01.04.09
Posted in Food, Musings, Vegetable at 11:52 am by trueepicure
I don’t like store-bought mayonnaise. I’ve never really liked it on my sandwiches (I’m a mustard girl), and I can barely choke down potato salad with mayonnaise. Give me a good potato salad with coarse mustard and crème fraîche, like the one I ate at O’Connell’s last week.
I can’t even begin to describe my hatred of the traditional, gloppy, mayonnaise-y “carrot salad” that I remember from parties in the 70s and 80s. Even as a small child, I knew this was an abomination. Thank goodness for other people who believe this too. Here is a tasty salad recipe that my mom sent me several years ago:
Carrot Parsley Salad
3 1/2 cups grated carrots
1 bunch parsley, finely chopped (about 2 cups)
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I usually use canola oil but extra virgin olive oil would work too)
freshly ground black pepper to taste
Combine everything in a large serving bowl and toss well. This can be made ahead and refrigerated until serving. I think it tastes better chilled. This will keep up to a week, but I doubt it will last that long. 
Another recipe for mayonnaise-less carrot salad showed up in my inbox a couple of days ago. This one is similar to another recipe that I occasionally make.
Read the rest of this entry »
Permalink
12.29.08
Posted in Books, Musings at 11:34 am by trueepicure
I challenged myself to read 50 books in 2008, and as of today, I count 70 total books read since January 1st. I haven’t been focusing on a particular category of book - just focusing on trying to find things that interest me and get me back into reading on a regular basis.
It’s been an interesting year of new books, as well as old favorites. I found myself returning to several series that I’ve read a number of times, including the Chronicles of Narnia and The Dark is Rising. I have mixed feelings about the Chronicles these days. They were fun fantasy when I was a nine year old child. Now, they feel a somewhat heavy-handed with the religious symbolism. I still enjoyed reading them, however, so it wasn’t a waste of reading time.
I enjoyed most of the books I’ve read this year. There was only one book that I had to return to the library without finishing it, and at the moment, I can’t even remember what it was. (A real winner, obviously.) There were a few books that stand out in my mind as candidates for “Best of 2008″ (in no particular order):
The Lace Reader
Plenty
World Without End
A Thousand Splendid Suns http://www.goodreads.com/book/isbn/1594489505
The Birth House
If you’re an avid book reader and you’re interested in sharing your “Best of 2008″ list, feel free to leave a note in the comments, or join me on GoodReads.
Permalink
12.14.08
Posted in Gardening, Green Thumb Sunday, Plants at 10:13 pm by trueepicure
I’m so happy to have received my Seed Savers Exchange 2009 catalog this weekend! I joined as a member of both Seed Savers and the Flower and Herb Exchange. Since the weather got cold, I’ve been kind of sad about not being able to garden. Good news though - It’s time to start doing some mental gardening while I peruse the new catalog.
The Seed Savers Exchange catalog is just the beginning of the flood (I’m guessing). I expect I’ll probably receive a number of other catalogs in the mail. I love flipping through the various pictures and imagining what my garden will look like next year. I dog-ear pages I want to go back to; I circle items that I think will be interesting; and I ponder on which colors and varieties of seeds I like best.
Below is a list of seed companies that I have ordered from before. I’m interested in hearing about others, so please post suggestions in the comments.
Native Seeds (native plants for the Desert Southwest)
Seeds of Change
Tasteful Garden
The Cook’s Garden
Thompson & Morgan
J. L. Hudson, Seedsman
Companies I have yet to try:
Chocolate Flower Farm
Johnny’s Select Seeds
Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.
Permalink
11.30.08
Posted in Flowers, Green Thumb Sunday at 6:07 pm by trueepicure
The last Rose of winter.
Taken a couple of weeks ago. It was hidden behind a clump of bushes in an untended part of the subdivision.
Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.
Permalink
11.27.08
Posted in Affirmation at 11:21 pm by trueepicure
In no particular order:
My health
My family
My husband
My job
a roof over my head
food to eat
My friends
My animals
My life
I hope you, my dear readers, have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a wonderful year to come.
Permalink
11.26.08
Posted in Musings, NaBloPoMo at 10:56 pm by trueepicure
Facebook is doing some strange things to my world. I’ve had a great time reconnecting to old friends, and I’ve been kind of blown away by people I remember whom I never thought would remember me. I’m also having a hard time reconciling the fact that I have certain memories of years gone by that aren’t so picture perfect, and that other people seem to not remember things that way at all.
I’m not the best at letting things go. I know this about myself. Facebook is bringing me face-to-face with some of my demons. It’s a good push for me, but it’s kind of painful too. I guess that’s part of the process of letting go.
Permalink
11.25.08
Posted in NaBloPoMo, Work at 9:43 pm by trueepicure
I have no idea how I managed not to post last night. I beat myself up for it a bit this morning, but I’ve decided that 23 days in a row was a great effort, and work just had to come first last night.
I had to rearrange and rework a three-hour presentation last night, because the client “realized” that they wouldn’t have enough computers for the hands-on presentation that they asked for. Sigh. I wasn’t happy with the final presentation, but they really liked the presentation, and one of the deputy directors was really impressed. I’ll take it.
Permalink
11.23.08
Posted in Food, NaBloPoMo at 11:14 pm by trueepicure
I bag on Rachael Ray for being so perky and having such goofy buzz words. But I have to give the woman credit for coming up with great, simple recipes. I found the original recipe in Everyday with Rachel Ray (a subscription is my paper anniversary gift from Hubs) and I’ve adapted it to be easier to work from and to have, in my opinion, a bit more flavor.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
1 small onion, choped
1 clove garlic, chopped
dash of thyme
dash of basil
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 10oz box frozen chopped spinach, thawed (you can use whole leaf, just chop it up after thawing) and squeezed dry
1/2 cup goat cheese
1 thawed puff pastry sheet
1 2-1/2 inch biscuit cutter
1 mini muffin pan
Heat the olive oil in a saute pan. Saute the chopped onion in extra-virgin olive oil until soft (about 5 minutes). Add thyme and basil and mix thoroughly. Add garlic and and chopped spinach. Cook the mixture until spinach is warmed through (about 2 minutes).
Put spinach mixture into food processor and blend until mixture resembles a chunky paste. Turn into a bowl and mix in cheese. Let the mixture cool slightly.
Meanwhile, cut twelve rounds from 1 thawed puff pastry sheet; prick each with a fork. Press the rounds into a mini-muffin pan, then fill with the spinach mixture. Bake in a 375 degree oven until
golden, about 20 minutes.
These got a thumbs up from Hubs. The only thing I don’t like about this recipe, is that I felt like I had dirtied every dish in the house. I’d like to find some ways to streamline the process a bit.
Permalink
11.22.08
Posted in Musings at 11:09 pm by trueepicure
One hour to go from this:
to this:
Stay tuned for the reincarnation.
Permalink
11.21.08
Posted in NaBloPoMo, Random at 11:43 pm by trueepicure
Finally watched Serenity tonight! Some closure, but mostly it stoked my need for more.
Permalink
« Previous entries
