by Sam Tackeff | Sep 13, 2015 | Holidays, Meal Planning
Tonight is the eve of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah, so I celebrated with friends and family, and partook in some of my favorite foods: Tsimmes, a dish of braised beef, carrots, and sweet potatoes, my grandmother’s potato kugel, blueberry cheese pie (what we call cheesecake), and my mom’s carrot cake!
My aunt pulled out all the tricks. She always has a great wine selection (and hard liquor – clutch for any family situation.) And the evening starts with a well curated cheese board, and chopped liver for us traditionalists. Cooper, the lab, was sniffing around for crumbs, but feeling under the weather, so alas, I couldn’t share with him any of my generous cracker schmears. Not that I’d ever do something like that.
We also had salmon, beef tenderloin, a deconstructed cabbage roll casserole, green beans, and vegetarian lasagna. And then dessert: the aforementioned cheese pie and carrot cake, a Venezuelan layered dessert called Marquesa, lemon meringue pie, apple crumble, and fruit.
So it’s possible that I won’t need to eat for a few days, but I’m still on the hook for a healthy meal Monday through Thursday this week. On Friday, I’m running Reach the Beach (a 200 mile relay through my home state of New Hampshire, so my meal will likely be some American Chop Suey served to me in an elementary school cafeteria around midnight!
Here’s what’s on the docket this week. The weekly cook-up, which, in addition to my dinners make up my breakfasts, lunches and snacks for the week:
– cook a large batch of greens
– hardboil eggs
– braise green beans with tomato
– make fennel salad (this holds!)
– chop peppers for snacks
– make pesto
Monday: grilled jerk chicken with fennel salad
Tuesday: pork tenderloin with pesto and zucchini noodles
Wednesday: roasted fish with sticky roasted tomatoes and garlic
Thursday: steak and potatoes with green beans.
And here’s a closing note for you of my favorite evening ritual: a pot of herb tea. I’ve been alternating between fresh mint, and dried lemon verbena. I took a good portion of my mom’s plant, and have been supplementing my habit with the leaves from Stearns Farm.
What’s on your dinner table this week?
by Sam Tackeff | Apr 13, 2014 | Holidays, Meal Planning
Last weekend I started sneezing. It’s just allergies! I was excited for allergies, because a little sniffling is better than the food poisoning and subsequent stomach virus I was fighting for the few weeks previous. Alas, it turned out that I had developed a cold, and worked through all of the natural remedies I could think of – ginger, lots of tea with honey, all of the liquids that one can humanly consume, lots of gut-building fermented food – sauerkraut anyone? – sambucus, and more. It could have been worse. Co-workers were experiencing the same “joyous” stomach bug I had previously suffered through, everyone seemed to have a sick kid, and another was laid up with pneumonia. I at least feel like I’m on the mend.
Yesterday I went to the store armed with my meal plan, and realized in about three minutes when I saw the matzah pyramids at the end of the aisle that I’d have to rework my plans to fit in the seders and passover friendly foods. Fortunately for my sanity, what for years was a real struggle each Passover season – what, you mean I can’t eat corn and soy and leavened wheat products and WHAT WILL I EAT?? – has now become fairly easy with my newfound Paleo-esque diet tendencies. Passover dietary restrictions are pretty much “primal-style”, and excuse to do a Whole7 reset if you forgo the permitted dairy and matzah. Who like matzah anyway? I know, I know, there’s all of those matzo crack recipes, and matzo balls, and every non-flour-based dessert known to man, but I probably shouldn’t be eating that all stuff to begin with.
Two weeks in a row without a strict meal plan and I’m feeling a little bit frantic, but this week is dedicated to spring, seder leftovers, and ancient reminiscence, so I’m trying to go with the flow.
This week I will be eating, in no particular order:
chopped liver // charoset (fruit chutney) // omelettes // tomato chicken // roman braised artichokes // egg lemon soup // brisket // roasted chicken // chocolate covered apricots // sephardic date truffles // asparagus
Are you celebrating Passover?
What’s on your table this week?
Matzah, Matzo or Matzoh?
by Sam Tackeff | Dec 9, 2013 | Holidays, Meat
When I committed to eating down my fridge before our trip to Canada this coming weekend, I wasn’t quite sure what I had on hand. Which is to say, I was pretty sure that there were some edible things in my pantry, but perhaps not enough to create cohesive meals, and certainly not enough fresh leafy greens. Nevertheless, I set off with a mission, and I’ve been largely sticking to my resolve.
For the last night of Hanukkah, we feasted on latkes with sour cream and apple sauce. There was salad with butternut squash, pepitas, and feta– and (please don’t smite me food gods) Lasagne Hamburger Helper. You just can’t recreate that with real food and hit the perfect ratios. You can’t make it paleo. You can’t make it wholesome. I don’t drink soda, I rarely drink booze, I keep my home largely free of processed foods, but sometimes, something’s gotta give.
Thursday night, we each had our holiday parties, so dinner was provided – I held back from over-indulging on too many passed appetizers, and introduced several of my coworkers to the sidecar. Friday, we had our date night, at the Cottage, in Wellesley – we’re pretty much regulars there – mostly because their lamb burger is divine, and they are highly accommodating to my penchant for substitutions (even the few times I’ve been on Whole30).
On Saturday, I defrosted a lamb’s neck in my freezer – with about enough meat on it for only one very patient person – and you really have to pick at it. I decided to braise it sweet, spicy, any sour, and made a braising liquid of two shallots, a few cloves of garlic, a knob of ginger, some salt, cumin, and a few large scoops of orange marmalade – processed with some water in my Vitamix. I cooked the lamb in this for nearly two hours on the stovetop, turning the neck every half an hour or so. At the very end, I tossed in a few warmed Swedish meatballs for Devon. To go with the lamb, I made some bulgur with orzo, mint and goat cheese – cooked to consistency of polenta.
Sunday night, I cooked a batch of Rancho Gordo red beans, which I warmed with a little bit of salt, cumin, and salsa. I cooked some chicken thighs between two hot cast iron pans, and made myself a big bowl of collard greens. I topped my greens with a little bit of the beans, and added a few spoonfuls of whole milk yogurt.
Tonight, I simmered meatballs in some tomato sauce. I rummaged around for something to go with it all – a vegetable perhaps? There was a package of frozen pizza dough that I had defrosted – and I thought to myself that I could make rolls. When the dough failed to rise, perhaps because it was nearly two years old, and then seemed to be dried out, and then baked into lumps of hardened play dough consistency, I gave up and dumped the failure into the trash.
And so meatballs were all we had.
I think I might have to give up and get us some vegetables.
by Sam Tackeff | Dec 3, 2013 | Holidays
My little Hanukkah ledge reminds me of the desert. I’d be pretty happy to be hanging out in Joshua Tree right about now. Well maybe not at this very minute – night time and it starts getting cold. Seven candles tonight, and I don’t want the holiday to end. There are so many latkes left to eat, and I haven’t yet played any dreidel! Dinner tonight was a mish-mash of pantry food: Rancho Gordo Florida butter beans, brussels sprouts, a little bacon, and a couple of eggs.
by Sam Tackeff | Nov 29, 2013 | Holidays
Winter is here, and it’s here to stay. It’s no longer safe to leave the house without a hat around these parts, and our neighbors have put up the Christmas decorations. Today we brunched at Rox, and ran into my grandmother, Sterra, who was midway through her weekly beauty parlor routine: a manicure, a quick break for soup, and then off to get her hair done. Her schedule is booked from morning to night – zumba, tai chi, museums, the symphony, lectures, entertaining friends for 5 o’clock cocktails – she lives at a pace that is even exhausting to think about. She’s quite a remarkable woman. Our day was quieter – we braved Guitar Center without purchasing anything, Target for toilet paper (I know, I know, what crazy people attempt an errand run on this nightmare of a weekend?), and a quick stop to Anthropologie, where I broke my “no spending on this stupid day” rule because that bright happy coffee pot was a mere $15 dollars on sale. I had to do it.
I love how it feels like a lazy Sunday, and we have two whole days of weekend left!
by Sam Tackeff | Nov 28, 2013 | Fitness, Holidays, Wellness
Happy second night of Hanukkah! Today I slept in, jumped out of bed, and ran for a mile. I’m debating another running streak. I ran a mile from Memorial Day to the Fourth of July this year, and it was a great practice. I love streaks. With streaks, you eliminate the options and have just two choices – continue, or quit. I’m most competitive with myself, so streaks work for me. I’ve been crossing off days on my current squat streak (50 a day), and thought that adding a mile from Thanksgiving to New Years might be a thing I’d like to do. From a fitness standpoint it seems doable, but this winter running thing? I’m not quite sure how I’ll adapt. Winter running requires a whole new wardrobe – long pants, jackets, protected extremities. And you can’t just have one outfit – you have to have several, otherwise you’ll be doing laundry every other day. I’m normally an overheated runner, and it’s clear that I don’t have this temperature control down. Today, at 30 degrees, I wore long running pants, a long sleeved running shirt, a sweatshirt, hat and gloves. My hands and face ended up freezing, and my core was overheating. This is going to require some significant trial and error.
This Thanksgiving, we spent the afternoon with much of my extended family at the same place we’ve been going to for the past three decades. Cousins and second cousins travel in from across the country, and we’re a large bunch. It’s quite a formal event, and I’ve always felt a little uneasy getting dressed up when I’d much prefer to overeat with less constricting clothing. Preferably an elastic waistband. For many years we’d have a second meal at my grandmother’s house, where she’d cook a second turkey, and make her famous cheese pie. We’d change into house clothes, and I’d feel like I could finally kick back and relax. A few years ago we stopped with the second meals, for the best probably, because it was utterly excessive consumption. After we did, I found myself sorely missing my opportunity for “real Thanksgiving” – but I wasn’t quite sure what to do about it. Today there was a small coup – everyone agreed that we love being together, but next year we’d like to have the big meal at a home. Planning started early, and I’m looking forward to next year at my aunt and uncles house, with lots of family, a roaring fire, and Cooper, my cousin dog making the rounds. No one likes breaking traditions, but I’m looking forward to next year already!
I didn’t take many pictures today, but I did snap one that’s still making me giggle.
Things I’m thankful for tonight:
My health, my family, my cousin-dog Cooper, candles, and egg nog.
Also, my camera, my cookbooks, warm fires, tuna melts.
And basketball season, good books, dear friends.
Cozy sweaters, laughter, and dark chocolate almond bark.
Happy Thanksgiving, friends!
