Firecooked!

The Housekeeper and the Professor

Deb — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 21:01:00 GMT

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

My rating: 5 of 5 starsA very sweet, short book: the story of a housekeeper who cares for a math professor who had brain damage. One thing that I hate about the Kindle is that you don't know how long a book is before you start. In print it was 192 pages (and must have been big print), it was really a quick read. But it covered so much. The beauty of math, love for children, caring for others, lost and hidden love. Highly recommended.View all my reviews >>

Javelina Turds

Deb — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 14:31:00 GMT

I've had lots of requests for this recipe, its something we typically have around the house.. they are perfect when you get home from the pool or a hike or the gym or off a plane and need to eat something. I posted a version of this a while back, but that version has lots of options (different nut butters, sweeteners, etc). Since I make them so often, I have developed an efficient process. First, I weigh the ingredients (an idea from Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking), especially since almond butter and honey are messy to measure. This also insures that I use exactly half the jar of almond butter, since this the only place I use it. Then, instead of making balls or log shapes (which begat the nickname which has stuck), I mash into in a large square and cut -- see the pictures. I can do these in about 20 minutes, including clean up.

Javelina Turds

8 oz 1 cup almond butter (Trader Joes organic creamy / salted)

6 oz 1/2 cup honey (usually from small producer - the flavor of the honey comes through)

1 tsp vanilla extract

9 oz 3 cups old fashioned oats

3 oz 1/3 cup dried cranberries ( sweetened)

3 oz 1/3 cup chocolate chips (Ghirardelli dark)

Combine all ingredients together; mix well. Dump onto a cutting board covered with wax paper, and form into a large square, about a ½ inch thick. Cut into 1 or 1 ½ inch squares. Place squares on another piece of wax paper, put in a large baggie or other container, and refrigerate.

Mixed:

After pressing (you can use a rolling pin with a top piece of wax paper) to get really smooth, plus I use the edge of the knife to straighten the edges:

And cut:

Think twice about eating these if you have not just been at the gym, swum 2000m, or hiked up a mountain. They are about 100 calories per square inch.

Recent books...

Deb — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:53:00 GMT

Our internet was seriously slow yesterday, and I could not get to this blog site, but could get to the Good Reads site. So I added January's and February's book group books (yes.. I have already finished February's book, amazing what you can do with a a bit of time off and no TV).

The books were Still Alice -- a rare 10 rating, and The Elegance of a Hedgehog -- came in strong with a 7 rating. Click on the titles for more!

Catching Fire

Deb — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:08:00 GMT

A very interesting book that answers the question of what makes humans different than animals... cooking! Most of it is an anthropology study determining when in the evolutionary chain humans starting cooking their food, and the implications to society. What makes it good is that it brings together several branches of science to support the theory, and although a bit technical, is well written. It pulls together several things that once put together seem obvious (like much of our food, like most grains, are not digestible if not cooked). The other is that it takes much more energy to digest raw foods (vegetable or animal), and that as humans, our digestive systems are not designed to eat large quantities of raw foods (it also supports this with some not so flattering studies done on current raw-foodists, especially if their goal was to propagate the species). The key take-away for me was that no one has a good understanding of the net energy value of foods (calories in the food minus calories needed to digest minus what is not digested). Small studies show that both cooking foods and making food finer in texture (like grinding) increases the energy and nutrient value of food, and reduces the amount of energy needed to digest the food. Which supports one of my key beliefs on nutrition: there is still a lot we don't know.

Pots from pottery class

Deb — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 14:43:00 GMT

Pottery is one of the more communal forms of art, due mostly to the large amount of equipment needed. And even though I have all the equipment I need, I miss working with a group and the stimulus that comes from that. Plus, I always can use some help in improving skills, especially on the wheel. I learned from some friends that South Mountain Community College was offering a non-credit class at Desert Vista HS and decided it was time to get our of my own studio for a while.

Turned out to be a good decision. Desert Vista has an awesome studio with lots of wheels and lots of kilns. In addition, Mark (who in the guise of "Mr. Honig" also teaches the HS classes) was an awesome instructor. He had lots of energy, and really good throwing skills. And (as seems typical) a fun bunch of people in the class.

For the most part, I focussed on tall vases, working on throwing skills so as to not get thin spots or a twist in the body, plus get reasonably thin bottoms. Overall, I am happy with my progress... but still have a ways to go. In addition to vases, I also did a bunch of bowls for charity and learned a few new tricks. First was a way to trim by putting down a thin layer of clay on the wheel -- bowls will just stick! , I learned about carving on green porcelain, may take more patience than I have, but you can get some neat results. I also enjoyed using the reduction glazes, you can get some colors and effects that are not possible in an electric kiln, but had problems with applying too thick and having the glazes run and stick to the kiln shelf. I have a few more bottles that have been bisque fired, but not glazed (next session!), but here are all the pots I finished. Click through to see pictures and more comments.

If you see something you like, let me know.. I always like to have feed back. And if don't just like it, but want to have it, just let me know (and the normal friends and family discount will apply).

3rd Annual Napa trip

Deb — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:07:00 GMT

For the 3rd December in a row, we journeyed to Napa Valley. (here's why). Mornings were foggy but the afternoons were sunny... not bad for this time of year. Unfortunately, one of the couple that was going meet us there got sick, so we were on our own.

Courtyard at Clos Pegase

We grabbed lunch in Napa (the city) at the Fatted Calf, and had soup and a sandwich (the are really a butcher, but have a special every day). We started our winery visits at Clos Pegase, one of our long time favorites (and a good place to start, since we had not bothered with reservations). We re-joined their wine club which we had to stop when we moved to Arizona, fortunately the shipping laws have changed so we can once again get club shipments. They also took care of making us a reservation that afternoon at Failla, a winery we passed on the way there. We had had (and really liked) their Pinot's, but had never visited. Failla was definately the new find for this trip. They are a small producer, mostly Pinot Noir's and a Chardonnay. Most of the fruit is sourced from the the Russian River or Sonoma, which is a bit cooler and better suited to these grapes. They ferment in open containers (!), and then into French oak. We tasted several different Pinot's ... they were all good.. and only one is available outside the winerly. Last, we visited Salvestrin, which is conveniently were we stayed (again). Dinner was at Cook, a small restaurant in St. Helena. Roy had some really awesome pasta, with roasted pork. I had cioppino... lots of good seafood, but it was pretty spicy, which was OK but not wine friendly.

On Saturday, after a good and huge breakfast at the B&B, we wandered around St Helena a bit. Then we went to Casa Nuestra, an even smaller winery. They did some interesting stuff ... we bought a few bottles, I'm reserving judgement until we tasted them a bit more. Lunch was at Greystone, in addition to the temptations appetizer, I had the onion soup which had a fun meringue / souffle top. Roy had the butternut squash soup. That afternoon we visited Bremer Family Winery, one of our absolute favorites. We liked everything we tasted! After that, we were pretty much winery-ed out... and had enough wine coming to fill the wine fridge. Dinner was at Martini House. I had chicken pot pie and Roy has pot roast... nothing like comfort food done sous-vide!

There was another great breakfast Sunday morning, then we were back to airport to come home. And now, the wine starts to arrive... did I mention that before? Not like in the summer where you need to have the wine held before shipping. Another great reason to go this time of year!

Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child by Noel Riley Fitch

Deb — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:57:00 GMT

I will be the first to admit I’m not the type to read big non-fiction books. So I’m pretty proud of myself for actually getting through the 500 pages of Appetite for Life! This is a biography with a big B: it was authorized; the author had full access to Julia Child, her letters, several family diaries, as well as letters and interviews with family and friends. It’s very much the historical work, sometimes overstuffed with minutia, names and dates, but does an excellent job of describing Julia and how she fit into the recent history of food as well as US history. The appendices describe all the source material, a great job was done in editing to only 500 pages. In the end, I find myself awed and inspired by Julia and her works.

The early part of the book is slow, she grew up as a spoiled California party girl which was not all that interesting. The story picks up during the time she was in the OSS in India and China. Fascinating to me (as someone who doesn’t read big historical books, but lately, lots of WWII fiction) was the non-European perspective of WWII: the people and politics of the time, including the OSS, McCarthy-ism, and their influence on Vietnam.

Later in life, Julia Child was quite the celebrity between PBS shows and Good Morning America appearances in addition to her books. I never saw much of her on TV (but knew enough to fully enjoy Dan Aykroyd’s satire of the show), and never had the Mastering The Art of French Cooking cookbooks. I didn’t understand her real influence on food. Her memoir, My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud'Homme gave me much more background on what went into the first cookbook, but this book brought so much more to the story.

Julia was passionate about food, and wanted to share this passion with others. She followed through with incredible organization, detail and hard work to share the vision through teaching. She had the drive to get things right (and that would be her definition of right). Also impressive was the energy that Julia had, right through her 80’s, even with the problems of aging like bad knees and loved ones in nursing homes.

Julia’s vision started with an attempt bring the pleasures of cooking and eating to the American public, not the “America home economics with its undercurrent of nineteenth-century melioristic scientism”. (Definition of melioristic: the notion that the world can be improved by human effort). Her cookbook was out of step with the current fashion: “Americans were then eating canned vegetables with marshmallows melted on top, frozen chickens cooked in canned mushroom soups, frozen fish sticks, and dishes that could be served during commercials… Processed food products and junk food led to unwanted poundage, which in turn stirred up a wave of dieting and diet books … Avis [Julia’s agent] commented about the “gunk” in the American kitchen and the increasing number of manuscripts for diet books she was receiving … “[There is] not a single honest recipe in the whole book – everything is bastardized and quite nasty .. Desserts .. sweetened with saccharin and topped with imitation whipped cream. Fantastic! And I do believe a lot of people in this country eat just like that, stuffing themselves with faked materials in the fond belief that by substituting a chemical for God’s good food they can keep themselves slim while still eating hot breads and desserts and GUNK.” This was in 1959! (and its taken until 2009 for me to get all of the high fructose corn syrup out of my house, and even then some slips back in, last in the guise of Rice Crispy Squares).

The other theme that runs through Julia’s work was to help Americans overcome their “fanatical fear of food”. An example: “fear of food was endemic in suburbia. Every new health warning (Poisons in Your Food) reinforced America’s puritanical relationship to food and wine. Food was either a sinful or a bothersome necessity. The most popular food books in the early 1960s were Calories Don’t Count and the I Hate to Cook Book…” That said, she had some confrontations with other visionaries of the time, like Alice Waters. Julia felt that all the talk of organic foods and evils of pesticides would just further scare people from cooking.

I could go on.. but this book really hit home for me during my current quest to reduce the amount of processed food in my diet and understand the struggles of those around me with food. Plus I have another role model on living a full life, continuing to learn and share and grow (bad knees and all). The other take away: During the life of Julia Child, there was massive amount of written communication compiled, including letters, diaries, manuscripts, and written articles. I sometimes wondered if she ever made a phone call! But I can hope that in addition to more people cooking from the larger selection of fresh food available, that someday people can use our blogs, tweets, Facebook and other written communications to write inspiring biographies!

Stuffed Mushrooms

Deb — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:55:00 GMT

Last night at a wonderful party with lots of friends, we were discussing seasonal favorites, and someone mentioned how often she makes "my" stuffed mushrooms and how everyone loves them. I'm not even sure where I got the recipe, and have not made it myself in a long time. But a good reminder of something yummy I should make for the next get together -- especially convenient since you can make them ahead, and bake when you need them. And maybe a good experiment when I get around to trying to make sausage (being that I can't do anything the easy way).

Stuffed Mushrooms

3 hot Italian Turkey sausages, casings removed

1 clove garlic chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

Olive oil

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)

6 ounces low fat cream cheese, room temperature

1 large egg yolk

48 small ( or 24 large 2-inch-diameter) mushrooms, stemmed

1/3 cup dry white wine

Sauté sausage, garlic and oregano in heavy large skillet in small amount of oil over medium-high heat until sausage is cooked through and brown, breaking into small pieces, for about 7 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage mixture to large bowl and cool. Mix in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, then cream cheese. Season filling with salt and pepper; mix in egg yolk.

Line cookie sheet with parchment. Brush cavity of each mushroom cap with white wine; fill with scant 1 tablespoon filling. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.) Arrange mushrooms, filling side up on prepared sheet pan and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake uncovered until mushrooms are tender and filling is brown on top, about 25 minutes.

Bread for stuffing and other Thanksgiving comments

Deb — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 22:19:00 GMT

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, with all the traditional fixings ... but we are slowly losing the tradition of cans and packaged foods. And I think we have started a new tradition of smoked chicken wings for lunch (Lou's new specialty).

A big hit was the new version of Green Bean Casserole, using the recipe from Alton Brown. We did all the parts the night before: blanched the green beans, made the mushroom soup part, and cooked the onions. (Did you know that the first ingredient of the fried onions that you buy in a can is palm oil... yuck). The only tricky part is the onions. Don't cut too thin (go for ~ 3/16 of an inch) and try to cut evenly. And don't get too brown the first time, as they will get browner on the casserole (especially in the turbo-charged convection oven). We cooked in a 9x13 casserole dish, for about 20 minutes after the turkey came out of the oven.

Not so big a hit were the brussels sprouts, even sauted with a bit of bacon (and finished with a little cider vinegar). Roy, Sharon and I loved them, everyone else, not so much. At least Bridget had fun slicing them with the Cuisenart!

Also a note on a deconstructed turkey: You can do a big one this way: we did a 23-pounder. Using the turbo-convection oven, when started at 400F for 20 minutes, then 325 it was done in about 2 1/2 hours (we dropped the temperature to 300F towards the end so it actually cooked for almost 3 hours). I started at the higher temperature because I was a little late getting it into the oven, I had figured on 3 1/2 hours (which might be right for a normal 325 oven). As always, everything cooks evenly. We just had to use an extra pan because both legs didn't fig into the roaster.

Finally, here is the recipe for the stuffing. Last year I discovered that Pepperidge Farms stuffing (which is what our family ALWAYS used) had one of my banned ingredients (don't even remember if it was HFCS, hydrogenized oil, or MSG) so I made my own bread using the bread machine (where you don't care there are stupid holes in the bottom from the paddles). I'm always surprised at how long it takes for the bread to dry, especially considering that if you leave a slice of bread out you are making a sandwich from it is crispy in 15 minutes. If you don't have a bread machine (I suspect that mine is on its last legs), there should be no problem making like normal bread, would just follow the steps for any whole wheat bread recipe.

Herb Bread for Stuffing

2lb loaf, make 20 ounces of stuffing (lots)

¾ cup milk

2 tablespoons butter

¾ cup warm water

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups bread flour

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon rosemary, finely chopped

½ teaspoon sage

Black pepper (a couple of good grinds)

2 teaspoons yeast

Heat the milk and butter together in the microwave until the milk is just a little warm, and butter is soft and starting melt. Put everything (in order) in the bread machine and start. When done, let completely cool, preferably overnight. Slice into cubes, about ½ inch square. If the crust is particularly heavy, remove some of the crust, but otherwise leave on. Spread the cubes on a large sheet pan, and let dry for a couple of days.

Stuffing

Bread Cubes

½ ounce dry mushrooms, reconstituted in ~ 1 cup boiling water.

8 ounces (1 package) mushrooms (sliced)

1 large onion (diced)

2 stalked celery (diced small)

½ to 1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup butter

2 cups turkey broth

¼ cup of chopped herbs (parsley, thyme, sage, etc).

Place the bread cubes in a large mixing bowl. Stain the dry mushrooms, reserving liquid. Chop and add to stuffing. Saute the fresh mushrooms, onion, and celery with salt in the butter, add to the bread cubes.

Add mushroom liquid to bread cubes, careful to not get any grit at bottom. Mix the cubes, add a cup of turkey broth (slowly pour around the top). Stir and taste. Add another ½ to 1 cup broth. Cubes should be just moist, not soggy. Ready to go in / under turkey, or in a separate casserole dish to cook (if cooking separately, put a bit of turkey fat and / or skin on top).

Thanksgiving's coming

Deb — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:47:00 GMT

Its just a week away! This year will be at my brother's house, with the standard Norman fare. I slowly can change things ... for example, everyone is now expecting homemade cranberry sauce, and not disappointed that you can't see the ribs from the can in the jelly.

Last year, I started making the bread for the stuffing instead of Pepperidge Farms ... as part of my ban on HFCS and hydrogenized oils, not sure if anyone noticed. I plan to do it again this year, just need to find the recipe (and I will post when I find it).

This year, I'm going to mess with the green bean casserole, and will make the mushroom soup part instead of using Cambells. Lou even agreed to use fresh green beans.

We will also do a deconstructed turkey. But the squash gratin will need to wait for Christmas.

Creamy Pasta Sauce

Deb — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 04:07:00 GMT

OK, so obviously I have not made the blog every day goal. So I'm resetting the goal to blog every week... at least until the end of the year.

Always an inspiration are recipes that I e-mail out to family and friends. I was talking to my brother today, who had some chicken he needed to cook, and wanted some pasta for dinner. I really like a creamy sauce with chicken and pasta (plus a few vegetables), so I recommended this:

Creamy Pasta Sauce

This is great to use up whatever you have on hand. Also, it reheats very well

3-4 servings

8 oz pasta (linguine, spaghetti, corkscrew)

1 tablespoon butter

4 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon flour

1 ¼ cups low fat milk

¼ cup of low fat cream cheese (block or tub)

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup shredded parmesan cheese

Start water to boil for pasta. For the sauce, melt the butter in a sauce pan or skillet. Add garlic and sauté for a few minutes, then add flour. Cook for about 30 seconds, then slowly add milk, stirring with a whisk. Cook until nearly boiling, add cheeses and cook until very thick.

Drain pasta (with optional vegetables) and return to pot, add sauce and other options. Give a good twist of black pepper, add more cheese or toasted nuts if desired

Options:

• Vegetables (blanched): Use up to 2-3 cups of asparagus, peas, broccoli, carrots or other vegetables to pasta and cook (need to judge how much time to cook the veggies, generally add 2-3 minutes before the pasta is done

• Vegetables (sauted): Use up to 1-2 cups of onions, shallots, mushrooms, and/or bell peppers, can put garlic here rather in sauce. Place a small amount of oil in skillet, add red pepper flakes if desired, and sauté vegetables. If it gets too dry, add a little white wine, or a bit of broth or water. Use the same pan to cook the sauce, remove the vegetables first (unless you are just using a little onion or shallots, then its ok to leave them in the pan).

• Herbs: whatever you like, add to sauce when it is done.

• Meat: Sauté chicken chunks, black forest ham (cut sandwich slices into strips), or use other leftover roasted meat.

• Cheese: the original recipe called for Gorgonzola, but I’ve never actually tried this. Usually I use a hard cheese, plus will throw in scraps if we have any left from a cheese appetizer.

• Nuts: A nice addition if there is not any meat in the sauce. Walnuts or pine nuts, toasted in the toaster oven (1 cycle through “toast” on a foil lined pan) are good.

Recent books...

Deb — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:32:00 GMT

wahoo... 2 days in a row.

So, one of the things that I enjoy is giving some thought to the books that I read, and writing down a few notes. I have actually been doing it in two places, both on GoodReads as well as here. I like some of the features of Good Reads, especially to have a list of the books I have read. Normally, I just do a cut and paste from what I write in the blog. But lately ... well, I have not blogged about my last two book club books. Why I ask? My excuse is that I spend too much time at the computer. A good excuse, I do spend lots of time staring at my screen for work. But also, I am spending too much time on blogging... reading other blogs, reading Facebook updates, reading Twitters.. then there is posting Twitters, posting on Facebook. And occasionally (lately - rarely) updating this blog.

Some of this just calls for better efficiency. I'll continue to review books on Good Reads. It seems it might be easier to paste from Good Reads to here. But this also begs the question on what is the best social media to use for what purposes. To be continued....

Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War by Sebastian Faulks

My rating: 2 of 5 stars After a whole slew of WWII books for book club, we decided we really needed a different topic. So ... how about WWI? Well, it was still a pretty gruesome war even though overall it was not quite as horrific as WWII. One point that I found interesting was that in Britain, although many of her men went to war, the country was not badly affected -- there was still food, life was relatively normal. I can't say this was a horrible book, but I didn't enjoy it. I was the only one in book group who didn't really like it. I had two issues: one was that the author went on and on in flowery language. Nice imagery, but it didn't contribute to the story in a lot of cases. Second, even with all of these words, the author withheld information. I understand that this was in an attempt to bring some suspense to the modern leg of the story, but that seemed like an artificial limb, and the story would have been better off with out it. View all my reviews >>

Olive Kitteridge: A Novel in Stories by Elizabeth Strout

My rating: 4 of 5 stars For our book club, we all choose a word and a number. I would give Olive Kitteridge a 7 (pretty good) and the word would be "ordinary". Its tough to write pretty good about the ordinary. The book was very fragmented, which didn't always work, but it did bring together all those little things that make the ordinary interesting: unexpected insights and unexpected oversights. View all my reviews >>

Blog every day this month?

Deb — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:36:00 GMT

Today is the first day of November, which means it's National Blog Posting Month, aka NaBloPoMo. The goal is to make one post a day for the entire month.

I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to do it... especially after a month of no blogging (assuming we don't count twitter). The good thing is I have lots of recipes and books that are lurking in my mind to do blogs in. Plus lots of art .. I have been taking a pottery class and starting to get some things done. And in October, I did a sketch every day which was a good exercise for me. I will start ... I can always just post a picture from October, or decide that Twitters count as a daily blog!

Tourists in DC

Deb — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 18:35:00 GMT

Back from a wonderful trip to Washington DC with my mom. We did most the normal tourist things, visited one museum off the beaten path, and had a wonderful private tour of the Library of Congress. Plus, it was really nice to spend time with mom.

1st Day ...

We flew into Baltimore airport on Wednesday, and although rain was forecast it was only overcast. Our hotel was very close to the Capital, and we got out for a walk after we arrived. We found a great place for dinner just around the corner called Sonoma Wine Bar and Restaurant.

On Thursday, we started out with a visit to the Botanic Gardens, which is right by the Capital Reflecting Pool, but not a common stop on the tourist route.

Next we had a tour of the Capital, then lunch at the American Indian Museum, then spent the afternoon (which was just a bit wet out) going to a few of the Smithsonian museums.

On Friday, we took a cab to Hillwood Museum (out towards the zoo), which was the home of Marjorie Merriweather Post. (Note, if you plan to go, you need to make reservations, which you can do on-line).

The museum “features the most comprehensive collection of Russian imperial art outside of Russia” plus a bunch of French decorative art and furnishings. The house was really nicely done, especially considering how much "stuff" there was in it. More impressive (to me) were the gardens, the sun came out that afternoon, so we took the opportunity to do some sketching.

Next, we visited the Washington National Cathedral.

It was dinner time by then, so we headed to DuPont Circle, and found a restaurant with tables out on the sidewalk for a nice dinner. We took the Metro back to our hotel, with a slight detour to walk by the White House.

The highlight of our trip was on Saturday, a tour of the Library of Congress.

In addition to the rare books, documents, and maps, the building is just layered with art – all with themes that relate back to libraries or literature. And extra special was a private tour from my brother’s wife’s aunt who is a docent there.

That afternoon we visited the monuments on the mall: Lincoln Memorial plus the Viet Nam, WWII, and Korean War Memorials.

It was a beautiful day, but a little somber with the reminders of the wars and people killed.

And we had dinner (again) at Sonoma.

The last morning, we walked through the residential section of Capital Hill to the Eastern Market.

Its centered around an old (but recently rebuilt) market, on Sunday’s a farmers market and flea market is set up on the street in front. It was nice to watch the people and their dogs out on a sunny but cool morning, and we picked up a few honey crisp apples (they were really good).

On the way back we circled around the Supreme Court building,

and took a last look at the Capital and Library of Congress before heading back to the airport to come home.

I twittered along the way as well ... check it out for more pictures and doings.

Pesto

Deb — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 15:49:00 GMT

My aunt asked for my freezer pesto recipe last week, and I was surprised that I had not blogged about it yet, it’s one of the things that is a staple at my house, generally as pizza sauce.

If you have basil in your garden, now is a good time to harvest large quantities, as the weather starts to cool, the basil plants seem to get tired. I have a couple of basil plants in my garden which although have been quite healthy (and good tasting) have stayed fairly small, I might try to find some basil at the farmers market this weekend.

I start by picking off the leaves, then rinsing (and if they are especially dirty, putting into a sink full of water), then spinning dry in my salad spinner. I lay out on towels try dry a bit more. From there, you can either make freezer pesto or full pesto, both recipes follow. And this freezing method works for most any herb. I have done both parsley and cilantro (without the garlic). They stay quite bright green and tasty.

Freezer Pesto:

2 - 4 cloves of garlic

Enough fresh basil leaves to fill food processor bowl, washed and patted dry

Or about 2 cups packed fairly tightly

½ cup olive oil

Turn on food processor fitted with blade and drop the garlic through the feed bowl. Let process until most of it is stuck to the sides. Scrape down, add the basil. Process w/ pulse on/off until basil is chopped.

Turn the motor on, and add olive oil in a slow, steady stream.

Immediately (so that it does not get dark) put the mixture in a 1 quart freezer bag. Press out the air and seal. Then draw into quarters, and fold the bag to keep separate. Alternately, put mixture into a container and press plastic wrap onto surface. Freeze until ready to use.

Pesto: The full fledged recipe.

Makes 2 cups.

4 oz. Parmesan cheese (can use part Romano)

3 - 4 cloves of garlic

2 cups fresh basil leaves, washed and patted dry (packed fairly tightly)

½ to 1 cup walnuts or pine nuts

~ 3/4 cup olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cut the cheese into chunks, and process with blade in food processor until finely grated. Pour out of food processor and set aside.

Put bowl with blade back on base (don’t need to clean the bowl), turn on and drop the garlic through the feed bowl. Let process until most of it is stuck to the sides. Scrape down; add the basil and nuts. Process w/ pulse on/off until basil is chopped.

Turn the motor on, and add olive oil in a slow, steady stream.

Shut the motor off; add the cheese, a big pinch of salt and a liberal grinding of pepper. Process briefly to combine, the scrap out into a bowl and cover until ready to use (press a piece of plastic wrap right onto the surface to keep from turning dark. Will keep for several days.

How to use:

Pasta with Pesto: Cook 1 lb. of Linguine. Meanwhile, mix 2 tablespoons pasta water, ¼ cup cream (or milk or greek yogurt), and 1 cup pesto in large bowl. Drain pasta, return to bowl and toss (add a bit more pasta water if its too thick), add a good grind of pepper. Sometimes I make the pesto without any nuts, and serve this with toasted pine nuts on top.

Rice with Pesto: Add a big spoon full of pesto to cooked rice.

Pesto bread: Spread pesto on slices of French bread, broil/toast until bubbly.

What to do with freezer pesto:

Thaw, mix with cheese, etc. to get full pesto.

Throw a frozen chunk into a batch of spaghetti sauce.

Thaw, mix with a can of tomato sauce and use for pizza sauce.

Thaw, mix with a little more olive oil and use for pizza sauce

Throw a frozen chunk into rice that’s almost done, finish with a bit of grated cheese.

Throw a frozen chunk to a big pot of soup that’s almost done.

Fruit Crisp

Deb — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 16:28:00 GMT

We have been getting some nice fruit this summer. Today at the farmers market, there were some late season peaches and first of the season apples (both from Wilcox). Plus, we have been getting good blueberries from Safeway and Trader Joes (big boxes – that cost what the small boxes normally cost). Last week Roy picked up some wonderful white peaches at Trader Joes. Add to that some local melons, and we have certainly been getting our daily requirement of fruit… plus.

And sometimes we get a bit overloaded, especially when you need to buy large boxes. That’s when it’s time to start the oven. There are all sorts of fruit with a crust desserts, starting with pie but also including cobblers, slumps, crisps, crumbles, and buckles. Pie crust is the most simple it terms of ingredients – just flour and butter (or other shortening), crisps and crumbles get sugar added, the cobblers and buckles get milk or cream added. My favorite is the crisps – they are very quick to put together (much easier than pie), you can scale from individual servings to a family size pan, and the topping can be frozen.

Normally for two of us, I make crisps in oval gratin dishes (sized for an individual casserole). One of these is the perfect amount. I make a full recipe of the crisp topping, and use about half. The other half goes in the freezer, to be used at a later time (no need to thaw, just crumble and use). I have also make them in individual size ramekins, and occasionally make a full size one. The same crisp mixture can be used for all different fruit.

Generally, I through these together as I’m cooking dinner, then pop it into the oven as we sit down. They will be done and still warm for desert (although they are good at room temperature too). But warm is best for ice cream.

Use the below recipe as a guide. I did one last week with the above mentioned peaches and a handful of blueberries. It was real pretty as well as tasty. (did I think to take a picture? no) Sometimes I throw some slivered almonds into the crisp topping. Or dry cranberries into an apple crisp. Often I cook them in the toaster oven (just a note – in mine, I need to drop the temperature to 325F or they brown too quickly). Adjust the amount of fruit and thickener for the size pan (and this is not too critical, worst case is it’s a bit runny or thick), use more or less topping. If using a smaller pan, shorten the cooking time. You will get a feel how long to cook, just wait until they are bubbly and browned, and in the case of apples, the fruit is tender. All in all, this is a very tolerant recipe.

Fruit Crisp:

Serves 4

Crisp Part:

¾ cup sugar

½ cup flour

¼ cup butter, cut into chunks

Mix sugar and flour in a small bowl, and work in the butter to make a crumbly mixture.

Summer Fruit Crisp:

Blueberries, Peaches, Apricots, and / or Raspberries

enough fruit to fill 9x9 pan an 1 – 1 ½ inches deep

~ 2 teaspoons corn starch

~ 2 tablespoons Amaretto, Grand Marnier, or orange juice

Preheat oven to 350F.

Peaches or apricots should be pitted and sliced (no need to peel). Berries should be rinsed and reasonably dry. Place into pan. Mix corn starch and liqueur, then pour evenly over the fruit. Sprinkle crisp mixture over top.

Bake at 350F for 35 – 45 minutes. The fruit should be tender, filling bubbly, and crust lightly browned. Serve warm or room temperature, ice cream is a nice extra.

Apple Crisp:

4 large granny smith apples or other baking apples

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)

½ cup water

Preheat oven to 350F.

Core and slice the apples into a 9x9 baking dish (optional – peel the apples, or partially peel the apples). Sprinkle with the spices, and add the lemon juice and water. Sprinkle crisp mixture over the top.

Bake at 350F for 40 – 45 minutes. The fruit should be tender, filling bubbly, and crust is lightly browned. Serve warm, ice cream is a nice extra.

Spiced

Deb — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:24:00 GMT

I can't believe its been a month since I have updated my blog... just call me a slacker! (and of course you can stalk me on Twitter and Facebook and Goodreads). I need to get a few recipes posted... Last night I did a peach and blueberry crisp that was really wonderful (and easy).

The last book I finished was Spiced: A Pastry Chef's True Stories of Trials by Fire, After-Hours Exploits, and What Really Goes on in the Kitchen by Dalia Jurgensen -- long title, but quick read about a pastry chef - how she started, the ups and downs. It interesting to start, but the end a little lackluster. And I know, I still have this bias about New York authors. What can I say?

A good book, at last!

Deb — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:55:00 GMT

Every so often, it seems you hit a string of books that you just don’t find interesting. My recent list:

1. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain Library) : Last month’s book club book (the yearly classic). I think this was a case of expectations set too high. It was interesting from the historical perspective, but really, quite unbelievable at the end.

2. The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives (Vintage) : The book starts by trying to explain statistics without math, which is impossible. Personally, I would enjoy working through the equations more than slogging through this book (no, I didn’t finish). To top it off, the anecdotes about how people don’t intuitively understand statistics is very similar to another book (that I also thought was awkwardly written) I did slog through a couple of years ago.

3. Also somewhere in this mix was In the Kitchen: A Novel, a fictional story about a chef in England who’s life is clearly going get very very ugly, and I just didn’t care.

For the last couple of months, several people at book club have recommended The Help by Kathryn Sockett. I was hoping it would snap me out of the string of boring reads; and it delivered!

The story is set in Jackson, Mississippi in 1962 – 63 during the height of the civil rights movement. It’s the story of young white women (mostly Junior Leaguers), and the story of African-American women that work for them. It’s funny, well written, educational, and makes you think. It’s a real Pageturner!

Redemption ... kind of

Deb — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:59:00 GMT

I was upset with our CSA, Love Grows Farm, because their season ran short in the spring. I wasn’t so much upset that they had not figured out how long the crops would last, but mostly there was no communication until the second week, and then it was a just a letter left with the information booth. And worse, I was out of town and had a friend going to the farmers market to make my pick-up for those two weeks. Bad enough to waste my own time, I really felt horrible to waste someone else’s time wondering around the farmers market with the box.

But they are back for the summer season, and had a great bag of melons, summer squash, onions, and some wonderful basil. Lucky I happened to be at the farmers market to pick it up!

So I guess it’s my turn to communicate. I will send an email to Mike, let him know I would be happy to keep subscribing… but he has to learn to send an email, twitter, facebook, text message… something to stay in touch with updates on the crop, and a quick note to let us know if he will be late or not there.

And by the way, the Ahwatukee Farmers market is going strong this summer, getting great melons, tomatoes, and summer squash (which strangely seemed to be in short supply last summer). The market is going to be open next weekend, but I think that some of the vendors won't be there because its a holiday weekend.

Vacation books

Deb — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:58:00 GMT

I want to get this posted before I completely forget what I read while on vacation in April (and can someone explained what happened to the month of May?).

The Lovely Bones is a book club book from before I joined the group (call it catch-up). It’s the delightful story of angels and a serial killer (or at least as delightful as possible). I always like connections between books: the narration of this book by an angel, which results in a perspective similar to the The Book Thief, where the narration was by Death.

Asta in the Wings was April’s book club book, it was well written and good for a change of pace. A strange story of two kids that escape from their certifiably crazy mother. What makes it good is that the kids don’t understand that Mom is a lunatic, and that they were essentially prisoners. And who, in hindsight (except for me who has the most wonderful mom) doesn’t think this sometimes?

Daemon is a recent science fiction release, set in the present day. You know its science fiction because not once does anyone get a blue screen of death on their PC. It’s the story of a wealthy game developer, who sets havoc in motion when he dies using automated game like programs. The course of the game is set by what gets reported in the news (and on the web). Great concept and a real page turner.

Had I know how much time I would spend reading, I would have brought Atlas Shrugged. I had read the books I had brought, except for the one that Roy hijacked and was reading, and one he had read and said was horrible. With No One as Witness was one of the books that was in the house that we rented (hopefully the owner was not upset, as I didn’t actually finish and took this with me, but left a couple of good books (and one horrible book) in its place. It was another book about a serial killer, however, it was written from the perspective of the police. It is part of a series of novels set in London. Probably won’t finish reading the series anytime soon.