Lic's house dressing

I don't think I've had too many urgent cravings, Joe might disagree. But last Wednesday I had a hankering for a turkey sandwich from Lic's with extra house dressing. Wednesday was also yet another day so crammed full of work activities that I didn't really even have time for lunch. Joe offered to pick some up for me and so I sent him on the mission for the turkey sub with no cheese or mayo and extra dressing. Poor guy, first time it came with cheese and mayo and no dressing. He sent it back. Second time it came on buttered toasted bread with no cheese, no mayo and no dressing. That's what he brought to me.

No dressing? That was the ingredient in particular that I was craving. So I refused to eat the sandwich, like a pouting 5-year-old. I made him hand over the reciept, and declared I would make Lic's make it right.

By now it's 1:30 p.m. and the hungry pregnant woman's wrath and determination is mounting. I stopped at the deli on my way to another assignment, in the New Era car. A couple of Lic's employees were sitting outside the building on break. One of them jumped to her feet and ducked in the side door as soon as I lugged myself and the faulty sandwich out of the car.I must have looked a little cross.

Anyhow, I got the sandwich I wanted with extra dressing and was offered cookies to assuage my grief :) After covering my assignment I parked myself on a park bench and enjoyed a belated lunch before rushing back to the newsroom.

Pattypan squash in three ways

Tuesday I stopped at the Founders Square farmers market at lunch. Rossneau Ealom was selling pattypan squash 3 for a dollar. They were so cute, I couldn't pass them up. He also had asparagus, strawberries, scallions and greens.
Tonight I decided to cook each squash differently. First we have Italian style with egg and cauliflower. Then dredged in flour, salt and pepper and sauteed. Then stuffed with bread cubes, itself, cheese and a little ham.

New birds

Joe is rather fond of the new bluebird pair, especially the mom becaues she will often stay on her four eggs even when he peeks through the little round hole into the box. She peeks right back.

I got this shot today when she had already gone for a little bug break.

New blooms

Just thought I'd share these blooms with you all. All four of my African violets are blooming now. This one was given to me by Emily Chappelear last winter.

lunch at work

Today was nonstop...had to eat lunch at my desk, but at least it was a good lunch :0)

Thai Taste in Cincinnati

Last weekend Joe and I went to Cincinnati for the Flying Pig Half Marathon, which both Joe and Jack were running in. Now, I didn't take a single picture of the race or the city or even Jack and his lovely girlfriend, Oriole, who is here from Australia. But I did manage to get shots of our lunch at Thai Taste restaurant, where they let your choose your spiciness on a 1 to 10 scale. I enjoyed the (spice level 4) panang curry-- it tastes very much like Urbana's Siam Terrace panang, but it is served with steamed brocoli rather than crunchy just-cooked greenbeans. I liked it immensely. I was only sorry that I couldn't finish it all.
Oriole had the green curry, which also looks pretty yummy.

That evening, we enjoyed a hot homecooked Italian meal at the Stehura's, where we all stayed. Joanne made shells and cheese, spaghetti and meatballs, a salad with lots of finely chopped veggies and bread twists with cheese and Italian seasoning.

For dessert, we played Blokus and ate some milk duds. The next morning, the brothers Parrino got up at some ungodly hour so they could be at the starting line for the Flying Pig before 6:30 a.m.... and that's Eastern time, so for Joe it felt like 5:30.

Thanks to confusing mapquest directions, odd road signage and the lack of a map, Oriole and I got an accidental grand tour of the city, as well as neighboring Covington, Ky. I think we traversed all of Cincinnati's bridges: the gray one, blue one and yellow one in our quest to get to the finish line to see them cross... alas. We got to the finish line and a gigantic sea of sweaty people clad in running gear and metallic plastic blankets. Then my cell phone rang and it was Joe, calling from the parking lot.

We did manage to meet up with them in said parking lot. By some strange miracle, we ended up parking three cars down from them.

Joe and Jack made excellent time, finishing the 13.1 mile race seconds apart in about 1 hour and 43 minutes.

showing off

As of Monday I'm 26 weeks along. Appetite is hearty, and I feel like my stomach is giganto, but I suppose it doesn't look too scary in these pictures Joe took on Tuesday.

Frugal sushi and japanese salad

After sleeping half the day away, I woke up and realized there were things in the kitchen that needed to be used and that I could use most of them to make a japanese meal.

Those fishy catfish nuggets? I toasted them with garlic teriyaki marinade and sesame seeds to try to simulate the fried eel that's too expensive for me to buy, even though I really like it in sushi.

Half a cucumber? Perfect for sushi and for salad. Eggs? To make tamago.


Carrot sticks? I grated them, then mixed them with ginger, vinegar, sugar, miso, and soysauce to make that salad dressing they serve at Japanese restaurants.
I must say, I'm in love with my Cuisinart hand stick blender... which I used to make the dressing. Tina Wang has inspired me to make my own baby food. I don't have a food processor, but I think this gaget will do the trick.

Individual chocolate banana bread puddings

I was feeling frugal and decided to make a bread pudding to get rid of some old dinner rolls and a spotty banana before we go on our trip this weekend.
This is a Rachel Ray recipe that I didn't follow very well:

12 slices of white bread, toasted (I used the dinner rolls and two whole wheat white heels)
3 bananas (I used one fresh, 2 frozen)
1 T butter
2 T brown sugar
1 cup milk (I used half soy, half joe's milk that's about to expire)
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
10 oz chocolate bar, broken (I used cocoa powder, and what few chocolate chips were left in the bag)

Caramelize butter and sugar, add bananas. Whip eggs, milk, vanilla. Toss bread with mixture. Let set 10 minutes. Add banana mixture. Add chocolate.

Scoop into muffin cups, bake for 25 minutes at 350.

They came out a little firm... I would have cooked them slightly less or added more liquid for a gooey-er texture.

Tortilla soup at the Chappelears

Emily and Ryan had us over for lunch last Sunday... where we dined on Emily's 5-ingredient chicken tortilla soup and quesadillas. She used chicken broth with garlic, canned tomatoes with mexican seasoning, frozen pepper and onion mix, rice and chopped chicken.

Quesadillas with pepper jack and cheddar. Mmmmm.

Very veggie pasta

I keep making this for Joe and I.

1 box salad spirals
1 pkg frozen spinach
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 onion
5 mushrooms
1 zuchinni
And whatever other vegetables on hand.

Saute all veg with a little garlic salt. Boil spirals and drain. Toss with olive oil, vinegar, a little sugar, parmesan cheese.

Serve warm or cold. Yum!

more cookies at work

These cookies actually came before last post's cookies. I made them from a recipe in "Another Serving"... yet another Kentucky cookbook sent to me by a publisher.


Here's the review I wrote for the New Era:

Title: Another Serving: The Kentucky Monthly 10th Anniversary Cookbook What’s inside: As with other southern cookbooks, “Another Serving” offers up dishes replete with down-home comfort and calories. But amidst the cheesy dips and creamy casseroles there are a few healthful surprises like Fat-burning Cabbage Soup on page 30, Grilled Veggie Burger on page 100 and Faux Potatoes on page 122, which uses pureéd steamed cauliflower in place of spuds.
The recipes range from formal, such as Crème Bruleé French Toast and White Asparagus Vinaigrette with Country Ham Crumbles, to fit for a backyard barbecue, such as Beer Can Grilled Chicken and Fried Green Tomato Sandwiches. None of the
recipes run over a page and most use common ingredients, or offer substitutes (such
as beef for the bison meatloaf on page 64.) All the recipes come from select
food columns in Kentucky Monthly magazine,which celebrates 10 years this year.
How it looks About every third recipe in the 122-page perfect-bound book contains a full-page color photo, usually cropped in close to show the details.
In the kitchen: Several of the recipes require only a handful of ingredients and often use packaged convenience foods.
Paula Cunningham, the cookbook’s publisher and compiler, calls the recipes in the book “embarrassingly easy,” and I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I was
able to make these cookies from page 176. To avoid too much bingeing, I cut the recipe in half. Also, I didn’t have selfrising flour on hand, so I used 1 ¾ cup all purpose flour and 3 teaspoons baking powder. They came out crunchy, but light
and not overly tough on the teeth. I usually go for the soft and goey cookies,but I like the variety of textures that the coconut, cereal, oats and nuts bring to these hearty cookies.

Great Crunchy Cookies
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1 cup vegetable oil
1 ½ cup oats
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
3 ½ cups self-rising flour
1 cup Grape Nuts® cereal
1 cup coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Cream butter and sugars together in a food processor or mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, oil, oats, vanilla extract and salt and mix well. Add 1/3 of the flour and mix. Continue adding the remaining flour until mixed well. (You may have to transfer it into a larger bowl and mix by hand with a large wooden spoon.) Add the Grape Nuts®, coconut and pecans. Pinch off the dough and roll into quarter size balls. Place dough balls on an ungreased baking sheet and press down with a fork or with your hands. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool and store in an airtight container. Makes 6 to 8 dozen and can be stored in an airtight container for two weeks or longer.

Where to get it: The Pennyroyal Area Museum gift shop and Books on Main carry the cookbook, which sells for $21.95.
— Review by features editor Emily Parrino

cookies at work

So I've been insanely busy lately... not by choice. Spending more time "Feeding the Beast" (that's the blank pages of the features section which I'm obligated to fill with words and pictures 6 days a week)than myself and the little stinker.

But I did have time between keyboard clacks to snarf this bag full of oatmeal/almond meal/flaxseed/chocolate chip cookies.

Per Tina's request... I'll try to think of what I did to make these...
I think it was 2/3 cups oats, maybe a scant tablespoon of flaxseed, 1/3 cup almond meal, 1/2 cup flour (sorry Tina, these probably won't work for your family... you might want to try rice flour?), 3 tsp. baking powder, 1 egg, about a half cup sugar, 1/3 cup oil and mini chocolate chips... I didn't measure them, I just dumped. There was some vanilla extract in there too. Again, I didn't measure, but I'm guessing it was about 1/2 teaspoon or so? Oh, and I think I used some shredded coconut, dumped from the bag. Cooked at 350 degrees until they looked set.

For a while in Taiwan I made all kinds of things with a combination of oat and sticky rice flour. The oat flour made things very crumbly, while the rice flour was more gummy. Together they sort of approximated the texture of wheat flour goods. Pancakes, crepes and quick bread recipes worked pretty good with this mix. I think I could use straight rice flour for the crepes.

the perfect stack

Made with raw sugar, tahitian vanilla extract and eaten with trader joe's maple syrup, all presents from the waldals. :)

This week's cooking

Lentil Veggie Soup

1 cup red lentils, soaked and cooked until mushy
1 cup chopped canned green beans
1 plum tomato, chopped
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp tandoori masala
garlic salt to taste

Zucchini Bake from East West Mennonite cookbook

3 big zucchini, grated
1 cup mozzarella
2 eggs
2 Tbs flour
1 tsp baking powder
salt and pepper
Baked at 350 til browned and firm

Couscous with pinenuts from a box!


Spicy Spinach Chicken - another Mennonite recipe

It's really great to have a cookbook with Indian and Bangladeshi recipes along side things like pumpkin cream cheese rolls. The book this recipe came from was written by well-traveled Mennonites who live in Bangladesh.

2 onions, finely chopped
2 Tbs garlic-ginger paste (made by mashing up fresh garlic and ginger)
4 Tbs oil
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cayenne pepper
chili peppers to taste (I skipped em)
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 lb spinach, thawed and drained
1 chicken, cut into pieces

Cook the onions in oil until fragrant, then add garlic, ginger and cook a minute. Then add spices and yogurt, cook until oil separates. Add spinach and stir for a few minutes. Then add chicken and stir until chicken is browned. Turn heat to low and cover. Cook until chicken is tender.

I served it with couscous and a side of plain yogurt, remembering how our friends Alina and Satnam always had "Dey" with their spicy meals.

Pound cake and good reading

Lots of people have asked me if I've had any pregnancy-related cravings. I don't think so... I've been trying to eat lots of fruits and veggies and avoiding processed foods, but I do get a sweet tooth from time to time. My cravings rarely go unanswered. I was just craving a dessert when there was a knock at my door and my good friend and neighbor Saya dropped off a hunk of homemade apple pound cake.

I warmed it up and covered it in cool whip (yeah, I know that is the epitomy of processed foods) and sunk my eyes into my newest care package from our aunt Mary Alice.... who sent me a green baby book and two pregnancy mags. What a treat!

Visit from the Waldals

Yeah, I'm horribly late, as in two weeks late, in publishing these pics from when Bryce and Emily came to visit us in Hoptown. They came on a Friday around lunchtime and then after eating Chinese dumplings, we headed to Coffee And... for dessert and drinks. Then we twisted their arms (idiom doesn't really work when you make it plural, does it) to stay the night so they could get up bright and early and have plenty of time to stop at the Cincinnatti IKEA before returning home to Cleveland.
Here's Bryce making a really rich chocolate dessert... just like the good ole days at Magnolia House.


And Emily, waiting patiently and working on their taxes.
she's not too sure what she thinks about me taking a picture of her with the pad thai :-)After eating dinner we trooped over to the New Era to bring Joe some dinner and dessert. We ate the super rich chocolate cakes in the KNE kitchen.

Dancing through the daffodils

This weekend we visited LBL with Joe's folks and brother. We really get a kick out of this 60s style scene.


I made a prettier version of Salade Nicoise than my usual. This is a hybrid composed, mixed salad.

Breakfast at Beau's

Saturday morning Joe, Matt, Tasha and I walked over to Beau's apartment for a country ham breakfast. Beau, you might remember, is the one who treated us to venison sausage for breakfast in a previous post.

Country ham is anything but health food, but our nutrition conscious host squeezed as much of the fat out of it as he could. It was very tasty with biscuits and eggs.
Incidentally, Beau is also a rap artist who came up with the extremely catchy rhyme "Turn off the Tube, Get up and Move."

Pre-pad thai jam session

Two weekends ago we had some familiar faces in town for the Ignite conference at our church. Joe and I like to tell people that we have instruments at our house so that when other people come over they can play them. Matt, Tasha, Greg and Shane put on an impromptu concert while they were waiting for lunch... pad thai with chicken,shrimp and tofu. Sorry... I didn't photograph it. But we ate it all in one sitting, so that should tell you something.

Well, I survived the sight of shrimp and raw chicken and the aroma of fish sauce and garlic. So morning sickness must officially be over. YAY!

New restaurant, new car, new news

Last weekend Joe and I drove up to Effingham, IL, to meet my parents for lunch at Firefly restaurants. I had the massaman curry noodle bowl, which was big enough to provide two meals of leftovers. We also gobbled up a "hummus snack" appetizer... the pita was warm and tender, the veggies fresh, the hummus thick and homemade, and the tiziki and swedish mustard were really nice touches. We all really liked the Swedish mustard with the hummus. Sorry, no photos of that, we ate it too fast.

The reason we met up with my folks was to get our new car... a 30th birthday present from my very generous parents. Having a second car has already been a great blessing because even though we work at the same place, it always seems we need to go in two different directions.

One of the places we took the car to was the doctor to get my first ultrasound. So ...the first Parrino baby is a boy!
Here's some interesting grainy photos. A little scary, but I like the open mouth picture (already waiting for his first real taste of something) and his little foot.


Oh, and of course we brought back lots of goodies from the chicago burbs. This is a cinnamon loaf from Jarosh's bakery.

Moody, but not very foody

Time to explain my 2 1/2-month hiatus.
Lately I have been very moody, but not so foody. I figured no one really wants to read about my exploits in crankiness or my complete lack of cooking, or even most days desire for eating.

Well, if you haven't heard... I'm 4 months pregnant. I've got afternoon and evening sickness. Can't stand the smell of hot sauce, fried things, vegetables, garlic, gasoline (not that I'd have to eat that!) and eggs.

I have been eating some things. And I do have cravings from time to time... like for pumpkin cinnamon rolls, which I made yesterday evening with an unusual burst of energy. I've been trying to ration out 2 cinnamon rolls per person per day so they'll last all week. Joe of course is seeing that I stick to my declaration.

Arizona outback

We went to Arizona from Feb. 8 to 11 to visit Nan and to soak in a little sun and seem some friendly cacti. Like this one, which we found while on a private Jeep tour.
Here's my mom, looking cute. Dad, tour guide Jim and Nan are in the background.
There was this little pink cooler sitting under Jim's seat the whole time. I assumed it was his personal snack.
Turns out it was a tarantula, which Joe insisted I photograph while he held it. Not close enough, he says.

Arizona food

First stop after getting off the plane: lunch at Lerua's mexican restaurant for some green tamales and horchata. The tamales were the right flavor, but unfortunately mine had a bunch of corn husk mashed up in it, making the texture seem like I was eating cream of wheats with a cup of shredded paper in it!

Horchata-- a mexican drink made from pulverized white rice, cinnamon and sugar. Hit the spot! Notice my small, dad's medium and Joe's large horchatas.

Another meal we had was at a Japanese buffet.... we got there about 15 minutes before the buffet was supposed to end, so we got all our food at once. Pretty good, for a buffet.

Very belated Timmons

Sometime in December.... all the way back in 2007, the New Era newsroom had a staff holiday lunch at Timmon's downtown. I wasn't entirely plussed with my meal, so I didn't photograph it. However, Danny Vowell was exceedingly happy about his Hot Brown.