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Tax Day

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Cheep_taxday_menuSometimes, bombs go off, and you don’t even realize the impact they’ll have through all the smoke and chaos and initial “WTF happened?”. Meaning sometimes, it’s not the Apocalypse but the Aftermath that really stings, that lingers in the air—often invisible but still noxious, clouding your senses.Cheep_taxday_jessicaVinyl of the day: “So runs the world away” by Josh Ritter.

The fallout feels like fog. I owe(d) thousands to the IRS. To me, numbers are painful realizations that make self-employment feel like Sisyphus-style self-immolation.

Fortunately, there’s food. And silk. And vintage “pearl” neckties. And Dan Costello. Even, and especially, on tax day.

Cheep_taxday_maincourseprepI don’t even know how he does it. He took the scraps of haphazard, neglected and wilting vegetables and over-exposed-to-the-air tortillas and made magic happen. We got this cast iron dutch oven somewhere for some such cheapness (Dan will remember and I’ll ask him later and then delete this part with just a cheap-ass number and you will forget this sentence ever existed. Poof. Like magic). Cheep_taxday_danservesAll this became Black bean & radish fried tortilla pie.Cheep_taxday_tortillapie_maincourseThen he made a Sour cream salsa with tiny diced peppers and herbs. And he served it for us…Cheep_taxday_kellyjessicaWhile we modeled our tax day outfits in the living room. Me: Jones New York copper silk skirt – $4 (thrift store).  Cream silk button up – $3 (thrift store).  Vintage “pearl” necktie – $14 (Antique World Mall). Frye Dorado boots – let’s forget how much they cost, shall we (Fryeboots.com). Kelly Lynae: I’m not sure exactly, but she looks very professional and quirky, as one should on tax day.

Book of the day: “Dry” by Augusten Burroughs.

Cheep_taxday_castironmonsterKelly had just moved into an apartment downtown, and was subsequently broke. So we gave her one of our (or I should say Dan gave her one of his after I awkwardly whispered to him that it would be so nice) seldom-used cast irons for her tiny stove. But then…Look out Kelly! There’s a monster above your head! “Soggy Bread” by Ben Wilson, from his 2010 Monsters in the Cupboard series.Cheep_taxday_baklavaThen Dan served dessert. Pear almond pistachio baklava with Zoi honey Greek yogurt.Cheep_taxday_kellysparklesfreeWe also gave Kelly a full-length mirror and a beaded vintage vest because she needed those too, obviously.

System adjustments, (tea) party people. We’ll turn out fine through generous fine tuning, in the wake of it all.

FOOD: Eggplant stuffed eggplant

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By Dan Costello, made while Jessica was out of town. (Damn it.)

So you take an eggplant, see, and hollow it out like a little canoe… You can see most of the other ingredients there as well. That’s a grapefruit, an apple-Gouda sausage (optional if you’re going veggie), and yes, a habanero pepper. More on that later…67280_10200234298207336_1257957653_n

Those ingredients, along with some butter and olive oil, apple cider vinegar, fresh ginger, sea salt and pepper, dance around gently in a cast iron skillet until cooked…535969_10200234298087333_653490402_n

Some hot peppers can seriously be painful to work with. I use a separate board just for them. I avoid touching this li’l dynamo by using a chunk of discarded onion skin, and then washing the knife and my hands very thoroughly afterward…
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Rub the eggplant generously w/ olive oil, stuff it with the ingredients from the skillet, top w/ some cheese if desired, and bake it! I’m just doing half an eggplant here, so a small Pyrex dish in a toaster oven is my plan…379353_10200234298247337_1291932946_n

Into the Cadillac-of-toaster-ovens it goes… 25 min on 250 I’m guessing oughtta do it. I want to cook it enough to soften the eggplant skin (cuz I’m gonna eat the whole thing!) but not so much that it burns or overcooks the stuffing.16496_10200234298127334_1544830393_n

Final presentation of this can go a lot of different ways, but if you want to do a pretty plate of it: after you take it out of the oven, cut it crosswise into about 1 1/2 inch wide crescent-moon shaped portions, nestle it down into a little cloud of mashed potatoes or cauliflower purée, and sprinkle with ribbons of Parmesan, or dust with cocoa and cinnamon and nutmeg, or get crazy and drizzle some sriracha and creme fraiche over it…

Then EAT.

FOOD: Foraged Spaghetti Squash Pasta

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This is a cray-cray busy week for nearly all of us in the Holmes/Costello/temporarily Evett household. I arrived home from a relentless Monday at 10:30 pm to this dish, waiting patiently for me in the oven.

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Dan had foraged spaghetti squash from our neighbor (with permission), roasted them, then made the sauce in between breaks while practicing with Ned Evett’s band in his studio. He calculated that total ingredient costs for this dish added up to about $0.75 per plate. Then he drew me (really, you, Cheepers) a picture of it all.

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TOMATILLO SAUCE
1 lb tomatillos, washed and quartered
1 really stupid-huge carrot, diced
1/2 onion, diced about the same as really stupid-huge carrot
3 cloves garlic, mashed & minced
1 dried (or fresh) chili pepper (I used a serrano)
3 big blops yogurt
1/2 cup white wine
1 wedge worth of lemon juice

Cook carrots, onion, garlic and tomatillos in a little butter and/or oil in a sauté pan over low heat, until tomatillos finally break down a bit. Cook a little longer, adding chili and stirring a bit more to reduce/evaporate moisture (but not burn the bottom, like Dan almost did jumping back into the studio to play with Ned). Add white wine and lemon, stirring, and add yogurt and stir until the sauce smooths out a bit. Season with salt & pepper if desired.

Sorry ladies (and gentlemen), Dan’s taken. Mine. Mine! Now back to work.

FASHION: Velvet Jumpsuit + Cat Man

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I bought this Carreau Sport black velour zip-up jumpsuit ($4, Restyle thrift store) on a thrifting adventure with Bethany. It achieves a Forever Lazy adult -footed fleece pajama comfort level, but makes less of a sad commentary on the state of American society. Instead, I felt perfectly zhizam! and vavavoom on a quick run out to catch the tail end of Dan’s gig last weekend.

Lauren by Ralph Lauren black suede, studded wood mules ($5, Good Samaritan; approximate MSRP, $100). Practically never worn, these shoes kick ass and I can just barely walk normal in them even. Score!


The rad is in the details. A gold star for a zipper. Yes, please. A Tibetan turquoise, coral and beaded breastplate ($140, Armor Bijoux, an ethnic and vintage jewelry collection by Bethany Walter). Done, now blowing minds. Whoop, there it is.


This is what Dan wore to his gig, but with an awesome beat-up leather cowboy hat. Up close, the shirt has lovely details, a little flare and good tailoring with pearl buttons.

Another thing about Dan, he is the “cat whisperer.” Especially with Oliver, they are soulmates. Every photo I took of the two, their expressions mirrored one other. Like the squint above.


The quick look stage right.

The fuzzy, fuzzy, purr, purrrrr.

Aw. I love these boys. Now if Dan would only pet my velour jumpsuit instead. Meow.

FOOD: Awesomeness Dinner

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Last Monday, we had a four top up in the house, featuring the fantastic guests Jenah Thornborrow and Ned Evett.Obviously, with these peeps, there is no other way to put it than Awesomeness, the Dinner. As usual, the menu and most of the heavy kitchen labor are by Dan.

MACCHIATO BEEF TENDERLOIN STEAKS

Beef tenderloin fillets from Jenah’s family’s farm-raised cattle in Buhl, Idaho, cleaned, cut, then wet-rubbed (Jessica aside: hubba) with molasses, finely ground coffee, brown sugar, cumin, fresh garlic, paprika, Pico Pica hot sauce (Dan’s new favorite), and dried chili flakes.

Seared on cast iron shallow skillet (and so smokey we turned on all the fans, and Dan had to step outside).

CHAMELEON CARROTS PASTA

Multicolored carrots, peeled (with a few peels tied together and used for fresh garnish to highlight different hues pre-cooking), fresh onions, and small eggplants from Create Common Good farm share, sauteed in butter, soy sauce, and olive oil with half of sauteed mixture blended to smooth out sauce (and sauciness).

The chameleon concept was twofold: 1) The multicolored carrots changed color while cooking, and 2) this sauce simulated the texture and flavor of a tomato-based sauce, but no tomatoes were used. Do you believe in magic? Mostly when Dan is cooking.

GREEN SALAD with APPLE GINGER DRESSING

Mixed greens from Albertson’s and thinly sliced purple carrots from Create Common Good farm share.

Apple Ginger Dressing:
1 sm thumb of ginger, peeled / diced
3 sm apples, peeled / cored / sliced (harvested from our tree outside by Ned, who is tall)
4 blops vanilla yogurt
1 long drizzle honey
1 short drizzle olive oil
2 sm splashes of white wine vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

Throw everything in a blender, and do as the appliance name suggests.

Ned Evett is a fretless glass and steel guitar real-hero (we are particularly obsessed with his last release, Treehouse). He’s also happily our house guest for a time. We are thrilled to have him here, and Dan really knows how to show it. With a merengue guitar. Rockstar.

STRAWBERRY-VANILLA MERENGUES

Merengues are more of a process than an ingredient list. Egg whites (save the yolks for sabayon sauce later), sugar, and skill, baby. (Or Google.) Dan used a ziploc bag with the corner snipped as the pastry gun to create the shapes.

Scoop of vanilla bean frozen yogurt from Cloverleaf Creamery in Buhl, Idaho, brought by the lovely Jenah.

Topped with strawberries, cut up with a sprinkle of sugar and chilled until they create their own syrup, and sabayon sauce made with egg yolks, sugar, the last swig of gifted (as in given to Dan by awesome friend Jason Gilmore, not as in  “special”) Woodford Reserve bourbon, orange curaçao, and patience over a double boiler.

Bon appetit, Cheep.

FOOD: Create Common Good Brunch

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Earlier this year, I got a half farm share from Create Common Good, a completely mind-blowing, forward-thinking, and soul-stirring organization in Boise that employs and trains refugees in creative, sustainable ways that center on food. I savvily purchased during a limited-time employee-wedding 10% off sale, so my total cost for 10 weeks of fresh-picked local organic produce (grown with deep purpose) was $247.50 (or $24.75 a week). Cheep!

Brunch by Dan, also mind-blowing and soul-stirring, and made using only ingredients from this past week’s Create Common Good basket, save the bacon and bread.

POTATOES with Mustard Green Stems, Chives & Flat Leaf Parsley

Cook bacon first, set aside, then cook potatoes and company in rendered bacon fat.

FRESH CORN MEDLEY

fresh corn (cut off cob)
cherry tomatoes (cut in half)
green pepper
basil, regular and purple
flat leaf parsley
tanned onion

Bring sauce pot of water to boil. Blanch corn, green pepper and cherry tomatoes, drain, mix with herbs, onion, salt, pepper, lime juice, and cinnamon.

OPEN-FACED SANDWICH with Bacon, Mustard Greens, and Raspberries

Deglaze cast iron with butter and olive oil. Stir in mustard greens and turn down heat. Season with mongolian fire oil, seasoned rice vinegar, and red wine vinegar.

Serve atop bacon on toasted marble rye, garnished by raspberries.

Total time: 45 minutes (includes cleaning up the countertop mess)

Dude, this chef rocks.

Dan wears a shirt from Boise Urban Garden School, another amazing organization focused on fresh food, and teaching kids how to grow it then eat it. BUGS sometimes opens a farm stand near their community garden space just a few blocks from us, and I love buying veggies (and an occasional Dan-shirt) from the kids.

Dan is drinking from a recycled wine bottle glass by Sustainable Futures. We got an entire set (32 glasses that retail at $5 a piece. Cheep!) for volunteering at the wedding of friends a few years ago. Dan now volunteers at Sustainable Futures, also just a few blocks from our house, by bringing in fancy glass bottles from the venues he plays at, then decapitating them for the future generation of beverages.

Bon appetit, Cheep.

FASHION: Independence Day

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Dan and I spent July 4 playing with fire. Starting with misfires, as the bike-to-a-party plans faded into a flat. Instead we grilled up locally-sourced burgers and sweet potato fries, toasted champagne, and fired up our new portable steel fire pit recently acquired from Grocery Outlet ($70).

Then, a photo session devolved into a fiery dorkdom. En guarde.

Jessica Outfit Breakdown:

Scarlett red silk dress: FREE (gift from Kelly Lynae)

pale pink undershirt: $1 (Restyle thrift store)

Total outfit cost: $1
Jessica Accessories Breakdown:

Tibetan turquoise, coral and beaded breastplate: $140 (Armor Bijoux)

Silver and turquoise dangly earrings: FREE (gift from Anna D.)

Etienne Aigner pale pink shoes: $10 (Ross Dress for Less)

Total accessories cost: $155

Thankfully, dorks are often quite adorable.

Paired with totally sci-fi awesome.

Beam me up, Cheep.

FASHION: Pale Sun

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Dan had a gig in McCall at Alpine Village a few weeks ago. The sky, white and hazy with fire smoke, matched our pale outfits, also skin.

Jessica Outfit Breakdown:

Izod pale pink shorts: $2 (Restyle thrift store)

H Bar C ruffle top: $2 (thrift store)

Pale pink camisole undershirt: $1 (Restyle thrift store)

Jessica Accessories Breakdown:

White molded plastic cowboy hat: $1.25 (River City Dry Goods)

Etienne Aigner pale pink flats: $10 (Ross Dress for Less)

Jessica Total cost: $16.25

Adventure fashion on Frivolous Universe

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I call this look, “Out of Africa.” This desk is cheap awesome.

Fashion is a frivolous universe. Go on. Wear it out.

Bethany Walter, my dear friend and Armor Bijoux jewelry dealer, had the idea for a collective fashion blog. Dubbed “Frivolous Universe” by Kelly Lynae (inspired by a line in this post), we launched just 2 weeks ago, and have been having wickedly good times.

So, I’m lady Thursday on Frivolous Universe. I’ll be using this platform for fancier pictures and more detail shots.

But the cheap, Cheep vibe will run right through.

Check it out.