so I made these recipe cards for Agua de Sandia, Migas, and Pumpkin Empanadas:


    I sent it to her with a few treats…Mexican peanut candies, some flavored salt to sprinkle on fresh cut fruit, a candy bracelet, and a cd of my favorite cooking tunes.


    I don’t know what’s more fun…creating a swap package or receiving mine in the mail. (I don’t know, I really do love mail…)

    July 16, 2006
    Crafty
  • Uneventful days

    The past couple of days have been pretty boring around here. I’ve been watching a heckuva lot of television. I finally saw The 40 Year Old Virgin, which I loved, and last night (at midnight) I watched Project Runway. I had seen a few episodes here and there during the first season, but never really got into it. After working at the boutique though, fashion has a whole new lure for me. I still can’t put together a cool outfit to save my life, but I love, love, love to see others do it. Last night’s show was pretty inspiring…creating wearable fashion out of curtains and chandeliers (does that remind anyone else of the Von Trapp kids?). I’m thinking I liked last night’s episode because there wasn’t too much bickering and rude behavior. I’d like to keep watching the show, to see what wonderful things can be sewn and designed, but once it gets nasty, I lose interest. I’m reality television’s worst nightmare; I hate the mean-spirited drama.

    Last night we went to Rob and Shara’s for movie night. We watched Big Night, one of the great food movies out there, and ate lasagna, roasted okra, watermelon, and warm chocolate chip cookies. I brought the cookie dough over and we baked them fresh right after dinner. This was wonderful, of course, because who doesn’t love warm chocolate chip cookies? But…we ate almost a whole batch. One of us ate eight cookies last night. (And it wasn’t me.)

    Did I mention that I’ve started volunteering for Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic? I’m really liking it. For most people, it might be boring, but for me…I love reading out loud. Actually, right now I’m just operating the recording equipment until I can audition to read, but it’s still fun. I might audition to read in Spanish, since they have so few Spanish-speaking readers.

    I’ve also been spending a lot of time online…for one thing, I’m searching for a new job. It’s scary, dear internets, to be on the job search. To know that very soon you will have to sell yourself in an interview, to decide whether a workplace will be a good fit for you, to settle for a salary that may be less than what you’re worth. I’ve enjoyed cooking at the B&B…it’s such a laid-back job, I get to meet so many new people, the owners are awesome…but I’m ready to have weekends off again. It’s been a very long time since Justin and I have traveled anywhere or spent a weekend away or even just slept in together on a Sunday morning, and I miss that. Working part-time has allowed me to get crafty, but I’ve found lately that I’ve been bored more days than not. I have a lot of time every day that I just can’t seem to fill up, and I end up feeling lazy, like I didn’t accomplish enough. I’m also ready to have other benefits, like sick time and vacation time…hourly work means not getting paid when you stay home sick or take a day off, so I rarely do it.

    Anyway, I’m open to all kinds of positions…I’ve been looking at admin-type jobs and such, still veering away from the “professional dietitian” route. It’s possible I may find something in that field that interests me, but I’m leaving all my options open. So internets, if you hear of some fabulous job in Austin, please let me know!

    I shall end this with a meme that Helios has passed on to me:

    Meme of Fives

    Five things in my freezer:
    Eggo Nutri-grain waffles
    An ice cube tray filled with coffee (for iced coffee drinks for Justin)
    Mixed fruit (for Justin’s smoothies)
    A bag of chopped spinach that I don’t even remember buying
    My ice cream-maker containers (so they’re ready to go when I finally decide to make more ice cream or sorbet)

    Five things in my closet:
    Two pairs of crocs for work
    My favorite long striped socks
    Lots of cute skirts that I never wear because I don’t have shirts to match
    A few pairs of shorts that I haven’t worn in a few years (they seem too short!)
    My yoga mat that hasn’t been unrolled in way too long

    Five things in my car:
    An Austin map
    A Texas map
    My Curious George windowshade
    Wadded up bank receipts
    I wish I could tell you what’s in my trunk, but I’ve just stopped looking in there.

    Five things in my purse:
    Burt’s Bees lip balm
    My handmade wallet
    A coin purse from the Moroccan pavilion at Epcot
    A tiny Hello Kitty calendar from Toy Joy
    My mini-calculator (yes, I’m a nerd)

    Happy Thursday, people of the blog-world!

    July 13, 2006
    Random Thoughts
  • A to Z Meme

    My brother-in-law, Joey, did this meme a few weeks back, and I’ve been meaning to copy it for a while. I like memes, and surveys, and questionnaires. I don’t think I’ve ever said no to a survey. If you don’t feel like learning the most mundane details of my life, please skip this post. As for the photo above, that’s just Roux, thinking about it.

    A…If you were an ANIMAL, what would you be?
    I think I’d be a kitty cat. I like to lay around and sleep all day, I like to snuggle sometimes, and I like things my way.

    B…BOOKS: What’s on your reading list?
    I just finished re-reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and now I’m reading The Art of Eating by MFK Fisher. I pick this book up every so often from the library and read it in parts. After this, I might re-read some of my other food books…The Tummy Trilogy by Calvin Trillin, or one of Jeffrey Steingarten’s books, or one of Diana Abu-Jaber’s books, or one of Tony Bourdain’s…or maybe it’s time for Jean Auel’s Earth’s Children series again. Justin and I are also slowly reading Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell together.

    C…COMPULSIVE about anything?
    Keeping papers nice and neat and unfolded (I cried in kindergarten when one of my papers got crumpled in my backpack), daily chocolate doses.

    D…DREAMS: Do you dream in color? Do you remember your dreams?
    Oh, vivid color. Sounds, smells…if I could draw or paint well, I could recreate dream locations from ten years ago. I’ve always had a lot of nightmares, so dreaming isn’t necessarily a fun thing for me, but it’s definitely creative. In one dream, I was crying face down on the ground, and I remember the taste of dirt on my lips. Crazy stuff.

    E…EATING: What’s your usual snack?
    I guess I change it up a lot…this week I’ve been snacking on cold, cold cantaloupe, frosted shredded wheat with soymilk, miniature Reese’s peanut butter cups, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, microwave popcorn, and toast with butter and jelly.

    F…A few of your FAVORITE things…
    Chocolate, kisses from my love, kitty cats, pretty paper, mail, rain, libraries, the new colorful ten and twenty dollar bills, yummy lotions, bubble baths, pasta, our new dishwasher.

    G…GIGGLES! Who (or what) makes you laugh? Do you have a good sense of humor?
    I think I have a good sense of humor…let’s see. Justin always makes me laugh. So do America’s Funniest Home Videos. And MFK Fisher and Sarah Vowell and Calvin Trillin. And Homestar Runner and Strongbad.

    H…major HOT button:
    When people are rude.

    I…I am…
    hungry. (What else is new?)

    J…there wasn’t a J on Joey’s meme, so I’ll make one up. JOB: What’s your dream job?
    Getting paid to blog, read blogs, and fill out silly surveys.

    K…Also KNOWN as: Aliases? Screen names? Nicknames?
    I usually sign things as Crystal, Crys to family and close friends, poco-cocoa to others, or Cryskie for bills and such. And Justin calls me bebe.

    L…I LOVE:
    Every fiber of Justin’s being.

    M…How do you feel about MEETING people? Do it all the time, or rarely? Parties or one-on-one?
    I like meeting new people, though I think I get nervous about it. I always think I’ve made a bad impression, or that I’ve jumbled up my words, or forgotten someone’s name. I think I prefer one-on-one to standing among a big group of people at a party.

    N…What’s the story of your NAME? Were you named after anyone?
    All I know is that my dad picked my name. (Where did it come from, Dad?) I’ve always been in school with at least two other Crystals. And when I say my name, people always want to spell it Krystal or Khrystal or Christal or whatever…but I always say that mine’s spelled correctly, just like the gem. 🙂

    O…OBSERVANT…What’s around you right now? What do you see?
    Roux’s laying next to the keyboard. There’s one email in my inbox. My purse is on the ground by the door where I plopped it after work. There’s a volunteer schedule pinned onto the message board, and a broom handle sticking out of a trashcan in the alley.

    P…Who are the special PEOPLE in your life?
    Of course my love, my family and friends, and this odd little blogworld community that I somehow have been lucky enough to become a part of.

    Q…Any little QUIRKS about yourself?
    I like to sit with my legs folded up under me, even in restaurants. I like to be barefoot. I can’t sleep without the little pillow my grandma embroidered for me.

    R…What do you like to do for RECREATION?
    Read, craft, take evening strolls, cook, and write.

    S…Do you SING in the shower? In the car? For your friends?
    I sing in the car sometimes, or in the house if there’s music on. Occasionally in the shower. Not so much for friends (which is probably for the best).

    T…What’s at the top of your TO-DO list?
    Lunch. Then laundry.

    U…Any UNUSUAL experiences?
    I went to Space Camp when I was little.

    V…VEGAS, Vienna, Venice…How far have you traveled? What’s your favorite city?
    I haven’t traveled much. I’ve been to Mexico to visit great-grandparents. I’ve been to Florida and California and Vegas and Seattle and Colorado. I grew up in New Mexico. I love Taos and Santa Fe, but my favorite city is Austin.

    W…WINTER, spring, summer, fall…what’s your favorite season? What makes it special?
    Oh, how I love autumn (though we don’t get much of one here in Austin)! Pumpkins and the crunch of golden leaves underfoot and cinnamon and apples and hats and scarves and gloves and school supplies.

    X…EXes…things you don’t do anymore (but did, once)…
    Nutrition counseling, Jazzercise, host dinner parties, and go to Disneyworld every year.

    Y…Any secret deep YEARNINGS?
    I want to travel, to speak French, to eat at the French Laundry, and to someday accept myself for who I am.

    Z…ZERO to ZENITH – Where are you in your life? Still growing? On an upward (or downward) curve? Just skating along?
    I’m still in the wee stages of life…I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. I’ve changed immensely in the past few years, hopefully for the better, and I have no idea what’s in store for me. I can’t wait to find out, though.

    I’m not tagging anyone for this, though I’d love to hear your own answers, so let me know if you decide to do it!

    July 11, 2006
    Random Thoughts
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