Friday Things
1. This past Saturday marked the 1 year anniversary of bringing Duke home to live with us. I can’t believe it’s been a year already! He’s currently in the bratty teenager phase of puppyhood, but he’s also one of the sweetest dogs ever. He loves his people :)
2. On Monday, I hit the halfway point of my pregnancy – 20 weeks! I’ve been feeling really well and continuing to grow, grow, grow. We had our anatomy ultrasound last week – the baby is growing right on schedule and so far looks to be perfectly healthy. And yes, we did find out the sex… :)
3. I’m loving The Essential Techniques That Every Home Cook Should Know from Food52. Great resources!
4. So, I have this problem. I feel like the ability to slice an even piece of bread is missing from my DNA. No matter what I do, I always screw it up! I either slice the top normal and then the bottom of the slice is like two inches thick or vice versa – the bottom is virtually see-through. Any tips for slicing bread evenly? I need a guide or something!
5. Last Saturday, I saw a ton of people tweeting about a Simpsons marathon that was on TV. This might be a shocking confession, but I’ve never seen a single episode of the show. When it first came on, my sister and I weren’t allowed to watch it, and then by the time I was old enough for it to not matter, it was never something that really appealed to me. Please tell me I’m not the only one!
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6. I’m not sure if I’ve never noticed them before, but yesterday at the grocery store they had bushels of fresh hatch chiles from New Mexico. I can’t ever remember seeing them around here before, so I’ve never cooked with them. They had fresh ones, and then they had containers of roasted ones that they were roasting on-site right outside. What can I do with these, and how spicy are they?!
7. I love this post: When Productivity Tools Get in the Way of Actual Productivity. No matter how many different types of apps, online calendars or fancy planners I try to use, I always go back to my trusty notebook and pen. For me, nothing beats physically writing things down.
8. Full House back on the air?! My inner 10-year-old could not possibly be more excited!
9. I am slowly getting into the habit of keeping fresh-baked foods in my freezer (I figure this will help when the baby arrives – good to start the habit now!). I started this week with the whole wheat sandwich bread… next up – cookie dough! It’s all about balance, right?! I’m planning to stash away some of these salted peanut butter cup chocolate chip cookies. If you’ve never done it before, just make the dough as you normally would, then place the balls of dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet and pop in the freezer until the dough is completely frozen. Then, throw them in a freezer-safe resealable bag and bake as many as you’d like at a time, just add a couple of extra minutes to the baking time. Cookies on demand!
10. TGIF! Have an awesome last (long) weekend of summer!
Hatch Chile! I’m a food blogger who recently moved from DC to New Mexico. Imagine my surprise when I discovered there was a whole new world about hatch chiles I didn’t know about. Essentially, hatch chiles are like a cross between a hot pepper and an Italian green pepper. They’re delicious and a staple of every traditional New Mexican fair. They can be very spicy or mild, and it depends on the pepper. The smaller the pepper, the spicier, and if you freeze them, they become spicier with time.
I am OBSESSED with hatch chile powder- green or red. ( green in my favorite, personally). You can dehydrate the chilies and then grind them in a powder!
I also have a recipe here: http://www.southofvanilla.com/blog/2014/9/7/new-meixco-a-food-paradise-but-not-so-primal-friendly
You’ve got to try them!
I just have to say that living here in New Mexico, NOT having fresh green chili or loads of green chili in your freezer is like running out of peanut butter! It just can’t be allowed to happen. If our green chili stash gets low (usually in June), we start rationing!
Thoroughly enjoy your blog and recipes and especially seeing and hearing about the furry kids, Einstein & Duke.
I’m just catching up with your exciting news, Michelle, and I just want to congratulate you and your husband . I’m so happy for you and want to say that little boys are so cute ( I have a son), and I wish you a continued great pregnancy and a very healthy little boy at the end of it.
I just had to tell you that I live in El Paso and yesterday we traveled to Hatch, New Mexico to attend their annual Chili Festival. We had the best time…the chilies are so good!!!
Yay for a boy! For the bread I make in my bread machine I find my electric knife works perfectly! Because you slice faster, the likelihood of getting a straight slices is better. Plus you don’t have to buy another kitchen tool (unless you don’t have one). Love your site and that you’re here in my hometown!
I was just reading the latest Cook’s Illustrated and in the front there’s a section where people send in their best kitchen hack ideas. In this edition there was a better bread slicing suggestion–when you set your bread on the cooling rack to cool, lay it on its side so you will get even lines from the cooling rack indented in it and can then use those as a guide for cutting. No special equipment required :)
No, you are not the only one who has never seen The Simpsons :-)
Congratulations on your baby news!! How exciting! By the way, you aren’t the only one who has never watch The Simpsons. I wasn’t allowed to watch it when I was growing up either and to this day, I have no desire to watch it. I hope you have a great long weekend! :)