Deviled Sweet Potatoes with Garlic-Parsley Pesto

I am very exciting to be participating in Beet n Squash You month hosted by She Simmers and Gourmet Fury. Monthly events like vegetable challenges and book clubs excite me (though book clubs seem hard to come by and I'm not one for really going out and... mingling. I have very fierce group loyalties. I'm like a good guard dog, really.). Luckily, Beet n Squash You exists for extroverted-internet-introverts like me!

This month's vegetable is sweet potatoes, a vegetable I don't really cook with that often because... well, because I didn't really know what to do with them besides mash them and cover them in marshmallows. That is, until I had some incentive to think creatively about sweet potatoes. I also had to think creatively about what I had in the fridge to use because I am on a budget. I had a lot of eggs left and I realized that sweet potatoes would mix fabulously with deviled eggs

 

Hearty Beef Soup

Winter in New York is an interesting season for eating, to say the least. There aren't a lot of options out there for fruits and vegetables. The cold, wet days make me not want to leave the house (in nicer weather, I am much more apt to make a journey to pick up some dinner ingredients). I crave thick, satisfying foods that feel like home and warmth.

I am also madly in love with my dutch oven and will look for any excuse to use it (and having the oven on for a few hours makes a slightly chilly apartment so much nicer).

Lovely but Ugly Raspberry Tart

Today I want to talk about love.

A little late, I know. But yesterday was filled with all kinds of love for me. Yesterday, another man came into my life. His name is Zepp:

Chicken with Bok Choy

I love my frying pan, in case you haven't noticed. I love the versatility of them and I love how easy they can make my dinners.

I also love bok choy.

Sunday Lunch - Pasta with Tomatoes, Onions, and Mushrooms

This is Dan:

(Isn't he handsome?)

Dan and I have been lucky enough to have Sundays off together for the past few weeks. Today we didn't have any obligations so we've been lazing around the kitchen table.

Easy Vegetarian Chili

{Silly me. It was not my browser that would not allow me to upload pictures, it was the fact that my photos were in the wrong format. So that's all fixed now and I can tell you about the chili I made the night before last (which we are still eating for lunch and breakfast). In fact, after I finish writing this I think I'm going to fry me an egg to eat with some of it (maybe sprinkled with some crumbles of gorgonzola...).}

I love chili, it's one of my favorite dishes, but I've never made a vegetarian chili before. Last night, however, I didn't have any meat in the house and Dan has decided that store bought ground beef grosses him out. So until I get a meat grinder, apparently we will not be eating ground meat (I have yet  to find out how hard and fast this rule is for him because sometimes I just want a hamburger).

This recipe is basically a great jump off point for any kind of vegetarian chili you want to make. Use whatever vegetables you have in the house, whatever beans are in your pantry, and it will be delicious. I'm including cilantro and lime in the recipe even though I didn't have any to use because they were definitely missing from the dish. It tastes great without them but it would taste even better with them.

Book Review - Slow Food Nation

I really want to tell you about the vegetarian chili I made last night, but I'm having issues with photo uploads on a couple of different websites (I think Firefox is telling me that it REALLY wants to be updated, even though it just got updated a few days ago). Instead, I thought I'd tell you about a book I just finished reading.

Comfort Food - Chicken Soup with Dill

I'm shaking off the winter blues (or trying to) with the knowledge that yes, it is February, yes it's a bleak month (though it contains my birthday). However! It also means that spring is just that much closer and I will only be confined to the apartment for a little longer. Soon I will be able to walk to the Sound comfortably and sit on the beach with my reading/knitting/camera and enjoy the sunshine.

Last week, instead of wallowing, I did what I should have done yesterday. I made comfort food. Not just any comfort food, winter comfort food.

Growing up, one of my favorite things my mom made was chicken soup. Whenever I was home from college, my mom's chicken soup was always on the list of meals that had to be prepared before I returned. That's how good it is. Surprisingly, though, I've never ventured to make it myself.  But my love of my dutch oven and an intense craving for soup made me realize that it was about time I ventured into the world of chicken soup.

Cabin Fever

Winter's kind of hard when you don't have a lot of money to spend, when you only work part time so there's a lot of time at home (and your boyfriend works all the time, so he's rarely home). Needless to say, I'm in a bit of  a cabin-fever-inspired rut. I don't really feel like cleaning up the messes that already exist, nor do I feel like creating another mess in the kitchen.

I took down the Christmas tree. That counts, at least. I read a book. It was exciting.

But now I'm done reading, I'm done being on the internet, I've knitted my brains out, I've been cooking up a storm (I'll update with a chicken soup recipe tomorrow)... and there's still another month or two before the weather warms up enough to be comfortably outside. Which is what I need.

Anyone have any good remedies for the winter doldrums?