Hiatus

The hiatus is officially over, that is until the next one begins. I've been extremely busy in my time off; mainly being pregnant and having a baby. A beautiful baby girl who will be one in nearly a month. Time sure does fly.

I've been absent mostly because I've had a hard time carving out free time for myself. I've had ideas, don't get me wrong. I've even implemented some of them -- painting the nursery, making prints for the baby room, painting the foyer, sewing some blankets, etc. Despite these small victories, my creative brain has been on hold.

Well, hold no more.

Given that my time is limited, I've decided to plunge back into things while also crossing items off the "to-do" list. We need to eat. Our weekdays are nearly impossible when it comes to preparing meals. Despite the fact little one is now eating all solid foods, pm and I just don't dedicate our time on meal prep.

For my last big (ahem, ahem) birthday, pm got me a great gift. A gift that in theory should keep on giving. A cookbook -- and not just any cookbook -- Julia Child's cookbook. I highly doubt I will Master the Art of French Cooking, but I am going to try one recipe at a time. I am also not just going to do it from this book. We have lots of cookbooks and recipe cards that just never get used. I tend to earmark and collect the ones that have beautiful pictures; but I think what attracts me most about Child's cookbook is that the art is very limited.

I want to try to make recipes and then photo document them. On the menu tonight--since baking is my therapy, I needed a little break and we have 6# of blueberries in the house--I have decided to make Clafouti aux Myrtilles (aka Blueberry flan). We'll see how it turns out. Both the flan and my little plan.

Bon Appétit!

seafood gnocci***

It's cold, windy and snowy out. Dinner needs to be warm, hearty and healthy. Cue in seafood gnocci.

It is my goal within the next couple of weeks to empty out our freezer, cupboards and fridge. I want to start over fresh with all new foods. I feel like we stock pile things and then never end of using them. I mentioned that one of my resolutions this year is to eat more healthy foods. This will have to start in the kitchen, and has to start with a clean slate.

One a first glance in our freezer this evening I was already overwhelmed. Mostly overwhelmed by the amount of frozen fruit that is in there from past trips to the Maxwell Street Market. I am well aware that emptying our the freezer will involve a ton of baking in the next few weeks. I am up for it.

Although, I'll save the baking for another day, another post. I wanted a filling dinner tonight to beat out the winter blues (and what they are saying will be the worst snow storm of the century...). I'm calling this a Trader Joe's dinner because almost all the major ingredients (***) came from there.

I did not write down the recipe (I never do when I cook). Here is my best guess at ingredients:

-whole wheat gnocci***

- frozen seafood mixture (shrimp, calamari, etc.)***

- onion***

- garlic***

- fresh tomato & tomato paste

- butter

- splash on Vino Verde*** (one for the sauce, one for me)

- fresh parmesan cheese***

- herbs & seasonings

Do have any foods that you prefer to eat when the weather is cold & blistery?