Cheese Board Dinner

sourdough bread

gouda cheese

aged cheddar

gala apple

cherry tomatoes

spinach

spanish olives

mushroom

And the world's tiniest cheddar-apple sandwich!

House Dinner: Olive Bruschetta, French Toast & Eggs, and Various Grazings by Core ---

Cooking for Bean, for real

With the anticipation that last night's dinner-independence brought on, I decided to try my luck with a complete take-over of pizza preparations. The dough, which I have little experience with, was:

1/2 package rapid-rise yeastdissolved in

3/4 c. water

Bean started this when he got home from work (before me), which is the only addition he made to the meal.

When this had activated, I added:

3/4 c. bread flour

3/4 c. white flour

sprinkle cornmeal

sprinkle salt

sprinkle sugar

~ 2 tsp garlic spice mix

2 spanish olives, chopped

a bunch of olive oil

My measurements are lackadaisical, as always (I do apologize). We watched Fawlty Towers and then I added to the top more olives, a tiny mushroom, some basil leaves, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and lastly some freshly-grated Parmesan.

It was so beautiful before it went in; perfectly square and dotted with color.

But my inadequacies with the pizza peel caused the whole thing to tip onto the stone, causing a meltage breakdown in the oven. That's how the finished product ended up more like this:

Red White Yellow

I was going to post pictures of all of my lunches from the past week, but was forced to conclude that they would likely look unappealing to the masses.

For some reason I was struck by the beauty of the colors and shapes in this one.

tomato

hardboiled egg

garlic-stuffed olives

spinach

rosemary sourdough

blue cheese!

Bento Box!

I bought a Bento box for $3.00 online the other day. I've taken to packing my lunches (sandwiches, veggies, fruit, leftovers, nuts, etc.) very tightly in a single container to conserve space, and lately the idea of the Bento box has been intensely intriguing. This one is small; 4 1/4" x 3 1/4" x 3 1/2", but you can stuff a pretty good amount of food in there.

My lunch for tomorrow:

1/4 leftover pesto pizza

garlic-stuffed olives

spinach / green beans

mango pieces

raisins

HEALTHY? TRU DAT!

(Not Quite A) Vegetable Enchilada

I visited Bee this weekend at her school, and we spent glorious hours playing celtic music with two beautiful friends. When we stopped, hunger struck, and we hurried to the dining hall. Here I snuck fresh vegetables into my bag to bring back to school with me. It's called a budget, people, and living this way is tough -- taking chances on sour milk and risking the wrath of the hawk-eyed lunch ladies. But the payoff is divine! This dinner used the vegetables deliciously.

1. Fry wheat wraps in olive oil on high heat.

2. Make a pile in the center of:

spinach

cucumbers

broccoli

green olives

green pepper

onions

feta cheese

3. Roll up and put in baking pan; cover with shredded Parmesan cheese.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or so, until cheese is melted.

They were a strangely filling meal, which I did not expect. And vegetarian! Although we are assuredly not.