Pollen season is upon us, and it is never fun for those of us who have allergies. The streets and walkways (and cars!) around my area are all yellowish-green from all of the pollen, and opening windows at home can be dangerous.
In May, it’s a sense of new beginnings: yes, trees are spreading their pollen, causing sneezle fits, but there’s the good stuff as well! Patio and deck furniture comes out, starter plant herbs and veggies will be planted in pots and the ground, dads (and maybe moms!) will start cutting the lawn, flowers start appearing, kids will be walking across stages for their graduations, and anyone who hasn’t bravely stood outside in snow storms for the past five months will clean that grill, fill the tank, and start grilling!
While I can only grill indoors on a grill pan, I’m still looking forward to doing so. So what are you thinking of tossing on the gas or charcoal fire? And don’t forget the marshmallows for S’mores!
I’m getting a desire for some Hawaiian style Kalbi ribs…I have some flanked cut ribs in the freezer and all of the makings for some marinade…I just gotta do it.
Well, we are half out the door to our annual Berlin adventure, which always, ALWAYS happens to be around white asparagus & chanterelle season — two foods I absolutely adore. They show up on all the restaurant menus, but we usually buy ours at the market & prepare both at home: more bang for yo buck. Plus there are plenty of restaurants making amazing food we couldn’t make nearly as well, so I’m also really looking forward to our favorites, like Henne for fried chicken, Les Valseuses for fab steak frites, Tossakan for fiery Thai, and Wen Cheng for cumin lamb pulled noodz
We’ll be in a nabe we’ve not stayed in for the last 15 years (!), so it’ll be great fun exploring what has changed & discovering new places, and we’ll be closer to two of our favorite markets (one of them a Turkish market along a gorgeous canal), the Turkish hood, and many of the Greek places that all seem concentrated in the SW (we were in the NE for the last 15 years).
We also already have visits planned from friends here and elsewhere, and greatly enjoy showing ‘our’ city to them
The new car I bought a few weeks ago, but have not driven, was covered in yellow green pollen the other day. I haven’t seen a bloom like this in years. Peculiar to me is I don’t see where the stuff has come from. I’ll have to take a walk in the woods to check it out.
We grill outdoors year 'round. May 5 is coming up and I’m planning on fajitas this year, done on the grill. Big surgery is coming up later this month and I have to wind down on some of my favorites
On-call dinner at desk. Homemade sandwiches on wholemeal rolls - one filled with tiny prawns sauteed in butter with freshly ground black pepper, rocket/arugula, the other filled with hot smoked salmon and rocket.
Pasta alla Pecorara from a Milk Street recipe - you cook zucchini, eggplant and bell peppers until soften. In parallel, you cook orecchiette and also cook pancetta, onions, carrots and garlic slow and low to get nice porky flavors. You add some crushed tomatoes, marjoram and pasta water to the pancetta mixture, reduce it a bit and add the vegetables, pasta, basil and parmesan. Served with a larger dollop of ricotta
ChristinaM
(Hungry in Asheville, NC (still plenty to offer tourists post Hurricane))
9
I made Melissa Clark’s Shredded Tofu with Spicy Ground Chicken and Edamame. I used grapeseed oil instead of sesame for frying and added oyster sauce, chopped mushrooms, and a little agave nectar and subbed garlic chili sauce for some of the Sriracha. We thought it was pretty good. With lettuce leaves, leftover brown rice, and Sichuan smacked cukes.
Loosely followed the outline of Rick Bayless’s Grilled Asparagus in Pasilla Cream Sauce and made Shrimp and Asparagus in Ancho-Guajillo Cream Sauce, drizzled it with more chile oil, and ate it with tortilla chips in front of the tv. IPA for him and Sauvignon Blanc for me!
Busy day @casa lingua: serious house cleaning, laundry, last minute purchases, catching up with my sis on WA, and giving our house / chonk sitter a tour of our abode.
My PIC took our Prius to the body shop for an estimate on how to pass inspection. They made us an offer we had to refuse, so it looks like we’re gonna hafta say buh-bye this summer. It was a good 18-yr run!
Most of our friends and downtown have their power back, hallelujah! — but outliers may have to wait until Sunday late night (!). Awful.
As for WWFD: after two nights in a row of saying good-bye to friends (you’d think we’re never coming back ) we were very happy to stay in & enjoy a quiet night — especially with yet another cocktail hour we’re invited to tomorrow early eve
I steamed the rest of a package of har gow & a few mini XLB and made my usual dipping sauce/s: soy sauce, chili crisp, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, ginger for the har gow, black vinegar with a blob of frozen Dorot ginger (the horror!!! for the XLB — but we had no fresh ginger in the house, and I was most certainly not going to run out for some. Thankfully, we survived.
Freezer cleanout. Leftover chicken-zucc meatballs in a garden marinara, served over spaghetti with homemade pesto. Every kind of cheese I could dig out of the fridge: mozz, gruyere, parm. Cukes in vinaigrette to go with.
Salad for me tonight - shredded cabbage, a tin of Great Lakes Smoked Whitefish (a gift), tomatoes, scallions, Japanese sesame dressing, and a hearty sprinkle of yuzu sichimi (the latter two my Japan haul, and added after the pic). A delight!
The BF made himself fried rice with chopped up fried chicken leftover from last night’s Krispy Krunchy Chicken dinner (a store opened 3 blocks from our apt. - Pray for us.) I had a bite - tasty!
Honey garlic chicken, NYT recipe. I used blsl chicken thighs. Stir fried carrots, bok choy, oyster mushrooms, leeks, garlic and ginger in oo & sesame oil. Snap pea, radish, cucumber, cilantro salad, nouc cham dressing. 'Twas delicious. There was also a very good cocktail.
Short ribs were on sale this week, so low-and slow four-hour short ribs, mashed potato with butter and EVOO, haricots with roasted red pepper and artichoke hearts. Lipitor.
) we were very happy to stay in & enjoy a quiet night — especially with yet another cocktail hour we’re invited to tomorrow early eve 
for the XLB — but we had no fresh ginger in the house, and I was most certainly not going to run out for some. Thankfully, we survived.
