I think we all have day to day "to-do" lists, but I also have great big LIFETIME to do lists. Here is a sample...
*Learn to ride a motorcycle
*Learn how to knit
*Make some real clothing,(e.g. sewing, advanced)
*Travel to Italy, stay in a villa, gain 10 pounds
*Learn to snow ski
*Go surfing (learn to surf)
Those are some of the "fun" things on the list, there is also harder stuff.
*Be honest. Be really honest with people.
*Go to college
*Be financially responsible
*Face things I find challenging
*Stop bluffing.
Then there is some random stuff that I may or may never accomplish.
*Win an award that requires a ball gown to accept it
*Create a vegetable garden and cook and eat out of it
*Own a house with a wrap around porch
*Drive a semi-truck
My brain is feeling crunchy-fried right now, so I am not going to flesh this out more. What's on your life time list? Do you have one? Do you have a list of things you never want to do (again?)
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Cook Once, Eat Twice
"Cook once, eat twice" is my mantra; living by this simple principle allows me to make food for my family every night. Even on super-busy "book night and dance recital" sort of nights. Friday night I made a pot roast with oven-roasted veggies and green beans. I served the food and saved all the beef drippings and put them in a small glass bowl. Today I took the leftover roast and cubed it and dusted the cubes with flour. I took a stock pot and sweated some onions and celery, then I added a the beef cubes. After they browned I deglazed the pan with some red wine and added the reserved beef drippings, 1 c. of beef stock and some water (enough to cover the beef). After they came to a boil I added the leftover carrots from last night, then the leftover potatoes and then the green beans in the last 5 minutes. If the flour from the beef does not sufficiently thicken the broth you can add a tsp or so of cornstarch mixed with water to the stew. Salt and pepper to taste.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Pumpkin bread!
So, something happened to me the other day, something unexpected. The pumpkin patch at church had some bruised pumpkins they could not sell so they gave me one. A whole pumpkin. A great big, partly bruised and soggy pumpkin.
I gingerly brought it home; taking care to position its bruised side up from the car floor and bringing it upstairs like a bomb squad tech cradling a live grenade. I could just imagine losing my grip on it and seeing it smash Gallagher-like down the stairs.
When I got it to the kitchen I washed off the outside of the gourd and carved it into rough quarters. I removed the strings and seeds, combing my fingers through the gooey stringy pulp to remove seeds for roasting. This was my first cooking pumpkin, I wanted the whole experience. After the insides were cleaned out I chopped the quarters into big chunks and set it in a large pot to boil. When it came to a boil I reduced the heat to simmer and left the lid on for about an hour. I fished out the steaming hot pumpkin and cut off the rind and placed the pumpkin chunks in a mixing bowl. After they were all peeled I pureed them with an immersion blender and tried bagging one cup increments in sandwich baggies for freezing. At this point Lee asked if the (still extremely hot) pumpkin puree would melt the baggies. I panicked and threw the whole bowl into the fridge to take care of tomorrow.
Tomorrow of course turned into the day after (today) where I finished bagging the puree and reserved 2 cups for making 2 loaves of pumpkin bread. I found some recipes online but used my own best judgement to cobble together my own recipe. I have never made pumpkin bread before, but I have made quick breads, most often banana bread. Here is what I came up with...
It's the Great Pumpkin Bread!
2 C. pureed fresh pumpkin or
1 (16) oz. can pumpkin
1. C. white whole wheat flour
2 1/2C. regular all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups sugar or 1 1/2 C. white sugar plus 1/2 C. brown sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
1 and 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Water:
1/2 cup water if you are using fresh cooked pumpkin
OR
2/3 cup water if you are using commercial canned pumpkin
Makes 2 loaves.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together all dry ingredients. Add pumpkin puree, water, beaten eggs, oil. Mix just to combine (do not overwork). Add nuts if desired. Grease and flour two loaf pans. Pour batter into pans. Bake for approximately one hour or until loaves are a deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs. Allow to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before they are removed to a cooling rack to cool completely.
The smell as these babies cooked is just incredible! They were delicious. I am going to experiment and see how these freeze. Banana bread freezes well so I am sure these will as well.
I washed and dried the pumpkin seeds, then misted them lightly with olive oil. I toasted the seeds for about 20 minutes all together with frequent trips to the oven to rotate the pan and check for browning and doneness. I scooped the seeds off the cookie sheet with a spatula and placed them in a small brown lunch bag with a few teaspoons of salt. I shook them in the bag to coat with salt. My daughter loved them so much she has requested they be packed in her lunch. So I think my first pumpkin deconstruction went very well overall.
I gingerly brought it home; taking care to position its bruised side up from the car floor and bringing it upstairs like a bomb squad tech cradling a live grenade. I could just imagine losing my grip on it and seeing it smash Gallagher-like down the stairs.
When I got it to the kitchen I washed off the outside of the gourd and carved it into rough quarters. I removed the strings and seeds, combing my fingers through the gooey stringy pulp to remove seeds for roasting. This was my first cooking pumpkin, I wanted the whole experience. After the insides were cleaned out I chopped the quarters into big chunks and set it in a large pot to boil. When it came to a boil I reduced the heat to simmer and left the lid on for about an hour. I fished out the steaming hot pumpkin and cut off the rind and placed the pumpkin chunks in a mixing bowl. After they were all peeled I pureed them with an immersion blender and tried bagging one cup increments in sandwich baggies for freezing. At this point Lee asked if the (still extremely hot) pumpkin puree would melt the baggies. I panicked and threw the whole bowl into the fridge to take care of tomorrow.
Tomorrow of course turned into the day after (today) where I finished bagging the puree and reserved 2 cups for making 2 loaves of pumpkin bread. I found some recipes online but used my own best judgement to cobble together my own recipe. I have never made pumpkin bread before, but I have made quick breads, most often banana bread. Here is what I came up with...
It's the Great Pumpkin Bread!
2 C. pureed fresh pumpkin or
1 (16) oz. can pumpkin
1. C. white whole wheat flour
2 1/2C. regular all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups sugar or 1 1/2 C. white sugar plus 1/2 C. brown sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
1 and 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Water:
1/2 cup water if you are using fresh cooked pumpkin
OR
2/3 cup water if you are using commercial canned pumpkin
Makes 2 loaves.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together all dry ingredients. Add pumpkin puree, water, beaten eggs, oil. Mix just to combine (do not overwork). Add nuts if desired. Grease and flour two loaf pans. Pour batter into pans. Bake for approximately one hour or until loaves are a deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs. Allow to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before they are removed to a cooling rack to cool completely.
The smell as these babies cooked is just incredible! They were delicious. I am going to experiment and see how these freeze. Banana bread freezes well so I am sure these will as well.
I washed and dried the pumpkin seeds, then misted them lightly with olive oil. I toasted the seeds for about 20 minutes all together with frequent trips to the oven to rotate the pan and check for browning and doneness. I scooped the seeds off the cookie sheet with a spatula and placed them in a small brown lunch bag with a few teaspoons of salt. I shook them in the bag to coat with salt. My daughter loved them so much she has requested they be packed in her lunch. So I think my first pumpkin deconstruction went very well overall.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Random Pop Cultural Musings
Regardless of your political affiliation the Nation should be outraged by Tom DeLay's "dancing" on DWTS. I am even more outraged by the camera work focusing on his buttocks in the opening moments of the song.
Jon Stewart and the "Daily Show" have been having a good year, some great interviews, especially the one with Jim Cramer.
Project Runway, most boring season ever. Where the hell are Nina Garcia and Michael Kors?
Is it just me or is SYTYCD focusing less on the crazy auditions and more on the real dancers? I think so, and I approve whole-heartedly.
Neil Patrick Harris is my secret TV boyfriend and I have a budding girl crush on Felicia Day. Even when she is in those annoying Sears commercials.
Rachel Maddow rocks those glasses. She rocks them like a hurricane.
I sort of want to call 1-888-OOPS-JEW.
Martha Stewart's annual Halloween issue is looked forward to in this house with the fervor one usually associates with Christmas presents or birthdays.
I follow three cast members of ST:TNG and I especially love Wil Wheaton and I dream of the day he re-tweets me. The other two are LeVar Burton and Brent Spiner. So cool!
I don't always get Michelle Obama's high-waisted belts, but I love her personal sense of style. At least she is not robotically wearing solid color skirt suits and a strand of pearls.
Qaddafi at the U.N. -- Joan Rivers, melted in the sun, wrapped in butcher paper and placed on auto-babble. Even the translators sounded like "Really? WTF is this guy saying?!"
The frozen 360 degree view of the cast of CSI was actually kind of cool. I haven't watched an episode of that show since the Tarantino directed one.
ANTM is on the fence for me. This may be the last season I watch. I feel like Tyra needs to stop trying to make "smize" happen.
Dollhouse is on tonight, premiere at 9 p.m. Set the DVR's kiddo!!!
How about you guys? Anything out there in the pop-cultural universe I need to know about?
(Above image from wilwheaton.typepad.com )
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Cooks and Books
My favorite things in the world are food and books and I definitely need both to live. Or I need both to live happily for sure. Here is a list of some books about food and even housekeeping that I find indispensable!
CookWise by Shirley Corriher, she deftly reveals the science behind recipes. Why does bread dough change with what type of flour you use? The answer (different levels of protein affect gluten formation) and a billion other answers are here.
Bernard Clayton's New Book of Bread (along with a few frantic phone calls to my friend Donna Lea) taught me to bake my own bread. Whole wheat, white, multi grain, veggie breads, they are all in here! Fabulous!
Seasoning Savvy by Alice Arndt (my cousin!) I go back to this book over and over again. It is an encyclopedia of information on herbs, spices and flavorings. My number one tip from this book is if your recipe calls for juice of a citrus add zest, if it asks for zest add juice. Wonderful. I miss her so much.
Salad People by Mollie Katzen, a children's cookbook with unique illustrations that allows even pre-readers to make their own food with minimal help from Mom and Dad.
Homekeeping Handbook by Martha Stewart, if I can't figure out how or when or how often to clean something guess who knows? Martha. She is my idol and I love her.
Big Book of 30 Minute Dinners by Better Homes and Garden, well before Rachel Ray I had this awesome little book filled with terrific weeknight dinners. I don't use it as much now, because I have absorbed the techniques and adapted them to my own cooking style and ingredients I have on hand.
And an indispensable resource online? www.savingdinner.com all recipes by LeAnn Ely. She is a mom and a nutritionist and her food is delicious and easy to make. You can sign up for a Menu Mailer to make grocery shopping and meal prep super easy! I like her 5 for the Freezer series. You make 5 meals in 20 minutes and freeze them for future use! I did some before I had Bela and they helped out on those frantic first few weeks home with the baby.
CookWise by Shirley Corriher, she deftly reveals the science behind recipes. Why does bread dough change with what type of flour you use? The answer (different levels of protein affect gluten formation) and a billion other answers are here.
Bernard Clayton's New Book of Bread (along with a few frantic phone calls to my friend Donna Lea) taught me to bake my own bread. Whole wheat, white, multi grain, veggie breads, they are all in here! Fabulous!
Seasoning Savvy by Alice Arndt (my cousin!) I go back to this book over and over again. It is an encyclopedia of information on herbs, spices and flavorings. My number one tip from this book is if your recipe calls for juice of a citrus add zest, if it asks for zest add juice. Wonderful. I miss her so much.
Salad People by Mollie Katzen, a children's cookbook with unique illustrations that allows even pre-readers to make their own food with minimal help from Mom and Dad.
Homekeeping Handbook by Martha Stewart, if I can't figure out how or when or how often to clean something guess who knows? Martha. She is my idol and I love her.
Big Book of 30 Minute Dinners by Better Homes and Garden, well before Rachel Ray I had this awesome little book filled with terrific weeknight dinners. I don't use it as much now, because I have absorbed the techniques and adapted them to my own cooking style and ingredients I have on hand.
And an indispensable resource online? www.savingdinner.com all recipes by LeAnn Ely. She is a mom and a nutritionist and her food is delicious and easy to make. You can sign up for a Menu Mailer to make grocery shopping and meal prep super easy! I like her 5 for the Freezer series. You make 5 meals in 20 minutes and freeze them for future use! I did some before I had Bela and they helped out on those frantic first few weeks home with the baby.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Healthy Fat
I have a picture of me at my absolute skinniest. I am sitting on my bed with Daus, he has brought me a rose as a goodbye gift. I am leaving for California soon. He didn't know but my abuela had just died that day. My eyes are shadowed from crying, and my hair is a mess. But when I look at the picture I notice my tiny bird-like little wrists. You can see my collar bone jutting out a bit. My shoulders are narrow. I am swimming in what I know intellectually was a size small t-shirt. But it is baggy on me.
I go to California and immediately kind strangers offer me diet and exercise tips to lose the extra weight. Some offer me diet pills, another tells me she counts every cracker out of the box and only consumes an exact serving. She spends lunch putting together cracker fragments to make whole crackers to count.
I come home for a visit. Everyone asks if I have been feeling okay. The bridemaid's dress I was measured for before I left has to be taken in a bit. I end up staying in Florida. I never return to California. Not even for a visit.
Gradually I put on weight, all my new clothes get tight. I keep a size 6 pink brocade corset-style top for a long time. Just to admire it, maybe, it hangs in my closet like a memento from a trip long ago.
My weight goes up and down. I get married. I have a baby, then 5 years later another one. Maternity clothes, transition clothes, I even had one of those dreaded velour tracksuits once in those long weeks between having the baby and wearing your old clothes again. Sometimes I lose weight and buy new pants. Sometimes I gain weight and wear the same 4 garments over and over till I break down and buy something comfortable. I have been in size XL tshirts for awhile. Even when I fit into an L shirt I buy bigger so they don't shrink and get too tight. I weigh myself at the doctor's office, but only when I am pregnant so I really don't know where I am at right now.
I want to begin a diet and exercise program. I really do. I think it would help me feel better, keep up with two little tornadoes I call my kids. Being in better shape would help me enjoy all the outdoorsy stuff we do here more. I might take up ballroom dance or learn to scuba dive. But mostly I want to live to be a really, really old lady and see my great-great grandkids. And flying cars. And the first nobody cares about his/her race/gender/orientation president, you know. Crazy future stuff!
But everytime I try and set some sort of goal I get scared, freeze up and pig out on chocolate. I want to be healthy, not a scary skinny super-model. I want to be happy, not hungry. I want to enjoy my life and enjoy my family, not be some exercise facist and give my kids' (both girls) some sort of complex. But everytime I put myself into the mindset, my brain goes back to the bad place, where I am always trying to lose about 30 pounds. Sad-eyed Suzanne, back there? The one holding the rose and trying to smile? Sad, wishes she could lose about 30 pounds and that belly pooch of hers. Skinny Suzanne, post baby 1 and after a year of breastfeeding? Wishes she could lose that last 30 pounbds of baby weight. 8th month pregnant Suzanne, moving her family almost single handedly from one house to another, as she hauls boxes and her giant belly upstairs and down; she wants to lose the baby weight plus about 30 pounds.
I think I have wanted to lose 30 pounds since I weighed 130 pounds, in grade school. And no matter how much I lose, there is always another 30 pounds to go, its like an infinite goal line that stretches ahead of me. I can never come near it.
So here's the thing... Can I be healthy fat? Can I just say, it doesn't matter what size clothes I wear? Can I just acknowledge that clothing size is an artificial construct of the fashion industry? Can I ignore my weight when I am in exercise and diet mode? Can I just move my body because I want to? Can I stop fantasizing about buying a bathing suit in some other color than sold black when I magically lose "all the weight"? Can I just be present, in this body, and be thankful to it for two healthy miraculous pregnancies and not deride it's stretch marks and saddlebags?
I really don't know. But I am going to try.
I go to California and immediately kind strangers offer me diet and exercise tips to lose the extra weight. Some offer me diet pills, another tells me she counts every cracker out of the box and only consumes an exact serving. She spends lunch putting together cracker fragments to make whole crackers to count.
I come home for a visit. Everyone asks if I have been feeling okay. The bridemaid's dress I was measured for before I left has to be taken in a bit. I end up staying in Florida. I never return to California. Not even for a visit.
Gradually I put on weight, all my new clothes get tight. I keep a size 6 pink brocade corset-style top for a long time. Just to admire it, maybe, it hangs in my closet like a memento from a trip long ago.
My weight goes up and down. I get married. I have a baby, then 5 years later another one. Maternity clothes, transition clothes, I even had one of those dreaded velour tracksuits once in those long weeks between having the baby and wearing your old clothes again. Sometimes I lose weight and buy new pants. Sometimes I gain weight and wear the same 4 garments over and over till I break down and buy something comfortable. I have been in size XL tshirts for awhile. Even when I fit into an L shirt I buy bigger so they don't shrink and get too tight. I weigh myself at the doctor's office, but only when I am pregnant so I really don't know where I am at right now.
I want to begin a diet and exercise program. I really do. I think it would help me feel better, keep up with two little tornadoes I call my kids. Being in better shape would help me enjoy all the outdoorsy stuff we do here more. I might take up ballroom dance or learn to scuba dive. But mostly I want to live to be a really, really old lady and see my great-great grandkids. And flying cars. And the first nobody cares about his/her race/gender/orientation president, you know. Crazy future stuff!
But everytime I try and set some sort of goal I get scared, freeze up and pig out on chocolate. I want to be healthy, not a scary skinny super-model. I want to be happy, not hungry. I want to enjoy my life and enjoy my family, not be some exercise facist and give my kids' (both girls) some sort of complex. But everytime I put myself into the mindset, my brain goes back to the bad place, where I am always trying to lose about 30 pounds. Sad-eyed Suzanne, back there? The one holding the rose and trying to smile? Sad, wishes she could lose about 30 pounds and that belly pooch of hers. Skinny Suzanne, post baby 1 and after a year of breastfeeding? Wishes she could lose that last 30 pounbds of baby weight. 8th month pregnant Suzanne, moving her family almost single handedly from one house to another, as she hauls boxes and her giant belly upstairs and down; she wants to lose the baby weight plus about 30 pounds.
I think I have wanted to lose 30 pounds since I weighed 130 pounds, in grade school. And no matter how much I lose, there is always another 30 pounds to go, its like an infinite goal line that stretches ahead of me. I can never come near it.
So here's the thing... Can I be healthy fat? Can I just say, it doesn't matter what size clothes I wear? Can I just acknowledge that clothing size is an artificial construct of the fashion industry? Can I ignore my weight when I am in exercise and diet mode? Can I just move my body because I want to? Can I stop fantasizing about buying a bathing suit in some other color than sold black when I magically lose "all the weight"? Can I just be present, in this body, and be thankful to it for two healthy miraculous pregnancies and not deride it's stretch marks and saddlebags?
I really don't know. But I am going to try.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
In which I take a vacation from Facebook
I tend to be a person who edits herself. Oh, not when I am speaking, no. Things, often very, very inappropriate things come flying out of my mouth at an unseemly rate. I once knocked over an unopened can of coke as I was ringing up the youngest, cutest professor at the bookstore of my hubby's law school. I apologized and urged him to be careful opening the can. He said, "Ah, if it gets on my tie, you mean I might have to take the darn thing off?" I said, "Yes, but what if it gets on your pants?"
So, in my writing, I tend toward careful editing. Its practically the only chance I get to think about what I am trying to say.
I have had some bad Facebook experiences with people who could perhaps use a bit more of an "editorial process". It started with everyone going bananas about Health Care reform. I posted links to several independent sources that pointed out, "Why no, Obama is not going to kill your grandfather." I want to debate the issues; I don't want to rehash the scare tactics. This began a 27 post reply process from many people I have known for years. Most of them were posting about their own trials and tribulations with insurance companies or the difficulty they have had getting insurance at all. However one of my friends, let's call him D compared my friend N's dying of AIDS (due to his inability to get quality health care or insurance) to D working to repair people's computers for free. What the what? We took a wrong turn down the free-market expressway with that one, baby. Somehow adding a non-profit component to the healthcare system is like you working on computers for free? And that won't work? Well, thanks for clearing THAT up. We can all rest easy, apparently to get rid of AIDS all you need to do is reboot and trust the invisible hand of the market.
Ted Kennedy's passing brought out a whole 'nother level of vitriol I was unprepared for. You know, when Nixon died, I would no sooner have trashed him to all of my friends than I would have travelled to his grave to dance a jig. Sure, Nixon was not my favorite president, but when someone dies you do not begin the wretched smack talk. I was raised to believe in basic civility. So after the last tasteless and horrific "joke" about his passing I decided to take a break. I'll be back. The lure of the "Crack"book is strong, but I won't be on as often ever again. It's a time drain and not necessary to my life. And apparently it brings out the crazy in a lot of people that I love. If I wanted that, I'd just go to a family reunion...
So, in my writing, I tend toward careful editing. Its practically the only chance I get to think about what I am trying to say.
I have had some bad Facebook experiences with people who could perhaps use a bit more of an "editorial process". It started with everyone going bananas about Health Care reform. I posted links to several independent sources that pointed out, "Why no, Obama is not going to kill your grandfather." I want to debate the issues; I don't want to rehash the scare tactics. This began a 27 post reply process from many people I have known for years. Most of them were posting about their own trials and tribulations with insurance companies or the difficulty they have had getting insurance at all. However one of my friends, let's call him D compared my friend N's dying of AIDS (due to his inability to get quality health care or insurance) to D working to repair people's computers for free. What the what? We took a wrong turn down the free-market expressway with that one, baby. Somehow adding a non-profit component to the healthcare system is like you working on computers for free? And that won't work? Well, thanks for clearing THAT up. We can all rest easy, apparently to get rid of AIDS all you need to do is reboot and trust the invisible hand of the market.
Ted Kennedy's passing brought out a whole 'nother level of vitriol I was unprepared for. You know, when Nixon died, I would no sooner have trashed him to all of my friends than I would have travelled to his grave to dance a jig. Sure, Nixon was not my favorite president, but when someone dies you do not begin the wretched smack talk. I was raised to believe in basic civility. So after the last tasteless and horrific "joke" about his passing I decided to take a break. I'll be back. The lure of the "Crack"book is strong, but I won't be on as often ever again. It's a time drain and not necessary to my life. And apparently it brings out the crazy in a lot of people that I love. If I wanted that, I'd just go to a family reunion...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)