Week the Fourteenth...Neverending Stew, Pizza Flambe, & Winning Weekend

I always thought that part in the movies when something in the kitchen catches on fire was just there for dramatic effect, and in the real world only a complete idiot would let something catch fire while cooking.

Yah, it would appear that I'm a complete idiot.

But more on that in a bit. Week the Fourteenth consisted of no new recipe attempts. I went with stuff I knew and loved for Easter Monday dinner... Sweet Potato-Lentil Stew (p. 166) / Cornbread (p. 163) / Caesar Salad...of course (p. 175).

I reeeeeally enjoyed this meal the first time I made it and reeeeeeeally enjoyed it again this time around. The stew is subtly sweet (alliteration intended...some of my English students are bugging me about reading my blog so I figure I'll throw in a lesson any chance I get) thanks to the sweet potatoes, and the recipe yields a ton. We were eating this on and off for lunch and dinner all week. Rob the Husband finally finished it off on Friday 14.0...a bit of a stretch, but if it smells good and hasn't gone fuzzy, I say eat it. 

Rob's rating

Sweet Potato Lentil Stew - 3.5 Happy Tongues

Cornbread - 4.5 Happy Tongues

Caesar Salad - 5 Happy Tongues (of course)

And now my little pyro faux-pas...

I was making Thin Mushroom "Pizzas" (p. 220) on Thursday 14.0, and had a couple of tortillas broiling in the oven to crisp them up (as per recipe). When I checked on them they were almost completely black (oops), and in the 2.8 seconds it took me to grab my oven mitts, they had already caught fire (bigger oops).

So I pulled them out of the oven, freaking out just a bit as the flame seemed to spread further along the top of the baking sheet, and tried to decide in about 2 milliseconds if I should run them outside or throw them in the sink. The sink was closer.

Good thing we had 4 more in the package, and could proceed with our planned meal, which was no longer that appealing being prepared in a kitchen that stunk like smoke and charred burn-y stuff. Whatever, we ate it anyway.

This was my second time making this pizza, and considering one of my favourite pre-vegan conversion pizzas was Amy's Mushroom & Olive, this one (and its tofu-cream sauce) works just fine for me.

Rob's Rating:
Thin Mushroom "Pizzas" - 3.5 Happy Tongues

Weekend the Fourteenth was spent visiting family in Nanaimo, and it was a weekend that consisted of watching hockey, chilling, trampolining, and of course, eating. I got the heads up that ribs were going to make an appearance at dinner, so I made Risotto with Oyster Mushrooms, Leeks and Peas (p. 228) to compliment the meal...

I doubled the recipe, and I learned that when cooking risotto, don't double the recipe....make two separate batches. This turned out a bit mushy and not as flavourful as it was the last time I made it, but it was still pretty delicious. At dinner, Rob and I only avoided the ribs, and were free to pile on potatoes, broccolini, and Tofurkey Spicy Italian Sausage (hello faux-meat item...nice to eat you).

The risotto also made a decent breakfast in the morning when we reluctantly passed on pancakes. Go figure.

I'm watching the election results as I write this and Rob is cooking dinner from scratch (which deserves a blog post all its own). The smell of cumin permeating the kitchen is making it difficult to type, so ima end off with some weekend Nanaimo pics, because they include a cute baby and a cute puppy and tongue tattoos and a trampoline, all of which are winning (one day the Charlie Sheen phrases will loose their appeal, but not yet).

And finally, for a double dose of winning, puppy ON trampoline.

I suppose puppy WITH tongue tattoo on trampoline would have been tri-winning, but that might be just a bit too much winning for us to handle. 

You know who's not winning tonight? 

The Liberal Party of Canada. 

Oh snap.