Thursday, December 28, 2006
how many books in 2006 have you read?
months ago i came across this blog where this woman is shooting to read 50 books throughout 2006. it's an interesting theory, and i thought maybe i could also read 50 books, but by the time i had discovered the blog, 2006 was already 3/4 of the way finished, and i didn't think i had the time to catch up and reach the final goal.
i actually just started reading books a few years ago. before then, i could never really get into the whole "reading" thing - maybe i would read a book or two every year. it was kind of like running. (oh, those runners!) i'm not exactly sure what got me started into reading more, but now that i take the metro to and from work every day, i seem to be enjoying it a lot more, and it helps me pass the time on my (short) commute.
recently i've re-discovered margaret atwood. i was first introduced to her in my freshman honors english class at psu. i'm pretty sure i didn't get much out of surfacing that first time around, because i barely remembered what the book was about. last year i picked up the blind assassin at the bookstore because i saw that it won some award and i heard it was good, and i recognized the author's name, but i never was able to get that far into the book. so it was shelved until earlier this year.
when i finally picked it up again, i fell in love with her descriptive and thoughtful writing. she knows just what to write to get the exact feeling across that she intends to, and is very creative about it as well. anyways, i'm not really a word person (i'm trying, though!), but i can really get into her characters. they make perfect sense to me.
so after reading the blind assassin and surfacing (once, many many years ago), i decided i would try to read all of m.atwood's books, in no particular order.
i haven't come close yet to reading all her (fictional) work (she also writes children's books poetry and nonfiction), but here's what i've accomplished thus far:
1. the blind assassin
2. the handmaid's tale
3. the edible woman
4. cat's eye
5. the robber bride
6. oryx and crake
7. surfacing
besides reading m.atwood's books, early in 2006 i devoured philip pullman's his dark materials trilogy:
8. the golden compass
9. the subtle knife
10. the amber spyglass
oh. and i just remembered others that i read in 2006:
11. the da vinci code
12. the kite runner
i bought michael pollan's the omnivore's dilemma but i haven't yet gotten all the way through. instead, i started on one of his shorter and earlier books, the botany of desire, which i borrowed from cavin's pop. hopefully i can finish before the end of 2006 so i can add one more book to the list.
i'm a slow reader, so even if i had kept my current reading pace i don't think i could have read 50 books in a year. maybe one of my goals (everyone should have goals, no matter how large or how small!) should be to read more books than i had the previous year. i think i can do it.
if you know of any books that i should read, please suggest some. of the books that i've read in the 2006, i suggest the blind assassin, the handmaid's tale, oryx and crake, and all of the p.pullman's his dark materials trilogy books.
i actually just started reading books a few years ago. before then, i could never really get into the whole "reading" thing - maybe i would read a book or two every year. it was kind of like running. (oh, those runners!) i'm not exactly sure what got me started into reading more, but now that i take the metro to and from work every day, i seem to be enjoying it a lot more, and it helps me pass the time on my (short) commute.
recently i've re-discovered margaret atwood. i was first introduced to her in my freshman honors english class at psu. i'm pretty sure i didn't get much out of surfacing that first time around, because i barely remembered what the book was about. last year i picked up the blind assassin at the bookstore because i saw that it won some award and i heard it was good, and i recognized the author's name, but i never was able to get that far into the book. so it was shelved until earlier this year.
when i finally picked it up again, i fell in love with her descriptive and thoughtful writing. she knows just what to write to get the exact feeling across that she intends to, and is very creative about it as well. anyways, i'm not really a word person (i'm trying, though!), but i can really get into her characters. they make perfect sense to me.
so after reading the blind assassin and surfacing (once, many many years ago), i decided i would try to read all of m.atwood's books, in no particular order.
i haven't come close yet to reading all her (fictional) work (she also writes children's books poetry and nonfiction), but here's what i've accomplished thus far:
1. the blind assassin
2. the handmaid's tale
3. the edible woman
4. cat's eye
5. the robber bride
6. oryx and crake
7. surfacing
besides reading m.atwood's books, early in 2006 i devoured philip pullman's his dark materials trilogy:
8. the golden compass
9. the subtle knife
10. the amber spyglass
oh. and i just remembered others that i read in 2006:
11. the da vinci code
12. the kite runner
i bought michael pollan's the omnivore's dilemma but i haven't yet gotten all the way through. instead, i started on one of his shorter and earlier books, the botany of desire, which i borrowed from cavin's pop. hopefully i can finish before the end of 2006 so i can add one more book to the list.
i'm a slow reader, so even if i had kept my current reading pace i don't think i could have read 50 books in a year. maybe one of my goals (everyone should have goals, no matter how large or how small!) should be to read more books than i had the previous year. i think i can do it.
if you know of any books that i should read, please suggest some. of the books that i've read in the 2006, i suggest the blind assassin, the handmaid's tale, oryx and crake, and all of the p.pullman's his dark materials trilogy books.
Labels: books
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
foodie things we got for xmas
happy holidays to everyone!
i was reading a dr thread about what foodie things people got for the holidays. as i thought about that question, i realized that cavin and i got a bunch of foodie-related things as well. i'm pretty excited that we got these things, and i have to thank everyone for all the thought that went into the presents we received. here's a list:
1. bread maker (maybe we can now start pumping out the banana chocolate chip walnut bread)
2. subscription to saveur magazine
3. my life in france by julia child
4. what einstein told his cook by robert wolke
5. subscription to gourmet magazine
6. henkel's santuko 7 1/2" knife
7. oxo good grips dough scraper
8. variety of spices from penzeys
9. memories of philippine kitchens cookbook
10. homemade cookies
11. matching apron and pot holder
as we speak, i'm making chicken adobo using the new bay leaves we just got. i used the new knife to dice the onion (it's so sharp!) and after i eat, i'm going to start the julia child book. i live a wonderful life!
i was reading a dr thread about what foodie things people got for the holidays. as i thought about that question, i realized that cavin and i got a bunch of foodie-related things as well. i'm pretty excited that we got these things, and i have to thank everyone for all the thought that went into the presents we received. here's a list:
1. bread maker (maybe we can now start pumping out the banana chocolate chip walnut bread)
2. subscription to saveur magazine
3. my life in france by julia child
4. what einstein told his cook by robert wolke
5. subscription to gourmet magazine
6. henkel's santuko 7 1/2" knife
7. oxo good grips dough scraper
8. variety of spices from penzeys
9. memories of philippine kitchens cookbook
10. homemade cookies
11. matching apron and pot holder
as we speak, i'm making chicken adobo using the new bay leaves we just got. i used the new knife to dice the onion (it's so sharp!) and after i eat, i'm going to start the julia child book. i live a wonderful life!
Friday, December 22, 2006
truffled frites & foie gras con maiz y tamarindo
ahhhh. to be high on food you don't normally prepare at home...
despite having a meltdown at work yesterday because of the deadlines i have in the next week or two, my night ended spectacularly. originally, the plan was cavin was going to meet me at union station so that we could pick up a few last minute items for our xmas presents, stop by teaism, and then go home and eat hotdogs or whatever else we have lying around in the fridge (not much: hotdogs, zucchini, tortillas, bacon) for dinner.
as soon as we got off at gallery place/chinatown metro stop though, cavin said something, but the only part of what i heard was "poste" and "french fries". let me just state for the record that i am addicted to french fries and that i love love love! poste's truffled frites! and at $4 during happy hour (4-7pm)? how could you NOT love them?
so after stopping by teaism, we quickly made our way to poste. after ordering $4 glasses of the house white (happy hour price), a table cleared up and we were able to sit. then, the frites came out. oh, glorious frites!
the truffled frites are served in a cone of newspaper lined with wax paper on the inside. every time we've gone and gotten them, they are ALWAYS spot on. they are always crunchy, hot, and i think they are mixed with truffle oil, a tiny bit of chopped parsley, just a bit of thinly shredded parmesan, and of course, salt. they are served with ketchup, which i only use sparingly because seriously, who needs ketchup when the frites tastes this good?
the only downside in going to poste are the drinks. they do have specialty drinks, but they are quite pricey (~$10), which doesn't really jive with the whole happy hour theme. the house red and white are $4, but what if you don't drink wine? oh, and don't get me started about the beer prices during happy hour. miller lite, sam adams, high life, and bud for $4? normally those beers costs $4.50 at poste, so you're only saving 50 cents, and really. bud for $4? who pays for that? more importantly, who's drinking bud and ordering truffled frites? the whole thing is a travesty, but i digress.
so at this point, our plan was to eat the frites at poste, and then go home and figure out what to do with the items in the fridge that have been begging for attention. again, cavin said something before we left poste, but the only words i heard were "cafe atlantico." as soon as i heard these words and before cavin could finish what he was saying, i immediately felt like kramer: "I'LL TAKE IT!"
we left poste and headed down the street to cafe atlantico, another restaurant in jose andres' empire. we hadn't gone in a while, really. cavin took me to minibar for my birthday back in september, but before that we had only done the latin dim sum brunch there. so i was pretty psyched that we would be going. there was some confusion as to whether we would get a table or just eat something small at the bar, but we quickly settled on eating at the bar if there was space. and there was.
cavin and i started off with drinks. i have always heard the mojitos at cafe atlantico are awesome, so i decided to try the special blackberry mojito. it was really fantastic. i should have paid more attention when the bartender was making it. it wasn't super sweet, and it had just the right amount of rum. cavin ordered a pineapple capirihna, which was also excellent.
i like tasting different things, so we decided to split three appetizers and one entree:
-passion fruit guacamole (served with flour tortillas)
-fritura de lambi (dominican conch fritters with liquid center, jicama-avocado raviolis and mango oil)
-foie gras con maiz y tamarindo (seared foie gras with corn puree, sauteed corn kernels, corn nut powder, corn sprouts and tamarind)
-duck confit on a bed of frisee and topped with pine nuts
everything tasted delicious. we ordered the passion fruit guac medium spicy, and it had decent heat, and the passion fruit really stood out in each bite, making the guac taste even more fresh. the conch fritters could have been a little bit more (temperature) hot, and the outside could have been a bit more crunchy, but the liquid center was delicious. it tasted like a creamy, earthy flavored sauce with pieces of conch inside.
the two stars of the night were the foie gras and the duck confit. the foie gras seemed to be pan seared and deglazed with white wine and had a soft and delicate texture, not unlike fresh sea urchin (but not nearly as delicate). the corn had a sweet, roasted flavor and was also topped with something crunchy, and i realized that the corn nut powder was essentially crushed up cornicks (think corn nuts, but 10x better).
the duck confit i think was mislabeled in the menu as having spinach and pepitas (pumpkin seeds): ours came out with frisee lettuce which was tossed with some sort of fruity vinagrette and was also topped with toasted pine nuts with a side of deep fried plantains. the discrepancy between the menu and what we got didn't make any difference. the duck confit had a nice caramelized crust and was perfectly seasoned throughout. the meat was also tender enough that we really did not need a knife (which we were provided, though).
we were too stuffed to get dessert, but we did order another round of drinks. this time cavin got the acai, guarana, mango martini (acai, guarana fruit, mango juice and mango rum) while i sloshed down the pisco sour (montesierpe pisco from peru, sour mix, sugar, and egg whites). again, both were really delicious.
going out in the chinatown/gallery place area is really great for us. it's on both the red and green lines, so if we are coming from work we don't have to change lines, and when we go home we also don't have to change lines. in fact, we lucked out last night and ended up with the perfect scenario one would hope for when trying to catch the train: the next train in our direction was in 1 minute. we didn't have to rush down the platform, nor did we have to wait many minutes till the next train arrived.
and the fact that cafe atlantico and poste are so accessible to us, in price and atmosphere and location, makes going a no-brainer. next time we'll save room for dessert.
poste brasserie
hotel monaco
555 8th street nw
202.783.6060
cafe atlantico
405 8th street nw
202.393.0812
despite having a meltdown at work yesterday because of the deadlines i have in the next week or two, my night ended spectacularly. originally, the plan was cavin was going to meet me at union station so that we could pick up a few last minute items for our xmas presents, stop by teaism, and then go home and eat hotdogs or whatever else we have lying around in the fridge (not much: hotdogs, zucchini, tortillas, bacon) for dinner.
as soon as we got off at gallery place/chinatown metro stop though, cavin said something, but the only part of what i heard was "poste" and "french fries". let me just state for the record that i am addicted to french fries and that i love love love! poste's truffled frites! and at $4 during happy hour (4-7pm)? how could you NOT love them?
so after stopping by teaism, we quickly made our way to poste. after ordering $4 glasses of the house white (happy hour price), a table cleared up and we were able to sit. then, the frites came out. oh, glorious frites!
the truffled frites are served in a cone of newspaper lined with wax paper on the inside. every time we've gone and gotten them, they are ALWAYS spot on. they are always crunchy, hot, and i think they are mixed with truffle oil, a tiny bit of chopped parsley, just a bit of thinly shredded parmesan, and of course, salt. they are served with ketchup, which i only use sparingly because seriously, who needs ketchup when the frites tastes this good?
the only downside in going to poste are the drinks. they do have specialty drinks, but they are quite pricey (~$10), which doesn't really jive with the whole happy hour theme. the house red and white are $4, but what if you don't drink wine? oh, and don't get me started about the beer prices during happy hour. miller lite, sam adams, high life, and bud for $4? normally those beers costs $4.50 at poste, so you're only saving 50 cents, and really. bud for $4? who pays for that? more importantly, who's drinking bud and ordering truffled frites? the whole thing is a travesty, but i digress.
so at this point, our plan was to eat the frites at poste, and then go home and figure out what to do with the items in the fridge that have been begging for attention. again, cavin said something before we left poste, but the only words i heard were "cafe atlantico." as soon as i heard these words and before cavin could finish what he was saying, i immediately felt like kramer: "I'LL TAKE IT!"
we left poste and headed down the street to cafe atlantico, another restaurant in jose andres' empire. we hadn't gone in a while, really. cavin took me to minibar for my birthday back in september, but before that we had only done the latin dim sum brunch there. so i was pretty psyched that we would be going. there was some confusion as to whether we would get a table or just eat something small at the bar, but we quickly settled on eating at the bar if there was space. and there was.
cavin and i started off with drinks. i have always heard the mojitos at cafe atlantico are awesome, so i decided to try the special blackberry mojito. it was really fantastic. i should have paid more attention when the bartender was making it. it wasn't super sweet, and it had just the right amount of rum. cavin ordered a pineapple capirihna, which was also excellent.
i like tasting different things, so we decided to split three appetizers and one entree:
-passion fruit guacamole (served with flour tortillas)
-fritura de lambi (dominican conch fritters with liquid center, jicama-avocado raviolis and mango oil)
-foie gras con maiz y tamarindo (seared foie gras with corn puree, sauteed corn kernels, corn nut powder, corn sprouts and tamarind)
-duck confit on a bed of frisee and topped with pine nuts
everything tasted delicious. we ordered the passion fruit guac medium spicy, and it had decent heat, and the passion fruit really stood out in each bite, making the guac taste even more fresh. the conch fritters could have been a little bit more (temperature) hot, and the outside could have been a bit more crunchy, but the liquid center was delicious. it tasted like a creamy, earthy flavored sauce with pieces of conch inside.
the two stars of the night were the foie gras and the duck confit. the foie gras seemed to be pan seared and deglazed with white wine and had a soft and delicate texture, not unlike fresh sea urchin (but not nearly as delicate). the corn had a sweet, roasted flavor and was also topped with something crunchy, and i realized that the corn nut powder was essentially crushed up cornicks (think corn nuts, but 10x better).
the duck confit i think was mislabeled in the menu as having spinach and pepitas (pumpkin seeds): ours came out with frisee lettuce which was tossed with some sort of fruity vinagrette and was also topped with toasted pine nuts with a side of deep fried plantains. the discrepancy between the menu and what we got didn't make any difference. the duck confit had a nice caramelized crust and was perfectly seasoned throughout. the meat was also tender enough that we really did not need a knife (which we were provided, though).
we were too stuffed to get dessert, but we did order another round of drinks. this time cavin got the acai, guarana, mango martini (acai, guarana fruit, mango juice and mango rum) while i sloshed down the pisco sour (montesierpe pisco from peru, sour mix, sugar, and egg whites). again, both were really delicious.
going out in the chinatown/gallery place area is really great for us. it's on both the red and green lines, so if we are coming from work we don't have to change lines, and when we go home we also don't have to change lines. in fact, we lucked out last night and ended up with the perfect scenario one would hope for when trying to catch the train: the next train in our direction was in 1 minute. we didn't have to rush down the platform, nor did we have to wait many minutes till the next train arrived.
and the fact that cafe atlantico and poste are so accessible to us, in price and atmosphere and location, makes going a no-brainer. next time we'll save room for dessert.
poste brasserie
hotel monaco
555 8th street nw
202.783.6060
cafe atlantico
405 8th street nw
202.393.0812
Labels: french fries, restaurant, wine
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
shabu shabu
a few months ago i joined an online foodie board. no, not chowhound or egullet - i haven't had time to peruse those sites thoroughly, yet. but something more local: don rockwell.
i'm not exactly sure how i heard of it. it's possible i may have read about it on dcist, but i think it's more plausible that i was doing a search for restaurant reviews online, and this don rockwell board came up.
i anonymously lurked around for a while, not wanting to post anything - i was strictly there for the cold hard food-related information. it wasn't until i tried using the search function on DR that i realized that i would have to create a (free) account to fully use the features of the board.
but since i signed up, i've come to realize that it's one of my go-to sites in the morning (or rather, all day), and i've learned about lots of things - like there are many die-hard philly cheesesteak fans in the area; that yechon is supposed to be the best korean restaurant in the area (i've yet to go, though, it's 24-hours, so i'm not sure what's stopping us from going); and apparently there is a sur la table in pentagon city.
the DR regulars (newbies always welcome) meet (bi-?)weekly for $20 tuesdays - they pick a restaurant, and plan to spend ~$20 + tax,tip,drinks. maybe it was because a couple of weeks ago i was feeling really down and needed a change of scene, that i decidedly signed cavin and i up for the $20 tuesday dinner at bob's 88 shabu shabu - our first DR event with people whose screennames and food anecdotes were quite familar to me, but their real names and faces were not.
so last night was our first foray into the seedy DR underworld (and yes, i know. last night was monday, not tuesday. but these things are not set in stone.)
first, what is shabu shabu? here is an exerpt of the description on the menu that i snagged on the way out of bob's last night:
i'm not exactly sure how i heard of it. it's possible i may have read about it on dcist, but i think it's more plausible that i was doing a search for restaurant reviews online, and this don rockwell board came up.
i anonymously lurked around for a while, not wanting to post anything - i was strictly there for the cold hard food-related information. it wasn't until i tried using the search function on DR that i realized that i would have to create a (free) account to fully use the features of the board.
but since i signed up, i've come to realize that it's one of my go-to sites in the morning (or rather, all day), and i've learned about lots of things - like there are many die-hard philly cheesesteak fans in the area; that yechon is supposed to be the best korean restaurant in the area (i've yet to go, though, it's 24-hours, so i'm not sure what's stopping us from going); and apparently there is a sur la table in pentagon city.
the DR regulars (newbies always welcome) meet (bi-?)weekly for $20 tuesdays - they pick a restaurant, and plan to spend ~$20 + tax,tip,drinks. maybe it was because a couple of weeks ago i was feeling really down and needed a change of scene, that i decidedly signed cavin and i up for the $20 tuesday dinner at bob's 88 shabu shabu - our first DR event with people whose screennames and food anecdotes were quite familar to me, but their real names and faces were not.
so last night was our first foray into the seedy DR underworld (and yes, i know. last night was monday, not tuesday. but these things are not set in stone.)
first, what is shabu shabu? here is an exerpt of the description on the menu that i snagged on the way out of bob's last night:
shabu shabu allows dinners[sic] to laugh and share and drink and cook and eat all together over leisurely meal. the name shabu shabu is said to come from the swishing sound of the meat being dragging bubbling broth. the cooking style is thought to have been developed by genghis khan and introduced to asia through his military campaigns.
the components of the meal are simple: meat and/or vegetables, broth, and dipping sauce.
once the order is in, the pots of broth are placed on burners in the middle of specially design tables. platters of extra-thin sliced meat vegetables begin arriving. diners cook their own items in a pot of bubbling broth. by the end of the meal, there is a delicious soup with layers of flavor. as each item is swished through the broth, chopsticks or a little strainer are used to remove the tasty morsels from the broth to a dipping sauce.
so, to break it down even further (at least in my sole experience at bob's), each person at the table gets their own pot of stock, and a plate of veggies (corn, tomatoes, mushrooms, cabbage, onions, fish balls, spinach, cellophane noodles) comes out, and you also get another plate of meat or seafood, depending on what you order. then you just add some of the items to your stock, and cook them, and take them out as they become done, and dip it into your own mixture of sauces that are at the bar at the other side of the room, and eat. a very simple concept, no?
but last night cavin and i not only had to deal with eating this new type of food, but also with meeting new people. we didn't know anyone - i talked via DR email to someone about coordinating a ride from the metro to the restaurant, but basically i had no idea who anyone was. i thought cavin and i did pretty well for having to be social. i'm a social person by nature (most times), but cavin is a little bit reserved, but last night he stepped up his game and was just as social as i was.
i'm really glad that we went with the DR group. because of DR's stature in the food community, bob hooked us up with a variety of appetizers: fermented deep fried tofu (had a smelly taste), fried duck tongues, de-boned duck feet.
after these came out our individual orders of shabu shabu came out (veggie plate, and meat/seafood plate). i ordered the lamb and pork, which were high-quality, thinly sliced and rolled pieces of raw meat. cavin ordered the beef, which was presented the same as the lamb and pork, but also the tripe, which was also thinly sliced. we shared both plates which were delicious. i'm not the biggest fan of lamb, so cavin ate most of the lamb, while i ate most of the beef.
during our shabu shabu, bob also brought out more large dishes to share: pork hocks (gelatinous meat and bones in a fragrant cinnamon/star anise sauce), and strips of beef and longhorn peppers. towards the point where i started getting really full, this large bowl of lion's head meatballs (seriously like 3.5" in diameter!) came out, which were superb. they were gingery, and the meat was very soft and moist. (i found out after the dinner that bob's wife knew we were coming, so she specially made them for the DRs to have! it's not even on the menu!!!)
finally, after we thought we couldn't eat anymore, bob brought out a shaved ice dessert. it's very similar to filipino halo-halo, but it was served in a large platter for the entire table to share. personally, i enjoy filipino halo-halo better; the one at bob's wasn't sweet enough for me - i wished for a little bit more condensed milk, and different toppings (like ube and jackfruit). i like lychees, but i don't think i prefer them on my shaved ice dessert, as bob's had.
all in all it was a great dinner. we met some really good people, who have a similar passion for food as we do. we also got the hook up that we normally wouldn't have gotten had we gone to bob's shabu shabu on our own. and, it was only $27 + drinks for the entire dinner! (this price was set up in advance by the folks from DR coordinating with bob.) for pictures of the food, click here.
now that we've gone once, we'll probably go to more DR events. i'm glad that i'm being proactive in trying to meet people in the area with similar tastes.
and, now that we've gone to bob's 88 shabu shabu, we'll probably be back again. the only thing we might do next time if we go, is to drive. it took about an hour to get home, and at that time of night, it might be faster to just drive.
bob's 88 shabu shabu
316 n. washington street
rockville, md
301.294.5888
Labels: beef, event, pork, restaurant
Friday, December 15, 2006
sweaty pigs
cavin and i tried our first test run with the pigs. basically, we wanted to recreate the classic "pigs in blankets" but instead, the pigs would be in sweatpants. thus, "pigs in sweatpants" was born.
i saw that hillshire farms makes two different kinds of mini hot dogs (at least at our safeway): regular hot dogs, and like a kielbasa sausage type hot dog. we opted for the regular hot dog, though, when we got home, i tasted one of the mini hot dogs and they were a little salty. i'm not sure yet what to do about this.
anyways, it took some mind-bending math to figure out how many sweatpants we could make with 1/3 of the puff pastry packet. it got complicated because i started off with one size, but it was too big, so then i started cutting the pieces in half, and rolling them out, and the next thing i knew, i had an uneven number of sweatpants, and i wasn't sure exactly how i got there.
and then, after i made smaller sized sweatpants, some of the pigs were a little too piggy and wouldn't fit in size S sweatpants. so i had to make some sized medium, or i had to cut the piggy into quarters to make their legs fit in there.
we actually only made one of the pigs put its legs in the sweatpants, and i don't think we'll do that in the future.
well, you can see from the picture how they turned out. the biggest problem with the pigs in sweatpants is that the pig resides only at the waistband, and not at the legs and ankles. so if you bite into the sweatpants at the top, you get the pig & sweatpants, but if you bite down by the ankles, you only get the sweatpants.
in the next two weeks, we will try to create something similar in theme to the pigs in sweatpants. i thought of "pigs in sweatbands." they would be similar to the classic pigs in a blanket, except there would be three strips of pastry running around the pig: 1 thicker one in the middle for the headband, and 2 smaller ones around each end for the sweatband wrists. i have this feeling though, that the puff pastry will puff up too much and we wouldn't be able to distinguish the different sweatbands, causing people to be like, "what the hell happened to those pigs in blankets?"
if you have any other ideas, please leave a comment and let me know. think if pigs were exercising or lounging, what would they be wearing?
i saw that hillshire farms makes two different kinds of mini hot dogs (at least at our safeway): regular hot dogs, and like a kielbasa sausage type hot dog. we opted for the regular hot dog, though, when we got home, i tasted one of the mini hot dogs and they were a little salty. i'm not sure yet what to do about this.
anyways, it took some mind-bending math to figure out how many sweatpants we could make with 1/3 of the puff pastry packet. it got complicated because i started off with one size, but it was too big, so then i started cutting the pieces in half, and rolling them out, and the next thing i knew, i had an uneven number of sweatpants, and i wasn't sure exactly how i got there.
and then, after i made smaller sized sweatpants, some of the pigs were a little too piggy and wouldn't fit in size S sweatpants. so i had to make some sized medium, or i had to cut the piggy into quarters to make their legs fit in there.
we actually only made one of the pigs put its legs in the sweatpants, and i don't think we'll do that in the future.
well, you can see from the picture how they turned out. the biggest problem with the pigs in sweatpants is that the pig resides only at the waistband, and not at the legs and ankles. so if you bite into the sweatpants at the top, you get the pig & sweatpants, but if you bite down by the ankles, you only get the sweatpants.in the next two weeks, we will try to create something similar in theme to the pigs in sweatpants. i thought of "pigs in sweatbands." they would be similar to the classic pigs in a blanket, except there would be three strips of pastry running around the pig: 1 thicker one in the middle for the headband, and 2 smaller ones around each end for the sweatband wrists. i have this feeling though, that the puff pastry will puff up too much and we wouldn't be able to distinguish the different sweatbands, causing people to be like, "what the hell happened to those pigs in blankets?"
if you have any other ideas, please leave a comment and let me know. think if pigs were exercising or lounging, what would they be wearing?
Thursday, December 14, 2006
no need to go down there
so what have i been doing lately? i haven't been cooking, that's for true. i've been lazy all week, and i just can't get out of this slump. and, the fact that i read yesterday that there's only 11 days until christmas (well, now 10) is really starting to stress me out.
i tried so hard to get shopping done and completed ahead of time, but it somehow never works out that way. i always seem to forget about someone, or i can't come up with the perfect present, or i just get totally stressed and can't seem to function properly because my head is spinning with all the things i have to do for the holidays (not to mention all the work deadlines i have in the next two weeks).
so yeah, i've been stressed. i've been lazy. i've not been cooking. i've been eating dominoes pizza for the past 3 days now. so food is not exactly the first order of business. so what has been...?
over the past two weeks cavin and i have been heavily (eh, more or less) immersed in computer gaming. i don't really know much about it to be honest. i never grew up with a computer in the house (i was a typewriter fanatic). it wasn't until i got to ye ol' college when i started realizing that you could do more with a computer than just typing up a term paper. (email was such a big deal when i first started college. if you got any email you were sooo cool - "look at me! i know people that have email! i've got messages in my eudora inbox!!!" and the computer lab geek techs would always be yelling at us for changing the settings on the public computers so that email would be checked every 2 minutes, instead of the desired 15 minutes, which i'm not sure why we did that - no one ever emailed us, so it wasn't like we were getting new messages every few minutes.)
so, you can see that i never really got into the whole computer thing as a way of having fun - it was always associated with checking email, or procrastinating a 12-page sociology term paper, or smashing the computer into bits because i couldn't get my sas code to run properly.
when i started grad school though, i thought that if i bought a computer game, it would help fill the time in an unknown town where i didn't know anyone. so i shopped around and i saw some egyption puzzle game, but i passed and picked up syberia, instead. i was drawn to it because it was an "adventure puzzle" game. i like puzzles! and i also liked the fact that it wasn't scary, nor did you have to walk around exploring, while also killing people/monsters.
of course, i never finished the game. (starting something and not finishing it is a habit i have, and i should probably address that in the future.) it wasn't because i got stuck (i never looked at an online walkthrough), but because i started living the grad school life of getting work done, and then going out and partying the rest of my free time. so there was really no time to finish.
in the past few months, cavin and i played an older claymation adventure puzzle game, the neverhood. imo, i thought it was a pretty good game - i had remembered seeing it and playing it on my uncle's computer, and i mentioned it to cavin so he found out what game it was and he obtained it. you don't have to kill people, which i really liked about it. plus, the characters were wacky and some of the puzzles were difficult (i think we had to consult a walkthrough), and yet, we were able to finish. (i'd give it 3.5 stars out of 5).
so more recently, cavin re-loaded syberia onto the computer and we started playing again, and last week we finished. in the game, you are kate walker, a lawyer looking for the rightful heir to this old toy factory, so that he can sign away the rights to the factory and your client (a corporate chain toy co.) can properly purchase it.
the puzzles in the game aren't really difficult - the thing that matters the most is that you find certain items and do things in a certain order so that you can continue. it's definitely adventurous - you are traveling with an automaton (self-operating robot) by train that runs on gears that need to be wound up.
the story is interesting, and the ending sets up the sequel, but syberia was not challenging enough for us. we did have to go online and look up how to get the monorail running, but the solution was that we had to use our cell phone to call our(kate walker's) mom to inquire about the opera singer we were trying to track down - eh. i'd probably only give it 2 out of 5 stars (yeah, so no need to go down there.)
upon finishing syberia, cavin remembered another game that he played in his youth that had better puzzles. he acquired it and loaded it onto the computer, but when i sat down next to him to start playing, i realized that i had played that game before (again, at my uncle's house) and had always wanted to play again, but completely forgot about it until now!
so now we're keeping busy playing 7th guest. we're actually stuck on this othello-like puzzle, and it's rather irritating, so we haven't looked at it in a couple of days. i'm sure tonight while we're waiting for our laundry we'll take another stab at it. i'd like to beat the game before the weekend begins, but i don't know how far along into the game we are (i'd bet we were more than halfway, for sure). but so far, 7th guest is better than syberia.
i tried so hard to get shopping done and completed ahead of time, but it somehow never works out that way. i always seem to forget about someone, or i can't come up with the perfect present, or i just get totally stressed and can't seem to function properly because my head is spinning with all the things i have to do for the holidays (not to mention all the work deadlines i have in the next two weeks).
so yeah, i've been stressed. i've been lazy. i've not been cooking. i've been eating dominoes pizza for the past 3 days now. so food is not exactly the first order of business. so what has been...?
over the past two weeks cavin and i have been heavily (eh, more or less) immersed in computer gaming. i don't really know much about it to be honest. i never grew up with a computer in the house (i was a typewriter fanatic). it wasn't until i got to ye ol' college when i started realizing that you could do more with a computer than just typing up a term paper. (email was such a big deal when i first started college. if you got any email you were sooo cool - "look at me! i know people that have email! i've got messages in my eudora inbox!!!" and the computer lab geek techs would always be yelling at us for changing the settings on the public computers so that email would be checked every 2 minutes, instead of the desired 15 minutes, which i'm not sure why we did that - no one ever emailed us, so it wasn't like we were getting new messages every few minutes.)
so, you can see that i never really got into the whole computer thing as a way of having fun - it was always associated with checking email, or procrastinating a 12-page sociology term paper, or smashing the computer into bits because i couldn't get my sas code to run properly.
when i started grad school though, i thought that if i bought a computer game, it would help fill the time in an unknown town where i didn't know anyone. so i shopped around and i saw some egyption puzzle game, but i passed and picked up syberia, instead. i was drawn to it because it was an "adventure puzzle" game. i like puzzles! and i also liked the fact that it wasn't scary, nor did you have to walk around exploring, while also killing people/monsters.
of course, i never finished the game. (starting something and not finishing it is a habit i have, and i should probably address that in the future.) it wasn't because i got stuck (i never looked at an online walkthrough), but because i started living the grad school life of getting work done, and then going out and partying the rest of my free time. so there was really no time to finish.
in the past few months, cavin and i played an older claymation adventure puzzle game, the neverhood. imo, i thought it was a pretty good game - i had remembered seeing it and playing it on my uncle's computer, and i mentioned it to cavin so he found out what game it was and he obtained it. you don't have to kill people, which i really liked about it. plus, the characters were wacky and some of the puzzles were difficult (i think we had to consult a walkthrough), and yet, we were able to finish. (i'd give it 3.5 stars out of 5).
so more recently, cavin re-loaded syberia onto the computer and we started playing again, and last week we finished. in the game, you are kate walker, a lawyer looking for the rightful heir to this old toy factory, so that he can sign away the rights to the factory and your client (a corporate chain toy co.) can properly purchase it.
the puzzles in the game aren't really difficult - the thing that matters the most is that you find certain items and do things in a certain order so that you can continue. it's definitely adventurous - you are traveling with an automaton (self-operating robot) by train that runs on gears that need to be wound up.
the story is interesting, and the ending sets up the sequel, but syberia was not challenging enough for us. we did have to go online and look up how to get the monorail running, but the solution was that we had to use our cell phone to call our(kate walker's) mom to inquire about the opera singer we were trying to track down - eh. i'd probably only give it 2 out of 5 stars (yeah, so no need to go down there.)
upon finishing syberia, cavin remembered another game that he played in his youth that had better puzzles. he acquired it and loaded it onto the computer, but when i sat down next to him to start playing, i realized that i had played that game before (again, at my uncle's house) and had always wanted to play again, but completely forgot about it until now!
so now we're keeping busy playing 7th guest. we're actually stuck on this othello-like puzzle, and it's rather irritating, so we haven't looked at it in a couple of days. i'm sure tonight while we're waiting for our laundry we'll take another stab at it. i'd like to beat the game before the weekend begins, but i don't know how far along into the game we are (i'd bet we were more than halfway, for sure). but so far, 7th guest is better than syberia.
Labels: games
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
zinfandel sage pot roast, eh.
i have to admit that this weekend i was in a complete slump. i didn't feel like cooking / doing anything, i guess because i know in the next few weeks i will be going places, and cooking lots.
and saturday's car battery debacle stole most, if not all, of my cooking thunder.
i should mention though, that i half-heartedly attempted to create a 2nd dish from molly steven's all about braising cookbook on friday: zinfandel sage pot roast with glazed carrots.
there's really not much to tell. normally i make a wine/hoisin sauce/canned tomatoes beef stew, and it turns out thick-sauced, with complex flavors. i had originally thought to make that recipe when we picked up the chuck at safeway, but i thought maybe i should try something different.
it just so happened that we had a bottle of zinfandel in the house, and we had carrots, so i thought i'd give it a go.
i have to first state my ignorance in all-things-wine. i can't tell if wine is "good". it seems that most wine to me tastes fine (maybe i'm drinking the wrong wines?), though i can tell the difference between what i like, and what i don't like.
that being said, as i opened up the bottle of zinfandel that we had purchased several weeks before, as i removed the foil casing around the top of the bottle, i noticed that the wine had leaked out of the cork, and some of the wine had dried up underneath the foil. again, not knowing anything, i called cavin into the kitchen and got his opinion. he and i are both uneducated in such things, so we didn't know if it was "good", but it tasted fine and we decided to use it in cooking. (can someone tell me what to do if this ever happens again? does the wine go bad? we stored the wine on it's side, like it should be...)
anyway, it was a standard-fare pot roast recipe. i tied up the beef chuck (using the half-hitch method), seasoned with s&p, browned it, took it out and added coarsely chopped onion, carrot, celery, garlic, sage, and cooked for a few minutes. then deglazed with 1 cup zinfandel, added stock (didn't have beef in the house), reduce by about 1/3, add meat, cover and braise for about 3 hours.
about halfway through, i tasted the sauce and it really didn't taste that awesome - it was somewhat bitter and really sage-y. despite wanting to follow the recipe exactly the first time, i gave in and seasoned away. i added hoison and more salt and pepper, and some dried herbs.
at the 3 hour mark, i strained the veggies and herbs, and checked the meat. the meat was tender, save for the end piece which hadn't fully broken down yet, but it was getting late so we decided to eat the cooked parts and leave the end to cook a bit longer. i also reduced the sauce more.
then i made the carrots: cook in pan on high until starting to brown, add some of the reduced sauce from the roast, added a pinch of sugar, s&p, sage, and cover till done.
out of 4 stars, i would only give this recipe 1.5. while the meat was tender and had a good sage flavor, the sauce was really uninteresting. it was pretty flat in flavor, despite me tinkering with the recipe, and it wasn't as thick as i would have wanted it. of course if i didn't like the consistency of the sauce, why didn't i thicken it with flour? or cornstarch? well, at this point, it was getting late, and i didn't feel like bothering, especially after i tasted the sauce and the flavor profiles were, eh.
it's possible also, that my lack of knowledge lead me astray by using the zinfandel that had "leaked out" of the bottle.
i'm going to stick to my original hoisin/wine beef stew. if i end up making it this week, i will post the recipe.
and saturday's car battery debacle stole most, if not all, of my cooking thunder.
i should mention though, that i half-heartedly attempted to create a 2nd dish from molly steven's all about braising cookbook on friday: zinfandel sage pot roast with glazed carrots.
there's really not much to tell. normally i make a wine/hoisin sauce/canned tomatoes beef stew, and it turns out thick-sauced, with complex flavors. i had originally thought to make that recipe when we picked up the chuck at safeway, but i thought maybe i should try something different.
it just so happened that we had a bottle of zinfandel in the house, and we had carrots, so i thought i'd give it a go.
i have to first state my ignorance in all-things-wine. i can't tell if wine is "good". it seems that most wine to me tastes fine (maybe i'm drinking the wrong wines?), though i can tell the difference between what i like, and what i don't like.
that being said, as i opened up the bottle of zinfandel that we had purchased several weeks before, as i removed the foil casing around the top of the bottle, i noticed that the wine had leaked out of the cork, and some of the wine had dried up underneath the foil. again, not knowing anything, i called cavin into the kitchen and got his opinion. he and i are both uneducated in such things, so we didn't know if it was "good", but it tasted fine and we decided to use it in cooking. (can someone tell me what to do if this ever happens again? does the wine go bad? we stored the wine on it's side, like it should be...)
anyway, it was a standard-fare pot roast recipe. i tied up the beef chuck (using the half-hitch method), seasoned with s&p, browned it, took it out and added coarsely chopped onion, carrot, celery, garlic, sage, and cooked for a few minutes. then deglazed with 1 cup zinfandel, added stock (didn't have beef in the house), reduce by about 1/3, add meat, cover and braise for about 3 hours.
about halfway through, i tasted the sauce and it really didn't taste that awesome - it was somewhat bitter and really sage-y. despite wanting to follow the recipe exactly the first time, i gave in and seasoned away. i added hoison and more salt and pepper, and some dried herbs.
at the 3 hour mark, i strained the veggies and herbs, and checked the meat. the meat was tender, save for the end piece which hadn't fully broken down yet, but it was getting late so we decided to eat the cooked parts and leave the end to cook a bit longer. i also reduced the sauce more.
then i made the carrots: cook in pan on high until starting to brown, add some of the reduced sauce from the roast, added a pinch of sugar, s&p, sage, and cover till done.
out of 4 stars, i would only give this recipe 1.5. while the meat was tender and had a good sage flavor, the sauce was really uninteresting. it was pretty flat in flavor, despite me tinkering with the recipe, and it wasn't as thick as i would have wanted it. of course if i didn't like the consistency of the sauce, why didn't i thicken it with flour? or cornstarch? well, at this point, it was getting late, and i didn't feel like bothering, especially after i tasted the sauce and the flavor profiles were, eh.
it's possible also, that my lack of knowledge lead me astray by using the zinfandel that had "leaked out" of the bottle.
i'm going to stick to my original hoisin/wine beef stew. if i end up making it this week, i will post the recipe.
Monday, December 11, 2006
broken down
we were foiled by circumstances beyond our control.
after being lazy friday night, and all day saturday, we finally got our shit together and got ready to go out to pick up all the items necessary for the next coming weeks. we planned it so that we would hit stores close to their closing time, because, to be quite honest, i have no idea why (did i mention that we were lazy?).
cavin's got the keys and the keen sense of direction, and i've got the list and my visa check card ready. but, as soon as we start walking to the car, something isn't right.
"unlock the door so i can get it!"
"uh, the remote keychain thing doesn't work"
"great. i guess we have to get a new battery for that thing then?"
we were right in needing a new battery, except it wasn't the keychain we needed a battery for. it was for the car.
most times we are in our underground parking garage at least 3 cars go driving by, zooming out of the garage doors, which are located right next to our parking spot. so on a saturday around 6pm i wasn't worried about not seeing anybody drive by to help a fellow driver out.
"how long should we wait here for?"
"let's wait 15 minutes and if no one shows up, we'll take care of it tomorrow during the day."
so we waited. a minute later, "tony" (his shirt said so) rolls up to activate the automatic garage door opener.
"excuse me. do you think you could help us out? our car battery died and we were wondering if you could give us a jump. we've got the jumper cables."
tony then looks at the clock in his car, and in that split second, he decides that he doesn't have enough time to help us. "sorry. i'm on my way out. i don't think i can help you." YET, he then proceeds to ask us a series of questions about how the battery possibly could have died. in the time he asked us these questions, he could have pulled his car up to the empty parking space next to us, hooked up his car to our car, and given us the jump.
as he drove out of the parking garage, i was a bit bitter. why couldn't he help us out? it would have only taken a minute! how could he have been that rushed to go someplace, yet have all the time in the world to ask us how we could have let the battery die? argh.
so we waited again. this time, three guys (probably late 20's, early 30's) come out of the door to the west building, which is situated next to our car.
"are you going out?" (cavin says this)
"uh...yeah?"
"can you give us a hand? our battery died and we need a jump. we've got the cables"
"uh...well, er, i guess?"
i think cavin threw them off by first asking "are you going out?" but still. it was fairly obvious that we were in dire need of help, as evidenced by the hood of the car open, the trunk open, and the dejected look on both of our faces.
the three dudes walked down to the one guy's truck, and two of the dudes walk back to our car (i guess to make sure we were legit? who knows. i mean, we do look like hoodlams) to wait for his friend to drive up and park next to us.
the youngest of the dudes does not look like he knows much. "so your battery died, hunh?" he says this in such a way that it's obvious he thinks this "jump starting the car" business will be a herculean task that will require him and his cronies to expend crazy amounts of energy, energy that he would have liked to have spent elsewhere (say, a sleezy stripclub).
finally his friend with the truck (yeah, and not a truck, more like a jeep. please.) pulls into the empty parking space. i should also add that he freaking pulls into the space as close as possible to our car, so that we are no longer able to walk between the two cars, let alone me open the driver side door of our car. it's obvious they have no idea what the hell to do. "should i turn off the car?" "uh, where do i connect this to?" this part i may be exaggerating a bit, but i couldn't hear anything because (duh) the electric windows wouldn't open, and i couldn't open the door. but i can see the "truck" driver look completely perplexed as cavin correctly connected our battery to his battery.
i'm turning the ignition, and nothing is working. every now and then, a flash of light emerges from the dashboard, but the car just doesn't start. cavin fixes the negative cable (it wasn't grounded properly?) and finally it starts.
"thank you so much for your help. we really appreciate it"
"oh, uh, yeah, no problem!"
and the three dudes drive off into the sunset (or rather, out of the garage).
so now cavin and i are sitting in the car, letting the battery charge up a bit. it's only on for about 2 minutes, when cavin tries to turn on the lights. big mistake. we haven't charged the battery long enough so the power it takes to turn on the lights ends up destroying all time and effort it took with the three amigos. the car will not start again. argh!
"ok. well, what should we do now?"
as we're debating this, we hear someone from the outside trying to get into the garage.
"excuse me! our car battery died. do you think you could help us out and give us a jump? it won't take long, and we've already got the cables!"
before i could even finish, he's already nodding his head like, "of course, no problem. only a fool wouldn't help someone in need out!" this is the exact guy we need! someone who knows more about cars than drive and reverse, and who is also willing to help us out. (of course, he didn't say that second part, but he definitely was more than willing to help us out.) and the fact that he was driving some fancy car put me more at ease (i don't know why though).
i'm in the car, cavin and the fancy car dude are hooking things up, and i get the car started. yay!
"thank you so much! we really, really appreciate it!" (i probably could have given that guy a hug and kiss.) "yeah, no problem. good luck!" and he rolls down to the lower level of the garage, prolly to retire to his honey who is waiting in their apartment with a scrumptious home-cooked meal of cornbread, collard greens, and fried chicken. (or not.)
"ok. so before we turn on the lights, let's just sit here and let the battery charge up a bit."
so we waited about 10 minutes. in this time, cavin is able to turn the lights on and off, and things seem like they are working properly.
"we had better turn off the car and restart it, just in case. i don't want to park the car and then come back from picking up stuff, only to find out that the battery didn't charge enough and now we're stuck out somewhere."
"good idea"
we wait a few more minutes, and we test it out. cavin turns off the car, and what happens when he goes to start the car? what do you think? the car doesn't have enough juice to start. ugh. so we head upstairs, completely demoralized and decide to take care of it on sunday.
today is now monday, and if you've read this far into the post, you are probably wondering what happened? here's the abbreviated version:
cavin goes to autozone via metro, buys new battery, lugs it all the way back home. he gets his hands dirty and changes the new battery in our parking space, while i held the flashlight so he could see. car starts, and we continue our saturday plan, except on sunday, adding more stops in between. we are gone for about 7 hours, completely tired and busted, but now have about 1/2 to 2/3 of the items we need in the next few weeks.
needless to say, it was so chaotic i had to take off of work today.
after being lazy friday night, and all day saturday, we finally got our shit together and got ready to go out to pick up all the items necessary for the next coming weeks. we planned it so that we would hit stores close to their closing time, because, to be quite honest, i have no idea why (did i mention that we were lazy?).
cavin's got the keys and the keen sense of direction, and i've got the list and my visa check card ready. but, as soon as we start walking to the car, something isn't right.
"unlock the door so i can get it!"
"uh, the remote keychain thing doesn't work"
"great. i guess we have to get a new battery for that thing then?"
we were right in needing a new battery, except it wasn't the keychain we needed a battery for. it was for the car.
most times we are in our underground parking garage at least 3 cars go driving by, zooming out of the garage doors, which are located right next to our parking spot. so on a saturday around 6pm i wasn't worried about not seeing anybody drive by to help a fellow driver out.
"how long should we wait here for?"
"let's wait 15 minutes and if no one shows up, we'll take care of it tomorrow during the day."
so we waited. a minute later, "tony" (his shirt said so) rolls up to activate the automatic garage door opener.
"excuse me. do you think you could help us out? our car battery died and we were wondering if you could give us a jump. we've got the jumper cables."
tony then looks at the clock in his car, and in that split second, he decides that he doesn't have enough time to help us. "sorry. i'm on my way out. i don't think i can help you." YET, he then proceeds to ask us a series of questions about how the battery possibly could have died. in the time he asked us these questions, he could have pulled his car up to the empty parking space next to us, hooked up his car to our car, and given us the jump.
as he drove out of the parking garage, i was a bit bitter. why couldn't he help us out? it would have only taken a minute! how could he have been that rushed to go someplace, yet have all the time in the world to ask us how we could have let the battery die? argh.
so we waited again. this time, three guys (probably late 20's, early 30's) come out of the door to the west building, which is situated next to our car.
"are you going out?" (cavin says this)
"uh...yeah?"
"can you give us a hand? our battery died and we need a jump. we've got the cables"
"uh...well, er, i guess?"
i think cavin threw them off by first asking "are you going out?" but still. it was fairly obvious that we were in dire need of help, as evidenced by the hood of the car open, the trunk open, and the dejected look on both of our faces.
the three dudes walked down to the one guy's truck, and two of the dudes walk back to our car (i guess to make sure we were legit? who knows. i mean, we do look like hoodlams) to wait for his friend to drive up and park next to us.
the youngest of the dudes does not look like he knows much. "so your battery died, hunh?" he says this in such a way that it's obvious he thinks this "jump starting the car" business will be a herculean task that will require him and his cronies to expend crazy amounts of energy, energy that he would have liked to have spent elsewhere (say, a sleezy stripclub).
finally his friend with the truck (yeah, and not a truck, more like a jeep. please.) pulls into the empty parking space. i should also add that he freaking pulls into the space as close as possible to our car, so that we are no longer able to walk between the two cars, let alone me open the driver side door of our car. it's obvious they have no idea what the hell to do. "should i turn off the car?" "uh, where do i connect this to?" this part i may be exaggerating a bit, but i couldn't hear anything because (duh) the electric windows wouldn't open, and i couldn't open the door. but i can see the "truck" driver look completely perplexed as cavin correctly connected our battery to his battery.
i'm turning the ignition, and nothing is working. every now and then, a flash of light emerges from the dashboard, but the car just doesn't start. cavin fixes the negative cable (it wasn't grounded properly?) and finally it starts.
"thank you so much for your help. we really appreciate it"
"oh, uh, yeah, no problem!"
and the three dudes drive off into the sunset (or rather, out of the garage).
so now cavin and i are sitting in the car, letting the battery charge up a bit. it's only on for about 2 minutes, when cavin tries to turn on the lights. big mistake. we haven't charged the battery long enough so the power it takes to turn on the lights ends up destroying all time and effort it took with the three amigos. the car will not start again. argh!
"ok. well, what should we do now?"
as we're debating this, we hear someone from the outside trying to get into the garage.
"excuse me! our car battery died. do you think you could help us out and give us a jump? it won't take long, and we've already got the cables!"
before i could even finish, he's already nodding his head like, "of course, no problem. only a fool wouldn't help someone in need out!" this is the exact guy we need! someone who knows more about cars than drive and reverse, and who is also willing to help us out. (of course, he didn't say that second part, but he definitely was more than willing to help us out.) and the fact that he was driving some fancy car put me more at ease (i don't know why though).
i'm in the car, cavin and the fancy car dude are hooking things up, and i get the car started. yay!
"thank you so much! we really, really appreciate it!" (i probably could have given that guy a hug and kiss.) "yeah, no problem. good luck!" and he rolls down to the lower level of the garage, prolly to retire to his honey who is waiting in their apartment with a scrumptious home-cooked meal of cornbread, collard greens, and fried chicken. (or not.)
"ok. so before we turn on the lights, let's just sit here and let the battery charge up a bit."
so we waited about 10 minutes. in this time, cavin is able to turn the lights on and off, and things seem like they are working properly.
"we had better turn off the car and restart it, just in case. i don't want to park the car and then come back from picking up stuff, only to find out that the battery didn't charge enough and now we're stuck out somewhere."
"good idea"
we wait a few more minutes, and we test it out. cavin turns off the car, and what happens when he goes to start the car? what do you think? the car doesn't have enough juice to start. ugh. so we head upstairs, completely demoralized and decide to take care of it on sunday.
today is now monday, and if you've read this far into the post, you are probably wondering what happened? here's the abbreviated version:
cavin goes to autozone via metro, buys new battery, lugs it all the way back home. he gets his hands dirty and changes the new battery in our parking space, while i held the flashlight so he could see. car starts, and we continue our saturday plan, except on sunday, adding more stops in between. we are gone for about 7 hours, completely tired and busted, but now have about 1/2 to 2/3 of the items we need in the next few weeks.
needless to say, it was so chaotic i had to take off of work today.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
the joseph chaves theory.
maria, my roommate in NB had a boyfriend (now husband, joseph) who theorized that all people's faces could fall into one of three categories: bird-face, horse-face, or muffin-face.
today, as i sat in a 2.5 hour long class, bored out of my mind because the teachers basically read word for word the ppt slides, i started to zone out, and when i came to, the bird, horse, muffin theory resurfaced (as it does, time and time again). "oh, she definitely has a cute muffin/bird face. oh, that lady? total bird-face. ca-caw! eck! i didn't even see that guy. what a horse-face!"
these were the thoughts going on in my head while charlie brown teacher was mwah-mwah-mwahing all morning.
so i encourage you to get up and go to the bathroom and take a long, hard look at yourself in the mirror. which one are you? once you determine where you fall in the bird-horse spectrum, you'll see that you'll never look at someone's face the same way again. (trust me. now i'm like, "remember that girl from the restaurant? horse face?" and then people that are aware about this classification system are always like, "oh yeah, i totally remember who you are talking about")
oh, and by the way. i'm a muffin-face (thank god).
today, as i sat in a 2.5 hour long class, bored out of my mind because the teachers basically read word for word the ppt slides, i started to zone out, and when i came to, the bird, horse, muffin theory resurfaced (as it does, time and time again). "oh, she definitely has a cute muffin/bird face. oh, that lady? total bird-face. ca-caw! eck! i didn't even see that guy. what a horse-face!"
these were the thoughts going on in my head while charlie brown teacher was mwah-mwah-mwahing all morning.
so i encourage you to get up and go to the bathroom and take a long, hard look at yourself in the mirror. which one are you? once you determine where you fall in the bird-horse spectrum, you'll see that you'll never look at someone's face the same way again. (trust me. now i'm like, "remember that girl from the restaurant? horse face?" and then people that are aware about this classification system are always like, "oh yeah, i totally remember who you are talking about")
oh, and by the way. i'm a muffin-face (thank god).
Labels: games
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
cubicle rant
why is it that people who work in cubicles are nosy? people in my office tend to stare into other people's cubicles when they walk by. i have caught several people spying on me over the past few days and it's really starting to irk me.
how do i know people are staring in when they pass by? well, i've got a small mirror on the top of my monitor that acts as a rear view mirror. you may think maybe i'm the one who is paranoid and is spying on people who walk by my desk. in truth though, an old officemate gave me the mirror because my first cubicle here was situated in such a way that i was facing away from the entryway in. at that time, people would stop in my cubicle to talk to me, but i would have my headphones on while working, so when they would walk up and tap me, i would freak out because i wasn't expecting someone to be directly behind me. but with the mirror, this unexpectedness is minimized. it really is quite handy, and i don't think i could work in a cubicle without it.
when i have to leave my cube, rarely do i peer into someone's cube and look at their monitor to see what they are doing (except for the girl that is completely passed out sleeping most times i walk by, whose monitor is on screen saver - i'm not sure how she gets away with this).
is this the nature of working in cubicles? is it because people around me can hear my one-sided phone conversations and think if they look at my monitor they can put all the puzzle pieces together that is my life? or maybe they hear all the clacking (me typing on an obnoxiously loud keyboard) all the time and can't possibly figure out what i am working on, so they need to check up on me. or, maybe their own life is in such shambles that they need some glimmer of hope, something, to help them through the day, and looking into my space and seeing what i'm doing is that something.
well, whatever their reasons, it's annoying. it's possible i am assuming a non-existant cubicle privacy policy. but i really don't think it's too much to ask of a person to mind their own business when they are walking from their desk to wherever they are going. one of these days i should create some crazy scenario in my cube (blood on the walls, a limb out of place, etc.) just to find out of they are the helpful kind, or just voyeurs.
ugh. thank god it's hump day.
how do i know people are staring in when they pass by? well, i've got a small mirror on the top of my monitor that acts as a rear view mirror. you may think maybe i'm the one who is paranoid and is spying on people who walk by my desk. in truth though, an old officemate gave me the mirror because my first cubicle here was situated in such a way that i was facing away from the entryway in. at that time, people would stop in my cubicle to talk to me, but i would have my headphones on while working, so when they would walk up and tap me, i would freak out because i wasn't expecting someone to be directly behind me. but with the mirror, this unexpectedness is minimized. it really is quite handy, and i don't think i could work in a cubicle without it.
when i have to leave my cube, rarely do i peer into someone's cube and look at their monitor to see what they are doing (except for the girl that is completely passed out sleeping most times i walk by, whose monitor is on screen saver - i'm not sure how she gets away with this).
is this the nature of working in cubicles? is it because people around me can hear my one-sided phone conversations and think if they look at my monitor they can put all the puzzle pieces together that is my life? or maybe they hear all the clacking (me typing on an obnoxiously loud keyboard) all the time and can't possibly figure out what i am working on, so they need to check up on me. or, maybe their own life is in such shambles that they need some glimmer of hope, something, to help them through the day, and looking into my space and seeing what i'm doing is that something.
well, whatever their reasons, it's annoying. it's possible i am assuming a non-existant cubicle privacy policy. but i really don't think it's too much to ask of a person to mind their own business when they are walking from their desk to wherever they are going. one of these days i should create some crazy scenario in my cube (blood on the walls, a limb out of place, etc.) just to find out of they are the helpful kind, or just voyeurs.
ugh. thank god it's hump day.
Labels: work
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
first bread results
edit: check out m.bittman's follow-up article on nyt about the no-knead bread.
AGH! i forgot to write about how the bread turned out! i won't post all the bread pictures in this blog, but pictures of the process are in my breaking bread post.
i think the bread came out extremely well. when it was sitting on the cooling rack, i was thinking it looked like we had just come back from some fancy bakery in paris and brought home a freshly baked boule! i mean, look at it! doesn't it look awesome?
the best part of the bread is the crust that formed all over, while the inside remained moist (maybe a little too moist?) and soft. we didn't have the same problems as i've read others had, and really, even a monkey could have made it (though, monkeys are quite sophisticated - i've seen them ice skating, smoking cigarettes, caring for children...the list goes on. so i suppose i should say instead, 'even pippi and crosby could have made it, if they had opposable thumbs').
anyway, it tasted really fresh and the fact that amateur bread makers like myself and cavin could make something like this is proof that anyone reading this can make fancy artisan bread!
we've been using it for sandwiches for lunch, so we're almost done our first no-knead loaf-child. so last night, we picked up more flour, and decided to make two more loaves.
when we were at the store though, we picked up a different brand of all purpose flour: king arthur. so last night we were in experiment mode, because we still had 3 cups of the gold medal brand APF. will the fancier, high quality flour produce a higher quality loaf? we will soon find out - the two loaves are currently sitting in the kitchen about 11 hours into the resting period.
i realized that i never really explained what we did for the bread, though, we pretty much did what the recipe in the article says, but i'll write it out here anyway:
AGH! i forgot to write about how the bread turned out! i won't post all the bread pictures in this blog, but pictures of the process are in my breaking bread post.i think the bread came out extremely well. when it was sitting on the cooling rack, i was thinking it looked like we had just come back from some fancy bakery in paris and brought home a freshly baked boule! i mean, look at it! doesn't it look awesome?
the best part of the bread is the crust that formed all over, while the inside remained moist (maybe a little too moist?) and soft. we didn't have the same problems as i've read others had, and really, even a monkey could have made it (though, monkeys are quite sophisticated - i've seen them ice skating, smoking cigarettes, caring for children...the list goes on. so i suppose i should say instead, 'even pippi and crosby could have made it, if they had opposable thumbs').
anyway, it tasted really fresh and the fact that amateur bread makers like myself and cavin could make something like this is proof that anyone reading this can make fancy artisan bread!
we've been using it for sandwiches for lunch, so we're almost done our first no-knead loaf-child. so last night, we picked up more flour, and decided to make two more loaves.
when we were at the store though, we picked up a different brand of all purpose flour: king arthur. so last night we were in experiment mode, because we still had 3 cups of the gold medal brand APF. will the fancier, high quality flour produce a higher quality loaf? we will soon find out - the two loaves are currently sitting in the kitchen about 11 hours into the resting period.
i realized that i never really explained what we did for the bread, though, we pretty much did what the recipe in the article says, but i'll write it out here anyway:
no-knead bread
1. mix 1/4 tsp yeast with 1 1/2 to 1 5/8 cups warm water (100F-110F degrees) in large bowl
2. gradually mix in 3 cups AP flour until combined, and 1 1/4 tsp. salt
3. cover with plastic wrap for 12-18 hours (the longer the better)
4. generously flour the surface you will be working on, and add the dough (and more flour if the mixture is too wet), fold it over itself a few times, and cover loosely with plastic wrap for 15 minutes
5. create a ball with the dough by bringing the sides down underneath itself, so all the seams are at the bottom. generously flour a cotton dish cloth (not terrycloth!) and put the dough ball, seam side down on one side of the cotton cloth, and cover with the other side of the cloth for 2 hours
6. about 1.5 hours into the 2 hour proof, turn the oven to 450F. put the vessel (with the tight fitting lid) you will be cooking the bread in, into the oven to heat up - we used our 3.5 qt. le cruset.
7. after the 2 hour proof is up and the vessel & lid are really hot, put the dough, seam side up, into the vessel, cover, and put back in the oven.
8. bake for 30 min with the lid, and then remove the lid for the remaining 30 minutes
9. remove bread from vessel, put on cooling rack and let cool before eating
cavin left a few comments about the process, again, in the comments of the breaking bread post. i encourage you to read these for yeast information and for pictures of our bread at each of the steps.
i mentioned above that i thought the bread might be almost "too moist". if you are able to watch the video of m.bittman (and the other dude whose name escapes me right now) from the nytimes article you can see that his dough at the 2 hour proof step is a lot more cohesive than our globby mess (see our pictures, again, on the breaking bread post) so this time around, cavin and i added less water than he originally had the first time. (hmmm, i was going to post the link, but i see that since the article first published on november 8, it is now in the nytimes archive, and you might not be able to access it anymore, nor the video.)
to be honest, the first loaf was made by cavin, so i don't know exactly the moisture content of the bread compared to what we have now in the kitchen, but i think it's less. i think that because we use a small amount of yeast, there is no risk or overresting the dough when it sits for 18+ hours. i think resting has something to do with the dough deflating if overrested, thus resulting in a flat loaf. also, because the dough is rather moist, when you put it in the hot vessel and cover it, this creates a steaming effect, which is what makes the bread really crusty.
after tonight, we will know whether or not it is worth spending the extra money for the king arthur flour (it might have more gluten in it, so it would create a different texture? i have no clue, actually. i feel like i'm making stuff up now). right. so once we know which flour is best, i want to experiment with adding herbs, cheese, nuts, sesame seeds, etc. to the mix (when should we add it?) to get flavored bread.
i just thought of something else though. our oven can only hold 1 le cruset at a time, and we made the two doughs roughly at the same time, so one of the breads will be resting or proofing for at least an hour more than the other, thus we really can't do serious statistical analyses on the bread. aie. i guess we'll just have to deal with it and take that into account when we are critiquing our next bread victims.
i mentioned above that i thought the bread might be almost "too moist". if you are able to watch the video of m.bittman (and the other dude whose name escapes me right now) from the nytimes article you can see that his dough at the 2 hour proof step is a lot more cohesive than our globby mess (see our pictures, again, on the breaking bread post) so this time around, cavin and i added less water than he originally had the first time. (hmmm, i was going to post the link, but i see that since the article first published on november 8, it is now in the nytimes archive, and you might not be able to access it anymore, nor the video.)
to be honest, the first loaf was made by cavin, so i don't know exactly the moisture content of the bread compared to what we have now in the kitchen, but i think it's less. i think that because we use a small amount of yeast, there is no risk or overresting the dough when it sits for 18+ hours. i think resting has something to do with the dough deflating if overrested, thus resulting in a flat loaf. also, because the dough is rather moist, when you put it in the hot vessel and cover it, this creates a steaming effect, which is what makes the bread really crusty.
after tonight, we will know whether or not it is worth spending the extra money for the king arthur flour (it might have more gluten in it, so it would create a different texture? i have no clue, actually. i feel like i'm making stuff up now). right. so once we know which flour is best, i want to experiment with adding herbs, cheese, nuts, sesame seeds, etc. to the mix (when should we add it?) to get flavored bread.
i just thought of something else though. our oven can only hold 1 le cruset at a time, and we made the two doughs roughly at the same time, so one of the breads will be resting or proofing for at least an hour more than the other, thus we really can't do serious statistical analyses on the bread. aie. i guess we'll just have to deal with it and take that into account when we are critiquing our next bread victims.
Labels: cooking, vegetarian
Sunday, December 03, 2006
braised pork belly with glazed turnips
so yesterday after cavin woke up, we took a trip to dupont farmer's market (i think cavin mentioned it's the only farmer's market still running right now) to pick up our normal fare: apples and mushrooms. i thought i read somewhere that turnips were spring/summer veggie, but when we were looking around at what veggies to buy, i saw them! i actually saw several varieties, one of them being small baby turnips that looked exactly like radishes, only they were white. the first ones i saw though, were the ones i purchased, and were about 3-4" in length with the greens still attached.after cavin put the bread in the oven (for a while, leave it there, come on, clean the pile!), i began the labor intensive (which i didn't know it would be, because i didn't read through the entire recipe as i should have) task of making the pork belly. don't forget that i marinated the pork in a dry rub for about 2.5 days beforehand!
i should start off by saying that after all the work it took cavin and i to make this, we probably would make it again, though there are a few changes we would probably make, which i will note below. it came out very flavorful, though if you were to serve this dish to me, i don't think i could have picked out the seasonings used to flavor the pork, besides the pepper (toasted coriander seeds, dill seeds), oh, and the bay leaves.
also, if you didn't know already, pork belly is pretty fatty. it's the belly (duh) of the pig, and it's where bacon comes from. in fact, pork belly is just a slab of bacon that isn't smoked.
i think the recipe called for one big rectangular slab of pork belly, but i had long skinny slabs, which i also cut in half, because it wouldn't fit in the le cruset if i hadn't. i also used boneless, skin-on pork belly.
first i heated olive oil in the pot, then i browned the pork skin side down only, until the skin was evenly browned and started crackling (i had to do this in batches). after removing all the meat from the pot, i added chopped carrots, celery, and onion, sauted them until soft, deglazed with vermouth, reduced, then added chicken stock, and bay leaves. the recipe calls for adding cloves, but i didn't have any in the house, and it wasn't missed, though, i have not had the recipe with the cloves, so what do i know?
when this all came to a simmer, i added the pork belly pieces, skin side up, put on the lid, and braised. the meat was tender at around the 3.25 hour mark, so we turned off the heat, and let cool. i should mention that the recipe calls for cooking this in the oven, but the bread was occupying the oven in the beginning, and it is seriously really hard to get stuff in and out of the oven (it's a two-person job), so i opted to braise on the stovetop.
it was about this time, however, that i started getting really bad cramps, and i was not able to continue on, and cavin took over, so i'm kind of guessing as to what happened next.
the next phase of the recipe called for straining and discarding the veggies from the braising liquid, de-fatting it, using some for the turnips, and the rest for the pork belly, which was now going to go in the oven. but before going into the oven, cavin sliced (and threw out) the skin off and scored the fat that was underneath the skin. he then put the pieces in a baking dish, along with the braising liquid, and threw it in a 425F degree oven, and let the scored fat caramelize.
in the meantime, while i was having a bad episode (excrutiating pain), i think cavin finished chopping the turnips into wedges, and braised them on the stove with just salt, pepper, a little bit of sugar (1 tbsp, i think), and the braising liquid (and chicken stock?) for about 30-40 minutes. (earlier i cut off the green tops and peeled the turnips. i threw out the greens, though, i bet i could have cooked them as well. oh well. next time.)
when i finally came around, cavin had finished! he even made good ol' quinoa to have along with the pork belly and turnips. while he set things up in the living room, i plated the dishes. (i had a picture, but it seems to have been lost in cyberspace. i'll have to find it again and add it later to the post.) the pork fat had gotten nice and brown, and the surface of the meat dried a bit so that it wasn't so wet/sloppy looking.while the dish was tasty, it was definitely fatty. perhaps next time i'll try to pick the pork belly package that has the least amount of fat. also, cavin suggested that next time when cutting off the skin, we could also cut off some of the fat layer that resides underneath the skin. not a bad idea.
i think cooking it on the stove was fine, but you cannot skip browning it in the oven. we kept the braising liquid from the baking dish, and i put it in the fridge to let cool so i could skim the fat off, and use the rest to pour over the pork belly when we eat it again tonight.
oh, so what about the turnips? cavin said they tasted like beets, but i don't really agree with his assessment. i feel like i've maybe had turnips before, but i just didn't realize it, because when i first tasted them last night, i was like, 'oh, these are turnips?' they tasted like a softer-textured, not-as-sharp-bite red radish. i'd eat them again (and in fact will, because there are leftovers).
a couple of notes:
-this was a pretty good recipe, though it had many, many steps, and took a long time to pull together (marinate for at least 1 day, braise for 3 hours, let cool, cut off skin, score fat, brown in oven, glaze turnips).
-i eat most things, so i had no problem with eating the fatty cut of pork, but for people that are unfamiliar with pork belly, this dish might not be the best to serve.
-if you are an adventurous eater and wanted to try pork belly, and didn't want bold flavor profiles, this might not be a bad recipe to start, if you don't mind the many, many steps that i mentioned above.
-you could make the turnips without the pork belly, as a side dish to something else.
we have a lot of leftovers that we will probably eat the rest of this week (unless i get sick of eating the same thing over and over again, which sometimes happens to me). we also roasted a chicken on saturday, so we still have to finish that up too. so i guess we won't be cooking anything exotic (besides the bread that cavin is going to make again tonight, i think, which i want to try adding supplementary ingredients, like sesame seeds). all in all, i think it was a pretty good weekend in the kitchen.
breaking bread
i don't know what my problem is. on the weekdays i can't sleep in long enough, but on the weekends i wake up at the ass-crack of dawn. argh.
so now that i'm up. i might as well blog about our saturday while i wait for my laundry. i mentioned that zucchini was on sale at safeway, so we picked up more in the hopes of becoming america's next top model...er, i mean, in the hopes of making zucchini bread.
i've made it lots of times before, but i can't seem to find the recipe, nor remember it either. so we used one from m.bittman's how to cook everything.
so now that i'm up. i might as well blog about our saturday while i wait for my laundry. i mentioned that zucchini was on sale at safeway, so we picked up more in the hopes of becoming america's next top model...er, i mean, in the hopes of making zucchini bread.
i've made it lots of times before, but i can't seem to find the recipe, nor remember it either. so we used one from m.bittman's how to cook everything.
here's a general outline of the ingredients:
zucchini bread
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 1/4 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 pinch nutmeg
1 cup drained shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
mix the dry ingredients, mix the wet ingredients, then add the wet to the dry, fold the zucchini and walnuts in at the end. bake at 350F for about an hour or whenever the knife comes out clean.
our zucchini bread turned out ok. i kinda fell asleep so cavin took care of the rest (actually, he's the resident baker, so he took care of the most).
it came out pretty dense, with not as much zucchini flavor as i would have liked. i think next time i would add more than one cup of zucchini. there was something different about this bread than ones i've made before. maybe we could have kept it in the oven a little bit longer, but i don't think that was the problem. if you have any tips or another recipe that is superior than what we did, please leave a comment. zucchini bread is so easy to make that i'd like to have a go-to recipe that is easy to remember so that i can just whip up some in no time.
after the zucchini bread was made, cavin started work on the no-knead bread recipe from the new york times bread article that they ran in november. the thing about this bread that makes it different than most bread recipes out there, is that you don't have to knead the dough. you just let it rise (i think, i haven't read the article in a while) for 18 hours or so, and then bake it in a le creuset enamaled cast iron pot.
i've read a lot of positive comments on don rockwell's baking bread thread, plus pam & chief bro now swear by it also (though, i haven't yet seen how their bread turned out), so we're going to try to jump on the bandwagon, depending on how it turns out for us. cavin started making the bread yesterday around 4pm (yes, i was napping again so i didn't see exactly what cavin did, though i think he took notes in his bread notebook?). it's been sitting in a bowl covered with plastic wrap for the past 16 hours or so. here are some of our pictures:
our zucchini bread turned out ok. i kinda fell asleep so cavin took care of the rest (actually, he's the resident baker, so he took care of the most).it came out pretty dense, with not as much zucchini flavor as i would have liked. i think next time i would add more than one cup of zucchini. there was something different about this bread than ones i've made before. maybe we could have kept it in the oven a little bit longer, but i don't think that was the problem. if you have any tips or another recipe that is superior than what we did, please leave a comment. zucchini bread is so easy to make that i'd like to have a go-to recipe that is easy to remember so that i can just whip up some in no time.
after the zucchini bread was made, cavin started work on the no-knead bread recipe from the new york times bread article that they ran in november. the thing about this bread that makes it different than most bread recipes out there, is that you don't have to knead the dough. you just let it rise (i think, i haven't read the article in a while) for 18 hours or so, and then bake it in a le creuset enamaled cast iron pot.
i've read a lot of positive comments on don rockwell's baking bread thread, plus pam & chief bro now swear by it also (though, i haven't yet seen how their bread turned out), so we're going to try to jump on the bandwagon, depending on how it turns out for us. cavin started making the bread yesterday around 4pm (yes, i was napping again so i didn't see exactly what cavin did, though i think he took notes in his bread notebook?). it's been sitting in a bowl covered with plastic wrap for the past 16 hours or so. here are some of our pictures:
then god said, 'let there be bread': saturday 4:30pm
bread after 3.5 hours of drinking: saturday 8pm
bread 6 hours into its demise: saturday 10:30pm
bread's 16-hour birthday: sunday 7:30amcavin is still sleeping, but i think when he wakes up he is supposed to start folding the dough, let it rest again for 15 minutes, and then add more flour, let it rest for 2 hours, then start baking.
i'm very curious to see how this will turn out. i'll make sure to take more pictures of the process in case anyone wants to try the recipe out. we might have to let it rest longer than the 18 hours because i want to go to dupont farmer's market and pick up some mushrooms and what not.
i still need to get the turnips for the braised pork belly i'm supposed to make today, but unfortunately, turnip season is spring/summer, so i doubt i'll see any at the farmer's market. i should have thought about the seasonality of the ingredients before i jumped into marinating the pork belly in the coriander, dill and pepper. oh well. i saw some turnips at safeway yesterday, but they looked just general. i'll have to regroup and figure out if i want to have turnips out of season, or if i can find a better substitute. stay tuned.
i'm very curious to see how this will turn out. i'll make sure to take more pictures of the process in case anyone wants to try the recipe out. we might have to let it rest longer than the 18 hours because i want to go to dupont farmer's market and pick up some mushrooms and what not.
i still need to get the turnips for the braised pork belly i'm supposed to make today, but unfortunately, turnip season is spring/summer, so i doubt i'll see any at the farmer's market. i should have thought about the seasonality of the ingredients before i jumped into marinating the pork belly in the coriander, dill and pepper. oh well. i saw some turnips at safeway yesterday, but they looked just general. i'll have to regroup and figure out if i want to have turnips out of season, or if i can find a better substitute. stay tuned.
here are more pictures of the bread that we (cavin) made:
bread completes 19.5 hour resting period: sunday 11:30am
bread is turned out onto floured surface to rest for another 15 minutes - it's sticky and moist!
bread as it's resting in cotton towel (not terrycloth!) for 2 hoursbread after being baked in 3.5 quart le cruset for 1 hour (first 30 min with lid, last 30 min without lid)
bread sliced - you can see the crust on top and bottom
bread slice close upLabels: cooking, vegetarian
Friday, December 01, 2006
you can stuff your sorries in a sack, mister.
i finally got around to making that stuffed mushroom recipe i talked about before. the past few days i wasn't able to do it because things came up (i didn't have the cream cheese or we went to happy hour and got home too late to want to cook, etc). i knew we had to use the sausage because it had been sitting in the fridge now for a few days defrosted. so last night was the night.
while cavin was sautéing the sausage, i was working on another food project that we will eventually make saturday or sunday. (thank god today is friday. i’ve been working 9.5-10 hour days almost every day this week!) it’s our first foray into molly steven’s all about braising cookbook that i picked up a few weeks ago.
there are quite a few recipes that i was tempted to try, but i want to try them exactly as written first, before i go changing the recipe, which is bound to happen. while we were at h-mart the other week, i picked up some pork belly and it had been patiently defrosting in the fridge. there are two pork belly recipes in all about braising: red-cooked pork belly with bok choy; and braised pork belly with turnips. after reading the red-cooked pork belly recipe, i realized that the ingredients were exactly the same as those i use in the rock-candy ginger short ribs i just made for thanksgiving (star anise, cinnamon, sugar, soy sauce, sherry) but in different proportions. so, there was really no need to make it again. thus, the decision to try the other recipe was already made for me.
to be honestly ignorant, i don’t think i’ve ever had turnips. i know what they look like – to me they look like a larger version of the radish, only white and purple. i’m not the biggest fan of the radish (we had so many radishes leftover from our csa, i felt bad – cavin would try to sneak them into a stir-fry every now and then), and because the turnip looks similar to the radish, i assumed that they would be similar in taste as well. i guess after this weekend i’ll know if i like turnips or not.
anyway, the recipe calls for the pork belly to marinate in a dry rub for 1-2 days. here’s the dry rub (for about 1.5-2 lbs. pork belly, boneless, skin-on):
while cavin was sautéing the sausage, i was working on another food project that we will eventually make saturday or sunday. (thank god today is friday. i’ve been working 9.5-10 hour days almost every day this week!) it’s our first foray into molly steven’s all about braising cookbook that i picked up a few weeks ago.
there are quite a few recipes that i was tempted to try, but i want to try them exactly as written first, before i go changing the recipe, which is bound to happen. while we were at h-mart the other week, i picked up some pork belly and it had been patiently defrosting in the fridge. there are two pork belly recipes in all about braising: red-cooked pork belly with bok choy; and braised pork belly with turnips. after reading the red-cooked pork belly recipe, i realized that the ingredients were exactly the same as those i use in the rock-candy ginger short ribs i just made for thanksgiving (star anise, cinnamon, sugar, soy sauce, sherry) but in different proportions. so, there was really no need to make it again. thus, the decision to try the other recipe was already made for me.
to be honestly ignorant, i don’t think i’ve ever had turnips. i know what they look like – to me they look like a larger version of the radish, only white and purple. i’m not the biggest fan of the radish (we had so many radishes leftover from our csa, i felt bad – cavin would try to sneak them into a stir-fry every now and then), and because the turnip looks similar to the radish, i assumed that they would be similar in taste as well. i guess after this weekend i’ll know if i like turnips or not.
anyway, the recipe calls for the pork belly to marinate in a dry rub for 1-2 days. here’s the dry rub (for about 1.5-2 lbs. pork belly, boneless, skin-on):
1 tsp toasted coriander seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
½ tsp dill seeds
1 ½ tsp coarse salt
i pulled out my trusty mortar & pestle and began grinding everything but the salt, so that the seeds and peppercorns were cracked and blended. then i added the salt and ground it a little bit more. the recipe did not call for cutting the pork belly into cubes or anything, so left them as whole strips (think long rectangular slab) and made sure to rub in the seasoning all over. it’s sitting in the fridge now in a plastic bag, and i plan on marinating it until saturday night or sunday lunch (whenever i can get the darned turnips).
if i remember correctly, i think that the recipe also calls for chopped onion, carrot, and celery, and the braising liquid is chicken stock. the dry rub seemed pretty fragrant, though, cavin and i both thought that it was pretty peppery, so i added a bit more dill and coriander seeds. it seems that this dish will be a pretty light one, considering the fact that i’m using pork belly, but again, i guess we won’t know until after this weekend. i’ll make sure to report back.
ok. back to the mushrooms. of course, we didn’t follow the recipe exactly. the recipe calls for an excess of cream cheese (8 oz. !?!) so we only used about 3 oz. (oh, and we used neufchâtel for less fat). cavin mixed the cooked sausage, sautéed garlic slivers and chopped up mushroom stems, grated parmesan cheese, neufchâtel, and fresh thyme. we opted for no egg, since i thought the cream cheese would act as a fine binder. i added pepper, but no salt, because the parmesan and the sausage were already salty. i should also mention that while cavin was mixing the filling, we put the mushroom caps in a 350F degree oven for about 10 minutes to dry out them out a little.
when everything was mixed, we pulled out the mushrooms, put a few drops of white wine in the caps, and began to stuff them. because of the cheese i was able to mold the filling in the mushrooms so that they weren’t falling all over the place. after we stuffed the 12 oz. container of mushrooms, there was still a lot of filling left. so we did what any other clever cook would do: stuff something else.
earlier in the evening before we got home from work, cavin and i stopped by safeway and picked up green peppers and green zucchini, which were on sale 10lbs. for $10*. i didn’t feel like eating peppers so i sliced a zucchini lengthwise, hollowed it out, and stuffed the halves as well.
we baked it for about 35-40 minutes. we probably could have left them in the oven for another 10 minutes (for the zucchini’s sake), but we were hungry.
i think they turned out pretty well, though i wonder about the neufchâtel. i find that it is more grainier than normal cream cheese or even just fat-free cream cheese. am i wrong? it was a little salty, which i think can be fixed by not adding as much parmesan cheese. i could have probably also added chopped parsley or some other fresh herbs, to lighten up the flavor a little bit. also, i think we could have crumbled the sausage a bit more, because i remember trying to stuff the mushrooms and some of the larger pieces of sausage weren’t fitting properly in the caps.
adding a few drops of the white wine to the caps gave the mushrooms a little moisture, and provided another layer of flavor after biting into the mushroom.
people on epicurious were giving it high fork ratings. if i had followed the recipe exactly, i probably would have only given it 2 forks. 8 oz. cream cheese definitely would have been too much. but after cutting the cream cheese by more than half, i’d give it 3 stars. i’d definitely make it again, and maybe this time try adding chopped sun dried tomatoes as some others noted in their reviews. (ugh. we actually had a jar of sun dried tomatoes in the fridge, except when i opened it up, which i guess i hadn’t done for some months, i was like, ‘what the heck are these things?’ and then i started rationalizing why they looked the way they did, and cavin just looked at me like, hunh?, so i tossed them immediately. we’re usually really good at throwing out stuff in the fridge, but i guess i must have overlooked the tomatoes the last time around.)
ok. so here's what we did (will do in the future):
-cook sausage, garlic, chopped up mushroom stems
-in the meantime, dry out the mushroom caps in a 350F degree oven ~10 minutes
-mix above with 3oz cream cheese (full fat cream cheese), fresh herbs, grated parmesan (and chopped/drained sun dried tomatoes)
-add drops of white wine in each cap
-stuff caps with filling, molding the filling so it doesn't fall over
-add a little oil over the mushrooms
-bake in 350F degree oven for 40 minutes or so
* does this marketing gimmick work? i wonder if people are more inclined to buy more of the product because it is advertised as “10 for 10” instead of just ($1 a lb)...
if i remember correctly, i think that the recipe also calls for chopped onion, carrot, and celery, and the braising liquid is chicken stock. the dry rub seemed pretty fragrant, though, cavin and i both thought that it was pretty peppery, so i added a bit more dill and coriander seeds. it seems that this dish will be a pretty light one, considering the fact that i’m using pork belly, but again, i guess we won’t know until after this weekend. i’ll make sure to report back.
ok. back to the mushrooms. of course, we didn’t follow the recipe exactly. the recipe calls for an excess of cream cheese (8 oz. !?!) so we only used about 3 oz. (oh, and we used neufchâtel for less fat). cavin mixed the cooked sausage, sautéed garlic slivers and chopped up mushroom stems, grated parmesan cheese, neufchâtel, and fresh thyme. we opted for no egg, since i thought the cream cheese would act as a fine binder. i added pepper, but no salt, because the parmesan and the sausage were already salty. i should also mention that while cavin was mixing the filling, we put the mushroom caps in a 350F degree oven for about 10 minutes to dry out them out a little.
when everything was mixed, we pulled out the mushrooms, put a few drops of white wine in the caps, and began to stuff them. because of the cheese i was able to mold the filling in the mushrooms so that they weren’t falling all over the place. after we stuffed the 12 oz. container of mushrooms, there was still a lot of filling left. so we did what any other clever cook would do: stuff something else.
earlier in the evening before we got home from work, cavin and i stopped by safeway and picked up green peppers and green zucchini, which were on sale 10lbs. for $10*. i didn’t feel like eating peppers so i sliced a zucchini lengthwise, hollowed it out, and stuffed the halves as well.we baked it for about 35-40 minutes. we probably could have left them in the oven for another 10 minutes (for the zucchini’s sake), but we were hungry.
i think they turned out pretty well, though i wonder about the neufchâtel. i find that it is more grainier than normal cream cheese or even just fat-free cream cheese. am i wrong? it was a little salty, which i think can be fixed by not adding as much parmesan cheese. i could have probably also added chopped parsley or some other fresh herbs, to lighten up the flavor a little bit. also, i think we could have crumbled the sausage a bit more, because i remember trying to stuff the mushrooms and some of the larger pieces of sausage weren’t fitting properly in the caps.
adding a few drops of the white wine to the caps gave the mushrooms a little moisture, and provided another layer of flavor after biting into the mushroom.
people on epicurious were giving it high fork ratings. if i had followed the recipe exactly, i probably would have only given it 2 forks. 8 oz. cream cheese definitely would have been too much. but after cutting the cream cheese by more than half, i’d give it 3 stars. i’d definitely make it again, and maybe this time try adding chopped sun dried tomatoes as some others noted in their reviews. (ugh. we actually had a jar of sun dried tomatoes in the fridge, except when i opened it up, which i guess i hadn’t done for some months, i was like, ‘what the heck are these things?’ and then i started rationalizing why they looked the way they did, and cavin just looked at me like, hunh?, so i tossed them immediately. we’re usually really good at throwing out stuff in the fridge, but i guess i must have overlooked the tomatoes the last time around.)
ok. so here's what we did (will do in the future):
-cook sausage, garlic, chopped up mushroom stems
-in the meantime, dry out the mushroom caps in a 350F degree oven ~10 minutes
-mix above with 3oz cream cheese (full fat cream cheese), fresh herbs, grated parmesan (and chopped/drained sun dried tomatoes)
-add drops of white wine in each cap
-stuff caps with filling, molding the filling so it doesn't fall over
-add a little oil over the mushrooms
-bake in 350F degree oven for 40 minutes or so
* does this marketing gimmick work? i wonder if people are more inclined to buy more of the product because it is advertised as “10 for 10” instead of just ($1 a lb)...