Palletteers have a successful show!

My mom curated the Botanical Gardens show, "Art in the Garden", this past weekend on St.Croix. It was very successful! Take a look at more photos on their site:
http://palletteersofstcroix.blogspot.com/

Asian Steak and Noodle Salad

I just began marinating the steak to have dinner ready for Jason when he gets home tonight. No subbing or job interviews today(yet! Optimism still afloat.....), so I am cooking, doing laundry, working on a painting, and continuing to read my Explorer/Archeology book (Lost City of Z) which is hard to put down! Ill let you know the verdict of the meal after dinner.

For steak
1/4 cup Asian fish sauce
2 tablespoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
2 lb flank steak

For salad
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
6 tablespoons water
6 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons dried hot red-pepper flakes
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots (2 medium)
8 oz dried vermicelli rice-stick noodles*
2 medium Granny Smith apples
7 oz Asian salad mix (16 cups loosely packed; see cooks' note, below)
1 cup fresh mint leaves, torn into pieces if large
1/2 cup salted roasted peanuts (sometimes labeled "cocktail peanuts"), chopped


Preparation:
Marinate and grill steak:
Whisk together fish sauce, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and sugar in a small bowl until sugar is dissolved. Pour marinade into a large sealable plastic bag. Pat steak dry and place in bag, then press out excess air and seal bag. Turn bag over 2 or 3 times to coat meat, then place in a shallow dish (in case of leaks) and chill at least 4 hours and up to 8. Bring steak to room temperature 30 minutes before grilling.

Prepare grill for cooking over medium-hot charcoal (moderate heat for gas).

Remove steak from marinade (discard marinade) and pat dry with paper towels. Grill, uncovered unless using a gas grill, over direct heat, turning over once, until medium-rare, 12 to 14 minutes total.

Transfer steak to a cutting board and let stand, uncovered, about 15 minutes.

Assemble salad while steak rests:
Whisk together lime juice, water, sugar, fish sauce, and red-pepper flakes in a bowl until sugar is dissolved, then stir in shallots.

Cook noodles in a 5-quart pot of boiling salted water until just tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain in a colander, then rinse under cold water and drain well. Transfer to a bowl and toss with 1/2 cup dressing. 3Working around core of each apple, cut thin slices (about 1/8 inch thick) with slicer, then stack slices. Cut slices lengthwise into 1/4-inch-wide matchsticks.

Combine apples, greens, and mint in a large bowl. Add 1/2 cup dressing and toss well to coat.

Thinly slice steak across the grain.

Arrange noodles on a large platter and mound greens on top of noodles. Arrange steak slices on greens and sprinkle with peanuts. Serve at room temperature with remaining dressing on the side.

I found this recipe at: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Asian-Steak-and-Noodle-Salad-235018

Pesto!!! (and tilapia)

I made Pesto yesterday. It was easy, and i couldn't stop finding things to "pesto" yesterday. I chopped up tomatoes and spread the pesto on them for lunch; For dinner, I made tilapia, using the following recipe. I also poured a can of corn on top of the fish when it went into the broiler. Side dish was mashed sweet potato. Jason said it was "outstanding" ! Gotta love THAT reaction!
I think the best part about home made pesto is the variety of pine nut textures and the freshness of the basil.

Pesto (and tilapia)
1 1/2 bunches fresh basil (about 1 1/2 cups lightly packed)
4 ounces toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 tilapia filets

Preheat broiler. Grind the basil, pine nuts and grated Parmesan cheese with a mortar and pestle until a smooth paste forms. Slowly add 1/4 cup of olive oil, grinding until a smooth sauce forms. If you don't have a mortar and pestle, use a food processor instead.

Season the pesto to taste with salt and pepper. Season the tilapia with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and cook the fish for 1 to 2 minutes on the flesh side or until it turns light golden brown. Flip the fish over and spoon the pesto generously over the fish.

Transfer pan to the broiler and broil for 2 to 3 minutes or until the fish is cooked through. Remove fish from broiler and allow to rest on a plate. Serve fish hot.

Papaya Bread/ Pudding?

I was about to make Banana Bread until I saw a lonely, ripe papaya sitting on my kitchen counter. I swept the web for some recipes and finally decided on a recipe from Guayana. I used Hazlenuts, and didn't use the raisins or Allspice. I ended up baking it for 2 Hours. I'm wondering if it took longer because i pureed the papaya in my food processor, or maybe because I attempted the feat of converting grams to cups/tablespoons,etc. Anyhow, it reminds me of making Papaya Preserves in Mrs. Riveras 4th grade Spanish class. The cinnamon is maybe where this taste memory is coming from. What a wonderful surprise of a recipe. It turned into more of a Bread Pudding, but still tasty. I'm curious what the husbands take on it will be...

Update: He thought it was too mushy, and more of "your kind of thing", pointing to me. Hes right, i enjoyed it again this morning.


Ingredients
1 large papaya
150g sugar
175g white flour
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp baking soda
45g chopped nuts (optional)
4 tbsp butter
2 eggs
1/8 tsp allspice
3/4 tsp salt
50g raisins (optional)

Slice the papaya and de-seed with a spoon. Peel the fruit then mash until pureed.

Cream together the butter and sugar in bowl until fluffy. Lightly beat the eggs together then slowly incorporate into the butter mixture. Stir in 250g of papaya puree then add the flour, allspice, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Mix thoroughly then stir-in the raisins and nuts (if using). Tip into a cake or bread tin, smooth the top then bake in an oven pre-heated to 170°C for about 1 hour, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

An afternoon with Chicago History

Chic Chicago


Eastland Disaster


Norman Rockwell painting at History Museum


Christian Krohg

Yesterday, a friend suggested we head over to The Chicago History Museum. "Chic Chicago" and "Lincoln" were the special exhibits, however some of the permanent exhibition was interesting too.
Chic Chicago
Coco Chanel, Halston, Charles Worth, Yohji Yamamoto....and countless more designers! I found this exhibit most interesting, reading about the influential Chicago women who wore these designers.

Eastland Disaster
July 1915
This was the biggest disaster in Chicago, a ferry boat had too many passengers on board, and capsized before even leaving the dock! Almost 900 people died! I think that's an amazing amount of people for being so close to help.

This Norman Rockwell painting depicts the famous cow that started The Chicago Fire. I think this painting resembles some of the Norwegian artists I just saw at the Munch exhibit, like Christian Krohg. What do you think?

Snow!!!! A few days before April....

We woke up to this beautiful scene this morning. As you can see, Hugo is just as shocked as I am!
(Oh, Jason borrowed a camera from school so we would have a camera at home while we figure out the broken one)

Coconut Cookies

I had a sweet tooth this afternoon and found a Coconut cookie recipe that allowed me to not leave my house for the ingredients! Moist, decadent, and very easy! I'm eating my 2nd one as I type!
The recipe says bake for 10-12, but with my oven, I cooked them for 18 minutes. The first (12 minutes) batch was a little under cooked.


1 box yellow cake mix
2 cups shredded coconut
1/4 cup Coco Lopez Cream of Coconut
1/4 cup softened butter
2 eggs


Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Stir together 1 box yellow cake mix, 2 cups shredded
coconut, 1/4 cup Coco Lopez Cream of Coconut, 1/4 cup softened butter and 2
eggs in a medium bowl. Roll into balls and roll in additional coconut. Place on a
parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.