Fish Wednesday: Manic Depressive Edition

Salmon and Peas

In spite of the fact that there is some excellent news to be had around the NEV HQ, it’s tempered with some rather less than excellent sides. The dominant household trauma is around a new furnace, a must fix now situation that will empty the coffers of my hard earned dollars, money I had hoped to spend on something rather more romantic than than a large appliance that will ensure I do not see my breath when I stumble out of bed on those cold February mornings. Along with the unanticipated investment in my home, there’s some more personal stuff that has left me with a big heavy suitcase full of sadness, and not the wheelie kind of suitcase that you can toss in the overhead.

You’d think that things both excellent and awful would cancel each other out, leaving me with a sort of manageable stasis, but instead, it is a roller coaster ride of high places with vast views and stomach wrenching plunges to unexpected depths. This is all a lot of metaphorical smoke blowing, what I ‘m saying is that things are 17 kinds of crazy lately. And in order to manage that without completely losing my mind, I have been back in the kitchen.


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Soup Swap? Souptacular!

National Soup Swap Day 2009

Founder Knox Gardner points at the National Soup Swap map.

The original soup swap legend starts as follows: “In the dark times of the woolly sweater, nothing warms the soul as much as a bowl of home made soup…” Or, you know, something like that. Though it’s not so much the soul that’s warmed as the heart and the belly.

Soup Swap this year was the largest I’ve ever attended. A whopping 22 soups appeared in the middle of Dave and Carrie’s perfect new kitchen. The swapping was fierce and competitive as well known chefs in our midst delivered bribes of chocolate, tapioca, and impossible to resist home made bread.


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Fish Wednesday: Not Quite Blackened Black Cod Edition

I get cravings sometimes. Sometimes I think, yes, crispy, blackened, spicy, that’s what I want. Sometimes I think of the once portly Paul Prudhomme and how he seemed to start his recipes with a pound of butter, hence the irresistible deliciousness. Sometimes, I get it in my head that I can replicate the luscious, spicy …


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Fish Wednesday, Scampi Style

Last weekend we were talking with a Hawaiian friend from Honolulu who revealed to use this shocking fact: He had never visited the shrimp trucks on the road to Oahu’s north shore.  “How could this BE?!” we cried, while remembering the sound advice of “Peel, Suck, and Eat” as provided by that big yellow truck, …


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Fish Wednesday, Drunken Snapper Edition

Disclaimer: Tonight’s Fish Wednesday is sponsored, unofficially, by Three Olives Vodka. Why? Because they sent me the sample vodka I used in the recipe. Just so you know, I’m not much of a drinker, so I’ll bypass the deep analysis of the vodka and tell you what we had for dinner. Penne with Vodka is …


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