Throwing Spoons

Whoopie!

2011-03-27T11:00:00.000-04:00

I thought about calling this post "Making Whoopie with Martha," but thought better of it. I'm talking about whoopie pies, of course. There's nothing pie like about them, but they certainly do make me say, "Whoopeeee!"

Just about every New Englander knows what a whoopie pie is. Go much south of, say, Pennsylvania, or into the wilds of New York state, and you may get a funny look if you request such a thing. They are well worth knowing about. A fluffy chocolate cake/cookie hybrid, sandwiched together with a fluffy vanilla filling; delicious. (My guess is someone in research and development at Nabisco is from New England, and that's how Oreo Cakesters evolved. However, if you've had a Cakester, don't assume you've had a whoopie pie. Same family, but nowhere near as good.)

My Gramma Bonnie used to make them for special treats, and I have her recipe, but this is not it. This is a deeper, more chocolaty version than hers, and I love. it. to. bits. I finally perfected a filling that I like, too, which is what's been hanging me up from posting the recipe.

Try them out - let me know what you think of them!

WHOOPIE PIES

Cakes:
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, sift together, flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar with a mixer (I use my stand mixer) on low until just combined. Increase speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes.
Add egg and vanilla and beat for two more minutes.
Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk and beat on low until incorporated. Repeat with remaining flour and milk and beat until combined.
Using a tablespoon or cookie scoop, drop batter on baking sheet two inches apart. Bake for about 10-12 minutes (10 for 1-tablespoon size, 12 for 2-tablespoon size) or until pies spring back when pressed gently.
Remove from oven and cool for about five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

1 Tbsp of batter/small cookie scoop should make about 48 two-inch cakes or 24 pies.
2 Tbsp of batter/medium cookie scoop should make about 30 four-inch cakes or 15 pies.

Filling:
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups Marshmallow Fluff (or marshmallow creme, if you don't have Fluff locally)

With electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar together until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla and salt. Beat in Fluff until incorporated, about 2 minutes. Refrigerate filling until slightly firm, about 30 minutes. (Bowl can be wrapped and refrigerated for up to 2 days.)

Dollop about a tablespoon of filling on center of flat side of half of the cakes. Top with flat side of remaining cakes and gently press until filling spreads to edge of cake. Serve.

Whoopie pies may be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to three days.

Yeehar! Caviar!

2010-12-27T11:10:00.004-05:00

Merry New Year, everyone! We're digging out from a Boxing Day snowstorm, which postponed our family Christmas party, which means that we have to eat up some stuff that I made for the party. Fortunately, one of the things that we need to eat is a fairly large bowl of Texas Caviar.

If you're squeamish about eating fish eggs, there's no need to stop reading, as there's nothing remotely close to actual caviar in Texas Caviar. My dear friend (since high school days) and faithful reader Kim brought a bowl of this to our house for a party the weekend after Thanksgiving, and it's addictive, sort of a bean-based (rather than tomato-based) salsa. I highly recommend it for your next party!

Texas Caviar

"Caviar" Ingredients:
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 can corn, drained and rinsed
1 jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
1 red onion, chopped fine
2 stalks of celery, chopped fine
Optional: 1/2 jar jalapenos, chopped fine

Stir all ingredients together in large bowl.

Marinade ingredients:
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar

Heat on stove until sugar dissolves. Let mixture cool before pouring over caviar mixture. Cover bowl and allow to marinate overnight, for best results. Strain caviar (but be sure not to rinse!) in colander and serve with Fritos or tortilla chips.

Out, out, damned spot!

2010-10-25T11:52:00.003-04:00

If you'd walked into my kitchen last night and seen my hands, you might have called the homicide detective at the local police station, as my hands appeared to be covered in blood. In fact, they're still a little pink this morning. The victim? Some lovely oven-roasted beets.

I hated beets as a kid. If we had them (which wasn't often, due I think in part to my protestations), they were out of a can. They had a bit of a bite to them that I just couldn't get around.

I decided a few years back that it was time to try beets for real - nice fresh ones, not the canned variety - and I loved them. I loved them so much that I decided to make them for Thanksgiving which, given the somewhat labor-intensive last-minute prep, was not the best idea I'd ever had, though they went over very well at dinner. Now I save them to make for just the two of us, or a small dinner with friends...not when I'm cooking for 16.

The reason for the pink fingers? These don't get peeled before roasting, but after. The skins slip off fairly easily, but you'll be covered with juice...and beet juice stains. Oh, how it stains. If you're particular about that, you may want to don some gloves and perhaps an apron before peeling.

Roasted Beets

1 bunch beets, approximately one pound
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400F. While oven is heating, scrub beets well; nobody likes gritty beets. Trim off tops and any dangling root ends, and wrap each beet individually in aluminum foil. Place beets in a shallow baking dish or on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast at 400F for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on size of beets.

When they are done, a skewer should pierce the beet with no resistance, and come out easily. Remove beets from oven. Allow to rest for a few minutes and then carefully unwrap them from the foil - beware of steam from the packets. Allow to cool a bit (I ran mine under a little tepid water), then carefully peel. Slice into 1/4" slices. Put sliced beets in a medium bowl. Add olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, and toss gently. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Pöpcørn

2010-07-02T19:33:00.000-04:00

Popcorn Shrimp!

This just made me laugh so hard I cried. Enjoy.

For added enjoyment, watch a second time with the subtitles turned on. Seriously. Do it.

Oh, oh, oh, ice cold milk...

2010-06-29T10:40:00.003-04:00

Anyone remember that commercial? The next line is "...and an Oreo cookie."

I'd like to amend that to "...and an Oreo cupcake."

My friend Lora (waves at Lora) is planning a party for her husband, who's just a few weeks older than I; we each have a birthday coming up soon. (It's not a number I'm particularly excited about celebrating, but I guess it beats the alternative.) She's planning to make several kinds of cupcakes, one of which is Oreo, or cookies and cream - a vanilla cupcake with Oreo chunks within.

We found a recipe and did a trial run a couple of weeks ago, but were less than thrilled with the result; "hockey pucks" would be a little harsh, but we weren't crazy about them, so I told her I'd see what I could do.

What you see in the picture is the result of my experiment. It's a moist, dense cake, studded with Oreo pieces, as well as a half an Oreo on the bottom of the cupcake. She's thinking of a cream cheese frosting; I went with a small-batch butter frosting, which is a little like Oreo filling. Despite being back on Weight Watchers, I have succumbed to the deliciousness of these little numbers. Lots of salad for me to make up the points I spent, but oh, so worth it.

Click here for printable recipe!

Oreo Cupcakes with Small-Batch Butter Frosting

Makes 12 cupcakes

18 ounce package of Oreos (you’ll need two of the three “rows” of Oreos)
1 tablespoon flour
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup sour cream (I used reduced-fat)
1 whole egg plus 2 egg yolks at room temperature
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Line muffin tin with cupcake liners. Gently twist apart twelve Oreos. This will leave you with twelve wafers with filling, and twelve plain wafers. Place halves with cream filling, filling side up, in cupcake liners.

Cut 6 of the remaining plain chocolate wafers in half for garnishing cupcakes; a serrated bread knife works well for this task. The other 6 wafers may be chopped or crushed for additional garnishing. Set aside.

The remaining Oreos from the row you took those Oreos from, plus another whole row, should be chopped into chunks; I cut them into quarters. In a small bowl, toss the quarters with a tablespoon of flour, which will allow for more even distribution of Oreo pieces in the batter.

In mixing bowl of stand mixer whisk together dry ingredients. Add sour cream, butter, egg and egg yolks, and vanilla, and beat until smooth, about 30 seconds. Remove bowl, scrape down sides, and gently mix in any remaining pockets of flour.

Gently fold in quartered Oreos.

With a two-ounce cookie scoop, portion batter into cupcake liners.

Bake 24-28 minutes. Tops should be slightly browned, and a toothpick should come out clean when inserted into the center of a cupcake.

Cool 10 minutes in muffin tin, then remove to rack.

When cool, frost with vanilla frosting.

Small-Batch Butter Frosting

Yield: about 2 1/3 cups

16 ounces (1 pound) confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), softened
4 to 6 tablespoons milk or half-and-half
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch salt (omit if using salted butter)

In large bowl, with mixer at medium-low speed, beat confectioners’ sugar, softened butter, vanilla, salt, and 3 tablespoons milk until smooth and blended. Beat in additional milk as needed for easy spreading consistency. Increase speed to medium-high, and beat until light and fluffy.

Coleslaw 2: Electric Boogaloo

2010-06-22T18:01:00.003-04:00

One of the first recipes I posted on here, nearly three years ago (!), was for coleslaw. Now, it's pretty tasty stuff - and I am not a coleslaw fan - but one problem with it is that it gets watery. It happens: mix some salt in with cabbage, and the moisture gets drawn out. No two ways about it; that's just the nature of salt.

There is, however, a way around it this issue. Salt the cabbage BEFORE you make the coleslaw. Sure, it's an extra step, but once you've drawn out the excess moisture, leaving surprisingly still-crisp cabbage behind, you can make your coleslaw ahead of time, instead of an hour before the event. In fact, the recipe I'm about to present will keep for up to three DAYS in the fridge. Not hours - DAYS. Get ready to make this for your next cookout or barbecue - perhaps for July 4th?

Printable recipe available - click here!

Creamy Buttermilk Coleslaw

Serves 4

Note: If you plan to serve the coleslaw immediately, rinse the salted cabbage in a large bowl of ice water, drain it in a colander, pick out any ice cubes, then pat the cabbage dry with paper towels before dressing.

1 pound cabbage (about 1/2 medium head), red or green or a combination, finely shredded (about 6 cups)
1 teaspoon salt
1 medium carrot , shredded on box grater

Dressing:
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 small shallot , minced (about 2 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Toss shredded cabbage and 1 teaspoon salt in colander or large mesh strainer (the basket of a salad spinner works, too) and set over medium bowl. Let stand until cabbage wilts, at least 1 hour, up to 4 hours. Rinse cabbage under cold running water. Press, but do not squeeze, to drain; pat dry with paper towels. Place wilted cabbage with the shredded carrot in a large bowl.

Stir together dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Pour dressing over cabbage and toss to combine; refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.

Coleslaw may be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Adapted from America's Test Kitchen.

A little redecorating

2010-06-16T17:44:00.003-04:00

In the spirit of my kitchen redo (which, by the way, is STILL not finished), I thought I'd spiff up the blog a little bit. Let me know what you think! I have some seasonal Sesame Street photos that will probably rotate through the banner at the top.

Coming soon: recipes for lamb burgers and tzatziki!

Healthy Hummus

2010-05-30T20:11:00.005-04:00

After a long hiatus and much talking about it, I'm really, REALLY back on the Weight Watchers bandwagon. I've stocked the fridge with fruits and veggies for snacking and counting my points. So far, so good.

I've been making hummus quite a bit recently, and I was a little bummed to discover that a 1/4 ounce serving was three points. A quarter ounce sounded like NOTHING. However, I dutifully measured it out this afternoon, and really? It's quite a good portion. Throw in some baby carrots and you've got yourself a nice filling snack.

The tahini - sesame paste - that you need for this should be available in the international foods section of your local grocery store. It's not inexpensive, but it's a lot cheaper to make your own hummus than to buy premade, and you can season it as you like - lots of garlic and a little cayenne is my personal preference.

(This is also fabulous with a little of that homemade pita bread I posted!)

Printable recipe available here!

Hummus

1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1-2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about one large lemon)
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup water

Process all ingredients in food processor until smooth. Transfer to serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to chill for at least 30 minutes before serving. Hummus will keep for up to two days.

Can't-Decide Cookies

2010-05-19T11:25:00.005-04:00

Oatmeal?

Peanut butter?

Chocolate chip?

These are few of my favorite things... and sometimes, it's hard to decide which kind of cookie to make. With this recipe, you don't have to decide - it's got it all! These met with rave reviews when I brought them to school last week.

About the baking time: keep an eye on the first batch, and judge accordingly. I started at ten minutes, and gradually upped it to 12, at which point I think they were still slightly on the underdone side - but I like soft cookies, so they were perfect.

This recipe makes around 4 dozen cookies or so; it can easily be halved.

You can get the printable recipe here!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup rolled oats
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

On medium speed, cream together butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat to combine. On low speed, gradually add the flour until just combined. Stir in the oats, and then the chocolate chips.

Use a medium cookie scoop (1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons) and drop dough onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden; they may look puffy and not-done, but will continue to bake on hot baking sheets. Cool cookies completely on the baking sheet. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

New feature at Throwing Spoons

2010-04-24T11:51:00.003-04:00

I'll be going back to my old posts and adding this feature, but going forward, you'll be able to download printable versions of whatever recipes I post. I've wanted to do this for a long time, and I just figured out a way (thanks, Google Docs!) to do it.

Now, I'm off to the store to get the makings for lamb burgers, tzatziki, and hummus. Mmmm.

In the center pocket

2010-04-11T12:40:00.004-04:00

It has been waaaaay too long since my last post. I kinda lost my cooking groove for a while, but I think I'm back!

I got to spend a few days recently with one of my best girlfriends, Annette. She and I have the same rhythm in the kitchen, and so work really well together; I love cooking with her. She is a bread baker par excellence. While I was there, she baked at least one kind of bread every day. Yeast bread has long been my Waterloo, so to actually watch and participate with someone who knows what they're doing with yeast bread was enlightening.

One of the things we made was pita bread, and I don't know if I'll ever buy it again. It's easy and delicious. I made some last night, along with some falafel, hummus, and a salad; combined, they made incredibly good pocket sandwiches. Give this a shot! The recipe doubles quite easily, but if you do, do NOT double the yeast - just add an extra teaspoon.

Click here for a printable version of the recipe.

Pita Bread

2 cups (8 ounces) unbleached white bread flour
¾ teaspoon salt
½ ounce fresh yeast (about 5 teaspoons) ((If doubling recipe, do not double yeast, just add one teaspoon extra)
7 ounces lukewarm (105-115F) water
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

Makes six 6-7" pita breads

Proof the yeast in the warm water in large mixing bowl. Whisk together the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Stir olive oil into water/yeast mixture, then add flour.

Knead mixture to a soft dough.

Knead for five minutes until smooth and elastic. Place in a large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place for about one hour, or until doubled in bulk.

Knock back the dough. On a lightly floured surface, divide dough into six equal pieces and shape into balls. Cover with oiled plastic wrap, and let rest for 5 minutes.

Roll out each ball of dough to an oval/circle about ¼ inch thick. Place on a floured dishtowel and cover with lightly oiled clear film. Leave to rise at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450F. Place baking sheets/stones in the oven to heat.

Place pitas on baking sheets/stones and bake 4-6 minutes, or until puffed up; they do not need to brown.

Transfer to wire rack to cool until warm, then cover with a dish towel to keep soft.

Chicken again?

2010-01-27T19:17:00.003-05:00

Sometimes, it's easy to get sucked into the same ol', same ol' chicken dishes. Chicken isn't too expensive, and lends itself to a wide variety of preparations, but if you're like me, it's easy to get stuck in a rut of the same recipes.

My friend Kim gave me this great, simple recipe for a honey-mustard chicken with a little bit of a curry kick to it. I've now made it with both bone-in, skin-on and (to lighten it up) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, and I'm happy to report that both were tender and juicy. This is a nice simple recipe for a weeknight.

One boneless, skinless breast, according to Kim's calculations, is about 6 WW points.

Click here for the printable recipe!

Honey-Mustard Chicken

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

1/4 cup honey

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

3 chicken breast halves (boneless, skinless or bone-in, skin-on)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Arrange chicken breast halves in a baking dish.

Mix together melted butter, honey, mustard, salt, and curry powder. Pour sauce over chicken, coating thoroughly.

Bake at 350F for about 40 minutes, or until internal temp reaches 165-175F, basting during baking time if desired.

Easiest holiday goodies ever

2009-12-27T23:09:00.005-05:00

My friend Mindi introduced me to these little bites of yummy goodness. I made some for our two holiday parties this weekend, and they disappeared very quickly. If you like the whole sweet/salty thing, and you have about ten minutes, these are for you!

Click here for printable recipe!

Rolo Pretzel Bites

Small pretzels, grid-shaped or twists - not rods!

Rolos, unwrapped (may also use other small chocolate candies, like Hershey Kisses or Hugs)

Plain M&Ms

Preheat oven to 250F.

Line jelly roll pan with parchment or foil. Place pretzels on baking sheet.

Top each pretzel with an unwrapped Rolo.

Bake at 250F for 6 1/2 minutes.

Remove from oven, and top each Rolo with an M&M, pressing down slightly so the Rolo flattens out a bit, and the M&M is stuck into the chocolate.

Allow to cool completely at room temperature, or pop them into the fridge to cool.

Thanksgiving wrap-up, 2009

2009-11-26T23:09:00.002-05:00

Wrestling with the turkey, 2009, originally uploaded by MarthaC.

Our eighth year of hosting Thanksgiving went pretty smoothly. Well, today went pretty smoothly. Yesterday was pretty scary.

You see, they came to install my new countertops yesterday, the day before Thanksgiving. Cutting it a little tight, yes, but better than working with plywood counters on The Big Day. They got here a little late, around 3 p.m. or so, and got right to work. The install was done in record time, at which point they asked Mr. Throwing Spoons if he was providing the faucet....which he was not. They were supposed to bring the faucet. The one that we had paid for.

"Can we bring it tomorrow?"

"Nope. Not going to work. Tomorrow's Thanksgiving. We're hosting dinner for 15 people. We need that faucet."

However, they didn't have it, and they had to get to another job, so they left. Shortly thereafter, I got out of work and called home, and got the scoop. It was approximately 4:20 at this point.

Trying not to have a fit, I called the company. No one answered, so I left a somewhat panicky message on their voice mail. I then managed to drive myself home, repeating to myself that of COURSE they would be there when I got home, with the faucet.

I pulled up to the house. No truck.

Cue hysteria.

I walked into the house, bawling, which Mr. Throwing Spoons initially interpreted as my emotional response to my beautiful new counters. He figured out fairly quickly that there was something else going on, and immediately called the company himself, and left another voice mail for them. By now, it was nearly 5:00.

Shortly thereafter, he headed to Home Depot for a faucet, as I was emailing the owner of the company. I stayed home, in case they called or showed up. Good thing. About ten minutes after I sent the email, the owner called, EXTREMELY apologetic, and let me know that his sister (who works with him) was on her way over with the faucet. I called Mr. T-S to let him know that he didn't need to go to Home Depot after all. It took him a while to get it installed, but I had water by 10 p.m. :)

Today there was, of course, the last-minute craziness of trying to get everything on the table at once, as usual, but mostly, it was pretty smooth. I didn't forget or scorch the stuffing, the turkey was moist (and beautiful - see photo), the gravy was perfect, and I was surrounded by people that I love.

It was interesting dealing with a new traffic pattern in the kitchen this year. For the most part, it worked pretty well, except when too many people were on the work side of the island. (Too many cooks, and all that.)

Dinner included:
Cheese and crackers
Shrimp cocktail

22 lb. turkey
Mashed potatoes
Stuffing
Roasted butternut squash puree
Green bean casserole
Sweet potatoes and apples
Homemade cranberry sauce AND jellied cranberry sauce (we have fans of each)
Rolls
Tofurky and roasted veggies
salad
vegan cranberry dumplings

Apple and pumpkin pie
Quick chocolate cake
ice cream
Hot fudge sauce

Notes for next year:

Apps: two bags of large shrimp, cocktail sauce, a couple of blocks of cheese, some Rondele, and crackers seemed just about right.

Turkey: If my uncle is coming, a 22-pound turkey will not cut it. He is a turkey fiend. Not much in the way of turkey leftovers for tomorrow, other than the turkey soup I've got bubbling away. Perhaps a 20-to-22 pound turkey plus a turkey breast?

Mashed potatoes: Once again, I went overboard with the potatoes. Five pounds probably would have been enough; I did about eight.

Stuffing: Plenty; two casserole dishes (red stoneware and another 2.5 qt.), and the smaller one is still full. Will post the recipe here soon.

Roasted butternut squash puree: I bought nearly eight pounds of squash, and have very little left. Will have to make more, as I just love it.

Green bean casserole: My aunt brought this. Not much left!

Sweet potatoes and apples: My aunt brought this. Haven't yet tried it, but have some leftovers.

Homemade cranberry sauce AND jellied cranberry sauce (we have fans of each): One can of the jellied would've been enough. One batch of the homemade was enough. Keep an eye on the orange zest; I only did half the orange, and it was almost more than enough.

Rolls: two dozen was plenty, even with my nieces, the roll fiends.

Tofurky and roasted veggies, salad, and cranberry dumplings: all brought by my brother's girlfriend, who is vegan. Not sure how many people tried the Tofurky and the dumplings, but I know the salad was appreciated by several people.

Dessert: we had plenty!
Apple and pumpkin pie: brought by my mom; my aunt brought a second apple pie that we never needed to cut into.
Quick chocolate cake: made by me - happens to be vegan
ice cream: brought by my aunt
Hot fudge sauce: brought by my aunt

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T00:19:00.002-05:00

I have so very many things to be thankful for - family, good health, good friends, a roof over my head, and, of course, food. On the slightly more materialistic side, I am so thankful to be blessed with my beautiful new kitchen - not yet done, but definitely moving along.

My kitchen, four years ago:

My kitchen, now:

The times, they are a' changin'

2009-11-22T18:59:00.003-05:00

So, if you read my opening paragraph up there at the top of the page, you can see that I mention my blindingly orange counters. The picture at the top right of the page, of the teapot, was taken on that counter. I'm rather attached to that photo; I love the warm glow it seems to have.

However, as of this moment, I have only a scrap of said orange counter left (surrounding the old sink), and even that will be gone as of Wednesday.

I'm interested in your opinion: though I obviously have to change my opening paragraph a bit, should I take new photo in the new kitchen, or keep the old one?

New floor!

2009-11-21T23:20:00.001-05:00

Installed today - will seal tomorrow. Love, love, love it!

Getting ready for...

2009-11-09T17:37:00.003-05:00

Getting ready for: countertops! They're coming to make a template for the counters this coming Thursday, and will hopefully do the install the week of Thanksgiving. In the meantime, at least I have some makeshift plywood counters.

Getting ready for: a floor! Hoping maybe it can happen this weekend.

Getting ready for: Thanksgiving! This year there'll be about a dozen of us for Thanksgiving. I was starting to get a little antsy about it, but I just read over my notes from last year, and have remembered that I'm starting to feel like I've (finally) got it down pat. This will be our eighth consecutive year hosting, and I love it. Love it, love it, love it.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-02T20:15:00.005-05:00

So, our idea, back in early September, was that we'd break in the new kitchen by having a Halloween party. We had one last year, and it was a blast.

Unfortunately, the kitchen's not done yet, but we had the party anyways, and we had a ball. Mr. Throwing Spoons managed to get some plywood down for temporary countertops, so I have the most functional kitchen I've had in quite some time. Speaking of Mr. Throwing Spoons, he dressed as Norm Abram from PBS' This Old House; yours truly dressed as the scariest thing I could think of: our old kitchen counter. :)

From Throwing Spoons

Actually, if I'd been able to pull it off, dressing as the original floor might have been scarier. We'd seen a bit of it, but when we pulled up the layer of vinyl floor covering it... well, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here you go:

From Throwing Spoons

Perhaps the best moment of the night was later in the evening, when I walked into my kitchen, and everyone - EVERYONE - was gathered around my new kitchen island, talking and laughing. It really affirmed some of the design decisions that we made when planning the kitchen. It nearly brought tears to my eyes.

We kept the menu pretty simple, apps and desserts; I'm recording it here for posterity, so I can check back next year.

Crackers and cheese
Chicken wings
Buffalo chicken dip
Curry dip and raw veggies
Taco dip and chips (courtesy of my friend Laura)

Peanut butter and Oreo truffles (also courtesy of Laura)
Pumpkin cupcakes (courtesy of my friend Andrea)
Jell-O brain (courtesy of my friend Anne)
Trash candy
Caramel apples - which looked great, but I'm the only one who ate one...
Assorted candy

Chuggin' along

2009-10-13T09:34:00.004-04:00

-Most of the perimeter base cabinets are in - one to go

-Appliances (microwave, range, fridge) arrived today!

A long-awaited update

2009-10-04T23:50:00.004-04:00

Long-awaited by me, at least.

After those first cabinets went in, not a whole lot happened for a couple of weeks. Well, that's not true, but for some reason it felt like there wasn't much progress. In truth, when I step back and look at it, a whole lot's happened. A new closet was created for the kitchen by building into the dining room, using the old doorway; and a new, wider doorway into the dining room was carved out of the wall; we chose the granite and some appliances; lots of new lights are happening; new window went in; the last of the upper cabinets went up; and today, a bunch of the base cabinets went in.

That makes me feel much better.

Here's a close up of our actual granite slab:

New window:

And here's where we're at right now:

Huzzah!

Obviously, there hasn't been a whole lotta cooking going on. Hope to be back in the swing of things soon - it is apple and pumpkin season, after all.

Progress!

2009-09-13T21:09:00.002-04:00

Upper cabinets, originally uploaded by MarthaC.

Mr. Throwing Spoons and a friend of ours started putting in the cabinets yesterday. Almost all of the upper cabinets are now in!

Sorry it's been so quiet 'round here.

2009-09-12T21:25:00.003-04:00

I've not been able to do much in the way of cooking in the past week or so, due to the fact that I have little to no counter space at the moment. It's rather frustrating. However...

The cabinets are going up!

It's just occurred to me.

2009-09-07T20:25:00.002-04:00

I'm going to have to change that picture over there --------------->

as well as the greeting on this blog. I no longer have those blindingly orange countertops!

Moved all the cabinets from the garage into the family room today, so they have a week to acclimate in the house. We also removed all of the cabinet doors, so they'll be ready to go on Saturday.

One Week

2009-09-05T10:45:00.004-04:00

One Week is the title of a song by one of my favorite bands, the Barenaked Ladies.

It's also the length of time until my cabinets will be going up. :) :) :)

The plumber was here yesterday, and did some much needed work. Our sink will no longer drain through our cabinets; it now goes straight down into the basement. Pics to follow. They also jury-rigged the old sink on top of the new base cabinet, so I'm not lugging dishes up and down the stairs to wash them in the tub.

I'm also in the midst of harassing the flooring store. We ordered our floor (online) in mid-August, were charged for it immediately, and we have yet to see it, despite several calls to them. Not pleased at all with them, at the moment. UPDATE: Harassing successful. Floor will arrive this week, as will the carpenter to move and widen the door into our dining room.

Feelin' hot, hot, hot

2009-09-01T19:59:00.005-04:00

You may recall that, some time ago, I was singing the praises of roasted cauliflower. Tonight I kicked it up a notch, and in doing so, made a yummy side dish or snack. If you're familiar with the Weight Watchers point system, I'm happy to tell you that this is a zero-point treat.

Don't like cumin or chili? Change up the spices!
Baking time will vary a bit, depending on the size of the florets.

Click here for the printable recipe

Chili-Spiced Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400F.
Cut cauliflower into florets and place in a bowl. Add cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper, and toss well to coat.
Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Spread cauliflower on sheet and bake until tender, about 12-15 minutes, stirring once during baking.

Makes about eight 1/2 cup zero-point servings.

A new kitchen, a new me

2009-08-25T20:03:00.004-04:00

So, as the kitchen demolition continues (some pictures below), I'm working on a new me, too.

I lost 16 pounds a few years ago on Weight Watchers. I loved it. I looked better and felt great. Then some life events intervened, and I started to cheat a little here, a little there, and it all came creeping back.

I rejoined WW online a few months ago, but it just didn't keep me honest. Going to a weigh-in and a meeting every week makes you much more accountable for your actions. So, last Friday, I bit the bullet, and signed up again. First meeting is tomorrow night.

I've been good this week - upped my fruit and veggie intake considerably, and have significantly reduced my junk intake. It helps that it's prime produce season around here. I've been eating fresh-picked cherry tomatoes like they're candy, and I practically squealed when I saw bags of apples from Maine at the supermarket today. Look for some healthier recipes in the weeks to come. (I will be posting a yummy parmesan zucchini bread tomorrow. Not exactly diet-friendly, but it's soooo good.)

So, the kitchen. Upper cabinets: gone. Orange backsplash: gone. Half wall between the family room and kitchen: gone.

Before:

From Throwing Spoons

Upper cabinets gone, backsplash being removed:

From Throwing Spoons

Before, the half wall between the kitchen and family room:

From Throwing Spoons

After - view from the family room:

From Throwing Spoons

Mr. ThrowingSpoons is painting the kitchen a lovely, warm tan as I type this. Many more changes to come...stay tuned!

And the winnah is...

2009-08-18T09:52:00.006-04:00

Kitchen demo has begun, and I finally have a winning combination of cabinets, counter, and floor. I really think this is going to turn into the warm, inviting space I've been envisioning.

Cabinets: JSI's Sturbridge.

Countertop: Carioca Gold granite

From Throwing Spoons

Floor: Congoleum's DuraCeramic Cambridge Tile, in Fired Golden Clay

From Throwing Spoons

Next up: paint.

Julie and Julia

2009-08-17T22:50:00.003-04:00

Julie Powell is my hero.

I was just getting into the whole blogging thing when my friend Jen loaned me the book Julie and Julia. I still have it, partly because I don't see Jen often enough, but partly because I haven't been able to part with it. (I did just purchase my own copy, so I don't have an excuse now.)

Julie was sort of stuck in a rut - a writer with no writing to do. She decided to cook and blog her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I've thought about doing the same thing with my favorite cookbook, but I haven't done it. (Not yet.)

At any rate, the blog won her a book deal, and the book has now been turned into a movie, starring the wonderful Meryl Streep as Julia Child. Though her voice isn't deep enough, and she occasionally crosses the line from Julia to Hyacinth Bucket, for the most part she does an admirable job of capturing Julia's spirit.

If you love to cook, enjoy cooking shows and/or blogs, or are just a foodie, I highly recommend Julie and Julia.

Mom, I'm booooooored...

2009-08-15T22:04:00.004-04:00

It's that time of year. There are a couple of weeks left to go until school starts (around here, at least), and the kids are getting antsy. What to do?

I say, cook with them! (Really, does this surprise you in the least?) If it's not too hot in the house, make and decorate some sugar cookies, or bake a Quick Chocolate Cake.

Too hot to bake? Make this yummy, simple dip that I tried today (as long as there aren't any peanut allergies in the house). This would be good with apple slices, with graham crackers (maybe chocolate graham crackers?)...really, with just about anything that's good with peanut butter; I was dipping some animal crackers and Triscuits. Four ingredients, mix, and serve. It's that easy.

Thanks to my friend Vanessa for this recipe. ¡Besos, mi amiga!

Click here for printable recipe!

Peanut Butter Dip

8 ounces low-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel), softened
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup peanut butter
3 - 4 tablespoons milk

Mix all ingredients thoroughly, and serve with whatever you like (Hershey bars?). Yield: approximately 1 1/2 cups.

It's really going to happen...

2009-08-12T16:51:00.003-04:00

My new kitchen, that is. :) The cabinets just arrived, and are sitting out in the garage here at Throwing Spoons HQ.

We're currently working on figuring out floors, countertops, and backsplash. Found floors that we like, found a countertop that we like. They both go with the cabinets, but don't work with each other. *sigh* Back to the drawing board...

Peanut butter cookie follow-up

2009-08-04T13:45:00.004-04:00

As expected, the recipe out of the New Best Recipe is great. Love them. Great peanut flavor, a little chewy, not the least bit sandy. I'm sorry, Alton, I enjoy your show, but I'm now a little leery of trying out the rest of the recipes in your cookbook.

I've said it before, I'll say it again: if you want to know how to cook something, without any guesswork, BUY THIS BOOK.

For those of you who are already converts to the Cook's Illustrated family of cookbooks and magazines, I'll let you in on a little secret: there's a companion to NBR coming out sometime around the beginning of October, More Best Recipes:

Incidentally, on a related note, there was a great article about the man behind CI, Christopher Kimball, in this past Sunday's Boston Globe Magazine. Check it out. They also include his Top Five Kitchen Tips.

Arachibutyrophobia

2009-08-03T10:16:00.005-04:00

No, I'm not posting about spiders. Those of you who know me well know that my motto is, "There is nothing to fear but fear itself. And spiders." Go read the title again, carefully.

Know what that is?

It's the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth.

I decided to make some peanut butter cookies yesterday. I thought I'd change things up a bit, and pulled out Alton Brown's "I'm Just Here For More Food" cookbook, his baking book. Alton Brown is the host of the Food Network show "Good Eats," which I love. (If you're not familiar with the show, he also did a stint recently in ads for Welch's grape juice, where he butchered the pronunciation of the grapes used to make said juice. Alton, if you're reading this: Concord is pronounced "CON-kerd," not "con-CORD.")

I followed his recipe to the letter, even weighing the ingredients as he suggested. Alton apparently likes his peanut butter cookies a little...um...dry. The recipe makes a TON of dough, and they're nice and peanut buttery, but biting into one is a bit like taking a bite of sand. If you're into that, I'll send you the recipe. I, however, am not a fan. I didn't even bake all of the cookies - I tossed out half of the dough. I NEVER do that.

I now have some butter softening to make a batch out of my cooking bible. I laughed when I read the recipe, which specifically notes that "some peanut butter cookies are dry and sandy" - you don't say! - but that their recipe is crisp at the edges, chewy in the middle. We'll have a comparison in a little bit.

Pulling your leg: Pulled Pork

2009-07-28T13:47:00.005-04:00

Actually, I'm not pulling your leg about this: this is one delicious (and easy) recipe.

I visited my dear friends in Maryland a couple of weeks ago. Christie and I bonded in our college days, and though we live several states apart, we try to see each other at least once a year. Her daughter was "Aunt Marty's" flower girl at the Throwing Spoons wedding. Though we don't see each other often, we always pick up right where we left off and, other than the kids getting bigger and bigger, it's like no time has passed.

Christie made pulled pork for her daughter's first birthday party, almost ten years ago, and I neglected to write down the super-easy recipe. I've meant to do it every visit since, and then never remember...until this year. We had it for her son's birthday, and this time, I paid attention. It's super, super easy, and SO good.

Pulled Pork

1 pork rump roast
2 large bottles Texas Pete wing sauce (not hot sauce)
2 bottles barbecue sauce of your choice

Put roast in slow cooker and pour wing sauce over it. Cover, and cook on high until it boils; turn to low, and cook overnight (at least 24 hours). If sauce looks low, add a little extra water to the slow cooker.

Remove pork from slow cooker and shred with forks.

Drain off fat and excess hot wing sauce, and mix with one bottle barbecue sauce.

Serve with rolls, and additional barbecue sauce, if desired. Coleslaw makes an excellent side dish - or, if you're feeling like having it North Carolina style, put the coleslaw right on your sandwich.

Sunday Morning Coffeecake Muffins

2009-07-19T12:15:00.008-04:00

I threw these together a few weeks ago when my cousin and her family were visiting from Virginia. *waves at Jessie* She nudged me last night to send her the recipe, so I'm just going to post it here for everyone to enjoy.

Once again, this is from my most trusted source: Cook's Illustrated. Seriously, people, just go buy their books, subscribe to their magazines, or perhaps even better, subscribe to their website. Go. Now.

I just made a batch of these, and they're even better than the first time around. A couple of notes:

If you make them in a food processor, don't overprocess them - follow the directions. I think maybe that's why this batch came out better than the first.
You can leave out the pecans - I added an extra 1/4 cup packed brown sugar to make up for some of the volume.
DO NOT OVERFILL the muffin cups. If you do, it's tough to get them out of the muffin tin intact.

Coffeecake Muffins

Makes 12 (or maybe 14). From Cook's Illustrated, published January 10, 2007.

If you don't have a food processor, first chop the nuts with a knife. Proceed with the recipe, mixing the ingredients in a larger bowl with a wooden spoon or spatula, but use a wire whisk to work the butter into the dry ingredients in step 3.

1/2 cup pecans (may be omitted)
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar (1/2 cup, if omitting pecans)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and softened
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup sour cream (low-fat may be used)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350F. Grease 12-cup muffin tin and set aside.

Process nuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon in food processor until nuts are the size of sesame seeds, about ten 1-second pulses. Transfer mixture to medium bowl.

Return bowl and metal blade to food processor. Add flour, granulated sugar, and salt, and process until combined, about five 1-second pulses. Sprinkle butter evenly over flour mixture and process until butter is oat-sized, about eight 1-second pulses. Remove 1 cup of flour-butter mixture and stir with fork into reserved brown sugar mixture until combined to make streusel. Set aside 3/4 cup of streusel for muffin batter and remaining portion for topping muffins.

Add baking powder and baking soda to remaining flour mixture in food processor bowl and process until combined, about five 1-second pulses. Whisk together sour cream, egg, and vanilla in small bowl; add to flour mixture. Process until batter is just moistened, about five 1-second pulses. Add 3/4 cup reserved streusel to flour mixture and process until streusel is just distributed throughout batter, about five 1-second pulses.

Divide batter among 12 muffin cups and sprinkle with streusel, pressing lightly so that streusel sinks slightly into batter. Bake until toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out with several crumbs clinging to it, about 18 minutes, rotating pan from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool in muffin tin on wire rack 2 minutes. Using tip of paring knife, loosen muffins, and gently transfer them to wire rack. Cool five minutes, and serve warm.

Flog the blogger

2009-07-16T13:59:00.005-04:00

I've been bad about updating for, oh, nearly a month. Forgive me. Recipes for chocolate crinkle cookies and slow-cooker pulled pork coming soon, I promise.

In other news: for my husband's sake, I have tried to avoid buying any more Muppet Christmas ornaments. Yes, any more. I've got enough that I could do a small theme tree. However, you can bet your sweet bippy that I'll be purchasing this year's offering from Hallmark:

Yep. Sorry, Chuck, when October hits, I'll be first in line for that one.

Syndication!

2009-06-17T21:34:00.002-04:00

I got kind of a neat email the other day, from an editor at the website http://www.ThisIsDiversity.com. She's been looking for some food bloggers to contribute to their cuisine section. She really likes my style, and invited me to come on over and syndicate my blog posts on their website.

I posted my favorite piece first - last year's bean supper piece - and it's had nearly 100 hits today.

It's not really a huge deal, but this band geek feels like a rock star. Just wanted to share.

Make new friends, but keep the old

2009-06-14T23:01:00.004-04:00

We attended a cookout today. My husband and I live in a town about thirty miles from our hometown. Strangely enough, one of my closest friends from high school lives in town, about three miles from us, with his wife and son. They had us over today, along with another friend I'd not seen since graduation, and his three sons. He swears it won't be another twenty years 'til our next get-together, and I'm going to hold him to that.

I brought cupcakes and a pasta salad. I think the cupcakes might need a little tweaking - the flavor was good, but they were a little dry. The pasta salad was yummy; good thing, as we had about twice as much as we needed. I ever-so-slightly tweaked a recipe from Cook's Illustrated that was originally published in America's Test Kitchen's The Best Make-Ahead Recipe. I didn't make it ahead; made the dressing the night before, then made the salad this morning.

Summer Garden Pasta Salad with Feta

Serves 12 to 14

Cook the pasta until it is completely tender, as pasta becomes tougher as it sits in the salad overnight. Make sure you have a LARGE bowl in which to mix this salad!

Dressing
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (1-2 lemons)
1 medium shallot, minced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Salad
Salt
1 pound farfalle
2 medium carrots, peeled and grated over the large holes of a box grater
1 large yellow bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch-thick strips
8 ounces crumbled feta cheese (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
1 pint grape tomatoes (about 12 ounces), halved or quartered (depending on size)

For the dressing:
Whisk all of the ingredients together in a medium bowl; set aside.

For the salad:
Bring 4 quarts of water to boil in a large pot. Stir in 2 tablespoons salt and the pasta and cook until completely tender. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta in a colander. Transfer the hot pasta to a large bowl.

Stir the reserved pasta water into the dressing. Pour half of the dressing over the pasta and toss to coat. Stir in the carrots, bell pepper, feta, and parsley. Scatter the tomatoes on top of the pasta (do not mix in).

To Store:
Cover the pasta salad tightly with plastic wrap and poke several vent holes. Transfer the remaining dressing to an airtight container. Refrigerate the pasta salad and reserved dressing separately for up to 2 days.

To Serve:
Microwave the pasta salad on high power to remove the chill, 1 to 2 minutes. Shake the reserved dressing to recombine, then pour half of the dressing over the salad and toss to combine. Add the remaining dressing as needed to keep the salad moist.

The journey begins...

2009-06-05T17:17:00.004-04:00

So, at this point, you've all seen my LOVELY orange countertops. If you haven't noticed them, you are quite possibly blind. Take a look, over there, on the right, with my teapot from the Isle of Skye, two of my favorite mugs, and my cooking Bible. A new reader (waves at Johanna) was kind enough to tell me that she likes my countertops. Well, perhaps I'll present them to her in a couple of months - because they will be GONE from my kitchen!

*fanfare*

I posted about a month and a half ago about the fact that we were finally looking at the kitchen redo we'd started thinking about as soon as we moved into the house. I wasn't having much luck with the IKEA website. Turns out, we've had a lot more luck with the cabinets my friend told me about. We will be tearing out our old cabinets, and replacing them with new cherry-stained birch cabinets - all wood/plywood construction, no laminate!

(I love how my counter looks pink in this picture.) That's a sample of the new doors, propped up against the coffee maker. I. Love. Them. Love love love.

We're also looking at granite for the countertops and the new island; we've found a local place that has a good deal on it, and are continuing to look around to see what's out there.

*does the happy dance*

We are thinking about either continuing the wall color from the family room (Benjamin Moore's Nantucket Grey) into the kitchen, or possibly a light caramel color. I'm leaning more and more towards the caramel. Our kitchen faces south, so it's nice and sunny. The darker cabinets and granite are going to make the room feel darker than it has in the past, so I'm thinking the lighter, warmer walls are a better option.

Some more volleyball, please

2009-05-31T11:15:00.004-04:00

Last night, Mr. Throwing Spoons and I visited some good friends for dinner.

Elaine and I were inseparable during our freshman and sophomore years at Boston University. Everyone thought we were roommates freshman year, so we decided (despite various warnings to the contrary) to actually room together sophomore year, and we had a ball. We were THOSE roommates, the good girls who were complete goofballs, who finished each other's sentences, and could speak in shorthand to each other - one word could sometimes convey a paragraph.

Though we split up junior year - I went to live in the newly-formed Education House, and she went to live in a spacious quad with some other friends, then to an apartment senior year - we always found time for each other, and we have continued to do so post-college. Sometimes it was just emails to each other, when she was in Connecticut. Thankfully, since she moved back home, it's meant getting together for dinner every few months, too. It's been a lot of fun reconnecting, and discovering that we still read each other's thoughts. We're also both in the process of adopting, and it has been such a joy and comfort to share the journey with her.

Last night we went for a short walk with our spouses, had dinner at the Himalayan Bistro (if you're anywhere near it, I recommend a visit!), then walked back to their house for S'mores around the fire pit. The guys got the fire going, while Elaine and I got the graham crackers, chocolate (dark and milk - more on that below), and marshmallows ready.

As we were doing this, Elaine fired a marshmallow at me.

I, of course, threw it back, which led to a full-scale, all-out game of marshmallow volleyball across the island in their kitchen. We were laughing so hard, and so loudly, I was really surprised that the guys didn't hear us and come in to investigate (or simply to see what was taking us so long). They didn't, though. We finally declared game over, attempted to compose ourselves, and joined the guys at the fire pit, where we toasted marshmallows (no, we didn't toast the "game ball") and made S'mores until we were absolutely stuffed.

About the S'mores: I had picked up a bar of Ghirardelli 60% cacao chocolate, thinking that perhaps the dark chocolate might make for a more sophisticated S'more. To my great surprise, I preferred the taste of the traditional, plain ol' Hershey bars; Elaine concurred. I think I may be forced to conduct some further, carefully-controlled scientific testing over the course of the summer.

If you're not familiar with S'mores, shame on you. Get going, no excuses: sandwich some chocolate and a gooey toasted marshmallow (preferably toasted over a campfire) between two graham cracker squares. It's quite possibly the best summer dessert ever.

A postscript: While writing this, I noticed that my engagement ring is clogged with marshmallow. Excellent.

The standoff

2009-05-27T20:31:00.005-04:00

The turkey was staring at me, daring me to make a move.

I stared back, unsure of what to do.

No, this wasn't some bizarre dream. I bought some ground turkey at the grocery store last week. My entire repertoire of ground turkey recipes consists of taco salad...and I didn't have any lettuce, nor cheese. Hence, the staring contest.

All right, time to try something new. Some chopped scallions; a little soy sauce; a little ketchup. Throw in some garlic powder and ground black pepper. Shape into patties (with a divot in the center, for more even cooking). Fry 'em up (too wet to grill tonight), and voila!

This is based on a Weight Watchers recipe.

Turkey Burgers

1 1/3 pounds ground turkey (I used 93% lean)
4 scallions, chopped
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Form into patties. Spray a frying pan with cooking spray, or brush with a little vegetable oil. Cook patties until done.
Great with sliced tomatoes.

Orange you glad I didn't say banana?

2009-05-24T12:13:00.006-04:00

Almost exactly a year ago, I posted this recipe for a yummy yellow cake, which I made for our friend Anne's belated birthday celebration.

We are getting together with the same group of friends today, and one of the other friends just celebrated a birthday on Thursday, so here I am, baking another Memorial Day weekend birthday cake. Vanessa, like Anne, is not a chocolate cake person, so I'm making the yellow cake, and I whipped up some fluffy orange frosting to go on it. It's tasty, and I'm hoping that the orange flavor will become more pronounced as it mellows a bit.

Felíz, felíz en tu dia, Vane! Mua!

Fluffy Orange Frosting

4 2/3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh orange juice (start with 1/8 cup and add more as needed)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon orange extract

In large mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter together.

Add the citrus rinds and juices and beat until the frosting is very smooth and fluffy.

It's a world of laughter...

2009-05-20T17:53:00.009-04:00

Yes, I'm aware that many of you will now have "It's A Small World" going through your head for the rest of the evening (unless American Idol drowns it out). Sorry. However, I wanted to share this very small-world occurrence. There's a bit of a long story to get there...and one of my most closely-guarded recipes is at the end.

My high school chorus director, Mr. Joseph Messina, or Mr. M., is retiring in June after over 40 years of teaching in Melrose, MA. When I was in high school, the alumni used to come back every spring, and would sing a piece or two with the high school chorus at the spring concert. (Incidentally, that's where I first met Mr. Throwing Spoons.) It was a lot of fun. Sadly, that tradition fizzled out when I was in college.

Last summer I bumped into the Messinas at a production of "Bye Bye Birdie" (which was, coincidentally, my senior show). Mr. M. was seriously considering retirement, and Mrs. M. said to me, "Wouldn't it be neat to organize the alumni to sing at his final concert?"

"I'm on it," I replied excitedly.

Mr. M. looked a little wary. "I'll only do it if you can get twenty people," he said.

I laughed in his face.

"All right, I'll only do it if you can get forty people," he then said, by way of challenging me...or so he thought.

Cut to late March. I'd put the word out through email, Facebook, and Classmates.com, and it was in the local paper. I was pretty confident (and hopeful) that we'd have a good turnout. Mr. M. wasn't so sure. He showed up at our first rehearsal with a "Box O' Joe" and a box of Munchkins, figuring that it would be enough for the six to eight people that would show up - and indeed, when he arrived, there were six of us standing around, waiting to be let in.

Fifteen minutes later, there were over forty of us in our old chorus room. Mr. M. has never been one to get teary, but he was that evening. Over the following weeks, different people showed up to different rehearsals; we had as many as 60, but as different people kept showing up, it was hard to get an absolute count.

He worked us hard; most of us hadn't sung for years, but we (as always) put in our best efforts for Mr. M. We worked on three pieces to sing with the high school, two to sing on our own, and one to sing with the middle school, the children's choir, and the high school as the grand finale.

By the night of the concert, after a mere eleven rehearsals, we sounded fantastic. There were between 80-100 alumni there, spanning four decades, some traveling from New York and Virginia back to Massachusetts, to pay tribute to this man who'd meant so much to all of us.

One woman who sang with us, Sandra, wasn't even an alum. She let me know early on that her son had been in the chorus and the show choir with Mr. M. throughout high school, and would be joining us for the concert though he couldn't make rehearsals, and that she'd like to sing with us as well.

After the concert, I emailed everyone to thank them, and to request snail mail addresses, in order to complete a database for future use, as there's interest in continuing this group. The responses started coming in, and I started plugging them into the database, but Sandra's email stopped me in my tracks. I sat here for a good two minutes, just staring at my laptop screen and saying, "No way. Get out. You're kidding me."

Sandra, you see, bought my grandparents' house when my uncle put it on the market. It's the house my dad grew up in; my grandmother lived there for about 60 years.

I have such fond memories of that house and yard. Grampa Bill had a huge garden, including grapevines (both Concord and Niagara grapes), vegetables, and cherry and peach trees. Gramma Betty, Mum, and I used to make cherry preserves and grape jelly from the fruit from the backyard. Gramma (a former art teacher at Smith College) gave me drawing lessons at the kitchen table. Her attic and "junk room" were treasure troves to be explored.

I've often wondered about the fate of that house; I still drive by sometimes when I'm in town. As soon as I recovered from the shock, I emailed Sandra back, and received a warm invitation to come and visit anytime.

I wish I had the recipes we used for the grape jelly or the cherry preserves to include here, but I don't. I actually have very few recipes from Dad's side of the family. This does, however, seem to be the appropriate place and time to share the famous Hayes Mocha Cake - a hot milk sponge cake with mocha buttercream frosting. This comes from my Grampa Bill's side of the family.

When going through her kitchen things, my uncle found a half-dozen or so recipe cards for this cake. The funny part is, they were all slightly different! I don't know if Gramma Betty was working on perfecting the recipe, or what the story is; by then it was too late to ask her. This is the version that she gave my mum. The cake is good, but it's really the frosting that makes it. It is scrumptious, and really pretty easy. (I've been known to double the frosting recipe and use it on the Perfectly Chocolate Cake. Holy. Moley.)

Hayes Mocha Cake

Hot Milk Sponge Cake

1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon butter

2 eggs at room temperature
pinch salt

1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup cake flour
1 rounded teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 375˚F

Put milk and butter in oven-proof measuring cup; put in oven ‘til butter melts and milk is hot.

Grease and flour two 8” round cake pans.

In medium bowl, sift together cake flour and baking powder. Set aside.

Beat eggs and salt until light (pale yellow).

Gradually beat sugar into egg mixture.

Add vanilla to egg mixture; beat.

Slowly beat hot milk and melted butter mixture into egg mixture.

Add sifted flour & baking powder to egg mixture; beat.

Pour into pans. Bake 15-17 minutes, until springy and edges have pulled away from the sides of the pan. Remove from pans to cooling racks immediately upon removing from oven. Cool completely before frosting.

Mocha frosting

NOTE: I often do 1 1/2 times this recipe - as written, it is a fairly thin layer of frosting all around.

Combine:
1 stick less 1 teaspoon butter (what you have left over after taking butter for cake), softened to room temperature
1 3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch salt
1 1/2 – 2 tablespoons hot, STRONG brewed coffee
(1 tablespoon instant coffee to 1/4 cup boiling water)

Beat all together until light and fluffy. Frost cooled cake.

(Scrape bowl and lick spatula.)

Look! Up in the sky! It's...

2009-05-19T16:51:00.004-04:00

No, it's not Superman.

Of course! It's SuperGrover!

Though choosing a favorite Muppet is akin to choosing a favorite child, I have to admit that Grover has always held a special place in my heart. One of my most-loved toys as a kiddo was my Grover puppet. I received him as a gift when I was four, and I still have him. He's grungy and falling apart, but I cannot bear to part with him.

I have been waiting for this t-shirt my entire life, and it's now available at MyPartyShirt.com. Go check them out!

Happy Mother's Day, 2009

2009-05-10T19:08:00.005-04:00

As I am not yet in the Moms' Club (fingers crossed for next year), I spent the morning of this sunshiny, breezy Mother's Day preparing brunch for my mum and my mother-in-law. There were seven of us here: my mum, my brother and his girlfriend, my in-laws, and Mr. ThrowingSpoons.

Brunch consisted of:

Sausage and peppers brunch casserole (recipe below)
Cantaloupe, strawberry, and blueberry fruit salad (my current favorite combo)
Lemony pasta salad (we had a vegan in our midst - made this for her)
Bagels and cream cheese (and Tofutti)
Juice and coffee

I skipped making dessert, for the sole reason that, it being such a gorgeous day, it seemed a shame not to indulge in a trip to Kimball Farm for ice cream. Heh. Coffee Heath Bar with chocolate jimmies, please!

My sister-in-law, Tracy, gave me this recipe. It can be prepared up to a day ahead. Refrigerate, covered, overnight; uncover to bake, and add 5-10 minutes to the baking time.

Sausage and Peppers Brunch Casserole

8 frozen hash brown patties, thawed

1 jar (12 ounces) roasted red peppers, drained and patted dry

1 medium onion, chopped

1 pound Italian turkey sausage, casings removed

6 ounces low-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel), softened

3/4 cup milk (I used 1%)

12 eggs

1 tablespoon snipped fresh parsley

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350F.

Spray 9x13" baking dish with vegetable oil spray, and line bottom with a single layer of hash browns. Set aside.

Dice red peppers, and set aside.

Chop onion. In 12" skillet, cook sausage and onion over medium heat 8-10 minutes, or until sausage is no longer pink, breaking into crumbles; drain, and set aside.

Whisk softened cream cheese and milk until completely smooth. Add eggs, parsley, and black pepper; whisk until smooth.

Spoon sausage/onion mixture evenly over hash browns, and sprinkle with red peppers. Pour egg mixture over peppers. Bake 45-55 minutes, or until center of egg mixture is set. Remove from oven; let stand ten minutes. Cut into squares to serve.

(P.S. My brother just popped onto IM, and is still raving about this dish. Hee.)

It is I, Captain Vegetable...

2009-04-25T20:22:00.007-04:00

One day when I was in high school, I was home sick. What did I watch when I was home sick? The soaps, right?

Of course not. I watched Sesame Street. And what to my wondering eyes should appear that day, but a character I'd never seen before. His name? Captain Vegetable.

"It is I, Captain Vegetable!

With my carrot, and my celery!

Eating crunchy vegetables is good for me!"

I lay there on the couch, laughing until I cried at this crazy-looking Muppet, voiced by the incomparable Jim Henson himself.

When I later told my friends about it, they thought I was making it up. No one else had ever seen Captain Vegetable, and try as I might, I never caught the clip again. He was frustratingly elusive, this superhero. I began to question whether I'd ever even really seen it - had it been a fever-induced bad dream? (You'll need to watch the video at Sesame Workshop to fully understand that question.) My mum eventually saved the day (and my sanity), not with vegetables, but by finding a cassette of Sesame Street songs that included the Captain Vegetable song.

I preface today's recipe with this story because I, like several friends of mine, am trying to turn over a (well, another) new leaf in the ongoing diet battle. My legendary sweet tooth has been well documented here. As much as I love candy and carbs (again, go watch the video), I'm going to try to balance out the scale (all puns intended) a little bit, by including some healthier recipes.

Today we had one of those rare April days that feels more like June - it was sunny and in the 80s - so I was inspired to make a salad to go with our grilled pork chops. This will be going into the regular rotation!

Potato, Green Bean, and Tomato Salad with Pesto

1 pound fingerling potatoes, quartered lengthwise (petite golden or red potatoes may be substituted)

1 tablespoon olive oil

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 pound fresh green beans

Several handfuls grape tomatoes (about 25 tomatoes)

1/4 red onion

1/4 cup pesto (I used prepared - if you're ambitious enough to make your own, props to you!)

Preheat oven to 450F. Toss quartered potatoes, olive oil, and salt in a mixing bowl. Spread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake 20-25 minutes, stirring once halfway through baking. Remove from oven, and set aside.

Meanwhile, trim green beans and cut in half. Bring salted water to a boil. Add green beans, and cook until crisp-tender, 3-4 minutes. Drain, and plunge into an ice-water bath to stop the cooking process. Let stand five minutes, then drain, and pat dry with paper towels.

Halve grape tomatoes.

Slice red onion into thin wedges.

Combine vegetables and pesto in mixing bowl, tossing to coat. Serve at room temperature.

Yield: six servings

Walkin' on sunshine

2009-04-24T10:26:00.003-04:00

Happy Friday! The sun is shining, and it's supposed to be sunny and warm - bordering on hot - all weekend! Woohoo!

In celebration of the gorgeous weather, I think we'll be dusting off the grill this weekend. To that end, I'm going to post a BBQ rub for beef or pork, given to me by my dear friend Linda.

What you need to understand about Linda is this: while she can cook (as proven by this recipe and by the fabulous Bolognese sauce I got to taste yesterday), she generally doesn't. It's a running joke within our circle of friends that when you ask Linda for her recipe for something, it's invariably, "You go to DeMoulas [a local supermarket chain] and buy a container/package/box of..." whatever it is that you want the recipe for.

Linda gave me a selection of seasonings and rubs for different kinds of meat at Christmastime, all of which she made herself. Take this one, fire up your grill this weekend, and enjoy!

BBQ Rub for Beef or Pork

Blend:
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons salt
3 tablespoons cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon cayenne (use more or less, to taste)

Apply liberally to meat and rub in well. Cook meat with indirect heat - coals or heat source should not be directly underneath. (This will help to prevent scorching, as the sugar in the rub will have a tendency to burn.) This is also a great rub for smoking meat!

Like a record player, round round round round...

2009-04-20T11:53:00.006-04:00

Did you see that pictture up at the top of the page? No, not the Swedish Chef, the one with the teapot, mugs, and my favorite cookbook?

That was taken in my kitchen. Yes, that's actually my counter.

When we first looked at what is now our house, three and a half years ago, a couple of things stood out. Let me preface this by saying that our house was built in 1975, and was sold to us by the original owners.

1. There's a Kermit-green sink in the half bath.

A minus? Perhaps. However, this Muppet fan says, "When life gives you a Kermit-green sink, turn the bathroom into the It's Not Easy Being Green bathroom," which I did.

2. The upstairs bathroom has blue everything. For now, we're dealing with them as long as they're functional.

3. That brings us to - you guessed it - the kitchen.

Somehow, when we first walked through the house, I made it through this kitchen into the family room beyond it without screaming. The spindles from the half-wall to the ceiling...the glaringly orange countertops...the floor that always looks dingy, even when it's clean...and the cabinets that had been painted a pale peach - to coordinate, perhaps, with the counter? I don't know. It does have a decent amount of space. I grew up in a house with a teeny-tiny kitchen with approximately four - okay, maybe six - square feet of counter space. Compared to that kitchen, this one is of majestic proportions.

Despite the faults of the kitchen, I fell in love with the house, and here we are. We've been discussing kitchen renovations pretty much since we moved in. However, we want to do them on a fairly small budget. Counters, floor, backsplash- no problem. Removing the half wall and adding an island? Check. It's always when we start talking cabinets that we hit a wall.

They're painted. Do we repaint, buy new doors, and replace the doors? That was the thought for a while. Can we put veneer on them and get new doors? Probably not over paint, and stripping the paint might make the plywood beneath delaminate. My husband could build them - but it would take months. (Then don't give me that as an option!) Around and around and around.

We have finally found a couple of potential solutions to the problem. IKEA cabinets are one possibility, and I'm on the trail of another company as well. Wish us luck. I feel like we're finally on the road towards saying a big "Buh-bye!" to the orange counters.

P.S. This is the wallpaper that used to be in the kitchen. I'm ever so grateful that it was gone when we came through for the first time!

Sweet dreams are made of this

2009-04-18T16:01:00.004-04:00

When I was in junior high, I would often go to my friend Sarah's house for an afternoon, or for the occasional sleepover. On those occasions, we'd make clothes for the Cabbage Patch dolls or our stuffed animals, play with her cat, Burgertimes, play in the backyard or on her dad's cool new black-and-white Macintosh computer, or walk over to the store and debate for a half an hour over what kind of candy to get. (At the risk of sounding like an old fogey, I wish the eighth graders of today were as naive and unworldly as we were.)

We'd also stay up too late watching television; I believe my earliest David Letterman viewings were probably with Sarah. As we drowsily watched, we'd also munch on the last of a batch of the Toffee Cookie Squares we'd made earlier in the day. Sadly, I can't eat a half a pan of these anymore without having to worry about the caloric consequences, but they are still tasty. The original recipe calls for a half a cup of chopped nuts (which we usually just skipped), but a half a cup of Heath bits makes them even better.

Toffee Cookie Squares

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sifted flour
2 cups chocolate chips (approximately 12 ounces)
Optional: 1/2 cup Heath bits or chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease a jelly-roll pan (foil-lined, if you wish), approximately 11x15.

Cream together butter, shortening, sugar, and egg yolk. Stir in salt, vanilla, and flour.
Pat into the prepared pan.
Bake at 325F for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven.
Sprinkle chocolate chips over the hot cookie mixture. When they are glossy, spread chocolate, and sprinkle with nuts or Heath bits. Cut while warm. Refrigerate to set chocolate.

Foolish

2009-04-01T22:48:00.000-04:00

.ǝuoʎɹǝʌǝ 'ʎɐp s,1ooɟ 1ıɹdɐ ʎddɐɥ

A cheesy post

2009-03-27T17:54:00.003-04:00

An old friend of mine and regular blog-stalker (*waves at Kim*) and I were recently discussing the picky eating habits of certain children in our lives (in particular, her daughter and one of my nieces). Macaroni and cheese was, of course, on the short list. My complaint: my niece prefers the blue-and-yellow box over Auntie's homemade mac and cheese. (Confession: Auntie also likes the boxed stuff, when she's in the right mood for it, but would generally choose homemade if given a choice.) Kim thought that her little one would probably be open to trying homemade, so I am hereby posting my recipe, which is, of course, the America's Test Kitchen recipe.

If you're happy with no toasty breadcrumbs on the top of it, it is perfect straight from the stovetop, and saves a couple of steps and a bunch of dishes! It's crucial to cook the pasta until tender – just past the "al dente" stage. In fact, overcooking is better than undercooking the pasta. Whole, low-fat, and skim milk all work well in this recipe. This makes enough for an army, but the recipe can easily be halved and baked in an 8-inch-square, broilersafe baking dish.

Classic Macaroni and Cheese
From America’s Test Kitchen

Serves 6 to 8, or 10 to 12 as a side

Bread Crumb Topping
6 slices white sandwich bread (good-quality, about 6 ounces), torn into rough pieces
3 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold), cut into 6 pieces

Pasta and Cheese
1 pound elbow macaroni
1 Tablespoon salt

5 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons powdered mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional - I generally omit this)
5 cups milk
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
1 teaspoon salt

For the bread crumbs:
Pulse bread and butter in food processor until crumbs are no larger than 1/8 inch, ten to fifteen 1-second pulses. Set aside.

For the pasta and cheese:
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat broiler. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in Dutch oven over high heat. Add macaroni and 1 tablespoon salt; cook until pasta is tender. Drain pasta and set aside in colander.

In now-empty Dutch oven, heat butter over medium-high heat until foaming. Add flour, mustard, and cayenne (if using) and whisk well to combine. Continue whisking until mixture becomes fragrant and deepens in color, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk; bring mixture to boil, whisking constantly (mixture must reach full boil to fully thicken). Reduce heat to medium and simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened to consistency of heavy cream, about 5 minutes. Off heat, whisk in cheeses and 1 teaspoon salt until cheeses are fully melted. Add pasta and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is steaming and heated through, about 6 minutes.

Transfer mixture to broiler-safe 9x13 inch baking dish and sprinkle evenly with breadcrumbs. Broil until crumbs are deep golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes, rotating pan if necessary for even browning. Cool about 5 minutes, then serve.

Faith and begorrah!

2009-03-17T07:34:00.004-04:00

Or something. I'm of Scottish and English extraction, mostly - not a whit of Irish, to my knowledge. However, I made my very first Irish soda bread this year, and I'm pretty pleased with it.

Let's get something out of the way right now: I hate caraway with the fury of a thousand suns. There's not much I don't like or won't try, but caraway falls under that first category. Don't even give me seedless rye that has ground caraway in it. I can taste it, and it completely ruins the sandwich for me.

That being said, I will sometimes bypass a piece of Irish soda bread for one of two reasons. One, of course, is the caraway that seems to be omnipresent. The other reason is that Irish soda bread is often dry. It's nothing a little butter won't help, I suppose, but why fix it with butter when one can just fix the bread?

When my friend Sandra posted a link the other day to a recipe for Irish soda bread, I decided to try making it. The recipe intrigued me due to its inclusion of sour cream; I thought that might moisten things up a bit, and by George, I was right. It's lovely. I also added a very small splash of milk to mine, as the flour wasn't incorporating as well as it should.

The bonus, of course, to making my own Irish soda bread: I can make it sans caraway. Huzzah!

Irish Soda Bread
based on Irish Rosie's Irish Soda Bread, from Recipezaar

3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 pint sour cream
2 eggs
1-2 tablespoons milk, if needed
2 tablespoons caraway seeds (optional) (BLEARGH)
3/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350ºF, and grease 9" springform pan.
Combine dry ingredients - flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt - in a large bowl.
In a small bowl beat eggs until sunny yellow, and stir in sour cream. Combine well.
Add the egg and sour cream mixture to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon. If flour is not incorporating completely, add 1-2 tablespoons milk. Batter will be very thick and sticky.
Add the raisins (and caraway seeds, if you are using them). Stir well with wooden spoon or knead in with your hands.
Place batter in prepared springform pan.
Dust the top of the batter with enough flour so that you can pat the batter like a bread dough evenly in the pan without it sticking to your hands. With a knife make a shallow crisscross on the top.
Bake for 50-55 minutes in a preheated 350ºF oven.

Happy Pi Day!

2009-03-14T15:57:00.002-04:00

Among other things that you may or may not (yet) know about me, I am a math geek. At this time, I would like to wish you all a very happy Pi Day. Why? Because today is 3.14, of course! (In six years, it will be 3.14.15. I think I will have to eat pie all day long in celebration.)

If I didn't have plans to go out to dinner tonight, I think I'd make a chicken pie, and some other kind of pie for dessert, probably the peanut butter pie I've made recently, but that my husband has yet to try. I'm going to have to see if there's any pie on the dessert menu tonight, and save some room.

What's your favorite kind of pie?

These are not your mother's oatmeal cookies...

2009-03-07T17:40:00.009-05:00

...unless you happen to be my brother. *waves at Dan, if he's reading this*

It's been well established on this blog that I love oatmeal. Some of you may have even discovered Throwing Spoons by doing a web search for "different types of oatmeal," which brings you to The Oatmeal Dissertation. I mentioned in that post that quick oats are the ingredient of one of my favorite cookie recipes, and that I would post it here sometime.

That time is NOW.

I'm headed over to my sister-in-law's house later for Girls' Night, and promised to bring some goodies. The peanut butter pie, sadly, was out of the question, as Number One Niece is allergic to peanut butter. I rifled through my recipe box, and this recipe jumped out at me. My husband and I have been together for over seven years, and I have never, not ONCE, made these cookies in that entire time. That should be a criminal offense. I had all of the ingredients in the house, so that decided that.

These are not dry oatmeal cookies, studded with raisins. These are thin and chewy, with a bit of a caramel flavor to them, and not a raisin in sight. I will warn you here and now: they are addictive. A single batch makes around three dozen; I recommend doubling the batch, if you have a stand mixer.

Let me take this one brief moment, before I get to the recipe, to recommend some tools that I never really gave much thought to, until I bought them: cookie scoops. They look rather like small, old-fashioned spring-loaded ice-cream scoops.

I have them in small and medium sizes, and I sometimes wonder what I did without them; I'll never go back to using a spoon! Mine are from Pampered Chef, but you can get them in other kitchen goods stores; Amazon has plenty available. The small one is about a tablespoon, and the medium one is about two tablespoons. The medium one is perfect for chocolate chip cookies, but I used the smaller one for these, as they spread quite a bit.

Fred's Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened (I use a combination of the two)

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon milk

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup quick oats (if you only have old-fashioned, give them a quick whirl in the food processor)

Preheat oven to 350˙F.

Cream together brown sugar, granulated sugar, and butter/margarine.

In a separate bowl or glass measuring cup, combine eggs, milk, and vanilla, and then beat into butter/sugar mixture until smooth.

In a separate bowl, sift or whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Gradually mix into butter/sugar/egg mixture. When this is a smooth dough, mix in the quick oats.

Drop onto cookie sheets, about 2" apart. Bake until edges are turning golden brown. In my oven, on my cookie sheets, this was about 11 minutes; my mom's recipe card says 6-7 minutes, so start checking then!

Makes about 3 dozen.

Nutty

2009-02-28T19:55:00.004-05:00

When one of my students recently requested a chocolate-peanut butter pie as his birthday dessert, I took on the challenge, despite not having a recipe. This isn't the first time my kids have helped expand my dessert repertoire!

This will make a great summertime dessert, as once the pie is made, it's frozen, resulting in an ice cream-like consistency. I think my peanut butter fiend of a brother is going to love this.

I used low-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel), 1% milk, and low-fat whipped topping, with excellent results.

Peanut Butter Pie

Yield: 2 9-inch pies. Halve recipe for one pie.

Crusts:

4 1/2 cups of Oreo cookie crumbs, finely ground (or other sandwich cookies - Nutter Butters?)
5 ounces of melted butter

OR two prepared 9" no-bake crusts - Oreo or graham cracker

Filling:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 1/4 cups peanut butter
1 cup milk
16 ounces frozen whipped topping, thawed, or the equivalent amount of whipped cream

Optional garnish: chopped peanut butter cups or chocolate curls

To make crusts: in a bowl, mix together Oreo crumbs and melted butter. Pour into pie plates, and press into the bottom and up the sides evenly. Refrigerate at least one hour.

Beat together cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Mix in peanut butter and gradually mix in milk. Beat until smooth. Fold in whipped topping.
Spoon into prepared pie shells. Garnish, if desired, and freeze until firm. Cover after pies are frozen solid.

Going bananas

2009-02-03T09:45:00.004-05:00

I had a bit of a disaster with my banana bread recently.

We had a snow day last week, so I decided it was a baking day. The bananas on my counter were just begging to be made into banana bread. You know the type. They were darkly speckled, verging on just plain brown, a whole bunch of them.

I mashed and measured and mixed, and baked the banana bread batter.

It didn't smell right.

I peeked at it, and it didn't look right, either. Hmmm.

When it was done, I took it out and let it cool. The top wasn't a lovely glossy brown, the way it usually is. It was rather dull-looking. Once it cooled, I cut a test slice, and confirmed my suspicions: I forgot the sugar.

Given that the bananas were already so sweet, the bread wasn't a complete loss; in fact, my husband rather liked it, especially toasted, with a little butter. It'd also be great for banana bread French toast. However, I still had enough bananas for a second loaf, so I mixed up a second bowlful of batter - and I didn't forget the sugar in this one!

Here's my recipe, based closely on the Baking Illustrated one.

Banana Bread

1 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour (plus extra for dusting the pan)
1 cup white whole-wheat flour (another cup of all-purpose flour may be substituted)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 very ripe, soft, darkly speckled large bananas, mashed well (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt (I used Stonyfield low-fat)
2 large eggs, beaten lightly
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350F. (If you use a stoneware pan, as I do, adjust the rack to the middle position.)

Grease the bottom and sides of a 9x5” loaf pan; dust with flour, tapping out the excess.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl; set aside.

Mix the mashed bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter, and vanilla with a wooden spoon in a medium bowl. Lightly fold the banana mixture into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until just combined and the batter looks thick and chunky. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake until the loaf is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie...

2009-01-29T17:43:00.004-05:00

The Superbowl is this weekend. You do know what that means, right?

Of COURSE you do. It means that pitchers and catchers report in about two weeks! Woooohoooooo!

Since we're talking about baseball, and I made two apple pies yesterday, I offer you this:

(I, of course, particularly like the bit at the end about broken curses.)

Anyhow, I just wanted to pop in and offer up my brand-spanking new recipe for apple pie.

One of my students requested apple pie for his birthday, instead of cake, which is why I made two pies yesterday. This was not an unusual request for me, as my brother is an apple pie fiend, and that's putting it mildly. I derived this one by myself, guided by a couple of sources (my mom's recipe and a cookbook, see below). It's certainly still open to tweaking, but I think it's pretty good, if I do say so myself. The student in question declared it "delicious," through a mouthful of pie. (He then said to me, "You must be an awesome mom." Being that he's not a particularly demonstrative kid, I almost cried.)

The companion to my cooking Bible (a.k.a. The New Best Recipe), Baking Illustrated, suggests a mix of Granny Smith and Macintosh apples. I went with my mom's long-standing tradition, however, of using all Granny Smiths. I love the tart note they provide, as a counterpoint to the overall sweetness of the pie. Macs get mushy when you cook them (well, the apples do; I've yet to try cooking my laptop), so I've always avoided them in pies.

I will admit right here and now that I used refrigerated crusts. Homemade, from-scratch pie crust is my next mountain to tackle. Say what you will, the Pillsbury refrigerated crusts are not half bad, especially when glazed with an egg wash and sprinkled with a little sugar.

For ease of cleanup, I recommend lining the baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Here it is, the debut of Martha's Apple Pie.

Martha's Apple Pie

Pie crust for double-crust, 9" pie

7 medium Granny Smith apples

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/8 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly-grated, if possible)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg white, lightly beaten

Adjust oven rack to lowest position. Place rimmed baking sheet on it, and heat the oven to 500F.

Prepare bottom crust. If making dough from scratch, roll into a 12" circle, and transfer to pie plate. Ease the dough into the creases by gently lifting the edge of the dough with one hand and pressing it into the pan with the other. Leave any dough that overhangs the lip of the pie plate in place; refrigerate dough-lined pan.

Peel, core, and quarter apples. Cut into 1/4" slices.

In medium bowl, combine 1 cup sugar, flour, spices, and salt. Toss the dry ingredients with the apples until well coated. Turn the fruit mixture, including any juices, into the chilled pie shell; mound fruit slightly in the center.

Prepare second piece of dough; roll into 12" circle, and place over filling. Seal top and bottom crusts together with a little bit of water. Trim the edges of the top and bottom layers to 1/2" beyond pan lip. Tuck this rim of dough underneath itself so that the folded edge is flush with the pan lip. Flute the edge or crimp with fork tines to seal.

Cut four vent slits in the top layer of dough. Brush the egg white on the top crust, and sprinkle evenly with the remaining tablespoon of sugar.

Place the pie on the baking sheet and lower the oven temperature to 425F. Bake the pie until the top crust is golden, about 25 minutes. Rotate the pan from front to back and reduce the oven temperature to 375F. Continue baking until the juices bubble and the crust is a deep golden brown, 25-30 minutes longer.

Transfer the pie to a wire rack; cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours.

Searchin'

2009-01-19T08:19:00.003-05:00

It seems that, every so often, the MSN website search.live.com goes wacky and sends hundreds of visitors here over a period of a few days. I'm not sure why, but it does. Yesterday, over 500 people visited Throwing Spoons, and as of 8:22 a.m. Eastern Time today, there have already been 40+ hits. (An average day is somewhere in the thirties.)

If it's search.live.com that brought you here - welcome, and I hope you find something here that brings you back again!

Family stuff

2009-01-17T00:45:00.005-05:00

As you know, if you're a regular follower of my blog, I love to share family stories here on the ol' blog. I have a couple of family stories to share today, but they don't have anything to do with particular recipes.

Firstly: I got to watch my father-in-law on a local television station tonight, talking about "Bawston" accents. It was pretty cool. Coincidentally, they chose to make an example of my name - and he had nothing to do with it! Here's the link: The "Bawston" accent

Secondly:

In addition to loving to cook and bake, I love to knit. I'm working on some rather intricate Christmas stockings, but I decided to start another, easier project: a baby blanket. The Throwing Spoons household is planning to welcome a new family member, via adoption. We don't know just when, but the nursery is painted and a crib is waiting.

I've made a number of baby blankets for friends over the years, and I decided it was high time to make one to welcome our baby. Choosing the yarn proved a challenge, though. We don't know whether we'll have a boy or a girl. I didn't like the bland, multi-colored yarns. As our nursery is a pale, pale blue, I decided to look for a blue yarn that I liked; blue can be for girls, too!

I browsed around the store. Nothing really grabbed my eye 'til I saw this beautiful, soft yarn:

Lion Brand Homespun, Delft

It's beautifully shaded; it's a little more purpley-blue than the photo suggests. I picked up a skein of it, to read the label, and it gave me quite a start when I saw that the color name was "Delft."

My Gramma Bonnie collected Delft china; I have some of her pieces in my own china cabinet. I quietly said, "Thanks, Gramma," and put two skeins of it into my basket. There's no doubt in my mind that she wants this blanket to be her gift to her great-grandchild.

'Scuse me. I've got something in my eye that I need to attend to.

Monkeying around

2009-01-04T22:19:00.007-05:00

So, despite my goal to lose weight in the new year, I absolutely have to post this recipe.

I'm the second oldest of eight grandchildren on my mum's side of the family (and Wendy's only got 2 1/2 months on me). Matthew, the youngest, was my "sweet little cousin." He's not quite eleven years younger than I. He's still a sweetie, but we haven't been able to call Matt our little cousin for quite some time; he has the height genes that none of the rest of us got, and he towers over us!

It would seem that Matt, like myself and like our cousins Wendy and Jessie, inherited a love of baking. He brought a monkey bread to the Christmas party last weekend. For some reason, no one cut into it, so I have had the whole thing to myself for breakfasts all week. Now, I've had plenty of monkey bread in my time, but this one is simply sensational. Matt included layers of diced apples and chopped pecans in it, which took it to a whole new level in the realm of monkey bread. He made some other suggestions, which I will include below.

He sent me the recipe, and it's incredibly easy. (If you have an aversion to refrigerated biscuits, I'm guessing you could make your own biscuit dough; you'll need to make enough for 32 biscuits.)

Monkey Bread

4 packs refrigerated biscuits, separated and quartered
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
*Your own ingredients: Matt says, "I used chopped pecans and diced apples; you can also use raisins. I have actually omitted the cinnamon from the recipe, used chocolate chips and put a dusting of powdered sugar in it in the past. Plain is cool too." (I'm betting Craisins would also be a great choice.)

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease tube or Bundt pan. Combine granulated sugar and cinnamon, and roll biscuit pieces in mixture to coat. Alternate layers of prepared biscuits and your own ingredients in the tube pan.
Bring butter and brown sugar to a boil for 1 minute, then pour over the top. Bake for 40-45 minutes.

Cool slightly, then turn out of pan to cool completely on a wire rack set over a plate or a cookie sheet, to collect any glaze that may drip off. (Do not cool in pan, or you may find it to be stuck tightly to the sides of said pan...not a fun removal task.)

This can be sliced, when cool, or it can be pulled apart into bite-sized bits and eaten that way.

Game on - and I need your help!

2009-01-03T17:54:00.002-05:00

My younger brother and I were, on Christmas day, bemoaning the fact that we need to lose some weight and get healthier. I got to thinking about it, and at our big family Christmas party a few days later, I challenged him to a Biggest Loser competition. He took me up on it, and it is ON.

We're weighing in on Fridays, and we're giving ourselves a deadline of the first day of spring: March 20. (Not that we can't keep losing after that, but that's the end of our competition.)

Here's where you come in. I'm looking for any and all great-tasting, healthy recipes you've got. I'll try them out and, with your permission, will post them here at Throwing Spoons. (Of course, before I start posting the good-for-you stuff, I'm going to have to share my cousin Matt's recipe for monkey bread. He brought some to the family party and it is seriously the best monkey bread I have ever had.) Watch for it in the next few days. I'll also post the long-overdue pizza crust and sauce recipes (I promise, Laura!).

Currying favor

2009-01-01T09:58:00.002-05:00

I've been on a bit of a curry kick recently. I turned plain ol' tuna casserole into curried tuna casserole (just added some curry powder into the roux for the white sauce); I don't know if I'll ever go back to the original, it was so good.

Last night, after my husband came in from cleaning seven or eight inches of snow off of our driveway, in 12F temps (below zero, with the wind chill), I decided that some soup was in order, in addition to the steak and salad I already had planned.

I'd recently seen a recipe in an old Everyday Food magazine, the first issue, in fact, and I'd bought the one ingredient I didn't already have on hand. I pulled out the head of cauliflower, and started making some curried cauliflower soup.

By the way, today's post is a twofer. To make this soup, you need to roast the cauliflower florets. Now, I was not a big fan of cauliflower as a kid. When it's boiled or simmered, it - like many other veggies in its family group, such as cabbage and broccoli - is quite odiferous. I later discovered that I preferred it raw. Last night was a revelation: roasting brings out cauliflower's sweetness, and tames its bite. If I hadn't already promised my husband the soup, I think we would've just kept on snacking on the roasted cauliflower. It's that good.

You can quite easily make a vegetarian or vegan version of this soup. I'm including the substitutions to do so in italics.

Curried Cauliflower Soup
Adapted from Everyday Food, Jan/Feb 2003

Note: Cauliflower florets should be fairly small. Leave smaller ones whole, and quarter or halve the larger ones.

1 head cauliflower (about 2 1/4 pounds), cut into florets, about six cups
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
salt
1 tablespoon butter (or one tablespoon vegetable oil)
2 large onions, cut into 1/2" to 3/4" slices
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
4 cups water
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
Freshly ground black pepper

optional garnish: 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1. Preheat oven to 450F. On a baking sheet, toss cauliflower with the vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon salt. Spread out over baking sheet and roast until the florets start to brown, about 25 minutes.

2. In a medium saucepan (about 3 quarts), melt the butter over medium-high heat (or warm the vegetable oil). Add the sliced onions, and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the curry powder, roasted cauliflower, water, and broth. Cover, and bring to a boil. Uncover; lower the heat, and simmer five minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer 3 cups of cauliflower to a bowl, and set aside. With a slotted spoon, transfer the remaining florets into a blender or food processor, add 1 teaspoon salt, and process until smooth. Stir the puree into the broth in the pan, and reheat if necessary. Ladle the soup into bowls, and top with the reserved florets. If desired, season with a bit of freshly ground black pepper, and garnish with parsley.

Happy New Year, 2009!

2008-12-31T15:19:00.003-05:00

We had plans to go to a friend's house, about 35 minutes away, for an evening of board games and munchies. However, the snow that has been falling all day, and continues to fall, has made us opt for a quiet evening in, instead (unless things change dramatically).

Here's Seuss, the official Throwing Spoons cat, to wish you all a very happy and healthy New Year!

I can take a hint

2008-12-29T22:15:00.001-05:00

I've now received five - count 'em, FIVE - cookbooks this Christmas.

Either word has gotten out that I like to cook, or someone's trying to tell me something...

Through the years, we all will be together

2008-12-26T14:36:00.005-05:00

As I try to shake the cough that's been haunting me all week, I'm preparing to make Oreo Truffles for a party we're going to tomorrow, and then it's on to making food for our family party this coming Sunday.

I posted last year about hosting the first family Christmas party we'd had in a very long time. This party was for my mom's side of the family, which for a long time had TWO family parties. The first one, the Wilkins Party, was my grandmother and her three siblings and their kids. They'd go out to dinner the Saturday before Christmas, and then back to my grandparents' house for a Yankee Swap. When the grandchildren arrived, though, a new tradition was born in the form of the Crofts Party: my grandparents, their four kids and spouses, and grandchildren, and various other assorted relatives, would gather at my grandparents' for a potluck dinner and to exchange gifts.

When I was in my early twenties, I waged a campaign to include the grandchildren, if they so desired, at the Wilkins party. A few years after that, the parties merged into one big party. We'd go out to eat, and then have our Yankee Swap. However, Gramma Bonnie passed away in September 2000, and the tradition of the family Christmas party seemed to go with her. I think we might have had one or two without her, but somehow the tradition just evaporated. No one seemed inclined to have it out anywhere, and no one in the family had a large enough house to host it.

I've mentioned more than once how alike my grandmother and I are in some ways. One of the reasons we bought our home is because it's got plenty of room for entertaining. When it really hit me last year that the only time I was seeing my aunts and uncles and cousins was at family funerals, I decided to do something about it, so I sent invitations to "the whole fam-damily," as Gramma would have said. Bad weather kept some people away, but we had a great time.

It wasn't even Thanksgiving this year when the questions began: "Are you having the party again this year? When is it?" Seems like everyone else was missing it just as much as I was. So yes, we're having the party again, and the whole fam-damily is coming. Everyone is bringing something for the dinner, a silly Yankee Swap gift, and lots of hugs and "Do you remembers." It's just what Gramma would have wanted.

One of my contributions to dinner will be meatballs. I made five dozen of these for my class at school earlier this week, and they were gobbled up; I plan to make the same amount tomorrow, which is about three times the recipe I'm giving here. I used a medium sized scoop to form them fairly quickly and evenly, but you can certainly do it by hand.

Meatballs

1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 small onion, grated or finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1 large clove garlic, crushed (or about 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder)
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 400˚F.

Mix all ingredients. Shape mixture into approximately twenty 1 1/2" meatballs. Place in ungreased 9x13" baking pan, or on rack in broiler pan.

Bake uncovered 20 to 25 minutes, or until no longer pink in center and juice runs clear.

Merry Christmas, 2008

2008-12-25T10:32:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas to my readers who celebrate it along with me, and happy holidays to everyone else!

Santa was very good to the Throwing Spoons kitchen. Among other things, I received:

a 6.5 quart cast iron Dutch oven;

A two-burner griddle pan;

A universal double-boiler (no more setting a Pyrex bowl in my saucepan to melt chocolate for Oreo truffles!

The light-versions companion to my cooking Bible - woohoo! Can't wait to try some of these recipes.

A cookie press, with all kinds of fun disks, including a pumpkin. Christmas AND Halloween spritz cookies - woohoo!

Powerful

2008-12-17T16:23:00.000-05:00

I intended to bake all weekend. Last week, on an icy Thursday night, I was digging out my favorite Christmas cookie recipes, had my tins all lined up, ready to be filled, and went to bed with visions of sugar cookies dancing in my head.

Mother Nature had other ideas.

I woke up at 2:00 a.m. to a completely dark room. No streetlights outside, no luminous numbers on my alarm clock. I bumped my way downstairs to get my phone, set the alarm, and went back to bed. It was noisy outside; lots of branches were breaking, sounding like gunshots. I snuggled back under the covers, fairly certain that I'd get a call from my school snow chain saying that school was cancelled.

However, I awoke to my phone alarm at seven. Looking outside, I was surprised. It was icy, and we had a large pine tree down in the back yard; it looked like it had exploded about two-thirds of the way up. I got ready for school, and headed out a little early. I drove slowly on the slick roads, marveling at the ice and the downed trees. I stopped at the Dunkin' Donuts next to school. "I can't believe we have school today!" I said to the woman at the drive-through, and drove away.

I turned the corner and put my signal on to turn into the school...but the gates were locked. What the...? Why hadn't I gotten a call? "I guess we DON'T have school today," I sighed, and turned back. I retraced my steps through the Dunkin' Donuts, where I picked up some coffee and a doughnut for my husband, and headed back home.

I arrived home to find my husband on his cell phone (the house phone was out, which explained why I never got my phone call), talking with his best friend. They were trying to figure out the most likely place to find a generator. When our power is out, our sump pump doesn't function. No pump + wet weather = bad news at the Throwing Spoons headquarters. The two of them began calling around; the closest store that had them in stock was about 45 minutes away. My in-laws, being closer to the store, headed over to hosey a generator for us; I took off in Camilla, the Spoonsmobile.

I arrived at Costco to find my mother-in-law guarding a generator with her life. They were checking on another model for her, but she wasn't letting that one go 'til she knew they had the other one for her. They eventually brought it out, we checked out, and I hightailed it home.

I arrived not a moment too soon. By the time my husband got the generator hooked up, we had four inches of water in our cellar. We were a fraction of an inch from losing our water heater, and if the water level had risen another inch, we might have lost the furnace. He managed to hook the furnace into the generator, so we had heat all weekend, and we had power for the fridge, and to charge our cell phones, and one light. I pushed my luck with the toaster oven one night; otherwise I was confined to cooking on our gas stove.

I briefly considered mixing my cookies by hand, but I discovered that even if I did, baking was just not an option. Though we have a gas range, the oven controls are electronic. There was no way to light our oven, nor control the temperature. I resorted to wrapping all of my Christmas gifts instead; baking will have to happen this weekend instead.

Our power came on early yesterday evening. I went around the house, singing, turning lights on and off for the sheer fun of it. I also have a theory that whomever first coined the phrase, "Silence is golden," must have lived with a gasoline-powered generator just outside the back of the house for five days. It was lovely falling asleep to the sound of nothing. Never before have I been so appreciative of our quiet neighborhood.

A special gift

2008-12-04T19:08:00.002-05:00

My mum brought me a very special gift on Thanksgiving.

When I was little - and even not so little - my mum made dozens and dozens of spritz cookies at Christmastime, first with her cookie press, and then with her electric Super Shooter, which speeded up the process considerably. She made three different shapes, and at least six dozen of each one. My brother and I got to help decorate them.

There were green Christmas trees, which we sprinkled with multi-colored nonpareils, and carefully topped each one with a small silver dragée. There were red bells or poinsettias - I think this varied depending on what plates she had for the particular press she was using - that were sprinkled with red sugar. Then there were my favorites: wreaths, formed with the decorative tip. The dough was white, but we sprinkled them with green sugar, and each had a red-hot cinnamon candy pressed on for a bow. I always saved the piece with the candy as a last bite.

Mum hasn't made her spritz cookies in years, but I got to thinking about them recently, and I asked her if she still had the old Super Shooter. When she arrived on Thanksgiving, she arrived bearing not only apple and pumpkin pies, but the Super Shooter as well. I'm going to be trying it out very soon!

Still Thanksgiving in my heart

2008-11-29T00:45:00.004-05:00

I just love Thanksgiving food. I might just have to buy a turkey breast for dinner this week. We sent some leftovers home with our parents, and we have guests here for the weekend, so our leftovers didn't stretch as far as they usually do. We had turkey dinner for lunch today, and I made turkey noodle soup for supper with the carcass, but that's pretty much it for the turkey.

If I do get a turkey or turkey breast, I might have to make this dish to go with it. My friend Annette brought this to our first Thanksgiving dinner, in 2002. It is absolutely delicious. I could eat this for dessert, or breakfast. If you typically make a sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, etc., this dish would be a nice substitute.

I am guessing the butter could halved or so...and it's definitely NOT diabetic friendly (which is why I haven't made it for quite some time; my father-in-law and my mom are both diabetic). Seriously yummy.

Baked Spiced Butternut Squash with Apples and Maple Syrup

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup apple juice or cider
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 small butternut squashes, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, cut crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices
4 6-ounce Granny Smith apples, peeled, halved, cored, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

Preheat oven to 400°F. Butter 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Stir butter, maple syrup and apple juice in small saucepan over medium-low heat until butter melts. Increase heat and boil until mixture is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; whisk in cinnamon, allspice and salt.

Arrange 1/3 of squash slices in prepared dish. Top with half of apple slices, then 1/3 of squash slices. Arrange remaining slices of squash and apple atop, alternating squash and apple slices and overlapping slightly. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Pour maple syrup mixture over. Cover baking dish tightly with foil.

Bake casserole until squash is almost tender, about 50 minutes. Uncover and bake until squash is tender, basting occasionally with syrup, about 20 minutes longer.

This dish can be made 1 day ahead. After baking, cover with foil and refrigerate. Rewarm, covered, in 350°F oven about 25 minutes, or microwave on high about 8 minutes.

Spoon syrup from dish over apples and squash and serve.Serves 8 to 10.

Thanksgiving notes, 2008

2008-11-27T21:39:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I hope you all had as lovely a day as I did. There were fourteen of us gathered around our table this year, including my mum; my brother and his girlfriend; my uncle and aunt; my dad's cousin; my cousin, her husband, and their four-year-old son (our godson); my husband's parents; and my husband's uncle. My husband's sister, husband, and our two nieces also joined us for dessert.

I posted my post-Thanksgiving notes last year, and whether or not anyone else found it useful or interesting, I found it to be invaluable in my planning this year, so I'm going to do it again.

Cheese & crackers
Shrimp cocktail

Vegetable rice soup
Salad
Turkey
Mashed potatoes
Stuffing
Gravy
Green beans, steamed
Butternut squash puree with shallots
Cat's cranberry sauce
Jellied cranberry sauce
Rolls
Olives, pickles

Appetizers: easy, and enough. I made dill dip with veggies, but never even brought them out.

Veggie soup and salad: brought by my brother's girlfriend, D, who is vegan. They were a lovely addition. The salad had some vegan "chik'n strips" - had I not known they weren't really chicken, I honestly don't think I'd have guessed. Very tasty!

Turkey: 25 pounder was plenty, with leftovers. (Woo!) Bought from Raymond's Turkey Farm. Cooked really quickly; I checked it at 4 hours, expecting it to have another 45 minutes or so to go, based on past years' calculations. Nope. Done. Better early than late, I guess.

Mashed potatoes: I think they needed to cook a little longer than they did - they were a little textural, after going through the ricer. Tasty, though.

Stuffing: for the first time in seven years, the stuffing was perfect. Baked it at 350F, covered, for about 45 minutes, in my deep stoneware covered baker. Uncovered it and baked for about ten minutes more, to crisp up the top a bit. Also, removed a bit before adding broth to it, to keep it vegan-friendly; substituted water for broth. Didn't try it, but D said it was good.

Gravy: perfect! Doubled the recipe and had PLENTY (for once). Didn't overthicken, as I have some years. Made sure to include the pan drippings, but NOT the fat, which I think was probably the reason last year's gravy was greasy.

Green beans: almost forgot to cook them; I washed and trimmed them early in the day, then put them out on the porch to stay cool. OOPS! Luckily, even 2.25 pounds of green beans steam quickly. 2.25 pounds for 14 people = plenty, with leftovers.

Squash: eliminated the textural problem from last year; it wasn't that I didn't puree long enough, but that I didn't roast the squash long enough. Made sure to roast it until it was nice and soft this year, and it was perfect and velvety. Cooked it early, then reheated, covered, in the oven. Worked like a charm. Also, made some of it butter-free for D, and she loved it.

Cranberry sauce: Added a pinch of cloves and a pinch of ginger to Cat's recipe. Just enough - any more and it would've been overpowering, and I would've had to make a plain batch to mix with it (like I did last year). GO EASY on the cloves!

Makin' whoopie

2008-11-23T21:49:00.004-05:00

Whoopie PIES, that is. Pumpkin whoopie pies, to boot.

First off, let me explain what a whoopie pie is, for the benefit of those of you who have never heard of such a thing. They're a New England staple (and, according to Wikipedia, a Pennsylvania Dutch goodie as well). Two soft, chocolate cookies are sandwiched together with a creamy white frosting. My grandmother used to make them; I have (and still use) her recipe - remind me to post it sometime.

Last week at work, my friend Stephanie, who knows of my love of all things pumpkin, presented me with a lovely gift: a pumpkin whoopie pie. Two soft, fluffy pumpkin cookies, with a cream cheese frosting between them. It was utterly delicious.

I requested the recipe, which she gave me; it's from Family Fun magazine. I'll be making these on Tuesday, to take to school for our Thanksgiving feast on Wednesday. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Ingredients: Pumpkin Cookies
2 eggs
2 cups light brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 15-ounce can pumpkin
3 cups flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Ingredients: Filling/Cream Cheese Frosting
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 to 5 cups confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Beat the eggs, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla in a mixing bowl until smooth. Stir in the pumpkin. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, pumpkin spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture a half cup at a time, blending each time until smooth.

2. Drop a heaping tablespoon of batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet, using a moist finger or the back of a spoon to slightly flatten each mound. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

3. Meanwhile, make the frosting. Beat together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract in a bowl until light and fluffy. Mix in the confectioners' sugar a half cup at a time, until the frosting is spreadable.

4. To assemble the pies, turn half of the cookies bottom side up and spread a generous amount of cream cheese frosting on each one. Top them with the remaining cookies (turned right side up). Makes 10 to 14 whoopie pies.

Where have you BEEN all my life???

2008-11-22T19:33:00.003-05:00

Oh, no, sorry, not you. I was talking to my potato ricer.

Browne Cuispro Stainless Steel Potato Ricer

I just made the BEST mashed potatoes I have ever made, thanks to this handy dandy little device. Fluffy, not a lump to be seen, and - perhaps the best part - I didn't have to peel the potatoes! Scrub them, boil them whole, drain, cut them in half, and rice them. The skin stays in the bowl or on the plunger of the ricer. Mix in some melted butter, then some heated milk or half and half, and salt and pepper.

The recipe in my cooking Bible - for it was of course my favorite cookbook that suggested a potato ricer or food mill - calls for half and half and quite a bit of butter - a whole stick for two pounds of potatoes. I used less butter than it called for and 1% milk, and they are still delicious. I'll probably back off the butter a little more on Thanksgiving, to allow for some nice rich gravy.

I prefer russet potatoes for my mashed potatoes - they make the fluffiest mashed potatoes - but Yukon Golds are a decent choice, as well.

Here's my version.

Mashed Potatoes

2 pounds russet potatoes, scrubbed
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup milk, heated
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (decrease to 1 teaspoon if you use salted butter)
Freshly ground black pepper

Cover scrubbed potatoes with water in a large saucepan (water should be about an inch over potatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low. Simmer 20 to 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender when pricked with a thin-bladed knife. Drain potatoes.

Set ricer over still-warm saucepan. Cut potatoes in half, and put through ricer into the saucepan.

Stir in melted butter with a wooden spoon. Gently whisk in the milk, salt, and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Over the river and through the woods...

2008-11-22T15:40:00.005-05:00

Actually, I don't have to go over the river and through the woods, to grandmother's house or to anywhere else. I'll be staying RIGHT HERE for Thanksgiving, thank you very much. This will be our seventh year hosting Thanksgiving. We'll be 14 for dinner, and then my sister-in-law, her husband, and our nieces will join us for dessert.

The menu will have a couple of additions to it this year. My brother's girlfriend is vegan, so she's offered to bring a vegan-friendly soup and salad. In turn, I'm making sure that some of the veggies I'm making are dairy-free so she can have them, and I think I'll make my quick chocolate cake, which is dairy-free as well.

My experiment this year is going to be with the mashed potatoes. I usually boil them, then mash them - technically, I guess, I whip them - in my trusty Kitchen Aid mixer. However, I bought a potato ricer a few weeks ago, after having some fantastic mashed potatoes at Lompoc Cafe in Bar Harbor, Maine. I loved the texture of them, so I'm going to give this a whirl. I thought it best, however, not to give it a whirl for the first time ON Thanksgiving, so mashed potatoes are on tonight's dinner menu.

So, the menu is currently looking like this:

Cheese and crackers
Veggies and dip
Shrimp cocktail (and yes, I already have the cocktail sauce on hand)

Vegetable-Rice Soup
Salad
Turkey (we ordered a 25-pounder from Raymond's Turkey Farm)
Stuffing
Mashed potatoes
Gravy
Butternut squash puree (made today - it's in the freezer)
Green beans
Maybe another veggie - baked carrots or steamed broccoli? Not sure we need it.
Cranberry sauce - homemade and canned
Dinner rolls

Assorted pies (at least four, at last count)
Chocolate cake
Pumpkin whoopie pies (recipe coming soon)
Ice cream

I feel like I've got a good handle on things. I'll post later about the mashed potatoes!

I Love Trash

2008-11-15T09:01:00.003-05:00

Is everyone singing the old Oscar the Grouch Top Ten hit? No? You should be. Here, let me help you...

(And yes, that is indeed Oscar. That's some vintage first-season Sesame Street, complete with orange Oscar and the original Gordon.)

ANYHOW, the reason *I* am humming "I Love Trash" is because of a fun new snack I recently made. It looks... well, to be honest, it looks pretty awful. Like a big pile of...um...trash. Oscar would probably love it! But seriously, try this. If you like Take 5 bars, this will be right up your alley. You'll be singing right along with me, especially because if you go out and buy some containers, this will make GREAT holiday gifts for co-workers or friends.

There are about three million versions of this already online, and they're all a little different. Try this, switch out what you don't like, switch in what you do. I can't wait to try changing it up a little bit! Chocolate instead of white chocolate...cereal in place of some of the pretzels...

If you do not have a REALLY LARGE bowl, consider making this in two batches. I blithely broke out my standard large mixing bowl (the largest in the Pyrex set), and it was not big enough!

Trash Candy

16-ounce bag of sourdough pretzel nibblers (mini twists would be fine)
16-ounce can of salted cashew halves and pieces
14-ounce bag M&M's (plain)
8-ounce bag of Heath bits
Two 12-ounce packages of white chocolate, melted
1/4 to 1/2 cup peanut butter (I didn't measure, just scooped some in)

Line two baking sheets with waxed paper.

In a large bowl (you saw my note about the bowl, right?), combine the first four ingredients.

Melt white chocolate, either in a double boiler or in the microwave. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't seize up. Stir peanut butter into white chocolate, and mix well.

Pour chocolate/peanut butter mixture over dry ingredients mixture and toss gently until coated. Pour mixture onto baking sheets. Let cool completely. Break up and store in air tight container for up to two weeks.

Panic! (not At The Disco)

2008-11-04T23:44:00.004-05:00

So, I was at the supermarket this afternoon, on my way home from school, trying to decide what to cook for dinner, when some on-sale strip steaks caught my eye. Hmmm....we haven't had steak quesadillas in forever! Perfect! Bought the steak and the red onion, and knew I had tortillas and sour cream at home.

Driving away, on my way to go vote, I realized I'd forgotten the pepper jack cheese. *sigh* I called my husband. With the promise of steak quesadillas in the offing, he offered to pick up the cheese on his way home. Good man.

Voted, came home, tra la. Husband arrived home with cheese. Lovely. I went to my cookbook shelf to find the recipe, which was in an issue of a cooking magazine to which I used to subscribe.

Hmmm. Where is it?

I looked at my cookbook shelf again. No dice.

I went to my backup cookbook shelf. Said shelf has twelve issues of said magazine on it. Nuts. This could take a while.

Lightbulb over head: I had that recipe marked with a purple sticky note!

None of the issues seemed to be marked with a sticky note, purple or otherwise. Oh dear.

"Hon? We may be eating soup tonight."

I perused the magazines, in the vain hope that I would see the recipe.

I think about soup. I think about quesadillas. I continue to search the magazines.

In the second to last issue: SUCCESS. No purple sticky note, but there's the recipe.

Lightbulb over head: I am going to post this recipe at Throwing Spoons, so I'll always know where it is...

Steak Quesadillas

from Everyday Food, June 2006

1 strip steak (8 ounces, 1 inch thick)

1/2 teaspoon oregano

salt, pepper

3 teaspoons olive oil, divided (or cooking spray)

4 flour tortillas (10-inch or burrito-style)

1 1/2 cups grated pepper jack cheese (about 6 ounces)

1 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced

1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream

salsa

Rub steak with oregano, and season with salt and pepper. In a 10-inch skillet, heat 1 teaspoon oil over high heat. Add steak to skillet and cook, turning once, until browned and still rare, 2 to 3 minutes per side. (Steak will cook a bit more in quesadillas during baking.) Transfer steak to cutting board and let rest 5 minutes before slicing 1/4 inch thick slices.

Preheat oven to 425F with racks in upper and lower thirds. Brush one side of each tortilla with remaining 2 teaspoons oil (or spritz with cooking spray). Place 2 tortillas, oil side down, on each of two baking sheets. Dividing cheese evenly, layer half of each tortilla with 1/4 cup cheese, then onion and steak, ending with remaining cheese. Fold tortillas in half, and press lightly to seal.

Bake, turning over once with a wide spatula, until lightly browned and crispy, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board and cut each into 4 triangles. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)

2008-10-25T21:30:00.004-04:00

I know, I know. I already have two meat loaf recipes. However, I tried a new one tonight, and it's my favorite to date, so I'm posting it anyways. It's based on a recipe from a certain cookbook - if you're a regular reader, you know which one. Unlike the other meat loaf recipes I've posted, this one's got a little zip to it.

I made another change tonight, and I think it's for the better. I've always made meat loaf in a loaf pan, but tonight I made it freeform on a rimmed baking sheet, and I really liked it. Instead of stewing in its own juices (and fat) in the loaf pan, it developed a nice crust all around. Yum.

I used all beef, but feel free to use a mix of ground meat if it suits you.

Glazed Meat Loaf

Glaze
1/2 cup ketchup or chili sauce (I used mostly ketchup, with a couple tablespoons of sriracha sauce for a kick)
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 teaspoons cider vinegar or white vinegar

Meat Loaf
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium cloves garlic, minced/pressed
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (I used Texas Pete)
1/2 cup milk
2 pounds ground beef chuck (or 1 lb. beef, 1/2 lb. pork, 1/2 lb. veal)
2/3 cup quick oatmeal

INSTRUCTIONS
1. For the glaze: Mix all ingredients in small saucepan; set aside.

2. For the meat loaf: Heat oven to 350F. Heat oil in medium skillet. Add onion and garlic; sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool while preparing remaining ingredients.

3. Mix eggs with thyme, salt, pepper, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, pepper sauce, and milk. Add egg mixture to meat in large bowl along with oatmeal and cooked onion and garlic; mix with fork until evenly blended and meat mixture does not stick to bowl. (If mixture sticks, add additional milk, a couple tablespoons at a time, until mixture no longer sticks.)

4. Form meat mixture into 9x5” loaf and put onto foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Brush with one-quarter of glaze. Bake until glaze is set, about 45 minutes. Top with another one-quarter of glaze; continue to bake until second coat has set and loaf registers 160 degrees, about 15 minutes longer. Cool at least 20 minutes. Simmer remaining glaze over medium heat until thickened slightly. Slice meat loaf and serve with extra glaze passed separately.

Creamy pumpkin goodness

2008-10-04T22:08:00.004-04:00

I've been a cooking fiend today (as evinced by the mound of dishes in my kitchen).

My husband's birthday was yesterday, and we're celebrating with the family tomorrow, so I made his favorite chocolate cake, which I then frosted with my mocha buttercream frosting. (Don't ask - it's a family secret!)

Then I made two loaves of pumpkin bread, just for fun, and added chocolate chips to one of them.

Then, since I was in a pumpkiny mood, I decided to finally make a recipe I've been meaning to try for a while. This from my friend Cara's blog. She's got some super recipes, along with some great photos, which aren't my strong point! Cara is great at lightening up recipes, which is always a plus in my book.

Her recipe for penne with sausage and pumpkin cream sauce is absolutely delicious. I modified it a little bit, as I had neither the sage nor the spinach her recipe called for. I'm going to post her original, but am putting my notes in italics. The pumpkin cream sauce sounds decadent, but there's not a bit of cream in it. It's made with pumpkin, low-fat cottage cheese, and nonfat or low-fat milk.

Penne with Sausage and Pumpkin Cream Sauce

4 ounces penne pasta (I used whole grain pasta, and increased it to about 6 ounces)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced (used my garlic press)
about 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage (I omitted this)
2 links cooked chicken sausage, sliced (I used roasted garlic chicken sausage, and increased it to 3 links)
1/2 cup low fat (1% milk fat) cottage cheese
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup nonfat milk (I used 1%)
5 ounces baby spinach (I used 1 cup frozen peas)
parmesan cheese, optional

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions and cook gently for about 15-20 minutes, until softened and beginning to caramelize. Add garlic, sage, and chicken sausage; continue to saute. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. (If using peas instead of spinach, add to pasta during last 5 minutes of cooking time.)

In a blender, combine pumpkin, cottage cheese, and milk. Blend until no lumps are present.

Add to sausage mixture in skillet and continue to cook over low heat. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Drain pasta and return to pot over low heat. Add sausage mixture and baby spinach, and toss together until the spinach is wilted. Serve with parmesan cheese, if desired.

I have been a bad, bad blogger

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

I've been quite neglectful of this blog of late, and am feeling quite guilty about it. If you are a regular reader, I apologize profusely. Fear not, I've not forgotten about it!

I have a couple of posts almost ready to go - homemade pizza (and pizza sauce), and my mum's apple pie. Check back very soon. I'm still here. Thanks for hanging around!

Linus and Lucy go with Camilla to Jakarta

2008-09-13T09:13:00.006-04:00

Last night, I made an exotic-sounding recipe that I found in an unlikely source. As Charles said to me last night, "Betty Crocker has come a long way since Chicken a la King!" Fair warning: if you have anyone in your family with a peanut allergy, you might just want to surf on over to whatever other blogs you read, and check back in with me in the next couple of days for a different recipe.

A few years ago, I made Indonesian Peanut Chicken exactly as directed by the book (Betty Crocker's Cookbook, Bride's Edition - which, oddly, I bought just before I started dating my husband.) It calls for a 3- to 3 1/2-pound cut-up broiler-fryer.

Last night I simplified by using a couple of pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs. They had a nice flavor to them, but were typically fatty and a bit sinewy. I'm sure boneless, skinless breasts would work well, and I'm thinking of going that route next time. I also removed the 3/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper the recipe calls for, and cooked the chicken in Pam instead of 2 tablespoons of oil.

If someone in your life is vegetarian or vegan, omit the chicken and substitute in your favorite vegetables. Sautee veggies until crisp-tender, and proceed with making the sauce as written.

Serve either version over rice or rice noodles.

Indonesian Peanut Chicken

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
Vegetable oil spray (or 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil)
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup chili sauce (I used sweet Thai chili sauce)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup water
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper (or more - I just chopped up a whole pepper)

Heat 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Spray with vegetable oil spray and cook chicken about 15 minutes, turning occasionally, until browned on both sides. Cover and cook over low heat about 15-20 minutes, or until juice is no longer pink when center of thickest piece is cut. Remove chicken from skillet.

Drain all but 1 tablespoon of drippings from skillet. Cook onion in drippings over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tender; reduce heat. Add peanut butter, chili sauce, and cayenne. Gradually stir in water, stirring constantly, until peanut butter is melted.

Add chicken. Spoon sauce over chicken. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered about five minutes, spooning sauce frequently over chicken, until sauce is slightly thickened. Serve sauce over chicken. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and red bell pepper.

Déjà vu

2008-09-10T19:15:00.003-04:00

Here I am, about to publish a lovely recipe for pork tenderloin. I'm typing away, tra la...and something starts to bother me. Have I written about this already?

I look back in the archives and realize that I posted it last January.

*sigh*

All right, since I'm not posting tonight's dinner, I promise you that later this week I'll post a recipe for Indonesian peanut chicken, and maybe one for applesauce. Fall is here, and I'm ready for fall food!

Well? How did I get here?

2008-09-02T15:58:00.004-04:00

I've just been perusing my visitor log, and am rather amused by some of the searches that bring readers to Throwing Spoons.

In some cases, the searches make perfect sense to me. Fannie Farmer Apple Crisp, for example, has been the subject of numerous searches lately.

However, allow me give you a few examples of some of the searches that are a little more, shall we say, out there.

"hippopotamus meat recipes"
(Here you go.)

"horrible cakes"
(Try this site instead. Mine are all scrumptious. ;) )

"ingredient list of hoodsies icecream"
(This seems to be a closely guarded secret.)

"how to make oatmeal like dennys"
(I'm not sure how Denny's makes it, but mine is pretty good.)

"throwing spoons at black people"
(I do not endorse this sort of activity at all. I don't endorse throwing spoons at anyone, for that matter. Where on Earth did this come from???)

"kool aid kool aid tastes great rest of song"
("Wish I had some...can't wait!")

Chicken with WHAT?

2008-08-28T17:43:00.004-04:00

There was a recipe circulating a couple of years ago that I'd forgotten about 'til last night. Faced with some defrosted chicken and not a lot of ingredients on hand, this recipe that originated with Weight Watchers fit the bill perfectly. It's called Diet Coke Chicken.

Stop! Wait! I was skeptical, too, but it's actually quite tasty. I "kicked it up a notch," as Emeril Legasse would say, by adding in some of Penzey's medium-hot chili powder. Give this pseudo-barbecued chicken a try for a quick meal. It was great with some rice-and-noodles and some broccoli steamed with a little garlic.

Salsa can be substituted for the ketchup; if you go that route, try using chili powder and cumin.

Diet Coke Chicken

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 cup diet Coke (I used caffeine-free)
1 cup ketchup
1-2 tablespoons chili powder

Put chicken in nonstick skillet. Combine Coke, ketchup, and chili powder, and add to skillet.

Cover and bring to a simmer. Cook chicken until done, about a half hour, turning as needed.

Remove chicken to a warm plate, and bring sauce to a boil, stirring often. Reduce until thick. Return chicken to skillet and coat with sauce.

Been away

2008-08-22T08:28:00.002-04:00

Sorry about the lack of new posts the past couple of weeks. I've been visiting family and friends in VA and MD. New recipes coming soon! Hope you're enjoying the last bit of summer before we're into September!

It wasn't ALL bad.

2008-08-08T11:50:00.004-04:00

For those of you who read my previous entry, please know that we did have some great food while we were in Chicago.

As it happened, we were on a plane on the evening of my birthday. Needless to say, this did not exactly lend itself to going out to dinner, so we planned to celebrate on Saturday night instead. I did a little research over at Serious Eats, and printed out a thread that discussed good places to eat. (Sadly, the thread also contained Pizzeria Due. But I digress.)

After arriving at the hotel on Friday night I perused the six pages of posts, and narrowed it down to five or six possibilities. The final winner was Cafe Spiaggia. I called from the Navy Pier on Saturday afternoon. The hostess inquired as to whether we wanted the main dining room or the café. Not knowing the difference, my husband and I shrugged at each other, and I and booked us a table at the Café for 8:15. She asked if we were celebrating anything special, so I told her it was my birthday dinner.

We went on a fabulous architectural boat tour of Chicago at 6:00 (highly recommended), and then made our way to the restaurant. It's well hidden, in a big building at One Magnificent Mile, up on the second floor.

After we'd ordered our drinks (Chianti for the hubby, a limoncello martini for me), we perused the menu. EVERYTHING on the menu was looking fabulous, if a little pricier than we had anticipated for a place that had "Café" in the name.

We started by sharing the Polipo: wood roasted baby octopus with cipollini onions, potatoes and celery. My husband surprised me by suggesting this; when we have sushi, he's not much of a fan of octopus. It was just delicious. Tender, a little smoky, and tasting of the sea. The vegetables worked perfectly with it.

We each had an Insalata Italiana, which was mixed Italian greens with sweet onions, ricotta salata and Chianti vinaigrette. I don't know if I can convey in words how good this salad was. I think with every bite, I said "Oh, my goodness. This is WONDERFUL." The dressing was just exquisite, and the salad was dressed perfectly - flavorful but not dripping.

We both opted for a lighter meal, and each had just a pasta course instead of adding a main dish (Secondi) as well. My husband chose the gnocchi, which are a house specialty. The homemade potato gnocchi are served with with a wild boar ragu and Parmigiano Reggiano. I opted for ravioli, filled with Prosciutto di Parma and ricotta, with spring peas, pine nuts, and mint. I was a bit disappointed when the plate was placed in front of me, as I'd been expecting a larger portion (there were seven ravioli), but it was just enough food to leave me room for dessert. As with the salad, every bite was sheer perfection. It was easy to eat slowly and savor every bite.

Which brings me to dessert. Holy moley. (Longtime readers know about my legendary sweet tooth.) After agonizing over the list, I chose a dessert (wish I'd written down the details!) that was comprised of a shortbread-ish crust, a layer of homemade raspberry jam, a layer of lightly sweetened mascarpone , and studded with fresh raspberries and blackberries. I talked my husband into the chocolate panna cotta, accented with sea salt and almonds, going on the theory that we would be sharing and that the raspberries and chocolate would be a good combination.

The waitress brought out the panna cotta first, with a long, thin candle in it, apologizing that it wasn't my dessert, but that it was much easier to get the candle into my husband's dessert! I was also presented with a birthday gift of a $25 gift certificate for our next visit! I made my wish, and we dug in. If the rest of the dinner was sensational, the desserts were extraordinary. Words fail me farther than that. We also had the best cappuccino we'd ever had. Mine was decaf, and it was simply outstanding.

To sum up: If you are in Chicago, and your budget permits: GO TO CAFÉ SPIAGGIA. If the rest of the menu is as even half as delicious as what we ate, you can't go wrong.

Pizzeria Due Not - a Chicago PAN

2008-08-05T21:53:00.006-04:00

I'm going to start with the "Where Not to Eat" of our trip to Chicago. Hold onto your hats.

Chicago is well-known for its deep-dish pan pizza, and I was greatly looking forward to sampling a pie. Having done a little online research, I confidently suggested to my husband that we head to Pizzeria Due.

You may be familiar with Pizzeria Uno. We were; they're all over the place around here. It's not difficult to find "Chicago-style" pizza here in Massachusetts, but we wanted the real deal, not a chain. Hence, our selection of Pizzeria Due, which is a mere block away from the (we believe) original Pizzeria Uno.

We were more than a little surprised that Due had almost the exact same logo as Uno. There were people waiting for a table, but we went in to put our names on the list. We were told that the pizza would take 45 minutes to cook, so she took our order when we put our names in. We ordered their signature pizza, an "Uno," with veggies, sausage, and pepperoni - when we put our names in for a table. Between the logo and the name of their signature pizza, I began to be more than a little suspicious about Due's origins.

We were seated outside about twenty minutes later, at one of the dozen or so tables set up on the street corner. The very first thing we noticed was that the edges of the sugar packets on our table were covered in tomato sauce. Lovely. The waitress came over to take our drink orders and gave us plates, napkins and cutlery. The plates we were given, I kid you not, were plastic and grungy looking. They were clean, but badly stained. As far as the napkins, well, they were cheapie paper napkins. No joke, they were the kind that you get in a big stack at the grocery store. They're fine for my kitchen table, but at a restaurant?

While waiting for our food, we read the blurb on the back of our menu, which solved the mystery of the logo and the specialty pizza: The guy who started out by opening Pizzeria Uno then followed up his success by opening Pizzeria Due.

Our Caesar salad was brought promptly. It was overdressed and had (Charles, you might want to skip to the next sentence) four of the mealiest wedges of tomato I've ever had the displeasure to eat. Come on. It's AUGUST. If there are good fresh tomatoes to be had in any month, it's August. *sigh* We had some entertainment during the salad course: we were treated to the rather vocal displeasure of the party next to us, two moms and their teenage daughters, whose spinoccoli pizza was brought to them COLD. They left shortly thereafter.

Our pizza was finally brought out, and it was completely and totally watery. We're not talking damp, we are talking a flood of near Biblical proportions on our pizza. If you're going to cover a pizza with veggies, the least you can do is sauté them a bit first. They obviously haven't figured this out, even though it's their "signature" pizza. It wasn't cold, but neither was it piping hot. The crust was horrible, flavorless and bland, just blah.

Meanwhile, as we were trying to eat our pizza, the waitstaff was haphazardly "cleaning" the table that had been vacated next to us. They cleared everything and gave it a cursory wipedown with a none-too-clean looking wet rag. While the guy was washing down the table, he knocked off the table the pizza pan that was holding the jars of oregano, pepper flakes, cheese, sugar packets, etc. The whole thing went face down onto the sidewalk, and the jars fell out. I quietly said to my husband, "Oh...no...please no...." But my worst fears came true: he simply picked up the pan, put the jars back into the pan, and put it back on the table. Though at that point it didn't really surprise me, it still absolutely horrified me.

After that, the table remained empty for several minutes, despite a growing line of waiting diners. Meanwhile, the friendly little sparrow that had been hanging around hoping for crumbs hopped right up onto the newly-washed table, drinking from the watery puddles that were left on the table, and looking for wayward crumbs.

I ate a single piece of pizza. My husband, normally a bottomless pit, ate only two. Needless to say, we skipped dessert. When they came to clear away the remains of our dinner, the guy saw the half uneaten pizza, asked if we wanted it boxed up, and when he said no, he asked if he could have it.

One thing that stood out to us in our hour or so at Due was that the manager and staff were constantly offering apologies for one thing or another - cold pizza, a delay for a table, etc., etc. None of the apologies seemed particularly heartfelt. My take? Skip the apologies, do some work with your staff, and bring the caliber of your food and service up to par.

We left, vowing to salvage our night. We did, but that's a story for another post.

Chicago

2008-08-05T10:12:00.003-04:00

I spent the weekend in Chicago, the first time I'd been there. It's a great city. Though it's got more of a big-city vibe than Boston does, it's not quite New York, either.

I've got some longer reviews in the pipeline, but here are the short versions:

Do not eat at Pizzeria Due.

If you must eat at Pizzeria Due, follow it up with cocktails on the 96th floor of the Hancock Tower as the sun is setting. (Try not to look at the big, juicy spiders right outside the windows. Eeeurgh.)

Absolutely eat at Café Spiaggia. It's not inexpensive (though it's apparently less expensive than its sister restaurant, Spiaggia), but so worth it. Every bite was perfect.

I should get cake for breakfast today.

2008-08-01T09:56:00.001-04:00

Can't tear my eyes away...

2008-07-29T15:22:00.003-04:00

I've just added a new blog to the "More Good Eats Here" box over on the right-hand side of my blog. Technically, it's not really good eats, but it is without question my favorite new blog.

Cake Wrecks is a hilarious look at when bad cakes happen to good people. Moreover, they are not horrible cakes made by well-meaning home bakers; these are professionally made cakes.

Just one more reason I stick to homemade.

Muddle

2008-07-18T21:19:00.003-04:00

Here's the third recipe from Annette. This is quite possibly the perfect summer cocktail. It's got mint and citrus, for a nice fresh zing. (If you're a lightweight, like I am, you can substitute extra selzer for the rum for a lovely refreshing non-alcoholic drink.)

Mojitos

Per glass:

3 tablespoons sugar syrup (recipe follows)
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 mint leaves

Stir/muddle well, crushing leaves.

Add:
Crushed ice
1/4 cup light rum
1/3 cup seltzer
1/2 tsp. curaçao (optional)

Mix well.

Sugar syrup:

2 cups water
2 cups sugar

Stir over medium low heat (do not boil!) until sugar dissolves. Cool.

To go with the "old clothes"...

2008-07-18T21:01:00.005-04:00

Here's Annette's recipe for Cuban black beans. Hopefully she'll correct me if I've gotten anything wrong; I scrawled the ingredients and directions onto a card as she was cooking. This is my best attempt to decipher my hieroglyphics.

Cuban Black Beans

1-2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 tablepoon oil
1 small onion, chopped fine
1/3 green pepper, chopped fine
1-2 teaspoons oregano
1 12-ounce can black beans (preferably Goya)
1-2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1-2 plum (Roma) tomatoes, chopped

Cook garlic, onion, bell pepper and oregano in oil over medium heat. Add black beans and vinegar; simmer ten minutes. Add tomatoes, and cook an additional five to seven minutes.

Old clothes and a happy birthday

2008-07-17T12:29:00.002-04:00

Last week was the birthday of someone whom I consider to be one of my best friends, even though I haven't seen her in about three years; she moved first to St. Louis, and is now in North Carolina. We don't often get to chat, but she's never far away from me in spirit; I love her dearly.

Annette and I met when we worked together at Shore Country Day School, and took an instant liking to each other. She's delightful, intelligent, spiritual, warm, caring...I could go on and on, but she's probably already embarrassed. One thing that we bonded over was cooking. When we first became friends, I was really starting to flex my wings in the kitchen, and she definitely encouraged me.

We discovered quickly that we are not only compatible out of the kitchen, but in it: we cook extremely well together. Finding someone with whom you can work well in the kitchen is a marvelous, marvelous thing. Annette and her husband were among the guests at the first Thanksgiving dinner we hosted, in 2002; she was the one who introduced me to the gravy recipe I've used ever since.

Annette also broadened my cooking horizons in a cultural sense. Annette is Latina, of Puerto Rican descent, and she introduced me to some wonderful Latino recipes. Her tostones (fried plantains) are unequaled; I've had them elsewhere, and they never compare to hers.

This is one of my favorite Annette meals, Ropa Vieja. Literally, it means Old Clothes, but you won't be chewing on last year's denim. It's named that because you cook the flank steak until - like old clothes - it's falling apart. This is flavorful and delicious. Make some white rice to eat with it, and maybe some Cuban black beans and Mojitos (recipes coming soon, also courtesy of Annette).

Ropa Vieja
(Shredded Flank Steak with Sauce)

1 pound flank steak
1 onion, chopped - about 1 cup
1/2 green bell pepper, cut into strips
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
Sofrito (ingredients listed below)
1 tablespoon dry white wine
1/2 cup beef broth
1/4 cup green peas
1 jar (2 ounces) sliced pimientos and juice

Cooking flank steak:
Place the meat in a pot with water to cover. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic and salt. Bring to a boil and cook uncovered for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer for two hours or until tender. Strain the cooking liquid and reserve. Shred the steak.

Sofrito:
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons vinegar
1/8 teaspoon oregano (dried, not fresh)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Make sofrito:
Sauté the garlic and onion in oil over medium heat until the onion is soft. Stir in the bell pepper, carrot, tomato sauce, water, vinegar, oregano and salt; cook 10 minutes.

Add meat, wine, broth and reserved cooking liquid to sofrito. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in peas and pimientos (with juice); season to taste.

Weekend project

2008-07-13T16:02:00.003-04:00

We've been busy this weekend. Painted the nursery yesterday (well, got the first coat on), and today I'm covering the dining room chairs.

We have a wonderful dining room set. It was in a house that my in-laws bought probably close to 30 years ago. My father-in-law, with my husband's assistance, stripped and refinished the set. When my husband moved into his condo, the set went with him. It's a beautiful round mahogany table, with four leaves to extend it, six chairs, and a matching sideboard.

I bought fabric to recover the chair seats quite a while ago, but it's a project that kept getting pushed to the back burner, in part because it was something I'd never done before; I was a little nervous about it. However, here's the first one. The old fabric is on the left, new fabric on the right:

I'm diggin' it! I think I'll ScotchGuard the seats before I screw them back into the chairs.

Don't rush me

2008-07-12T11:53:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, some friends of mine were wishing away the summer.

Now, I'm as big a fan of autumn as just about anyone. It's my favorite time of year; let's face it, I didn't choose to get married in October because it was convenient (far from it, from a teacher's standpoint). However, I'm not yet ready for apples and pumpkins and cranberries.

I now present Exhibit A: Why I'm glad it's still summertime (with 8x10 color glossy photographs, with circles and arrows on the back of each one...oh, wait, sorry...)

We discovered raspberry canes in our yard last summer, after berry season was over, and I was overjoyed. I went out last week to check on them, and they were red! Glory be!

They wouldn't come off of the canes. Now, raspberries, as you know if you've ever picked them, release from the canes very easily when ripe. Wha....

Light dawned on Marblehead, as we say around here. They weren't red raspberries...they were black raspberries, like the ones we used to pick "down back" of my grandparents' house every summer. Wahoo!

My breakfast this morning was that bowlful of black raspberries, still warm from the sun.

Foodies, unite!

2008-07-06T22:43:00.002-04:00

You may or may not have noticed, but I have a new place to visit over in the right hand bar. The Foodie Blogroll is a great community of food bloggers, and I'm pleased to join their ranks. Please take some time to check out some of their blogs!

A Small-Town Baked Bean Supper

2008-07-02T22:44:00.012-04:00

When I was a girl, July 3rd and 4th were spent at my mum's folks' house. Independence Day was a BIG DEAL on her side of the family, particularly with my Grampa Clyde. Independence Day was second to no other day in the year, in Grampa's eyes. The two-day celebration of my childhood was something straight out of Smalltown, USA. Come with me down Memory Lane (which is in this case Centre Street), if you will. I promise there's a recipe at the end.

Ham and bean church suppers are a fairly common New England tradition, and back in 1949 the Danvers "Common Supper" (later known as the Highlands' Bean Supper) took it to a whole new level. WWII was over, and the baby boom was in full swing. Clyde "Boomie" Crofts (my Grampa), Alfred "Firp" Hutchinson (Gramma's first cousin, son of my aforementioned Great-Great-Aunt Margaret) and several others decided that it would be great to have a family-oriented Fourth of July. The festivities would begin on July 3 with supper on the Common in Danvers Highlands: home-baked beans, ham, cole slaw, homemade cookies and ice cream.

The first supper attracted about 125 guests. By the time I was old enough to remember the bean supper, America was celebrating her Bicentennial, and the number of tickets had to be limited to 800, simply due to the size of the Common. When I was very small, there were rented tables and chairs lined up all over the Common; this gave way a few years later to everyone bringing their own folding chairs and tables, to save on the cost of the tickets.

I remember helping to sell tickets with Gramma and Great-Aunt Sarah up at First Church on sunny weekends in June. In the week preceding the supper, I'd sometimes help to roll and tie plastic silverware in napkins, and I think one year I helped to pre-butter the dinner rolls. The coleslaw was mixed by someone on the Supper Committee, in a huge rubbish barrel that was reserved especially for the purpose. The prescribed way to stir up such a huge amount of slaw was to scrub up and just plunge an arm in as far as possible.

On the afternoon of July 3, I could walk up and down Centre Street, and the aroma of baked beans fairly wafted down the street, emanating from nearly every kitchen on the block including my Gramma Bonnie's, not to mention a slew of my extended family's, as well: Great-Aunt Harriet's, first cousins-twice-removed Edie's (Firp's wife) and Ruth's, and Great-Great-Aunt Margaret's, not to mention everyone I knew from First Church.

Everyone had a different bean preference - kidney, pea, or yellow-eye - but the basic recipe was the same: molasses, onion, salt, pepper and salt pork were the basics. Many of the cooks had a "secret ingredient," but there was one thing that anyone from a different part of the country would notice right away: traditionally, there's no barbecue sauce or tomato in New England baked beans. They're quite sweet.

By about 5:00, cars were parked up and down Centre Street and around the corners at Hobart Street and Prince Place. Our family was one of the lucky ones. I would leave 74 Centre Street with my parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins, and the whole clan would walk the approximately 400 feet upstreet to the Common, to our reserved seats at the long tables, or to our lawn chairs that were already under one of the huge shady trees near the edge of the Common, thanks to my uncles schlepping them to the Common earlier in the day.

People would start lining up well before the supper officially began, which was always at 6:00 sharp with an invocation by the pastor of either First Church or St. Richard's. Then we'd all shuffle along in line for our ham, beans, coleslaw, dinner roll and beverage. (Those of us who had seen or knew about the coleslaw arm-plunge-and-mix often politely declined it.) You could request what type of beans you'd like, but there was no guarantee you'd get some of your own. This could be bad, if someone had a secret ingredient you weren't fond of, or it could be a wonderful surprise, like the year I got baked beans with pineapple in them. My grandparents scoffed at them, but they were delicious.

Supper was accompanied by a local band, playing patriotic songs and "old favorites." They'd always strike up a "children's march" shortly after dinner, and led the kids in Pied-Piper fashion all over the Common, keeping them busy and out of their elders' hair for a few minutes. Then we'd all get our dessert, which was Hoodsies (half chocolate, half vanilla ice cream cups) or ice cream sandwiches. As the air cooled and shadows lengthened, we'd slowly make our way home to get ready for more fun on the fourth: The Danvers Highlands Horribles Parade (which, my friends, is worthy of a post in and of itself) and a big family picnic.

I've come to learn in the few days since I originally posted that my grandmother's recipe for baked beans is from Durgin Park in Boston; it was the same one her mother and Aunt Margaret used. Gramma's directions on her recipe card are sketchy, at best, so I've done my best to flesh them out. Our family was firmly in the pea bean/navy bean camp, but I'm sure this would work equally well with kidney beans.

Baked Beans

2 pounds pea or navy beans
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 pound salt pork, scored
1 small onion, chopped
2/3 cup molasses
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons dry mustard
4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Check the beans for any stones or dirt and discard. Put the beans in a large bowl; cover with cold water by about 3 inches. Cover, and set aside in refrigerator to soak overnight, 6-8 hours.

Parboil beans in a large saucepan with baking soda: bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat so the beans simmer and cook for 30 minutes or until tender. Drain.

Preheat the oven to 300˚F.

Put the beans in a 3.5 - 4 quart ceramic bean pot or covered casserole with the salt pork and the onion. In a medium bowl combine the molasses, mustard, salt and pepper with 2 cups of water, and pour over the beans. If the beans are not covered by the liquid, add more. Cover the pot, and bake for 5-7 hours. Check the beans periodically to make sure they are covered with liquid and if needed add more water to cover.

Serve with ham, hot dogs, or whatever floats your boat...even some cole slaw, as long as you know who mixed it.

Summertime!

2008-06-29T14:48:00.005-04:00

Canobie Lake Park is a local amusement park. It's not a Disney World - it's not even a Six Flags - but it holds a special place in my heart. When I was growing up, my family and my cousin's family went there together every summer. My mum and my Uncle Bob are twins, and his daughter Wendy and I are only two and a half months apart; we're more like sisters than cousins. Though we were very different growing up - she was the outdoorsy, athletic, outgoing one and I was the more introverted one who liked to play house and do crafts - we were always best buddies, who took advantage of every opportunity to have a sleepover.

Wendy and I are still very close. When we talked to each other a few weeks ago, near the end of the school year (we're both teachers), we decided to go to Canobie together for the day, once school got out, and so we did, this past Friday. I dragged her onto the wooden roller coaster first thing. We sat in the very back; I rode with my hands in the air the entire time, and she held on for dear life. We went on some tamer rides together, and before we left, enjoyed some fried dough that, as far as I am concerned, is the best you'll find anywhere.

One thing that Wendy and I have grown to have in common, besides a profession, is that we both love to cook. Wendy married a chef, but she's an incredible cook and baker in her own right. Dinner at their house is always an event to look forward to!

Wendy first learned to cook at her mom's elbow, much as I learned the basics from my mum. Aunt Diane's the one, you might recall, who's responsible for the spaghetti with bacon that I mentioned back in December. Along with somehow inheriting Aunt Diane's tendency towards being emotional (despite the fact that I can't possibly have inherited it, genetically speaking), I have accumulated a fair number of her recipes over the years, including this one. If you're having a gathering for Independence Day, this is a great dessert for a hot summer day!

I prefer this without the almonds.

Frozen Raspberry Pie

One 9” pie shell, baked

2 egg whites
12 ounces frozen raspberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup granulated sugar
dash salt
¼ cup chopped almonds (optional)
1 cup whipping cream, whipped

With electric mixer, beat egg whites, raspberries, lemon juice, sugar and salt until stiff – about 10 minutes.

With spatula, fold in whipped cream and almonds, if desired.

Put mixture in 9” pie shell. Freeze. Keep frozen until serving.

Whole wheat meets Tollhouse cookies

2008-06-18T20:42:00.007-04:00

Is that making you drool?

What if I told you - truthfully - that it contains whole wheat?

Backstory: I was recently concocting a batch of white-chocolate chunk cookies for my class at school, and realized that I only had a cup and a quarter of all-purpose flour left. I needed another cup. It was, in true Martha fashion, too late to run to the store to get more. (Have I mentioned that I'm a procrastinator extraordinaire?)

Horrors. What to do?

I opened my pantry closet in the hopes of discovering a bag of all-purpose flour that I'd purchased and stashed away in case of emergency. No dice. There was a bag of bread flour...and...wait a minute.

There was that bag of white whole-wheat flour, which I'd purchased with the best of intentions, but hadn't been brave enough to use. Deciding that it was that or no cookies, I measured out a cup and crossed my fingers.

When they had cooled, I gingerly tried a cookie. I have nothing against whole wheat, but would it work in cookies? I was pleasantly surprised. I honestly couldn't tell that I'd used almost half whole wheat flour. However, this was a new cookie recipe for me. As a true test, I needed to try it out in one of my old standbys: Tollhouse cookies.

I've made a few changes over the years to the original Tollhouse cookie recipe printed on the bag of Nestlé morsels, namely:

I replace half of the butter (one stick) with margarine; this makes the cookies a little softer, a little less crispy.
I eliminate the nuts, just because I don't think that they have any place in a chocolate chip cookie.
I don't use Nestlé morsels. Yes, I know, sacrilege. However, let me tell you, Nestlé Tollhouse cookies made with Ghirardelli 60% Cocoa Bittersweet Chocolate Chips are divine, a completely different animal.

I made a batch of them, replacing almost half (4/9, for my fellow math geeks) of the flour with the white whole wheat flour. I waited impatiently for the first batch to cool a bit, and finally bit into a still-warm cookie.

Heaven. They're absolutely delicious. Cookie Monster would devour them without a second thought.

I'm going to increase the whole wheat flour a bit more next time and see what happens.

Martha's Chocolate Chippies
based on Original Nestlé Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (11.5 ounce package) Ghirardelli 60% Cocoa bittersweet chocolate chips (brown package)

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl; set aside. In large mixer bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. (I like to bake on parchment paper on cookie sheets.)

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

I've been tagged!

2008-06-15T23:58:00.003-04:00

Cara over at Cara's Cravings has tagged me!

The rules:
Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What was I doing ten years ago?
Summer 1998... I was teaching at a summer program at Shore Country Day School, where I was the reigning Queen of Gimp.

What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today?
1. Make Tollhouse cookies before school
2. Get through the school day - almost there!
3. Go grocery shopping
4. Plant flowers around the mailbox
5. Maybe get together with Andrea for girls' night, and work on some beading projects

Five snacks I enjoy:
1. Popcorn or kettle corn (made in my Whirley Pop)
2. S'mores
3. Ice cream - current favorite is Edy's Swiss Orange
4. Homemade cookies
5. Fruit

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Pay off our house
2. Buy a new car
3. Invest so I can live off the interest
4. Start my future childrens' college funds
5. Make sure my mom is comfortable

Places I've lived:
Most recent listed first...
1. South Chelmsford
2. North Chelmsford
3. Melrose
4. Beverly
5. Gloucester

Jobs I've had:
Most recent listed first...
1. Bioeducational Facilitator
2. In-house sub at an elementary school
3. Assistant teacher at a private school
4. Nanny
5. Church secretary

Tag, now you're it!
1. Charles at Cat Boy II
2. Annette at Thirtysomething Revisited
3. Jenny at Tangerine Honda Element Dreams
4. Michelle at Ginger Snaps
5. Heather at Madwoman's Attic

Turning up the heat

2008-06-14T09:19:00.004-04:00

Though the weather is gorgeous right now - just what June should be, in my opinion - we had a nasty spate of hot weather at the beginning of the week. Mother Nature should save her summer heatwaves until the kids are finished with school. I'm lucky, in that my school is air conditioned, but the vast majority of schools in Massachusetts are not. My sympathies go out to you if you teach in (or send your kids to) one of them! The last few days of school are tough enough without oppressive heat. (I have three days left, but who's counting?)

With the warm weather here, it's salad season again. I started this blog last August with a flurry of salad recipes: potato salad, Japanese chicken salad, coleslaw, and spinach strawberry salad. I think it's time to add some more to the mix.

The following is not your average chicken salad. Madras-style curry powder, which is spicier than the standard, adds a little heat here; use regular curry powder, or back off the amount used, if it's too spicy for your liking. Toasting the curry powder is essential, as it helps to release the flavors.

The spiciness will develop further while the mixture sits. If you are making this ahead of time, make sure you taste it just before serving - it might be quite a bit hotter than when you initially mixed it up!

The walnuts can of course be eliminated if (as in my extended family) there are issues with nut allergies.

Chicken, Walnut, and Red Grape Salad with Curry Dressing

2 teaspoons curry powder (preferably Madras-style)
1/4 cup mayonnaise (I use light)
1/4 cup plain yogurt (light or non-fat)
2 teaspoons mango chutney
1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
3 cups 1/2-inch chunks cooked skinless boneless chicken breast
1 cup halved seedless red grapes
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions
1/3 cup walnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped

4 large curly lettuce leaves
4 small clusters seedless red grapes

Stir curry powder in small skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to medium bowl. Add light mayonnaise, yogurt, mango chutney, minced ginger, and grated orange peel. Whisk to blend. Stir in chicken, grapes, scallions, and chopped walnuts. Season salad to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made up to 6 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Place lettuce leaf on each of 4 plates. Divide salad among leaves. Garnish each plate with grape cluster. Makes 4 servings. 

Still eating cake...

2008-06-07T20:16:00.007-04:00

...but this time it's chocolate.

We had a family cookout today, as my husband's uncle and aunt are visiting from waaay out of town. It happens to also be my sister-in-law's birthday, so I called her up to see what kind of cake she wanted...

T: "Chocolate, of course!"
Me: "Good. What kind of frosting?"
T: "Well...maybe we should have vanilla, so it's not too much chocolate for people."
Me: "Listen, it's YOUR birthday. YOU get to choose what YOU want."
T: "Okay, then chocolate frosting!"

Fabulous. I broke out my top-secret, for-special-occasions chocolate cake recipe.

Okay, you got me. It's not really a top-secret recipe. In fact, if you have a container of Hershey's baking cocoa, you have the basic recipe: it's the "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake recipe on the back. Despite its name, I thought it wasn't qute perfect, and decided to mess with it a bit, so my version DOES have a secret ingredient.

The original recipe calls for adding a cup of boiling water to the batter at the end, just before baking. I decided, after making the cake a couple of times, that something was missing. I added about a tablespoon (plus) of instant coffee to the boiling water, stirred it until the granules had dissolved, then added it to the batter.

Holy fabulous cake, Batman. You can't taste the coffee at all; it just adds an amazing depth and richness to the chocolate. The cake was good before, but the coffee makes it come pretty darn close to the "perfect" in its name.

The following picture isn't beautifully composed - at least I put the cake on one of Gramma Betty's plates - but I think you can see how dark, rich and moist the cake is. It's frosted with the companion Perfectly Chocolate Frosting, which is likewise on the Hershey's cocoa container. My next step in perfecting this recipe is to make the frosting a little less sweet, but it tastes good as-is.

Enjoy.

NOTES:

You can use the pan preparation method I described in the yellow cake recipe of greasing the pan, putting parchment or waxed paper circles in the pans, greasing the circles, then flouring the whole shebang.

When I make chocolate cake, I "flour" the pans with cocoa powder. No white streaks on the outside of the baked cake!

This recipe makes quite a bit of batter. My 9" cake pans are relatively shallow, and the cake was rising up over the top of the edges! I'll be buying some deeper pans sometime soon.

Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup baking cocoa (preferably Hershey's)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon instant coffee or instant espresso

Heat oven to 350˚F. Grease and flour two 9" round cake pans (see notes).
Combine dry ingredients (sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder) in large bowl.
Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for two minutes.
Add instant coffee/espresso to boiling water, and stir to dissolve. Stir hot mixture into the rest of the batter; batter will be quite thin. Pour into pans.

Bake 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Frosting.

Easily serves 12.