We had a (cold but) great weekend. We stayed close to home, except for running errands Saturday in Natick, and it was so nice, because it's been a long time since we've done that. It was nice to be plan free and low key.

In Natick I exchanged my defective uggs, which I now think really were made wrong since this pair fits so differently (so much better). We did other returns and picked up some presents. Picked up a project to do with the boys on Friday (Christmas presents for their mom, dad and grandparents), which will be a blast. Stopped in to John Harvard's for two beers we wouldn't get again. Found 2 options for a mantel at Lowe's (Tim promised me one by Christmas so it looks like it will definitely happen!) Hit up the asian market in town and had a feast of wonton soup, gyoza, and scallion pancakes. Yum.

Sunday was returning the keg/tap, sleeping in, reading the paper, picking up, etc. Oh and of course the 24 movie ...

Trying to figure out this crazy Thanksgiving. Cyndy's going to her in-laws, Dad is going to Pam's sister's and her daughter's ... we are going to Deb & Bob's and are having Thanksgiving Thursday (just the four of us) and Friday (with Brad & the boys, too). Hopefully seeing Janet, Jord, and cute baby Ella over the weekend too. It should be a good one but I am anxious for it to start, I've got that senioritis feeling -- like, can't today be the only day of work this week?

Well the annual cookie day I wrote about Wednesday is planned! This year we're making it really count by making it a wrapping day as well. I can't wait, I love this tradition, which started late in college, was pre-empted for a few years, but now has been going strong since 2006 :)

My lovely husband brought home a bottle of my favorite white wine Wednesday night after making a special trip to pick it up. That was a fun surprise. Maybe I can surprise him with something tasty for dinner tonight ... better get thinking.

Heading out tomorrow for a little Christmas shopping, and stop into the "New Oriental Market" for lots of goodies for a dinner feast (wonton soup, scallion pancakes).

Looking forward to heading to Keene for Turkey Day. Thursday will be small with just Tim's mom & stepdad, and that will be great. Friday will be more chaotic when Brad & the three boys come over. We haven't seen the little guys in ages so we're looking forward to that.

I'm anxious to start Christmas shopping -- I love buying presents and wrapping them and the whole deal. But some how, I feel like if I start too early I might miss out on the real Christmas-y-ness of the whole experience with decorated malls/stores and music playing...there's something to be said for that -- but there is also something to be said for getting it done early: no stress, maybe better deals, and getting to enjoy the other things that make the Christmas season what it is.

I feel like December is already filling up fast but hopefully I can get in some good shopping days, and I hope M, D and I can do our annual cookie baking day (and maybe make it a gift wrapping day too!)

Do you panko?

I <3 panko. My husband introduced it to me early on in our relationship when we tried to re-create Tonkatsu, which his friend's mother always made for the two of them. Tonkatsu is essentially tenderized pork breaded in Panko flakes and fried, served with Bulldog sauce. Our attempt was "okay." Over the holidays I was fortunate enough to try the original homemade dish that he loves so much. It was fabulous.

Last week I decided I wanted to try once again to re-create the meal, so I bought thin cut pork chops and then spent 10 minutes trying to find Panko at my grocery store. Our store has great produce and meat and high prices. Though they carry a lot of specialty items sometimes their selection stinks -- for example, instead of carrying any of the various flavors of A1 steak sauce, they carry about 6 different size bottles of the original. No real choice there. Anyways, I finally managed to find the Panko, which I missed originally because the only type they carry is made by Progresso and in the breadcrumbs section instead of the "international foods" aisle. These are the times I miss a great big box of a grocery store.

I also couldn't find bulldog sauce (inspiration for this meal was last minute, had I planned better, I could have picked ingredients up where they'd be easier to find!) so I just served the panko-crusted fried pork chops with good old chunky Motts.

The great thing about Panko is that it maintains a really crunchy texture because the flakes are so big. Try it the next time you are breading something. I especially like to bread pork and fish with it.

I'm nearly through The United States of Arugala,not sure what I'll read next. I was reading Eat, Pray, Love at the same time but gave it up because TUSA was too tough to put down! Any recs?

Last night's dinner was a boring, we're-tired typical meal of salad, biscuits from a can and tortellini. We were out driving by 2 houses we might tour this weekend and stopped at a grocery store in that area on the way home. The prices were spectaculaly better than our local store, which was great. Tim also found a boxed mix for molten lava cakes that you just make in a muffin/cupcake pan. They are oh-so-bad-for-you but were easy and tasty.

Monday's dinner was more interesting, aided by the fact that I had the day off, watched The Barefoot Contessa, and then looked at her recipes on the Food Network site for ages. I settled on Parmesan Chicken (not at all the same as chicken parmigiana).

Not having a well stocked kitchen I made a few adjustments -- normal salt instead of Kosher, typical Kraft grated Parmesan/Romano blend instead of fresh Parm, margarine instead of butter, lemon juice out of the little lemon-shaped thingy instead of fresh. I was also out of flour so my chicken was improperly dredged in just egg and then the crumb mixture. I also cut down the receipe because I was using only 2 chicken breasts. All that said, it was delicious. I used a baby romaine mix for the salad greens and served olive oil and garlic couscous on the side along with cooked baby carrots. It was a really tasty dinner with the satisfaction of tenderized breaded chicken, cheese and the lemony vinaigrette. My husband didn't like it quite as much as I did but I think he really missed out by eating the salad greens first, and then the chicken. Eating them together it reminded me of a lemon chicken dish but lighter (without the heavy sauce). A+, this is going into my folder of go-to recipes!

I have become enamored by all things food and foodie. I've always been interested in cooking, but lately I've read a few things that have me wondering if food (and cooking) can fit into my life in a way that is bigger than "what's for dinner?"

First, I read Julie & Julia. I picked it up at a local bookstore on a whim, it sounded interesting. It's non-fiction, a girl in her late 20s/early 30s cooks everything out of Julia Child & co's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I don't always love the writing or the writer but it made me excited about food and left me wanting a "project" of my own (a desire still unfulfilled as I found this book while planning my wedding!)

After rating it on Amazon, the big A recommended Garlic & Sapphires. Now this book, I have SO MUCH LOVE for this book. It made me drool, I'm not exaggerating. It made me depressed that I have never had foie gras--okay now I am exaggerating--but Ruth Reichl has a fabulous narrative voice and her descriptions are amazing. I mean, okay okay, she was the restaurant reviewer for the LA Times, the NY Times and is now Ed-in-Chief for Gourmet, so I guess she oughta be good.

From there I moved in reverse to Tender at the Bone, which I believe is Reichl's first memoir, published in 1999. This is the story of food and her early life, as richly written as G&S, and interspersed with receipes, from which I made my first attempt at wiener schnitzel (tasty but oh-so-buttery and bad for you!).

I still have yet to get Comfort me with Apples which was published in between the other two but hopefully I'll be getting it in the next few weeks. At the moment I'm totally and completely absorbed by The United States of Arugula, a food-history book about food fads and revolutions in the US and the rise and fall of all of the big names in food (James Beard, Julia Child, etc) as well as celebrity chefs over time and some of the big names we know today.

So there it is ... how my passion for food was ignited. And here is where I'll write it all down -- what I'm reading eating cooking and thinking.