True Life: Vignettes

The other day I was carded buying wine at the grocery store. I handed over my Michigan driver's license. The clerk regarded it with suspicion.

"I need a manager on lane 7," she said into the PA system.

I fidgeted awkwardly.

"Nothin' personal," said the clerk to me. "So -- you don't live around here?"

I gave the simple answer. "No, I'm just visiting."

The manager arrived, fluttering her hands. "The book is missing."

"The book is missing?" asked the clerk.

"The book is missing," said the manager. "We need to check all out-of-state licenses in a book, but the book is missing."

"Ok," I said. "The book is missing, so...."

"Yeah, the book is missing, so...." The manager put the wine under the counter.

"So you can't sell me the wine?" I asked incredulously.

"Well, the book is missing."

I gathered my thoughts before I spoke.

"You can sell me the wine. There isn't any state or federal law requiring an in-state driver's license to purchase alcohol. Obviously you have a store policy about checking out of state licenses. Because you lost the book, you're failing to execute your own policy, but I shouldn't be punished for that. You carded me to make sure that I'm not a minor, not to make sure that I'm a Texas resident. I presented a valid, government-issued ID that attests that I'm of legal drinking age."

Actually I didn't say any of that.

I just looked down at my outfit: jeans, tennis shoes, an "I <3 Jacob" t-shirt, sighed, and said, "Ok."



I went to the doctor recently and was told to cut down my milk, chocolate, and caffeine consumption.

"But that's your diet," said the Fiance when I told him the bad news.

He wasn't kidding. I have a cup of coffee every morning. I drink a gallon of milk by myself every three days. I eat all kinds of chocolate; this week alone I've had brownies, M and Ms, and chocolate covered pretzels.

Today is Day 1 of my detox. I did not have coffee this morning. I did not drink any milk all day. Instead I had decaff tea this morning and I have sucked down FIVE lunchbox-sized apple juice bottles. And I'm still thirsty! I need milk, dammit!

As for the chocolate, well, that didn't work out so well. I bought some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins at the farmer's market today and oh my. They are a revelation. Once I ate one of those, I was on a high and wanted to keep it rolling. I considered dipping my chicken nuggets in Hershey's, but I restrained myself.

I hope I have the strength to make it through Day 2.

Real Housewife of Texas

Today was my first day as a Real Housewife of Texas. The fiance went to his first day of work and I tried to be a good homemaker.

First, I made cookies. They turned out horribly. Then ants attacked them.

Next, I tried to work out. I ran for three minutes using the Wii fit and nearly collapsed.

In the afternoon, I helped my aunt on a walk-through of my parents' new house. The broker referred to me as "the buyers' adult daughter."

Last, I planned to have dinner ready by the time the Fiance came over after work. I burned the potatoes (water here evaporates so much faster than back home!) but I used the terrace as a warming oven for the buttered rosemary rolls, which worked famously.

1 for 3 in the cooking department. Better luck tomorrow.

Pioneer Woman Light

Howdy.

It's been a long time since my last post. In that time, my life got a whole lot quirkier. I graduated from law school and moved across the country. For now, I'm living in a quaint town in Texas in my parents' condo while my parents relax by the lake in Michigan.

My parents' condo is on the market, so I live out of a suitcase that I hide in the closet every day. It's a bit like living in the model home in Arrested Development.

I'm also funemployed, so I'm looking for work anywhere I can find it. Meanwhile, I'm still a student; I'm halfway through a 40-hour course in mediation.

The Fiance is as wonderful as ever. We are getting married --back across the country -- on August 14th. There is still a lot to do between now and then, but it's (almost) all good stuff.

As for the cooking, although the Fiance and I subsisted entirely on Starbucks and frozen food in the week leading up to our big move, I've still got a few recipe reviews up my sleeve. I'm currently experimenting with using the condo's terrace as a warming oven. Plus the big move should give me some inspiration for new recipes. Just call me the Pioneer Woman Light.


(Photo of quaint Texas town street by the Fiance. Reproduced with permission).

You Pick Two Review: Panera Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake

A few days ago I tried Panera's new bakery item, a cinnamon crumb coffee cake. Panera's website describes the new confection as "an old-fashioned butter cream coffee cake, swirled with cinnamon and finished with a butter crumb topping."

The Boyfriend and I both found the coffee cake a little disappointing. The cake tasted too floury and lacked pizazz.

I tried my own version of a cinnamon crumb coffee cake and was very happy with the results. I combined a recipe for a cinnamon swirl bundt cake from allrecipes.com and a recipe for a crumb topping from the Pioneer Woman's cooking blog. The recipes in their original contexts can be found here and here.

My edited versions of the recipes appear below:

For the cake:

Ingredients

• 1 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup white sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease one 9 x 13 pan. [A 10 inch bundt pan would also work and would look prettier. I was concerned about my ability to flip the bundt pan after baking, so I used a 9 x 13 instead].
2. Cream 1 1/2 cups white sugar together with eggs until well blended. Add sour cream and butter or margarine and beat well. Add flour, baking soda, and baking powder and mix well. Stir in vanilla.
3. Mix the remaining 1/4 cup of white sugar with the cinnamon.
4. Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle generously with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Cover with remaining cake batter.
5. Bake at 350 F (205 degrees C) for 30 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean.
   

For the crumbs:
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) butter, melted
1 1/2 cups flour

Directions:
To make crumbs in a large bowl, whisk sugars, spices and salt into melted butter until smooth. Then, add flour with a spatula or wooden spoon. It will look and feel like a solid dough. Leave it pressed together in the bottom of the bowl and set aside.

After making the cake, break topping mixture into big crumbs, about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch in size. They do not have to be uniform, but make sure most are around that size. Sprinkle over cake before baking.

True Life: I am not a very good cook.

Sometimes I get the urge to just "whip something up" in the kitchen. I am guided by a misplaced notion that I have an inherent talent for cooking. I can just pull a few things out of the refrigerator, stir ingredients in various saucepans while humming to myself, chop a few vegetables, pirouette over to the oven, and magic will happen. The flavors will sing. The Boyfriend will say, "Gee, honey, you've done it again!"

My daydreams about cooking always start out rosy and sweet-smelling. They rarely end that way. Once I served the Boyfriend uncooked biscuit dough over chicken noodle soup. To his credit, he ate the entire thing.

A few nights ago, I got the urge. I peered into the refrigerator and the pantry. I pulled out a few, disparate ingredients. I didn't need a recipe. Recipes were for amateurs. I could make a pasta sauce from scratch. No problem.

Readers, for the first time, it actually worked. I put some butter in a sauce pan and let it heat up. I added some chopped smoked salmon. The butter and salmon mingled in the pan and made the kitchen smell amazing. I knew I was on to something good. A little vodka, a little cream, and a little lemon juice later, and I was a chef!

I think this experiment in cooking was successful, in part, because of a maxim I learned from tv chef Tom Colicchio: if you put really good ingredients in, you'll get really good food out.

Tonight I will try for similar results with chicken, garlic, and bread crumbs. Wish me luck!



(Image reproduced without permission from hoboquilts.com).

"Tea for Two and Two for Tea"

Yesterday I made tea sandwiches for lunch. I used thin sliced sandwich bread from the grocery store, white and whole wheat, with the crusts cut off.

Cucumber Sandwiches
I used an English cucumber, sliced as thin as possible. I lightly salted the cucumber slices. I mixed butter, cream cheese, and a sprinkle of dried mint to make the spread. Grade: A+! Light and crisp.

Smoked Salmon Sandwiches
I made these with smoked salmon, cream cheese, and a combination of freshly squeezed lemon juice and a little garlic juice. Grade: A! The lemon-garlic gave these sandwiches a certain je ne sais quoi. They missed getting an "A+" just because they were missing a certain I don't know what.

Ham and Brie Sandwiches
I made these with black forest ham, spreadable brie, and little honey Dijon mustard. Grade: B. A little boring compared to the others.

Lemon Cake
A few days before, per my friend [Nickname Needed]'s* suggestion, I made a lemon glaze cake. My friend gave me a recipe from her mom's repertoire. I modified the cake recipe to accommodate the ingredients I had on hand and switched from a lemon glaze to a lemon icing when half of my cake stayed stuck in the bunt pan. The results were delicious! Thank you [Nickname Needed]!


* Nickname ideas: Notre Dame Gal, the Muppet, Dr. Teeth, Liz Lemon -- any other suggestions welcome. Online nickname generators are no good.

(Image reproduced WITH PERMISSION from The Boyfriend, food photographer extraordinaire).

Great Cookie Competition: Chocolate Peppermint Slices

This recipe came from a British dessert cookbook, "Cakes and Bakes" from Parragon Publishing, 2007. The flavors were delicious, but the execution left something to be desired. My modifications to the recipe and my questions about what went wrong appear in brackets.

Here is the recipe:

4 tbsp. butter, plus extra for greasing
1/4 superfine sugar
3/4 all purpose flour
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
6 oz semisweet chocolate
1-2 tbsp warm water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line an 8 x 12 inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper. [I didn't have an 8 x 12 inch pan, so I used an 8 x 8. The base was still much too small to cover the surface area of the pan. Hmm. Suspicious]. Whisk the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. [Could it really mean whisk? I used a mixer]. Stir in the flour until the mixture binds together. [The mixture would not bind together, so I heated up the butter and used a little water].

Knead the the mixture to form a smooth dough, then press into the prepared pan. [Knead? Not so much. I did my best to squash the mixture together, relying mostly on the heat from my hands, then squashed it into the pan. Squashed. That's an industry term]. Prick the surface all over with a fork. Bake the base in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until lightly browned and just firm to the touch. Let cool in the pan.

Stir the confectioners' sugar into a bowl. Gradually add the water, then add the peppermint extract. [I added a few drops of green food coloring and some vanilla extract. You can never have too much vanilla!] Spread the frosting over the base, then let set.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over gently simmering water, then spread over the peppermint frosting. Let set, then cut into slices.


The recipe turned out delicious, but the base was more like a cracker than a cookie and there wasn't enough of it to fill the pan. Any thoughts on what I could do differently?


(Image of what I WISH my cookies looked like reproduced without permission from Auntyyochana.blogspot.com).

Article of the Day: September 19, 2009

Hurray for American food! Hurray for familiar names from Top Chef!


(Map graphic can be found at strange maps.)

You Pick Two Review: Napa Almond Chicken Salad Sandwich and Vegetarian Summer Corn Chowder

[To anyone looking for a recipe for the Napa Almond Chicken Salad, please see my newer entry here].

Today I tried these two menu items. The Napa Almond Chicken Salad Sandwich is new to Panera and the Summer Corn Chowder is a seasonal offering.

I found the sandwich to be too heavy on the pepper, but otherwise very good. The celery and grapes were a refreshing twist on the chicken salad that I am used to. The sesame semolina bread seemed a bit boring at first (I love Panera's asiago cheese bread, which is packed with flavor), but, surprisingly, once I got to the crusts, I found them to be delicious.

The corn chowder was a bit too spicy for my taste; I found myself avoiding the peppers. The roasted corn was sweet and cooling, though. I enjoyed the soup when I was mostly eating bits of my whole grain baguette as croutons, soaked in the creamy broth, and avoiding the most spicy tastes.

Here is the nutritional information for these two menu items, provided by Panera's website. Click to enlarge the image. All credit goes to the Boyfriend for figuring out how to do a screen capture.



Through some googling, I found this approximation of the chowder recipe. Credit goes to http://itsalwayssomethingisntit.blogspot.com.

3- 10 3/4 cans condensed cream of potato soup (plus 3 cans full of 1% milk)
1- 18 oz carton ready to eat Southwest Corn Soup (Campbell's Select)
1- 15 oz cubed potatoes
1- 11 oz Mexicorn
1- 14 1/2 oz petite diced tomatoes
2/3 c. finely chopped yellow onion
1 roasted poblano pepper
1 c. finely chopped cilantro
2 T. butter
1 1/2 t. sugar
1 1/2 t. cumin
1 1/2 t. minced garlic

In a large heavy bottomed soup pot, combine soups and milk. Drain and rinse cubed potatoes, mexicorn and tomatoes. Add to soup mix. Dice onions. In small skillet, melt butter. Halve poblano pepper and remove seeds and veins. Set pepper halves, skin side down directly on stove top burner to blacken and blister skin. Remove skin with tongs or rub off with a towel. Meanwhile, sautee onions in butter with sugar and cumin until soft and translucent. Finely dice pepper and add to onion sautee. Cook another few minutes. Add to soup mixture. Chop cilantro. Serve bowls of soup with cilantro as garnish, stir in immediately before eating. Serves 8.

Great Cookie Competition: Chocolate Crackle Cookies

Here is the recipe for the delicious cookies from Roomie's mom. As Roomie rightly pointed out, these cookies are half-cookie, half-brownie.


Chocolate Crackle Cookies


Ingredients:

4 1-oz blocks unsweetened chocolate

½ cup vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

2 tsp double-acting baking powder

½ tsp salt

Powdered sugar

Preparation:

1. Heat oven to 350° F. Melt chocolate. In a large bowl, combine melted chocolate, oil, sugar, and eggs; mix well. Add vanilla; mix well. Add flour, double-acting baking powder, and salt; mix well.



2. Chill dough for several hours (overnight is best).



3. Shape dough into small balls and roll in powdered sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350° F for 12 minutes.

Article of the Day: September 13, 2009

I like to buy shoes from Zappos. Or, at least, I like the idea of it. I didn't know that anyone thought Zappos was a cult.

Very busy weekend. But since no one wants to read about how much writing, editing, and reading I've done this weekend, instead I will tell you:

I am back in the game!! This weekend I made a delicious "Chocolate Crackle Cookie" recipe provided by the Roomie's mom. Also, the Boyfriend revised the lemon meringue recipe from last week. This time we used a glass bowl instead of plastic, added cream of tartar to the recipe, adjusted the oven temperature and cooking time, and let the cookies sit in the oven overnight. Success!

The cookies are so good that now we are out of milk.

Happy Birthday, the Boyfriend!

Yesterday was the Boyfriend's birthday. For his birthday dinner I made baked salmon, glazed carrots, and steamed broccoli. The Roomie and her Other Half made cupcakes. We sang to the Boyfriend, he made a wish, then we all enjoyed the cupcakes together.

The conversation went something like this:

Me: So did you two have a nice weekend?
Roomie: I was kicked in the face at the football game.
Other Half: My house was broken into and burglarized while I was inside it.
Me and the Boyfriend: Oh.
Roomie: What did you two do this weekend?
Me: We set up Skype.

The cooking fever seems to be catching on. The Boyfriend and his Roommate are interested in boiling a lobster. Sometimes I never know.

Sunday Night

Article of the Day: Harry Potter wins over some of his religious critics.

Read about it here.

Great Cookie Competition: Lemon Kisses

My kitchen is starting to look like a cookie graveyard. Lemon meringue recipe from Sandra Lee's "Semi-Homemade" cookbook was a bust. Per the madre's suggestion, I bought an oven thermometer today and discovered that my apartment oven runs 25 degrees hotter than it should. Well, as my professor-boss says in echoing tones, "Onward!"

Upcoming Blog Feature: The "You Pick Two" Review

I love Panera. The Boyfriend and I eat dinner at Panera at least once a week. Before I starting eating at Panera so much, I looked like this:



And now I look like this:



Ok, Panera won't really turn you into Keira Knightley. Nor can I claim any medical benefits, like Jared can for Subway. "But, actually," as an Austrian friend of mine used to say, Subway Jared and I are opposites. Where he needed a weight-loss diet, I just need a food-in diet. That's where Panera comes in. The food is delicious and always appeals to me.

One of the best things about Panera is the "You Pick Two" option, where you can order any two of the following: a half sandwich, a cup of soup, or a salad. Think of all the delicious combinations!

Actually, you can relax, because I will think of them for you and review them here. So, as another friend says, "watch this space."

Back to school tomorrow after a lovely weekend.




(Image of Keira Knightley reproduced without permission from blogs.phillynews.com).

The Great Cookie Competition: Peanut Butter Cup Bars

I’m writing this entry in the midst of the carnival-like atmosphere that accompanies game days at Notre Dame. The Roomie is rushing around and yelling into her phone (“a gas grill will NOT fit in my car!”).

“Are you blogging about me?” she yells. She is pivoting in front of the mirror.
“I’m blogging about the bars!” I yell back.
“The bars?” Her face appears around the corner. A freshly-applied ND logo glistens on her cheek.
There is a shrill whistle from the kitchen.
“That’s the water for my coffee,” says the Roomie, startled.
I am trapped under my laptop. The Roomie moves her hands as though she is being attacked by a bee. The Boyfriend gets up. He will make the coffee. Magically the French press will be cleaned.
The Roomie turns back to me. “I went to Finnegan’s last night.”
I blink.
“It was really lame, though,” she concludes.
I stare at her for awhile. She stares at me. Realization dawns.
“Different kind of bars.”

Anyway.

The cookie baking contest happens every December. Two years ago, my white chocolate almond cookies didn’t place at all. Last year my lemon cookies came in second. This is my year!

Despite my momentum, I am taking nothing for granted. I am going to test out many new cookie recipes and perfect some old favorites. I will try to do one batch every weekend, until my school work gets in the way.

Yesterday I made Peanut Butter Cup Bars from the “College Cookbook” given to me by my mom. This book yielded the award-winning lemon cookie recipe. The commentary accompanying the recipe glibly announced, “They are super-easy to make.”

Super-easy.

I must have done something wrong. Incorporating all of the ingredients was a workout. Having achieved my target heart rate just mixing everything together, I wasn’t going to let my fickle, apartment oven ruin my hard work, so my Roomie and I stood guard over the bars, checking them often.

Reader, I burned them.

I won’t blame the deluge of girl talk going on as Roomie and I gossiped in the heat seeping from the oven, because we are proficient in both girl talk and baking. So I blame the oven, the heat-seeping, eavesdropping oven.

I may try this recipe again. The bars taste pretty good, as the Boyfriend kindly pointed out, if you scrape the burned bottom layer off.

It's still my year.



(Photo reproduced without permission from stylishcusine.com).