Hi Honey

This week my favorite treat/salvation-when-the-blood-sugar-starts-to-plummet has been plain Greek yogurt with walnuts and honey. That's the full-fat stuff pictured above though the low-fat stuff is fine too, if you aren't in need of having your extra-creamy pleasure-center stimulated at the moment. Lately I've been using some terrific Sourwood honey I bought on my friend Jen's recommendation while down in North Carolina. If I had a little more pantry space I'd probably start collecting honey; it is awfully fun to sample the subtle differences in the varieties and gives one many excuses to eat hot buttered toast slathered with the stuff. I'd say the sourwood honey is a bit more astringent (a fancy word for the obvious "sour") than our usual house honey: raspberry honey that they sell at Makielski's berry farm out on Platt Road.

I'm already a bit of a mustard collecting addict, a hobby I know Ed also enjoys, and I dream of getting a fridge with more condiment shelves to house my collection. Actually I dream of getting a new fridge regularly because it is the only appliance I currently have that doesn't work well--it keeps freezing stuff on the bottom shelf, no matter what the warmness setting. The latest victim was a nice bunch of asparagus (I know, it should have been in the produce drawers, but they are just too darn small for the quantity of produce I like to have in the house). I'm trying to think of a good name for the fridge. Yes, we are a household that names machines. My evil old stove was called "the inferno" since it had two settings--"off" and "burn". What do you think I should call the fridge--Iceman? The Frigid One? Mean-Mr.-Icy (sung to the tune of The Beatles' Mean Mr Mustard)? Suggestions anyone? I've found that tolerating an inferior appliance is much easier when you can insult it by name.

Crochet question

The mustard sweater finally gets a little attention

I have a crochet question for all the multi-talented fiber-fiends out there--how the heck do you travel with crochet and keep it from popping off the hook and unraveling? Last night Sarah and Brian and Nicholaus kindly had me and my brood over for dinner and some insane-play-kid-time and in the midst of 3 very happy kids making a racket I managed to start the crochet on the edge of the much-neglected mustard sweater. I'm really unsure about crochet, but managed the above on the edge of a sleeve. I started doing the same on the bottom edge of the sweater, but only got a little way before the critters needed to be packed up and sent off to sleepy-land. This morning when I pulled the sweater out I unraveled half of the crochet I put in last night. So is there some trick I don't know to keep the crochet on the hook and prevent unintentional unraveling?

I really like the green kid-mohair that I'm using for the edging. I bought it at Spinner's Flock a few years ago. The small quantity made it a challenge to find a worthy use for it.

The will-power question of the day is: will I be able to stay away from the Flying Sheep yarn store today where they have sale of 35% off of all Rowan yarn? With the husband out of town for the week, I could really use a little yarn-therapy...

So many books, so little time...

I finished Blindness yesterday while riding the exercise bike at the Y (thanks to Child Watch, the only way I could get some reading time this week!) There's a reason they give out the Nobel Prize for Literature. Blindness is not a book that I'll ever forget--some books can be perfectly pleasant reads and yet disappear from your memory almost instantly. This is one that is going to stick. Do you have a "stuck" book in your head? Let me know what it was (or they were).

Of course, there are also books that stick in your head that you wish you could get out. For me that book would be Jane Hamilton's The Book of Ruth which left me in such an intense depression I couldn't shake it for days. I don't care if the book was extremely well written, dwelling on perpetual misery is not my idea of a good book. House of Sand and Fog also falls into this category. It strikes me as a misuse of talent for the authors to have such a mastery of their craft and only able to communicate pain and suffering without hope. What do you other voracious readers out there think about misery and writing? I'm not a fan of the happy clappy read, mind you, but pure misery is something I'm not psychologically strong enough to take. I'd particularly be interested to see if anyone can help me reclaim the experience of reading the two books listed above so that whenever the title is mentioned I don't feel the need to groan.

I looked over the list of Nobel Laureates for literature (it's a pretty long list since the prize has been given out since 1901) and these are the authors I've read:

J.M. Coetzee
V.S. Naipaul
José Saramago
Dario Fo
Seamus Heaney
Toni Morrison
Derek Walcott
Nadine Gordimer
Octavio Paz
Wole Soyinka
Gabriel García Márquez
Isaac Bashevis Singer
Saul Bellow
Pablo Neruda
Samuel Beckett
Jean-Paul Sartre
John Steinbeck
Boris Pasternak
Albert Camus
Ernest Hemingway
William Faulkner
T.S. Eliot
André Gide
Hermann Hesse
Eugene O'Neill
Luigi Pirandello
George Bernard Shaw
William Butler Yeats
Rudyard Kipling

One thing that struck me in reading the complete list of Laureates was how many playwrights there were. I’m sure my MA in Theater from Northwestern helped me to identify some of them (it's nice to be able to put that degree to some use…). Also, among the “biggies” of 20th C lit (Hemingway, Faulkner) I saw many who I’d never heard of but who are probably immensely important in their own countries. Had I heard of Imre Kertész before looking at the list? Nope.

The Laureate that I really think I should have read by now and haven’t is Günter Grass. So I’m going to try to fit him into my reading schedule soon. However, as the Ann Arbor District Library is currently holding Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead and Peter Ho Davies Equal Love, Günter will have to wait his turn.

Composition therapy

So I have 197 more compositions to grade before tomorrow. What's a spaced-out tired mom to do? Turn to chocolate. Pictured above is what I dub "composition therapy"--two squares of good Swiss milk chocolate topped with a glob of natural (salted) peanut butter. I'm going to go fire up the espresso machine to have a shot before attacking the teetering pile.

Introducing my book group

Members of the Reading-and-Eating Book Group
front floor row: Marilyn, Lea
Couch/chair row: Diane, Me, Juliet, Halla (holding Lea's baby, Zane), Sarah
Members missing from photo: Meg, Jen, Tiphany

My book group decided to do Reading Lolita in Tehran for our next book which means we'’ll have a good Persian meal when we meet in May. Suggestions for favorite Persian side dishes, anyone? I need to hustle and finish Blindness so I can divert some brain-power to Reading Lolita.

I realize that I haven’t mentioned my book group yet. Here'’s a little background: we call ourselves “"The Reading-and-Eating Book Group" because shortly after we started meeting (about 5 years ago) we realized that

1. Our group contained some great cooks
2. It was fun to theme a potluck around the book we read
3. A good meal is an incentive to show up, especially if you hated the book that month

Whoever is hosting the group for the month is responsible for the entrée; the rest of the group brings appetizers, side dishes, wine (or other appropriate alcohol) and desert. We usually read contemporary fiction, but have been known to make occasional dips into non-fiction. Unlike some groups that decide their reading list once at the beginning of the year, we are much more flexible: —at each meeting (or shortly after via email) we talk about what we are in the mood for next. I usually keep a running list of books that everyone has mentioned (they do have to be in paperback) and we sift through them and try to find something that fits the literary mood, season, or culinary craving of the group. While some of the books have been lousy or forgettable, the meals have been spectacular! —I can’t think of one that was disappointing. I've also learned that sometimes a lousy book leads to a great discussion and a great book leads to all of us sitting around grinning and saying inane stuff like, "“I really liked it,"” and "“Me too.”" Of course, sometimes a lousy book is just a lousy book.

For a link to what we have read, look here. Of course, I couldn't resist noting which books I loved and which I hated. I know that some of the books that I hate are ones that regularly appear on other people’'s favorite books lists, so I'’ll attempt to justify my dislike of them at some point in the future.

I happen to know that the reading-and-eating concept has been picked up by at least one of my friends; Lynne was instrumental in starting her own reading-and-eating book group.

I am guessing that this week will be a bit of a culinary void; with Brian out of town, I revert to my single eating habits which include copious quantities of tofu. The Asian food store sells 2.5 lb tubs of organic tofu for $1.75 and I bought one so that is my challenge: —to eat it all before it goes bad. I plan to turn it into:

• scrambled tofu
• udon with tofu and greens
• pasta with pesto and tofu
• brown rice with garlic tofu and marinated cucumbers (this is one of my favorite fast meals, so I'’ll try to include a recipe for it this week)

Victim report

All that's missing from this spread is...a hotdog?

I thought the Amanda Hesser asparagus recipe was like a deconstructed hollandaise: olive oil, egg, lemon, salt and pepper. It was good--the grated warm egg gave it a bit of richness, but I think I'd rather go with Ami's suggestion and just shave some good Parmesan over asparagus to give it richness and flavor. My husband decided that an all vegetable meal wasn't going to cut it for him so he supplemented his portion with two hotdogs...granted they were good hotdogs (Koegels Viennas), but still...

The River's Edge Pinot Noir was terrific, as was Sideways. The wine tasted even better because we got to drink it with the most delicious accompaniments: Ami and John brought over 3 cheeses (an aged Gouda, Stilton and an almost liquid St. Felicite) and 3 salamis (from mild, to peppery, to smoked and intense). All were bought at Big 10, which is known in our house as "Cheese, Cheese, Cheese" (that's what their sign out front says).

I know it seems like I mention Big 10 in every other post, but I love the store. Part of what I love is the quality of their products but a big part is also their modesty--unlike Zingerman's hyper-manic serving style, Big 10 is quiet, calm and serious. I've never been rushed there, have had terrific conversations with the staff about the best way to serve Brasola (Italian air-dried beef--ultimate decision was to drizzle with good olive oil, crack some pepper and shave some big curls of Parmesan on it), and loved the fact that when a customer asked about an obscure sauce and how to make it, when they didn't know the answer they asked everyone in the store (even other customers) about it, ran to their computer to research it and in general just were so interested to find out the answer. Besides, you can buy terrific wine there too.

I stayed up late after everyone left and continued reading Blindness. I don't think I've ever read anything that so touches upon fear and horror and simultaneously is able to inspire hope and affirm human decency. I feel like every page makes me question whether humans are good or evil at heart; I keep changing my mind, but I think the book will end up affirming the good stuff, while not pretending all the bad stuff doesn't exist. I wish I had a day or two to just sink into the book and finish it, but as Brian is going out of town tonight for a week, and since it is composition grading season around here, I have to settle for a chapter or two a day.

I added a few photos to my knitting gallery link to the right. I still haven't finished seaming the mustard sweater. Maybe I'll get a chance to wear it once before it gets too warm for wool...

Tonight's victim

Tonight's intended victim:

Now that's what I like to see--
a bottle of wine next to a keyboard
and an unfinished manuscript...

Later this evening some friends are coming over to drink a lovely 2002 River's Edge Pinot Noir and watch the DVD of Sideways. I purposely did not see the movie in the theater so I could watch it with my own good glass of wine. I already tried a bottle of this wine and it was terrific--I got it at Big 10 during a recent mixed-case sale. I think with the discount it came to $16, and it proved to me that spending about $5 more per bottle can really be worth it. That said, I also got some bottles for about $10 which are good for every-day drinking.

Last night, I had the asparagus and idiot salad all prepared to go when Brian came home with a welcome craving for Japanese food. So the veggies were chucked back in the fridge and we picked up some take-out from Saica. Their bento box is really an insane amount of food--I could only get through half of mine. Here is what it consists of (for $15):

• small portion terriyaki salmon
• a california roll
• tempura (2 shrimp, 3 vegetables)
  
• salad
• miso soup
• rice
• some sweet braised vegetables (carrot, mushroom and something un-identifiable that we referred to as "the orb")
• a potato croquette
• a handful of edamame
• two gyoza
  
• a piece of sweet omelet
• a slice of cantaloupe and orange

By the time I had finished the soup, salad and tempura I was full. And I hadn't even opened the main box yet! I bravely stuffed on and tasted a little of everything in the big box before putting it in the fridge for lunch today.

So that leaves the asparagus waiting for dinner tonight. After last night's break from the kitchen, I'm a little inspired to do something new with the asparagus, rather than my usual roast (with olive oil) or steam and top with lemon and salt and pepper. I've never tried the egg/asparagus combo, but have seen recipes for asparagus topped with poached egg and a recent Amanda Hesser recipe in the Sunday NY Times Magazine for asparagus with a sieved soft-boiled egg topping that sounded appealing. Maybe I'll remember to take a photo before we start woofing it down...

speedy meal

Tonight it's going to be a super speedy meal--not because I'm pressed for time, but because I'm uncharacteristically not in the mood to spend much time in the kitchen. The warm-ish weather also has me thinking about my future vegetable garden and that means I should probably use up the pesto I made last summer, much of which is still sitting in its little frozen cubes in the freezer (if you've never frozen pesto before, it does OK in the freezer, though it gets a little muddy colored when it is defrosted. I freeze it in ice cube trays and then pop out the solid cubes and put them in ziplock bags.) I also have some "idiot's salad", that is to say, pre-washed over-priced baby greens and some asparagus that should be used. So the menu stands at pasta with asparagus and pesto and salad with whatever accompaniments can be dug out of the fridge (I think there are some beets and feta in there that haven't gone bad yet but will have to give them the sniff test before using...)

Report from last night: the collards with tomatoes were terrific and super easy; I just added 1/2 C canned diced tomatoes (Muir Glenn) and a bit of salt and pepper to a big bunch of collards and cooked them up till tender. Nice to know I can have collards without having to manhandle a smoked pig foot.

And thanks to Ami's recommendation, I took the comfort food up a notch by making a batch of this month's Cook's Illustrated Ultimate Oatmeal Cookies. They were packed with toasted pecans, dried cherries and chocolate chips and were a big hit.

Comfort food

The sun has gone back behind the clouds and I'm feeling stretched thin today, so tonight we are having comfort food for dinner. I'm going to make The Splendid Table/Lynne Rosetto Kasper's 21st Century Mac and Cheese and some collards. I'm going to try the collards with tomatoes like I had down in NC. The Mac and Cheese recipe is one of my favorites and doesn't require making a white sauce (not that white sauce is hard to make, I just have never found it terribly fun). The onion and garlic blended in it gives it a punch and makes it feel a bit more grown-up.

Do you have a favorite comfort food recipe? If so, send it my way.

Here's the recipe (with my alterations)

21st Century Mac and Cheese

Serves 4 and doubles easily.

• 1/2 pound (2 cups ) raw penne pasta, cooked and drained (I like Trader Joe’s whole wheat penne--it adds a nutty flavor and unlike some whole wheat pasta, doesn't turn to mush.)
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1 small clove garlic
• 3/4 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 generous cup (5 ounces) shredded good quality, extra-sharp cheddar cheese
• 5 ounces cream cheese, cut into small, sticky cubes
• 2/3 cup (3 ounces) shredded Gruyere cheese
• Generous 1/8 teaspoon each hot red pepper flakes, salt, and freshly ground black pepper
• Generous 1/4 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup Panko or regular bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a shallow 1 1/2 quart baking dish with non-stick spray, and add cooked pasta.

2. In a blender combine egg, milk, and garlic, and blend. Add onion, cheeses, peppers, salt, and paprika, and blend 'till all mixed up. Pour over the pasta. Casserole could be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated up to 24 hours at this point.

3. To bake, bring casserole close to room temperature. Melt butter in a small dish or pan and toss Panko or bread crumbs with it. Spread over top of casserole. Sprinkle with a little more paprika if you like the stuff. Bake about 20 to 25 minutes, or until thick yet creamy. If top is not golden, slip under broiler for a minute. Remove from oven, let stand about 5 minutes, and serve.

Tag, you're it

Along the same lines as the interview blogging phenomenon, I have discovered from my friend and terrific blogger, Lynne, that there is a book "Tag" game going on. She tagged me as one of her required three book junkies, so here is my response to the questions:

You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
I haven’t read Fahrenheit 451 since high school so I had to look this up to find out the rules. Apparently, “the main character joins an outlaw band of scholars who keep the contents of books in their heads, waiting for the time society will once again need the wisdom of literature.” I’ll choose a book that I’d love to have the opportunity to re-tell over and over to people: Charles Baxter’s First Light.

The last book you bought is:
I, too, am a library junkie. I usually buy books as gifts and I gave 3 people Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything is Illuminated this past year for Christmas. The year before I gave copies of Rosina Lippi’s Homestead. Those two were probably my favorite books of 2004 and 2003 respectively.

The last book you read:
I keep a running list with comments as a subset of this blog.

What are you currently reading:
The same link as above applies to in-progress books. I rarely have just one going because I need a selection of books that will suit whatever mood I’m in and the circumstances in which I’ll be reading.

Five books you would take to a deserted island:
I’m going to be uncharacteristically cheerful here and assume I would be rescued after a nice period of relaxation. So rather than stock up on the classics, I’d bring some books I’d like to re-read:

1. Michael Cunningham, The Hours
2. Esther Freud, Summer at Gaglow
3. Ron Hansen, Mariette in Ecstasy
4. Jane Mendelsohn, I Was Amelia Earhart
5. All of these are writers I admire and I want to learn from their craft, so I'm going to stretch the rules and make my fifth book my novel-in-progress Strange Animal. I'd also like a pen, if that's not too much to ask...

What three people will you pass the stick to, and why?
Well, that assumes that anyone is reading this blog…but what the heck. If any of them are reading this, I’d like to ask these questions of three of my writer friends Ami, Mary Jean and Sarah. They are all so perceptive about good writing and I’m hoping they’ll continue to share their insights with me.
As far as I know none of these folks have decided to occupy their spare moments by blogging, so they’ll just have to e-mail me with their answers. Sorry if this breaks the blogging trail of connectivity.