Day: March 22, 2007

couple random thoughts to share

Man, coming back to work after taking more than a week off is painful. I’ve got lots of interesting stuff to do, but honestly, there’s too much of it. I can already see I’ll be spending much of my weekend working from home. But it’ll be for a pet project of mine, and one that is long overdue and finally getting the attention that it deserves.

For those of you have visited us and had the pleasure of a dinner at Exil, we’ve been working on this little project for you…ok, and for us. After several attempts, we’ve gotten pretty good at replicating their awesome feta-and-spinach side dish. Sarah did all the work on this one. Here’s our best guess at it:

Spinach and Feta sidedish

Hey Kraig and Margo: thanks for the emails out of the blue this week on the same day!

Assorted stuff I/we got (back) this week:

1. My replacement driver’s license from when I lost it.

2. Blue pants from when that little ankle biter…well, you know.* Thanks to my parents for those and all the other things Dad brought with him on his trip.

3. My bike from a new (to me) repair shop, which is not Stadler, after I somehow managed to blow out an axle a couple of weeks ago.

4. Permission for me and Sarah to stay and live here another year. Good thing we got some extra pages inserted into our passports. We really needed them.

Too bad it’s not already Friday night. I could use one of those famous Friday Night Naps of mine.

Spinach and Feta sidedish

I finally did it! Everyone that’s come to visit us has eaten with us at Exil, our favorite restaurant. They serve a fabulous spinach as a side or as a filling for little turkey rolls. I think I’ve finally come close enough to recreating it to post it here. If you don’t like feta, you might be able to substitute yogurt cheese.

1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 T olive oil
2 pounds fresh spinach, rinsed and chopped
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground mace
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 c crumbled feta cheese

In a deep skillet over medium-low heat, sauté the onions and garlic in olive oil for about 7-9 minutes (or until tender). Don’t burn the garlic! If it starts to brown, turn down the heat.

Next, add the spinach by handfuls. There will be a lot of spinach, but if you only add 2-3 handfuls at a time and cook it with a lid on for 1-2 minutes, it will wilt significantly.

After you’ve added all the spinach and it has all wilted, add the salt, pepper, mace and pepper flakes and stir thoroughly. The spinach will start to give off a fair amount of liquid. Turn the heat up to medium-high to cook away the liquid. When you’ve cooked off as much liquid as you choose, stir in the feta and turn off the heat.

Serves 4