barefoot thursdays!

unfortunately, it's cold and rainy here in happy valley, so actually going barefoot is out the question. i actually think i need to stop sleeping with my window open because i'm catching the chills. i'm currently rolled up in my nap blanket (seriously, get yourself one of these. i also have a pillow and socks) in my bed, wearing a sweatshirt and slippers (and pants, duh). 

the weather made tonight's trek all the way to kern for an hour and a half of thesis discussion followed by another trek back really unpleasant. 

that's basically all of campus, minus a few of the halls in east (but really, who cares about them?). and after i walk all the way up there, i have to walk up 4 flights (or 6, if i'm going to get my self-esteem mashed) of stairs because i have a (very reasonable, i might add) fear of elevators, especially those that are ancient and shake violently (i've twittered about this frequently). the length of the route does allow for a rather nice chat with my mom, however. i've called her everyday this week. i miss my mommy.

but there are things about today that make me excited: it's barefoot thursday (as my opening mentioned)! today's recipe is for tomato and goat cheese tarts, chosen by anne of anne strawberry. the recipe is available on her site, foodnetwork.com, and many other bloggers posted it, so i'll save you the space. i'll just talk about my edits.

obviously i can't eat goat or parmesan cheese (dairy) or puff pastry (fat and usually dairy, though the pepperidge farm brand uses margarine) in excess, so i had to modify it a tad. instead of consuming half a sheet of puff pastry, which would undoubtedly send my colon into shock, i used my cute little heart cookie-cutter and made tartlettes.

lyss and i opened the bottle of wine last weekend, so i actually had some left over to cook the onions and garlic (excitement)! to make up for the lack of cheese, i added some arugula and parsley to the pan when the onions were almost done (totally not a substitute, i know). i topped it with sliced cherry tomatoes (you try slicing those babies). cute, quaint, and bite-sized.

i served it up with a salad with more of the greens, some more cherry tomatoes, and a handful of greek olives, all topped off with my new favorite dressing. i mix a teaspoon of blackberry jam with a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, a teaspoon of dijon mustard, and some olive oil. yum!

so even though my tartlettes were only really half of ina's intended recipe, i liked the outcome. i thought about making it into a mini crustless quiche instead of using the pastry by mixing the onions and tomatoes with some eggs and baking them in ramekins, but i thought that'd be stretching it a bit too far. i have some leftover onions, though, so i think i'll try it tomorrow night for dinner. i need to use up the eggs and the rest of my salad mix before they go bad.

i was really excited to try the peppery brown sugar salmon recipe i mentioned yesterday, but i opened the tupperware container to find a rock-solid mass of brown sugar. i ended up just throwing it out and using maple syrup instead. not quite the same, but still peppery-sweet. i'm hoping someone can offer some help, though. is there any way to revive dried out brown sugar? 

if it's rainy where you are and you're curled up with your laptop, keep yourself occupied by checking out the other barefooters on the blogroll. i'm sure they're all fantastic, too!

tomorrow promises sunshine and 60 degrees. i'll believe it when i'm outside in sunglasses, barefoot =).

cheers, 

j