Typical Friday night

Starts with antipasto:

It varies a lot. Always has olives. I love olives. Always has salami. Almost always has marinated mushrooms. I'm working on the marinated mushrooms. Those were pretty good but not the best I ever made. As soon as I perfect those I'll post a recipe!

Sometimes I have some pickles. Sometimes I have some roasted peppers. I usually have some bread.

I'll sip wine and munch on all that while I cook.

I lost a ton of weight. I didn't diet. I completely changed the way I ate. But when I did that I made a deal with myself. On Friday night I can eat as much of anything I want. Period. For a long time it was chips and Oreos. And ice cream.

But often times I felt like crap when I got up on Saturday morning. So last Spring I compromised. Rather than chips and Oreos I'll just be more sensible. I'll fix things I wouldn't normally have. But the deal stays the same. So. Radishes and butter? Yes of course!

While I was munching and cooking I noticed this!

Ok I didn't quite get what I wanted there. It was getting dark. Those ripples - I have otters outside! Really. That pond outside my window is the Charles River. The headwaters are just a few miles away. The Charles River is filthy. The water is like tea. But that's from all the rotting organic matter in it - mostly leaves. The fact is the Charles River is chemically clean and most people don't know that. But this is proof. Otters require extremely clean water to survive. They've been here for years now and I usually see them 3 or 4 times a year.

It's all about the clams!

I don't see any reason at all why I can't make my own stuffed quahogs. Those of you that aren't New Englanders - that's a big stuffed clam. Pronounced "co-hawg". But the last time I tried was a complete and total disaster. Oh I had the bright idea I'd chop up some preserved lemon and add it to the mix and I'd add some thyme and I'd do this and I'd do that and well, I couldn't even eat them they were so bad. The lemon really clashed with the clam. Who would have thought. And I didn't use enough broth and they dried out too much in the oven.

I remembered a lesson I learned making clam chowder. It's all about the clams! Duh!

I finally got it right.

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This will serve 2.

Take maybe a half cup of bread crumbs, use homemade bread crumbs, add a pinch of salt and mix with 1/4 cup of finely chopped celery, a tablespoon onion powder and 8 oz. of chopped (cooked) clams. Add a little parsley. Mix in a tablespoon of melted butter and 1/4 cup or so of clam broth. Mix it good and pack it into some clam shells.

Add a little bit of dry bread crumbs on top of the mix - the dry bread crumbs will get toasty and brown.

Put them in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes. The clams are cooked, you just want to heat them up and get the flavors working together.

When they come out put some paprika and fresh parsley on top.

Voila!

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Now, what does really good ravioli look like?


No no. It looks like this! Ravioli in brown butter. With crushed red pepper and sage. Yummy! Have some fresh grated parmesan over it.

Edited Oct. 30: Of course there's garlic in that brown butter!


Grappa is the perfect dessert!



I really look forward to Friday night.

Eating habits

Four years ago I weighed 230 pounds. That was roughly 70 pounds ago.

I felt my riding sucked. Well, didn't suck completely, but wasn't what it should be. L is a perfectly stunning beast and we just weren't where I felt we should be. I thought long and hard about it and decided my weight was a problem. When I rode in a stock saddle my belly bounced off the horn. Bareback and English my balance sucked and I couldn't move the way I needed to move. I was in L's way as often as not.

So I gave up soda.

It was rather amazing. I lost almost 15 pounds in two weeks time.

I really wanted to get under 200 pounds. That was my goal. After I gave up the soda I thought maybe I should give up the snacks. So I did. I kept carrots and cucumbers and broccoli around in case I got desperate for a snack and I did now and then.

But the weight came off steadily. I lost the 30 pounds in maybe 8 weeks or so. That got me under 200 but I kept on going.

It was around 180 pounds I started with smaller portion sizes and never looked back. I can't eat like I used to even when I want to.

I like to stay a little under 160 pounds and I never felt better.

But I didn't "diet". I changed the whole way I ate. I eat good. I just don't eat a lot.

I often eat appetizers for dinner. That was actually my friend J's idea. We'd go out to eat and the portion sizes were just too big and we'd be ready to pop by the time we were done dinner. So one day she says "let's just get appetizers". Which is what we did and found it was "just right" - kind of a smack your forehead moment. I often do that at home too.

I fix bruschetta and crostini a lot. Here's crostini with mushrooms and corn:

The topping:


I sauté two finely chopped shallots and 6 or 8 ounces of sliced crimini mushrooms in butter with a liberal pinch of salt and then add 4 ounces of corn and let it cool. I take 3 or 4 slices from a bagette and toast them golden brown, both sides, under a broiler. Paint on some extra virgin olive oil and top with the mushroom and corn mixture.

I added some chopped parsely to this one. Yes, it's dried parsley. Hey, I like dried parsely. I'd think most people would want fresh but I don't think it goes well with this. I'd say skip it. Goes great with a glass of chianti.

So, my very own dieting tip: have an appetizer, skip dinner.

I might have a salad too. Look! This lettuce came from my sad little garden!



Oh and yes, I ride better since having lost that weight and I'm *sure* L appreciates it too! We're still not where we should be. But we are pretty comfortable with each other.