Fried Smashed Potatoes

My goodness these look epic.

Recipe from NoRecipes.

Ingredients
12 whole baby yukon gold potatoes washed
water and salt for boiling
1/2 C rendered duck fat (or butter or olive oil)

Directions
Add the whole potatoes to a large pot and cover with a few inches of water. Pour salt into the water until it tastes like the sea. Cover and bring the water to a boil. Remove the lid and simmer until you can pass a fork through the potato. Drain the potatoes and let the residual heat dry the skins (you’ll notice the skin start to turn white as the salt crystalizes).

Using the flat side of a chef’s knife (or the bottom of a plate), gently smash the potatoes so they are about 3/4″ thick. In a cast iron skillet, heat the duck fat until hot, then add the potatoes in a single layer. Fry until they potatoes are brown and crispy on one side, then use tongs to flip them and brown them on the other side.

Drain on a paper towel lined rack and serve immediately.

Belleville Park

After seeing Berkeley's Adventure Playground, I've realized that I have an affinity for odd playgrounds. Sure, they may appear more precarious, but strange places leave so much more space for imagination. This is the Belleville Park in Paris, by BASE. I think it could be a bit less barren looking, but I'm intrigued by the interesting shapes and play areas.

Images from Pruned.

Mussels

I don't actually like eating mussels, but I know so many other people who do, this might be a good dish to make for them.

Recipe from Yummy Supper.

Serves 2-4

Ingredients
2 pounds fresh mussels
1 cup dry white wine
1 bunch spring onion (or one large onion), minced
1/2 celery stalk, minced
1 sprig of fresh thyme
fresh ground black pepper
1 bunch parsley

Directions
Rinse and scrub mussels with cold water. Remove beard by simply snipping with scissors.

In a Dutch Oven or large pot, combine mussels, thyme, white wine, celery, and onions. Bring liquid to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook covered about 5 minutes until mussels shells open. Toss out any mussels that don't open after cooking.

Immediately serve mussels in their shells. Either sop up the liquid with crusty bread or heap mussels and their cooking liquid on top of fettuccine. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and lots of fresh pepper. Eat right away.

Sweatshirt

Inari

Since I don't really love raw fish/sushi, (I know... you're appalled and now want to throw rocks at me) this is one of my favorite dishes to order at Japanese restaurants. I'd love to make it myself some day. It doesn't seem too complicated.

Recipe from Shichimi.

Makes ~17 pockets, enough for 3-5 people

Ingredients
3 cups freshly cooked white Japanese rice
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 can inarizushi no moto (Fried tofu skins steeped in a sweet soy sauce.)

Directions
Place the still-hot rice in a large bowl, and gently but thoroughly mix in the vinegar, sugar, and salt. Taste and adjust seasonings to taste. (The inarizushi wrappers are fairly sweet, so you don’t want to overdo it on the sugar in the rice.)

Remove the inarizushi wrappers from the can and shake them to get rid of some of the excess liquid. Carefully open the wrappers on one end and lay them on a work surface.

When the rice has cooled enough for you to handle it, scoop up about two tablespoons worth and stuff it into one of the wrappers, gently packing the rice as you go. Be careful not to overstuff the wrappers, or they will tear. Repeat with the remaining wrappers, and keep at room temperature until serving. If you need to make the inarizushi in advance, refrigerate them for a few hours and bring them to room temperature before serving. However, the rice will become hard if you refrigerate it overnight.

Lemon Rosemary Chicken Pasta w. Asparagus

It looks like I'll be eating a lot of pasta this fall when I'm cooking for myself in Philadelphia... this looks delicious, balanced and healthy, though!

Recipe from Anja's Food 4 Thought.

Ingredients
250g pasta (I usually use whole wheat Fusili)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 chicken breasts, cut into bites sizes
1 cup green baby asparagus, cut into 1-inch-pieces
salt and pepper to taste

Serves 2

Directions
Cook pasta according to instructions.

In a wok or deep pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Throw in the rosemary and fry for 1-2 minutes until it becomes fragrant. Add chicken pieces and lemon zest and fry for about 5 minutes over medium-high, stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper. Turn the heat down to medium, then stir in the asparagus, and put a lid on the pan. Cook until asparagus is softened, but still has a bite of a bite, about 5 minutes.

Drain the pasta, stir into the chicken and asparagus mixture. Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper. Serve immediately.

When You Reach Me

I started When you Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead, without much interest, to be honest. I couldn't remember what it was supposed to be about and the beginning was rather vague. I read the first couple of chapters and then didn't read it again for about 2.5 weeks. But now that I've finished it, I really liked it.

It's a mystery. And dapples in science fiction, which I always enjoy, but it holds a lot of meaning as well. It maybe not be incredibly complicated in its thoughts, but the thoughts were weighty and interesting enough to support the book. Some parts were sort of sad. Not in a really heartbreaking sort of way, but more in a wistful sort of way. Hm. Yes, a good book. Definitely fine for middle schoolers to read.

Fire

I just finished Fire by Kristin Cashore, which is a prequel/companion to Graceling. It was better than Graceling, but still almost great, rather than plain great. I think some of the syntax was a little awkward at a couple of points, which removed me from the world of the story, however briefly. Its romantic story line was slightly too predictable for me, and mimicked Graceling a very little - enough to make me feel like it was a tad redundant, though I did enjoy it still. Overall, though, the main character in this book seemed to have more development and more complexity that I could learn from. And the main "good" characters were generally very likeable, indeed. It had some interesting points about life, death, power, good and evil, which, in a book like this, are all very relevant points of discussion. Sometimes I feel the same fear that grips a couple of the characters - the fear of your loved ones dying. Well, regardless, I did enjoy this book. It inspires goodness and empathy, and, while it contains battles, doesn't really glorify combativeness, which makes it slightly different from other war/fantasy/adventure books.

Solar Path...

This reminds me of a building. It's the result of pinhole photography that tracks the location of the sun throughout the year. Gizmodo.

Graceling

By Kristen Cashore. A good, almost great read. More later (I hope, though I know I'm behind on writing about my reading!)...

It is later. Let me see if I remember properly... I know that I loved the fantasy world created in this book - the notion of certain people being very skilled, with 2 different colored eyes (Gracelings) is a very nice one to imagine. I enjoyed the relationship the 2 main characters had with each other - it wasn't sickening, at least. I even enjoyed the plot, for the most part. In the end, I think what's lacking is more complexity in the thoughts approached in this book, as well as a general lack of more masterful writing. I wasn't entirely shocked when I should have been shocked and I wasn't entirely sad, when I should have been sad. It's not that the writing was inadequate, it's more that, while I was transported to the world she wrote of, I wasn't entirely wrapped within in, which leaves me to conclude that the book was good, and almost great, but not great.

Hiding in Triangles

Hiding in triangles is a concept for a bike lover's hotel by Philip Modest Shambelan and Anton Fromm. If built, it will be located above Lake Garda, in Italy. It is designed so that bikers will be able to ride directly to and from their rooms. I love the concept and I love the way the concept has shaped such a beautiful form.

Images from Inhabitat.

New Canary Islands Concert Hall by Henning Larsen. It apparently employs many sustainable features, including a "semi-intelligent" facade that will help maintain interior temperatures.

Images from Inhabitat.

Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus

Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus is in Berlin, Germany and was designed by Stephan Braunfels Architekten. This building seems great, but I'm afraid that my attraction to it may be due largely to the beautiful color palette of these photos...

Images from Archidose.

The Book Thief

By Markus Zusak. It was amazing. More later (I hope). Trust me, though. Amazing.

Ok. It is later. Let me see if I can still properly describe why I loved this book. It's about Germany in World War II. I think that's a topic I've definitely read tons about, but the best thing about this book, was that its approach was completely different. It's narrated from death's point of view. And I think largely because of this, I never found it cliche or sad for the sake of being sad. The language used in this book was delightful - slightly different and interesting, but not difficult to understand and maybe it's because I've taken so many years of German language courses, but I enjoyed the phrases of German that were thrown in. It also is written in a slightly detached tone, as it's death explaining and not the main character, but it hardly lacks in detail, character development or emotion. It brings a whole new vision to a subject that is very often written about. It transported me entirely. It also has a great female heroine and a strong message in support of literature, which means I automatically like that as well.

Very cool.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

This book reminded me of a more grown-up version of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I'm sure that's probably a bit insulting to Mr. Sherman Alexie, but it's true. The humorous cartoons and very straightforward prose was so reminiscent of it. Thankfully, though, this book had a lot more to think about. To be honest, I don't know many Native Americans at all. It was really interesting to read about a lifestyle I never even pondered until now and for that, I appreciate this book. It really shows how a good education can make a difference. On a side note, I definitely would be a bit hesitant to give this book to anyone younger than 14 or 15 to read...