Excuses

Dear Tia Fia-
My mom always told me to never make excuses. "Nobody cares", she'd always say as I'd tried to tell her why my room wasn't clean or my homework wasn't done, "Just get it done." So, while composing this entry, my internal maternal voice keeps rolling her eyes and yelling "NOBODY CARES" as I want to write, "but I didn't feel good", "my tummy is upset", "I feel so icky" in defense of my infrequent updates. It seems necessary to explain that I wanted to write, but just wasn't able. Because no excuses are forthcoming the only way I can adequately explain is to illustrate:




I've looked exactly like this for the last five weeks.

Although, there may be a light at the bottom of the toilet. I've only dry-heaved once this morning and yesterday! I had a friend over for brunch. It was an interaction that wasn't the cat or a co-worker and it was so much fun.


So, because I'm planning on feeling better this weekend I'm going to make Pozole and can't wait to post the recipe here.

Let me know what you've been cooking, what you're doing for Halloween, and how you're Dallas trip went ( I hope the cougars didn't eat you and muss up their hair).

Love,
T

P.S. Did you get yourself that chocolate bar and trashy magazine(s)?

That's What She Fed

Dear TT,

I love knowing that you, too, bribe yourself into productivity. So far today I have tried to appoint myself the future recipient of fancy lotion, an evening with J at Richmond's new hot spot, and $20 worth of new books. All to no avail. You see, by 7:15 tomorrow morning, I am supposed to be on a plane to Dallas to attend a family friend's wedding.

That's not going to happen, now. Because this is as far as I've gotten in packing:

That's right. Two saris. Both of which I will presumably wear without a blouse, underwear, shoes, or makeup. Apparently I will also not brush my teeth for three days, nor will I wash my face or brush my hair. As far as hanging out in Overdone Cougar, TX during the day? I've recently decided to become a nudist.

Why is it so hard to make oneself do things? I hate packing because of all of the stupid, little, necessary things that need to be accounted for. Deodorant. Night clothes. OPTIONS. I did anything I could today to avoid the tedium of packing: wandered the aisle of Target fingering Tweeny fashions I will never wear, got my entire face waxed and threaded, watched Peanut move half an inch in one hour, stalked my friends on Facebook, and considered just how creatively my mother is going to use curse words in her native Bengali when I call her to say that I can't make it to the wedding. Because I just. Couldn't. Finish. Packing.

The fact that J isn't home this evening because he has a soccer game doesn't help - normally I might be shamed into packing by his presence. Instead, I'm picking at my nails, shaking my head at celebrity fashion, and writing to you. At least I made dinner - though to be honest, that in and of itself was yet another form of procrastination.

We're at the end of our grocery supply for the week, so I could have made either peanut butter and black banana sandwiches, or something with canned tomatoes, rice, and turkey Andouille sausage. Since J gags at the thought of any kind of peanut butter miscegenation, I opted for the latter:

That's What She Fed Jambalaya

1 10-oz. can diced tomatoes
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 yellow onion, chopped
1-2 tbls olive oil
a little butter
2 c. long-grain white rice
1 12-oz. packet of turkey Andouille sausage, cut crosswise into thick slices
2 cups chicken stock
1-2 tsp. cayenne pepper, or other spices of your choice
1-2 tsp. smoked paprika

Heat olive oil and a little butter in a pot over medium heat. Brown sausage, about 4-5 minutes. Drain sausage on a plate covered with a paper towel. In the remaining fat, cook onions, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, and cook for a minute longer.

Dump tomatoes and chicken stock into pot, then stir to combine. Add spices, and cook for a minute longer. Add rice, then turn the heat up to high and bring mixture to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 25 minutes or until rice is cooked through. Add sausage to rice mixture and stir.

I made a big pot of it so J would have something to eat both after his soccer game and this weekend. It turned out not too terribly, though I had to doctor my serving with Sriracha and the last little bit of pepper jack cheese left in the fridge.

It is almost 9 PM now, and there is much to be done. In the course of writing you, I've decided to replace my $20 worth of books to a bar of chocolate and trashy magazines to read on the plane tomorrow.

Love you,

TF

Mom To The Rescue, But I Couln't Be Saved

Dear Tia Fia-

I love that you just stayed cozy in your house all weekend. I'm sure Peanut's cute cat chub is an excellent foot warmer. The past few weeks I too have been using my cats as warmers, friends and confidantes. I've spent so many hours in bed, under covers, and on the couch that I've brought our relationship (me and the cats) to a whole new level. I think that they are now considering me an honorary member of their pride.

The three of us, Leland, Pretty Girl Earl and me, are becoming so close that I've begun to find communication with humans difficult. Example- my mom calls me at about 1:15 p.m. yesterday. Instead of getting ready for work (which is what I'm supposed to be doing), I've got one cat on my head and one on my feet. Spending the last 10 minutes promising myself little gifts if I'd get up, I'd gone from ice cream to a pedi/mani by the time the phone rang. Then, when I heard my mom's voice, I started SOBBING. I know I given you no lead-up to explain the crying, but that's the point, there was NO reason for it. To account for my outburst, I blubber, "I've got all these veggies and I don't know what to do with them, they're so gross." My mom calmly asks what I've got and I'm all like," spaghetti squash, spinach, tomatoes, celery." And without even thinking about it she says,"just make a sauce with the tomatoes and spinach and cook the spaghetti squash and throw the sauce over it." And I'm all like,"that's genius" and I'm grumpy because I didn't think of it.

So- fast forward to later that night. I'm happily and with purpose making my tomato sauce with spinach over squash dish. And I'm doing the tomatoes just right, in fact tomatoes are one of the things I LOVE right now so I'm actually kinda enjoying this experience. I sauteed 3 diced cloves of garlic and then dumped 1 can of tomatoes in the pan. Then I added alot of olive oil, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. I let that simmer for awhile. After that I found some anchovies in the fridge, YAY! This stuff was tasting good. Time for the spinach. Rinse, chop, throw it in the pan. It's that easy, right?

Have you ever used spinach that wasn't bagged? F****! It needs something like laser removal to get all that dirt off. Right after I drop a ton of it in the pan and mix it in I take a bite. My heart drops- when I chew I can hear the grit grinding between my teeth. And then I make a decision. I still serve it to B.

This is how nice B is. He ate all of it and never said a word.
Ill-Fated Tomato Spinach Surprise.

1 Spaghetti Squash
3 cloves of garlic
1 can of tomatoes
glugs of olive oil
salt
pepper
oregano
basil
maybe some mint
maybe some anchovies
well-cleaned spinach; preferably bagged

1. To prepare the squash. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Poke holes all over the squash. Put squash in oven for 1 hour. Afterwards let squash sit until it's cool enough to touch. Cut longways in half. Scoop out the seeds. Then, take fork and scrape at meat in squash. It will shred and look a little like spaghetti.

2. For sauce: Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a pan. Use garlic press on cloves and saute them for about 30 seconds. Dump in can of diced tomatoes. Put your choice of flavorings in pan. Let simmer for about 20 minutes. At end toss in chopped spinach or whatever green you have on hand. Put on top of shredded squash. Voila. Dinner.

Love you. Gotta go.
T

The Breast Things in Life

Dear TT,

Happy anniversary! I can't believe it's been five years since we ate that amazing barbecue and that cake decorated with fruit and pearls at your wedding. Count on me to remember little else but the food. Okay, I do also remember how beautiful you looked in your dress, and how dashing B looked as he took your hand and walked you back down the aisle.

Who would have known then that five years later you'd be writing your sister-in-law about your huge breasts being personified by your husband as strange, possibly demonic creatures with minds of their own? Certainly not I. But now you know how I feel, carrying those damned heavy creatures around all day.

But you probably don't want to hear about that as much as you want to hear about what I cooked for dinner last night. Richmond has a known diagnosis of bipolar weather disorder, so it was of little surprise when the city's too-warm autumn mania abruptly gave way this week to a deep, wintry depressive episode.

It's been in the 40s and dreary for almost an entire week now, and in addition to Febreeze-ing my musty sweaters and (finally) submitting my Fulbright application, this weekend I've been cozying up a lot to J and the cat. They're both easy to be around, enjoy couch-sitting, like it when I feed them, and are clumsy but effective foot-warmers.

As you can see, Miss Peanut is fattening herself up for Thanksgiving. Don't her haunches look like turkey legs? Contrary to Peanut, I wanted to eat something light but filling, and I wanted to get rid of the arugula (arugula glut!) and tomatoes in our fridge that were on their last legs. Everyday Italian was the perfect go-to cookbook: Giada de Laurentiis's arugula pesto was yummy both for bread-dipping and when tossed with angel hair pasta and roasted tomatoes.

Capellini with Arugula Pesto and Roasted Tomatoes (adapted from Everyday Italian by Giada de Laurentiis)

For pesto:

2 cups fresh arugula
2 garlic cloves
1/2 c. olive oil
1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

For roasted tomatoes:

plum tomatoes, cut in half
olive oil
salt

Heat oven to 350 F. Cover a cookie sheet with foil. Toss tomatoes on cookie sheet with a few grounds of sea salt and a couple of glugs of olive oil, then place in oven for 40-60 minutes. Check on tomatoes every now and again as they might burn. Tomatoes are done when they're kind of shriveled up looking.

While tomatoes are roasting, blend arugula and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. Add olive oil while pulsing until well blended. Transfer the pesto to a large bowl, and make your husband grate the parmesan cheese into it. Add salt and pepper to taste, and stir.

Follow the directions to make the pasta of your choice. Drain, then toss hot pasta into bowl of pesto until evenly coated. Plate pasta, then top with 4-6 roasted tomatoes and freshly grated parmesan cheese. Twirl on fork. Eat. Repeat.

It didn't hurt to have snacks to nibble on while we waited for the tomatoes to roast:

All in all, it was a lovely, quiet evening, in stark contrast to this afternoon's loud neighbors freaking out about whatever football game they're watching. To answer your questions about the Fulbright: I don't know. I guess I feel something approximating relief, though that's not quite right either. Right before I clicked the all-powerful "Submit Application" button, I didn't take a deep breath, pray, or cross my fingers. I just got up afterwards and poured myself another cup of coffee.

I've decided since I don't hear anything until January 31st that either I will a) drive myself crazy worrying about it incessantly (a likely possibility, since I'm a masochist) or b) forget I ever applied until January 31st, at which time I will either be happily or unhappily surprised by an email besides the usual spam in my inbox.

Either way, I'm excited about seeing you in Philly soon - one of J's co-workers used to live there, and she's putting together a list for us of restaurants to visit. We'll take lots of food-gasmic pictures and coo about baby clothes!

Hope y'all had a good rest of the weekend - how did you make that whipped cream look so purty?

Love,

Tia F.

Happy Anniversary

Dear Tia Fia-

Did you get that Fulbright application complete? When do you hear back? I just know I'm going to be visiting you in Bangladesh next summer. I can't believe the whole process is about to be done, do you feel a little let down and depressed or jubilant?

I think I'm going to have to send B to you for the next three weeks. He positively drooled over your chili. Poor thing, every time I make him something he douses it in ketchup, ranch dressing, or Siracha. For the first time in my life, I identify with those skinny little girls that pick at their food- I have no interest, I don't care to cook and when I do I take no time with it. Yuck. Although he might be reticent to leave because my cooking isn't the only thing that's changed.

I have HUGE breasts. Tia Fia, my prayers have been answered about 17 years too late. My little shirts no longer fit (I don't think my sugar-induced tummy is helping that much) and when wearing them I look like a sausage with outrageous boobs stuck in a turquoise v-neck. Really. Then, at night, when I unleash the monsters from their too small brassiere B takes one glance at my pendulous Tatas and starts screaming "they're ALIVE!, they're Alive! AHHHH!" and runs from the room. I've convinced myself that he is only being funny.

With all the growing going on, I almost forgot that today is our five-year anniversary. For B, I'm going to pick up a bottle of wine- a habit I stopped when he knocked me up. For me, I made pudding. I planned on attempting homemade from this recipe, but with all the intricate instructions it seemed akin to the scientific knowledge needed for baking and I just couldn't handle that. So, I just picked up a box of instant in the baking aisle instead.





Anyway, I miss you and I wish we could hang out in person this weekend. Only five weeks 'till Philly! See you soon and let me know about your weekend.

Love,
Tia Tay

T-T-T-Tia!

Tia T -

Oh. My. God. Girl. I'm going to be an actual tia! Tia Fia! And you, a mamacita! I'm so excited I can't stand it. Can't. Stand. It!! Words can't possibly convey how happy I am for you and B. I wish I could be there to help make your cinnamon toast and bark orders at you to stop lifting heavy things! to lie down, because, for pete's sake, if you won't put a wet rag on your head and lie down, I'll do it for you!

Actually, being in a dark room with a wet rag on my head sounds pretty delightful. I might do that forthwith. Right after I revise! For the last time! My Fulbright application!

I've had a lot of coffee. And I'm excited about little Arroz. So forgive the exclamation points.

I love the idea of Arroz demanding food befitting childhood. I must admit, I love all of those foodstuffs you listed, and will add to them a strong fondness for slices of American cheese wrapped in plastic, microwavable packets of apple and cinnamon oatmeal, Kix, and Tang.

I have so many questions! When you wake up from your sleep binges, do you feel rested or still really tired? How long is the morning sickness part supposed to last? Are you really only sick in the morning? Would you get sick at the sight of this?

It was cold and rainy yesterday, and I could think of nothing better to do than to dust off my faded, fleecy hoodie, make a cup of hot tea, and let simmer ground beef with bell pepper, kidney beans, tomato puree, and spices while I took notes towards some new poems and worked on my Fulbright application.

Because J has a strong aversion to beans, I invited my friend Marie to help me eat steaming bowls of chili and cornbread after we both did this grueling workout class. When I tell you that I hobbled through Richmond today like a woman three times my age, I am not exaggerating.

Although apparently I didn't need Marie's help (though of course it was appreciated), since J came home from class and shockingly, SHOCKINGLY, put down an entire bowl of it. Just imagining it again makes me want to weep with gladness...

Simple Beef Chili (adapted from Cook's Illustrated)

(makes 4-6 servings)

1-2 tablespoons vegetable or corn oil
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
4-6 medium cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tbs ground cumin
1-2 tsp each of coriander, red pepper flakes, dried oregano, and cayenne pepper (more of the cayenne and red pepper if you want it spicier)
1 lb lean ground beef
1 15-oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 15-oz can tomato puree
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes (Ro-Tel would probably be tasty as well)
salt, to taste

Heat oil in large heavy-bottomed nonreactive Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering but not smoking, 3 to 4 minutes. Add onions, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, pepper flakes, oregano, and cayenne; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and add half the beef; cook, breaking up pieces with wooden spoon, until no longer pink and just beginning to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add remaining beef and cook, breaking up pieces with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, 3 to 4 minutes.

Add beans, tomatoes, tomato puree, and a few more pinches of salt; bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Remove cover and continue to simmer 1 hour longer, stirring occasionally (if chili begins to stick to bottom of pot, stir in 1/2 cup water and continue to simmer), until beef is tender and chili is dark, rich, and slightly thickened. Adjust seasoning with additional salt.

I topped the chili with pepper jack, though you could put so many delicious things in its place: avocado, fresh tomatoes, cheddar. What I loved about this recipe was how pantry-friendly it was; I only had to buy the beef!

I officially have a strong craving for cinnamon toast, so you'll excuse me. But before I attend to that, I just wanted to say that I love you, that I'm so happy for you and B, and that I can't wait to be (officially!) a tia.

Love,

Tia F.

Oohh! Baby Baby.

Dear Tia Fia-

Here's why I haven't written:

green beans = a gag.
strong cheeses = heavy dry heaving.
any type of herb = retching.
coffee= get it the F away from me unless you want vomit on your lap.
eggs, poultry, red meat= me running to the bathroom where B kindly holds my hair back while I spew all over the toilet.

We're having alot of fun now!

Because I'm, TADA( imagine jazz hands), 8 weeks pregnant. To help bring our little Arroz along, my body is raging with large amounts of progesterone and estrogen. These lovely hormones have reduced my palate to that of a five-year-old's. I only eat fruit (oranges), bread, creamy dairy products, mac and cheese, and Gatorade. Oh, and Saltines are like a gift from the Gods.

Not only have my food preferences changed, but I'm now sleeping about 16 hours a day. This morning I went on a 30 minute walk- when I got home I had to sleep for TWO hours. My new sleeping patterns are getting in the way of everything- I can't even go to the library without stopping at a park bench for a short nap.

So whenever I eat it has to be something fast and something I can stomach. I haven't eaten my Mom's cinnamon toast since I've grown up, but this morning it really fit the bill.


Mom's Cinnamon Toast
2 slices of bread
butter (enough to cover both slices)
sugar
cinnamon

1) Set the stove to broil. Spread bread slices with butter. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top. Place under broiler. Wait and check every 30 seconds. Things burn fast!

I hope you're doing well! I saw your Texas Trip pictures and it looked like you were having alot of fun. Let me know how you're doing. I promise I won't take so long to write back.

Love,
TT

P.S. You're going to be a real TIA! Yeah!

The Girl with the Most Cupcake

Dear Tia T -

I can't wait to hear about your eating adventures in California! In Richmond, it's dreary and humid, so I'm completely jealous of whatever kind of gorgeous weather you're experiencing out there.

I just got back from Texas late last week, bearing with me an unexpected present given to me by my little brother: the flu. Fortunately, it wasn't of the freakishly strong oink-oink variety, so after a few days of exhaustion and copious amounts of Emergen-C laden orange juice sucked through bendy straws, I'm finally back to my normal schedule of eating, cooking, and writing.

While I was in Texas, though, I totally made good use of my access to amazing Tex-Mex:

migas at Magnolia South


(crispy beef tacos at the new Northside Grill in Canyon Lake)

I obviously did go to Magnolia, as you correctly predicted I might, and Polvo's too, though I forgot to take pictures there because I was so overcome at the sight of my enchiladas de la casa. I also had a wonderful visit with my friend Kate and her adorable daughter, so much so that I'm officially adding baby cheeks to my list of favorite things to eat with cupcakes:

(cupcake courtesy of Flipnotics)

Though you have, perhaps rightly so, observed that I'm a horrible person to share dessert with because I eat less than my fair share, I sucked that thing down like the barbarians were upon me right after this picture was taken. Thankfully, I'm back to my reasonably sized meals, which hopefully means soon I will be my reasonably sized self again as well. With that in mind, Sunday's dinner was judiciously healthy, but tasty. I think you could do this with chicken as well as fish, though you might have to brown the chicken boobies on the stove first.

Salmon Baked in Foil (adapted from Everyday Italian by Giada de Laurentis - why does she get to eat gnocchi and be so thin?)

1 can diced tomatoes in juice, drained
one small red onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
the juice of one lemon
1 teaspoon dried Herbs de Provence (Giada recommends fresh oregano and thyme, though, which would probably be as good if not better)
salt and pepper to taste
2 salmon fillets

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir tomatoes, onions, oil, lemon juice, and herbs.

In the center of each of two large sheets of aluminum foil, drizzle a little additional olive oil. Place 1 salmon fillet atop each sheet of foil and turn to coat with the oil. Sprinkle the salmon fillets with salt and pepper, then spoon the tomato mixture over the salmon.

Fold the sides of the foil over the fish and tomato mixture, covering completely, and seal the packets closed. Place the foil packets on a large, heavy baking sheet.

Bake until salmon is just cooked through, about 25 minutes. Open the packets and take a picture:

then serve with spinach wilted in butter and garlic.

Can't wait to hear from you -

Love to you and B,

TF