http://outpost505.com two librarians making their way in a mitten Wed, 01 Sep 2010 22:00:29 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en We're on vacation!  For the next 9 days, we will be eating our way through San Francisco like The Very Hungry Caterpillar - except that instead of one apple, two pears, and three plums, it'll be more like one scoop of salted caramel at Bi-Rite Creamery, two Blue Bottle coffees ... http://outpost505.com/?p=1239 Photo by The She-Creature This photo reasonably approximates the state of our fridge right now, except with no eggs or cream cheese and a lot more beer and condiments, plus bags of carrots and onions from the garden tucked away in the crisper. No leftovers, save a half cup of ... http://outpost505.com/?p=1245 Photo by sysadmnling We're leaving for vacation on Wednesday, so I harvested aggressively on Saturday to minimize the inevitable waste from a week-or-so of neglect. This resulted in nine pounds of tomatoes, six plus pounds of potatoes, a beautiful orange pepper, and a giant bag of kale, among other things ... http://outpost505.com/?p=1237 I am so very disappointed that my photos from tonight's dinner didn't turn out.  Janet, among others, has been on me for months to improve my use of our DSLR, and tonight's photos illustrate her point - I have a great deal to learn and, perhaps more importantly, remember. Since I ... http://outpost505.com/?p=1236 First, I am officially throwing in the towel on no-knead bread.  If the last attempt was a mess, the loaf I made tonight was an all-out disaster.  The dough stuck to the mixing bowl.  It stuck to the floured silpat mat and did its best to ooze off all sides ... http://outpost505.com/?p=1235 So last night I was reminded of one thing I really, really hate about the Midwest: the late summer/early fall allergies.  Last night's allergy attack was the worst I can recall having since high school, when there were mornings where I woke up and had to stumble blindly to the ... http://outpost505.com/?p=1234 I'll be honest with you: it is difficult to remain disciplined in your healthy eating when you encounter something like this: That's a chocolate cake with chocolate ganache, made for us by my boss, and served with chocolate and also vanilla ice cream at a small party in our honor.  I ... http://outpost505.com/?p=1228 We were both starving after work, so while Shane was hassled by a door-to-door salesperson about our choice in internet providers, I popped a BBQ chicken pizza from Trader Joe's into the freezer and boiled a couple of ears of corn from the market.  I don't recall ... http://outpost505.com/?p=1226 I brought home another five pounds of tomatoes from the garden on Sunday.  The Romas were set aside for roasting and for last night's goulash, but the rest went into a small but fantastic batch of pasta sauce: They simmered and sweat away in our big stock pot until the juice ... http://outpost505.com/?p=1217 I'm not exaggerating when I say that I planned my entire day around this meal.  See, I'd planned on making this for dinner on Sunday night - a dish that requires 3 hours in the oven is just not feasible for the average worknight, but is totally doable on a ... http://outpost505.com/?p=1211