Who knows where thoughts come from

How many people, do you think, on average, take a dog, cat or other pet to work on "Take Your Child to Work Day?"





...I didn't get this from it, but do you remember when SNL had Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy? Or when it was funny?

AhEeeOooo Killer Tofu

So, I've no pictures of my own to share, the one above is courtesy of epicurious dot com (one of my favorite sites ever). But I made this last night. Well, a version of it. And let me tell you, this was surprisingly phenomenal.

The tofu is made very simply.
Drain one package of firm tofu. I pressed it with paper towels before slicing.

Then slice the long way into 8 pieces.

Let rest on and covered by a paper towel for about 10 minutes.

Spread both sides of each slice with about 1/4 to 1/2 cup total of whole grain dijion mustard. (I did not use nearly so much as is shown in the picture) Let rest for a while - as you prepare the other parts of the meal.

To actually cook the tofu, I used a sauce pan I had just finished making crispy shallots for this recipe (sans bacon drippings). Bring the burner to medium heat and let the pan heat a bit. Then lay the slices in the pan in a single layer, cover. Cook like this for about 2 minutes per side, so the tofu browns a bit and is heated through.

Enjoy!! I know I did. Seriously. I could not get over how good tofu quasi-marinated in mustard and seared tasted. This will definitely have to be worked into the regular rotation. Possibly with some mustard-roasted potatoes I saw over at my fav food blog (but have yet to make).

Since I obviously followed a different recipe for the greens but still wanted the sweet potatoes - I basically replaced shallots (since they were in the greens) with the onion, halved the amount of onion, ginger and lime juice. The sweet potatoes caramelized a bit on the outside.

All the flavors from the two? three? dishes still blended so well. A little brown rice on the side topped with a few shallots, some gastrique and a splash of soy sauce rounded out our plates.

Can you tell I'm loving my farm share? Can you tell I'm excited for Whip It Up?? Remember this?

Adventures in Cooking ^2

I'm about to embark on two adventures in cooking - simultaneously and separately. And I couldn't be more excited.

Adventure 1: Whip It Up! 2009
The gauntlet has been laid down and challenge accepted. Some of you might have even noticed a little icon on the right side of your window.

I've been invited to join a weekly cook-off. From what I understand, the only hard rule is that it has to be a new-to-me recipe. I also believe that each week we'll be given a style or foodstuff to work with to aid in narrowing down the vast world of culinary possibilities. Whilst cooking, I take pictures. After cooking, I put up the recipe, pictures and thoughts about the recipe. Oh yeah, and something about was it actually any good? was it easy? and would I ever put myself through it again?

Sound fun? Want to join in the merriment? Check out the link here. All you would ever hope to know about it... or at least who to ask if it's not posted. Seriously, you should sign up.

The fun begins on June 28th. And hey, added bonus.... I'll actually be posting weekly!

Adventure 2: Produce!!!!!!
Back in January, a friend and I signed up to be part of a farm share this summer. What this means in someone other than me works really hard all spring, summer and fall to seed, grow, nurter and harvest lots and lots of fresh produce, all for my our enjoyment. (all of my efforts so far have proved entirely fruitless veggieless. [see what I did there?])

Tonight I pick up my first share! I cannot wait. I don't get any say in the goodies I get, so the adventure part is no meal planning.... and probably lots of entirely new produce. That means new recipes, new ideas, new flavors, new new new. To be honest, I sort of love that Whip It Up! has corresponded (almost) with the beginning of this adventure in produce.