Poco-Cocoa – Page 248 – Things & Stuff

Foodie for life

I sometimes wonder whether my love of food has gone too far. I think about food all day, from what I’m going to eat for dinner to what I should buy from the grocery store. I love to eat out, I love to read recipes, I love to watch the Food Network. I frequent food blogs and food websites, and loiter at shops like Williams-Sonoma. I use cucumber-melon shaving cream, coconut shampoo and conditioner, and vanilla body wash. Each day I choose between mango-coconut, green tea, or citrus-basil lotion. My house is scented by a vanilla disc in my Scent-Stories machine, and I’m coveting the new Be Delicious (apple) fragrance from DKNY. I visit Whole Foods at least twice a week, and our hangouts include coffee shops, grocery stores, and ice cream parlors. I could spend a whole day in the library leafing through old cooking magazines or thumbing through shelves and shelves of cookbooks.

Have I gone overboard? Has it gone too far? Is it odd that my greatest accomplishment might just be my chocolate chip or peanut-chocolate cookies? Oh, well. It’s time for dinner.

July 29, 2005

Random Thoughts
Isn’t she lovely?

This is my most recent embroidery project. I found a coloring page online, then traced it onto white fabric. I used mostly backstitch, just because it’s my favorite stitch, though I’m not sure why. I like the simplicity of it. Anyway, it’s my first semi-big piece, and I’m pretty proud of it. My grandmother, who’s been embroidering for so many years, took a look at it, flipped it over to inspect it, and deemed it “very good.” I’d like to try freehand embroidery next, but I’m such a perfectionist that not having a pattern or a plan freaks me out a little. I’m interested to see what I’d come up with, though.

July 28, 2005

Crafty
Life with a Teenager

Sunday was my niece’s 15th birthday. We celebrated by having an indoor picnic with Chad and Lindsay, with food from EZ’s. We had birthday cake from Central Market, and listened to the symphony at the park in the evening. It was a fun day, and I was glad that Kourt was able to spend it with us.

It’s been fun to have a young adult here, listening to music for hours on end, quizzing me on the identity of various musicians, and watching old game shows on TV. It makes me feel a little bit older…not “Old” exactly, but older. I realize that I would never want to relive those high school years, even though mine were fairly easy; I would never want that constant anxiety and fear about what others think and who is with who and who is my friend and what I will wear. My worries now seem much grander, saving for retirement, whether to fix my 10-year-old car, paying bills, but for some reason my worries seem so superficial compared to how I felt as a teenager. I don’t envy her, but it sounds like she’s having a great time.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been cooking much, because we seem to find some reason or other to eat out instead. For example, Monday night was pizza night, in celebration of Justin’s promotion at work. Hooray! It is well deserved, and I’m so glad his company is starting to realize his talent. Last night was Girl’s Night with Leti, which meant dinner at Whole Foods. And tonight? Well, hopefully tonight we’ll make spaghetti and garlic bread, but then again, Austin Java offers half-price appetizers on Wednesday nights…

I promise, soon I will have something food-like to post. Soon.

July 27, 2005

Random Thoughts
Tasting the Hill Country: Fredericksburg Herb Farm

On our recent trip west, we stopped in Fredericksburg to have lunch at the Fredericksburg Herb Farm. It was so surprisingly wonderful that we’re hoping to drive out there again just to eat.

The Herb Farm is a beautiful little spot, and the restaurant is quaint and adorable. It’s located in an old house, just past the gift shop that’s loaded with soaps, candles, and other herb-related gifts. The dining room is light and airy, with wall-to-wall windows looking out over the gardens. We were already charmed by the ambience of the place, but then we saw the menu.

Inventive and seasonal, using high quality ingredients and with interesting combinations, the menu was wonderful. We started by ordering our drinks. I decided on the Herbal Lemonade (pictured above), which was infused with lemon balm, lemon verbena, and mint. It was fabulous. Leti had the Harvest Herb Tea, which was also delicious; it was a mix of hibiscus, lemongrass, and raspberry leaves (below, background). Justin had a sangria, which he enjoyed (below, foreground).

Leti decided on the Greek Salad, which she loved, and Lindsay chose the Two Bean Tostada, a flavorful mix of beans and goat cheese on a perfectly crisp wheat tortilla.

Justin had the Basil Blush Marinated Portabello Sandwich, which was amazing. We could smell the basil the moment the plate was set on the table.

Chad and I had the Grilled Hill Country Peach Salad. The dressing was so tasty, and the bits of feta and almonds went perfectly with the sweet grilled peaches.

The prices were considerably higher than posted online; I’m assuming they’ve recently raised them and haven’t updated their website. The food was wonderful, though, and the atmosphere was relaxing and airy. I’d recommend the Herb Farm as an alternative to all the bratwurst and beer places that abound in Fredericksburg. We’ll definitely visit again.

July 26, 2005

Austin, Edibles
Lazy Lasagna
Thanks to all of you for your sweet, sweet comments. The burns aren’t hurting much anymore, and they’ve shrunk down to a much smaller size. Still ugly, but less so. My boss’s dog is fine…he had an infected skin tag, and it turned out that he was shaking when anyone came near him because he was afraid they would touch it and make it hurt. 🙁 But he’s having it removed, and all should be fine after that.

Last night we picked up my niece, Kourtney, from the airport. She’ll be staying with us for a couple of weeks, so we will be experiencing lots of MTV, CMT, and Cartoon Network. I am now familiar with Mike Jones, 50 Cent, and Ciara. And she hasn’t even been here 24 hours yet.

Anyway, on to the real topic of this post, lasagna. I love lasagna as much as the next pasta-fiend, but it tends to be a pain to make, and baking it turns my little kitchen into an inferno. I found the idea for this lasagna years ago on the Cooking Light Bulletin Boards, and now it’s my basic go-to dish when I want yumminess in no time at all. I’m sure it would work well with ricotta, but, as you may remember, I’m a cottage cheese kind of gal. You could also add cooked ground beef or turkey, or any mixture of chopped vegetables to the mix. This is the basic recipe, for when you’re really, really lazy.

Lazy Lasagna
- 8 ounces pasta ribbons, or any other curly pasta
- 1/2 jar (about 1 1/2 cups) marinara sauce
- 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
- 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella
Cook pasta in boiling water according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat pasta sauce in a skillet. Add cottage cheese, and mix thoroughly. When pasta is ready, drain and add to sauce in the skillet; stir to combine. Turn off heat and top with mozzarella.

Makes 4 servings.

Source: Adapted from CLBB.
July 23, 2005

Recipes

Foodie for life

Isn’t she lovely?

Life with a Teenager

Tasting the Hill Country: Fredericksburg Herb Farm

Lazy Lasagna