by the skin of my teeth

I mentioned awhile ago that I'm going to Thailand. Well, I leave for Bangkok tomorrow morning and I started this morning pretty much at square one.

This was a group trip and the original plan was to spend a few days in Bangkok, then move to a private villa in Phuket. As I began looking into how to spend my time, I realized that the villa isn't in Phuket, but in Nai Harn, a 25 minute drive from Phuket Town. By all accounts, it's one of the most beautiful beaches in Thailand, but it's only 1 km long, it's located in a mostly residential area, and the villa is a 10 minute walk from the beach. *yawn*

I should've looked into this sooner (um, like before I made a deposit), but I didn't. I'm sure Nai Harn is a lovely place if you love beaches. I don't, which is why I usually book my beach vacations at posh resorts with plenty of activities, and why I lust for trips to European capitols. As the trip got closer, my sense of dread grew, and this morning, I decided to opt out of the villa and start over.

There is collateral damage, and I'm sure you're probably thinking something along the lines of, "come on, Sage, you're going to Thailand in February, you live in Scandinavia, how bad can it be?" But Thailand isn't a trip you do once a year, and I'm not one to squander opportunity, so it's important to get this right.

This trip is going to be a total seat of my pants, skin of my teeth sort of adventure, but maybe it's better that way. I think a lot. Probably too much. So, this will be an exercise in letting go. Really, I leave in fewer than 12 hours, what choice do I have?

I'll be spending 8 days in Bangkok, followed by 3 in Patong Beach, and another 3 in Chiang Mai. It feels right.

I expect Bangkok to be sensory overload and I can't wait to check it out... the markets, the temples, the spas, the counterfeit goods, the traffic, the tuk-tuks, Khao San Road! My original Phuket ticket is non-refundable, so it would be a waste not to check out Patong Beach, at least for a few days. Chiang Mai is to the north and seems to be the object of universal traveler love, plus my boss told me that the best curry of her life was in Chiang Mai, so of course I have to go there!

That was a lot of Googling!!! What did we do before the internet?

In keeping with the recent panini theme, I'll leave you with a couple photos of my favorite panini place in Rome. It's near the Colosseum and it's mostly a bakery with a few grocery items, and a takeaway counter that sells panini, lasagna, cannelloni, etc. by weight. I ate here my first day in Rome (another breakfast panino...lol!) and walked around for several hours trying to find it again on my last day in Rome.


I don't expect to be online again until Patong Beach, but I'm bringing my camera and will give you a taste of Thailand as soon as I can :)

quattro cantoni, siena

Steep, narrow cobblestone streets lined with the most beautiful ancient row houses and shops you can imagine. Vespas, churches, a clocktower, galleries, a piazza, olive groves, and fountains.

Surrounded by an ancient wall, Siena is pretty much everything I've imagined an ancient European city would be.

One of my favorite places in Siena is a café called Quattro Cantoni. Its high arched ceiling and plaster work is stunning, the cappuccino is definitely worth writing home about, and the clientele is an interesting mix of locals and tourists.

My favorite locals were the old woman who wore a fur collared coat and came in early each evening for a cocktail and an ice cream, sometimes followed by an espresso. And "the professor" who took a seat at a table in the center of the cafe, read his newspaper and sipped a martini in his turtleneck and blazer with leather patches on the elbows.

Even if this place were to close tomorrow, I swear it would still smell like coffee in 50 years. Amazing!

I found Quattro Cantoni my first morning in Siena. I'd skipped dinner the night before, so naturally, I had to have 2 panini...

One pomodoro, and one with grilled aubergine and fresh mozzarella!
What? I was famished! And for the record, I did skip the cannoli that I regret skipping.

After that, I found it hard to leave. There have been a handful of places in my life that have had a vibe that I can't explain, other than to say that I felt like I belonged there. Some kind of past life thing? I don't know. Like I said, it's hard to explain.

If I ever get around to writing the book that's been bouncing around my head these past few years; and if that book is a success; and if I can live on royalties or at least get an advance to go somewhere and write another book, I will go to Siena. I'll rent a flat in one of those delightful rowhouses. I'll buy Vespa and a pair of fabulous boots, I'll become a regular at Quattro Cantoni, and I will wonder how I got so lucky.

A girl can dream. A girl should dream. Last time I dreamed, it came true...

roasted veggie panino

Writing about Siena made me crave a panino from a café I'll write about later on. My first choice was a panino pomodoro, but my basil plant died, so I improvised this roasted vegetable sandwich with aioli and feta from what I had on hand.

Before going to Italy, my experience with "panini" was limited to a few unimpressive trips to Bertucci's. I'd thought that the only thing worse than Bertucci's is Olive Garden; traveling to Italy has confirmed that.

"Panini" is the plural of panino, which is what they're called in Italy. An Italian sandwich does not need to be pressed ridiculously flat and grilled to hell in order to qualify as a "panini." All of the panini I had were served on ciabatta or focaccia. Sometimes they were not grilled at all, and when they were, they were very lightly warmed, not even enough to melt the cheese, sometimes they were slightly warmed in the oven. They were never pressed flat.

The reason I told you all of that is because if like me, your panini experience is limited to Bertucci's, you're going to take one look at my sandwich and say, "hey, that's not a panini!" But now you know that it's not a panini, it's a panino and despite what Williams-Sonoma would like you to believe, it's ok that it hasn't been squashed and charred in an overpriced panini press. It's actually more authentic this way :)

1 courgette
2 red peppers
1 large red onion
olive oil
dried basil
salt
pepper
2 T mayonnaise
1 1/2 t lemon juice
1 clove garlic, pressed
crumbled feta
bread

Cut the courgette (zucchini) to half length, then slice it thinly into long slices. Slice the peppers. Cut the onion into eight (or whatever size you like) wedges, and separate the layers. Toss the veggies with olive oil, salt, pepper, and basil. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.

This sandwich could've used a little more diversity, but like I said, I used what I had on hand. Aubergine (eggplant) would've been nice place of the second pepper, artichokes might've been nice, maybe some mushrooms, but you can get creative with your veggies and spices. At 25 minutes, the veggies were roasted and sweet, but not limp, which was exactly what I was after.

While the veggies are roasting, whisk together the mayonnaise, lemon juice, and garlic. Spread it onto the bread, sprinkle the bread with feta, and put it in the oven for the last 5 minutes or so of veggie roasting. You don't necessarily need to toast the bread, just get the chill out of feta. I'd have preferred this on ciabatta, but all I has was a white baguette, so that's what I used.

Stuff the bread with the roasted veggies, and viola! I was almost back in Siena :)

italian marzipan

Aren't they delightful? I found them in a sweet shop in Siena, Italy.

Siena is the sort of picturesque city that makes you daydream over your cappuccino about a sexy Italian man whisking you away through the narrow cobblestone streets on a vintage Vespa to his family's Tuscan villa.

Did I mention that the city is surrounded by olive groves and an ancient wall?

*sigh*

apple pie

Last Friday, I was given a bag of apples and I was undecided about what to make...

Apple cobbler? Fondue? Baked apples? Apple muffins? Apple cake? Baked apples? Cinnamon apples? Apple sauce?

Ohhhhh, apple pie, how I've missed you!

I'm an apple pie purist. It seems a little lame to mix up up some apples, cinnamon and sugar, dump it into a premade crust and call it "homemade." So in my kitchen, homemade apple pie gets a homemade crust!

I haven't made pie in awhile, so before I started, I reread Tracey McBride's flaky crust secrets on her Frugal Luxuries Food blog. She seriously unlocked the pie crust mystery for me.

I use this recipe, which can also be done in a food processor using the dough blade. Because pastry is fussy, I always weigh (instead of measure) my pie crust ingredients. I freeze my shortening and butter, I use ice water, and I take great pains to handle the dough less that I think is comfortable. If you overhandle the dough, you will not get a flaky crust. I chill the dough in the freezer while I'm making my filling, then I roll it out between wax paper, fill it, and put it back in the freezer while the oven is heating.

6-8 cups peeled & sliced apples

1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 t cinnamon

1/4 t salt
1/4 t nutmeg

pinch of cloves
2 T lemon juice

1 T butter
a double pie crust

Combine all the filling ingredients in a mixing bowl. Since these were eating apples, not baking apples, I worried that they would release too much juice and make a soggy pie, so I tossed the apples with 3 T of flour plus 1 T of cornstarch before adding the rest of the ingredients. In the US, I used to use 2 T cornstarch and 2 T minute tapioca, but I can't find the tapioca here, so I had to improvise. Even with the flour, the filling thickened up quite nicely.

Pour the ingredients into the bottom crust, add the top crust, seal and flute the edges, then cut steam vents into the top crust. Don't let the fluting scare you, this video will show you that fluting the edges seems more intimidating than it actually is :)

Then, like Tracey says, pop the pie into the freezer and preheat the oven. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling. My oven is not self-cleaning, so better safe than sorry, I baked mine on a cookie sheet.

Since I made this one with scavanged apples, it wasn't as full as I'd normally like. I usually like a full 8 cups of apples, this pie was closer to 6, but it worked. I thought about buying a few extra apples, but that sort of takes the making something out of nothing fun out of it!

I wanted to take a photo after I'd cut it, but I like to share my pie and apparently, people really

like to eat my pie, so unfortunately there wasn't any left to photograph. Sorry :(

vegetable fried rice

When I cook rice, I usually make extra to have on hand for veggie burgers, burritos, soups, or some sort of snazzy rice.

Fried rice is a creative cooking experience I turn to when I haven't been grocery shopping, or when I have some odd veggies that need to be used up.

I scraped the bottom of the post holiday barrel for this batch... some withering mushrooms leftover from holiday appetizers, a couple of stray scallions, an egg, and some frozen veg mix and peas. It doesn't sound like much, but it's so satisfying to make something delicious out of nothing!

While I don't really make this the same way twice, I always first stir-fry the rice in peanut oil, add the good stuff, then finish with soy sauce and sesame oil.

2 T peanut oil

2 cups cooked brown rice
2 handfuls veg mix, thawed
(broccoli, cauliflower, carrots)
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
2 green onions, sliced
6 mushrooms, sliced
1/2 t salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 t soy sauce
1 1/2 t sesame oil

Heat the the peanut oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add the cooked rice and stir-fry until lightly golden. Add the veggies and salt, and stir-fry until the veggies are tender but still crisp (5 minutes, or so).

Hollow out a circle in the center of the rice and add the egg. Cook, lightly scrambling, then stir the cooked egg into the rice mixture. Stir in the soy sauce and sesame oil.

This recipe is very forgiving and quick to come together with whatever is in the fridge, veganize it by ditching the egg. I've made it with tofu, shredded cabbage, fresh carrots, mung bean sprouts, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, garlic, ginger, and possibly other things I can't remember right now. If using fresh veggies, blanch them ahead of time.

There isn't a whole lot of Chinese takeout here, so this is easily the best fried rice in town :)

homemade napkins

When life hands you granny fabric, make napkins!!!

Awhile back, I was given a stack of quilting fabric that was more Grandma Walton than Sage & Simple. I struggled with what to do with this fabric, and then it struck me... napkins!!!

The first batch of 23 is done :)

Here are my sewing instructions for homemade fabric napkins:

1) Cut fabric squares of 17" x 17" (or whatever size makes you happy). This left me with some smaller pieces that I will make into snack napkins to use with tea, dessert, etc.

2) Iron in a 1/4" hem on all 4 sides, then another 1/4" hem to tuck in the raw edge.

3) Miter the corners. You can also leave them square, but I have perfectionist tendencies so I mitered mine :)

4) Sew all the way around the edge. Viola!

Not only have I given life to this not so hip looking fabric, but these cloth napkins are going to save trees and save me money! Finding another way of beating that 25% VAT makes me happy :)

P.S. Happy new year!