Viande and Verite

Hmm, I don't have les accents francaises, but whatever. My written French sucks.

Anyway, life has been stressful. Some shit I never expected came back to haunt me, but that's okay. So tonight, I cooked. I'm a fairly neat chef, so it's not a war zone, but I could use some people to eat. And by eat, I mean nibble. I get protective of my vegetables after I've spent so long chopping, salting, and roasting. Wouldn't you?

So tonight's stress-out cooking included:

Spicy Beef Stew (in zee slow cooker, with a beef knuckle bone. YUM. I think). Hence, the Viande.

Roasted:

• Asparagus
• Eggplant
• Carrots
• Butternut Squash

We also have Mashed Turnips. Note to self: Go back to Rutabaga. They LOOKED like Rutabaga, but oh, I was wrong!

Pickled Beets. Well, they're not "pickled" yet.
5 Minute Chocolate Protein Cake I tripled it. Why, I'm not sure, but I wanted to make it big enough for a container I bought. That I can't find a picture of. Eh. So a lot of protein cake on me is good because it fills me and makes me pretend I'm eating chocolate bread.

I went to the farmer's market (no, really? With some crazy shit happening in my kitchen?), got spankin' new brakes, and then came home to cook. I thought about going out, but I'm tired.

Tomorrow I'm packing a picnic, and so far the menu looks like this:

Roasted Eggplant, Peppers, and Mozzarella on Sourdough
Asparagus
Arugula dressed with lemon and parmigiana.
Oranges

Hitting up a winery, I'll definitely need food.

I'm thinking of making a barley salad, but I think I might be getting tired. But I feel like I should have another "side" dish. Eh, I'll see.

I think I'll go hard boil some eggs and finish the carrots.

Update! The beef stew is YUMMY. And spicy. I mean, it called for one jalapeno and 1 tbsp of curry powder. But I use this Maharajah Curry Powder, and it's incredible. Also, I put in black pepper. I put in some flour, it's thickening a titch as it cools down, to be placed in a zillion portions in the freezer and fridge. Which reminds me, I need to eat the Chicken Provencal I made the other day.

Observation! So, as many of you know, I live in a weird world. But it works. So he invites his friend Sid over for dinner and to play chess. I think he and Sid have dinner and hang out often because they're so old. Sid is 90, I believe, and my father will be 79 in March. Sid's definitely...eccentric, but whatever, they have companionship.

So the situation is this. See that menu up there? It's what I've been DOING while they sit and talk and argue. We don't really interact TOO much, which works for me.

Anyway, I put some veggies in the oven to roast...and the buzzer eventually goes off. Now, from my room, I can sometimes hear it. It's faint. If you're in the kitchen, where they are, it's LOUD. OBNOXIOUS. BUZZING. Worse than an alarm clock, trust me. And they aren't even AWARE it's going off. At all. When I come in to turn it off, they got no clue. They're so immersed in their chess and lives, they have no awareness.

BUT, get this. Then I come in and take the top off the stew. Two minutes.

Sid: What's cooking?

Amazing. Three buzzers, lots of fussing in the kitchen, NADA. Maybe there's something to be said for the olfactory sense being the most instinctual and tied to memory!