bad blogger.

So I have been MIA for the last few weeks. I wish I had a good excuse, but I just got too caught up in school and two jobs starting. Admittedly, even that is a pretty bad excuse. Bad blogging Molly. Hopefully, September will be a little less crazy, so that I have time to do the things that I set out to do, like sleep and blog. Anyway, I actually have lots of great stuff to write about, like: more on Oaxaca, a triathlon I did, school stuff, and marathon training. So this is me, saying I am back from my semi-accidental blogging break with (hopefully) lots of fun stuff. In the meantime, here is a picture of Coco and I being cute.

salt and pepper.

I am never one to shy away from putting spices on anything, be it a drink or dinner entree, but lately I have come to realize the beauty of the most basic spices when it comes to cooking certain things: salt and pepper. While cayenne, cumin, and cinnamon will not be leaving my spice cabinet (or my diet) anytime soon, this week I had a simple, brilliant dish seasoned with nothing more than a little salt and pepper.

My mom made the most amazing Norweigan freshwater salmon, grilled, seasoned with nothing more than salt and pepper. Not only was it some of the best salmon I have ever had, it was some of the best fish I have ever had, which is quite a bit coming from a girl who lived in Maine for four years and this was cooked in New Mexico. So whether it was my mom's fantastic grilling abilities, or the beautifully perfect seasoning of salt and pepper, I just had to share my profound realization of how great these two kitchen staples can really be.

oaxaca, part 1.

As I wrote before, I recently visited Oaxaca for a pair of weeks and had some truly amazing experiences. The art and the food are both incredible, but the people are what made Oaxaca so special. While I cannot transport the true Oaxaca spirit to you, these pictures may give you a good idea of why I loved it so much, although they cannot do it justice.

Mapuche weaving at the Museo Textil de Oaxaca. 

View from Calle Reforma. 

Maguey cactus.

Monte Albán. 

on frida.

First off, let me apologize for the absence. Back-to-back trips to Oaxaca and Atlanta left little time to catch up on writing. However, I now have plenty of new adventures of all kinds to transcribe!

One of the first days I was in Mexico happened to be the 105th birthday of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. As someone who was in Mexico to study art, and who loves the work of Frida, this was too perfect. July 6, the night of Frida's birthday, I happened to eat dinner at a restaurant that had several examples of Frida-inspired art as well as a Frida impersonator. While I didn't get a chance to take any pictures, I can assure you, it was really great.

Frida as a Tehuantepec Woman
http://art-glossary.com/art/frida-kahlo-1907-1954/

While in Oaxaca, I saw a beautiful necklace that Frida's husband, Diego Rivera, gave to her, as well as many references to her work throughout the city. One of the neatest things I saw was a girl dressed in the istmo style, with the headdress, like the painting above. Seeing the "living art" had to be one of my favorite things in Oaxaca. Of course, when I got back, I found a reference to Frida on Man Repeller regarding her red lipstick and wild hair. So, I took this as some kind of artistic-divine inspiration and rocked the red lipstick and messy hair for a day. I will probably do this again soon, all while trying to avoid that oh-so-trademark unibrow, which is hopefully not a trademark of my own. Which is also why I will be getting my eyebrows threaded very soon.

Here's to you, Frida. Lipstick, eyebrow(s), and all.

recipes: dijon-cayenne salmon.

As I have written about before, I love sushi, and fish in general. Whenever I go back to the east coast, I always make sure to eat plenty of fresh fish to tide me over during months in the dry desert where nary a body of water and therefore, delicious fish, is to be found. However, one of the staple fish you can easily find in New Mexico just never appealed to me: salmon. You can find it in almost any restaurant, and it's often local, fresh caught, and good to quite a few people. I don't know whether it was the taste, smell or a combination of the two, but I just never really liked salmon. That is, until I realized when prepared correctly, how good it can be. I recently tried salmon at Jennifer James 101, a local favorite of mine, and I was blown away and decided that maybe salmon wasn't all that bad. However, getting it to taste as good at home as it did eating out could proved to be a challenge - until I created this recipe. The flavors are just spicy enough to add something extra to the salmon, but not overpowering, and cooking in the oven makes sure the salmon doesn't get too soggy or overcooked. Needless to say, this salmon is a new favorite in my kitchen repertoire.

Dijon-Cayenne Salmon
makes 1 serving


Ingredients:
1 salmon filet (about 2" x 5")
2 tablespoons of good dijon mustard
1 teaspoon of cayenne
pinch of kosher salt
cracked black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. While oven warms, prepare salmon on small baking sheet with kosher salt and cracked black pepper.
2. Right before putting the salmon in the oven, cover the top and sides with the dijon mustard and sprinkle cayenne over the top.
3. Cook for 15 minutes at 400 degrees, or until fish flakes with a fork.