A little touch of Tuscany

My precious parents have never thought I was too old to receive souvenirs from their awesome vacations.  I am pretty sure I get just as excited as they do for them to explore new and exciting places so I can open a package a couple weeks after and find my trinkets and goodies.  Different trips bring different gifts, and their recent trip to Italy did not disappoint.  Bo (who is beginning to understand the benefits of mom and dad's trips) received a beautiful alligator wallet with his initials, and I got some beautifully intricate gold earrings.  Mom, being a fellow foodie, sent us some authentic limoncello and aged balsalmic.  My mouth started watering as soon as I opened the package. 

A couple of days after we opened the Italian getaway package, Bo actually had an entire weekend off from work (this happens once in a blue moon).  So, we decided to put together a little backyard patio in order to take advantage of our last year here in beautiful Florida weather.  Over the next few days, we poured and shoveled loads of rocks, dug and planted several flowers, and strung Christmas lights until our little hearts were content.  In the end, we had a beautiful place to sit, relax and reminisce.  With all the goodies I received from my parents Italian trip and the inspiration from our Tuscan patio, I thought it only appropriate to cook an Italian-inspired meal, drink wine, sip limoncello and listen to Italian music (I like to go all out and make everything perfect...almost to a fault.)  So we dined and wined and had one of the most memorable nights...our little 3 hour trip to Italy.

This is for Laurin...and Kenny

Way back when, when Bo and I were first married(we are old pros now), we were avid dinner party throwers. It was about making new friends, honing our skills as cooks, and most of all, having great conversations over several glasses of wine. For our first few parties, I really had no idea what to make for dessert. I have always been a cook but hadn't done much baking. So, I called my mom up and asked for a simple, quick AND delicious recipe. She gave me what has become one of my most famous dishes, RUM CAKE.

CAKE:
1/2 C chopped pecans
1 box Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Golden Cake Mix
1 small box (3.4 oz) Instant Vanilla Pudding
1/2 C light rum
1/2 C vegetable oil
1/2 C cold water
4 eggs

GLAZE:
1 C sugar
1 stick butter
1/4 C light rum
1/4 C water

Directions:
Mix together all the cake ingredients and pour into a well-greased and floured (I use Baker's Joy) Bundt pan. Bake at 325 for 60 minutes.

While cake is baking, make glaze. Combine all the glaze ingredients and cook 2-3 minutes on stove top, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.

Once cake is finished baking, pour some of the glaze over cake while still in pan. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes and then turn onto cake pedestal. Drizzle remaining glaze over cake.

This is just a GREAT picture. (And I am beginning to miss my cutie nephew George!)

Obsessions, lately.

I have been dealing with some demons lately. Yes, they are the demons we are all faced with every few years, when a birthday arrives, or a friend seems so much more grounded and mature than you do (and you're thinking "We are young! Why are you so...mature?"), or even when your new co-worker starts saying that Nirvana is classic rock! I have been feeling old lately. Maybe it's the start of the new school year, with all the streets crawling with "innocent" freshman. Anyway, I am not sure what is to blame for my obsessions of late, but I seem to be slipping more and more into my teenage years. Honestly, I feel like I am more like a giddy teenager now than when I was actually enduring those tumultuous years. I have been listening to Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" and Eminem (what a hottie). I have been reading Twilight (Edward Cullen is like totally awesome). And I have been watching Gossip Girl, like OMG. Does this mean I am reverting to my teenage years? Am I going to wake up with acne and braces tomorrow? Or I am just trying to be forever young? Either way, I have to snap out of it. Bo has had enough, and he tells me that no matter how many times I play Usher's "OMG", he won't dirty dance to it with me. And no matter how much I gush about Edward Cullen, he tells me I should be more interested in David Sedaris. As we get older, is it necessary for our tastes to mature as well? Are we lying to ourselves? Are we cheating ourselves out of melodramatic fun? I say we should take advantage of our youth AND our age, allowing us to appreciate art and yet indulge in the shallow. Really, what could be deeper and more well spoken than Katy Perry's line, "California girls, we're undeniable. Fun, fresh, fierce, we got it on lock!" In any case, I hear 30 is the new 15.

Music, lately

I haven't made a post on music in a while, and I apologize. I have heard some pretty great bands lately, but the artist that I am really stuck on is Lissie. If I was a singer, I would want to be her. She has a great, deep and almost raspy voice that is real (you know what I mean?). Bo and I are trying to play some of her songs and are having a little success. Maybe in a couple months I will post OUR video (which is usually recorded late nights in a bit of a haze). Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this video for her song Wedding Bells. If you do, one of my other favorite songs is Everywhere I Go.

I am...Dr. Neichoy's wife

Life with a resident...oh how I could write a book. There are late nights, lots of wine, crying fests with friends, and the the dreaded trying to explain to EVERYONE that they don't understand. Can we plan vacations? No, not until we get the schedule at the beginning of the month. Can we make dinner plans? Yes, only if you can be satisfied with just me, if Bo can't make it. When we do have dinner dates with his resident friends, the majority of the dinner is taken up by talk about the day's surgeries and complications (however, Bo tends to be the one who tries to avoid these the most). My dinners are planned, but not started until I hear from him. And it always takes me a good 30 minutes after he gets home (and a good joke from him) to get over the fact that he hasn't been home for the past two hours that I have expected him. The longer the night is for him, the tipsier the night is for me. There are so many things I have learned. For one, I am more independent than I was before marriage. How many wives can say that? Number two, my husband is brilliant. Literally. He deals with life and DEATH every day, and yet, he is able to come home and play the guitar for me.

Residency is a bitch. But the only advice I can give to future spouses of residents is to live for today. You can look forward to the end of residency and the beginning of a "real job", but your life is happening now and if you miss it, you can never get it back.

Thai (Tie, tye, Ty) Food

As a cook (and in other places ;), I like to think of myself as experimental. Let's be honest, I was raised on Lebanese food punctuated with West Texas, home-grown goods. Whether I was eating Kibbi, grape leaf rolls, pork chops or good-ole Texas steak, I was always comfortable in the kitchen helping Mom prep the dishes. My twenties welcomed French food (merci Ina and Julia) and some dabbling in Italian (grazie Giada). However, there is one cuisine that sends shivers down my spine, freezes my spatula-holding hand, and causes ice cream-eating anxiety attacks, and that is...Thai food. So complex, so many ingredients, soooooo hard. HOWEVER, this weekend, with time and my hubby to boot, I decided to tackle the beast. So, I looked through one of my FAVORITE APPS, Epicurious, and I found a recipe for Grilled Salmon with Thai Curry and Basmati Rice. The recipe was first published in (the now defunct) Gourmet Mag in 1997. So we chopped, we cooked...basically we danced in the kitchen, and at the end of the day (night) we both took a bite,turned towards each other, smiled and gave each other a HIGH FIVE!!!! This recipe was DELISH!!!! Wowza. Here it is:


Ingredients

For Rice:
1 Cup of basmati rice
1 1/2 cup of water
2 Tbsp of butter

For Sauce:
1 1/8 tsp minced gingerroot
1 1/8 tsp minced garlic
2 1/4 tsp peanut oil
3/4 tsp ground coriander seed
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1 1/2 tsp Thai red curry paste
1 1/2 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1 1/4 Cups well-stirred coconut milk
3 Tbsp tomato puree
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp packed dark brown sugar

For vegetables:
3 Cups finely shredded green cabbage
3/4 Cup julienne strips of seeded cucumber
3 Tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro
3 Tbsp finely chopped fresh mint leaves
1 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp rice vinegar, not seasoned
4 six-ounce pieces salmon fillet
Olive oil for brushing salmon
1/4 Cup roasted peanuts, chopped

Preparation:

Make rice:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees (Fahrenheit that is)

In a saucepan with an ovenproof lid bring rice, water and butter to boil. Bake rice, covered, in middle of oven 12 minutes. Keep warm.

Make sauce:
In a heavy saucepan sauté gingerroot and garlic in oil over moderately high heat, stirring, until golden. Add coriander, curry powder, curry paste, paprika, and cumin and sauté, stirring, 1 minute, or until fragrant. Whisk in coconut milk, tomato purée, soy sauce, and brown sugar and bring just to a boil. Remove pan from heat and keep warm.

Prepare vegetables:
In a bowl toss together all vegetable ingredients.
Prepare grill.
Brush salmon with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Grill salmon on an oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals until just cooked through, about 5 minutes on each side.
Put rice in center of 4 plates and arrange salmon on top. Top salmon with vegetables and spoon sauce around it. Sprinkle vegetables with peanuts.