Snowy October Driveway Breakfast Sandwiches.

I mentioned the Great New England Halloween Weekend Snowstorm/Power Outage.  Where we cooked lentil soup outside & ate it in the dark? Well, here's breakfast, i.e., another chance for me to mention the overwhelming life importance of a good breakfast sandwich.

10.30.2011: Weather Related Outdoor Breakfast. 

I can't say we suffered anything truly unpleasant at all, but it was the longest time I have been without power in my adult life (two days, I know, boo hoo) & I have lived through hurricanes in New Orleans. We never lose power in our current apartment for more than a few minutes, so when the lights went out of Saturday night it seemed so very temporary.
By Sunday morning, after having got ready for work at 6am by candle light, walked to downtown to get the car from the stupid snow emergency lot (curse this town & the asinine snow parking regulations-don't get me started) called my boss at home & work several times to see if we were open, driven to work when I got no response, then found out we were closed, then got back to a cold apartment with no stove...well Owen figuring out to to fry eggs & toast bagels over a propane burner in the driveway was pretty freaking cheering.
A good hot breakfast goes a long way. It certainly helped me appreciated the day off work (& the day post-storm was a gorgeous, gorgeous day) & not really care that we didn't have light (or heat, but hey, I dug out the wool blankets & wore several of Owen's flannel shirts at once).
& the dog enjoyed eating the snow after Owen rinsed out the frying pan. Good times were, as you can see, had by all.
Breakfast sandwiches. They rule. You know, several were eaten during the purchase of my car, present in the driveway during this escapade.
Now that's the circle of life, right there.

Bacon Honeymoon (or bacon makes a good thing even better).

You know. It's always all about bacon around here. Even on my honeymoon, apparently.
We received, at least for us, a very fitting wedding present, which was the use of a beautiful house in a breathtaking setting in which we could spend a week with just us & our sweet hound dog. We have never lived together without at least two & sometimes four roommates. Alone time is very valuable to us. We love to cook, we love hiking & mountains, & therefore being out in the woods with a fabulous kitchen at our disposal & a fireplace & a mountain in the backyard was pretty much perfect (thanks deb & cate!).

September 2011: The Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich + Gift Lasagna. 

Some people would take their wedding cash & go out to eat, but we didn't. We were really excited about being alone in our own (temporary) house for once. Our own house is our biggest dream right now. so, yeah, cooking by ourselves! ! ! That said, we hate to waste food, so we didn't go crazy grocery shopping. Basically, we started with wedding leftovers (onions, potatoes, butternut squash, crackers, cheese, eggs, & butter) & we locally purchased really good bacon, a steak, broccoli, & bagels.
Two themes immediate emerged: the need for a serious breakfast if you begin every day hiking up a mountain with your dog, & lasagna, which a very sweet wedding guest (thanks jim!) brought us for "the cabin." (it really wasn't a cabin, it was a gorgeous six bedroom redone farmhouse that even Martha would be jealous of.)
So we, discovered bacon, parmesan, & onions on a bagels is a seriously kickass breakfast sandwich.
I consider a good breakfast sandwich a life staple. Eggs & meat & cheese on a bagel please me. 
& although we didn't actually want to bring the lasagna with us (all we wanted to do was cook) there was definitely a night (after a long adventure in New Hampshire auto mechanics & pouring rain) that we were very content to curl up by the fire & reheat that thing. Obviously, we were unable to resist making it a lot better with additional cheese, broccoli, ample garlic, & of course bacon. I really can't totally not cook.
So, yeah, our honeymoon, bacon, mountains, dogs. That happened.
Oh, did you hear we in Western Massachusetts had a serious snowstorm before Halloween & the power went out everywhere for days & days? Next: EnD cooks breakfast sandwiches on a propane burner in the snowy driveway. True story.

A Spring Cape Cod Breakfast: Hangar B, Chatham.

More from the (sort of, maybe) hurricane. Being home all afternoon is rare for me, so I've been taking advantage of the weather, cleaning off my desk & paging through my sketchbooks. Apparently I have some catching up to do.
Here's one moment I found: a breakfast, on Cape Cod, early June, rainy Saturday, at the surprisingly (why surprisingly? Because we are both really good cooks & live in Massachusetts & have developed low restaurant expectations in general I guess) excellent Hangar B. 

6.11.2011: Breakfast in Chatham. 

I had a smoked salmon, goat's cheese & arugula omelet, with avocado slices & fried potatoes & toast & Owen had the famous Red Flannel Hash (Beets, Yukon Gold Patoes, Sweet Potatoes, Bacon), with toast & poached egggs & horseradish creme fraiche.
Mine was brilliant anyway, but the avocado slices but it over the top. Owen's was the best use of beets I have ever tasted. The toast was homemade & wonderful & there was housemade jam too. Good potatoes (which is both very important in a breakfast & not as common as you'd think).
I'm very into going out to breakfast as a thing & this meal made it into my Top Three Restaurant Breakfast List. It didn't quite beat out the amazing breakfast sandwich at the Sunny Point Cafe in Asheville, NC but comes in second before brunch at the The Green Bean & I do love the Green Bean,
Despite the rain, it was a lovely Cape Cod Saturday. After breakfast, we drove to the beach & collected seaweed & shells for our garden in a torrential downpour.
Standing on a beach on the bay on Cape Cod in red boots & a dress in pouring rain with someone you love & a hound dog, holding a bucket of ocean matter, after a really good breakfast is the kind of moment that makes for a satisfying life, I believe.
Here, in Northampton, in the present, the sun just came out.

Hot Dogs & Hound Dogs.

Happy Spring!

A few random images, thoughts, meals, opinions, what have you. 

First, we fairly recently acquired a spectacularly great hound dog, Walt, a red-brown & white spotted coonhound/pointer mix. On Walt's first night here on South Street, we brillantly left a plate of Tator Tots & bacon on the counter, leftover from our nervous "are we getting a dog today?!" breakfast (we had him on hold over night at Dakin to decide. Of course we were getting him.) This moment will always be special to me, because he hadn't shown much post-shelter-experience personality yet, so Walty on his hind legs at the kitchen counter eating bacon & Tator Tots off a plate with huge enthusiasm & a giant grin, was kind of wonderful. A Limoges china plate, no less. Ah dogs. He's a food hound. Remind me to draw him with his face in a 5lb bag of sugar on the couch after being left alone for three minutes.

2.19.11: Walt's First Night. 

They were Price Rite generic Tator Tots, a brief new weakness of ours. But although the Tator Tots were trash food, Price Rite actually rules. Holier than thou co-op shoppers should really check out their produce section. Happily, we are getting really close to the season where we can grow all our own produce again, but the Chicopee Price Rite & their gorgeous & low priced jalapenos & ginger & chard has really helped me through this winter.

On that note, I have a confession. I really am kind of a food snob, in my own way. Let me explain. Although I have my weaknesses (you know, Price Rite generic Tator Tots or Cheeseburger flavored Doritos), I really am against processed food. It's not an indulgence or diet thing, not at all, because I cook everything in bacon grease or chicken fat, but I guess I just like to know my own indulgences, i. e. that chicken fat from the chicken I roasted the other night, not mystery ingredients. If I am going to eat a ton of fat, why not eat straight good slab bacon, not a McDonald's thing? I annoy the hell out of my dear partner, but I really don't like to eat fast food. I like to save money, but a fast food sandwich still costs more than the bacon scraps we sell at work, so whatever. 

However, one night last March, in the grips of New England March depression (when will the snow truly stop! Snow forecasted for this weekend!), like what's happening now, pretty much, my dear boyfriend did convince me to buy a package of hot dogs & we ate this for dinner.

3.11.2010: Hot Dogs, Mac N' Cheese, & Broccoli. 

At that point, we were still using up a case of free expired stupidly organic mac n' cheese any way we could (don't worry, we threw out the cheese packet, & made our own cream sauce. That's essential). But it was a glum March day & we were walking by the Mill River, & Owen said "Hot Dogs & Mac & Cheese for dinner!!!" & I agreed. That's love. 

I won on the broccoli though. Broccoli in a cream sauce. Always good. As good as hot dogs seemed to me when I was five? 

Ask Walt. 

Cali Part Two: Grilled Cheeses at Old Spanish Missions, Burger Arguments, & BACON.

So Diamond Daughters in the great state of California, continued.

In which Gramma drives us to Riverside, & we get lost & end up at the city limits with the auto parts stores, & we eventually arrive at the Mission Inn, see some parrots, & eat grilled cheeses in Mum's (allegedly, Gramma tells these stories sometimes) favorite lunch spot, Simple Simon's.

Grilled Cheeses In Old Spanish California, After Being Lost In The Urban California Desert.

At some later point, we had this burger conflict. First, Grampa Diamond is self-admittedly terrible at grilling. Only burgers he is good at. This makes him a burger crazy person. I, as an adult, have formed my own burger preferences, & mine include Hellman's mayonnaise as a must & Sriracha as yes yes please & crazy additions as hells yeah what have you got? As you can see here. Sooooooo...I wanted my mayonnaise, some chopped jalapenos, & a sliced perfect avocado & whoah was I shot down. Oh families. PEOPLE FROM BROCKTON, MA DO NOT PUT FING AVOCADOS ON MEAT. END OF STORY. I forget this.

(Note, Ali, a burger girl is anyone is, did agree with him, so I give his taste buds the benefit of the doubt).

Anyway, I present,

Grampa's "Perfect" Burger.

To comfort us from all this terrible family burger conflict, Saturday morning breakfast. The most essential one, the Platonic ideal of breakfast, why bacon smells good like nothing else to me, & why I can never be a vegetarian.

Breakfast with Bob

(Fried Eggs, Bacon, Thomas' English Muffins, Always & Forever).

Coming up: We find our perfect Liz & Ali restaurant after almost dying of depression in a giant California mall, we purchase sparkly discounted things while drinking smoothies, have a more odd than even usual for us family evening, & a moving & memorable in emotional terms but so upsettingly bad foodwise Anthony Bourdain would cry Macaroni Grill experience. Seafood Linguine. Shudder. All coming up next. Stay Tuned.

A New Car & A Series Of Sandwiches.

Three sets of sandwiches, all relating to the recent purchase of my new (to me) car, the 1989 Toyota Cressida. The LUXERY model, oh yeah. This is the first car I have purchased, & therefore kind of a milestone, & being me, I documented the occasion in a series of sandwiches.

1.13.2010. A visit to a car in Leverett, & 2 sausage, egg, & cheese sandwiches from Go Nomad in the infamous town of South Deerfield.

1.17.2010. Fried egg, cheese, & Sriracha sandwiches at our kitchen table after we drove the Cressida home for the first time.
1.22.2010. Ali's first ride in the Cressida, when we picked her up at work for our classic lunch date of sandwiches at the Black Sheep (2 Nick's Picks, aka semi-Ruebens for me & Owen, 1 Southern Comfort for Ali). Note: the semi-ruebens had coleslaw & not sauerkraut, & so were not as good as real ruebens. The Southern Comfort I did not taste, but appeared to be all bacony & chickeny so, probably the better choice.
I know, I know, I'm odd as always, but I always remember things in life most clearly by what I ate that day. Taste/smell are my strongest sense memories, I guess. So even if it's just a fried egg on toast with hot sauce, if something happened that day, what I ate was important. On an even deeper note, what to egg sandwiches have to do with the 1989 Toyota Cressida? There just must be a connection. Discuss.

The Hidden Meaning Of Breakfasts.

The thing I find most missing about not waking up next to someone mindblowingly awesome on a regular basis(well ok, obviously not the thing I miss the MOST, but still an important one)is BREAKFASTS!!!! (this is a food blog not a dating blog, yo)

There's just something about excessive quantities of butter & bacon & maple syrup that seems awkward when you do it alone, but when you wake up in the mood to show true affection through food, is just perfect. Cooking in pajamas & t-shirts in the morning sunlight, sleepily locating eggs & toast, that's a huge part of physical chemistry, for me anyway. (we all know of course that I'm weird) I've been waiting to keep bacon & eggs in the house on a regular basis for a while. So here's a few breakfasts from the past month or so.

First Breakfast = All the obvious things, i.e. bacon, eggs, toast.

Cause I'm me, the toast was from the Hello Kitty Toaster & the butter was served in a kitten rice bowl,

SO KITTY BREAKFAST.

The type of breakfast only eaten by two people who get a shit ton of odd food items for free from work, & are also running late for work.

& This is also work related: the Overly Local Breakfast,

consisting of Kickass French Toast made with Diemand Farms Eggs, Vermont Applewood Smoked Bacon, East Baking Company Maple Cinnamon Bread (i.e. the world's best bread for any kind of toast), Maple Syrup from the Northampton Farmers Market & Cabot Butter & Pierce Brothers Coffee.

Yeah we are kind of new breed of hipster yuppie I think.

I have a feeling that the Chocolate Chip Pancake chapter is next in this saga.

Also the wonderful world of SAUSAGE.

Meals That Aren't Dinner.

Because there are other meals besides my regular solitary elaborate 3am dinners.
& there are the good friends you share them with. & all the places to eat late lunches & early breakfasts & post-dancing snacks in the Pioneer Valley. Such as:
Crepes with strawberries & honey & whipped creme & the MOST perfect mochas with Melissa at Mosaic.

Wednesday morning after a Tuesday night of dancing at the Basement.

There are always the meals eaten in the parking lot at the grocery store.
Some shit I ate on recent breaks.

My classic hot sauce & cheese sandwiches & instant miso soup.

yup, that's what I eat at work.

(plus a note from Cait)

Lunch with Ali at The Black Sheep.

A good sandwich really takes you far in this life.

& then, there's the TALKING over sandwiches.

With your AWESOME SISTER.

In which Local Burger saves all our lives, by way of snacks after dancing.

All fried. & dipped in something else delicious.

Where do all these drawing come from?

My typical room at right around 3am.

post-dancing, post-facebook, post texting, just me, alone, eating & drawing.

& Rin's tofu sandwich, while we were drawing/painting.

At Woodstar last week.

I can't say it enough. Food shapes all our lives.

Ok, Ok, So You Really Don't Suck That Much.

Plenty Of Perfectly Fine Things DO Happen In South Deerfield, It Turns Out.

Like this breakfast sandwich, previously seen taking on a starring role in this comic, from the lovely Go Nomad Cafe.

& Then there's the beauty of a drive on 116 through Sunderland on a perfect mid-September afternoon. That's good too.

I think I'm going to be taking a bit of a break from the bar, so my content for at least foreseeable future may be a lot more of the sandwiches, coffee cups, & mountains variety & less of the PBR & dancing.
But I'll still try to keep things interesting.

Day 3, Part 1: The Best Sandwich Ever.

& it really was. In the morning (or rather late afternoon) of our first day in Asheville, NC,
we located Jed's pants, & headed out for a very late breakfast, before the drinking beer began again around 3pm. Oh this town, you're stealing my heart.

Pecan Crusted Fried Green Tomatoes with Maple Black Pepper Bacon & Goat Cheese, on a Croissant, with Chipolte Cheese Grits. Everything local.

Oh I actually cried while eating this sandwich. We really really love Asheville. & shit just keeps getting more off the hook.

"If There's a Way to Get A DUI in Mississippi, I'll Find It."
-the third member of this insane road show & our host in Asheville, said just now in the bar.

I think that this qualifies as a good time.

in contrast to my last post, scenes from the last roughly 24 hours, in which there were very good friends, incredible dreams, & some amazing food. & much laughter & silliness.

Instead of packing, I unpacked the little I've so far managed to pack & we cooked a last minute incredible dinner out of random items in my pantry & vegetable drawer & porch garden, during which rin proved once again that he is in fact a genius. wild & brown basmati rice, caramelized onion & mustard sauce, & roasted yukon gold potatoes, summer squash, eggplant, with garlic, olive oil & fresh thai basil & thyme. with nasturtiums. all entirely vegan, & we bought no groceries for the creation of this meal. & the vintage cloth napkins were beautiful & individually chosen. 

dinner with rin & tim, 7.22.09, at my soon to be former apartment.   a dream I had in the early morning, waking up on the couch with some of my best friends & dusty rose. caught in a rabbit storm. 7.23.09.

breakfast at the green bean with rin & tim, 7.23.09.

another dream, a recently reoccurring dream, of muffins, plus jed's banana peel from the yellow sofa today. & a drawing of the astonishing muffin we witnessed but did not purchase at the green bean, the raspberry marshmellow brownie muffin. no really. 7.23.09.

pizza at sam's with jed tonight, plus jed's sketchbook. pizza in the bar series. jed's slice of pizza was insanely large, so he wins. this drawing would be better but we were there fifteen minutes before closing & bob wanted to kill our arty hipster asses so we ate & drew fast. & I cannot apparently spell "slice." "Sclice." fuck spelling.
We are Drinking & Drawing.

It's those sunflowers again. Tonight, finishing up a night of DnD at the Dirty Truth, 7.23.09. Guess what, it was raining. These sunflowers keep coming up. some guys next to us were having an amazingly offensive yet hilarious conversation about women & later walking home we saw them both pissing in a fountain. nice.

all in all, a good day. confusing & random, but I'm all right with that.

Breakfast

Yummy breakfast.