She Smiled the Whole Way Home

Spring is finally here!

The Country House Dream

Recently Brad and I have spent a lot of time talking about what we would like to do if we could just discipline ourselves to save some of the money we make. Having acknowledged that we are rooted here in Brooklyn enough to stay a while, we have put off our fantasies of returning to New Mexico. The thing we now dream of most, to give us an escape and an outlet to the outdoors, is a vacation house in upstate New York.

This past weekend a friend, who recently purchased a similar dream, invited us to enjoy a taste of the great upstate at her cabin in the Catskills. Brad and I gladly made the drive and of course it fueled our own desires. It was a relaxing getaway and also the first chance we have had to take our car for a road trip since we purchased it this past fall (it handled wonderfully on the snowy country roads). We went for just one night and had a homemade pizza party while we watched movies and kept ourselves warm with whiskey. We spent lots of time playing in the snow and, as you might guess, Francine had the most fun of all. She also gave us the greatest surprise of all.

It seems our little Francine is a wealth of untapped talent. We had no idea that she too, is an artist. I think you'll be as impressed as we were at the likeness she achieved in this work she created. We call it, 'Self portrait in snow'.

Wet Rat

A few weeks ago we took Francine to the vet and dropped a few hundred clams. One of the things we tried to address in doing so is why she's always so darn itchy. So, we've been feeding her supplements and an antibiotic for her coat for three weeks now with little change, and then it occurred to us . . . perhaps the problem is the cat.

We gave Turtle a bath the other day to rid her of any potential flees or other itch inducing bits in her coat. Have you ever seen a cat claw her way up a glass shower door? I have, and I have some nice welted scratches up my arm to prove it. But we pulled it off, I held her down while Brad gave her the scrub. And although she was not happy, she certainly came out clean and soft.


The other main to-do this week has been the preparations for our holiday party tonight. Brad and I are hosting a Holiday-O-Rama featuring a selection of "holiday spirits". I've been infusing vodkas, making peanut brittle and in an moment I'm gonna head into the kitchen to started cooking up some spiked egg nog. The apartment is glistening with Christmas lights and the only thing left to do is wrap up some gift swap presents and put on our "outfits". It outta be a good one!

Pet Names

Reading back through my previous blog posts I came to the sad realization that it's officially been A WHILE. Already the summer farmer's market season is passing and I have been cooking with butternut squash again. The apples are abundant and so are yummy delights like spinach and fennel. If you thought I had fallen off the food wagon, you are very wrong - it was simply the blogging wagon, my friends. Last night we had a little impromptu dinner party with friends and I made a great dish of braised beef. All you need is a 3.5lb round roast and the following ingredients to have a good time:

Coffee and Orange Braised Beef with Cinnamon

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1.5 cups brewed coffee
1 cinnamon stick
2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
3-3" strips orange zest (use a veggie peeler)
cilantro (optional)

Preheat your oven to 325˚

In a dutch oven sauté the onion for 5-6 minutes until golden. Add garlic and stir for 1 minute until fragrant. Add coffee, orange zest, cinnamon stick and brown sugar. Bring to a simmer.

Meawhile, heavily salt and pepper roast. Place in simmering liquid and cover tightly. Bake for 3.5-4 hours until the roast is very tender (be careful of the steam when you lift the lid). Remove roast and slice. Return to pot and toss with braising juices, then served with orange wedges and chopped cilantro.

I served this with creamy polenta and there was lots of excitement around the table. You can thank the back page of my most recent Gourmet if you decide to cook up this magnificent recipe. I might also mention that I have been doing quite a bit of 'inventing' in the old kitchen. Yes, that's right, recipes of my own. Only problem is I haven't been posting them here, so many of them may have been lost to the moment - I'll work on that.

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I had been thinking of how to break the ice that has frozen over this blog - and what better than a top-ten list of the most exciting events that I haven't blogged about? But, while I edit that list, here's another top ten to entertain you:

Francine's Best Pet Names

1. Snuggle Bug
2. Puppy Face
3. Pony Head
4. Francy Pants
5. Señora Pantalones
6. Frankelstein (aka "Frankels")
7. Frankelstilsken
8. Frankelpuss
9. Franks and Beans
10. Francois