In these crazy times...

Original recipe

pspringberg75 — Thu, 14 May 2009 06:07:36 +0000

For those of you in Seattle (or who have visited in the last 15 years) you should know Wild Ginger. I have loved their food since my first visit nearly 14 years ago. My favorite dish has always been their 7 flavor beef and I usually have to have their sichuan green beans. I was inspired a couple of years ago to try and replicate the dish in my own kitchen. And low and behold…I came up with a pretty darn good dish.

I start with some bacon slices cut into 1/2 inch pieces. I cook the bacon for several minutes. Then I add some of the frozen petite green beans from Trader Joes. I also add some shallots and minced ginger. A tablespoon or so of soy sauce, red wine vinegar and a splash or two of worcestershire sauce. A few shakes of red pepper flakes and I cover the sauce pan for a few minutes stirring occasionally. It takes about 10 to 12 minutes to finish cooking. I let the beans cook for a few minutes covered and then a few minutes uncovered to help the sauce thicken. Depending on my mood I will sometimes add a few more splashes of soy sauce and red wine vinegar.

My husband and I have made this for friends and the results have been well received. It is a well loved standard in our house…now if I could just get my kids to eat it too…oh well…that just leaves more for us.

My gift

pspringberg75 — Wed, 13 May 2009 04:42:41 +0000

My wonderful hubby gave me an amazing (and very thoughtful) gift for Mother’s Day. Check it out!

My gift

I have talked about wanting to learn to play the guitar. I have to be honest that I wanted to learn to play because I have memories of my dad playing the guitar and singing. I don’t have a lot of happy memories from my childhood…don’t get me wrong…I didn’t have a horrible childhood. I just do not have many fond memories. Growing up was just a little bit average. Not much that stands out. But I do remember my dad strumming a few chords on the guitar and us singing together as a family. I now have my very own guitar and my new project is to learn to play.

I have to fight my kids off for some time alone with the guitar though…this will be endless fun I can tell.

Linnea with the new guitar

What are you passionate about?

pspringberg75 — Fri, 08 May 2009 20:55:58 +0000

I know…it’s cliche. But this is the question I have been struggling with lately. I have been thinking of writing and blogging for some time now but have found it difficult to find a rhythm. I have been researching how to build a better blog and there is an overwhelming amount of information out there…even more if you are willing to pay. My fundamental stumbling block is what to focus on. I used to really like (easy now…don’t go over board) my corporate job. Lately however with the downturn in the economy, I have found myself having to reconsider spending the next 30 plus years sitting here, at a desk, working for someone else. The saying about trading time for money has really hit home for me.

I find ways to distract myself though. Like reading blogs. I started with My Marrakesh. Her photography and writing really stuck with me. Then I started checking out all her linked blogs and then to their linked blogs…you get the idea. But how to track all those wonderful blogs with all those wonderful pictures? My bookmarks became a tangled mess. Finally…I jumped in to the RSS feeds. Why didn’t I do this before? Intimidation. And it turns out to be super easy. I use Google Reader now and I LOVE it. I get to read all these amazing blogs from one easy page.

I digress…back to the point. I am passionate about living a balanced life. Things are not in balance now. I want more time with my husband, kids and friends. I want to make more money than I spend so I can maintain our (modest) lifestyle and afford a vacation now and then. I love to cook and eat. I love to learn and gather information. I love design and pretty things – hence my subscription to 40 design blogs. I covet items but have little money to spare to obtain them. Sigh…now how to combine all of the things I love, that make me happy, and share them.

Pause while I think.

Finally in Technicolor

pspringberg75 — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 01:03:34 +0000

After 15 months of living in our wonderful new home, we finally added some color to our walls. Easter day seemed like a good day to get it done. A quick trip to Lowe’s, a quick choice of color and away we went. My wonderful hubby prepped the room. That part seemed to take longer than the actual painting part. And it involved way more tape too.

Once the paint was poured, my daughter was anxious to help. My son wasn’t interested until he realized he would actually get to use the brush and roller. They had fun and really did help.

Just a couple hours later and wow! What a difference. The color turned out great. There is still plenty of white with the windows and the molding. Now I can’t wait to paint some more.

A twist on comfort food

pspringberg75 — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 12:23:52 +0000

Chicken soup is good for the soul they say. But plain chicken soup just isn’t my style. So I make a curry version instead. Rice noodles, spinach and any other vegetables I feel like throwing in…this time it was broccoli. It makes a huge pot so I can bring it for lunch for a couple of days. Cooking it is actually a breeze too. Some hot water for the noodles, throw in the spinach. Saute some onions, spices, add the broth and the coconut milk. Simmer for a few minutes and voila! My kids laugh when I eat this soup…I guess I tend to slurp and make “mmm” sounds.

www.helppetercook.com

pspringberg75 — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 02:58:52 +0000

A friend of my hubby’s from high school recently started a cooking challenge website. I won’t repeat all the rules here but you can find them at www.helppetercook.com. My hubby thought this would be a great chance to try out our cooking skills and give him another opportunity to take some pictures. So, Peter, here is our entry for Week #10 Recipe Challenge.

Salmon, Pasta with Asparagus and Pears

1 cup brown rice penne pasta
8 to 10 spears asparagus
2 – 3 cloves garlic, chopped
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Butter
2 wild salmon fillets
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 anjou pear, sliced 1/2 inch thick

Cook pasta in salted water according to directions.

Lightly coat the asparagus with olive oil. Add salt, pepper and garlic. Cook in the oven at 425 degrees for approximately 10 to 15 minutes depending on the thickness of the stalks.

Season both sides of salmon with salt and pepper. Preheat 10 inch oven proof fry pan on medium – high heat. Preheat broiler in oven on high. Add butter to coat bottom of the pan. Place pears sliced side down around the edge of the pan. Add salmon to center of pan. Cook for approximately 3 to 4 minutes on first side depending on thickness of fish. Flip pears and fish. Cook for 2 minutes. Sprinkle brown sugar over fish and pears. Put fish under broiler for approximately 3 minutes until brown sugar melts.

Cut asparagus into 2 inch sections. Stir into finished pasta with 1 tablespoon butter.

I think we did pretty good for our first time. We used the Tinkyada pasta which was delicious. The asparagus was great and the pears were perfect. And here are the results. My wonderful hubby took the picture.

As a bonus, the meal is gluten-free…

Making it work

pspringberg75 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 04:51:44 +0000

One of the hardest things to do is make leftovers work…at least for me. So when something works I have to celebrate. We had some leftover beef and I turned it into some really fabulous fajitas. Some onions, peppers and carne asade seasoning…yum! I look forward to repeating this one again.

My fajitas

You win some, you lose some

pspringberg75 — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 04:59:06 +0000

My last attempt at risotto was pretty good for a first timer. The sweet potatoes were good but it wasn’t over the top fabulous. So I tried another recipe. This one was also from Real Simple but I was disappointed with how it turned out. It didn’t look appealing (lumpy green mush anyone??) and it didn’t taste any better than it looked. I can’t even post any pictures cause it was so unappetizing. But I have to admit that I’m glad I tried it. I threw out the recipe though…wouldn’t do that again.

Better luck next time!

Tonight’s Recipe Part II

pspringberg75 — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 03:19:25 +0000

Tonight's recipe

I made my first risotto from scratch tonight. I had a couple different recipes and I let my husband pick which one he wanted me to make. He chose the Sweet Potato risotto. It turned out pretty good. I think I added too much parmesan cheese at the end and not enough salt and pepper. So not bad for my first attempt. I am already looking forward to the next time.

Tonight’s recipe

pspringberg75 — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 18:42:37 +0000

I love to cook. In the interest of finding things that make me happy, I have returned to planning out a couple of meals a week. I never plan more than three because there are always left overs and we are focusing on not wasting those. So, tonight’s plan is to cook some flank steak my wonderful hubby marinated and to make a risotto. I have never made risotto from scratch. I saw an episode of the Barefoot Contessa (who I love) and she made it look easy. Then I got an email a day later from Real Simple with several different risotto recipes. Tonight I am going to make the sweet potato risotto. I’ll be sure to post the results. Can’t wait!