eat yo greens

I'm so glad it's the weekend...this first whole week of school was definitely though, and my body is still adjusting to the long hours. But, i love every second of it here. The past weekend at the farmer's market, I passed by a booth that was selling collard greens and decided to try making it. It's always so hard to just stick to my list of things because everything looks so good there!

I looked up a few recipes, and it seemed simple enough. I think usually it's made with ham hock, but I didn't have the time to get that going so I just used bacon instead.
Cook one diced onion with some bacon (I used 4 slices of thick cut) and garlic until the onion turns translucent.
Then add the greens. I used two bunches destemmed. It may seem like a lot, but they really reduce in size after a few minutes. I added a few tablespoons of vinegar, then when the size goes down, add 1 cup of water of chicken broth. Simmer for about 30 minutes.
The finished product. Overall not bad at all.
I've been eating pretty simply otherwise. For dinner today I just had a salad of corn, bell peppers, celery w/ garlic olive oil/vinegar dressing, a piece of gouda, and a cup of wine ( I have no wine glasses). I think my cooking strategy is to make a lot of something on Sunday, then have that for the rest of the week. I bought some kale today at that same stand I got the greens, so my next post will be about that.
The cat is doing well, and we're both slowly learning about one another. I've discovered he loves the laser pointer. I've thought of a few names, but I'm still not sure if they completely fit him: Poot (short for Pooter), Little Man, and Hubert. Happy Sunday!

new toys and some beef

Hello from Davis! Things have been busy with moving into my new place and orientation and such, so I'm glad to have this holiday weekend to writeup a quick post!

I went on a little splurge and, with a lot of help from CAB, I bought some new knives for my place, a Shun 4" paring knife and a Global 7" Santoku.

So far, I'm quite happy with my purchase although I am a little scared when I use them because they are quite sharp.

I've been trying to save money and eating at home, and my meals have been simple for the most part. Here is a bunch of stuff I got at the farmer's market (post to come in the future). The tortilla type thing is a potato Bolani, an afghan bread thingermabob. It's pretty darn good, a bit thin but the potatoes make it pretty filling.

What I've been missing in my diet though is meat, and after a few days, I couldn't take it anymore, so I tried making boeuf bourguignon (don't ask me to pronounce it), inspired by Paestry's lovely post. The recipe seemed simple enough and reminded me of the Stone Soup story, and I was excited to see how a few ingredients would mix together to make a tasty stew.

I know nothing about wine and just ended up getting the cheapest one. Until yesterday, I don't think I've ever had a Pinot Noir, but man it was good and so gentle on the tongue!

Down the bottle went into the pot.

After a few hours with some added mushrooms, tomato paste, and flour+butter.

I ate it with a big hunk of french bread. I made a bunch to eat for the next couple days. Overall, I was happy with the product, but next time I am going to add some herbs and see how it turns out.

In other news, I got a new roommate/my first cat! His previous owners couldn't keep him because he didn't get along with their other cat, and when they got him from the shelter, he was named "Tizer." I've been wanting to rename him, but can't think of anything good at the moment although I'm sure it'll come. Hope everyone's enjoyin their holiday!