I’d like to try to make this Christmas Morning Frittata for our innaugural SNDC brunch, noon at my place (1201 NE 21st.). I’ll have all the ingredients on hand, plus coffee and some kind of fruit. I’m planning on substituting broccoli for the green bell pepper, and may want to swap in leeks for the onions.

Is everybody OK with dairy mozzarella? Or should I look for a vegan alternative?

IF any SNDC-ers already have Worcestershire sauce, I’d love to use yours. If nobody volunteers to bring any by noon on Saturday, I’ll get some at the store. NOTE — please only volunteer bring it if you have the kind that doesn’t contain anchovies, as I don’t eat anchovies. If you’ve got the anchovy kind, I’d rather buy vegetarian Worcestershire.

By acclamation, a bunch of us decided Sunday on the following important changes to SNDC:

1) From now on, the host buys almost all the food. No more duplicate grocery trips. The host will probably be posting the recipe/ingredient list late in the week, along with the time they expect to go shopping. If you’ve got some of what’s needed, leave a comment saying there’s no need to buy it; if you don’t have anything at hand, just post saying you’ll be there.

For example: “Let’s make Fried Cowpies at my place this this week, 8003 N. Wabash Ave. I’ve got everything except 2 lb. dung. If you’ve got some on hand, let me know before 6 p.m. Saturday.”

2) SNDC is moving to noon Sundays. This’ll broaden the food options and give us Sunday evenings to get ready for the weekend. Not to mention get me personally out of bed before 3 p.m.

These improvements are now in beta. SNDC’s path to world domination continues apace.

After a long hiatus, we’re back!  We’re still getting over some lingering sickness, but we’re up for hosting SNDC this weekend…and we promise we won’t make you watch the entire slide show of 500+ wedding pictures! We cannot promise, however, that the house will be in its most cleanly state ever…

Email us if you need our address again!

Update

Let’s try this pasta dish from 101 Cookbooks…it sounds like an easy dish that won’t take too long, but will still be nice and hearty.  We can make it not so spicy.  Since it serves 2-4, we might want to double it…

Slurp-tastic Herb Noodles Recipe

I used Cipriani’s extra-thin spinach tagliolini here, but many thin pastas could be substituted. Just try to imagine if it would go with a nice, hearty, spicy curry -some pasta will work better than others.

4 ounces thin, dried spinach pasta (thin) Lena
1 cup coconut milk (light is fine) Lena
scant 1 tablespoon green or yellow curry paste Lena
1 1/2 cups lightly flavored vegetable broth Lena
~1/4 teaspoon salt (more or less depending on the saltiness of your broth) Lena
6 ounces tofu, cut into small cubes or pieces
1/4 cup chives, minced
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup basil, chopped just before using
pinch of crushed red chile peppers Lena

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. This is eventually going to be the pot you cook the pasta in.

In a separate large, thick-bottomed pot, bring 1/4 cup of the coconut milk to a simmer, mash and stir the curry paste into the coconut milk so there are no lumps. Now add the rest of the coconut milk and the vegetable broth and bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and stir in the tofu. Taste and decide if you need to add more curry paste or salt – if you do want to add more curry paste at this point, make a slurry by combining the additional curry paste and a bit of the broth, working any lumps out – add this to the pot.

Back at the pasta pot, salt the water generously and cook the pasta per package instructions. Drain.

Just before serving stir the chives, cilantro, and basil into the curry pot. To serve, place a nice helping of noodles in the center of each bowl and finish with a ladle of the curry and tofu along with a tiny pinch of crushed red chile peppers.

Serves 2 to 4.

So we will need:

• basil
• chives
• cilantro
• tofu

Of course sides are always welcome–a nice salad, or some fruit, some bread…and drinks, of course! We have wine up the wazoo from our wedding…but if you want other stuff, by all means bring it on over!

Courtney’s tied up this week, so I’m subbing for her: 8003 N. Wabash Ave. (Take Lombard one mile west of Interstate, then head a few blocks north.)

It’s not spring, but aside for the tomatoes all of this is more or less in season:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spring-Vegetable-Paella-106419

I’ve got:
* 12 ounces carrots, trimmed, peeled – Mike
* 8 ounces turnips, peeled, cut into 3/4-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups) – Mike
* 8 ounces 1 1/2-inch red-skinned new potatoes, halved – Mike
* 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons olive oil – Mike
* 4 garlic cloves, chopped – Mike
* 1 tablespoon paprika – Mike
* 1 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed – Mike
* 1 teaspoon salt – Mike
* 2 1/4 cups arborio rice or medium-grain rice – Mike
* 1 cup drained canned garbanzo beans (chickpeas) – Mike
* 2 cups water – Mike
* 1 onion, chopped – Mike

Needed:
* 2 large fresh fennel bulbs (about 1 1/2 pounds total)
* 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
* 4 plum tomatoes, chopped, seeds and juices reserved
* 1 14-ounce can vegetable broth
* 3/4 cup dry white wine (or just a bottle?)
* 1 pound asparagus, trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces

Okay, it won’t be Tuscan, just Brush Prairian. And it’ll be 5:30 today at Mike’s new place, 8003 N. Wabash Ave. Warning: do not go to Vancouver for this meal. (Navigation hint: go ALMOST to Vancouver.)

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Risotto-with-Tuscan-Kale-and-Toasted-Pumpkin-Seeds-107016

3 1/2 cups water, 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, 3/4 pound kale, 1 1/4 cups finely chopped onion, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 tablespoons margarine, 3 garlic cloves, minced, 1 1/2 cups rice (10 ounces), pumpkin seeds – Mike

needed:
3 1/2 cups high-quality vegetable broth (substitute for chicken broth)
1/3 cup dry white wine
beverages
side dishes?

Sunday, October 4
11:30 am (OK if you have to run late)
3520 SE Taylor St

Strawberry Citrus Salad

• 3 cups sliced hulled strawberries (about one 22-ounce basket)
• 3 large navel oranges, peeled, thickly sliced crosswise, cut into 3/4-inch pieces (about 3 cups) – Dan
• 2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh mint leaves – Dan

Mushroom and Roasted Red Pepper Tortilla

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil – Dan
• 1 pound russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 3/4-inch pieces – Dan
• 1 medium onion, chopped – Dan
• 4 ounces mushrooms, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped drained roasted red peppers from jar

• 8 large eggs, beaten to blend
• 1/2 teaspoon salt – Dan
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper – Dan

Bread – Sarina

Iced Tea – Dan

Juice

Sarina will be able to attend this weekend! I’ve cleared the Strawberry Citrus Salad with her, but she won’t be able to eat the Mushroom and Roasted Red Pepper Tortilla. She is bringing special bread that she can eat, however.

If you can’t make it at 11:30, noon is fine, but I thought those of us who could be here earlier could get a jump start on the preparation. Cheers!