The Yum Yum Factor

We have returned from a fabulous 10 day trip to Portugal and, to be honest, I have just started to come back to reality and still feel like I am still processing the experience. I am pretty sure I could write a bazillion word essay on the wonders of Portugal at this point but who really wants me to do that? Until I can access my internal editor, I am holding off on even touching the actual events of the trip so that I don't bore you all to tears and scare you away because I really do want to share the wonders of this little gem of a country.

It was the The Kid's 15th birthday and I think I have made it pretty clear that when somebody celebrates a birthday in this house, it's allllll about days of eating whatever the birthday person wants to eat. From our Saturday dim sum feast at Luckee, through to his Saturday night, adult free, all you can eat sushi dinner with a group of his friends all the way to the actual birthday dinner, The Kid got to eat whatever his little heart desired. It also so happens that Easter fell the day before his birthday this year, so a turkey dinner was thrown in there for good measure. At first, he just requested risotto with either pumpkin pie or a raspberry pie. I got a pumpkin pie for Easter dinner and he was the only one to eat it so the same pie was going to have to do as his birthday dessert and he was A Okay with that but I couldn't pin him down as far as kind of risotto. He said "just plain risotto" I am NOT making a big bowl of plain risotto for his birthd...

I asked The Kid what he would like for dinner tonight and he decided he would like some risotto. He didn't care what I put in it as long as it was risotto. Now, I could probably make cat poop and toe nail risotto and he would be happy but that would just be mean. I am trying to make amends for sending him to school with a bad sandwich this week. I tried something new and a bit daring and he didn't care for it one bit. In fact, his friend forgot his lunch and usually eats just about anything. The Kid gave the sandwich to that boy and even he wouldn't eat it. Think about that. He would rather go hungry than eat that sandwich that I sent with my own son. Of course, boy #3 who truly will eat anything put in front of him ate it but he didn't enjoy it. The mom guilt, it burns.

I sent Shack and The Kid off to their boy's cottage weekend with a cooler full of lobsters, corn and other delicious things. I think it was an all flesh all the time kind of weekend and I have a feeling that nothing that didn't once draw some sort of a breath made it to the menu because the cooler came back with all the corn still in it. So, what to do with all that corn? Make corn chowder of course. We all love corn chowder and even though it was really hot today, I liked the idea. When I went to the store I spied some fresh looking clams so those went into the basket too. The Kid really likes clams and he has been on a bit of clam chowder kick lately so it was a no brainer. The addition of sweet potatoes adds a bit more nutritional integrity and a nice hit of colour in an otherwise very white looking soup.  Because I don't really like the classic,  super thick clam chowder that you often get, I didn't use any thickening agents in this one and in place...

Who doesn't love pasta with nice, little clams? Crazy people, that's who. Although I love a straight up vongole with nothing but olive oil, garlic, chili flakes, wine and clams, sometimes I want to kick things up a bit. I was craving a good pasta with clams but I was also craving roasted fennel- what to do? When I thought about it,  it made sense to just throw some fennel in there. Once I got used to the idea of adding fennel, it made it feel less taboo to add some diced tomato as well. At this rate, I will be adding meatballs and smoked trout the next time. Pasta with clams and roasted fennel serves 4 1 head fennel, quartered olive oil kosher salt 400g dried spaghetti 1/4 cup olive oil 1 bls butter 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced pinch chili flakes salt and pepper 1kg or 2 lbs of small clams 1/4 cup white wine 1 small tomato, diced handful fresh italian parsley, chopped roasted fennel, sliced fennel fronds, chopped to roast the fennel ahead of...

For christmas, I finally got my pasta attachment for my Kitchenaid and I could not be happier. Between my meat grinder and my pasta attachment, I feel like my culinary life is now complete. Okay, If you really stop and think about it, I will think of a hundred other things I want in order to complete me but at this point, I could not be more content. Now, if only I could have a kitchen with more than 2 sq feet of counter space, my life would really be complete. Okay, I lied, I do need a few more things lol. I am going to admit that the last time I made home made pasta and used my hand crank roller (for the final lasagne in my love 4 lasagne November challenge) that the hand crank came flying off the machine and hit be square between the eyes and left a HUGE , bruised lump. This may have been a deciding factor in Shack's obsessive drive to buy me this lovely treat for christmas. I am a good cook, I make very tasty food but I am a danger to myself in there. You don't even w...