Healthy Granola Bars from the Manic Mommies

Sometimes I listen to the Manic Mommies podcast, billed as being for "moms trying to do it all." I also started subscribing to their blog feed. When I saw the recipe for "Grab-and-Go Granola Bars," I knew I had to make them. The recipe is actually from the Meal Makeover Moms (they also have a podcast), who have made it their mission to "rescue" unhealthy recipes by fixing them up all healthy-like... and kid-friendly. We are desperate for kid-food around here, since our littlest one has taken to going around the house moaning "Hungry... hungry... hungry...." (We feed her lots, really!)


I highly recommend this recipe, especially if you like fruitcake. It suggests using a blend of dried fruits--I used apricots, cranberries and raisins. The result was packed with fruit, super sticky and delicious. Somehow it almost tasted like it had all been soaked in brandy (good!) and yet of course it had not (also good... that kid-friendly thing, right?). Note that this is another recipe that requires the purchase of a popular brand of cereal that I don't usually buy. Kind of like the All-Bran muffins I made in the spring.

Do check out this recipe if you need something to grab & go. (These do contain delicious chocolate chips, sometimes making it a struggle to save them for the child.)

Packed up for future hungry moments

Alliums in the sun

Autumn farmer's market finds. Garlic, red onion, shallot, lots of yellow onions. Something about this photo has a soft, glowy Old Master vibe.

New England Clam Chowder

I feel a bit silly writing this down because there are so many great New England Clam Chowder recipes out there. You probably have your own. But this one really worked, so I want to save it!

Ingredients

• 4-5 waxy yellow potatoes
• 2 strips bacon
• 1 t butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• A can of clams
• 2/3 cup clam juice
• 1/4 cup water (or bit more)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 T flour
• 1 cup milk
• salt to taste
  

Assembly

1. Cut the potatoes into chunks (see above photo) and boil for about 15 minutes. Drain boiling water and leave potatoes in the pot to dry and cool. Then, cut them up into small pieces.

2. Cut the bacon into thin strips--I use kitchen shears for this. Fry in a large Dutch oven. When bacon is just starting to shrink and render grease, add the butter and onions.



3. When onions become aromatic and a bit glassy (about 2 minutes), add the celery and bay leaf. Continue to stir and cook for another few minutes.

4. Add the potatoes, clams and the clam juice. You can also add a splash of water--just enough to cover the ingredients. Simmer for another 5 minutes or so.

5. Check liquid levels--if the soup is fairly runny, you're fine. If things are starting to dry out and stick, add a bit more water and heat. Then, sprinkle a third of the flour all over the surface of the hot soup (see below). Stir it in and let heat.


6. Repeat the flour sprinkle two more times. The soup should become creamy (see below how my spoon makes a trail in the thick soup).


7. At this point I consider the soup something of a concentrate--it can be used right away, left to cool and meld for up to an hour, or refrigerated for a day or two. When ready to eat, reheat and add the milk. Salt to taste. Bring to something just below a gentle boil, and serve. Serves 2-4.

Nice with black pepper, cayenne pepper, oyster crackers and/or saltines.

Mid-autumn music

The sun sets at 4 now. Mornings are frosty. The garden is put to bed and the play-porch strewn with leaves. I'm starting to think about The Holidays. But first, I'm trying to enjoy this waiting period before the Thanksgiving-birthdays-solstice-Xmas cyclone hits. It's quiet now. But it's out there... and spinning this way.

The 10*7*09 edition of Beef Jerky Time has 2 Phoenix remixes. Part of Phoenix's greatness (PR greatness?) is their encouragement of remixes by any and all. The one with Devendra Banhardt is awesome--I think it's teen movie soundtrack material (after the breakup, in the car, bleak afternoon, rain). Also the song by Wild Beasts (All the King's Men) has been worming its way into my skull. At first it seemed "interesting," now it's like an addiction and I must play it daily. (Pitchfork describes them as a "Leeds art-pop group," which has a nice ring to it.)

• Last Dance: The Raveonettes
• Know Better Learn Faster: Thao with the Get Down Stay Down
• Horchata: Vampire Weekend
• Surprise Hotel: Fool's Gold
• Periodically Double or Triple: Yo La Tengo
• Blue Planet: Lake Heartbeat
• Love Like a Sunset (Animal Collective remix): Phoenix
• Rome (Neighbors remix f. Devendra Banhardt): Phoenix
• All the King's Men: Wild Beasts
• Animal: Miike Snow
• Watch the Waves: Taken by Trees
• Microphone: Coconut Records

The 10*14*09 show was a black eyeliner edition--I was trying to play music slightly mournful and goth. The threefer of New Order, The Smiths & The Cure in the middle of this show almost sent me into some high-school related PTSD. That is good stuff.

• Terror Couple Kill Colonel: Bauhaus
• Are We Ourselves: The Fixx
• Dogs of Lust: The The
• 68 State: Gorillaz
• Crazy: Ladyhawke
• Here Come Cowboys: Psychedelic Furs
• Reunion: Stars
• Bizarre Love Triangle: New Order
• Still Ill: The Smiths
• Boys Don't Cry: The Cure
• You've Got Love (xx remix): Florence & the Machine
• Bittersweet Symphony: The Verve
• Curran Curran: The Nocturnes
• Metal Heart: Cat Power

On 10*21*09 I was having a stressful day, so I played some mellower chill-out music for medicinal purposes (except "Too Fake" is not very mellow, I had to apply Coldplay to reduce the swelling). This set includes "Love at First Sight" by The Gist--a great, great song. Welsh band, they broke up in 1983.

• Someone Great: LCD Soundsystem
• Too Fake: Hockey
• Be the One: Jack Peñate
• Clocks: Coldplay
• Charming: Ritual
• Orange Skies: Love
• Love at First Sight: The Gist
• Harvest Time: The Clientele
• October: U2
• I Don't Believe: Paul Simon
• Sweet Disposition: The Temper Trap
• White as Diamonds: Alela Diane
• An Anniversary Away: Reverie Sound Revue

The obligatory Halloween show was 10*28*09. I played Gentleman Reg & the Hidden Cameras as well because they were in the area the following Monday. I actually got to go to the show! (Thanks AK!) Also, remember John Norris, the MTV VJ guy? I was googling Dan Deacon and found that John Norris, now a sandy blond, has a 7-part interview with DD as he tours the country on a refurbished bus.

• Cemetry Gates: The Smiths
• Cemetery Lawn: The Rosebuds
• Devil Town: Groovie Ghoulies
• Home: Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
• Paddling Ghost: Dan Deacon
• FROST: Audraglint
• You'll Have Time: William Shatner
• Doctor Who theme
• Les Zombies et les Loup-garous: Raffi
• Loupgarou: Crispy Ambulance
• How We Exit: Gentleman Reg
• In the NA: Hidden Cameras

The 11*4*09 show had two special guests choosing records from the stacks as struck their fancy. Basically we knew we wanted to play Frank Zappa, and then just riffed from there. Thanks T&T!

• Whole Lotta Losin': Monsters of Folk
• Handle Me with Care: Traveling Wilburies
• Handle Me with Care: Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins
• Bells of Rhymney: The Byrds
• She's Not There: Vanilla Fudge
• O verde virgissima: written by Hildegarde of Bingen
• It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding): Bob Dylan with The Band
• Teacher: Jethro Tull
• 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover: Paul Simon
• Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Frank Zappa
• Higher Ground: Stevie Wonder
• Our House: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
• Time in a Bottle: Jim Croce
• 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy): Simon & Garfunkel
• Mountain Melody: Kay Gardner

Common Kitchen Implements

I was inspired by a recent Papawow post, called "The Big Drawer—Kitchen Gadgets", to consider the items I can't live without in the kitchen. A few weeks later, Michael Ruhlman posted about his corn cutter (after also writing about his favorite spoon) and this sealed the deal--I'm going to tell the world about MY favorite kitchen implements.


Top to bottom: We got the garlic press as a wedding gift (along with a bag of garlic). I used to scoff at these after attending chef school and learning how to puree garlic with a knife, but this garlic press changed my mind. It's super-easy to use and not hard to clean either. Zyliss. The chef's knife is a chef school artifact. It was part of the bottom-of-the-line equipment package and is pretty cheap I guess, but at the time it cost me part of my rent so it seemed very very expensive. It's 13 years old and I still use it all the time. (Probably because I never became a professional chef--I don't know any better!) The fine-mesh strainer (which I call the "small sieve" in real life) is key for straining my morning chai. This is my second one and already starting to wear out. The small grater was a Christmas gift from my true love. It is fantastic for grating just the right amount of cheese onto a steaming dish of spaghetti or onto an omelette in progress. The Steam Whistle bottle opener was a wedding favor from this summer and it has usurped our older bike chain bottle opener. (Getting married at a pilsner brewery under the CN Tower is The Coolest in my opinion. Thanks JMM!)



Clockwise from top: I feel like we use the box grater every day. It's either for carrots or cheese--I guess we eat a lot of both. The red spoonula was part of a fabulous Le Creuset gift set from ATCB (OMG happy bday!) and I adore it--it scoops AND scrapes! (J'aime bien Le Creuset.) The masher is my soup friend. In the comments to Michael Ruhlman's 2008 Kitchen Gadgets post, some people are enamored of their immersion blenders. This masher is my immersion blender. To the left of the masher with the white handle is our Nigella Lawson mini whisk. I love this thing (thanks Alli!). It is perfect for getting rid of clumps in waffle batter, making single-meal vinaigrettes, quickly emulsifying just about anything that is 1 cup or less. Last is my 1 c measuring cup. Just the shape of it is so satisfying, reminiscent of a childhood day of baking with my Ma. We also have a 2-cup measure, but somehow this smaller one always gets pressed into service.

Jack o'Lantern x 5

Halloween 2005

Halloween 2006

Halloween 2007

Halloween 2008

Halloween 2009

Happy Halloween!!

Baked in a Pie

We went apple picking this month and got 1/2 a bushel of apples. It seemed like a lot, but it's already gone! We picked at least 5 different varieties, including "good-eatin'" Macouns as well as some gigantic sweet Mutsus. I think there were some Honeycrisp and Gala in there too. (We went to Alyson's Orchard in Walpole, NH. While we were riding through the orchard behind a giant tractor we saw an idyllic fall wedding being set up next to a small pond. There were 4 trees there, the only ones around, and they all had flaming orange leaves. The wedding site and chairs were set up under these trees--it was really gorgeous.)

Here's our fruit crisper with some of the bounty.
I've already removed 9 special apples for making an apple pie.


Here are the nine, peeled and ready for slicing.
The monster in the front left is a Mutsu.


Sliced. I took some extra time to slice them extra thin.
Totally worthwhile, as the resulting pie had many tender layers.


Pie dough ready for filling--seasoned apples to the left.


Ready for the lid! (Or whatever you call it.)


Bakin'


Baked! I fell prey to an urge to brush the crust with milk,
as a result it was way too hard. Lesson learned.


I like to do a little five-point star in the middle of my apple pies,
in homage to the star in the middle of an apple.

I like to eat my apple pie with a hunk of sharp cheddar. Is that weird? Other family members seem to prefer ice cream or whipped cream. I'm already craving another pie--it's a wonderful thing to have lying about for when you need a little after-dinner (or midnight, or morning, or midafternoon) something.

Spice is Nice

I would like to review an important aspect of eating healthy and well (for me). It is the application of HEAT, as in, spicy hot. Even if (especially if!) you are living on rice & beans and trying to save money, it's worth it to invest in some hot sauce so you can spice up your life and alleviate taste bud boredom. Here are my favorites:

Mali pepper sauce

I'm not sure what this is made of or what it is actually called, but it is DAMN HOT. We got it at the Brattleboro Farmer's Market from the Malian food vendor, Dieneba Macalou. Just a small dab of this sauce is enough to heat up an entire plate of food. We usually have it at the farmer's market with a plate of Beef Saga Saga and white rice. I thought it would be good to stock up for the winter though, so picked up this jar. This sauce is pretty much just pure heat.

Black Bean Sauce with Chili

This is the next hottest sauce, in my opinion. It's a fabulous way to enliven a packet of ramen. It will also kick up any stirfry. I only add half a teaspoon to a stirfry, and that's quite adequate to set our mouths on fire. It has a fermented bean flavor, besides being very hot.

Tabasco sauce & Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce

Both these sauces have a particular flavor I think, besides being hot. Tabasco seems a bit vinegary. I like it in a salsa situation, meaning if I use salsa, I'll use Tabasco (to enliven tacos, for example). I also like Tabasco in soups. I know there are other types of Tabasco sauce out there but have never tried them. I go for the red regular every time. As for the Sriracha, it tastes like Thai food to me, maybe because I always use it on Pad Thai. I've also used it in fish dipping sauce.

Hot pepper flakes & Cayenne

Hot pepper flakes are for pizza. Also good on a garlic & oil pasta--like maybe bowties with garlic & oil & pine nuts & fresh broccoli & parm. Mmm! I put "HOT!" on the cayenne because I recently thought I was grabbing the paprika and seasoned a batch of chicken tenders with cayenne, making it inedible to our smallest family member. Oops! I generally use this in making healing toddies or as called for in recipes.

Cut Mango Pickle

This stuff is AMAZING. It's spicy but doesn't burn or hurt. It's super-salty. It's also made with garlic, so has a nice depth of flavor beyond the salt & heat. Served with Indian food and some cooling raita, this is truly a treat. I could almost eat it by itself, but that would be wrong. Thanks to my parents for introducing me to this strange and magnificent condiment at a tender age. (Note: Does not taste like mango! The mango seems to just be a vehicle for the other flavors. It gets all tender and oily in the jar.)

Jalapenos

After some recent experiences with habanero sorbet and a habanero salsa, I no longer think of jalapenos as being particularly hot. (A habanero? Now that's hot.) Anyway, I dice fresh jalapenos to add a bit of zest to tacos, quesadillas, nachos--basically anything that involves melted cheese, corn chips or tortillas, and salsa. I have no difficulty eating a whole diced jalapeno sprinkled over whatever is on my plate. I don't like the canned jalapenos, but other family members do. Someday I'd like to make a healthy version of jalapeno poppers, if there is such a thing!

Cooking Julia Child

The title of this post is kind of a joke. It's intended in the spirit of Julia Child, who said on one of her shows "We're having vegetarians for dinner! Well, we're not going to EAT them."

I am no Julia Child expert, but I do respect her work and her legacy. And I loved the movie Julie and Julia. (Thanks for a great afternoon, Ma!) My knowledge of Julia Child is limited to that movie, plus a few cooking shows I borrowed from the library. I have also cooked just a few recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking (written with Louisette Berthole & Simone Beck). Even with this limited knowledge of her work, though, I find Julia Child inspiring. She has a marvelous attitude, which seems to be something like, "Do it right and use the best ingredients, unless you have to do something else in a pinch." I also love her firm support of butter and salt. We watched her program on how to cook vegetables a few years ago, and noted that the key to cooking most of them was to add plenty of butter and plenty of salt. And it works! On another show she remarked to her celebrity chef co-host that if people are trying to cut down on butter, we can simply add cream instead. Wry and hilarious.

Before the movie came out there was a rash of press that a food-blog addict couldn't help but notice. bon appetit devoted a piece in their August 2009 issue to the movie's release and Julia's August birthday. The recommended recipes included pissaladière, a savory tart made mainly of onions with anchovy and olive garnish. I imagined I would have to make this at some point, so when I saw anchovies on sale, I snapped them up!

The anchovies had to wait a few months though. I finally had an occasion to cook some Julia Child recipes this past weekend, when an honored guest was in town and ready to try something new. Since she was from the West Coast, I decided to make 2 "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" recipes, plus something involving a Gilfeather turnip, to represent a taste of Vermont. Here's my menu:

Gilfeather turnip soup with sea legs

Pissaladiere (Onion tart with Anchovies and Black Olives)

Clafouti aux Pruneaux (Plum flan)

Green salad

Sliced baguette

Butter!!

Here are a few photo highlights:

The annual Gilfeather turnip, with onion for scale. Read other posts about my Gilfeather soup recipe from 2008 and 2004. The soup was a hit. I didn't add the onion this time, since the main course was mostly onion.



I didn't have a flan mold OR a spring-form pan for the tart shell, so I used a square cookie sheet instead. (A pretty poor substitute.) After the dough is ready to bake, one must cover it with buttered foil and dried beans to keep it from puffing up. (Pie weights are also acceptable.)



The tart filling involved 2 pounds of onions, chopped and cooked for an hour, plus olives and the anchovies.




I only put anchovies on half since I correctly surmised that not everybody would want to eat them. Some slices of the finished product:



The plum clafouti was a variation rather than a main recipe--the regular recipe calls for cherries. I liked the plum version though because it calls for soaking the plums in brandy or liqueur for an hour. (They must be briefly boiled and then peeled before soaking.)



Above is the soaking, and below the baked clafouti. It actually turned out to be even better the next day, served cold and covered with the leftover soaking liquid. Amazing!

Black Velvet if you please

When the weather changes, so do my beer needs. Instead of the taste of crisp clean hops, I want warm dark coffee and spice. Hints of fruit are good, too. Instead of light and clear, I want dark and creamy. In the past month or so, I have settled on the perfect drink for fall 2009. And because it contains Guinness, it's good for you.

For several weeks I was calling my drink of choice a "Snakebite," confusing bartenders everywhere. What I wanted was half hard cider, half Guinness. Turns out this concoction is actually called a "Black Velvet," or maybe a "Poor Man's Black Velvet" for those who think the former is Guinness and champagne. (A Snakebite is actually lager & cider. Or a shot of Yukon Jack with lemon juice, depending on your source.)

Whatever it's called, I've been ordering the drink all around town with varying degrees of satisfaction. One bar usually floats the Guinness on the cider just right, but then a newish bartender poured me a pint that was a muddy, layerless mass. It tasted different. It also had a disturbing opacity, like a Guinness that was feeling unwell. Another bar with Guinness but not cider on tap gave me (at my request) a pint of Guinness with a bottle of cider on the side. I mixed them by taking quick sips of each--interesting experiment, but definitely not a Black Velvet.

Maybe I could just learn to make my own? Yes let's! Memory suggested and Google confirmed that the only special equipment I needed was a spoon. First I assembled my ingredients.

Happy 250th, Guinness!

Here's my first try at pouring a Black Velvet--it worked!



Some of the Guinness crept back down the handle of the spoon while I was pouring (see puddle). But I'm impressed at my pretty layers. I believe bartenders use a dedicated spoon that has an extra kink in it to prevent the spilling issue. Guess I could get out some pliers and kink a spoon if I'm going to keep this up. If you like beer & cider, give this simple drink a try! I hardly need to give directions--pour half a pint of cider, then slowly pour half a pint of Guinness (use the kind in the can, because the widget will make it foam up more like the draught version) over the back of a spoon so it floats atop the cider. Deeelicious.

So, is this really called a Black Velvet in your book? What other beer mixtures do you like? (I kind of want to call them "beertails," cuz the beer is both the booze and the mixer...)

How I Got to Be a Low-Power DJ

It was because of John Corbett's character on Northern Exposure. Chris Stevens was a total fox, but he was also an intellectual, which is its own kind of sexy. I loved his long long readings from battered paperback classics, his on-air musings, his gently lowering the needle on the record. If I couldn't marry him, I wanted to at least Be Like That--the small-town DJ. Stacks of music. Esoteric themes of my own choosing. Being so close to the community that listeners can hear the same siren both through the radio and through their own window. Poetry and parkas and LPs. That's what I wanted out of radio.

So I joined radio free brattleboro in early 2003. My first show was that February. It was on Thursdays at lunchtime and called the Mixed Tape Revue. I used to pull out tapes that people had made me years before, play some of the songs, throw in segues to other songs, reminisce about my life and the other person's life at the time of the tape. It was a fun show. My most memorable episode (besides the inevitable ex-boyfriend show) was the day before the war started. It was the first day of spring and "we" were getting ready to blow up Baghdad. I'd been reading about Eleanor of Aquitaine all week. I got pretty emotional talking about Louis VII's torment over incinerating a churchful of people in Vitry, and how he then went crusading in the Middle East to somehow make himself feel better. (Will these damn crusades ever be over?) Then I played Non Nobis Domine from the Henry V soundtrack (the Kenneth "No-lips" Branagh version) and felt very gloomy and mortal.

Then I got a full-time job that required me to work on Thursdays at lunchtime. I moved my show to Tuesday nights from 10-midnight, and rechristened it Makin' Candy. Makin' Candy was wicked fun! At rfb, late night (after 10pm) was considered "safe haven" time, so if I played a song or a poem with colorful language in it, it was OK. I didn't like swears on the air, but it's hard to vet every single word in every single song and they sometimes slip in. My favorite f-bomb on that show was Allen Ginsberg reading "America." I played it with a bunch of other poems to celebrate National Poetry Month. ("America when will we end the human war?/ Go f**k yourself with your atom bomb / I don't feel good don't bother me.") Memorable shows from that era were when Bobby Short died (I played 2 hours of him singing Cole Porter), election night 2004 (Beastie Boys back-to-back-to-back) and the Hunter S. Thompson Memorial Show.

My last edition of Makin' Candy, and also the last show ever aired on rfb, was on the first day of summer 2005. I did a summer theme, ending with Vivaldi's "Summer" from The Four Seasons. A little after midnight we drove home down the dark country road. A small bag of something in the middle of the road turned out to be, after we stopped to examine it, a noisy baby raccoon who seemed very determined to stay in the middle of the road. We ushered his squalling little self into a nearby cornfield by shepherding him with a Bananarama album. (Cruel Summer.) The next day we learned the FCC had raided our radio station first thing in the morning and taken the equipment. That was the end of rfb.

But community radio rose again in Brattleboro. Now we have a licensed low-power station, WVEW. My show, Beef Jerky Time, has been on every Wednesday night since September 2006, when WVEW took to the air. I guess that makes it my longest running show. Beef Jerky Time is shorter and rather more tame than Makin' Candy. It's 1 hour instead of 2, and also there is no swearing allowed EVAR. At that hour of the day, I also feel more responsible about providing a quality show rather than free-form Chris Stevens rambling. Lately I've been actually promoting music and artists that I love or find interesting. I guess Prof. Kitty is growing up. I'm honored to have a voice here, even if it's just a small one for a few minutes a week. Thank you Brattleboro for helping with my DJ dream!

Beef Jerky Time "Radio DJ" playlist, 9*30*09

• cdj: Pizzicato 5
• FM: Steely Dan
• Roadrunner: Modern Lovers
• Great DJ: The Ting Tings
• Panic: The Smiths
• On the Radio: Regina Spektor
• Radio Gaga: Queen
• Radio: Black Cherry
• My Radio (AM Mix): Stars
• On My Radio: The Selecter
• Video Killed the Radio Star: The Buggles
• Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: Indeep

Decaffeinating--CHAI!

At the beginning of September I was having some strange abdominal pains. I still don't know what they were exactly. Since I am my own health-care provider (in my mind), I started eliminating variables. First I thought maybe it was an electrolyte problem. I drank a bunch of gatorade, and also got some of those fizzy packets that are specifically for boosting electrolytes. ("It's got electrolytes—it's what plants crave!")

This didn't really help. My next step--eliminating carbonation. Maybe all the seltzer that I drink every day (plus occasional beers and sparkling cocktails) was actually causing some sort of gas thingy. So I stopped drinking all those things... no dice.

How about my main squeeze coffee then? Was that the problem? I stopped drinking it just to see what would happen. Two days later I felt great! Pains were gone, and so was the occasional dizziness I was starting to feel. I just missed my morning beverage (and did not relish caffeine withdrawal headaches). The Saturday Farmer's Market offered the solution. CHAI! What I once heard described as "a hug from inside"--yum!

We're lucky to have a local chai producer, Chai Wallah, offering his wares (both the chai blends and chai itself) at the farmer's market. Chai Wallah blends are also available at other places around town. I stopped by the booth and got a quick lesson in making my own chai!

Here's the deal: First, heat 50-50 milk and water. I use soymilk just for the heck of it. I measured how much my travel mug will hold so I use 3/4 cup soymilk and 3/4 cup water. While the liquid heats, prep the chai blend in a small container. I mix 1 tsp blend (I use the spice only--you can also get it already mixed with tea or rooibos), 1 tsp loose black tea (I use Irish Breakfast), and 1 tsp sugar.


When the liquid starts to boil, throw in the dry ingredients and stir. I find that it WILL boil over, so you need to stand by to lift the whole thing off the heat when that starts to happen. I turn it way down but still try to simmer it. Just 2-3 minutes of simmering makes the perfect infusion. (Chai Wallah said that boiling it longer will make a sweeter mixture--and also darker.)



Finally, strain the hot chai. Here it's going into my favorite mug. Amazing how I can do all this AND take a photo, eh?



Travel mug ready for lid and then the car cup holder.



Obviously there are lots of ways to make chai. I'm just starting to learn about it and I like the Chai Wallah blends just fine. I've dried the black tea mixture and the Spice Only mix. I find the latter a lot more gingery, though that's not a problem. (Perhaps when it's cut with tea it's just not as strong.) I'd like to try the rooibos but I'm too in love with black tea to do that anytime soon...

For a completely different take on chai, check out this ArtJournal post--http://lucylou.livejournal.com/575537.html.
It has draw-rings!

Welcome fall! Music list-o-mania

Picks of the season

My subscription to Latina has been rubbing off on me. Besides Bomba Estereo, I've also been enjoying Maluca and Madera Limpia, but most especially the Rudo y Cursi soundtrack song "Prefiero el Asfalto" by Niña Dioz. It has been BURNING up my iPod. Love this song, and always happy to find another lady rapper along the lines of M.I.A. or Lady Sovereign. My favorite part of the song is the wierd subterranean distorted robot voice--it sounds kind of like if you dropped a cell phone down a well and the other person kept talking while the interworkings of the phone warped and melted and drowned. (Side note about Latina—I also liked their recent list of "25 Books Every Latina Should Read.")

I'm also happy to find more stuff from Jack Peñate, whose "Tonight's Today" totally rocked my June. "Be the One" is not as phenomenal, but it's fine and has a nice little disco chorus going on. Also you can hear his cute British accent pretty clearly in this one, like in his early song "Seconds, Minute, or Hour". He's got some videos on his site for these and other songs.

I just discovered Bibio and can't stop listening to "S'vive." I can't quite describe the sound of this track except to say it's like Tomita+Joanna Newsom+acid and totally awesome. And he's from Wolverhampton. (This tickles me for Monty Python reasons.) Other songs on his 2009 release Ambivalence Avenue are not as crazy, more mellow, possibly broadening its appeal. The title track is very nice, it has a Jefferson Airplane-by-way-of-African drumming thing that I like.

Speaking of African sounds, a la Vampire Weekend (new pop rediscovers secrets of Paul Simon's catchiness), have you heard of Fool's Gold? I've been obsessed with "Nadine (Memory Tapes Remix)," and just now checked out Surprise Hotel which sounds fabulous. Their album comes out in 5 days (9/29) and I'm thinking it'll be delicious. Go listen on their myspace--link above!

Finally, everyone seems excited about Miike Snow, Sweden's latest supergroup (or whatever). I love the jackalope-in-ice mascot they've got going, and the song "Animal" is indeed very very good, as others have pointed out. I like the little reggae tinge to it--just enough to funk things up, not enough to annoy. For a group that has performed at least once in scary masks, their music sounds pretty confectionery. I also like "A Horse is Not a Home," though I wonder if the incessant plunking of the piano is just hypnotizing me into thinking I like it.

8*9*09 Beef Jerky Time playlist

• Salsa: Madera Limpia
• El Tigeraso (Sticky K remix): Maluca
• Prefiero el Asfalto: Niña Dioz
• Fancy Dancer: The Commodores
• Here to Fall: Yo La Tengo
• Boogie that Be: Black Eyed Peas
• Human Nature: Toro y Moi
• Happy: N.E.R.D.
• When They Fight, They Fight: The Generationals
• Terminally Chill: Neon Indian
• No Reasons: VEGA
• The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid: The Decemberists

8*26*09, folk/bluegrass/mountain/frontier show

• Buster Voodoo: Rodrigo y Gabriela
• Knockin' On Your Door: Old & in the Way
• When Shrimps Learn to Whistle: Leo Kottke
• Cigarettes, Whisky & Wild Women: Sons of the Pioneers
• Way Down the Old Plank Road: The Mammals
• There'll Be Some Changes Made: Knopfler & Atkins
• Alabama Jubilee: Chet Atkins
• Scratchy Fiddle Boogie Blues: Mike Cross
• Summer Heat: Bert Jansch
• When the Sun Comes Up: Bert Jansch w. Beth Orton
• On the Edge of a Dream: Bert Jansch
• Swing '39: David Grisman Quintet
• Harvest Song: Harvey Tuft
• Red Cat Til I Die: Ry Cooder
• Sailin' Up, Sailin' Down: Pete Seeger
• Orange Stomp: Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys

9*2*09 Beef Jerky Time playlist

• Nadine (Memory Tapes version): Fool's Gold
• Hit the Wall: Broken Social Scene
• I Think I Like You: Donora
• The Envy Corps: Screen Test
• Steppin' Out: Lo-Fi-FNK
• Oh My My: Jill Barber
• Happy Up Here: Royksopp
• Can You Tell Me (The Kids Are Radioactive remix): Ra Ra Riot
• No Time: Colin Hay
• Two Dots: Lusine
• Overkill: Men at Work
• An Anniversary Away: Reverie Sound Revue

9*15*09 Beef Jerky Time playlist

• Playgirl: Ladytron
• Great Five Lakes: Buffalo Daughter
• Pulling Our Weight: The Radio Dept
• Greens, Grays and Nordics: Deastro
• In Search of: Miike Snow
• Rain Dance: The Very Best f. M.I.A.
• Be the One: Jack Peñate
• Love Train: The O'Jays
• S'vive: Bibio
• Oh You Pretty Things: David Bowie
• Love Is Sold: Panther
• Love & Romance & a Special Person: Joakim
• Another Likely Story (Neon Indian remix): Au Revoir Simone

9*23*09 Beef Jerky Time playlist

• I Wasn't Made for Fighting: Woodhands
• Kiss Me Deadly: Lita Ford
• All Thoughts Are Prey to Some Beast: Bill Callahan
• Animal: Miike Snow
• Stillness Is the Move: Dirty Projectors
• Memories: David Guetta f. Kid Cudi
• True Stories: Datarock
• Seven (Crookers remix): Fever Ray
• Bring It On Home: Led Zeppelin
• Don't Leave Me This Way: The Communards
• Killing An Arab: The Cure
• Shoulders & Arms: Tokyo Police Club
• Laideronette, Empress of the Pagodas: Tomita does Ravel's Mother Goose Suite

Bowties with pine-nuts, feta & greens

I saw a version of this recipe in a magazine recently, though I can't remember where. What made it memorable was the photo. Its apparent deliciousness seared itself into my brain and had me running out for bowties and pine-nuts. With our big eater off at a meeting tonight, I decided to whip this together. Took about 20 minutes tops.

Ingredients

about 1/2 pound bowtie pasta (OK, "farfalle")
olive oil
large handful of any hearty greens, I used beet greens
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 ounce (or more) feta, crumbled

Assembly

1. Boil water for pasta. Meanwhile, prepare other ingredients, including washing and slicing up the greens.
2. Put pasta to boil. At the same time, toast pine nuts in a pan (no oil needed).

Just move them around until they just start to brown and look a little greasy. Then remove from heat.

3. Next, heat some olive oil in the same pan and flash-steam the greens. You can cover with a lid if they start spitting. (It's good if they're still a bit wet from washing.)

4. Once greens have wilted, throw in garlic and stir everything around. I sluiced on some more olive oil at this point to make it a bit saucy. (That matter in the middle is the garlic I just added.)


5. When pasta is cooked per directions on package, drain and toss with more olive oil. Then mix in your greens and your pine nuts. Crumble feta over all. Serve!


My picture is not as pretty as the magazine's, but this was a fast and easy (and vegetarian) dinner!

Fresh Rolls, Vermont Style

Some call them Summer Rolls. Some call them Salad Rolls. I'm going to call them Fresh Rolls, and I am currently obsessed with their simple execution and complex flavors. It started when a family friend was explaining how easy it is to use rice paper wraps. Simply dip the paper in water, fill, and roll it up. Dip in peanut sauce or whatever. Easy as pie. This reminded me of a favorite food blog, Wandering Chopsticks, which has a helpful post about the use of rice paper for Vietnamese Goi Cuon. With all this knowledge, I finally made my own. I was blown away by how easy (and also inexpensive) these are to DIY. These cost $5 for 3 at the local co-op, but I think that would get you about 10+ homemade ones if you play it right! Here's what I did:

1. From Thai store, get 1 pkg of rice paper (they're round and cost $2.49) and a small jar of fish sauce.

2. Prep sauces. For peanut sauce, take about 2 T peanut butter and mix with water, just a sprinkle of water at a time because pb doesn't mix well with larger amounts. Once it's kind of runny, you can add splashes of tamari/soy sauce for the last mixing (instead of water). For fish sauce, combine about 1/4 cup warm water with 1/4 cup sugar and stir. Then add about 1/4 cup fish sauce. I also put in a generous squeeze of Sriracha hot sauce. (This is based on Wandering Chopsticks fish sauce recipe.)

Fish sauce left, peanut sauce right.
Fish sauce isn't normally that red;
I had hot water from boiling beets
so used that as my liquid base. (Tasty.)

3. Prep fillings. I used the following:

fresh mint, fresh basil, and fresh cilantro

strips of cooked egg (make an omelette
but don't turn it, then cool completely and slice),
strips of blanched carrot, strips of raw cucumber

4. Assemble. You'll need a wide shallow bowl or dish of water. Put a single rice paper sheet into water and press down so it's all wet. Then take it out and put on plate or work surface. As Wandering Chopsticks points out, it's OK if the rice paper is still a bit stiff as you start work. Arrange fillings and pour some peanut sauce over all.


Roll as described and illustrated at the Goi Cuon post.

Serve with fish sauce for dipping.

YUM.


Here's the lunchbox I took to work. Such a fresh, healthy meal. Fresh rolls!

Keen on Fruit

The verdict is in. I knew it in one bite. I have now decided on my favorite fruit.

Once upon a time Facebook invited me to make a quiz about myself so that my Facebook Friends™ could consider how well they know me. Here's one of the questions I made up:

I have some issues with:
a. ants
b. driving
c. fruit
d. the Dutch
e. the ZIP code system

I must be keeping my fruit problems to myself because not many guessed that "c" was the correct answer. Here's the deal: if it were left to me, I'd eat fruit about as often as I eat cake--maybe 4 times a year. I LOVE cake. And fruit seems similarly exotic. It's not something you'd eat every day, good heavens! Is this the expression of some northern European gene? I feel like I spent a previous lifetime on some windswept sheep-laden island where all we ate was sheep products and kale and seafood and potatoes and more sheep products. Fruit is just... not my type.

Also, fruit is cold and not usually covered with melted cheese, so there's two more strikes against it.

An exception to my fruit problem is that when I was pregnant I craved and consumed fruit all the time. My body-mind seemed willing to waive the usual hesitation about squishy fruit so as to provide vitamins or something to my baby. Is there more to this fruit thing, I wondered? Could it be... good for me?

I made a resolution. I would Eat More Fruit. Maybe even every day. (Sometimes.) And maybe I would get to LIKE fruit. Here are my findings so far:

Strawberries: very yummy. They are a good size for getting several bites in, a nice texture, and not too seedy. However, their natural season in Vermont seems to be about 3 weeks long, which is not really enough to form a steady relationship.

Blueberries: nice, but there is something a little snail-like about their insides. Blueberry flavor is not a big winner with my taste buds. They seem a little insipid, frankly, plus they are covered with a tough little skin.

Raspberries: frontrunner for my favorite fruit. I LOVE the flavor, also the color. But the seedy texture is a little annoying, and they are also very small. If there was a large seedless raspberry the size of an apple, it would get my vote.

Apples: too cold and too crunchy for my taste. The amount of chewing you have to do makes them practically a vegetable--that's a whole 'nother blog post. When apples are baked and warm (with melted cheese!) that's another story, but I'm trying to love a fresh fruit here.

Peaches! I LOVE PEACHES. A free-stone peach that just melts in my mouth and drips down my arm and takes many bites to finish is my fruit perfection. There's enough of it to really worship (not gone in a gulp like a little berry). A peach is an afternoon picnic in France, pulled from a shiny paper bag where it was nestled with sister peaches. It's a walk in a summer meadow dappled by sun and shade, listening to the cicadas chainsawing in the trees and the crickets bleating earnestly among the grasses. It's a simple breakfast on a cool misty morning when others are sleeping and the pure blue day is still waiting for the sun to burn off the fog. It's a tart, it's a cobbler, it's for cereal, yogurt, pie, it's this summer's To Grill Item. It's generous yet silky yet meaty. It's a peach.

Fried Calamari: Bookmarked recipe

So I "subscribe" to several foodblogs through Google Reader. The newest posts just show up on my Reader screen, and if something looks good I give it a star to save it for later. Back in April I starred a Fried Calamari recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Kalofagas.ca (billed as "Greek Food and Beyond.") I love this blog because it's Canadian and it's Greek and it has many many informative posts. And tonight I finally got around to making this recipe. I highly recommend it! Here's a little photo essay on my progress:

Simple flour-dredging included corn flour, which seemed to give the resulting product an awesome hint of Fritos. (I mean that in a good way!) The calamari we had was just rings, which seemed appropriate for beginners.


Here they are frying. Check out the thermometer! I don't usually fry anything so had to go to the corner store moments before to buy oil. All they had was Wesson. Worked fine.


The result: very tasty rings, tender morsels, perfect with just a squeeze of lemon. Even our littlest one ate plenty. (We did not bother explaining to her exactly what "calamari" means...)

Thanks Kalofagas for one of many helpful and tasty-looking recipes. Please keep them coming!

Weekend Herb Blogging #197 roundup

It's been an honor to once again host Weekend Herb Blogging, the weekly event where foodie bloggers from all over the world submit posts highlighting herb or plant ingredients. Here are the submissions from this week (August 17-23, 2009), with each photo below each description.

From the Northwestern U.S., Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi used cacao nibs (below) in a delicious-looking Berry Chocolatey Energy Bar (Raw Vegan). I love the idea of a DIY energy bar. I also never realized that when your raspberries dry and shrivel on the bush, they're still totally usable!



From Chennai, India, Minu of Chettinad Fiesta tells us how to use mint in a Minty Pakoda. She writes that these "taste great with a cup of hot Masala Chai / Tea, especially on cold rainy evenings." I love non-sweet uses of mint--these look meltingly crunchy.



From Saratoga County, NY, USA, Rachel of The Crispy Cook offers one answer to the summer question of What To Do With Zucchini--Spicy Zucchini Relish. I love the before and after theme in this photo! Looks like this relish will be a nice hit of summer when the zucchini days are long gone.



Joanne from Eats Well With Others made carrot cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting. What a great way to eat carrots. Joanne explains that these were made for someone's birthday--I wish I could just reach in and taste one!

Sra from When My Soup Came Alive made Mushrooms with Sage and Rosemary. The button mushrooms in this recipe are balanced by the same amount of paneer/cottage cheese, and flavored with garlic, red chilli, and herbs from a special garden. This would disappear REALLY FAST if it were set in front of me!

From California, msmeanie of Chocolate Chip Trips has another great take on zucchini, offering Indian-Style Zucchini Patties with Tamarind Chutney. Instead of the usual frying in oil, msmeanie decided to bake these--yum! This recipe will help you use up 3 medium zucchini.




From the UK, Ann of pig pig's corner learned that the tart hairy gooseberries she found are cooking gooseberries, and the sweeter berries later in the season are dessert gooseberries. She used the former to make Gooseberries & Blueberries Turnovers with Cream Cheese Crust. I cracked up at her description of the "crime scene" that occurred when the juicy filling leaked out during baking...



From Haslett, MI, Katie of Eat This also tackled zucchini, making a Zucchini, tomato and kale sauté. She writes that she recently received about a hundred amazing tomatoes, so it was a given that she would include some! This recipe looks like a tasty, healthy way to enjoy summer's bounty.



Kalyn, of Kalyn's Kitchen and the originator of WHB (thanks Kalyn!), sliced and marinated raw zucchini for a mouthwatering Zucchini Carpaccio with Lemon, Herbs and Goat Cheese. The ingredients are so simple, but I bet this dish could impress any crowd. Or make it all yours as a light lunch, like Kalyn did!




From New Paltz, NY, Winnie Abramson from Healthy Green Kitchen made a fabulous preparation from fresh rose petals called Kiva's Rose Petal Elixir. This rose (below) looks so open and gorgeous--seems like having rose petal elixir would make you just blossom, too!



Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything (and WHB's organizer--w00t!) was "lured by the tiniest of tiny vegetables," and made Sautéed Beetroot Shoots. These shoots are paired with garlic shoots to make an aromatic dish that's great hot or cold. Aww, they are pretty cute too!

Pam from Sidewalk Shoes poses this important question: "What says goodbye to summer more than food on a stick? Nothing!!" She made Bye-Bye Summer Herbed Chicken Skewers to take full advantage of her herb garden as the days of summer speed to a close... and school begins. Plenty of mint and plenty of parsley go in the chicken marinade, then you can grill with fresh vegetables of your choice.

From Sydney, Australia, Anh of A Food Lover's Journey is at the opposite end of summer, looking forward to it beginning and enjoying the weather starting to warm up! To celebrate she used matcha (green tea) in a Creamy Matcha Frozen Yogurt. Love that brilliant green color (it looks even better over on her blog!)



From Ontario, Canada, Jerry of Jerry's Thoughts, Musings and Rants found the perfect vegetable to go with some snapper: fennel. The resulting Pacific Snapper with Fennel Slaw was a great combination of flavors--and quick and easy too! Marvelous!



From Garda Lake, Italy, Cinzia of Cindystar had fun with friends and family turning 30 kg of S. Marzano tomatoes into Tomato sauce. This recipe looks great, and I just love the photos on her blog of everybody working together!

Brii, of Briiblog in English and also from Garda Lake, Italy, made a mysterious and fascinating-sounding liqueur featuring laurel, rosemary and salvia! Obscure Delirium Liqueur sounds like a good, mild way to enjoy the magical properties of salvia, maybe like absinthe is a good vehicle for wormwood. (I love that this changes color as it ages, too.)



Last of all, from Vermont, USA, my own entry is a cold Beet & Feta Salad. I craved beets because I thought they might have good heart energy--I've since found out that you can actually get beetroot in capsule form for building up your blood. Aha! The doctrine of signatures (what a plant looks like is what it's good for) strikes again.


Hope you enjoyed this recap--thanks again to everyone who sent submissions! Next week, Rachel from The Crispy Cook is hosting Weekend Herb Blogging #198. Click here for the rules if you're interested.

Beet & feta salad

Heart beet

My intuition says I need to spend more energy on my heart chakra, or, if you like, compassionately nurturing myself. I have a tendency to "overbrain" everything through excessive mulling and analysis. A steady summer diet of white wine has not made me any less spacy and "up in the clouds."

So I'm trying some new things to center myself better. Chocolate. Heart Health Emergen-C (those fizzy vitamin packets you mix with water). Raspberries, cherries, hibiscus, anything deep red. Plenty of water to keep that moist electricity pumping. (That's how I think of the heart--compassionate, electric and wet.) Nice aromatherapy like lavender and rose. And when I saw a gorgeous trio of beets at the farmer's market on Saturday, I felt they would be another great heart nurturer. A boiled beet even looks a little like a heart, red, fist-shaped and leaky on the plate. It also has good grounding energy--being a root and being such a deep dark color. So I decided to treat myself to a cold Beet & Feta salad for lunch today.

Ingredients

• 3 beets, boiled and chilled, with skins slipped off
  
• 2 T feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 T capers
• 1 T apple cider vinegar
• 1 T hempseed oil
• salt & pepper

Assembly
Slice beets as thick or thin as you like. Sprinkle with feta, capers, vinegar and oil. EAT! (On an August day, try to have all the ingredients be as coooold as possible.)



Beets have a nice smooth chewy-tender texture to them, and I liked the salty sass of the feta and capers in among the sweet docile beets. The hempseed oil, a big splurge at $20 for 16.9 ounces, is a favorite of mine in small doses. It has a distinctive rich, nutty flavor that really dressed everything up. Hooray for beets!



I'm submitting this to Weekend Herb Blogging #197, which I happen to be hosting this week! This blog event is organized by Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything At Least Once. If you're interested in joining in (please do!) please check out the rules and send me your entry. The deadline is this coming Sunday, August 23.

An August Extravaganza

For weeks and days, he had been getting ready for one hell of a party. He was the finance minister after all, and married to a rich heiress, so he had plenty of money available to put on the best possible event. His new château was the height of opulence. One of his great achievements was to hire French craftspeople instead of importing talent or goods from outside the country. He hired a landscaper, an architect, a painter, a playwright, a poet. But these weren't any random, lowly employees--they were the best. Le Notre. Le Vau. Le Brun. Molière. La Fontaine. Big names.

The magnificence was meant to impress the guest of honor, the "god-given one," the king. It had already been quite a year for the king. His prime minister Mazarin had died in the Spring and instead of appointing a new one, the king said he'd do the job himself. He also had a pregnant queen and a sweet, retiring new mistress. Definitely time for a party.

What else was needed for the party? Orchestras, rockets, a giant shell that could carry a person across water, magnificent tapestries woven on the premises, horses and diamonds for door prizes, 6000 guests, stuff like that. He was tickled that Le Brun had painted his personal emblem, the upward-climbing and nimble squirrel, on the corners of the elaborate ceilings. He paced. He lounged. He gave orders, and more orders. He was ready.

The day came. Guests arrived. In fact they had been turning up all week. But the guest of honor would not come until evening. When the light of the low sun made the front gates blaze up in gold, the king and his family arrived.

He proudly showed them around his beautiful home. "Sire, it would be my honor to offer you the choice of anything that you see. It shall be my gift to you." The king was taking it all in. He was impressed, but not in a good way. The king smiled anyway. He wondered, Where was all this Stuff from? How did this guy afford luxury after luxury? This place was way nicer than the king's own palaces. As they started to tour the grounds the king smiled some more. And he said to his mother, "I think we must... take this guy down."

It was evening. The exquisite grounds were lit by torchlight. Fountains sang. Scores of precious orange trees stood proudly in their tubs. Music was everywhere. The host thought it was going well. And it was time for the performance. Molière came forward, acting distraught. The playwright addressed the king. "Your majesty, the entertainment for this evening needs your divine help. I've done everything I can but I have failed. If only some heavenly intervention were possible your Majesty--your own!"

The king raised his hand slightly, a slow, heavy gesture. The nymph in the seashell moved across the water and the audience gasped. Lights and players exploded across the terrace to begin the show! It was called "The Bores" and was so hilarious. Afterward, hails of explosions shook the grounds, and the music welled up sweet and fine. The king walked through the rockets to the midnight feast, his face lit as from a raging forest fire. It was an incredible occasion--hard to believe.

Please press play... then imagine the party here.

This is my version of the true story of Nicolas Fouquet, Finance minister to Louis XIV, who gave the fête at his château, Vaux-le-Vicomte, on August 17, 1661. 19 days later the king had Fouquet arrested. He had a long, long corruption/embezzlement trial, and then he was sent far away to a prison where he lived out his days. He died in 1680. Of course the party was not the sole reason he got into trouble. Louis XIV was suspicious of and disliked Fouquet for a number of reasons. But the ostentatious party was pretty much the last straw.

Whatever Fouquet took from him, he gave his king something tremendous--the idea of a château fabulous beyond compare. Something bedecked with expensive orange trees, something with fountains and grottoes and vistas, something involving Le Vau, Le Brun and Le Notre, something that would become Capital V Versailles. Thanks Fouquet.

Sources:

• Antonia Fraser: "Was it so wise to demonstrate wealth and magnificence in excess of that of the sovereign?" [Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King, Doubleday 2006.]
• Lucy Norton: "He [Louis XIV] was, like all his courtiers, overcome by the beauty of Vaux and the splendour of the fête; but to him Fouquet appeared not as a generous host and future collaborator, but as a self-evident thief who had enriched himself from the treasury over the years the king was hard pressed to find money for the country's essential needs." [The Sun King and His Loves, The Folio Society 1982.]
• Nancy Mitford: "His [Fouquet's] sins were not visited on his children. His daughter, the Duchesse de Béthune, was always kindly received at Court; under Louis XV, his grandson the Maréchal de Belle-Isle became a rich and respected soldier while his, Belle-Isle's son, Gisors, was a French Sir Philip Sidney." [The Sun King: Louis XIV at Versailles, Harper & Row 1966.]
• I also remember the Anne Somerset book about the Affair of the Poisons that I blogged about in February, though sadly I do not own it.
  

Remembering John Hughes

The 80s are so over. That's what I'm realizing now that John Hughes has died. Of course, I was nostalgic for the 80s during the 80s. It's because I loved the music so much--I couldn't afford to buy the albums I wanted, so I wanted K-Tel compilations to start coming out immediately so I could properly wallow in new-wave wistfulness throughout the 90s and beyond. (Fortunately, the dollar bins at local record stores and the recent wonder of iTunes has let me build a collection in recent years. Just bought some Chaka Khan the other day!)

Circa 2006, one of my many self-imposed writing projects involved buying a pretty rubber-covered blue notebook and a fresh new black drafting pen. The crisp white pages and the stiff nib of a yet-to-be-used pen were supposed to call me to creativity. I would spend 20 minute chunks--or more! heck!--doing ex tempore writing exercises, and maybe develop some of the better ideas into articles or queries or something. This did not happen. I used exactly 3 pages before making the notebook into my WVEW playlist archive. Page 1: "Orson Welles." Page 2: "The Eighties." Page 3: "If I Had a Million Dollars." I note that my 80s essay is the only one where I used BOTH SIDES of the paper. Here's the first part:

Writing about the 80s, which is a kind of emotional or mental state depending on how old you were at the time, is like trying to describe a smell with words. People do it, and some well, but it's a lot easier to understand if you can experience it directly. The 80s is a feeling, a sensation, and is difficult to capture in any programmatic way, such as putting it into words. Also I personally went through so many phases in the 80s, from ages 8 to 18, that my own feel for the decade is tangled up in the craziness and yearning and creativity that is growing up and adolescence. What were my touchstones at least? The movies of John Hughes. Chewing gum in a sassy way. The sound of skateboarding. The absolute freedom of being able to do whatever you want and being pretty sure that someone will probably get pissed off at you for it. Being at home as a teen is like being in prison, yet I've never lived so vividly and with such hope and juice as I did when I was not yet loose... but waiting for it.

That's it--John Hughes is an 80s touchstone. One to be listed first. He was filming what I was living. He made my ridiculous teenage life seem like something legitimate, something interesting, and he gave me the language and the style to deal with what was going on. If you weren't a teen in the 80s, you might not care about John Hughes. Teens now might be getting the same feeling from Gossip Girl or something, I don't know. For us it was John Hughes, and he nailed it.

8*12*09 Beef Jerky Time dedicated to John Hughes and his excellent taste in music:

• Don't You Forget About Me: Simple Minds (Breakfast Club)
• Gloria: Patti Smith (16 Candles)
• Wouldn't It Be Good: Danny Hutton Hitters (Pretty in Pink)
• Weird Science: Oingo Boingo (Weird Science)
• Fire in the Twilight: Wang Chung (Breakfast Club)
• Young Americans: David Bowie (16 Candles)
• If You Were Here: Thompson Twins (16 Candles)
• If You Leave: OMD (Pretty in Pink)
• We Are Not Alone: Karla DeVito (Breakfast Club)
• Oh Yeah: Yellow (Ferris Bueller's Day Off)
• True: Spandau Ballet (16 Candles)
• Pretty in Pink: Psychedelic Furs (Pretty in Pink)

Sounds of Africa

This show (Beef Jerky Time 8*5*09) would not have been possible without Putumayo, the label that puts together "world" songs into cute compilations like Celtic Crossroads and Arabic Groove. For this one I relied heavily on African Playground, which is a kid's CD. Also I found some great stuff in the stacks at the studio, and brought a few of my own favorites (MC Solaar! Juluka!). Africa is kind of a big place to sample in an hour--I'm putting countries in parentheses for a little more structure.

Hoya Hoye: Seleshe Damassae (Ethiopia)
Scatterlings of Africa: Savuka (S. Africa)
Hello Hello: Mose Fan Fan (S. Africa)
Rain Rain: Ladysmith Black Mambazo (S. Africa)
Warm Heart of Africa: The Very Best (born Malawi), f. Ezra Koenig
Ogunja: King Sunny Ade (Nigeria)
La Paix: Amadou & Mariam (Mali)
Lasidan: Ali Farka Touré (Mali), w. Ry Cooder
Hijo de Africa: MC Solaar (born Senegal)
Mbube: The Mahotella Queens (S. Africa)
Jembaseng: Dembo Konte & Ma Lmini Jobate (recorded in the field in Senegal & Gambia)
Fever: Juluka (S. Africa)
Menomuno: Sanite (Uganda)
Mbiriri: Shona People (of Zimbabwe)
Sedjedo: Angelique Kudjo (Benin)

August Farmer's Market

Here's the haul. Keep in mind it's Lammas season, the traditional "grains harvest" time. I think of it as when corn starts to show up. (Fruit harvest is late Sept, blood harvest is October.)

Greens (2 kinds of lettuce & mustard greens), pickling cukes (we like them just raw though), and multicolored carrots.

Peaches, blueberries, 2 kinds of tomatoes,
2 kinds of onions, 2 kinds of peppers.

This is just a quick photo essay on a busy weekend. I will say those blueberries are about the size of quarters... just about. And fresh peaches are one of my favorite things. We'll be eating most of this stuff in salads, or the fruit in cereal or yogurt or just on the fly.

It's the time of plenty--enjoy!

Summer 2009 Music Raves

Summer space squash

A great new song is a bit like a zodiac sign. It's around for a month or so, then before you know it, we're off to the next one. That's how I am anyway: I have about a 4-week threshold for a wonderful, strange, high energy, bangin' new song. I'll listen to it all the time, run to it, cook to it, go to sleep with it, sing it in the shower, get it stuck firmly in my head. But soon enough and sure enough, it starts to fade away. Then a new song becomes ascendant.

So while the first part of this summer was all about Royksöpp (Happy Up Here), Lo-Fi-FNK (Steppin' Out), MSTRKRFT (Bounce) and Jack Peñate (Tonight's Today), the last month or so has been an arc of Black Eyed Peas (Boom Boom Pow), Basement Jaxx (Raindrops) and Kid Cudi (Day & Nite, Crookers remix). And the Peas are already a waning crescent, being quickly overtaken by a waxing gibbous Rye Rye (Rock Off Shake Off). (Oops, did I just mix my zodiac metaphor with a moon metaphor? SORRY.)

Here are some radio playlists, for the record!

7*15*09
La Cucaracha: Kumbia Kings
Git: Skeletons & the Girl-faced Boys
Fresh Blood: Eels
Deadbeat Summer: Neon Indian
New Heat: Stardeath & White Dwarfs
Personal Stereo (Penny & Ashtray mix): Flunk
Heat of the Moment: Asia
A Summer Song: Chad & Jeremy
Continue to Call: Nino Moschella
Canadian Dream: Andrew Vincent
Today It Is Even Better: The Very Most
A Sweet Summer's Night on Hammer Hill: Jens Lekman
Who You Gonna Run To?: Solid Gold
Juno (Ra Ra Riot/Andrew Maury remix): Tokyo Police Club
Paris Is Burning: Ladyhawke
I Want You D.A.N.C.E: Justice vs. The Jackson 5 (Mashup)

7*22*09
Tonight's Today: Jack Peñate
Summer Song: YACHT
Summer of Love: Paradise Boys
Summerboy: Lady Gaga
Triple Chrome Dipped (Osborne remix): Michna
Dying Is Fine: Ra Ra Riot
I Wonder Who We Are: The Clientele
Wounded: Jay Reatard
Any Way You Choose to Give It: The Black Ghosts
Day & Nite (Crookers remix): Kid Cudi
Raindrops: Basement Jaxx
O My Heart: Mother Mother

7*29*09
1901: Phoenix
Golden Phone: Micachu & the Shapes
Autobahn Music Box: Cut Copy
Hold the Line: Major Lazer
Fuego: Bomba Estéreo
Smoke Bros: Amazing Baby
Do You Remember the First Time?: Pulp
Hurt Feelings: Flight of the Conchords
If You Want Me To Stay: Red Hot Chili Peppers
An Anniversary Away: Reverie Sound Revue
Harold T. Wilkins: Fanfarlo
Back of the Van: Ladyhawke
Greens, Grays & Nordics: Deastro
Why I Write Such Good Songs: Kleenex Girl Wonder
Pupils Blink: Peggy Sue
Better: Regina Spektor

The No-Weed Vegetable Garden

Here it is!


Ummm, just to clarify, when I say "no-weed," that means I NEVER WEED out there! So it's in fact covered with weeds. My rationale this year was to plant things that grow faster and higher than weeds. I've learned from several seasons of gardening incompetence that I am never going to be a careful gardener on my current schedule. Here are the 3 stars of my small "weed-free" plot.

Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes (and also sungolds) in the largest size tomato cage.



Summer squash--these babies can outgrow anything once they get going.



Pole beans--they're just starting to flower and to... bean.

Raspberry season and the cheesecake pan

We are very lucky to have a source of fresh raspberries to pick in season. And that season would be RIGHT NOW.


The past 2 weekends we have picked huge containers of raspberries to enjoy every which way. For example, I made bon appetit's Lemon Cheesecake Squares in mini-cheesecake form.

The result? Fine, but not as good as my favorite recipe (from the Eating for Pregnancy book I mention in my Best Bran Muffin post back in May). But it was a tasty treat on a summer evening, and small cheesecakes are fun to share with good friends. (Thanks for grilling T&W!)

The next day we carefully washed the cheesecake pan and it almost got put away when I decided to try something else. I had been given a sample of a scrumptious raspberry cake recently and begged for the recipe. It turned out to be Gourmet's June 2009 Raspberry Buttermilk Cake. I wondered what would happen if I divided the batter up into the mini-cheesecake pans instead of making one 9" cake.


This time the result was An Explosion. Notice how the top of each cake is much wider than the cake itself. Oops! I guess cheesecakes (or brownies or other dense goods) work well in these pans because they don't rise very much. But this light cake levitated right out of the pan to become turnover-shaped muffins. Not what I was going for, but delicious of course.


Also, this recipe calls for all the fruit to go on top of the batter, but I think I'd put some on the bottom or in the middle too, for variety. The batter is so thick the fruit actually rises instead of sinking in. This may differ with a heavier fruit, like plums.

Stoudt's 5 course beer & food pairing

When have I ever had a 5 course meal before? Not for as long as I can remember. As a very generous and thoughtful (yum, beer!) gift, we were treated to a fantastic dinner at the Brattleboro Country Club's Fairway Tavern. Chef Steve did an amazing job of preparing unique and delicious dishes inspired by and accompanied by Stoudt's brews. I must admit I'd never heard of Stoudt's before. Their rep was there at the dinner and explained each beer as we drank it. He said the brewery is in Adamstown, PA, the heart of Amish country. It has been around for over 20 years, and Mrs. Stoudt, Carol, seemed instrumental in getting the thing going. Very cool.


Course 1 was a "Pretzel Bread Floral Salad." At the bottom was a yummy salty pretzel round, with a vertical salad composed of greens and edible flowers. This was paired with the Gold Munich Style Helles (4.7% alcohol, 25 IBUs). To me the pretzel and the beer combined made for a nice homey ballpark feel. I never knew you could eat fuchsias--they're good.


Course 2: I was so excited about the look and smell of this one that I forgot to take a picture before eating, so this is a picture of the "sample" plate at the front of the room--kinda blurry. It's a spicy jerk-style pork tenderloin with a not-too-sweet mango chutney and fried plantain chips. Everything had a subtle but heady curry aroma to it, and I just inhaled the food. The pork was so tender, the chutney was just the right amount of hot. We had this with the American Pale Ale (APA), a hoppy golden affair that tasted a lot like any other IPA (that is, good). (5.1% alcohol, 40 IBUs)


Course 3: If I had to eat one of these courses every day, I'd pick this one. It was a giant (U10) scallop that had been smoked the day before, seared and wrapped in prosciutto, then served with Israeli couscous perfumed with fennel, a touch spinach and a dab of sweet corn. Just amazing. The chef (who came out and explained each dish as we ate) said that hot scallops just suck up the prosciutto when applied, so there's no need to use toothpicks or skewers. The prosciutto simply sticks. This was served with my current favorite style of beer, Pils. I like the CRISP taste of a pilsner (this one 5.4% alcohol, 40 IBUs). Just as bitter as the APA technically, but to me it was much more precise and single-minded in its hoppiness. As I said to my companion, pale ale is a hot mess compared to the clean edge you get from pilsner. I guess it's something about the pilsnering process (long, cold, bottom-fermenting) that makes for that puckery clean finish I like so much. (Frankly, it's the same exact reason I like Genesee Cream Ale! Not a huge beer expert, obviously.)


Course 4: Our dining companions were cracking us up with many off-color comments about the beech mushroom on this plate. This was a grilled sliced New York strip steak with lots of black pepper, served with mushroom risotto and an incredible "sauce au poivre" (was there brandy in the sauce? Dunno. It was so good though). It was served with Stoudt's Scarlet Lady Ale (4.8% alcohol, 32 IBUs), which the beer rep said was good for both men and women to drink. I have no idea what he meant, if anything, but how can you go wrong with a statement like that?! While I loved Course 3 as a concept and a dish, this course was probably the most fun. The beers were starting to have a positive effect on everybody, we were all loosened up, loving the steak and the funny mushrooms, starting to hand around extra bottles of Scarlet Lady Ale, and generally having a good time.


Course 5: Grilled peaches, with habanero sorbet served in a chocolate cup. I have huge respect for any chef who is not afraid to singe his guests with habaneros. At some point in between childhood and now I started to love hot things. I'm not like a smoker who has to put tabasco on everything to taste it, but I am not afraid of a little--or a LOT of--spice. Bring it on, man. The chef seemed so proud of his invention: The peaches were hot yet sweet, the sorbet was cold yet sweet yet HOT. And the chocolate served to tie everything together. My companion decided to stick the entire chocolate cup of sorbet in his mouth at once, to get the whole experience. I decided to drizzle my sorbet all over everything (after first tasting it to make sure it would really burn... it did). The beer accompaniment, a hefeweizen called Heifer-in-Wheat (5% alcohol, 12 IBUs) was the perfect relief in between bites of the flaming cold dessert. It's supposed to taste of bananas, cloves, and bubble gum, but to me it tasted like peaches and habaneros, which was terrific!

Thank you tons JK for the idea and the treat, we had so much fun on a special day!

Turkey shawarma & tamarind cocktails

Recently I was a passenger in a car for over 9 hours. During that time I ate a lot of McDonald's food, participated in some Invisible Marker adventures, sang Cole Porter songs and handed around granola bars. I also read several issues of bon appetit cover to cover. Here's what happened:


My recipe-reading exploded into a rash of recipe-making when I got home again. For one, I made Tamarind and Vodka Cocktails. Mine were a lot darker than the pretty pitcherful in the recipe. (It was one of those slightly annoying articles where fabulously earthy yet tasteful people give an amazing outdoor dinner party, including one or 2 slightly famous guests who just happen to be their buds, and yay-here-are-all-the-recipes-they-made!) Tamarind concentrate is not something I'd ever purchased before. I was pleased to find it's only $1.99 at the local Indian grocery. Tamarind looks like treacle and tastes like sour. In the end, I liked the tamarind cocktail base a lot better in a different drink of my own devising. I'm calling it the Twisted Tamara Palmer, because... it's like an Arnold Palmer except with tamarind instead of iced tea, plus there's vodka. Refreshing.


I also made Turkey Shawarma with Tomato Relish and Tahini Sauce. This was a big success. It involves several different stages of assembly (sauces, rub, marinating, grilling, slicing, wrapping), but is not too hard to pull off on a weekend afternoon. Above are 2 turkey cutlets grilling, plus onions along with some summer squash that needed to join the party. The idea of the Shawarma recipe is that you can try to replicate the taste of one of those Middle Eastern donair/dolma thingies where the meat is piled onto a rotating vertical spit and then sliced off. For this recipe you grill turkey cutlets, then stack them up and slice to approximate the real thing.



Here are most of the ingredients--dill pickle slices (added a great crunch and kick), sliced grilled turkey, grilled onion (you're supposed to slice up large ones, but I used small halved farmer's market ones instead), pita, plus the 2 titular sauces.

The shawarma is assembled.

And ready to eat. Very very good. The spice rub for the turkey tasted
quite "authentic" in my opinion.

Thanks bon appetit for some inspiring reading in the July 2009 "BBQ Issue." Other earmarked pages are the Chickpea Pizza, Lemon Cheesecake Squares with Fresh Berries ('cept I'd just make mini cheesecakes), Coffee-Rubbed Cheeseburgers with Texas Barbecue Sauce (OMG!) and just about everything in the "Seoul Food" article (shrimp-scallion pancakes, beef bbq, white kimchi).

What magazines or beloved recipes have been inspiring you lately?

Farmer's market scavenger hunt

I went to the farmer's market wondering if I could find ingredients for kimchi. The recipe I was making required a rare confluence of fruits & vegetables, specifically Napa cabbage, Asian pear, green scallions and daikon. Would I be able to find ALL of these at the farmer's market? That was my goal--and I even made a list so I wouldn't get distracted.

Here are a few things we saw while looking.

I love the herring-bone cross-hatch pattern of these fennel bulbs.	Apparently fresh garlic is in season!

Some non-food offerings:

Selections from Putney Mountain Winery.
If you're the right age, they'll let you taste.

Cute aprons for small people.

Fantasy wear for small people.

Susan Dunning's gorgeous pottery.

So did I find my kimchi ingredients? Well... no. I did find some good looking cabbage as well as some daikon. I know I can get scallions at the Wednesday market and a pear at the supermarket. But I wanted the stars to align for me today and just make it happen if it was meant to be. When I got home I found 4 new summer squash hiding in the garden--they will be my project instead!

Bairrada Churrasqueira, Toronto

Last Sunday, when we were in Toronto, we followed a tip to go to a Portuguese grillhouse (churrasqueira) for dinner on the patio. The place was Bairrada Churrasquiera at 1000 College Street (there are also 2 other branches). Because I had no idea what to expect at a churrasqueira, I did some Web searching first and learned that Bairrada is known for their roast chicken and roast suckling pig. They also have distinctive little round potatoes.

When we got there the front of the place was rather unassuming, and the indoor part of the restaurant seemed a trifle narrow and cafeteria-like. But the patio in the back was wonderful. The sun was just starting to go down and cast the film-maker's beloved "magic light" across the patio. It felt like the kind of place where we could park ourselves at 4pm and keep ordering food, wine, beer, brandy and coffee until closing. (It seemed like some of the other customers were busy doing just that.)


However, this was our third restaurant in one day, so we weren't really prepared for a huge amount of feasting. (It may also be relevant that I'd stayed up until 3am for the previous 3 days running!) Basically, we were mellow. First off, I ordered a Portuguese cheese appetizer.


It was about the consistency of a soft feta, but with a much milder flavor. It went well with the super-crunchy buns on the table, though I could have gone for some olive oil sluiced all around.

As we ate, my companion proudly showed off his new tattoos.

On the left we have "sexy."	On the right, "Canada."

(These seem to be a positive commentary on our visit to "sexy Canada." Less than a week later and the maple leaf is already wearing off though...)

Back to the food, I ordered the house special grilled chicken.


There were round (Parisienne) potatoes just as promised. They seem to have been boiled and then grilled or possibly fried. They were very soft and kind of bland. (I ate them all though.) The chicken was... mouth-watering. Super-crispy skin, super-moist but fully cooked inside. But what really made it for me was the sauce that comes with the meal. It's hard to tell from the photo, but it looks like a chili-tomato paste on the bottom, with a deep layer of red oil on top. (My companion's suckling pig sandwich is in the background.)

This sauce was THE BOMB. It was spicy, but not painfully hot. It was a little sweet, but not like ketchup. It was also a trifle piquant, perhaps from vinegar or just acidic tomato paste. I wanted to buy a whole vat of it to take home! Here's a typical bite from my plate, slathered in sauce.


After dinner my 2 co-diners went to check out the rock garden area at the end of the patio. It looks like they can do large events here, or at least have really crazy parties on weekend nights. While I enjoyed the coming twilight, the adorable waiter brought me a perfect espresso.


I highly recommend this place on a sunny summer day or evening. As one loyal customer at the next table put it, it's one of the best patios in town. (OK, he said it was THE BEST, but I can think of some others... gotta go back to Toronto soon!) Thanks P&R for the suggestion!