cooking kick

i think i'm on another cooking kick.  i can tell when one is coming on because i find myself spending inordinate amounts of time thinking about food ... and i know it's here when i actually cook a real dinner at home several nights in a row.  the products of this cooking spree have been particularly tasty, though.  meals we've enjoyed in the last week and a half:

• country ribs on the grill with corn on the cob and french bread
• fried rice made with leftover ribs and corn on the cob
• chicken fajitas made with leftover spicy honey chicken thighs
• homemade margherita pizza with garden fresh basil
• whole wheat pasta with broccoli and broiled chicken breast
• burgers on the grill with homemade hamburger buns and homemade salsa and guac for the 4th of july
• grilled rosemary lamb chops with basil, chive, and sundried tomato couscous

hmm, apparently me being on a cooking kick means scott grilling out.  (i think i've also been on a grilled meat kick!)

the homemade hamburger buns were super easy to make - it was my first expedition with the stand mixer my parents got me/us as an early anniversary gift a few weeks ago, and i love it already!  the buns were so fresh and tasty, although i will say that without the preservatives stores add, they start to dry out by the next day.  the recipe made 16 buns (next time i'll likely do a half recipe, unless we have a giant bbq at our house), so i sent a handful off with our friends andrew and anne, who were in town for the 4th before they set off on a grand three week camping expedition through the national parks of colorado, utah, and arizona.

the rosemary, basil, and chives were all from my little herb planter and so tasty!  in addition to those three, i planted cilantro and sage.  the cilantro has really struggled - a few of the stalks have died off, and the one remaining has really skinny, lacey leaves (rather than the broad cilantro leaves you think of) and has started to flower and seed, even though i tried to stay on top of chopping off flowers when they popped up.  according to wiki, the seeds are coriander - who knew!  oh, although this page suggests that's normal, and that cilantro just has a quick life cycle - also, who knew!  the sage is going strong, but i have yet to actually use any of it.  i need to figure out what sage goes in ... suggestions?