In my youth, when I was more adventurous and blissfully ignorant of the world, I used to eat fish eyeballs. It was my special treat. After there was nothing left of a fish except for the carcass and head, I would dig the eyeballs out with my nimble little fingers and eat them. Like an olive. I'd slurp the outside off and spit out the "pit" (for those of you who don't know, at the very center of a cooked fish eye is this inedible, hard, white ball). It wasn't until my friends and classmates from school told me I was a weirdo that I realized eating fish eyes wasn't exactly considered normal by most western standards. Subsequently, it wasn't until I was much older that I realized, who cares what kids think? They are dumb and reject anything outside of their own narrow range of life experiences; myself included, I thought it was weird other people thought eating fish eyeballs was weird.
Cheese Soufflé
Five bottles of champagne split between six people is how I started my new year. At the time, I wasn't thinking much about what I wanted to accomplish in the coming year. But now that I have had some time to reflect upon where my life currently is versus where I want it to be, I am a little overwhelmed at the thought of all the decisions and all of the work ahead of me. I won't say I have any particular new year's resolutions. I think they are stupid, like diets. Why only make resolutions once a year? Why not start pursuing your goals the second you form them, regardless of whether it's January or August? That's not to say having aspirations is stupid, on the contrary I think it's healthy and wonderful to continuously want to better yourself, and I definitely have a vision of where I want to be by this time next year. So instead of the term "new year's resolutions", lets call them "forever life goals."
A few of mine: Quit being so lazy and get my ass off the couch more often. Figure out what I'm passionate about and pursue it. Don't be afraid to make decisions that will displease other people if it means I will be happier in the long run. Eat my way through New York City. Cook with ingredients and methods I currently find intimidating. Stay in touch with friends, old and new. Travel more. Be bold. Be patient. Be kind.
And now that I've spilled my guts to all of you, I'm going to count these cheese soufflés as a step toward one of those goals.
Mushroom, Chestnut, & Dumpling Soup
I have been on a chestnut craze lately. At least one day every week seems to end with bum fingers cut up from peeling those frustratingly delicious little nuts. And my goodness, for a food item that seems so plebeian, they are as high maintenance as they come. Some of them don't want to give up their shell for anything, and some of them are moldy, but you can't see their dirty little secrets until after scoring, roasting, and peeling (or, attempting to peel) each and every one. But for all the wasted time and energy that goes into a bad chestnut, the ones you do manage to salvage are just so goddamn delicious.
There aren't any nostalgic stories from my past about roasting and eating chestnuts with my family during the winter. Such activities simply never occured. The most I can dig up is this one recollection I have of my mother making braised duck and throwing in some vacuum packed cooked chestnuts near the end to offer additional heartiness to a dish that was already a beast in itself. But oh was it good. The rich, fatty sauce coated the chestnuts and enhanced their already fragrant flavor. Whether or not it was that one experience from my youth or my general preference for salty over sweet, I have been trying to incorporate these guys into anything that is not a cake or cookie; first stuffing, then fish, and now soup.
Linzer Cookies
Remember a few posts back when I let you in on the news that I would be starting a job outside of blogging? Well, it's been about a month since my first day, and guys, I'm effin' beat. How do you work a full time job while having a dedicated side project at the same time? Especially a project that submits to the will of the fickle sun, who likes to start setting shortly after lunch these days. Tell me your secrets, how do you manage everything? (Really, I want to know).
Take Thanksgiving for example. Did you know that it's my favorite day of the year? A day dedicated to making a buttload of food, eating, napping, watching TV, then eating some more. Of course you didn't. Because reading my blog, it's as if that day doesn't exist! Though I made a whole 14 pound turkey and 5 different sides for a measly 3 people + 2 cats and we stuffed our faces silly then ate leftovers for days, there was not the faintest glimmer of Thanksgiving here, I couldn't even scrounge up a roasted brussels sprouts recipe for you all, and for that and I am sorry. I failed.
But I'll be damned if I miss the rest of the holiday season, which is why I'm here to make it up to you with these festive linzer cookies. With their ruby red jam and a dusting of snowy powdered sugar, is there a more quintessential winter cookie? I mean, besides gingerbread men, but I don't really consider those Christmas cookies so much as Christmas...decorations. Do people actually eat them?