Super G's Potpourri

Comfort Food

2011-01-02T08:21:00.003-05:00

As a kid, I felt like the term comfort food was frequently misapplied. I found nothing particularly comforting about mashed potatoes. Fried chicken and meatloaf weren't terrible, but the announcement that that was dinner didn't fill me with a sense of well-being or anything. I always thought comfort food should apply solely to Chocolate Cake or Apple Betty or maybe Ice Cream. Perhaps my penchant for chocolate cake and ice cream is the reason that, this New Year's, I've started out on a diet again.

Having recently read Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, I am rethinking my approach to this year's gastronomical adventure. I don't want to fill up on low-fat this, and no-carb that. I would like, as he so elegantly puts it, to: "eat food, not too much, mostly plants." So, some of the things I plan to eat hardly look like diet food. They look a lot more like comfort food. I am following Weight Watchers Online, but mostly for how much to eat, not really for what to eat.

Anyhow, all of this brings me to this recipe that I simply must share with the world. Over the holidays, my step-mom gave my sister Shazam and me a stack of old cookbooks. So, I've been perusing them looking for things I'd like to try out. Well, I was paging through one called Italian Cooking Made Easy and I ran across this meatloaf recipe.

This meatloaf is comforting. It's delicious. It's not anything like the meatloaf I grew up eating. And, it's easy. So, without further ado:

Meat Loaf (Polpettone)

Italian Cooking Made Easy - Ted and Jean Kaufman

4 slices Bread, trimmed

1/2 c. Sherry wine

1 1/4 lb. Veal, chopped *

3/4 lb Beef, chopped *

2 Eggs

1 Onion, grated

1 clove Garlic, crushed *

1 Tbsp Parsley, minced

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 Tbsp Tomato Sauce

1 cup Tomato Sauce, seasoned

1. Soften the bread in wine.

2. Mix bread and everything else except for the 1 c. of tomato sauce in a big bowl. Blend well.

3. Grease a loaf pan (I used non-stick spray) and sprinkle it with bread crumbs.

4. Turn in the meat mixture.

5. Bake at 350 for about an hour and a half.

* The original recipe also called for ground pork, but I just couldn't find any. Blame the giant blizzard that hit Brooklyn last week. So I upped the amount of veal and beef. Also, they called for 1/2 a clove of garlic, but I just couldn't waste the other half of the clove! And I served it with oven fries, green beans and salad. They suggested spaghetti, but I'm just not that Italian.

September's Book

2010-09-01T17:26:00.003-04:00

Well, it's September 1st! And without further ado, let me announce the first book I'm reading this school year. It's called The Red Squad and it's by E. M. Broner. I found it on the library's "Summer Reading" shelf, so perhaps it'll be in your local library as well. It's copyright 2009, so it should be available in local book stores as well. I'll let you know how it goes. Read along if you'd like.

Book Club

2010-08-28T00:11:00.003-04:00

So.... I love to read. I've always loved to read. I can't remember not reading whenever I had free time. But, since I started teaching, I have trouble making time for it during the school year. So, in an effort to fit in some much needed stress relief in the upcoming school year, I am making a commitment to read some books just for pleasure. And there is nothing about books that is more fun than talking about them with other people who've read them. So, here's the plan:

I'm going to post a book title on the first of each month. Then, I'm going to get a copy of the book and read it. On the 28th of the month, I'm going to post a review / list of questions about the book. If you want to join the book club, all you need to do is

1) Log on and check out what book we're going to read

2) Read the book

3) Email your thoughts / responses to the questions to me at greteljohnson@gmail.com any time before the first of the following month.

I'll post your thoughts as I get them, so that everybody in the club can read what everybody else thinks. I'm happy to take suggestions on books or formats. Just email them to me.

Birthday Cake!

2010-08-10T18:43:00.003-04:00

The best thing about getting another year older is, without a doubt, an excuse to make and eat birthday cake. So this year, like many others, I trawled the web for the best-looking cakes I could find. I came across this one which was made for Julia Childs's 85th birthday.

So I made it! TA - DAAAAA!!!!

The Extra-Medium Dude helped me out. He stirred and taste-tested everything. It's 4 layers of chocolate almond cake with chocolate raspberry mousse between the layers and it's covered with chocolate ganache with almonds and a milk chocolate lattice forming the finishing touches.

After taste-testing, the Extra-Medium Dude declared it the best cake he ever had or would ever have.

Happy birthday to me!

I DID Dare to Bake

2010-08-07T14:05:00.003-04:00

So.... I know it's been forever, but I did do the Daring Baker Challenge for July. I even took pictures!

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

I was staying with my mom for a week when I made this cake, and that was kind of fun, because I had a humongous kitchen to play in and plenty of freezer space. I'm not at all sure how I would've pulled it off in my itty-bitty kitchen at home. I also had three extra willing taste testers as I finished each layer.

So, to create this ridiculously decadent dessert, I made two Swiss Rolls (for those of you who grew up with Hostess products, think giant Ding Dongs), sliced them and then made a layer of vanilla ice cream, a layer of fudge sauce and a layer of chocolate ice cream. I think if I had it to do over again, I would double the ice cream recipes. The center of my cake didn't quite even out, so the picture of the slice looks a little funny. But I can't imagine doing this one again.

Many thanks to my friend Elizabeth, who had a barbecue, where I brought this cake to be devoured. I'm sure if I did manage to make it in my tiny kitchen, I would have to eat almost the whole thing. This way, I just had a piece.

And the best thing about this challenge was a friend of mine who was at the barbecue. As soon as she tried the ice cream cake, she said, "Gretel, will you marry me???" Now that's cake.

Holiday favorites!

2010-03-30T20:54:00.002-04:00

Ok, so technically it's not my holiday. But every year, I think of my Mom, who used to give my sister and I grape juice and Matzo to celebrate Passover. I don't like grape juice or Matzo, but it was a fun little tradition. And, when I got older, I went to a Seder meal with friends and learned that there is much yummier food involved in this holiday. And my FAVORITE traditional passover food by far, is the coconut macaroon. I love coconut, and I've been meaning to try making these cookies for years.

So, today, as I was looking around for something to bake while I'm on Spring Break, I found a bag of coconut in my cupboard. Guess what recipe was on the back? That's right: Coconut Macaroons! And they were easy and delicious and I'm definitely making them again. (But they're not kosher.)

Coconut Macaroons

(From the Baker's Angel Flake Sweetened Coconut bag)

1 bag (14 oz) sweetened Angel Flake coconut

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 tsp salt

6 Tbsp flour

4 egg whites

1 tsp almond extract

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Mix together the coconut, sugar, salt and flour. Then, mix in the egg whites and almond extract. Drop the mixture by rounded spoonfuls onto greased and floured cookie sheets. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet immediately.

One of the latest projects

2010-01-30T13:24:00.007-05:00

So, this post should be about the January Daring Baker challenge, but.... I didn't get it done yet, so you'll just have to wait. Instead, let me share with you what has been happening in my kitchen: SAUCES!!!! That's right, I've moved into chapter 2 of the Julia Child cookbook. The rest of my group is involved in doing other things, so I'm soldiering on alone.

The thing is, sauces don't photograph well all by themselves. And they're even less fun to eat without anything else. So I've been coming up with things to put them on. Since the first sauce was a bechamel and I'd made one of those before, It wasn't too hard. I just made this terrific spinach lasagna recipe that I'd done before with the daring bakers. It's got homemade spinach noodles, thin layers of bechamel and marinara sauce, and parmesan cheese.

As much as I love this particular recipe, I had a little trouble with Julia's bechamel. It had a nice thickness, but it wasn't quite smooth. I think my burner was up a little high. I did a little better with the veloute sauce. I'd never heard of a veloute, and I'd certainly never eaten one.

Basically, it's just like a bechamel except, instead of milk, you use a white stock. I served it over poached chicken and asparagus. It was AMAZING! And it was only 2 points per half cup according to Weight Watchers. The Tummy liked it too. This week, I'll be attacking the Mornay sauce. Wheeee!!!

Back in the big city

2010-01-02T20:49:00.006-05:00

I just got back to Brooklyn last night. The Tummy and I were in Michigan, visiting family, for 10 days. We had a wonderful time and lots of fun, but we are very happy to be home and definitely ready to start up a brand new year.

Like everybody else, New Year's fills me with hope. I always make resolutions, some of them more ambitious than others. This year, the Tummy and I discussed ways we could eat healthier and we came up with a plan: we're cutting way back on meat. Now, meat is yummy and doesn't have to be unhealthy, but it is just part of a balanced diet, and we weren't getting enough veggies last year. Besides, it's an easy way to make sure that the Tummy doesn't have to go back on cholesterol meds. So we've decided we're not going to eat meat more than twice a week. Tonight I made some roasted vegetable pitas and some of the big JC's potato leek soup. And to make the sauce for the pitas, I used this little stowaway from my luggage:

That's right. I brought back horseradish from my dad's garden. Now, I had never prepared horseradish before, but my step-mom said that I should peel it and throw it into the food processor with some vinegar and salt and then stand back, because the fumes would be powerful. I was a little bit unsure, and I was looking for more specific directions, so I consulted Joy of Cooking. It said to peel it, dice it, and throw it into the food processor with vinegar and salt. Hmmmm.... So I tried it.

Ta-Da!!!!

And then I threw it together with some other stuff to make the dressing for my roasted veggie pitas and dinner was served.

Gretel's Horseradish

5 oz peeled, diced fresh horseradish root

4-5 Tbsp cider vinegar

1 tsp salt

Roasted Veggie Pitas

Adapted from Lowfat Ways to Cook Soups & Stews

Sauce

1/2 oz feta cheese crumbled

2 Tbsp Greek yogurt

2 Tbsp skim milk

1 tsp prepared horseradish

dash of pepper

Veggies

1 cup zucchini slices

1 cup green pepper

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp olive oil

2 plum tomatos, quartered

1 medium onion, cut into 8 wedges

3 cloves garlic, minced

Mix the ingredients for the sauce together in a small bowl and set aside. Toss the filling ingredients together in a larger bowl and then spread in a single layer on a broiler tray coated with cooking spray. Broil for 10 minutes, then scoop filling into 4 pita halves. Divide sauce evenly. Serves 2.

Soupe Au Pistou

2009-10-22T21:38:00.002-04:00

Ooops! This post is quite late. I actually made this soup a week and a half ago. I've already eaten it. It was delicious. It's like the happiest possible version of Campbell's Minestrone. (I happen to love Campbell's Minestrone.) This is comforting, happy soup. The Tummy was not so thrilled with it because of the beans, so I got it all to myself. It made me feel all warm and healthy and happy.

I thought the pistou would be tricky, but it wasn't and it added soooooo much flavor and happiness to the soup. I mean, tomatoes and cheese! It's like pizza soup! Anyway... 2 enthusiastic thumbs up!

Potage Veloute Aux Champignons

2009-10-07T21:31:00.003-04:00

So, let me first say that I have been a fan of mushrooms my entire life. I mean, they have ALWAYS been my favorite vegetable. So, when it was my turn to again pick a soup, I felt drawn to the Cream of Mushroom, even though I grew up with casseroles that made me a little afraid of it. (Sorry, Mom.) I knew that Julia would find a way to make it wonderful. And oh... did she ever...
This was such unbelievably good soup that I really wanted to drink the whole pot of it. I made it with shallots and cremini mushrooms, and it had such a wonderful, rich flavor that I literally could not stop eating it. Ordinarily, I give the Tummy dibs on leftovers, but I'm totally hoarding this soup. Wow. All I can say is MMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Soupe A L'Oignon

2009-09-27T18:34:00.004-04:00

Onion soup makes me think of college. The Distillery used to make some yummy onion soup and it was all cheesy and warm and perfect for those rainy or snowy afternoons. So, when Tracy chose this recipe this week, I was excited because I knew I already liked it.

Last week, some of you may have noticed, I did not post. Julia and I were having a bit of a tiff. See, I made this garlic soup with poached eggs, and I just couldn't get myself together to buy the groceries on the day that I made it. So, while I'd practiced poached eggs the day that I bought them from the farmers' market, and they were good, I didn't get the soup made until two days later and by then, my eggs weren't fresh enough to poach well. Plus, I think that my dried sage and thyme were a little old and not so flavorful. My parsley was fresh and ended up dominating the flavor, so it tasted like parsley soup with some egg in it. I ate a bowl. The Tummy ate half of one. And we threw the rest out.

But THIS week, I knew I liked onion soup, so I put on my pearls and got to work. Wow! This is a fantastic recipe. It's a cold, rainy day, and the soup tasted better than I remember the Distillery's being. I think it was the wine and the cognac. In any case, Julia and I have made up, and I'm back on board. Now, pouting about a difference of opinion over some garlic soup seems childish, and I promise I won't miss any more weeks. In an effort to make amends, here is a photo of the garlic soup, which I didn't post last week.

Check out Tracy and Mary's soups as well!

Mastering the Art of Life

2009-09-13T08:51:00.004-04:00

You'd think that, with the start of a new school year, I have more than enough to work on right now. But, if I'm going to be working harder than I was all summer, I've decided I need to play harder too! And what better place to play than in my kitchen?

I've wanted a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck since I saw the Chefography of Ina Garten a few years ago. Ina, "the Barefoot Contessa" taught herself to cook by working her way through it. Then, I read My Life in France by Julia Child and I learned about how she (like Ina) got into cooking later in life and just worked at it like a diligent scientist. And then Julie and Julia came out, and I went to see it, and I found the story charming. (I thought it was a great idea for a movie, but Meryl really steals the show.) Combine those things with my 30th birthday this summer and wanting to get more serious about doing the things I like well, and you have all of the ingredients for my latest challenge to myself.

We are starting our own little cooking group. When I say "we," I mean my sister, Mary, over at Shazam in the Kitchen, and my friend Tracy, over at Tasty Sans Gluten, and myself. We are VERY busy women who live in different cities... er..... areas, and we are going to try one new Julia Child recipe each week.

We started with Potage Parmentier (Leek and Potato Soup). It was simple, delicious and not very difficult at all. So... without further ado:

Potage Parmentier
Mastering the Art of French Cooking
1 lb peeled potatoes, sliced
1 lb thinly slice leeks
2 quarts of water
1 Tb salt
4 - 6 Tb whipping cream
2 - 3 Tb parsley

Simmer the vegetables and salt in the water, partially covered, for 40 - 50 minutes. Then puree with an immersion blender* and correct seasoning. Set aside uncovered until ready to serve. Just before serving, reheat to a simmer, remove from heat and stir in cream by spoonfuls. Pour into bowls and decorate with parsley.

*Julia recommends using a food mill instead of a blender for textural reasons.

Dobos Torte

2009-08-27T15:01:00.003-04:00

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonfulof Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular DobosTorte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: ExquisiteDesserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

This torte was SO yummy! And, I had the perfect occasion for it. We ate it for dessert at a picnic for my 30th birthday. We sat around all day, grilled bratwurst and burgers, played frisbee and euchre and ate cake! The only problem I had making this cake was that the buttercream was absurdly soft. But after chilling it for a while, it held up alright.

All the Daring Bakers are posting their tortes today. You should check out the rest of them.

New Year's Resolutions

2009-08-24T11:32:00.002-04:00

I know it's not New Year's for most people, but for teachers, there's a similar vibe at the beginning of September. So, this time of year, I tend to make resolutions. I started the first one today because I've got exactly two weeks before I have to be back at work. I thought maybe implementing my resolutions one at a time would be easier than trying to do everything on the same day. So, today, I started running. I'm trying to start going to the gym 5 days a week. It's ambitious, I know, but I've got this gym membership and, darn it, I'm going to use it. So, today I ran 2.18 miles in 30 minutes.

And now, for part II. I'm going to get my apartment clean if it kills me. And, with the amount of dust I'm kicking up, it might. So... here goes nothing.

Germs!

2009-08-13T12:09:00.002-04:00

As the youngest of a big family, I'm familiar with watching germs spread from one kid to another. And as a teacher, I know that I'm going to get a bad cold once or twice a year. And I know lots of people who stock up on hand sanitizer and Airborn as if they were magical talismans against illness. I don't put much faith in all that. Generally, during cold and flu season, I drink lots of water, get some extra sleep and eat lots of fruits and veggies. I trust my immune system, and it does ok.

But this is the off season! I don't come into contact with sneezing, coughing, drippy children in the summertime. I hang out with the Tummy and the Medium Dude. So, I let down my guard. Which explains why, when the Tummy came down with a head cold, I immediately caught it. Grumble, grumble, grumble...

Thirty!

2009-08-11T14:37:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was my birthday. I turned 30. And the best part of having a birthday, in my opinion, is the excuse to eat birthday cake! This year, I had a little barbecue in the park with some of my friends on Saturday. I wanted to make sure I had enough of everything to go around, so in addition to cake, I made birthday cupcakes.

Now, because the Tummy flies so frequently, he has a lot of miles to use up. One thing he uses them for is subscribing to magazines. So I have this subscription to Bon Appetit magazine that I almost never use. (I generally look through it and drool, but that's about it.) And that's where I found this AMAZING recipe. I could not believe they were so easy and so good. And, although the original recipe called for vanilla bean, I used vanilla extract, because it's cheaper. They were still wonderful. I'll definitely be making them again.

Vanilla Bean - Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Frosting
Bon Appetit, April 2009

REDUCED COCONUT MILK
2 (13-14 oz) cans unsweetened coconut milk

CUPCAKES
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or seeds from a split vanilla bean)
1 cup reduced coconut milk ( see above) room temperature

FROSTING
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup reduced coconut milk (see above) room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or seeds from a split vanilla bean)
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut, lightly toasted (for garnish)

DIRECTIONS:
REDUCED COCONUT MILK - In large, deep saucepan, boil coconut milk over medium-high heat for 25-30 minutes or until reduced to 1 1/2 cups. Remove from heat. Cool completely. Chill in small, covered container. This can be made up to 2 days ahead.

CUPCAKES - Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin cups with paper liners. Whisk together dry ingredients. In separate bowl, beat butter until smooth. Then, add sugar and blend (about 2 minutes). Add eggs one at a time, beating and scraping sides after each addition. Add vanilla. Add half the dry ingredients. Add coconut milk and beat just until blended. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix just until blended. Divide batter among muffin cups and bake about 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Then, remove from pans and cool completely.

FROSTING - Beat butter until smooth. Add everything else except the flaked coconut. beat until light and fluffy. Frost cupcakes and then sprinkle with toasted coconut.

July Cookies

2009-07-27T23:01:00.004-04:00

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

I did this month's challenge with my sister, the fabulous Mary at Shazam in the Kitchen. She and I worked very hard on both sets of cookies. We decided that they weren't exactly difficult, but they were time-consuming.

These are the Milan cookies, which were good, but not actually as good as a bag of storebought ones and a whole lot more work.

And these are the chocolate-covered marshmallow cookies, which were a TON of work and which I might have liked more if I liked marshmallows more.

I'm glad I did the challenge. I'd never done anything like this before, and, like all the Daring Bakers' challenges, they made me unafraid of cookie recipes and ready to try some new techniques. Plus, I got to spend some time cooking with my big sister, which was awesome.

Check out the other Daring Bakers.

At LAST!

2009-05-27T21:32:00.004-04:00

I've been meaning to post. I did the Daring Bakers' challenges for the last two months but I keep forgetting to post. So, this month, I just barely remembered. The pictures are not very good, and certainly don't do this strudel justice.

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

This was not a terribly difficult recipe, but rolling it up was a little tricky for me. I will definitely be doing it again, though, because HOLY COW was it good! I not only couldn't stop eating it, but I gave some away to a friend and he couldn't stop eating it either. It's almost like pie, only it wasn't too sweet. And the walnuts were fantastic in it. I'm a strudel fan now. YUMMY!!! I'm so glad I tried this one.

Daring Bakers

2009-02-28T17:58:00.005-05:00

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

These cakes are really yummy. They're light and delicious and chocolatey. The ice cream I made wasn't so good. I couldn't get my freezer cold enough to freeze my ice cream maker's cooling thingie, so it wouldn't set up. I ended up freezing it, but it had little shards of ice in it. The flavor was good, though. I made it cinnamony.

I like the little heart-shaped pan I used, and I thought it was kinda cute doing the two hearts in chocolate and vanilla just like the Tummy and me. It made a nice Valentine's dessert.

Daring to Bake in the New Year!

2009-01-29T11:06:00.006-05:00

I was a little worried about how the Daring Baker challenge for January would fit in with my New Year's resolutions. But just as I began to really sweat over the possible ways to dispose of some enormous cake or dozens of doughnuts, I read the challenge and was delightfully suprised!

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

Now, Tuiles are light and the perfect dessert for someone who is watching her waistline. They are 1 point on Weight Watchers, and the challenge was to pair them with some kind of fruit! Fruit is HEALTHY! Now I was excited.

The recipe is quite simple and is at the end of this post. But, basically, you have to make the batter, chill it, and then spread it thinly into a stencil. You bake it and then shape the still warm cookies. And they're thin and delicate and lovely.

So first, I had to make a stencil.

I chose to make it flower-shaped, and I used a heavy-ish plastic folder, because I wanted it to have a little bit of weight.

I used food coloring so that some of my flowers were white/uncolored, some were pink and some were orange. Then, I spread the batter thinly into the stencil (trickier than it sounds, but you get the hang of it). After they baked, I took them off of the cookie sheet immediately and used some juice glasses I have to shape them.

Some of my tuiles did not survive this process:

But I was very happy with the ones that did:

Then, I had to pair them with something fruity! Now, I'm in Brooklyn and it's wintertime. I don't eat a lot of fruit in winter. And I didn't want anything super-sweet. I wanted to stay light and low-calorie. Hmmm.... winter... not too sweet.... high in fiber.... CRANBERRIES!!!!

So I bought some frozen cranberries and 3 small cans of mandarin oranges and improvised a very simple relish by chopping the cranberries, mixing in the oranges and 3/8 of a cup of sugar.

My completed tuiles:

I LOVED this recipe. It was not too difficult, and a very interesting challenge. It felt more like a craft project than cooking, but there was a tasty product at the end. And best of all, I didn't feel guilty after eating more of these than I should've. I will make these again! In fact, I can't wait until someone I know has a bridal or baby shower. These are the perfect cookies for some very girly luncheon. They are light and pretty and girly. I wanted to eat them with my mom.

Now go! Check out the other daring bakers! See what fabulousness they came up with. And the recipe, as promised, is below.

This recipe is taken from a book called “The Chocolate Book”, written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck.

Yields: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example)

Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)
60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar

1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)

2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)

65 grams / 1/2 cup / 2.3 ounces sifted all purpose flour

1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice (I used food coloring.)

Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Oven: 180C / 350F

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly.Bake butterflies in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown.

Immediately release from baking sheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. (Haven’t tried that). Or: place a bakingsheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable.If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones….

Yule Log and other holiday treats...

2008-12-29T10:42:00.004-05:00

It's Daring Baker time again!

This month's challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux.
They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand

Since this dessert was all frozen, it presented some unique challenges. My refrigerator and freezer are... well... tempermental. Really, they're just old. And I have trouble with custards, so my creme brulee did not turn out very well. But all in all, this dessert was DELICIOUS.

There are SIX yummy layers to this frozen masterpiece. From the bottom up, we have the almond dacquoise biscuit, the cinnamon-milk ganache insert, dark chocolate mousse, the praline feuillete (crisp) insert, (more mousse), the frozen vanilla creme brulee, (more mousse) and the dark chocolate icing.

What a fun holiday challenge! And let me tell you, after a piece of this, your chocolate craving is taken care of for a while. Ah.....

Be sure to check out the other Daring Bakers!

But, since I couldn't leave well enough alone, and since I finished this challenge halfway through the month, I went on and made other holiday treats. Like lots and lots of fruitcake...

And tons...and tons of cookies...And now, after the Tummy and I have done nothing but eat and eat and eat, we are ready to put the New Year's Resolutions to the test and not over-indulge like this any more. Oh, but it was fun while it lasted...

Caramel Cake

2008-11-29T12:08:00.003-05:00

It's that time of the month again. That's right, it's Daring Bakers Post Day.

This month, our challenge was hosted by Dolores, assisted by Alex and Jenny and Natalie. They chose a Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting by Shuna Fish Lydon. You can find the recipe here.
My picture turned out pretty awful, but the cake was pretty good. I was a little concerned about how sweet this would be after reading other people's reactions. Since the challenge was just making the cake and the frosting, I figured, why not add stuff that's NOT sweet. So, I layered the cake and put a layer of 80% cocoa dark chocolate ganache in the center. Then I toasted some pecans and sprinkled the over the ganache in the middle and over the entire cake. All of my official tasters agreed that the ganache filling and the pecans helped to cut the sweetness. Overall, this was not their favorite cake, because of how sweet it was, but I didn't have any leftovers I couldn't get rid of.

Challenge completed. What's next?

Wait wait!!! I dare to bake!

2008-10-29T20:50:00.005-04:00

It's still Wednesday, right? I've had a marathon day and just got home. And then I realized that it's daring bakers' posting day. So, fortunately, I already have the challenge done. This month, we made pizza! The challenge was hosted by Rosa of Rosa's Yummy Yum Yums and you can find the dough recipe we used there.

I made six pizzas and invited the Composer and Shrek the Medic over to eat with the Tummy and I. It's helpful to have a couple of big guys around when there's a lot of pizza to eat. The dough turned out pretty well, I thought. I'm not a huge thin crust fan, but it got rave reviews.

It was a little too wet to toss effectively, though Shrek got a good one in.

I ended up rolling it out, which worked pretty well. Then, I topped two of them with tomato sauce, mozzarella and bacon. Shrek and the Tummy both preferred these, labeling them the "Manly" Pizza.

The Composer and I opted for the Goat cheese and veggie pizza.

I found this recipe online, but I don't really have a good source for it. I lost the page. It's been a chaotic month.

Goat Cheese and Veggie Pizza
2 already baked thin pizza crusts
1/4 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups (packed) baby spinach leaves (1 1/2 to 2 ounces)
1 1/2 cups thickly sliced mushrooms (5 to 6 ounces)
1/2 cup drained roasted red peppers from jar, cut into thin strips
1/2 cup paper-thin red onion slices
8 large fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips
1 5-ounce package soft fresh goat cheese, coarsely crumbled

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425°F. Place pizza crust on large baking sheet. Mix olive oil and minced garlic in small bowl. Using pastry brush, brush 2 tablespoons garlic oil evenly over crust. Top with spinach leaves, then sprinkle with sliced mushrooms, roasted red peppers, red onion slices, fresh basil, and crumbled goat cheese. Drizzle pizza evenly with remaining garlic oil.

Bake pizza until crust is crisp and cheese begins to brown, about 18 minutes. Transfer pizza to board. Cut into wedges and serve warm.

Then I made a dessert pizza with the last two. I sorta tweaked this recipe that I found on the same pizza web page:

Cherry Cheese Dessert Pizza

2 pizza doughs
8 ounces Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Sugar
2 large Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla
42 ounces Dark Morello Cherries

Directions:

Roll out the pizza dough and put on a 16 inch pizza pan. Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees F. Blend the cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla together until well blended. Pour into the pie crust and bake an additional 10 minutes. Cool until cold and top with the cherry pie filling. Top with whipped cream, if desired.

I think the dessert pizza was my favorite to eat, but I really enjoyed making all of them. It was a lot of fun to get the chance to be creative with toppings. Check out my big sister's fabulous pizzas over at Shazam in the Kitchen and all the other Daring Bakers. What a great group to belong to!

Eclairs!

2008-08-31T14:29:00.005-04:00

I just realized I'd forgotten to post about the August Daring Baker's Challenge! See, they've been baked and eaten so long ago that it slipped my mind. With the school year starting, I decided to get them out of the way early. So as soon as we packed up Medium Dude and brought him back to his mom, I bought my butter and cream and chocolate and I made...... ECLAIRS!

Our hosts this month were Tony Tahhan and MeetaK, and we made Chocolate Éclairs by Pierre Hermé. I used the Pate a choux recipe and the chocolate glaze from here, but I decided I didn't want to do chocolate and chocolate, so I made a coconut pastry cream. I found that recipe here.

The first batch of eclairs came out a wee bit underdone. They looked fine coming out of the oven, but after I let them cool for a minute, they looked like this:

So I started over. The next batch worked much better, but if I did them again, I would be sure to make them a little smaller. They were a little bit messy to eat and probably more eclair than anyone should eat in a single sitting.The Tummy and I thoroughly enjoyed this challenge! Can't wait for September's! Be sure to check out the other daring bakers. Their eclairs look amazing.

I dare to Shish Kebab?

2008-08-12T21:27:00.003-04:00

Whew..... What a long afternoon it's been. I worked on the August DB challenge, which I'll post about just as soon as I'm allowed. But I also made a lovely dinner for the Tummy and myself and a good friend of ours, the Composer. The Composer likes to hang out while I do daring baker challenges. I think it's because he's a bit sadistic and likes to see me struggle, but he might just like to be here when I have fresh baked goods.

This weekend, the Tummy and I delivered Medium Dude back to the midwest. We had a lovely visit with Mary, and I even got to have a birthday breakfast with my grandma! But now, we're back to the big city and I even brought a new recipe with me, so I had to try it out. When Mary made me such a yummy birthday dinner, I asked for the recipe. It turned out that she gave me another recipe when she xeroxed it that happened to be on the same page.

Lamb Shish Kebabs!

Unfortunately, the grocery store I went to this morning didn't have any lamb pieces (other than chops). So, I made beef shish kebabs. They ended up delicious! And they were easy enough that I could make them after baking all afternoon.

Beef Shish Kebabs
based on the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook

1 onion, chopped
2 Tbsp lemon juice
6-7 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh dill
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 pound beef stew meat
1 onion, cut into wedges
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

Combine the first 7 ingredients in a food processor and puree.

Put the meat into a plastic zip-top bag and add marinade. Seal the bag, removing as much air as possible, and mush it around until the meat is coated. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.

Remove meat from refrigerator an hour before cooking. Soak 5 bamboo skewers in water about 45 minutes so they don't burn in the broiler.

Preheat broiler. Thread meat, onion, bell pepper and zucchini onto skewers. Broil 5 minutes on either side.

Corrupting the youth....

2008-08-04T20:42:00.002-04:00

Mwahahahaha.... I'm so proud of myself.

My step-son, Medium-Dude, is a little bit of a picky eater. He's not terrible about it, but we do have a few issues with green veggies and with foods he hasn't tried before. Not a real adventurous guy. The thing is, the Tummy and I love to try out new recipes. And there's no way I'm eating hot dogs for a month just because we have a ten-year-old. Gross.

But sometimes I take his visit as an opportunity to sneak new foods (and new ideas) past his radar. So far this visit, I've impressed on him how cool it is to be environmentally friendly. When he complains about walking to/from the subway, I remind him that it's not easy being green, but it's cool. I know I'm successful when I hear him quote me to the tummy later.

Anyway... I'm very excited because when I asked Medium-dude what I should make for dinner, he answered, "CHEESY RICE!" See, and that would not be exciting except that what he meant was Sage Risotto with fresh mozzarella and prosciutto! It's one of my favorite Cooking Light recipes. Unfortunately, the blogger will not let me put up a picture. But here is the recipe:

Sage Risotto with Fresh Mozzarella and Prosciutto
Cooking Light
2 (14oz) cans low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth
1 Tbsp butter
1 cup diced leeks
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 1/4 cups arborio rice
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 - 2 Tbsp fresh sage (chopped)
1 cup diced fresh mozzarella cheese
2 oz prosciutto (chopped)
black pepper to taste

Heat chicken broth until it just starts to simmer, and then turn it off.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook leeks and garlic for about 5 minutes, or until soft.

Add rice and salt and cook for one more minute, stirring.

Add wine, and cook, stirring, until it is absorbed. Then add 1/2 cup hot chicken broth and stir until absorbed. Continue to add the broth about 1/2 cup at a time, waiting after each addition until it is absorbed and stirring frequently.

When all the broth has been absorbed, add sage and cook for about 2 more minutes.

Remove from heat. Stir in mozzarella. Sprinkle chopped prosciutto and black pepper on top.

Makes 4 servings.

I dare to bake!

2008-07-30T09:06:00.004-04:00

Hooray! It's here! Finally! I have been waiting nearly two weeks for this day. I AM A DARING BAKER!!!! Mwahahahaha.....

See, for months, I've been salivating over my sister's lovely baked goods. She's been bugging me to join the Daring Bakers, but these people are so darn skilled! And I do not bake much. I cook. I love to cook. But baking... well... I'm not so artistic. And when I got this month's recipe, I panicked. I mean, I nearly cried. It looked so hard! But I did it. And I did it well, if I do say so myself. See:

The recipe this month was a Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream, from Great Cakes, by Carol Walters. The recipe can be found at Mele Cotte. I made mine a little bit different because I didn't use filberts. I used almonds. And I used a raspberry glaze instead of an apricot glaze. I used dark rum wherever the recipe called for alcohol. And when I finally sliced it and had a piece, it was delicious! It was so yummy that I wanted to run down the street with it, handing people pieces of cake and then saying, "I MADE THIS MYSELF!!!!" But I didn't do that, because then my beautiful cake would be all gone much too fast.

This cake took a long time to make, but it came out beautifully, and it was fun. Thanks, Chris, for picking such a wonderful first challenge for me. And I have to send out a big thank you to my sister Mary who took all of my many many phone calls over the course of the day that I made this. Without her, I would not have dared to bake, and I'm so glad I did. Check out her cake, and the other daring bakers.

Archimedes

2008-07-28T09:56:00.005-04:00

So it's been a very busy week! My step-son, Medium-Dude, is in town. He visits every summer for about a month and hangs out in the big city with us. He lives the rest of the year in the midwest with his mom. He's ten, and he's a great kid with lots of energy.

Since the Tummy's at work all day, and I have the summer off, Medium and I hang out during the day. Last week, we went to Brooklyn Museum and saw the mummies. (There's even a cat mummy!) We went to the Prospect Park Zoo and the Lefferts House and then wandered around Prospect Park all day. We went to Coney Island and swam and rode the Cyclone. And, my favorite trip so far, we went to the NY Hall of Science in Queens.

Now, I am a self-professed math geek, but it's rare that my geekiness really comes out like it does at that museum. They have such cool stuff! And I just have to share something. Archimedes is just the coolest guy ever. I mean, wow. They have, in the math section in the Hall of Science, a model that Archimedes thought up. He didn't build it (I don't think). But he thought of it and realized that it could be built. It's a balance with a cylinder on one side and a cone and sphere on the other side. The cone and the sphere are each the same height as the cylinder. And the diameter of the cylinder, base of the cone and the sphere are all the same. And it balances. Of course it does, because a cylinder has a volume of pi*r*r*h and a cone has a volume of one-third*pi*r*r*h and a sphere has a volume of four-thirds*pi*r*r*r which, since 2r = h, is two-thirds*pi*r*r*h. (I'd use better math symbols, but it won't let me post them.)

So, I can understand it using algebra and some formulae I already know, but how did Archimedes do it in his head???? Without the algebra, because it wasn't around at the time. In fact, he's the one who came up with the formula for the volume of a sphere, because the volumes of a cylinder and cone were already known. It just blew my mind.

One last thing before we go get stuff to make cookies to take on our picnic in Bryant Park tonight. I received an award! From my sister, the amazing Mary at Shazam in the Kitchen. It was so sweet of her to think of my little ole blog. And I love her too! (because she's the only one who read and understood my whole Archimedes thing.

Del Posto

2008-07-18T12:10:00.002-04:00

It's been a very eventful few weeks, but I did want to take a few minutes to update and give the Tummy credit for taking me out to an incredible anniversary dinner. We celebrated our third anniversary on July 9th, and I wasn't expecting that we'd do anything particularly special. So I was pretty floored when he told me he'd made reservations at Del Posto. I'd heard of it. Of course, I heard of it. I'm a foodie! It was mentioned in Mario Batali's Chefography. As the day grew near, we were both excited. We looked through the menu online and talked about what we were going to order.

The day of our actual anniversary, however, I was not in a great mood. In fact, I was in a terrible mood. And the Tummy was late getting out of work and that didn't help. Once we got there, though, I relaxed almost immediately. The restaurant was beautiful and HUGE by NYC standards. We were shown immediately to a nice table and brought drinks and menus. While we were deciding, they brought us a plate of hors d'oeuvres. There were small cups of honey-wheat soup and some kind of pate and these really amazing little risotto balls that has a crispy rice crust and then were dusted with gold leaf. Then, we both ordered their five course special and the real eating began....

For the antipasti, I had this amazing lobster salad with a horse radish panna cotta, and the Tummy had the salmoln special of the day. Then, we had two small pasta courses. The first was spaghetti with crab and jalapeno, and the second was orecchiette with lamb sausage. Both were just perfect. And then things got really wonderful. For our secondi, the Tummy got pork loin and I had grilled squab. If you've never eaten squab, you should. Immediately. It turns out that pigeons are not actually rats with wings. They are actually wonderful little succulent meals. I can't look at them the same way again. And then dessert.... The Tummy got himself a chocolate souffle and a scoop of hazelnut gelato while I got a chocolate and ricotta tortino with a pistachio crust and a scoop of gelato. And they brought us a little tray of tiny cookies which were also amazing.

Overall, it was an unbelievable experience. The staff was friendly and helpful and knowledgable and the food was delicious. We both left full, and we're big people with hearty appetites. (He's not nicknamed the Tummy for nothing.) And they handed us a small box of truffles and thanked us as we left. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up. Yummmmmmmmy!

To get good food...

2008-07-05T21:05:00.002-04:00

I love living in Brooklyn. I love all the different kinds of people, all the activities, all the different stuff going on. I love the public transportation, not having to own a car, and being around all these people. However, for a midwestern girl, there are certain aspects of city life that can be tricky to negotiate. Case in point: GROCERY SHOPPING.

Ick! I hate grocery stores. I always forget stuff or can't find it. I end up planning my meals for the week, looking at all the recipes, making a list, re-writing the list in the order that you would find the items in the store, and then going shopping. And I'm a ball of anxiety the whole time I'm in the store. I break everything down to its unit price per ounce so that I get the best deal. I can't help it! (Yeah... I know it's obsessive-cumpulsive.) And then, you have to figure out how to get the groceries home on the subway (or pay for a cab). You need to carry all the stuff up the four flights of stairs to your apartment and then put it away. Blech. Trust me; anyone who drives to the grocery store, you don't know know how lucky you are until you've schlepped a gallon of milk and a bag of potatoes home on public transportation.

But now these are all problems of the past!!! Now, grocery day is my favorite day of the week! All thanks to a fantastic little service called Fresh Direct. Now, I do all of my shopping online, send in the order, and the happy Fresh Direct guys drop it off at my apartment during a two-hour window that I select. And their produce is beautiful, the meat is lovely, and the prices are competitive. Ahhhh.... New York City.... a foodie paradise.....

A caveat: there are some who feel that Fresh Direct is not eco-friendly enough. They use a lot of packaging materials. This is true. Personally, I'm enough of a foodie that (since the groceries are so fantastic) I make sure I re-use or recycle any materials I can and then I don't sweat the rest of it.

Casserole

2008-07-02T23:53:00.004-04:00

Ah.... vacation.

I'm really not very good at being on vacation. I don't know quite what to do with myself. I can't sleep past 8:00 (especially because the Tummy is incapable of leaving for work without waking me to talk to me). I've been reading some, and I've been cleaning. Really, I've been digging out my apartment. Layers of clutter. Gross.

Mostly, though, I've been cooking. I love to cook. And not just because I love to eat. I also happen to love to eat, but I'm just calmer while chopping and mixing and sauteeing. So I've been trying one recipe after another and tonight, I made a casserole.

I have mixed feelings on casseroles. They're like that little girl in the nursery rhyme: when they're good, they're very good, but when they're bad, they're horrid. The word casserole all by itself makes me cringe internally at the thought of a particular awful recurring casserole of my youth. Mary knows which one.

But this casserole is good! Really good! And the Tummy loves it! And it's not that bad for you either. Happy happy happy!

The only downside is that squeezing chicken sausage out of its casing turned my stomach a bit. I'm sure that all of my pioneer-women ancestors are mocking my squeemishness from beyond the grave.

Zucchini, Sausage and Feta Casserole

Lia Huber , Cooking Light, JULY 2007

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups uncooked ziti (short tube-shaped pasta)
8 ounces chicken sausage
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon olive oil
5 cups thinly sliced zucchini (about 1 1/2 pounds)
2 cups vertically sliced onion (about 1)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°.

Cook pasta in boiling water 5 minutes, omitting salt and fat; drain.

Remove casings from sausage. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add sausage to pan; cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Remove from pan. Heat oil in pan. Add zucchini, onion, salt, pepper, and garlic. Cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender and zucchini begins to brown, stirring occasionally.

Combine broth and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add broth mixture to pan; cook 1 minute. Combine zucchini mixture, pasta, sausage, and feta cheese in a large bowl; toss well. Spoon pasta mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned.

Yield

6 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 284(27% from fat); FAT 8.6g (sat 4.6g,mono 1.9g,poly 0.6g); IRON 2mg; CHOLESTEROL 35mg; CALCIUM 160mg; CARBOHYDRATE 35.3g; SODIUM 433mg; PROTEIN 16.9g; FIBER 2.6g

Feeling the Love Again!

2008-06-29T20:36:00.004-04:00

Ah......

The school year has ended. And as I left the graduation ceremony Friday morning, I skipped down the steps, thrilled to be out at last! I have a lovely new job and I never have to work with those mean, nasty people ever ever again!

Now, as thrilled as I am to leave that building, my students there were lovely and I will miss them terribly. At the graduation ceremony, they gave me this lovely bouquet of flowers, and we all cried as we hugged each other, and I congratulated them. Parents, who I'd gotten to know over the last four years, came up to me and thanked me and took pictures of me with their kids. It was a wonderful, very happy day.

And now I have a full summer ahead of me to read and rest and relax. Ahhhh.....

They just don't like you, kid.

2008-01-08T22:44:00.000-05:00

That was the advice I got from a friend of mine today when I was talking about my job. I was trying to puzzle out what exactly the reasoning would be behind my bosses setting up an environment that made me hate going to work. I was pointing out all the reasons why people would be lucky to have me in their employment and trying to comprehend why I now have TWO negative letters in my file after 5 years of glowing reviews and a spotless reputation.

I know it doesn't sound like the most encouraging advice, but it is freeing in a way. They don't like me. Ok. And I said to my friend, "But everybody likes me." Certainly, my bosses always have. And he asked if I honestly expected to go through life batting 100%. Well... yes.

I'm tenured, so there's not a whole lot they can do about not liking me. They can put nasty little memos in my mailbox. They can be snarky with me. But that's about it. I'm leaving in June. I'd leave before the Spring term, but there are kids that would be without a math teacher for half a year, and I don't want to do that. And we discussed passive-aggressive, mildly amusing things to do in retaliation, but that's not really my style.

I have 5 1/2 more months to go. About 110 more days.

A Rocky Start

2008-01-06T21:54:00.000-05:00

I recognize that 2008 is only 6 days old, but I'm not wild about it so far.

In the late afternoon on the 2nd, the radiator stopped working. The boiler in my apartment building died. Of course, we didn't know it was dead. With the radiator working, our apartment is generally about 90 degrees. When we awoke the morning of the 3rd, it was about 65 degrees inside and about 13 outside. And there was no hot water.

The Tummy was not happy. He grumbled about us living in the 'hood while he ate his oatmeal.

I called our landlord when I got to work and left a message saying, "I just wanted to make sure that you knew that we had no heat or hot water this morning. Please call me back." I was cranky with my students, because the temperature in my classroom goes from about 55 degrees to about 110 degrees and back to about 55 by the end of the day. When my landlord called me back, she was all apologies. She very sweetly explained that she had been working all day to fix the problem and found out that she needed to replace the boiler. It would take a few days.

The Tummy suggested we not renew our lease at the end of the month. He does not like not being able to rely on heat and hot water.

Our landlord stopped by later in the evening and gave us a small portable electric heater. It was a very nice gesture, and it did a very nice job heating the square foot of space on all sides of it. The rest of the apartment got steadily colder. I baked snickerdoodles so that I had an excuse to turn the oven on.

The Tummy and I slept in sweats and slippers with 2 quilts and a down comforter on top of us. We cuddled.

Friday morning, it was colder in the apartment. I heated water on the stove to bathe and wash my hair. I grumbled all the way to school. I learned that I become quite grumpy when I can't get warm. I argued with the dean about bathroom passes.

Saturday, the apartment was colder.

The Tummy got up around 9:00 and I stayed in bed under the pile of blankets. Around 10:00, he got back in, because he said it was too cold to stay up. I didn't want to stay in the cold all day, but I felt so gross from not being able to take a real shower for 3 days that I didn't want to go out in public. (And before anybody suggests a cold shower, I'd like to point out that our cold water was about 33 degrees.) So I spent the day in sweats and slippers and a jacket, under an afghan, too cold to do anything but read and watch tv.

Around 7pm, we heard a hiss. The radiator had come back on! WE SURVIVED!!! Tonight, I'm actually sitting comfortably in a t-shirt! Hooray for heat!

Why teachers cry on Sundays and Holidays...

2008-01-01T19:48:00.000-05:00

I don't hate my job.

I have to keep saying that aloud to myself. It's true, but it's easy to forget. I don't know any teachers who sleep well on Sunday nights. I don't know any teachers who sleep for pretty much all of Labor Day weekend. And for those of us who go back to work tomorrow... well...

I don't hate my job. I don't hate my job. I don't hate my job.

Once I am in my classroom with my students, it will be easy to remember. I enjoy teenagers. They're fun. I enjoy teaching math. It's fun. The New York City Department of Education... well... they're less fun.

I fully expect to walk into work tomorrow and find a memo in my mailbox that suggests that I make sure that I re-do my bulletin board before the end of the week, because the current bulletin board is from last year. Now, for those of you that are remembering little posters with kittens that said, "Hang In There" on the bulletin boards, that's unacceptable. Every bulletin board needs to have student work on it. (But it should be interesting... they're not really interested in worksheets of math problems) And the work should be graded according to a rubric which also needs to be posted. And it needs to have the name of the class and the name of the teacher and it should be "visually interesting".

That's no problem. I recognize that someone in an office somewhere has decided that updated bulletin boards help students learn. I'm sure that that's true. I'm sure I should focus on the bulletin board instead of on undiagnosed learning disabilities, troubled home lives, pressure to join gangs, spotty educational histories or inconsistent attendance. And I will attempt to do an assignment with my students that can be handed in by Thursday, so that I can grade it late into the night and get to school early on Friday to post it on my bulletin board.

Just a couple of itty-bitty hitches. First, I'm not going to have many students tomorrow. Whenever we have a week that starts on Wednesday, the students and their parents consider it optional. Second, I will probably be asked to cover a class tomorrow for a teacher who is not back from vacation yet. This will make photocopying an assignment.... tricky. Third, our photocopier will not be working tomorrow morning, and probably neither will the printer in the teachers' lounge. They weren't working when we left for break, and I doubt that they've gotten them fixed since.

So.... let me sum up. I need to have a project which can be completed in under an hour, that demonstrates mathematical ability and is visually interesting and can be assigned without giving kids a copy of anything written. I also need a rubric for the project that takes me less than a minute to complete so that I can grade 90 of them (assuming all the kids do the work) preferably in under 2 hours. It would be great, by the way, if the project pertained to sketching sine and cosine curves or solving systems of linear equations, because Regents exams are coming up January 22, and my students aren't ready for them.

I don't hate my job.

Happy New Year!

2007-12-30T20:27:00.000-05:00

Ok. I get it. It's not yet 2008. Technically, I'm two days early. But I'm a little bit OCD, and I have trouble starting New Year's Resolutions in the middle of the week. So, today I went back on Weight Watchers. Today, I cleaned the kitchen and went grocery shopping. And today, I'm posting in this here blog. The holidays were certainly fun, but I'm ready to get back to the real world and live better.

Among my resolutions this year is cooking at least 4 nights a week. (Living in Brooklyn makes it really tempting to not EVER cook.) And while I was in Michigan over the break, my sister M, who has a FABULOUS food blog here, kept telling me that I should start writing in my blog more and I should do food too! So, ok. I figure this will help me stay on track with the cooking and the weight loss.

So, without further ado.... the fish.

I'll admit it. I'm not really a fish person. The Tummy, however, really is. He can't get enough of it. The man loves his seafood and actually complains if we don't regularly have fish.

Now, a small aside before we get to the recipe: when I was growing up, I HATED fish. Part of this, it must be admitted, was because my mother seriously messes up cooking fish. I don't intend any disrespect here. There are lots of other things she makes quite well, but she does much better with things that take longer to cook. So fish was just not her thing. I am constantly suprised by fish recipes that are edible. I don't even expect them to be yummy.

That being said, HOLY COW WAS THIS YUMMY! It is Fish with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto, Feta and Black Olives. And it comes from, get this, my 500 Best Healthy Recipes cookbook! It is a New Year's Eve Eve MIRACLE! A healthy, yummy fish recipe! And not even that tricky to throw together. It's got some stuff in it that I don't always keep in the cupboard, but it's so good, I may have to start. I served the fish with a half cup of basmati rice, steamed asparagus and salad. This got an "MMMMM" and "Is there any more?" from the Tummy. I used Tilapia, but I think you could use cheaper fish and it would still be good. With the tilapia, it was delicious. The whole plate (including rice) is only 6 points on WW. The fish is only 4.

Fish with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto, Feta and Black Olives

1.5 lbs fish fillets
1 oz feta cheese, crumbled
2 Tbsp chopped black olives

Sauce
1/4 cup well-packed, chopped sun-dried tomatoes *
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
1.5 Tbsp olive oil
1.5 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp toasted pine nuts
1 tsp minced garlic
1/3 cup chicken stock

1. Sauce: Put tomatoes, basil, oil, Parmesan, pine nuts and garlic in food processor. Process until finely chopped. Then, with the machine running, gradually add the stock until the mixture is smooth.

2. Put fish in single layer in greased baking dish. Spread the sauce over the fish. Sprinkle with feta and chopped olives. Bake at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes per inch.

* Use dry sun-dried tomatoes. Soak them in boiling water about 15 minutes before chopping.

Great Movie!

2007-11-28T17:41:00.000-05:00

I went to the movies today. One of the coolest parts of my job is when I get to go to free stuff that I want to go to but wouldn't spend the money on because I chaperone. I've seen shows at Lincoln Center through this great program Open Stages and museums like the Intrepid and an exhibit on slavery at the New York Historical Society, but I think I like the movies best. We saw Hotel Rwanda when it came out and today we went and saw Kite Runner. Now, I know that most people would not consider going on a subway with fifty 15-17 year-olds to the movies fun, but it is.

The cool thing about it is that we take them to movies they wouldn't see. They're subtitled. They have human rights themes. They're long. But my students get movies. When we take them to see plays, it's different. Movies are what they're used to. And it's really cool to take them somewhere that they like to go, like the movies and show them ideas that they're not used to. And they were totally into it today. We laughed, we cried, we ate popcorn. And my students cheered when the main character stood up to his father-in-law about the class system in Afghanistan. And they're ready to go back to school tomorrow and learn more and read more and do more.

I love it when they get stuff.

To Begin with...

2007-11-19T22:15:00.000-05:00

I'm gonna do it. I'm going to actually start blogging. I don't know if I've just gotten carried away with admiration for my big sister's fabulous food blog (Shazam in the Kitchen) or because my procrastination has reached new levels, but here I go...

I had an amazing group of kids suprise the heck out of me today. I coach a police athletic league team of 12 - 16 year old girls. It's a learning league, so it's filled with girls who are not on their school basketball teams. We practice and play a game once a week. There are ten girls on the team and everybody gets equal playing time and it's fun. My team wears gold uniforms so we call ourselves THE SHOCK (like Detroit's WNBA team).So I only had six girls show up today. Then my center fouled out in the third quarter and all the others had to play the rest of the game with no subs. They played their butts off. They were smart and aggressive and hustled their little patooties up and down the court. The game went into overtime and we WON!
16-15. It was so cool.

I was going to post this new recipe I tried, but it just wasn't that good, so instead, I figure I'll recommend this book I just finished. It's non-fiction, which is unusual for me, but really interesting and a pretty quick read. It's called Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance, by Atul Gawande. I learned a bunch about eradicating polio and cystic fibrosis.

Three more teaching days until Thanksgiving break! Must go grade.