she doesn't mind the weather

I've decided that I'm through with complaining about the weather. It has been pretty unseasonable, even for the midwest. We were supposed to visit my family for Easter dinner today, but as it turned out we were pretty much snowed in. So, no banana cream pie for us. Instead, we decided to embrace being homebound with some red lentil soup and homemade bread. In fact, soup is pretty much my answer to coming to terms with this turn back to the cold. I figure that now is the time to make a point to enjoy hot soup while the snow blows. You don't always get a second chance in April. That said, I was really hoping the tights and boots could be packed away for the season




.Another upside of missing Easter dinner was that I was home to watch the Wind in the Willows on Masterpiece Theatre. I don't care how much of a nerd it makes me, I really love Masterpiece Theatre on Sunday nights. I think that I appreciate PBS even more when I don't have a million channels. It's kind of great when all of my favorite shows come without commercials and cost me absolutely nothing.


There's been lots of room for inspiration lately. I spent some time last week setting up my printmaking space. I've been meaning to do it for awhile, and then Devin suprised me with an array of much needed supplies. I have a tendency to attempt to "make-do" with what I have instead of investing in things I really need. I'm not sure guys have that problem. I think that when they embrace a pastime they splash out on whatever it is they need to do it right. It's not such a bad quality. I'm glad he was looking out for me, and I'm so excited to get to work. I did update the shop with a set of sun prints I did while it was gloriously warm and sunny. I love how the set came out and I love that they capture a very specific moment in time.




I really loved the interview with the "ladies who lunch" on Hoping for Happy Accidents. I suspect that I'll be spending a bit of time checking out the archives on their page.

So, here's to a busy week.

delicious

I promised a recipe from our trip to the market yesterday. It's really one of my favorites. It's quick, easy, comforting, pretty healthy, and easily adaptable to any ingredients you prefer or have around the house. It's based upon the Nigella Lawson recipe for Double Potato Halloumi Bake. I am in love with salty ,squeakiness of halloumi, and there are very few things that it doesn't go wonderfully with. It's getting to be pretty widely available at most larger grocery stores with a specialty cheese section. If you live somewhere with a middle eastern market, it is often much less expensive purchased there- and you can probably pick up some other great stuff for your meal. I love ethnic markets, but that's another post.

Preheat the oven to around 400. Fill a roaster pan with chopped vegetables of your choice. Last night I used red onion, red pepper, yellow pepper, green pepper, and russian and french fingerling potatoes. You could include anything else you'd like : tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli,sweet potatoes, squash, you name it.

Toss to coat with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, any other spices you prefer. I really like sumac with this. I'm not sure if this is available most places, but it can be found at any Middle Eastern store. It's dark red like chili powder and has a slightly sour, citrus taste. It's really good spinkled over hummus.


Cover with foil an bake for around 30 minutes, until the potatoes are fairly tender. Then remove the foil and roast uncovered for another 10-15 minutes depending on how brown you like your vegetables.

Now, you can add the cheese if you like. We didn't have halloumi, so I threw some feta on instead. Place under the broiler until cheese begins to brown and melt. That's it. If you have any fresh herbs around, you can sprinkle some on top. I happened to have basil, so I added that. Parsley and even mint would be good here,too.

We had it with an asiago garlic baguette we had saved in the freezer. It would be really good with flatbread or as a sidedish.
The leftovers are really good. I made extra just for this reason. It's good with eggs, on the side, in a frittata or quiche. It would probably even be a good filling for enchiladas. In the past I've added sausage (the fake kind) and peas and topped with mashed potatoes for Shepherd's Pie.