take it easy

harper told me i should "take it easy" this weekend right after i offered to make dinner last night. ha! "as in, i shouldn't cook?" i asked. "yeah..." he said or something along those lines. i know he meant don't stress...including not worrying about cooking. but it was funny. i ignored orders again tonight by roasting a chicken, making (low sodium, mais oui) quesadillas and am working on a pot of scratch chicken stock which i've never done before. the result is a full belly, a delish smelling house and a sink full of dishes. by the way, how much sodium is in 3 cans of pbr? :)

the sodium will be ignored, nay, CELEBRATED when the peeps come over for vcb / tapas night. so what is it and where did it all come from...i'm glad you asked.

TAPAS
my tapas interest began in college when jennegui and i ventured to austin for south by southwest. or sxsw. or "southby" as the cool kids say. granted, we went to the film portion which runs the week before the music portion. while this meant we didn't see the 900 or so bands we still got to see c and d list movie stars, attend viewing parties, had less competition for tables at restaurants and there were fewer hot girls to detract from us. and everyone looks cool with a pass on a lanyard. we chose a tapas bar one night and it was the real deal. you ordered two or three items to nibble. the concept is 1) it's spanish, from spain, spanish. 2) it is just a few bites of something delish to accompany your drinks. then you move along to the next bar or function. it's more experience than sustenance.

later, lola's in tulsa opened. called it's self a tapas place. it isn't. but it is tasty and they do have some popular tapas items like roasted almonds and olives. maybe some spanish influenced flavors if you want to go out on a limb.

even later, someone gave me a tapas cookbook. one of those nice hard back ones with lots of pictures for $9.99 on the sale table at borders. i didn't make anything in it for years. rather, i studied it. the flavors sounded great to me. olives and olive oil. salty cheese. garlic. paprika. fried things. and the focus really is on small bites.

the history is either that a spanish king (in like 1300) was recovering from an illness and doctors recommend he have wine and small meals rather than large ones as he recovered. he liked it and the fashion of eating the small meals caught on. AND / OR that in taverns (maybe 1400, i don't know) pieces of bread topped with cheese, ham or chorizo were served with glasses of wine or sherry. the bread was actually served on top of the glass. tapas means loosely "to cover" or "lid". and today it's basically fancy bar food / appetisers.

my spanish kick caught on again when mario batali made paella on oprah. this coincided with the launch of his show "spain...on the road" with gwyneth paltrow which i didn't get on my cable. i downloaded a few episodes on itunes and got hooked as they traveled from city to city highlighting the culture and food of spain.

tapas, spanish cooking seems pretentious to even talk about. even my husband thinks i only got interested because of the show. but really, what is so different about cooking or liking spanish food versus any other? i made quesadillas tonight. what some might call a mexican food. but if i told you i made quesadillas or tacos that wouldn't seem strange at all. what about spaghetti and meatballs. not strange. garlic bread. not strange. but if i top that garlic bread with roasted red pepper and roasted eggplant...is that strange? it's pisto manchego. what about a crab cake? not strange. but if it was ham, bread crumbs and egg fried instead of crab and bread crumbs its croquetas and uber popular in spanish bars.

spanish food is accessible and has very few ingredients meaning easier to cook for me. i love thai food, too. i'm just not ready to buy the 14 ingredients to make pad thai.

that said, other than the two or three items i've had or made....it's gunna be new to me. i'm pulling out all the guns (knives?) next weekend and i hope my (brave?) friends enjoy.

VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA (VCB)

another woody-free woody allen movie. and the third with scar jo. i was never a big woody fan. we won't go down that road. now i sort of get it. he's done some different things in the last 5-6 years but has kept the trend of packing his films with stars so someone will want to see them. match point was a very un-woody film, in my opinion. die hards might argue. penelope cruz is nominated for best supporting actress for her role in this one. oscars are coming up and i need to see as many contenders as possible. i like to know who i'm wagering on. it is set in (hold your breath) barcelona and spain so it ties in nicely with my menu.

now you should probably take it easy. that was a lot of my drivel for one night.