crab cakes with remoulade sauce

yummy and gummable. chop everything finely so there is no worry about chewing!

crab cakes with remoulade sauce

garlic scape remoulade

6 garlic scapes
1 anchovy
2 tbs capers (drained)
2 tsp fresh parsley
2 tsp fresh tarragon
grated zest of a lemon
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
chop the first 5 ingredients all together - i used a mezzaluna on a wooden chopping board for this. combine with lemon zest and add to mayonnaise. stir well. best made a few days ahead so the flavours have time to come together.

crab cakes

2 cups crab meat
1/4 cup milk
2 tbs chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs (i needed more, as they were too wet)
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp worcester sauce
butter for frying

combine all ingredients, except the butter. allow to sit for a minute so the crumbs can absorb some of the liquid. shape into patties - the recipe recommended 4 or 6, but i made 8 smaller ones - and place on a tray lightly dusted with breadcrumbs so they're easier to handle. fry in butter, 3-5 minutes each side, until nicely golden.

baked beans

an obvious classic for people with trouble eating! beans are a great source of iron, protein, and fibre.

baked beans

2 cups white kidney beans
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup chopped onion, sauteed in olive oil
1/2 tsp mustard powder

put all ingredients in dutch oven. cover with cold water to about 2" above the level of the beans. bake at 250 - 300F for about 12 hours. check periodically to make sure they aren't cooking too hard or drying out; add water as necessary.

zucchini brownies

a tasty treat, with some added fibre! also, zucchini is a good source of vitamin a, folates, manganese, and potassium.

zucchini brownies

3 cups grated zucchini (i grated 3 zucchini)
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups butter, melted & allowed to cool
2 cups white sugar
2 cups whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda

combine zucchini, eggs, butter, and sugar. stir.

sift in dry ingredients. stir till just combined.

pour in a greased & floured 9 x 13" baking dish. bake at 350f for 50-60 minutes, or till it doesn't jiggle in the middle.

Revelation

I have been super tired for the past week or more. As in, going to bed at 7 o’clock every night tired. I set the alarm for 8:30 and get up for an hour and a half, and then back to bed at 10 o’clock (which used to be normal bedtime for me).

Then this morning, it hit me! Every spring, I get a terrible wheezing chest cold. The first week of March. like clockwork. so regular, I wondered if it might be a seasonal allergy (although there’s not much growing here the first week of March, but it could be leaf mold or something that appears when the snow melts). Anyway, I thought I’d be clever this year and head it off at the pass by taking a daily antihistamine (cetirizine) before the sickness hit. Antihistamines are known to cause drowsiness.

Duh!

Starting today, I am going to take it in the evening instead of the morning. I hope I can avoid the wheezing by this preventive measure. I do not want to use an inhaler ever again if I can help it!

In other news, my jaw stiffness is getting better, so I’m going to assume it was just a normal phase in the recovery from the crown lengthening procedure.

boooo

oh dear.

new wrinkle appeared yesterday: a stiff jaw! if i'm not doing anything, or just talking/mumbling as i normally do, it's fine. if i open wide - as in wide enough for a spoonful of soup - it's sore. chewing hurts too (not that i'm eating anything too chewy - last night's dinner was nachos without the corn chips). it's three weeks now since i had the gum surgery, and a week since i had the filling replaced. why am i hurting now?

and i'm getting stiff/achy in other places as well - lower back, arms, and my old foot injury is reminding me of its existence.

it's frustrating, because i even managed to get a little bit of exercise yesterday (walked 2.5 km to work in the rain), which you would think would be enough to keep my muscles from atrophying but not enough to make me stiff.

ok, that's enough self-pity for today!

dining al dente

this could be tricky.

i'm having lunch with a couple of old friends. at a pizza place. sigh. i was excited to look at the pizza libretto menu when we made plans to eat here. what to choose! an arugula salad with pear, roasted walnuts, aged-piave, vinaigrette? or this salad sounds good: crispy egg, brussels sprouts, butternut squash, heirloom beets, arugula, pine nuts, pingue prosciutto, ricotta salata. yum. and how about a pizza with duck confit, bosc pear, and mozzarella? or cremini mushrooms, bufala mozzarella , gorgonzola, roasted garlic, rosemary, thyme, and pecorino...

well, i can't chew a pizza crust, so that is all out of the question. as is anything with nuts, or the word "crispy," or fresh arugula. the warm olives are also out, because there will be pits.

most likely candidates: beet caprese salad (heirloom beets, fiore di latte, basil, extra virgin olive oil), meatballs (had meatballs sans pasta for dinner the other night, worked ok), arancini with smoked ham, tomato sauce, grated grana padano?

i bet i can get through some of the desserts too, tiramisu is mushy, granite is mushy, gelato is an obvious choice.

but "chocolate-amaretto budino" - what exactly is that? "chocolate-amaretto" sounds like my kind of thing, but i have no idea what a "budino" is, texture-wise.

struggling

this has been the week of the crash.

every day, i've been ready for bed at 7 o'clock! and famished. it has been a real struggle not to just eat ice cream every day, a struggle which, let's be honest, i'm losing. it's a combination of having difficulty finding things to eat, and also the whole "i'm sick so i deserve treats" mentality, which leaves me inevitably unsatisfied.

on friday i forgot my vitamins in the morning, big mistake. it is more important than ever that i take them! what i really need though, i think, is a vitamin for fibre. ha. our healthfood store is out of barley (and barley porridge with sunflower seeds and dried apricots was my lifesaver before!), so that's a drag. i do have red river cereal on hand though, i need to start eating that more.

another part of the problem is having the "same old same old" is an appetite killer. i read an interesting article on the three types of hunger the other day, and i think i am right now in the throes of all three. i want comfort, i need nourishment, and i can't keep up. argh.

one thing i am thinking, though, is i need to get more exercise. it's hard when it is so cold and icy! but exercise will hopefully boost my appetite enough that i will get over the "ugh not more yogurt" feeling and just eat it.

also, i've made some flavourful soups that i hope will do the real trick.