The Beahive

BYOB

So, I don't drink.  Not really ever.  I have had a sip on less than a handful of occasions, and the future seems to hold no booze for me.  Mostly I drink water.  Really, I barely drink anything else: I rarely have juices, I'm not so big on sodas, and I hate coffee.  Although, I'll admit I do occasionally drink a cup of tea (Irish Breakfast, please!).  Mostly social.  Social tea drinker.  Anyway, on the occasion [word of the day?] I do have a soda, my absolute favorite by leaps and bounds is Boylan's Black Cherry.  Drink it, it's so yummy.

Compounded.

Well, Easter has passed.  Our trip to NY went... okay. Reilly - apparently - hates puppies.  Mona had an absolute ball nipping at his ears, and rolling around him, taking his toys and laying in his bed; Reilly had a miserable holiday hiding from her and growling at her, and occasionally barking at her.  I'm sure, though, that they'll get along fine once she's grown out of the whole rambunctious puppy-thing.  I got only one picture of the two of them together.

This past weekend, I had a visitor!  My friend Caitlin came by bus from NY to see me and to meet Mona.  We ended up, by chance, staying in both Friday and Saturday nights and cooking for ourselves and a guest (a different third party joined us on each night).  And, if you don't mind, I'd love to tell you about our dinners.  They were each so close to unbelievable - especially for a couple of novices.

Friday had begun as a Mediterranean-style idea.  I was thinking stuffed pork chops with feta and pesto, some kind of a rice or couscous side and a greek salad.  But, it turned into a night of tag-team cooking and experimenting and included some green wine.  When we finally sat for our meal at around 9:30, we had quite a spread: feta and pesto stuffed (delicious) pork chops for the two non-vegie's; a yummy tomato, cucumber, and feta salad; a stuffed artichoke each, which had a tasty stuffing, but were altogether a flop; and a plate of sliced, breaded, and fried-up eggplants (yuck), which ended up being thrown out.  But it was fun!

Saturday had a slightly different crowd, with a much different dynamic.  I did most of the cooking, with some help in preparations from my friends.  Everything was a lot less rowdy.  We ended up having grilled steaks with some compound butter melted on top.  Spectacular!  Really, there is absolutely nothing better than a chive/garlic/sage/rosemary/whatever (we had chive) compounded butter on a medium-rare steak.  Nothing.  We amended the meal with crispy roasted asparagus (yum!) and a big big salad with Brianna's dressings: Ginger Mandarin and the New American dressing.  Too much yum.

Everyone loved Mona, of course, and Caitlin took a video of her on her camera playing with Genie from Staten Island, without anyone knowing.  It's poor lighting, and sideways, but it's still a video of Mona in my living room!

Although, we didn't only cook and entertain ourselves with a puppy.  We shopped too.  It was such a nice day Saturday, almost 60 degrees, and sunny.  Totally unlike today: our Nor'Easter has arrived.  So we trotted aroud town.  I bought, and am thrilled with, some new shoes.  They're Vans Slip-Ons.  Checkered (throw back to high school, no?), only not rudeboy black-white, they're multi.  I love them on my feet.  I haven't worn Vans in years and years...

A Dinner Party

I threw a small dinner party this weekend for a few of my friends who visited from Long Island, the Bronx, and New Haven, CT. 

Actually, the visitors from NY spent the weekend, the girls from CT came only for the dinner party.  It was really wonderful - I love having visitors!  I had recently rearranged furniture in my apartment and couldn't wait to show off the new look.

I used a recipe for Nigella Lawson's Vodka-marinated Steak, with which she suggests serving plain boiled potatos with a sprinkling of dill.  But instead I peeled a strip from tiny red-skinned potatos, steamed them, and just melted a little butter on top.  As a request I roasted some asparagus with some olive oil, sea salt, and freshly-ground black pepper. And I also made a potato and red onion salad.  It was divine! (If I don't say so myself..)  The steak was the absolute best part.  The marinade is vodka and olive oil with fresh parsley, lots of thyme, salt, pepper, and garlic.  Nigella says it's at its best when left in the marinade for two to three days; although I only had it in the mix for a few hours, it was one of the best marinades, and subsequent sauces, that I have ever had.  It was a totally new flavor for me.  The steak was sliced very thin, but there was nothing left at the end of the dinner.

Anyway, the recipe can be found in Feast by Nigella Lawson, and I highly, highly recommend it.

After the [fabulous] dinner, we immediately ventured out for dessert crepe's at Thayer Street's Creperie where I got the "Betty" as I always do - a boring but delicious crepe with just butter and sugar.  Back at the apartment, a heated game of Apples to Apples that I lost, miserably. 

Next weekend, my mom is visiting with her friend and possibly her daughter, and the following weekend I am headed to Brooklyn for a friday to sunday babysitting job looking after my 5 year-old cousin, Ryan, and her 6 month-old puppy, Molly.  I have no time to sit and fiddle properly at the brand new Viking sewing machine that Santa brought for me...

Visitors

This past weekend, I was visited by some lovely friends from New York.  Of course, taffic on I-95 was horrendous, but when they finally made it, I had a fabulous stew ready.  I tried it once before, but, living alone, I was anxious to cook for someone - anyone!

I made the Beef and Guinness Stew, from the Great Britain and Ireland section of a cookbook by Lynn Alley: The Gourmet Slow Cooker.  It's really very delicious, and was the perfect comfort food after their 5 hour November journey. 

I forgot, however, and you will have to forgive me, to take a photo of the finished product, I only snapped a shot of all the ingredients in the cooker before I even turned it on. Sorry! I'll do better next time, which - if from this cookbook - will be the chicken curry recipe.

The ingredients:

3/4 c.                 all-purpose flour

2-1/2 lbs.          1-1/2 in. pieces of very lean stewing beef

2 tbl.                   vegetable oil

2 to 3                  large potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces

2 to 3                   carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces

2                           large yellow onions, quartered 

1 to 2 sprigs     thyme

2 c.                        Guinness stout or other very dark, hearty beer

1 tsp.                    salt 

                               chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

The recipe:

Put the flour in a resealable plastic bag, add the beef, and shake to coat completely.

Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat and add the oil.  Add the beef, and cook, turning, for 8 to 10 minutes, until browned on all sides.  Transfer to paper towels to drain.

Place the beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, and thyme in the slow cooker  and pour the beer over  the top.   (If you prefer the vegetables with more texture, let the stew cook for 1 hour before adding the vegetables.) 

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or until the meat is very tender. Season with salt. Remove and discard the thyme.

Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with parsley.