A good week for cooking...I took a little break in the middle of the week and we had some smoked brats from Lewright Meats. Very good. In other food notes, I'm glad the farmers market is back...there are vendors and favorites that I've missed over the long winter. I've also found a few new good things. The smoked Gouda from Frisian Farms was fantastic. It went over very well at my Dad's 60th birthday party last weekend. I also found out that my dad is a huge fan of Gouda from the days when he went on a mission to Norway, but now a days his thriftiness gets in the way of his desire to buy it. Not exactly the cheapest thing in the world, but it's very good.

Reichert's Dairy has made a new cheese called Robiola di mia Nonna. I'm looking forward to trying it.

Beef Picadillo (Fine Cooking Feb/Mar 2009)

While I couldn't find the kind of lettuce that it called for, it went in very well with what we had. Though it would've gone well in a tortilla or a taco shell too. I would've liked it to be a bit spicier...but that's just me. I had it with tortilla chips yesterday, and it was quite good that way as well. I did add some Juan O'Sullivans Salsa de Mesa. I wish it was a bit hotter though...but that's just me.

Chicken-And-Corn Fried Rice With Lemon Spinach (Chef Ming Tsai on NPR's How Low can you go)

This was good...and cheap as all get up to prepare. Though I did have to make rice the day before to do this, but even so, it wasn't that time consuming to prepare. I had the last of it for lunch today and it was still good.

Fresh Pasta with Sausage and Mushrooms (Fine Cooking Feb/Mar 2009)

Relatively simple, and in this context one of the ways where mushrooms seems to be ok in this house. Though I didn't use any sort of mushroom that was that flavorful, it still seems to be a way to introduce the flavors into the house, for both of us.

Chicken Sauté with Lemon, Cumin, and Parsley (Fine Cooking Feb/Mar 2009)

Hy-Vee (in Windsor Heights) finally started stocking decent chicken thighs (ie not sodium solution injected)...and in this case they were already de-boned and skinless. This turned out good. So simple. I have so noticed how often zest of both lemons and limes to just bring out the flavor for the lemons. I've never really been a big user of it in the past, but I'm seeing it more and more how it can be very useful in bringing out that flavor in a dish. I made a salad using some greens, bought at the farmers market, and a recipe (garlic mustard balsamic vinaigrette) also gotten at the farmers market.

Spicy Jerk Pork Chops (Fine Cooking Feb/Mar 2009)

This was good...broiled..I don't think I got the crust intended because I used the sauce meant for 4 pork chops, but I only used it on two...but even so quite good. Served with a small mix of greens and some peas, it was a good meal.

I'm going to try harder to bring more vegetables to our table. Neither of us a huge veggie fans, so it's kind of easy to please without even having to worry about it, but I should be...so...even simple sides will be better then nothing.