Non-Scale Victory

I bought summer shirts this weekend, realizing I was too warm on these spring days in my turtlenecks and having nothing leftover from last summer that would do (it's amazing how stained my clothes get!). And the shirts were a size smaller than last year! Now, they're a tad tighter than I like, but then I know I wear my clothes too lose most of the time anyway. And I'm hoping they won't be tight for long. Because I'm really aiming for a scale victory in the next few weeks: 5% of my body weight gone! Keeping positive, trying to keep on track.

Get Well Soon!

Sending get well wishes to Mama Teacher's son CJ, who sprained his foot on a trampoline today. Hope you're running around again soon!

(I should also mention that Mama Teacher's brother and his SIL, his wife's sister, have had some trauma this week and need our virtual wishes as well. It's some kind of awful family hat trick.)

Weekend Update

This isn't everything and I've forgotten the cute tidbits from the last several days that I try so hard to record. But it'll have to do.

• Saturday: After our big school picture, we all headed to a book sale, where the kids got to choose 5 books each (luckily, Mama and I had no such limit!). Sis got several Clifford the Big Red Dog books (he's one of her favorites, in books and in tv); Bud got a variety of non-fiction, on knights, pirates, and space. Then we went to look for a new mattress for our bed, believing that to be no small contributing factor to recent aches and pains. The kids were great, though we did notice Sis sinking--after testing at all the beds in the beginning, she eventually just curled up on one and sniffed Shirt. Yep, sick. Tylenol and lunch revived her a bit but then we headed home for the rest of the day.
• Sunday: Sis still has a fever and so we shortened our plans for today, keeping only the main one: a puppet show based on Margaret Wise Brown's Runaway Bunny and Goodnight Moon (see some video here). It was amazing! The first section was done with rod and table-top puppets of the bunnies, recreating almost exactly the mood and look of the book. I think we all liked the bunny-as-bird section just because watching the bunny flap his wings and fly was amazing! The second section was done in black light, with the puppeteers, whom I found fascinating to watch, even donning face masks. The room was the Great Green Room, but come to life--with a huge cow jumping over the moon, the bear escaping from the frame to play with the bunny, and other imaginary happenings. And the "quiet old lady who was whispering hush" was not as odd as in the book--she even played with the red balloon! By this point, Bud kept asking if we could make the entire scene and all the puppets when we got home! (Luckily, it was a "no-shushing" show!) Though, during the question and answer period--during which he wanted to ask to see the flying bunny again and was disappointed not to be called on--they mentioned that each puppet takes a month to make out, with 7 people helping! Sis was entranced but probably not feeling well enough to enjoy herself totally, though she clutched Amy the Bunny the whole time (and Bud had Meg, who is now a boy bunny). Afterwards, we came straight home.
• Monday: they won't be going to school so I won't be going for coffee. We'll probably be going to the pediatrician instead to check on strep or ear infection.
• Stay tuned for the rest of the week . . . .

Guess What

Sis has a fever, hit her mid-morning, while we were shopping for a new mattress. 101.9. And she's fairly miserable and tired. Ear infection? Strep? Tonsilitis? There are no symptoms, just the fever. Which means we're in sick-kid mode over here now.

Time Off

Just a quick post to say it's been a busy few days and it will be a busy few more, all good.

• Thursday: Ma came for a visit during her own spring break--she and the kids had fun with fairy houses and then we all went to a Thai lunch. Mama registered the kids for kindergarten (yes, it's true; I didn't help). I went to my PT eval and can bend 17.5 cm to my right but only 10 cm to my left. That night, Mama and I went out to dinner with friends.
• Friday: a usual school day plus a trip to the Whole Foods for yummy things. Then, I had a Mom's Night Out with friends--recipes for Chocolate Monkey Bread and whatever Mama Teacher calls those yummy veggie triangles soon!
• Saturday: full school pic in just a few minutes, then family errands.
• Sunday: morning consultation with tree guy about some clean up then another family outing
• Monday: coffee with a church friend and that night a school meeting about kindergarten
• Tuesday: a church meeting
• Wednesday: restaurant outing with friends

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Chocolate Monkey Bread

2 rolls store-bought buttermilk biscuits (or homemade bread dough)

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon cocoa

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray Bundt or similar pan with cooking spray.

Combine sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa in a large zipper bag or bowl. Cut buttermilk biscuits into quarters. Shake or toss biscuit quarters in the sugar-cinnamon-cocoa mixture. Distribute them evenly in Bundt pan. Sprinkle evenly with chocolate chips (note: you can also try to stuff 1-3 chips in each quarter of dough. But this is time consuming. The chips don't burn and the bread is not messy if you just sprinkle, especially if you do one layer of dough and then chips and then dough and then chips again).

Melt butter and brown sugar on stovetop or in microwave. Pour over dough in Bundt pan.

Bake approximately 30 minutes or until dough is puffy and brown--check for doughy, uncooked bits and continue cooking in 5 minute increments until done. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out onto serving plate. Pull apart to eat.

Mommy Hungry

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Mama Teacher's Veggie Triangles

**my guess at her recipe with her edits in red!

1 roll refrigerator crescent roll dough

sour cream

mozzarella cheese

red/yellow/orange pepper, in tiny slivers

broccoli florets, also cut very small (were these precooked?) - no not precooked - just cut very small

were there little bits of carrot? - no

I used red/orange pepper and broccoli - in the past i have used all different colors of peppers and broccoli

Preheat oven to 350F?? yes

Unroll crescent dough, tear into premarked triangles, and cut into thirds or quarters. Spread lightly with sour cream and sprinkle with cheese. Place bits of vegetables on top.

I try and get 4 - 5 out of each triangle - depending on my crowd - i like to have some big pieces and some little pieces.

You need to bake the triangles just until lightly brown - let triangles cool slightly then spread sour cream on top - again depends on my crowd as to how much i use - but it really takes so little *** i have also made them using cream cheese instead of sour cream.

Put veggies on top of sour cream then sprinkle with cheese ***i liked your idea of Mont. jack cheese - might be good

Bake until cheese melts

Mama Teacher

Cutting O' the Green

Happy St. Patrick's Day to ya!

We've got "Riverdance" on in the background and are wearing our green shirts (well, two of the four of us are. Sis and I don't have any green!). Now we're cutting out green shamrocks to decorate the house. Plus corned beef dinner, soda bread, maybe colcannon and watching of the NYC St. Patrick's Day parade, and we'll have celebrated in fine style!

Quiche. Crepes. Frittatas. Oh, My!

We had Dutch Baby Pancakes last night for dinner and, as we were devouring them with a side of skillet apples and some scrambled eggs, it occurred to me that the kids would probably like other eggy, breakfast-like foods for dinner. Like quiche, crepes, and frittatas. It helps that the first two are French, which automatically have the imprimatur of the sainted Mme. M, of pain au chocolat fame. Besides, Sis was excited to hear that quiche has crust, like pot pie. And I can add vegetables to taste, which is a big plus. And at least for the crepes, we can make sweet or savory ones, to please both kids. A side of fresh fruit or a salad, and we have dinner!

Only downside: I don't have road-tested recipes for any of those and there are hundreds to choose from. So, if you have a relatively-simple favorite recipe for any or all, please send it along to me either via comments or email.

Bon appetit!

Diabetes Research

For everyone I know who follows the science of diabetes, check out these two:

• Good news: a new drug--an inexpensive anti-inflammatory--has amazing sugar and heart effects and might open up a whole new understanding of diabetes.
• Bad news: three different diabetes treatments actually might cause more problems, particularly with the heart.

Tip O' The Day

Inspired by my cousin S's tip about opening foil-sealed container on the edge of the counter, I have a few tips:

• To clean a vase or other narrow-necked container: forget those fancy brushes! Just add some uncooked rice, water, and soap and then swirl around.
• To remove smells in the fridge, put a bag of activated charcoal, which can be purchased wherever fish tank supplies are sold (i.e. Petco), in there. Stays fresh for a long time.
• To pick up lots of bits of paper off the floor without a special vacuum or dust machine, roll a piece of tape, sticky side out, around your hand. Kids love it!
• To keep cooking spray from getting everywhere when you spray a pan or tray, open up the (presumably empty or dirty) dishwasher and spray over the door. It'll be cleaned when you wash it next.
• To clean the dishwasher of crud (which can form when you aren't using petroleum-based toxic cleaners), put 2-3 packets of lemon Kool-Aid (the unsweetened small packets) in the soap dispenser and run the empty dishwasher on a normal cycle.

I know there were others, but that's it for now.

Midnight Musings

A long coughing fit 45 minutes ago has left me wide awake, despite throat spray and cough drops and water. In sympathy, Sis woke up coughing too, but a fresh cup of water has sent her back to slumber. At least my coughing finally abated, with the help of a spoonful of honey. I have it right here in case the cough comes back. I shouldn't complain, though, as coughing is always the last phase of my colds, meaning I should feel much better, even if a little tired, tomorrow.

And so I'm up, listening to Mama breathe and the cats snore, while I read about an ancient cemetery in the Tarim Basin (ah, another Central Asian-Silk Road connection I wouldn't have understand a month ago) that is full of phallic and vulva symbols because the people celebrated procreation (I kid you not). And about a lovely turn-of-the-20th century apartment and its genteel owners. I'm definitely avoiding reading the AP wire about the sick tigers in the Chinese zoo and won't even link there. I don't want to know, especially at this hour. Ugh, I just came across an article on teenagers with cancer. I think I'm going back to sleep.

In the Paper

• Insomniac cooking (and another article on sleep, about babies)
• The next foodtv star?
• RIP Father Murphy
• Greens recipes from the NYTimes
• The inadequacy of the language of cancer, by Dana Jennings
• The last stigmatized group, or how society hates fat people
• A very personal, peaceful ending (as well as another of her articles, on hospice)
• Do you need a coach at recess?

Plus more on the Femivore's Dilemma in a later post so be sure to read it (to catch up, also see here and here)!

And apropos of this very blog, an article and then a Motherlode explosion and follow-up, all about the commercialization and professionalization of the "mommy blog." I'll comment here later.

Needs, Me, and NVC

(Mercy, I write all this and it sounds just like some kind of New-Age cult. But it clarifies my thinking, even if it doesn't sound clear at all. And so I write this mainly for my own edification. For past, perhaps more explanatory posts, see here and here and here and here).

I had thought I would spend this very rainy Saturday with the kids while Mama worked from dawn to dusk on an important project; instead, her project was postponed and I got to attend the NVC workshop I'd organized.

While the parts were exhausting (from set up and clean up to my head cold and sitting for 8+ hours), the sum was exhilerating. Not only did I learn more of the approach of NVC, I did some difficult personal work on communication and connection--let's leave it at there is a person with whom I know I don't communicate well and I would like to try again, with improved skills that will allow for, I'm hoping, a better connection between us. In fact, it would be hard to adequately summarize the effects of the day, so I'll focus on outlining what I learned.

• Honest expression, or Observation/Feeling/Need/Request (OFNR), is the core of NVC as I understand it. Practicing these honest expressions is at the heart of many of the workshops I've attended (this was my 5th). But this time, we did the NVC dance--pieces of paper labeled with the steps and we moved between them bodily as we considered a communication issue we were having. Funny that such physical movement would change the way you conceive of and construct an honest expression, but it allowed me to more fully clarify what I was considering. Then, the workshop leader added a question at the front--"Intention to Connect?"--which urged us to consider, very basically, what our intentions were in even considering an honest expression. And there I sat wondering if I really even had an intention to connect, if I really wanted to improve things. When the answer was yes, I could more clearly proceed. Then, our small group leader removed the "O," realizing that we were all getting bogged down in pinpointing an observation that precipitated our need to connect. This also freed me up from cataloging things and allowed me to get to the heart of the matter without any burdens or baggage. Confused yet? Just go with it . . . .
• Then we went through several other exercises--considering a trigger (an interaction that, in this case, provokes difficult emotions), providing empathy for ourselves in response to the trigger, providing empathy for the other person (so that we consider the other side)--and mind you this is all imagined--that allowed us to consider ways to communicate and the feelings that might arise in advance (or, even if we never, ever had these conversations, to explore our needs and feelings).
• This all lead to a new concept for me, "honoring the beauty of the need." This is basically the idea that having needs, even those that are unmet, attests to something beautiful in the human condition. Let's say I have the need for community that is unmet, meaning I haven't managed to connect with a group of friends. Regardless, the fact that I desire to participate in a group for mutual friendship and support says something positive about me and I should celebrate that, even if I'm having trouble satisfying that need. Does that make sense?
• Anger as an ally: what makes you angry? (oooh, non-NVC alert: nothing makes us feel some way; we are triggered and choose are feelings and responses). Look carefully at what when you get angry and you will most likely see a need that is unmet (this is similar to jackal voice of blame and judgment pointing you to a need. This leads to "make friends with your jackal--jackals are just giraffes with a language problem!). This is particularly important because that curiosity about the unmet needs leads you away from the "blame game" of figuring out whose fault something is. I had thought I would spend the day parsing out small incidents with Mama that make me see red, but really, those are simple, because when I look at them, they all have one thing in common: I feel angry when I need support in my efforts of be a good mom and to keep the house in order. Which I've told her and she heard and accepted. But then we're strongly connected and communicate well. Challenge addressed.
• Okay, more rhetoric: "emotions put us into motions for getting needs met"
• And another, "meet one need, mourn the other." This is about regret, when you try to meet a need and are unsuccessful. Regret not only points you in a direction for meeting future needs (i.e. by alerting you to unsuccessful strategies but also to how much you need something) but also points you towards self-empathy when a need is not met.
• Have to vs. choose to. Rosenberg, who founded NVC, has said that "should" is the most violent word in the English language (I have said elsewhere that I think "still" and "yet" are. But it's the same idea.) Basically, this is another core tenet of NVC: that you are responsible and have agency--no one makes you feel or do anything. You choose. Sure some of the choices are quite obvious (i.e. aren't "real" choices, like pulling your child away from running into the street), others have difficult consequences (like not paying taxes). But by recognizing that everything is a choice, you realize what your needs are, your priorities. Like, let's say I moan about "having" to make dinner. I don't "have" to make dinner. Someone else could or I could buy it. But perhaps I am committed to making dinner, perhaps I "choose" to make dinner, even when I don't really want to, because I value my contribution to the family or my need for healthy foods or saving money. Then the burden of making dinner isn't foisted upon me but is my choice. So choose and enjoy your choice. Let go of regret, move from resentment to acceptance. Your energy will change.
• On "street giraffe" or how to take all this awkward-sounding, New-Age cult language and make it sound normal to people unfamiliar with or suspicious about NVC: words are just a strategy. Once you understand the ideas, you can use other lingo, like for "need" use "it's important," "meaningful," "value," "wish/hope for," "care about" or for feelings use "what's going on" or just "you are ____." For "would you be willing to tell me what you heard me say/how you feel about what I said" try "how does that sit with you?" or "what comes up for you?"
• Finally, for gratitude, which is how we end every session (after starting the session with introductions focused on "what's alive for you?"): "thank you" is like "I'm sorry" in NVC and is seen as not an effective communication strategy, in the sense that if you just say "thank you" (or "I'm sorry") in many instances, you aren't explaining how you feel. So instead, you work through OFNR again to express gratitude, really outlining how we were affected. Take my "thank you" email to our organizers, which basically said "I feel so happy about the workshop because it met my needs for community and learning." It's much more constructive, and even meaningful, than "thanks a lot."

Despite the rain, we all enjoyed the community of connection we created in our mutual goal of learning. This was enhanced by the food, the majority of which was made by my friend Rev. M (the soups I brought weren't such a success and I didn't get a chance to bake this time). She believes in the power of good food to complement and reinforce a learning experience (and I would add, any occasion), to nourish the body and soul thereby creating a sense of community and connection. Certainly, it is a highpoint of the day, if also because by not actively engaging in NVC practice we are able to assess and absorb what we've learned. But then, for me, the whole day was a highpoint.

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Dried Cherry and Almond Muffins

¾ cup milk

3 Tablespoons milk

½ cup dried sour cherries

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch ground ginger

½ stick (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, cur into small pieces

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup sugar

2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 lg egg, beaten lightly

1/3 cup slivered blanched almonds

In a small saucepan whisk together ¾ cup milk, cherries, cinnamon, and ginger. Simmer the mixture for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the butter, stirring until melted. Let the mixture cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Into the cherry mixture whisk the egg, almonds, and the 3 Tablespoons of milk. Pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture. Stir the batter until just combined.

Spoon the batter into a buttered 1/3 cup muffin tin, filling them ¾ full. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, or until they are golden and springy to the touch. Let the muffins cool for five minutes. Turn them out onto a rack.

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Cream of Celery Soup

4 cups celery, 1” chunks

3 cups potatoes, 1” chunks

4 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup celery, very finely minced

1 cup onion, minced

¼ teaspoon celery seed

¼ teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons butter

1 cup milk

¼ cup or more sour cream or heavy cream

(white) pepper to taste

Bring chuncked celery, potatoes, water, and 1 teaspoon of salt to a boil in a saucepan. Cook, covered until soft. Puree in blender. Transfer to soup pot.

Saute minced onion with ¼ teaspoon salt until translucent. Add minced celery and celery seed. Saute until tender. Add to the puree in the soup pot.

Whisk milk, heavy cream or sour cream into soup about ten minutes before serving. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Do not cook the soup—just heat to serve.

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Lentil Soup with Spinach, Tomatoes, and Cumin, Vegetarian

(Makes about 6 servings, recipe slightly adapted from The Sugar Solution Cookbook.)

1 T olive oil

1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds (not ground)

1 large onion, chopped small

4 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 T minced garlic)

1/2 tsp. ground coriander

fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 tsp. paprika

1 1/2 cups brown lentils

4 cans vegetable broth or water (about 7 cups, original recipe called for 5 cups water)

(could probably substitute chicken stock if you don't have vegetable broth)

1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes with juice (I use Muir Glen organic canned tomatoes)

2 cups chopped spinach (tightly packed)

salt to taste (I didn't use any salt since I used canned vegetable broth)

Put olive oil and cumin seeds in large heavy dutch oven and cook over medium heat until fragrant and starting to pop, about 3 minutes. (Stir a few times so they don't burn.) Stir in onion, minced garlic, ground coriander, and black pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are softened, about 4 minutes. Stir in the paprika and cook about 1 minute more.

Add lentils and vegetable broth, reduce heat, and simmer uncovered about 30-40 minutes, or until lentils are quite tender.

Add diced tomatoes and juice and chopped spinach and simmer uncovered 20-30 more minutes, until soup ingredients are well blended and lentils are starting to break apart. Season to taste with salt and serve hot.

This printable recipe from KalynsKitchen.com.

Vale

It is with sadness that I received an email just now announcing that one of my college professors, a man who brought humor--sometimes quite scatological, the grosser the better--to the study of the Roman Empire, has passed away after a brief illness. I took numerous courses with this Oxford-educated man, whose delightful Nottingham accent was so entrancing to my young Texan ears (once first asking if anyone spoke it, he said of Welsh "that it was an absolutely beastly language." Lambeth, I think he was the first Brit I had ever met. You would have really liked him.), but most importantly traveled with him to Tunisia, as part of a team of archaeologists, and excavated a Roman bathhouse in Carthage. My memories of that trip--at the dig site, at the team house especially at our large shared lunch around the big table on the porch, and traveling around the country most notably to Dougga where he gave us a tour of the "breadbasket of the Roman Empire"--as well as all of our classes and Classical Studies department activities, are permeated with thoughts of his pink cherubic face (maybe not an angel, but I thought of him as some kind of mischeivious elf because he was shorter than I am), white beard, easy laugh, entrancing tales both historical and modern, and wicked tongue.

Requiescat in pace, Magister.

Beans, Glorious Beans

One of my treats this weekend, of which there were two (the other was my NVC workshop, about which I have yet to write, needing more time than I've found to do so), was attending a bean-cooking class at my favorite vegetarian restaurant, Bloodroot. As you know, I love beans. And so, when the restaurant-owner kept telling me about her new fabulous olla de barros, clay bean pot from Mexico, I knew I had to try it.

So yesterday found me in the restaurant kitchen (which was rather like entering a shrine to me) watching her prepare several varieties of heirloom beans: Good Mother Stallard, Dutch Bullets, and Yellow Indian Woman (Lena Cisco's Bird Egg beans are some of her favorites but she was out of those. She gets her beans from Rancho Gordo, from which I have ordered beans that I really like, or Iowa Seed Savers, which I'll try too!). And they were all outstanding, either straight up or refried. Some tips I learned from the class:

• She puts salt in the soaking liquid, which breaks a cardinal rule not to salt beans until they are almost done. But she read about it in Cook's Illustrated and believes it not only doesn't affect the texture of the bean but gives them a lot more flavor. So, I'll be trying that next time.
• Also, she only makes a bit at a time, instead of a whole pound like me. I figure if you're going to make beans, do them all and freeze them. She thinks that messes up the texture (which I've never noticed). But it might solve my lack of freezer space problem if I do, say, a half pound of beans at a time, especially because I'm usually the only one eating them.
• I noticed that she uses a ton more olive oil (a Greek kalamata oil) when she sautes the onions/carrot/celery than I ever would, which she says makes the beans more creamy. Well, I believe her but I can't eat the calories of that much oil, even if it is good for me, but I will try using a bit more than I do. And she sautes it longer on a lower heat than I usually do.
• She cooks the beans in the soaking liquid, which I always had poured off. She says that when using heirloom beans that the soaking liquid doesn't get as funky as it might with less-fresh or bulk beans. Hmmmm. I'd also heard that pouring off the soaking liquid also reduces gas problems, but since I eat beans everyday, I don't have that problem much anymore. And it does give them more flavor.
• Another bean tip: only add the acids--tomatoes, lime, lemon--at the end.
• Also, watch to see if you need more water and never add cold water to cooking beans as it shocks them. Use warm or even boiling water.
• Of course, being a restaurateur and cook, she uses more salt than I would at the end. But it was tasty!
• It seemed to me, though it might not be true, that the beans cooked more quickly, maybe because of the olla, maybe because they were heirlooms.
• She said you can add epazote or 1-2 avocado leaves to the beans for a different Mexican flavor, or try bay leaves for a Greek taste or even sage. I asked about Chinese or Asian bean recipes and she enlightened me by saying that most beans are new world food so you won't find them in Asian cooking so much, beyond mung or maybe fava.
• She also recommends the Rancho Gordo cookbook Heirloom Beans, both for general information and recipes. I have it but only just got the heirloom beans and haven't tried any recipes beyond the basic. She also has Paula Wolfert's book on clay pot cooking (though there are only a few vegetarian recipes).
• She rounded out the meal with guacamole (with broiled tomatillos) and pico de gallo, from recipes from the Mexican Grocer, and altogether it was a scrumptious meal. Plus tortillas warmed on the griddle and tortilla chips made from triangles of tortilla baked until crisp in an oven with grapeseed oil and kosher salt drizzled on top.

I can't tell if the olla produced better beans because a). it's a great pot or b). they were great beans to begin with or even c). someone else made them, but of course I bought one, along with two packets of Good Mother Stallards. I need to season it with some advance soaking but imagine I'll be eating beans tomorrow night!

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Basic Beans in a Clay Pot

Soak 1-3 cups of beans overnight.

Chop 1 carrot, 1 onion, and 1 stalk of celery fine. Add a seeded jalapeno, if you like. Saute in the olla in a few tablespoons of olive oil. Stir occasionally until vegetables are soft and beginning to brown. Add beans and their soaking water. Raise heat so that the beans are bubbling, then lower heat, cover and let cook for 1-3 hours. Taste beans for doneness. Add salt to taste.

Bloodroot

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Refried Beans

Use a small frying pan to dry toast 1 teaspoon whole cumin seed and 1/2 teaspoon whole anise seed over low heat until fragrant. Immediately add 3 tablespoons olive oil, half of a chopped onion, 2 sliced garlic cloves and half a minced jalapeno. Saute until softened. Add a ladle or two of cooked beans and their liquid. Use a potato masher to mash coarsely. Taste for salt. Tuck into a warmed tortilla for breakfast!

Bloodroot

Ditto

The "bad DST" sucked even more this morning when, a few minutes passed 8 a.m., I had to wake the kids up to start getting ready for school--only the first time this school year that I've had to do that! (They are usually awake hours before we need to go). They whined and curled up into little balls, bleary-eyed with wanting more sleep. I think it's just going to be one of those kinds of days. But at least they got to go to school with Mama, who was the "parent participant" today for a special activity at school--the aquarium people were visiting with animals in tow. Should be lots of fun, until Mama has to go back to work.

As for me, I had a wonderful 2-hour coffee break with my dear friend Mama Teacher, whose school is closed today because of weather damage across the district. We caught up after several weeks of just email. That, plus what seems to be the diminishing of my cold (helped along by my most wonderful Neti Pot--I won't gross you out with the details except to say that I can breathe again after a very stuffy night.), started my day off wonderfully.

Smiling Eyes

Sure, it's not officially St. Patrick's Day yet, but we're not really sticklers for strict observance of holidays, ours or other people's. And while there is no Irish blood in our household, our Chinese-German-French-English-Scottish-Welsh eyes have been smiling. So, this weekend, we found Ireland on a map, talked about Irish things the kids could identify (this was a very short list of shamrocks and Riverdance. I have never read How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill), listened to bagpipe music (which then confused Bud to no end so that now he thinks the Irish are Scottish!), and ate typical holiday fare, mainly Corned Beef dinner with potatoes, carrots, and cabbage and Irish soda bread (alas, no colcannon, though I have the ingredients to make it later this week). And they loved it! Mama even had to go back to the store to get a bigger piece of corned beef, as the kids devoured it and begged for more (iron deficiencies? beef-deprived? hungry from the time change?). We made four little Irish soda breads because, mainly, I don't like caraway seeds in mine and Bud wanted dried berries instead of raisins and Sis wanted none of that and Mama wanted it all! But it worked well in doling out portions of who's who's. Most of which is all gone. So, there's still the long NYC parade to watch and the actual wearing o' the green (or else you'll get pinched, in my childhood's annual ritual) but for us the holiday has officially started.

Corned Beef

(I need to get the exact iteration of the recipe that Mama used, based on The Joy of Cooking.)

corned beef

water

6 large carrots, peeled and quartered

10 small onions, skinned and quartered

6 medium potatoes

1 head cabbage

Cover corned beef with water in large pot. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Keep checking water level to make sure corned beef is covered. Cook approximately 1 hour per pound.

About 45 minutes before end of cooking time, put in carrots and onions.

About 30 minutes before end, put in potatoes. Check if meat is overcooked (it will start to fall apart); remove if necessary.

About 10-15 minutes before end, put in cabbage.

Note: Do not BOIL. Simmer only.

Finish cooking until vegetables reach desired tenderness.

Serve with yellow mustard.

Mama Hungry, via Joy of Cooking

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Irish Soda Bread

We baked four different mini-loaves placed apart on a silpat-lined cookie sheet for about 40 minutes.

4 cups flour
½ cup sugar
3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2-3 handfuls caraway seeds
1 cup raisins
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon melted butter

Generously grease a large iron skillet (or use a pizza stone). turn on oven to 350°F. Mix together dry ingredients. Add milk and butter. Bake 1 hour.
Note: You might need to add extra milk.

a friend of my MIL

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Colcannon

4 medium to large all-purpose potatoes, such as
Russet, peeled and cut into chunks
Coarse salt, for boiling water
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 head dark curly kale, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup whole milk, eyeball it

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, fresh or grated (I don’t
remember adding nutmeg)

1 teaspoon ground thyme
2 scallions, sliced
A handful of fresh parsley, chopped

Boil potatoes for 15 minutes in salted water. Drain
potatoes and return them to the hot pot and mash.

Heat stock or broth to a simmer. Chop kale tops,
discarding tough stems. Add kale to broth and cover.
Simmer 10 to 12 minutes.

In a large skillet over moderate heat melt butter and
add milk. Season with nutmeg and thyme and add
scallions to the pan. Remove kale from cooking liquid
to the milk and butter mixture using a slotted spoon.
Stir in 1/2 cup of cooking liquid. Add mashed potatoes
to milk and kale and stir until combined and creamy, 1
or 2 minutes. Stir in parsley and season with salt and
pepper, to taste.

(I also made a well on the top and added butter, just
in case you needed more butter ;)

Time Changes Suck

It's 9 p.m. and my kids aren't even tucked in bed yet. The time change has thrown them off completely. And us too. Blah.

Light and Dry

Sending hopes for restored power and drier weather soon to my NVC friends (more on today's workshop later) today who are without power and near flooded roads.

Also, to my in-laws, who lost power as we were on the phone with them.

Of course, y'all won't know we're thinking of you until you get your power back!

Monkeying Around

We had a dinner party tonight with four of our regular playgroup friends (the ones who met on Mondays over the summer) coming over to keep us company because Mama was working late. Preparations started this morning before school when I put the minestrone in the slow cooker. Sis helped pour in the broth and stir things around. She was very concerned that I was going to do other cooking while she was at school but I told her that our friends were bringing the rest. She apparently talked about the dinner party--and the friends bringing everything else!--all through school (one of her classmates is in the playgroup with us). I'm just relieved she didn't invite the whole class!

When they got home, I had a surprise for them: I'd purchased a flat (i.e. not fluted) Bundt pan at the store, as well as fixings for Monkey Bread! Now, we'd never made the famous sugary-buttery pull-apart bread (which I now have discovered was probably made famous, and certainly perfected, by Texas's own Julia Child, Helen Corbitt, whose cookbook my mom once gave me), but we did have it at Mama Teacher's house once. And I thought it would be both a good rainy day activity and a nice treat for our friends.

And I was right on both counts: Sis and Bud loved rolling the quartered biscuit dough (alas, I did not make the dough from scratch. But I will next time) in the cinnamon-sugar and then especially enjoyed watching me pour the melted brown sugar-butter mixture on top of the dough balls. I mean, really, what's not to like? The bread was ready just as people showed up and we all tore into it right away. I think it was only the serving of dinner and the presentation of triple-chip cookies (more on that if I can get the recipe) that kept us from eating the whole thing.

Then one of the moms told me she had made monkey bread with apple slices. Which got me thinking, what else can you do with monkey bread? I immediately thought of my orange biscuit recipe, which could so easily be translated into pull-apart form. And so I went looking all over the internet for variations. And this is pretty much what I discovered: the exact dough recipes (when a variety of pre-made biscuit doughs aren't being used) vary some, as does the ratio of butter to sugar, but the result seems pretty much the same, and the add-ins are endless, from chocolate to apples to marmalade/other jams to bananas to blueberries to raisins/nuts to maple syrup, etc etc etc (plus the whole arena of savory breads, which interested me tonight not at all). I found whole wheat doughs, bread machine doughs, and a list of different pre-made biscuits far beyond the familiar Grands buttermilk. (For a variety of recipes, see Recipezaar or Allrecipes. For an intro, see the LATimes article).

And so, I imagine it's not the last you've heard of this monkey business.

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Mama Teacher's Monkey Bread

1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cans (16.3 oz each) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, if desired
1/2 cup raisins, if desired
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 12-cup fluted tube pan. 2. In large plastic food-storage bag, mix sugar and cinnamon. Separate dough into 16 biscuits; cut each into quarters. Shake in bag to coat. Arrange in pan, adding walnuts and raisins among the biscuit pieces. 3. Mix brown sugar and butter; pour over biscuit pieces. 4. Bake 28 to 32 minutes or until golden brown and no longer doughy in center. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Turn upside down onto serving plate; pull apart to serve. Serve warm.

Pillsbury website

Bake Sale!

Virtually support concerned NYC parents who are outraged by the city's ban on homemade baked goods for bake sales in favor of junk food like Pop Tarts and Dorritos: submit your favorite bake-sale recipe here. And keep checking the comments for more delicious recipes. I sent in Tex-Mex Chocolate Sheet Cake.

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Tex-Mex Chocolate Sheet Cake

This is super-popular (both in my home state of Texas, where it is a staple, and now transplanted here in CT) and cuts very easily into squares once it's cooled. Can be made without the nuts, as those are often banned at bake sales. Freezes beautifully. This particular recipe comes from my mom.

1 stick margarine or butter

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2-1oz. squares unsweetened chocolate or 6 tablespoons cocoa

1 cup water

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk (to sour regular milk, place 1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar in 1/2 cups measure, fill with milk)

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine margarine, oil, chocolate and water in a saucepan and heat until chocolate is melted. Combine flour, baking soda, sugar, milk, eggs, cinnamon and vanilla in a large bowl, then blend with first mixture. Pour batter into a greased 12 x 18 sheet cake pan and bake 20-25 minutes or until cake is done (top springs back when touched lightly). Leave cake in pan and frost with icing while cake is still warm.

Icing

1 stick margarine or butter

2-1 oz. squares unsweetened chocolate (or 6 tablespoons cocoa plus 2 tablespoons

of margarine or butter)

6 tablespoons milk

1 lb. powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup chopped pecans

Combine margarine, chocolate, and milk in a saucepan over medium-high heat until bubbles form around the edge. Remove from heat. Stir in powdered sugar, a little at a time (this is important). Stir in vanilla and pecans. Beat to a spreading consistency. Spread warm icing on warm cake.