Food/Drink

Small Potatoes

Photograph taken on Monday, November 09, 2020 by Henry
Small Potatoes

Small Potatoes

I’m trying to cut back on the carbs but it’s hard. If I were cooking only for myself it would be easier, of course, but I’m cooking for three, so I try to make meals that satisfy everyone’s needs. Rice is popular and I vary that by cooking plain white rice, whole grain brown rice, and a few more exotic rices, like a red rice that’s quite flavorful. I also cook potatoes and these little multi-colored potatoes are my favorite. They keep pretty well and they cook easily. Sometimes I simply cut them in half and boil them but what’s even better is to put a little oil and salt on the boiled pieces, pour them onto a tray, and put them in a hot oven for a little while until they are crispy on the outside.

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Asmar’s Rose Water

Photograph taken on Monday, February 17, 2020 by Henry
Asmar's Rose Water

Asmar’s Rose Water

I was looking around for something to photograph this evening and I happened to see this bottle of rose water. I have no real recollection of when I bought this but I’m assuming it must of been called for in a recipe I was trying. Either that or perhaps Dorothy asked what it tasted like. Anyway, it’s been in my cupboard for a long time and I’m actually pretty unlikely to use it. I’m not really a big fan of the taste. I looked up Asmar (Asmar’s Mediterranean Food) and they are a “family run business incorporated in 1997 dealing with international ethnic food products.”

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Oranges

Photograph taken on Monday, December 02, 2019 by Henry
Oranges

Oranges

I’m not sure what I can write about today’s photograph. It’s orange and they are oranges. My understanding is that the fruit was named first and the color was named for the fruit. Oranges are something of a tricky fruit. They can look perfectly delicious on the outside and be dry or mealy on the inside. Alternatively, they can look pale and unappetizing and be juicy and delicious. The only way to find out is to peel them open and give them a try. These look good and are, in actual fact, pretty good. You might say they have appeal.

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Black Bomber Cheese

Photograph taken on Monday, October 14, 2019 by Henry
Black Bomber Cheese

Black Bomber Cheese

I don’t often do commercial photos in my blog and I have no financial connection to the Snowdonia Cheese Company other than the money I spend on their cheese. We had a little, black-was coated round of Black Bomber cheese at some point and really enjoyed it. I don’t know where we got it and we haven’t seen it in stores locally. Today I found it in the new Giant grocery store in Olney. I don’t know if they have it regularly or not but I naturally bought some. It’s actually a creamier cheese than many aged cheddars but it has a really nice, deep flavor (or flavour, since it’s from the British Isles). Recommended.

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Lunch with George and Carmela

Photograph taken on Saturday, September 07, 2019 by Henry
George and Carmela

George and Carmela

Cathy and I drove up to George and Carmela’s today for a short visit. We had no trouble with traffic and we made pretty good time. We didn’t stay long but George had prepared a really nice lunch with homemade sourdough bread with robust olive oil spread on it and then covered with ripe, fresh tomatoes and sprinkled with feta cheese and Sicilian oregano. Obviously there are a lot of good flavors but fresh, very ripe tomatoes, served at room temperature, have to be right up there. These were wonderful and the corn on the cob as good, too. Of course, the visit was the main thing, and it was nice to have a few hours together before we turned around and drove home.

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Jordan Almonds

Photograph taken on Saturday, July 13, 2019 by Henry
Jordan Almonds

Jordan Almonds

Not much of a picture today, I’m afraid, but here are some Jordan Almonds, almonds coated in sugar with a pastel colored layer on the outside. These are often served at weddings, with—I’m led to believe—the “bitter” almonds and the “sweet” sugar symbolizing the bitterness of life and sweetness of love. I love almonds and adding sugar to them can only make them better. Frankly, I prefer the less pretentious (in my opinion) Nuql (or Noghl in Iran), the Persian sugared almonds that are just sugar without the smooth coat or colors added. But I’ll rarely turn these down, if that’s what’s offered.

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Mango and Sticky Rice

Photograph taken on Friday, May 24, 2019 by Henry
Mango and Sticky Rice

Mango and Sticky Rice

Dorothy got home yesterday and this evening we had the rest of the local family over for Indian carry-out. That’s one of our go-to meals and it doesn’t disappoint. For dessert, though, we went further east and I made mango with sticky rice. It’s actually pretty easy to make, although it’s taken me a while to get the proportion of coconut milk to sugar to rice where I want it. Having the right rice is fairly important, but in this area there are so many good Asian supermarkets that’s not a problem. And I bought a box of mangos. Each person gets about half of one but there are more in the box, if they care to cut one up.

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Easter Dinner

Photograph taken on Sunday, April 21, 2019 by Henry
Easter Dinner

Easter Dinner

Cathy, Margaret, and Lamb Cake

Cathy, Margaret, and Lamb Cake

Iris, Silas, and Seth

Iris, Silas, and Seth

Silas

Silas

The forecast for last night and all day today was for rain. That didn’t happen and it was a gorgeous day. After getting home from church (see previous post on the Easter Sunrise Service) we took a little time to rest, as we were a bit sleepy. Then I started getting the food ready for the Easter dinner we had with family. I had bought a ham and made biscuits, Tsai-Hong brought a really nice salad as well as fruit. Other side dishes and dessert rounded out the meal. Margaret and Cathy made a lamb cake yesterday and it turned out pretty well, although they had trouble getting the eyes and nose to stay in place. Eventually we had to use a toothpick to keep the nose from falling off. Also, we only had golden raisins, so the lamb has light colored eyes, which is a little different to what it normally looks like. It cooked well, though, and was tasty.

Later in the afternoon Iris asked if I’d take a few pictures of Silas and of the three of them out in the yard. It was cool and at first Silas wasn’t sure about sitting on the grass but he got used to it pretty quickly and I got what I think are some pretty nice pictures. It’s no surprise that Silas is growing up and gaining his own personality, of course, and it’s really nice to be a part of that. He’s a happy little boy (for the most part) and is pretty easy going. This will be tested when Iris has to be away for a little while for work, but I’m sure they’ll get through it (not to say they’ll enjoy it, though).

We missed having Kai with us (and Steve and Maya, too, but you know it’s really all about the kids). Nevertheless, it was wonderful to have who we had and we’re really thankful for family. We missed Dorothy, too, and really look forward to seeing her in two weeks. She spent Easter with her friend, Katie, on the New Hampshire / Vermont border. It’s not like being at home and she missed the music that we got this morning, but she’s doing well and finishing strong. We couldn’t be more proud of her.

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Belgian Chocolates

Photograph taken on Thursday, March 07, 2019 by Henry
Belgian Chocolates

Belgian Chocolates

At closing for Margaret’s house last Friday, Mary gave her a box of Belgian chocolates to celebrate the deal. She often gives this sort of thing away but thought that maybe this time she’d keep it for herself. With Dorothy and her friends coming on Friday, she thought maybe she wouldn’t even offer to share, as if she did, they’d disappear pretty quickly. I took a few pictures of them this evening for my photo of the day. Not the most inspiring picture I’ve taken, but they do look good. I can’t tell you how they taste, of course, because she’s not sharing. Actually, she offered me one but I declined. They belong to her and it’s her celebration.

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Fruit

Photograph taken on Monday, February 18, 2019 by Henry
Fruit - Bananas, Mandarins, and Apples

Fruit – Bananas, Mandarins, and Apples

I’m not particularly proud of this photo, taken in my kitchen this evening, but at least it keeps up my unbroken streak of taking a photo a day. You might be thinking, “if you’re going to be posting pictures like this, then I’m not sure how significant it is that you post one for every day.” There’s a part of me that’s very inclined to agree with you. On the other hand, if I had to say, “I’ve taken a photograph every day for over eight years with the exception of one day when I couldn’t find anything interesting,” well, that would just be annoying. So, here you are. Hopefully things will pick up from here.

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Roast Pork Shoulder

Photograph taken on Saturday, December 15, 2018 by Henry
Roast Pork Shoulder

Roast Pork Shoulder

A while back the local supermarket had pork roasts on sale for $0.98 per pound. That’s about half what they normally run (and even $1.99 is a pretty decent deal). I bought three and froze them. This is one of those, thawed over about four days in the refrigerator, and the roasted. It’s about 12 pounds and so cost about $12 and will feed us for a few days, at least. There are bones, of course, but it’s still a bargain price. After slicing the skin and rubbing in some salt and a fair amount of pepper, I roasted it for about four hours. The first 45 minutes are at 450°F and then I turned it down to 325°F for the rest. That was just about perfect. Of course, the best part are the strips of crispy, salty, peppery skin, but the meat was pretty juicy and tasty, too. A little mustard and some cabbage cooked with apples and mushrooms rounded out the meal (although the cabbage didn’t turn out as well as it sometimes does—I used the wrong apples).

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Meat and Potatoes

Photograph taken on Monday, December 10, 2018 by Henry
Meat and Potatoes

Meat and Potatoes

I confess to being a meat and potatoes sort of man. I like to cook meat, as well, but of course I’m not cooking for myself only, so I cook try to prepare a balanced meal with vegetables and some sort of starch, at last most of the time. I’m trying to eat fewer carbs myself and have lost 20 pounds or so since late spring, which is a good start, anyway. Cathy and her mom took me out for dinner this evening, though, and wanted to treat me. We went to Outback and I ordered a rib-eye steak and baked potato with a bloomin’ onion on the side. As you can see, we’ve already made a pretty good dent in the onion. It’s good but since it’s mostly batter, not really all that healthy. But, you have to live once in a while and I really enjoyed this meal.

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Turkey Soup

Photograph taken on Tuesday, December 04, 2018 by Henry
Turkey Soup

Turkey Soup

I’m not a huge fan of turkey, as a meat. If cooked right, in can be tender and juicy but the white meat generally has little to no flavor even at it’s best. The dark meat is better but there is relatively little of it. We eat turkey on Thanksgiving, nevertheless, and (I guess because we hosted and I cooked it) we ended up with a significant amount of leftover turkey. I pulled just about every scrap of meat off the bones, from the back, the wings, and the rest of the carcase, and made soup. It turned out well and we had that for three nights. Then I made this batch with the leftovers from what had been carved from the bird, mostly white meat but a little from the legs. Instead of pasta I put barley in this batch, and also mushrooms. It turned out quite well and was a hit with the fam.

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Baronessa’s Pizza Oven

Photograph taken on Friday, November 09, 2018 by Henry
Baronessa's Pizza Oven

Baronessa’s Pizza Oven

There was a time, not really that long ago, when pizza wasn’t a known thing to many Americans. When my dad went away to college in the mid 1940s, he had never had pizza before. But New Haven had a Neapolitan community and he was introduced to what was called apizza (/əˈbiːts(ə)/, with the final vowel basically silent). Now, of course, there are many different pizza chains and generally Italian restaurants have pizza on their menu, even if pizza is not their main thing. There is an Italian place called Baronessa not too far from where we live and we’ve gone there off and on for years. It changed ownership a while back and the new owner installed a wood-fired pizza oven. The owner is rightly proud of the oven and enjoys taking diners back to the kitchen to see it. I’ve seen it before but having taken a good picture of it so I asked if I could do that this evening. He was happy to let me get a few pictures. It’s a bit hard, because the light levels are pretty extreme, dark except for the fire, which is very bright, but this one shows the pizza cooking on the left pretty well. If you’re looking for a good pizza, you could do a lot worse than visiting Baronessa on E. Gude Drive. And ask to see the pizza oven before you leave.

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Rockville Town Square

Photograph taken on Friday, August 24, 2018 by Henry
Rockville Town Square

Rockville Town Square

Our anniversary was last Saturday but Cathy’s mom was out of town then so she took us to dinner this evening to celebrate 34 years. We went to the Thai place on Rockville Town Square and the place was hopping (the square, more than the restaurant). There was a concert going on and the place was fairly crowded. We had a nice meal but decided to eat indoors so we could hear each other talk. Cathy broke from tradition by getting panang curry, which is what I generally get, except she got chicken while I usually get beef. Then I broke with tradition, as well, and got pad thai, which Cathy usually gets, except I got beef while she usually gets chicken. After dinner we walked around the square once and I took a few pictures, including this one (obviously) from the east end of the square, looking towards the stage.

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Rocklands Bakery

Photograph taken on Sunday, July 22, 2018 by Henry
Rocklands Bakery

Rocklands Bakery

We drove home from Massachusetts today. I don’t like driving through New York City and the traffic westbound towards the George Washington Bridge is generally ridiculous. Going by way of the Merritt Parkway and across the Tappan Zee Bridge is my preference, even if it’s a little longer. At least we’re moving the whole time. This was our first time crossing the new bridge, which has officially been named the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. We’ll see if that sticks. I know what I’ll be calling it. We also stop at Rocklands Bakery in Nanuet and pick up a couple hot out of the oven bagels. There are plenty of other styles of bread from which to choose, of course.

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Mango and Sticky Rice

Photograph taken on Monday, March 26, 2018 by Henry
Mango and Sticky Rice

Mango and Sticky Rice

When Dorothy was here with her friends for spring break I made mango and sticky rice. At least I tried. I had checked a recipe but then didn’t consult it when I was actually making it. There are really only four ingredients (plus a little salt and the sesame seeds sprinkled over it) so you’d think I could have remembered all of them. I remembered the mango because it’s pretty obvious in its absence. Likewise with the rice. Without that it would just be mango. But I forgot the sugar in the coconut cream. It tasted nice but wasn’t very sweet. Tonight’s version was much better. It’s quite simple. Sweet, short grained rice is steamed for 20 to 25 minutes. Then you mix it with coconut cream combined with sugar. I made it a little runny this time, but it tasted as good as you could hope for.

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Marmite

Photograph taken on Monday, February 12, 2018 by Henry
Marmite (500g and 125g)

Marmite (500g and 125g)

“Are you born a lover or a hater?” That’s the question the folks at https://www.marmite.co.uk/ (a.k.a. Unilever) are asking. It does seem true that people either love or hate Marmite. I’m a lover but I hate the fact that it’s hard to find around here. Some Giant stores carry it, as well as World Market and Rodmans, but generally you can only get it in the titchy 125 gram jars (on the right in the attached photo), which is maddening. Online shopping has been a thing for a while now and this is an item that’s worth the wait. I just bought two, 500g jars (on the left in the photo). That’s 2.2 pounds of the wonderful, aromatic, slightly salty, ambrosia. But is someone really going to spend £89.99 (roughly $125) for a DNA test kit to find out if they are predisposed to love or hate Marmite? Not when you can buy a little jar and simply try it. And when you discover you’re a lover, then you’ll happily order it by the kilo (for less than $30 in the USA and including shipping).

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Mellow Mushroom

Photograph taken on Tuesday, January 16, 2018 by Henry
Mellow Mushroom

Mellow Mushroom

For more than two years now I’vebeen meeting regularly with a group of (mostly) young men. For over a year we met most weeks. Starting last summer we switched to every other week and during the holidays it was hard to organize. Three of us finally got together this evening for dinner. Mellow Mushroom sounds a bit sixty’s but the food is honestly pretty good. The decor is very much comic book colors and it makes for a good picture. There were not a lot of patrons there this evening, but a Tuesday in the winter isn’t likely to be busy in general.

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Old Wine Bottle

Photograph taken on Monday, October 23, 2017 by Henry
Old Wine Bottle

Old Wine Bottle

My great grandfather Robert was born in Cumbria in England in 1837. He immigrated along with his parents and at least some siblings to a town on the Canada bank of the St. Lawrence River and served in the Canadian Army during the American Civil War. It was here that he met his future wife, Matilda (whose family we think might have been loyalists who moved across the river during the American Revolutionary War). In 1872 Robert traveled by ship to Panama, crossing the isthmus on horse back. From the west coast of Panama he took another ship to San Francisco. Finally, he traveled inland to Nevada, where he began mining copper, silver, and lead ore. He wrote to Matilda, who joined him there after the railway was completed and they were married circa 1882. Robert and Matilda had three children, Ada, Robert, and Ralph. We have visited what remains of the town in Nevada a few times and on a trip there in 1974 I found this unbroken wine bottle. It’s doubtful that there is any direct connection between the bottle and my ancestors but it reminds me of the place, and that’s important to me.

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