Has it Really Been Three Months?

Hello, all. It is I, your friendly neighborhood anti-chef. I did not die or enter the Witness Protection Program. Rather, I've been incredibly busy doing everything but cook. February was a heavy work month, March was spent packing and visiting my sister and brand-new nephew in San Diego, and April has consisted of futile attempts to unpack. If nothing else, the kitchen is usable, so recipes will be forthcoming.

When I last left you fine folks, I had just finished my January of raw food-ness. It was a very interesting month, and I learned some very interesting food prep techniques that I hadn't considered. While 100% raw is definitely not for me (even though I'd love to eat sushi multiple times a day!), I have been and will continue to incorporate more raw items into my every day diet.

My trip to San Diego in March was originally to spend a week with my sister and nephew who was supposed to be born a couple of weeks prior. The little guy had a streak of stubbornness (I hear it runs in the family), though and hadn't shown up by the time I landed. Instead, my sis, Jenn, and I drove around San Diego and ended up at a little fish taco stand that was literally right on the fishing docks. The image above was taken from the seating area outside the stand. Talk about fresh! Each day's menu depends on what the fishermen bring in. My sister and I each ordered some fish tacos. I had the striped sea bass, and this was the most amazing fish I have ever had. Perfectly cooked, moist fish, topped with cabbage, pico de gallo, and avocado. I could eat like this every day.

As a side note, I have also purchased a new camera. It has 14mp resolution, 26x zoom, and tons of customizations. Basically, it's the closest I could get to a DSLR without forking out the big bucks. See those fish tacos? I could have never taken such a clear picture with my old point-and-shoot. Yay for new toys!

That night, we had Greek food as we sat around thinking up ways to convince my sister to go into labor. My sis and I both got the vegetarian plate, which included a Greek salad, dolmades (yum!), falafal, phyllo filled with spinach, pita, and (of course) hummus. We also ordered baklava, but we didn't get to it that night. The next day I was determined to get my sister out of the pregnant way. We walked all over the park near her house, and around the grocery store and Wal-Mart several times. That night we had Indian food that was amazing. I had picked up some fresh oregano during our errands earlier, and I was shredding it over my sister's food to hopefully get the labor started. Feeling very full, we chilled out on the couch for a couple hours. Just as we were talking about going to bed, my sister's water broke.

Long labor story short, I finally became an aunt on Sunday, March 13, 2011! Ian Alexander, 8lb 2oz, rockin' the KU gear below:

I returned home to a sea of packing/moving/working. Oh yes, and baseball season started. Things gradually have settled down, however, and I managed to relocate most of my kitchen toys. My first home-prepared meal in the new place was my Black Bean Burgers. I topped these with a mango salsa and gave my first attempt at homemade parmesan potato chips. The chips turned out OK, but the recipe will need a bit more tweaking before I deem it blog-worthy. The burger and chips are pictured below.

I do have a few new recipes to post, but I wanted to get everyone caught up on the going-ons during my absence. I look forward to getting back in the mix! (bad joke, I know)