ghostly pumpkin

Originally uploaded by themiliones

lately i’ve sort of been on hold because of illnesses that were misdiagnosed, but then were finally successfully diagnosed, and been going through a few procedures on and off. this has made it difficult for me to do “everything” but i have some down time this week.

this photo is from halloween. we had just baked one orange baby bear pumpkin and i was eating it just with some tasty salt on top. we had pumpkin for a few weeks – pumpkin curry soup being a major contender around here – but i grew sick of it and eventually the soup lost the battle and we turned our backs on the pumpkins.

squirrels love pumpkins though. they’ve been raiding our compost pile and the dog and the cat watch.

we went over to @farmer_marty ’s house and collected the chicken and duck poop from their area to use in our garden in preparation for next year. we got a bit of a tour of his yard. his garden smells wonderful of fresh herbs as you step on them and too friendly cats make their temporary home at your feet. what a lovely place.

regardless, our more recent home cooking endeavors have included home made paneer, ricotta and mozzerella. we’re looking for fresh and raw goat milk.

to tie this all together: i have been doing some things, planning other things, and getting our garden ready for next year, but this has been slowed down by illness – which should be all done now.

the irony is that eating healthy can really only get you so far before random issues take over and things you have no control over like environment and genetics. but i think that if it weren’t for the fact that i eat well and healtfully, i would be in much worse shape right now.

i feel good. i will write more.

Baking Pumpkin

Originally uploaded by themiliones

Pho Nouveau, Boise, ID

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Originally uploaded by themiliones

This is just to say it is so wonderful to have a real pho place in Boise, and one with the Banh Mi! My most favorite sandwich of all time.

These are the shrimp crackers – they are awesome.

Waffle Window, Portland, OR, 4th of July

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Originally uploaded by themiliones

We were in Portland this summer for a secret wedding, and when the bride and groom took off on their elopement honeymoon, we ended up hanging out doing cool stuff with friends for a few days. One of the awesome, typically Portland, things that we did was we ate at the Waffle Window even though we were not hungry.

So, in the back of this restaurant, they converted a door to become a window, a swinging door, with two pieces to it. They added a sign, an awning, bright colors, and then the food. Fried waffles with a variety of savory or sweet fillings. Banana and nutella waffles, bacon waffles, all sorts of things. And a special drink too which was some combination of iced tea, lemonade and something else.

Isn’t it a beautiful sight? Young couples lining up to get waffles?

There isn’t really a patio. You can either walk up and down Hawthorne eating your waffle, or do what we did, which was sit down on the sidewalk and oogle at the new young hipsters of Portland.

Epi’s

Epi's Menu: Address and Number

Originally uploaded by themiliones

Now would be a great time to tell you about the first official date I went on with my husband. He decided to take me somewhere in Meridian; somewhere called Epi’s.

Warm, inviting, matronly and elegant, of course this man and this restaurant captured my heart. Our repeated candle-lit visits are always a celebration of our love of one another.

Epi was the grandmother of the woman who runs the restaurant currently, which is mostly family run. Epi moved from the Basque country from the province Bizkaia as a very young woman long ago serving the sheepherders in the country side. She had not cooked much before she had first arrived, but as the story on the printed menu states, she did have cookbooks! She eventually became very well known for her hospitality and cooking, mostly in the Basque boarding house that they ran in Hailey.

The restaurant is like stepping into the home of the Ansoutegi family with candles and closed windows, and the greetings are out of this world. I was called “sugar plum” and my husband was called “my boy” and we loved it. The way that you are taken care of at this restaurant is better than most of the hospitality I have experienced in Europe, and more like being invited inside a family’s home, a family that loved you, for dinner. You are always treated as you enter as if you are a part of the family.

Indeed the elegance as well as the glowing and vibrant intimacy of the place set the stage for the best first date anyone could ever go on. I am always adventurous and tried the squid cooked in its own ink as well as the Basque stuffed pimientos. The stuffed pimientos, which were stuffed with cheese (maybe Idiazabal?) which are no longer, sadly, on the menu because those peppers are no longer imported.

On other occasions we have had lobster, steak, and of course salt cod. We always enjoy the flan.

One of the highlights of our most recent meal was the large, green, blistered peppers we were served with our meal. These special Basque peppers are called piparras. They have the pungent un-sweet flavor of a spicy pepper without being hot at all. They are completely innocuous.

The house wine was a perfect compliment to the cod with pimientos and roasted garlic sauce. The halibut was flown in from Alaska that very morning, and was served with a citrus crust and lobster sauce with an incredibly decadent flavor.

Nothing can really quite compare to this restaurant’s tranquility, love and flavors. I hope you’ll go and experience it all too, with great love. We cherish our visits to Epi’s and know that you will too.

Deep Fried Pickles

Deep Fried Pickles

Originally uploaded by themiliones

These are fresh pickles from a jar dipped in batter and rolled in some bread crumbs and then freshly fried just for you. Just for two dollars at the Merdian Speedway. You can also dip these in fake cheese for an extra coronary, if you want.

Caribbean Feast: Mundovore Cooking Club

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Originally uploaded by themiliones

So we started a cooking club to share food. Last month it was French food, and this month it’s Caribbean. We had chirimoya and chayote and curried goat, cuban coconut cookies and more! In our fridge right now is this insane avocado, corn, chicken thing that was just awesome too.

This image is Jeremy making the arepas.

What the summer table looks like

Originally uploaded by themiliones

Just a note to post with this photo of our table last night. Of course, we can’t have dinner like this every night. And some nights dinner is a mess of bottles, cans, cups, and plates strewn about, but last night everything came together.

Enjoy. Wish you could have come over, or even come over for leftovers, but we ate it all.

Commemorative To Summer

Originally uploaded by themiliones

Yesterday was when I realized that our garden was a big, fat mess. Squirrels were climbing atop the giant sunflower and chewing the sides. Rabbits had nibbled on tomatoes (our rabbits). Tomatoes were sprawling everywhere and hanging into the dirt, decomposing, with slugs. The raspberries were done producing fruit and are now just a scratchy nuisance.

Last night I picked the basil flowers, kale, the mighty fall lettuces I planted, nasturtiums, other greens, tomatoes, and a lemon cucumber. Our kitchen pantry only added the olive oil, salt, pepper and the multicolored radiatore pasta that we needed.

It was a colorful meal to commemorate the colorful productions a summer garden can produce. And now, as we move into Fall, I look forward to a bounty of lettuces and greens and apples and other stone fruit.

San Inazio Festival

san inazio 2009

Originally uploaded by themiliones

Just a little note to say that Gernika now carries beautiful croqueta t-shirts and the Basque Festival was great.