Here and There

Let me just say this now: I am NOT a cracker. Actually, I'm not sure I even know any true crackers. However, my closest female friend lives outside of Nashville in a town surely inhabited by people of that persuasion.

Nonetheless, I was curious about The Cracker Kitchen. To tell the truth, I'm really not the right audience for this book. I don't eat a lot of the foods in this book. However, I really enjoyed reading the stories attached to each recipe. Hilarious and authentic, Janis Owens tells a great story and shares a great cornbread recipe. Also, there are plenty of recipes that can be veganized, so I'm going to try that with a few of the classics just for fun.

Because I don't cook with pork (although John is a big fan of pork roll, pork chops, and bacon -- and will cook his own), I took her up on her suggestion to alternately use butter in "Mama's Cornbread" instead of bacon drippings (6 tablespoons, no less!).

This is some buttery cornbread. A friend of mine from Rutgers said she wanted to put even more butter on it. I could see jam, but not more butter. In fact, a drizzle of agave nectar would be just the topper this needs.

Why show you the butt of the bread? Well, because it's important to understand exactly why you need to bake this in a cast iron skillet. It makes the cornbread especially crispy on the bottom in a pretty uniform way. I love my cast iron skillet. If you don't love yours, just get another one. They're really cheap and worth every penny.

You really want to eat this about 20 minutes after it's come out of the oven, while it's still pretty hot from being in the pan while cooling. There's nothing like it. I wasn't ready to down the whole thing, so I cut mine up into quarters and wrapped three of the quarters up tightly in aluminum foil, then bagged them in ziplock bags and froze them right after they cooled. I've been doling them out to my Rutgers friend periodically.

I didn't make much of a change to the recipe except that I added 2 tablespoons of agave nectar to it, thinking that would sweeten it up a bit. The butter over-rode the agave, so next time, I'll probably double the amount.

Here's the recipe as I made it.

Mama's Cornbread, from The Cracker Kitchen by Janis Owens (my changes noted)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups plain yellow cornmeal (I used medium grind because I like the texture)
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour (I finally got to use the King Arthur Self-Rising Flour!)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
2 large eggs beaten
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (I used buttermilk powder mixed with water instead of fresh, and it worked just fine.)
6 tablespoons melted butter, divided
(My addition: 2 tablespoons agave nectar -- add more to actually taste it.)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and blend well.
3. Add the eggs, buttermilk, and 3 tablespoons of the butter and stir until smooth. (Add the agave here as well.)
4. Heat the remaining butter in a 9-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat for 1 minute until hot but not smoking. Shake the pan to coat the bottom. (I also coated the sides.)
5. Pour the cornbread batter into the hot skillet. Bake for 20 minutes, until brown on top and crispy brown on the bottom.
(My addition: Let cool for 20 minutes in pan, then serve.)

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Six Month Follow-up Mammogram

For those who have been following along since this post about my stereotactic breast biopsy, you will be happy to know that today's 6-month follow-up mammogram came up clean. Yay! They just said, "See you in six months at your routine annual mammogram."

Just about the best news I've heard all week.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Catching Up with the Aerogarden

After a year and a quarter of enjoying fresh herbs, I decided to try out the salad greens seed pods that were on sale the last time I was out in Utah shopping with my mother-in-law (who gave me the Aerogarden two Christmases ago). So far, so good.

Because I'm a huge fan of fresh basil, I split the difference -- three pods of basil and four pods of salad greens. I can't wait to enjoy the harvest.

By the way, I'm still using the original light bulbs. I bought a few packs of bulbs when I first got the thing because the Aerogarden folks said to replace them every six months. Honestly, I've forgotten, and I can't say the plants know the difference. Either way, I'm still reaping the benefits of having a wee water garden in my dining room.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

My Adventures in Quinoa -- Tales of Hot and Cold Grain-like Love

A few weeks ago, like I've done countless times, I bought a tub of Cedars' tabouli and ate most of it with a pita. And, like countless times before, I thought, "I could make this and save myself lots of $$$."

I was right.

However, I decided to try something different. Lately, I've been (ehem) noodling around with quinoa. The first time I tried making something with it, I sauteed some fresh shallots in a little olive oil in my large Dutch oven until they were golden brown. Then, I added some summer squash (lovely gold squash fresh from the co-op) chopped into tiny bits to the mix. Finally, I added dry quinoa to the pot, sauteed it with the other ingredients for a couple of minutes, then added twice the amount of water to the pot. Right before I put the top on, I added some Herbes de Provence, salt, and pepper. It was wonderful, and only took 10 minutes to cook. I've been living on it for a week. So tasty!

So, what does that have to do with the loveliness above? Well, very little except that the grain (or rather not-quite grain) in common is quinoa.

Suffice to say, I'm never buying tabouli again. Once I found out how simple and delicious it is this way, I vowed to always make my own. I've already tried it on another quinoa newbie who declared her love for it immediately. Both she and I agreed that it would be a great, colorful dish to bring to a gathering.

Here's my own recipe. Give it a try and let me know how you like it!

Deb's Quinoa Tabouli

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked cold quinoa
1 large bunch of parsley, cut in a chiffonade-like fashion
1/2 small red onion, minced
4 tablespoons olive oil (you want the best-tasting stuff here, not just your cooking oil)
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (you could use just white vinegar, too)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together well. You really want to coat all the quinoa with the oil and vinegar.
2. Serve with pitas, chips, or crackers.
3. Enjoy!

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

The Random Things

It's interesting how when you read all these memes (and by the way, this one's been around for a while. In fact, I think I've already done it.), and learn new things about folks whom you only "know" only as much as they allow you to know. Follow?

OK, I only let you know as much as I want you to know, unless, of course, you know me in a context other than this (or my other) blog. That said, here are some 23 random things about me (I'll try really hard not to repeat anything I've every hit on prior to this post).

1. I LOVE Hulu.com. Wish they'd send me a bumper sticker saying that so I could put it on the back of my car.

2. I already have a couple of other stickers on my car: Alta snowflakes on the back and on the driver's side rear window. There are others, but I'm not going to reveal them here. ;D

3. I never thought I'd go back to school for Library and Information Science, but here I am, doing just that. And, so far, I really like it.

4. I used to smoke more than a pack of cigarettes a day. It's been 13 years since I stopped. Every once in a while when I watch a movie that shows someone smoking, I have an urge. But it passes. I quit cold turkey.

5. I drive a 12-year-old Honda Accord with more than 150k miles on the odometer.

6. From my house, it's much less expensive to drive into NYC than to take public transportation, and that bugs the poo out of me. It's actually nearly 3x as expensive. Criminal.

7. I have a terrible memory. If I don't write things down, I lose them. Thinking about exams makes me anxious.

8. Don't tell me something cannot be done. It just comes across as a challenge to me.

9. I'm a tool and gadget junkie. Although my favorite kitchen tool is the classic wooden spoon.

10. John and I do not have exactly matching luggage, but both our individual sets are similar in color and come from the same company. Wish I could show you his (complete with space for his fly-fishing rods) luggage, but they don't seem to make John's anymore.

11. I take vitamins, but only because I feel like poo when I don't. Oh, and I take calcium because it keeps Mom in business.

12. I love dancing, but I'm not very good at it. In fact, I'm really klutzy. I won't take gym classes because the last time I did, I knocked a couple of people over and smacked someone in the back of the head.

13. I'd rather hang out in a good stationery store than a Williams-Sonoma.

14. As a child, I spent more time with my brother's Legos and Erector Set than with Barbie dolls (but I did have some Barbies -- always cut their hair off).

15. I used to write in a journal every day -- for many, many years. I don't any more. I'm lucky if I update my journal once a month these days.

16. If it wasn't for cheese, it would be easy for me to go back to being a vegan. There's just nothing that melt or tastes like it. I probably wouldn't miss anything else. Except, maybe butter.

17. My best female friend lives in Tennessee, but we used to be neighbors in Montclair. Some days I wish she still lived down the street. That's really inadequate. On those days, I'd trade all my gadgets (including the stand mixer, and you know how I love my stand mixer) to have Dawn be able to stop by and visit for a few hours. Instead, I get to go to Nashville and eat authentic biscuits. Mmmmmm. Oh and visit Dawn.

18. I once sold a box of snowglobes on EBay. People will buy anything. I guess I'm one of those people, because I'd originally bought some of them (the rest were gifts).

19. I don't wear make-up. I used to, but now it just looks silly. Besides, John prefers my natural coloring, and that's enough for me.

20. I'm one of those people who strikes up conversations with strangers if I'm standing in line for too long. (Your definition of "too long" may just be more generous than mine.)

21. Sometimes I use my Bundt pan just to be able to say "Bundt" pan.

22. I LOVE The Big Bang Theory.

23. I'm really glad people stop by and comment every now and then.

Hope y'all have a great day!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Mom's Orchid Parties

A funny thing usually happens in February at my mom's house. She and Dave have gatherings to celebrate their orchids. Well, more precisely, they celebrate the blooming of the orchids. Which is not to say that there aren't orchids blooming all year 'round (because they do, especially in my parents' greenhouse as you've seen before), but this is a very special time of year when the plants go bananas.

This year, Mom and Dave scheduled two parties, on successive Sundays, this month rather than in February because the plants were just doing their thing a bit earlier than usual. They also did something very different last Sunday when I attended. They had live music supplied by Mom's oldest friend (since kindergarten) and her friend who played the violin.

It was marvelous. Those folks played beautifully. You'd hardly guess they were amateurs.

So, between the gorgeous, colorful orchids; the lovely live music; the delicious food (I brought my baba ganoush); and the great company, a fine time was had by all.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Just In Time

Just in time for school today, the wall is finished. All the painting is done, and my kitchen is nearly finished (still waiting for the floor and new fridge, but it may be several months before that happens). Best of all, I repainted the kitchen, and Ken and I repainted the dining room with Benjamin Moore's Dorset Gold. It is a HUGE improvement on the previous "fleshy" color, as Ken put it. (Whose flesh, I just don't know, but he had someone in mind when he said it.)

It's just so nice not to have to duck under plastic sheeting (read: dropcloths) or mince my way around the downstairs because everything that had been in the dining room and kitchen was put into the livingroom for ease of work. The biggest relief is that I won't have all this hanging over me while I go to school.

The only trivial bits left are to put clearcoats on the Acadia White trim paint in the plant window and on the top of the half wall (seen in the top photo).

The surprise bonus came when after all the paint had dried, we noticed how nicely the gold in the lamps pops, echoing the Dorset Gold on the walls. The biggest lesson of all this is not to be afraid of vibrant colors. Try something new!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

The Hole in the Wall

That's the hole that has been in our half wall between the dining room and kitchen for a few weeks since Mark the Plumber (seen in the photo above) had to change the plumbing in order to make our garbage disposal up to code. We had the final inspection last week and have been in a whirlwind of re-building/spackling/sanding and painting ever since.

Ken's been here drywalling, spackling, and sanding for days, and will probably continue for a few more to get everything just perfect. In the meantime, I've been prepping, spackling, and sanding the kitchen to paint it. This morning, I peeled off the blue masking tape and found that there was a little touch up to be done. All in all, it looks good. I'll be taking more photos soon, but there's so much stuff stacked up everywhere from the dining room that I need to deal with that first. I don't even want to tell you how my home office looks.

I've been really pushing everything because I start school in a week and won't have time to deal with all this once school starts. So, the office is next on the list.

Stay tuned for the new photos!

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

What's in Your Drawers?

Yep, we're still putting things away from when we emptied out the kitchen for the renovation. We're in the home stretch, though, as you can see from the newly sorted giant drawer above.

This drawer, by the way, is the one above the pullout drawer cabinet where we stored the pots and pans. John and I had been looking for weeks for either dividers or some kind of utensil holders that would make sense in such a wide drawer. While we were out in Utah visiting my in-laws, I stopped into a Bed Bath and Beyond store to see if it would have anything. It did.

If you look closely at the photo, you can see the acrylic utensil holders I found. They're in a few shapes and sizes, but this worked the best way for us. Another drawer holds more of the green knives and all of our myriad tongs. The spatulas, wooden spoons, and large utensils are still in plain sight in a Polish pottery container.

It's nice to be organized again. For a while, I just didn't feel like I could find anything. In a world where life is increasingly difficult for many people, I'm grateful for my little problems.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Ch-Ch-Changes

Sure has been a year, hasn't it?

From the AeroGarden antics to the stove that tried to kill me to my stereotactic breast biopsy to the continuing kitchen renovations, it's been a series of interesting adventures.

Probably the biggest change is yet to come. Starting in a few weeks, I'll be pursuing a masters of library and information science at Rutgers, not far down the road. It's a bit of a career change, but it appears that there is a generation of librarians who are in the process of retiring. So, when I graduate in 2 years, there should be some interesting new jobs out there.

It's pretty exciting, and I'm very much looking forward to it -- especially the hard work, studying, and tests! :)

So, wish me luck as I ring in the new year as a new student (once again)!

Hope you all have a marvelous new year.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Best Latkes Ever

From Love Letter to a Carob Cake Baker

Seldom do I ever follow a recipe to the letter, but for these I did. And, I wasn't let down in the least by Mr. Wolfgang Puck's recipe. These latkes are light, yet crispy, fluffy, yet substantial, and potato-y in the best possible way.

From Love Letter to a Carob Cake Baker

I'm never making another potato latke recipe again. These were truly the best latkes I've ever tasted (if I do say so myself). Even my brother Jorden said they were AWESOME.

With that, I wish all my Jewish brethren and sistren a very happy Channukah! Hope your latkes are all you could ever imagine.

Monday, December 01, 2008

Most of the Way There, But with Issues

We're about 80% of the way toward a finished kitchen, but it will be a while until the floor is removed and a new one installed. We decided to take a little economic break before we launch into the flooring bit because John's building me a custom spice cabinet to go into the little tray cabinet between the oven and the refrigerator. To fabricate the cabinet, he's had to buy a few new power tools amongst other items, and we didn't budget for those.

We'll also be buying a new refrigerator and storing the old one in the garage, but that will probably happen in early 2009. Additionally, I will repaint the walls, and, as you can see under the large cabinet on the left, we've found our color -- a nice gold from Benjamin Moore. I'll be doing the painting myself, so that should save a little cash. Although the paint itself is expensive. Oh well.

After Joe had installed all the doors and handles, John spent an entire day straightening out Joe's faulty work. It was highly disappointing. We also found several spots where Joe had damaged the cabinets in the way he screwed them into the walls and to each other.

Having a sink and running water in the kitchen is a blessing, but it didn't come without a major drawback.

Turns out that when the inspector came, we discovered that Joe had written my name and address (erroneously spelled, mind you -- a tipoff to the inspector) as the person who did the work. The first thing the inspector asked was "Who did the work?" I told him Joe did. Bam! We failed because Joe doesn't have a plumbing license and wanted me to be the fall guy. I was so angry that I left a message telling Joe that he had to call the inspector, and he's called many times, but I'm still not talking to him. John's delaying a call as well because he's using power tools and wants to keep his cool.

The inspector told us (thankfully John was home at the time to help calm me down) that what Joe did constituted fraud and he could fine him $2000. I'm not sure exactly what will happen, but what the inspector said was that Joe had to get a licensed plumber to do the work and then get it re-inspected. This also becomes public record, so when people look at the house to buy it, they'll find this in the township files. Suffice to say, I'm pretty peeved.

Otherwise, yesterday, I lined the drawers and the shelves with cork contact paper. It cushions well, but the plates won't slide in easily.

We seem to be able to fit more than we had previously in some areas, but I lost some space overall.

I fit as much as I could into the new cabinets, but I think I'll need to store some of the extra stuff in the garage.

There were some serious issues with the base cabinets not being level (Joe's fault), and the counter guys not fixing it better (or refusing to install) when they put in the counter. That caused a lot of problems with the cabinet doors, but John did the very best he could (better than Joe's work), and we agreed that we would do anything else like this ourselves.

Word to the wise, really investigate your contractor before agreeing and paying. Ugh.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Yay! The Counter Is In.

We still need doors on the cabinets as well as the new faucet and garbage disposal installed, but we're getting ever closer.

This is the pattern of our new quartz countertop:

It's really nice. I can't wait to use it to roll out pie and cookie dough.

The guys had some challenges getting the counter installed because Joe the contractor hadn't leveled all the cabinets. John said he was disappointed in both the counter installers and Joe because 1. Joe should have leveled the cabinets, and 2. the counter guys should not have installed it without Joe having done a better job. However, they shimmed and did magic to make the countertop level.

I wish the seams weren't as visible as they are, especially at the sink, but I guess it's just the nature of the color of the counterop.

There also was an issue with the little 9-in. cabinet to the right of the stove. It seems that it's now not nailed/screwed into a stud. The counter guys used silicone to glue the back of the cabinet to the sheet rock, as well as glued the backsplash to the sheet rock to make the little cabinet secure. John and I aren't sure that it's supposed to be that close to the stove, so when the inspector comes to look at the plumbing, I'll ask if that's up to code. It might be, but it makes it awfully tough to get the stove out without opening the door of the oven and pulling by the interior of the oven to get the stove out.

Ahhh. The new sink. The new sink is now more than 3 in. deeper than the previous sink. We also had to buy a new faucet because the main counter guy discovered that my old faucet was cracked. It was another $225 we didn't expect to spend, but John and I found a nice new faucet that will match our new cabinet hardware (to be installed whenever Joe makes his final visit) much better than the old faucet would. All said and done, I can't wait to use the new, much deeper, slightly wider and longer sink.

In the meantime, we're still making decisions about the new flooring and paint. I'm leaning toward a gold-colored paint, which will really brighten up the place. John and I agree that a much darker flooring will have to be our choice because it will add depth and make the rest of the kitchen really pop. It also seems that we've decided upon laminates instead of vinyl since the vinyl really doesn't look that great.

While I won't be cooking anything to bring to Mom's Thanksgiving dinner, I'm sure that she'll be making a great menu of tasty dishes. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Please Vote for My Pie at The Best Pie Bakeoff

Please vote for my pie in the Best Pie Bakeoff at The Kitchen now! Thanks!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Kitchen Update: The Cabinets Are in, Sort of

It started on Saturday morning, a bit later than scheduled (ok, 1.5 hours later than scheduled), but I'd already emptied the kitchen and covered the remaining pieces with plastic.

I'd also divided the kitchen from the living room with plastic smart idea because there was sawdust EVERYWHERE).

Joe the Contractor began by removing the cabinets from the wall above the stove (as well as the range hood).

There he is removing the awful countertop.

There was a lot of this (standing and staring, then working, then cursing. Loudly.).

Which brings us to where we are today.

The cabinets are in, although not hung completely, tightened up and straightened. Joe will return to finish the job when the counter goes in, which is expected to happen in about two weeks. The counter guy was here on Tuesday to measure and create a template. He was an enormous Russian fellow with a great big smile. He also gave us lots of information about what to expect and what will happen as the counter is fitted.