That’s when we share our reads!
(This post inspired by Cookie Monster.)
Reblog and add a line about what you’re reading this week. Ten lucky participants will win free copies of The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown.
Girl in the Green Raincoat by Laura Lippman #fridayreads
I’m actually not sick of the snow, but I know it can be confining to people who don’t normally work from home like I do.
But I am clean out of everything, even the basics, like butter and coffee.
Coffee! I can’t be without coffee for too long and Fairway has a great coffee bean selection. I like the Hawaiian estate (not the Kona, which is way way too expensive) mixed with Brazilian estate.
So, this seems like such a nice, inviting invitation. I am headed down later — as soon as I get plowed! To stock up and have some comforting nibbles to soothe me while I shop.
thanks to the guardian, you’ll never store your potatoes next to the onions again. and you’ll have a new use for all your shower caps.
see the guardian’s best kitchen tips here.
These are terrific kitchen tips.
I have never used a hotel shower cap. Didn’t realize they were for my kitchen! Bowl covers indeed. Now I’m thinking about starting a collection.
Today is National Chocolate Cake Day. And also a snow day for a lot of us (we got at least another 14-inch dump of snow over the night and into the morning). I have to say, I resent a nighttime snow fall because I like watching the flakes come down. It’s so soft and quiet and makes me feel cozy and safe inside. When I woke up this morning it was all over, but for the plowing.
But I digress. It is National Chocolate Cake Day. A good day all around to make a dark, luscious, tender cake to enjoy while also maybe taking a snow day. It’s a good dessert for Valentine’s Day too. Or anytime really.
Here’s a cake I’ve been making ever since I was 12 years old, when I baked this for my own Bat Mitzvah celebration. I’ve tried dozens of different chocolate cake recipes over the years and haven’t found one I like better. And it’s easy to make too.
So, until I find a better cake, here’s my recipe for:
2 cups cake flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 large eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 2 9-inch cake pans. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt together into the bowl of an electric mixer (or large bowl for use with a hand mixer). Add the buttermilk and shortening and beat the ingredients at medium speed for about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat the ingredients for another 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake layers cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then invert onto a cake rack to cool completely. Frost the layer and outside of the cake with the fudge frosting. Refrigerate leftovers.
Makes one 9-inch cake
12 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 cup dairy sour cream
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Melt the chocolate in the top part of a double boiler set over barely simmering water. When the chocolate has melted, remove the top pan from the bottom part of the double boiler. Add the sour cream, salt and vanilla extract to the chocolate and beat the ingredients vigorously with a whisk to blend them completely into a smooth frosting. Let cool for a few minutes, until it has a spreading consistency. Use between layers and for outside of the cake.
I usually hate when there’s a month (or more) long approach to a holiday. Like seeing Hallowe’en paraphernalia right after Labor Day.
But it’s been so cold and snowy where I live that the Valentine’s Day heart things and the boxes of chocolates and a host of articles I’ve been noticing for the past week actually cheer me, even though the holiday is nearly 3 weeks away. Valentine’s Day means February is half over and we’ll be almost through this winter.
But Valentine’s Day is also a little sad for me because it’s one of the days I miss my Dad the most. He always sent me Valentines. Sometimes it was one of those cartoon cards children buy in packs to give to their classmates. But I could always count on getting a card from him. I miss them. And him.
His cooking? Well, not so much. He made fabulous pancakes and waffles, hot chocolate and a few other things. But entrees were not his forte. Once, when my Mom was sick he attempted meatballs in tomato sauce. He took plain meat, shaped them into mountain peaks and spread tomato paste on top. Then he broiled them. Ohmyohmyohmy were they bad. I don’t remember too many meals from when I was a kid but that one is vivid.
So, in honor of my Dad, with visions of Valentine’s Day and springtime and warm weather ahead, I give you my recipe for Meatballs in Tomato sauce the way Dad never made them.
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 medium cloves garlic, chopped
2 28-ounce cans Italian style tomatoes, chopped, with liquid
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 pound ground turkey
1/2 pound ground veal
1/2 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 large eggs
3 frozen hamburger buns, grated
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over low-medium heat. Add the onion and cook stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes, or until softened. Add the garlic and cook briefly. Add the tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of the basil and salt and pepper to taste. Bring the ingredients to a simmer and cook the sauce for 30 minutes. While the sauce is cooking, place the turkey, veal and beef in a large bowl and mix gently to combine them. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons basil, the parsley, eggs and the grated buns. Mix ingredients and shape into 12 meatballs. Place the meatballs on a baking sheet and roast for about 15 minutes, turning them occasionally to brown on all sides. Place the meatballs into the cooked sauce. Cook for another 30 minutes.
Makes 4 servings
Eat your heart out Amy Chua. Creative play and just having fun is an important part of a happy, successful life.
These photos show what my 2 of my grandkids did the other day when they were sick and home from school and bored. The other is another granddaughter and what she decided to do with some paints.
I cheer this sort of thing and am thrilled with these kids, even if they don’t play the violin or are #1 at everything.
click each photo to get a better view.
Whether or not you think Amy Chua’s parenting methods are good or not, whether or not you are a “Chinese” Mom (or Dad), sometimes you need some solid, sound advice, especially when it comes to newborns. Try this site: http://amotherisborn.com/
Reading C-Scape by Larry Kramer #fridayreads
i spent 34 years detesting eggs unless they were baked into a brownie. or a cookie. or a triple layer chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream.
and now, i’m declaring my 35th year my year of eggs.
[speaking of my year of eggs, you should read this book.]ahem, continuing on:
until this…
Ah eggs! Alas, not all of them are created equal. I can’t vouch for Momofuko — haven’t been there. But I can certainly understand how any one of the egg dishes at the amazing Per Se would change an egg-hater into a devout convert.
But there are eggs and there are eggs. Thomas Keller gets his eggs fresh from “the farm.” That fact alone distinguishes it from anything you can find in a supermarket. Even a novice cook could make plain old scrambled eggs, nothing like a Per Se fancy, and create something delicious. A fresh egg is a wonderful thing that most of us never get to eat.
When our family first moved to Stamford, Ct. we lived near an egg farm. That’s where I bought all my eggs and therefore, long ago, discovered that an egg straight from the chicken (or nearly) was an entirely different product than the ones I bought at the supermarket. So, every time we needed fresh eggs I drove to Golden Farm and struggled not to notice the two dozen or so cats who crawled all over my feet when I stopped by. We always had eggs for dinner on a Golden Farm night. Side dish of hash browns maybe and sometimes homemade applesauce, always fresh bread, and on a really good day, homemade challah.
Those were good dinners.
Years went by. The people who owned Golden Farm retired, then passed away and now their place is “Golden Farm Road’ with a few very expensive houses on it.
No more fresh farm eggs. No farms anywhere near me. The country has become the suburbs.
So I tried organic eggs. They’re still much better than regular supermarket eggs and brand does matter. I have my favorites, but much of what you can buy depends on what’s available locally.
Still, for a newbie to the egg thing — do yourself a favor and try different kinds of organic eggs. Eggs are such a wonderful treat for dinner, especially when you’re bored with the same old stuff.
Here’s one of the egg dishes we like. It’s simple, easy and makes a delicious dinner in a flash. Add some potatoes and good bread and, if you must have a vegetable with dinner, some peas.
Scrambled eggs with Smoked Salmon and Chives
5 large eggs
1/4 cup milk, preferably whole milk
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup chopped smoked salmon
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Beat the eggs and milk until well combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Heat the butter in a saute pan or omelet pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, pour in the eggs and add the salmon and chives. Scramble slowly with a spoon (for large scrambles) or quickly with a fork (for small scrambles). Cook until the eggs are set to the desired consistency, soft or firm. Makes 2 servings
In case you didn’t know, today is Tu B’Shevat.
Huh?
It’s one of the lesser-known Jewish holidays. I mean, talking about this to the world at large makes me feel like Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were when she cooked a brisket and wished her non-Jewish-Robert Redford husband a “Happy Rosh Hashanah.”
But this is really a good holiday because it focuses on conservation, the earth, preservation. Some call this The New Year of Trees, because it traditionally begins a season of tree planting in Israel. But at the bottom of it all is the notion that we must take good care of the earth, not waste it or trample on it or abuse it to death.
Not a bad notion, that.
Also, Tu B’Shevat food is pretty good. You know there’s a food for every Jewish holiday. That’s just the way we are. There is no particular dish that’s traditional, like a Thanksgiving turkey. This holiday is mostly about fruit, fresh or dried. Anything goes, from chips with fruit salsa to lamb shanks with dried apricots to date-orange muffins.
Date-Orange muffins are wonderful for breakfast or snack but you can also use them as a bread for dinner.
Date-Orange Muffins
4 tablespoons butter
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoons grated fresh orange rind
3/4 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
1/4 cup orange juice
1 large egg
2/3 cup chopped dates
1/3 cup chopped pecans
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease 9-10 muffin tins. Melt the butter and set it aside to cool. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Stir in the orange rind. In a separate bowl, mix the buttermilk, orange juice, egg and melted butter. Add the liquids to the dry ingredients and stir to blend but do not mix vigorously. Fold in the dates and pecans. Spoon the dough into the muffin tins, filling them 2/3 full. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Makes 9-10