Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Wishes, Melodrama, Kincaids, Emotion et al

It's been a 'wave-knock-you-down" emotional few days of bittersweet, happiness and work. I wrote of my friend "lost" in 9/11. I had left a paper trail of HANSEL AND GRETEL crumbs for the family to get in touch with me if they ever wanted to. On Thursday, her brother "found" me. You can read about it here - or move on to food! It was one of those weekends where wishes come true.
`
In between some manic e-mailing of memories and photos, the family did something we do not do much anymore - we went out to dinner! Getting the four of us home and home-free on the same date and time takes a lot of finagling these days. But we settled on a casual evening at Kincaids - a fish and chop house in St. Paul.
`
When the four of us go out together - silliness happens. I can't imagine why! I will confess to being fussier and fussier about food. I noted the dinner wasn't perfect. (Do you do that - because you cook so much? Or maybe it is my (cough) advancing age.) But I also appreciate dinner out in all its imperfections, taste-delights, mix and match and fine company so a good time is guaranteed as soon as the reservations are set.
`
We started with an artichoke dip - a must for the 20-somethings. I liked it - because it's laden with fat - I mean what's not too like - but it also had some crab in it which instantly got and held my interest.
`
Please note in the photos that my family has no interest in me getting the camera ready. When your reservation is at 7 p.m. on a Sunday eve and you skipped lunch, the forks are in the dish before they are set down on the table!


What really was quite splendid - was the baked brie. Lightly crusted and fried, served in a sweet balsamic-honey sauce and topped with almonds and apple - it made me sing. (Inwardly. The kids cringe when I sing in public.)


Sitting on some lovely garlic bread, this was consumed with vigor!


Kirsten and I had the crab cakes. They were laden with vegetables which was a nice surprise. Kirsten appreciates her food - but seldom moves outside her "food box." As of late - she has. So crab cakes was a huge step for her. She is my hamburger-pasta-chicken girl and fish usually does not interest her. Of course, she did grow up eating crab legs at a young age - because I adore them and when they are on sale - I'm there. Hmmmm .... so maybe she didn't move outside her box after all ...
Do you have a child like that? Will eat tomato sauce but not tomatoes. No coconut. Shrimp cocktail but not cooked shrimp... however, she recently discovered shiitake and portabella mushrooms... so hope is not lost.



Paul has some grilled halibut on some herbal-lemony-shallot-butter sauce. Reminds me to make more halibut.


Matthew had Asiago-crusted halibut. I was trying to figure out the recipe. I will make my family crazy tasting and figuring out the ingredients so I can make it at home. Am I the only one who does that?

And we finished all with some creme brulee. (Does someone know how to get the accents on these words????!!) And came home sated and lived happily ever after. For now. And finishing my touches of Magic Fishbone where the wishes are not made, the melodrama reflects what is going on in Alicia's world and the family will live happily ever after. The melodrama has kept me awake nights. Having committed to it - I could not make it work. It is supposed to be a small "play within a play" that forwards the plot. Mostly it has me stymied and wondering, "What was I thinking?" So for now, happily-ever-after means getting a script out on time and savoring the day planning dinner with my family.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd like to know about the accents too! haha!

Denise said...

Thanks for visiting my blog...looks great

Lynn said...

Mmmm, these dishes look delicious. I'm also intrigued by the artichoke dip with crab meat. We have many artichokes growing in the back yard, all coming ripe right about now :) So I'm looking for things to do with them. This looks like a grand thought. Thanks for stopping by to visit me, by the way. It's good to meet you!

Sara said...

Everything looks delicious! I made artichoke dip for dinner tonight, but there was no crab in it :)

Reeni said...

I'm happy your wish came true! And how nice that you all went out to dinner together. No-it is not just you. Since I have been cooking so much at home I am not as happy eating out. I notice everything that's wrong! All of your food looks great and a recreation of the asiago-crusted halibut would be wonderful! And yes, I do that, too, more and more lately!

Foodie with Little Thyme! said...

OK, I read both blogs and they left me wanting to read more. Where to now? How do I read your wonderful play. Oh, and I see you won some awards for your work! WOW! Congrats!
I would love to hear or read more!

Elyse said...

I know that Magic Fishbone will turn out fabulously. You're uber-talented, so I have no doubts in my mind that this play will be yet another success for you. I'm so glad that you were able to enjoy such a delightful evening out. Eating dinner out is absolutely an experience in and of itself--it's so much more than the food (although the food did look super good :) ). Hope you have a wonderful week! Can't wait to see if you recreate the asiago-encrusted halibut; looked delicious!

Anonymous said...

It's wonderful that you were able to get in touch with your friend's family.

The baked brie and the halibut sound excellent. I always love to replicate the dishes that I really liked when dining out.

unconfidential cook said...

I love that brie! That must have been fantastic!

Pearl said...

those dishes look very tasty! i'm glad you were able to reconnect with friends and continue a wonderful relationship over meals with family.

Wanda..... said...

Seems you had a wonderful meal with your family...some of my grandchildren are "box eaters" but their tastes do change slowly over the years...creative cooking and writing plays must be so rewarding for you Claudia...Thanks for your comments at my place!...Take care.

Donna-FFW said...

Oh that baked brie and that artichoke dip are making me sing too just thinking about them ..How nice for you that you were able to make contact.
You are a woman of many talents!

Heather S-G said...

Everything looks scrumptious, but oh...that brie-YUP!! What a happy time...and No, I don't know how to get those accent marks on (sure wish I did).

OhioMom said...

First, my family always comments that "I" could cook/bake that, and better ... LOL. Forgetaboutit .. I am being waited on and I am happy with what anyone cooks for me :)

I do confess to trying to play "guess the ingredients and how did they make it" ... but I am not telling the kinfolks or I will never get to eat out!

Juliana said...

Wow, all the dishes look very good, yummie! I would not know where to start.