Eat Like a Rabbit

Three of the magazines I subscribe to: Parenting The Early Years, Parents, and Bon Appetit, had falafel recipes in their March 2010 issues. (Sorry, only Bon Appetit seems to have their recipe on line.) Is this some special month or just falafel screams "SPRING!"? Either way, the stories brought back great memories of our research of "The Best Falafel in the World" when we were a couple weeks away from a trip to Paris last year. The difference being, we are in Sunny Florida and no where near the Stravinsky Fountain. I knew I just had to give one of the recipes a shot.

After a little comparison, I chose the Parents recipe, and was quite happy with it. Just for kicks, I may try the others. . .or I may track down someone who has a secret ingredient that will make it out of this world.

Please excuse the dent in the can. My overly-packed-not-sure-what-I-will-be-hungry-for lunch box isn't the safest place to be sometimes.

We learned about these drinks at this year's PumpkinFest. (Sorry, no story, yet, but you can access pics on Paul's Flickr account.) Anyway, then another friend shared that they were available at Costco. I asked Paul if we wanted some and he said "Sure. I like anything made by Pellegrino." For about $14, I brought home 24 cans of flavored water--12 orange, 12 lemon. I took an orange for lunch.

My opinion: I thought aluminum foil over the top of the can was fancy, I also thought it might be a waste. However, the scientist in me wondered if it kept the top of the can cleaner, which I know can pick up dust and dirt so easily. At the moment I don't have the energy to take the study any further. The taste was nice, and I thought it wasn't as sweet as soft drinks, which I don't drink because I don't like sugar water. In fact, I wondered if people who need to wean themselves from soft drinks wouldn't benefit from the orange-flavored water. Again, I don't have the energy to do that research myself, especially since these will only be a luxury in our house. We just don't do soft drinks.

Honestly, I'm happiest with a bottle of straight Pellegrino.

Sometimes, the photos of a meal go up on flickr before I get around to posting the story behind it. Our dear friend, Brent, had the kids by himself over the weekend while Lisa, his wife, was away with her family. Brent saw our picture of the Mexican Pizza, guessed how to make it, and made one for the kids. He said Kyle liked it, and he loved it. Apparently, Elena wasn't so sure about it. Therefore, I can actually post the opinions of this dish beyond our household. The first photo was from our dinner and the second is from Brent and the kids' dinner. Notice that Brent had mushrooms and bell pepper on the top of his pizza. The options are endless!

Recipe for Mexican Pizza

• 2 Burrito-sized Flour Tortillas
• 1/8 onion, sliced
• 1/4 small bell pepper, sliced
• 1/4 cup sliced black olives
• 1/3 can Fire Roasted Tomatoes
• 1/3 can Refried Beans
• 1/2 cup (more or less) cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place one flour tortilla in the center of a jelly roll pan (I like a pan with edges so juices don't run). Spread refried beans over the tortilla. Lay the onions, bell peppers, and black olives around over the beans and top with one layer of cheese (optional). Place second tortilla over the toppings (like a quesadilla), and top with the tomatoes and additional cheese. Bake in oven 7 minutes or until edges are brown and cheese is bubbling.

You can locate the Gourmet recipe for a Dutch Baby found in the April 2009 at the Gourmet.com website. I wanted to try the recipe for weeks before I finally had the time and energy to work on it. Paul really enjoyed it. He said his mom used to make them on special occasions. I can see why. It is a bit of work. But it's worth it to see him smile. Notice in the photo how it puffed up in the oven? I took a big spatula and smushed it down cause I wasn't sure what it was supposed to look like, but I was pretty sure that wasn't it. I would like come up with a better way to store it than just in a giant Ziplock in the fridge. I haven't made it again yet, mainly because there are so many recipes to try, I rarely get back to them unless they are easy and I always have the ingredients around. But, I'm glad I made it at least once. FYI: I did use low fat instead of whole milk cause that's what I had. Don't see that it was a problem.

I learned about Grom during my pre-Paris meal researching online from David Lebovitz, a popular reviewer of Paris dining. True to recommendations and reviews, Grom was beyond fantastic.

Previously, I have made this soup and loved it. I'm not sure what went wrong this time around, but we weren't as excited about it this time. So I will probably be spending my time trying new soup recipes, which makes a lot of sense when it isn't cold that often in Florida. So many soups, so little time! However, I think the mixture of flavors is still creative and fun for those with more experienced taste as the egg and lemon are quite unusual. For people who have more calendar time to eat soups that warm the inside, I think the creation is worth a try from your own stove.

I picked up a sore throat earlier this month, and Paul was so helpful. He said it was time we used some of our own herbs to make tea. Before our herbs had matured, we purchased a variety of teas at Publix. It being Florida and generally hot around here, we don't regularly drink tea. So, we do tend to have an excess of herbal teas lying around. This Sunday morning, Paul made our tea from scratch. He started with enough water for two mugs full (about 2 to 2 1/2 cups) and boiled it in the microwave. Meanwhile, he filled a tea egg with dehydrated herbs I had taken fresh from our garden and put on our dehydrator.

Our good friend, Garrett Nudd of garrettnudd.com has an opportunity to be promoted from guest photographer to guest blogger. Garrett also has his own blog (garrettnudd.net), which is so exciting, it needs no guest writers.

We had a fantastic and enjoyable Christmas Eve Dinner.

I really had a hard time finding a simple and appealing recipe for tabouleh. I finally found an excellent one. I served this as a series of "dips" for a buffet meal to a group of 20. People asked for the recipe when it was over and I overheard one educated individual say "That green stuff is good, too." Tabouleh and a hommus side went well with warm un-pocketed pita bread. I noticed a good number of people making sandwiches out of it.

Just in time for a Labor Day feast, we acquired some fresh corn on the cob and a recipe from foodnetwork.tv for lime cilantro butter to spread over the corn before wrapping in foil and roasting. The product was wonderful. I think that result was fabulous, even if not exceptionally healthy with the large amount of butter.

This is where the internet comes in really handy. I have rarely liked artichokes and never had a desire to learn how to cook them. But Paul wanted one, and I gave him leeway to purchase and cook it himself. He trimmed the tips off of the artichoke and put in a spaghetti pot with enough water in the bottom to boil and steam the vegetable.

This recipe is from "Moosewood Cooks at Home". It recognizes that lemon juice in a pasta dish sounds odd, but we enjoy it. The recipe does call for spaghetti, but we had bow tie and enjoyed it just as much.

In short, you saute the zucchini in oil and garlic, add lemon juice; pour the mixture over cooked pasta, mix in a shreaded white cheese (we chose Asiago) and serve. My favorite part is where I can add fresh basil from our herb garden. I like to make harvesting the herbs my husband's job so he feels like he is participating in the preparation of our food.

Compliments of "Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home," this is by far my favorite soup recipe ever. I love how the broccoli did not overcook to that darker, nearly brown color--even after sitting a while. I used purple onions and orange bell peppers to create a true variety of color pleasing to the eye and to the taste buds. The color of the broth comes out a rather bright yellow when the egg and lemon are added. I feel you could easily skimp a bit on the egg and do just as well. I chose to use brown rice and was very pleased with the results, but it's nice to have a variety of options for cooking.