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

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Originally uploaded by themiliones

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

The Raw Pie: Delicious, Nutritious, Easiest Crust on earth.

Did you know that coconut juice is so similar to human blood that it can be used for blood transfusions? Great way to start out a conversation about raw pies, eh?

What’s a raw pie? The raw movement has periodically swept the foodie world on and off for decades. Recently revived again around the year 2000, I started learning more about raw foods. Raw foods seem to mean that a lot more prep work is done, but everything raw has an incredible flavor, needs very little spice, and just makes you feel healthy too.

The raw pie is the easiest recipe I can share.

Grocery list:

- pie tin
- one coconut
- one cup of whole dates
- one cup of pecans
- several overripe bananas (depending on the size)

First: open the coconut. I suggest a hammer and a chisel, or screwdriver. Put a few holes in the nut, and pour the liquid into a bowl. Chisel off the outer edge and save the inner meat. Put the white coconut meat into the bowl too.

Add both the liquid and meat to a food processor and turn it on. Add several bananas and a half cup of water. Blend until smooth. This may take several minutes.

Next pour the blended mix into a bowl and cover in the refrigerator.

Process one cup of dates and one cup of pecans in the food processor. Then just push that mix into the pie tin to form a “crust” and freeze.

When frozen pour the coconut/banana blend into the pie tin on top of the date/nut mix. Freeze again.

When frozen, cut and serve!