the arugula files

Pickles? More like Pasta for My Pregnant Belly

 

It's been slow around here for the past few months.  The truth is I'm pregnant. About 4.5 months and due at the beginning of October.  My first trimester was, shall we say, unpleasant.

I slept.  I gagged. I went to the bathroom three times a night.  It was miserable. 

I also ate a lot of pasta.

Pasta with butter, my own personal self-prescribed drug. I'm not sure where the pregnant women have pickle cravings cliche originated.  I have nine jars that I canned myself last summer sitting in my pantry.  All nine are still there.  I could care less for pickles.  In fact, for a while I had an aversion to all things green.  Brussels sprouts?  Yuck.  Broccoli?  No thanks.  Green beans?  I  never liked you anyway.  For a good couple of weeks, I was thinking of re-launching this blog as the "white food files."  My cravings:  pancakes, waffles, sourdough toast. 

For the last month I've been feeling much better. 

I'm back to arugula.  I think that means I can start blogging again.

 

 

Crazy Owl Lady (I Can't Help It, I'm addicted)

I've never really thought of myself as a collector.  Things like beanie babies, Hummels, or White House Easter eggs, make me snicker.   But recently I've noticed quite a few owls cropping up in my presence.  I'll admit it: I love them.  I can't help myself.  Recently I played a game with my neice.  She had to run around the house and find the owls.  She found nine.  Crazy owl lady.  That's me.

Here's the thing, now that I'm a crazy owl lady, people buy me owls.  ALL THE TIME.  Isn't that nice?  Here are a few owls hanging around my kitchen.  The first one is a butter dish (above); it's from West Elm and it's on the way.  It goes perfectly with my mid mod place mats and teak serving ware.

Moroccan Chicken Soup with Lemon-Apricot Couscous (Plus Are Frozen Artichokes better than Canned?)

This weather is killing me.  I refuse to recognize the wet drizzle, hail(!), and snow.  Yes, I'm the one admiring the cherry blossoms in capri pants and a light sweater--shivering.  A hopeful tourist who packed the wrong clothes? Nope, a stubborn Washingtonian who already packed away her winter jacket, has only linty black tights remaining, refuses to buy new ones, and expects pretty flowers to mean good weather.

There is no way I'm wearing North Face again this season.  No way.  

But I will give way to a pot of hot soup. This recipe is from Cuisine at Home.  The bold ingredients caught my eye, plus I couldn't resist the "promise of traveling to an exotic land without leaving your kitchen or renewing your passport."  (I love absurdly bad copy).

All snarky comments aside, this soup is brimming with flavor (like a trip to North Africa!), and the lemon-apricot couscous made sure it was a satisfying meal, perfect for these hard, cold days of spring in Washington.  I made one slight change to the recipe.  I used dry beans instead of canned beans. 

My only critique is that the canned artichoke hearts didn't add much flavor.  Which brings me to a million dollar question that I'm hoping someone out there can answer.  Are frozen artichokes better than canned ones?  Say the word, and I'll make the switch.