The August Olympics (of food)

Here I am 2 days before the end of August sitting and writing for the first time this month. I’d like to admit that it was due to a hectic work schedule, but with 2 and a half weeks of holiday in the US visiting friends and family – I just couldn’t bring myself to boot up my laptop beyond an occasional email check. Truthfully, the most labour intensive technology I used whilst at home included two items:

First was my mother’s universal remote – it took me nearly a week to successfully turn the TV on and off without messing up some secret settings she'd set up.

Second was her Wine Preserver vacuum pump - with this one I spent a good ten minutes trying to insert nozzles, both backwards and forewords. Once that was sorted, I started frantically pumping and pumping the top of it to “release all the air” (or so the packaging claimed). Having broken out in a sweat, and nearly chipped a tooth, I figured out a better solution – I took the damn Wine Preserver off and just finished the bottle of wine. There, problem solved.

Anyway, technology snafus aside it was a wonderful few weeks of best friends, quality family time, 3x/week personal training sessions, and new fall/winter clothes stock-up sessions.

Side bar: It’s all well and good for my family to tell me how lucky I am when visiting the States since the $ is so weak against the £. Well, not exactly when I proceeded to buy EVERYTHING in site. Please, if anyone has an occasion for me to wear a new sparkly purple sequin dress, please let me know.

Lovely food and eating occurred on most days. We tended to do a lot of eating and cooking in - which worked out to everyone’s benefit. In honor of this month’s Olympics I’d like to share this month’s food winners:

Bronze Medal: Matt’s Chicken Shawarma

Marinated for 24 hours and with enough garlic to kill off the entire Vampire Chronicle series, I’d been hearing about this famous chicken shawarma for months. Served in whole wheat pitas with home-made tahini sauce, cucumbers from the farm, a wee bit of feta and all washed down with a Blue Moon (with lemon) a good time was had by all.

Silver Medal: Spicy Tuna salad at Fugakyu

Everything I love about really fresh spicy tuna rolls but without the rice. Fresh pieces of tuna with spicy mayo and little flecks of tempura crunch were served in a martini glass over a bed of seaweed. When out to eat with friends I never like to eat the last bit of anything unless strongly prompted, however Jai and I were fighting over the last bit like 2 women who’d spotted the same discount handbag at Loehmanns red tag sale.

Gold Medal: Dinner in three courses prepared by Davida, Audrey, and Dana

With the 3 of us in the kitchen at the same time it was particularly (and surprisingly) smooth sailing and by far the most enjoyable and delicious meal of the month:

~Roasted peaches and goat cheese served with prosciutto and an olive oil drizzle
~Fresh crab and corn cakes served with a brandied cream and shrimp sauce
~Squash blossoms stuffed with 2 types of Italian cheeses, dried apricots, garlic and chives