Oodles of Noodles

Kale Kugel "Cake" Topped with Lemon Butter Crumbs

During those quick grocery trips just before Christmas, when picking up a few exciting cans of tuna to tear into, I also picked up some egg noodles and a few odds and ends in the dairy section. I had these grandiose ideas of cooking, writing about and celebrating both Christmas and Hannukah with everyone. Then it just became a Christmas dish I hoped to cook and write about, and then I thought New Years would be fine, and then, well, I figured just a quick post that detailed my good friend Lauren's recipes for household cleaning supplies would have to do. Finally, after everything came and went, I just closed my eyes and told myself everyone was probably sick of eating, no one feels like cleaning anymore, and next year was a brand new start...

Egg-scuse the Interruption

Eggs Baked in Roasted Tomato Sauce

Oh, it's been a while, I know, I know. I have this long, running list of excuses and apologies in my head, just waiting to be typed out and posted, but the thought of doing that sort of exhausts me. The list alone, jumping and bouncing around in my head, is tiring enough! No need to document it. Basically, the month of December was crazy, one thing after another, and more cans of tuna were opened and breakfasty dinners consumed than I'd like to admit. No time, no balance, enough said.

Although January will now be filled with what I pushed to the side and avoided in December (procrastinate is my middle name, didn't I tell you?), it feels so good to let loose in the kitchen again. I also think it calms and grounds me. It's the one time all those thoughts settle down a bit and come together so well. Everything becomes a little bit quieter up there, and after a long, loud day, that's a wonderful thing.

Sip It. Sip it Good

The Côte d'Azur Cure-All Soup

Well, I finally made it through whatever allergy/cold I woke up with two weekends ago. It could have come about because I was a little run down.  Or, maybe because I'm in contact with more germs than usual these days. Or, maybe it really was the blooming ragweed in this part of the country.

Blooming ragweed.

Roast with the Most

Top Loin Roast with Garlic-Herb Butter

Once I found the Cooking Channel and the WETA channel here in Washington, D.C., I really just stopped watching any other food channel, network, or shows altogether. It is on these channels that I've found shows taped in Florence and Toronto, old Jacques and Julia episodes, even Jose Andres cooking right here in the District. Celebrity chefs do get their share of the spotlight, but it has been the unknown or little known kitchen stars that have really caught and maintained my attention.

I first watched this roast prepared on one episode of Cook's Country (the televised aspect of Cook's Illustrated). It looked so succulent and juicy that I began keeping a pen and paper near the television so I was prepared for when it aired again (to view the show's recipes on their website you must be a paying member, I didn't trust any of the Google searches I came up with for some reason and I do not have DVR or TiVo). The next few times it aired, I only caught the very end of the episode, to my watering mouth's dismay. I was finally lucky enough (and so ridiculously excited) to have a co-worker log into her husband's Cook's Illustrated account so I could print out recipe after recipe, to my little heart's content.