Hello!!! Goodbye!!!

No I wasn't kidnapped by aliens, I didn't move to Mongolia, and I didn't even forget my password (thank goodness). And no I haven't even been particularly busy. That isn't, of course, to say that I've been sitting around doing nothing. For example, I've had a very good time eating foods that come on sticks:

(frozen cheesecake drizzled with chocolate)

And I've been trying to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe (with some excellent help from friends and family):

(please send me your favorite recipe so I can try it too)

And while I must honestly say that it was really, a little bit, quite nice to have an unplanned break from blogging, I have missed it and missed you.

Sadly, though, this post is primarily being written to let you know that tomorrow I'm flying to Portland to help my sister move and I probably won't be doing much blogging for a little while longer. But when I get back, I'm going to be back big time!

COOKING WITH GWYNETH

Well, not actually with Gwyneth Paltrow...but with her new cookbook--which is really fantastic even if all you want to do is read it: gorgeous pictures, fun stores, good tips (do you do that? read cookbooks? I totally do). So far I've dabbled in a few side like her roasted cauliflower and her maple-dijon roasted winter vegetables (to die for!) but this week I'm hitter her full force. Last night was her stir-fried chicken (which made for an amazing lunch today--in fact everything I've tried has reheated beautifully and has me looking forward to lunch) on her fried rice with kale & scallions (I quite like kale--who knew). Today is her turkey bolognese and then tomorrow is her chicken Milanese. Why all the Gwyneth recipes all at once? It is a library book and it has to go back so more people can enjoy it (so sad). Of course the cure for these blues is to just get myself down to Borders and buy my very own copy that I can sit down with every night. Until that happens, though, I'm really going to enjoy my week ala Gwyneth.

WELL PLAYED BEEF

Okay, so I'm not sure that any of you have ever thought of me as being cool, hip, with it, etc. However, just in case you were so disillusioned, this post is going to change your mind. I was driving over to my food co-op at the ridiculous hour of 6:30 A.M. on Saturday listening to the radio when this over-the-top sexy voice came on encouraging me to eat beef.

Who was that voice?

I'm sure you know the answer.

Matthew McConaughey.

And oh my goodness it was sexy. I'm pretty sure it ranks among the best work he has done in years if not in like forever. Upon hearing this ad I immediately had two thoughts (this is where you will realize how not "with it" I am): First: I must share this on my blog. Only, when I got home and googled the ad I discovered that McConaughey has been doing this since 2008. How did I possibly miss this for nearly 3 years? I like to think that it can all be attributed to my channel surfing ways when it comes to commercials, but the more likely explanation is that I just wasn't paying attention to the "important" stuff. And second: I must find some beef. Fortunately the saner part of my brain stepped in, acknowledged the sexiness of the ad, and then insisted I stick with the slightly-healthier turkey burger on the menu for Monday's in-the-kitchen BBQ (booo rain).

Just in case you are as out of touch as I am, here is similar ad (with pics added by funny or die):

 

I wonder what McConaughey would be like as an audio book reader. Annoying or able to suck you in to the most boring topic possible?

SAY HELLO TO MY BREAKFAST

(i had oatmeal too)

And an extra special hello to the frosting--which set swimsuit season back at least 2 weeks.

recipe: here via not without salt

note: i found the frosting a tad salty. next time i'll probably not add any salt into or on top of.

ALLERGIES

So it turns out the not all of my recent suffering is the fault of the cottonwood tree across the street--not that I'm letting that tree off the hook for any and all suffering it has and will impose on me. I am allergic to dairy (please join me in some quiet sobbing).

Fortunately there is an upside: I'm not deathly allergic to dairy. Which is a great relief because I'm pretty sure I would choose death by dairy than life without it.

The downside: dairy is murder on my skin (for most of my life I had just been attributing my dry skin to my living in a dry location--I suppose I should have considered the blatant fact that my dry skin didn't go away entirely when living in humid environments like Boston and Ireland in dispelling that myth a little sooner in my life (and there goes my claim of being an observant person). 

Anyway, in a small attempt to relieve my red, flaky, itchy skin I am trying to cut down my dairy intake. Here is how it has been going so far this week:

Sunday: had Parmesan cheese on my pasta, Havarti cheese in my swiss chard strudel, and a bowl of ice cream

Monday: had frozen yogurt

Tuesday: had nothing!!!! but it is still early

Good thing I'm not deathly allergic.

WHAT I LEARNED OVER THE WEEKEND:

I have absolutely zero self-control when it comes to these:

Which is really rather sad because it pretty much rules out my ever having one of these (her figure):

But on the upside, I have discovered that I have mastered total self-control over these:

Which quite possibly means I might be growing up just a tad.

recipe and picture here (cause I was too busy eating to bother with my camera)

Not Really the Creative One

A not-so-hard lesson to learn, but a lesson I should try to remember:

Shopping at Williams Sonoma, despite all my best intentions and wishes, will not magically turn me into a creative cookie maker.

I got roped (or roped myself--it is all a bit hazy) into making about 20 dozen cookies for my mother to give away to her neighbors for Christmas and am now just a bit tired of baking. Not only that, I am entirely kitchened out. If I never see another kitchen again.... but it is Christmas so I suppose I will just need to develop one of those stiff upper lips and endure.

Being all cookied out, of course, would be a great thing to be right now. Sadly, now that the cookies are all delivered (not a one is left in the house except those ones that fell on the floor that someone has been eating--I haven't the heart to tell them what happened to them--what they don't know won't kill them?) I have a mean cookie craving and have been wandering the house in vain in a desperate search for something sweet. How is it that I have no cookies!!!

And There Goes My Diet...

Okay, so I wasn't really on a diet. But, I had some vague ideas about possibly going on one (we've got family photo's next month). Instead I am eating these to-die-for peanut butter dark chocolate chip cookies that I nabbed from Sarah Dessen (Yes, that Sarah Dessen--as in the ever-brillant author Sarah Dessen who has a really fantastic blog that you should really check out even if you don't know anything about her books--but shame on you if you don't know her books).

Diet, shmiet. I'm pretty sure it is my turn to stand behind someone in this family picture.

SOUP!

This little beauty walked into my kitchen over the weekend and I think I'm in love.

Now I can finally make all those fabulous soups that everyone keeps telling me about--starting with this Black-Bean Soup provided by Janssen.

Reward for the Driver

I have resumed my role as taxi driver to the airport this morning (the parents are off to Boston with strict instructions to not bother coming home if they don't bring me some chocolate covered cranberries) and figured I deserved this for my troubles:

(banana smoothie)

Now I just need to figure out a reason to deserve another one tomorrow.

Turn Away if You Must

Warning: The following picture may disgust you!

Chocolate Covered Peeps!

The months of March and April just got a little bit better.

Curried Couscous

Since a few of you have given me a few recipes to try, I though it only fair to pass on to you my favorite:

Curried Couscous.

1 1/2 c. couscous (I just use one box)

1 T. butter

1 1/2 c. boiling water

Place couscous in a bowl. Melt the butter in the boiling water and pour over the couscous. Cover tightly and allow the couscous to soak for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Whisk together the following ingredients then pour over the fluffed couscous and mix well with a fork:

1/4 c. plain yogurt

1/4 c. olive oil

1 tsp. white wine vinegar

1 tsp. curry powder

1/4 tsp. ground tumeric

1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. ground black pepper

Add the following ingredients and mix well:

1/2 c. craisins

1/4-1/2 c. cashews

I have only tried it with the above ingredients, but other possible add-ins/replacements:

1/2 c. grated carrots

2 scallions, thinly sliced

1/4 c. diced red onion

cubed grilled chicken

When I make this for myself I am perfectly content to just eat a bowl of it by itself--I am pretty sure I would be quite content to live off of this for several weeks. When I am making it for others I usually do a grilled chicken and maybe some asparagus on the side.

Plain Old Yogurt

This is my new favorite pantry item (okay maybe not the old part--and I'm obviously not storing it in my pantry)

Do you have any recipes using this ingredient that you would like to share with me?

This is part of my New Year's resolution to collect some new recipes so you should feel a special need to help me out.

Easy Chanukah Dougnuts

Here is an easy, easy recipe for those of you who may be doing a little Chanukah night tonight:

Easy Chanukah Doughnuts

2 1/2 Cups Flour

1 T Baking Powder

2 Eggs

1 1/2 Cups Plain Yogurt (I'd like to try vanilla yogurt sometime)

2 T Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla

Pinch of Salt

Cooking Oil

Confectioner's Sugar

Mix flour and baking powder with eggs. Add yogurt, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Heat oil in deep pot (about 350 degrees F). Drop by spoonful into hot oil and cook until brown. Serve sprinkled with confectioners sugar and/or jam.

I did all the mixing by hand and it came together really nicely and really fast.

Enjoy!

The Hiding Place

I've just finished this (The Hiding Place by Sherrill, Sherrill, and ten Bloom) wonderful book and now have a deep love and respect for Corrie ten Bloom and her sister Betsie. Should you not know the story, Corrie ten Bloom organized a resistance movement in Haarlem, Netherlands that hid Jews. In 1944 she and many members of her family were arrested and eventually she and her sister Betsie were sent to a concentration camp in Germany. What is, perhaps, most remarkable is that not only did she never lose her faith in God, but she and her sister continually saw God's hand over all that was happening, gave thanks in all things, and loved and forgave their captors--and this love was not given years later but in the actually moments that they were being mistreated. They are my heroes. What a would we might live in if we could all truly see that we are ALL children of a Heavenly Father who loves each and every one of us--and that we must also love and forgive each other.

I'm not at all sure how it is possible that I have not read this book given that a) I love books about the WWII era, b) I have a librarian as a Mother who has read this book, and c) I have actually been to the ten Bloom home.

Now, having finally gotten around to reading this fabulous book, I am dying to go back. It was only about 4 years ago that I was there so I still remember it quite well, but still I think I would now have a greater appreciation for the home and what took place there. For example, when you arrive for a tour you simply walk past the front door (still located in the alley) and read the clock sign that indicates when the next tour will be (tours are free). Once you know the time of the tour you can wonder around the area (maybe stop in the nearby St Bavo Church where Mozart and Handel both played the organ and hear the organ being played like we did) or visit the ten Bloom watch shop that is still in operation (although no longer owned by the ten Bloom family) as a real watch shop not a tourist attraction--so you should also only visit it if you intend to buy something. When the time of the tour approaches you return to the door and simply wait outside until someone opens the door and invites you in (there wasn't even a line). Had I had any wits about me I might have spent a moment wondering what it must have been like to be Jewish in 1943 and standing outside that door waiting for someone to invite me in while not being at all sure what my future would hold.

Oh, it just kills me that I didn't know/think about this and all the other things that now I know. It has made me long to return to the Netherlands.

Here is a picture of the little sliding door at the bottom of the closet that accessed the hidden room.

Here is a picture of my sweet mom standing in front of the hidden room. Part of the wall has been taken down to allow easier access and viewing of what the room was like. A few people from each tour are even allowed to stand in the room (room a loosely defined term as I think it was only 30 inches wide). I was lucky enough to be able to do that but somehow we don't have a picture of it.


Here is that church you can visit. It is just around the corner from the ten Bloom house--the organ is amazing.

The is not related to the ten Bloom's but I cannot think of the Netherlands without thinking about their pancakes (crepes). And yes I did order pancakes at nearly every meal I ate in that country--chocolate, bananas, whipped cream, and powdered sugar. The whipped cream was especially wonderful--richest most wonderful thing I have ever eaten. This particular pancake can be had just up the street from the Anne Frank museum.

And the bikes of Amsterdam were a continual amazement to me. Here is one of their parking garages.

Note To Self On Grinding My Own Wheat:

It is so not worth it and should only be considered again if

A. am starving (strongly consider starving)

or

B. have located a grain mill that was manufactured in current century.

I think finding a better grain mill is key here. Any suggestions?

Wheat...It's Not Just For Bread

Although I've been making some pretty nice bread (I'm going to try Science Teacher Mommy's this weekend (with any luck) with wheat that I am planning to grind myself--very pioneer woman of me, right?) I have recently discovered that wheat flour is not just for bread. I know that you are thinking that you already knew that so just pat yourself on the back and let me enjoy my little moment in peace. Really, I did realize that wheat flour is good in stuff like pancakes (trying a recipe for this tomorrow) but did you know it is good in chocolate chip cookies? Skeptical? So was I until I made them and then ate at least a dozen all by myself. I would put a picture up here except they didn't really look very pretty--flat as a pancake would be the appropriate description--but I am working on some revisions to plump them up a bit so maybe soon. In the meantime I'm not feeling at all bad for eating a dozen chocolate chip cookies because right on the bag of whole wheat flour it said the flour was good for my heart and with heart disease being such a problem for women this days I was clearly only acting in a manner that is entirely healthy--don't be bursting my bubble.

p.s. I read over 1,000 pages over last weekend, and while I'm not entirely caught up I feel pretty comfortable about where I am.

Read This Not That

I'm currently reading this lovely little book:

You've no doubt seen some of their other "eat this not that" books and this one if pretty darn good and interesting as well. I especially appreciated the authors' acknowledgment that I want to eat food that tastes good--there are enough "diets" out there that try to convince us not indulge in real food that tastes good; it is so refreshing for health experts to say your food should taste good and be good for you.

One of the interesting things I have learned is that research has shown that sodium benzoate preservatives and some artificial food colorings (such as Yellow #5, Yellow #6, and Red #40) are directly linked to increased hyperactivity in children--go check your child's breakfast cereal, and soda, or jellies. In Europe this research has lead to companies removing these additives from foods sold there (as in American companies removing these additives for their European customers but not for their American customers). Why not here? (insert your own comment about what this says about Americans and why we don't demand better here)

Probably the most valuable thing I've taken from this book is how to read and compare labels. Really that may sound pretty simple, but other than checking out the fat and calories of a product I didn't really know what I was looking at or for. Now I do. There are also a few pictures that help to illustrate what you should be looking for and what it really means. For example, there is a picture showing a 20 oz. bottle of Minute Maid Lemonade next to 5 Good Humor Vanilla Ice Cream bars with captions showing that they contain the same amount of calories and grams of sugar--and then they go on to say to work off that 1 drink you would need to do 60 minutes of vigorous housecleaning. That is the kind of information I need--and need to be able to understand.

On the what not to read front, please don't read Julia Child's My Life in France. I found it long, pretentious, unorganized, and unfocused.

L'Omelette

I attempted making omeletts last night for the first time. It didn't go great. I blame Julia Child and her cookbook that fooled me into thinking that l'omelette brouillee would be easier than l'omelette roulee. The entire time I kept thinking "this is just a cross between scrambled eggs and fried eggs," and "I must be doing this wrong," and "why did I think I could make omelettes?".

Had my french been better I would have realized sooner that l'omelette brouilee translates as scrambled omelette--therefore it truly was supposed to be a cross between scrambled eggs and fried eggs. Had I realized that sooner I probably wouldn't have overcooked them and they might have looked a little more appetizing. Nevertheless, they were really quite amazingly good and I'm dying to try again. Next time, though, I'll try l'omeltte roulee as demonstrated by Julia herself here: (it doesn't really look all that hard--hahahahah)

My question to you is what fillings do you like in your omlettes?

Recovered

The festival has been over since Saturday night but today is the first day I truly feel recovered. It was exhausting but so much fun!!!

I did indeed spend 12 hours on a mule--like I told you I was going to. I forgot to take a picture of the mules that I rode but here is one from the Internet:

Maybe not as exciting as riding a live mule for 12 hours but probably safer and resulted in less soreness--although the mules I drove were indeed rather stubborn when you wanted them to change direction.

Here are a few of my mule highlights:

Driving Syd Lieberman (storyteller extraordinaire who I firmly believe is related to Billy Crystal as they have the same voice and humor) to his car.

Driving 4-time Grammy winner David Holt (also host of NPR's Riverwalk) around--I covet his steel guitar (and his talent).

Having Donald Davis (THE storyteller of storytellers) smile and wave at me twice and having his wife tell me that she loved my shoes.

Driving Carmen Deedy (famed storyteller and children's book author) around--she was delightful and even gave me a hug.

Most of you are yawning right now and wondering who these people are and why I should think driving them around to be a highlight. If I were to translate this into every-day vernacular it would be as if I had driven around 4 of today's top musicians or actors. It was a big deal people! And it was fun.

Foodwise, the weekend proved to be very good to me as well. First I was given a free orange roll from the Rhodes people and then a free smoothie from the Jamba Juice people. I ate at the Hickory Kist booth so often that I should have gotten something free there as well but am satisfied to have simply discovered them (I'll probably never be happy with another sandwich place in Utah again).

I also leaned a valuable lesson as I was sitting in one of the audiences mentally berating a man wearing white tennis shoes, white tube socks pulled up above his calves, tan shorts, a brown belt, a grey tank top, and a comb over who flexed his arm muscles so often I think he felt he was the next 40 year old Arnold Schwarzenegger:

Graciousness (especially in thought) depends highly on getting an appropriate amount of sleep.