running with tweezers

6 + 24 = 32

Ah, Birthday Week. It's here. Ever since I was little, I have truly enjoyed my birthday. Except for a couple mental days around my 30th, which I completely deny but my friends all confirm...birthdays have never been about getting old. They've been about just simply making it through another year happy and healthy.

This year, the birthday festivities got off to a rocky start. Quite frankly, I don't know why. I've felt...off. People are being really demanding of me emotionally - and seemingly unnecessarily. Things with my dad's health are stressing me out (even though I'm not letting on that it's bugging me that much). My initial plan for my fabulous birthday dinner went down the can in a big way. Suddenly, my birthday was feeling a bit like an anvil hanging around my neck.

I spent a quiet weekend keeping to myself and having TamiTime(tm). Still, I couldn't shake it. Resorting to what usually makes me feel better, I went for a long walk. My route, which is what I run every day, has lots of hills and dips and turns. In the early evening, the breeze was blowing...the leaves were rustling a little bit. The soundtrack to everything swirling around in my head. Sorting through all of the things that had been bugging me for days.

As I came up over the top of this hill,  I was knocked back a few steps by a familiar smell I had smelled a million times on my run: magnolias. My mom loved magnolias - almost as much as stargazer lilies. All of the memories of my birthdays with my mom came rushing at me. We always used to have an adventure on my birthday...and of course, it had to do with food. The year we laughed over the white bean soup with truffle oil at Brasserie Le Coze (rip) after "accidentally" spending too much on new underwear. One year, we went to Bacchanalia for crab fritters and chocolate cake at lunch...and then went back that night for our reservations with my dad. We never told anyone - until now.   

On the eve of my second birthday-without-my-mom-oh-goodness-how-do-get-older-without-your-help, I sat down on the steps in front of the local school and cried and cried. Thank goodness for summer break.

In her way, as she always does, my mom was the thing that kept me grounded. Focused on what was important. I should have known that she'd be there for my birthday...and she'd be the one that helped me get my head out of my ass on this special day.

I'm looking at life today with a different set of eyes than the ones that have been staring glumly around her the past several days. What's to be all down about? I've made it another year, right? I'm 32...and my boobs and butt stick out more than my stomach. Woo! I have a steady and decidedly unglamorous yet wildly fulfilling career as a food stylist. I eat well. I drink good wine. I laugh a lot. I have amazing people in my life that have been around for years and years and years - even though we don't talk as much as we should, I know they're there. This past year in particular, I've been so fortunate to meet a host of new friends. Although whatshisface gave me a little drama this year, I'm spending time with someone who puts a little twinkle in my eye again.

As always, I have a host of Birthday Week festivities planned for the next couple days. So, while *I* won't be short on food and good stories, this blog will. I'll be back soon enough trying to be healthy and repent for my birthday week sins. Thank you to everyone out there who has sent me such nice birthday wishes and - on the other 364 days of the year - supported me and this blog and gone through the journey with me. Here's to another year, whatever it brings.

image found on google.com

on the waterfront

I'm just tickled to finally be able to post about this recipe...and the great stories that go along with it. I have started writing a regular column for Atlanta Cuisine, a sort of online foodie gathering place here in Atlanta, called Deep Dish. Every month, it's going to be a mix of dining adventures and cooking at home. A study in what inspires what. Which came first: the restaurant or the recipe?

For the first piece, I was blown away by a dish I had during a spectacular meal on vacation in St. George Island. A tasting menu at Avenue Sea in Apalachicola that rivaled any meal I've had here in town. One dish stood out in particular: clams with chorizo, lemon, and paprika oil. I came home and immediately tried to replicate it - with my own little twists.

You can read the entire story about how this dish came to be here at AtlantaCuisine.com. The recipe is posted at the bottom of the article in its entirety. Please feel free to leave feedback there or here on the blog - whether you're a resident of A-town or not!

in the raw

It's hot. Outside, that is.

Here in Atlanta, we experienced a bit of a heat wave last week. When I say a "bit" of one, I mean it was unbearably hot that I had a hard time leaving the house. When its 90 by 10 am (!!!), my reverse seasonal disorder kicks in and all I want to do is lay around. If it's too hot for me to put clothes on to go to the grocery store, you know darned well it's too hot to be actually cooking anything.

Thankfully, I am a huge fan of cold summer soups. Gazpacho, in particular. My mom always made it and when I was younger, it was just one of those weird foods. As I got older, I started to appreciate the depth of flavors and its versatility more and more. While I love the pureed, thinner kind...my mom's version was always a little chunkier, so that's my preference.

I ran across this version on-line and was intrigued by the addition of barley into the soup. I've never had gazpacho with anything but veggies in it. The barley added some oomph to the soup, made it more filling while still allowing it to be light and refreshing. I didn't use the canned spicy tomato juice, choosing instead to add my own Tabasco and spices. I also substituted a fresh seeded jalapeno for the canned ones. It was delicious the day I made it but I highly recommend letting the flavors stew and percolate together overnight.

Chilled Barley Gazpacho Soup - adapted from a recipe originally found here

• Three 13-ounce cans low-sodium spicy tomato juice
•   Two 14 1/2-ounce cans chopped tomatoes and juice
•   2 cups cooked pearl barley (see note)
•   1 cup peeled, seeded and chopped cucumber
•   1 cup chopped red bell pepper
•   1/4 cup chopped cilantro or Italian parsley leaves
•   1/4 cup chopped green onion
•   1 tablespoon chopped canned jalapeno chilies
•   1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
•   1/2 ripe avocado, peeled, seeded and sliced

Directions:

Cook's tips to help in preparation: To seed cucumber, cut in half and   use a small measuring spoon to scrape out seeds. Your gazpacho may be prepared   ahead and refrigerated — in fact, making it a couple of days before serving   allows the flavors to blend better — but do not add avocado until serving   time.

To cook pearl barley:
In medium saucepan with lid, bring 3 cups water to a boil. Add 1 cup pearl barley;   return to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 45 minutes or until barley   is tender and liquid is absorbed. Makes about 3 to 3 1/2 cups. Place any extra   cooked barley in an airtight container and refrigerate or freeze for up to one   week. For best results, bring cooked and chilled barley to room temperature   before using.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except avocado. Cover and refrigerate to chill. When ready to serve, ladle into soup bowls and garnish with avocado slices

eat your vegetables

Everyone has their secret shame, right? I'm not talking about those photos from the 80's or the fact that you like Kenny Loggins. I mean a food secret shame. For some, it's Spam sushi - or Spam anything, for that matter. For others, it might be that late night (or early morning) 4 am run through the Krispy Kreme drive through. Then there is that lot of you that puts mayo/ketchup/mustard on everything. Weirdos.

My secret food shame for a long time was Brussels sprouts. I had them as a kid every so often growing up but they were always, umm, the frozen kind. I, like everyone else in their right mind who has had a frozen Brussels sprout, had been scarred just a little by that experience. As a teenager, though, I started getting into food and had them roasted in a very nice restaurant. Cabbagey but not - not to mention how cute they were - and caramelized and sweet from the roasting. I was hooked and have eaten them ever since. The problem is that many people think they don't like Brussels sprouts but haven't had them prepared in a modern and loving way...so when I say love Brussels sprouts, it's often met with an "Eeew."

This recipe will change your mind about Brussels sprouts, I promise. If you already like them, you'll love this. I wish I could tell you this recipe is more complicated than it is...but I whipped this together in about 10 minutes. Rustically cut, chiffonade the leaves or use a mandoline to shred the sprouts - I think it looks better and more rustic if some of the leaves are chunky or left whole.

A quick thing I did before putting the salad together was to pour semi-hot water over the shreds, leave for a minute, then drain off. Immediately after, I rinsed them with cold water to make sure they didn't wilt too much. That minute in the warm water softens them just a bit without boiling or steaming them & risking getting mushy.

The creamy Ricotta Salata makes this salad with a creamy, salty counterpoint to the veggies. If it's not readily available where you are, good quality feta will work, as well.  This dish is just screaming to be paired with a piece of grilled salmon.

Brussels Sprout Salad - serves 2 as a salad or 4 as a large side dish

• 1 pound of Brussels sprouts - washed then shredded/chiffonaded
• 2 tablespoons good quality extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• Juice of 1 lemon - Meyer lemon if available
• sea salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 4 oz. ricotta salata cheese, crumbled or sliced into 1 oz. portions

- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the mustard, olive oil, and lemon juice. Taste before you season with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. When seasoned to desired taste, toss in well-drained Brussels sprouts. Toss thoroughly to coat with the dressing. Plate salad and top with crumbled ricotta salata (or feta) or lay slices on top if you're doing it that way. Served immediately.

bits and bites

While I am working on some new recipes - a couple great salads! - for the blog this week, I am gonna make sure all of you out in blogville know about some things that are happening!

- Jugalbandi is dedicating the current edition of Click - an online photography contest - to raised money for Bri over at Figs with Bri. She has been fiercely battling cancer and the contest is doubling as a fund-raiser to help counteract her staggering medical expenses. You can take part in the photo contest - with the color Yellow as the theme - and make a donation here.

- If you haven't been over to MeleCotte, a food blog run by Chris, you should do so! She has started pastry chef duties at a local restaurant here in Atlanta...and has been chronicling the trials and tribulations of getting her tasty desserts off the ground. I will be meeting up with her tomorrow (we live in the same city and have never met!!) to take some shots of her creations.

- For those folks in Atlanta, I wanted to make sure you knew about a very special wine dinner happening at Ecco, one of my favorite spots in town. The Fresh Flavors dinner will be happening on June 24th at 6:30 pm. The vegetarian tasting menu will be paired with wine for $50 per person. I have made reservations for this as my birthday dinner - well...the dinner on my actual birthday!

- Please be my friend! Running with Tweezers (and myself) are all over the Internet! We want to get to know you. You can be my friend on Facebook (we even have a Running With Tweezers group!) or Myspace. I take lots of photos - of food and otherwise - which you can see here on Flickr. Lastly, you can also take part in all the fun banter and "tweeting" by following me on Twitter - there are a lot of great food bloggers using the service.

one potato, two potato

Remember that whole song and dance about trying to watch my carbs? Well I had one trip to the beach and that went right out the window! How can you have a Memorial Day holiday and not eat...well...carbs? Buns for burgers and sandwiches. Cookies and baked goodies. Potato salad. 

I have to say that I have a certain amount of snottiness and nostalgia about potato salad. No one could make it as well as my mom could. Her recipe? Some globbed up concoction of eggs, mustard, mayo and plain 'ol russet potatoes. Was it very good? Looking back, I'm not so sure...but that's how she did it so that's the way it should be!

This past holiday weekend, I made two different kinds of potato salads. The first was the Mesa Grill potato salad, courtesy of Mr. Personality - Bobby Flay. It was so spicy and complex and delicious. However, when all of the ingredients were combined, it looked like a CSI crime scene photo. It's definetely one from the "Looks Like Crap, Tastes Like Delicious" files!

The second batch was a Jamie Oliver recipe that I have been wanting to try for some time. I saw him make it on his show a long time ago - throwing handfuls of herbs and seasonings together all helly-nelly like. It was so loose and full of really fresh flavors. It seemed like it would be such a light and original version of what i consider to be a very heavy dish. I was right - the creme fraiche and the lemon just barely coat the potatoes. I just seasoned it with herbs and lemon zest to taste and added some dried red chili flakes for occasional heat. Some words of wisdom: be prepared to re-season after it sits - it seemed to soak up the salt and pepper as the flavors melded together.

Jamie Oliver's Purple Potato Salad - serves 6 - recipe originally found here on JamieOliver.com

• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• juice of 1–2 lemons, to taste
• 250g crème fraîche or fromage frais
• 500g baby new potatoes
• 500g purple potatoes
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• a bunch of radishes, finely sliced
• a handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped
• a handful of fresh chives, chopped

Make the dressing by mixing together the olive oil, lemon juice and crème fraîche or fromage frais. Cook the potatoes in plenty of boiling salted water for around 20 minutes until tender, and drain well. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, rub off the skins with a knife and slice into bite-size pieces. Mix with the dressing, then add the radishes and herbs and season well to taste.

the great scape

With 10 days between posts on this blog, some of you might be wondering where I've disappeared to. No, I didn't fall into a tequila and sugar induced coma after the cupcake post. I've had a shoot for the past week straight and - right during the middle of the first day of it - I got the creeping crud. I've still got the remnants of it, 10 days later. It seems like everyone I know is sick, which is odd being that it's MAY AND ALL. Yikes.

I haven't been cooking much but I did manage to use up some garlic scapes that I had purchased at a local farm stand. I hadn't cooked with them before so I was interested to try it.

Garlic, as some of you know, has lots of health benefits including preventing the common cold and flu. So, in the name of both cuisine and medicine, I tried out a garlic scape pesto. I topped little toasted crostini with a spoonful of the pesto and then added some balsamic and basil marinated heirloom tomatoes. It was tasty and powerful - the next day, someone on my shoot asked what I ate with garlic the night before. Oops! This pesto would also be great as a sauce for pasta with some grilled protein along with it or as a quick brush of flavor on grilled vegetables.

Garlic Scape Pesto

• 6-7 garlic scapes, chopped
• approx. 1  cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup grated parmesan or asiago cheese

Combine garlic scapes and oil in a food processor and pulse until semi-smooth and well-mixed. Slowly add cheese until you achieve the desired consistency.

having your cake and boozing it, too

"I can't wait until you get over this healthy food phase of yours...and start blogging about things like bacon fried in duck fat covered in chocolate again."

Those words were uttered to me in an IM last week by a friend and reader of this blog. The words "healthy food phase" came across loud and clear - I could hear the hiss of those three little words all the way over the Internet. I get it. Sheesh!

Yes... I do tend to focus on healthier things here on the 'ol blog. My natural tendencies and cravings lean towards veggies - along with cheese and bread but that's not important here.  Especially when cooking for one, I tend to do simple dishes, salads and easy pasta dishes.

That having been said, every once in a while, I get the hankering for something sweet. While I think the whole cupcake thing is a little overdone at this point, I do make a mean one. I have seen friends of mine eat six or eight in one sitting. In the car. Right after I hand them the box. My specialty is chocolate cake with a whipped, airy vanilla frosting. They're pretty spectacular, if I do say so myself.

For Top Chef Wednesday this past week, a group of us got together to cook and watch the show. The theme? Belated Cinco de Mayo. It was the perfect occasion to surprise the group with cupcakes, something I hadn't done in a long time . I wish I could take the credit for this one...but I can't. I blended two different recipes together to make the cakes - a vegan cake recipe and a decadent cream cheese frosting to top it.  The light cake had nice tangy taste...but for me, the cake is really just the vehicle for the frosting and this recipe did not disappoint - creamy, rich and not too sweet. 

Margarita Cupcakes - recipe originally found here:

1/4 cup lime juice
1 1/2 tsp lime zest (1 lime)
1 cup soy milk (plain or vanilla)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp tequila
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

- Preheat oven to 350F. Fill a 12-cup muffin tin with liners.
In a large bowl, mix together lime juice, lime zest, soy milk, oil , tequila, vanilla and sugar.
In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to lime mixture and stir until just combined. Divide evenly into muffin tins.
Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed.
Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting - Makes about 3 cups icing - recipe originally found here:

•     8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
•     1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
•     2 tablespoons key lime juice
•     1 teaspoon key lime zest or lemon zest
•     4-5 cups confectioner's sugar

-In large bowl, cream butter, cream cheese, juice and zest with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add 4 cups confectioner's sugar, one cup at a time; continue beating until light and fluffy. If icing is too thin add additional confectioner's sugar 1 tablespoon at a time

keeping it raw

More raw(ish) meat on my blog! I promise this won't become a running theme, either literally or figuratively. I just had to post this recipe - I made this for a shoot a few months ago and now I've been coming back to it in my head for days now. I'm sure it's the combination of still being in beach mode and having Cinco de Mayo coming up today.

While I was on vacation in St. George Island, we were inundated with fresh seafood.  Fresh shrimp purchased from the side of the road and made into a shrimp cocktail lunch. Huge, plump raw oysters and steamed crab legs at the dive-y raw bar around the corner. It was just incredible...and it's a way I would like to eat all the time. While I do live in a major city and have access to all varieties of foods, the freshness of local seafood is something you just can't replicate - even when you pay $17.99 a pound for it at Whole Foods.

A really easy way to have that brightness of flavor and the ease of a warm-weather dish is ceviche. When I made this batch for the shoot several months back, it was the first time I had made it myself. I love ceviches of all sorts but always had trepidation about balancing the acid and the heat and all of the flavors in between. Those fears were truly unfounded - it couldn't have been easier.

I love calamari/squid in my ceviche, so I added that to the cod fillets I used. While this recipe makes a LOT of ceviche, you can easily cut it down and eyeball the amount of lime juice or acid you use to "cook" the seafood. You can also easily adjust the heat by amping up or minimizing the peppers. Add a glass of crisp white wine and some Saltines to this and you've got a divine (not to mention low fat and - without the crackers - low carb) summer meal.

Ceviche - recipe originally found here at Cooks.com

• 3 pounds of catfish fillets (any whitefish, fresh or saltwater will do, or some shrimp may be added.)
• 3-4 medium tomatoes
• 5-6 Serrano peppers
• 1 onion
• 24 limes
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 cup cilantro (finely chopped)

- Dice fish into small pieces approximately an inch in size. Place in large plastic or glass bowl - it doesn't need to be shallow.

- Using a lime juicer, add the juice of all 24 limes. Marinate for 1 to 1-1/2 hours in the refrigerator. Dice onion, tomatoes, and Serrano and add to the fish mixture. Stir in salt and cilantro. Cover and place back in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to mix.

We use this for parties and family gatherings. Recipe may be made smaller by reducing ingredients to half or one third of original quantities.

Remember to use 7-8 limes per pound of fish. The bottled lime juice may be used, but it will not yield the same result. It adds a concentrate sweet/bitter flavor to the dish and is not as good as fresh squeezed.

P. S. The "juice" of ceviche is called "Tiger's Milk" and is thought to increase virility and cure hangovers.

Thanks to Tony Clark for sharing in this amazing meal we made that day and for taking such beautiful photos of it, as usual!!!

no tears for the chickenhearted

It's quite amazing to me...the power of this blog. I've shared so much of my life here on these virtual pages. I've allowed so much of myself to be exposed here. Sometimes, it's a conflict for me because this blog is so interwoven with me as a person..as well as my professional life. Last year, though, I made a vow to myself that I would continue to be myself here on Running With Tweezers. The stories that I share here are part of who I am. Part of my evolution as a person. They make me stronger and better, in all aspects of my life.

In a few posts as of late, I've eluded to major life changes going on...but I've been too afraid to talk about them. Afraid because a big part of me wanted to take the "Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman with a Blog" approach (which so isn't my style). Afraid because I felt embarrassment and silliness. Afraid because it was so personal. Not anymore.

Remember me talking about The Boy? He disappeared. Vanished. The last words I heard from him were I love you. Never to be heard from again. I know he's alive...at least in the physical sense. He left me and our relationship with not so much as a goodbye. A magical year of closeness, love, trust, humor, and adventure...dismissed without a word. To say that I was shell-shocked and stunned would be an understatement. I've done my grieving, believe me.

That was weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks ago. 

Now I sit...on the deck of the vacation house I've been at for the past week. There were little random raindrops falling on me as I wrote this post in my head, dotting my glasses. Those weren't tears. No tears for the chickenhearted. No fury. No anger. No vengeance. What I feel is pity. Sadness. I feel sorry for him. I look at this life of mine - every aspect of it - and it is pretty glorious.  Relationships end. People and feelings change - it happens all the time. That wasn't the hard part. It's the disrespect for the time we spent together and for me as a person. It was the ultimate in cowardice and deception, two things I have no room nor tolerance for in my life. Ever.

This week that I have spent away - after all of the drama and several weeks of crazy work schedules - has just reinforced what I already know and have known all along: my world is such a wonderful place. To be invited into my life - and the lives of the people I know - and be able to share it is a prize. I look at the photos I've taken in just the past few months...all of the experiences and memories I've made in just that short amount of time...and I am truly blessed.  Truly.

So this post isn't about him. This post is about me. Those words are now better spent describing the joyous and wonderful things in my life, most important of which are the people I know. I leave my vacation with my heart full, thanks to my dear friends who were with me, either in body or spirit - Stephen, Alex, Tony, Mike, Michael, J-ko, Deana, Clint, and Susy & Martin. The support of my new network of friends and colleagues that I have made through this blog: Kalyn, Barbara and Bron and many others. To everyone that takes the time to read this blog and share in this journey with me, thank you.

I will be back in Atlanta tomorrow, rejuvenated from a long couple of months. I'm inspired to no end. I'm running again. Taking lots of photos. Feeling joy and happiness. As much as I have loved being here in St. George Island, I look forward to being back with my friends and putting all of this positive energy to good use...some of which will be channeled into this blog. I can't wait to share this strength that all of you - whether in real life or virtually through this blog - have given me. I can't thank you enough.

Also, thank you to Victoria who let me use her photo in this post. I couldn't have expressed it any better myself. She makes rockin' jewelry...you should check her Etsy profile out here: Experimental.