Beta has taken an interest in the plight of the vaquita, and made a website as part of her school project. Check out The Vaquita Project.
Category: Family
Garlic Baked Whitefish
This is a super-easy recipe. My first time trying I went from pre-heating the oven to dinner on the table in under 30 minutes.
The source recipe calls for tilapia, but it should work with nearly any white fish. Really there’s no reason it couldn’t work well with darker fish like salmon or tuna, though being thicker you may need to cook longer and flip the fish halfway through, as well as increase the other ingredient amounts.
This pairs well with rice and roasted vegetables.
Garlic-Baked Whitefish
Equipment
- Cast Iron skillet
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds White fish (Tilapia or similar)
- 6 tbsp Butter melted
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- 1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- Juice from 1/2 lemon
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400° F, with cast-iron pan inside
- Mix up the melted butter, lemon juice, garlic, and red pepper flakes
- Toss fish into the pre-heated pan and sprinkle on some pepper. You don’t need to grease the pan first, dry is fine, the fish won’t stick.
- Pour the butter mixture evenly over the fish
- Bake for 12 minutes
Adapted from https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a19665918/oven-baked-tilapia-recipe/
Dashcam to the Rescue!
This shall come as no surprise to anyone that lives in or near Boston: my car got hit by another car while driving in downtown Boston. This is an every day occurrence, and is why many people avoid driving downtown.
The downside:
- my car got hit
- it must be fixed
- we didn’t make the appointment that I was picking up Alpha child for
The upside:
- nobody was hurt (in either car)
- the damage is relatively minor
- it wasn’t my fault
- I have a dashcam 🙂
Turn on the closed captioning for additional viewing fun!
Note several so-very-Boston things that occur in this video:
- a car crash in perfect driving conditions (shouldn’t happen)
- the two guys on the sidewalk that briefly glance in our direction, then keep going (principal of don’t-get-involved)
- the woman who takes advantage of the break in traffic to jaywalk (no fucks left to give)
Sadly, the other driver was scurrilous and claimed that I had swerved from the left lane into the right before stopping suddenly. (That would also be a very Boston thing to do, if it had happened.) Our insurance companies found in my favor after reviewing the dashcam footage, and my car’s damage is fully paid for – nothing out of pocket, no deductible.
I will not drive without a dashcam ever again. I wish I could provide a review of my particular unit but, sadly, it’s not made anymore – a review would be pointless.
I do recommend that anyone and everyone get a dashcam, though. Besides proving the details of driving incidents, you can accidentally capture some really cool stuff.
If you like watching dashcam footage, may I recommend dashcamgifs on reddit?
Only Child
I was an only child… but it took a lot of effort.
—Alpha Child
We had been riffing on the Steven Wright joke, “When I was a little kid we had a sand box. It was a quicksand box. I was an only child… eventually.” Alpha’s ad-lib made the joke that much darker. I am quite proud.
Indian Butter Chicken
Indian Butter Chicken
Equipment
- 14+ inch skillet w/ lid
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- Onion, yellow, small diced
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 2 tbsp Ginger, fresh
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 3/4 cup Chicken Stock
- 6 oz Tomato Paste
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
- 2 tsp Cumin
- 2 tsp Garam masala
- 1 tsp Tumeric
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1.5 pounds Chicken diced to bite-sized pieces
- 1 head Cauliflower chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 2 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1 cup Heavy cream
Instructions
- Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet until it shimmers
- Add onions, garlic, and ginger, and sauté for a couple of minutes, until the onions begin to soften
- Stir in, and bring to a simmer:butterchicken stocktomato pastecinnamoncumingaram masalatumericsalt
- Add chicken and cauliflower, and stir until coatedDon’t be alarmed: the previous steps leave you with a paste, not a sauce, and the chicken and cauliflower might seem a little dry.
- Cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes (or until the chicken is cooked through)
- Stir in lemon juice and cream, and bring back to a simmer
- Simmer, uncovered, for a couple of minutes
Notes
Cape Cod 2021
Highlights From Cape Cod
“Baba” plays the part of the matriarch and rents a house on the cape, then invites the families to come stay with her. Our responsibilities include making dinner (plus cleaning up) and enjoying ourselves.
This year was one of the rainiest summers in a long time, among the top 5 since record keeping began, but we still had plenty of time for fun.
We went on a whale watch out of Provincetown on Wednesday. It was really foggy and we didn’t see any whales, or anything at all, for almost two hours.
Suddenly, out of the fog, we stumbled across some whales that really showed off for a bit.
We discovered Skaket Beach, on the bay side of Orleans, on a beautiful afternoon.
The beach is very flat so as the tide retreats you can walk out very, very far.
There are natural tide pools that trap crustaceans. The kids had fun hunting hermit crabs and minnows. Tim dug up a couple of steamers to show the kids what lives beneath the sand.
Beta child made some new friends, as usual. Baba did, too, with a couple that lives in the next town over from us. Meghan and I had fun talking with them about local stuff, and listening to the husband grouse about local contractors and the crappy McMansions they put up.
A couple of days into our stay, a local hawk mother decided that her chicks were ready to leave the nest. One of the three wasn’t quite ready and complained, loudly, every remaining day of our stay.
The mother hawk, to her credit, never strayed too far away. The siblings showed up as well to coax him off his branch. This one, however, mostly hopped from tree to tree and demanded a nest and food.
Other highlights, of which there are no photos
- We got Baba on a rented tricycle and went a couple of miles up the Cape Code Rail Trail. The Fox family rode their bikes all the way from Orleans to Wellfleet.
- I rode solo from Orleans to Wellfleet, and Orleans to the Harwich Rotary a few days later
- We swam at Nauset Beach and Coast Guard Beach
- We walked around downtown Orleans and Chatham
- We got a perfect lunch at The Knack, an excellent dinner at Mahoney’s Atlantic Bar & Grill, and delicious ice cream at the Ice Cream Cafe
- Megh, Beta, and I went to the French Cable Museum and had a great time! (This was my personal favorite part of the entire trip)
- Nobody got sunburned (I think this is a first)
Alpha’s Graduation
Alpha child officially graduated from high school today!
Hot day, graduation was moved to morning to avoid 90+° F in the afternoon. (92° as I write this, expected to top out around 94° in a couple of hours.)
Afterwards, lunch with the grandparents at the Emerald Rose.
I’m very proud of Alpha. I’m also very proud of myself and @mom that we successfully launched a tiny human to adulthood.
Heatwave
I think this is the earliest that I’ve ever put air conditioners in the windows. Most years we make it until July. We used to go entire years without putting them in.
Saint Patrick’s Day, COVID-19 Edition
We’re just over a year into the COVID-19 pandemic. Most years past we would simply go to Meghan’s mother’s house, and she would put on a traditional dinner: boiled corned beef, boiled potatoes, and boiled cabbage.
Last Year Was Different
Last year we ate a sad dinner on our own, as I had never made corned beef and cabbage before. I tried it in the slow cooker. It didn’t turn out very well. Lesson learned.
This Year Is Different
Due to the wonders of science and concentrated efforts, the world has vaccines in record time and we see the light at the end of the figurative tunnel. My mother-in-law has been vaccinated and graciously agreed to come to our house. And I’m taking another stab at making traditional Irish-American dinner.
Recipe
Taken from How To Make Corned Beef:
Stovetop method: For a 5 pound brined corned beef brisket. Place the corned beef in a Dutch oven. Sprinkle with one tablespoon of pickling spice blend and pour in 4 cups beef broth. Add potatoes, carrots, and cabbage. Bring to a boil on high heat. Reduce heat, cover and cook for about 3 1/2 hours. Add water if necessary to keep brisket covered. Slice across the grain.
The Aftermath
I don’t mind saying, it was delicious. But it might have been a side-effect of having company for the first time in a very, very long time.
We made two exceptions from tradition: I added garlic mashed potatoes, and we didn’t have Irish coffee after dinner.
Korean Beef Rice Bowls
Korean BBQ Beef Rice Bowls
Equipment
- 1 Skillet
- 1 mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 bunch scallions sliced (for garnish)
Sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce reduced sodium is better
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Brown the hamburger and garlic in a pan. Break it up into crumbles as it browns.
- While the hamburger is cooking, whisk the sauce ingredients (brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, red pepper, black pepper)
- When the hamburger is browned, drain off the fat and mix in the garlic. Simmer for a minute.
- Pour in the sauce. Simmer for another couple of minutes. Mix in the scallions and serve.
Notes
This recipe was an instant hit. I have to make a double batch if I want leftovers for the next day.
Adapted from therecipecritic.com