Seafood Noodle Salad

I made like five pounds of this stuff. Why did I do that? I mean, I love it... it's one of my favorite dishes. And I've been craving it for months. But even I can't eat this much. And it's sort of a hard thing to give away, what with the seafood factor. Hmm. So yeah, fair warning: the recipe below yields a HUGE amount. Like, take-to-a-Mormon-potluck amount. Tip: Get all ingredients as dry as you can before adding to the bowl. Towel off the veggies after rinsing, and press the shrimp a bit.

Seafood Noodle Salad

~2 cups mayonnaise (Best Foods, pref)

~2/3 cup sour cream

zest of two lemons

1-2 TB fresh lemon juice

pepper, paprika, white pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste

tons of dill (fresh would be awesome)

salt (not much as shrimp, krab, and olives will add saltiness)

half a small red onion, diced fine (taste and soak in water 1 hour if too strong)

1 lb small or medium shell pasta

3 celery ribs, chopped 

2-3 red bell peppers, chopped

3/4 lb salad shrimp, thawed and drained

3/4 lb imitation crab meat (krab), pulled into small pieces

1 10-oz jar green olives, sliced

Combine dressing ingredients in large bowl and refrigerate. Cook pasta in salty water to desired doneness, drain, soak in 2-3 rounds of cold water until at least room temp. Drain well, spread over four paper towels to dry. Meanwhile, chop celery and peppers and slice olives. When pasta is reasonably dry, taste dressing and make adjustments as desired (all flavors but salt should be quite strong). Stir pasta, celery, and peppers into dressing. Stir in shrimp and krab, then gently fold in olives. 

SALMON.

I LOVE IT.

IT LOVES ME.

THE END.

The Good Earth.

I went a bit mad at the grocery store yesterday. 

Last semester I was too poor to meet my usual fruit-and-veg-quota, and the knowledge that that won't be a problem this semester just sort of welled up and overwhelmed me last night at Broulims. 

I bought: broccoli, cauliflower, apples, oranges, tomatoes, garlic, scallions, potatoes, cucumbers, spinach, carrots, parsley, cilantro, lemons, and onions. I wanted to get squash, zucchini, mushrooms, celery, parsnips, turnips, Brussels sprouts, pears, avocados, and bell peppers, too... but it's a little early to be making my new roommates hate me. And, believe it or not, even I am limited as to the amount of produce I can throw back before it spoils.

Here's what I had for lunch/dinner:

I broke in my mini food processor (Christmas pressie) with a batch of hummus. And discovered that roasted broccoli and carrots are THE BEST EVER VEHICLES FOR HUMMUS. How have I never thought of this before? For protein's sake I also ate a boiled egg as I was cooking. Too bad I was so hungry; it woulda looked good on the plate.

Discovery!

Check it out check it out check it out check it out.  --Strongbad

We picked mass quantities of blueberries last summer and froze them. Over Christmas, I discovered that if you combine frozen blueberries and milk, the milk will clump into a soft freeze around the berries, which thaw quickly into juicy, slushy goodness. It's almost as good as ice cream! 

Frozen Blueberries in Sweet Milk

1/2 cup milk (whole probably works and tastes best)

1/2 TB sugar

pinch of cinnamon

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Pour milk into small bowl, mix in sugar and cinnamon, and add blueberries, submerging them as much as possible. Let sit about 30 seconds, then give a few gentle stirs to coat blueberries. Eat!

Also, look at the pretty Christmas cookies we made! Chocolate-walnut squares, pine nut tassies, and lemon curd macaroons!