Land sake’s alive, we are having one heck of a rainy day!

It brings back memories of when we lived in Nicaragua and Hurricane Mitch came along and dumped water on us for three solid days. (Or was it five?) We’re not having any hurricane, though, and tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, I do believe. Plus, I haven’t heard of bridges being washed out between our house and civilization (like they did in Mitch), so I’m not too troubled.

Also, knowing that I have my belly dance class this afternoon helps to keep my mood up. I won’t be trapped in the house the whole live-long wet day.

Plus, I made myself a kick-butt lunch, just for the heck of it. Quinoa, spinach, chicken, feta, yeehaw! I’m feeling all sorts of bolstered.

Rain-schplain, do your thang,
you ain’t gonna flush my fine mood down the drain.

I couldn’t decide if this salad is Greek or Mediterranean, and then I realized that Greece in ON the Mediterranean so it’s both. (At this point my husband cocks his eyebrow at me and says, “And you are homeschooling our children?”) But I don’t generally think of tabbouleh and tahini as Greek food, like feta and black olives are. So I’m still mildly confused and therefore do not know what to call the salad. Possible names include the following:

Greek Quinoa Salad
Near East Quinoa Salad
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
Quinoa Salad with Yogurt and Tahini Dressing
Quinoa Salad with Feta, Black Olives, and Roasted Tomatoes
Quinoa Salad with Chicken and Spinach
Quinoa Spinach Salad
Winter Quinoa Salad
Flexible Quinoa Salad
Swoon Salad

Because it’s December, and because I omitted all things fresh (like green onions, mint, parsley, tomatoes), I’m going with:

Winter Quinoa Salad
Inspired by a recipe in Cooking Light Magazine, but I changed it beyond recognition so I’m not going to credit them. (Except for the idea. Thanks for the idea, Cooking Light!)

1 cup raw quinoa, cooked (see below)
1 cup roasted tomatoes, diced
1-2 cups chopped, cooked chicken
4-8 cups fresh spinach (or 1-2 cups cooked), lightly sauteed in a bit of olive oil
1/4 – ½ cup minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
a couple handfuls of black olives, torn into bits
½ – 1 cup feta cheese, crumbled

for the dressing:
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup plain yogurt
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper

Toss the salad ingredients together in a large bowl. Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and stir into the salad.

Serve the salad warm, room temperature, or chilled.

How to Cook Quinoa
According to my friend, The Quinoa Queen. (In fact, she should be called The Quinoaeen.)

for 1 cup quinoa:
Put the quinoa in a bowl and cover with hot (but not boiling) water. Let sit for five minutes. Drain.

Rinse and drain the quinoa with cold water—about four or five times. Drain thoroughly.

Put the quinoa in a medium-sized saucepan and add 1 ½ cups water (maybe a little less). Bring to a boil, uncovered. Stir once or twice. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve. If you want a warm salad, mix immediately. If a cold salad is the goal, dump the quinoa into a large pan and spread it out to cool (and so it doesn’t clump).

This same time, years previous: baked corn, company tizz

I’m not fully in the Christmas spirit yet, but I’m trying. (As my father would say, “Yes, you’re very trying, indeed.”)

We had our family meeting to discuss what Christmasy things we oughtn’t miss, two of the kids made their choice of Christmas cookies (neither of which are Actual Christmas Cookies), and we listened to a bit of Christmas music, but that’s about it.

Perhaps the most Christmasy thing we’ve done is read Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. (Boy, there’s a lot of “Christmas” in these first paragraph. Just writing this might launch me into the spirit, fingertips first.) We finished the story last night and are going to see the play later this week. I’d love to listen to the radio version as well. I have fond memories of lounging on the brown shag living room rug when I was a kid, listening to Marley’s clanking chains through the radio speakers.

Maybe I’d feel more ready if we got the tree.

I need to focus on a bunch of Christmas baking before other stuff creeps up on me, though making lots of pretty cookies doesn’t excite me much. Probably because it takes so much time and my time is already packed with other stuff (and I don’t want to give up writing). Also, I have to make the same old same old—butter cookies, gingerbread, raisin-filled—and it’s the new and shiny that draws me in. But, sigh, Christmas is all about tradition. I mustn’t knock it.

I did make a pan of this gingery shortbread the other day. My husband and I had just had a crash-bang fight and he was tearing around the house cleaning things while I was tearing around the kitchen baking things. We weren’t talking, so we got a lot done. And then we made up.

In some ways, this shortbread remind me of peppernuts, but more high-end and without the labor-intensive cutting. The texture couldn’t be better: the shortbread is crunchy buttery, while the icing is soft and cool and almost chewy in a caramel-toffee sort of way. That, plus the biting ginger, and these little treats are mouth fireworks just begging to dazzle. They certainly were the ideal thing for a sulking woman who is not in the Christmas spirit and doesn’t have much drive to bake.

Iced Ginger Shortbread
Adapted from Dinner with Julie

I tried sprinkling some minced candied ginger into the still-wet icing, and while I liked the flavor, it wasn’t the prettiest. The second time around, I left the ginger out all together, though I bet it would be good mixed into the shortbread bottom.

This recipe is open to interpretation. What about brown sugar instead of white, or molasses or maple syrup instead of golden syrup? And how about stirring some walnuts or pecans into the bubbling frosting? And maybe swapping cinnamon for the ginger?

Whatever you do, don’t stick the spoon you were using to spread the hot icing on the shortbread into your mouth. That’s just plain stupid (yesI’madork).

Shortbread:
1 1/4 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter, cut in chunks

Icing:
1/3 cup butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup (I used King’s)
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon vanilla

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, ginger, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse once or twice to combine. Add the butter and pulse until completely incorporated and the mixture looks like fine sand. (Alternately, just use your fingers to rub the butter into the dry ingredients.) Dump the mixture into a greased 9×13 pan, and firmly pat it down to make a bottom crust. Bake the shortbread at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

When the shortbread is nearly done baking, make the icing. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the remaining ingredients. Simmer for about 30 seconds, stirring constantly (the mixture will look greasy and lumpy at first, but it will quickly become smooth and satiny). Pour the icing over the hot shortbread, tilting the pan to cover it evenly.

Cutting the shortbread can be a little tricky since it wants to shatter every which way. To get even little squares, cut while it’s still quite warm. Or you can cool the shortbread in the pan and then cut it into artful shards with a knife. Either way it will still taste fantastic.

Display the shortbread in a pretty jar on the counter, or package well (in plastic or glass, as it’s bound to break if bumped around) and freeze for later use.

Yield: about 1 pound

This same time, years previous: my kids are weird

*Peanut butter and apples: it’s a favorite snack around here. We buy apples (but not these!) by the bushel and peanut butter by the tub (and then put it in smaller containers).
*My youngest daughter is gifted in the trashing a bedroom department: she only needs a few short minutes to create her signature A Tornado Went Through It Look. She’s got some serious skill, that girl has.
*A super windy day came along and blew my boy right into the lettuces. At first he laughed, but the bully wind pinned him down and the laughter turned to sobs of terror. (Days later, when he saw the pictures of himself crying, he started wailing all over again. Not sure if the trauma is from the wind, or from seeing pictures of himself panicking on the computer screen, or from the fact that I took pictures instead of saving him.)
*A pen for a pet caterpillar: see it sticking out of the cardboard tube?
*Late night Sunday school planning: one of the adult classes asked my husband and I to come talk about ourselves, so we did.
*A hallway of puzzles.
*A face mask, fashioned out of a muffin wrapper.
*The richest coffee cake ever—more than a pound of butter, plus a cup and a half of sour cream. The flavor was good, but since all the crumbs sank to the bottom, I count it as a flop. (The cake is said to serve 8-10, a fact which I found to be utterly scandalizing. It should be more like 20-30.)
*Accidental ghee: what I made when I was trying to brown the butter for the coffee cake.
*Paper chain decorations: somehow they ended up all over the house. As the tape de-sticks and the chains flutter-fall, I discreetly collect the bits and pieces and stuff them in the garbage, shhh.

This same time, years previous: wild, raisin-filled cookies, the selfish game