Happy Anniversary Cookies

Dear Deb,

Now that you and I are so friendly, I feel that we are on a first-name basis. You can call me Tofu. You might even know that my parents' anniversary is this week. It's a pretty big one; the same as how old my husband is (19! I know!).
For their anniversary present, I decided to make your intensely chocolate sables. Your actual photographs taken with an actual camera made them look so delicious, I just had to go for it.

Here is the fundamental difference between you and me: you are obsessive when it comes to cooking and I am obsessive when it comes to everything but cooking. For example, you will spend that extra minute or hour making every cookie look perfect, while I prefer to spend that extra minute or hour cleaning all of my outlet covers with a toothbrush (stuff gets in there! just remember to turn the breaker off first), or making sure I can see my reflection in my toilet lid (good for plucking your eyebrows [just kidding; I don't pluck my eyebrows, because I don't have a unibrow]).

So, while these cookies are delicious and beautiful, I needed an occasion to make them. If I was just making something to stuff in my own mouth, I would like a little more bang for my time. Also, let's discuss this note at the end of your post: "Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to two weeks of 4 p.m. rations." 
Okay, you said this makes 40 cookies. Now, two weeks is 14 days, so, that would result in 40/14, or 2.85714 cookies every day. I ate that many in the first 30 seconds that they were out of the oven. So, by my estimate, this batch of cookies would last 40/2.857148*2 minutes, or about less than one day, which is what happened.

The other fundamental difference between you and me is that I made these cookies in my food processor. You said that I should use the food processor to chop up the chocolate to save time. So why not save even more time and just throw all the ingredients in there and skip the mixer all together? You are already going to have to wash the food processor anyway. It works for pie crust, and it worked for these, too.

So, lazy people, here's what I did:
In food processor, chop 3.5 oz unsweetened chocolate until powdery
Then add:
1c flour
1/2c sugar
1 stick butter fridge temp (I dare say this also allowed me to skip the dough-chilllin')
1/3c cocoa powder (I also used Dutched)
1/4t baking soda
1/4t salt
1 egg yolk
1/2t vanilla
Process until a ball starts to form -- it might not totally come together; this is a crumbly dough. Roll out on wax paper (I had to cajole it with the flat of my hand a little, too). Cut out cookies, sprinkle with confectioner's sugar, and bake on parchment-covered stones at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool completely before removing from stones.
I guess if it were really lazy I could have baked it as a big sheet and sliced it after, or just made little balls and baked those.

if you don't have a heart-shaped cookie cutter, you can always use a pancake mold that you borrowed from your mom

they don't spread out much, so you can put them close together

these were all gone 4.592 minutes after my husband got home

Well, Deb, another job tastily done by the winning team of you and me. Keep up the good work!
Your Friend,
To-

Falafel!

Dear Turkey,

I am so excited about last night's culinary adventure: falafels (falafel? you will want to know the plural of falafel because you will want more than one; or you can just say: Honey, cook me another falafel, my plate is empty!). 

We decided to make falafel(s) because we needed an extra cheap meal this week, since our baby needed more diapers, wipes, and diaper cream for daycare (since we can't use cloth diapers there, I assuage my guilt by buying 7th Generation or Earth's Best -- they cost more, so they must be better!). And those come out of the grocery budget. We adapted the following three recipes from our favorite Mark Bittman cookbook (but all of his books are good!). 

For the falafel:

cover one bag of Goya (please) dried chickpeas with water and soak for 24 hours, adding water as needed

Then, in the food processor, combine:

The chick peas (save a little of the water to add to the mixture -- only if the food processor requires it)

Juice of one lemon

1c parsley and stems

2 cloves garlic

1 small onion

1-2 t coriander, cumin, cayenne, chili powder, salt, and pepper

1/2 t baking soda

Form the mixture into patties with your hands. Mark Bittman says to deep fry them, but we shallow fried them with olive oil in a nonstick pan, turning once when the bottom was really quite brown, and they were beautiful (not because we are on a diet, but because we didn't want the house to smell like fried all week). We just made enough for dinner and saved the rest of the uncooked mixture in a container in the fridge to cook at our leisure.

Tahini Sauce:

Mix together 1/4c tahini (stir in the oil first)

About 1/4c water or enough to make it runny

Juice of one lemon

Cumin and salt to taste

1 clove garlic minced

Yogurt Sauce:

Mix together 1/4c plain yogurt

1 clove garlic minced 

1 small shallot minced

Salt to taste

(Juice of one lemon: optional, and probably only if you're going to eat it right away because it may curdle in the fridge)

we served the falafel(s) with cukes, onions pickled in rice vinegar and lime juice, cayenne for sprinkling on the sauces, and figs and grapes for dessert

I can't wait to eat this again tonight.

I moss you,

Tofu

I'm a Carb Pusher

Dear Turkey,

I have a confession to make, yes, another one: I am a carb pusher. I didn't tell you this before because I temporarily suppressed this aspect of my personality while my husband was on his diet. Now that it's a baking free-for-all at our house, however, my old patterns have bubbled to the surface:

Honey: I'm hungry.

Me: Have some banana bread.

Honey: I'm in the mood for something salty.

Me: How about some squash bread? I don't want that to go bad, you know.

Honey: That's not salty.

Me: How about some of our favorite New York Times chocolate chip cookies?

Yes, those famous NYT cookies are actually salted and, yes, I am a carb pusher. Baking makes me happy. Eating my baking makes my husband happy, and then creates an opportunity for more baking. So this tendency of mine might have had something to do with the reason my husband went on a diet. I am ashamed.     

Since every household needs a carb pusher, I'm going to share another bread recipe with you. This one is adapted from yet another Moosewood cookbook. 

Squash Bread:

In a large bowl, combine:

2 c cooked butternut squash, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, or something like that

4 c whole wheat flour

2/3 c brown sugar

1 stick melted butter (just pretend you didn't read that, honey)

2T yeast

2 c whey, milk, water, even cider or juice...whatever you have

1t salt

Knead this together with your hands, adding more flour as needed to make a ball of stretchy dough that holds together (I added white flour). Let it rise covered for a while. I shaped mine into two loaves and baked them next to each other on a parchment-covered stone at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. 

this is such a forgiving dough and it makes really beautiful bread

you probably don't even need a carb pusher to make you want to try it

but it helps if you've worked up an appetite

running 10 miles first

I moss you,

Tofu

Finally Baking!

Dear Turkey,

Since I haven't heard back from you about my Vitamix challenge, I assume that you decided to surrender it to me. So, I thought I should practice one of my best blender sauces so that I'll be all warmed up when it gets delivered.

This is really an old standby at our house. It's adapted from this very favorite cookbook (attn my one other reader: if you got this cookbook for a present, I highly recommend this recipe):

Sesame noodles:
Cook one package of soba noodles
In your blender or Vitamix, combine:
2 cloves garlic
2T peanut butter
1T sesame oil
3T tamari
3T rice vinegar
3T honey
1-2T chili oil
1T sesame seeds
Pour over noodles and enjoy hot or cold

And, for dessert...finally...biscotti for my husband. I have a few biscotti recipes that I make. This one is also adapted from a Moosewood cookbook.  

In a big giant bowl, combine:
1 stick butter, melted
1.5c sugar
4 eggs
2t vanilla
2t almond extract
4t dried orange peel
1/2c ground flax seed
1/2t salt
3t baking powder
1t nutmeg
2c white flour
2c whole wheat flour
2c chocolate chips or mini chocolate chips

mix with your hands until a ball forms (it will be a relatively dry dough)

form the dough into a log on a baking stone covered with parchment; bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (or 30 minutes if you like your biscotti al dente)

let it cool a little and then slice it; you don't really have to spread the slices out because they won't get much bigger; bake at 350 degrees for another 15-20 minutes

enjoy with your favorite tea in your favorite mug

NB: in case you didn't study abroad in Italy, I would like to tell you that "biscotti" means "twice baked." After we take the "log" out of the oven the first time, we usually eat a few slices right away. We call this "un-scotti." Un-scotti is an important part of this baking ritual, and it's how my husband broke his baking-fast; not so much as a Christmas cookie has passed his lips in the past months. Way to rock the willpower, honey. The look on his face when he ate the un-scotti really made my day. 

I moss you,

Tofu

Mexican Pizza

Dear Turkey,

Mexican and pizza -- a match made in heaven. Just like new books and the bathtub, or mint chip ice cream and peanut butter sauce, or -- oh, that's just me? Mexican pizza was something that we ordered at our favorite Mexican place, but, for some reason, we never made it at home. Until the other day, when I wanted to use up the following items: cilantro, onions, tortillas, and feta.

so we pickled the onions in some rice vinegar and lime juice, and made a pesto with cilantro, olive oil, salt, sugar, lime juice, and sunflowers (you might have to skip those)

                         

we spread bean dip, the pesto, feta, and some minced serranos on the tortillas

baked them at 425 degrees for about ten minutes, topped with the onions, and enjoyed! 

 Other topping ideas: butternut squash, roasted red pepper puree, chevre, pine nuts.

then we went on a hike

and had oatmeal for dinner to compensate for our big, bold, full-of-attitude lunch

Now I would like to share the following conversation (dramatization):
Honey: you know, Honey, your blog isn't really sticking to your gimmick.
Me: what are you talking about? Go fold the clothes.
Honey: all you do is post, post, post, but we never hear from Turkey.
Me: But I LOVE posting! Doesn't the world want to hear how funny I am, and see all the pictures of snow, snow, and more snow?
Honey: yeah, but that's not the point of the blog.
Me: how else am I going to get famous and get a lucrative cookbook deal?
Honey: that should not be your goal.
Me: I thought you were folding the clothes. So, can I bake something?

In conclusion, Turkey, how can I entice you to post on this blog? Giveaways? Challenges? Bribery? Blackmail?
I know, let's have a competition for who can make the best recipe. The prize: your Vitamix. If you win, you keep the Vitamix. If I win, you will ship it to me. Game?

I moss you,
Tofu

Caramelized Apple Butter Scones or Scones ver. 2.1

Dear Turkey,

Even though my husband's diet is almost over, I still hid these from him, since he probably didn't plan on two cups of cream and two sticks of butter in his break-baking-diet-fast. 

This is what inspired me to make these scones:

cool random German apple butter (at least I think it's apple butter...I can't read that...)

My husband wanted some apple butter, so I picked this exotic one. However, he wasn't crazy about it even though he has exotic taste (not for wives). So, there I was, home on a winter day with the baby, a pint of cream and an almost-full jar of delicious apple butter staring me in the face. So I made these scones again. Instead of 1c cream and 1c milk, I decided to use up the cream. I am ashamed. In place of the chocolate, I patted half of the dough down on the parchment paper, then I spread half of the apple butter on that, topped that with the rest of the dough, followed by the rest of the apple butter. (Make sure to pat gently -- god, I hate adverbs.) When I baked it, I made sure the butter didn't brown (because that makes them taste less delicate, more manly; probably Hemingway would direct his wife to brown the butter), but I did let the apple butter on top caramelize a little.  

it tastes a little like apple pie, but not too much, which is good, because I don't really like pie (I know, I know)

the apple butter really caramelized nicely (adverb!), but it would be good with any jam, or marmalade

Before you make fun of my husband for declining even a forkful, I would like to posit that this wouldn't be on your diet either.

I moss you,
Tofu

Empanadas

Dear Turkey,

Remember when we lived in the same town and you used to take me out to lunch all the time? And a lot of the rest of time you would invite me over for lunch? Yeah, that was great.

I moss you,
Tofu



Just kidding. Now that I must depend on myself for lunch, I have a lot more to say about it. In fact, I've been dreaming about this lunch project ever since I had my baby, but I was waiting a few crucial elements before I could try it:
1) daycare
2) no work
3) a little friend we like to call Veggie Nugget
    3a) little Veggie Nugget taking a trip to Wegmans with our parents' credit card

Actually, this is a cheap (I could have even used my own money), fast, and tasty project; I labeled it "canning" because, even though I didn't "can" the empanadas, I made them to freeze. Now I can microwave a couple for lunch any time I feel like it's not safe to light a burner in case my baby tries to blow us into space.

The recipe is inspired (aka mostly plagiarized) by one of my favorite blogs (this girl owns an empanada truck, so she knows what she's doing). I developed a taste for empanadas during my formative cosmopolitan years at this totally awesome restaurant. My heart skips a beat just looking at their website.

Here's how it's done (for 50 empanadas; trust me -- this whole thing only took a couple of hours):

you start with an obligatory "ingredients" picture

Then, in a big pot, combine two red onions (diced), two or three cloves of garlic (minced, or even from a jar!), olive oil, butter, salt and pepper, nutmeg (few T), and red pepper flakes (few T).

Gabrielle: is this what you meant by a "tad" of butter?

after sauteing that for a few minutes, add 4lbs of spinach (I used frozen), tons of lemon juice, 16oz of cottage cheese, and 12 oz of feta

Cook that until the cheese just melts and then crack four eggs into the pot, and stir until eggs are hot enough to be just cooked. You may need to cook/drain off liquid at this point; it may feel wrong to lose this great liquid, but it will make the stuffing way easier (you could use it as the liquid in a great pizza dough).

then it's time to stuff them! I used Goya frozen empanada wraps (no shame!); you will see that there are two colors

Secrets:
1) use as much filling as you can without any leaking out
2) close the wrappers by pinching your fingers like it's your job
3) it will go faster if you have a Veggie Nugget to help you and you're watching Mean Girls

bake them on stones or cookie sheets covered with parchment paper, 375 degrees for 18 minutes (until just starting to brown)

when cool, freeze -- don't worry Husband Mother Earth -- I am going to re-use those bags!

taste test

I moss you,
Tofu

Thank You Jeezus...I Think My Husband's Diet Is Ending!

Dear Turkey,

This blog is about to get a lot more interesting, because my husband finally weighed 1--.- lbs yesterday! (Honey, am I allowed to post your weight on the blog? Is that personal? Like if it told the world I weighed 143.2 lbs this morning would you think I was being too familiar with the World Wide Web?) 

So, now, instead of baking things, hiding them, sneaking them into work, and subtly slipping them onto the blog, I can just...oh wait, maybe that was more interesting. Either way, things are about to get more interesting for my husband's taste buds.

However, I devised this recipe before the big weigh-in yesterday morning, so, honey, if those enchiladas put you a little over the top yesterday, no worries. (Wouldn't you all love to hear about our delicious poblano-onion-cotija-queso blanco enchiladas with black bean salsa, homemade tomatillo sauce, buttery rice, and guacamole? Is your mouth watering? Would you love to see a picture? Well, I would love to tell you about them, but the recipe is PROPRIETARY. [Me: can we make this a few more times so I can put it on the blog? Honey: you can put YOUR recipes on the blog. Me: so can I bake something?])

Anyway, I CAN tell you about this delicious bread that I made yesterday. I combined about 2/3c sourdough starter (optional), 2c buttermilk, 1.5 c slivered almonds (further slivered by the tuna chopper), 1.5c craisins (mine were sweetened), 1c oatmeal, 1T salt, 1T yeast, 1t ground fennel, 1t orange peel, and enough flour to make a dough that forms a ball when kneaded by hand for about two minutes (it was probably about 2c). The dough should be moist but not sticky. Then I let it rise covered while we ran ten miles. I baked it at 350 for 65 minutes (actually I baked it for 45 mins, then I made my husband get up and check it every five minutes for the next 20 mins, except for the time that I got up, cut a piece off, ate it, and put the rest back in the oven).

then I tried to let it cool 

but that didn't last very long

So, Turkey, here is a challenge for you: make some delicious poblano-onion-cotija-queso blanco enchiladas with black bean salsa, homemade tomatillo sauce, buttery rice, and guacamole, and tell the world about it, so we don't have to keep our readership in suspense any longer. I'll bring the bread.

I moss you,
Tofu

My New Job

Dear Turkey,

Since we haven't talked in a couple of days, I'd like you to be the first to know about my new job. Yes, I have decided to become a Critic at Large. Haven't heard of this position before? Just leaf through your latest New Yorker magazine and you will see it, right there, its own department. However, since I'm pretty sure that The New Yorker employs fewer people than are in my family, I have decided to also keep my regular job (that's right, Boss and Co-workers: your baking is safe).

After my successful review of My New Favorite Cookbook: Smitten Kitchen (attn: Deb Perelman -- are you reading this? is it taking so long to ship my complimentary copy because you decided to send me a whole case? oh...you shouldn't've). I have decided to review Peas and Thank You by Sarah Matheny (attn person who lent me both of these cookbooks: your free samples await you; you know who you are).

I liked this cookbook because it is:
1) Hilarious
2) Vegan, but doesn't use all kinds of weird ingredients that I don't have

"Constructive criticism comments:"
1) I think some of my pictures are actually as good as some of yours (okay, my best ones are almost as good as your worst ones, but still)
2) You are obsessed with Hawaii

So today I made "PB & J Cupcakes" (scroll down; once again: not on your blog -- props). But instead of "J," I used "Nutella." I also used regular whole wheat flour instead of the "white" version and it was still delicious.

these came together so quickly, with very few cups and spoons to wash

1.72 mins later

unrelated material

I moss you,

Tofu

I Ate All the Pretzels

Dear Turkey,

I hope you liked my book review yesterday; I can guarantee that you didn't like it as much as I did...because I already ate seven of the pretzels (I'm saving the last one for dessert tonight; it's hard, but somebody's got to do it). So that means that in 24 hours, I've eaten one stick of butter and 1/3 cup of heavy cream -- and that's just dessert! (Thank you, breastfeeding!)

Since I'm ashamed (not), I decided to post my healthy lunch. You probably know that I love polenta: it is the epitome of cheap/easy/healthy/fast. Today I heated some olive oil in a pan and then added 1/4c cornmeal, 1c  water, lots of salt and pepper (polenta secret that I think I've already divulged), lots of lemon juice, and about 1c frozen spinach. After it started to come together I poached an egg (the best kind...human...just kidding...the kind that comes from chickens that have names) in the middle.

next time, however, I am going to use a nonstick pan

I served it steaming hot (see?), with green tabasco sauce

This is the kind of thing that I can make in five minutes before my baby eats too many wipes from the container (just kidding, honey, he only ate one*). 

I moss you,

Tofu

* JUST KIDDING, HONEY!...geez...what do you think this is?

Don't Tell My Husband

Dear Deb Perelman,

Thank you so much for asking me to review your new book, The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. I can't tell you how much I am enjoying being a rich-and-famous-blogger like you. I'll be on the lookout for my complimentary copy; you know my address.

On the whole, I really loved your book. Your photography is awesome. That's probably because you use an actual camera, no matter how tempting it might be to reach for that free phone camera. (I'm guessing you don't have a free phone either -- the perks of being rich and famous). Your recipes are also awesome, except the ones with meat in them.

Now that I've given two "nice" comments, it's time for the one "constructive criticism" comment: your jokes could be funnier. It's not that they're not funny, but, take my from-one-rich-and-famous-blogger-to-another advice: when you're feeling a joke, just go for it. Don't second-guess yourself and don't write yourself out of something funny.

Example (p43 [I'm not a grad student anymore so I'm not going to provide you with an MLA citation]): "You can get either made to order frighteningly cheap anywhere -- the deli, the bodega, some bars, the average corner store, where you can stock up on beer, lottery tickets, or cat litter along with breakfast. The randomness of these transactions is one of my favorite things about New York."

Okay, this is funny. However, it would be funnier if you took out the last sentence (or took out the last sentence and replaced it with "poop" -- Turkey, that was for you). Just let your jokes be funny. I get them; you don't need to tell me why.

Back to why you have a fabulous cookbook and why I'm writing this post on a $300 laptop in a cabin in the middle of the woods: your baby is older than mine. Actually, it might be your recipes. Just to test my theory, I made this one (by the way: "respect" that this isn't a link to your blog; you actually have enough recipes for your blog AND a cookbook; and there is only one of you).

oh yeah...these are good...

especially if you replace the milk with...breastmilk (just kidding: heavy cream)

In conclusion, I really loved your book. Reading it made me hungry. And don't worry, my husband will never know about this baking adventure; your recipe only made eight pretzels and I've already eaten three of them. And he won't be home for another few hours.

Mazel Tov,
Tofu

How I Gained a Pound Last Night

Dear Turkey,

I think that part of my job as a soon-to-be-rich-and-famous blogger is to promote rural winter living. You know, it's part of our shtick (sp?): you live in the big city, I live in the boonies, you take pictures with your fancy phone, I take pictures with my free phone, you hate snow, I actually don't want to gouge my eyes out when all I see is 

this every day

But if you're sick of looking at my winter-stravaganza pictures, don't worry; there is probably an app somewhere that automatically switches out pictures of gray snowy weather for beautiful tropical beaches. Or you can just stop reading the blog for four months until it starts looking different around here.

Luckily, we can warm up our souls and our numb fingers with delicious, cheap, healthy, seasonal food (what's not to love?). Last night we (and by we, I mean -- husband: 90%, me: 10.5%, baby: -.5%) made one of our favorites, butternut squash. We baked it whole in the oven (with a few fork holes for insurance) until the skin was starting to get all brown and flaky. Then we let our baby try it before we doctored ours up with lots of salt and butter.

actual color, not a simulation

We also made our favorite cranberry sauce, but I know, I know, I've already told you about that. The star of the show was...the baby, of course...but the culinary star was

mushroom barley soup

We cooked the barley, and meanwhile sauteed celery, carrots, onions, bay leaves, salt, pepper, and oregano in olive oil. Then we added tons of portobello mushrooms (okay, 9), little red potatoes, and broth. We combined it with the barley and simmered it until everything was just done.

For "dessert" we had buttermilk currant bread, which is one of our favorites (so much so that I may have already written about it and forgotten; oh well, read at your own risk). I combined about 1/3c sourdough starter (optional), whole wheat flour (probably 4 or 5c), a little white flour (1c), buttermilk (2c), buckwheat honey (2T), salt (1T), currants (2c), and yeast (1T). I kneaded it with my hand until a ball formed. This is an easy riser and I just let it sit out all day and baked it at 350 degrees for about 50 mins.

this is a big giant loaf of bread but we already ate half of it...see title of post

In conclusion, despite our shtick, you and I are united by our love of cheap, easy, healthy, seasonal, and beautiful foods (because really, who isn't?). The only difference is that where you live the sky and the ground are probably different colors. And I'm not talking about nighttime.

I moss you,
Tofu

I Heart Mexican

Dear Turkey,

This is the story of how people who live

here

 And actually enjoy and seek out scenes like

this

make Mexican food. I think that Mexican food is my favorite kind of food (except maybe Ethiopian -- maybe I do live in the wrong hemisphere). Every week when we make the grocery list (yes, we do plan our meals out every week because I hate spontaneity and I am a control freak) we have a conversation like this:

Honey: what do you want to make this week?

Me: Mexican

Honey: we had that last week

Me: how about beans and rice?

Honey: that's Mexican

Me: so can I bake something?

Actually, that part about me hating spontaneity is actually not true when it comes to food and cooking (although it is true when it comes to every other aspect of my life). As you know, I love to use up random things in my fridge and turn them into something delicious. This is what happened yesterday; we had some feta from our anchovies adventure and two beautiful avocados from when my parents brought bagels over for New Years (if you are confused about why they brought avocados you are obviously not a fake Jew). 

So this is what we did: we sauteed a red onion (sliced) with some oil, cumin, garam masala, chipotle chili, and season salt (my husband's go-to-onion-seasoning), sliced the avocados (and let our baby try some -- he loved it!), crumbled the feta (my husband never buys pre-grated or crumbled cheese, "it dilutes the flavor"), and drained and rinsed the beans.

we put it all together in a small tortilla

panini-ified it

and enjoyed!

We topped them with salsa and/or our favorite BBQ sauce.

I moss you,

Tofu

I Ate Anchovies

Dear Turkey,

Greetings from the land of

trees with snow on them

and more trees with snow on them

Last night I had a big culinary adventure: anchovies. I have always wanted to like anchovies. They are good for you. They are low on the food chain. They are cheap ($1.99!). They don't spoil. But I was never sure, especially after studying abroad in Italy where, if you tell them you are vegetarian, they put anchovies on everything (don't ask me why; maybe they are trying to fatten you up).

Over the holidays we organized our pantry (romantic, and our baby loved chewing on all the Tupperware). We found a jar of roasted red peppers that expired a while ago (but more recently than 1983). So my husband decided to make a pasta sauce out of them. He asked me to buy cream, feta, and anchovies when I got groceries.

these are the ones I tried; that Oscar guy looked trustworthy

Last night, he cooked some angel hair. Then he sauteed the red peppers with some onions, garlic, cumin, and oregano. Then he added sherry vinegar, lime juice and the dreaded anchovies. He blended it all up and added some cream. Then he served it on the pasta with fresh basil, currants, and feta (and he would have used pine nuts but they were out at the grocery store).

When I tasted it I realized:
1) It was delicious (and I know he thought so too, because he wrote it in our cookbook), and not too fishy (my fear).

2) I have eaten anchovies before, and not just in Worcestershire sauce. I immediately felt like I was at one of our favorite Italian restaurants, even though I have never ordered anchovies there before (see 1st paragraph).

I would print the recipe (and a photo) here but my husband said that it is proprietary ("you can put your recipes on the blog"). So, honey, if I left something out above, I leave it up to you to correct the public. I threatened to make a new category on the blog called: Things My Husband Made and Doesn't Want Me To Put On Here, but, since he subscribed, I'd probably have to protect it with a password.

So, anchovies, maybe you and I will be friends. And now my husband wants to try sardines.

I moss you,
Tofu