I Baked - And My House Didn't Burn Down!

Not the prettiest but it's my first try!

I have a confession to make. I’m scared of baking. I can never get it right and I don’t know why. I’m intimidated by the fact that you must be exact in you measurements and if the recipe says to use water that is a specific temperature, you’d better listen. The word “pastry blender” makes me shudder. Inserting a toothpick into a cake to see if it’s done makes me break out in a cold sweat. I never think it’s done and end up burning it.  Cookies end up like hockey pucks. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m a confident cook when it comes to savory things, but I have issues with the sweet stuff.

I’m trying very hard to get over this. My first baby step into the world of baking was Nigella’s Everyday Brownies. I was blown away by how easy they are and I have successfully made them many times since I first tried them in October. Woo hoo! I even got adventurous and added half a cup of pureed pumpkin to them around Thanksgiving and piece of candy cane at Christmas. My advice to you if you decide to try them: do all your mixing and measuring before you start. For example, Nigella tells you to combine various dry ingredients, eggs and vanilla, measure out sugar, etc. If you do all of this before you start and have four bowls at the ready (sugar measured out, cocoa powder mix, eggs and vanilla, chopped chocolate) things will go much better for you as all must be added in quick succession to prevent the mixture from sticking.

I’ll be taking my second baking baby step this weekend with Chocolate Cherry Cake (recipe below.) I had this at a party last weekend and had two slices. It has more processed ingredients than I would like and down the line I might try my hand and at making homemade replacements for the cake mix and cherry pie filling. But for the moment, I’m taking it slow and following the recipe as is.

Coming up next week: my menu plan for the week, a book review, and my adventures with slow cooking.

Chocolate Cherry Cake

Cake:

1 package fudge cake mix

1 21-oz can cherry pie filling

2 tsp almond extract

2 eggs, beaten

Frosting:

1 cup white sugar

5 Tbs butter

1/3 cup milk

1 6-oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions for Cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 13 x 9 cake pan.  

In large bowl, combine the cake ingredients. Stir until well mixed.  Pour into prepared pan.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  

Directions for Frosting:

In small saucepan, combine sugar, butter, and milk.   Bring to a boil and stir constantly for one minute.   Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips until smooth.   Pour over cake. 

An (Easy!) Dinner For My Valentine

Valentine’s Day is Friday and, as usual, the Scotsman and I aren’t doing anything. It’s not because we don’t enjoy spending time together, it’s just that we don’t need a holiday to remind us to do it. That said, I only need the tiniest excuse to make something special for dinner, so Friday I’ll be making Turkey Sausage and Goat Cheese Lasagna.

The Scotsman has been requesting this a lot lately. I find this odd because he says he hates pasta. How can a pasta-hater love this dish? How can someone who loves this dish write off pasta as a food group? Anyway, since I love it too, I’m just going with it and not asking questions. It’s an Ina Garten recipe that I’ve modified. I love the Barefoot Contessa (many of my “signature dishes” are riffs on hers) but I find she over complicates things. This is my streamlined version of her recipe, which I think tastes just as good, with half the prep time.

It’s not something that’s in our regular meal rotation as four types of cheeses means it has a zillion calories. But it’s my go-to for occasions that call for a special recipe. Serve with salad and garlic bread. I’m going to top off the meal with this yummy looking cake from Modern Mrs. Darcy. Enjoy!

TURKEY SAUSAGE AND GOAT CHEESE LASAGNA

Adapted from Ina Garten (serves 8)

2 Tbs Olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 gloves garlic, minced

3 links sweet Italian turkey sausage

1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes

1 14-oz can diced tomatoes

1 6-oz can tomato paste

1.5 Tbs Italian seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

1 box “no-boil” lasagna noodles

15-oz ricotta cheese

4-oz goat cheese, crumbled

1 cup Parmesan, grated

1 egg

1 lb fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

Preheat your oven to 400®F.

Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Add the onion and cook on medium heat until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.

Add the sausage to the pan by squeezing it out of its casing, breaking it up with a large spoon as you go. Cook until the sausage is cooked and no longer pink.

Add the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper. Simmer uncovered over medium heat for 15 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.

In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, goat cheese, Parmesan and egg.

In a 9x13 dish (or 2 8x8 dishes – eat one now and freeze the other for another day. I do it all the time!). Layer as follows, ending with a third sauce layer: sauce, noodles, mozzarella slices, ricotta mixture.

The Culinary Bibliophile is Back!

It 's been more than seven months since I last posted on this blog. I'm not sure what happened. My guess is that it was summer and we were outside enjoying the gorgeous weather. Then school started. Then the holiday season was in full swing. In any event I'm back. Why? Because I found that I actually missed writing. I surprised myself by enjoying writing this blog for the sake of writing it, whether or not anyone reads it (although I hope someone does!) So here I am. And here's a sprinkling of what's been going on for the past seven-ish months and lessons I've learned:

Ben turned five and is now officially registered for Kindergarten for the Fall. Time flies!

My Beef Brisket and Chicken Pot Pie are great things to make to deliver to a friend in need.

I have taken of the roll of Fellowship Chair at church. Basically this means I plan the social events like the Easter breakfast, holiday party, Lego night and various potlucks. I'm not sure how this happened , especially since I've lamented about how I take on too much, but being Fellowship Chair has fulfilled me in ways I couldn't have anticipated. I'm glad I said "yes" when asked.

That said, I've learned to say "no" more often. I don't go to every single meeting of the preschool parents association. I don't sign up to volunteer for every event at Jake's school (but I do still help out at our favorites.) I have put hanging out with friends and family as a priority - more often than not I say "yes" to these invites. My life is less stressed and much richer as a result.

The Scotsman has been traveling a lot more for work. I'm trying to be grateful that he has a good job rather than stressed about childcare and household logistics while he's away.

Jake is into soccer big time (both playing and watching). He's joined two leagues and loves to watch games on TV. The Scotsman even set him up with his own fantasy league for the English Premiership. It's been fun to watch him grow in and embrace the sport!

The Americans on FX is a great show. The Scotsman and I can't wait for the new season to start at the end of the month!

Sleep is the cure for whatever ails you. I am finally getting a good nights sleep fairly regularly and I feel so much better because of this. Who knew!?!?

Books I have read (by the way, these are not affiliate links - I'm just trying to make it a little easier for you to browse. You can also see what I've been reading on my Goodreads profile): What Alice Forgot, The Man Who Ate Everything, 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, and Reconstructing Amelia, among others.

The Scotsman can't hate pasta as much as he says he does. He's been regularly requesting my Turkey Sausage and Goat Cheese lasagna, as recently as last night. There is hope! And I promise to post the recipe soon.

A snow storm, great neighbors and a bottle of wine are a fabulous combination.

I'm learning to embrace my slow cooker.

Doing everything the night before (making lunches, laying out clothes, etc) is the key to a better day.

So that's what's going on with me - what's been going on with you?

What's For Dinner - June 8th - 14th

Last night I cleaned out my freezer. It contained many "mystery" items as well as stuff from Trader Joes that was so old I'm not even sure TJs carries those products anymore. I was holding on to them because I hate to throw away food, but I decided that they were adding to both physical and mental clutter as far as the freezer is concerned and are probably so past their prime that they wouldn't taste good anyway.

What I found was some perfectly good meals and meal starters that I forgot we had which have helped me with this weeks meal planning, not to mention greatly reduced what I needed to buy from the grocery this morning.

Here's the line-up:

Saturday - Nigella Lawson's Mini Meatloaves. I found a ziploc full of them during the freezer clean out. The Scotsman made them about a month ago and I had fogotten that we froze half of them. These are delicious, super easy to make and kid friendly. Give them a try!

Sunday - The Scotsman is making some sort of middle eastern inspired turkey burger. I think he got the recipe from Gwyneth Paltrows book. I don't know much about it except that it involves Tahini and will be served in whole wheat pita bread rather than buns as he asked me to pick up those two things at the grocery. If it's good, I'll post the recipe next week.

Monday - Maple Mustard Glazed Chicken Thighs from One Hungry Mama

Tuesday - Salmon (found some in the freezer). Try this easy recipe my mom has been making for years - place salmon in a baking dish. Fill the dish with white wine until the wine comes half way up the salmon. Sprinkle with fresh or dry dill (and if you have neither, don't sweat it, just cook as is). Cook for 15 mins or until fish flakes easily.

Wednesday - End of Year Picnic at Ben's preschool. Pizza and salad will be provided.

Thursday - Pasta. With sauce from a jar. Thursdays are tough for us because Jake and The Scotsman get home late from soccer practice.

Friday - Taco night! Jake and Ben will only touch avocados and raw tomatoes when they are in the form of guacamole and salsa, so I try to work in taco night once a week. For some reason, burrioto night does not fly with them.

What are you eating this week?

Project Simplify

Folks, I’ve been feeling a little overwhelmed lately. I feel like my to-do list is never ending; things that need to be cleaned, errands that need to be run, things to remember for the boys, gifts to buy. I look around my house and I see clutter everywhere. Jake and Ben's rooms are still a disaster area. The kitchen island is a dumping ground. The dust bunnies under our bed are almost bigger than the cats.

Yet I've done nothing to remedy any of this.

After a lot of thinking I've come to two conclusions. The first is that I have so many tasks on my mental to-do list that I don't know where to start. The second realization is that my perfectionist tendencies are getting in the way. I know I don't have the time to make things my version of "perfect" so I don't do anything at all. I need to change that way of thinking. Poking around the interwebs for inspiration I have come across two mantras that I need to take to heart; "progress, not perfection" and "don't let perfect be the enemy of good enough".

With that in mind, I've embarked on my own little Project Simplify. I am taking baby steps at taking control of the clutter, both physical and mental. Over the past few days I've taken two little steps. I've unsubscribed from all of my junk email - you know, those promotional emails you get every day because you ordered one thing from the company for a gift three years ago. They have been filling up my inbox recently making me groan every time I switch on my computer in the morning. Three days later, I have just a few emails that I actually want to read and some mental clutter is cleared. Woo hoo! I've also been taking a few things off the kitchen island every time I go into the room and putting them away, rather than trying to clear the whole mess at once. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I'm satisfied by this, rather than worrying about all of the things I didn't put away.

My goal is to have a less cluttered, more streamlined house and to-do list by the time the boys go back to school in the Fall. But it's progress I'm after, not perfection :-)

I've been reading a few blogs for inspiration. Here are some of my favorites:

Small Notebook

Simple Organized Living

Simple Mom

How Do You Control The Clutter In Your Home?

What's For Dinner

Tomorrow starts a new month. So I’m recommitting myself to meal planning which fell very much by the wayside in May. This is what we’re eating for the next week. It’s meant to be hot, hot, hot here in the New England so I’m taking advantage of the grill. What are you eating this week?

Saturday – Steak, potatoes and corn on the cob on the grill. I may decided to marinate the steak in 1 cup creamy Italian dressing, 1 cup “regular” Italian dressing and 1 cup BBQ Sauce. It’s the “secret” recipe from a local restaurant that makes the best steak tips.

Sunday – Grilled Tandoori Chicken (recipe below – from my friend Kelly who served it to us at her house last week. Delicious!) grilled veggies, Naan bread. I may get adventurous and heat the Naan on the grill.

Monday – Taco Night!

Tuesday – Penne a la Vodka with prepared sauce and salad.

Wednesday –  Homemade Turkey Burgers (1 lb ground turkey, 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, ½ cup shredded zucchini, 1 egg. Form in to patties and grill), Maple Baked Beans (recipe in previous post), more grilled veggies.

Thursday – Grilled veggie frittata (I don’t really have a recipe – I’m going to wing it.)

Friday – Grilled Shrimp, couscous, watermelon

Grilled Tandoori Chicken

1 lb chicken (I use random pieces from my meat CSA. Most are bone-in. Boneless breasts or thighs would be fine, too)
2 TBS plain yogurt

1 TBS lemon juice

1 Tbs tomato paste

2 TBS Tandoori spice mix (I purchased mine at Whole Foods, but you can get it almost anywhere)

Mix the ingredients together and marinate the chicken for 2-3 hours. Grill and enjoy!

Reading Challenge: Success or Not Challenging Enough?

Library books are like buses. You wait and wait and not a single one comes along. Then three come at once. I’ve been on the waiting list for three ebooks at my library for well over a month. I received an email yesterday letting me know that all three were mine for the next twenty one days. I’m going to do my best to squish them all in as it makes me sad to return a library book without finishing it.

I worried about how the heck I was going to read three book in three books and then I noticed something odd on my Goodreads profile. It turns out that I’ve reached my “2013 Reading Challenge” goal of 25 books already. Given that I only joined the challenge in late January and didn’t record any of the books I read earlier that month, I must be averaging 1.3 books a week. Who knew? Certainly not me! Obviously I’m not challenging myself enough. I like a good challenge so I’m deciding what to do next. Up my Goodreads challenge to 75 books? Broaden my horizons by reading a genre I’ve never been crazy about (but what would be the fun in that?) Do something totally different?

Below is a list of the 25 books I read as part of the challenge with the star ratings I gave them on Goodreads. We have a quiet weekend ahead of us so I plan to spend lots of time in the kitchen. Recipes to come!

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen – 4 stars

Inferno by Dan Brown – 3.5 stars

Plenty: One Man, One Woman And A Raucous Year of Eating Locally by Alisa Smith – 4 stars

The Sacred Cipher by Terry Brennan – I chose not to rate this one.

I’ll Take What She Has by Samantha Wilde – 3 stars (read for one of my two in-person book clubs)

The Girls Guide To Love And Supper Clubs by Dana Bate – 4 stars (really cute with lots of yummy food)

The Racketeer by John Grisham – 3 stars (read for Goodreads bookclub)

The Fate of Mercy Alban by Wendy Webb – 4 stars (the perfect grown-up ghost story)

Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple – 4 stars

Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks – 3 stars

A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes From My Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg – 4 stars

The Red Velvet Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke – 3 stars (sometimes I like a little fluff but this was not one of Fluke’s best)

Gods Lions: The Dark Ruin by John Lyman – 3 stars

Before I Go To Sleep by S. J. Watson – 5 stars

The Cinnamon Roll Murder by Joanne Fluke – 3 stars (ok, I’ve been reading a lot of fluff lately)

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen – 4 stars (my new favorite author)

Dead Anyway by Chris Knopf – 3 stars

The Devil’s Grin by Annelie Wendeberg – 3 stars

MWF Seeking BFF by Rachel Bertsche – 4 stars (read it for a Goodreads bookclub thinking I would hate it. I ended up rally liking it.)

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling – 3 stars (read for in-person bookclub called The Gratuitous Bookclub)

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg – 4 stars

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin – 3 stars

Deadly Pedigree by Jimmy Fox – 3 stars (won in a LibraryThing giveway)

Finding Camlann by Sean Pidgeon – 4 stars

Proof of Heave: A Neurosurgeons Journey Into the Afterlife by Eben Alexander – 4 stars

Inferno - Fire Up the Grill

May has been a busy month. I feel like I’ve always been on the go, whether it be to a soccer game, birthday party or church event. But I’m looking on the bright side; it all involves having fun with my family and the weather has finally turned. Summer is just around the corner!

In a decidedly non-outdoor activity, I finished Inferno, Dan Brown’s latest Robert Langdon Novel. It’s a good book and I enjoyed it. But I think I set my expectations too high. I loved The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons. What I loved most about those books was the details of little known history and the insinuation that the worlds great leaders and artists have been protecting a precious secret, generation after generation. And I love that the premise could actually be true (or maybe it isn’t – but that’s part of the fun!).

While Inferno is based on Dante’s work of the same name, the plot and the “secret” are modern. I preferred the ancient of the previous books. This book is more of a modern day thriller. While Brown’s previous works take place in the present day, the plot is very much rooted in the past. With Inferno, not so much and I was a bit disappointed. However, if I had considered this a standalone book and not set myself up for a DaVinci Code Part II I would have been much happier. And it gets you thinking about the future of the human race (I’ll say no more so I don’t ruin it for you!) Think of it more as Nelson DeMille novel (BTW – I love DeMille.)

On a bloggy note: it has occurred to me that I don’t really add pictures to my posts. Would you like me to? Or do you not care either way?

I would be remise if I didn’t leave you with at least one recipe. Grilling season if finally here! Here’s a three step plan for an easy peasy (lemon squeezy, to quote Jake) week night dinner on the grill for four:

1.       Take 1 lb shelled and de-veined shrimp and toss it in ¼ cup soy says and 2 TBS honey. Thread onto kabob skewers. Add some veggies if you’re feeling fancy but don’t sweat it if you’re not – this is meant to be easy and quick.

2.       Throw some ears of corn on the grill and cook for 15 mins. 5 minutes before the corn is done but the shrimp on the grill and cook until pink.

3.       Heat up the below recipe for baked beans. You will have made a huge pot earlier in the week so that you can have super yummy leftovers throughout the week (they taste even better the next day). Or you can cook the them on the same day. Just start them an hour before the corn and shrimp. I recommend doubling the recipe.

Maple Baked Beans

3 15-oz cans baked beans (I use Bush’s Onion flavor – saves me chopping an onion to add)

1 TBS minced garlic

¾ cup maple syrup

2 TBS tomato paste

1 TBS Worcestershire Sauce

1 TBS chili powder

Mix all of the ingredients together in a large pot (use a cast iron dutch oven and you can cook it on the grill!) Cook for about 45 minutes, until liquids reduce.

How I Was Seduced By Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwynnie seduced me slowly. It started with a review of her first cookbook, My Father’s Daughter, in People Magazine. It piqued my interest and I wondered in passing if it was as good as the review said it was.

About a week later I was in BJs, the questionably named Northeast equivalent of Costco. My Father’s Daughter was calling to me from the book section. I paged through the book and thought a lot of the recipes looked good and were things that I would make. But still, I chose to move on to fill my cart with a mother lode of toilet paper.  The next day I logged on to Amazon and right on the homepage Amazon was suggesting My Father’s Daughter was “something you may like”. I took it as a sign and ordered it.

Why was I so fearful of The Blonde One? First and foremost, I swore off celebrity cookbooks a long time ago. Just because you can win an Oscar, sing a song fairly well or play a mean game of football does not mean you can cook. I (perhaps unfairly) assumed celebrities got publishing contracts for cookbooks because they were celebrities, not because the recipes were any good or all that original. And I’ve never been a huge fan of Gwyneth Paltrow. I don’t hate her, but I certainly don’t love her. I would describe the way I feel about her as “meh”. And a post on her Goop blog about how she was a ball of stress choosing a gown for a big awards ceremony did not endear her to me. If only all of us had choosing a designer dress as the most stressful issue in our lives.

I will be the first to admit that I misjudged GP. I loved My Father’s Daughter and have cooked many yummy things from it such as Cheesy Stuffed Burgers (made with turkey and a kid and husband favorite) , Leek and Gruyere Frittata and Spiced Apple Crumb Muffins. The recipes aren’t terribly original, but instead are her own take on the classics with simplicity and flavor being key. And it introduced me to the wonder that is Veganaise. So it was a given that I would preorder her latest book, It’s All Good, when the folks at Amazon alerted me to the fact that it was in the pipeline.

The first thing I will say about It’s All Good has nothing to do with food – it’s the photographs. I am 99.9% sure that Gwyneth is not wearing a lick of makeup in any of the photos! I assume she’s trying to be down to earth and natural, just like the food in her book. Now THAT endeared Gwynnie to me. And I want to know what she uses on her skin – it looks fabulous!

Just like it’s predecessor , It’s All Good is full of yummy recipes. Rather than filling the book with recipes that remind her of family and home as she did in her first book, this book focuses on “pure” and healthy recipes. They are inspired by a recent decline in Gwyneth’s health and the discovery of food allergies in her children that were put right by a whole-foods diet with a bit of elimination diet thrown in. As a result, the book is largely gluten and sugar free. While in principal I’m fine with this (I am all about eating good, minimally processed, chemical and preservative free foods),  I wondered if the lack of sugar and gluten would make this book a dud. I needn’t (is that word?) have worried as I’ve made some delicious things from this book;  Barbecued Chicken Spanish Style, Lentil Salad with Mustard and Tomatoes and Japanese Chicken Meatballs (a HUGE hit with Jake and Ben). Although in the interest of full disclosure, I thought her elimination diet was a bit neurotic. Thankfully, this makes up a small portion of the recipes in the book.

While I will I will not be cooking a whole fish in salt in the outdoor roasting pit I have in my backyard (not!) like GP, I enjoyed the simple, whole-foods recipes It’s All Good contains and will be cooking from it for a long time to come.

In book news – I just started Dan Brown’s latest, Inferno. I know Dan Brown’s novels are very controversial. You either love ‘em or hate ‘em (I am not ashamed to admit I fall in the “love” column). I’d love to know what you all think.

In other news – on Saturday we became a cat family! We adopted Maggie and Stella, two adult black cats (well, Maggie has some white on her) and we are all enjoying the new members of our family, especially Jake and Ben!

Prayers for Boston

Yesterday an awful thing happened in the city I now call home. I could sit here stewing in anger, sadness and fear. Instead, I choose to see the good that came out of yesterdays events.

Spectators rushed into the smoke and debris to do anything and everything they could to help perfect strangers. Hospitals were flooded with blood donors. Off duty police, fire and medical personnel went into to work to lend their colleagues a hand.  Folks with apartments at or near the finish line took displaced runners into their homes and provided them with food, shelter and comfort. These everyday heroes show us that compassion is alive and well and are a reminder that God is with us even in our darkest hour. I choose to think about them rather than whoever is responsible for this horrific tragedy.

Boston is very quiet today. The normal hustle and bustle outside of my office window is absent.  I woke up to emails letting me know that the New England Aquarium and Museum of Science will be closed  for at least part of during this busy school vacation week. Boston is in mourning and rightly so. But we will bounce back.

In the meantime, please pray for the people of Boston

Book Review: Caleb's Crossing, A Recipe and Other Random Things

I am now over last week which I have named The Week of Great Insanity. It is (thankfully) over and I am back to normal after Wednesdays mini-meltdown. And my mom is coming this weekend which means lot of time cooking and doing crafty things with the boys. Yay!

As I mentioned in my last post, I did manage to get a little reading done during The Week of Great Insanity. I finished Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks. I have been doing a lot of hemming and hawing about whether or not to review this book for ya’ll as my intention when I started this blog was only to review books I liked. My thinking was that it would be silly to waste space on the interwebs (not to mention your time) writing about books I was not fond of that I don’t recommend that you read. And my mom always told me not to say anything at all if I don’t have anything nice to say about something or someone, and that advice has kept me in good stead for the past 33 years.

Which leads me to the Caleb’s Crossing Conundrum. On one hand I really liked this book. On the other hand, I really didn’t like this book. I know it’s odd to have two very opposite feelings about the same book, but that’s just the way it is.  So, I thought I’d separate this review into the things I liked about this book and the things I didn’t like about this book and let you decide for yourself. I’m going to start with the things I liked because I’m a positive, glass-is-half-full kind of girl.

But first a very brief synopsis:  Bethia Mayfield lives in a small community of Puritans on Martha’s Vineyard in the 1660s. As a pre-teen she meets Caleb, the son of a Wampanoag Chieftain and develops a deep and enduring friendship with him that spans decades, geography and the cultural divide.

Things I liked:

Bethia. I loved, loved, loved Bethia. She is spunky and smart and not afraid to stand up for herself in an era when women were encouraged to do just the opposite. She is also compassionate, nurturing and kind hearted. Bethia rocks!

The fact that the story is rooted in history. There really was a Caleb Chessahahteaumuck of Martha’s Vineyard who was the first Native American to graduate from Harvard.  Very little is known about him and Brooks filled in the many pieces of his life with well-written and meticulously researched fiction. And Bethia’s last name of Mayfield is very similar to the surname of one of the first Puritan settlers of MV – Mayhew. I have a degree in history so this appealed my inner history buff (but a degree in history does not get you a job so I went to grad school for a more marketable skill, but that’s a story for another day.) That degree in history also means I am very critical of historical fiction, but I have no issues with what Brooks has done with Caleb’s Crossing.

The setting of Martha’s Vineyard and Cambridge, Massachusetts. I am always drawn to books that are set in a place I know and love. I lived one town over from Cambridge for seven years. I currently work one town over from Cambridge. My children were born in Cambridge and The Scotsman and I used to hang around in Cambridge a lot before the kids were born. As for Martha’s Vineyard, we visited this beautiful island for the first time three years ago. Despite the fact that I had never been there before, immediately after stepping off the ferry I felt completely at peace and had a sense that I’d “come home”. Odd and cheesy, I know, but that’s the way I felt and still feel every time I visit. We are fortunate to spend 10 days on MV every summer and if The Scotsman and I every win the lottery we’d like to buy our own house there and live there year round instead of renting someone else’s house for a tiny portion of the summer. Although I don’t think there are many techie jobs for The Scotsman on an island miles from anything, but if we won the lottery would that matter? But I digress…..

Things I didn’t like:

Certain attitudes were  shoved down my throat. I am well aware of the fact that men were considered to be better than woman in the 1660s and that the way Native Americans were treated was horrible, wrong, narrow-minded, etc. But I don’t need to be reminded of it on every single page. You know, in case I didn’t get it the first time it was explained.

Caleb was a very flat character. There was lot of room to develop him more.

There wasn’t much plot. The story just kind of plodded along. I said the same thing about The Peach Keeper, but the authors wonderful writing style kept me interested in the story and I gave it 4 stars without hesitation. The same thing can’t be said about Caleb’s Crossing. Yet I kept reading. Which makes me question how big a deal the lack of plot really was. Hmmm…..

Martha’s Vineyard is a beautiful island with a unique landscape. I feel the book would have benefited from making the island more of a “character” in the book. Or maybe I’m just biased because I love MV so much.

Spoiler Alert: a lot of characters you grow to like die. It’s a bit of a bummer.

So…..

I really don’t know how to rate this on Goodreads. I’d like to give it a 3.5 but Goodreads doesn’t allow you to give half stars so it going to have to be either a 3 or a 4. Until I decide it is marked as “Currently Reading” on my Goodreads profile. Is anyone as miffed as I am that amazon has purchased Goodreads? We’ve just become one giant focus group for amazon.

A few years ago I read another book by Geraldine Brooks: People of the Book. I liked that one much better.

Random Things That Have Little or Nothing To Do With The Book:

I discovered this blog by Susan Branch. Martha’s Vineyard is very much a character in this blog which is what drew me to it. But if MV isn’t your thing, this blog is full of wonderful craft ideas, yummy recipes and whimsical illustrations by Branch. Love it! I am also sure that her husband (who is pictured on her blog) is the guy on page 39 of The Black Dog Summer On the Vineyard Cookbook but I’m not sure how to leave a comment to that affect on her blog without seeming stalker-ish.

If anyone is looking for something to get me for Mothers Day (ahem, The Scotsman), I’d like this.

Did you know that Roald Dahl wrote a cookbook? I loved his books when I was a child and am in the midst of introducing them to Jake. And I love all things food and cooking. So how perfect is a cookbook by Roald Dahl?

And Finally, A Recipe…..

I’m the culinary bibliophile, right? So here’s one of my faves from The Black Dog Summer On the Vineyard Cookbook. It’s called Quahog Chowder in deference to the variety of clams abundant in New England, but any type of clams will do. This recipe is true to the chowder they serve in The Black Dog Tavern, which I am completely obsessed with. I will eat this steaming hot in 90 degree heat because it is that good. Hope you all have a great weekend and Happy Patriots Day (for those of you who live in Massachusetts and Maine)!

B.D. Quahog Chowder – Serves 8-10 (or just 2 if you’re making this for me and The Scotsman)

From The Black Dog Summer On The Vineyard Cookbook by Joseph Hall and Elaine Sullivan

2 oz salt pork, rind removed (I slice up 3 strips of normal bacon)

2 cups diced onion

1 cup diced celery

3 cups diced potato (I use Yukon Gold)

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp black pepper

4 cups shelled quahogs (or any type of clam) with juice (about 6 lbs in the shell)

½ cup salted butter

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 ½ quarts light cream

Dice the salt pork (or slice the bacon) and sauté in a large pot until translucent.

Add the onions and celery and sauté for 5 minutes

Pour in about 1 ½ cups of juice from the clams and add the potatoes and seasonings.

Simmer the mixture until the potatoes are tender. This should take about 10 minutes.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. When it’s bubbling, add the flour and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often.

Roughly chop the quahogs/clams, reserving any liquid.

When the potatoes are tender, add the clams to the large pot and simmer for 2 minutes.

Stir in the butter and flour mixture and continue simmering for another 5 minutes, stirring often. This is your chowder base.

In a separate saucepan (yes, you can yell at me about all the dirty dishes this is creating), scald the cream by heating it until small bubbles appear around the edges of the pan. Do not boil.

Stir the hot cream into the chowder base, mix together and remove from the heat.

At The Black Dog they serve it topped with a dollop of butter and oyster crackers or crusty bread. YUM!!

Can Working Moms Have It All Or Have We Lost Our Minds?

Hello again! I am so sorry its been so long since my last post. I started this blog hoping to post twice a week (on Tuesdays and Fridays) but you can see how that’s gone! The last week and a bit have been completely crazy. Which has led me to the question  - can working moms really have it all or are we completely insane?

The past week or so has had me in a constant state of feeling like my brain is going to explode. A fiscal quarter ended at work which means I am putting out fires all day, every day as we try to close the quarter. I feel like I don’t get a moment to think.  And I had to leave work early during all of this to attend Jake’s parent/teacher conference and to pick up Ben early from preschool when he was sick on a different day. Jake started Spring soccer which means playing on two leagues, coordinating shuttling him to the practices and games that go with each and finishing up the Winter league which overlaps for a couple of weeks. I had to wrap up the fundraiser for Bens preschool that I agreed to chair. The Never King got some attention that I should have addressed and will, but I’m already behind. The Scotsman suggested I start another blog that includes comprehensive a list of of kid friendly convenience foods that I consider “real food” (see previous post) to make it easier for like-minded parents to shop without having to double the time it takes them in the grocery due to label reading. A great idea and I appreciate his support, but with what time? There was also laundry to be done, dinner to be cooked, and children to be played with. Oh – and blog posts to be written and "binder recipes" (see two posts ago) to try. And last week my seasonal allergies were in full force so I did all of the above (or worried about the fact that I didn’t get to a lot of the above) in a Benadryl-induced fog.

So that leaves me with today’s (lame) post and the question: am I crazy to think I can do it all? Am I putting too much pressure on myself? I want to work at my day job , make The Never King and The Bedwyr Press a success, be involved in Jake and Bens schools and after school activities, have a clean house, clean clothes and a good meal on the table. But is it possible to do all this or do I have to make compromises with myself? Or should I just shut up and stop whining because I know I’m very blessed? Anyone else feel this way?

I did manage to work in a little reading during all of this. Coming up I have thoughts on Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks, Gwyneth Paltrows new cookbook (don’t judge) and a cookbook by an author I “met” on an online forum. I’m also looking for my next good read – any suggestions?

Apparently, I’m a Food Freak: My Food Manifesto

Earlier this week I had dinner a neighbors house. I’ve been getting together with this group of ladies every month for the past few years and for this dinner our two new neighbors were invited. At one point, the conversation turned to the meat CSA that was picked up by two of us (me being the one of the two) earlier that week. The meat CSA gives us a cooler full of humanly raised, grass fed beef, chicken and pork that has lived its entire life outdoors (with access to shelter in inclement and cold weather) and then “harvested” with the least amount of stress to the animal possible. In other words, Happy Meat.

So when Karen and I started discussing what we were going to make with our latest haul of Happy Meat, one of the new ladies (Beth) asked us why we didn’t just buy our meat at the grocery store. When Karen explained our reasons, Beth said with a smile “oh, so you guys are food freaks”. Beth (kind of) meant it in jest and she is a lovely person. But all too often I’m finding that caring about where your food comes from is not the norm.

So, this is my food philosophy:  real food, minimal processing, minimal chemicals, ingredients I can pronounce (and as few of them as possible) and Happy Meat, 80% of the time.

What does this mean? It means most of the meat we consume comes from our meat CSA from Chestnut Farm. It means that I am an obsessive label reader looking for the most “pure” products with a minimum of ingredients that can I can imagine in my head as I read the label (i.e. I can imagine what an egg looks like. Butylated hydroxytoluene not so much.) It means I look for organic when possible and always for GMO free (and if it’s organic, it is by definition GMO free, FYI.) I shop at farmers markets, Trader Joes, and yes, Whole Foods.

I subscribe to Michael Pollens belief that if your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize it as food (Twinkie, anyone?,)it’s probably not the best choice. I think his book The Omnivores Dilemma should be required reading, or at the very least the Cliff Notes version, Food Rules.

Is it more expensive to eat this way? Yes, but not as much as you might think. A lot of processed foods aren’t cheap, or at least not cheaper than a healthier option. The Scotsman and I have made a conscious decision to spend our money this way, and yes we know we’re fortunate to be able to make that choice. That said, a food blogger I love, Lisa Leake of the 100 Days of Real Food blog successfully fed her family of four Real Food on a strict budget for more than three months to prove it could be done. See how and what she did here.

But remember we only eat this way 80 of the time. The other 20% is comprised of McDonalds with the team after Jake’s soccer game (although more for the kids than The Scotsman and I), pizza and cake at birthday parties, meals out or the really stressful day when all I can muster the energy to do for dinner is call for Chinese take-out. And remember, on Wednesday I gave you a recipe that included Pillsbury Crescent Dough Roll. I’m not a stickler, I just try and do my best most of the time because I believe with all my heart that you are what you eat as well as what you eat eats (did that makes sense?)

So that’s my food philosophy, love it or hate it. I could write at least a few posts on how I came to have this food philosophy and why I wish more people should adopt it. But I don’t want to get on my soapbox and shove my ideas down anyone’s throat, so I won’t. Unless you want me to, in which case leave me a comment and I’ll reconsider.

In the meantime, I leave you with a yummy recipe for Halibut in Mustard Sauce that my host made on Tuesday night.

PS – I know I’ve been lax with the book reviews but they’re coming. I’ve got a food memoir and at least one cookbook in the pipeline.

Halibut in Mustard Sauce – Serves 6

½ lbs halibut

1/3 cup orange juice

¼ cup lemon juice (fresh is best)

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried tarragon

1 tsp curry powder

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

1 TBS olive oil, divided

3 TBS Dijon mustered

2 TBS red onion, minced

2 TBS fresh parsley, chopped

1 TBS capers, drained

Place the fish in a shallow, non-metal dish and set aside.

Combine the next 6 ingredients. Pour over the fish and turn to coat. Marinate in the fridge for 1 hours, turning once.

Remove the fish from the marinade and reserve marinade. Place fish in a shallow roasting pan (or any pan – just not glass as it may shatter under the broiler) and brush it with ¼ TBS olive oil. Broil on high 4 inches from the heat for 5 minutes. Turn the fish and brush with ¼ TBS olive oil. Broil for another 3 minutes or until the fish flakes easily. Transfer to a serving platter and keep warm.

Combine the reserved marinade, remaining 2 ½ TBS olive oil and mustard in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until smooth, stirring with a whisk. Add the onion, parsley and capers. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spoon sauce over fish and serve.