a rat, a dog and a fish...

ratatouille.  


chopsticks looks up, "we've already seen that movie."  


ojp stops, "a friend for me, dad?!" 


no, not the movie.  and, no, ojp, we're not getting a rat for a friend.  i am going to play with the concept of ratatouille, however.   plus, chopsticks is craving fish.   let the experiment begin.


the menu (08july10):

• paprika dusted fish (pan sauted)
• ratatouille croquette
• avocado puree
• siracha oil drizzle
• potato chips (sliced red potatoes, home fried)

the croquette didn't stay together as well as i had hoped (add an egg next time, spoon), but the taste was spot on.  

week 11 comes to a close

somewhere along the way, i blinked, finding myself celebrating the 4th of july and realizing we were half-way through the year.  another blink and i find myself on another wednesday in anticipation of our weekly box (week 12), realizing we fell just short of the "use it all up and let us know what you did with it" challenge that was ahead of us last week.  


the "still to be used" culprits:

• blueberries - which i have a plan for, just didn't get the chance to make it yet
• few ears of corn - which will most definitely be used
• eggplant - ah, thinking you were a sprite melon completely threw me off this week

maybe if i blink again the blueberries will turn into a delicious pie.

fourth of july = grilling

to start out, i made sure we had enough propane to make it through the cooking process. needed to learn something from last week's wonderful mis-adventures.


the menu (04july10):

• turkey burgers
• grilled potato wedges
• grilled corn with ancho chili butter
• bruschetta topped with  tomato and basil (and, yes, the bruschetta was grilled... had to keep the theme going)

bruschetta topped with tomato and basil

so full... must take ojp for walk in an attempt to recover...  "walk dad?! did you say walk?!! ok, ok, i'm ready!"




p.s. happy birthday, owlie

chopsticks gets creative

you can't just open the watermelon and eat it!  well, i guess you could, but chopsticks had way more fun this way.

good thoughts gone bad

our bushel of jalapenos should lend well to some poppers. 

unfortunately, the attempt to enhance things a bit by using a crab mixture fell a bit short of our expectations.  they were just missing something (needed a creaminess that was just missing)... and we'll need to play with this one a bit before posting a recipe.

i think my mouth is still on fire from thinking about these poppers though....

making up for last week... i blame the contest

or maybe i should be thanking the contest as it has forced me to plan out a few things.  and, as i'm home alone tonight (let me tell you the house is ultra quiet without ojp and chopsticks around), i can take some time to think up a few things.


since it's just me, i wanted something a little lighter.  and, well, that eggplant is staring at me.


the menu (01july10):

• egg white frittata with summer vegetables
• roasted red pepper tomato sauce

egg white frittata with roasted red pepper tomato sauce

this was good enough to make another one the next morning for breakfast.

week 11: what chopsticks wants.... and a contest to boot

it was a tough choice on the boxes this week, but chopsticks saw the personal watermelon included in one of the choices this week and suggested we should get that one.  who am i to argue.


so, box "c" this week (labeled as the "hot peppers" box).

clockwise from top left: eggplant (asian variety), white eggplant (edit), corn, blueberries, personal watermelon, cherry tomatoes, jalapenos

this week also came with a challenge:  the third annual (first for us) "what i did with my box this week."   as stated, "with all the veggies and fruit coming hard and fast off the fields, it may be a challenge [to say the least] using up the entire contents of the boxes each week."  premise is to help everyone out by submitting a brief summary of how you used up your whole box this week.  top three will be picked. 

so, we'll see how well we do this week.