Souper Freak

Today Tyler and I returned from a family vacation in Sheep Ranch, California, population 32. Tyler’s dad’s friend owns the historic Pioneer Hotel and every year Tyler’s dad brings the Georgeson-Schaffer clan together for a week of relaxation — think guitar strumming, porch sitting, drink drinking, croquet playing, and lots of hanging.

And chili! On Friday night, Tyler and I stirred up two chilis, one vegetarian and one with a mix of ground turkey and chicken sausage. Our favored famed photographer, Alex Gurwell, was in residence, so we may have some photos of that dinner coming soon.

Today we returned home, and my brain feeling a bit zapped, so for dinner tonight I relied on my new favorite standby: the DE-LISH sesame seed sauce from the Black Sesame Otsu recipe at the 101 Cookbooks blog, with TJ’s amazing veggie potstickers, pan-fried tofu and broccoli and frozen peas sauteed in a light ginger broth. The first time I made this (last post) it was with cauliflower instead of broccoli. I’d say I prefer the cauliflower, as it’s more of a blank canvas for the ginger broth than the broccoli, which lent an almost-bitter flavor. But it was still really good. This was partly because of an improvement over last time: I did a better job with the tofu, cooking it more quickly (last time I worried about getting every side a little browned, which only ended up drying the tofu out) and tossing it with the broccoli and ginger broth, allowing it to soften up even further. Best part? Got two lunches out of this in addition to a dinner serving each for Tyler and me!

No pics of dinner itself tonight…..too busy enjoying the evening! Chocolate pudding with shredded coconut and almonds is yet to come!