Blue Palate

It’s probably really bad blog etiquette to promise to post something and then fail to do so. A few posts ago I wrote that I would share a recipe for Kapustnica, a holiday soup from Slovakia, in my Christmas Day post. Not only did I not share a the recipe, I didn’t even write a Christmas Day post.

Excuse? I was cooking, of course. I didn’t host Christmas dinner this year, thank goodness, but agreed to bring an appetizer, side and dessert to my sister’s house. My agenda for the 24th and 25th included preparing a Christmas Eve dinner of stuffed chicken breasts, whipped sweet potatoes and sauteed greens for my husband Peter and I, as well as a lemon cheesecake, cornbread stuffing (I made the cornbread), and a vegetable platter for the Christmas Day festivities. It was all lovely, but I didn’t get a chance to write my blog post and I was left with severe kitchen fatigue.

As for the Kapustnica recipe, I will rely on my husband Peter’s Christmas Day post in his blog. He made the soup this year, and can proudly add it to the half-dozen or so recipes he can make from scratch. As for kitchen fatigue, here are a few solutions for anyone who starts feeling dizzy at the sight of a spatula this time of year:

Crock pot meals - Did you know you can roast a whole chicken in a crock pot? There are hundreds of recipes for the Crock Pot (or slow cooker for the brand wary), most of which require throwing a few ingredients in the crock and waiting 6-8 hours. My favorite is sliced onions, bell peppers, two boneless, skinless chicken breasts and a jar of marinara. Serve with pasta or rice. Simple, cheap, delicious.

Take-and-bake pizza - My friend Carol reminded me of this one. Papa Murphy’s or any other fresh take-and-bake is far better than frozen in my opinion. And there are coupons everywhere - we found some in the Sunday paper. All you need is $8.99 and a hot oven.

Amy’s canned soup - The best canned soup ever. Not the cheapest, but way more filling than Campbell’s. Open, pour into bowl, heat in microwave. No spatula required. Serve with crackers or bread.

Local fast food joint - I don’t recommend fast food from the average establishment, but there are a few that are Blue Palate worthy especially in times of kitchen fatigue. In Portland, I recommend Zach’s Shack and Burgerville. California has In-n-Out. Almost every town has a locally owned drive-in, burger shack, or taco cart. Fast food has its place. As long as you don’t eat chili cheese fries more than a couple times a month your arteries should be fine.

I hope everyone had a wonderful, food-filled Christmas! I’m sorry I didn’t post, but my family will agree the cheesecake was well worth it.

Of my first three blog posts, two have started with descriptions of the weather. It’s what a lot of people talk about in Portland, and it makes sense for weather to be a theme in a blog about food. The weather often determines what we cook, where we go out to eat and what we crave.

My plan today was to finish the last of my Christmas shopping, but we woke up to this:

And immediately all my favorite winter time meals were racing through my head. Lentil soup with crusty bread. Spicy chili sprinkled with cheddar cheese. Stewed chicken with fennel, carrots and white beans. I brought the cookbooks to bed and made a shopping list while we drank our morning coffee.

Winter meals are all about comfort and warmth. Peter talked lovingly about kapustnica (CAP-oos-nit-sa), a traditional Slovak Christmas soup of smoked pork sausage, sauerkraut and potatoes. We made it a couple of years ago at my mother’s with canned sauerkraut and Safeway’s sorry excuse for smoked sausage, pathetic compared to my in-law’s version with homemade kraut and authentic Eastern European sausage. We’ll try again - maybe Otto’s Sausage Kitchen will save Christmas this year. (I’ll publish the recipe in my Christmas day post.)

Tomorrow is Sunday and expected to be the worst day of the entire, week-long bout of winter weather. The cabin fever has obviously made us crazy - our plan is to brave the storm for a walk to Peacock Lane, Portland’s famed street of quaint, ornately decorated homes. It’s about three miles from our house. Along the way we’ll be stopping by a few coffee shops and bars for snacks and happy hour drinks (hot toddies, anyone?) and, of course, Zach’s Shack for dogs and brew. Hot dogs - the ultimate winter comfort food.