Beef and Bean Chili with Pickled Onions

 

Are you a recipe tweaker? I'm a reformed recipe tweaker, formerly taking creative license to swap this for that, sometimes altering a recipe so much that it no longer resembled the original. I exercise more restraint these days, honoring the work that had been dedicated to develop recipes. However there are still days when I stray a bit. This recipe is one of them. Inspired by a popular recipe on one of my favorite blogs Healthy Delicious's Beef Bean Chili with Pickled Onions, I took what was an elegant chili recipe made with beef stew cubes and red wine and boomeranged it back to a more traditional and humble bowl of beans with ground beef and beer.  It would be ironic to call it creative since I may have reverted this chili back to its predecessor, but the result is quite good (as is the original) so a new recipe is born.

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9 Months

Dear Alex,

Last week marked your nine month birthday.  What have you been doing up it? After weeks of stubbornly resisting it you have started to crawl. The crawl was similar to a drunken inchworm wobbling his way on branch, but has grown more fluid recently. And it hasn't stopped there, you've started to pull up, climb, and open cabinet doors.

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First Snow of 2012

Our eyes dazzled this past weekend as we woke up to a fresh blanket of snow that was lofty enough to take our little boy on his first sled ride. Watching Alex squeal in excitement over the winter wonderland warmed our hearts to the ethereal quality of snow, it's quieting effect, the peace that hovers over the ground it covers and its novelty no matter how many times we've been dusted by this magic.  

Minestrone Soup

Rustic, comforting and wholesome, minestrone is an Italian vegetable stew traditionally composed of any vegetable in season. Since there is no set recipe for this soup it lends well to personal adaptation. Still you can count on seeing a couple of ingredients to show up in most versions of minestrones: cabbage, carrots, onions, zucchini, tomatoes and beans. In the recipe I chose, a medley of vegetables are flavored by bits of pancetta and thickened by pureed creamy white beans. Although, you can skip the pork entirely and use vegetable stock to make it a vegetarian recipe. If you have parmesan rinds (I save them in the freezer) throw them in with the vegetables to create depth and infuse flavor, just don't forget to remove them when the soup is done.

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Split Pea and Smoked Ham Soup

I'm having a hard time believing that we are in a new year. The demarcation of 2011's end and 2012 beginning feels unsettlingly hazy to me. For one, the weather seems to have done one gigantic leap from autumn straight into spring here in the northeast, confusing the rhythm of the seasons. The days also seem to blur too but I blame that on chasing down an obstinately overactive infant from dawn to dusk. And for some reason I'm having a hard time committing to a New Year's resolution.  Have you made a New Year's resolution? And what was it?

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Up, Up and Away to San Francisco

This year has been the first of many for our sweet little boy, but traveling has been by far the most exciting of these novel experiences for our family. Our first trip was to San Francisco to introduce Alex to friends and family. I've heard horror stories of babies crying for hours on end on planes so I was expecting the flight to be tearful and exhaustive, and possibly ending with my head stuffed between my knees from the shame of bringing chaos into an already uncomfortable situation. 

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Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a healthy, happy and delicious 2012 filled with miracles.

My 2011 will be remembered in much the same way as the previous three years have been noted for big life changes. Only 2011 brought the biggest life change I've experienced yet: the birth of a very special child, my first one. It will also be noted for a couple of personal challenges and a move from one of the densest cities in the world to a quiet suburb in Pennsylvania, much like the one in 2009 which took me away from San Francisco. Perhaps the biggest lesson 2011 has given me is to hold the reins more loosely on this wild ride we call life, one that I have not fully embraced, but should because every step has taken me to a happier place. What 2012 has in store for us, I don't know, but I'll look forward to savoring every moment of it one day at a time. 

Moroccan-Style Meatballs to Ring in the New Year

Did everyone have a nice holiday? There's still one big celebration around the corner, and the question is how will you ring in the New Year? Will it be a glamorous bash streaming with glitter and bubbly champagne? Or will it be a quiet evening made special by the company of good food and the ones you love?

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Christmas 2011

Yes Santa, I do believe I have received the best present I could have asked for.

Happy Holidays!

Wishing everyone a blissful holiday and new year!

Dear Alex

Dear Alex,

A couple of months ago your father asked me how I viewed you. I replied, "I still look at him as our friend, he's just hanging out with us until he can take care of himself." Clearly I was trying to be funny, but there was more truth than comedy to my answer. Motherhood did not happen to me overnight, it had to mentally grow on me.

Over the past few months I've been surprised by the tenderness that has come over you. The sleepless nights, colic and crying has been replaced by sweet giggles, loving hugs and drooly kisses. My heart swells just thinking about it. What I find most riveting is the way that you look at me. The way that you cry inconsolably until you reach the comfort and safety of my arms. The way that your face lights up and legs kick with excitement when I walk into a room. It's more than a friendship. Somewhere along the way we fell madly in love with each other and that love has only deepened and from what I understand this bond is irreversible.

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Dark Chocolate Mousse

Plush and dark, chocolate mousse is a melding of contrasts, bringing together the decadent lusciousness of whipped cream and the overpowering austerity of bittersweet chocolate. The addition of strong coffee augments the irresistible earthy flavors of this chocolate mousse. If bittersweet dreams could be a good thing this would be it.

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Pursuit of the Perfect Traditional Pumpkin Bread

On a recent visit to a small farmer's market in town, my husband's eyes lit up to a glorious orange row of pumpkin breads, and instantly sweet memories of spiced aromas emanating from his mother's kitchen were inspired. Excitedly he picked up two loaves, hurried home, cut off a slice and with much anticipation he took a hefty bite. Memories of the warm, moist, pumpkiny, spicy bread were quickly siphoned as disappointment fell across his face. So dry was the bread that he wondered whether it was stale, and the pumpkin was so indiscernible that it could have passed as zucchini bread. 

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