Loaves and fishes

          The first week of food in Brookline has come down to two things: loaves and fishes. The former has been mostly experimental -- testing out recipes in the new gas oven as I've only ever had electric ovens, and slightly finicky ones at that. First I had to figure out how to turn the thing on (there's no knob, you just punch in the desired temperature and it fires itself up), then I had to spend a few moments panicking that I was about to blow up both myself and my new apartment, then I finally felt confident enough to bake the bread. The results have been...uneven. I should mention that I decided to start with the less exciting breads; the ones that have the cheaper ingredients. I figured if I were going to botch a recipe, I'd rather scratch mass quantities of cornmeal than pine nuts, and as it turns out, this was a wise decision. The corn bread is adequate, though dry, and then there is the french bread. It smells like french bread, it feels like french bread, it tastes like french bread (and good french bread too, I might add), but it looks remarkably like a rather large cookie. The good news is, though none of the bread endeavors are attractive, they are palatable, and new roommates have now ingested enough of these doughy experiments, entirely unprovoked, to send the message that they are happy to have myself and misshapen bread here to stay.

          Now for the fish. I have experienced over the past week a very real and severe form of food OCD. There are so many choices, and so many ingredients, and I want them all, and I want them now, and I want them at the best price I can get. In order to preserve some sanity, I decided to focus on one ingredient: smoked salmon. It's great protein, holds up well in the fridge for the week, and is a secret craving of mine. I tracked around the neighborhood several times until I felt confident that I had found myself a deal, and happily bounded home with my 8oz of smoke salmon fillet for $7. And that's when I bumped into my roommate on the doorstep, having just returned from the Russian Deli up the block where she had purchased 12oz of smoked salmon belly for $1. My first thought was probably what yours is right now -- $1 salmon sounds like the easiest way to contract a massive case of food poisoning. But, since kind roommate has declared that she has eaten this $1 wonder salmon every week for 3 years and is still alive and kicking, not to mention beautifully nourished, I decided I should taste test. The results are lunch.

          Other food wonders this week include a citrus, fennel salad to kick a cold, yummy homemade yogurt cheese -- the cheap and fat free alternative for total cheese addicts (guilty)--, and this beautiful tile that is the backsplash in my new kitchen.