As some of you know, I recently persuaded my husband, Ward, to start blogging at the food blog we’d set up together, Muse in the Kitchen. I was having the most dreadful time keeping Muse in the Kitchen up-to-date with recent posts because, frankly, what I love is eating, not cooking, and I just didn’t feel very passionate about writing up all the delicious recipes he was trying out.
It made far more sense to have him blogging there, because he’s the one doing the hands-on work; he’s also the one who gets excited over discovering a new ingredient, or finding a challenging recipe. In other words, he’s the one with the passion for cooking, and passion is what makes a blog work.
So now we’re a team – he writes up the posts, I format them and do some light editing, crop the pictures, and add my two cents to the end of each post (because you all probably know, I can’t resist adding my two cents wherever and whenever possible!).
Here’s what we’ve been up to in the kitchen this week:
Steve Kubien’s Salt and Pepper Mills: Steve is one of Ward’s students, and a fabulous woodworker. If you’ve got a foodie on your shopping list this holiday season, check out Steve’s work on Etsy. He’s got some gorgeous pieces available, plus he does custom work!
Risotto with Bolognese Sauce: This is one of Ward’s recent creations. One of his Italian friends, Mary, suggested he mix his leftever Bolognese sauce with risotto, so when he made Spaghetti with Bolognese Sauce last week, he decided to give this a try the next day, and the result was really, really delicious. (The Bolognese sauce Ward makes is also very good – I love it, and I don’t even like spaghetti dishes normally!)
A Mediterranean Menu for Our Open House Dinner: Every second Saturday of the month, Ward and I hold an open house dinner for all our friends and for all their friends, too – it’s a great way to meet new people. Basically, if we know you, you’re invited! This month’s dinner is tomorrow, and this is a look at what we’re serving. Ward’s been busy cooking up a storm all day today and the house smells lovely already!
Fava Bean Stew: This is a wonderfully savory bean stew that is responsible for my current love affair with beans. The first time Ward made this stew, I couldn’t believe it was meatless. We’ll be serving this up tomorrow, and I hope everyone will enjoy it as much as we do!
Strip Steak with Tequila-Avocado Sauce: This is definitely a good recipe. I know this, because the steaks we had were on the thinner side, and because Ward followed the cooking times in the recipe, we ended up with medium-well instead of our preferred medium-rare/rare – and the steak was still good! The Tequila-Avocado Sauce was incredibly flavorful, too.
Roasted Chayote Squash: Chayote squash is my new favorite vegetable. This recipe is so simple I could make it (and I probably will). We never have any leftovers, mainly because I have been known to remain sitting at the dining room table until the last piece has been polished off.
Quinoa Salad: Incredibly tasty and very, very good for you. This was a lovely dish, even though Ward forgot to add the dressing! (He does that sometimes, and then after dinner will look at a cup or bowl full of some ingredient and exclaim, “Oh! I think I forgot to add …!” And yet, his dishes are almost always so very, very good.)
Four Spice and Ginger Cake: Ward had trouble with this one – it took him almost twice as long to bake as the recipe suggested – but the pieces he served were moist, peppery, slightly gingery and oh, so very tasty.
So that’s been our cooking week at Muse in the Kitchen – for more delightful cooking stuff, make sure to check out all the links at the Weekend Cooking post at Beth Fish Reads!
New Post: Weekend Cooking! http://msbookish.com/weekend-cooking-wha…
I love quinoa. I usually just throw a bunch of curry and cumin and that kind of stuff in it, but the recipe you give looks really good and easy. I may try it this weekend!
.-= rhapsodyinbooks´s last blog ..Review of “One Corpse Too Many” by Ellis Peters =-.
Curry and cumin sound like they’d go wonderfully with quinoa. We’ve only just recently discovered it ourselves – I’m going to ask Ward to find a recipe using that combo of spices. It sounds delicious!
If you do try it, and you do both dressing and no dressing, please do pop by Muse and let Ward know which you liked better!
I checked out your Mediterranean menu. It looks wonderful. I’d be willing to move to Toronto just to be invited to your open house every month. I am definitely interested in the shrimp recipe and a few others as well. I like Ward photos too.
.-= Margot´s last blog ..Look What I Found: Christmas Novels =-.
It would be so wonderful if you could drop by one time for one of our dinners, Margot. Do you ever include Canada in your road trips? We aren’t that far away from the Canada-US border … And it’s always on the 2nd Saturday of each month (for planning purposes!)
I love reading ya’lls food blog and I am glad that you are mentioning it more. One of these days I will try a recipe. Was eying that quinoa salad the other day. The steak looked great too, but I am allergic to avocado so I would have to modify.
.-= Nicole´s last blog ..This Just In! A Lot Of Books! =-.
Do you get an itchy throat with the avocado? I don’t have any reactions to avocado, but I get that with persimmon sometimes. The quinoa salad was so good – I really enjoyed it.
They make me itch, they make me vomit, they constrict my throat. It’s an allergy I developed as an adult. I used to be able to eat them, so unfortunately I am well aware of what I am missing.
.-= Nicole´s last blog ..Hate List, by Jennifer Brown =-.
I sure wish I was close enough to make it to your Open House dinner! It sounds like loads of fun.
.-= Kathy´s last blog ..Announcing The Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies =-.
On the off chance you have a trip planned to Toronto anytime in the future, it’s always the 2nd Saturday of every month. It would be so lovely to have a fellow book blogger over!
Wow! I’m very impressed
Everything looks absolutely delicious.
.-= Jemi Fraser´s last blog ..Peace and Hope =-.
Thanks, Jemi. Ward’s cooking is the main reason I’ve really got to get going on the Fitness Challenge!
Wow!! I wish I lived closer — you wouldn’t be able to get rid of me. Ward and I could bond in the kitchen and you and Mr. BFR could be the appreciative diners. Works for me!
.-= Beth F´s last blog ..Weekend Cooking: Cookies Anyone? =-.
If you and Mr. BFR ever decide to visit Toronto, you won’t be able to get out of an invite to our place
I’m definitely trying this risotto!!!
It is so good, Jill – and such a great use of leftover Bolognese sauce. There’s always sauce left over, it seems!
Thank you for the kind words Belle. I truly appreciate it.
Yes folks, the Mediterranian Feast was amazing! The shrimp…. Oh just give me a plate of those little guys and I’ll be a happy camper! The fava beans, yummy!
Good food. Good friends. Can you ask for more?
So glad you liked the shrimp (Ward’s fave) and the fava bean stew (my fave), Steve! Hope you’ll be able to make it to Tapas night next month!